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+Calgary (/ˈkælɡri/ (listen)) is a city in the western Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, about 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies, roughly 299 km (186 mi) south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and approximately 240 km (150 mi) north of the Canada–United States border. The city anchors the south end of the Statistics Canada-defined urban area, the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor.[14]
+
+The city had a population of 1,285,711 in 2019, making it Alberta's largest city. It is the third-largest municipality in Canada (after Toronto and Montreal), and the largest in western Canada. Also in 2016, Calgary had a metropolitan population of 1,392,609, making it the fourth-largest census metropolitan area (CMA) in Canada and second-largest in western Canada (after Vancouver).
+
+Calgary's economy includes activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors.[15] The Calgary Metropolitan Region is home to Canada's second-highest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations.[16] In 2015 Calgary had the highest number of millionaires per capita of any major Canadian city.[17] In 1988 it became the first Canadian city to host the Winter Olympic Games.
+
+The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Calgary the most livable city in North America in both 2018 and 2019. Calgary has been a top 5 contender for this title for the last 10 years.[18] Calgary was also ranked the best city in the world for drivers in 2019.[19]
+
+Calgary was named after Calgary on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, United Kingdom.[20] In turn, the name originates from a compound of kald and gart, similar Old Norse words, meaning "cold" and "garden", likely used when named by the Vikings who inhabited the Inner Hebrides.[21] Alternatively, the name might be Gaelic Cala ghearraidh, meaning "beach of the meadow (pasture)", or Gaelic for either "clear running water" or "bay farm".[20]
+
+The indigenous peoples of Southern Alberta referred to the Calgary area as "elbow", in reference to the sharp bend made by the Bow River and the Elbow River. In some cases, the area was named after the reeds that grew along the riverbanks, reeds which had been used to fashion bows. In the Blackfoot language (Siksiká), the area was known as Mohkínstsis akápiyoyis, meaning "elbow many houses", reflecting its strong settler presence. The shorter form of the Blackfoot name, Mohkínstsis, simply meaning "elbow",[3][4][22] has been the popular Indigenous term for the Calgary area.[23][24][25][26][27] In the Nakoda (Stoney) language, the area is known as Wincheesh-pah or Wenchi Ispase, both meaning "elbow".[3][22] In the Nehiyaw (Cree) Language, the area was known as Otôskwanihk (ᐅᑑᐢᑲᐧᓂᕁ) meaning "house at the elbow" or Otôskwunee meaning "elbow". In the Tsuut'ina (Sarcee) language, the area is known as Guts’ists’i (older orthography, Kootsisáw) meaning "elbow".[3][22] In the Slavey language, the area was known as Klincho-tinay-indihay meaning "many horse town", referring to the Calgary Stampede[3] and the city's settler heritage.[22]
+
+There have been several attempts to revive the indigenous names of Calgary. In response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, local post-secondary institutions have adopted "official acknowledgements" of indigenous territory using the Blackfoot name of the City, Mohkínstsis.[25][26][28][29][30] In 2017, the Stoney Nakoda sent an application to the Government of Alberta, to rename Calgary as Wichispa Oyade meaning "elbow town";[31] however, this has been challenged by the Piikani Blackfoot.[32]
+
+The Calgary area was inhabited by pre-Clovis people whose presence has been traced back at least 11,000 years.[33] The area has been inhabited by the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy; Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), îyârhe Nakoda, the Tsuut'ina First Nations peoples and Métis Nation, Region 3. As Mayor Naheed Nenshi (A'paistootsiipsii; Iitiya) describes, "There have always been people here. In Biblical times there were people here. For generations beyond number, people have come here to this land, drawn here by the water. They come here to hunt and fish; to trade; to live; to love; to have great victories; to taste bitter disappointment; but above all to engage in that very human act of building community."[34]
+
+In 1787, cartographer David Thompson spent the winter with a band of Peigan encamped along the Bow River. He was a Hudson's Bay Company trader and the first recorded European to visit the area. John Glenn was the first documented European settler in the Calgary area, in 1873.[35]
+
+In 1875, the site became a post of the North-West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP). The NWMP detachment was assigned to protect the western plains from US whisky traders, and to protect the fur trade. Originally named Fort Brisebois, after NWMP officer Éphrem-A. Brisebois, it was renamed Fort Calgary in 1876 by Colonel James Macleod.
+
+When the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the area in 1883, and a rail station was constructed, Calgary began to grow into an important commercial and agricultural centre. Over a century later, the Canadian Pacific Railway headquarters moved to Calgary from Montreal in 1996.[36] Calgary was officially incorporated as a town in 1884, and elected its first mayor, George Murdoch. In 1894, it was incorporated as "The City of Calgary" in what was then the North-West Territories.[37] The Calgary Police Service was established in 1885 and assumed municipal, local duties from the NWMP.[38]
+
+The Calgary Fire of 1886 occurred on November 7, 1886. Fourteen buildings were destroyed with losses estimated at $103,200. Although no one was killed or injured,[39] city officials drafted a law requiring all large downtown buildings be built with Paskapoo sandstone, to prevent this from happening again.[40]
+
+After the arrival of the railway, the Dominion Government started leasing grazing land at minimal cost (up to 100,000 acres (400 km2) for one cent per acre per year). As a result of this policy, large ranching operations were established in the outlying country near Calgary. Already a transportation and distribution hub, Calgary quickly became the centre of Canada's cattle marketing and meatpacking industries.[citation needed]
+
+By late 19th century, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) expanded into the interior and established posts along rivers that later developed into the modern cities of Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton. In 1884, the HBC established a sales shop in Calgary. HBC also built the first of the grand "original six" department stores in Calgary in 1913; others that followed are Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg.[41][42]
+
+Between 1896 and 1914 settlers from all over the world poured into the area in response to the offer of free "homestead" land.[43] Agriculture and ranching became key components of the local economy, and remain so into the 21st century.  The world-famous Calgary Stampede, still held annually in July, was started by four wealthy ranchers as a small agricultural show in 1912.[44] It is now known as the "greatest outdoor show on earth".[45]
+
+Calgary experienced Alberta's first oil boom when Calgary Petroleum Products Co found oil just southwest of the city at Turner Valley in 1914. Western Canada's first commercial oilfield boomed again in 1924 and 1936 and by WWII the Turner Valley oilfield was producing more than 95 per cent of the oil in Canada. As a result, major oil companies searched elsewhere in Alberta and in 1947 Imperial Oil discovered new reserves near Leduc, south of Edmonton. But Calgary was already the centre of Alberta oil and the new discovery caused the city to boom again. Calgary's economy grew when oil prices increased with the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. The population increased by 272,000 in the eighteen years between 1971 (403,000) and 1989 (675,000) and another 345,000 in the next eighteen years (to 1,020,000 in 2007). During these boom years, skyscrapers were constructed and the relatively low-rise downtown quickly became dense with tall buildings.[46]
+
+Calgary's economy was so closely tied to the oil industry that the city's boom peaked with the average annual price of oil in 1981.[47] The subsequent drops in oil prices were cited by industry as reasons for a collapse in the oil industry and consequently the overall Calgary economy. Low oil prices prevented a full recovery until the 1990s.[48]
+
+With the energy sector employing a huge number of Calgarians, the fallout from the economic slump of the early 1980s was significant, and the unemployment rate soared.[49] By the end of the decade, however, the economy was in recovery. Calgary quickly realized that it could not afford to put so much emphasis on oil and gas, and the city has since become much more diverse, both economically and culturally. The period during this recession marked Calgary's transition from a mid-sized and relatively nondescript prairie city into a thriving Canadian working centre. This transition culminated in the city's hosting Canada's first Winter Olympics in 1988.[50] The success of these Games[51] essentially put the city on the world stage.
+
+Thanks in part to escalating oil prices, the economy in Calgary and Alberta was booming until the end of 2009, and the region of nearly 1.1 million people was home to the fastest growing economy in the country.[52] While the oil and gas industry comprise an important part of the economy, the city has invested a great deal into other areas such as tourism and high-tech manufacturing. Over 3.1 million people now visit the city annually[53] for its many festivals and attractions, especially the Calgary Stampede. The nearby mountain resort towns of Banff, Lake Louise, and Canmore are also becoming increasingly popular with tourists, and are bringing people into Calgary as a result. Other modern industries include light manufacturing, high-tech, film, e-commerce, transportation, and services.
+
+Widespread flooding throughout southern Alberta, including on the Bow and Elbow rivers, forced the evacuation of over 75,000 city residents on June 21, 2013, and left large areas of the city, including downtown, without power.[54][55]
+
+Calgary is located at the transition zone between the Canadian Rockies foothills and the Canadian Prairies. The city lies within the foothills of the Parkland Natural Region and the Grasslands Natural Region.[56] Downtown Calgary is about 1,042.4 m (3,420 ft) above sea level,[10] and the airport is 1,076 m (3,531 ft).[57] In 2011, the city covered a land area of 825.29 km2 (318.65 sq mi).[58]
+
+Two rivers run through the city and two creeks. The Bow River is the larger and it flows from the west to the south. The Elbow River flows northwards from the south until it converges with the Bow River at the historic site of Fort Calgary near downtown. Nose Creek flows into Calgary from the northwest then south to join the Bow River several kilometres east of the Elbow-Bow confluence. Fish Creek flows into Calgary from the southwest and converges with the Bow River near McKenzie Towne.
+
+The City of Calgary, 848 km2 (327 sq mi) in size,[59] consists of an inner city surrounded by suburban communities of various density.[60] The city is immediately surrounded by two municipal districts – the Municipal District of Foothills No. 31 to the south and Rocky View County to the north, west and east. Proximate urban communities beyond the city within the Calgary Metropolitan Region include: the City of Airdrie to the north; the City of Chestermere, the Town of Strathmore and the Hamlet of Langdon to the east; the towns of Okotoks and High River to the south; and the Town of Cochrane to the northwest.[61] Numerous rural subdivisions are located within the Elbow Valley, Springbank and Bearspaw areas to the west and northwest.[62][63][64] The Tsuu T'ina Nation Indian Reserve No. 145 borders Calgary to the southwest.[61]
+
+Over the years, the city has made many land annexations to facilitate growth. In the most recent annexation of lands from Rocky View County, completed in July 2007, the city annexed Shepard, a former hamlet, and placed its boundaries adjacent to the Hamlet of Balzac and City of Chestermere, and very close to the City of Airdrie.[65]
+
+Numerous plant and animal species are found within and around Calgary. The Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) comes near the eastern limit of its range at Calgary.[66] Another conifer of widespread distribution found in the Calgary area is the White Spruce (Picea glauca). [67] Some notable animals that can be found in and around Calgary include: deer, coyote, moose, bat, rabbit, mink, weasel, black bear, raccoon, skunk, and cougar.[68]
+
+The downtown region of the city consists of five neighbourhoods: Eau Claire (including the Festival District), the Downtown West End, the Downtown Commercial Core, Chinatown, and the Downtown East Village (also part of the Rivers District). The commercial core is itself divided into a number of districts including the Stephen Avenue Retail Core, the Entertainment District, the Arts District and the Government District. Distinct from downtown and south of 9th Avenue is Calgary's densest neighbourhood, the Beltline. The area includes a number of communities such as Connaught, Victoria Crossing and a portion of the Rivers District. The Beltline is the focus of major planning and rejuvenation initiatives on the part of the municipal government to increase the density and liveliness of Calgary's centre.[69]
+
+Adjacent to, or directly radiating from the downtown are the first of the inner-city communities. These include Crescent Heights, Hounsfield Heights/Briar Hill, Hillhurst/Sunnyside (including Kensington BRZ), Bridgeland, Renfrew, Mount Royal, Scarboro, Sunalta, Mission, Ramsay and Inglewood and Albert Park/Radisson Heights directly to the east. The inner city is, in turn, surrounded by relatively dense and established neighbourhoods such as Rosedale and Mount Pleasant to the north; Bowness, Parkdale, Shaganappi and Glendale to the west; Park Hill, South Calgary (including Marda Loop), Bankview, Altadore, and Killarney to the south; and Forest Lawn/International Avenue to the east. Lying beyond these, and usually separated from one another by highways, are suburban communities including Evergreen, Somerset, Auburn Bay Country Hills, Sundance, Chaparral, Riverbend, and McKenzie Towne. In all, there are over 180 distinct neighbourhoods within the city limits.[70]
+
+Several of Calgary's neighbourhoods were initially separate municipalities that were annexed by the city as it grew. These include Bowness, Montgomery, and Forest Lawn.
+
+Calgary experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dwb) within eastern parts of the city and a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dwc) within western parts of the city due to an increase in elevation.[71] The city has warm summers and cold, dry winters. It falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 4a.[72]
+According to Environment Canada, average daily temperatures in Calgary range from 16.5 °C (61.7 °F) in July to −6.8 °C (19.8 °F) in December.[73]
+
+Winters are cold and the air temperature can drop to or below −20 °C (−4 °F) on average of 22 days of the year and −30 °C (−22 °F) on average of 3.7 days of the year, and are often broken up by warm, dry Chinook winds that blow into Alberta over the mountains. These winds can raise the winter temperature by 20 °C (36 °F), and as much as 30 °C (54 °F) in just a few hours, and may last several days.[74] As well, Calgary's proximity to the Rocky Mountains affects winter temperature average mean temperature with a mixture of lows and highs, and tends to result in a mild winter for a city in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures are also affected by the wind chill factor; Calgary's average wind speed is 14.2 km/h (8.8 mph), one of the highest in Canadian cities.[75]
+
+In summer, daytime temperatures range from 10 to 25 °C (50 to 77 °F) and sometimes exceed 30 °C (86 °F) an average of 5.1 days anytime in June, July and August, and occasionally as late as September or as early as May, and in winter drop below or at −30 °C (−22 °F) 3.7 days of the year. As a consequence of Calgary's high elevation and aridity, summer evenings tend to cool off, with monthly average low temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F) throughout the summer months.[73]
+
+Calgary has the most sunny days year round of Canada's 100 largest cities, with just over 332 days of sun;[73] it has on average 2,396 hours of sunshine annually,[73] with an average relative humidity of 55% in the winter and 45% in the summer (15:00 MST).[73]
+
+Calgary International Airport in the northeastern section of the city receives an average of 418.8 mm (16.49 in) of precipitation annually, with 326.4 mm (12.85 in) of that occurring in the form of rain, and 128.8 cm (50.7 in) as snow.[73] The most rainfall occurs in June and the most snowfall in March.[73] Calgary has also recorded snow every month of the year.[76] It last snowed in July on July 15, 1999.[77]
+
+Thunderstorms can be frequent and sometimes severe[78] with most of them occurring in the summer months. Calgary lies within Alberta's Hailstorm Alley and is prone to damaging hailstorms every few years. A hailstorm that struck Calgary on September 7, 1991, was one of the most destructive natural disasters in Canadian history, with over $400 million in damage.[79] Being west of the dry line on most occasions, tornadoes are rare in the region.
+
+The highest temperature ever recorded in Calgary was 36.7 °C (98.1 °F) on August 10, 2018.[80] The coldest temperature ever recorded was −45.0 °C (−49.0 °F) on February 4, 1893.[73]
+
+
+
+The population of the City of Calgary according to its 2019 municipal census is 1,285,711,[11] a change of 
+1.4% from its 2018 municipal census population of 1,267,344.[103]
+
+In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the City of Calgary recorded a population of 1,239,220 living in 466,725 of its 489,650 total private dwellings, a change of 13% from its 2011 population of 1,096,833. With a land area of 825.56 km2 (318.75 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,501.1/km2 (3,887.7/sq mi) in 2016.[7] Calgary was ranked first among the three cities in Canada that saw their population grow by more than 100,000 people between 2011 and 2016. During this time Calgary saw a population growth of 142,387 people, followed by Edmonton at 120,345 people and Toronto at 116,511 people.[104]
+
+In the 2011 Census, the City of Calgary had a population of 1,096,833 living in 423,417 of its 445,848 total dwellings, a change of 10.9% from its 2006 adjusted population of 988,812. With a land area of 825.29 km2 (318.65 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,329.0/km2 (3,442.2/sq mi) in 2011.[58] According to the 2011 Statistics Canada Census, persons aged 14 years and under made up 17.9% of the population, and those aged 65 and older made up 9.95%. The median age was 36.4 years. In 2011, the city's gender population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female.[105]
+
+The Calgary census metropolitan area (CMA) is the fourth-largest CMA in Canada and largest in Alberta. It had a population of 1,392,609 in the 2016 Census compared to its 2011 population of 1,214,839. Its five-year population change of 14.6 percent was the highest among all CMAs in Canada between 2011 and 2016. With a land area of 5,107.55 km2 (1,972.04 sq mi), the Calgary CMA had a population density of 272.7/km2 (706.2/sq mi) in 2016.[106] Statistics Canada's latest estimate of the Calgary CMA population, as of July 1, 2017, is 1,488,841.[107]
+
+In 2015, the population within an hour commuting distance of the city is 1,511,755.[108]
+
+As a consequence of the large number of corporations, as well as the presence of the energy sector in Alberta, Calgary has a median family income of $104,530.[109]
+
+Christians make up 54.9% of the population, while 32.3% have no religious affiliation. Other religions in the city are Muslims (5.2%), Sikhs (2.6%) and Buddhists (2.1%).[110]
+
+According to the 2016 Census, 59.5% of Calgary's population was of European origin, 4% was of Aboriginal heritage, and 36.2% of the population belonged to a visible minority (that is, non-white, non-aboriginal) group. Among those of European origin, the most frequently reported ethnic backgrounds were British, German, Irish, French, and Ukrainian. Among visible minorities, South Asians (mainly from India) make up the largest group (9.5%), followed by Chinese (6.8%) and Filipinos (5.5%). 5.4% were of African or Caribbean origin, 3.5% was of West Asian or Middle Eastern origin, while 2.6% of the population was of Latin American origin. Of the largest Canadian cities, Calgary ranked fourth in proportion of visible minorities, behind Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg. 20.7% of the population identified as "Canadian" in ethnic origin.[111]
+
+Calgary is recognized as a leader in the Canadian oil and gas industry, and its economy expanded at a significantly higher rate than the overall Canadian economy (43% and 25%, respectively) over the ten-year period from 1999 to 2009.[115] Its high personal and family incomes,[16][116] low unemployment and high GDP per capita[117] have all benefited from increased sales and prices due to a resource boom,[115] and increasing economic diversification.
+
+Calgary benefits from a relatively strong job market in Alberta, is part of the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor, one of the fastest growing regions in the country. It is the head office for many major oil and gas related companies, and many financial service business have grown up around them. Small business and self-employment levels also rank amongst the highest in Canada.[116] Calgary is a distribution and transportation hub[118] with high retail sales.[116]
+
+Calgary's economy is decreasingly dominated by the oil and gas industry, although it is still the single largest contributor to the city's GDP. In 2006, Calgary's real GDP (in constant 1997 dollars) was C$52.386 billion, of which oil, gas and mining contributed 12%.[119] The larger oil and gas companies are BP Canada, Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Cenovus Energy, Encana, Imperial Oil, Suncor Energy, Shell Canada, Husky Energy, TransCanada, and Nexen, making the city home to 87% of Canada's oil and natural gas producers and 66% of coal producers.[120]
+
+As of November 2016, the city had a labour force of 901,700 (a 74.6% participation rate) and 10.3% unemployment rate.[121][122][123]
+
+In 2013, Calgary's four largest industries by employee count were "Trade" (with 112,800 employees), "Professional, Scientific and Technical Services" (100,800 employees), "Health Care and Social Assistance" (89,200 employees), and "Construction" (81,500 employees).[124]
+
+In 2006, the top three private sector employers in Calgary were Shaw Communications (7,500 employees), Nova Chemicals (4,945) and Telus (4,517).[125] Companies rounding out the top ten were Mark's Work Wearhouse, the Calgary Co-op, Nexen, Canadian Pacific Railway, CNRL, Shell Canada and Dow Chemical Canada.[125] The top public sector employers in 2006 were the Calgary Zone of the Alberta Health Services (22,000), the City of Calgary (12,296) and the Calgary Board of Education (8,000).[125] Public sector employers rounding out the top five were the University of Calgary and the Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School Division.[125]
+
+In Canada, Calgary has the second-highest concentration of head offices in Canada (behind Toronto), the most head offices per capita, and the highest head office revenue per capita.[16][116] Some large employers with Calgary head offices include Canada Safeway Limited, Westfair Foods Ltd., Suncor Energy, Agrium, Flint Energy Services Ltd., Shaw Communications, and Canadian Pacific Railway.[126] CPR moved its head office from Montreal in 1996 and Imperial Oil moved from Toronto in 2005. Encana's new 58-floor corporate headquarters, the Bow, became the tallest building in Canada outside of Toronto.[127] In 2001, the city became the corporate headquarters of the TSX Venture Exchange.
+
+WestJet is headquartered close to the Calgary International Airport,[128] and Enerjet has its headquarters on the airport grounds.[129] Prior to their dissolution, Canadian Airlines[130] and Air Canada's subsidiary Zip were also headquartered near the city's airport.[131] Although its main office is now based in Yellowknife, Canadian North, purchased from Canadian Airlines in September 1998, still maintains operations and charter offices in Calgary.[132][133]
+
+According to a report by Alexi Olcheski of Avison Young published in August 2015, vacancy rates rose to 11.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2015 from 8.3 per cent in 2014. Oil and gas company office spaces in downtown Calgary are subleasing 40 per cent of their overall vacancies.[134] H&R Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the 58-storey, 158,000-square-metre Bow Tower, claims the building was fully leased. Tenants such as Suncor "have been letting staff and contractors go in response to the downturn".[134]
+
+Calgary was designated as one of the cultural capitals of Canada in 2012.[135] While many Calgarians continue to live in the city's suburbs, more central districts such as 17 Avenue, Kensington, Inglewood, Forest Lawn, Marda Loop and the Mission District have become more popular and density in those areas has increased.[136]
+
+Libraries
+
+The Calgary Public Library is the city's public library network, with 21 branches loaning books, e-books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, audio books, and more. Based on borrowing, the library is the second largest in Canada, and sixth-largest municipal library system in North America. The new flagship branch, the 22,000-square-metre (240,000 sq ft) Calgary Central Library in Downtown East Village, opened on November 1, 2018.[137]
+
+Arts Venues
+
+Calgary is the site of the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium performing arts, culture and community facility. The auditorium is one of two "twin" facilities in the province, the other is the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium located in Edmonton, each being locally known as the "Jube." The 2,538-seat auditorium was opened in 1957[138] and has been host to hundreds of Broadway musical, theatrical, stage and local productions. The Calgary Jube is the resident home of the Alberta Ballet Company, the Calgary Opera, and the annual civic Remembrance Day ceremonies. Both auditoriums operate 365 days a year, and are run by the provincial government. Both received major renovations as part of the province's centennial in 2005.[138]
+
+The city is also home to a number of performing arts spaces, such as Arts Commons, which is a 400,000 square foot performing arts complex housing the Jack Singer Concert Hall, Martha Cohen Theatre, Max Bell Theatre, Big Secret Theatre, and Motel Theatre, the Pumphouse Theatre, which houses the Victor Mitchell and Joyce Doolittle theatres, Theatre Junction GRAND, the Bella Concert Hall, the Wright Theatre, Vertigo Theatre, Stage West Theatre, Lunchbox Theatre, and several other smaller venues.
+
+Arts Companies
+
+Some major companies in Calgary include One Yellow Rabbit, which shares the Arts Commons building with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects and Theatre Junction GRAND, which is a culture house dedicated to the contemporary live arts. Calgary was also the birthplace of the improvisational theatre games known as Theatresports.
+
+Every three years, Calgary hosts the Honens International Piano Competition (formerly known as the Esther Honens International Piano Competition). The finalists of the competition perform piano concerti with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; the laureate is awarded a cash prize (currently $100,000.00 CDN, the largest cash award of any international piano competition), and a three-year career development program. Honens is an integral component of the classical music scene in Calgary.
+
+Visual and conceptual artists like the art collective United Congress are active in the city. There are a number of art galleries in the downtown along Stephen Avenue; the SoDo (South of Downtown) Design District; the 17 Avenue corridor; the neighbourhood of Inglewood, including the Esker Foundation.[139][140] There are also various arts installations in the +15 system in downtown Calgary.[141]
+
+A number of marching bands are based in Calgary. They include the Calgary Round-Up Band, the Calgary Stetson Show Band, the Bishop Grandin Marching Ghosts, and the six-time World Association for Marching Show Bands champions, the Calgary Stampede Showband, as well as military bands including the Band of HMCS Tecumseh, the King's Own Calgary Regiment Band, and the Regimental Pipes and Drums of The Calgary Highlanders. There are many other civilian pipe bands in the city, notably the Calgary Police Service Pipe Band.[142]
+
+The Alberta Ballet is the third largest dance company in Canada. Under the artistic direction of Jean Grand-Maître, the Alberta Ballet is at the forefront both at home and internationally. Jean Grand-Maître has become well known for his successful portrait series collaborations with pop-artists like Joni Mitchell, Elton John, and Sarah McLachlan. The Alberta Ballet resides in the Nat Christie Centre.[143][144][145] Other dance companies include Springboard Performance, which hosts the annual Fluid Movement Arts Festival,[146] Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, which opened its new $25-million facility in 2016 in collaboration with the Kahanoff Foundation,[147] as well as a host of others, including European folk dance ensembles, Afro-based dance companies, and diasporic dance companies.
+
+Calgary is also home to a choral music community, including a variety of amateur, community, and semi-professional groups. Some of the mainstays include the Mount Royal Choirs from the Mount Royal University Conservatory, the Calgary Boys' Choir, the Calgary Girls Choir, the Youth Singers of Calgary, the Cantaré Children's Choir, Luminous Voices Music Society, Spiritus Chamber Choir, and pop-choral group Revv52.[148][149][150]
+
+Calgary is also home to several post-secondary institutions that provide credit or non-credit instruction in the arts, including the Alberta University of the Arts (formerly Alberta College of Art and Design),[151] the School of Creative and Performing Arts at the University of Calgary,[152] the Mount Royal University Conservatory,[153] and Ambrose University.
+
+Festivals
+
+Calgary hosts a number of annual festivals and events. These include the Calgary International Film Festival, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Calgary Performing Arts Festival (formerly Kiwanis Music Festival),[154] FunnyFest Calgary Comedy Festival, Sled Island music festival, Beakerhead, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Greek festival, Carifest, Wordfest, the Lilac Festival, GlobalFest, Otafest, the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, FallCon, the Calgary Fringe Festival, Summerstock, Expo Latino, Calgary Pride, Calgary International Spoken Word Festival,[155] and many other cultural and ethnic festivals. The Calgary International Film Festival is also held annually as well as the International Festival of Animated Objects.[156]
+
+Calgary's best-known event is the Calgary Stampede, which has occurred each July since 1912. It is one of the largest festivals in Canada, with a 2005 attendance of 1,242,928 at the 10-day rodeo and exhibition.[157]
+
+Museums
+
+Several museums are located in the city. The Glenbow Museum is the largest in western Canada and includes an art gallery and First Nations gallery.[158] Other major museums include the Chinese Cultural Centre (at 6,500 m2 (70,000 sq ft), the largest stand-alone cultural centre in Canada),[159] Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (at Canada Olympic Park), The Military Museums, the National Music Centre and The Hangar Flight Museum.
+
+Motion Picture Films
+
+Numerous films have been shot in Calgary and the surrounding area. Notable films shot in and around the city include: The Assassination of Jesse James, Brokeback Mountain, Dances with Wolves, Doctor Zhivago, Inception, Legends of the Fall, Unforgiven, and The Revenant.[160] The Paul Rudd led Ghostbusters: Afterlife was filmed in downtown Calgary and Inglewood in 2019.[161] T.V shows include Fargo (TV series),[162] Black Summer (TV series),[163] Wynonna Earp (TV series) [164] and Wild Roses (TV series).[165]
+
+Media
+
+The Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun are the main newspapers in Calgary. Global, City, CTV and CBC television networks have local studios in the city.
+
+Downtown features an eclectic mix of restaurants and bars, cultural venues, public squares (including Olympic Plaza) and shopping. Notable shopping areas include such as The Core Shopping Centre (formerly Calgary Eaton Centre/TD Square), Stephen Avenue and Eau Claire Market. Downtown tourist attractions include the Calgary Zoo, the Telus Spark, the Telus Convention Centre, the Chinatown district, the Glenbow Museum, the Calgary Tower, the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC), The Military Museums and Arts Commons. At 1.0 hectare (2.5 acres), the Devonian Gardens is one of the largest urban indoor gardens in the world,[166] and it is located on the 4th floor of The Core Shopping Centre (above the shopping). The downtown region is also home to Prince's Island Park, an urban park located just north of the Eau Claire district. Directly to the south of downtown is Midtown and the Beltline. At the district's core is the popular 17 Avenue, known for its many bars and nightclubs, restaurants, and shopping venues. During the Calgary Flames' Stanley Cup run in 2004, 17 Avenue was frequented by over 50,000 fans and supporters per game night. The concentration of red jersey-wearing fans led to the street's playoff moniker, the "Red Mile". Downtown is easily accessed using the city's C-Train light rail (LRT) transit system.
+
+Attractions on the west side of the city include the Heritage Park Historical Village, depicting life in pre-1914 Alberta and featuring working historic vehicles such as a steam train, paddle steamer and electric streetcar. The village itself comprises a mixture of replica buildings and historic structures relocated from southern Alberta. Just west of the city limits is Calaway Park, Western Canada's largest outdoor family amusement park, and just north of the park across the Trans Canada Highway is the Springbank/Calgary Airport where the Wings over Springbank Airshow is held every July 18 & 19. Other major city attractions include Canada Olympic Park, which features Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and Spruce Meadows. In addition to the many shopping areas in the city centre, there are a number of large suburban shopping complexes in the city. Among the largest are Chinook Centre and Southcentre Mall in the south, Westhills and Signal Hill in the southwest, South Trail Crossing and Deerfoot Meadows in the southeast, Market Mall in the northwest, Sunridge Mall in the northeast, and the newly built CrossIron Mills and New Horizon Mall just north of the Calgary city limits, and south of the City of Airdrie.
+
+Downtown Calgary has a recognizable skyline that includes the Calgary Tower and the Scotiabank Saddledome, stretching approximately 16 city blocks from east to west. Office buildings are mostly concentrate within the commercial core, while many residential towers are in the Downtown West End and the Beltline, south of downtown. Calgary's five tallest towers were all constructed after 1990. 14 office towers are at least 150 m (490 ft) (around 40 floors) or higher; the tallest is the 247-metre (810 ft) Brookfield Place, completed in 2017. The Bow, completed in 2012 and standing at 236 m (774 ft), is second tallest,[167] and the Bankers Hall Towers in central downtown are the tallest twin towers in Canada.[168]
+
+Within Calgary there are approximately 8,000 ha (20,000 acres) of parkland available for public usage and recreation.[169] These parks include Fish Creek Provincial Park, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Bowness Park, Edworthy Park, Confederation Park, Prince's Island Park, Nose Hill Park, and Central Memorial Park. Nose Hill Park is one of the largest municipal parks in Canada at 1,129 ha (2,790 acres). The park has been subject to a revitalization plan that began in 2006. Its trail system is currently undergoing rehabilitation in accordance with this plan.[170][171] The oldest park in Calgary, Central Memorial Park, dates back to 1911. Similar to Nose Hill Park, revitalization also took place in Central Memorial Park in 2008–2009 and reopened to the public in 2010 while still maintaining its Victorian style.[172] an 800 km (500 mi) pathway system connects these parks and various neighbourhoods.[169][173] Calgary also has multiple private sporting clubs including the Glencoe Club and the Calgary Winter Club.
+
+In large part due to its proximity to the Rocky Mountains, Calgary has traditionally been a popular destination for winter sports. Since hosting the 1988 Winter Olympics, the city has also been home to a number of major winter sporting facilities such as Canada Olympic Park (bobsleigh, luge, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, downhill skiing, snowboarding, and some summer sports) and the Olympic Oval (speed skating and hockey). These facilities serve as the primary training venues for a number of competitive athletes. Also, Canada Olympic Park serves as a mountain biking trail in the summer months.
+
+In the summer, the Bow River is very popular among river rafters[174] and fly-fishermen. Golfing is also an extremely popular activity for Calgarians and the region has a large number of courses.[175] The Century Downs Racetrack and Casino is a 5 1/2 furlong horse track located just north of the city.[176]
+
+Calgary hosted the 2009 World Water Ski Championship Festival in August, at the Predator Bay Water Ski Club, approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of the city.[177][178]
+
+As part of the wider Battle of Alberta, the city's sports teams enjoy a popular rivalry with their Edmonton counterparts, most notably the rivalries between the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers, and the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos.[179][180]
+
+Calgary is the hometown of the Hart wrestling family and the location of the Hart family "Dungeon", where the patriarch of the Hart Family, Stu Hart,[181] trained numerous professional wrestlers including Superstar Billy Graham, Brian Pillman, the British Bulldogs, Edge, Christian, Greg Valentine, Chris Jericho, Jushin Thunder Liger and many more. Also among the trainees were the Hart family members themselves, including WWE Hall of Fame member and former WWE champion Bret Hart and his brother, the 1994 WWF King of the Ring, Owen Hart.[181]
+
+In 1997 Calgary hosted The World Police & Fire Games hosting over 16,000 athletes from all over the world.
+
+The city is a corporate power-centre, a high percentage of the workforce is employed in white-collar jobs. The high concentration of oil and gas corporations led to the rise of Peter Lougheed's Progressive Conservative Party in 1971.[182] However, as Calgary's population has increased, so has the diversity of its politics.
+
+The City of Calgary is a municipal corporation with a council–manager government structure consisting of a fifteen member Council elected every four years. The Council itself consists of an at-large Mayor and fourteen Councillors who represent geographic regions of the city. The legal authority to govern as a "creature of the province" is derived from various regulations and legislation of the Alberta Legislature, of which the Municipal Government Act and the City of Calgary Charter, 2018 Regulation provide many of the powers and responsibilities for the city.[183][184] The current Mayor Naheed Nenshi was first elected in the 2010 municipal election, and subsequently re-elected in 2013 and 2017.
+
+Three school boards operate independently of each other in Calgary, the public, the separate (catholic) and francophone systems. Both the public and separate boards have 7 elected trustees each representing 2 of 14 wards. The School Boards are considered part of municipal politics in Calgary as they are elected at the same time as City Council.[185]
+
+As a result of the 2019 provincial election, Calgary is represented by twenty-six MLAs, including twenty three United Conservative Party and three New Democratic Party of Alberta.[186]
+
+On October 19, 2015, Calgary elected its first two Liberal federal MPs since 1968, Darshan Kang for Calgary Skyview and Kent Hehr for Calgary Centre.[187] The remaining MPs are members of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC).[188] Before 2015, the Liberals had only elected three MPs from Calgary ridings in their entire history-- Manley Edwards (1940–1945),[189] Harry Hays (1963–1965)[190] and Pat Mahoney (1968–1972).[191]
+
+The federal riding of Calgary Heritage was held by former Prime Minister and CPC leader Stephen Harper. That seat was also held by Preston Manning, the leader of the Reform Party of Canada; it was known as Calgary Southwest at the time. Harper is the second Prime Minister to represent a Calgary riding; the first was R. B. Bennett from Calgary West, who held that position from 1930 to 1935. Joe Clark, former Prime Minister and former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (also a predecessor of the CPC), held the riding of Calgary Centre during his second stint in Parliament from 2000 to 2004.
+
+The Green Party of Canada has also made inroads in Calgary, exemplified by results of the 2011 federal election where they achieved 7.7% of the vote across the city, ranging from 4.7% in Calgary Northeast to 13.1% in Calgary Centre-North.[192]
+
+The Calgary census metropolitan area (CMA) had a crime severity index of 60.4 in 2013, which is lower than the national average of 68.7.[193] A slight majority of the other CMAs in Canada had crime severity indexes greater than Calgary's 60.4.[193] Calgary had the sixth-most homicides in 2013 at 24.[193]
+
+The presence of the Canadian military has been part of the local economy and culture since the early years of the 20th century, beginning with the assignment of a squadron of Strathcona's Horse. After many failed attempts to create the city's own unit, the 103rd Regiment (Calgary Rifles) was finally authorized on April 1, 1910. Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Calgary was established as Currie Barracks and Harvie Barracks following the Second World War. The base remained the most significant Department of National Defence (DND) institution in the city until it was decommissioned in 1998, when most of the units moved to CFB Edmonton. Despite this closure there is still a number of Canadian Forces Reserve units, and cadet units garrisoned throughout the city. They include HMCS Tecumseh Naval Reserve unit, The King's Own Calgary Regiment, The Calgary Highlanders, both headquartered at the Mewata Armouries, 746 Communication Squadron, 41 Canadian Brigade Group, headquartered at the former location of CFB Calgary, 14 (Calgary) Service Battalion, 15 (Edmonton) Field Ambulance Detachment Calgary, 14 (Edmonton) Military Police Platoon Calgary, 41 Combat Engineer Regiment detachment Calgary (33 Engineer Squadron), along with a small cadre of Regular Force support. As of 2013, 746 Communication Squadron is now known as 41 Signals 3 Squadron. Several units have been granted Freedom of the City.
+
+The Calgary Soldiers' Memorial commemorates those who died during wartime or while serving overseas. Along with those from units currently stationed in Calgary it represents the 10th Battalion, CEF and the 50th Battalion, CEF of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.
+
+Calgary International Airport (YYC), in the city's northeast, is a major transportation and cargo hub for much of central and western Canada. It is Canada's fourth busiest airport, serving 18 million passengers in 2019.[194] The airport serves as the primary gateway into Banff National Park, located 90 minutes west, and the entire Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks system.[195] Non-stop destinations include cities throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Central America, and Asia. Calgary/Springbank Airport, Canada's eleventh busiest,[196] serves as a reliever for the Calgary International taking the general aviation traffic and is also a base for aerial firefighting aircraft.
+
+Calgary lies at the crossroads of Highway 2 and the Trans-Canada Highway, making it an important hub for the transit of goods across Canada and along the CANAMEX Corridor. Stoney Trail forms a nearly completed ring road around the city that will be fully finished in 2022 when the final section opens in west Calgary.[197] Freeways and expressways are mostly called "trails". Highway 2, named Deerfoot Trail, is the main north-south route through Calgary and one of the busiest highways in Canada.[198]
+
+Much of Calgary's street network is on a grid where roads are numbered with avenues running east—west and streets running north—south. Until 1904 the streets were named; after that date, all streets were given numbers radiating outwards from the city centre.[199] Roads in predominantly residential areas as well as freeways and expressways do not generally conform to the grid and are usually not numbered. However, it is a developer and city convention in Calgary that non-numbered streets within a new community have the same name prefix as the community itself.[200]
+
+Calgary's presence along the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) mainline (which includes the CPR Alyth Yard makes the city an important hub of freight rail throughout the province.
+
+Between 1955 and 1978, CPR operated a transcontinental passenger rail service called the Canadian, running between Toronto and Vancouver via CPR's right-of-way through Calgary. In 1978, VIA Rail assumed responsibility over CPR's Canadian rail service. In the aftermath of another round of deep budget cuts made to Via Rail on January 15, 1990, VIA permanently discontinued the Super Continental and rerouted the Canadian along the Super Continental's CN route, bypassing Regina and Calgary in favour of Saskatoon and Edmonton. Since then, there has been no intercity rail service to or from Calgary. But two new rail-tour lines have opened along the now open CPR right-of-way: Rocky Mountaineer and Royal Canadian Pacific. The latter still operates rail-tour services to Calgary, while the former has terminated its westbound services at Banff, two hours to the west.
+
+Calgary Transit provides public transportation services throughout the city with buses and light rail. Calgary's light rail system, known as the C-Train, was one of the first such systems in North America (behind Edmonton LRT). It consists of four lines (two routes) and 44 stations on 58.2 km (36.2 mi) of track. The Calgary LRT is one of the continent's busiest carrying 270,000 passengers per weekday and approximately half of Calgary downtown workers take the transit to work. The C-Train is also North America's first and only LRT to run on 100% renewable energy.[201]
+
+As an alternative to the over 260 km (160 mi) of shared bikeways on streets, the city has a network of multi-use (bicycle, walking, rollerblading, etc.) paths spanning over 935 km (581 mi).[173] The Peace Bridge provides pedestrians and cyclists, access to the downtown core from the north side of the Bow river. The bridge ranked among the top 10 architectural projects in 2012 and among the top 10 public spaces of 2012.[202]
+
+In the 1960s, Calgary started to develop a series of pedestrian bridges, connecting many downtown buildings.[203] To connect many of the downtown office buildings, the city also boasts the world's most extensive skyway network (elevated indoor pedestrian bridges), officially called the +15. The name derives from the fact that the bridges are usually 15 ft (4.6 m) above ground.[204]
+
+Calgary has four major adult acute care hospitals and one major pediatric acute care site: the Alberta Children's Hospital, the Foothills Medical Centre, the Peter Lougheed Centre, the Rockyview General Hospital and the South Health Campus. They are all overseen by the Calgary Zone of the Alberta Health Services, formerly the Calgary Health Region. Calgary is also home to the Tom Baker Cancer Centre (located at the Foothills Medical Centre), the Grace Women's Health Centre, which provides a variety of care, and the Libin Cardiovascular Institute. In addition, the Sheldon M. Chumir Centre (a large 24-hour assessment clinic), and the Richmond Road Diagnostic and Treatment Centre (RRDTC), as well as hundreds of smaller medical and dental clinics operate in Calgary. The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Calgary also operates in partnership with Alberta Health Services, by researching cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, joint injury, arthritis and genetics.[205] The Alberta children's hospital, built in 2006, replaced the old Children's Hospital.
+
+The four largest Calgary hospitals have a combined total of more than 2,100 beds, and employ over 11,500 people.[206]
+
+In the 2011–2012 school year, 100,632 K-12 students enrolled in 221 schools in the English language public school system run by the Calgary Board of Education.[207] With other students enrolled in the associated CBe-learn and Chinook Learning Service programs, the school system's total enrolment is 104,182 students.[207] Another 43,000 attend about 95 schools in the separate English language Calgary Catholic School District board.[208] The much smaller Francophone community has their own French language school board (The Southern Francophone Education Region No. 4), which is also based in Calgary, but serves a larger regional district. There are also several public charter schools in the city. Calgary has a number of unique schools, including the country's first high school exclusively designed for Olympic-calibre athletes, the National Sport School.[209] Calgary is also home to many private schools including Mountain View Academy, Rundle College, Rundle Academy, Clear Water Academy, Calgary French and International School, Chinook Winds Adventist Academy, Webber Academy, Delta West Academy, Masters Academy, Calgary Islamic School, Menno Simons Christian School, West Island College, Edge School, Calgary Christian School, Heritage Christian Academy, and Bearspaw Christian School.
+
+Calgary is also home to what was Western Canada's largest public high school, Lord Beaverbrook High School, with 2,241 students enrolled in the 2005–2006 school year.[210] Currently the student population of Lord Beaverbrook is 1,812 students (September 2012) and several other schools are equally as large; Western Canada High School with 2,035 students (2009) and Sir Winston Churchill High School with 1,983 students (2009).
+
+The publicly funded University of Calgary (U of C) is Calgary's largest degree-granting facility with an enrolment of 28,464 students in 2011.[211] Mount Royal University, with 13,000 students, grants degrees in a number of fields. SAIT Polytechnic, with over 14,000 students, provides polytechnic and apprentice education, granting certificates, diplomas and applied degrees. Athabasca University provides distance education programs.
+
+Other publicly funded post-secondary institutions based in Calgary include the Alberta University of the Arts, Ambrose University College (associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance and the Church of the Nazarene), Bow Valley College, St. Mary's University and the U of C.[212] The publicly funded Athabasca University, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), and the University of Lethbridge[212] also have campuses in Calgary.[213][214][215]
+
+Several independent private institutions are located in the city. This includes Reeves College, MaKami College, Robertson College, Columbia College, Alberta Bible College, and CDI College.
+
+Calgary's daily newspapers include the Calgary Herald, Calgary Sun and StarMetro.
+
+Calgary is the sixth largest television market in Canada.[216] Broadcasts stations serving Calgary include CICT 2 (Global), CFCN 4 (CTV), CKAL 5 (City), CBRT 9 (CBC), CKCS 32 (YesTV), and CJCO 38 (Omni). Network affiliate programming from the United States originates from Spokane, Washington.
+
+There are a wide range of radio stations, including a station for First Nations and the Asian Canadian community.
+
+The City of Calgary maintains trade development programs, cultural and educational partnerships in twinning agreements with six cities:[217][218]
+
+Calgary is one of nine Canadian cities, out of the total of 98 cities internationally, that is in the New York City Global Partners, Inc. organization,[220] which was formed in 2006 from the former Sister City program of the City of New York, Inc.[221]

en/806.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,359 @@
+Coordinates: 37°N 120°W / 37°N 120°W / 37; -120
+
+California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.5 million residents across a total area of about 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area, and is also the world's thirty-fourth most populous subnational entity. California is also the most populated subnational entity in North America, and has its state capital in Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 9.7 million residents respectively.[15] Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second-most populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.
+
+California's economy, with a gross state product of $3.0 trillion, is the largest sub-national economy in the world.[16] If it were a country, California would be the fifth-largest economy in the world,[17] and the 37th-most populous as of 2020[update].[18] The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.3 trillion and $1.0 trillion respectively as of 2020[update]), after the New York metropolitan area ($2.0 trillion).[19] The San Francisco Bay Area PSA had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita in 2018 ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas,[20] and is home to four of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization[21] and four of the world's ten richest people.[22]
+
+California culture is considered a global trendsetter in popular culture, communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, politics, and entertainment. As a result of the state's diversity and migration, California integrates foods, languages, and traditions from other areas across the country and around the globe. It is considered the origin of the American film industry, the hippie counterculture, barbecue, fast food, beach and car culture, the Internet,[23] and the personal computer,[24] among others.[25][26] The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as centers of the global technology and entertainment industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services.[27] Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy,[27] California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state.[28][29][30]
+
+California shares a border with Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. The state's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. Although California is well-known for its warm Mediterranean climate, the large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains. Over time, drought and wildfires have become more frequent.[31][32]
+
+What is now California was first settled by various Native Californian tribes before being explored by a number of Europeans during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish Empire then claimed and colonized it. In 1804 it was included in Alta California province, within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its successful war for independence but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850. The California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom.
+
+The Spaniards gave the name Las Californias to the peninsula of Baja California and to Alta California, the region that became the present-day states of California, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming.[33]
+
+The name likely derived from the mythical island of California in the fictional story of Queen Calafia, as recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.[34] This work was the fifth in a popular Spanish chivalric romance series that began with Amadis de Gaula.[34][35][36][37] Queen Calafia's kingdom was said to be a remote land rich in gold and pearls, inhabited by beautiful black women who wore gold armor and lived like Amazons, as well as griffins and other strange beasts.[34][38][39] In the fictional paradise, the ruler Queen Calafia fought alongside Muslims and her name may have been chosen to echo the title of a Muslim leader, the Caliph. It is possible the name California was meant to imply the island was a Caliphate.[34][40]
+
+Know ye that at the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California, very close to that part of the Terrestrial Paradise, which was inhabited by black women without a single man among them, and they lived in the manner of Amazons. They were robust of body with strong passionate hearts and great virtue. The island itself is one of the wildest in the world on account of the bold and craggy rocks.
+
+Shortened forms of the state's name include CA, Cal., Calif., and US-CA.
+
+Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. Various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000.[42] The indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct ethnic groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their political organization with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups.
+
+The first European to explore the California coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later privateer and explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their return trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565.[43] The first Asians to set foot on what would be the United States occurred in 1587, when Filipino sailors arrived in Spanish ships at Morro Bay.[44] Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain.
+
+Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's idea of California as an island persisted. That depiction appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.[45]
+
+After the Portolà expedition of 1769–70, Spanish missionaries led by Junipero Serra began setting up 21 California Missions on or near the coast of Alta (Upper) California, beginning in San Diego. During the same period, Spanish military forces built several forts (presidios) and three small towns (pueblos). The San Francisco Mission grew into the city of San Francisco, and two of the pueblos grew into the cities of Los Angeles and San Jose. Several other smaller cities and towns also sprang up surrounding the various Spanish missions and pueblos, which remain to this day.
+
+The Spanish colonization began decimating the natives through epidemics of various diseases for which the indigenous peoples had no natural immunity, such as measles and diphtheria.[46] The establishment of the Spanish systems of government and social structure, which the Spanish settlers had brought with them, also technologically and culturally overwhelmed the societies of the earlier indigenous peoples.
+
+During this same period, Russian ships also explored along the California coast and in 1812 established a trading post at Fort Ross. Russia's early 19th-century coastal settlements in California were positioned just north of the northernmost edge of the area of Spanish settlement in San Francisco Bay, and were the southernmost Russian settlements in North America. The Russian settlements associated with Fort Ross were spread from Point Arena to Tomales Bay.[47]
+
+In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave Mexico (including California) independence from Spain. For the next 25 years, Alta California remained as a remote, sparsely populated, northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of Mexico.
+
+After Mexican independence from Spain, the missions, which controlled most of the best land in the state, were secularized by 1834 and became the property of the Mexican government.[49] The governor granted many square leagues of land to others with political influence. These huge ranchos or cattle ranches emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Hispanics native of California) who traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a commodity until the 1849 gold Rush.
+
+From the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and the future Canada arrived in Northern California. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts in and surrounding California.
+
+The early government of the newly independent Mexico was highly unstable, and in a reflection of this, from 1831 onwards, California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internal and with the central Mexican government.[50] During this tumultuous political period Juan Bautista Alvarado was able to secure the governorship during 1836–1842.[51] The military action which first brought Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California to be an independent state, and had been aided by American and British residents of California,[52] including Isaac Graham.[53] In 1840, one hundred of those residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the Graham affair.[52]
+
+One of the largest ranchers in California was John Marsh. After failing to obtain justice against squatters on his land from the Mexican courts, he determined that California should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, the soil, and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route". His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first wagon trains rolling to California.[54] He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports.[55]
+
+After ushering in the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh helped end the rule of the last Mexican governor of California, thereby paving the way to California's ultimate acquisition by the United States.[56]
+
+In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterwards, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was William B. Ide,[57] who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California and was closely coordinated with nearby American military commanders.
+
+The California Republic was short lived;[58] the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–48).[59] When Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay and began the military occupation of California by the United States, Northern California capitulated in less than a month to the United States forces.[60] After a series of defensive battles in Southern California, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing American control in California.[61]
+
+Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American Territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The even more lightly populated and arid lower region of old Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.[62]
+
+In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans, Chinese and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. By the time of California's application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By 1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come.[63] Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.[64] California was suddenly no longer a sparsely populated backwater, but seemingly overnight it had grown into a major population center.
+
+The seat of government for California under Spanish and later Mexican rule had been located in Monterey from 1777 until 1845.[49] Pio Pico, last Mexican governor of Alta California, had briefly moved the capital to Los Angeles in 1845. The United States consulate had also been located in Monterey, under consul Thomas O. Larkin.
+
+In 1849, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Monterey. Among the first tasks of the Convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852–1853), and nearby Benicia (1853–1854); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854[65] with only a short break in 1862 when legislative sessions were held in San Francisco due to flooding in Sacramento.
+
+Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the U.S. Congress for admission to statehood. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, California became a free state and September 9 a state holiday.
+
+During the American Civil War (1861–1865), California was able to send gold shipments eastwards to Washington in support of the Union cause;[66] however, due to the existence of a large contingent of pro-South sympathizers within the state, the state was not able to muster any full military regiments to send eastwards to officially serve in the Union war effort. Still, several smaller military units within the Union army were unofficially associated with the state of California, such as the "California 100 Company", due to a majority of their members being from California.
+
+At the time of California's admission into the Union, travel between California and the rest of the continental United States had been a time-consuming and dangerous feat. Nineteen years afterwards, in 1869, shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War, a more direct connection was developed with the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. California was then easy to reach.
+
+Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.
+
+Under earlier Spanish and Mexican rule, California's original native population had precipitously declined, above all, from Eurasian diseases to which the indigenous people of California had not yet developed a natural immunity.[67] Under its new American administration, California's harsh governmental policies towards its own indigenous people did not improve. As in other American states, many of the native inhabitants were soon forcibly removed from their lands by incoming American settlers such as miners, ranchers, and farmers. Although California had entered the American union as a free state, the "loitering or orphaned Indians" were de facto enslaved by their new Anglo-American masters under the 1853 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians.[citation needed] There were also massacres in which hundreds of indigenous people were killed.
+
+Between 1850 and 1860, the California state government paid around 1.5 million dollars (some 250,000 of which was reimbursed by the federal government)[68] to hire militias whose purpose was to protect settlers from the indigenous populations. In later decades, the native population was placed in reservations and rancherias, which were often small and isolated and without enough natural resources or funding from the government to sustain the populations living on them.[citation needed] As a result, the rise of California was a calamity for the native inhabitants. Several scholars and Native American activists, including Benjamin Madley and Ed Castillo, have described the actions of the California government as a genocide.[69]
+
+Migration to California accelerated during the early 20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to the greatest in the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported California's population as 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5% non-Hispanic white.[70]
+
+To meet the population's needs, major engineering feats like the California and Los Angeles Aqueducts; the Oroville and Shasta Dams; and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges were built across the state. The state government also adopted the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960 to develop a highly efficient system of public education.
+
+Meanwhile, attracted to the mild Mediterranean climate, cheap land, and the state's wide variety of geography, filmmakers established the studio system in Hollywood in the 1920s. California manufactured 8.7 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking third (behind New York and Michigan) among the 48 states.[71] California however easily ranked first in production of military ships during the war (transport, cargo, [merchant ships] such as Liberty ships, Victory ships, and warships) at drydock facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area.[72][73][74][75] After World War II, California's economy greatly expanded due to strong aerospace and defense industries,[76] whose size decreased following the end of the Cold War.[76][77] Stanford University and its Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in California instead of leaving the state, and develop a high-tech region in the area now known as Silicon Valley.[78] As a result of these efforts, California is regarded as a world center of the entertainment and music industries, of technology, engineering, and the aerospace industry, and as the United States center of agricultural production.[79] Just before the Dot Com Bust, California had the fifth-largest economy in the world among nations.[80] Yet since 1991, and starting in the late 1980s in Southern California, California has seen a net loss of domestic migrants in most years. This is often referred to by the media as the California exodus.[81]
+
+During the 20th century, two great disasters happened in California. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and 1928 St. Francis Dam flood remain the deadliest in U.S history.[82]
+
+Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze known as "smog" has been substantially abated after the passage of federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.[83][84]
+
+An energy crisis in 2001 led to rolling blackouts, soaring power rates, and the importation of electricity from neighboring states. Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company came under heavy criticism.[85]
+
+Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost $25,000 would cost half a million dollars or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas. Speculators bought houses they never intended to live in, expecting to make a huge profit in a matter of months, then rolling it over by buying more properties. Mortgage companies were compliant, as everyone assumed the prices would keep rising. The bubble burst in 2007-8 as housing prices began to crash and the boom years ended. Hundreds of billions in property values vanished and foreclosures soared as many financial institutions and investors were badly hurt.[86][87]
+
+California is the 3rd largest state in the United States in area, after Alaska and Texas.[88] California is often geographically bisected into two regions, Southern California, comprising the 10 southernmost counties,[89][90] and Northern California, comprising the 48 northernmost counties.[91][92] It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east and northeast, Arizona to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and it shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the south (with which it makes up part of The Californias region of North America, alongside Baja California Sur).
+
+In the middle of the state lies the California Central Valley, bounded by the Sierra Nevada in the east, the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the Cascade Range to the north and by the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. The Central Valley is California's productive agricultural heartland.
+
+Divided in two by the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the northern portion, the Sacramento Valley serves as the watershed of the Sacramento River, while the southern portion, the San Joaquin Valley is the watershed for the San Joaquin River. Both valleys derive their names from the rivers that flow through them. With dredging, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin Rivers have remained deep enough for several inland cities to be seaports.
+
+The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is a critical water supply hub for the state. Water is diverted from the delta and through an extensive network of pumps and canals that traverse nearly the length of the state, to the Central Valley and the State Water Projects and other needs. Water from the Delta provides drinking water for nearly 23 million people, almost two-thirds of the state's population as well as water for farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
+
+Suisun Bay lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. The water is drained by the Carquinez Strait, which flows into San Pablo Bay, a northern extension of San Francisco Bay, which then connects to the Pacific Ocean via the Golden Gate strait.
+
+The Channel Islands are located off the Southern coast, while the Farallon Islands lie west of San Francisco.
+
+The Sierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy range") includes the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states, Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4,421 m).[4][5][6] The range embraces Yosemite Valley, famous for its glacially carved domes, and Sequoia National Park, home to the giant sequoia trees, the largest living organisms on Earth, and the deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe, the largest lake in the state by volume.
+
+To the east of the Sierra Nevada are Owens Valley and Mono Lake, an essential migratory bird habitat. In the western part of the state is Clear Lake, the largest freshwater lake by area entirely in California. Although Lake Tahoe is larger, it is divided by the California/Nevada border. The Sierra Nevada falls to Arctic temperatures in winter and has several dozen small glaciers, including Palisade Glacier, the southernmost glacier in the United States.
+
+About 45 percent of the state's total surface area is covered by forests,[93] and California's diversity of pine species is unmatched by any other state. California contains more forestland than any other state except Alaska. Many of the trees in the California White Mountains are the oldest in the world; an individual bristlecone pine is over 5,000 years old.[94][95]
+
+In the south is a large inland salt lake, the Salton Sea. The south-central desert is called the Mojave; to the northeast of the Mojave lies Death Valley, which contains the lowest and hottest place in North America, the Badwater Basin at −279 feet (−85 m).[8] The horizontal distance from the bottom of Death Valley to the top of Mount Whitney is less than 90 miles (140 km). Indeed, almost all of southeastern California is arid, hot desert, with routine extreme high temperatures during the summer. The southeastern border of California with Arizona is entirely formed by the Colorado River, from which the southern part of the state gets about half of its water.
+
+A majority of California's cities are located in either the San Francisco Bay Area or the Sacramento metropolitan area in Northern California; or the Los Angeles area, the Riverside-San Bernardino-Inland Empire, or the San Diego metropolitan area in Southern California. The Los Angeles Area, the Bay Area, and the San Diego metropolitan area are among several major metropolitan areas along the California coast.
+
+As part of the Ring of Fire, California is subject to tsunamis, floods, droughts, Santa Ana winds, wildfires, landslides on steep terrain, and has several volcanoes. It has many earthquakes due to several faults running through the state, the largest being the San Andreas Fault. About 37,000 earthquakes are recorded each year, but most are too small to be felt.[96]
+
+A reference map of California
+
+A topographic map of California
+
+A forest of redwood trees in Redwood National Park
+
+Köppen climate types in California
+
+Mount Shasta
+
+Aerial view of the California Central Valley
+
+Big Sur coast, south of Monterey at Bixby Bridge
+
+Yosemite National Park
+
+Snow on the Sierra Nevada in eastern California
+
+Death Valley, in the Mojave Desert
+
+Potato Harbor, named for its distinctive ovular and bumpy shape,[97] on Santa Cruz Island
+
+The coastline along Laguna Beach in Southern California
+
+Cylindropuntia bigelovii in the Joshua Tree National Park
+
+Mojave National Preserve
+
+The Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta viewed from above, with the Sacramento River above and San Joaquin River below
+
+Glamis sand dunes
+
+Although most of the state has a Mediterranean climate, due to the state's large size the climate ranges from polar to subtropical. The cool California Current offshore often creates summer fog near the coast. Farther inland, there are colder winters and hotter summers. The maritime moderation results in the shoreline summertime temperatures of Los Angeles and San Francisco being the coolest of all major metropolitan areas of the United States and uniquely cool compared to areas on the same latitude in the interior and on the east coast of the North American continent. Even the San Diego shoreline bordering Mexico is cooler in summer than most areas in the contiguous United States. Just a few miles inland, summer temperature extremes are significantly higher, with downtown Los Angeles being several degrees warmer than at the coast. The same microclimate phenomenon is seen in the climate of the Bay Area, where areas sheltered from the sea experience significantly hotter summers than nearby areas closer to the ocean.
+
+Northern parts of the state have more rain than the south. California's mountain ranges also influence the climate: some of the rainiest parts of the state are west-facing mountain slopes. Northwestern California has a temperate climate, and the Central Valley has a Mediterranean climate but with greater temperature extremes than the coast. The high mountains, including the Sierra Nevada, have an alpine climate with snow in winter and mild to moderate heat in summer.
+
+California's mountains produce rain shadows on the eastern side, creating extensive deserts. The higher elevation deserts of eastern California have hot summers and cold winters, while the low deserts east of the Southern California mountains have hot summers and nearly frostless mild winters. Death Valley, a desert with large expanses below sea level, is considered the hottest location in the world; the highest temperature in the world,[98][99] 134 °F (56.7 °C), was recorded there on July 10, 1913. The lowest temperature in California was −45 °F (−43 °C) on January 20, 1937 in Boca.[100]
+
+The table below lists average temperatures for January and August in a selection of places throughout the state; some highly populated and some not. This includes the relatively cool summers of the Humboldt Bay region around Eureka, the extreme heat of Death Valley, and the mountain climate of Mammoth in the Sierra Nevadas.
+
+California is one of the richest and most diverse parts of the world, and includes some of the most endangered ecological communities. California is part of the Nearctic realm and spans a number of terrestrial ecoregions.[102]
+
+California's large number of endemic species includes relict species, which have died out elsewhere, such as the Catalina ironwood (Lyonothamnus floribundus). Many other endemics originated through differentiation or adaptive radiation, whereby multiple species develop from a common ancestor to take advantage of diverse ecological conditions such as the California lilac (Ceanothus). Many California endemics have become endangered, as urbanization, logging, overgrazing, and the introduction of exotic species have encroached on their habitat.
+
+California boasts several superlatives in its collection of flora: the largest trees, the tallest trees, and the oldest trees. California's native grasses are perennial plants.[103] After European contact, these were generally replaced by invasive species of European annual grasses; and, in modern times, California's hills turn a characteristic golden-brown in summer.[104]
+
+Because California has the greatest diversity of climate and terrain, the state has six life zones which are the lower Sonoran (desert); upper Sonoran (foothill regions and some coastal lands), transition (coastal areas and moist northeastern counties); and the Canadian, Hudsonian, and Arctic Zones, comprising the state's highest elevations.[105]
+
+Plant life in the dry climate of the lower Sonoran zone contains a diversity of native cactus, mesquite, and paloverde. The Joshua tree is found in the Mojave Desert. Flowering plants include the dwarf desert poppy and a variety of asters. Fremont cottonwood and valley oak thrive in the Central Valley. The upper Sonoran zone includes the chaparral belt, characterized by forests of small shrubs, stunted trees, and herbaceous plants. Nemophila, mint, Phacelia, Viola, and the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica, the state flower) also flourish in this zone, along with the lupine, more species of which occur here than anywhere else in the world.[105]
+
+The transition zone includes most of California's forests with the redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and the "big tree" or giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum), among the oldest living things on earth (some are said to have lived at least 4,000 years). Tanbark oak, California laurel, sugar pine, madrona, broad-leaved maple, and Douglas-fir also grow here. Forest floors are covered with swordfern, alumnroot, barrenwort, and trillium, and there are thickets of huckleberry, azalea, elder, and wild currant. Characteristic wild flowers include varieties of mariposa, tulip, and tiger and leopard lilies.[106]
+
+The high elevations of the Canadian zone allow the Jeffrey pine, red fir, and lodgepole pine to thrive. Brushy areas are abundant with dwarf manzanita and ceanothus; the unique Sierra puffball is also found here. Right below the timberline, in the Hudsonian zone, the whitebark, foxtail, and silver pines grow. At about 10,500 feet (3,200 m), begins the Arctic zone, a treeless region whose flora include a number of wildflowers, including Sierra primrose, yellow columbine, alpine buttercup, and alpine shooting star.[105][107]
+
+Common plants that have been introduced to the state include the eucalyptus, acacia, pepper tree, geranium, and Scotch broom. The species that are federally classified as endangered are the Contra Costa wallflower, Antioch Dunes evening primrose, Solano grass, San Clemente Island larkspur, salt marsh bird's beak, McDonald's rock-cress, and Santa Barbara Island liveforever. As of December 1997[update], 85 plant species were listed as threatened or endangered.[105]
+
+In the deserts of the lower Sonoran zone, the mammals include the jackrabbit, kangaroo rat, squirrel, and opossum. Common birds include the owl, roadrunner, cactus wren, and various species of hawk. The area's reptilian life include the sidewinder viper, desert tortoise, and horned toad. The upper Sonoran zone boasts mammals such as the antelope, brown-footed woodrat, and ring-tailed cat. Birds unique to this zone are the California thrasher, bushtit, and California condor.[105][108][109][110]
+
+In the transition zone, there are Colombian black-tailed deer, black bears, gray foxes, cougars, bobcats, and Roosevelt elk. Reptiles such as the garter snakes and rattlesnakes inhabit the zone. In addition, amphibians such as the water puppy and redwood salamander are common too. Birds such as the kingfisher, chickadee, towhee, and hummingbird thrive here as well.[105][111]
+
+The Canadian zone mammals include the mountain weasel, snowshoe hare, and several species of chipmunks. Conspicuous birds include the blue-fronted jay, Sierra chickadee, Sierra hermit thrush, water ouzel, and Townsend's solitaire. As one ascends into the Hudsonian zone, birds become scarcer. While the Sierra rosy finch is the only bird native to the high Arctic region, other bird species such as the hummingbird and Clark's nutcracker.[citation needed] Principal mammals found in this region include the Sierra coney, white-tailed jackrabbit, and the bighorn sheep. As of April 2003[update], the bighorn sheep was listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The fauna found throughout several zones are the mule deer, coyote, mountain lion, northern flicker, and several species of hawk and sparrow.[105]
+
+Aquatic life in California thrives, from the state's mountain lakes and streams to the rocky Pacific coastline. Numerous trout species are found, among them rainbow, golden, and cutthroat. Migratory species of salmon are common as well. Deep-sea life forms include sea bass, yellowfin tuna, barracuda, and several types of whale. Native to the cliffs of northern California are seals, sea lions, and many types of shorebirds, including migratory species.[105]
+
+As of April 2003[update], 118 California animals were on the federal endangered list; 181 plants were listed as endangered or threatened. Endangered animals include the San Joaquin kitfox, Point Arena mountain beaver, Pacific pocket mouse, salt marsh harvest mouse, Morro Bay kangaroo rat (and five other species of kangaroo rat), Amargosa vole, California least tern, California condor, loggerhead shrike, San Clemente sage sparrow, San Francisco garter snake, five species of salamander, three species of chub, and two species of pupfish. Eleven butterflies are also endangered[112] and two that are threatened are on the federal list.[113][114] Among threatened animals are the coastal California gnatcatcher, Paiute cutthroat trout, southern sea otter, and northern spotted owl. California has a total of 290,821 acres (1,176.91 km2) of National Wildlife Refuges.[105] As of September 2010[update], 123 California animals were listed as either endangered or threatened on the federal list.[115] Also, as of the same year[update], 178 species of California plants were listed either as endangered or threatened on this federal list.[115]
+
+The most prominent river system within California is formed by the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, which are fed mostly by snowmelt from the west slope of the Sierra Nevada, and respectively drain the north and south halves of the Central Valley. The two rivers join in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, flowing into the Pacific Ocean through San Francisco Bay. Many major tributaries feed into the Sacramento–San Joaquin system, including the Pit River, Feather River and Tuolumne River.
+
+The Klamath and Trinity Rivers drain a large area in far northwestern California. The Eel River and Salinas River each drain portions of the California coast, north and south of San Francisco Bay, respectively. The Mojave River is the primary watercourse in the Mojave Desert, and the Santa Ana River drains much of the Transverse Ranges as it bisects Southern California. The Colorado River forms the state's southeast border with Arizona.
+
+Most of California's major rivers are dammed as part of two massive water projects: the Central Valley Project, providing water for agriculture in the Central Valley, and the California State Water Project diverting water from northern to southern California. The state's coasts, rivers, and other bodies of water are regulated by the California Coastal Commission.
+
+The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of California was 39,512,223 on July 1, 2019, a 6.06% increase since the 2010 United States Census.[9][10] The population is projected to reach 40 million by 2020 and 50 million by 2060.[120]
+
+Between 2000 and 2009, there was a natural increase of 3,090,016 (5,058,440 births minus 2,179,958 deaths).[121] During this time period, international migration produced a net increase of 1,816,633 people while domestic migration produced a net decrease of 1,509,708, resulting in a net in-migration of 306,925 people.[121] The state of California's own statistics show a population of 38,292,687 for January 1, 2009.[122] However, according to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, since 1990 almost 3.4 million Californians have moved to other states, with most leaving to Texas, Nevada, and Arizona.[123]
+
+Within the Western hemisphere California is the second most populous sub-national administrative entity (behind the state of São Paulo in Brazil)[124] and third most populous sub-national entity of any kind outside Asia (in which wider category it also ranks behind England in the United Kingdom, which has no administrative functions). California's population is greater than that of all but 34 countries of the world.[125][126] The Greater Los Angeles Area is the 2nd-largest metropolitan area in the United States, after the New York metropolitan area, while Los Angeles, with nearly half the population of New York City, is the second-largest city in the United States. Conversely, San Francisco, with nearly one-quarter the population density of Manhattan, is the most densely populated city in California and one of the most densely populated cities in the United States. Also, Los Angeles County has held the title of most populous United States county for decades, and it alone is more populous than 42 United States states.[127][128] Including Los Angeles, four of the top 15 most populous cities in the U.S. are in California: Los Angeles (2nd), San Diego (8th), San Jose (10th), and San Francisco (13th). The center of population of California is located in the town of Buttonwillow, Kern County.[note 1]
+
+The state has 482 incorporated cities and towns, of which 460 are cities and 22 are towns. Under California law, the terms "city" and "town" are explicitly interchangeable; the name of an incorporated municipality in the state can either be "City of (Name)" or "Town of (Name)".[130]
+
+Sacramento became California's first incorporated city on February 27, 1850.[131] San Jose, San Diego, and Benicia tied for California's second incorporated city, each receiving incorporation on March 27, 1850.[132][133][134] Jurupa Valley became the state's most recent and 482nd incorporated municipality on July 1, 2011.[135][136]
+
+The majority of these cities and towns are within one of five metropolitan areas: the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Riverside-San Bernardino Area, the San Diego metropolitan area, or the Sacramento metropolitan area.
+
+Starting in the year 2010, for the first time since the California Gold Rush, California-born residents make up the majority of the state's population.[141] Along with the rest of the United States, California's immigration pattern has also shifted over the course of the late 2000s to early 2010s.[142] Immigration from Latin American countries has dropped significantly with most immigrants now coming from Asia.[143] In total for 2011, there were 277,304 immigrants. Fifty-seven percent came from Asian countries versus 22% from Latin American countries.[143] Net immigration from Mexico, previously the most common country of origin for new immigrants, has dropped to zero / less than zero since more Mexican nationals are departing for their home country than immigrating.[142] As a result, it is projected that Hispanic citizens will constitute 49% of the population by 2060, instead of the previously projected 2050, due primarily to domestic births.[142][144]
+
+The state's population of undocumented immigrants has been shrinking in recent years, due to increased enforcement and decreased job opportunities for lower-skilled workers.[145] The number of migrants arrested attempting to cross the Mexican border in the Southwest decreased from a high of 1.1 million in 2005 to 367,000 in 2011.[146] Despite these recent trends, illegal aliens constituted an estimated 7.3 percent of the state's population, the third highest percentage of any state in the country,[147][note 2] totaling nearly 2.6 million.[148] In particular, illegal immigrants tended to be concentrated in Los Angeles, Monterey, San Benito, Imperial, and Napa Counties—the latter four of which have significant agricultural industries that depend on manual labor.[149] More than half of illegal immigrants originate from Mexico.[148] The state of California and some California cities, including Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco,[150] have adopted sanctuary policies.[151][152]
+
+According to the United States Census Bureau in 2018 the population self-identifies as (alone or in combination):[153]
+
+By ethnicity, in 2018 the population was 60.7% non-Hispanic (of any race) and 39.3% Hispanic or Latino (of any race). Hispanics are the largest single ethnic group in California.[153] Non-Hispanic whites constituted 36.8% of the state's population.[153] Californios are the Hispanic residents native to California, who are culturally or genetically descended from the Spanish-speaking community which has existed in California since 1542, of varying Mexican American/Chicano, Criollo Spaniard, and Mestizo origin.[154]
+
+As of 2011[update], 75.1% of California's population younger than age 1 were minorities, meaning they had at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white (white Hispanics are counted as minorities).[155]
+
+In terms of total numbers, California has the largest population of White Americans in the United States, an estimated 22,200,000 residents. The state has the 5th largest population of African Americans in the United States, an estimated 2,250,000 residents. California's Asian American population is estimated at 4.4 million, constituting a third of the nation's total. California's Native American population of 285,000 is the most of any state.[156]
+
+According to estimates from 2011, California has the largest minority population in the United States by numbers, making up 60% of the state population.[118] Over the past 25 years, the population of non-Hispanic whites has declined, while Hispanic and Asian populations have grown. Between 1970 and 2011, non-Hispanic whites declined from 80% of the state's population to 40%, while Hispanics grew from 32% in 2000 to 38% in 2011.[157] It is currently projected that Hispanics will rise to 49% of the population by 2060, primarily due to domestic births rather than immigration.[144] With the decline of immigration from Latin America, Asian Americans now constitute the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in California; this growth is primarily driven by immigration from China, India and the Philippines, respectively.[158]
+
+English serves as California's de jure and de facto official language. In 2010, the Modern Language Association of America estimated that 57.02% (19,429,309) of California residents age 5 and older spoke only English at home, while 42.98% spoke another language at home. According to the 2007 American Community Survey, 73% of people who speak a language other than English at home are able to speak English "well" or "very well," while 9.8% of them could not speak English at all.[165] Like most U.S. states (32 out of 50), California law enshrines English as its official language, and has done so since the passage of Proposition 63 by California voters. Various government agencies do, and are often required to, furnish documents in the various languages needed to reach their intended audiences.[166][167][168]
+
+In total, 16 languages other than English were spoken as primary languages at home by more than 100,000 persons, more than any other state in the nation. New York State, in second place, had nine languages other than English spoken by more than 100,000 persons.[169] The most common language spoken besides English was Spanish, spoken by 28.46% (9,696,638) of the population.[144][142] With Asia contributing most of California's new immigrants, California had the highest concentration nationwide of Vietnamese and Chinese speakers, the second highest concentration of Korean, and the third highest concentration of Tagalog speakers.[165]
+
+California has historically been one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world, with more than 70 indigenous languages derived from 64 root languages in six language families.[170][171] A survey conducted between 2007 and 2009 identified 23 different indigenous languages among California farmworkers.[172] All of California's indigenous languages are endangered, although there are now efforts toward language revitalization.[note 3]
+
+As a result of the state's increasing diversity and migration from other areas across the country and around the globe, linguists began noticing a noteworthy set of emerging characteristics of spoken American English in California since the late 20th century. This variety, known as California English, has a vowel shift and several other phonological processes that are different from varieties of American
+English used in other regions of the United States.[173]
+
+The culture of California is a Western culture and most clearly has its modern roots in the culture of the United States, but also, historically, many Hispanic Californio and Mexican influences. As a border and coastal state, Californian culture has been greatly influenced by several large immigrant populations, especially those from Latin America and Asia.[174][failed verification]
+
+California has long been a subject of interest in the public mind and has often been promoted by its boosters as a kind of paradise. In the early 20th century, fueled by the efforts of state and local boosters, many Americans saw the Golden State as an ideal resort destination, sunny and dry all year round with easy access to the ocean and mountains. In the 1960s, popular music groups such as The Beach Boys promoted the image of Californians as laid-back, tanned beach-goers.
+
+The California Gold Rush of the 1850s is still seen as a symbol of California's economic style, which tends to generate technology, social, entertainment, and economic fads and booms and related busts.
+
+Hollywood and the rest of the Los Angeles area is a major global center for entertainment, with the U.S. film industry's "Big Five" major film studios (Columbia, Disney, Paramount, Universal, and Warner Bros.) being based in or around the area.
+
+The four major American television broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) all have production facilities and offices in the state. All four, plus the two major Spanish-language networks (Telemundo and Univision) each have at least two owned-and-operated TV stations in California, one in Los Angeles and one in the San Francisco Bay Area.
+
+The San Francisco Bay Area is home to several prominent internet media and social media companies, including three of the "Big Five" technology companies (Apple, Facebook, and Google) as well as other services such as Netflix, Pandora Radio, Twitter, Yahoo!, and YouTube.
+
+One of the oldest radio stations in the United States still in existence, KCBS (AM) in the Bay Area, was founded in 1909. Universal Music Group, one of the "Big Four" record labels, is based in Santa Monica. California is also the birthplace of several international music genres, including the Bakersfield sound, Bay Area thrash metal, g-funk, nu metal, stoner rock, surf music, West Coast hip hop, and West Coast jazz.
+
+The largest religious denominations by number of adherents as a percentage of California's population in 2014 were the Catholic Church with 28 percent, Evangelical Protestants with 20 percent, and Mainline Protestants with 10 percent. Together, all kinds of Protestants accounted for 32 percent. Those unaffiliated with any religion represented 27 percent of the population. The breakdown of other religions is 1% Muslim, 2% Hindu and 2% Buddhist.[175] This is a change from 2008, when the population identified their religion with the Catholic Church with 31 percent; Evangelical Protestants with 18 percent; and Mainline Protestants with 14 percent. In 2008, those unaffiliated with any religion represented 21 percent of the population. The breakdown of other religions in 2008 was 0.5% Muslim, 1% Hindu and 2% Buddhist.[176] The American Jewish Year Book placed the total Jewish population of California at about 1,194,190 in 2006.[177] According to the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) the largest denominations by adherents in 2010 were the Roman Catholic Church with 10,233,334; The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 763,818; and the Southern Baptist Convention with 489,953.[178]
+
+The first priests to come to California were Roman Catholic missionaries from Spain. Roman Catholics founded 21 missions along the California coast, as well as the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. California continues to have a large Roman Catholic population due to the large numbers of Mexicans and Central Americans living within its borders. California has twelve dioceses and two archdioceses, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the former being the largest archdiocese in the United States.
+
+A Pew Research Center survey revealed that California is somewhat less religious than the rest of the states: 62 percent of Californians say they are "absolutely certain" of their belief in God, while in the nation 71 percent say so. The survey also revealed 48 percent of Californians say religion is "very important", compared to 56 percent nationally.[179]
+
+California has nineteen major professional sports league franchises, far more than any other state. The San Francisco Bay Area has six major league teams spread in its three major cities: San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland, while the Greater Los Angeles Area is home to ten major league franchises. San Diego and Sacramento each have one major league team. The NFL Super Bowl has been hosted in California 11 times at four different stadiums: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, Stanford Stadium, and San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium. A twelfth, Super Bowl 50, was held at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara on February 7, 2016.[180]
+
+California has long had many respected collegiate sports programs. California is home to the oldest college bowl game, the annual Rose Bowl, among others.
+
+California is the only U.S. state to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The 1932 and 1984 summer games were held in Los Angeles. Squaw Valley Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe region hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics, marking the fourth time that California will have hosted the Olympic Games.[181] Multiple games during the 1994 FIFA World Cup took place in California, with the Rose Bowl hosting eight matches (including the final), while Stanford Stadium hosted six matches.
+
+Public secondary education consists of high schools that teach elective courses in trades, languages, and liberal arts with tracks for gifted, college-bound and industrial arts students. California's public educational system is supported by a unique constitutional amendment that requires a minimum annual funding level for grades K–12 and community colleges that grow with the economy and student enrollment figures.[182]
+
+In 2016, California's K–12 public school per-pupil spending was ranked 22nd in the nation ($11,500 per student vs. $11,800 for the U.S. average).[183]
+
+For 2012, California's K–12 public schools ranked 48th in the number of employees per student, at 0.102 (the U.S. average was 0.137), while paying the 7th most per employee, $49,000 (the U.S. average was $39,000).[184][185][186]
+
+A 2007 study concluded that California's public school system was "broken" in that it suffered from over-regulation.[187]
+
+California's public postsecondary education offers three separate systems:
+
+California is also home to such notable private universities as Stanford University, the University of Southern California, the California Institute of Technology, and the Claremont Colleges. California has hundreds of other private colleges and universities, including many religious and special-purpose institutions.
+
+California has twinning arrangements with the region of Catalonia in Spain[194]
+and with the Province of Alberta in Canada.[195][196]
+
+California's economy ranks among the largest in the world. As of 2019[update], the gross state product (GSP) was $3.2 trillion ($80,600 per capita), the largest in the United States.[197] California is responsible for 1/7 of the United States' approximate $22 trillion gross domestic product (GDP).[198] As of 2018[update], California's nominal GDP is larger than all but four countries (the United States, China, Japan, and Germany).[199][200] In terms of Purchasing Power Parity,[201] it is larger than all but eight countries (the United States, China, India, Japan, Germany, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia).[202] California's economy is larger than Africa and Australia and is almost as large as South America.[203]
+
+The five largest sectors of employment in California are trade, transportation, and utilities; government; professional and business services; education and health services; and leisure and hospitality. In output, the five largest sectors are financial services, followed by trade, transportation, and utilities; education and health services; government; and manufacturing.[205] As of May 2020[update], California has an unemployment rate of 16.3%.[206]
+
+California's economy is dependent on trade and international related commerce accounts for about one-quarter of the state's economy. In 2008, California exported $144 billion worth of goods, up from $134 billion in 2007 and $127 billion in 2006.[207]
+Computers and electronic products are California's top export, accounting for 42 percent of all the state's exports in 2008.[207]
+
+Agriculture is an important sector in California's economy. Farming-related sales more than quadrupled over the past three decades, from $7.3 billion in 1974 to nearly $31 billion in 2004.[208] This increase has occurred despite a 15 percent decline in acreage devoted to farming during the period, and water supply suffering from chronic instability. Factors contributing to the growth in sales-per-acre include more intensive use of active farmlands and technological improvements in crop production.[208] In 2008, California's 81,500 farms and ranches generated $36.2 billion products revenue.[209] In 2011, that number grew to $43.5 billion products revenue.[210] The Agriculture sector accounts for two percent of the state's GDP and employs around three percent of its total workforce.[211] According to the USDA in 2011, the three largest California agricultural products by value were milk and cream, shelled almonds, and grapes.[212]
+
+Per capita GDP in 2007 was $38,956, ranking eleventh in the nation.[213] Per capita income varies widely by geographic region and profession. The Central Valley is the most impoverished, with migrant farm workers making less than minimum wage. According to a 2005 report by the Congressional Research Service, the San Joaquin Valley was characterized as one of the most economically depressed regions in the United States, on par with the region of Appalachia.[214] Using the supplemental poverty measure, California has a poverty rate of 23.5%, the highest of any state in the country.[215] However, using the official measure the poverty rate was only 13.3% as of 2017.[216] Many coastal cities include some of the wealthiest per-capita areas in the United States. The high-technology sectors in Northern California, specifically Silicon Valley, in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, have emerged from the economic downturn caused by the dot-com bust.
+
+In 2019, there were 1,042,027 millionaire households in the state, more than any other state in the nation.[217] In 2010, California residents were ranked first among the states with the best average credit score of 754.[218]
+
+California GDP by sector in 2017[219]
+
+Had California been an independent country in 2018 its gross domestic product would have been ranked fifth in the world.[220]
+
+State spending increased from $56 billion in 1998 to $127 billion in 2011.[221][222] California, with 12% of the United States population, has one-third of the nation's welfare recipients.[223] California has the third highest per capita spending on welfare among the states, as well as the highest spending on welfare at $6.67 billion.[224] In January 2011, California's total debt was at least $265 billion.[225] On June 27, 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed a balanced budget (no deficit) for the state, its first in decades; however the state's debt remains at $132 billion.[226][227]
+
+With the passage of Proposition 30 in 2012 and Proposition 55 in 2016, California now levies a 13.3% maximum marginal income tax rate with ten tax brackets, ranging from 1% at the bottom tax bracket of $0 annual individual income to 13.3% for annual individual income over $1,000,000 (though the top brackets are only temporary until Proposition 55 expires at the end of 2030). While Proposition 30 also enacted a minimum state sales tax of 7.5%, this sales tax increase was not extended by Proposition 55 and reverted to a previous minimum state sales tax rate of 7.25% in 2017. Local governments can and do levy additional sales taxes in addition to this minimum rate.[228]
+
+All real property is taxable annually; the ad valorem tax is based on the property's fair market value at the time of purchase or the value of new construction. Property tax increases are capped at 2% annually or the rate of inflation (whichever is lower), per Proposition 13.
+
+Because it is the most populous state in the United States, California is one of the country's largest users of energy. However because of its high energy rates, conservation mandates, mild weather in the largest population centers and strong environmental movement, its per capita energy use is one of the smallest of any state in the United States.[229] Due to the high electricity demand, California imports more electricity than any other state, primarily hydroelectric power from states in the Pacific Northwest (via Path 15 and Path 66) and coal- and natural gas-fired production from the desert Southwest via Path 46.[230]
+
+As a result of the state's strong environmental movement, California has some of the most aggressive renewable energy goals in the United States, with a target for California to obtain a third of its electricity from renewables by 2020.[231] Currently, several solar power plants such as the Solar Energy Generating Systems facility are located in the Mojave Desert. California's wind farms include Altamont Pass, San Gorgonio Pass, and Tehachapi Pass. The Tehachapi area is also where the Tehachapi Energy Storage Project is located.[232]  Several dams across the state provide hydro-electric power. It would be possible to convert the total supply to 100% renewable energy, including heating, cooling and mobility, by 2050.[233]
+
+The state's crude oil and natural gas deposits are located in the Central Valley and along the coast, including the large Midway-Sunset Oil Field. Natural gas-fired power plants typically account for more than one-half of state electricity generation.
+
+California is also home to two major nuclear power plants: Diablo Canyon and San Onofre, the latter having been shut down in 2013. Voters banned the approval of new nuclear power plants since the late 1970s because of concerns over radioactive waste disposal.[234][note 4] In addition, several cities such as Oakland, Berkeley and Davis have declared themselves as nuclear-free zones.
+
+California's vast terrain is connected by an extensive system of controlled-access highways ('freeways'), limited-access roads ('expressways'), and highways. California is known for its car culture, giving California's cities a reputation for severe traffic congestion. Construction and maintenance of state roads and statewide transportation planning are primarily the responsibility of the California Department of Transportation, nicknamed "Caltrans". The rapidly growing population of the state is straining all of its transportation networks, and California has some of the worst roads in the United States.[236][237] The Reason Foundation's 19th Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems ranked California's highways the third-worst of any state, with Alaska second, and Rhode Island first.[238]
+
+The state has been a pioneer in road construction. One of the state's more visible landmarks, the Golden Gate Bridge, was the longest suspension bridge main span in the world at 4,200 feet (1,300 m) between 1937 (when it opened) and 1964. With its orange paint and panoramic views of the bay, this highway bridge is a popular tourist attraction and also accommodates pedestrians and bicyclists. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (often abbreviated the "Bay Bridge"), completed in 1936, transports about 280,000 vehicles per day on two-decks. Its two sections meet at Yerba Buena Island through the world's largest diameter transportation bore tunnel, at 76 feet (23 m) wide by 58 feet (18 m) high.[239] The Arroyo Seco Parkway, connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, opened in 1940 as the first freeway in the Western United States.[240] It was later extended south to the Four Level Interchange in downtown Los Angeles, regarded as the first stack interchange ever built.[241]
+
+Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the 4th busiest airport in the world in 2018, and San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the 25th busiest airport in the world in 2018, are major hubs for trans-Pacific and transcontinental traffic. There are about a dozen important commercial airports and many more general aviation airports throughout the state.
+
+California also has several important seaports. The giant seaport complex formed by the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach in Southern California is the largest in the country and responsible for handling about a fourth of all container cargo traffic in the United States. The Port of Oakland, fourth largest in the nation, also handles trade entering from the Pacific Rim to the rest of the country. The Port of Stockton is the farthest inland port on the west coast of the United States.[242]
+
+The California Highway Patrol is the largest statewide police agency in the United States in employment with more than 10,000 employees. They are responsible for providing any police-sanctioned service to anyone on California's state-maintained highways and on state property.
+
+The California Department of Motor Vehicles is by far the largest in North America. By the end of 2009, the California DMV had 26,555,006 driver's licenses and ID cards on file.[243] In 2010, there were 1.17 million new vehicle registrations in force.[244]
+
+Inter-city rail travel is provided by Amtrak California; the three routes, the Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner, and San Joaquin, are funded by Caltrans. These services are the busiest intercity rail lines in the United States outside the Northeast Corridor and ridership is continuing to set records. The routes are becoming increasingly popular over flying, especially on the LAX-SFO route.[245] Integrated subway and light rail networks are found in Los Angeles (Metro Rail) and San Francisco (MUNI Metro). Light rail systems are also found in San Jose (VTA), San Diego (San Diego Trolley), Sacramento (RT Light Rail), and Northern San Diego County (Sprinter). Furthermore, commuter rail networks serve the San Francisco Bay Area (ACE, BART, Caltrain, SMART), Greater Los Angeles (Metrolink), and San Diego County (Coaster).
+
+The California High-Speed Rail Authority was created in 1996 by the state to implement an extensive 800-mile (1,300 km) rail system. Construction was approved by the voters during the November 2008 general election,[246] with the first phase of construction estimated to cost $64.2 billion.[247]
+
+Nearly all counties operate bus lines, and many cities operate their own city bus lines as well. Intercity bus travel is provided by Greyhound, Megabus, and Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach.
+
+California's interconnected water system is the world's largest, managing over 40,000,000 acre feet (49 km3) of water per year, centered on six main systems of aqueducts and infrastructure projects.[248] Water use and conservation in California is a politically divisive issue, as the state experiences periodic droughts and has to balance the demands of its large agricultural and urban sectors, especially in the arid southern portion of the state. The state's widespread redistribution of water also invites the frequent scorn of environmentalists.
+
+The California Water Wars, a conflict between Los Angeles and the Owens Valley over water rights, is one of the most well-known examples of the struggle to secure adequate water supplies.[249] Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "We've been in crisis for quite some time because we're now 38 million people and not anymore 18 million people like we were in the late 60s. So it developed into a battle between environmentalists and farmers and between the south and the north and between rural and urban. And everyone has been fighting for the last four decades about water."[250]
+
+The capital of California is located within Sacramento.[251]
+The state is organized into three branches of government—the executive branch consisting of the Governor[252] and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the Assembly and Senate;[253] and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of California and lower courts.[254] The state also allows ballot propositions: direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall, and ratification.[255] Before the passage of California Proposition 14 (2010), California allowed each political party to choose whether to have a closed primary or a primary where only party members and independents vote. After June 8, 2010, when Proposition 14 was approved, excepting only the United States President and county central committee offices,[256] all candidates in the primary elections are listed on the ballot with their preferred party affiliation, but they are not the official nominee of that party.[257] At the primary election, the two candidates with the top votes will advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation.[257] If at a special primary election, one candidate receives more than 50% of all the votes cast, they are elected to fill the vacancy and no special general election will be held.[257]
+
+The California executive branch consists of the Governor of California and seven other elected constitutional officers: Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Controller, State Treasurer, Insurance Commissioner, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction. They serve four-year terms and may be re-elected only once.[258]
+
+The California State Legislature consists of a 40-member Senate and 80-member Assembly. Senators serve four-year terms and Assembly members two. Members of the Assembly are subject to term limits of three terms, and members of the Senate are subject to term limits of two terms.
+
+California's legal system is explicitly based upon English common law[259] (as is the case with all other states except Louisiana) but carries a few features from Spanish civil law, such as community property. California's prison population grew from 25,000 in 1980 to over 170,000 in 2007.[260] Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment and the state has the largest "Death Row" population in the country (though Oklahoma and Texas are far more active in carrying out executions).[261][262]
+
+California's judiciary system is the largest in the United States with a total of 1,600 judges (the federal system has only about 840). At the apex is the seven-member Supreme Court of California, while the California Courts of Appeal serve as the primary appellate courts and the California Superior Courts serve as the primary trial courts. Justices of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal are appointed by the Governor, but are subject to retention by the electorate every 12 years. The administration of the state's court system is controlled by the Judicial Council, composed of the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, 14 judicial officers, four representatives from the State Bar of California, and one member from each house of the state legislature.
+
+California is divided into 58 counties. Per Article 11, Section 1, of the Constitution of California, they are the legal subdivisions of the state. The county government provides countywide services such as law enforcement, jails, elections and voter registration, vital records, property assessment and records, tax collection, public health, health care, social services, libraries, flood control, fire protection, animal control, agricultural regulations, building inspections, ambulance services, and education departments in charge of maintaining statewide standards.[263][264] In addition, the county serves as the local government for all unincorporated areas. Each county is governed by an elected board of supervisors.[265]
+
+Incorporated cities and towns in California are either charter or general-law municipalities.[130] General-law municipalities owe their existence to state law and are consequently governed by it; charter municipalities are governed by their own city or town charters. Municipalities incorporated in the 19th century tend to be charter municipalities. All ten of the state's most populous cities are charter cities. Most small cities have a council–manager form of government, where the elected city council appoints a city manager to supervise the operations of the city. Some larger cities have a directly-elected mayor who oversees the city government. In many council-manager cities, the city council selects one of its members as a mayor, sometimes rotating through the council membership—but this type of mayoral position is primarily ceremonial. The Government of San Francisco is the only consolidated city-county in California, where both the city and county governments have been merged into one unified jurisdiction.
+
+About 1,102 school districts, independent of cities and counties, handle California's public education.[266] California school districts may be organized as elementary districts, high school districts, unified school districts combining elementary and high school grades, or community college districts.[266]
+
+There are about 3,400 special districts in California.[267] A special district, defined by California Government Code § 16271(d) as "any agency of the state for the local performance of governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries", provides a limited range of services within a defined geographic area. The geographic area of a special district can spread across multiple cities or counties, or could consist of only a portion of one. Most of California's special districts are single-purpose districts, and provide one service.
+
+The state of California sends 53 members to the House of Representatives,[268] the nation's largest congressional state delegation. Consequently California also has the largest number of electoral votes in national presidential elections, with 55. The current Speaker of the House of Representatives is the representative of California's 12th district, Nancy Pelosi;[269] Kevin McCarthy, representing the state's 23rd district, is the House Minority Leader.[269]
+
+California's U.S. Senators are Dianne Feinstein, a native and former mayor of San Francisco, and Kamala Harris, a native, former District Attorney from San Francisco and former Attorney General of California. In the 1992 U.S. Senate election, California became the first state to elect a Senate delegation entirely composed of women, due to the victories of Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.[270]
+
+In California, as of 2009[update], the U.S. Department of Defense had a total of 117,806 active duty servicemembers of which 88,370 were Sailors or Marines, 18,339 were Airmen, and 11,097 were Soldiers, with 61,365 Department of Defense civilian employees. Additionally, there were a total of 57,792 Reservists and Guardsman in California.[271]
+
+In 2010, Los Angeles County was the largest origin of military recruits in the United States by county, with 1,437 individuals enlisting in the military.[272] However, as of 2002[update], Californians were relatively under-represented in the military as a proportion to its population.[273]
+
+In 2000, California, had 2,569,340 veterans of United States military service: 504,010 served in World War II, 301,034 in the Korean War, 754,682 during the Vietnam War, and 278,003 during 1990–2000 (including the Persian Gulf War).[274] As of 2010[update], there were 1,942,775 veterans living in California, of which 1,457,875 served during a period of armed conflict, and just over four thousand served before World War II (the largest population of this group of any state).[275]
+
+California's military forces consist of the Army and Air National Guard, the naval and state military reserve (militia), and the California Cadet Corps.
+
+On August 5, 1950, a nuclear-capable United States Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber carrying a nuclear bomb crashed shortly after takeoff from Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base. Brigadier General Robert F. Travis, command pilot of the bomber, was among the dead.[276]
+
+Party registration by county(October 2018):
+
+California has an idiosyncratic political culture compared to the rest of the country, and is sometimes regarded as a trendsetter.[278] In socio-cultural mores and national politics, Californians are perceived as more liberal than other Americans, especially those who live in the inland states. As of the 2016 presidential election, California was the second most Democratic state behind Hawaii.[279] According to the Cook Political Report, California contains five of the 15 most Democratic congressional districts in the United States.
+
+Among the political idiosyncrasies and trendsetting, California was the second state to recall their state governor, the second state to legalize abortion, and the only state to ban marriage for gay couples twice by vote (including Proposition 8 in 2008). Voters also passed Proposition 71 in 2004 to fund stem cell research, and Proposition 14 in 2010 to completely change the state's primary election process. California has also experienced disputes over water rights; and a tax revolt, culminating with the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, limiting state property taxes.
+
+The state's trend towards the Democratic Party and away from the Republican Party can be seen in state elections. From 1899 to 1939, California had Republican governors. Since 1990, California has generally elected Democratic candidates to federal, state and local offices, including current Governor Gavin Newsom; however, the state has elected Republican Governors, though many of its Republican Governors, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, tend to be considered moderate Republicans and more centrist than the national party.
+
+Several political movements have advocated for Californian independence. The California National Party and the California Freedom Coalition both advocate for Californian independence along the lines of progressivism and civic nationalism.[280] The Yes California movement attempted to organize an independence referendum via ballot initiative for 2019, which was then postponed.[281]
+
+The Democrats also now hold a supermajority in both houses of the state legislature. There are 60 Democrats and 20 Republicans in the Assembly; and 29 Democrats and 11 Republicans in the Senate.
+
+The trend towards the Democratic Party is most obvious in presidential elections. From 1952 through 1988, California was a Republican leaning state, with the party carrying the state's electoral votes in nine of ten elections, with 1964 as the exception. Southern California Republicans Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan were both elected twice as the 37th and 40th U.S. Presidents, respectively. However, Democrats have won all of California's electoral votes for the last seven elections, starting in 1992.
+
+In the United States House, the Democrats held a 34–19 edge in the CA delegation of the 110th United States Congress in 2007. As the result of gerrymandering, the districts in California were usually dominated by one or the other party, and few districts were considered competitive. In 2008, Californians passed Proposition 20 to empower a 14-member independent citizen commission to redraw districts for both local politicians and Congress. After the 2012 elections, when the new system took effect, Democrats gained four seats and held a 38–15 majority in the delegation. Following the 2018 midterm House elections, Democrats won 46 out of 53 congressional house seats in California, leaving Republicans with seven.
+
+In general, Democratic strength is centered in the populous coastal regions of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the San Francisco Bay Area. Republican strength is still greatest in eastern parts of the state. Orange County had remained largely Republican until the 2016 and 2018 elections, in which a majority of the county's votes were cast for Democratic candidates.[282][283] One study ranked Berkeley, Oakland, Inglewood and San Francisco in the top 20 most liberal American cities; and Bakersfield, Orange, Escondido, Garden Grove, and Simi Valley in the top 20 most conservative cities.[284]
+
+In October 2012, out of the 23,802,577 people eligible to vote, 18,245,970 people were registered to vote.[285] Of the people registered, the three largest registered groups were Democrats (7,966,422), Republicans (5,356,608), and Decline to State (3,820,545).[285] Los Angeles County had the largest number of registered Democrats (2,430,612) and Republicans (1,037,031) of any county in the state.[285]

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+
+
+in ASEAN (dark grey)  –  [Legend]
+
+Cambodia (/kæmˈboʊdiə/ (listen);[8] also Kampuchea /ˌkæmpʊˈtʃiːə/; Khmer: កម្ពុជា  [kam.pu.ciə]; French: Cambodge), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia (Khmer: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា, prĕəh riəciənaacak kampuciə, IPA: [prĕəh riə.ciə.naː.caʔ kam.pu.ciə]; French: Royaume du Cambodge), is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
+
+The sovereign state of Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. Buddhism is enshrined the constitution as the official state religion, and is practised by more than 97% of the population.[3] Cambodia's minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 hill tribes.[9] The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic and cultural centre of Cambodia. The kingdom is an elective constitutional monarchy with a monarch, currently Norodom Sihamoni, chosen by the Royal Council of the Throne as head of state. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Hun Sen, the longest serving non-royal leader in Southeast Asia, ruling Cambodia since 1985.
+
+In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name "Kambuja".[10] This marked the beginning of the Khmer Empire, which flourished for over 600 years, allowing successive kings to control and exert influence over much of Southeast Asia and accumulate immense power and wealth. The Indianised kingdom facilitated the spread of first Hinduism and then Buddhism to much of Southeast Asia and undertook many religious infrastructural projects throughout the region, including the construction of more than 1,000 temples and monuments in Angkor alone. Angkor Wat is the most famous of these structures and is designated as a World Heritage Site.
+
+In the fifteenth century, after the rebellion of Ayutthaya, which was formerly ruled by the Khmer Empire, Cambodia experienced the decline of power. Cambodia faced two increasingly powerful neighbors, Ayutthaya of Thailand and Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam, and marking the downturn of Cambodia's fate. In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France, and later was incorporated into French Indochina of Southeast Asia.
+
+Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953. The Vietnam War extended into the country in 1965 with the expansion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail and establishment of the Sihanouk Trail. This led to the US bombing of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. Following the Cambodian coup of 1970 which installed the right-wing pro-US Khmer Republic, the deposed King Sihanouk gave his support to his former enemies, the Khmer Rouge. With the support of the monarchy and North Vietnam, the Khmer Rouge emerged as a major power, taking Phnom Penh in 1975. The Khmer Rouge then carried out the Cambodian genocide from 1975 until 1979, when they were ousted by Vietnam and the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea, supported by the Soviet Union, in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War.
+
+Following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Cambodia was governed briefly by a United Nations mission (1992–93). The UN withdrew after holding elections in which around 90 percent of the registered voters cast ballots. The 1997 factional fighting resulted in the ousting of the government by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party, who remain in power as of April 2020[update].
+
+Cambodia is a member of the United Nations since 1955, ASEAN, the East Asia Summit, the WTO, the Non-Aligned Movement and La Francophonie. According to several foreign organisations, the country has widespread poverty,[11] pervasive corruption,[12] lack of political freedoms,[13] low human development[14] and a high rate of hunger.[15][16][17] Cambodia has been described by Human Rights Watch's Southeast Asian Director, David Roberts, as a "relatively authoritarian coalition via a superficial democracy".[18] Constitutionally a multi-party liberal democracy,[19] the country is de facto governed under one-party rule as of 2018.[20][21]
+
+While per capita income remains low compared to most neighboring countries, Cambodia has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia, with growth averaging 7.6 percent over the last decade. Agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with strong growth in textiles, construction, garments and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade.[22] The United Nations designates Cambodia as a least developed country.[23] The US World Justice Project's 2015 Rule of Law Index ranked Cambodia 125th out of 126 countries, far lower compared to other countries in the region.[24]
+
+The "Kingdom of Cambodia" is the official English name of the country. The English "Cambodia" is an anglicisation of the French "Cambodge", which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer កម្ពុជា kampuciə. Kampuchea is the shortened alternative to the country's official name in Khmer ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា prĕəh riəciənaacak kampuciə. The Khmer endonym Kampuchea derives from the Sanskrit name कम्बोजदेश kambojadeśa, composed of देश deśa ("land of" or "country of") and कम्बोज kamboja, which alludes to the foundation myths of the first ancient Khmer kingdom.[25] The term Cambodia was already in use in Europe as early as 1524, since Antonio Pigafetta (an Italian explorer who followed Ferdinand Magellan in his circumnavigation of the globe) cites it in his work Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo (1524–1525) as Camogia.[26]
+
+Colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either ស្រុកខ្មែរ srok khmae (Khmer pronunciation: [srok ˈkʰmae]), meaning "Khmer's Land", or the slightly more formal ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា prɑteih kampuciə (Khmer pronunciation: [prɑ.ˈteih kam.pu.ciə]), literally "Country of Kampuchea". The name "Cambodia" is used most often in the Western world while "Kampuchea" is more widely used in the East.[27][28][29]
+
+There exists sparse evidence for a Pleistocene human occupation of present-day Cambodia, which includes quartz and quartzite pebble tools found in terraces along the Mekong River, in Stung Treng and Kratié provinces, and in Kampot Province, although their dating is unreliable.[32] Some slight archaeological evidence shows communities of hunter-gatherers inhabited the region during Holocene: the most ancient archaeological discovery site in Cambodia is considered to be the cave of L'aang Spean, in Battambang Province, which belongs to the Hoabinhian period. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of radiocarbon dates around 6000 BC.[32][33] Upper layers in the same site gave evidence of transition to Neolithic, containing the earliest dated earthenware ceramics in Cambodia.[34]
+
+Archaeological records for the period between Holocene and Iron Age remain equally limited. A pivotal event in Cambodian prehistory was the slow penetration of the first rice farmers from the north, which began in the late 3rd millennium BC.[35] The most curious prehistoric evidence in Cambodia are the various "circular earthworks" discovered in the red soils near Memot and in the adjacent region of Vietnam in the latter 1950s. Their function and age are still debated, but some of them possibly date from 2nd millennium BC.[36][37]
+
+Other prehistoric sites of somewhat uncertain date are Samrong Sen (not far from the ancient capital of Oudong), where the first investigations began in 1875,[38] and Phum Snay, in the northern province of Banteay Meanchey.[39] An excavation at Phum Snay revealed 21 graves with iron weapons and cranial trauma which could point to conflicts in the past, possible with larger cities in Angkor.[35][40]
+[41] Prehistoric artefacts are often found during mining activities in Ratanakiri.[32]
+
+Iron was worked by about 500 BC, with supporting evidence coming from the Khorat Plateau, in modern-day Thailand. In Cambodia, some Iron Age settlements were found beneath Baksei Chamkrong and other Angkorian temples while circular earthworks were found beneath Lovea a few kilometres north-west of Angkor. Burials, much richer than other types of finds, testify to improvement of food availability and trade (even on long distances: in the 4th century BC trade relations with India were already opened) and the existence of a social structure and labour organisation.[42]
+
+Among the artefacts from the Iron Age, glass beads are important evidence. Different kinds of glass beads recovered from several sites across Cambodia, such as the Phum Snay site in northwest and the Prohear site in southeast, show that there were two main trading networks at the time. The two networks were separated by time and space, which indicate that there was a shift from one network to the other at about 2nd–4th century AD, probably with changes in socio-political powers.[42]
+
+During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries, the Indianised states of Funan and its successor, Chenla, coalesced in present-day Cambodia and southwestern Vietnam. For more than 2,000 years, what was to become Cambodia absorbed influences from India, passing them on to other Southeast Asian civilisations that are now Thailand and Laos.[43] Little else is known for certain of these polities, however Chinese chronicles and tribute records do make mention of them. It is believed that the territory of Funan may have held the port known to Alexandrian geographer Claudius Ptolemy as "Kattigara". The Chinese chronicles suggest that after Jayavarman I of Chenla died around 681, turmoil ensued which resulted in division of the kingdom into Land Chenla and Water Chenla which was loosely ruled by weak princes under the dominion of Java.
+
+The Khmer Empire grew out of these remnants of Chenla, becoming firmly established in 802 when Jayavarman II (reigned c790-c835) declared independence from Java and proclaimed himself a Devaraja. He and his followers instituted the cult of the God-king and began a series of conquests that formed an empire which flourished in the area from the 9th to the 15th centuries.[44] During the rule of Jayavarman VIII the Angkor empire was attacked by the Mongol army of Kublai Khan, however the king was able to buy peace.[45] Around the 13th century, monks from Sri Lanka introduced Theravada Buddhism to Southeast Asia.[46] The religion spread and eventually displaced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism as the popular religion of Angkor; however it was not the official state religion until 1295 when Indravarman III took power.[47]
+
+The Khmer Empire was Southeast Asia's largest empire during the 12th century. The empire's centre of power was Angkor, where a series of capitals were constructed during the empire's zenith. In 2007 an international team of researchers using satellite photographs and other modern techniques concluded that Angkor had been the largest pre-industrial city in the world with an urban sprawl of 2,980 square kilometres (1,151 square miles).[48] The city, which could have supported a population of up to one million people[49] and Angkor Wat, the best known and best-preserved religious temple at the site, still serves as a reminder of Cambodia's past as a major regional power. The empire, though in decline, remained a significant force in the region until its fall in the 15th century.
+
+After a long series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown.[50][51] This led to a period of economic, social, and cultural stagnation when the kingdom's internal affairs came increasingly under the control of its neighbours. By this time, the Khmer penchant for monument building had ceased. Older faiths such as Mahayana Buddhism and the Hindu cult of the god-king had been supplanted by Theravada Buddhism.
+
+The court moved the capital to Longvek where the kingdom sought to regain its glory through maritime trade. The first mention of Cambodia in European documents was in 1511 by the Portuguese. Portuguese travellers described the city as a place of flourishing wealth and foreign trade. Continued wars with Ayutthaya and the Vietnamese resulted in the loss of more territory and Longvek being conquered and destroyed by King Naresuan the Great of Ayutthaya in 1594. A new Khmer capital was established at Oudong south of Longvek in 1618, but its monarchs could survive only by entering into what amounted to alternating vassal relationships with the Siamese and Vietnamese for the next three centuries with only a few short-lived periods of relative independence.
+
+The hill tribe people in Cambodia were "hunted incessantly and carried off as slaves by the Siamese (Thai), the Annamites (Vietnamese), and the Cambodians".[52][53]
+
+In the nineteenth century a renewed struggle between Siam and Vietnam for control of Cambodia resulted in a period when Vietnamese officials attempted to force the Khmers to adopt Vietnamese customs. This led to several rebellions against the Vietnamese and appeals to Thailand for assistance. The Siamese–Vietnamese War (1841–1845) ended with an agreement to place the country under joint suzerainty. This later led to the signing of a treaty for French Protection of Cambodia by King Norodom Prohmborirak.
+
+In 1863, King Norodom, who had been installed by Siam,[10] sought the protection of Cambodia from Siam by French rule. In 1867, Rama IV signed a treaty with France, renouncing suzerainty over Cambodia in exchange for the control of Battambang and Siem Reap provinces which officially became part of Siam. The provinces were ceded back to Cambodia by a border treaty between France and Siam in 1907.
+
+Cambodia continued as a protectorate of France from 1867 to 1953, administered as part of the colony of French Indochina, though occupied by the Japanese empire from 1941 to 1945.[54] Between 1874 and 1962, the total population increased from about 946,000 to 5.7 million.[55] After King Norodom's death in 1904, France manipulated the choice of king, and Sisowath, Norodom's brother, was placed on the throne. The throne became vacant in 1941 with the death of Monivong, Sisowath's son, and France passed over Monivong's son, Monireth, feeling he was too independently minded. Instead, Norodom Sihanouk, a maternal grandson of King Sisowath was enthroned. The French thought young Sihanouk would be easy to control.[54] They were wrong, however, and under the reign of King Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia gained independence from France on 9 November 1953.[54]
+
+Cambodia became a constitutional monarchy under King Norodom Sihanouk. When French Indochina was given independence, Cambodia lost hope of regaining control over the Mekong Delta as it was awarded to Vietnam. Formerly part of the Khmer Empire, the area had been controlled by the Vietnamese since 1698, with King Chey Chettha II granting the Vietnamese permission to settle in the area decades before.[56] This remains a diplomatic sticking point with over one million ethnic Khmers (the Khmer Krom) still living in this region. The Khmer Rouge attempted invasions to recover the territory which, in part, led to Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia and deposition of the Khmer Rouge.
+
+In 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father to participate in politics and was elected prime minister. Upon his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk again became head of state, taking the title of prince. As the Vietnam War progressed, Sihanouk adopted an official policy of neutrality in the Cold War. Sihanouk allowed the Vietnamese communists to use Cambodia as a sanctuary and a supply route for their arms and other aid to their armed forces fighting in South Vietnam. This policy was perceived as humiliating by many Cambodians. In December 1967 Washington Post journalist Stanley Karnow was told by Sihanouk that if the US wanted to bomb the Vietnamese communist sanctuaries, he would not object, unless Cambodians were killed.[57]
+
+The same message was conveyed to US President Johnson's emissary Chester Bowles in January 1968.[58] However, in public Sihanouk refuted the right of the U.S. to use air strikes in Cambodia, and on 26 March he said "these criminal attacks must immediately and definitively stop". On 28 March a press conference was held and Sihanouk appealed to the international media: "I appeal to you to publicise abroad this very clear stand of Cambodia—that is, I will in any case oppose all bombings on Cambodian territory under whatever pretext." Nevertheless, the public pleas of Sihanouk were ignored and the bombing continued.[59] Members of the government and army became resentful of Sihanouk's ruling style as well as his tilt away from the United States.
+
+While visiting Beijing in 1970 Sihanouk was ousted by a military coup led by Prime Minister General Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak. US support for the coup remains unproven.[60] However, once the coup was completed, the new regime, which immediately demanded that the Vietnamese communists leave Cambodia, gained the political support of the United States. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, desperate to retain their sanctuaries and supply lines from North Vietnam, immediately launched armed attacks on the new government. The king urged his followers to help in overthrowing this government, hastening the onset of civil war.[61]
+
+Soon Khmer Rouge rebels began using him to gain support. However, from 1970 until early 1972, the Cambodian conflict was largely one between the government and army of Cambodia, and the armed forces of North Vietnam. As they gained control of Cambodian territory, the Vietnamese communists imposed a new political infrastructure, which was eventually dominated by the Cambodian communists now referred to as the Khmer Rouge.[63] Between 1969 and 1973, Republic of Vietnam and US forces bombed Cambodia in an effort to disrupt the Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge.
+
+Documents uncovered from the Soviet archives after 1991 reveal that the North Vietnamese attempt to overrun Cambodia in 1970 was launched at the explicit request of the Khmer Rouge and negotiated by Pol Pot's then second in command, Nuon Chea.[64] NVA units overran many Cambodian army positions while the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) expanded their small-scale attacks on lines of communication. In response to the North Vietnamese invasion, US President Richard Nixon announced that US and South Vietnamese ground forces had entered Cambodia in a campaign aimed at destroying NVA base areas in Cambodia (see Cambodian Incursion).[65] Although a considerable quantity of equipment was seized or destroyed by US and South Vietnamese forces, containment of North Vietnamese forces proved elusive.
+
+The Khmer Republic's leadership was plagued by disunity among its three principal figures: Lon Nol, Sihanouk's cousin Sirik Matak, and National Assembly leader In Tam. Lon Nol remained in power in part because neither of the others was prepared to take his place. In 1972, a constitution was adopted, a parliament elected, and Lon Nol became president. But disunity, the problems of transforming a 30,000-man army into a national combat force of more than 200,000 men, and spreading corruption weakened the civilian administration and army.
+
+The Communist insurgency inside Cambodia continued to grow, aided by supplies and military support from North Vietnam. Pol Pot and Ieng Sary asserted their dominance over the Vietnamese-trained communists, many of whom were purged. At the same time, the CPK forces became stronger and more independent of their Vietnamese patrons. By 1973, the CPK were fighting battles against government forces with little or no North Vietnamese troop support, and they controlled nearly 60% of Cambodia's territory and 25% of its population. The government made three unsuccessful attempts to enter into negotiations with the insurgents, but by 1974, the CPK were operating openly as divisions, and some of the NVA combat forces had moved into South Vietnam. Lon Nol's control was reduced to small enclaves around the cities and main transportation routes. More than 2 million refugees from the war lived in Phnom Penh and other cities.
+
+On New Year's Day 1975, Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days of the hardest fighting of the war, collapsed the Khmer Republic. Simultaneous attacks around the perimeter of Phnom Penh pinned down Republican forces, while other CPK units overran fire bases controlling the vital lower Mekong resupply route. A US-funded airlift of ammunition and rice ended when Congress refused additional aid for Cambodia. The Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh surrendered on 17 April 1975, just five days after the US mission evacuated Cambodia.[66]
+
+The Khmer Rouge reached Phnom Penh and took power in 1975. Led by Pol Pot, they changed the official name of the country to Democratic Kampuchea. The new regime modelled itself on Maoist China during the Great Leap Forward, immediately evacuated the cities, and sent the entire population on forced marches to rural work projects. They attempted to rebuild the country's agriculture on the model of the 11th century, discarded Western medicine and destroyed temples, libraries, and anything considered Western.
+
+Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately one to three million; the most commonly cited figure is two million (about a quarter of the population).[67][68][69] This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields, and the prison Tuol Sleng became notorious for its history of mass killing. Hundreds of thousands fled across the border into neighbouring Thailand. The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. The Cham Muslims suffered serious purges with as much as half of their population exterminated.[70] Pol Pot was determined to keep his power and disenfranchise any enemies or potential threats, and thus increased his violent and aggressive actions against his people.[71]
+
+Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during the Khmer Rouge era reduced the Vietnamese population in Cambodia from between 250,000 and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in 1984.[55] However, most of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were not ethnic minorities but ethnic Khmer. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers and teachers, were also targeted. According to Robert D. Kaplan, "eyeglasses were as deadly as the yellow star" as they were seen as a sign of intellectualism.[72]
+
+Religious institutions were not spared by the Khmer Rouge either. Religion was so viciously persecuted to such a terrifying extent that the vast majority of Cambodia's historic architecture, 95% of Cambodia's Buddhist temples, was completely destroyed.[73]
+
+In November 1978, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia in response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge.[74] The People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), a pro-Soviet state led by the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party, a party created by the Vietnamese in 1951, and led by a group of Khmer Rouge who had fled Cambodia to avoid being purged by Pol Pot and Ta Mok, was established.[clarification needed][75] It was fully beholden to the occupying Vietnamese army and under direction of the Vietnamese ambassador to Phnom Penh. Its arms came from Vietnam and the Soviet Union.[76]
+
+In opposition to the newly created state, a government-in-exile referred to as the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK) was formed in 1981 from three factions.[76] This consisted of the Khmer Rouge, a royalist faction led by Sihanouk, and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front. Its credentials were recognised by the United Nations. The Khmer Rouge representative to the UN, Thiounn Prasith, was retained, but he had to work in consultation with representatives of the noncommunist Cambodian parties.[77][78] The refusal of Vietnam to withdraw from Cambodia led to economic sanctions[79] by the US and its allies.[specify]
+
+Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of Cambodia, culminating two years later in October 1991 in a Paris Comprehensive Peace Settlement. The UN was given a mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).[80]
+
+In 1993, Norodom Sihanouk was restored as King of Cambodia, but all power was in the hands of the government established after the UNTAC sponsored elections. The stability established following the conflict was shaken in 1997 by a coup d'état led by the co-Prime Minister Hun Sen against the non-communist parties in the government.[81] After its government was able to stabilize under Sen, Cambodia was accepted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 30 April 1999.[82][83] In recent years, reconstruction efforts have progressed and led to some political stability through a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy.[3] Although Sen's rule has been marred by human rights abuses and corruption,[84] most Cambodian citizens through the 2000s maintained approval of the government; interviews with rural Cambodians in 2008 displayed a preference for a stable status quo over potentially violent change.[85]
+
+In July 2010, Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21 extermination camp and he was sentenced to life in prison.[86][87] However, Hun Sen has opposed extensive trials of former Khmer Rouge mass murderers.[88]
+
+In August 2014, a UN-backed war crimes tribunal, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (also known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal), sentenced Khieu Samphan, the regime's 83-year-old former head of state, and Nuon Chea, its 88-year-old chief ideologue, to life in prison on war crimes charges for their role in the country's terror period in the 1970s. The trial began in November 2011. Former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary died in 2013, while his wife, Social Affairs Minister Ieng Thirith, was deemed unfit to stand trial due to dementia in 2012.
+
+Cambodia has an area of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 square miles) and lies entirely within the tropics, between latitudes 10° and 15°N, and longitudes 102° and 108°E. It borders Thailand to the north and west, Laos to the northeast, and Vietnam to the east and southeast. It has a 443-kilometre (275-mile) coastline along the Gulf of Thailand.[8][89]
+
+Cambodia's landscape is characterised by a low-lying central plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level.
+
+To the north the Cambodian plain abuts a sandstone escarpment, which forms a southward-facing cliff stretching more than 200 miles (320 kilometres) from west to east and rising abruptly above the plain to heights of 600 to 1,800 feet (180–550 metres). This cliff marks the southern limit of the Dângrêk Mountains.
+
+Flowing south through Cambodia's eastern regions is the Mekong River. East of the Mekong the transitional plains gradually merge with the eastern highlands, a region of forested mountains and high plateaus that extend into Laos and Vietnam. In southwestern Cambodia two distinct upland blocks, the Krâvanh Mountains and the Dâmrei Mountains, form another highland region that covers much of the land area between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand.
+
+In this remote and largely uninhabited area, Phnom Aural, Cambodia's highest peak rises to an elevation of 5,949 feet (1,813 metres).[90] The southern coastal region adjoining the Gulf of Thailand is a narrow lowland strip, heavily wooded and sparsely populated, which is isolated from the central plain by the southwestern highlands.
+
+The most distinctive geographical feature is the inundations of the Tonle Sap, measuring about 2,590 square kilometres (1,000 square miles) during the dry season and expanding to about 24,605 square kilometres (9,500 square miles) during the rainy season. This densely populated plain, which is devoted to wet rice cultivation, is the heartland of Cambodia.[91] Much of this area has been designated as a biosphere reserve.[91]
+
+Cambodia's climate, like that of the rest of Southeast Asia, is dominated by monsoons, which are known as tropical wet and dry because of the distinctly marked seasonal differences.
+
+Cambodia has a temperature range from 21 to 35 °C (70 to 95 °F) and experiences tropical monsoons. Southwest monsoons blow inland bringing moisture-laden winds from the Gulf of Thailand and Indian Ocean from May to October. The northeast monsoon ushers in the dry season, which lasts from November to April. The country experiences the heaviest precipitation from September to October with the driest period occurring from January to February.
+
+According to the International Development Research Center and The United Nations, Cambodia is considered Southeast Asia's most vulnerable country to the effects of climate change, alongside the Philippines.[92][93] Nearly all provinces in Cambodia are affected by climate change.[94] Rural coastal populations are particularly at risk. Shortages of clean water, extreme flooding, mudslides, higher sea levels and potentially destructive storms are of particular concern, according to the Cambodia Climate Change Alliance.
+
+Cambodia has two distinct seasons. The rainy season, which runs from May to October, can see temperatures drop to 22 °C (72 °F) and is generally accompanied with high humidity. The dry season lasts from November to April when temperatures can rise up to 40 °C (104 °F) around April. Disastrous flooding occurred in 2001 and again in 2002, with some degree of flooding almost every year.[95]
+
+Cambodia's biodiversity is largely founded on its seasonal tropical forests, containing some 180 recorded tree species, and riparian ecosystems. There are 212 mammal species, 536 bird species, 240 reptile species, 850 freshwater fish species (Tonle Sap Lake area), and 435 marine fish species recorded by science. Much of this biodiversity is contained around the Tonle Sap Lake and the surrounding biosphere.[96]
+
+The Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve is a reserve surrounding the Tonle Sap lake. It encompasses the lake and nine provinces: Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Battambang, Pursat, Kampong Chhnang, Banteay Meanchey, Pailin, Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear. In 1997, it was successfully nominated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.[97] Other key habitats include the evergreen and dry Dipterocarp forests of Mondolkiri province, protected by Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, and Srepok Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as Ratanakiri province, and the Cardamom Mountains ecosystem, including Preah Monivong National Park, Botum-Sakor National Park, and the Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary and Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary.
+
+The Worldwide Fund for Nature recognises six distinct terrestrial ecoregions in Cambodia – the Cardamom Mountains rain forests, Central Indochina dry forest, Southeast Indochina dry evergreen forest, Southern Annamite Range tropical forest, Tonle Sap freshwater swamp forest, and Tonle Sap-Mekong peat swamp forest.[98]
+
+Cambodia has a bad but improving performance in the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with an overall ranking of 146 out of 180 countries in 2016. This is among the worst in the Southeast Asian region, only ahead of Laos and Myanmar. The EPI was established in 2001 by the World Economic Forum as a global gauge to measure how well individual countries perform in implementing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
+
+The environmental areas where Cambodia performs worst (i.e. highest ranking) are air quality (148), water resource management (140) and health impacts of environmental issues (137), with the areas of sanitation, environmental impacts of fisheries and forest management following closely. Cambodia performs best when it comes to handling the nitrogen balance in the agricultural industry specifically, an area where Cambodia excels and are among the best in the world. In addition, Cambodia has an unusually large area of wildlife protections, both on land and at sea, with the land-based protections covering about 20% of the country. This secures Cambodia a better than average ranking of 61 in relation to biodiversity and habitat, even though illegal logging, construction and poaching are heavily deteriorating these protections and habitats in reality.[99][100][101]
+
+The rate of deforestation in Cambodia is one of the highest in the world and it is often perceived as the most destructive, singular environmental issue in the country.[101] Cambodia's primary forest cover fell from over 70% in 1969 to just 3.1% in 2007. In total, Cambodia lost 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) of forest between 1990 and 2005 – 3,340 km2 (1,290 sq mi) of which was primary forest. Since 2007, less than 3,220 km2 (1,243 sq mi) of primary forest remain with the result that the future sustainability of the forest reserves of Cambodia is under severe threat.[102][103]
+
+In 2010–2015, the annual rate of deforestation was 1.3%. The environmental degradation also includes national parks and wildlife sanctuaries on a large scale and many endangered and endemic species are now threatened with extinction due to loss of habitats. There are many reasons for the deforestation in Cambodia, which range from opportunistic illegal loggings to large scale clearings from big construction projects and agricultural activities. The global issue of land grabbing is particularly rampant in Cambodia. The deforestation involves the local population, Cambodian businesses and authorities as well as transnational corporations from all over the world.[104][105]
+
+Plans for hydroelectric development in the Greater Mekong Subregion, by Laos in particular, pose a "real danger to the food supply of Vietnam and Cambodia. Upstream dams will imperil the fish stocks that provide the vast majority of Cambodia's protein and could also denude the Mekong River of the silt Vietnam needs for its rice basket."
+The rich fisheries of Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, largely supply the impoverished country's protein. The lake is unusual: It all but disappears in the dry season and then expands massively as water flow from the Mekong backs up when the rains come. "Those fish are so important for their livelihoods, both economically and nutritionally", said Gordon Holtgrieve, a professor at the University of Washington who researches Cambodia's freshwater fish and he points out that none of the dams that are either built or being built on the Mekong river "are pointing at good outcomes for the fisheries".[106]
+
+In the 2010s, the Cambodian government and educational system has increased its involvement and co-operation with both national and international environmental groups.[107][108][109] A new National Environmental Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP) for Cambodia is to be implemented from late 2016 to 2023 and contains new ideas for how to incite a green and environmentally sustainable growth for the country.[110]
+
+In November 2017, the U.S. cut funds to help clear unexploded ordnance including land mines and chemical weapons in Cambodia which it had dropped during the Vietnam War.[111]
+
+National politics in Cambodia take place within the framework of the nation's constitution of 1993. The government is a constitutional monarchy operated as a parliamentary representative democracy. The Prime Minister of Cambodia, an office held by Hun Sen since 1985, is the head of government, while the King of Cambodia (currently Norodom Sihamoni) is the head of state. The prime minister is appointed by the king, on the advice and with the approval of the National Assembly. The prime minister and the ministerial appointees exercise executive power.
+
+Legislative powers are shared by the executive and the bicameral Parliament of Cambodia (សភាតំណាងរាស្ត្រ, saphea damnang reastr), which consists of a lower house, the National Assembly (រដ្ឋសភា, rotsaphea) and an upper house, the Senate (ព្រឹទ្ធសភា, protsaphea). Members of the 123-seat Assembly are elected through a system of proportional representation and serve for a maximum term of five years. The Senate has 61 seats, two of which are appointed by the king and two others by the National Assembly, and the rest elected by the commune councillors from 24 provinces of Cambodia. Senators serve six-year terms.[112]
+
+On 14 October 2004, King Norodom Sihamoni was selected by a special nine-member Royal Throne Council, part of a selection process that was quickly put in place after the abdication of King Norodom Sihanouk a week prior. Sihamoni's selection was endorsed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly Speaker Prince Norodom Ranariddh (the king's half-brother and current chief advisor), both members of the throne council. He was enthroned in Phnom Penh on 29 October 2004.
+
+Officially a multiparty democracy, in reality "the country remains a one-party state dominated by the Cambodian People's Party and Prime Minister Hun Sen, a recast Khmer Rouge official in power since 1985. The open doors to new investment during his reign have yielded the most access to a coterie of cronies of his and his wife, Bun Rany."[attribution needed][113] Cambodia's government has been described by the Human Rights Watch's Southeast Asian director, David Roberts, as a "relatively authoritarian coalition via a superficial democracy".[18]
+
+Prime Minister Hun Sen has vowed to rule until he is 74.[114][115] He is a former Khmer Rouge member who defected. His government is regularly accused of ignoring human rights and suppressing political dissent. The 2013 election results were disputed by Hun Sen's opposition, leading to demonstrations in the capital. Demonstrators were injured and killed in Phnom Penh where a reported 20,000 protesters gathered, with some clashing with riot police.[116] From a humble farming background, Hun Sen was just 33 when he took power in 1985, and is by some considered a long ruling dictator.[117]
+
+Since the 2017 crackdowns on political dissent and free press, Cambodia has been described as a de facto one-party state.[118][119][120]
+
+The Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is the sole dominant-party in Cambodia. Since 2018, the CPP commands all but four seats in Parliament, including all 125 seats in the National Assembly and 58 of 62 seats in the Senate.
+
+Hun Sen and his government have seen much controversy. Hun Sen was a former Khmer Rouge commander who was originally installed by the Vietnamese and, after the Vietnamese left the country, maintains his strong man position by violence and oppression when deemed necessary.[121] In 1997, fearing the growing power of his co–prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Hun launched a coup, using the army to purge Ranariddh and his supporters. Ranariddh was ousted and fled to Paris while other opponents of Hun Sen were arrested, tortured, and some summarily executed.[121][122]
+
+In addition to political oppression, the Cambodian government has been accused of corruption in the sale of vast areas of land to foreign investors resulting in the eviction of thousands of villagers[123] as well as taking bribes in exchange for grants to exploit Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources.[124] Cambodia is consistently listed as one of the most corrupt governments in the world.[125][126][127] Amnesty International currently recognises one prisoner of conscience in the country: 33-year-old land rights activist Yorm Bopha.[128]
+
+Journalists covering a protest over disputed election results in Phnom Penh on 22 September 2013 say they were deliberately attacked by police and men in plain clothes, with slingshots and stun guns. The attack against the president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia, Rick Valenzuela, was captured on video.
+The violence came amid political tensions as the opposition boycotted the opening of Parliament due to concerns about electoral fraud. Seven reporters sustained minor injuries while at least two Cambodian protesters were hit by slingshot projectiles and hospitalized.[129]
+
+In 2017 the Cambodia's Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition party, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), paving the way for a return to a yet more authoritarian political system.[130]
+
+The level of corruption in Cambodia exceeds most countries in the world. Despite adopting an 'Anti-Corruption Law' in 2010, corruption prevails throughout the country. Corruption affects the judiciary, the police and other state institutions. Favouritism by government officials and impunity is commonplace. Lack of a clear distinction between the courts and the executive branch of government also makes for a deep politicisation of the judicial system.[131]
+
+Examples of areas where Cambodians encounter corrupt practices in their everyday lives include obtaining medical services, dealing with alleged traffic violations, and pursuing fair court verdicts. Companies deal with extensive red tape when obtaining licenses and permits, especially construction related permits, and the demand for and supply of bribes are commonplace in this process. The 2010 Anti-Corruption Law provided no protection to whistle-blowers, and whistle-blowers can be jailed for up to 6 months if they report corruption that cannot be proven.[131]
+
+The foreign relations of Cambodia are handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under Prak Sokhon. Cambodia is a member of the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. It is a member of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), ASEAN, and joined the WTO in 2004. In 2005 Cambodia attended the inaugural East Asia Summit in Malaysia.
+
+Cambodia has established diplomatic relations with numerous countries; the government reports twenty embassies in the country[132] including many of its Asian neighbours and those of important players during the Paris peace negotiations, including the US, Australia, Canada, China, the European Union (EU), Japan, and Russia.[133] As a result of its international relations, various charitable organisations have assisted with social, economic, and civil infrastructure needs.
+
+While the violent ruptures of the 1970s and 1980s have passed, several border disputes between Cambodia and its neighbours persist. There are disagreements over some offshore islands and sections of the boundary with Vietnam and undefined maritime boundaries. Cambodia and Thailand also have border disputes, with troops clashing over land immediately adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple in particular, leading to a deterioration in relations. Most of the territory belongs to Cambodia, but a combination of Thailand disrespecting international law, Thai troop upbuild in the area and lack of resources for the Cambodian military have left the situation unsettled since 1962.[134][135]
+
+Cambodia and China have cultivated ties in the 2010s. A Chinese company with the support of the People's Liberation Army built a deep-water seaport along 90 km (56 mi) stretch of Cambodian coastline of the Gulf of Thailand in Koh Kong province; the port is sufficiently deep to be used by cruise ships, bulk carriers or warships. Cambodia's diplomatic support has been invaluable to Beijing's effort to claim disputed areas in the South China Sea. Because Cambodia is a member of ASEAN, and because under ASEAN rules "the objections of one member can thwart any group initiative", Cambodia is diplomatically useful to China as a counterweight to southeast Asian nations that have closer ties to the United States.[136]
+
+The Royal Cambodian Army, Royal Cambodian Navy, Royal Cambodian Air Force and Royal Gendarmerie collectively form the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, under the command of the Ministry of National Defence, presided over by the Prime Minister of Cambodia. His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni is the Supreme Commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), and the country's Prime Minister Hun Sen effectively holds the position of commander-in-chief.
+
+The introduction of a revised command structure early in 2000 was a key prelude to the reorganisation of the Cambodian military. This saw the defence ministry form three subordinate general departments responsible for logistics and finance, materials and technical services, and defence services under the High Command Headquarters (HCHQ).
+
+The minister of National Defense is General Tea Banh. Banh has served as defence minister since 1979. The Secretaries of State for Defense are Chay Saing Yun and Por Bun Sreu.
+
+In 2010, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces comprised about 102,000 active personnel (200,000 reserve). Total Cambodian military spending stands at 3% of national GDP. The Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia total more than 7,000 personnel. Its civil duties include providing security and public peace, to investigate and prevent organised crime, terrorism and other violent groups; to protect state and private property; to help and assist civilians and other emergency forces in a case of emergency, natural disaster, civil unrest and armed conflicts.
+
+Hun Sen has accumulated highly centralised power in Cambodia, including a praetorian guard that 'appears to rival the capabilities of the country's regular military units', and is allegedly used by Hun Sen to quell political opposition.'[137] Cambodia signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[138]
+
+The Cambodian legal profession was established in 1932. By 1978, due to the Khmer Rouge regime, the entire legal system was eradicated. Judges and lawyers were executed after being deemed "class enemies" and only 6–12 legal professionals actually survived and remained in the country.[139] Lawyers did not reappear until 1995 when the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia was created.[140][141]
+
+A US State Department report says "forces under Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party have committed frequent and large-scale abuses, including extrajudicial killings and torture, with impunity".[142] According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, an estimated 256,800 people are enslaved in modern-day Cambodia, or 1.65% of the population.[143]
+
+Forced land evictions by senior officials, security forces, and government-connected business leaders are commonplace in Cambodia.[144] Land has been confiscated from hundreds of thousands of Cambodians over more than a decade for the purpose of self-enrichment and maintaining power of various groups of special interests.[145] Credible non-governmental organisations estimate that "770,000 people have been adversely affected by land grabbing covering at least four million hectares (nearly 10 million acres) of land that have been confiscated", says Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).[146]
+
+On 14 March 2018, the UN expert on the human rights situation in Cambodia "expressed serious concerns about restrictions on the media, freedom of expression and political participation ahead of a national election in July".[147] Some critics of the government have been arrested for allegedly spreading fake news about the COVID-19 pandemic in Cambodia.[148][149]
+
+The autonomous municipality (reach thani) and provinces (khaet) of Cambodia are first-level administrative divisions. Cambodia is divided into 25 provinces including the autonomous municipality.
+
+Municipalities and districts are the second-level administrative divisions of Cambodia. The provinces are subdivided into 159 districts and 26 municipalities. The districts and municipalities in turn are further divided into communes (khum) and quarters (sangkat).
+
+In 2017 Cambodia's per capita income is $4,022 in PPP and $1,309 in nominal per capita. The United Nations designates Cambodia as a least developed country. Most rural households depend on agriculture and its related sub-sectors. Rice, fish, timber, garments and rubber are Cambodia's major exports. The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) reintroduced more than 750 traditional rice varieties to Cambodia from its rice seed bank in the Philippines.[150] These varieties had been collected in the 1960s.
+
+Based on the Economist, IMF: Annual average GDP growth for the period 2001–2010 was 7.7% making it one of the world's top ten countries with the highest annual average GDP growth. Tourism was Cambodia's fastest growing industry, with arrivals increasing from 219,000 in 1997 to over 2 million in 2007. In 2004, inflation was at 1.7% and exports at $1.6 billion US$.
+
+In the Cambodia country assessment "Where Have All The Poor Gone? Cambodia Poverty Assessment 2013", the World Bank concludes: "Over the seven years from 2004 through 2011, Cambodian economic growth was tremendous, ranking amid the best in the world. Moreover, household consumption increased by nearly 40 percent. And this growth was pro-poor—not only reducing inequality, but also proportionally boosting poor people's consumption further and faster than that of the non-poor. As a result, the poverty rate dropped from 52.2 to 20.5 percent, surpassing all expectations and far exceeding the country's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) poverty target. However, the majority of these people escaped poverty only slightly: they remain highly vulnerable—even to small shocks—which could quickly bring them back into poverty."[151]
+
+"Two decades of economic growth have helped make Cambodia a global leader in reducing poverty. The success story means the Southeast Asian nation that overcame a vicious civil war now is classified as a lower-middle income economy by the World Bank Group (WBG). Among 69 countries that have comparable data, Cambodia ranked fourth in terms of the fastest poverty reduction in the world from 2004–2008. (See more details of Cambodia's achievements on poverty reduction. The poverty rate fell to 10 percent in 2013, and further reduction of poverty is expected for both urban and rural households throughout 2015–2016. However, human development, particularly in the areas of health and education, remains an important challenge and development priority for Cambodia"[152]
+
+Oil and natural gas deposits found beneath Cambodia's territorial waters in 2005 yield great potential but remain mostly untapped, due in part to territorial disputes with Thailand.[153][154]
+
+The National Bank of Cambodia is the central bank of the kingdom and provides regulatory oversight to the country's banking sector and is responsible in part for increasing the foreign direct investment in the country. Between 2010 and 2012 the number of regulated banks and micro-finance institutions increased from 31 covered entities to over 70 individual institutions underlining the growth within the Cambodian banking and finance sector.
+
+In 2012, Credit Bureau Cambodia was established with direct regulatory oversight by the National Bank of Cambodia.[155] The Credit Bureau further increases the transparency and stability within the Cambodian Banking Sector as all banks and microfinance companies are now required by law to report accurate facts and figures relating to loan performance in the country.
+
+One of the largest challenges facing Cambodia is still the fact that the older population often lacks education, particularly in the countryside, which suffers from a lack of basic infrastructure. Fear of renewed political instability and corruption within the government discourage foreign investment and delay foreign aid, although there has been significant aid from bilateral and multilateral donors. Donors pledged $504 million to the country in 2004,[3] while the Asian Development Bank alone has provided $850 million in loans, grants, and technical assistance.[156] Bribes are often demanded from companies operating in Cambodia when obtaining licences and permits, such as construction-related permits.[157]
+
+Cambodia ranked among the worst places in the world for organised labour in the 2015 International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index, landing in the category of countries with "no guarantee of rights".'[158]
+
+In April 2016 Cambodia's National Assembly has adopted a Law on Trade Unions. "The law was proposed at a time when workers have been staging sustained protests in factories and in the streets demanding wage increases and improvements in their working conditions".[159] The concerns about Cambodia's new law are shared not only by labour and rights groups, but international organisations more generally. The International Labour Organization Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR, has noted that the law has "several key concerns and gaps".[160]
+
+Independent unions and employers remain divided. "How can a factory with 25 unions survive?" asked Van Sou Ieng, chairman of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC), adding that it was "incomprehensible to expect an employer to negotiate a dispute with 25 different union leaders. A law was necessary to rein in the country's unions, Van Sou Ieng said. According to GMAC, last year there were 3,166 unions for the more than 500,000 workers employed in the country's 557 garment and textile exporting factories, and 58 footwear factories. Though garment production is already Cambodia's largest industry, which accounts for 26.2 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product, Van Sou Ieng said without the trade union law, foreign investors will not come to do business".[161]
+"Only with the trade union law will we, employers, be able to survive.... not only Cambodia, every country has trade union law. Those who criticise [the law] should do businesses, and [then] they will understand."
+
+The garment industry represents the largest portion of Cambodia's manufacturing sector, accounting for 80% of the country's exports. In 2012, the exports grew to $4.61 billion up 8% over 2011. In the first half of 2013, the garment industry reported exports worth $1.56 billion.[162] The sector employs 335,400 workers, of which 91% are female.
+
+Better Factories Cambodia was created in 2001 as a unique partnership between the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The programme engages with workers, employers and governments to improve working conditions and boost competitiveness of the garment industry.[163] On 18 May 2018, the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) of the ILO Better Factories Cambodia Programme met in Phnom Penh to provide input into the draft conclusions and recommendations of the BFC's independent mid-term evaluation, as well as to discuss options on how to further strengthen the programme's transparent reporting initiative.
+
+The members of the PAC concurred with the findings of the evaluation related to the impact the programme has had on the Cambodian garment sector and workers, including:
+a. contributing to sustained overall growth of the garment industry
+b. improving the lives of at least half a million Cambodian workers of factories in the BFC
+programme and many more of their family members;
+c. ensuring that workers receive correct wages and social protection benefits
+d. virtually eliminating child labour in the sector
+e. making Cambodia's garment factories safer overall
+f. creating a "level playing field" for labour across garment sector
+g. influencing business practices through (1) using factory data to highlight areas for
+improvement and (2) being a core part of risk management strategies of international
+brands/buyers.[164]
+
+The tourism industry is the country's second-greatest source of hard currency after the textile industry.[80] International visitor arrivals in 2018 topped six million, a ten-fold increase since the beginning of the 21st century.[165]
+
+Besides Phom Penh and Angkor Wat, other tourist destinations include Sihanoukville in the southwest which has several popular beaches and Battambang in the northwest, both of which are popular stops for backpackers who make up a significant portion of visitors to Cambodia.[166] The area around Kampot and Kep including the Bokor Hill Station are also of interest to visitors. Tourism has increased steadily each year in the relatively stable period since the 1993 UNTAC elections.[167]
+
+Most international arrivals in 2018 were Chinese. Tourism receipts exceeded US$4.4 billion in 2018, accounting for almost ten percent of the kingdom's gross national product. The Angkor Wat historical park in Siem Reap Province, the beaches in Sihanoukville, the capital city Phnom Penh, and Cambodia's 150 casinos (up from just 57 in 2014)[168] are the main attractions for foreign tourists.
+
+Cambodia's reputation as a safe destination for tourism however has been hindered by civil and political unrest [169][170][171] and several high-profile examples of serious crime committed against tourists visiting the kingdom.[172][173][174]
+
+Cambodia's tourist souvenir industry employs a lot of people around the main places of interest. The quantity of souvenirs that are produced is not sufficient to face the increasing number of tourists and a majority of products sold to the tourists on the markets are imported from China, Thailand, and Vietnam.[175] Some of the locally produced souvenirs include:
+
+Agriculture is the mainstay of the Cambodian economy. Agriculture accounted for 90 percent of GDP in 1985 and employed approximately 80 percent of the work force. Rice is the principal commodity. Major secondary crops include maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, soybeans, sesame seeds, dry beans, and rubber. The principal commercial crop is rubber. In the 1980s it was an important primary commodity, second only to rice, and one of the country's few sources of foreign exchange.
+
+The civil war and neglect severely damaged Cambodia's transport system. With assistance from other countries Cambodia has been upgrading the main highways to international standards and most are vastly improved from 2006. Most main roads are now paved.
+
+Cambodia has two rail lines, totalling about 612 kilometres (380 miles) of single, one-metre (3-foot-3-inch) gauge track.[178] The lines run from the capital to Sihanoukville on the southern coast. Trains are again running to and from the Cambodian capital and popular destinations in the south. After 14 years, regular rail services between the two cities restarted recently – offering a safer option than road for travellers.[179] Trains also run from Phnom Penh to Sisophon (although trains often run only as far as Battambang). As of 1987, only one passenger train per week operated between Phnom Penh and Battambang but a US$141 million project, funded mostly by the Asian Development Bank, has been started to revitalise the languishing rail system that will "(interlink) Cambodia with major industrial and logistics centers in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City".[178]
+
+Besides the main inter-provincial traffic artery connecting Phnom Penh with Sihanoukville, resurfacing a former dirt road with concrete / asphalt and bridging five major river crossings have now permanently connected Phnom Penh with Koh Kong, and hence there is now uninterrupted road access to neighbouring Thailand and its road network.
+
+Cambodia's road traffic accident rate is high by world standards. In 2004, the number of road fatalities per 10,000 vehicles was ten times higher in Cambodia than in the developed world, and the number of road deaths had doubled in the preceding three years.[180]
+
+Cambodia's extensive inland waterways were important historically in international trade. The Mekong and the Tonle Sap River, their numerous tributaries, and the Tonle Sap provided avenues of considerable length, including 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) navigable all year by craft drawing 0.6 metres (2.0 feet) and another 282 kilometres (175 miles) navigable to craft drawing 1.8 metres (5.9 feet).[181]
+
+Cambodia has two major ports, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, and five minor ones. Phnom Penh, at the junction of the Bassac, the Mekong, and the Tonle Sap Rivers, is the only river port capable of receiving 8,000-ton ships during the wet season and 5,000-ton ships during the dry season.
+
+With increasing economic activity has come an increase in automobile use, though motorcycles still predominate.[182] "Cyclo" (as hand-me-down French) or Cycle rickshaws were popular in 1990s but are increasingly replaced by remorques (carriages attached to motorcycles) and rickshaws imported from India. Cyclos are unique to Cambodia in that the cyclist sits behind the passenger seat.[183]
+
+Cambodia has three commercial airports. In 2018, they handled a record of 10 million passengers.[184] Phnom Penh International Airport is the busiest airport in Cambodia. Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport is the second busiest, and serves the most international flights in and out of Cambodia. Sihanouk International Airport, is in the coastal city of Sihanoukville.
+
+The first official census conducted by the French protectorate of Cambodia was in 1921; however, only men aged 20 to 60 were counted as its purpose was for the collection of taxes.[185] After the 1962 population census was conducted, Cambodia's civil conflicts and instability lead to a 36-year-long gap before the country could have another official census in 1998.[186]
+
+At present, fifty percent of the Cambodian population is younger than 22 years old. At a 1.04 female to male ratio, Cambodia has the most female-biased sex ratio in the Greater Mekong Subregion.[187] Among the Cambodian population aged over 65, the female to male ratio is 1.6:1.[3]
+
+The total fertility rate in Cambodia was 2.5 children per woman in 2018.[188]
+The fertility rate was 4.0 children in 2000.[189] Women in urban areas have 2.2 children on average, compared with 3.3 children per woman in rural areas.[189] Fertility is highest in Mondol Kiri and Rattanak Kiri Provinces, where women have an average of 4.5 children, and lowest in Phnom Penh where women have an average of 2.0 children.[189]
+
+The vast majority of Cambodia's population is of ethnic Khmer origin (over 95%) who are speakers of the Khmer language, the country's sole official language. Cambodia's population is largely homogeneous. Its minority groups include Chams (1.2%), Vietnamese (0.1%) and Chinese (0.1%).[3]
+
+The largest ethnic group in Cambodia are the Khmers, who comprise around 90% of the total population in Cambodia, and are indigenous to the lowland Mekong subregion in which they inhabit. The Khmers historically have lived near the lower Mekong River in a contiguous diagonal arc, from where modern-day Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet in the northwest, all the way to the mouth of the Mekong River in southeastern Vietnam.
+
+The Vietnamese are the second largest ethnic minority in Cambodia, with an estimated 16,000 living in provinces concentrated in the southeast of the country adjacent to the Mekong Delta. Although the Vietnamese language has been determined to be a Mon–Khmer language, there are very few cultural connections between the two peoples because the early Khmers were influenced by the Indian cultural sphere while the Vietnamese are part of the Chinese cultural sphere.[190] Ethnic tensions between the Khmer and the Vietnamese can be traced to the Post-Angkor Period (from the 16th to 19th centuries), during which time a nascent Vietnam and Thailand each attempted to vassalise a weakened post-Angkor Cambodia, and effectively dominate all of Indochina.[190]
+
+Chinese Cambodians are approximately 0.1% of the population.[191][192] Most Chinese are descended from 19th–20th-century settlers who came in search of trade and commerce opportunities during the time of the French protectorate. Most are urban dwellers, engaged primarily in commerce.
+
+The indigenous ethnic groups of the mountains are known collectively as Montagnards or Khmer Loeu, a term meaning "Highland Khmer". They are descended from neolithic migrations of Mon–Khmer speakers via southern China and Austronesian speakers from insular Southeast Asia. Being isolated in the highlands, the various Khmer Loeu groups were not Indianized like their Khmer cousins and consequently are culturally distant from modern Khmers and often from each other, observing many pre-Indian-contact customs and beliefs.
+
+The Cham are descended from the Austronesian people of Champa, a former kingdom on the coast of central and southern present-day Vietnam and former rival to the Khmer Empire. The Cham in Cambodia number under a million and often maintain separate villages in the southeast of the country. Almost all Cham in Cambodia are Muslims.
+
+
+
+The Khmer language is a member of the Mon–Khmer subfamily of the Austroasiatic language group. French, once the language of government in Indochina, is still spoken by many older Cambodians, and is also the language of instruction in some schools and universities that are funded by the government of France. There is also a French-language newspaper and some TV channels are available in French. Cambodia is a member of La Francophonie. Cambodian French, a remnant of the country's colonial past, is a dialect found in Cambodia and is sometimes used in government, particularly in court. Since 1993, there has been a growing use of English, which has been replacing French as the main foreign language. English is widely taught in several universities and there is also a significant press in that language, while street signs are now bilingual in Khmer and English.[194] Due to this shift, English is now mostly used in Cambodia's international relationships and has replaced French both in Cambodia's stamps, since 2002, and currency.[195]
+
+The Khmer script is derived from the South Indian Pallava script.
+
+Theravada Buddhism is the official religion of Cambodia, practised by more than 95 percent of the population with an estimated 4,392 monastery temples throughout the country.[196] Cambodian Buddhism is deeply influenced by Hinduism and native animism.
+
+The close interrelationship between spirits and the community, the efficacy of apotropaic and luck-attracting actions and charms, and the possibility of manipulating one's life through contact with spiritual entities such as the "baromey" spirits originates from the native folk religion. Hinduism has left little trace beyond the magical practices of Tantricism and a host of Hindu gods now assimilated into the spirit world (for example, the important neak ta spirit called Yeay Mao is the modern avatar of the Hindu goddess Kali).
+
+Mahayana Buddhism is the religion of the majority of Chinese and Vietnamese in Cambodia. Elements of other religious practices, such as the veneration of folk heroes and ancestors, Confucianism, and Taoism mix with Chinese Buddhism are also practised.
+
+Islam is followed by about 2% of the population and comes in three varieties, two practised by the Cham people and a third by the descendants of Malays, resident in the country for generations. Cambodia's Muslim population is reported to be 80% ethnic Cham.[197]
+
+Cambodian life expectancy was 69 years in 2018,[198] a major improvement since 1995 when the average life expectancy was 55.[199] Health care is offered by both public and private practitioners and research has found that trust in health providers is a key factor in improving the uptake of health care services in rural Cambodia.[200] The government plans to increase the quality of healthcare in the country by raising awareness of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
+
+Cambodia's infant mortality rate has decreased from 86 per 1,000 live births in 1998 to 24 in 2018.[201]
+
+In the province with worst health indicators, Ratanakiri, 22.9% of children die before age five.[202]
+
+Cambodia was once one of the most landmined countries in the world. According to some estimates, unexploded land mines have been responsible for over 60,000 civilian deaths and thousands more maimed or injured since 1970.[203] The number of reported landmine casualties has sharply decreased, from 800 in 2005 to 111 in 2013 (22 dead and 89 injured).[204] Adults that survive landmines often require amputation of one or more limbs and have to resort to begging for survival.[203] Cambodia is expected to be free of land mines by 2020[205] but the social and economic legacy, including orphans and one in 290 people being an amputee,[206] is expected to affect Cambodia for years to come.
+
+In Cambodia, landmines and exploded ordnance alone have caused 44,630 injuries between 1979 and 2013, according to the Cambodia Mine/UXO Victim Information System.[207]
+
+The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports is responsible for establishing national policies and guidelines for education in Cambodia. The Cambodian education system is heavily decentralised, with three levels of government, central, provincial and district – responsible for its management. The constitution of Cambodia promulgates free compulsory education for nine years, guaranteeing the universal right to basic quality education.
+
+The 2008 Cambodian census estimated that 77.6% of the population was literate (85.1% of men and 70.9% of women).[3] Male youth age (15–24 years) have a literacy rate of 89% compared to 86% for females.[208]
+
+The education system in Cambodia continues to face many challenges, but during the past years there have been significant improvements, especially in terms of primary net enrolment gains, the introduction of program based-budgeting, and the development of a policy framework which helps disadvantaged children to gain access to education. The country has also significantly invested in vocational education, especially in rural areas, to tackle poverty and unemployment.
+[209][210] Two of Cambodia's most acclaimed universities are based in Phnom Penh.
+
+Traditionally, education in Cambodia was offered by the wats (Buddhist temples), thus providing education exclusively for the male population.[211] During the Khmer Rouge regime, education suffered significant setbacks. Education has also suffered setbacks from child labour, A study by Kim (2011) reports that most employed children in Cambodia are enrolled in school but their employment is associated with late school entry, negative impacts on their learning outcomes, and increased drop out rates.[212]
+
+With respects to academic performance among Cambodian primary school children, research showed that parental attitudes and beliefs played a significant role.[213] Specifically, the study found that poorer academic achievement among children were associated with parents holding stronger fatalistic beliefs (i.e., human strength cannot change destiny). The study further found that "length of residence" of parents in the community in which they stay predicted better academic achievement among their children. Overall, the study pointed out to the role of social capital in educational performance and access in the Cambodian society in which family attitudes and beliefs are central to the findings.
+
+In 2017, Cambodia had a homicide rate of 2.4 per 100,000 population.[214]
+
+Prostitution is illegal in Cambodia but yet appears to be prevalent. In a series of 1993 interviews of women about prostitution, three quarters of the interviewees found being a prostitute to be a norm and a profession they felt was not shameful having.[215] That same year, it was estimated that there were about 100,000 sex workers in Cambodia.[215]
+
+On 18 August, Prime Minister Hun Sen signed a directive banning the Finance Ministry from issuing new online gambling licenses, while operators currently holding online licenses would only be allowed to continue operating until those licenses expire. The directive cited the fact that "some foreigners have used this form of gambling to cheat victims inside and outside the country" as justifying the new policy.[216] Cambodia had issued over 150 such licenses before the new policy was announced.[217]
+
+Various factors contribute to the Cambodian culture including Theravada Buddhism, Hinduism, French colonialism, Angkorian culture, and modern globalization. The Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is responsible for promoting and developing Cambodian culture. Cambodian culture not only includes the culture of the lowland ethnic majority, but also some 20 culturally distinct hill tribes colloquially known as the Khmer Loeu, a term coined by Norodom Sihanouk to encourage unity between the highlanders and lowlanders.
+
+Rural Cambodians wear a krama scarf which is a unique aspect of Cambodian clothing. The sampeah is a traditional Cambodian greeting or a way of showing respect to others. Khmer culture, as developed and spread by the Khmer empire, has distinctive styles of dance, architecture and sculpture, which have been exchanged with neighbouring Laos and Thailand throughout history. Angkor Wat (Angkor means "city" and Wat "temple") is the best preserved example of Khmer architecture from the Angkorian era along with hundreds of other temples that have been discovered in and around the region.
+
+Traditionally, the Khmer people have a recorded information on Tra leaves. Tra leaf books record legends of the Khmer people, the Ramayana, the origin of Buddhism and other prayer books. They are taken care of by wrapping in cloth to protect from moisture and the climate.[218]
+
+Bon Om Tuuk (Festival of Boat Racing), the annual boat rowing contest, is the most attended Cambodian national festival. Held at the end of the rainy season when the Mekong river begins to sink back to its normal levels allowing the Tonle Sap River to reverse flow, approximately 10% of Cambodia's population attends this event each year to play games, give thanks to the moon, watch fireworks, dine, and attend the boat race in a carnival-type atmosphere.[219]
+
+Popular games include soccer, kicking a sey, which is similar to a footbag, and chess. Based on the classical Indian solar calendar and Theravada Buddhism, the Cambodian New Year is a major holiday that takes place in April. Recent artistic figures include singers Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Serey Sothea (and later Meng Keo Pichenda), who introduced new musical styles to the country.
+
+Every year, Cambodians visit pagodas across the country to mark the 'Festival of the Dead' or Pchum Ben. During the 15-day festival, people offer prayers and food to the spirits of their dead relatives. For most of the Cambodians, it is a time to remember their relatives, who died during 1975–1979 Khmer Rouge regime.[220]
+
+Rice is the staple grain, as in other Southeast Asian countries. Fish from the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers is also an important part of the diet. The supply of fish and fish products for food and trade as of 2000[update] was 20 kilograms (44 pounds) per person or 2 ounces per day per person.[221] Some of the fish can be made into prahok for longer storage.
+
+The cuisine of Cambodia contains tropical fruits, soups and noodles. Key ingredients are kaffir lime, lemon grass, garlic, fish sauce, soy sauce, curry, tamarind, ginger, oyster sauce, coconut milk and black pepper. Some delicacies are នំបញ្ចុក (Num Banh chok), អាម៉ុក (Amok), អាពីង (Ah Ping). The country also boasts various distinct local street foods, such as fried spiders.
+
+French influence on Cambodian cuisine includes the Cambodian red curry with toasted baguette bread. The toasted baguette pieces are dipped in the curry and eaten. Cambodian red curry is also eaten with rice and rice vermicelli noodles. Probably the most popular dine out dish, kuy teav, is a pork broth rice noodle soup with fried garlic, scallions, green onions that may also contain various toppings such as beef balls, shrimp, pork liver or lettuce. Kampot pepper is reputed to be the best in the world and accompanies crab at the Kep crab shacks and squid in the restaurants on the Ou Trojak Jet river.[222] The cuisine is relatively unknown to the world compared to that of its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam.
+
+Cambodians drink plenty of tea, grown in Mondulkiri Province and around Kirirom.[223] tai krolap is a strong tea, made by putting water and a mass of tea leaves into a small glass, placing a saucer on top, and turning the whole thing upside down to brew. When it's dark enough, the tea is decanted into another cup and plenty of sugar added, but no milk. Lemon tea tai kdao kroich chhmaa, made with Chinese red-dust tea and lemon juice, is refreshing both hot and iced, and is generally served with a hefty dose of sugar.[224]
+
+Regarding coffee, the beans are generally imported from Laos and Vietnam – although domestically produced coffee from Ratanakiri Province and Mondulkiri Province can be found in some places. Beans are traditionally roasted with butter and sugar, plus various other ingredients that might include anything from rum to pork fat, giving the beverage a strange, sometimes faintly chocolatey aroma.[224]
+
+Cambodia has several industrial breweries, located mainly in Sihanoukville Province and Phnom Penh. There are also a growing number of microbreweries in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.[225][226] Between 2014 and 2018, the number of craft beer breweries rose from two to nine. As of 2019[update], there are 12 brewpubs or microbreweries in Cambodia.[227]
+
+Rice wine is a popular alcoholic drink. Its quality varies widely and it is often infused with fruits or medicinal herbs.[228] When prepared with macerated fruits or spices, like the Sombai liqueur, it is called sraa tram (or soaked wine) and has gained more and more popularity with the development of tourism as it is smoother to drink than plain rice wine.[229][230][231]
+
+Khmer women are traditionally expected to be modest, soft-spoken, well-mannered,[232] industrious,[233] act as the family's caregivers and caretakers[232] and financial controllers,[233] maintain their virginity until marriage, become faithful wives,[232] and act as advisors to their husbands.[233] The "light" walking and refinement of Cambodian women is further described as being "quiet in [...] movements that one cannot hear the sound of their silk skirt rustling".[233] As financial controllers, the women of Cambodia can be identified as having household authority at the familial level.[234]
+
+Football (soccer) is one of the most popular sports, although professional organised sports are not as prevalent in Cambodia as in western countries because of the economic conditions. Soccer was brought to Cambodia by the French and became popular with the locals.[235] The Cambodia national football team managed fourth in the 1972 Asian Cup, but development has slowed since the civil war.
+
+Western sports such as basketball, volleyball, bodybuilding, field hockey, rugby union, golf, and baseball are gaining popularity. Volleyball is by far the most popular sport in the country. Native sports include traditional boat racing, buffalo racing, Pradal Serey, Khmer traditional wrestling and Bokator. Cambodia first participated in the Olympics during the 1956 Summer Olympic Games sending equestrian riders. Cambodia also hosted the GANEFO Games, the alternative to the Olympics, in the 1960s.
+
+Cambodian dance can be divided into three main categories: Khmer classical dance, folk dance, and social dances. The exact origins of Khmer classical dance are disputed. Most native Khmer scholars trace modern dance forms back to the time of Angkor, seeing similarities in the temple engravings of the period, while others hold that modern Khmer dance styles were learned (or re-learned) from Siamese court dancers in the 1800s.
+
+Khmer classical dance is the form of stylised performance art established in the royal courts of Cambodia exhibited for both entertainment and ceremonial purposes.[236] The dances are performed by intricately costumed, highly trained men and women on public occasions for tribute, invocation or to enact traditional stories and epic poems such as Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana.[237] Known formally as Robam Preah Reach Trop (របាំព្រះរាជទ្រព្យ "theater of royal wealth") it is set to the music of a pinpeat ensemble accompanied by a vocal chorus.
+
+Cambodian folk dance, often performed to mahori music, celebrates the various cultural and ethnic groups of Cambodia. Folk dances originated in the villages and are performed, for the most part, by the villagers for the villagers.[238] The movements are less stylised and the clothing worn is that of the people the dancers are portraying, such as hill tribes, Chams or farmers. Typically faster-paced than classical dance, folk dances display themes of the "common person" such as love, comedy or warding off evil spirits.[238]
+
+Social dances are those performed by guests at banquets, parties or other informal social gatherings. Khmer traditional social dances are analogous to those of other Southeast Asian nations. Examples include the circle dances Romvong and Romkbach as well as Saravan and Lam Leav. Modern western popular dances including Cha-cha, Bolero, and the Madison, have also influenced Cambodian social dance.
+
+Traditional Cambodian music dates back as far as the Khmer Empire.[239] Royal dances like the Apsara Dance are icons of the Cambodian culture as are the Mahori ensembles that accompany them. More rural forms of music include Chapei and A Yai. The former is popular among the older generation and is most often a solo performance of a man plucking a Cambodian guitar (chapei) in between a cappella verses. The lyrics usually have moral or religious theme.
+
+A Yai can be performed solo or by a man and woman and is often comedic in nature. It is a form of lyrical poetry, often full of double entendres, that can be either scripted or completely impromptu and ad-libbed. When sung by a duo, the man and women take turns, "answering" the other's verse or posing riddles for the other to solve, with short instrumental breaks in between verses. Pleng kaah (lit. "wedding music") is a set of traditional music and songs played both for entertainment and as accompaniment for the various ceremonial parts of a traditional, days-long Khmer wedding.
+
+Cambodian popular music is performed with western style instruments or a mixture of traditional and western instruments. Dance music is composed in particular styles for social dances. The music of crooner Sinn Sisamouth and Ros Sereysothea from the 1960s to the 1970s is considered to be the classic pop music of Cambodia. During the Khmer Rouge Revolution, many classic and popular singers of the 1960s and 1970s were murdered, starved to death, or overwork to death by the Khmer Rouge.[240] and many original master tapes from the period were lost or destroyed.
+
+In the 1980s, Keo Surath, (a refugee resettled in the United States) and others carried on the legacy of the classic singers, often remaking their popular songs. The 1980s and 1990s also saw the rise in popularity of kantrum, a music style of the Khmer Surin set to modern instrumentation.[241]
+
+The Australian hip hop group Astronomy Class has recorded with Kak Channthy, a native born Cambodian female singer.[242][243]
+
+The Dengue Fever rock and roll band features a Cambodian female singer and back-up band from California. It is classified as "world music" and combines Cambodian music with Western style rock.
+
+A National Committee for Science and Technology representing 11 ministries has been in place since 1999. Although seven ministries are responsible for the country's 33 public universities, the majority of these institutions come under the umbrella of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Support.[244]
+
+In 2010, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Support approved a Policy on Research Development in the Education Sector. This move represented a first step towards a national approach to research and development across the university sector and the application of research for the purposes of national development.[244]
+
+This policy was followed by the country's first National Science and Technology Master Plan 2014–2020. It was officially launched by the Ministry of Planning in December 2014, as the culmination of a two-year process supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency. The plan makes provision for establishing a science and technology foundation to promote industrial innovation, with a particular focus on agriculture, primary industry and ICTs.[244][245]
+
+Civil Society

en/808.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+Chamaeleon (/kəˈmiːliən/) is a small constellation in the southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a kind of lizard. It was first defined in the 16th century.
+
+Chamaeleon was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman.[2] It first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. Johann Bayer was the first uranographer to put Chamaeleon in a celestial atlas. It was one of many constellations created by European explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries out of unfamiliar Southern Hemisphere stars.[3]
+
+There are four bright stars in Chamaeleon that form a compact diamond-shape approximately 10 degrees from the South Celestial Pole and about 15 degrees south of Acrux, along the axis formed by Acrux and Gamma Crucis. Alpha Chamaeleontis is a white-hued star of magnitude 4.1, 63 light-years from Earth. Beta Chamaeleontis is a blue-white hued star of magnitude 4.2, 271 light-years from Earth. Gamma Chamaeleontis is a red-hued giant star of magnitude 4.1, 413 light-years from Earth. The other bright star in Chamaeleon is Delta Chamaeleontis, a wide double star. The brighter star is Delta2 Chamaeleontis, a blue-hued star of magnitude 4.4. Delta1 Chamaeleontis, the dimmer component, is an orange-hued giant star of magnitude 5.5. They both lie about 350 light years away.[2]
+
+Chamaeleon is also the location of Cha 110913, a unique dwarf star or proto solar system.
+
+In 1999, a nearby open cluster was discovered centered on the star η Chamaeleontis. The cluster, known as either
+the Eta Chamaeleontis cluster or Mamajek 1, is 8 million years old, and lies 316 light years from Earth.[5]
+
+The constellation contains a number of molecular clouds (the Chamaeleon dark clouds) that are forming low-mass T Tauri stars. The cloud complex lies some 400 to 600 light years from Earth, and contains tens of thousands of solar masses of gas and dust. The most prominent cluster of T Tauri stars and young B-type stars are in the Chamaeleon I cloud, and are associated with the reflection nebula IC 2631.
+
+Chamaeleon contains one planetary nebula, NGC 3195, which is fairly faint. It appears in a telescope at about the same apparent size as Jupiter.[2]
+
+In Chinese astronomy, the stars that form Chamaeleon were classified as the Little Dipper (小斗, Xiǎodǒu) among the Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) by Xu Guangqi.[6] Chamaeleon is sometimes also called the Frying Pan in Australia.[7]
+
+Coordinates:  11h 00m 00s, −80° 00′ 00″

en/809.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+Chamaeleon (/kəˈmiːliən/) is a small constellation in the southern sky. It is named after the chameleon, a kind of lizard. It was first defined in the 16th century.
+
+Chamaeleon was one of twelve constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman.[2] It first appeared on a 35-cm diameter celestial globe published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by Plancius and Jodocus Hondius. Johann Bayer was the first uranographer to put Chamaeleon in a celestial atlas. It was one of many constellations created by European explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries out of unfamiliar Southern Hemisphere stars.[3]
+
+There are four bright stars in Chamaeleon that form a compact diamond-shape approximately 10 degrees from the South Celestial Pole and about 15 degrees south of Acrux, along the axis formed by Acrux and Gamma Crucis. Alpha Chamaeleontis is a white-hued star of magnitude 4.1, 63 light-years from Earth. Beta Chamaeleontis is a blue-white hued star of magnitude 4.2, 271 light-years from Earth. Gamma Chamaeleontis is a red-hued giant star of magnitude 4.1, 413 light-years from Earth. The other bright star in Chamaeleon is Delta Chamaeleontis, a wide double star. The brighter star is Delta2 Chamaeleontis, a blue-hued star of magnitude 4.4. Delta1 Chamaeleontis, the dimmer component, is an orange-hued giant star of magnitude 5.5. They both lie about 350 light years away.[2]
+
+Chamaeleon is also the location of Cha 110913, a unique dwarf star or proto solar system.
+
+In 1999, a nearby open cluster was discovered centered on the star η Chamaeleontis. The cluster, known as either
+the Eta Chamaeleontis cluster or Mamajek 1, is 8 million years old, and lies 316 light years from Earth.[5]
+
+The constellation contains a number of molecular clouds (the Chamaeleon dark clouds) that are forming low-mass T Tauri stars. The cloud complex lies some 400 to 600 light years from Earth, and contains tens of thousands of solar masses of gas and dust. The most prominent cluster of T Tauri stars and young B-type stars are in the Chamaeleon I cloud, and are associated with the reflection nebula IC 2631.
+
+Chamaeleon contains one planetary nebula, NGC 3195, which is fairly faint. It appears in a telescope at about the same apparent size as Jupiter.[2]
+
+In Chinese astronomy, the stars that form Chamaeleon were classified as the Little Dipper (小斗, Xiǎodǒu) among the Southern Asterisms (近南極星區, Jìnnánjíxīngōu) by Xu Guangqi.[6] Chamaeleon is sometimes also called the Frying Pan in Australia.[7]
+
+Coordinates:  11h 00m 00s, −80° 00′ 00″

en/81.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+
+
+A or a is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet.[1] Its name in English is a (pronounced /ˈeɪ/), plural aes.[nb 1] It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives.[2]  The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version can be written in two forms: the double-storey a and single-storey ɑ. The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type.
+
+In the English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", are indefinite articles.
+
+The earliest certain ancestor of "A" is aleph (also written 'aleph), the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet,[3] which consisted entirely of consonants (for that reason, it is also called an abjad to distinguish it from a true alphabet). In turn, the ancestor of aleph may have been a pictogram of an ox head in proto-Sinaitic script[4] influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs, styled as a triangular head with two horns extended.
+
+By 1600 BC, the Phoenician alphabet letter had a linear form that served as the base for some later forms. Its name is thought to have corresponded closely to the Paleo-Hebrew or Arabic aleph.
+
+When the ancient Greeks adopted the alphabet, they had no use for a letter to represent the glottal stop—the consonant sound that the letter denoted in Phoenician and other Semitic languages, and that was the first phoneme of the Phoenician pronunciation of the letter—so they used their version of the sign to represent the vowel /a/, and called it by the similar name of alpha. In the earliest Greek inscriptions after the Greek Dark Ages, dating to the 8th century BC, the letter rests upon its side, but in the Greek alphabet of later times it generally resembles the modern capital letter, although many local varieties can be distinguished by the shortening of one leg, or by the angle at which the cross line is set.
+
+The Etruscans brought the Greek alphabet to their civilization in the Italian Peninsula and left the letter unchanged. The Romans later adopted the Etruscan alphabet to write the Latin language, and the resulting letter was preserved in the Latin alphabet that would come to be used to write many languages, including English.
+
+During Roman times, there were many variant forms of the letter "A". First was the monumental or lapidary style, which was used when inscribing on stone or other "permanent" media. There was also a cursive style used for everyday or utilitarian writing, which was done on more perishable surfaces. Due to the "perishable" nature of these surfaces, there are not as many examples of this style as there are of the monumental, but there are still many surviving examples of different types of cursive, such as majuscule cursive, minuscule cursive, and semicursive minuscule. Variants also existed that were intermediate between the monumental and cursive styles. The known variants include the early semi-uncial, the uncial, and the later semi-uncial.[5]
+
+At the end of the Roman Empire (5th century AD), several variants of the cursive minuscule developed through Western Europe. Among these were the semicursive minuscule of Italy, the Merovingian script in France, the Visigothic script in Spain, and the Insular or Anglo-Irish semi-uncial or Anglo-Saxon majuscule of Great Britain. By the 9th century, the Caroline script, which was very similar to the present-day form, was the principal form used in book-making, before the advent of the printing press. This form was derived through a combining of prior forms.[5]
+
+15th-century Italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today. These variants, the Italic and Roman forms, were derived from the Caroline Script version. The Italic form, also called script a, is used in most current handwriting and consists of a circle and vertical stroke. This slowly developed from the fifth-century form resembling the Greek letter tau in the hands of medieval Irish and English writers.[3] The Roman form is used in most printed material; it consists of a small loop with an arc over it ("a").[5] Both derive from the majuscule (capital) form. In Greek handwriting, it was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into a single loop, as demonstrated by the uncial version shown. Many fonts then made the right leg vertical. In some of these, the serif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc, resulting in the printed form, while in others it was dropped, resulting in the modern handwritten form.
+
+Italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest (set in Roman type). There are some other cases aside from italic type where script a ("ɑ"), also called Latin alpha, is used in contrast with Latin "a" (such as in the International Phonetic Alphabet).
+
+In modern English orthography, the letter ⟨a⟩ represents at least seven different vowel sounds:
+
+The double ⟨aa⟩ sequence does not occur in native English words, but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as Aaron and aardvark.[6] However, ⟨a⟩ occurs in many common digraphs, all with their own sound or sounds, particularly ⟨ai⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨aw⟩, ⟨ay⟩, ⟨ea⟩ and ⟨oa⟩.
+
+⟨a⟩ is the third-most-commonly used letter in English (after ⟨e⟩ and ⟨t⟩),[7] and the second most common in Spanish and French. In one study, on average, about 3.68% of letters used in English texts tend to be ⟨a⟩, while the number is 6.22% in Spanish and 3.95% in French.[8]
+
+In most languages that use the Latin alphabet, ⟨a⟩ denotes an open unrounded vowel, such as /a/, /ä/, or /ɑ/. An exception is Saanich, in which ⟨a⟩ (and the glyph Á) stands for a close-mid front unrounded vowel /e/.
+
+In phonetic and phonemic notation:
+
+In algebra, the letter a along with other letters at the beginning of the alphabet is used to represent known quantities, whereas the letters at the end of the alphabet (x, y, z) are used to denote unknown quantities.
+
+In geometry, capital A, B, C etc. are used to denote segments, lines, rays, etc.[5] A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in a triangle, the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A.[4]
+
+"A" is often used to denote something or someone of a better or more prestigious quality or status: A-, A or A+, the best grade that can be assigned by teachers for students' schoolwork; "A grade" for clean restaurants; A-list celebrities, etc. Such associations can have a motivating effect, as exposure to the letter A has been found to improve performance, when compared with other letters.[9]
+
+"A" is used as a prefix on some words, such as asymmetry, to mean "not" or "without" (from Greek).
+
+In English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", is an indefinite article.
+
+Finally, the letter A is used to denote size, as in a narrow size shoe,[4] or a small cup size in a brassiere.[10]
+

en/810.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,207 @@
+Coordinates: 6°N 12°E / 6°N 12°E / 6; 12
+
+Cameroon (/ˌkæməˈruːn/ (listen); French: Cameroun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (French: République du Cameroun), is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Although Cameroon is not an ECOWAS member state, it is geographically and historically in West Africa with the Southern Cameroons which now form her Nord-Ouest and Sud-Ouest Regions having a strong West African history. However, since 2017, elements within the Sud-Ouest and Nord-Ouest regions have since declared an independent (yet internationally unrecognized) state called Ambazonia.[7] The country is sometimes identified as West African and other times as Central African due to its strategic position at the crossroads between West and Central Africa. Cameroon is home to over 250 native languages spoken by nearly 20 million people.[8][9][10]
+
+Early inhabitants of the territory included the Sao civilisation around Lake Chad and the Baka hunter-gatherers in the southeastern rainforest. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area Rio dos Camarões (Shrimp River), which became Cameroon in English. Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north in the 19th century, and various ethnic groups of the west and northwest established powerful chiefdoms and fondoms. Cameroon became a German colony in 1884 known as Kamerun.
+
+After World War I, the territory was divided between France and the United Kingdom as League of Nations mandates. The Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC) political party advocated independence, but was outlawed by France in the 1950s, leading to the Bamileke War fought between French and UPC militant forces until early 1971. In 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroons federated with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The federation was abandoned in 1972. The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972 and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984. Large numbers of Cameroonians live as subsistence farmers. Paul Biya, the incumbent president, has led the country since 1982; he had previously held office as prime minister, from 1975 until his elevation to the presidency. The country has experienced tensions coming from the English-speaking territories. Politicians in the English-speaking regions have advocated for greater decentralisation and even complete separation or independence (as in the Southern Cameroons National Council) from Cameroon. In 2017, tensions regarding the creation of an Ambazonian state in the English-speaking territories escalated into open warfare.
+
+The official languages of Cameroon are French and English, the official languages of former colonial French Cameroons and British Cameroons respectively. Its religious population consists of 70% Christians and 20% Muslims. It is governed as a Unitary presidential republic and has good relations with the major powers of France, the United Kingdom and China.
+
+The country is often referred to as "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity.[11][8] Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point at almost 4,100 metres (13,500 ft) is Mount Cameroon in the Southwest Region of the country, and the largest cities in population-terms are Douala on the Wouri River, its economic capital and main seaport, Yaoundé, its political capital, and Garoua. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly Makossa and Bikutsi, and for its successful national football team. Cameroon is a member state of the African Union, the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
+
+The territory of present-day Cameroon was first settled during the Neolithic Era. The longest continuous inhabitants are groups such as the Baka (Pygmies).[12] From here, Bantu migrations into eastern, southern, and central Africa are believed to have originated about 2,000 years ago.[13] The Sao culture arose around Lake Chad, c. 500 AD, and gave way to the Kanem and its successor state, the Bornu Empire. Kingdoms, fondoms, and chiefdoms arose in the west.[14]
+
+Portuguese sailors reached the coast in 1472. They noted an abundance of the ghost shrimp Lepidophthalmus turneranus in the Wouri River and named it Rio dos Camarões (Shrimp River), which became Cameroon in English.[15] Over the following few centuries, European interests regularised trade with the coastal peoples, and Christian missionaries pushed inland.[16]
+
+In the early 19th century, Modibo Adama led Fulani soldiers on a jihad in the north against non-Muslim and partially Muslim peoples and established the Adamawa Emirate. Settled peoples who fled the Fulani caused a major redistribution of population.
+
+The Bamum tribe have a writing system, known as Bamum script or Shu Mom. The script was given to them by Sultan Ibrahim Njoya in 1896,[17][18] and is taught in Cameroon by the Bamum Scripts and Archives Project.[18] Germany began to establish roots in Cameroon in 1868 when the Woermann Company of Hamburg built a warehouse. It was built on the estuary of the Wouri River. Later Gustav Nachtigal made a treaty with one of the local kings to annex the region for the German emperor.[19] The German Empire claimed the territory as the colony of Kamerun in 1884 and began a steady push inland. The Germans ran into resistance with the native people who did not want the Germans to establish themselves on this land. Under the influence of Germany, commercial companies were left to regulate local administrations. These concessions used forced labour of the Africans to make a profit. The labour was used on banana, rubber, palm oil, and cocoa plantations.[19] They initiated projects to improve the colony's infrastructure, relying on a harsh system of forced labour, which was much criticised by the other colonial powers.[20]
+
+With the defeat of Germany in World War I, Kamerun became a League of Nations mandate territory and was split into French Cameroons and British Cameroons in 1919. France integrated the economy of Cameroon with that of France[21] and improved the infrastructure with capital investments and skilled workers, modifying the colonial system of forced labour.[20]
+
+The British administered their territory from neighbouring Nigeria. Natives complained that this made them a neglected "colony of a colony". Nigerian migrant workers flocked to Southern Cameroons, ending forced labour altogether but angering the local natives, who felt swamped.[22] The League of Nations mandates were converted into United Nations Trusteeships in 1946, and the question of independence became a pressing issue in French Cameroun.[21]
+
+France outlawed the pro-independence political party, the Union des Populations du Cameroun (UPC), on 13 July 1955.[23] This prompted a long guerrilla war  waged by the UPC (known also as the Bamileke War) and the assassination of several of the party's leaders, including Ruben Um Nyobè, Félix-Roland Moumié and Ernest Ouandie. In the British Cameroons, the question was whether to reunify with French Cameroun or join Nigeria.[24]
+
+On 1 January 1960, French Cameroun gained independence from France under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. On 1 October 1961, the formerly British Southern Cameroons gained independence by vote of the UN General Assembly and joined with French Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon, a date which is now observed as Unification Day, a public holiday.[25] Ahidjo used the ongoing war with the UPC to concentrate power in the presidency, continuing with this even after the suppression of the UPC in 1971.[26]
+
+His political party, the Cameroon National Union (CNU), became the sole legal political party on 1 September 1966 and on 20 May 1972, a referendum was passed to abolish the federal system of government in favour of a United Republic of Cameroon, headed from Yaoundé.[27] This day is now the country's National Day, a public holiday.[28] Ahidjo pursued an economic policy of planned liberalism, prioritising cash crops and petroleum development. The government used oil money to create a national cash reserve, pay farmers, and finance major development projects; however, many initiatives failed when Ahidjo appointed unqualified allies to direct them.[29]
+
+Ahidjo stepped down on 4 November 1982 and left power to his constitutional successor, Paul Biya. However, Ahidjo remained in control of the CNU and tried to run the country from behind the scenes until Biya and his allies pressured him into resigning. Biya began his administration by moving toward a more democratic government, but a failed coup d'état nudged him toward the leadership style of his predecessor.[30]
+
+An economic crisis took effect in the mid-1980s to late 1990s as a result of international economic conditions, drought, falling petroleum prices, and years of corruption, mismanagement, and cronyism. Cameroon turned to foreign aid, cut government spending, and privatised industries. With the reintroduction of multi-party politics in December 1990, the former British Southern Cameroons pressure groups called for greater autonomy, and the Southern Cameroons National Council advocated complete secession as the Republic of Ambazonia.[31] The 1992 Labour Code of Cameroon gives workers the freedom to belong to a trade union or not to belong to any trade union at all. It is the choice of a worker to join any trade union in his occupation since there exist more than one trade union in each occupation.[32]
+
+In June 2006, talks concerning a territorial dispute over the Bakassi peninsula were resolved. The talks involved President Paul Biya of Cameroon, then President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and resulted in Cameroonian control of the oil-rich peninsula. The northern portion of the territory was formally handed over to the Cameroonian government in August 2006, and the remainder of the peninsula was left to Cameroon 2 years later, in 2008.[33] The boundary change triggered a local separatist insurgency, as many Bakassians refused to accept Cameroonian rule. While most militants laid down their arms in November 2009,[34] some carried on fighting for years.[35]
+
+In February 2008, Cameroon experienced its worst violence in 15 years when a transport union strike in Douala escalated into violent protests in 31 municipal areas.[36][37]
+
+In May 2014, in the wake of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, presidents Paul Biya of Cameroon and Idriss Déby of Chad announced they are waging war on Boko Haram, and deployed troops to the Nigerian border.[38] Boko Haram launched several attacks into Cameroon, killing 84 civilians in a December 2014 raid, but suffering a heavy defeat in a raid in January 2015. Cameroon declared victory over Boko Haram on Cameroonian territory in September 2018.[39]
+
+Since November 2016, protesters from the predominantly English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of the country have been campaigning for continued use of the English language in schools and courts. People were killed and hundreds jailed as a result of these protests.[40] In 2017, Biya's government blocked the regions' access to the Internet for three months.[41] In September, separatists started a guerilla war for the indendence of the Anglophone region as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia. The government responded with a military offensive, and the insurgency spread across the Northwest and Southwest regions. As of 2019[update], fighting between separatist guerillas and government forces continues.[42] Since 2016, more than 450,000 people have fled their homes.[43] The conflict indirectly led to an upsurge in Boko Haram attacks, as the Cameroonian military largely withdrew from the north to focus on fighting the Ambazonian separatists.[44]
+
+The President of Cameroon is elected and creates policy, administers government agencies, commands the armed forces, negotiates and ratifies treaties, and declares a state of emergency.[45] The president appoints government officials at all levels, from the prime minister (considered the official head of government), to the provincial governors and divisional officers.[46] The president is selected by popular vote every seven years.[1] There have been 2 presidents since the independence of Cameroon.
+
+The National Assembly makes legislation. The body consists of 180 members who are elected for five-year terms and meet three times per year.[46] Laws are passed on a majority vote. Rarely has the assembly changed or blocked legislation proposed by the president.[1]
+
+The 1996 constitution establishes a second house of parliament, the 100-seat Senate, was established in April 2013 and is headed by a President of the Senate who is the constitutional successor in case of untimely vacancy of the Presidency of the Republic.[1] The government recognises the authority of traditional chiefs, fons, and lamibe to govern at the local level and to resolve disputes as long as such rulings do not conflict with national law.[47][48]
+
+Cameroon's legal system is largely based on French civil law with common law influences.[1] Although nominally independent, the judiciary falls under the authority of the executive's Ministry of Justice.[47] The president appoints judges at all levels.[46] The judiciary is officially divided into tribunals, the court of appeal, and the supreme court. The National Assembly elects the members of a nine-member High Court of Justice that judges high-ranking members of government in the event they are charged with high treason or harming national security.[49][50]
+
+Cameroon is viewed as rife with corruption at all levels of government. In 1997, Cameroon established anti-corruption bureaus in 29 ministries, but only 25% became operational,[51] and in 2012, Transparency International placed Cameroon at number 144 on a list of 176 countries ranked from least to most corrupt.[52] On 18 January 2006, Biya initiated an anti-corruption drive under the direction of the National Anti-Corruption Observatory.[51] There are several high corruption risk areas in Cameroon, for instance, customs, public health sector and public procurement.[53] However, the corruption has gotten worse, regardless of the existing anti-corruption bureaus, as Transparency International ranked Cameroon 152 on a list of 180 countries in 2018.[54]
+
+President Biya's Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (CPDM) was the only legal political party until December 1990. Numerous regional political groups have since formed. The primary opposition is the Social Democratic Front (SDF), based largely in the Anglophone region of the country and headed by John Fru Ndi.[55]
+
+Biya and his party have maintained control of the presidency and the National Assembly in national elections, which rivals contend were unfair.[31] Human rights organisations allege that the government suppresses the freedoms of opposition groups by preventing demonstrations, disrupting meetings, and arresting opposition leaders and journalists.[56][57] In particular, English-speaking people are discriminated against; protests often escalate into violent clashes and killings.[58] In 2017, President Biya shut down the Internet in the English-speaking region for 94 days, at the cost of hampering five million people, including Silicon Mountain startups.[59]
+
+Freedom House ranks Cameroon as "not free" in terms of political rights and civil liberties.[60] The last parliamentary elections were held on 9 February 2020.[61]
+
+Cameroon is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie.
+
+Its foreign policy closely follows that of its main ally, France (one of its former colonial rulers).[62][63] Cameroon relies heavily on France for its defence,[47] although military spending is high in comparison to other sectors of government.[64]
+
+President Biya has engaged in a decades-long clash with the government of Nigeria over possession of the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula.[55] Cameroon and Nigeria share a 1,000-mile (1 600 km) border and have disputed the sovereignty of the Bakassi peninsula. In 1994 Cameroon petitioned the International Court of Justice to resolve the dispute. The two countries attempted to establish a cease-fire in 1996, however, fighting continued for years. In 2002, the ICJ ruled that the Anglo-German Agreement of 1913 gave sovereignty to Cameroon. The ruling called for a withdrawal by both countries and denied the request by Cameroon for compensation due to Nigeria's long-term occupation.[65] By 2004, Nigeria had failed to meet the deadline to handover the peninsula. A UN-mediated summit in June 2006 facilitated an agreement for Nigeria to withdraw from the region and both leaders signed the Greentree Agreement.[66] The withdrawal and handover of control was completed by August 2006.[67]
+
+In July 2019, UN ambassadors of 37 countries, including Cameroon, have signed a joint letter to the UNHRC defending China's treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.[68]
+
+Human rights organisations accuse police and military forces of mistreating and even torturing criminal suspects, ethnic minorities, homosexuals, and political activists.[56][57][69][70] Prisons are overcrowded with little access to adequate food and medical facilities,[69][70] and prisons run by traditional rulers in the north are charged with holding political opponents at the behest of the government.[57] However, since the first decade of the 21st century, an increasing number of police and gendarmes have been prosecuted for improper conduct.[69]
+
+A video showing Cameroonian soldiers executing blindfolded women and children has emerged in 2018.[71] In June 2019, Cameroonian authorities arrested at least 350 members of Cameroon's main opposition party.[43]
+
+Same-sex sexual acts are banned by section 347-1 of the penal code with a penalty of from 6 months up to 5 years' imprisonment.[72]
+
+The constitution divides Cameroon into 10 semi-autonomous regions, each under the administration of an elected Regional Council. Each region is headed by a presidentially appointed governor.[45]
+
+These leaders are charged with implementing the will of the president, reporting on the general mood and conditions of the regions, administering the civil service, keeping the peace, and overseeing the heads of the smaller administrative units. Governors have broad powers: they may order propaganda in their area and call in the army, gendarmes, and police.[45] All local government officials are employees of the central government's Ministry of Territorial Administration, from which local governments also get most of their budgets.[13]
+
+The regions are subdivided into 58 divisions (French départements). These are headed by presidentially appointed divisional officers (préfets). The divisions are further split into sub-divisions (arrondissements), headed by assistant divisional officers (sous-prefets). The districts, administered by district heads (chefs de district), are the smallest administrative units.[73]
+
+The three northernmost regions are the Far North (Extrême Nord), North (Nord), and Adamawa (Adamaoua). Directly south of them are the Centre (Centre) and East (Est). The South Province (Sud) lies on the Gulf of Guinea and the southern border. Cameroon's western region is split into four smaller regions: the Littoral (Littoral) and Southwest (Sud-Ouest) regions are on the coast, and the Northwest (Nord-Ouest) and West (Ouest) regions are in the western grassfields.[73]
+
+In 2013, the total adult literacy rate of Cameroon was estimated to be 71.3%. Among youths age 15–24 the literacy rate was 85.4% for males and 76.4% for females.[74] Most children have access to state-run schools that are cheaper than private and religious facilities.[75] The educational system is a mixture of British and French precedents[76] with most instruction in English or French.[77]
+
+Cameroon has one of the highest school attendance rates in Africa.[75] Girls attend school less regularly than boys do because of cultural attitudes, domestic duties, early marriage, pregnancy, and sexual harassment. Although attendance rates are higher in the south,[75] a disproportionate number of teachers are stationed there, leaving northern schools chronically understaffed.[69] In 2013, the primary school enrollment rate was 93.5%.[74]
+
+School attendance in Cameroon is also affected by child labour. Indeed, the United States Department of Labor Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor reported that 56% of children aged 5 to 14 were working children and that almost 53% of children aged 7 to 14 combined work and school.[78] In December 2014, a List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor issued by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs mentioned Cameroon among the countries that resorted to child labor in the production of cocoa.[79]
+
+The quality of health care is generally low.[80] Life expectancy at birth is estimated to be 56 years in 2012, with 48 healthy life years expected.[81] Fertility rate remain high in Cameroon with an average of 4.8 births per woman and an average mothers' age of 19.7 years old at first birth.[81] In Cameroon, there is only one doctor for every 5,000 people, according to the World Health Organization.[82] In 2014, just 4.1% of total GDP expenditure was allocated to healthcare.[83] Due to financial cuts in the health care system, there are few professionals. Doctors and nurses who were trained in Cameroon, emigrate because in Cameroon the payment is poor while the workload is high. Nurses are unemployed even though their help is needed. Some of them help out voluntarily so they will not lose their skills.[84] Outside the major cities, facilities are often dirty and poorly equipped.[85]
+
+In 2012, the top three deadly diseases were HIV/AIDS, lower respiratory tract infection, and diarrheal diseases.[81] Endemic diseases include dengue fever, filariasis, leishmaniasis, malaria, meningitis, schistosomiasis, and sleeping sickness.[86] The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in 2016 was estimated at 3.8% for those aged 15–49,[87] although a strong stigma against the illness keeps the number of reported cases artificially low.[80] 46,000 children under age 14 were estimated to be living with HIV in 2016. In Cameroon, 58% of those living with HIV know their status, and just 37% receive ARV treatment. In 2016, 29,000 death due to AIDS occurred in both adults and children.[87]
+
+Breast ironing, a traditional practice that is prevalent in Cameroon, may affect girls' health.[88][89][90][91] Female genital mutilation (FGM), while not widespread, is practiced among some populations; according to a 2013 UNICEF report,[92] 1% of women in Cameroon have undergone FGM. Also impacting women and girls' health, the contraceptive prevalence rate is estimated to be just 34.4% in 2014. Traditional healers remain a popular alternative to evidence-based medicine.[93]
+
+At 475,442 square kilometres (183,569 sq mi), Cameroon is the world's 53rd-largest country.[94] It is slightly larger than the nation of Sweden and the state of California; Cameroon is comparable in size to Papua New Guinea. The country is located in Central and West Africa, known as the hinge of Africa, on the Bight of Bonny, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.[95] Cameroon lies between latitudes 1° and 13°N, and longitudes 8° and 17°E. Cameroon controls 12 nautical miles of the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+Tourist literature describes Cameroon as "Africa in miniature" because it exhibits all major climates and vegetation of the continent: coast, desert, mountains, rainforest, and savanna.[96] The country's neighbours are Nigeria and the Atlantic Ocean to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south.[1]
+
+Cameroon is divided into five major geographic zones distinguished by dominant physical, climatic, and vegetative features. The coastal plain extends 15 to 150 kilometres (9 to 93 mi) inland from the Gulf of Guinea[97] and has an average elevation of 90 metres (295 ft).[98] Exceedingly hot and humid with a short dry season, this belt is densely forested and includes some of the wettest places on earth, part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests.[99][100]
+
+The South Cameroon Plateau rises from the coastal plain to an average elevation of 650 metres (2,133 ft).[101] Equatorial rainforest dominates this region, although its alternation between wet and dry seasons makes it is less humid than the coast. This area is part of the Atlantic Equatorial coastal forests ecoregion.[102]
+
+An irregular chain of mountains, hills, and plateaus known as the Cameroon range extends from Mount Cameroon on the coast—Cameroon's highest point at 4,095 metres (13,435 ft)[103]—almost to Lake Chad at Cameroon's northern border at 13°05'N. This region has a mild climate, particularly on the Western High Plateau, although rainfall is high. Its soils are among Cameroon's most fertile, especially around volcanic Mount Cameroon.[103] Volcanism here has created crater lakes. On 21 August 1986, one of these, Lake Nyos, belched carbon dioxide and killed between 1,700 and 2,000 people.[104] This area has been delineated by the World Wildlife Fund as the Cameroonian Highlands forests ecoregion.[105]
+
+The southern plateau rises northward to the grassy, rugged Adamawa Plateau. This feature stretches from the western mountain area and forms a barrier between the country's north and south. Its average elevation is 1,100 metres (3,609 ft),[101] and its average temperature ranges from 22 °C (71.6 °F) to 25 °C (77 °F) with high rainfall between April and October peaking in July and August.[106][107] The northern lowland region extends from the edge of the Adamawa to Lake Chad with an average elevation of 300 to 350 metres (984 to 1,148 ft).[103] Its characteristic vegetation is savanna scrub and grass. This is an arid region with sparse rainfall and high median temperatures.[108]
+
+Cameroon has four patterns of drainage. In the south, the principal rivers are the Ntem, Nyong, Sanaga, and Wouri. These flow southwestward or westward directly into the Gulf of Guinea. The Dja and Kadéï drain southeastward into the Congo River. In northern Cameroon, the Bénoué River runs north and west and empties into the Niger. The Logone flows northward into Lake Chad, which Cameroon shares with three neighbouring countries.[109]
+
+Cameroon's per capita GDP (Purchasing power parity) was estimated as US$3,700 in 2017.[110] Major export markets include France, Italy, South Korea, Spain, and the United Kingdom.[1] Cameroon is aiming to become an emerging country by 2035.
+
+Cameroon has had a decade of strong economic performance, with GDP growing at an average of 4% per year. During the 2004–2008 period, public debt was reduced from over 60% of GDP to 10% and official reserves quadrupled to over US$3 billion.[111] Cameroon is part of the Bank of Central African States (of which it is the dominant economy),[112] the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa (UDEAC) and the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).[113] Its currency is the CFA franc.[1]
+
+Unemployment was estimated at 3.38% in 2019,[114] and 23.8% of the population was living below the international poverty threshold of US$1.90 a day in 2014.[115] Since the late 1980s, Cameroon has been following programmes advocated by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce poverty, privatise industries, and increase economic growth.[47] The government has taken measures to encourage tourism in the country.[116]
+
+Cameroon's natural resources are very well suited to agriculture and arboriculture. An estimated 70% of the population farms, and agriculture comprised an estimated 19.8% of GDP in 2009.[1] Most agriculture is done at the subsistence scale by local farmers using simple tools. They sell their surplus produce, and some maintain separate fields for commercial use. Urban centres are particularly reliant on peasant agriculture for their foodstuffs. Soils and climate on the coast encourage extensive commercial cultivation of bananas, cocoa, oil palms, rubber, and tea. Inland on the South Cameroon Plateau, cash crops include coffee, sugar, and tobacco. Coffee is a major cash crop in the western highlands, and in the north, natural conditions favour crops such as cotton, groundnuts, and rice. Reliance on agricultural exports makes Cameroon vulnerable to shifts in their prices.[1]
+
+Livestock are raised throughout the country.[117] Fishing employs 5,000 people and provides over 100,000 tons of seafood each year.[118][119] Bushmeat, long a staple food for rural Cameroonians, is today a delicacy in the country's urban centres. The commercial bushmeat trade has now surpassed deforestation as the main threat to wildlife in Cameroon.[120][121]
+
+The southern rainforest has vast timber reserves, estimated to cover 37% of Cameroon's total land area.[119] However, large areas of the forest are difficult to reach. Logging, largely handled by foreign-owned firms,[119] provides the government US$60 million a year in taxes (as of 1998[update]), and laws mandate the safe and sustainable exploitation of timber. Nevertheless, in practice, the industry is one of the least regulated in Cameroon.[122]
+
+Factory-based industry accounted for an estimated 29.7% of GDP in 2009.[1] More than 75% of Cameroon's industrial strength is located in Douala and Bonabéri. Cameroon possesses substantial mineral resources, but these are not extensively mined (see Mining in Cameroon).[47] Petroleum exploitation has fallen since 1986, but this is still a substantial sector such that dips in prices have a strong effect on the economy.[123] Rapids and waterfalls obstruct the southern rivers, but these sites offer opportunities for hydroelectric development and supply most of Cameroon's energy. The Sanaga River powers the largest hydroelectric station, located at Edéa. The rest of Cameroon's energy comes from oil-powered thermal engines. Much of the country remains without reliable power supplies.[124]
+
+Transport in Cameroon is often difficult. Except for the several relatively good toll roads which connect major cities (all of them one-lane) roads are poorly maintained and subject to inclement weather, since only 10% of the roadways are tarred.[1] Roadblocks often serve little other purpose than to allow police and gendarmes to collect bribes from travellers.[125] Road banditry has long hampered transport along the eastern and western borders, and since 2005, the problem has intensified in the east as the Central African Republic has further destabilised.[126]
+
+Intercity bus services run by multiple private companies connect all major cities. They are the most popular means of transportation followed by the rail service Camrail. Rail service runs from Kumba in the west to Bélabo in the east and north to Ngaoundéré.[127] International airports are located in Douala and Yaoundé, with a third under construction in Maroua.[128] Douala is the country's principal seaport.[129] In the north, the Bénoué River is seasonally navigable from Garoua across into Nigeria.[130]
+
+Although press freedoms have improved since the first decade of the 21st century, the press is corrupt and beholden to special interests and political groups.[131] Newspapers routinely self-censor to avoid government reprisals.[69] The major radio and television stations are state-run and other communications, such as land-based telephones and telegraphs, are largely under government control.[132] However, cell phone networks and Internet providers have increased dramatically since the first decade of the 21st century[133] and are largely unregulated.[57]
+
+The Cameroon Armed Forces, (French: Forces armées camerounaises, FAC) as of 2015[update], consists of the country's army (French: Armée de Terre), the country's navy (French: Marine Nationale de la République (MNR), includes naval infantry), the Cameroonian Air Force (French: Armée de l'Air du Cameroun, AAC), Fire Fighter Corps, Rapid Intervention Battalion (French: Bataillon d'intervention rapide, BIR) and the Gendarmerie.[134]
+
+Males and females that are 18 years of age up to 23 years of age and have graduated high school are eligible for military service. Those who join are obliged to complete 4 years of service. There is no conscription in Cameroon, but the government makes periodic calls for volunteers.[134]
+
+The population total in Cameroon was 25,216,267 in 2018.[136][137] The life expectancy is 56 years (55.9 years for males and 58.6 years for females).[1]
+
+According to the latest census, Cameroon still has slightly more women (50.6%) than men (49.4%). Nearly 60% of the population is under age 25. People over 65 years of age account for only 3.2% of the total population.[1]
+
+Cameroon's population is almost evenly divided between urban and rural dwellers.[138] Population density is highest in the large urban centres, the western highlands, and the northeastern plain.[139] Douala, Yaoundé, and Garoua are the largest cities. In contrast, the Adamawa Plateau, southeastern Bénoué depression, and most of the South Cameroon Plateau are sparsely populated.[140]
+
+According to the World Health Organization, the fertility rate was 4.8 in 2013 with a population growth rate of 2.56%.[81]
+
+People from the overpopulated western highlands and the underdeveloped north are moving to the coastal plantation zone and urban centres for employment.[141] Smaller movements are occurring as workers seek employment in lumber mills and plantations in the south and east.[142] Although the national sex ratio is relatively even, these out-migrants are primarily males, which leads to unbalanced ratios in some regions.[143]
+
+Both monogamous and polygamous marriage are practised, and the average Cameroonian family is large and extended.[144] In the north, women tend to the home, and men herd cattle or work as farmers. In the south, women grow the family's food, and men provide meat and grow cash crops. Cameroonian society is male-dominated, and violence and discrimination against women is common.[57][69][145]
+
+Estimates identify anywhere from 230 to 282 different folks and linguistic groups in Cameroon.[146][147] The Adamawa Plateau broadly bisects these into northern and southern divisions. The northern peoples are Sudanese groups, who live in the central highlands and the northern lowlands, and the Fulani, who are spread throughout northern Cameroon. A small number of Shuwa Arabs live near Lake Chad. Southern Cameroon is inhabited by speakers of Bantu and Semi-Bantu languages. Bantu-speaking groups inhabit the coastal and equatorial zones, while speakers of Semi-Bantu languages live in the Western grassfields. Some 5,000 Gyele and Baka Pygmy peoples roam the southeastern and coastal rainforests or live in small, roadside settlements.[148] Nigerians make up the largest group of foreign nationals.[149]
+
+
+
+In 2007, Cameroon hosted a total population of refugees and asylum seekers of approximately 97,400. Of these, 49,300 were from the Central African Republic (many driven west by war),[151] 41,600 from Chad, and 2,900 from Nigeria.[152] Kidnappings of Cameroonian citizens by Central African bandits have increased since 2005.[126]
+
+In the first months of 2014, thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in the Central African Republic arrived in Cameroon.[153]
+
+On 4 June 2014, AlertNet reported:
+
+Almost 90,000 people have fled to neighbouring Cameroon since December and up to 2,000 a week, mostly women and children, are still crossing the border, the United Nations said.
+
+"Women and children are arriving in Cameroon in a shocking state, after weeks, sometimes months, on the road, foraging for food," said Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP).[154]
+
+Both English and French are official languages, although French is by far the most understood language (more than 80%).[155] German, the language of the original colonisers, has long since been displaced by French and English. Cameroonian Pidgin English is the lingua franca in the formerly British-administered territories.[156] A mixture of English, French, and Pidgin called Camfranglais has been gaining popularity in urban centres since the mid-1970s.[157][158] The government encourages bilingualism in English and French, and as such, official government documents, new legislation, ballots, among others, are written and provided in both languages. As part of the initiative to encourage bilingualism in Cameroon, six of the eight universities in the country are entirely bilingual.
+
+In addition to the colonial languages, there are approximately 250 other languages spoken by nearly 20 million Cameroonians.[9] It is because of this that Cameroon is considered one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world.[8]
+
+In 2017 there were language protests by the anglophone population against perceived oppression by the francophone.[159] The military was deployed against the protesters and people had been killed, hundreds imprisoned and thousands fled the country.[160] This culminated in the declaration of an independent Republic of Ambazonia,[161] which has since evolved into the Anglophone Crisis.[159]
+
+Cameroon has a high level of religious freedom and diversity.[69] The predominant faith is Christianity, practised by about two-thirds of the population, while Islam is a significant minority faith, adhered to by about one-fifth. In addition, traditional faiths are practised by many. Muslims are most concentrated in the north, while Christians are concentrated primarily in the southern and western regions, but practitioners of both faiths can be found throughout the country.[163] Large cities have significant populations of both groups.[163] Muslims in Cameroon are divided into Sufis, Salafis,[164] Shias, and non-denominational Muslims.[164][165]
+
+People from the North-West and South-West provinces, which used to be a part of British Cameroons, have the highest proportion of Protestants. The French-speaking regions of the southern and western regions are largely Catholic.[163] Southern ethnic groups predominantly follow Christian or traditional African animist beliefs, or a syncretic combination of the two. People widely believe in witchcraft, and the government outlaws such practices.[166] Suspected witches are often subject to mob violence.[69] The Islamist jihadist group Ansar al-Islam has been reported as operating in North Cameroon.[167]
+
+In the northern regions, the locally dominant Fulani ethnic group is mostly Muslim, but the overall population is fairly evenly divided among Muslims, Christians, and followers of indigenous religious beliefs (called Kirdi ("pagan") by the Fulani).[163] The Bamum ethnic group of the West Region is largely Muslim.[163] Native traditional religions are practised in rural areas throughout the country but rarely are practised publicly in cities, in part because many indigenous religious groups are intrinsically local in character.[163]
+
+There are several blogs and websites about Cameroon's social platforms which include 237showbiz.
+
+Music and dance are an integral part of Cameroonian ceremonies, festivals, social gatherings, and storytelling.[168][169] Traditional dances are highly choreographed and separate men and women or forbid participation by one sex altogether.[170] The goals of dances range from pure entertainment to religious devotion.[169] Traditionally, music is transmitted orally. In a typical performance, a chorus of singers echoes a soloist.[171]
+
+Musical accompaniment may be as simple as clapping hands and stomping feet,[172] but traditional instruments include bells worn by dancers, clappers, drums and talking drums, flutes, horns, rattles, scrapers, stringed instruments, whistles, and xylophones; the exact combination varies with ethnic group and region. Some performers sing complete songs by themselves, accompanied by a harplike instrument.[171][173]
+
+Popular music styles include ambasse bey of the coast, assiko of the Bassa, mangambeu of the Bangangte, and tsamassi of the Bamileke.[174] Nigerian music has influenced Anglophone Cameroonian performers, and Prince Nico Mbarga's highlife hit "Sweet Mother" is the top-selling African record in history.[175]
+
+The two most popular styles of music are makossa and bikutsi. Makossa developed in Douala and mixes folk music, highlife, soul, and Congo music. Performers such as Manu Dibango, Francis Bebey, Moni Bilé, and Petit-Pays popularised the style worldwide in the 1970s and 1980s. Bikutsi originated as war music among the Ewondo. Artists such as Anne-Marie Nzié developed it into a popular dance music beginning in the 1940s, and performers such as Mama Ohandja and Les Têtes Brulées popularised it internationally during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.[176][177]
+
+The most notable holiday associated with patriotism in Cameroon is National Day also called unity Day. Among the most notable religious holidays are Assumption Day and Ascension Day which typically occurs 39 days after Easter. In the North West and South West provinces, collectively called Ambazonia, the 1st of October is considered to be a national holiday by Ambazonians, a date which Ambazonians regard as the declaration of independence of Ambazonia from Cameroon.[178]
+
+Cuisine varies by region, but a large, one-course, evening meal is common throughout the country. A typical dish is based on cocoyams, maize, cassava (manioc), millet, plantains, potatoes, rice, or yams, often pounded into dough-like fufu. This is served with a sauce, soup, or stew made from greens, groundnuts, palm oil, or other ingredients.[179] Meat and fish are popular but expensive additions, with chicken often reserved for special occasions.[180] Dishes are often quite hot, spiced with salt, red pepper sauce, and Maggi.[181][182][183]
+
+Cutlery is common, but food is traditionally manipulated with the right hand. Breakfast consists of leftovers of bread and fruit with coffee or tea. Generally breakfast is made from wheat flour in various different foods such as puff-puff (doughnuts), accra banana made from bananas and flour, bean cakes and many more. Snacks are popular, especially in larger towns where they may be bought from street vendors.[184][185]
+
+Water, palm wine, and millet beer are the traditional mealtime drinks, although beer, soda, and wine have gained popularity. 33 Export beer is the official drink of the national soccer team and one of the most popular brands, joining Castel, Amstel Brewery, and Guinness.
+
+Cameroon's relatively large and diverse population is also diverse with respect to its contemporary fashion. Climate, religious, ethnic and cultural belief systems as well as influences from colonialism, imperialism and globalization are all reflected in the clothes worn by modern Cameroonians.
+
+Notable Cameroonian articles of clothing include: Pagnes, a sarongs worn by Cameroon women; Chechia, a traditional hat; kwa, a male handbag; and Gandura, male custom attire.[186]
+Wrappers and loincloths are used extensively by both women and men but their use varies by region with influences from Fulani styles more present in the north and Igbo and Yoruba styles found more often in the south and west.[187]
+
+Imane Ayissi is one of Cameroon's top fashion designers and has received international recognition.[188]
+
+Traditional arts and crafts are practiced throughout the country for commercial, decorative, and religious purposes. Woodcarvings and sculptures are especially common.[189] The high-quality clay of the western highlands is suitable for pottery and ceramics.[169] Other crafts include basket weaving, beadworking, brass and bronze working, calabash carving and painting, embroidery, and leather working. Traditional housing styles make use of locally available materials and vary from temporary wood-and-leaf shelters of nomadic Mbororo to the rectangular mud-and-thatch homes of southern peoples. Dwellings made from materials such as cement and tin are increasingly common.[190] Contemporary art is mainly promoted by independent cultural organizations (Doual'art, Africréa) and artist-run initiatives (Art Wash, Atelier Viking, ArtBakery).[191]
+
+Cameroonian literature has concentrated on both European and African themes. Colonial-era writers such as Louis-Marie Pouka and Sankie Maimo were educated by European missionary societies and advocated assimilation into European culture as the means to bring Cameroon into the modern world.[192] After World War II, writers such as Mongo Beti and Ferdinand Oyono analysed and criticised colonialism and rejected assimilation.[193][194][195]
+
+Shortly after independence, filmmakers such as Jean-Paul Ngassa and Thérèse Sita-Bella explored similar themes.[196][197] In the 1960s, Mongo Beti, Ferdinand Léopold Oyono and other writers explored post-colonialism, problems of African development, and the recovery of African identity.[198] Meanwhile, in the mid-1970s, filmmakers such as Jean-Pierre Dikongué Pipa and Daniel Kamwa dealt with the conflicts between traditional and post-colonial society. Literature and films during the next two decades concentrated more on wholly Cameroonian themes.[199]
+
+National policy strongly advocates sport in all forms. Traditional sports include canoe racing and wrestling, and several hundred runners participate in the 40 km (25 mi) Mount Cameroon Race of Hope each year.[200] Cameroon is one of the few tropical countries to have competed in the Winter Olympics.
+
+Sport in Cameroon is dominated by football. Amateur football clubs abound, organised along ethnic lines or under corporate sponsors. The national team has been one of the most successful in Africa since its strong showing in the 1982 and 1990 FIFA World Cups. Cameroon has won five African Cup of Nations titles and the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics.[201]
+
+Cameroon was the host country of the Women Africa Cup of Nations in November–December 2016.[202] The women's football team is known as the "Indomitable Lionesses."
+
+The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that Cameroon Government forces are responsible for killings, the excessive use of force, burning down of houses, arbitrary detentions and torture. UN figures indicate that more than 21,000 people have fled to neighboring countries, while 160,000 have been internally displaced by the violence, many reportedly hiding in forests.
+On 25 July 2018, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed deep concern about reports of violations and abuses in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon.[203]

en/811.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour (/kəˈvʊər/ kə-VOOR, Italian: [kaˈvur]), was an Italian statesman and a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification.[4] He was one of the leaders of the Historical Right, and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont–Sardinia, a position he maintained (except for a six-month resignation) throughout the Second Italian War of Independence and Garibaldi's campaigns to unite Italy. After the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, Cavour took office as the first Prime Minister of Italy; he died after only three months in office, and thus did not live to see Venetia or Rome added to the new Italian nation.
+
+Cavour put forth several economic reforms in his native region of Piedmont in his earlier years, and founded the political newspaper Il Risorgimento. After being elected to the Chamber of Deputies, he quickly rose in rank through the Piedmontese government, coming to dominate the Chamber of Deputies through a union of left-center and right-center politicians. After a large rail system expansion program, Cavour became prime minister in 1852. As prime minister, Cavour successfully negotiated Piedmont's way through the Crimean War, the Second Italian War of Independence, and Garibaldi's expeditions, managing to maneuver Piedmont diplomatically to become a new great power in Europe, controlling a nearly united Italy that was five times as large as Piedmont had been before he came to power. Cavour was a freemason of the Italian Symbolic Rite.
+
+English historian Denis Mack Smith says Cavour was the most successful parliamentarian in Italian history but he was not especially democratic. Cavour was often dictatorial, ignored his ministerial colleagues and parliament, and interfered in parliamentary elections. He also practiced trasformismo and other policies which were carried over into post-Risorgimento Italy.[5][6]
+
+Camillo Benso was born in Turin during Napoleonic rule, into a family that had gained a fair amount of land during the French occupation. He was the second of two sons of Michele Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Benso, 4th Marquess of Cavour and Count of Isolabella and Leri, Lord of Corveglia, Dusino, Mondonio, Ottiglio and Ponticelli, Co-Lord of Castagnole, Cellarengo and Menabi, Cereaglio, Chieri, San Salvatore Monferrato, Santena and Valfenera, 1st Baron of the French Empire (1781–1850) and his wife (1805) Adélaïde (Adèle) Suzanne, Marchioness of Sellon (1780–1846), herself of French origin. His godparents were Napoleon's sister Pauline, and her husband, Prince Camillo Borghese, after whom Camillo was named.[7]
+
+Camillo and his older brother Gustavo were initially educated at home. He was sent to the Turin Military Academy when he was only ten years old. In July 1824 he was named a page to Charles Albert, the king of Piedmont (1831–1849). Cavour frequently ran afoul of the authorities in the academy, as he was too headstrong to deal with the rigid military discipline. He was once forced to live three days on bread and water because he had been caught with books that the academy had banned.[specify] He was found to be apt at the mathematical disciplines, and was therefore enlisted in the Engineer Corps in the Piedmontese-Sardinian army in 1827. While in the army, he studied the English language as well as the works of Jeremy Bentham and Benjamin Constant, developing liberal tendencies which made him suspect to police forces at the time.[8] He resigned his commission in the army in November 1831,[7] both because of boredom with military life and because of his dislike of the reactionary policies of King Charles Albert. He administered the family estate at Grinzane, some forty kilometers outside the capital, serving as mayor there from 1832 to the revolutionary upheaval of 1848.
+
+Cavour then lived for a time in Switzerland, with his Protestant relatives in Geneva. He grew acquainted with Calvinist teachings, and for a short while he converted from a form of unorthodox Catholicism, only to go back later. A Reformed pastor, Alexandre Vinet, impressed upon Cavour the need for the separation of church and state, a doctrine Cavour followed for the remainder of his life. He then traveled to Paris where he was impressed by parliamentary debates, especially those of François Guizot and Adolphe Thiers, confirming his devotion to a political career. He next went to London, where he was much more disappointed by British politics, and toured the country, visiting Oxford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Chester, Nottingham, and Manchester. A quick tour through the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland (the German part and the Lake Geneva area) eventually landed him back in Turin.
+
+Cavour believed that economic progress had to precede political change, and stressed the advantages of railroad construction in the peninsula.[7] He was a strong supporter of transportation by steam engine, sponsoring the building of many railroads and canals. Between 1838 and 1842 Cavour began several initiatives in attempts to solve economic problems in his area. He experimented with different agricultural techniques on his estate, such as growing sugar beets, and was one of the first Italian landowners to use chemical fertilizers.[9] He also founded the Piedmontese Agricultural Society. In his spare time, he again traveled extensively, mostly in France and the United Kingdom.
+
+The first apparently "liberal" moves of Pope Pius IX and the political upheavals of 1848 spawned a new movement of Italian liberalism, allowing Cavour to enter the political arena, no longer in fear of the police. He then gave a speech in front of numerous journalists in favor of a constitution for Piedmont, which was eventually granted. Cavour, unlike several other political thinkers, was not at first offered a position in the new Chamber of Deputies, as he was still a somewhat suspicious character to the nation.[6]
+
+Cavour never planned for the establishment of a united country, and even later during his Premiership his objective was to expand Piedmont with the annexation of Lombardy and Venetia, rather than a unified Italy. For example, during the conservative period, he gained a reputation as a non-revolutionary progressive. He was a poor public speaker.  Cavour then lost the next election, while the Piedmontese army was destroyed at the Battle of Novara, leading Charles Albert to abdicate, passing the throne to his son, Victor Emmanuel II.[10]
+
+Cavour was then brought back into Parliament by the voters, where he was much more successful. His knowledge of European markets and modern economics earned him the positions of Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Commerce, and Minister of the Navy in 1850. Cavour soon came to dominate the cabinet of Prime Minister Massimo d'Azeglio.  Cavour united the Right Center and the Left Center in the chamber to show dominance there as well. In 1851, Cavour gained a Cabinet promotion to Minister of Finance  by working against his colleague from inside the Cabinet in a somewhat disreputable takeover, although this was to Piedmont's advantage because of his many economic reforms. It allowed Cavour to begin his railway expansion program, giving Piedmont 800 kilometres of track by the year 1860, one third of the railways in Italy at the time.  He took the lead in legislation weakening the powers of the Church to own land, control the schools and supervise marriage laws.  When the bishops protested, they were punished or exiled, making Cavour the hero of liberal anticlerical elements across Italy.[11]
+
+Cavour formed a coalition with Urbano Rattazzi known as the Connubio ("union"), uniting the moderate men of the Right and of the Left, and brought about the fall of the d'Azeglio cabinet in November 1852. The King reluctantly accepted Cavour as prime minister, the most conservative possible choice, but their relationship was never an easy one.[12]
+
+Cavour was generally liberal and believed in free trade, freedom of opinion, and secular rule, but he was an enemy of republicans and revolutionaries, whom he feared as disorganized radicals who would upset the social order. Cavour dominated debate in Parliament but is criticized for the controversial methods he used while Prime Minister, including excessive use of emergency powers, employing friends, bribing some newspapers while suppressing others, and rigging elections, though these were fairly common practices for the time. The national debt soared by a factor of six because of his heavy spending on modernizing projects, especially railways, and building up the army and the Royal Sardinian Navy. When he became Prime Minister Piedmont had just suffered a major defeat by Austria, but when he died, Victor Emmanuel II ruled a state five times as large, which dominated Italy and ranked among Europe's great powers.
+
+The allied powers of Britain and France asked Piedmont to enter the Crimean War, partially to encourage Austria to enter, which it would not do unless it was certain that Piedmontese troops were not available to attack Austrian positions in Italy. Cavour, who hoped that the allies would support Piedmont's expansion in Italy, agreed as soon as his colleagues' support would allow and entered the war on 10 January 1855. This was too late to truly distinguish themselves militarily, but the 18,000 man contingent earned Piedmont a position at the Congress of Paris that ended the war.
+
+In January 1858, the Italian Felice Orsini's attempted assassination of Napoleon III paradoxically opened an avenue of diplomacy between France and Piedmont. While in jail awaiting trial, Orsini wrote a public letter to the Emperor of the French, ending with, "Remember that, so long as Italy is not independent, the peace of Europe and Your Majesty is but an empty dream... Set my country free, and the blessings of twenty-five million people will follow you everywhere and forever."[13] Orsini was still executed, but Napoleon III began to explore the possibility of joint operation with Piedmont against Austria. Cavour and Napoleon met in July 1858 at Plombières-les-Bains, and the two agreed that Piedmont would attempt to provoke war with the Duchy of Modena, obliging Austria to enter, and France would then aid Piedmont. In return, Cavour reluctantly agreed to cede Savoy (the seat of the Piedmontese royal family) and the  County of Nice to France, and also arranged a royal marriage between Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy and Prince Napoléon Bonaparte, surprisingly without Victor Emmanuel's consent.[14]
+In the same year, Cavour sent his cousin, the famous beauty, photographic artist, and secret agent Virginia Oldoïni, to further the interests of Italian unification with the emperor by whatever means possible, and by all accounts she succeeded, famously becoming the mistress of Napoleon.
+
+Both France and Piedmont began to prepare for war, but diplomatic support diminished rapidly. Napoleon III quickly soured on the plot, and Britain, Prussia, and Russia proposed an international congress, with one likely goal the disarmament of Piedmont. Piedmont was saved by Austria's sending an ultimatum on 23 April, demanding that Piedmont disarm itself, thus casting Austria as an aggressor. France mobilised and slowly began to enter Italy, but Piedmont needed to defend itself for a short period. Fortunately, rainstorms and Austrian indecision under Ferencz Graf Gyulai gave time for France to arrive in force.
+
+The battles of Magenta and Solferino left Franco-Piedmontese forces in control of Lombardy, but the Austrians remained confident of defending their "fortress quadrilateral" area, with four fortresses in Verona, Legnago, Peschiera, and Mantua. These defenses, the horrors of the Battle of Solferino, the possibility of Prussian entry into the war, and the potential for an over-strong Piedmontese state convinced Napoleon to sign a separate peace with Austria in the Treaty of Villafranca on 11 July 1859, ending the Second Italian War of Independence. Victor Emmanuel accepted the peace, but Cavour was so infuriated after reading the terms of the treaty that he tendered his resignation. He soon regained his optimism, however, as several of the terms, such as the restoration to power of the rulers of Tuscany and Modena, and the establishment of an Italian Confederation including Austria, were not actually carried out.
+
+General La Marmora succeeded to Cavour's post and insisted on following the treaty terms, even sending a letter to Tuscany asking that they restore their Grand Duke. (Bettino Ricasoli, virtual dictator of Tuscany at the time, wrote about this appeal to his brother, saying "Tell General La Marmora that I have torn his letter into a thousand pieces."[15]) France continued direct talks with Piedmont on the destiny of the central Italian states, all of whose autocrats supported unification with Piedmont but were restrained by the treaty, which called for the restoration of their old governments.
+
+Cavour had retired to his estate at Leri, out of politics but concerned about the King’s alliance with Garibaldi’s revolutionaries and his desire to renew the war with Austria without allied support.[16] When the weak La Marmora cabinet resigned, Victor Emmanuel was reluctant to have Cavour as premier again due both to their quarrel over the treaty of Villafranca and Cavour's success in preventing the king from marrying his mistress after the queen's death. But Cavour was sent for on 20 January 1860.
+
+Cavour agreed with Napoleon to cede Savoy and Nice to France, in order to annex Tuscany and Emilia to Piedmont. Plebiscites were arranged with huge majorities in all these provinces to approve the changes.[17] Cavour managed to convince most that uniting Italy would make up for these territorial losses. With this, the first stage of unification was completed. It was now up to Garibaldi to overthrow the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and bring southern Italy into Piedmont's control.
+
+Garibaldi was furious that his birthplace, Nice, had been ceded to France, and wished to recapture the city, but a popular insurrection in Palermo on 4 April 1860 diverted him southward. He requested a brigade of Piedmontese to take Sicily, but Cavour refused. So instead, Garibaldi raised a force of a thousand (I Mille) redshirt volunteers. They landed at Marsala in Sicily on 11 May and won the battles of Calatafimi and Milazzo, gaining control of Sicily. Cavour attempted to annex Sicily to Piedmont, but Garibaldi and his comrade Francesco Crispi would not allow it.
+
+Cavour persuaded Victor Emmanuel to write a letter to Garibaldi, requesting that he not invade the mainland; the letter was indeed sent, but the King secretly wished Garibaldi to invade. He wrote another letter asking him to go ahead, but this was apparently never sent.[18] Cavour meanwhile attempted to stir up a liberal revolution in Naples, but the populace was unreceptive. Garibaldi invaded, attempting to reach Naples quickly before Cavour found a way to stop him. On 7 September he entered Naples, at that time the largest city in Italy, and unilaterally declared Victor Emmanuel the King of Italy.[19] Garibaldi was now military dictator of southern Italy and Sicily, and he imposed the Piedmontese constitution but publicly demanded that Cavour be removed, which alienated him slightly from Victor Emmanuel.
+
+Garibaldi was unwilling to stop at this point, and planned an immediate invasion of the Papal States. Cavour feared France in that case would declare war to defend the Pope and successfully stopped Garibaldi from initiating his attack. Garibaldi had been weakened by the Battle of Volturno, so Cavour quickly invaded the Papal regions of Umbria and Marche. This linked the territories conquered by Piedmont with those taken by Garibaldi. The King met with Garibaldi, who handed over control of southern Italy and Sicily, thus uniting Italy.
+
+The relationship between Cavour and Garibaldi was always fractious: Cavour likened Garibaldi to "a savage" while Garibaldi memorably called Cavour "a low intriguer".[20]
+
+In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II declared the Kingdom of Italy, making Cavour  Prime Minister of Italy. Cavour had many difficult issues to consider, including how to create a national military, which legal institutions should be retained in what locations, and especially the future of Rome. Most Italians thought Rome must be capital of a united Italy, but this conflicted with the temporal power of the Pope and also the independence of the Church. Cavour believed that Rome should remain the seat of "a free church in a free state", which would maintain its independence but give up temporal power.[21] These issues would become known as the "Roman Question". Still Austrian Venetia was also a problem. Cavour recognized that Venice must be an integral part of Italy but refused to take a stance on how to achieve it, saying "Will the deliverance of Venice come by arms or diplomacy? I do not know. It is the secret of Providence."[22] A motion approving of his foreign policy passed by a huge majority, basically only opposed by left-wing and right-wing extremist groups.
+
+Creating Italy was no easy task, but ruling it proved a worse strain on the Prime Minister. In 1861, at the peak of his career, months of long days coupled with insomnia and constant worry took their toll on Cavour. He fell ill, presumably of malaria, and to make matters worse insisted upon being bled. His regular doctor would have refused, but he was not available; so Cavour was bled several times until it was nearly impossible to draw any blood from him. He was buried in Santena, near Turin.
+
+After his death, Italy would gain Venice in 1866 in the course of the Third Italian War of Independence, connected to the Austro-Prussian War. The Capture of Rome completed the unification of Italy (aside from Trentino and Trieste) in 1870.
+
+Today, many Italian cities, including Turin, Trieste, Rome, Florence, and Naples, have important streets, squares, and piazzas named after Cavour, as well as Mazzini and Garibaldi.[23] The clipper ship, Camille Cavour, the battleship Conte di Cavour, which fought both in World War I and World War II, and the new Marina Militare aircraft carrier Cavour is also named in his honor.
+
+In 1865, the Collegio dei Nobili, the oldest high school in Turin (founded 1568), and among the oldest and most prominent ones in Italy, was renamed the Liceo Ginnasio statale "Camillo Benso di Cavour" (Liceo classico Cavour).[citation needed]

en/812.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour (/kəˈvʊər/ kə-VOOR, Italian: [kaˈvur]), was an Italian statesman and a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification.[4] He was one of the leaders of the Historical Right, and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont–Sardinia, a position he maintained (except for a six-month resignation) throughout the Second Italian War of Independence and Garibaldi's campaigns to unite Italy. After the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, Cavour took office as the first Prime Minister of Italy; he died after only three months in office, and thus did not live to see Venetia or Rome added to the new Italian nation.
+
+Cavour put forth several economic reforms in his native region of Piedmont in his earlier years, and founded the political newspaper Il Risorgimento. After being elected to the Chamber of Deputies, he quickly rose in rank through the Piedmontese government, coming to dominate the Chamber of Deputies through a union of left-center and right-center politicians. After a large rail system expansion program, Cavour became prime minister in 1852. As prime minister, Cavour successfully negotiated Piedmont's way through the Crimean War, the Second Italian War of Independence, and Garibaldi's expeditions, managing to maneuver Piedmont diplomatically to become a new great power in Europe, controlling a nearly united Italy that was five times as large as Piedmont had been before he came to power. Cavour was a freemason of the Italian Symbolic Rite.
+
+English historian Denis Mack Smith says Cavour was the most successful parliamentarian in Italian history but he was not especially democratic. Cavour was often dictatorial, ignored his ministerial colleagues and parliament, and interfered in parliamentary elections. He also practiced trasformismo and other policies which were carried over into post-Risorgimento Italy.[5][6]
+
+Camillo Benso was born in Turin during Napoleonic rule, into a family that had gained a fair amount of land during the French occupation. He was the second of two sons of Michele Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Benso, 4th Marquess of Cavour and Count of Isolabella and Leri, Lord of Corveglia, Dusino, Mondonio, Ottiglio and Ponticelli, Co-Lord of Castagnole, Cellarengo and Menabi, Cereaglio, Chieri, San Salvatore Monferrato, Santena and Valfenera, 1st Baron of the French Empire (1781–1850) and his wife (1805) Adélaïde (Adèle) Suzanne, Marchioness of Sellon (1780–1846), herself of French origin. His godparents were Napoleon's sister Pauline, and her husband, Prince Camillo Borghese, after whom Camillo was named.[7]
+
+Camillo and his older brother Gustavo were initially educated at home. He was sent to the Turin Military Academy when he was only ten years old. In July 1824 he was named a page to Charles Albert, the king of Piedmont (1831–1849). Cavour frequently ran afoul of the authorities in the academy, as he was too headstrong to deal with the rigid military discipline. He was once forced to live three days on bread and water because he had been caught with books that the academy had banned.[specify] He was found to be apt at the mathematical disciplines, and was therefore enlisted in the Engineer Corps in the Piedmontese-Sardinian army in 1827. While in the army, he studied the English language as well as the works of Jeremy Bentham and Benjamin Constant, developing liberal tendencies which made him suspect to police forces at the time.[8] He resigned his commission in the army in November 1831,[7] both because of boredom with military life and because of his dislike of the reactionary policies of King Charles Albert. He administered the family estate at Grinzane, some forty kilometers outside the capital, serving as mayor there from 1832 to the revolutionary upheaval of 1848.
+
+Cavour then lived for a time in Switzerland, with his Protestant relatives in Geneva. He grew acquainted with Calvinist teachings, and for a short while he converted from a form of unorthodox Catholicism, only to go back later. A Reformed pastor, Alexandre Vinet, impressed upon Cavour the need for the separation of church and state, a doctrine Cavour followed for the remainder of his life. He then traveled to Paris where he was impressed by parliamentary debates, especially those of François Guizot and Adolphe Thiers, confirming his devotion to a political career. He next went to London, where he was much more disappointed by British politics, and toured the country, visiting Oxford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Chester, Nottingham, and Manchester. A quick tour through the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland (the German part and the Lake Geneva area) eventually landed him back in Turin.
+
+Cavour believed that economic progress had to precede political change, and stressed the advantages of railroad construction in the peninsula.[7] He was a strong supporter of transportation by steam engine, sponsoring the building of many railroads and canals. Between 1838 and 1842 Cavour began several initiatives in attempts to solve economic problems in his area. He experimented with different agricultural techniques on his estate, such as growing sugar beets, and was one of the first Italian landowners to use chemical fertilizers.[9] He also founded the Piedmontese Agricultural Society. In his spare time, he again traveled extensively, mostly in France and the United Kingdom.
+
+The first apparently "liberal" moves of Pope Pius IX and the political upheavals of 1848 spawned a new movement of Italian liberalism, allowing Cavour to enter the political arena, no longer in fear of the police. He then gave a speech in front of numerous journalists in favor of a constitution for Piedmont, which was eventually granted. Cavour, unlike several other political thinkers, was not at first offered a position in the new Chamber of Deputies, as he was still a somewhat suspicious character to the nation.[6]
+
+Cavour never planned for the establishment of a united country, and even later during his Premiership his objective was to expand Piedmont with the annexation of Lombardy and Venetia, rather than a unified Italy. For example, during the conservative period, he gained a reputation as a non-revolutionary progressive. He was a poor public speaker.  Cavour then lost the next election, while the Piedmontese army was destroyed at the Battle of Novara, leading Charles Albert to abdicate, passing the throne to his son, Victor Emmanuel II.[10]
+
+Cavour was then brought back into Parliament by the voters, where he was much more successful. His knowledge of European markets and modern economics earned him the positions of Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Commerce, and Minister of the Navy in 1850. Cavour soon came to dominate the cabinet of Prime Minister Massimo d'Azeglio.  Cavour united the Right Center and the Left Center in the chamber to show dominance there as well. In 1851, Cavour gained a Cabinet promotion to Minister of Finance  by working against his colleague from inside the Cabinet in a somewhat disreputable takeover, although this was to Piedmont's advantage because of his many economic reforms. It allowed Cavour to begin his railway expansion program, giving Piedmont 800 kilometres of track by the year 1860, one third of the railways in Italy at the time.  He took the lead in legislation weakening the powers of the Church to own land, control the schools and supervise marriage laws.  When the bishops protested, they were punished or exiled, making Cavour the hero of liberal anticlerical elements across Italy.[11]
+
+Cavour formed a coalition with Urbano Rattazzi known as the Connubio ("union"), uniting the moderate men of the Right and of the Left, and brought about the fall of the d'Azeglio cabinet in November 1852. The King reluctantly accepted Cavour as prime minister, the most conservative possible choice, but their relationship was never an easy one.[12]
+
+Cavour was generally liberal and believed in free trade, freedom of opinion, and secular rule, but he was an enemy of republicans and revolutionaries, whom he feared as disorganized radicals who would upset the social order. Cavour dominated debate in Parliament but is criticized for the controversial methods he used while Prime Minister, including excessive use of emergency powers, employing friends, bribing some newspapers while suppressing others, and rigging elections, though these were fairly common practices for the time. The national debt soared by a factor of six because of his heavy spending on modernizing projects, especially railways, and building up the army and the Royal Sardinian Navy. When he became Prime Minister Piedmont had just suffered a major defeat by Austria, but when he died, Victor Emmanuel II ruled a state five times as large, which dominated Italy and ranked among Europe's great powers.
+
+The allied powers of Britain and France asked Piedmont to enter the Crimean War, partially to encourage Austria to enter, which it would not do unless it was certain that Piedmontese troops were not available to attack Austrian positions in Italy. Cavour, who hoped that the allies would support Piedmont's expansion in Italy, agreed as soon as his colleagues' support would allow and entered the war on 10 January 1855. This was too late to truly distinguish themselves militarily, but the 18,000 man contingent earned Piedmont a position at the Congress of Paris that ended the war.
+
+In January 1858, the Italian Felice Orsini's attempted assassination of Napoleon III paradoxically opened an avenue of diplomacy between France and Piedmont. While in jail awaiting trial, Orsini wrote a public letter to the Emperor of the French, ending with, "Remember that, so long as Italy is not independent, the peace of Europe and Your Majesty is but an empty dream... Set my country free, and the blessings of twenty-five million people will follow you everywhere and forever."[13] Orsini was still executed, but Napoleon III began to explore the possibility of joint operation with Piedmont against Austria. Cavour and Napoleon met in July 1858 at Plombières-les-Bains, and the two agreed that Piedmont would attempt to provoke war with the Duchy of Modena, obliging Austria to enter, and France would then aid Piedmont. In return, Cavour reluctantly agreed to cede Savoy (the seat of the Piedmontese royal family) and the  County of Nice to France, and also arranged a royal marriage between Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy and Prince Napoléon Bonaparte, surprisingly without Victor Emmanuel's consent.[14]
+In the same year, Cavour sent his cousin, the famous beauty, photographic artist, and secret agent Virginia Oldoïni, to further the interests of Italian unification with the emperor by whatever means possible, and by all accounts she succeeded, famously becoming the mistress of Napoleon.
+
+Both France and Piedmont began to prepare for war, but diplomatic support diminished rapidly. Napoleon III quickly soured on the plot, and Britain, Prussia, and Russia proposed an international congress, with one likely goal the disarmament of Piedmont. Piedmont was saved by Austria's sending an ultimatum on 23 April, demanding that Piedmont disarm itself, thus casting Austria as an aggressor. France mobilised and slowly began to enter Italy, but Piedmont needed to defend itself for a short period. Fortunately, rainstorms and Austrian indecision under Ferencz Graf Gyulai gave time for France to arrive in force.
+
+The battles of Magenta and Solferino left Franco-Piedmontese forces in control of Lombardy, but the Austrians remained confident of defending their "fortress quadrilateral" area, with four fortresses in Verona, Legnago, Peschiera, and Mantua. These defenses, the horrors of the Battle of Solferino, the possibility of Prussian entry into the war, and the potential for an over-strong Piedmontese state convinced Napoleon to sign a separate peace with Austria in the Treaty of Villafranca on 11 July 1859, ending the Second Italian War of Independence. Victor Emmanuel accepted the peace, but Cavour was so infuriated after reading the terms of the treaty that he tendered his resignation. He soon regained his optimism, however, as several of the terms, such as the restoration to power of the rulers of Tuscany and Modena, and the establishment of an Italian Confederation including Austria, were not actually carried out.
+
+General La Marmora succeeded to Cavour's post and insisted on following the treaty terms, even sending a letter to Tuscany asking that they restore their Grand Duke. (Bettino Ricasoli, virtual dictator of Tuscany at the time, wrote about this appeal to his brother, saying "Tell General La Marmora that I have torn his letter into a thousand pieces."[15]) France continued direct talks with Piedmont on the destiny of the central Italian states, all of whose autocrats supported unification with Piedmont but were restrained by the treaty, which called for the restoration of their old governments.
+
+Cavour had retired to his estate at Leri, out of politics but concerned about the King’s alliance with Garibaldi’s revolutionaries and his desire to renew the war with Austria without allied support.[16] When the weak La Marmora cabinet resigned, Victor Emmanuel was reluctant to have Cavour as premier again due both to their quarrel over the treaty of Villafranca and Cavour's success in preventing the king from marrying his mistress after the queen's death. But Cavour was sent for on 20 January 1860.
+
+Cavour agreed with Napoleon to cede Savoy and Nice to France, in order to annex Tuscany and Emilia to Piedmont. Plebiscites were arranged with huge majorities in all these provinces to approve the changes.[17] Cavour managed to convince most that uniting Italy would make up for these territorial losses. With this, the first stage of unification was completed. It was now up to Garibaldi to overthrow the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and bring southern Italy into Piedmont's control.
+
+Garibaldi was furious that his birthplace, Nice, had been ceded to France, and wished to recapture the city, but a popular insurrection in Palermo on 4 April 1860 diverted him southward. He requested a brigade of Piedmontese to take Sicily, but Cavour refused. So instead, Garibaldi raised a force of a thousand (I Mille) redshirt volunteers. They landed at Marsala in Sicily on 11 May and won the battles of Calatafimi and Milazzo, gaining control of Sicily. Cavour attempted to annex Sicily to Piedmont, but Garibaldi and his comrade Francesco Crispi would not allow it.
+
+Cavour persuaded Victor Emmanuel to write a letter to Garibaldi, requesting that he not invade the mainland; the letter was indeed sent, but the King secretly wished Garibaldi to invade. He wrote another letter asking him to go ahead, but this was apparently never sent.[18] Cavour meanwhile attempted to stir up a liberal revolution in Naples, but the populace was unreceptive. Garibaldi invaded, attempting to reach Naples quickly before Cavour found a way to stop him. On 7 September he entered Naples, at that time the largest city in Italy, and unilaterally declared Victor Emmanuel the King of Italy.[19] Garibaldi was now military dictator of southern Italy and Sicily, and he imposed the Piedmontese constitution but publicly demanded that Cavour be removed, which alienated him slightly from Victor Emmanuel.
+
+Garibaldi was unwilling to stop at this point, and planned an immediate invasion of the Papal States. Cavour feared France in that case would declare war to defend the Pope and successfully stopped Garibaldi from initiating his attack. Garibaldi had been weakened by the Battle of Volturno, so Cavour quickly invaded the Papal regions of Umbria and Marche. This linked the territories conquered by Piedmont with those taken by Garibaldi. The King met with Garibaldi, who handed over control of southern Italy and Sicily, thus uniting Italy.
+
+The relationship between Cavour and Garibaldi was always fractious: Cavour likened Garibaldi to "a savage" while Garibaldi memorably called Cavour "a low intriguer".[20]
+
+In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II declared the Kingdom of Italy, making Cavour  Prime Minister of Italy. Cavour had many difficult issues to consider, including how to create a national military, which legal institutions should be retained in what locations, and especially the future of Rome. Most Italians thought Rome must be capital of a united Italy, but this conflicted with the temporal power of the Pope and also the independence of the Church. Cavour believed that Rome should remain the seat of "a free church in a free state", which would maintain its independence but give up temporal power.[21] These issues would become known as the "Roman Question". Still Austrian Venetia was also a problem. Cavour recognized that Venice must be an integral part of Italy but refused to take a stance on how to achieve it, saying "Will the deliverance of Venice come by arms or diplomacy? I do not know. It is the secret of Providence."[22] A motion approving of his foreign policy passed by a huge majority, basically only opposed by left-wing and right-wing extremist groups.
+
+Creating Italy was no easy task, but ruling it proved a worse strain on the Prime Minister. In 1861, at the peak of his career, months of long days coupled with insomnia and constant worry took their toll on Cavour. He fell ill, presumably of malaria, and to make matters worse insisted upon being bled. His regular doctor would have refused, but he was not available; so Cavour was bled several times until it was nearly impossible to draw any blood from him. He was buried in Santena, near Turin.
+
+After his death, Italy would gain Venice in 1866 in the course of the Third Italian War of Independence, connected to the Austro-Prussian War. The Capture of Rome completed the unification of Italy (aside from Trentino and Trieste) in 1870.
+
+Today, many Italian cities, including Turin, Trieste, Rome, Florence, and Naples, have important streets, squares, and piazzas named after Cavour, as well as Mazzini and Garibaldi.[23] The clipper ship, Camille Cavour, the battleship Conte di Cavour, which fought both in World War I and World War II, and the new Marina Militare aircraft carrier Cavour is also named in his honor.
+
+In 1865, the Collegio dei Nobili, the oldest high school in Turin (founded 1568), and among the oldest and most prominent ones in Italy, was renamed the Liceo Ginnasio statale "Camillo Benso di Cavour" (Liceo classico Cavour).[citation needed]

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+Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour (/kəˈvʊər/ kə-VOOR, Italian: [kaˈvur]), was an Italian statesman and a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification.[4] He was one of the leaders of the Historical Right, and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont–Sardinia, a position he maintained (except for a six-month resignation) throughout the Second Italian War of Independence and Garibaldi's campaigns to unite Italy. After the declaration of a united Kingdom of Italy, Cavour took office as the first Prime Minister of Italy; he died after only three months in office, and thus did not live to see Venetia or Rome added to the new Italian nation.
+
+Cavour put forth several economic reforms in his native region of Piedmont in his earlier years, and founded the political newspaper Il Risorgimento. After being elected to the Chamber of Deputies, he quickly rose in rank through the Piedmontese government, coming to dominate the Chamber of Deputies through a union of left-center and right-center politicians. After a large rail system expansion program, Cavour became prime minister in 1852. As prime minister, Cavour successfully negotiated Piedmont's way through the Crimean War, the Second Italian War of Independence, and Garibaldi's expeditions, managing to maneuver Piedmont diplomatically to become a new great power in Europe, controlling a nearly united Italy that was five times as large as Piedmont had been before he came to power. Cavour was a freemason of the Italian Symbolic Rite.
+
+English historian Denis Mack Smith says Cavour was the most successful parliamentarian in Italian history but he was not especially democratic. Cavour was often dictatorial, ignored his ministerial colleagues and parliament, and interfered in parliamentary elections. He also practiced trasformismo and other policies which were carried over into post-Risorgimento Italy.[5][6]
+
+Camillo Benso was born in Turin during Napoleonic rule, into a family that had gained a fair amount of land during the French occupation. He was the second of two sons of Michele Giuseppe Francesco Antonio Benso, 4th Marquess of Cavour and Count of Isolabella and Leri, Lord of Corveglia, Dusino, Mondonio, Ottiglio and Ponticelli, Co-Lord of Castagnole, Cellarengo and Menabi, Cereaglio, Chieri, San Salvatore Monferrato, Santena and Valfenera, 1st Baron of the French Empire (1781–1850) and his wife (1805) Adélaïde (Adèle) Suzanne, Marchioness of Sellon (1780–1846), herself of French origin. His godparents were Napoleon's sister Pauline, and her husband, Prince Camillo Borghese, after whom Camillo was named.[7]
+
+Camillo and his older brother Gustavo were initially educated at home. He was sent to the Turin Military Academy when he was only ten years old. In July 1824 he was named a page to Charles Albert, the king of Piedmont (1831–1849). Cavour frequently ran afoul of the authorities in the academy, as he was too headstrong to deal with the rigid military discipline. He was once forced to live three days on bread and water because he had been caught with books that the academy had banned.[specify] He was found to be apt at the mathematical disciplines, and was therefore enlisted in the Engineer Corps in the Piedmontese-Sardinian army in 1827. While in the army, he studied the English language as well as the works of Jeremy Bentham and Benjamin Constant, developing liberal tendencies which made him suspect to police forces at the time.[8] He resigned his commission in the army in November 1831,[7] both because of boredom with military life and because of his dislike of the reactionary policies of King Charles Albert. He administered the family estate at Grinzane, some forty kilometers outside the capital, serving as mayor there from 1832 to the revolutionary upheaval of 1848.
+
+Cavour then lived for a time in Switzerland, with his Protestant relatives in Geneva. He grew acquainted with Calvinist teachings, and for a short while he converted from a form of unorthodox Catholicism, only to go back later. A Reformed pastor, Alexandre Vinet, impressed upon Cavour the need for the separation of church and state, a doctrine Cavour followed for the remainder of his life. He then traveled to Paris where he was impressed by parliamentary debates, especially those of François Guizot and Adolphe Thiers, confirming his devotion to a political career. He next went to London, where he was much more disappointed by British politics, and toured the country, visiting Oxford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Chester, Nottingham, and Manchester. A quick tour through the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland (the German part and the Lake Geneva area) eventually landed him back in Turin.
+
+Cavour believed that economic progress had to precede political change, and stressed the advantages of railroad construction in the peninsula.[7] He was a strong supporter of transportation by steam engine, sponsoring the building of many railroads and canals. Between 1838 and 1842 Cavour began several initiatives in attempts to solve economic problems in his area. He experimented with different agricultural techniques on his estate, such as growing sugar beets, and was one of the first Italian landowners to use chemical fertilizers.[9] He also founded the Piedmontese Agricultural Society. In his spare time, he again traveled extensively, mostly in France and the United Kingdom.
+
+The first apparently "liberal" moves of Pope Pius IX and the political upheavals of 1848 spawned a new movement of Italian liberalism, allowing Cavour to enter the political arena, no longer in fear of the police. He then gave a speech in front of numerous journalists in favor of a constitution for Piedmont, which was eventually granted. Cavour, unlike several other political thinkers, was not at first offered a position in the new Chamber of Deputies, as he was still a somewhat suspicious character to the nation.[6]
+
+Cavour never planned for the establishment of a united country, and even later during his Premiership his objective was to expand Piedmont with the annexation of Lombardy and Venetia, rather than a unified Italy. For example, during the conservative period, he gained a reputation as a non-revolutionary progressive. He was a poor public speaker.  Cavour then lost the next election, while the Piedmontese army was destroyed at the Battle of Novara, leading Charles Albert to abdicate, passing the throne to his son, Victor Emmanuel II.[10]
+
+Cavour was then brought back into Parliament by the voters, where he was much more successful. His knowledge of European markets and modern economics earned him the positions of Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Commerce, and Minister of the Navy in 1850. Cavour soon came to dominate the cabinet of Prime Minister Massimo d'Azeglio.  Cavour united the Right Center and the Left Center in the chamber to show dominance there as well. In 1851, Cavour gained a Cabinet promotion to Minister of Finance  by working against his colleague from inside the Cabinet in a somewhat disreputable takeover, although this was to Piedmont's advantage because of his many economic reforms. It allowed Cavour to begin his railway expansion program, giving Piedmont 800 kilometres of track by the year 1860, one third of the railways in Italy at the time.  He took the lead in legislation weakening the powers of the Church to own land, control the schools and supervise marriage laws.  When the bishops protested, they were punished or exiled, making Cavour the hero of liberal anticlerical elements across Italy.[11]
+
+Cavour formed a coalition with Urbano Rattazzi known as the Connubio ("union"), uniting the moderate men of the Right and of the Left, and brought about the fall of the d'Azeglio cabinet in November 1852. The King reluctantly accepted Cavour as prime minister, the most conservative possible choice, but their relationship was never an easy one.[12]
+
+Cavour was generally liberal and believed in free trade, freedom of opinion, and secular rule, but he was an enemy of republicans and revolutionaries, whom he feared as disorganized radicals who would upset the social order. Cavour dominated debate in Parliament but is criticized for the controversial methods he used while Prime Minister, including excessive use of emergency powers, employing friends, bribing some newspapers while suppressing others, and rigging elections, though these were fairly common practices for the time. The national debt soared by a factor of six because of his heavy spending on modernizing projects, especially railways, and building up the army and the Royal Sardinian Navy. When he became Prime Minister Piedmont had just suffered a major defeat by Austria, but when he died, Victor Emmanuel II ruled a state five times as large, which dominated Italy and ranked among Europe's great powers.
+
+The allied powers of Britain and France asked Piedmont to enter the Crimean War, partially to encourage Austria to enter, which it would not do unless it was certain that Piedmontese troops were not available to attack Austrian positions in Italy. Cavour, who hoped that the allies would support Piedmont's expansion in Italy, agreed as soon as his colleagues' support would allow and entered the war on 10 January 1855. This was too late to truly distinguish themselves militarily, but the 18,000 man contingent earned Piedmont a position at the Congress of Paris that ended the war.
+
+In January 1858, the Italian Felice Orsini's attempted assassination of Napoleon III paradoxically opened an avenue of diplomacy between France and Piedmont. While in jail awaiting trial, Orsini wrote a public letter to the Emperor of the French, ending with, "Remember that, so long as Italy is not independent, the peace of Europe and Your Majesty is but an empty dream... Set my country free, and the blessings of twenty-five million people will follow you everywhere and forever."[13] Orsini was still executed, but Napoleon III began to explore the possibility of joint operation with Piedmont against Austria. Cavour and Napoleon met in July 1858 at Plombières-les-Bains, and the two agreed that Piedmont would attempt to provoke war with the Duchy of Modena, obliging Austria to enter, and France would then aid Piedmont. In return, Cavour reluctantly agreed to cede Savoy (the seat of the Piedmontese royal family) and the  County of Nice to France, and also arranged a royal marriage between Princess Maria Clotilde of Savoy and Prince Napoléon Bonaparte, surprisingly without Victor Emmanuel's consent.[14]
+In the same year, Cavour sent his cousin, the famous beauty, photographic artist, and secret agent Virginia Oldoïni, to further the interests of Italian unification with the emperor by whatever means possible, and by all accounts she succeeded, famously becoming the mistress of Napoleon.
+
+Both France and Piedmont began to prepare for war, but diplomatic support diminished rapidly. Napoleon III quickly soured on the plot, and Britain, Prussia, and Russia proposed an international congress, with one likely goal the disarmament of Piedmont. Piedmont was saved by Austria's sending an ultimatum on 23 April, demanding that Piedmont disarm itself, thus casting Austria as an aggressor. France mobilised and slowly began to enter Italy, but Piedmont needed to defend itself for a short period. Fortunately, rainstorms and Austrian indecision under Ferencz Graf Gyulai gave time for France to arrive in force.
+
+The battles of Magenta and Solferino left Franco-Piedmontese forces in control of Lombardy, but the Austrians remained confident of defending their "fortress quadrilateral" area, with four fortresses in Verona, Legnago, Peschiera, and Mantua. These defenses, the horrors of the Battle of Solferino, the possibility of Prussian entry into the war, and the potential for an over-strong Piedmontese state convinced Napoleon to sign a separate peace with Austria in the Treaty of Villafranca on 11 July 1859, ending the Second Italian War of Independence. Victor Emmanuel accepted the peace, but Cavour was so infuriated after reading the terms of the treaty that he tendered his resignation. He soon regained his optimism, however, as several of the terms, such as the restoration to power of the rulers of Tuscany and Modena, and the establishment of an Italian Confederation including Austria, were not actually carried out.
+
+General La Marmora succeeded to Cavour's post and insisted on following the treaty terms, even sending a letter to Tuscany asking that they restore their Grand Duke. (Bettino Ricasoli, virtual dictator of Tuscany at the time, wrote about this appeal to his brother, saying "Tell General La Marmora that I have torn his letter into a thousand pieces."[15]) France continued direct talks with Piedmont on the destiny of the central Italian states, all of whose autocrats supported unification with Piedmont but were restrained by the treaty, which called for the restoration of their old governments.
+
+Cavour had retired to his estate at Leri, out of politics but concerned about the King’s alliance with Garibaldi’s revolutionaries and his desire to renew the war with Austria without allied support.[16] When the weak La Marmora cabinet resigned, Victor Emmanuel was reluctant to have Cavour as premier again due both to their quarrel over the treaty of Villafranca and Cavour's success in preventing the king from marrying his mistress after the queen's death. But Cavour was sent for on 20 January 1860.
+
+Cavour agreed with Napoleon to cede Savoy and Nice to France, in order to annex Tuscany and Emilia to Piedmont. Plebiscites were arranged with huge majorities in all these provinces to approve the changes.[17] Cavour managed to convince most that uniting Italy would make up for these territorial losses. With this, the first stage of unification was completed. It was now up to Garibaldi to overthrow the Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and bring southern Italy into Piedmont's control.
+
+Garibaldi was furious that his birthplace, Nice, had been ceded to France, and wished to recapture the city, but a popular insurrection in Palermo on 4 April 1860 diverted him southward. He requested a brigade of Piedmontese to take Sicily, but Cavour refused. So instead, Garibaldi raised a force of a thousand (I Mille) redshirt volunteers. They landed at Marsala in Sicily on 11 May and won the battles of Calatafimi and Milazzo, gaining control of Sicily. Cavour attempted to annex Sicily to Piedmont, but Garibaldi and his comrade Francesco Crispi would not allow it.
+
+Cavour persuaded Victor Emmanuel to write a letter to Garibaldi, requesting that he not invade the mainland; the letter was indeed sent, but the King secretly wished Garibaldi to invade. He wrote another letter asking him to go ahead, but this was apparently never sent.[18] Cavour meanwhile attempted to stir up a liberal revolution in Naples, but the populace was unreceptive. Garibaldi invaded, attempting to reach Naples quickly before Cavour found a way to stop him. On 7 September he entered Naples, at that time the largest city in Italy, and unilaterally declared Victor Emmanuel the King of Italy.[19] Garibaldi was now military dictator of southern Italy and Sicily, and he imposed the Piedmontese constitution but publicly demanded that Cavour be removed, which alienated him slightly from Victor Emmanuel.
+
+Garibaldi was unwilling to stop at this point, and planned an immediate invasion of the Papal States. Cavour feared France in that case would declare war to defend the Pope and successfully stopped Garibaldi from initiating his attack. Garibaldi had been weakened by the Battle of Volturno, so Cavour quickly invaded the Papal regions of Umbria and Marche. This linked the territories conquered by Piedmont with those taken by Garibaldi. The King met with Garibaldi, who handed over control of southern Italy and Sicily, thus uniting Italy.
+
+The relationship between Cavour and Garibaldi was always fractious: Cavour likened Garibaldi to "a savage" while Garibaldi memorably called Cavour "a low intriguer".[20]
+
+In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II declared the Kingdom of Italy, making Cavour  Prime Minister of Italy. Cavour had many difficult issues to consider, including how to create a national military, which legal institutions should be retained in what locations, and especially the future of Rome. Most Italians thought Rome must be capital of a united Italy, but this conflicted with the temporal power of the Pope and also the independence of the Church. Cavour believed that Rome should remain the seat of "a free church in a free state", which would maintain its independence but give up temporal power.[21] These issues would become known as the "Roman Question". Still Austrian Venetia was also a problem. Cavour recognized that Venice must be an integral part of Italy but refused to take a stance on how to achieve it, saying "Will the deliverance of Venice come by arms or diplomacy? I do not know. It is the secret of Providence."[22] A motion approving of his foreign policy passed by a huge majority, basically only opposed by left-wing and right-wing extremist groups.
+
+Creating Italy was no easy task, but ruling it proved a worse strain on the Prime Minister. In 1861, at the peak of his career, months of long days coupled with insomnia and constant worry took their toll on Cavour. He fell ill, presumably of malaria, and to make matters worse insisted upon being bled. His regular doctor would have refused, but he was not available; so Cavour was bled several times until it was nearly impossible to draw any blood from him. He was buried in Santena, near Turin.
+
+After his death, Italy would gain Venice in 1866 in the course of the Third Italian War of Independence, connected to the Austro-Prussian War. The Capture of Rome completed the unification of Italy (aside from Trentino and Trieste) in 1870.
+
+Today, many Italian cities, including Turin, Trieste, Rome, Florence, and Naples, have important streets, squares, and piazzas named after Cavour, as well as Mazzini and Garibaldi.[23] The clipper ship, Camille Cavour, the battleship Conte di Cavour, which fought both in World War I and World War II, and the new Marina Militare aircraft carrier Cavour is also named in his honor.
+
+In 1865, the Collegio dei Nobili, the oldest high school in Turin (founded 1568), and among the oldest and most prominent ones in Italy, was renamed the Liceo Ginnasio statale "Camillo Benso di Cavour" (Liceo classico Cavour).[citation needed]

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+
+
+A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration; smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators. In American English, a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck" while one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".[1]
+
+Modern trucks are largely powered by diesel engines, although small to medium size trucks with gasoline engines exist in the US, Canada, and Mexico. In the European Union, vehicles with a gross combination mass of up to 3.5 t (7,700 lb) are known as light commercial vehicles, and those over as large goods vehicles.
+
+Trucks and cars have a common ancestor: the steam-powered fardier Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769.[citation needed] However, steam wagons were not common until the mid-19th century. The roads of the time, built for horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to very short hauls, usually from a factory to the nearest railway station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881,[citation needed] towed by a steam tractor manufactured by De Dion-Bouton. Steam-powered wagons were sold in France and the United States until the eve of World War I, and 1935 in the United Kingdom, when a change in road tax rules made them uneconomic against the new diesel lorries.
+
+In 1895 Karl Benz designed and built the first truck in history using the internal combustion engine. Later that year some of Benz's trucks were modified to become the first bus by the Netphener, the first motorbus company in history. A year later, in 1896, another internal combustion engine truck was built by Gottlieb Daimler.[2] Other companies, such as Peugeot, Renault and Büssing, also built their own versions. The first truck in the United States was built by Autocar in 1899 and was available with optional 5 or 8 horsepower motors.[3]
+
+Trucks of the era mostly used two-cylinder engines and had a carrying capacity of 3,300 to 4,400 lb (1.5 to 2 t). In 1904, 700 heavy trucks were built in the United States, 1000 in 1907, 6000 in 1910, and 25000 in 1914.
+
+After World War I, several advances were made: pneumatic tires replaced the previously common full rubber versions. electric starters, power brakes, 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines, closed cabs, and electric lighting followed. The first modern semi-trailer trucks also appeared. Touring car builders such as Ford and Renault entered the heavy truck market.
+
+Although it had been invented in 1897, the diesel engine did not appear in production trucks until Benz introduced it in 1923.[4]
+The diesel engine was not common in trucks in Europe until the 1930s. In the United States, Autocar introduced diesel engines for heavy applications in the mid-1930s. Demand was high enough that Autocar launched the "DC" model (diesel conventional) in 1939. However, it took much longer for diesel engines to be broadly accepted in the US: gasoline engines were still in use on heavy trucks in the 1970s.[5][6]
+
+Truck is used in American English, and is common in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa, while  lorry is the equivalent in British English, and is the usual term in countries like Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and India.[original research?]
+
+The first known usage of "truck" was in 1611, when it referred to the small strong wheels on ships' cannon carriages. In its extended usage it came to refer to carts for carrying heavy loads, a meaning known since 1771. Its expanded application to "motor-powered load carrier" has been in usage since 1930, shortened from "motor truck", which dates back to 1901.[7][8]
+
+"Lorry" has a more uncertain origin, but probably has its roots in the rail transport industry, where the word is known to have been used in 1838 to refer to a type of truck (a goods wagon as in British usage, not a bogie as in the American), specifically a large flat wagon. It might derive from the verb lurry (to carry or drag along; or to lug) which was in use as early as 1664, but that association is not definitive.[9]  The expanded meaning of lorry, "self-propelled vehicle for carrying goods", has been in usage since 1911.[10][11]
+
+In the United States, Canada, and the Philippines "truck" is usually reserved for commercial vehicles larger than normal cars, and includes pickups and other vehicles having an open load bed. In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the word "truck" is mostly reserved for larger vehicles; in Australia and New Zealand, a pickup truck is usually called a ute (short for "utility"),[12] while in South Africa it is called a bakkie (Afrikaans: "small open container"). In the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, and Hong Kong lorry is used instead of truck, but only for the medium and heavy types, while truck is used almost exclusively to refer to pickups.
+
+Often produced as variations of golf cars, with internal combustion or battery electric drive, these are used typically for off-highway use on estates, golf courses, and parks. While not suitable for highway use some variations may be licensed as slow speed vehicles for operation on streets, generally as a body variation of a neighborhood electric vehicle. A few manufactures produce specialized chassis for this type of vehicle, while Zap Motors markets a version of their xebra electric tricycle (licensable in the U.S. as a motorcycle).
+
+Popular in Europe and Asia, many mini trucks are factory redesigns of light automobiles, usually with monocoque bodies. Specialized designs with substantial frames such as the Italian Piaggio shown here are based upon Japanese designs (in this case by Daihatsu) and are popular for use in "old town" sections of European cities that often have very narrow alleyways.
+
+Regardless of name, these small trucks serve a wide range of uses. In Japan, they are regulated under the Kei car laws, which allow vehicle owners a break in taxes for buying a smaller and less-powerful vehicle (currently, the engine is limited to 660 cc displacement). These vehicles are used as on-road utility vehicles in Japan. These Japanese-made mini trucks that were manufactured for on-road use are competing with off-road ATVs in the United States, and import regulations require that these mini trucks have a 25 mph (40 km/h) speed governor as they are classified as low speed vehicles.[13] These vehicles have found uses in construction, large campuses (government, university, and industrial), agriculture, cattle ranches, amusement parks, and replacements for golf carts.[14]
+
+Major mini truck manufacturers and their brands:
+
+Light trucks are car-sized (in the US, no more than 13,900 lb (6.3 t)) and are used by individuals and businesses alike. In the EU they may not weigh more than 3.5 t (7,700 lb), and are allowed to be driven with a driving licence for cars. Pickup trucks, called utes in Australia and New Zealand, are common in North America and some regions of Latin America, Asia and Africa, but not so in Europe, where this size of commercial vehicle is most often made as vans.
+
+Medium trucks are larger than light but smaller than heavy trucks. In the US, they are defined as weighing between 13,000 and 33,000 lb (5,900 and 15,000 kg).
+For the UK and the EU the weight is between 3.5 to 7.5 t (3.4 to 7.4 long tons; 3.9 to 8.3 short tons).  Local delivery and public service (dump trucks, garbage trucks and fire-fighting trucks) are normally around this size.
+
+Heavy trucks are the largest on-road trucks, Class 8.  These include vocational applications such as heavy dump trucks, concrete pump trucks, and refuse hauling, as well as ubiquitous long-haul 4x2 and 6×4 tractor units.[15]
+
+Road damage and wear increase very rapidly with the axle weight. The number of steering axles and the suspension type also influence the amount of the road wear. In many countries with good roads a six-axle truck may have a maximum weight of 44 t (97,000 lb) or more.
+
+Off-road trucks include standard, extra heavy-duty highway-legal trucks, typically outfitted with off-road features such as a front driving axle and special tires for applications such as logging and construction, and purpose-built off-road vehicles unconstrained by weight limits, such as the Liebherr T 282B mining truck.
+
+Australia has complex regulations over weight and length, including axle spacing, type of axle/axle group, rear overhang, kingpin to rear of trailer, drawbar length, ground clearance, as well as height and width laws. These limits are some of the highest in the world, a B-double can weigh 62.5 t (61.5 long tons; 68.9 short tons) and be 25 m (82 ft) long, and road trains used in the outback can weigh 172 t (169.3 long tons; 189.6 short tons) and be 53.5 m (176 ft) long.[17][18]
+
+The European Union also has complex regulations. The number and spacing of axles, steering, single or dual tires, and suspension type all affect maximum weights. Length of a truck, of a trailer, from axle to hitch point, kingpin to rear of trailer, and turning radius are all regulated. In additions, there are special rules for carrying containers, and countries can set their own rules for local traffic.[19]
+
+The United States Federal Bridge Law deals with the relation between the gross weight of the truck, the number of axles, the weight on and the spacing between the axles that the truck can have on the Interstate highway system.[20] Each State determines the maximum permissible vehicle, combination, and axle weight on state and local roads.
+
+Uniquely, the State of Michigan has a gross vehicle weight limit of 164,000 lb (74,000 kg), which is twice the U.S. federal limit.[30][31][32] A measure to change the law was defeated in the Michigan Senate in 2019.[33][34][35][36][37]
+
+Almost all trucks share a common construction: they are made of a chassis, a cab, an area for placing cargo or equipment, axles, suspension and roadwheels, an engine and a drivetrain. Pneumatic, hydraulic, water, and electrical systems may also be present. Many also tow one or more trailers or semi-trailers.
+
+The "cab" is an enclosed space where the driver is seated. A "sleeper" is a compartment attached to or integral with the cab where the driver can rest while not driving, sometimes seen in semi-trailer trucks.
+
+There are several possible cab configurations:
+
+A further step from this is the side loading forklift that can be described as a specially fabricated vehicle with the same properties as a truck of this type, in addition to the ability to pick up its own load.
+
+Most small trucks such as sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans or pickups, and even light medium-duty trucks in North America, China, and Russia use gasoline engines (petrol engines), but many diesel engined models are now being produced. Most of the heavier trucks use four-stroke diesel engines with a turbocharger and intercooler. Huge off-highway trucks use locomotive-type engines such as a V12 Detroit Diesel two stroke engine. Diesel engines are becoming the engine of choice for trucks ranging from class 3 to 8 GVWs.[citation needed] A large proportion of refuse trucks in the United States employ CNG (compressed natural gas) engines for their low fuel cost and reduced carbon emissions.
+
+A significant proportion of North American manufactured trucks use an engine built by the last remaining major independent engine manufacturer (Cummins) but most global OEMs such as Volvo Trucks and Daimler AG promote their own "captive" engines.[40]
+
+In the European Union, all new truck engines must comply with Euro VI emission regulations.[41]
+
+As of 2019[update] several alternative technologies are competing to displace the use of diesel engines in heavy trucks. CNG engines are widely used in the US refuse industry and in concrete mixers, among other short-range vocations, but range limitations have prevented their broader uptake in freight hauling applications. Heavy electric trucks and hydrogen-powered trucks are still in the prototype and field-testing stages, although media reports indicate that there is substantial interest in them from major freight haulers.[42][43]
+
+Small trucks use the same type of transmissions as almost all cars, having either an automatic transmission or a manual transmission with synchromesh (synchronizers). Bigger trucks often use manual transmissions without synchronizers, saving bulk and weight, although synchromesh transmissions are used in larger trucks as well. Transmissions without synchronizers, known as "crash boxes", require double-clutching for each shift, (which can lead to repetitive motion injuries), or a technique known colloquially as "floating", a method of changing gears which doesn't use the clutch, except for starts and stops, due to the physical effort of double clutching, especially with non-power-assisted clutches, faster shifts, and less clutch wear.
+
+Double-clutching allows the driver to control the engine and transmission revolutions to synchronize, so that a smooth shift can be made; for example, when upshifting, the accelerator pedal is released and the clutch pedal is depressed while the gear lever is moved into neutral, the clutch pedal is then released and quickly pushed down again while the gear lever is moved to the next higher gear. Finally, the clutch pedal is released and the accelerator pedal pushed down to obtain required engine speed. Although this is a relatively fast movement, perhaps a second or so while transmission is in neutral, it allows the engine speed to drop and synchronize engine and transmission revolutions relative to the road speed. Downshifting is performed in a similar fashion, except the engine speed is now required to increase (while transmission is in neutral) just the right amount in order to achieve the synchronization for a smooth, non-collision gear change. "Skip changing" is also widely used; in principle operation is the same as double-clutching, but it requires neutral be held slightly longer than a single-gear change.
+
+Common North American setups include 9, 10, 13, 15, and 18 speeds. Automatic and semi-automatic transmissions for heavy trucks are becoming more and more common, due to advances both in transmission and engine power. In Europe, 8, 10, 12 and 16 gears are common on larger trucks with manual transmission, while automatic or semi-automatic transmissions would have anything from 5 to 12 gears. Almost all heavy truck transmissions are of the "range and split" (double H shift pattern) type, where range change and so‑called half gears or splits are air operated and always preselected before the main gear selection.
+
+A truck frame consists of two parallel boxed (tubular) or C‑shaped rails, or beams, held together by crossmembers. These frames are referred to as ladder frames due to their resemblance to a ladder if tipped on end. The rails consist of a tall vertical section (two if boxed) and two shorter horizontal flanges. The height of the vertical section provides opposition to vertical flex when weight is applied to the top of the frame (beam resistance). Though typically flat the whole length on heavy duty trucks, the rails may sometimes be tapered or arched for clearance around the engine or over the axles. The holes in rails are used either for mounting vehicle components and running wires and hoses, or measuring and adjusting the orientation of the rails at the factory or repair shop.
+
+The frame is usually made of steel, but can be made (whole or in part) of aluminum for a lighter weight. A tow bar may be found attached at one or both ends, but heavy tractors almost always make use of a fifth wheel hitch.[citation needed]
+
+Refrigerator trucks have insulated panels as walls and a roof and floor, used for transporting fresh and frozen cargo such as ice cream, food, vegetables, and prescription drugs. They are mostly equipped with double-wing rear doors, but a side door is sometimes fitted.
+
+Box trucks ("tilts" in the UK) have walls and a roof, making an enclosed load space. The rear has doors for unloading; a side door is sometimes fitted.[44]
+
+Concrete mixers have a rotating drum on an inclined axis, rotating in one direction to mix, and in the other to discharge the concrete down chutes. Because of the weight and power requirements of the drum body and rough construction sites, mixers have to be very heavy duty.[45][46]
+
+Dump trucks ("tippers" in the UK) transport loose material such as sand, gravel, or dirt for construction. A typical dump truck has an open-box bed, which is hinged at the rear and lifts at the front, allowing the material in the bed to be unloaded ("dumped") on the ground behind the truck.[47][48]
+
+Flatbed trucks have an entirely flat, level platform body. This allows for quick and easy loading but has no protection for the load. Hanging or removable sides are sometimes fitted.[49]
+
+Semi-tractors ("artics" in the UK) have a fifth wheel for towing a semi-trailer instead of a body.
+
+Tank trucks ("tankers" in the UK) are designed to carry liquids or gases. They usually have a cylindrical tank lying horizontally on the chassis. Many variants exist due to the wide variety of liquids and gases that can be transported.[50]
+
+Wreckers ("recovery lorries" in the UK) are used to recover and/or tow disabled vehicles. They are normally equipped with a boom with a cable; wheel/chassis lifts are becoming common on newer trucks.[51][52][53]
+
+In many countries, driving a truck requires a special driving license. The requirements and limitations vary with each different jurisdiction.
+
+In Australia, a truck driver's license is required for any motor vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) exceeding 4.5 t (4.4 long tons; 5.0 short tons). The motor vehicles classes are further expanded as:
+
+There is also a heavy vehicle transmission condition for a license class HC, HR, or MC test passed in a vehicle fitted with an automatic or synchromesh transmission; a driver's license will be restricted to vehicles of that class fitted with a synchromesh or automatic transmission. To have the condition removed, a person needs to pass a practical driving test in a vehicle with non-synchromesh transmission (constant mesh or crash box).[63]
+
+Driving licensing has been harmonized throughout the European Union and the EEA (and practically all European non-member states), so that common rules apply within Europe (see European driving licence). As an overview, to drive a vehicle weighing more than 7.5 t (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) for commercial purposes requires a specialist license (the type varies depending on the use of the vehicle and number of seats). For licenses first acquired after 1997, that weight was reduced to 3.5 t (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons), not including trailers.[citation needed]
+
+Since 2013, the C1 license allows driving HGV between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes, while the C license allows driving Large goods vehicle with a maximum authorized mass of more than 3.5 tonnes.
+
+There are around 5 million truck drivers in India.[64]
+
+To drive any vehicle with a GVM exceeding 3.5 t (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons), a code C1 drivers license is required.  Furthermore, if the vehicle exceeds  16 t (15.7 long tons; 17.6 short tons) a code C license becomes necessary.
+
+To drive any vehicle in South Africa towing a trailer with a GVM more than 7.5 t (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons), further restrictions apply and the driver must possess a license suitable for the GVM of the total combination as well as an articulated endorsement. This is indicated with the letter "E" prefixing the license code.
+
+In addition, any vehicle designed to carry goods or passengers may only be driven by a driver possessing a Public Driver's Permit, (or PrDP) of the applicable type.  This is an additional license that is added to the DL card of the operator and subject to annual renewal unlike the five-year renewal period of a normal license.
+
+The requirements for obtaining the different classes are below.
+
+In the United States, a commercial driver's license is required to drive any type of commercial vehicle weighing 26,001 lb (11,794 kg) or more.[65] The federal government regulates how many hours a driver may be on the clock, how much rest and sleep time is required (e.g., 11 hours driving/14 hours on-duty followed by 10 hours off, with a maximum of 70 hours/8 days or 60 hours/7 days, 34 hours restart )[66] Violations are often subject to significant penalties. Instruments to track each driver's hours must sometimes be fitted.
+In 2006, the US trucking industry employed 1.8 million drivers of heavy trucks.[67]
+
+There is a shortage of willing trained long distance truck drivers.[68] Part of the reason for this is the economic fallout from deregulation of the trucking industry.  Michael H. Belzer, associate professor, in the economics department at Wayne State University and co-author of Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation, argues that low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation. [69] (Oxford University Press, 2000).[70]  The book cites poor working conditions and an unfair pay system as responsible for high annual employee turnover in the industry.[71][72]
+
+Professor Belzer states low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation.  "[This book] argues that trucking embodies the dark side of the new economy."[71]  "Conditions are so poor and the pay system so unfair that long-haul companies compete with the fast-food industry for workers. Most long-haul carriers experience 100% annual driver turnover.[72][A]
+
+Trucks contribute to air, noise, and water pollution similarly to automobiles. Trucks may[vague] emit lower air pollution emissions than cars per equivalent vehicle mass, although the absolute level per vehicle distance traveled is higher, and diesel exhaust is especially dangerous for health.[73] EPA measures pollution from trucks.[74] With respect to noise pollution, trucks emit considerably higher sound levels at all speeds compared to typical cars; this contrast is particularly strong with heavy-duty trucks.[75] There are several aspects of truck operations that contribute to the overall sound that is emitted. Continuous sounds are those from tires rolling on the roadway, and the constant hum of their diesel engines at highway speeds. Less frequent noises, but perhaps more noticeable, are things like the repeated sharp-pitched whistle of a turbocharger on acceleration, or the abrupt blare of an exhaust brake retarder when traversing a downgrade. There has been noise regulation put in place to help control where and when the use of engine braking retarders are allowed.
+
+Concerns have been raised about the effect of trucking on the environment, particularly as part of the debate on global warming, so many countries are lowering limits on truck CO2 emissions.[76]
+
+According to a 1995 U.S. government estimate, the energy cost of carrying one ton of freight a distance of one kilometer averages 337 kJ for water, 221 kJ for rail, 2,000 kJ for trucks, and nearly 13,000 kJ for air transport.[77] Many environmental organizations favor laws and incentives to encourage the switch from road to rail, especially in Europe.[78]
+
+The European Parliament is moving to ensure that charges on heavy-goods vehicles should be based in part on the air and noise pollution they produce and the congestion they cause, according to legislation approved by the Transport Committee.[79] The Eurovignette scheme has been proposed, whereby new charges would be potentially levied against things such as noise and air pollution and also weight related damages from the lorries themselves.[80]
+
+A 60-ton tractor & trailer at 80 km/h needs 168 kW : 41% (68 kW) to overcome the rolling resistance, 38% (64 kW) for the aerodynamic drag,  9% (15 kW) for the auxiliaries, 7% (12 kW) for the driveline & tire and 6% (10 kW) is lost in uphill/downhill hysteresis.[81]
+
+A truck cab is a hazard control that protects the truck operator from hazardous airborne pollutants.  As an enclosure, it is an example of an engineering control.  Enclosed operator cabs have been used on agriculture, mining, and construction vehicles for several decades.  Most modern day enclosed cabs have heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for primarily maintaining a comfortable temperature and providing breathable air for their occupants. Various levels of filtration can be incorporated into the HVAC system to remove airborne pollutants such as dusts, diesel particulate matter (DPM), and other aerosols.[82]
+
+Two key elements of an effective environmental enclosure are a good filtration system and an enclosure with good integrity (sealed isolation from the outside environment). It is recommended that a filtration system filter out at least 95% or greater of airborne respirable aerosols from the intake airflow, with an additional recirculation filtering component for the inside air. Good enclosure integrity is also needed to achieve positive pressure to prevent wind-driven aerosol penetration into the enclosure, as well as to minimize air leakage around the filtration system. Test methods and mathematical modeling of environmental enclosures are also beneficial for quantifying and optimizing filtration system designs, as well as maintaining optimum protection factor performance for enclosure occupants.[82]
+
+Commercial trucks in the US pay higher road use taxes on a state level than other road vehicles, and are subject to extensive regulation.[83] A few reasons commercial trucks pay higher road use taxes: they are bigger and heavier than most other vehicles, and cause more wear and tear per hour on roadways; and trucks and their drivers are on the road for more hours per day. Rules on use taxes differ among jurisdictions.
+
+The life of a pavement is measured by the number of passes of a vehicle axle. It may be evaluated using the Load Equivalency Factor,[84] which states that the damage by the pass of a vehicle axle is proportional to the 4th power of the weight, so a ten-ton axle consumes 10,000 times the life of the pavement as a one-ton axle. For that reason, loaded trucks cost the same as thousands of cars in pavement costs, and are subject to higher taxes and highway tolls.[34][35]
+
+Primary liability insurance coverage protects the truck from damage or injuries to other people as a result of a truck accident. This truck insurance coverage is mandated by U.S. state and federal agencies, and proof of coverage is required to be sent to them. Interstate trucks in the U.S. are required to have a minimum of $75,000 in liability insurance. This includes motor carriers operating vehicles with a gross weight rating in excess of 10,000 lb (4.5 t) (which transport non-hazardous materials). All motor carriers operating vehicles transporting materials classified as hazardous, and which have a gross weight rating in excess of 10,000 lb (4.5 t) must have a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability insurance. All motor carriers operating vehicles such as hopper-type cargo vehicles or tankers with a capacity in excess of 3,500 US gal (13,000 l) must have a minimum of $5,000,000 in liability insurance. Pricing is dependent on region, driving records, and history of the trucking operation.
+
+Motor truck cargo insurance protects the transporter for his responsibility in the event of damaged or lost freight. The policy is purchased with a maximum load limit per vehicle. Cargo insurance coverage limits can range from $10,000 to $100,000 or more. Pricing for this insurance is mainly dependent on the type of cargo being hauled.
+
+In 2002 and 2004, there were over 5,000 fatalities related to trucking accidents in the United States. The trucking industry has since made significant efforts in increasing safety regulations. In 2008, the industry had successfully lowered the fatality rate to just over 4,000 deaths, but trucking accidents are still an issue that causes thousands of deaths and injuries each year. Approximately 6,000 trucking accident fatalities occur annually in the United States. Fatalities are not the only issue caused by trucking accidents. Here are some of the environmental issues that arise with trucking accidents:
+
+Following increased pressure from The Times "Cities Fit For Cycling" campaign and from other media in Spring 2012, warning signs are now displayed on the backs of many HGVs. These signs are directed against a common type of accident which occurs when the large vehicle turns left at a junction: a cyclist trying to pass on the nearside can be crushed against the HGV's wheels, especially if the driver cannot see the cyclist. The signs, such as the winning design of the InTANDEM road safety competition launched in March 2012, advocate extra care when passing a large vehicle on the nearside.
+
+In-vehicle speed limitation is required applying a 90 km/h limit to commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.[85]
+
+Front, side, and rear underrun protection is required on commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.[85]
+
+Trucks must be fitted with blind-spot mirrors that give drivers a wider field of vision than conventional mirrors.[86]

en/815.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+
+
+A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration; smaller varieties may be mechanically similar to some automobiles. Commercial trucks can be very large and powerful and may be configured to be mounted with specialized equipment, such as in the case of refuse trucks, fire trucks, concrete mixers, and suction excavators. In American English, a commercial vehicle without a trailer or other articulation is formally a "straight truck" while one designed specifically to pull a trailer is not a truck but a "tractor".[1]
+
+Modern trucks are largely powered by diesel engines, although small to medium size trucks with gasoline engines exist in the US, Canada, and Mexico. In the European Union, vehicles with a gross combination mass of up to 3.5 t (7,700 lb) are known as light commercial vehicles, and those over as large goods vehicles.
+
+Trucks and cars have a common ancestor: the steam-powered fardier Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769.[citation needed] However, steam wagons were not common until the mid-19th century. The roads of the time, built for horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to very short hauls, usually from a factory to the nearest railway station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881,[citation needed] towed by a steam tractor manufactured by De Dion-Bouton. Steam-powered wagons were sold in France and the United States until the eve of World War I, and 1935 in the United Kingdom, when a change in road tax rules made them uneconomic against the new diesel lorries.
+
+In 1895 Karl Benz designed and built the first truck in history using the internal combustion engine. Later that year some of Benz's trucks were modified to become the first bus by the Netphener, the first motorbus company in history. A year later, in 1896, another internal combustion engine truck was built by Gottlieb Daimler.[2] Other companies, such as Peugeot, Renault and Büssing, also built their own versions. The first truck in the United States was built by Autocar in 1899 and was available with optional 5 or 8 horsepower motors.[3]
+
+Trucks of the era mostly used two-cylinder engines and had a carrying capacity of 3,300 to 4,400 lb (1.5 to 2 t). In 1904, 700 heavy trucks were built in the United States, 1000 in 1907, 6000 in 1910, and 25000 in 1914.
+
+After World War I, several advances were made: pneumatic tires replaced the previously common full rubber versions. electric starters, power brakes, 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines, closed cabs, and electric lighting followed. The first modern semi-trailer trucks also appeared. Touring car builders such as Ford and Renault entered the heavy truck market.
+
+Although it had been invented in 1897, the diesel engine did not appear in production trucks until Benz introduced it in 1923.[4]
+The diesel engine was not common in trucks in Europe until the 1930s. In the United States, Autocar introduced diesel engines for heavy applications in the mid-1930s. Demand was high enough that Autocar launched the "DC" model (diesel conventional) in 1939. However, it took much longer for diesel engines to be broadly accepted in the US: gasoline engines were still in use on heavy trucks in the 1970s.[5][6]
+
+Truck is used in American English, and is common in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa, while  lorry is the equivalent in British English, and is the usual term in countries like Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore and India.[original research?]
+
+The first known usage of "truck" was in 1611, when it referred to the small strong wheels on ships' cannon carriages. In its extended usage it came to refer to carts for carrying heavy loads, a meaning known since 1771. Its expanded application to "motor-powered load carrier" has been in usage since 1930, shortened from "motor truck", which dates back to 1901.[7][8]
+
+"Lorry" has a more uncertain origin, but probably has its roots in the rail transport industry, where the word is known to have been used in 1838 to refer to a type of truck (a goods wagon as in British usage, not a bogie as in the American), specifically a large flat wagon. It might derive from the verb lurry (to carry or drag along; or to lug) which was in use as early as 1664, but that association is not definitive.[9]  The expanded meaning of lorry, "self-propelled vehicle for carrying goods", has been in usage since 1911.[10][11]
+
+In the United States, Canada, and the Philippines "truck" is usually reserved for commercial vehicles larger than normal cars, and includes pickups and other vehicles having an open load bed. In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the word "truck" is mostly reserved for larger vehicles; in Australia and New Zealand, a pickup truck is usually called a ute (short for "utility"),[12] while in South Africa it is called a bakkie (Afrikaans: "small open container"). In the United Kingdom, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Ireland, and Hong Kong lorry is used instead of truck, but only for the medium and heavy types, while truck is used almost exclusively to refer to pickups.
+
+Often produced as variations of golf cars, with internal combustion or battery electric drive, these are used typically for off-highway use on estates, golf courses, and parks. While not suitable for highway use some variations may be licensed as slow speed vehicles for operation on streets, generally as a body variation of a neighborhood electric vehicle. A few manufactures produce specialized chassis for this type of vehicle, while Zap Motors markets a version of their xebra electric tricycle (licensable in the U.S. as a motorcycle).
+
+Popular in Europe and Asia, many mini trucks are factory redesigns of light automobiles, usually with monocoque bodies. Specialized designs with substantial frames such as the Italian Piaggio shown here are based upon Japanese designs (in this case by Daihatsu) and are popular for use in "old town" sections of European cities that often have very narrow alleyways.
+
+Regardless of name, these small trucks serve a wide range of uses. In Japan, they are regulated under the Kei car laws, which allow vehicle owners a break in taxes for buying a smaller and less-powerful vehicle (currently, the engine is limited to 660 cc displacement). These vehicles are used as on-road utility vehicles in Japan. These Japanese-made mini trucks that were manufactured for on-road use are competing with off-road ATVs in the United States, and import regulations require that these mini trucks have a 25 mph (40 km/h) speed governor as they are classified as low speed vehicles.[13] These vehicles have found uses in construction, large campuses (government, university, and industrial), agriculture, cattle ranches, amusement parks, and replacements for golf carts.[14]
+
+Major mini truck manufacturers and their brands:
+
+Light trucks are car-sized (in the US, no more than 13,900 lb (6.3 t)) and are used by individuals and businesses alike. In the EU they may not weigh more than 3.5 t (7,700 lb), and are allowed to be driven with a driving licence for cars. Pickup trucks, called utes in Australia and New Zealand, are common in North America and some regions of Latin America, Asia and Africa, but not so in Europe, where this size of commercial vehicle is most often made as vans.
+
+Medium trucks are larger than light but smaller than heavy trucks. In the US, they are defined as weighing between 13,000 and 33,000 lb (5,900 and 15,000 kg).
+For the UK and the EU the weight is between 3.5 to 7.5 t (3.4 to 7.4 long tons; 3.9 to 8.3 short tons).  Local delivery and public service (dump trucks, garbage trucks and fire-fighting trucks) are normally around this size.
+
+Heavy trucks are the largest on-road trucks, Class 8.  These include vocational applications such as heavy dump trucks, concrete pump trucks, and refuse hauling, as well as ubiquitous long-haul 4x2 and 6×4 tractor units.[15]
+
+Road damage and wear increase very rapidly with the axle weight. The number of steering axles and the suspension type also influence the amount of the road wear. In many countries with good roads a six-axle truck may have a maximum weight of 44 t (97,000 lb) or more.
+
+Off-road trucks include standard, extra heavy-duty highway-legal trucks, typically outfitted with off-road features such as a front driving axle and special tires for applications such as logging and construction, and purpose-built off-road vehicles unconstrained by weight limits, such as the Liebherr T 282B mining truck.
+
+Australia has complex regulations over weight and length, including axle spacing, type of axle/axle group, rear overhang, kingpin to rear of trailer, drawbar length, ground clearance, as well as height and width laws. These limits are some of the highest in the world, a B-double can weigh 62.5 t (61.5 long tons; 68.9 short tons) and be 25 m (82 ft) long, and road trains used in the outback can weigh 172 t (169.3 long tons; 189.6 short tons) and be 53.5 m (176 ft) long.[17][18]
+
+The European Union also has complex regulations. The number and spacing of axles, steering, single or dual tires, and suspension type all affect maximum weights. Length of a truck, of a trailer, from axle to hitch point, kingpin to rear of trailer, and turning radius are all regulated. In additions, there are special rules for carrying containers, and countries can set their own rules for local traffic.[19]
+
+The United States Federal Bridge Law deals with the relation between the gross weight of the truck, the number of axles, the weight on and the spacing between the axles that the truck can have on the Interstate highway system.[20] Each State determines the maximum permissible vehicle, combination, and axle weight on state and local roads.
+
+Uniquely, the State of Michigan has a gross vehicle weight limit of 164,000 lb (74,000 kg), which is twice the U.S. federal limit.[30][31][32] A measure to change the law was defeated in the Michigan Senate in 2019.[33][34][35][36][37]
+
+Almost all trucks share a common construction: they are made of a chassis, a cab, an area for placing cargo or equipment, axles, suspension and roadwheels, an engine and a drivetrain. Pneumatic, hydraulic, water, and electrical systems may also be present. Many also tow one or more trailers or semi-trailers.
+
+The "cab" is an enclosed space where the driver is seated. A "sleeper" is a compartment attached to or integral with the cab where the driver can rest while not driving, sometimes seen in semi-trailer trucks.
+
+There are several possible cab configurations:
+
+A further step from this is the side loading forklift that can be described as a specially fabricated vehicle with the same properties as a truck of this type, in addition to the ability to pick up its own load.
+
+Most small trucks such as sport utility vehicles (SUVs), vans or pickups, and even light medium-duty trucks in North America, China, and Russia use gasoline engines (petrol engines), but many diesel engined models are now being produced. Most of the heavier trucks use four-stroke diesel engines with a turbocharger and intercooler. Huge off-highway trucks use locomotive-type engines such as a V12 Detroit Diesel two stroke engine. Diesel engines are becoming the engine of choice for trucks ranging from class 3 to 8 GVWs.[citation needed] A large proportion of refuse trucks in the United States employ CNG (compressed natural gas) engines for their low fuel cost and reduced carbon emissions.
+
+A significant proportion of North American manufactured trucks use an engine built by the last remaining major independent engine manufacturer (Cummins) but most global OEMs such as Volvo Trucks and Daimler AG promote their own "captive" engines.[40]
+
+In the European Union, all new truck engines must comply with Euro VI emission regulations.[41]
+
+As of 2019[update] several alternative technologies are competing to displace the use of diesel engines in heavy trucks. CNG engines are widely used in the US refuse industry and in concrete mixers, among other short-range vocations, but range limitations have prevented their broader uptake in freight hauling applications. Heavy electric trucks and hydrogen-powered trucks are still in the prototype and field-testing stages, although media reports indicate that there is substantial interest in them from major freight haulers.[42][43]
+
+Small trucks use the same type of transmissions as almost all cars, having either an automatic transmission or a manual transmission with synchromesh (synchronizers). Bigger trucks often use manual transmissions without synchronizers, saving bulk and weight, although synchromesh transmissions are used in larger trucks as well. Transmissions without synchronizers, known as "crash boxes", require double-clutching for each shift, (which can lead to repetitive motion injuries), or a technique known colloquially as "floating", a method of changing gears which doesn't use the clutch, except for starts and stops, due to the physical effort of double clutching, especially with non-power-assisted clutches, faster shifts, and less clutch wear.
+
+Double-clutching allows the driver to control the engine and transmission revolutions to synchronize, so that a smooth shift can be made; for example, when upshifting, the accelerator pedal is released and the clutch pedal is depressed while the gear lever is moved into neutral, the clutch pedal is then released and quickly pushed down again while the gear lever is moved to the next higher gear. Finally, the clutch pedal is released and the accelerator pedal pushed down to obtain required engine speed. Although this is a relatively fast movement, perhaps a second or so while transmission is in neutral, it allows the engine speed to drop and synchronize engine and transmission revolutions relative to the road speed. Downshifting is performed in a similar fashion, except the engine speed is now required to increase (while transmission is in neutral) just the right amount in order to achieve the synchronization for a smooth, non-collision gear change. "Skip changing" is also widely used; in principle operation is the same as double-clutching, but it requires neutral be held slightly longer than a single-gear change.
+
+Common North American setups include 9, 10, 13, 15, and 18 speeds. Automatic and semi-automatic transmissions for heavy trucks are becoming more and more common, due to advances both in transmission and engine power. In Europe, 8, 10, 12 and 16 gears are common on larger trucks with manual transmission, while automatic or semi-automatic transmissions would have anything from 5 to 12 gears. Almost all heavy truck transmissions are of the "range and split" (double H shift pattern) type, where range change and so‑called half gears or splits are air operated and always preselected before the main gear selection.
+
+A truck frame consists of two parallel boxed (tubular) or C‑shaped rails, or beams, held together by crossmembers. These frames are referred to as ladder frames due to their resemblance to a ladder if tipped on end. The rails consist of a tall vertical section (two if boxed) and two shorter horizontal flanges. The height of the vertical section provides opposition to vertical flex when weight is applied to the top of the frame (beam resistance). Though typically flat the whole length on heavy duty trucks, the rails may sometimes be tapered or arched for clearance around the engine or over the axles. The holes in rails are used either for mounting vehicle components and running wires and hoses, or measuring and adjusting the orientation of the rails at the factory or repair shop.
+
+The frame is usually made of steel, but can be made (whole or in part) of aluminum for a lighter weight. A tow bar may be found attached at one or both ends, but heavy tractors almost always make use of a fifth wheel hitch.[citation needed]
+
+Refrigerator trucks have insulated panels as walls and a roof and floor, used for transporting fresh and frozen cargo such as ice cream, food, vegetables, and prescription drugs. They are mostly equipped with double-wing rear doors, but a side door is sometimes fitted.
+
+Box trucks ("tilts" in the UK) have walls and a roof, making an enclosed load space. The rear has doors for unloading; a side door is sometimes fitted.[44]
+
+Concrete mixers have a rotating drum on an inclined axis, rotating in one direction to mix, and in the other to discharge the concrete down chutes. Because of the weight and power requirements of the drum body and rough construction sites, mixers have to be very heavy duty.[45][46]
+
+Dump trucks ("tippers" in the UK) transport loose material such as sand, gravel, or dirt for construction. A typical dump truck has an open-box bed, which is hinged at the rear and lifts at the front, allowing the material in the bed to be unloaded ("dumped") on the ground behind the truck.[47][48]
+
+Flatbed trucks have an entirely flat, level platform body. This allows for quick and easy loading but has no protection for the load. Hanging or removable sides are sometimes fitted.[49]
+
+Semi-tractors ("artics" in the UK) have a fifth wheel for towing a semi-trailer instead of a body.
+
+Tank trucks ("tankers" in the UK) are designed to carry liquids or gases. They usually have a cylindrical tank lying horizontally on the chassis. Many variants exist due to the wide variety of liquids and gases that can be transported.[50]
+
+Wreckers ("recovery lorries" in the UK) are used to recover and/or tow disabled vehicles. They are normally equipped with a boom with a cable; wheel/chassis lifts are becoming common on newer trucks.[51][52][53]
+
+In many countries, driving a truck requires a special driving license. The requirements and limitations vary with each different jurisdiction.
+
+In Australia, a truck driver's license is required for any motor vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) exceeding 4.5 t (4.4 long tons; 5.0 short tons). The motor vehicles classes are further expanded as:
+
+There is also a heavy vehicle transmission condition for a license class HC, HR, or MC test passed in a vehicle fitted with an automatic or synchromesh transmission; a driver's license will be restricted to vehicles of that class fitted with a synchromesh or automatic transmission. To have the condition removed, a person needs to pass a practical driving test in a vehicle with non-synchromesh transmission (constant mesh or crash box).[63]
+
+Driving licensing has been harmonized throughout the European Union and the EEA (and practically all European non-member states), so that common rules apply within Europe (see European driving licence). As an overview, to drive a vehicle weighing more than 7.5 t (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) for commercial purposes requires a specialist license (the type varies depending on the use of the vehicle and number of seats). For licenses first acquired after 1997, that weight was reduced to 3.5 t (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons), not including trailers.[citation needed]
+
+Since 2013, the C1 license allows driving HGV between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes, while the C license allows driving Large goods vehicle with a maximum authorized mass of more than 3.5 tonnes.
+
+There are around 5 million truck drivers in India.[64]
+
+To drive any vehicle with a GVM exceeding 3.5 t (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons), a code C1 drivers license is required.  Furthermore, if the vehicle exceeds  16 t (15.7 long tons; 17.6 short tons) a code C license becomes necessary.
+
+To drive any vehicle in South Africa towing a trailer with a GVM more than 7.5 t (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons), further restrictions apply and the driver must possess a license suitable for the GVM of the total combination as well as an articulated endorsement. This is indicated with the letter "E" prefixing the license code.
+
+In addition, any vehicle designed to carry goods or passengers may only be driven by a driver possessing a Public Driver's Permit, (or PrDP) of the applicable type.  This is an additional license that is added to the DL card of the operator and subject to annual renewal unlike the five-year renewal period of a normal license.
+
+The requirements for obtaining the different classes are below.
+
+In the United States, a commercial driver's license is required to drive any type of commercial vehicle weighing 26,001 lb (11,794 kg) or more.[65] The federal government regulates how many hours a driver may be on the clock, how much rest and sleep time is required (e.g., 11 hours driving/14 hours on-duty followed by 10 hours off, with a maximum of 70 hours/8 days or 60 hours/7 days, 34 hours restart )[66] Violations are often subject to significant penalties. Instruments to track each driver's hours must sometimes be fitted.
+In 2006, the US trucking industry employed 1.8 million drivers of heavy trucks.[67]
+
+There is a shortage of willing trained long distance truck drivers.[68] Part of the reason for this is the economic fallout from deregulation of the trucking industry.  Michael H. Belzer, associate professor, in the economics department at Wayne State University and co-author of Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation, argues that low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation. [69] (Oxford University Press, 2000).[70]  The book cites poor working conditions and an unfair pay system as responsible for high annual employee turnover in the industry.[71][72]
+
+Professor Belzer states low pay, bad working conditions and unsafe conditions have been a direct result of deregulation.  "[This book] argues that trucking embodies the dark side of the new economy."[71]  "Conditions are so poor and the pay system so unfair that long-haul companies compete with the fast-food industry for workers. Most long-haul carriers experience 100% annual driver turnover.[72][A]
+
+Trucks contribute to air, noise, and water pollution similarly to automobiles. Trucks may[vague] emit lower air pollution emissions than cars per equivalent vehicle mass, although the absolute level per vehicle distance traveled is higher, and diesel exhaust is especially dangerous for health.[73] EPA measures pollution from trucks.[74] With respect to noise pollution, trucks emit considerably higher sound levels at all speeds compared to typical cars; this contrast is particularly strong with heavy-duty trucks.[75] There are several aspects of truck operations that contribute to the overall sound that is emitted. Continuous sounds are those from tires rolling on the roadway, and the constant hum of their diesel engines at highway speeds. Less frequent noises, but perhaps more noticeable, are things like the repeated sharp-pitched whistle of a turbocharger on acceleration, or the abrupt blare of an exhaust brake retarder when traversing a downgrade. There has been noise regulation put in place to help control where and when the use of engine braking retarders are allowed.
+
+Concerns have been raised about the effect of trucking on the environment, particularly as part of the debate on global warming, so many countries are lowering limits on truck CO2 emissions.[76]
+
+According to a 1995 U.S. government estimate, the energy cost of carrying one ton of freight a distance of one kilometer averages 337 kJ for water, 221 kJ for rail, 2,000 kJ for trucks, and nearly 13,000 kJ for air transport.[77] Many environmental organizations favor laws and incentives to encourage the switch from road to rail, especially in Europe.[78]
+
+The European Parliament is moving to ensure that charges on heavy-goods vehicles should be based in part on the air and noise pollution they produce and the congestion they cause, according to legislation approved by the Transport Committee.[79] The Eurovignette scheme has been proposed, whereby new charges would be potentially levied against things such as noise and air pollution and also weight related damages from the lorries themselves.[80]
+
+A 60-ton tractor & trailer at 80 km/h needs 168 kW : 41% (68 kW) to overcome the rolling resistance, 38% (64 kW) for the aerodynamic drag,  9% (15 kW) for the auxiliaries, 7% (12 kW) for the driveline & tire and 6% (10 kW) is lost in uphill/downhill hysteresis.[81]
+
+A truck cab is a hazard control that protects the truck operator from hazardous airborne pollutants.  As an enclosure, it is an example of an engineering control.  Enclosed operator cabs have been used on agriculture, mining, and construction vehicles for several decades.  Most modern day enclosed cabs have heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for primarily maintaining a comfortable temperature and providing breathable air for their occupants. Various levels of filtration can be incorporated into the HVAC system to remove airborne pollutants such as dusts, diesel particulate matter (DPM), and other aerosols.[82]
+
+Two key elements of an effective environmental enclosure are a good filtration system and an enclosure with good integrity (sealed isolation from the outside environment). It is recommended that a filtration system filter out at least 95% or greater of airborne respirable aerosols from the intake airflow, with an additional recirculation filtering component for the inside air. Good enclosure integrity is also needed to achieve positive pressure to prevent wind-driven aerosol penetration into the enclosure, as well as to minimize air leakage around the filtration system. Test methods and mathematical modeling of environmental enclosures are also beneficial for quantifying and optimizing filtration system designs, as well as maintaining optimum protection factor performance for enclosure occupants.[82]
+
+Commercial trucks in the US pay higher road use taxes on a state level than other road vehicles, and are subject to extensive regulation.[83] A few reasons commercial trucks pay higher road use taxes: they are bigger and heavier than most other vehicles, and cause more wear and tear per hour on roadways; and trucks and their drivers are on the road for more hours per day. Rules on use taxes differ among jurisdictions.
+
+The life of a pavement is measured by the number of passes of a vehicle axle. It may be evaluated using the Load Equivalency Factor,[84] which states that the damage by the pass of a vehicle axle is proportional to the 4th power of the weight, so a ten-ton axle consumes 10,000 times the life of the pavement as a one-ton axle. For that reason, loaded trucks cost the same as thousands of cars in pavement costs, and are subject to higher taxes and highway tolls.[34][35]
+
+Primary liability insurance coverage protects the truck from damage or injuries to other people as a result of a truck accident. This truck insurance coverage is mandated by U.S. state and federal agencies, and proof of coverage is required to be sent to them. Interstate trucks in the U.S. are required to have a minimum of $75,000 in liability insurance. This includes motor carriers operating vehicles with a gross weight rating in excess of 10,000 lb (4.5 t) (which transport non-hazardous materials). All motor carriers operating vehicles transporting materials classified as hazardous, and which have a gross weight rating in excess of 10,000 lb (4.5 t) must have a minimum of $1,000,000 in liability insurance. All motor carriers operating vehicles such as hopper-type cargo vehicles or tankers with a capacity in excess of 3,500 US gal (13,000 l) must have a minimum of $5,000,000 in liability insurance. Pricing is dependent on region, driving records, and history of the trucking operation.
+
+Motor truck cargo insurance protects the transporter for his responsibility in the event of damaged or lost freight. The policy is purchased with a maximum load limit per vehicle. Cargo insurance coverage limits can range from $10,000 to $100,000 or more. Pricing for this insurance is mainly dependent on the type of cargo being hauled.
+
+In 2002 and 2004, there were over 5,000 fatalities related to trucking accidents in the United States. The trucking industry has since made significant efforts in increasing safety regulations. In 2008, the industry had successfully lowered the fatality rate to just over 4,000 deaths, but trucking accidents are still an issue that causes thousands of deaths and injuries each year. Approximately 6,000 trucking accident fatalities occur annually in the United States. Fatalities are not the only issue caused by trucking accidents. Here are some of the environmental issues that arise with trucking accidents:
+
+Following increased pressure from The Times "Cities Fit For Cycling" campaign and from other media in Spring 2012, warning signs are now displayed on the backs of many HGVs. These signs are directed against a common type of accident which occurs when the large vehicle turns left at a junction: a cyclist trying to pass on the nearside can be crushed against the HGV's wheels, especially if the driver cannot see the cyclist. The signs, such as the winning design of the InTANDEM road safety competition launched in March 2012, advocate extra care when passing a large vehicle on the nearside.
+
+In-vehicle speed limitation is required applying a 90 km/h limit to commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.[85]
+
+Front, side, and rear underrun protection is required on commercial vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.[85]
+
+Trucks must be fitted with blind-spot mirrors that give drivers a wider field of vision than conventional mirrors.[86]

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+
+Campania (/kæmˈpeɪniə/, also UK: /kæmˈpæniə/, US: /kɑːmˈpɑːniə/,[3][4] Italian: [kamˈpaːnja], Neapolitan: [kamˈbɑːnjə]) is an administrative region of Italy. Located on the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, with the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, it includes the small Phlegraean Islands and Capri for administration as part of the region. As of 2018, the region has a population of around 5,820,000 people, making it the third-most-populous region in the country;[5] its total area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi) makes it the most densely populated region in Italy. Campania is the most productive region in southern Italy (and the 7th in the whole country) by GDP, with Naples' urban area being the 7th-most populous in the European Union.[6] The region is home to 10 of the 55 UNESCO sites in Italy, like Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast and the Historic Centre of Naples. Moreover, Mount Vesuvius is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.[7]
+
+Coastal areas in the region were colonised by the Ancient Greeks between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, becoming part of the so-called Magna Græcia. The leading city of Campania at this time was Capua, with Naples being a Greek-speaking anomaly. Campania is rich in culture, especially in regard to gastronomy, music, architecture, and the presence of archaeological and ancient sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Paestum, Aeclanum, Stabiae and Velia. The name of Campania is derived from Latin, as the Romans knew the region as Campania felix, which translates into English as "fertile countryside" or "happy countryside". The rich natural beauty of Campania makes it highly important in the tourism industry, with the city of Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius and the islands of Capri and Ischia continuing to be major attractions.[8]
+
+The region today known as Campania was inhabited since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, if not earlier, by Oscan-speaking Italic tribes, namely the Osci, the Opici, the Aurunci, the Ausones, the Sidicini, the Campanians (where the name of the region stems from) and the Lucanians (as the southern portion of the region, roughly corresponding to much of modern-day province of Salerno, was considered part of the ancient region of Lucania).[9][10] Between the 9th and 6th centuries BC, the Etruscans began establishing colonies in the Campanian Plain (inland territories of the modern provinces of Caserta and Naples), in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese and in the Agro Picentino (both in the modern-day province of Salerno), where they essentially replicated their Dodecapolis (twelve cities) political model, founding the cities of Hyria (modern-day Nola), Irnthi or Marcina (modern-day Salerno), Amina (modern-day Pontecagnano Faiano), Velcha, Velsu and Uri, in addition to assimilating in their urban-political domain also the pre-existing Oscan towns of Capua (modern-day Santa Maria Capua Vetere), Nuceria (modern-day comuni of Nocera Superiore and Nocera Inferiore), Suessula, Acerra, Ercolano, Pompeii, Stabiae and Sorrento.[11][12][13] Meanwhile, during the 8th century BC, Greek-speaking people from Euboea (in the Central Greece), known as Cumaeans, began to establish colonies themselves roughly around the coastal areas of the modern-day province of Naples and in the nearby islands founding, among others, the cities of Cumae, Pithekoūsai (modern-day Ischia) and Dicaearchia (modern-day Pozzuoli).[14]
+
+At one point in history, a distinct group of Oscan-speaking tribes from the Samnium (in south-central Italy), the Samnites, moved down into Campania.
+Since the Samnites were more warlike than other Oscan populations, they easily took over the cities of Capua and Cumae, in an area which was one of the most prosperous and fertile in the Italian Peninsula at the time.[15] During the 340s BC, the Samnites were engaged in a war with the Roman Republic in a dispute known as the Samnite Wars, with Rome claiming the rich pastures of northern Campania during the First Samnite War.[16]
+
+As the majority of Southern Italy was under Roman control at the time, the sole major remaining independent settlement in the region was the Greek colony of Neapolis, and when the city was eventually captured by the Samnites, the Neapolitan Greeks were left with no option but to call on the Romans, with whom they established an alliance, setting off the Second Samnite War.[15] The Roman consul Quintus Publilius Filo recaptured Neapolis by 326 BC and allowed it to remain a Greek city with some autonomy as a civitas foederata while strongly aligned with Rome.[17] The Second Samnite War ended with the Romans controlling southern Campania and additional regions further to the south.[16]
+
+Campania was a full-fledged part of the Roman Republic by the end of the 4th century BC, valued for its pastures and rich countryside. Naples, with its Greek language and customs, made it a centre of Hellenistic culture for the Romans, creating the first traces of Greco-Roman culture.[18] During the Pyrrhic War in 275 BC, the Battle of Beneventum took place in Campania in the Samnite city of Maleventum, in which the Romans, led by the consul Curius Dentatus, were victorious. They renamed it Beneventum (modern day Benevento), which grew in stature until it was second only to Capua in southern Italy.[19] During the Second Punic War in 216 BC, Capua, in a bid for equality with Rome, allied with Carthage.[20] The rebellious Capuans were isolated from the rest of Campania, which remained allies of Rome. Naples resisted Hannibal due to the imposing walls.[18] Capua was eventually starved into submission in the Roman retaking of 211 BC, and the Romans were victorious.[20]
+
+With the initial exception of Naples, the region adopted Latin as official language, in that sense gradually replacing the native Oscan and the Greek and the Etruscan still talked respectively in their colonies of the region,[21][22][23] subsequently becoming fully Romanised.[24][25] As part of the Roman Empire, Campania, with Latium, formed the most important region of the Augustan divisions of Italia, the Regio I Latium et Campania; Campania was one of the main areas for granary.[25] In ancient times Misenum (modern 'Miseno'), at the extreme northern end of the bay of Naples, was the largest base of the Roman navy, since its port (Portus Julius) was the base of the Classis Misenensis, the most important Roman fleet. It was first established as a naval base in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa, the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus. Roman Emperors chose Campania as a holiday destination, among them Claudius and Tiberius, the latter of whom is infamously linked to the island of Capri.[18] It was also during this period that Christianity came to Campania. Two of the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, are said to have preached in the city of Naples, and there were also several martyrs during this time.[26] Unfortunately, the period of relative calm was violently interrupted by the epic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 which buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.[27] With the Decline of the Roman Empire, its last emperor, Romulus Augustus, was put in a manor house prison near Castel dell'Ovo, Naples, in 476, ushering in the beginning of the Middle Ages and a period of uncertainty in regard to the future of the area.[18]
+
+The area had many duchies and principalities during the Middle Ages, in the hands of the Byzantine Empire (also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Lombards. Under the Normans, the smaller independent states were brought together as part of the Kingdom of Sicily, before the mainland broke away to form the Kingdom of Naples. It was during this period that elements of Spanish, French and Aragonese culture were introduced to Campania. Allegiances with the Muslim Saracens were made in 836, and the Arabs were requested to repel the siege of Lombard troops coming from the neighbouring Duchy of Benevento. However, during the 850s, Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas led the conquest of the city, and managed to sack it and take huge amount of its wealth.[28][29]
+
+After a period as a Norman kingdom, the Kingdom of Sicily passed to the Hohenstaufens, who were a powerful Germanic royal house of Swabian origins.[30] The University of Naples Federico II was founded by Frederick II in the city, the oldest state university in the world, making Naples the intellectual centre of the kingdom.[31] Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy, led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV crowning Angevin Dynasty duke Charles I as the king.[32] Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Naples where he resided at the Castel Nuovo.[33] During this period, much Gothic architecture sprang up around Naples, including the Naples Cathedral, the main church of the city.[34]
+
+In 1281, with the advent of the Sicilian Vespers, the kingdom split in half. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily became the Aragonese Kingdom of Sicily.[32] The wars continued until the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, which saw Frederick III recognised as king of the Isle of Sicily, while Charles II was recognised as the king of Naples by Pope Boniface VIII.[32] Despite the split, Naples grew in importance, attracting Pisan and Genoese merchants,[35] Tuscan bankers, and with them some of the most championed Renaissance artists of the time, such as Boccaccio, Petrarch and Giotto.[36] Alfonso I conquered Naples after his victory against the last Angevin king, René, and Naples was unified for a brief period with Sicily again.[37]
+
+Sicily and Naples were separated in 1458 but remained as dependencies of Aragon under Ferrante.[38] The new dynasty enhanced Naples' commerce by establishing relations with the Iberian peninsula. Naples also became a centre of the Renaissance, with artists such as Laurana, da Messina, Sannazzaro and Poliziano arriving in the city.[39] During 1501 Naples came under direct rule from France at the time of Louis XII, as Neapolitan king Frederick was taken as a prisoner to France; this lasted four years.[40] Spain won Naples at the Battle of Garigliano and, as a result, Naples then became part of the Spanish Empire throughout the entire Habsburg Spain period.[40] The Spanish sent viceroys to Naples to directly deal with local issues: the most important of which was Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban progress in the city; he also supported the Inquisition.[41]
+
+During this period Naples became Europe's second largest city after Paris.[42] During the Baroque era it was home to artists including Caravaggio, Rosa and Bernini; philosophers such as Telesio, Bruno, Campanella and Vico; and writers such as Battista Marino. A revolution led by local fisherman Masaniello saw the creation of a brief independent Neapolitan Republic, though this lasted only a few months before Spanish rule was regained.[40] Finally, by 1714, the Spanish ceased to rule Naples as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession; it was the Austrian Charles VI who ruled from Vienna, similarly, with viceroys.[43] However, the
+War of the Polish Succession saw the Spanish regain Sicily and Naples as part of a personal union, which in the Treaty of Vienna were recognised as independent under a cadet branch of the Spanish Bourbons in 1738 under Charles VII.[44]
+
+During the time of Ferdinand IV, the French Revolution made its way to Naples: Horatio Nelson, an ally of the Bourbons, even arrived in the city in 1798 to warn against it. However, Ferdinand was forced to retreat and fled to Palermo, where he was protected by a British fleet.[45] Naples' lower classes (the lazzaroni) were pious and Royalist, favouring the Bourbons; in the mêlée that followed, they fought the Neapolitan pro-Republican aristocracy, causing a civil war.[45] The Republicans conquered Castel Sant'Elmo and proclaimed a Parthenopaean Republic, secured by the French Army.[45] A counter-revolutionary religious army of lazzaroni under Fabrizio Ruffo was raised; they had great success and the French surrendered the Neapolitan castles and were allowed to sail back to Toulon.[45]
+
+Ferdinand IV was restored as king; however, after only seven years Napoleon conquered the kingdom and instated Bonapartist kings including his brother Joseph Bonaparte.[46] With the help of the Austrian Empire and allies, the Bonapartists were defeated in the Neapolitan War and Bourbon Ferdinand IV once again regained the throne and the kingdom.[46] The Congress of Vienna in 1815 saw the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily combined to form the Two Sicilies,[46] with Naples as the capital city. Naples became the first city on the Italian peninsula to have a railway in 1839,[47] there were many factories throughout the kingdom making it a highly important trade centre.[48]
+
+In September 1943, Salerno was the scene of the Operation Avalanche and suffered a great deal of damage. From 12 February to 17 July 1944, it hosted the Government of Marshal Pietro Badoglio. In those months Salerno was the temporary "Capital of the Kingdom of Italy", and the King Victor Emmanuel III lived in a mansion in its outskirts. Salerno received the first "Tricolore" in an official ceremony on 7 January 2012 from the premier Mario Monti, to celebrate the glorious story of Italy and its old capitals.
+
+Campania has an area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi) and a coastline of 350 km (217 mi) on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Campania is famous for its gulfs (Naples, Salerno and Policastro) as well as for three islands (Capri, Ischia and Procida).
+
+Four other regions border Campania; Lazio to the northwest, Molise to the north, Apulia (Puglia) to the northeast and Basilicata to the east.
+
+The mountainous interior is fragmented into several massifs, rarely reaching 2,000 metres (Miletto of 2,050 m), whereas close to the coast there are volcanic massifs: Vesuvio (1,277 m) and Campi Flegrei.
+
+The climate is typically Mediterranean along the coast, whereas in the inner zones it is more continental, with low temperatures in winter. 51% of the total area is hilly, 34% mountainous and the remaining 15% is made up of plains. There is a high seismic risk in the area of the region.
+
+The agro-food industry is one of the main pillars of industry of Campania. The organisation of the sector is improving and leading to higher levels of quality and salaries. Campania mainly produces fruit and vegetables, but has also expanded its production of flowers grown in greenhouses, becoming one of the leading regions of the sector in Italy. The value added of this sector represents around 6.5% of the total value added of the region, equalling €213.7 million. Campania produces over 50% of Italy's nuts and is also the leader in the production of tomatoes, which reaches 1.5 million tonnes a year. A weak point, however, for the region's agriculture is the very reduced size of farms, equal to 3.53 hectares. Animal breeding is widespread (it was done in 70,278 farms in 2000) and the milk produced is used to process typical products, such as mozzarella.
+
+Olive trees, mainly of the varieties Carpellese (PDO designated),[49] Cornia (Val di Cornia DOC), Frantoio, Leccino, Ogliarola Barese, Olivella, Ortice, Pisciottana (Also Ogliastrina or Olivo dell'Ascea),[50] Ravece (also known as Rotondello),[51] and Salella,[52] covers over 74,604 hectares (184,350 acres) of the agricultural land, together with the production of fruit, contributing €620.6 million to the economy. Wine production has increased as well as the quality of the wine.[53]
+
+The region has a dense network of road and motorways, a system of maritime connections and an airport (Naples Airport), which connect it rapidly to the rest of the Country. Campania has a series of historical problems and internal contrasts, although they are improving. The regional capital, Naples, one of the most populated cities in Italy, still represents the centre of regional life. The port connects the region with the whole Mediterranean basin, and brings tourists to the archaeological sites, the cities of art (Naples and Caserta), to the coastal areas and to the islands. The services sector makes up for 78% of the region's gross domestic product.[53]
+
+The GDP per capita of Campania is the highest among the regions of South Italy, yet it is only 66.7% of the Italian average, which highlights the steep economic gap between the North and the South of Italy. The situation of Campania's economy is considered "anomalous", as it is believed to have a large potential not properly exploited, as well as high rates of unemployment and of submerged economy. It was speculated that one factor could have been a failure of Campania to connect with the economy of the unitary Italian state, while another factor is its peripheral position too distant from the developed central areas of Europe.[54]
+
+Heavy industry used to be concentrated in the Naples metropolitan area, in which the largest industrial area was Bagnoli, a suburb located North of the city. Bagnoli enjoyed a favourable logistic position due its proximity to the sea and to an industrial harbour, and included Steel factories that were among the largest in Europe. The steel factories operated since 1905 for about 80 years, but by the end of the sixties, all industries of Bagnoli area gradually started to lose competitiveness, and the steel factories were definitively closed in 1991. At the beginning of the 70s, plans for the de-industrialization of the area were presented, as it was perceived that the causes of competitiveness loss were impossible to remove. In 1970 the City Council decided that 30% of space of the industrial should be dismantled and turned into public parks. In 1976, a definitive report concluded that the lack of competitiveness was due to "impossibility to expand the facilities because of lack of space".[55][56] The metropolitan area of Naples is limited by two dangerous areas, the Mount Vesuvius on the South, and supervolcano Campi Flegrei on the North, leaving little space in proximity of the sea.
+
+Some factors may contribute in keeping the economy less competitive or less flexible compared to Northern Italian and European regions, among them, a larger public administration sector (which accounted for 20.4% of the whole economy in 2013, while in Italy the figure is 13.6) suggesting a too large number of public employees or white collars.[57]  The number of lawyers is 5.7 every 1000, by comparison in Northern region Trentino-Alto Adige the number is 1.7.[58] Because of a less developed economy, Campania may have suffered less the negative effects of recent economic cycles.[59]
+
+Sea-based activity accounts about 3.9% of the economy, that includes port movements of goods and passengers and sea transportation, as well  as a sizable seaside tourism economy. There is a massive automotive industrial production, focused on high-quality models of brands Alfa Romeo, in facilities located in Pomigliano d'Arco in the Naples metropolitan area and in Cassino. There is also a significant aerospace industry. A Mars mission named ExoMars in 2016 had a major part of its technology designed in Naples.[60]
+
+The unemployment rate stood at 20.4% in 2018 and was one of the highest in Italy.[61][62]
+
+The region, with a population of over 5.8 million inhabitants, is divided into five provinces: Naples, Benevento, Avellino, Caserta and Salerno. Over half of the population is resident in the province of Naples, where there is a population density of 2,626 inhabitants per km2. Within the province, the highest density can be found along the coast, where it reaches 13,000 inhabitants per km2 in the city of Portici. The region, which was characterised until recently by an acute economic contrast between internal and coastal areas, has shown an improvement in the last decade thanks to the development of the provinces of Benevento and Avellino. At the same time, the provinces of Naples, Caserta and in part Salerno, have developed a variety of activities connected to advanced types of services.[63]
+
+Unlike central and northern Italy, in the last decade the region of Campania has not attracted large numbers of immigrants. The Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated in January 2007 that 98,052 foreign-born immigrants live in Campania, equal to 1.7% of the total regional population.[64] Part of the reason for this is in recent times, there have been more employment opportunities in northern regions than in the Southern Italian regions.
+
+The Politics of Campania, takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of Regional Government is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council.
+
+The Regional Council of Campania (Consiglio Regionale della Campania) is composed of 60 members, of which 47 are elected in provincial constituencies with proportional representation, 12 from the so-called "regional list" of the elected President and the last one is for the candidate for President who comes second, who usually becomes the leader of the opposition in the Council. If a coalition wins more than 55% of the vote, only 6 candidates from the "regional list" will be elected and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 53.[65]
+
+Campania is divided into four provinces and one metropolitan city:
+
+Campanian cuisine varies within the region. While Neapolitan dishes centre on seafood, Casertan and Aversan ones rely more on fresh vegetables and cheeses. The cuisine from Sorrento combines the culinary traditions from both Naples and Salerno.
+
+Pizza was conceived in Naples.[66]
+
+Spaghetti is also a well-known dish from southern Italy and Campania.
+
+Campania produces wines including Lacryma Christi, Fiano, Aglianico, Greco di Tufo, Pere 'e palomma, Ischitano, Taburno, Solopaca, and Taurasi. The cheeses of Campania consist of Mozzarella di Bufala (buffalo mozzarella) (mozzarella made from buffalo milk), fiordilatte ("flower of milk") a mozzarella made from cow's milk, ricotta from sheep or buffalo milk, provolone from cow milk, and caciotta made from goat milk. Buffalo are bred in Salerno and Caserta.
+
+Several different cakes and pies are made in Campania. Pastiera pie is made during Easter. Casatiello and tortano are Easter bread-cakes made by adding lard or oil and various types of cheese to bread dough and garnishing it with slices of salami. Babà cake is a well known Neapolitan delicacy, best served with Rum or limoncello (a liqueur invented in the Sorrento peninsula). It is an old Austrian cake, which arrived in Campania during the Austrian domination of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and was modified there to become a "walking cake" for citizens always in a hurry for work and other pursuits. Sfogliatella is another cake from the Amalfi Coast, as is Zeppole, traditionally eaten on Saint Joseph's day. Struffoli, little balls fried dough dipped in honey, are enjoyed during the Christmas holidays.
+
+Another Campanian dish is the so-called Russian salad (which is based on similar dishes from France), made of potatoes in mayonnaise garnished with shrimp and vegetables in vinegar. Russians call this same dish Olivier Salad, and Germans call it Italian salad. Another French-derived dish is "gattò" or "gâteau di patate" (oven-baked pie made of boiled potatoes). As with the Russian salad, Campania is home to popular seafood-based dishes, such as "insalata di mare" (seafood salad), "zuppa di polpo" (octopus soup), and "zuppa di cozze" (mussel soup). Other regional seafood dishes include "frittelle di mare" (fritters with seaweed), made with edible poseidonia algae, "triglie al cartoccio" (red mullet in the bag), and "alici marinate" (fresh anchovies in olive oil). The island of Ischia is known for its fish dishes, as well as for cooked rabbit. Campania is also home to the lemons of Sorrento. Rapini (or Broccoli rabe), known locally as friarielli, are often used in the regional cooking. Campania also produces many nuts, especially in the area of Avellino, Salerno and Benevento. Hazelnut production is especially relevant in the province of Avellino – in Spanish, in Portuguese and in Occitan the hazelnut is respectively called avellana, avelã and avelano,[citation needed] after the city of Avella. That is also the case of ancient Italian avellana, which is however not in use anymore.
+
+The region of Campania is rich with a vast array of culture and history. Since the Greek colony of Elea, now Velia, Campania was home to philosophers of the Pre-Socratic philosophy school, such as Parmenides and Zeno of Elea, who came to prominence around 490–480 BC. The Latin poet Vergil (70 BC–19 BC) settled in Naples in his late life: parts of his epic poem Aeneid are located in Campania. The ancient scientist Pliny the Elder studied Mount Vesuvius, and died after being poisoned and killed by gas emitted from the volcano during the 79 AD eruption.
+
+Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, died as a prisoner of the German general Odoacer at Naples around 500. In the Middle Ages, the artist Giotto made some frescoes in Castel Nuovo. These works of art were subsequently destroyed by an earthquake.
+
+By the end of the Middle Ages, the medical school of Salerno, which combined ancient Roman and Greek medicine with Arab medicine, was known throughout Europe and its methods were adopted across the continent. Some have suggested that this may have been one of the first universities in Europe. Boccaccio, the Tuscan poet, visited Naples on various occasions, and in the Decameron described it as a dissolute city. He also wrote a love story involving a noble woman close to the King of Naples.
+
+In 1570, the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote the romance novel Don Quixote, served as a Spanish soldier for a period in Naples. Poet Torquato Tasso was born in Sorrento in 1575. Years earlier in 1558, the first modern description and studies of the "camera obscura" ("dark chamber"), were established in Italy by Giovanni Battista della Porta in his  Magiae Naturalis.
+
+Philosopher Giordano Bruno was born in Nola. He was the first to theorize infinite suns and infinite worlds in the universe. He was burnt in Rome by the Spanish Inquisition in 1600. Later, in c. 1606, the Baroque painter Caravaggio established his studio in Naples. Italian Baroque architect Cosimo Fanzago from Bergamo also decided to move to Naples.
+
+In the 18th century, Naples was the last city to be visited by philosophers who created the "Grand Tour" which was the big touring voyage to visit all the important cultural sites of the European continent. Italian architect Luigi Vanvitelli son of Dutch architect Kaspar van Wittel built the Kingdom Palace in Caserta in c. 1750. He contributed to the construction of many neoclassic-style palaces in which the nobles of Naples spent their holidays. These palaces are now known worldwide as "Ville Vesuviane".
+
+Raimondo di Sangro, prince of Sansevero, was a scientist and one of the last alchemists. Around this time, in 1786, German writer Goethe visited Campania and Naples. German archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann also visited Naples, Paestum, Herculaneum and Pompeii in 1748 and later, studying how archaeological surveys were conducted in the kingdom of Naples. He was one of the first to study drawings, statues, stones, and ancient burned scrolls made of papyrus found in the excavations of the city of Herculaneum. Archaeological excavations in Pompeii were initiated by King Charles III of Naples in 1748. He issued the first modern laws in Europe to protect, defend and preserve archaeological sites. Neapolitan musicians of that period include Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli and Giovanni Paisiello.
+
+Musician Gioachino Rossini lived for several years in Naples, where he wrote numerous compositions. Italian poet and writer Giacomo Leopardi established his home in Naples and Torre del Greco, remaining there at the end of his brief young life. He died at Naples in 1837. The first volcano observatory, the Vesuvius Observatory, was founded in Naples in 1841. Geologist Giuseppe Mercalli, born in Milan in 1850, was a director of the Vesuvius Observatory.
+
+In February 1851, British statesman William Ewart Gladstone was allowed to visit the prison where Giacomo Lacaita, legal adviser to the British embassy, was imprisoned by the Neapolitan government, along with other political dissidents.[67] He deplored their condition, and in April and July published two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen against the Neapolitan government, followed by An Examination of the Official Reply of the Neapolitan Government in 1852.[68] His pamphlets may have contributed to the cause of the unification of Italy in 1861.
+
+French writer Alexandre Dumas, père was directly involved in the process of the Unification of Italy, and sojourned two or three years in Naples, where he wrote several historical novels regarding that city. He was also a known newspaper correspondent. Francesco de Sanctis, writer, politician and twice Minister of Instruction after the re-unification of Italy in 1861, was born in Morra De Sanctis near Avellino.
+
+German scientist Anton Dohrn founded in Naples the first public aquarium in the world and laboratory for the study of the sea, known as Maritime Zoological Station. The Astronomic Observatory of Capodimonte was founded by King Joachim Murat, in 1816. The observatory now hosts the Italian Laboratory of Astrophysics. Doctors and surgeons Antonio Cardarelli and Giuseppe Moscati were representatives of medical studies in Naples.
+
+The so-called "School of Posillipo" and "School of Resina", dating from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, included painters such as Giacinto Gigante, Federico Cortese, Domenico Morelli, Saverio Altamura, Giuseppe De Nittis, Vincenzo Gemito, Antonio Mancini, Raffaello Pagliaccetti.
+
+Amongst the painters who inspired directly these schools, are Salvator Rosa, Pierre Jacques-Antoine Volaire, Anton Sminck van Pitloo who spent his last years in Naples. Opera singer Enrico Caruso was also a native of Naples. Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin lived for a period in Capri. In the 20th century, the music genre called Neapolitan song became popular worldwide, with songs such as "O sole mio", "Funiculì, funiculà", "O surdato nnamurato", "Torna a Surriento", "Guapparia, "Santa Lucia", "Reginella", "Marechiaro", "Spingule Francese".
+
+Mathematician Renato Caccioppoli, nephew of the Russian anarchic revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, was born in Naples. The first President of the Italian Republic in 1946 (with a pro-tempore mandate of six months) was Enrico De Nicola from Torre del Greco. Campania is also home to the former Prime Minister and 6th President of the Republic Giovanni Leone, as well as the 11th President, Giorgio Napolitano.
+
+The 20th century's best known philosopher and literate in Naples was Benedetto Croce, known for his studies in aesthetics, ethics, logic, economy, history, politics.
+
+Neapolitan artists, actors, playwrights, and showmen included Eduardo De Filippo and Peppino De Filippo, and their sister Titina De Filippo. Totò (byname of Antonio de Curtis) was one of the most important comedians in Naples in the 20th century. He is also known for the song "Malafemmena".
+
+Pop artist Andy Warhol created two famous paintings of the 1980 Irpinia earthquake: Fate presto and Vesuvius. Both originals are hosted in the exhibit Terrae Motus in the Palace of Caserta.
+
+Oscar–winning actress Sophia Loren grew up in Pozzuoli.
+
+Oscar and David-winning[69] film producer Dino De Laurentiis was born in Torre Annunziata. One of his grandchildren is Food Network personality Giada De Laurentiis.
+
+Contemporary Campanian writers include Curzio Malaparte and Domenico Rea.
+
+20th- and 21st-century Campanian actors and directors include Francesco Rosi, Iaia Forte, Pappi Corsicato, Teresa De Sio, Lello Arena, Massimo Troisi and director Gabriele Salvatores.
+
+Modern Italian singers and musicians from Campania include Peppino di Capri, Renato Carosone, Edoardo Bennato, Eugenio Bennato, Mario Merola, Sergio Bruni, Aurelio Fierro, Roberto Murolo, Tony Tammaro, Teresa De Sio, Eduardo De Crescenzo, Alan Sorrenti, Toni Esposito, Tullio De Piscopo, Massimo Ranieri, Pino Daniele, James Senese and his group Napoli Centrale, Enzo Avitabile, Enzo Gragnaniello, Nino D'Angelo, Gigi D'Alessio, 99 Posse, Almamegretta, Bisca, 24 Grana.
+
+Artists who directed movies about Naples or actors who played in movies in Campania, or interpreted Neapolitans on-screen, include Vittorio De Sica, Nanni Loi, Domenico Modugno, Renzo Arbore, Lina Wertmüller, Mario Lanza as Caruso, Clark Gable in "It Started in Naples", Jack Lemmon in the movies "Maccheroni" (which co-starred Marcello Mastroianni) and "Avanti!".
+
+The international Giffoni Film Festival, established in 1971, is the first and most important festival for a young public.
+
+Campania is home to several national football, water polo, volleyball, basketball and tennis clubs.
+
+The fencing school in Naples is the oldest in the country and the only school in Italy in which a swordsman can acquire the title "master of swords", which allows him or her to teach the art of fencing.
+
+The "Circolo Savoia" and "Canottieri Napoli" sailing clubs are among the oldest in Italy and are known for their regattas. These are also home of the main water polo teams in the city. Many sailors from Naples and Campania participate as crew in the America's Cup sailing competition.
+
+Rowers Giuseppe Abbagnale and Carmine Abbagnale were born in Castellammare di Stabia: they were four times rowing world champions and Olympic gold medalists.
+
+The football teams in Campania include:
+
+Coordinates: 40°49′34″N 14°15′23″E / 40.82611°N 14.25639°E / 40.82611; 14.25639

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+Campania (/kæmˈpeɪniə/, also UK: /kæmˈpæniə/, US: /kɑːmˈpɑːniə/,[3][4] Italian: [kamˈpaːnja], Neapolitan: [kamˈbɑːnjə]) is an administrative region of Italy. Located on the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, with the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, it includes the small Phlegraean Islands and Capri for administration as part of the region. As of 2018, the region has a population of around 5,820,000 people, making it the third-most-populous region in the country;[5] its total area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi) makes it the most densely populated region in Italy. Campania is the most productive region in southern Italy (and the 7th in the whole country) by GDP, with Naples' urban area being the 7th-most populous in the European Union.[6] The region is home to 10 of the 55 UNESCO sites in Italy, like Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast and the Historic Centre of Naples. Moreover, Mount Vesuvius is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.[7]
+
+Coastal areas in the region were colonised by the Ancient Greeks between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, becoming part of the so-called Magna Græcia. The leading city of Campania at this time was Capua, with Naples being a Greek-speaking anomaly. Campania is rich in culture, especially in regard to gastronomy, music, architecture, and the presence of archaeological and ancient sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Paestum, Aeclanum, Stabiae and Velia. The name of Campania is derived from Latin, as the Romans knew the region as Campania felix, which translates into English as "fertile countryside" or "happy countryside". The rich natural beauty of Campania makes it highly important in the tourism industry, with the city of Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius and the islands of Capri and Ischia continuing to be major attractions.[8]
+
+The region today known as Campania was inhabited since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, if not earlier, by Oscan-speaking Italic tribes, namely the Osci, the Opici, the Aurunci, the Ausones, the Sidicini, the Campanians (where the name of the region stems from) and the Lucanians (as the southern portion of the region, roughly corresponding to much of modern-day province of Salerno, was considered part of the ancient region of Lucania).[9][10] Between the 9th and 6th centuries BC, the Etruscans began establishing colonies in the Campanian Plain (inland territories of the modern provinces of Caserta and Naples), in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese and in the Agro Picentino (both in the modern-day province of Salerno), where they essentially replicated their Dodecapolis (twelve cities) political model, founding the cities of Hyria (modern-day Nola), Irnthi or Marcina (modern-day Salerno), Amina (modern-day Pontecagnano Faiano), Velcha, Velsu and Uri, in addition to assimilating in their urban-political domain also the pre-existing Oscan towns of Capua (modern-day Santa Maria Capua Vetere), Nuceria (modern-day comuni of Nocera Superiore and Nocera Inferiore), Suessula, Acerra, Ercolano, Pompeii, Stabiae and Sorrento.[11][12][13] Meanwhile, during the 8th century BC, Greek-speaking people from Euboea (in the Central Greece), known as Cumaeans, began to establish colonies themselves roughly around the coastal areas of the modern-day province of Naples and in the nearby islands founding, among others, the cities of Cumae, Pithekoūsai (modern-day Ischia) and Dicaearchia (modern-day Pozzuoli).[14]
+
+At one point in history, a distinct group of Oscan-speaking tribes from the Samnium (in south-central Italy), the Samnites, moved down into Campania.
+Since the Samnites were more warlike than other Oscan populations, they easily took over the cities of Capua and Cumae, in an area which was one of the most prosperous and fertile in the Italian Peninsula at the time.[15] During the 340s BC, the Samnites were engaged in a war with the Roman Republic in a dispute known as the Samnite Wars, with Rome claiming the rich pastures of northern Campania during the First Samnite War.[16]
+
+As the majority of Southern Italy was under Roman control at the time, the sole major remaining independent settlement in the region was the Greek colony of Neapolis, and when the city was eventually captured by the Samnites, the Neapolitan Greeks were left with no option but to call on the Romans, with whom they established an alliance, setting off the Second Samnite War.[15] The Roman consul Quintus Publilius Filo recaptured Neapolis by 326 BC and allowed it to remain a Greek city with some autonomy as a civitas foederata while strongly aligned with Rome.[17] The Second Samnite War ended with the Romans controlling southern Campania and additional regions further to the south.[16]
+
+Campania was a full-fledged part of the Roman Republic by the end of the 4th century BC, valued for its pastures and rich countryside. Naples, with its Greek language and customs, made it a centre of Hellenistic culture for the Romans, creating the first traces of Greco-Roman culture.[18] During the Pyrrhic War in 275 BC, the Battle of Beneventum took place in Campania in the Samnite city of Maleventum, in which the Romans, led by the consul Curius Dentatus, were victorious. They renamed it Beneventum (modern day Benevento), which grew in stature until it was second only to Capua in southern Italy.[19] During the Second Punic War in 216 BC, Capua, in a bid for equality with Rome, allied with Carthage.[20] The rebellious Capuans were isolated from the rest of Campania, which remained allies of Rome. Naples resisted Hannibal due to the imposing walls.[18] Capua was eventually starved into submission in the Roman retaking of 211 BC, and the Romans were victorious.[20]
+
+With the initial exception of Naples, the region adopted Latin as official language, in that sense gradually replacing the native Oscan and the Greek and the Etruscan still talked respectively in their colonies of the region,[21][22][23] subsequently becoming fully Romanised.[24][25] As part of the Roman Empire, Campania, with Latium, formed the most important region of the Augustan divisions of Italia, the Regio I Latium et Campania; Campania was one of the main areas for granary.[25] In ancient times Misenum (modern 'Miseno'), at the extreme northern end of the bay of Naples, was the largest base of the Roman navy, since its port (Portus Julius) was the base of the Classis Misenensis, the most important Roman fleet. It was first established as a naval base in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa, the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus. Roman Emperors chose Campania as a holiday destination, among them Claudius and Tiberius, the latter of whom is infamously linked to the island of Capri.[18] It was also during this period that Christianity came to Campania. Two of the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, are said to have preached in the city of Naples, and there were also several martyrs during this time.[26] Unfortunately, the period of relative calm was violently interrupted by the epic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 which buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.[27] With the Decline of the Roman Empire, its last emperor, Romulus Augustus, was put in a manor house prison near Castel dell'Ovo, Naples, in 476, ushering in the beginning of the Middle Ages and a period of uncertainty in regard to the future of the area.[18]
+
+The area had many duchies and principalities during the Middle Ages, in the hands of the Byzantine Empire (also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Lombards. Under the Normans, the smaller independent states were brought together as part of the Kingdom of Sicily, before the mainland broke away to form the Kingdom of Naples. It was during this period that elements of Spanish, French and Aragonese culture were introduced to Campania. Allegiances with the Muslim Saracens were made in 836, and the Arabs were requested to repel the siege of Lombard troops coming from the neighbouring Duchy of Benevento. However, during the 850s, Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas led the conquest of the city, and managed to sack it and take huge amount of its wealth.[28][29]
+
+After a period as a Norman kingdom, the Kingdom of Sicily passed to the Hohenstaufens, who were a powerful Germanic royal house of Swabian origins.[30] The University of Naples Federico II was founded by Frederick II in the city, the oldest state university in the world, making Naples the intellectual centre of the kingdom.[31] Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy, led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV crowning Angevin Dynasty duke Charles I as the king.[32] Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Naples where he resided at the Castel Nuovo.[33] During this period, much Gothic architecture sprang up around Naples, including the Naples Cathedral, the main church of the city.[34]
+
+In 1281, with the advent of the Sicilian Vespers, the kingdom split in half. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily became the Aragonese Kingdom of Sicily.[32] The wars continued until the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, which saw Frederick III recognised as king of the Isle of Sicily, while Charles II was recognised as the king of Naples by Pope Boniface VIII.[32] Despite the split, Naples grew in importance, attracting Pisan and Genoese merchants,[35] Tuscan bankers, and with them some of the most championed Renaissance artists of the time, such as Boccaccio, Petrarch and Giotto.[36] Alfonso I conquered Naples after his victory against the last Angevin king, René, and Naples was unified for a brief period with Sicily again.[37]
+
+Sicily and Naples were separated in 1458 but remained as dependencies of Aragon under Ferrante.[38] The new dynasty enhanced Naples' commerce by establishing relations with the Iberian peninsula. Naples also became a centre of the Renaissance, with artists such as Laurana, da Messina, Sannazzaro and Poliziano arriving in the city.[39] During 1501 Naples came under direct rule from France at the time of Louis XII, as Neapolitan king Frederick was taken as a prisoner to France; this lasted four years.[40] Spain won Naples at the Battle of Garigliano and, as a result, Naples then became part of the Spanish Empire throughout the entire Habsburg Spain period.[40] The Spanish sent viceroys to Naples to directly deal with local issues: the most important of which was Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban progress in the city; he also supported the Inquisition.[41]
+
+During this period Naples became Europe's second largest city after Paris.[42] During the Baroque era it was home to artists including Caravaggio, Rosa and Bernini; philosophers such as Telesio, Bruno, Campanella and Vico; and writers such as Battista Marino. A revolution led by local fisherman Masaniello saw the creation of a brief independent Neapolitan Republic, though this lasted only a few months before Spanish rule was regained.[40] Finally, by 1714, the Spanish ceased to rule Naples as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession; it was the Austrian Charles VI who ruled from Vienna, similarly, with viceroys.[43] However, the
+War of the Polish Succession saw the Spanish regain Sicily and Naples as part of a personal union, which in the Treaty of Vienna were recognised as independent under a cadet branch of the Spanish Bourbons in 1738 under Charles VII.[44]
+
+During the time of Ferdinand IV, the French Revolution made its way to Naples: Horatio Nelson, an ally of the Bourbons, even arrived in the city in 1798 to warn against it. However, Ferdinand was forced to retreat and fled to Palermo, where he was protected by a British fleet.[45] Naples' lower classes (the lazzaroni) were pious and Royalist, favouring the Bourbons; in the mêlée that followed, they fought the Neapolitan pro-Republican aristocracy, causing a civil war.[45] The Republicans conquered Castel Sant'Elmo and proclaimed a Parthenopaean Republic, secured by the French Army.[45] A counter-revolutionary religious army of lazzaroni under Fabrizio Ruffo was raised; they had great success and the French surrendered the Neapolitan castles and were allowed to sail back to Toulon.[45]
+
+Ferdinand IV was restored as king; however, after only seven years Napoleon conquered the kingdom and instated Bonapartist kings including his brother Joseph Bonaparte.[46] With the help of the Austrian Empire and allies, the Bonapartists were defeated in the Neapolitan War and Bourbon Ferdinand IV once again regained the throne and the kingdom.[46] The Congress of Vienna in 1815 saw the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily combined to form the Two Sicilies,[46] with Naples as the capital city. Naples became the first city on the Italian peninsula to have a railway in 1839,[47] there were many factories throughout the kingdom making it a highly important trade centre.[48]
+
+In September 1943, Salerno was the scene of the Operation Avalanche and suffered a great deal of damage. From 12 February to 17 July 1944, it hosted the Government of Marshal Pietro Badoglio. In those months Salerno was the temporary "Capital of the Kingdom of Italy", and the King Victor Emmanuel III lived in a mansion in its outskirts. Salerno received the first "Tricolore" in an official ceremony on 7 January 2012 from the premier Mario Monti, to celebrate the glorious story of Italy and its old capitals.
+
+Campania has an area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi) and a coastline of 350 km (217 mi) on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Campania is famous for its gulfs (Naples, Salerno and Policastro) as well as for three islands (Capri, Ischia and Procida).
+
+Four other regions border Campania; Lazio to the northwest, Molise to the north, Apulia (Puglia) to the northeast and Basilicata to the east.
+
+The mountainous interior is fragmented into several massifs, rarely reaching 2,000 metres (Miletto of 2,050 m), whereas close to the coast there are volcanic massifs: Vesuvio (1,277 m) and Campi Flegrei.
+
+The climate is typically Mediterranean along the coast, whereas in the inner zones it is more continental, with low temperatures in winter. 51% of the total area is hilly, 34% mountainous and the remaining 15% is made up of plains. There is a high seismic risk in the area of the region.
+
+The agro-food industry is one of the main pillars of industry of Campania. The organisation of the sector is improving and leading to higher levels of quality and salaries. Campania mainly produces fruit and vegetables, but has also expanded its production of flowers grown in greenhouses, becoming one of the leading regions of the sector in Italy. The value added of this sector represents around 6.5% of the total value added of the region, equalling €213.7 million. Campania produces over 50% of Italy's nuts and is also the leader in the production of tomatoes, which reaches 1.5 million tonnes a year. A weak point, however, for the region's agriculture is the very reduced size of farms, equal to 3.53 hectares. Animal breeding is widespread (it was done in 70,278 farms in 2000) and the milk produced is used to process typical products, such as mozzarella.
+
+Olive trees, mainly of the varieties Carpellese (PDO designated),[49] Cornia (Val di Cornia DOC), Frantoio, Leccino, Ogliarola Barese, Olivella, Ortice, Pisciottana (Also Ogliastrina or Olivo dell'Ascea),[50] Ravece (also known as Rotondello),[51] and Salella,[52] covers over 74,604 hectares (184,350 acres) of the agricultural land, together with the production of fruit, contributing €620.6 million to the economy. Wine production has increased as well as the quality of the wine.[53]
+
+The region has a dense network of road and motorways, a system of maritime connections and an airport (Naples Airport), which connect it rapidly to the rest of the Country. Campania has a series of historical problems and internal contrasts, although they are improving. The regional capital, Naples, one of the most populated cities in Italy, still represents the centre of regional life. The port connects the region with the whole Mediterranean basin, and brings tourists to the archaeological sites, the cities of art (Naples and Caserta), to the coastal areas and to the islands. The services sector makes up for 78% of the region's gross domestic product.[53]
+
+The GDP per capita of Campania is the highest among the regions of South Italy, yet it is only 66.7% of the Italian average, which highlights the steep economic gap between the North and the South of Italy. The situation of Campania's economy is considered "anomalous", as it is believed to have a large potential not properly exploited, as well as high rates of unemployment and of submerged economy. It was speculated that one factor could have been a failure of Campania to connect with the economy of the unitary Italian state, while another factor is its peripheral position too distant from the developed central areas of Europe.[54]
+
+Heavy industry used to be concentrated in the Naples metropolitan area, in which the largest industrial area was Bagnoli, a suburb located North of the city. Bagnoli enjoyed a favourable logistic position due its proximity to the sea and to an industrial harbour, and included Steel factories that were among the largest in Europe. The steel factories operated since 1905 for about 80 years, but by the end of the sixties, all industries of Bagnoli area gradually started to lose competitiveness, and the steel factories were definitively closed in 1991. At the beginning of the 70s, plans for the de-industrialization of the area were presented, as it was perceived that the causes of competitiveness loss were impossible to remove. In 1970 the City Council decided that 30% of space of the industrial should be dismantled and turned into public parks. In 1976, a definitive report concluded that the lack of competitiveness was due to "impossibility to expand the facilities because of lack of space".[55][56] The metropolitan area of Naples is limited by two dangerous areas, the Mount Vesuvius on the South, and supervolcano Campi Flegrei on the North, leaving little space in proximity of the sea.
+
+Some factors may contribute in keeping the economy less competitive or less flexible compared to Northern Italian and European regions, among them, a larger public administration sector (which accounted for 20.4% of the whole economy in 2013, while in Italy the figure is 13.6) suggesting a too large number of public employees or white collars.[57]  The number of lawyers is 5.7 every 1000, by comparison in Northern region Trentino-Alto Adige the number is 1.7.[58] Because of a less developed economy, Campania may have suffered less the negative effects of recent economic cycles.[59]
+
+Sea-based activity accounts about 3.9% of the economy, that includes port movements of goods and passengers and sea transportation, as well  as a sizable seaside tourism economy. There is a massive automotive industrial production, focused on high-quality models of brands Alfa Romeo, in facilities located in Pomigliano d'Arco in the Naples metropolitan area and in Cassino. There is also a significant aerospace industry. A Mars mission named ExoMars in 2016 had a major part of its technology designed in Naples.[60]
+
+The unemployment rate stood at 20.4% in 2018 and was one of the highest in Italy.[61][62]
+
+The region, with a population of over 5.8 million inhabitants, is divided into five provinces: Naples, Benevento, Avellino, Caserta and Salerno. Over half of the population is resident in the province of Naples, where there is a population density of 2,626 inhabitants per km2. Within the province, the highest density can be found along the coast, where it reaches 13,000 inhabitants per km2 in the city of Portici. The region, which was characterised until recently by an acute economic contrast between internal and coastal areas, has shown an improvement in the last decade thanks to the development of the provinces of Benevento and Avellino. At the same time, the provinces of Naples, Caserta and in part Salerno, have developed a variety of activities connected to advanced types of services.[63]
+
+Unlike central and northern Italy, in the last decade the region of Campania has not attracted large numbers of immigrants. The Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated in January 2007 that 98,052 foreign-born immigrants live in Campania, equal to 1.7% of the total regional population.[64] Part of the reason for this is in recent times, there have been more employment opportunities in northern regions than in the Southern Italian regions.
+
+The Politics of Campania, takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of Regional Government is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council.
+
+The Regional Council of Campania (Consiglio Regionale della Campania) is composed of 60 members, of which 47 are elected in provincial constituencies with proportional representation, 12 from the so-called "regional list" of the elected President and the last one is for the candidate for President who comes second, who usually becomes the leader of the opposition in the Council. If a coalition wins more than 55% of the vote, only 6 candidates from the "regional list" will be elected and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 53.[65]
+
+Campania is divided into four provinces and one metropolitan city:
+
+Campanian cuisine varies within the region. While Neapolitan dishes centre on seafood, Casertan and Aversan ones rely more on fresh vegetables and cheeses. The cuisine from Sorrento combines the culinary traditions from both Naples and Salerno.
+
+Pizza was conceived in Naples.[66]
+
+Spaghetti is also a well-known dish from southern Italy and Campania.
+
+Campania produces wines including Lacryma Christi, Fiano, Aglianico, Greco di Tufo, Pere 'e palomma, Ischitano, Taburno, Solopaca, and Taurasi. The cheeses of Campania consist of Mozzarella di Bufala (buffalo mozzarella) (mozzarella made from buffalo milk), fiordilatte ("flower of milk") a mozzarella made from cow's milk, ricotta from sheep or buffalo milk, provolone from cow milk, and caciotta made from goat milk. Buffalo are bred in Salerno and Caserta.
+
+Several different cakes and pies are made in Campania. Pastiera pie is made during Easter. Casatiello and tortano are Easter bread-cakes made by adding lard or oil and various types of cheese to bread dough and garnishing it with slices of salami. Babà cake is a well known Neapolitan delicacy, best served with Rum or limoncello (a liqueur invented in the Sorrento peninsula). It is an old Austrian cake, which arrived in Campania during the Austrian domination of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and was modified there to become a "walking cake" for citizens always in a hurry for work and other pursuits. Sfogliatella is another cake from the Amalfi Coast, as is Zeppole, traditionally eaten on Saint Joseph's day. Struffoli, little balls fried dough dipped in honey, are enjoyed during the Christmas holidays.
+
+Another Campanian dish is the so-called Russian salad (which is based on similar dishes from France), made of potatoes in mayonnaise garnished with shrimp and vegetables in vinegar. Russians call this same dish Olivier Salad, and Germans call it Italian salad. Another French-derived dish is "gattò" or "gâteau di patate" (oven-baked pie made of boiled potatoes). As with the Russian salad, Campania is home to popular seafood-based dishes, such as "insalata di mare" (seafood salad), "zuppa di polpo" (octopus soup), and "zuppa di cozze" (mussel soup). Other regional seafood dishes include "frittelle di mare" (fritters with seaweed), made with edible poseidonia algae, "triglie al cartoccio" (red mullet in the bag), and "alici marinate" (fresh anchovies in olive oil). The island of Ischia is known for its fish dishes, as well as for cooked rabbit. Campania is also home to the lemons of Sorrento. Rapini (or Broccoli rabe), known locally as friarielli, are often used in the regional cooking. Campania also produces many nuts, especially in the area of Avellino, Salerno and Benevento. Hazelnut production is especially relevant in the province of Avellino – in Spanish, in Portuguese and in Occitan the hazelnut is respectively called avellana, avelã and avelano,[citation needed] after the city of Avella. That is also the case of ancient Italian avellana, which is however not in use anymore.
+
+The region of Campania is rich with a vast array of culture and history. Since the Greek colony of Elea, now Velia, Campania was home to philosophers of the Pre-Socratic philosophy school, such as Parmenides and Zeno of Elea, who came to prominence around 490–480 BC. The Latin poet Vergil (70 BC–19 BC) settled in Naples in his late life: parts of his epic poem Aeneid are located in Campania. The ancient scientist Pliny the Elder studied Mount Vesuvius, and died after being poisoned and killed by gas emitted from the volcano during the 79 AD eruption.
+
+Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, died as a prisoner of the German general Odoacer at Naples around 500. In the Middle Ages, the artist Giotto made some frescoes in Castel Nuovo. These works of art were subsequently destroyed by an earthquake.
+
+By the end of the Middle Ages, the medical school of Salerno, which combined ancient Roman and Greek medicine with Arab medicine, was known throughout Europe and its methods were adopted across the continent. Some have suggested that this may have been one of the first universities in Europe. Boccaccio, the Tuscan poet, visited Naples on various occasions, and in the Decameron described it as a dissolute city. He also wrote a love story involving a noble woman close to the King of Naples.
+
+In 1570, the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote the romance novel Don Quixote, served as a Spanish soldier for a period in Naples. Poet Torquato Tasso was born in Sorrento in 1575. Years earlier in 1558, the first modern description and studies of the "camera obscura" ("dark chamber"), were established in Italy by Giovanni Battista della Porta in his  Magiae Naturalis.
+
+Philosopher Giordano Bruno was born in Nola. He was the first to theorize infinite suns and infinite worlds in the universe. He was burnt in Rome by the Spanish Inquisition in 1600. Later, in c. 1606, the Baroque painter Caravaggio established his studio in Naples. Italian Baroque architect Cosimo Fanzago from Bergamo also decided to move to Naples.
+
+In the 18th century, Naples was the last city to be visited by philosophers who created the "Grand Tour" which was the big touring voyage to visit all the important cultural sites of the European continent. Italian architect Luigi Vanvitelli son of Dutch architect Kaspar van Wittel built the Kingdom Palace in Caserta in c. 1750. He contributed to the construction of many neoclassic-style palaces in which the nobles of Naples spent their holidays. These palaces are now known worldwide as "Ville Vesuviane".
+
+Raimondo di Sangro, prince of Sansevero, was a scientist and one of the last alchemists. Around this time, in 1786, German writer Goethe visited Campania and Naples. German archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann also visited Naples, Paestum, Herculaneum and Pompeii in 1748 and later, studying how archaeological surveys were conducted in the kingdom of Naples. He was one of the first to study drawings, statues, stones, and ancient burned scrolls made of papyrus found in the excavations of the city of Herculaneum. Archaeological excavations in Pompeii were initiated by King Charles III of Naples in 1748. He issued the first modern laws in Europe to protect, defend and preserve archaeological sites. Neapolitan musicians of that period include Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli and Giovanni Paisiello.
+
+Musician Gioachino Rossini lived for several years in Naples, where he wrote numerous compositions. Italian poet and writer Giacomo Leopardi established his home in Naples and Torre del Greco, remaining there at the end of his brief young life. He died at Naples in 1837. The first volcano observatory, the Vesuvius Observatory, was founded in Naples in 1841. Geologist Giuseppe Mercalli, born in Milan in 1850, was a director of the Vesuvius Observatory.
+
+In February 1851, British statesman William Ewart Gladstone was allowed to visit the prison where Giacomo Lacaita, legal adviser to the British embassy, was imprisoned by the Neapolitan government, along with other political dissidents.[67] He deplored their condition, and in April and July published two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen against the Neapolitan government, followed by An Examination of the Official Reply of the Neapolitan Government in 1852.[68] His pamphlets may have contributed to the cause of the unification of Italy in 1861.
+
+French writer Alexandre Dumas, père was directly involved in the process of the Unification of Italy, and sojourned two or three years in Naples, where he wrote several historical novels regarding that city. He was also a known newspaper correspondent. Francesco de Sanctis, writer, politician and twice Minister of Instruction after the re-unification of Italy in 1861, was born in Morra De Sanctis near Avellino.
+
+German scientist Anton Dohrn founded in Naples the first public aquarium in the world and laboratory for the study of the sea, known as Maritime Zoological Station. The Astronomic Observatory of Capodimonte was founded by King Joachim Murat, in 1816. The observatory now hosts the Italian Laboratory of Astrophysics. Doctors and surgeons Antonio Cardarelli and Giuseppe Moscati were representatives of medical studies in Naples.
+
+The so-called "School of Posillipo" and "School of Resina", dating from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, included painters such as Giacinto Gigante, Federico Cortese, Domenico Morelli, Saverio Altamura, Giuseppe De Nittis, Vincenzo Gemito, Antonio Mancini, Raffaello Pagliaccetti.
+
+Amongst the painters who inspired directly these schools, are Salvator Rosa, Pierre Jacques-Antoine Volaire, Anton Sminck van Pitloo who spent his last years in Naples. Opera singer Enrico Caruso was also a native of Naples. Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin lived for a period in Capri. In the 20th century, the music genre called Neapolitan song became popular worldwide, with songs such as "O sole mio", "Funiculì, funiculà", "O surdato nnamurato", "Torna a Surriento", "Guapparia, "Santa Lucia", "Reginella", "Marechiaro", "Spingule Francese".
+
+Mathematician Renato Caccioppoli, nephew of the Russian anarchic revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, was born in Naples. The first President of the Italian Republic in 1946 (with a pro-tempore mandate of six months) was Enrico De Nicola from Torre del Greco. Campania is also home to the former Prime Minister and 6th President of the Republic Giovanni Leone, as well as the 11th President, Giorgio Napolitano.
+
+The 20th century's best known philosopher and literate in Naples was Benedetto Croce, known for his studies in aesthetics, ethics, logic, economy, history, politics.
+
+Neapolitan artists, actors, playwrights, and showmen included Eduardo De Filippo and Peppino De Filippo, and their sister Titina De Filippo. Totò (byname of Antonio de Curtis) was one of the most important comedians in Naples in the 20th century. He is also known for the song "Malafemmena".
+
+Pop artist Andy Warhol created two famous paintings of the 1980 Irpinia earthquake: Fate presto and Vesuvius. Both originals are hosted in the exhibit Terrae Motus in the Palace of Caserta.
+
+Oscar–winning actress Sophia Loren grew up in Pozzuoli.
+
+Oscar and David-winning[69] film producer Dino De Laurentiis was born in Torre Annunziata. One of his grandchildren is Food Network personality Giada De Laurentiis.
+
+Contemporary Campanian writers include Curzio Malaparte and Domenico Rea.
+
+20th- and 21st-century Campanian actors and directors include Francesco Rosi, Iaia Forte, Pappi Corsicato, Teresa De Sio, Lello Arena, Massimo Troisi and director Gabriele Salvatores.
+
+Modern Italian singers and musicians from Campania include Peppino di Capri, Renato Carosone, Edoardo Bennato, Eugenio Bennato, Mario Merola, Sergio Bruni, Aurelio Fierro, Roberto Murolo, Tony Tammaro, Teresa De Sio, Eduardo De Crescenzo, Alan Sorrenti, Toni Esposito, Tullio De Piscopo, Massimo Ranieri, Pino Daniele, James Senese and his group Napoli Centrale, Enzo Avitabile, Enzo Gragnaniello, Nino D'Angelo, Gigi D'Alessio, 99 Posse, Almamegretta, Bisca, 24 Grana.
+
+Artists who directed movies about Naples or actors who played in movies in Campania, or interpreted Neapolitans on-screen, include Vittorio De Sica, Nanni Loi, Domenico Modugno, Renzo Arbore, Lina Wertmüller, Mario Lanza as Caruso, Clark Gable in "It Started in Naples", Jack Lemmon in the movies "Maccheroni" (which co-starred Marcello Mastroianni) and "Avanti!".
+
+The international Giffoni Film Festival, established in 1971, is the first and most important festival for a young public.
+
+Campania is home to several national football, water polo, volleyball, basketball and tennis clubs.
+
+The fencing school in Naples is the oldest in the country and the only school in Italy in which a swordsman can acquire the title "master of swords", which allows him or her to teach the art of fencing.
+
+The "Circolo Savoia" and "Canottieri Napoli" sailing clubs are among the oldest in Italy and are known for their regattas. These are also home of the main water polo teams in the city. Many sailors from Naples and Campania participate as crew in the America's Cup sailing competition.
+
+Rowers Giuseppe Abbagnale and Carmine Abbagnale were born in Castellammare di Stabia: they were four times rowing world champions and Olympic gold medalists.
+
+The football teams in Campania include:
+
+Coordinates: 40°49′34″N 14°15′23″E / 40.82611°N 14.25639°E / 40.82611; 14.25639

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+Campania (/kæmˈpeɪniə/, also UK: /kæmˈpæniə/, US: /kɑːmˈpɑːniə/,[3][4] Italian: [kamˈpaːnja], Neapolitan: [kamˈbɑːnjə]) is an administrative region of Italy. Located on the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, with the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, it includes the small Phlegraean Islands and Capri for administration as part of the region. As of 2018, the region has a population of around 5,820,000 people, making it the third-most-populous region in the country;[5] its total area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi) makes it the most densely populated region in Italy. Campania is the most productive region in southern Italy (and the 7th in the whole country) by GDP, with Naples' urban area being the 7th-most populous in the European Union.[6] The region is home to 10 of the 55 UNESCO sites in Italy, like Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast and the Historic Centre of Naples. Moreover, Mount Vesuvius is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.[7]
+
+Coastal areas in the region were colonised by the Ancient Greeks between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, becoming part of the so-called Magna Græcia. The leading city of Campania at this time was Capua, with Naples being a Greek-speaking anomaly. Campania is rich in culture, especially in regard to gastronomy, music, architecture, and the presence of archaeological and ancient sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Paestum, Aeclanum, Stabiae and Velia. The name of Campania is derived from Latin, as the Romans knew the region as Campania felix, which translates into English as "fertile countryside" or "happy countryside". The rich natural beauty of Campania makes it highly important in the tourism industry, with the city of Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius and the islands of Capri and Ischia continuing to be major attractions.[8]
+
+The region today known as Campania was inhabited since the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, if not earlier, by Oscan-speaking Italic tribes, namely the Osci, the Opici, the Aurunci, the Ausones, the Sidicini, the Campanians (where the name of the region stems from) and the Lucanians (as the southern portion of the region, roughly corresponding to much of modern-day province of Salerno, was considered part of the ancient region of Lucania).[9][10] Between the 9th and 6th centuries BC, the Etruscans began establishing colonies in the Campanian Plain (inland territories of the modern provinces of Caserta and Naples), in the Agro Nocerino Sarnese and in the Agro Picentino (both in the modern-day province of Salerno), where they essentially replicated their Dodecapolis (twelve cities) political model, founding the cities of Hyria (modern-day Nola), Irnthi or Marcina (modern-day Salerno), Amina (modern-day Pontecagnano Faiano), Velcha, Velsu and Uri, in addition to assimilating in their urban-political domain also the pre-existing Oscan towns of Capua (modern-day Santa Maria Capua Vetere), Nuceria (modern-day comuni of Nocera Superiore and Nocera Inferiore), Suessula, Acerra, Ercolano, Pompeii, Stabiae and Sorrento.[11][12][13] Meanwhile, during the 8th century BC, Greek-speaking people from Euboea (in the Central Greece), known as Cumaeans, began to establish colonies themselves roughly around the coastal areas of the modern-day province of Naples and in the nearby islands founding, among others, the cities of Cumae, Pithekoūsai (modern-day Ischia) and Dicaearchia (modern-day Pozzuoli).[14]
+
+At one point in history, a distinct group of Oscan-speaking tribes from the Samnium (in south-central Italy), the Samnites, moved down into Campania.
+Since the Samnites were more warlike than other Oscan populations, they easily took over the cities of Capua and Cumae, in an area which was one of the most prosperous and fertile in the Italian Peninsula at the time.[15] During the 340s BC, the Samnites were engaged in a war with the Roman Republic in a dispute known as the Samnite Wars, with Rome claiming the rich pastures of northern Campania during the First Samnite War.[16]
+
+As the majority of Southern Italy was under Roman control at the time, the sole major remaining independent settlement in the region was the Greek colony of Neapolis, and when the city was eventually captured by the Samnites, the Neapolitan Greeks were left with no option but to call on the Romans, with whom they established an alliance, setting off the Second Samnite War.[15] The Roman consul Quintus Publilius Filo recaptured Neapolis by 326 BC and allowed it to remain a Greek city with some autonomy as a civitas foederata while strongly aligned with Rome.[17] The Second Samnite War ended with the Romans controlling southern Campania and additional regions further to the south.[16]
+
+Campania was a full-fledged part of the Roman Republic by the end of the 4th century BC, valued for its pastures and rich countryside. Naples, with its Greek language and customs, made it a centre of Hellenistic culture for the Romans, creating the first traces of Greco-Roman culture.[18] During the Pyrrhic War in 275 BC, the Battle of Beneventum took place in Campania in the Samnite city of Maleventum, in which the Romans, led by the consul Curius Dentatus, were victorious. They renamed it Beneventum (modern day Benevento), which grew in stature until it was second only to Capua in southern Italy.[19] During the Second Punic War in 216 BC, Capua, in a bid for equality with Rome, allied with Carthage.[20] The rebellious Capuans were isolated from the rest of Campania, which remained allies of Rome. Naples resisted Hannibal due to the imposing walls.[18] Capua was eventually starved into submission in the Roman retaking of 211 BC, and the Romans were victorious.[20]
+
+With the initial exception of Naples, the region adopted Latin as official language, in that sense gradually replacing the native Oscan and the Greek and the Etruscan still talked respectively in their colonies of the region,[21][22][23] subsequently becoming fully Romanised.[24][25] As part of the Roman Empire, Campania, with Latium, formed the most important region of the Augustan divisions of Italia, the Regio I Latium et Campania; Campania was one of the main areas for granary.[25] In ancient times Misenum (modern 'Miseno'), at the extreme northern end of the bay of Naples, was the largest base of the Roman navy, since its port (Portus Julius) was the base of the Classis Misenensis, the most important Roman fleet. It was first established as a naval base in 27 BC by Marcus Agrippa, the right-hand man of the emperor Augustus. Roman Emperors chose Campania as a holiday destination, among them Claudius and Tiberius, the latter of whom is infamously linked to the island of Capri.[18] It was also during this period that Christianity came to Campania. Two of the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, are said to have preached in the city of Naples, and there were also several martyrs during this time.[26] Unfortunately, the period of relative calm was violently interrupted by the epic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 which buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.[27] With the Decline of the Roman Empire, its last emperor, Romulus Augustus, was put in a manor house prison near Castel dell'Ovo, Naples, in 476, ushering in the beginning of the Middle Ages and a period of uncertainty in regard to the future of the area.[18]
+
+The area had many duchies and principalities during the Middle Ages, in the hands of the Byzantine Empire (also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire) and the Lombards. Under the Normans, the smaller independent states were brought together as part of the Kingdom of Sicily, before the mainland broke away to form the Kingdom of Naples. It was during this period that elements of Spanish, French and Aragonese culture were introduced to Campania. Allegiances with the Muslim Saracens were made in 836, and the Arabs were requested to repel the siege of Lombard troops coming from the neighbouring Duchy of Benevento. However, during the 850s, Muhammad I Abu 'l-Abbas led the conquest of the city, and managed to sack it and take huge amount of its wealth.[28][29]
+
+After a period as a Norman kingdom, the Kingdom of Sicily passed to the Hohenstaufens, who were a powerful Germanic royal house of Swabian origins.[30] The University of Naples Federico II was founded by Frederick II in the city, the oldest state university in the world, making Naples the intellectual centre of the kingdom.[31] Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy, led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV crowning Angevin Dynasty duke Charles I as the king.[32] Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Naples where he resided at the Castel Nuovo.[33] During this period, much Gothic architecture sprang up around Naples, including the Naples Cathedral, the main church of the city.[34]
+
+In 1281, with the advent of the Sicilian Vespers, the kingdom split in half. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily became the Aragonese Kingdom of Sicily.[32] The wars continued until the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, which saw Frederick III recognised as king of the Isle of Sicily, while Charles II was recognised as the king of Naples by Pope Boniface VIII.[32] Despite the split, Naples grew in importance, attracting Pisan and Genoese merchants,[35] Tuscan bankers, and with them some of the most championed Renaissance artists of the time, such as Boccaccio, Petrarch and Giotto.[36] Alfonso I conquered Naples after his victory against the last Angevin king, René, and Naples was unified for a brief period with Sicily again.[37]
+
+Sicily and Naples were separated in 1458 but remained as dependencies of Aragon under Ferrante.[38] The new dynasty enhanced Naples' commerce by establishing relations with the Iberian peninsula. Naples also became a centre of the Renaissance, with artists such as Laurana, da Messina, Sannazzaro and Poliziano arriving in the city.[39] During 1501 Naples came under direct rule from France at the time of Louis XII, as Neapolitan king Frederick was taken as a prisoner to France; this lasted four years.[40] Spain won Naples at the Battle of Garigliano and, as a result, Naples then became part of the Spanish Empire throughout the entire Habsburg Spain period.[40] The Spanish sent viceroys to Naples to directly deal with local issues: the most important of which was Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, who was responsible for considerable social, economic and urban progress in the city; he also supported the Inquisition.[41]
+
+During this period Naples became Europe's second largest city after Paris.[42] During the Baroque era it was home to artists including Caravaggio, Rosa and Bernini; philosophers such as Telesio, Bruno, Campanella and Vico; and writers such as Battista Marino. A revolution led by local fisherman Masaniello saw the creation of a brief independent Neapolitan Republic, though this lasted only a few months before Spanish rule was regained.[40] Finally, by 1714, the Spanish ceased to rule Naples as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession; it was the Austrian Charles VI who ruled from Vienna, similarly, with viceroys.[43] However, the
+War of the Polish Succession saw the Spanish regain Sicily and Naples as part of a personal union, which in the Treaty of Vienna were recognised as independent under a cadet branch of the Spanish Bourbons in 1738 under Charles VII.[44]
+
+During the time of Ferdinand IV, the French Revolution made its way to Naples: Horatio Nelson, an ally of the Bourbons, even arrived in the city in 1798 to warn against it. However, Ferdinand was forced to retreat and fled to Palermo, where he was protected by a British fleet.[45] Naples' lower classes (the lazzaroni) were pious and Royalist, favouring the Bourbons; in the mêlée that followed, they fought the Neapolitan pro-Republican aristocracy, causing a civil war.[45] The Republicans conquered Castel Sant'Elmo and proclaimed a Parthenopaean Republic, secured by the French Army.[45] A counter-revolutionary religious army of lazzaroni under Fabrizio Ruffo was raised; they had great success and the French surrendered the Neapolitan castles and were allowed to sail back to Toulon.[45]
+
+Ferdinand IV was restored as king; however, after only seven years Napoleon conquered the kingdom and instated Bonapartist kings including his brother Joseph Bonaparte.[46] With the help of the Austrian Empire and allies, the Bonapartists were defeated in the Neapolitan War and Bourbon Ferdinand IV once again regained the throne and the kingdom.[46] The Congress of Vienna in 1815 saw the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily combined to form the Two Sicilies,[46] with Naples as the capital city. Naples became the first city on the Italian peninsula to have a railway in 1839,[47] there were many factories throughout the kingdom making it a highly important trade centre.[48]
+
+In September 1943, Salerno was the scene of the Operation Avalanche and suffered a great deal of damage. From 12 February to 17 July 1944, it hosted the Government of Marshal Pietro Badoglio. In those months Salerno was the temporary "Capital of the Kingdom of Italy", and the King Victor Emmanuel III lived in a mansion in its outskirts. Salerno received the first "Tricolore" in an official ceremony on 7 January 2012 from the premier Mario Monti, to celebrate the glorious story of Italy and its old capitals.
+
+Campania has an area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi) and a coastline of 350 km (217 mi) on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Campania is famous for its gulfs (Naples, Salerno and Policastro) as well as for three islands (Capri, Ischia and Procida).
+
+Four other regions border Campania; Lazio to the northwest, Molise to the north, Apulia (Puglia) to the northeast and Basilicata to the east.
+
+The mountainous interior is fragmented into several massifs, rarely reaching 2,000 metres (Miletto of 2,050 m), whereas close to the coast there are volcanic massifs: Vesuvio (1,277 m) and Campi Flegrei.
+
+The climate is typically Mediterranean along the coast, whereas in the inner zones it is more continental, with low temperatures in winter. 51% of the total area is hilly, 34% mountainous and the remaining 15% is made up of plains. There is a high seismic risk in the area of the region.
+
+The agro-food industry is one of the main pillars of industry of Campania. The organisation of the sector is improving and leading to higher levels of quality and salaries. Campania mainly produces fruit and vegetables, but has also expanded its production of flowers grown in greenhouses, becoming one of the leading regions of the sector in Italy. The value added of this sector represents around 6.5% of the total value added of the region, equalling €213.7 million. Campania produces over 50% of Italy's nuts and is also the leader in the production of tomatoes, which reaches 1.5 million tonnes a year. A weak point, however, for the region's agriculture is the very reduced size of farms, equal to 3.53 hectares. Animal breeding is widespread (it was done in 70,278 farms in 2000) and the milk produced is used to process typical products, such as mozzarella.
+
+Olive trees, mainly of the varieties Carpellese (PDO designated),[49] Cornia (Val di Cornia DOC), Frantoio, Leccino, Ogliarola Barese, Olivella, Ortice, Pisciottana (Also Ogliastrina or Olivo dell'Ascea),[50] Ravece (also known as Rotondello),[51] and Salella,[52] covers over 74,604 hectares (184,350 acres) of the agricultural land, together with the production of fruit, contributing €620.6 million to the economy. Wine production has increased as well as the quality of the wine.[53]
+
+The region has a dense network of road and motorways, a system of maritime connections and an airport (Naples Airport), which connect it rapidly to the rest of the Country. Campania has a series of historical problems and internal contrasts, although they are improving. The regional capital, Naples, one of the most populated cities in Italy, still represents the centre of regional life. The port connects the region with the whole Mediterranean basin, and brings tourists to the archaeological sites, the cities of art (Naples and Caserta), to the coastal areas and to the islands. The services sector makes up for 78% of the region's gross domestic product.[53]
+
+The GDP per capita of Campania is the highest among the regions of South Italy, yet it is only 66.7% of the Italian average, which highlights the steep economic gap between the North and the South of Italy. The situation of Campania's economy is considered "anomalous", as it is believed to have a large potential not properly exploited, as well as high rates of unemployment and of submerged economy. It was speculated that one factor could have been a failure of Campania to connect with the economy of the unitary Italian state, while another factor is its peripheral position too distant from the developed central areas of Europe.[54]
+
+Heavy industry used to be concentrated in the Naples metropolitan area, in which the largest industrial area was Bagnoli, a suburb located North of the city. Bagnoli enjoyed a favourable logistic position due its proximity to the sea and to an industrial harbour, and included Steel factories that were among the largest in Europe. The steel factories operated since 1905 for about 80 years, but by the end of the sixties, all industries of Bagnoli area gradually started to lose competitiveness, and the steel factories were definitively closed in 1991. At the beginning of the 70s, plans for the de-industrialization of the area were presented, as it was perceived that the causes of competitiveness loss were impossible to remove. In 1970 the City Council decided that 30% of space of the industrial should be dismantled and turned into public parks. In 1976, a definitive report concluded that the lack of competitiveness was due to "impossibility to expand the facilities because of lack of space".[55][56] The metropolitan area of Naples is limited by two dangerous areas, the Mount Vesuvius on the South, and supervolcano Campi Flegrei on the North, leaving little space in proximity of the sea.
+
+Some factors may contribute in keeping the economy less competitive or less flexible compared to Northern Italian and European regions, among them, a larger public administration sector (which accounted for 20.4% of the whole economy in 2013, while in Italy the figure is 13.6) suggesting a too large number of public employees or white collars.[57]  The number of lawyers is 5.7 every 1000, by comparison in Northern region Trentino-Alto Adige the number is 1.7.[58] Because of a less developed economy, Campania may have suffered less the negative effects of recent economic cycles.[59]
+
+Sea-based activity accounts about 3.9% of the economy, that includes port movements of goods and passengers and sea transportation, as well  as a sizable seaside tourism economy. There is a massive automotive industrial production, focused on high-quality models of brands Alfa Romeo, in facilities located in Pomigliano d'Arco in the Naples metropolitan area and in Cassino. There is also a significant aerospace industry. A Mars mission named ExoMars in 2016 had a major part of its technology designed in Naples.[60]
+
+The unemployment rate stood at 20.4% in 2018 and was one of the highest in Italy.[61][62]
+
+The region, with a population of over 5.8 million inhabitants, is divided into five provinces: Naples, Benevento, Avellino, Caserta and Salerno. Over half of the population is resident in the province of Naples, where there is a population density of 2,626 inhabitants per km2. Within the province, the highest density can be found along the coast, where it reaches 13,000 inhabitants per km2 in the city of Portici. The region, which was characterised until recently by an acute economic contrast between internal and coastal areas, has shown an improvement in the last decade thanks to the development of the provinces of Benevento and Avellino. At the same time, the provinces of Naples, Caserta and in part Salerno, have developed a variety of activities connected to advanced types of services.[63]
+
+Unlike central and northern Italy, in the last decade the region of Campania has not attracted large numbers of immigrants. The Italian national institute of statistics ISTAT estimated in January 2007 that 98,052 foreign-born immigrants live in Campania, equal to 1.7% of the total regional population.[64] Part of the reason for this is in recent times, there have been more employment opportunities in northern regions than in the Southern Italian regions.
+
+The Politics of Campania, takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democracy, whereby the President of Regional Government is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Regional Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Regional Council.
+
+The Regional Council of Campania (Consiglio Regionale della Campania) is composed of 60 members, of which 47 are elected in provincial constituencies with proportional representation, 12 from the so-called "regional list" of the elected President and the last one is for the candidate for President who comes second, who usually becomes the leader of the opposition in the Council. If a coalition wins more than 55% of the vote, only 6 candidates from the "regional list" will be elected and the number of those elected in provincial constituencies will be 53.[65]
+
+Campania is divided into four provinces and one metropolitan city:
+
+Campanian cuisine varies within the region. While Neapolitan dishes centre on seafood, Casertan and Aversan ones rely more on fresh vegetables and cheeses. The cuisine from Sorrento combines the culinary traditions from both Naples and Salerno.
+
+Pizza was conceived in Naples.[66]
+
+Spaghetti is also a well-known dish from southern Italy and Campania.
+
+Campania produces wines including Lacryma Christi, Fiano, Aglianico, Greco di Tufo, Pere 'e palomma, Ischitano, Taburno, Solopaca, and Taurasi. The cheeses of Campania consist of Mozzarella di Bufala (buffalo mozzarella) (mozzarella made from buffalo milk), fiordilatte ("flower of milk") a mozzarella made from cow's milk, ricotta from sheep or buffalo milk, provolone from cow milk, and caciotta made from goat milk. Buffalo are bred in Salerno and Caserta.
+
+Several different cakes and pies are made in Campania. Pastiera pie is made during Easter. Casatiello and tortano are Easter bread-cakes made by adding lard or oil and various types of cheese to bread dough and garnishing it with slices of salami. Babà cake is a well known Neapolitan delicacy, best served with Rum or limoncello (a liqueur invented in the Sorrento peninsula). It is an old Austrian cake, which arrived in Campania during the Austrian domination of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and was modified there to become a "walking cake" for citizens always in a hurry for work and other pursuits. Sfogliatella is another cake from the Amalfi Coast, as is Zeppole, traditionally eaten on Saint Joseph's day. Struffoli, little balls fried dough dipped in honey, are enjoyed during the Christmas holidays.
+
+Another Campanian dish is the so-called Russian salad (which is based on similar dishes from France), made of potatoes in mayonnaise garnished with shrimp and vegetables in vinegar. Russians call this same dish Olivier Salad, and Germans call it Italian salad. Another French-derived dish is "gattò" or "gâteau di patate" (oven-baked pie made of boiled potatoes). As with the Russian salad, Campania is home to popular seafood-based dishes, such as "insalata di mare" (seafood salad), "zuppa di polpo" (octopus soup), and "zuppa di cozze" (mussel soup). Other regional seafood dishes include "frittelle di mare" (fritters with seaweed), made with edible poseidonia algae, "triglie al cartoccio" (red mullet in the bag), and "alici marinate" (fresh anchovies in olive oil). The island of Ischia is known for its fish dishes, as well as for cooked rabbit. Campania is also home to the lemons of Sorrento. Rapini (or Broccoli rabe), known locally as friarielli, are often used in the regional cooking. Campania also produces many nuts, especially in the area of Avellino, Salerno and Benevento. Hazelnut production is especially relevant in the province of Avellino – in Spanish, in Portuguese and in Occitan the hazelnut is respectively called avellana, avelã and avelano,[citation needed] after the city of Avella. That is also the case of ancient Italian avellana, which is however not in use anymore.
+
+The region of Campania is rich with a vast array of culture and history. Since the Greek colony of Elea, now Velia, Campania was home to philosophers of the Pre-Socratic philosophy school, such as Parmenides and Zeno of Elea, who came to prominence around 490–480 BC. The Latin poet Vergil (70 BC–19 BC) settled in Naples in his late life: parts of his epic poem Aeneid are located in Campania. The ancient scientist Pliny the Elder studied Mount Vesuvius, and died after being poisoned and killed by gas emitted from the volcano during the 79 AD eruption.
+
+Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, died as a prisoner of the German general Odoacer at Naples around 500. In the Middle Ages, the artist Giotto made some frescoes in Castel Nuovo. These works of art were subsequently destroyed by an earthquake.
+
+By the end of the Middle Ages, the medical school of Salerno, which combined ancient Roman and Greek medicine with Arab medicine, was known throughout Europe and its methods were adopted across the continent. Some have suggested that this may have been one of the first universities in Europe. Boccaccio, the Tuscan poet, visited Naples on various occasions, and in the Decameron described it as a dissolute city. He also wrote a love story involving a noble woman close to the King of Naples.
+
+In 1570, the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote the romance novel Don Quixote, served as a Spanish soldier for a period in Naples. Poet Torquato Tasso was born in Sorrento in 1575. Years earlier in 1558, the first modern description and studies of the "camera obscura" ("dark chamber"), were established in Italy by Giovanni Battista della Porta in his  Magiae Naturalis.
+
+Philosopher Giordano Bruno was born in Nola. He was the first to theorize infinite suns and infinite worlds in the universe. He was burnt in Rome by the Spanish Inquisition in 1600. Later, in c. 1606, the Baroque painter Caravaggio established his studio in Naples. Italian Baroque architect Cosimo Fanzago from Bergamo also decided to move to Naples.
+
+In the 18th century, Naples was the last city to be visited by philosophers who created the "Grand Tour" which was the big touring voyage to visit all the important cultural sites of the European continent. Italian architect Luigi Vanvitelli son of Dutch architect Kaspar van Wittel built the Kingdom Palace in Caserta in c. 1750. He contributed to the construction of many neoclassic-style palaces in which the nobles of Naples spent their holidays. These palaces are now known worldwide as "Ville Vesuviane".
+
+Raimondo di Sangro, prince of Sansevero, was a scientist and one of the last alchemists. Around this time, in 1786, German writer Goethe visited Campania and Naples. German archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann also visited Naples, Paestum, Herculaneum and Pompeii in 1748 and later, studying how archaeological surveys were conducted in the kingdom of Naples. He was one of the first to study drawings, statues, stones, and ancient burned scrolls made of papyrus found in the excavations of the city of Herculaneum. Archaeological excavations in Pompeii were initiated by King Charles III of Naples in 1748. He issued the first modern laws in Europe to protect, defend and preserve archaeological sites. Neapolitan musicians of that period include Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli and Giovanni Paisiello.
+
+Musician Gioachino Rossini lived for several years in Naples, where he wrote numerous compositions. Italian poet and writer Giacomo Leopardi established his home in Naples and Torre del Greco, remaining there at the end of his brief young life. He died at Naples in 1837. The first volcano observatory, the Vesuvius Observatory, was founded in Naples in 1841. Geologist Giuseppe Mercalli, born in Milan in 1850, was a director of the Vesuvius Observatory.
+
+In February 1851, British statesman William Ewart Gladstone was allowed to visit the prison where Giacomo Lacaita, legal adviser to the British embassy, was imprisoned by the Neapolitan government, along with other political dissidents.[67] He deplored their condition, and in April and July published two Letters to the Earl of Aberdeen against the Neapolitan government, followed by An Examination of the Official Reply of the Neapolitan Government in 1852.[68] His pamphlets may have contributed to the cause of the unification of Italy in 1861.
+
+French writer Alexandre Dumas, père was directly involved in the process of the Unification of Italy, and sojourned two or three years in Naples, where he wrote several historical novels regarding that city. He was also a known newspaper correspondent. Francesco de Sanctis, writer, politician and twice Minister of Instruction after the re-unification of Italy in 1861, was born in Morra De Sanctis near Avellino.
+
+German scientist Anton Dohrn founded in Naples the first public aquarium in the world and laboratory for the study of the sea, known as Maritime Zoological Station. The Astronomic Observatory of Capodimonte was founded by King Joachim Murat, in 1816. The observatory now hosts the Italian Laboratory of Astrophysics. Doctors and surgeons Antonio Cardarelli and Giuseppe Moscati were representatives of medical studies in Naples.
+
+The so-called "School of Posillipo" and "School of Resina", dating from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, included painters such as Giacinto Gigante, Federico Cortese, Domenico Morelli, Saverio Altamura, Giuseppe De Nittis, Vincenzo Gemito, Antonio Mancini, Raffaello Pagliaccetti.
+
+Amongst the painters who inspired directly these schools, are Salvator Rosa, Pierre Jacques-Antoine Volaire, Anton Sminck van Pitloo who spent his last years in Naples. Opera singer Enrico Caruso was also a native of Naples. Russian revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin lived for a period in Capri. In the 20th century, the music genre called Neapolitan song became popular worldwide, with songs such as "O sole mio", "Funiculì, funiculà", "O surdato nnamurato", "Torna a Surriento", "Guapparia, "Santa Lucia", "Reginella", "Marechiaro", "Spingule Francese".
+
+Mathematician Renato Caccioppoli, nephew of the Russian anarchic revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, was born in Naples. The first President of the Italian Republic in 1946 (with a pro-tempore mandate of six months) was Enrico De Nicola from Torre del Greco. Campania is also home to the former Prime Minister and 6th President of the Republic Giovanni Leone, as well as the 11th President, Giorgio Napolitano.
+
+The 20th century's best known philosopher and literate in Naples was Benedetto Croce, known for his studies in aesthetics, ethics, logic, economy, history, politics.
+
+Neapolitan artists, actors, playwrights, and showmen included Eduardo De Filippo and Peppino De Filippo, and their sister Titina De Filippo. Totò (byname of Antonio de Curtis) was one of the most important comedians in Naples in the 20th century. He is also known for the song "Malafemmena".
+
+Pop artist Andy Warhol created two famous paintings of the 1980 Irpinia earthquake: Fate presto and Vesuvius. Both originals are hosted in the exhibit Terrae Motus in the Palace of Caserta.
+
+Oscar–winning actress Sophia Loren grew up in Pozzuoli.
+
+Oscar and David-winning[69] film producer Dino De Laurentiis was born in Torre Annunziata. One of his grandchildren is Food Network personality Giada De Laurentiis.
+
+Contemporary Campanian writers include Curzio Malaparte and Domenico Rea.
+
+20th- and 21st-century Campanian actors and directors include Francesco Rosi, Iaia Forte, Pappi Corsicato, Teresa De Sio, Lello Arena, Massimo Troisi and director Gabriele Salvatores.
+
+Modern Italian singers and musicians from Campania include Peppino di Capri, Renato Carosone, Edoardo Bennato, Eugenio Bennato, Mario Merola, Sergio Bruni, Aurelio Fierro, Roberto Murolo, Tony Tammaro, Teresa De Sio, Eduardo De Crescenzo, Alan Sorrenti, Toni Esposito, Tullio De Piscopo, Massimo Ranieri, Pino Daniele, James Senese and his group Napoli Centrale, Enzo Avitabile, Enzo Gragnaniello, Nino D'Angelo, Gigi D'Alessio, 99 Posse, Almamegretta, Bisca, 24 Grana.
+
+Artists who directed movies about Naples or actors who played in movies in Campania, or interpreted Neapolitans on-screen, include Vittorio De Sica, Nanni Loi, Domenico Modugno, Renzo Arbore, Lina Wertmüller, Mario Lanza as Caruso, Clark Gable in "It Started in Naples", Jack Lemmon in the movies "Maccheroni" (which co-starred Marcello Mastroianni) and "Avanti!".
+
+The international Giffoni Film Festival, established in 1971, is the first and most important festival for a young public.
+
+Campania is home to several national football, water polo, volleyball, basketball and tennis clubs.
+
+The fencing school in Naples is the oldest in the country and the only school in Italy in which a swordsman can acquire the title "master of swords", which allows him or her to teach the art of fencing.
+
+The "Circolo Savoia" and "Canottieri Napoli" sailing clubs are among the oldest in Italy and are known for their regattas. These are also home of the main water polo teams in the city. Many sailors from Naples and Campania participate as crew in the America's Cup sailing competition.
+
+Rowers Giuseppe Abbagnale and Carmine Abbagnale were born in Castellammare di Stabia: they were four times rowing world champions and Olympic gold medalists.
+
+The football teams in Campania include:
+
+Coordinates: 40°49′34″N 14°15′23″E / 40.82611°N 14.25639°E / 40.82611; 14.25639

en/819.html.txt

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+Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges[1] or intent to file charges.[2] The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects".[3] Thus, while it can simply mean imprisonment, it tends to refer to preventive confinement rather than confinement after having been convicted of some crime. Use of these terms is subject to debate and political sensitivities.[4] Internment is also occasionally used to describe a neutral country's practice of detaining belligerent armed forces and equipment on its territory during times of war, under the Hague Convention of 1907.[5]
+
+Interned persons may be held in prisons or in facilities known as internment camps, also known as concentration camps. The term concentration camp originates from the Spanish-Cuban Ten Years' War when Spanish forces detained Cuban civilians in camps in order to more easily combat guerrilla forces. Imperialist powers over the following decades continued to use concentration camps (the British during the Second Boer War and the Americans during the Philippine–American War).
+
+This article involves internment generally, as distinct from the subset, the extermination camps, commonly referred to as death camps. The label concentration camp is often additionally used for the latter, such as those created by German forces during the Herero and Namaqua genocide, Italian forces during the Italian colonization of Libya, Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and Soviet gulags in operation into the 1980s.
+
+The Universal Declaration of Human Rights restricts the use of internment, with Article 9 stating, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."[6]
+
+The American Heritage Dictionary defines the term concentration camp as: "A camp where persons are confined, usually without hearings and typically under harsh conditions, often as a result of their membership in a group which the government has identified as dangerous or undesirable."[7]
+
+Although the first example of civilian internment may date as far back as the 1830s,[8] the English term concentration camp was first used in order to refer to the reconcentrados (reconcentration camps) which were set up by the Spanish military in Cuba during the Ten Years' War (1868–78).[9][10] The label was applied yet again to camps set up by the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1902).[11] And expanded usage of the concentration camp label continued, when the British set up camps during the Second Boer War (1899–1902) in South Africa for interning Boers during the same time period.[9][12]
+
+During the 20th century, the arbitrary internment of civilians by the state reached its most extreme forms in the Soviet Gulag system of concentration camps (1918–1991)[13] and the Nazi concentration camps (1933–45). The Soviet system was the first applied by a government on its own citizens.[10] The Gulag consisted in over 30,000 camps for most of its existence (1918–1991) and detained some 18 million from 1929 until 1953,[13] which is only a third of its 73-year lifespan. The Nazi concentration camp system was extensive, with as many as 15,000 camps[14] and at least 715,000 simultaneous internees.[15] The total number of casualties in these camps is difficult to determine, but the deliberate policy of extermination through labor in many of the camps was designed to ensure that the inmates would die of starvation, untreated disease and summary executions within set periods of time.[16] Moreover, Nazi Germany established six extermination camps, specifically designed to kill millions of people, primarily by gassing.[17][18]
+
+As a result, the term "concentration camp" is sometimes conflated with the concept of an "extermination camp" and historians debate whether the term "concentration camp" or the term "internment camp" should be used to describe other examples of civilian internment.[4]
+
+The former label continues to see expanded use for cases post-World War II, for instance in relation to British camps in Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960) for holding and torturing Kenyans,[19][20] and camps set up in Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990).[21] Today, some media reports have claimed that as many as 3 million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups are being held in China's re-education camps which are located in the Xinjiang region and which American news reports often label as concentration camps.[22][23] The camps were established under General Secretary Xi Jinping’s administration.[24][25]

en/82.html.txt

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+MediaWiki is a free and open-source wiki engine. It was developed for use on Wikipedia in 2002, and given the name "MediaWiki" in 2003.[6] It remains in use on Wikipedia and almost all other Wikimedia websites, including Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata; these sites continue to define a large part of the requirement set for MediaWiki.[7] MediaWiki was originally developed by Magnus Manske and improved by Lee Daniel Crocker.[8][9] Its development has since then been coordinated by the Wikimedia Foundation.
+
+MediaWiki is written in the PHP programming language and stores all text content into a database. The software is optimized to efficiently handle large projects, which can have terabytes of content and hundreds of thousands of hits per second.[7][10] Because Wikipedia is one of the world's largest websites, achieving scalability through multiple layers of caching and database replication has been a major concern for developers. Another major aspect of MediaWiki is its internationalization; its interface is available in more than 300 languages.[11] The software has more than 1,000 configuration settings[12] and more than 1,800 extensions available for enabling various features to be added or changed.[13]
+
+Besides its use on Wikimedia sites, MediaWiki has been used as a knowledge management and content management system on many thousands of websites, public and private, including the websites Fandom, wikiHow and Gamepedia, and major internal installations like Intellipedia and Diplopedia.
+
+MediaWiki is free and open-source software and is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 or any later version. Its documentation, located at www.mediawiki.org, is released under the Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license and partly in the public domain.[14] Specifically, the manuals and other content at MediaWiki.org are Creative Commons-licensed, while the set of help pages intended to be freely copied into fresh wiki installations and/or distributed with MediaWiki software is public domain. This was done to eliminate legal issues arising from the help pages being imported into wikis with licenses that are incompatible with the Creative Commons license.[15] MediaWiki development has generally favored the use of open-source media formats.[16]
+
+MediaWiki has an active volunteer community for development and maintenance. Users who have made meaningful contributions to the project by submitting patches are generally, upon request, granted access to commit revisions to the project's Git/Gerrit repository.[17]
+There are also paid programmers who primarily develop projects for the Wikimedia Foundation. MediaWiki developers participate in the Google Summer of Code by facilitating the assignment of mentors to students wishing to work on MediaWiki core and extension projects.[18]
+During the year prior to November 2012, there were about two hundred developers who had committed changes to the MediaWiki core or extensions.[19]
+Major MediaWiki releases are generated approximately every six months by taking snapshots of the development branch, which is kept continuously in a runnable state;[20] minor releases, or point releases, are issued as needed to correct bugs (especially security problems).
+
+MediaWiki also has a public bug tracker, phabricator.wikimedia.org, which runs Phabricator. The site is also used for feature and enhancement requests.
+
+When Wikipedia was launched in January 2001, it ran on the existing wiki software, UseModWiki. UseModWiki is written in the Perl programming language, and stores all wiki pages, in text (.txt) files. This software soon proved to be limiting, in both functionality and performance. In mid-2001, Magnus Manske — a developer and student at the University of Cologne, as well as, a Wikipedia editor — began working on new software that would replace UseModWiki, specifically designed for use by Wikipedia. This software was written in the PHP scripting language, and stored all of its information in a MySQL engine database. The new software was largely developed by August 24, 2001, and a test wiki for it was established shortly thereafter.
+
+The first, full–implementation of this software, was the new Meta Wikipedia on November 9, 2001. There was a desire to have it implemented immediately on the English-language Wikipedia,[21] however, Manske was apprehensive about any potential bugs harming the nascent website during the period of the final exams he had to complete immediately prior to Christmas;[22] this led to the launch on the English-language Wikipedia being delayed until January 25, 2002. The software was then, gradually, deployed on all the Wikipedia language sites of that time. This software was referred to as "the PHP script" and as "phase II", with the name "phase I", retroactively given to the use of UseModWiki.
+
+Increasing usage soon caused load problems to arise again, and soon after, another rewrite of the software began; this time being done by Lee Daniel Crocker, which became known as "phase III". This new software was also written in PHP, with a MySQL back-end, and kept the basic interface of the phase II software, but with the added functionality of a wider scalability. The "phase III" software went live on Wikipedia in July 2002.
+
+The Wikimedia Foundation was announced on June 20, 2003. In July, Wikipedia contributor Daniel Mayer, suggested the name "MediaWiki" for the software, as a play on "Wikimedia".[23] The MediaWiki name, was gradually phased in, beginning in August 2003. The name has frequently caused confusion due to its (intentional) similarity to the "Wikimedia" name (which itself is similar to "Wikipedia").[24]
+
+The product logo was created by Erik Möller, using a flower photograph taken by Florence Nibart-Devouard, and was originally submitted to the logo contest for a new Wikipedia logo, held in from July 20 to August 27, 2003.[25][26] The logo came in 3rd place, and was chosen to represent MediaWiki rather than Wikipedia, with the 2nd place logo being used for the Wikimedia Foundation.[27] The double square brackets ([[ ]]) symbolize the syntax MediaWiki uses for creating hyperlinks to other wiki pages; while the sunflower, represents the: diversity of content on Wikipedia, the constant growth, and also the wildness.[28]
+
+Later, Brion Vibber, the Chief Technical Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation,[29] took up the role of Release Manager, and the most active Developer.[6][30]
+
+Major milestones in MediaWiki's development have included: the categorization system (2004); Parser Functions, (2006); Flagged Revisions, (2008);[31] the "ResourceLoader", a delivery system for CSS and JavaScript (2011);[32] and the VisualEditor, a "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) editing platform (2013).[33]
+
+The first version of MediaWiki, 1.1, was released in December 2003.
+
+MediaWiki's most famous use has been in Wikipedia and, to a lesser degree, the Wikimedia Foundation's other projects. Fandom, a wiki hosting service formerly known as Wikia, runs on MediaWiki. Other public wikis that run on MediaWiki include wikiHow and SNPedia. WikiLeaks began as a MediaWiki-based site, but is no longer a wiki.
+
+A number of alternative wiki encyclopedias to Wikipedia run on MediaWiki, including Citizendium, Metapedia, Scholarpedia and Conservapedia. MediaWiki is also used internally by a large number of companies, including Novell and Intel.[34][35]
+
+Notable usages of MediaWiki within governments include Intellipedia, used by the United States Intelligence Community, Diplopedia, used by the United States Department of State, and milWiki, a part of milSuite used by the United States Department of Defense. United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme and INSTRAW chose to implement their wikis using MediaWiki, because "this software runs Wikipedia and is therefore guaranteed to be thoroughly tested, will continue to be developed well into the future, and future technicians on these wikis will be more likely to have exposure to MediaWiki than any other wiki software."[36]
+
+The Free Software Foundation uses MediaWiki to implement the LibrePlanet site.[37]
+
+MediaWiki provides a rich core feature set and a mechanism to attach extensions to provide additional functionality.
+
+Due to the strong emphasis on multilingualism in the Wikimedia projects, internationalization and localization has received significant attention by developers. The user interface has been fully or partially translated into more than 300 languages on translatewiki.net,[11] and can be further customized by site administrators (the entire interface is editable through the wiki).
+
+Several extensions, most notably those collected in the MediaWiki Language Extension Bundle, are designed to further enhance the multilingualism and internationalization of MediaWiki.
+
+Installation of MediaWiki requires that the user have administrative privileges on a server running both PHP and a compatible type of SQL database. Some users find that setting up a virtual host is helpful if the majority of one's site runs under a framework (such as Zope or Ruby on Rails) that is largely incompatible with MediaWiki.[38] Cloud hosting can eliminate the need to deploy a new server.[39]
+
+An installation PHP script is accessed via a web browser to initialize the wiki's settings. It prompts the user for a minimal set of required parameters, leaving further changes, such as enabling uploads,[40] adding a site logo,[41] and installing extensions, to be made by modifying configuration settings contained in a file called LocalSettings.php.[42] Some aspects of MediaWiki can be configured through special pages or by editing certain pages; for instance, abuse filters can be configured through a special page,[43] and certain gadgets can be added by creating JavaScript pages in the MediaWiki namespace.[44] The MediaWiki community publishes a comprehensive installation guide.[45]
+
+One of the earliest differences between MediaWiki (and its predecessor, UseModWiki) and other wiki engines was the use of "free links" instead of CamelCase. When MediaWiki was created, it was typical for wikis to require text like "WorldWideWeb" to create a link to a page about the World Wide Web; links in MediaWiki, on the other hand, are created by surrounding words with double square brackets, and any spaces between them are left intact, e.g. [[World Wide Web]]. This change was logical for the purpose of creating an encyclopedia, where accuracy in titles is important.
+
+MediaWiki uses an extensible[46] lightweight wiki markup designed to be easier to use and learn than HTML. Tools exist for converting content such as tables between MediaWiki markup and HTML.[47] Efforts have been made to create a MediaWiki markup spec, but a consensus seems to have been reached that Wikicode requires context-sensitive grammar rules.[48][49] The following side-by-side comparison illustrates the differences between wiki markup and HTML:
+
+"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
+
+"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone: "so I can't take more."
+
+"You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take more than nothing."
+
+(Quotation above from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)
+
+MediaWiki's default page-editing tools have been described as somewhat challenging to learn.[50] A survey of students assigned to use a MediaWiki-based wiki found that when they were asked an open question about main problems with the wiki, 24% cited technical problems with formatting, e.g. "Couldn't figure out how to get an image in. Can't figure out how to show a link with words; it inserts a number."[51]
+
+To make editing long pages easier, MediaWiki allows the editing of a subsection of a page (as identified by its header). A registered user can also indicate whether or not an edit is minor. Correcting spelling, grammar or punctuation are examples of minor edits, whereas adding paragraphs of new text is an example of a non-minor edit.
+
+Sometimes while one user is editing, a second user saves an edit to the same part of the page. Then, when the first user attempts to save the page, an edit conflict occurs. The second user is then given an opportunity to merge their content into the page as it now exists following the first user's page save.
+
+MediaWiki's user interface has been localized in many different languages. A language for the wiki content itself can also be set, to be sent in the "Content-Language" HTTP header and "lang" HTML attribute.
+
+MediaWiki has an extensible web API (application programming interface) that provides direct, high-level access to the data contained in the MediaWiki databases. Client programs can use the API to log in, get data, and post changes. The API supports thin web-based JavaScript clients and end-user applications (such as vandal-fighting tools). The API can be accessed by the backend of another web site.[52] An extensive Python bot library, Pywikibot,[53] and a popular semi-automated tool called AutoWikiBrowser, also interface with the API.[54] The API is accessed via URLs such as http://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=recentchanges. In this case, the query would be asking Wikipedia for information relating to the last 10 edits to the site. One of the perceived advantages of the API is its language independence; it listens for HTTP connections from clients and can send a response in a variety of formats, such as XML, serialized PHP, or JSON.[55] Client code has been developed to provide layers of abstraction to the API.[56]
+
+MediaWiki supports rich content generated through specialized syntax. For example, the software comes with optional support for rendering mathematical formulas using LaTeX and a special parser written in OCaml. Similar functionality for other content, ranging from graphical timelines over mathematical plotting and musical scores to Egyptian hieroglyphs, is available via extensions.
+
+The software has become more powerful at dealing with a wide variety of uploaded media files. Its richest functionality is in the area of images, where image galleries and thumbnails can be generated with relative ease. There is also support for Exif metadata. The use of MediaWiki to operate the Wikimedia Commons, one of the largest free content media archives, has driven the need for further functionality in this area.
+
+Because any WYSIWYG editor would have to know wikitext grammar, and no full grammar for wikitext exists, MediaWiki currently provides no native WYSIWYG support.[57] It does come with a customizable graphical toolbar for simplifying the process of learning the wiki syntax.[58] Various extensions exist for handling WYSIWYG editing to different degrees.[59]
+
+Among the features of MediaWiki to assist in tracking edits is a Recent Changes feature that provides a list of recent edits to the wiki. This list contains basic information about those edits such as the editing user, the edit summary, the page edited, as well as any tags (e.g. "possible malware link")[60] added by customizable abuse filters and other extensions to aid in combating unhelpful edits.[61] On more active wikis, so many edits occur that it is hard to track Recent Changes manually. Anti-vandal software, including user-assisted tools[62] are sometimes employed on such wikis to process Recent Changes items. Server load can be reduced by sending a continuous feed of Recent Changes to an IRC channel that these tools can monitor, eliminating their need to send requests for a refreshed Recent Changes feed to the API.[63][64]
+
+Another important tool is watchlisting. Each logged-in user has a watchlist to which the user can add whatever pages he or she wishes. When an edit is made to one of those pages, a summary of that edit appears on the watchlist the next time it is refreshed.[65] As with the recent changes page, recent edits that appear on the watchlist contain clickable links for easy review of the article history and specific changes made.
+
+There is also capability to review all edits made by any particular user. In this way, if an edit is identified as problematic, it is possible to check the user's other edits for issues.
+
+MediaWiki allows one to link to specific versions of articles. This has been useful to the scientific community, in that expert peer reviewers could analyse articles, improve them and provide links to the trusted version of that article.[66]
+
+Navigation through the wiki is largely through internal wikilinks. MediaWiki's wikilinks implement page existence detection, in which a link is colored blue if the target page exists on the local wiki and red if it does not. If a user clicks on a red link, they are prompted to create an article with that title. Page existence detection makes it practical for users to create "wikified" articles — that is, articles containing links to other pertinent subjects — without those other articles being yet in existence.
+
+Interwiki links function much the same way as namespaces. A set of interwiki prefixes can be configured to cause, for instance, a page title of wikiquote:Jimbo Wales to direct the user to the Jimbo Wales article on Wikiquote.[67] Unlike internal wikilinks, interwiki links lack page existence detection functionality, and accordingly there is no way to tell whether a blue interwiki link is broken or not.
+
+Page tabs are displayed at the top of pages. These tabs allow users to perform actions or view pages that are related to the current page. The available default actions include viewing, editing, and discussing the current page. The specific tabs displayed depend on whether or not the user is logged into the wiki and whether the user has sysop privileges on the wiki. For instance, the ability to move a page or add it to one's watchlist is usually restricted to logged-in users. The site administrator can add or remove tabs by using JavaScript or installing extensions.[68]
+
+Each page has an associated history page from which the user can access every version of the page that has ever existed and generate diffs between two versions of his choice. Users' contributions are displayed not only here, but also via a "user contributions" option on a sidebar. Carl Challborn & Teresa Reimann note that "While this feature may be a slight deviation from the collaborative, 'ego-less' spirit of wiki purists, it can be
+very useful for educators who need to assess the contribution and participation of individual student users."[69]
+
+MediaWiki provides many features beyond hyperlinks for structuring content. One of the earliest such features is namespaces. One of Wikipedia's earliest problems had been the separation of encyclopedic content from pages pertaining to maintenance and communal discussion, as well as personal pages about encyclopedia editors. Namespaces are prefixes before a page title (such as "User:" or "Talk:") that serve as descriptors for the page's purpose and allow multiple pages with different functions to exist under the same title. For instance, a page titled "[[The Terminator]]", in the default namespace, could describe the 1984 movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, while a page titled "[[User:The Terminator]]" could be a profile describing a user who chooses this name as a pseudonym. More commonly, each namespace has an associated "Talk:" namespace, which can be used to discuss its contents, such as "User talk:" or "Template talk:". The purpose of having discussion pages is to allow content to be separated from discussion surrounding the content.[70][71]
+
+Namespaces can be viewed as folders that separate different basic types of information or functionality. Custom namespaces can be added by the site administrators. There are 16 namespaces by default for content, with 2 "pseudo-namespaces" used for dynamically generated "Special:" pages and links to media files. Each namespace on MediaWiki is numbered: content page namespaces have even numbers and their associated talk page namespaces have odd numbers.[72]
+
+Users can create new categories and add pages and files to those categories by appending one or more category tags to the content text. Adding these tags creates links at the bottom of the page that take the reader to the list of all pages in that category, making it easy to browse related articles.[73] The use of categorization to organize content has been described as a combination of:
+
+In addition to namespaces, content can be ordered using subpages. This simple feature provides automatic breadcrumbs of the pattern [[Page title/Subpage title]] from the page after the slash (in this case, "Subpage title") to the page before the slash (in this case, "Page title").
+
+If the feature is enabled, users can customize their stylesheets and configure client-side JavaScript to be executed with every pageview. On Wikipedia, this has led to a large number of additional tools and helpers developed through the wiki and shared among users. For instance, navigation popups is a custom JavaScript tool that shows previews of articles when the user hovers over links, and also provides shortcuts for common maintenance tasks.[75]
+
+The entire MediaWiki user interface can be edited through the wiki itself by users with the necessary permissions (typically called "administrators"). This is done through a special namespace with the prefix "MediaWiki:", where each page title identifies a particular user interface message. Using an extension,[76] it is also possible for a user to create personal scripts, and to choose whether certain sitewide scripts should apply to them by toggling the appropriate options in the user preferences page.
+
+The "MediaWiki:" namespace was also originally used for creating custom text blocks that could then be dynamically loaded into other pages using a special syntax. This content was later moved into its own namespace, "Template:".
+
+Templates are text blocks that can be dynamically loaded inside another page whenever that page is requested. The template is a special link in double curly brackets (for example "{{Disputed|date=October 2018}}"), which calls the template (in this case located at Template:Disputed) to load in place of the template call.
+
+Templates are structured documents containing attribute–value pairs. They are defined with parameters, to which are assigned values when transcluded on an article page. The name of the parameter is delimited from the value by an equals sign. A class of templates known as infoboxes is used on Wikipedia to collect and present a subset of information about its subject, usually on the top (mobile view) or top right-hand corner (desktop view) of the document.
+
+A related method, called template substitution (called by adding subst: at the beginning of a template link) inserts (like a copy and paste operation) the contents of the template into the target page, instead of loading the template contents dynamically whenever the page is loaded. This can lead to inconsistency when using templates, but may be useful in certain cases, and in most cases requires fewer server resources (the actual amount of savings can vary depending on wiki configuration and the complexity of the template).
+
+Templates have found many different uses. Templates enable users to create complex table layouts that are used consistently across multiple pages, and where only the content of the tables gets inserted using template parameters. Templates are often used to identify problems with a Wikipedia article by putting a template in the article. This template then outputs a graphical box stating that the article content is disputed or in need of some other attention, and also categorize it so that articles of this nature can be located. Templates are also used on user pages to send users standard messages welcoming them to the site,[77] giving them awards for outstanding contributions,[78][79] warning them when their behavior is considered inappropriate,[80] notifying them when they are blocked from editing,[81] and so on.
+
+MediaWiki offers flexibility in creating and defining user groups. For instance, it would be possible to create an arbitrary "ninja" group that can block users and delete pages, and whose edits are hidden by default in the recent changes log. It is also possible to set up a group of "autoconfirmed" users that one becomes a member of after making a certain number of edits and waiting a certain number of days.[82] Some groups that are enabled by default are bureaucrats and sysops. Bureaucrats have power to change other users' rights. Sysops have power over page protection and deletion and the blocking of users from editing. MediaWiki's available controls on editing rights have been deemed sufficient for publishing and maintaining important documents such as a manual of standard operating procedures in a hospital.[83]
+
+When a page consists only of useless content, there are several ways to remove that content. The simplest way, available to all users, is simply to blank the page. However, this interferes with page existence detection, unless an extension is installed to treat blanked pages as though they were nonexistent.[84] Blanking also leaves the content accessible through the history page, an outcome that, while potentially increasing transparency by allowing non-sysops to easily review the content removal decision for appropriateness, might be unacceptable or even unlawful[85] in some cases. Another option is for a sysop to delete the page, and thereby prevent it from being viewed by non-sysops. Another level of deletion, called RevisionDelete, can be used by a group (e.g. "Oversighters") to prevent a page from being viewed by non-members of that group.[86] It is also possible, using certain extensions, to remove content from being viewed through any of the normal channels on the wiki,[87] or even to completely delete revisions from the database.[88]
+
+MediaWiki comes with a basic set of features related to restricting access, but its original and ongoing design is driven by functions that largely relate to content, not content segregation. As a result, with minimal exceptions (related to specific tools and their related "Special" pages), page access control has never been a high priority in core development and developers have stated that users requiring secure user access and authorization controls should not rely on MediaWiki, since it was never designed for these kinds of situations. For instance, it is extremely difficult to create a wiki where only certain users can read and access some pages.[89] Here, wiki engines like Foswiki, MoinMoin and Confluence provide more flexibility by supporting advanced security mechanisms like access control lists.
+
+The MediaWiki codebase contains various "hooks" using callback functions to add additional PHP code in an extensible way. This allows developers to write extensions without necessarily needing to modify the core or having to submit their code for review. Installing an extension typically consists of adding a line to the configuration file, though in some cases additional changes such as database updates or core patches are required.
+
+Five main extension points were created to allow developers to add features and functionalities to MediaWiki. Hooks are run every time a certain event happens; for instance, the ArticleSaveComplete hook occurs after a save article request has been processed.[90] This can be used, for example, by an extension that notifies selected users whenever a page edit occurs on the wiki from new or anonymous users.[91] New tags can be created to process data with opening and closing tags (<newtag>...</newtag>).[92] Parser functions can be used to create a new command ({{#if:...|...|...}}).[93] New special pages can be created to perform a specific function. These pages are dynamically generated. For example, a special page might show all pages that have one or more links to an external site or it might create a form providing user submitted feedback.[94] Skins allow users to customize the look and feel of MediaWiki.[95] A minor extension point allows the use of Amazon S3 to host image files.[96]
+
+MediaWiki can be made more advanced and useful for various purposes through its extensions. These extensions vary greatly in complexity.
+
+The Wikimedia Foundation operates a Git server where many extensions host their repository. Most of them also have a documentation page on the MediaWiki website.
+
+MediaWiki code review was itself historically facilitated through a MediaWiki extension.[97] As of March 2012, it has been done through Gerrit.
+
+Since version 1.16, MediaWiki uses the jQuery library.[98]
+
+Among the most popular extensions is a parser function extension, ParserFunctions, which allows different content to be rendered based on the result of conditional statements.[99] These conditional statements can perform functions such as evaluating whether a parameter is empty, comparing strings, evaluating mathematical expressions, and returning one of two values depending on whether a page exists. It was designed as a replacement for a notoriously inefficient template called {{Qif}}.[100] Schindler recounts the history of the ParserFunctions extension as follows:[31]
+
+In 2006 some Wikipedians discovered that through an intricate and complicated interplay of templating features and CSS they could create conditional wiki text, i.e. text that was displayed if a template parameter had a specific value. This included repeated calls of templates within templates, which bogged down the performance of the whole system. The developers faced the choice of either disallowing the spreading of an obviously desired feature by detecting such usage and explicitly disallowing it within the software, or offer an efficient alternative. The latter was done by Tim Starling, who announced the introduction of parser functions, wiki text that calls functions implemented in the underlying software.
+At first, only conditional text and the computation of simple mathematical expressions was implemented, but this already increased the possibilities for wiki editors enormously. With time further parser functions were introduced, finally leading to a framework that allowed the simple writing of extension function to add arbitrary functionalities, like e.g. geo-coding services or widgets. This time the developers were clearly reacting to the demand of the community, being forced either to fight the solution of the issue that the community had (i.e. conditional text), or offer an improved technical implementation to replace the previous practice and achieve an overall better performance.
+
+Another parser functions extension, StringFunctions, was developed to allow evaluation of string length, string position, and so on. Wikimedia communities, having created awkward workarounds to accomplish the same functionality,[101] clamored for it to be enabled on their projects.[102] Much of its functionality was eventually integrated into the ParserFunctions extension,[103] albeit disabled by default and accompanied by a warning from Tim Starling that enabling string functions would allow users "to implement their own parsers in the ugliest, most inefficient programming language known to man: MediaWiki wikitext with ParserFunctions."[104]
+
+Since 2012 an extension, Scribunto, has existed that allows for the creation of "modules" — wiki pages written in the scripting language Lua — which can then be run within templates and standard wiki pages. Scribunto has been installed on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia sites since 2013, and is used heavily on those sites. Scribunto code runs significantly faster than corresponding wikitext code using ParserFunctions.[105]
+
+Another very popular extension is a citation extension that enables footnotes to be added to pages using inline references.[106] This extension has, however, been criticized for being difficult to use and requiring the user to memorize complex syntax. A gadget called RefToolbar attempts to make it easier to create citations using common templates. MediaWiki has some extensions that are well-suited for academia, such as mathematics extensions[107] and an extension that allows molecules to be rendered in 3D.[108]
+
+A generic Widgets extension exists that allows MediaWiki to integrate with virtually anything. Other examples of extensions that could improve a wiki are category suggestion extensions[109] and extensions for inclusion of Flash Videos,[110] YouTube videos,[111] and RSS feeds.[112] Metavid, a site that archives video footage of the U.S. Senate and House floor proceedings, was created using code extending MediaWiki into the domain of collaborative video authoring.[113]
+
+There are many spambots that search the web for MediaWiki installations and add linkspam to them, despite the fact that MediaWiki uses the nofollow attribute to discourage such attempts at search engine optimization.[114] Part of the problem is that third party republishers, such as mirrors, may not independently implement the nofollow tag on their websites, so marketers can still get PageRank benefit by inserting links into pages when those entries appear on third party websites.[115] Anti-spam extensions have been developed to combat the problem by introducing CAPTCHAs,[116] blacklisting certain URLs,[117] and allowing bulk deletion of pages recently added by a particular user.[118]
+
+MediaWiki comes pre-installed with a standard text-based search. Extensions exist to let MediaWiki use more sophisticated third-party search engines, including Elasticsearch (which since 2014 has been in use on Wikipedia), Lucene[119] and Sphinx.[120]
+
+Various MediaWiki extensions have also been created to allow for more complex, faceted search, on both data entered within the wiki and on metadata such as pages' revision history.[121][122] Semantic MediaWiki is one such extension.[123][124]
+
+MediaWiki can use either the MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQLite relational database management system. There is limited support for Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server.[125] A MediaWiki database contains several dozen tables, including a page table that contains page titles, page ids, and other metadata;[126] and a revision table to which is added a new row every time an edit is made, containing the page id, a brief textual summary of the change performed, the user name of the article editor (or its IP address the case of an unregistered user) and a timestamp.[127][128]
+
+In a 4½ year period, the MediaWiki database had 170 schema versions.[129] Possibly the largest schema change was done in MediaWiki 1.5, when the storage of metadata was separated from that of content, to improve performance flexibility. When this upgrade was applied to Wikipedia, the site was locked for editing, and the schema was converted to the new version in about 22 hours. Some software enhancement proposals, such as a proposal to allow sections of articles to be watched via watchlist, have been rejected because the necessary schema changes would have required excessive Wikipedia downtime.[130]
+
+Because it is used to run one of the highest-traffic sites on the Web, Wikipedia, MediaWiki's performance and scalability have been highly optimized.[30] MediaWiki supports Squid, load-balanced database replication, client-side caching, memcached or table-based caching for frequently accessed processing of query results, a simple static file cache, feature-reduced operation, revision compression, and a job queue for database operations. MediaWiki developers have attempted to optimize the software by avoiding expensive algorithms, database queries, etc., caching every result that is expensive and has temporal locality of reference, and focusing on the hot spots in the code through profiling.[131]
+
+MediaWiki code is designed to allow for data to be written to a master database and read from slave databases, although the master can be used for some read operations if the slaves are not yet up to date. Metadata, such as article revision history, article relations (links, categories etc.), user accounts and settings can be stored in core databases and cached; the actual revision text, being more rarely used, can be stored as append-only blobs in external storage.  The software is suitable for the operation of large scale wiki farms such as Wikimedia, which had about 800 wikis as of August 2011. However, MediaWiki comes with no built-in GUI to manage such installations.
+
+Empirical evidence shows most revisions in MediaWiki databases tend to differ only slightly from previous revisions. Therefore, subsequent revisions of an article can be concatenated and then compressed, achieving very high data compression ratios of up to 100x.[131]
+
+For more information on the architecture, such as how it stores wikitext and assembles a page, see External links.
+
+The parser serves as the de facto standard for the MediaWiki syntax, as no formal syntax has been defined. Due to this lack of a formal definition, it has been difficult to create WYSIWYG editors for MediaWiki, although several WYSIWYG extensions do exist, including the popular VisualEditor.
+
+MediaWiki is not designed to be a suitable replacement for dedicated online forum or blogging software,[132] although extensions do exist to allow for both of these.[133][134]
+
+It is common for new MediaWiki users to make certain mistakes, such as forgetting to sign posts with four tildes (~~~~),[135] or manually entering a plaintext signature,[136] due to unfamiliarity with the idiosyncratic particulars involved in communication on MediaWiki discussion pages. On the other hand, the format of these discussion pages has been cited as a strength by one educator, who stated that it provides more fine-grain capabilities for discussion than traditional threaded discussion forums. For example, instead of 'replying' to an entire message, the participant in a discussion can create a hyperlink to a new wiki page on any word from the original page. Discussions are easier to follow since the content is available via hyperlinked wiki page, rather than a series of reply messages on a traditional threaded discussion forum. However, except in few cases, students were not using this capability, possibly because of their familiarity with the traditional linear discussion style and a lack of guidance on how to make the content more 'link-rich'.[137]
+
+MediaWiki by default has little support for the creation of dynamically assembled documents, or pages that aggregate data from other pages. Some research has been done on enabling such features directly within MediaWiki.[138] The Semantic MediaWiki extension provides these features. It is not in use on Wikipedia, but in more than 1,600 other MediaWiki installations.[139] The Wikibase Repository and Wikibase Repository client are however implemented in Wikidata and Wikipedia respectively, and to some extent provides semantic web features, and linking of centrally stored data to infoboxes in various Wikipedia articles.
+
+Upgrading MediaWiki is usually fully automated, requiring no changes to the site content or template programming. Historically troubles have been encountered when upgrading from significantly older versions.[140]
+
+MediaWiki developers have enacted security standards, both for core code and extensions.[141] SQL queries and HTML output are usually done through wrapper functions that handle validation, escaping, filtering for prevention of cross-site scripting and SQL injection.[142]  Many security issues have had to be patched after a MediaWiki version release,[143] and accordingly MediaWiki.org states, "The most important security step you can take is to keep your software up to date" by subscribing to the announcement listserv and installing security updates that are announced.[144]
+
+MediaWiki developers are spread around the world, though with a majority in the United States and Europe. Face-to-face meetings and programming sessions for MediaWiki developers have been held once or several times a year since 2004.[145]
+
+Support for MediaWiki users consists of:
+
+Users of online collaboration software are familiar with MediaWiki's functions and layout due to its noted use on Wikipedia. Compared to other wikis, MediaWiki is also fairly aesthetically pleasing, though simple, and has an easily customized side menu and stylesheet.[149] However, in one assessment in 2006, Confluence was deemed to be a superior product due to its very usable API and ability to better support multiple wikis.[108] Wiki providers Socialtext and JotSpot have/had project management features that MediaWiki lacks.[150]
+
+A study was done at the University of Hong Kong comparing TWiki to MediaWiki. The authors noted that TWiki has been considered as a collaborative tool for development of educational papers and technical projects, whereas MediaWiki's most noted use is on Wikipedia. Although both platforms allow discussion and tracking of progress, TWiki has a "Report" part that MediaWiki lacks. Students perceived MediaWiki as being easier to use and more enjoyable than TWiki. When asked whether they recommended using MediaWiki for knowledge management course group project, 15 out of 16 respondents expressed their preference for MediaWiki giving answers of great certainty, such as "of course", "for sure".[151] TWiki and MediaWiki both have flexible plug-in architecture.[152]
+
+A study that compared students' experience with MediaWiki to that with Google Documents found that students gave the latter a much higher rating on user-friendly layout.[153]

en/820.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+
+
+
+
+Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges[1] or intent to file charges.[2] The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects".[3] Thus, while it can simply mean imprisonment, it tends to refer to preventive confinement rather than confinement after having been convicted of some crime. Use of these terms is subject to debate and political sensitivities.[4] Internment is also occasionally used to describe a neutral country's practice of detaining belligerent armed forces and equipment on its territory during times of war, under the Hague Convention of 1907.[5]
+
+Interned persons may be held in prisons or in facilities known as internment camps, also known as concentration camps. The term concentration camp originates from the Spanish-Cuban Ten Years' War when Spanish forces detained Cuban civilians in camps in order to more easily combat guerrilla forces. Imperialist powers over the following decades continued to use concentration camps (the British during the Second Boer War and the Americans during the Philippine–American War).
+
+This article involves internment generally, as distinct from the subset, the extermination camps, commonly referred to as death camps. The label concentration camp is often additionally used for the latter, such as those created by German forces during the Herero and Namaqua genocide, Italian forces during the Italian colonization of Libya, Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and Soviet gulags in operation into the 1980s.
+
+The Universal Declaration of Human Rights restricts the use of internment, with Article 9 stating, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."[6]
+
+The American Heritage Dictionary defines the term concentration camp as: "A camp where persons are confined, usually without hearings and typically under harsh conditions, often as a result of their membership in a group which the government has identified as dangerous or undesirable."[7]
+
+Although the first example of civilian internment may date as far back as the 1830s,[8] the English term concentration camp was first used in order to refer to the reconcentrados (reconcentration camps) which were set up by the Spanish military in Cuba during the Ten Years' War (1868–78).[9][10] The label was applied yet again to camps set up by the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1902).[11] And expanded usage of the concentration camp label continued, when the British set up camps during the Second Boer War (1899–1902) in South Africa for interning Boers during the same time period.[9][12]
+
+During the 20th century, the arbitrary internment of civilians by the state reached its most extreme forms in the Soviet Gulag system of concentration camps (1918–1991)[13] and the Nazi concentration camps (1933–45). The Soviet system was the first applied by a government on its own citizens.[10] The Gulag consisted in over 30,000 camps for most of its existence (1918–1991) and detained some 18 million from 1929 until 1953,[13] which is only a third of its 73-year lifespan. The Nazi concentration camp system was extensive, with as many as 15,000 camps[14] and at least 715,000 simultaneous internees.[15] The total number of casualties in these camps is difficult to determine, but the deliberate policy of extermination through labor in many of the camps was designed to ensure that the inmates would die of starvation, untreated disease and summary executions within set periods of time.[16] Moreover, Nazi Germany established six extermination camps, specifically designed to kill millions of people, primarily by gassing.[17][18]
+
+As a result, the term "concentration camp" is sometimes conflated with the concept of an "extermination camp" and historians debate whether the term "concentration camp" or the term "internment camp" should be used to describe other examples of civilian internment.[4]
+
+The former label continues to see expanded use for cases post-World War II, for instance in relation to British camps in Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising (1952–1960) for holding and torturing Kenyans,[19][20] and camps set up in Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990).[21] Today, some media reports have claimed that as many as 3 million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups are being held in China's re-education camps which are located in the Xinjiang region and which American news reports often label as concentration camps.[22][23] The camps were established under General Secretary Xi Jinping’s administration.[24][25]

en/821.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,218 @@
+Coordinates: 60°N 110°W / 60°N 110°W / 60; -110
+
+Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
+
+Various indigenous peoples inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years before European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
+
+Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, with a monarch and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the Cabinet and head of government. The country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and officially bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture.
+
+A developed country, Canada has the seventeenth-highest nominal per-capita income globally as well as the thirteenth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
+
+While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada, the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".[11] In 1535, Indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona.[12] Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona);[12] by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as Canada.[12]
+
+From the 16th to the early 18th century "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River.[13] In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named the Canadas; until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841.[14] Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, and the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title.[15] By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth".[16] The government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using Dominion in the statutes of Canada in 1951.[17][18]
+
+In 1982, the passage of the Canada Act, bringing the Constitution of Canada fully under Canadian control, referred only to Canada, while later that year the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day.[19] The term Dominion was used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term federal had replaced dominion.[20]
+
+Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis,[21] the last being a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers.[21] The term "Aboriginal" as a collective noun is a specific term of art used in some legal documents, including the Constitution Act 1982.[22]
+
+The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago.[23][24] The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.[25] The characteristics of Indigenous societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks.[26][27] Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.[28]
+
+The Indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000[29] and two million,[30] with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.[31] As a consequence of European colonization, the Indigenous population declined by forty to eighty percent, and several First Nations, such as the Beothuk, disappeared.[32] The decline is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases, such as influenza, measles, and smallpox to which they had no natural immunity,[29][33] conflicts over the fur trade, conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of Indigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency.[34][35]
+
+Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful.[36] First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting European coureur des bois and voyageurs in the exploration of the continent during the North American fur trade.[37] The Crown and Indigenous peoples began interactions during the European colonization period, though the Inuit, in general, had more limited interaction with European settlers.[38] However, from the late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged Indigenous peoples to assimilate into their own culture.[39] These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with forced integration and relocations.[40] A period of redress is underway, which started with the appointment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by the Government of Canada in 2008.[41]
+
+It is believed that the first European to explore the east coast of Canada was Norse explorer Leif Erikson (c.970–1020 AD).[43][44] The earliest European mention of Canada may occur in Norse sagas, which refer to new lands west of Greenland as Vinland.[45] In approximately 1000 AD, the Norse built a small encampment that only lasted a few years at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland.[46] No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when Italian seafarer John Cabot explored and claimed Canada's Atlantic coast in the name of King Henry VII of England.[47] In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words "Long Live the King of France" and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I.[48] The early 16th century saw European mariners with navigational techniques pioneered by the Basque and Portuguese establish seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast.[49] In general, early settlements during the Age of Discovery appear to have been short-lived due to a combination of the harsh climate, problems with navigating trade routes and competing outputs in Scandinavia.[50][51]
+
+In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I, founded St. John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English colony.[52] French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal (in 1605) and Quebec City (in 1608).[53] Among the colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana.[54] The Beaver Wars broke out in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.[55]
+
+The English established additional settlements in Newfoundland, beginning in 1610 and the Thirteen Colonies to the south were founded soon after.[56][57] A series of four wars erupted in colonial North America between 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War.[58] Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, and Canada and most of New France came under British rule in 1763 after the Seven Years' War.[59]
+
+The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established First Nation treaty rights, created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.[19] St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769.[60] To avert conflict in Quebec, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.[61] More importantly, the Quebec Act afforded Quebec special autonomy and rights of self-administration at a time when the Thirteen Colonies were increasingly agitating against British rule.[62] It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there, staving off the growth of an independence movement in contrast to the Thirteen Colonies.[63] The Proclamation and the Quebec Act in turn angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, further fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the American Revolution.[19]
+
+After the successful American War of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the newly formed United States and set the terms of peace, ceding British North American territories south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River to the new country.[64] The American war of independence also caused a large out-migration of Loyalists, the settlers who had fought against American independence. Many moved to Canada, particularly Atlantic Canada, where their arrival changed the demographic distribution of the existing territories. New Brunswick was in turn split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes which led to the incorporation of Saint John, New Brunswick to become Canada's first city.[65] To accommodate the influx of English-speaking Loyalists in Central Canada, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province of Canada into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.[66]
+
+The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Peace came in 1815; no boundaries were changed. Immigration resumed at a higher level, with over 960,000 arrivals from Britain between 1815 and 1850.[67] New arrivals included refugees escaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic-speaking Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances.[68] Infectious diseases killed between 25 and 33 percent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891.[29]
+
+The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837.[69] The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture.[19] The Act of Union merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government was established for all provinces of British North America by 1849.[70] The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).[71] The Alaska Purchase of 1867 by the United States established the border along the Pacific coast, although there would continue to be some disputes about the exact demarcation of the Alaska-Yukon and Alaska-BC border for years to come.[72]
+
+Following several constitutional conferences, the Constitution Act officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.[73][74] Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870.[75] British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866) joined the confederation in 1871, while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873.[76] Between 1871 and 1896, almost one quarter of the Canadian population emigrated southwards, to the U.S.[77]
+
+To open the West to European immigration, parliament also approved sponsoring the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opening the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and establishing the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory.[78][79] In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, parliament created the Yukon Territory. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.[76]
+
+Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the Constitution Act, 1867, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into World War I.[80] Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps, which played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of the war.[81] Out of approximately 625,000 Canadians who served in World War I, some 60,000 were killed and another 172,000 were wounded.[82] The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment the military's dwindling number of active members with conscription was met with vehement objections from French-speaking Quebecers.[83] The Military Service Act brought in compulsory military service, though it, coupled with disputes over French language schools outside Quebec, deeply alienated Francophone Canadians and temporarily split the Liberal Party.[83] In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain,[81] and the 1931 Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.[84]
+
+The Great Depression in Canada during the early 1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country.[85] In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) in the 1940s and 1950s.[86] On the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, war with Germany was declared effective September 10, 1939, by King George VI, seven days after the United Kingdom. The delay underscored Canada's independence.[81]
+
+The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. In all, over a million Canadians served in the armed forces during World War II and approximately 42,000 were killed and another 55,000 were wounded.[87] Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.[81] Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany.[88]
+
+The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.[81] Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canada finished the war with a large army and strong economy.[89]
+
+The financial crisis of the Great Depression had led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a crown colony ruled by a British governor.[90] After two bitter referendums, Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province.[91]
+
+Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the Maple Leaf Flag in 1965,[92] the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969,[93] and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971.[94] Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions.[95]
+
+Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the Canada Act, the patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[96][97][98] Canada had established complete sovereignty as an independent country, although the Queen retained her role as monarch of Canada.[99][100] In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government.[101]
+
+At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a secular nationalist movement.[102] The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis with a series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970[103] and the sovereignist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990.[104] This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West.[105][106] A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of 50.6 to 49.4 percent.[107] In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.[104]
+
+In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history;[108] the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students;[109] and the Oka Crisis of 1990,[110] the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Indigenous groups.[111] Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a U.S.-led coalition force and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including the UNPROFOR mission in the former Yugoslavia.[112]
+
+Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but declined to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.[113] In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan Civil War,[114] and also became involved in battling the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq in the mid-2010s.[115]
+
+By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, due to having the world's largest proportion of fresh water lakes.[116] Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, eight share a border with the United States, and only two are landlocked (Alberta and Saskatchewan), with the remaining eight provinces and three territories directly bordering one of three oceans. Ontario and Quebec also send most of their shipping traffic through the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east, along the Arctic Ocean to the north, and to the Pacific Ocean in the west,[117] Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi), and occupies much of the continent of North America.[118] Moreover, Canada's border with the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest forms the longest international land border in the world, stretching 8,891 km (5,525 mi).[119][120] In addition to the U.S., Canada shares a maritime boundary with Greenland to the northeast and with the France's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to the southeast.[121]
+
+Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island—latitude 82.5°N—which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole.[122] Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost.[123] Three of Canada's arctic islands – Baffin Island, Victoria Island and Ellesmere Island – are among the ten largest in the world.[124]
+
+Since the end of the last glacial period, Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield;[125] 42 percent of the land acreage is covered by forests (approximately 8 percent of the world's forested land), made up mostly of spruce, poplar, and pine.[126] Canada has over 2,000,000 lakes—563 of which are greater than 100 km2 (39 sq mi)—which is more than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water.[127][128] There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies, the Coast Mountains and the Arctic Cordillera.[129]
+
+Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager massif, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley massif, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.[130] The volcanic eruption of the Tseax Cone in 1775 was among Canada's worst natural disasters, killing an estimated 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia.[131] The eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and, according to Nisga'a legend, blocked the flow of the Nass River.[132]
+
+Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.[133] In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).[134]
+
+Canada is described as a "full democracy",[135] with a tradition of liberalism,[136] and an egalitarian,[137] moderate political ideology.[138] An emphasis on social justice has been a distinguishing element of Canada's political culture.[139] Peace, order, and good government, alongside an implied bill of rights are founding principles of the Canadian government.[140][141]
+
+At the federal level, Canada has been dominated by two relatively centrist parties practicing "brokerage politics",[a][144][145][146] the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada and the centre-right Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors).[147] The historically predominant Liberal Party position themselves at the centre of the Canadian political spectrum,[148] with the Conservative Party positioned on the right and the New Democratic Party occupying the left.[149][150] Far-right and far-left politics have never been a prominent force in Canadian society.[151][152] Five parties had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2019 election—the Liberal Party, who currently form the government; the Conservative Party, who are the official opposition; the New Democratic Party; the Bloc Québécois; and the Green Party of Canada.[153]
+
+Canada has a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy—the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.[154][155][156] The reigning monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who is also monarch of 15 other Commonwealth countries and each of Canada's 10 provinces. The person who is the Canadian monarch is the same as the British monarch, although the two institutions are separate.[157] The Queen appoints a representative, the governor general (at present Julie Payette), to carry out most of her federal royal duties in Canada.[158][159]
+
+The direct participation of the monarch and the governor general in areas of governance is limited.[156][160][161] In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons of Canada and chosen and headed by the prime minister (at present Justin Trudeau),[162] the head of government. The governor general or monarch may, though, in certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice.[160] To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the individual who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons.[163] The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies.[160] The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.[164]
+
+Each of the 338 members of parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. General elections must be called by the governor general, either on the advice of the prime minister or if the government loses a confidence vote in the House.[165][166] Constitutionally, an election may be held no more than five years after the preceding election, although the Canada Elections Act limits this to four years with a fixed election date in October. The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75.[167]
+
+Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons.[161] Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces.[168] The territorial legislatures also differ structurally from their provincial counterparts.[169]
+
+The Bank of Canada is the central bank of the country. In addition, the minister of finance and minister of industry utilize the Statistics Canada agency for financial planning and economic policy development.[170] The Bank of Canada is the sole authority authorized to issue currency in the form of Canadian bank notes.[171] The bank does not issue Canadian coins; they are issued by the Royal Canadian Mint.[172]
+
+The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions.[173] The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act prior to 1982), affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments.[174] The Statute of Westminster 1931 granted full autonomy and the Constitution Act, 1982, ended all legislative ties to Britain, as well as adding a constitutional amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[175] The Charter guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be over-ridden by any government—though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years.[176]
+
+Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down Acts of Parliament that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and has been led since December 18, 2017 by Chief Justice Richard Wagner.[177] Its nine members are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal Cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts in the provincial and territorial jurisdictions.[178]
+
+Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada.[179] Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincial responsibility, conducted by provincial and municipal police forces.[180] However, in most rural areas and some urban areas, policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.[181]
+
+The Indian Act, various treaties and case laws were established to mediate relations between Europeans and native peoples.[182] Most notably, a series of eleven treaties known as the Numbered Treaties were signed between the Indigenous peoples and the reigning monarch of Canada between 1871 and 1921.[183] These treaties are agreements with the Canadian Crown-in-Council, administered by Canadian Aboriginal law, and overseen by the minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations. The role of the treaties and the rights they support were reaffirmed by Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982.[182] These rights may include provision of services, such as health care, and exemption from taxation.[184]
+
+Canada is recognized as a middle power for its role in international affairs with a tendency to pursue multilateral solutions.[185] Canada's foreign policy based on international peacekeeping and security is carried out through coalitions and international organizations, and through the work of numerous federal institutions.[186] Canada's peacekeeping role during the 20th century has played a major role in its global image.[187] The strategy of the Canadian government's foreign aid policy reflects an emphasis to meet the Millennium Development Goals, while also providing assistance in response to foreign humanitarian crises.[188]
+
+Canada was a founding member of the United Nations and has membership in the World Trade Organization, the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[185] Canada is also a member of various other international and regional organizations and forums for economic and cultural affairs.[189] Canada acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1976.[190] Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in 2000 and the 3rd Summit of the Americas in 2001.[191] Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).[192]
+
+Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner.[193][194] Canada nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba, and declining to officially participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[195] Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie.[196] Canada is noted for having a positive relationship with the Netherlands, owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation during World War II.[88]
+
+Canada's strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II.[197] Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.[198][199] During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.[200]
+
+During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, for which he was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.[201] As this was the first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the concept.[202] Canada has since served in over 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989,[81] and has since maintained forces in international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere; Canada has sometimes faced controversy over its involvement in foreign countries, notably in the 1993 Somalia Affair.[203]
+
+In 2001, Canada deployed troops to Afghanistan as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.[204] In February 2007, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia announced their joint commitment to a $1.5-billion project to help develop vaccines for developing nations, and called on other countries to join them.[205] In August 2007, Canada's territorial claims in the Arctic were challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.[206]
+
+The nation employs a professional, volunteer military force of approximately 79,000 active personnel and 32,250 reserve personnel.[207] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force. In 2013, Canada's military expenditure totalled approximately C$19 billion, or around one percent of the country's GDP.[208][209] Following the 2016 Defence Policy Review, the Canadian government announced a 70 percent increase to the country's defence budget over the next decade. The Canadian Forces will acquire 88 fighter planes and 15 naval surface combatants, the latter as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. Canada's total military expenditure is expected to reach C$32.7 billion by 2027.[210]
+
+Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into four main regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada (Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together).[211] Provinces have more autonomy than territories, having responsibility for social programs such as health care, education, and welfare.[212] Together, the provinces collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.[213] The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their power and authority from the Constitution Act, 1867, whereas territorial governments have powers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada.[214] The powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the Government of Canada (the federal government) and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively.[215] A change to the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces requires a constitutional amendment, whereas a similar change affecting the territories can be performed unilaterally by the Parliament of Canada or government.[216]
+
+Canadian exports 2017 [217]
+
+Canada is the world's tenth-largest economy as of 2018[update], with a nominal GDP of approximately US$1.73 trillion.[218] It is one of the least corrupt countries in the world,[219] and is one of the world's top ten trading nations, with a highly globalized economy.[220][221] Canada has a  mixed economy ranking above the U.S. and most western European nations on The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom,[222] and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity.[223] The country's average household disposable income per capita is "well above" the OECD average.[224] The Toronto Stock Exchange is the ninth-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, listing over 1,500 companies with a combined market capitalization of over US$2 trillion.[225]
+
+In 2018, Canadian trade in goods and services reached CA$1.5 trillion.[226] Canada's exports totalled over CA$585 billion, while its imported goods were worth over CA$607 billion, of which approximately CA$391 billion originated from the United States, CA$216 billion from non-U.S. sources.[226] In 2018, Canada had a trade deficit in goods of CA$22 billion and a trade deficit in services of CA$25 billion.[226]
+
+Since the early 20th century, the growth of Canada's manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized, industrial one.[227] Like many other developed countries, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quarters of the country's workforce.[228] However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the forestry and petroleum industries are two of the most prominent components.[229]
+
+Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.[229][230] Atlantic Canada possesses vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta also hosts large oil and gas resources. The vastness of the Athabasca oil sands and other assets results in Canada having a 13 percent share of global oil reserves, comprising the world's third-largest share after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.[231] Canada is additionally one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important global producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.[232] Canada's Department of Natural Resources provides statistics regarding its major exports; the country is a leading exporter of zinc, uranium, gold, nickel, platinoids, aluminum, steel, iron ore, coking coal, lead, copper, molybdenum, cobalt, and cadmium.[233] Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.[234]
+
+Canada's economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II.[235] The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 opened Canada's borders to trade in the automobile manufacturing industry.[236] In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the National Energy Program (NEP) and the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA).[237] In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to Investment Canada, to encourage foreign investment.[238] The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in 1994.[239] Canada has a strong cooperative banking sector, with the world's highest per-capita membership in credit unions.[240]
+
+In 2018, Canada spent approximately C$34.5 billion on domestic research and development, of which around $7 billion was provided by the federal and provincial governments.[241] As of 2018[update], the country has produced fourteen  Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry, and medicine,[242] and was ranked fourth worldwide for scientific research quality in a major 2012 survey of international scientists.[243] It is furthermore home to the headquarters of a number of global technology firms.[244] Canada has one of the highest levels of Internet access in the world, with over 33 million users, equivalent to around 94 percent of its total 2014 population.[245]
+
+Some of the most notable scientific developments in Canada include the creation of the modern alkaline battery[246] and the polio vaccine[247] and discoveries about the interior structure of the atomic nucleus.[248] Other major Canadian scientific contributions include the artificial cardiac pacemaker, mapping the visual cortex,[249][250] the development of the electron microscope,[251][252] plate tectonics, deep learning, multi-touch technology and the identification of the first black hole, Cygnus X-1.[253]  Canada has a long history of discovery in genetics, which include stem cells, site-directed mutagenesis, T-cell receptor and the identification of the genes that cause Fanconi anemia, cystic fibrosis and early-onset Alzheimer's disease, among numerous other diseases.[250][254]
+
+The Canadian Space Agency operates a highly active space program, conducting deep-space, planetary, and aviation research, and developing rockets and satellites.[255] Canada was the third country to design and construct a satellite after the Soviet Union and the United States, with the 1962 Alouette 1 launch.[256] Canada is a participant in the International Space Station (ISS), and is a pioneer in space robotics, having constructed the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre robotic manipulators for the ISS and NASA's Space Shuttle.[257] Since the 1960s, Canada's aerospace industry has designed and built numerous marques of satellite, including Radarsat-1 and 2, ISIS and MOST.[258] Canada has also produced one of the world's most successful and widely used sounding rockets, the Black Brant; over 1,000 Black Brants have been launched since the rocket's introduction in 1961.[259]
+
+The 2016 Canadian Census enumerated a total population of 35,151,728, an increase of around 5.0 percent over the 2011 figure.[261][262] Between 2011 and May 2016, Canada's population grew by 1.7 million people, with immigrants accounting for two-thirds of the increase.[263] Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth.[264] The main drivers of population growth are immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth.[265]
+
+Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world,[266] driven mainly by economic policy and, to a lesser extent, family reunification.[267][268] The Canadian public, as well as the major political parties, support the current level of immigration.[267][269] In 2019, a total of 341,180 immigrants were admitted to Canada, mainly from Asia.[270] India, Philippines and China are the top three countries of origin for immigrants moving to Canada.[271] New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.[272] Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees,[273] accounting for over 10 percent of annual global refugee resettlements.[274][275]
+
+Canada's population density, at 3.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.6/sq mi), is among the lowest in the world.[276] Canada spans latitudinally from the 83rd parallel north to the 41st parallel north, and approximately 95 percent of the population is found south of the 55th parallel north.[277] About four-fifths of the population lives within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the border with the contiguous United States.[278] The most densely populated part of the country, accounting for nearly 50 percent, is the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.[260][277] An additional 30 percent live along the British Columbia Lower Mainland and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.[279]
+
+The majority of Canadians (69.9 percent) live in family households, 26.8 percent report living alone, and those living with unrelated persons reported at 3.7 percent.[280] The average size of a household in 2006 was 2.5 people.[280]
+
+Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare.[282][283] It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act of 1984,[284] and is universal.[285] Universal access to publicly funded health services "is often considered by Canadians as a fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country."[286] However, 30 percent of Canadians' healthcare is paid for through the private sector.[287] This mostly goes towards services not covered or partially covered by Medicare, such as prescription drugs, dentistry and optometry.[287] Approximately 65 to 75 percent of Canadians have some form of supplementary health insurance related to the aforementioned reasons; many receive it through their employers or utilizes secondary social service programs related to extended coverage for families receiving social assistance or vulnerable demographics, such as seniors, minors, and those with disabilities.[288][287]
+
+In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a cost increase due to a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2006, the average age was 39.5 years;[289] within twelve years it had risen to 42.4 years,[290] with a life expectancy of 81.1 years.[291] A 2016 report by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada found that 88 percent of Canadians; one of the highest proportions of the population among G7 countries, indicated that they "had good or very good health".[292] 80 percent of Canadian adults self-report having at least one major risk factor for chronic disease; smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating or excessive alcohol use.[293] Canada has one of the highest rates of adult obesity among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries attributing to approximately 2.7 million cases of diabetes (types 1 and 2 combined).[293] Four chronic diseases; cancer (leading cause of death), cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and diabetes account for 65 percent of deaths in Canada.[294][295]
+
+In 2017, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reported that healthcare spending reached $242 billion, or 11.5 percent of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) for that year.[296] Canada's per-capita spending ranks as seventh on the list of countries by total health expenditure per capita in the OECD and above the average of 8.8 percent of GDP.[297] Canada has performed close to, or above the average on the majority of OECD health indicators since the early 2000s.[298] In 2017 Canada ranked above the average on OECD indicators for wait-times and access to care, with average scores for quality of care and use of resources.[299] A comprehensive study from 2017 of the top 11 countries ranked Canada's health care system third-to-last.[300] Identified weaknesses of Canada's system were comparatively higher infant mortality rate, the prevalence of chronic conditions, long wait times, poor availability of after-hours care, and a lack of prescription drugs and dental coverage.[300]
+
+Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments.[301] Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province.[302] Education in Canada is generally divided into primary education, followed by secondary education and post-secondary. Education in both English and French is available in most places across Canada.[303] Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education provision.[304] Canada has a large number of Universities, almost all of which are publicly funded.[305] Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldest post-secondary institution in Canada.[306] The largest University is the University of Toronto with over 85,000 students.[307] Four Universities are regularly ranked among the top 100 world-wide, namely University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill University and McMaster University , with a total of 18 Universities ranked in the top 500 worldwide.[308]
+
+According to a 2019 report by the OECD, Canada is one of the most educated countries in the world;[309] the country ranks first worldwide in the number of adults having tertiary education, with over 56 percent of Canadian adults having attained at least an undergraduate college or university degree.[309] Canada spends about 5.3 percent of its GDP on education.[310] The country invests heavily in tertiary education (more than US$20,000 per student).[311] As of 2014[update], 89 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, compared to an OECD average of 75 percent.[312]
+
+The mandatory school age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years,[313] contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent.[117] In 2002, 43 percent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 51 percent.[314] The Programme for International Student Assessment indicates Canadian students perform well above the OECD average, particularly in mathematics, science, and reading,[315][316] ranking the overall knowledge and skills of Canadian 15-year-olds as the sixth-best in the world. Canada is a well-performing OECD country in reading literacy, mathematics, and science with the average student scoring 523.7, compared with the OECD average of 493 in 2015.[317][318]
+
+According to the 2016 Canadian Census, the country's largest self-reported ethnic origin is Canadian (accounting for 32 percent of the population),[b] followed by English (18.3 percent), Scottish (13.9 percent), French (13.6 percent), Irish (13.4 percent), German (9.6 percent), Chinese (5.1 percent), Italian (4.6 percent), First Nations (4.4 percent), Indian (4.0 percent), and Ukrainian (3.9 percent).[321] There are 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands, encompassing a total of 1,525,565 people.[322] Canada's Indigenous population is growing at almost twice the national rate, and four percent of Canada's population claimed an Indigenous identity in 2006. Another 22.3 percent of the population belonged to a non-Indigenous visible minority.[323] In 2016, the largest visible minority groups were South Asian (5.6 percent), Chinese (5.1 percent) and Black (3.5 percent).[323] Between 2011 and 2016, the visible minority population rose by 18.4 percent.[323] In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) were members of visible minority groups.[324] Indigenous peoples are not considered a visible minority under the Employment Equity Act,[325] and this is the definition that Statistics Canada also uses.
+
+A multitude of languages are used by Canadians, with English and French (the official languages) being the mother tongues of approximately 56 percent and 21 percent of Canadians, respectively.[327] As of the 2016 Census, just over 7.3 million Canadians listed a non-official language as their mother tongue. Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (1,227,680 first-language speakers), Punjabi (501,680), Spanish (458,850), Tagalog (431,385), Arabic (419,895), German (384,040), and Italian (375,645).[327] Canada's federal government practices official bilingualism, which is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages in consonance with Section 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Federal Official Languages Act English and French have equal status in federal courts, parliament, and in all federal institutions. Citizens have the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French and official-language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.[328]
+
+The 1977 Charter of the French Language established French as the official language of Quebec.[329] Although more than 85 percent of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in New Brunswick, Alberta, and Manitoba; Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.[330] New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province, has a French-speaking Acadian minority constituting 33 percent of the population.[331] There are also clusters of Acadians in southwestern Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island, and through central and western Prince Edward Island.[332]
+
+Other provinces have no official languages as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and for other government services, in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status, but is not fully co-official.[333] There are 11 Indigenous language groups, composed of more than 65 distinct languages and dialects.[334] Several Indigenous languages have official status in the Northwest Territories.[335] Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and is one of three official languages in the territory.[336]
+
+Additionally, Canada is home to many sign languages, some of which are Indigenous.[337] American Sign Language (ASL) is spoken across the country due to the prevalence of ASL in primary and secondary schools.[338] Due to its historical relation to the francophone culture, Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) is spoken primarily in Quebec, although there are sizeable Francophone communities in New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba.[339]
+
+Canada is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of beliefs and customs. Canada has no official church, and the government is officially committed to religious pluralism.[340] Freedom of religion in Canada is a constitutionally protected right, allowing individuals to assemble and worship without limitation or interference.[341] The practice of religion is now generally considered a private matter throughout society and the state.[342] With Christianity in decline after having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life,[343] Canada has become a post-Christian, secular state.[344][345][346][347] The majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives,[348] but still believe in God.[349]
+
+According to the 2011 National Household Survey, 67.3 percent of Canadians identify as Christian; of these, Roman Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 38.7 percent of the population. Much of the remainder is made up of Protestants, who accounted for approximately 27 percent in a 2011 survey.[350][351] The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (accounting for 6.1 percent of Canadians), followed by the Anglican Church of Canada (5.0 percent), and various Baptist sects (1.9 percent).[3] Secularization has been growing since the 1960s.[352][353] In 2011, 23.9 percent declared no religious affiliation, compared to 16.5 percent in 2001.[354] Islam is the largest non-Christian religion in Canada, constituting 3.2 percent of its population. It is also the fastest growing religion in Canada.[355] 1.5 percent of the Canadian population is Hindu and 1.4 percent is Sikh.[3]
+
+Canada's culture draws influences from its broad range of constituent nationalities, and policies that promote a "just society" are constitutionally protected.[356][357][358] Canada has placed emphasis on equality and inclusiveness for all its people.[359] Multiculturalism is often cited as one of Canada's significant accomplishments,[360] and a key distinguishing element of Canadian identity.[361][362] In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and there is a French Canadian culture that is distinct from English Canadian culture.[363] However, as a whole, Canada is, in theory, a cultural mosaic—a collection of regional ethnic subcultures.[364]
+
+Canada's approach to governance emphasizing multiculturalism, which is based on selective immigration, social integration, and suppression of far-right politics, has wide public support.[365] Government policies such as publicly-funded health care, higher taxation to redistribute wealth, the outlawing of capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, strict gun control; alongside legislation with a social liberal attitude toward women's rights (like pregnancy termination), LGBTQ rights, assisted euthanasia and cannabis use are indicators of Canada's political and  cultural values.[366][367][368] Canadians also identify with the country's foreign aid policies, peacekeeping roles, the National park system and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[369][370]
+
+Historically, Canada has been influenced by British, French, and Indigenous cultures and traditions. Through their language, art and music, Indigenous peoples continue to influence the Canadian identity.[371] During the 20th century, Canadians with African, Caribbean and Asian nationalities have added to the Canadian identity and its culture.[372] Canadian humour is an integral part of the Canadian identity and is reflected in its folklore, literature, music, art, and media. The primary characteristics of Canadian humour are irony, parody, and satire.[373] Many Canadian comedians have achieved international success in the American TV and film industries and are amongst the most recognized in the world.[374]
+
+Canada has a well-developed media sector, but its cultural output; particularly in English films, television shows, and magazines, is often overshadowed by imports from the United States.[375] As a result, the preservation of a distinctly Canadian culture is supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).[376]
+
+Canada's national symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and Indigenous sources. The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century. The maple leaf is depicted on Canada's current and previous flags, and on the Arms of Canada.[378] The Arms of Canada are closely modelled after the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom with French and distinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from the British version.[379] Other prominent symbols include the national motto "A Mari Usque Ad Mare" ("From Sea to Sea"),[380] the sports of ice hockey and lacrosse, the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, Canadian horse, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Rockies,[378] and more recently the totem pole and Inuksuk.[381] Material items such as Canadian beer, maple syrup, tuques, canoes, nanaimo bars, butter tarts and the Quebec dish of poutine are defined as uniquely Canadian.[381][382] Canadian coins feature many of these symbols: the loon on the $1 coin, the Arms of Canada on the 50¢ piece, the beaver on the nickel.[383] The penny, removed from circulation in 2013, featured the maple leaf.[384] The Queen's image appears on $20 bank notes, and on the obverse of all current Canadian coins.[383]
+
+Canadian literature is often divided into French- and English-language literatures, which are rooted in the literary traditions of France and Britain, respectively.[385] There are four major themes that can be found within historical Canadian literature; nature, frontier life, Canada's position within the world, all three of which tie into the garrison mentality.[386] By the 1990s, Canadian literature was viewed as some of the world's best.[387] Canada's ethnic and cultural diversity are reflected in its literature, with many of its most prominent modern writers focusing on ethnic life.[388] Arguably, the best-known living Canadian writer internationally (especially since the deaths of Robertson Davies and Mordecai Richler) is Margaret Atwood, a prolific novelist, poet, and literary critic.[389] Numerous other Canadian authors have accumulated international literary awards;[390] including Nobel Laureate Alice Munro, who has been called the best living writer of short stories in English;[391] and Booker Prize recipient Michael Ondaatje, who is perhaps best known for the novel The English Patient, which was adapted as a film of the same name that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.[392]
+
+Canadian visual art has been dominated by figures such as Tom Thomson – the country's most famous painter – and by the Group of Seven.[393] Thomson's career painting Canadian landscapes spanned a decade up to his death in 1917 at age 39.[394] The Group of Seven were painters with a nationalistic and idealistic focus, who first exhibited their distinctive works in May 1920. Though referred to as having seven members, five artists—Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley—were responsible for articulating the Group's ideas. They were joined briefly by Frank Johnston, and by commercial artist Franklin Carmichael. A. J. Casson became part of the Group in 1926.[395] Associated with the Group was another prominent Canadian artist, Emily Carr, known for her landscapes and portrayals of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.[396] Since the 1950s, works of Inuit art have been given as gifts to foreign dignitaries by the Canadian government.[397]
+
+The Canadian music industry is the sixth-largest in the world producing internationally renowned composers, musicians and ensembles.[398] Music broadcasting in the country is regulated by the CRTC.[399] The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presents Canada's music industry awards, the Juno Awards, which were first awarded in 1970.[400] The Canadian Music Hall of Fame established in 1976 honours Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements.[401] Patriotic music in Canada dates back over 200 years as a distinct category from British patriotism, preceding the Canadian Confederation by over 50 years. The earliest, The Bold Canadian, was written in 1812.[402] The national anthem of Canada, "O Canada", was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony, and was officially adopted in 1980.[403] Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French before it was adapted into English in 1906.[404]
+
+The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s,[405] culminating in the development and popularization of the major professional games of ice hockey, lacrosse, basketball, baseball and football.[406]  Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse.[407] Golf, soccer, baseball, tennis, skiing, badminton, volleyball, cycling, swimming, bowling, rugby union, canoeing, equestrian, squash and the study of martial arts are widely enjoyed at the youth and amateur levels.[408]
+
+Canada shares several major professional sports leagues with the United States.[409] Canadian teams in these leagues include seven franchises in the National Hockey League, as well as three Major League Soccer teams and one team in each of Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. Other popular professional sports in Canada include Canadian football, which is played in the Canadian Football League, National Lacrosse League lacrosse, and curling.[410]
+
+Canada has participated in almost every Olympic Games since its Olympic debut in 1900,[411] and has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics,[412] the 1988 Winter Olympics,[413] the 1994 Basketball World Championship,[414] the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup,[415] the 2010 Winter Olympics[416][417] and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[418] Most recently, Canada staged the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games, the former being the largest sporting event hosted by the country.[419]
+
+Canada portal
+
+North America portal
+
+Overview
+
+History
+
+Geography and climate
+
+Government and law
+
+Social welfare
+
+Foreign relations and military
+
+Economy
+
+Demography and statistics
+
+Culture
+
+Overviews
+
+Government
+
+Travel
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+Studies
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en/822.html.txt

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+Coordinates: 60°N 110°W / 60°N 110°W / 60; -110
+
+Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
+
+Various indigenous peoples inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years before European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
+
+Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, with a monarch and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the Cabinet and head of government. The country is a realm within the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie and officially bilingual at the federal level. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture.
+
+A developed country, Canada has the seventeenth-highest nominal per-capita income globally as well as the thirteenth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada is part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, NATO, the G7, the Group of Ten, the G20, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
+
+While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of Canada, the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".[11] In 1535, Indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona.[12] Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona);[12] by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as Canada.[12]
+
+From the 16th to the early 18th century "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River.[13] In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named the Canadas; until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841.[14] Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, and the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title.[15] By the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was no longer used by the United Kingdom, which considered Canada a "Realm of the Commonwealth".[16] The government of Louis St. Laurent ended the practice of using Dominion in the statutes of Canada in 1951.[17][18]
+
+In 1982, the passage of the Canada Act, bringing the Constitution of Canada fully under Canadian control, referred only to Canada, while later that year the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day.[19] The term Dominion was used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term federal had replaced dominion.[20]
+
+Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis,[21] the last being a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers.[21] The term "Aboriginal" as a collective noun is a specific term of art used in some legal documents, including the Constitution Act 1982.[22]
+
+The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 14,000 years ago.[23][24] The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.[25] The characteristics of Indigenous societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks.[26][27] Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.[28]
+
+The Indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000[29] and two million,[30] with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.[31] As a consequence of European colonization, the Indigenous population declined by forty to eighty percent, and several First Nations, such as the Beothuk, disappeared.[32] The decline is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases, such as influenza, measles, and smallpox to which they had no natural immunity,[29][33] conflicts over the fur trade, conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of Indigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency.[34][35]
+
+Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful.[36] First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting European coureur des bois and voyageurs in the exploration of the continent during the North American fur trade.[37] The Crown and Indigenous peoples began interactions during the European colonization period, though the Inuit, in general, had more limited interaction with European settlers.[38] However, from the late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged Indigenous peoples to assimilate into their own culture.[39] These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with forced integration and relocations.[40] A period of redress is underway, which started with the appointment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by the Government of Canada in 2008.[41]
+
+It is believed that the first European to explore the east coast of Canada was Norse explorer Leif Erikson (c.970–1020 AD).[43][44] The earliest European mention of Canada may occur in Norse sagas, which refer to new lands west of Greenland as Vinland.[45] In approximately 1000 AD, the Norse built a small encampment that only lasted a few years at L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern tip of Newfoundland.[46] No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when Italian seafarer John Cabot explored and claimed Canada's Atlantic coast in the name of King Henry VII of England.[47] In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words "Long Live the King of France" and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I.[48] The early 16th century saw European mariners with navigational techniques pioneered by the Basque and Portuguese establish seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast.[49] In general, early settlements during the Age of Discovery appear to have been short-lived due to a combination of the harsh climate, problems with navigating trade routes and competing outputs in Scandinavia.[50][51]
+
+In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I, founded St. John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English colony.[52] French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal (in 1605) and Quebec City (in 1608).[53] Among the colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana.[54] The Beaver Wars broke out in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.[55]
+
+The English established additional settlements in Newfoundland, beginning in 1610 and the Thirteen Colonies to the south were founded soon after.[56][57] A series of four wars erupted in colonial North America between 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War.[58] Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, and Canada and most of New France came under British rule in 1763 after the Seven Years' War.[59]
+
+The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established First Nation treaty rights, created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.[19] St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769.[60] To avert conflict in Quebec, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.[61] More importantly, the Quebec Act afforded Quebec special autonomy and rights of self-administration at a time when the Thirteen Colonies were increasingly agitating against British rule.[62] It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there, staving off the growth of an independence movement in contrast to the Thirteen Colonies.[63] The Proclamation and the Quebec Act in turn angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, further fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the American Revolution.[19]
+
+After the successful American War of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the newly formed United States and set the terms of peace, ceding British North American territories south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River to the new country.[64] The American war of independence also caused a large out-migration of Loyalists, the settlers who had fought against American independence. Many moved to Canada, particularly Atlantic Canada, where their arrival changed the demographic distribution of the existing territories. New Brunswick was in turn split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes which led to the incorporation of Saint John, New Brunswick to become Canada's first city.[65] To accommodate the influx of English-speaking Loyalists in Central Canada, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province of Canada into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.[66]
+
+The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Peace came in 1815; no boundaries were changed. Immigration resumed at a higher level, with over 960,000 arrivals from Britain between 1815 and 1850.[67] New arrivals included refugees escaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic-speaking Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances.[68] Infectious diseases killed between 25 and 33 percent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891.[29]
+
+The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837.[69] The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture.[19] The Act of Union merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government was established for all provinces of British North America by 1849.[70] The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).[71] The Alaska Purchase of 1867 by the United States established the border along the Pacific coast, although there would continue to be some disputes about the exact demarcation of the Alaska-Yukon and Alaska-BC border for years to come.[72]
+
+Following several constitutional conferences, the Constitution Act officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.[73][74] Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870.[75] British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866) joined the confederation in 1871, while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873.[76] Between 1871 and 1896, almost one quarter of the Canadian population emigrated southwards, to the U.S.[77]
+
+To open the West to European immigration, parliament also approved sponsoring the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opening the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and establishing the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory.[78][79] In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, parliament created the Yukon Territory. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.[76]
+
+Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the Constitution Act, 1867, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into World War I.[80] Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps, which played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of the war.[81] Out of approximately 625,000 Canadians who served in World War I, some 60,000 were killed and another 172,000 were wounded.[82] The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment the military's dwindling number of active members with conscription was met with vehement objections from French-speaking Quebecers.[83] The Military Service Act brought in compulsory military service, though it, coupled with disputes over French language schools outside Quebec, deeply alienated Francophone Canadians and temporarily split the Liberal Party.[83] In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain,[81] and the 1931 Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.[84]
+
+The Great Depression in Canada during the early 1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country.[85] In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) in the 1940s and 1950s.[86] On the advice of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, war with Germany was declared effective September 10, 1939, by King George VI, seven days after the United Kingdom. The delay underscored Canada's independence.[81]
+
+The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. In all, over a million Canadians served in the armed forces during World War II and approximately 42,000 were killed and another 55,000 were wounded.[87] Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.[81] Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany.[88]
+
+The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.[81] Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canada finished the war with a large army and strong economy.[89]
+
+The financial crisis of the Great Depression had led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a crown colony ruled by a British governor.[90] After two bitter referendums, Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province.[91]
+
+Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the Maple Leaf Flag in 1965,[92] the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969,[93] and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971.[94] Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions.[95]
+
+Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the Canada Act, the patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[96][97][98] Canada had established complete sovereignty as an independent country, although the Queen retained her role as monarch of Canada.[99][100] In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government.[101]
+
+At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a secular nationalist movement.[102] The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis with a series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970[103] and the sovereignist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990.[104] This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West.[105][106] A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of 50.6 to 49.4 percent.[107] In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.[104]
+
+In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history;[108] the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students;[109] and the Oka Crisis of 1990,[110] the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Indigenous groups.[111] Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a U.S.-led coalition force and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including the UNPROFOR mission in the former Yugoslavia.[112]
+
+Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but declined to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.[113] In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan Civil War,[114] and also became involved in battling the Islamic State insurgency in Iraq in the mid-2010s.[115]
+
+By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, due to having the world's largest proportion of fresh water lakes.[116] Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, eight share a border with the United States, and only two are landlocked (Alberta and Saskatchewan), with the remaining eight provinces and three territories directly bordering one of three oceans. Ontario and Quebec also send most of their shipping traffic through the St. Lawrence Seaway, which connects the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
+
+Stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east, along the Arctic Ocean to the north, and to the Pacific Ocean in the west,[117] Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi), and occupies much of the continent of North America.[118] Moreover, Canada's border with the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest forms the longest international land border in the world, stretching 8,891 km (5,525 mi).[119][120] In addition to the U.S., Canada shares a maritime boundary with Greenland to the northeast and with the France's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to the southeast.[121]
+
+Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island—latitude 82.5°N—which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole.[122] Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost.[123] Three of Canada's arctic islands – Baffin Island, Victoria Island and Ellesmere Island – are among the ten largest in the world.[124]
+
+Since the end of the last glacial period, Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield;[125] 42 percent of the land acreage is covered by forests (approximately 8 percent of the world's forested land), made up mostly of spruce, poplar, and pine.[126] Canada has over 2,000,000 lakes—563 of which are greater than 100 km2 (39 sq mi)—which is more than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water.[127][128] There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies, the Coast Mountains and the Arctic Cordillera.[129]
+
+Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager massif, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley massif, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.[130] The volcanic eruption of the Tseax Cone in 1775 was among Canada's worst natural disasters, killing an estimated 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia.[131] The eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and, according to Nisga'a legend, blocked the flow of the Nass River.[132]
+
+Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.[133] In non-coastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).[134]
+
+Canada is described as a "full democracy",[135] with a tradition of liberalism,[136] and an egalitarian,[137] moderate political ideology.[138] An emphasis on social justice has been a distinguishing element of Canada's political culture.[139] Peace, order, and good government, alongside an implied bill of rights are founding principles of the Canadian government.[140][141]
+
+At the federal level, Canada has been dominated by two relatively centrist parties practicing "brokerage politics",[a][144][145][146] the centre-left Liberal Party of Canada and the centre-right Conservative Party of Canada (or its predecessors).[147] The historically predominant Liberal Party position themselves at the centre of the Canadian political spectrum,[148] with the Conservative Party positioned on the right and the New Democratic Party occupying the left.[149][150] Far-right and far-left politics have never been a prominent force in Canadian society.[151][152] Five parties had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2019 election—the Liberal Party, who currently form the government; the Conservative Party, who are the official opposition; the New Democratic Party; the Bloc Québécois; and the Green Party of Canada.[153]
+
+Canada has a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy—the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.[154][155][156] The reigning monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who is also monarch of 15 other Commonwealth countries and each of Canada's 10 provinces. The person who is the Canadian monarch is the same as the British monarch, although the two institutions are separate.[157] The Queen appoints a representative, the governor general (at present Julie Payette), to carry out most of her federal royal duties in Canada.[158][159]
+
+The direct participation of the monarch and the governor general in areas of governance is limited.[156][160][161] In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons of Canada and chosen and headed by the prime minister (at present Justin Trudeau),[162] the head of government. The governor general or monarch may, though, in certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice.[160] To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the individual who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons.[163] The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies.[160] The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.[164]
+
+Each of the 338 members of parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. General elections must be called by the governor general, either on the advice of the prime minister or if the government loses a confidence vote in the House.[165][166] Constitutionally, an election may be held no more than five years after the preceding election, although the Canada Elections Act limits this to four years with a fixed election date in October. The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75.[167]
+
+Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons.[161] Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces.[168] The territorial legislatures also differ structurally from their provincial counterparts.[169]
+
+The Bank of Canada is the central bank of the country. In addition, the minister of finance and minister of industry utilize the Statistics Canada agency for financial planning and economic policy development.[170] The Bank of Canada is the sole authority authorized to issue currency in the form of Canadian bank notes.[171] The bank does not issue Canadian coins; they are issued by the Royal Canadian Mint.[172]
+
+The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions.[173] The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act prior to 1982), affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments.[174] The Statute of Westminster 1931 granted full autonomy and the Constitution Act, 1982, ended all legislative ties to Britain, as well as adding a constitutional amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[175] The Charter guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be over-ridden by any government—though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years.[176]
+
+Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down Acts of Parliament that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and has been led since December 18, 2017 by Chief Justice Richard Wagner.[177] Its nine members are appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal Cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts in the provincial and territorial jurisdictions.[178]
+
+Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada.[179] Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincial responsibility, conducted by provincial and municipal police forces.[180] However, in most rural areas and some urban areas, policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.[181]
+
+The Indian Act, various treaties and case laws were established to mediate relations between Europeans and native peoples.[182] Most notably, a series of eleven treaties known as the Numbered Treaties were signed between the Indigenous peoples and the reigning monarch of Canada between 1871 and 1921.[183] These treaties are agreements with the Canadian Crown-in-Council, administered by Canadian Aboriginal law, and overseen by the minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations. The role of the treaties and the rights they support were reaffirmed by Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982.[182] These rights may include provision of services, such as health care, and exemption from taxation.[184]
+
+Canada is recognized as a middle power for its role in international affairs with a tendency to pursue multilateral solutions.[185] Canada's foreign policy based on international peacekeeping and security is carried out through coalitions and international organizations, and through the work of numerous federal institutions.[186] Canada's peacekeeping role during the 20th century has played a major role in its global image.[187] The strategy of the Canadian government's foreign aid policy reflects an emphasis to meet the Millennium Development Goals, while also providing assistance in response to foreign humanitarian crises.[188]
+
+Canada was a founding member of the United Nations and has membership in the World Trade Organization, the G20 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).[185] Canada is also a member of various other international and regional organizations and forums for economic and cultural affairs.[189] Canada acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1976.[190] Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in 2000 and the 3rd Summit of the Americas in 2001.[191] Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).[192]
+
+Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner.[193][194] Canada nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba, and declining to officially participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[195] Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie.[196] Canada is noted for having a positive relationship with the Netherlands, owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation during World War II.[88]
+
+Canada's strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II.[197] Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.[198][199] During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.[200]
+
+During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, for which he was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.[201] As this was the first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the concept.[202] Canada has since served in over 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989,[81] and has since maintained forces in international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere; Canada has sometimes faced controversy over its involvement in foreign countries, notably in the 1993 Somalia Affair.[203]
+
+In 2001, Canada deployed troops to Afghanistan as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.[204] In February 2007, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia announced their joint commitment to a $1.5-billion project to help develop vaccines for developing nations, and called on other countries to join them.[205] In August 2007, Canada's territorial claims in the Arctic were challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.[206]
+
+The nation employs a professional, volunteer military force of approximately 79,000 active personnel and 32,250 reserve personnel.[207] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force. In 2013, Canada's military expenditure totalled approximately C$19 billion, or around one percent of the country's GDP.[208][209] Following the 2016 Defence Policy Review, the Canadian government announced a 70 percent increase to the country's defence budget over the next decade. The Canadian Forces will acquire 88 fighter planes and 15 naval surface combatants, the latter as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. Canada's total military expenditure is expected to reach C$32.7 billion by 2027.[210]
+
+Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into four main regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada (Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together).[211] Provinces have more autonomy than territories, having responsibility for social programs such as health care, education, and welfare.[212] Together, the provinces collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.[213] The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their power and authority from the Constitution Act, 1867, whereas territorial governments have powers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada.[214] The powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the Government of Canada (the federal government) and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively.[215] A change to the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces requires a constitutional amendment, whereas a similar change affecting the territories can be performed unilaterally by the Parliament of Canada or government.[216]
+
+Canadian exports 2017 [217]
+
+Canada is the world's tenth-largest economy as of 2018[update], with a nominal GDP of approximately US$1.73 trillion.[218] It is one of the least corrupt countries in the world,[219] and is one of the world's top ten trading nations, with a highly globalized economy.[220][221] Canada has a  mixed economy ranking above the U.S. and most western European nations on The Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom,[222] and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity.[223] The country's average household disposable income per capita is "well above" the OECD average.[224] The Toronto Stock Exchange is the ninth-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, listing over 1,500 companies with a combined market capitalization of over US$2 trillion.[225]
+
+In 2018, Canadian trade in goods and services reached CA$1.5 trillion.[226] Canada's exports totalled over CA$585 billion, while its imported goods were worth over CA$607 billion, of which approximately CA$391 billion originated from the United States, CA$216 billion from non-U.S. sources.[226] In 2018, Canada had a trade deficit in goods of CA$22 billion and a trade deficit in services of CA$25 billion.[226]
+
+Since the early 20th century, the growth of Canada's manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized, industrial one.[227] Like many other developed countries, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quarters of the country's workforce.[228] However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the forestry and petroleum industries are two of the most prominent components.[229]
+
+Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.[229][230] Atlantic Canada possesses vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta also hosts large oil and gas resources. The vastness of the Athabasca oil sands and other assets results in Canada having a 13 percent share of global oil reserves, comprising the world's third-largest share after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.[231] Canada is additionally one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important global producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.[232] Canada's Department of Natural Resources provides statistics regarding its major exports; the country is a leading exporter of zinc, uranium, gold, nickel, platinoids, aluminum, steel, iron ore, coking coal, lead, copper, molybdenum, cobalt, and cadmium.[233] Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.[234]
+
+Canada's economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II.[235] The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 opened Canada's borders to trade in the automobile manufacturing industry.[236] In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the National Energy Program (NEP) and the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA).[237] In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to Investment Canada, to encourage foreign investment.[238] The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in 1994.[239] Canada has a strong cooperative banking sector, with the world's highest per-capita membership in credit unions.[240]
+
+In 2018, Canada spent approximately C$34.5 billion on domestic research and development, of which around $7 billion was provided by the federal and provincial governments.[241] As of 2018[update], the country has produced fourteen  Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry, and medicine,[242] and was ranked fourth worldwide for scientific research quality in a major 2012 survey of international scientists.[243] It is furthermore home to the headquarters of a number of global technology firms.[244] Canada has one of the highest levels of Internet access in the world, with over 33 million users, equivalent to around 94 percent of its total 2014 population.[245]
+
+Some of the most notable scientific developments in Canada include the creation of the modern alkaline battery[246] and the polio vaccine[247] and discoveries about the interior structure of the atomic nucleus.[248] Other major Canadian scientific contributions include the artificial cardiac pacemaker, mapping the visual cortex,[249][250] the development of the electron microscope,[251][252] plate tectonics, deep learning, multi-touch technology and the identification of the first black hole, Cygnus X-1.[253]  Canada has a long history of discovery in genetics, which include stem cells, site-directed mutagenesis, T-cell receptor and the identification of the genes that cause Fanconi anemia, cystic fibrosis and early-onset Alzheimer's disease, among numerous other diseases.[250][254]
+
+The Canadian Space Agency operates a highly active space program, conducting deep-space, planetary, and aviation research, and developing rockets and satellites.[255] Canada was the third country to design and construct a satellite after the Soviet Union and the United States, with the 1962 Alouette 1 launch.[256] Canada is a participant in the International Space Station (ISS), and is a pioneer in space robotics, having constructed the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre robotic manipulators for the ISS and NASA's Space Shuttle.[257] Since the 1960s, Canada's aerospace industry has designed and built numerous marques of satellite, including Radarsat-1 and 2, ISIS and MOST.[258] Canada has also produced one of the world's most successful and widely used sounding rockets, the Black Brant; over 1,000 Black Brants have been launched since the rocket's introduction in 1961.[259]
+
+The 2016 Canadian Census enumerated a total population of 35,151,728, an increase of around 5.0 percent over the 2011 figure.[261][262] Between 2011 and May 2016, Canada's population grew by 1.7 million people, with immigrants accounting for two-thirds of the increase.[263] Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth.[264] The main drivers of population growth are immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth.[265]
+
+Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world,[266] driven mainly by economic policy and, to a lesser extent, family reunification.[267][268] The Canadian public, as well as the major political parties, support the current level of immigration.[267][269] In 2019, a total of 341,180 immigrants were admitted to Canada, mainly from Asia.[270] India, Philippines and China are the top three countries of origin for immigrants moving to Canada.[271] New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.[272] Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees,[273] accounting for over 10 percent of annual global refugee resettlements.[274][275]
+
+Canada's population density, at 3.7 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.6/sq mi), is among the lowest in the world.[276] Canada spans latitudinally from the 83rd parallel north to the 41st parallel north, and approximately 95 percent of the population is found south of the 55th parallel north.[277] About four-fifths of the population lives within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the border with the contiguous United States.[278] The most densely populated part of the country, accounting for nearly 50 percent, is the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.[260][277] An additional 30 percent live along the British Columbia Lower Mainland and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.[279]
+
+The majority of Canadians (69.9 percent) live in family households, 26.8 percent report living alone, and those living with unrelated persons reported at 3.7 percent.[280] The average size of a household in 2006 was 2.5 people.[280]
+
+Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare.[282][283] It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act of 1984,[284] and is universal.[285] Universal access to publicly funded health services "is often considered by Canadians as a fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country."[286] However, 30 percent of Canadians' healthcare is paid for through the private sector.[287] This mostly goes towards services not covered or partially covered by Medicare, such as prescription drugs, dentistry and optometry.[287] Approximately 65 to 75 percent of Canadians have some form of supplementary health insurance related to the aforementioned reasons; many receive it through their employers or utilizes secondary social service programs related to extended coverage for families receiving social assistance or vulnerable demographics, such as seniors, minors, and those with disabilities.[288][287]
+
+In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a cost increase due to a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2006, the average age was 39.5 years;[289] within twelve years it had risen to 42.4 years,[290] with a life expectancy of 81.1 years.[291] A 2016 report by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada found that 88 percent of Canadians; one of the highest proportions of the population among G7 countries, indicated that they "had good or very good health".[292] 80 percent of Canadian adults self-report having at least one major risk factor for chronic disease; smoking, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating or excessive alcohol use.[293] Canada has one of the highest rates of adult obesity among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries attributing to approximately 2.7 million cases of diabetes (types 1 and 2 combined).[293] Four chronic diseases; cancer (leading cause of death), cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and diabetes account for 65 percent of deaths in Canada.[294][295]
+
+In 2017, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reported that healthcare spending reached $242 billion, or 11.5 percent of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) for that year.[296] Canada's per-capita spending ranks as seventh on the list of countries by total health expenditure per capita in the OECD and above the average of 8.8 percent of GDP.[297] Canada has performed close to, or above the average on the majority of OECD health indicators since the early 2000s.[298] In 2017 Canada ranked above the average on OECD indicators for wait-times and access to care, with average scores for quality of care and use of resources.[299] A comprehensive study from 2017 of the top 11 countries ranked Canada's health care system third-to-last.[300] Identified weaknesses of Canada's system were comparatively higher infant mortality rate, the prevalence of chronic conditions, long wait times, poor availability of after-hours care, and a lack of prescription drugs and dental coverage.[300]
+
+Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments.[301] Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province.[302] Education in Canada is generally divided into primary education, followed by secondary education and post-secondary. Education in both English and French is available in most places across Canada.[303] Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education provision.[304] Canada has a large number of Universities, almost all of which are publicly funded.[305] Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldest post-secondary institution in Canada.[306] The largest University is the University of Toronto with over 85,000 students.[307] Four Universities are regularly ranked among the top 100 world-wide, namely University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill University and McMaster University , with a total of 18 Universities ranked in the top 500 worldwide.[308]
+
+According to a 2019 report by the OECD, Canada is one of the most educated countries in the world;[309] the country ranks first worldwide in the number of adults having tertiary education, with over 56 percent of Canadian adults having attained at least an undergraduate college or university degree.[309] Canada spends about 5.3 percent of its GDP on education.[310] The country invests heavily in tertiary education (more than US$20,000 per student).[311] As of 2014[update], 89 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, compared to an OECD average of 75 percent.[312]
+
+The mandatory school age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years,[313] contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent.[117] In 2002, 43 percent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 51 percent.[314] The Programme for International Student Assessment indicates Canadian students perform well above the OECD average, particularly in mathematics, science, and reading,[315][316] ranking the overall knowledge and skills of Canadian 15-year-olds as the sixth-best in the world. Canada is a well-performing OECD country in reading literacy, mathematics, and science with the average student scoring 523.7, compared with the OECD average of 493 in 2015.[317][318]
+
+According to the 2016 Canadian Census, the country's largest self-reported ethnic origin is Canadian (accounting for 32 percent of the population),[b] followed by English (18.3 percent), Scottish (13.9 percent), French (13.6 percent), Irish (13.4 percent), German (9.6 percent), Chinese (5.1 percent), Italian (4.6 percent), First Nations (4.4 percent), Indian (4.0 percent), and Ukrainian (3.9 percent).[321] There are 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands, encompassing a total of 1,525,565 people.[322] Canada's Indigenous population is growing at almost twice the national rate, and four percent of Canada's population claimed an Indigenous identity in 2006. Another 22.3 percent of the population belonged to a non-Indigenous visible minority.[323] In 2016, the largest visible minority groups were South Asian (5.6 percent), Chinese (5.1 percent) and Black (3.5 percent).[323] Between 2011 and 2016, the visible minority population rose by 18.4 percent.[323] In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) were members of visible minority groups.[324] Indigenous peoples are not considered a visible minority under the Employment Equity Act,[325] and this is the definition that Statistics Canada also uses.
+
+A multitude of languages are used by Canadians, with English and French (the official languages) being the mother tongues of approximately 56 percent and 21 percent of Canadians, respectively.[327] As of the 2016 Census, just over 7.3 million Canadians listed a non-official language as their mother tongue. Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (1,227,680 first-language speakers), Punjabi (501,680), Spanish (458,850), Tagalog (431,385), Arabic (419,895), German (384,040), and Italian (375,645).[327] Canada's federal government practices official bilingualism, which is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages in consonance with Section 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Federal Official Languages Act English and French have equal status in federal courts, parliament, and in all federal institutions. Citizens have the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French and official-language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.[328]
+
+The 1977 Charter of the French Language established French as the official language of Quebec.[329] Although more than 85 percent of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in New Brunswick, Alberta, and Manitoba; Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.[330] New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province, has a French-speaking Acadian minority constituting 33 percent of the population.[331] There are also clusters of Acadians in southwestern Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island, and through central and western Prince Edward Island.[332]
+
+Other provinces have no official languages as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and for other government services, in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status, but is not fully co-official.[333] There are 11 Indigenous language groups, composed of more than 65 distinct languages and dialects.[334] Several Indigenous languages have official status in the Northwest Territories.[335] Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and is one of three official languages in the territory.[336]
+
+Additionally, Canada is home to many sign languages, some of which are Indigenous.[337] American Sign Language (ASL) is spoken across the country due to the prevalence of ASL in primary and secondary schools.[338] Due to its historical relation to the francophone culture, Quebec Sign Language (LSQ) is spoken primarily in Quebec, although there are sizeable Francophone communities in New Brunswick, Ontario and Manitoba.[339]
+
+Canada is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of beliefs and customs. Canada has no official church, and the government is officially committed to religious pluralism.[340] Freedom of religion in Canada is a constitutionally protected right, allowing individuals to assemble and worship without limitation or interference.[341] The practice of religion is now generally considered a private matter throughout society and the state.[342] With Christianity in decline after having once been central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life,[343] Canada has become a post-Christian, secular state.[344][345][346][347] The majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant in their daily lives,[348] but still believe in God.[349]
+
+According to the 2011 National Household Survey, 67.3 percent of Canadians identify as Christian; of these, Roman Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 38.7 percent of the population. Much of the remainder is made up of Protestants, who accounted for approximately 27 percent in a 2011 survey.[350][351] The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (accounting for 6.1 percent of Canadians), followed by the Anglican Church of Canada (5.0 percent), and various Baptist sects (1.9 percent).[3] Secularization has been growing since the 1960s.[352][353] In 2011, 23.9 percent declared no religious affiliation, compared to 16.5 percent in 2001.[354] Islam is the largest non-Christian religion in Canada, constituting 3.2 percent of its population. It is also the fastest growing religion in Canada.[355] 1.5 percent of the Canadian population is Hindu and 1.4 percent is Sikh.[3]
+
+Canada's culture draws influences from its broad range of constituent nationalities, and policies that promote a "just society" are constitutionally protected.[356][357][358] Canada has placed emphasis on equality and inclusiveness for all its people.[359] Multiculturalism is often cited as one of Canada's significant accomplishments,[360] and a key distinguishing element of Canadian identity.[361][362] In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and there is a French Canadian culture that is distinct from English Canadian culture.[363] However, as a whole, Canada is, in theory, a cultural mosaic—a collection of regional ethnic subcultures.[364]
+
+Canada's approach to governance emphasizing multiculturalism, which is based on selective immigration, social integration, and suppression of far-right politics, has wide public support.[365] Government policies such as publicly-funded health care, higher taxation to redistribute wealth, the outlawing of capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, strict gun control; alongside legislation with a social liberal attitude toward women's rights (like pregnancy termination), LGBTQ rights, assisted euthanasia and cannabis use are indicators of Canada's political and  cultural values.[366][367][368] Canadians also identify with the country's foreign aid policies, peacekeeping roles, the National park system and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[369][370]
+
+Historically, Canada has been influenced by British, French, and Indigenous cultures and traditions. Through their language, art and music, Indigenous peoples continue to influence the Canadian identity.[371] During the 20th century, Canadians with African, Caribbean and Asian nationalities have added to the Canadian identity and its culture.[372] Canadian humour is an integral part of the Canadian identity and is reflected in its folklore, literature, music, art, and media. The primary characteristics of Canadian humour are irony, parody, and satire.[373] Many Canadian comedians have achieved international success in the American TV and film industries and are amongst the most recognized in the world.[374]
+
+Canada has a well-developed media sector, but its cultural output; particularly in English films, television shows, and magazines, is often overshadowed by imports from the United States.[375] As a result, the preservation of a distinctly Canadian culture is supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).[376]
+
+Canada's national symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and Indigenous sources. The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century. The maple leaf is depicted on Canada's current and previous flags, and on the Arms of Canada.[378] The Arms of Canada are closely modelled after the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom with French and distinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from the British version.[379] Other prominent symbols include the national motto "A Mari Usque Ad Mare" ("From Sea to Sea"),[380] the sports of ice hockey and lacrosse, the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, Canadian horse, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Rockies,[378] and more recently the totem pole and Inuksuk.[381] Material items such as Canadian beer, maple syrup, tuques, canoes, nanaimo bars, butter tarts and the Quebec dish of poutine are defined as uniquely Canadian.[381][382] Canadian coins feature many of these symbols: the loon on the $1 coin, the Arms of Canada on the 50¢ piece, the beaver on the nickel.[383] The penny, removed from circulation in 2013, featured the maple leaf.[384] The Queen's image appears on $20 bank notes, and on the obverse of all current Canadian coins.[383]
+
+Canadian literature is often divided into French- and English-language literatures, which are rooted in the literary traditions of France and Britain, respectively.[385] There are four major themes that can be found within historical Canadian literature; nature, frontier life, Canada's position within the world, all three of which tie into the garrison mentality.[386] By the 1990s, Canadian literature was viewed as some of the world's best.[387] Canada's ethnic and cultural diversity are reflected in its literature, with many of its most prominent modern writers focusing on ethnic life.[388] Arguably, the best-known living Canadian writer internationally (especially since the deaths of Robertson Davies and Mordecai Richler) is Margaret Atwood, a prolific novelist, poet, and literary critic.[389] Numerous other Canadian authors have accumulated international literary awards;[390] including Nobel Laureate Alice Munro, who has been called the best living writer of short stories in English;[391] and Booker Prize recipient Michael Ondaatje, who is perhaps best known for the novel The English Patient, which was adapted as a film of the same name that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.[392]
+
+Canadian visual art has been dominated by figures such as Tom Thomson – the country's most famous painter – and by the Group of Seven.[393] Thomson's career painting Canadian landscapes spanned a decade up to his death in 1917 at age 39.[394] The Group of Seven were painters with a nationalistic and idealistic focus, who first exhibited their distinctive works in May 1920. Though referred to as having seven members, five artists—Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley—were responsible for articulating the Group's ideas. They were joined briefly by Frank Johnston, and by commercial artist Franklin Carmichael. A. J. Casson became part of the Group in 1926.[395] Associated with the Group was another prominent Canadian artist, Emily Carr, known for her landscapes and portrayals of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.[396] Since the 1950s, works of Inuit art have been given as gifts to foreign dignitaries by the Canadian government.[397]
+
+The Canadian music industry is the sixth-largest in the world producing internationally renowned composers, musicians and ensembles.[398] Music broadcasting in the country is regulated by the CRTC.[399] The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presents Canada's music industry awards, the Juno Awards, which were first awarded in 1970.[400] The Canadian Music Hall of Fame established in 1976 honours Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements.[401] Patriotic music in Canada dates back over 200 years as a distinct category from British patriotism, preceding the Canadian Confederation by over 50 years. The earliest, The Bold Canadian, was written in 1812.[402] The national anthem of Canada, "O Canada", was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony, and was officially adopted in 1980.[403] Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French before it was adapted into English in 1906.[404]
+
+The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s,[405] culminating in the development and popularization of the major professional games of ice hockey, lacrosse, basketball, baseball and football.[406]  Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse.[407] Golf, soccer, baseball, tennis, skiing, badminton, volleyball, cycling, swimming, bowling, rugby union, canoeing, equestrian, squash and the study of martial arts are widely enjoyed at the youth and amateur levels.[408]
+
+Canada shares several major professional sports leagues with the United States.[409] Canadian teams in these leagues include seven franchises in the National Hockey League, as well as three Major League Soccer teams and one team in each of Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. Other popular professional sports in Canada include Canadian football, which is played in the Canadian Football League, National Lacrosse League lacrosse, and curling.[410]
+
+Canada has participated in almost every Olympic Games since its Olympic debut in 1900,[411] and has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics,[412] the 1988 Winter Olympics,[413] the 1994 Basketball World Championship,[414] the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup,[415] the 2010 Winter Olympics[416][417] and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[418] Most recently, Canada staged the 2015 Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games, the former being the largest sporting event hosted by the country.[419]
+
+Canada portal
+
+North America portal
+
+Overview
+
+History
+
+Geography and climate
+
+Government and law
+
+Social welfare
+
+Foreign relations and military
+
+Economy
+
+Demography and statistics
+
+Culture
+
+Overviews
+
+Government
+
+Travel
+
+Studies
+
+
+

en/823.html.txt

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+The vas deferens (Latin: "carrying-away vessel"; plural: vasa deferentia), also called ductus deferens (Latin: "carrying-away duct"; plural: ductus deferentes), is part of the male reproductive system of many vertebrates; these ducts transport sperm from the epididymis to the ejaculatory ducts in anticipation of ejaculation.  It is a partially coiled tube which exits the abdominal cavity through the inguinal canal.
+
+There are two ducts, connecting the left and right epididymis with the seminal vesicles to form the ejaculatory duct in order to move sperm.  In humans, each tube is about 30 centimeters (1 ft) long, 3 to 5 mm (0.118 to 0.197 inches) in diameter and is muscular (surrounded by smooth muscle). Its epithelium is pseudostratified columnar epithelium lined by stereocilia.
+
+They are part of the spermatic cords.[1]
+
+The vas deferens is supplied by an accompanying artery (artery of vas deferens).  This artery normally arises from the superior (sometimes inferior) vesical artery, a branch of the internal iliac artery.
+
+During ejaculation, the smooth muscle in the walls of the vas deferens contracts reflexively, thus propelling the sperm forward. This is also known as peristalsis.[2] The sperm is transferred from each vas deferens into the urethra, partially mixing with secretions from the male accessory sex glands such as the seminal vesicles, prostate gland and the bulbourethral glands, which form the bulk of semen.
+
+The procedure of deferentectomy, also known as a vasectomy, is a method of contraception in which the vasa deferentia are permanently cut, though in some cases it can be reversed. A modern variation, which is also known as a vasectomy even though it does not include cutting the vas, involves injecting an obstructive material into the ductus to block the flow of sperm.
+
+Investigational attempts for male contraception have focused on the vas with the use of the intra vas device and reversible inhibition of sperm under guidance.
+
+The vas deferens may be obstructed, or it may be completely absent in a condition known as congenital absence of the vas deferens (CAVD, a potential feature of cystic fibrosis), causing male infertility. Acquired obstructions can occur due to infections. To treat these causes of male infertility, sperm can be harvested by testicular sperm extraction (TESE), microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA), or other methods of collecting sperm cells directly from the testicle or epididymis.
+
+The vas deferens has a dense sympathetic innervation,[3] making it a useful system for studying sympathetic nerve function and for studying drugs that modify neurotransmission.[4]
+
+It has been used:
+
+Most vertebrates have some form of duct to transfer the sperm from the testes to the urethra. In cartilaginous fish and amphibians, sperm is carried through the archinephric duct, which also partially helps to transport urine from the kidneys. In teleosts, there is a distinct sperm duct, separate from the ureters, and often called the vas deferens, although probably not truly homologous with that in humans.[9] The vas deferens loops over the ureter in placental mammals, but not in marsupial mammals.[10][11]
+
+In cartilaginous fishes, the part of the archinephric duct closest to the testis is coiled up to form an epididymis. Below this are a number of small glands secreting components of the seminal fluid. The final portion of the duct also receives ducts from the kidneys in most species.[9]
+
+In amniotes, however, the archinephric duct has become a true vas deferens, and is used only for conducting sperm, never urine. As in cartilaginous fish, the upper part of the duct forms the epididymis. In many species, the vas deferens ends in a small sac for storing sperm.[9]
+
+The only vertebrates to lack any structure resembling a vas deferens are the primitive jawless fishes, which release sperm directly into the body cavity, and then into the surrounding water through a simple opening in the body wall.[9]
+
+Male reproductive system.
+
+Coronal section of pelvis, showing arrangement of fasciæ. Viewed from behind.
+
+The relations of the femoral and abdominal inguinal rings, seen from within the abdomen. Right side.
+
+The spermatic cord in the inguinal canal.
+
+Fundus of the bladder with the vesiculæ seminales.
+
+Vertical section of bladder, penis, and urethra.
+
+Prostate with seminal vesicles and seminal ducts, viewed from in front and above.
+
+Prostate
+
+Microscopic cross section.
+
+Testis, spermatic vessels and vas deferens
+
+A deep dissection showing the vas deferens.

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+
+
+The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 mi) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade.  Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 32.5 m (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, neo-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo.[1]
+
+France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan and the even less popular route through the Arctic Archipelago and the Bering Strait.
+
+Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, in 1999, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government. It is now managed and operated by the government-owned Panama Canal Authority.
+
+Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal.[2] It takes 11.38 hours to pass through the Panama Canal.[3] The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world.[4]
+
+The earliest record related to a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was in 1534, when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through the Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. The Spanish were seeking to gain a military advantage over the Portuguese.[5]
+
+In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne speculated in his encyclopaedic work, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, that "some Isthmus have been eat through by the Sea, and others cut by the spade: And if policy would permit, that of Panama in America were most worthy the attempt: it being but few miles over, and would open a shorter cut unto the East Indies and China".[6]
+
+In 1788, American Thomas Jefferson, then Minister to France, suggested that the Spanish should build the canal, since they controlled the colonies where it would be built. He said that this would be a less treacherous route for ships than going around the southern tip of South America, and that tropical ocean currents would naturally widen the canal after construction.[7] During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for construction of a canal.[8]
+
+Given the strategic location of Panama, and the potential of its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans, other trade links in the area were attempted over the years. The ill-fated Darien scheme was launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route. Generally inhospitable conditions thwarted the effort, and it was abandoned in April 1700.[9]
+
+Numerous canals were built in other countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The success of the Erie Canal through central New York in the United States in the 1820s, and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America resulted in growing American interest in building an inter-oceanic canal. Beginning in 1826, US officials began negotiations with Gran Colombia (present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama), hoping to gain a concession to build a  canal. Jealous of their newly gained independence and fearing domination by the more powerful United States, president Simón Bolívar and New Granada officials declined American offers. The new nation was politically unstable, and Panama rebelled several times during the 19th century.
+
+Great Britain attempted to develop a canal in 1843. According to the New York Daily Tribune, August 24, 1843, Barings of London and the Republic of New Granada entered into a contract for construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Isthmus of Panama). They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal, and it was a wholly British endeavor. Projected for completion in five years, the plan was never carried out. At nearly the same time, other ideas were floated, including a canal (and/or a railroad) across Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec. That did not develop, either.[10]
+
+In 1846, the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, negotiated between the US and New Granada, granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus. In 1848, the discovery of gold in California, on the West Coast of the United States, generated renewed interest in a canal crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. William H. Aspinwall, who had won the federal subsidy to build and operate the Pacific mail steamships at around the same time, benefited from the gold  discovery. Aspinwall's route included steamship legs from New York City to Panama, and from Panama to California, with an overland portage through Panama. This route with an overland leg in Panama was soon frequently traveled, as it provided one of the fastest connections between San Francisco, California, and the East Coast cities, about 40 days' transit in total. Nearly all the gold that was shipped out of California went by the fast Panama route. Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying this new route, including private steamship lines owned by American entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt that made use of an overland route through Nicaragua.[11]
+
+In 1850 the United States began construction of the Panama Railroad (now called the Panama Railway) to cross the isthmus; it opened in 1855. This overland link became a vital piece of Western Hemisphere infrastructure, greatly facilitating trade. The later canal route was constructed parallel to it, as it had helped clear dense forests.
+
+An all-water route between the oceans was still the goal. In 1855 William Kennish, a Manx-born engineer working for the United States government, surveyed the isthmus and issued a report on a route for a proposed Panama Canal.[12] His report was published as a book entitled The Practicability and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[13]
+
+In 1877, Armand Reclus, an officer with the French Navy, and Lucien Napoléon Bonaparte Wyse, both engineers, surveyed the route and published a French proposal for a canal.[14] The French had achieved success in building the Suez Canal in the Mideast. While it was a lengthy project, they were encouraged to plan for a canal to cross the Panamanian isthmus.[15]
+
+The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of Panama began on January 1, 1881. The project was inspired by the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was able to raise considerable funds in France as a result of the huge profits generated by his successful construction of the Suez Canal.[16] Although the Panama Canal needed to be only 40 percent as long as the Suez Canal, it was much more of an engineering challenge due to the combination of tropical rain forests, debilitating climate, the need for canal locks, and the lack of any ancient route to follow.
+
+De Lesseps wanted a sea-level canal (like the Suez), but he visited the site only a few times, during the dry season which lasts only four months of the year.[17] His men were totally unprepared for the rainy season, during which the Chagres River, where the canal started, became a raging torrent, rising up to 10 m (35 ft). The dense jungle was alive with venomous snakes, insects, and spiders, but the worst challenges were yellow fever, malaria, and other tropical diseases, which killed thousands of workers; by 1884, the death rate was over 200 per month.[18] Public health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown. Conditions were downplayed in France to avoid recruitment problems,[19] but the high mortality rate made it difficult to maintain an experienced workforce.
+
+Workers had to continually widen the main cut through the mountain at Culebra and reduce the angles of the slopes to minimize landslides into the canal.[20] Steam shovels were used in the construction of the canal, purchased from Bay City Industrial Works, a business owned by William L. Clements in Bay City, Michigan.[21] Bucket chain excavators manufactured by both Alphonse Couvreux and Wehyer & Richemond and Buette were also used.[22] Other mechanical and electrical equipment was limited in capabilities, and steel equipment rusted rapidly in the rainy climate.[23]
+
+In France, de Lesseps kept the investment and supply of workers flowing long after it was obvious that the targets were not being met, but eventually the money ran out. The French effort went bankrupt in 1889 after reportedly spending US$287,000,000; an estimated 22,000 men died from disease and accidents, and the savings of 800,000 investors were lost.[19][24] Work was suspended on May 15, and in the ensuing scandal, known as the Panama affair, some of those deemed responsible were prosecuted, including Gustave Eiffel.[25] De Lesseps and his son Charles were found guilty of misappropriation of funds and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. This sentence was later overturned, and the father, at age 88, was never imprisoned.[19]
+
+In 1894, a second French company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama, was created to take over the project. A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession, to run the Panama Railroad, and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in saleable condition. The company sought a buyer for these assets, with an asking price of US$109,000,000. In the meantime, they continued with enough activity to maintain their franchise. Phillipe Bunau-Varilla, the French manager of the New Panama Canal Company, eventually managed to persuade de Lesseps that a lock-and-lake canal was more realistic than a sea-level canal.[26]
+
+At this time, the President and the Senate of the United States were interested in establishing a canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a canal across Nicaragua and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. Bunau-Varilla, who was seeking American involvement, asked for $100 million, but accepted $40 million in the face of the Nicaraguan option. In June 1902, the US Senate voted in favor of the Spooner Act, to pursue the Panamanian option, provided the necessary rights could be obtained.[27]
+
+On January 22, 1903, the Hay–Herrán Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Colombian Chargé Dr. Tomás Herrán. For $10 million and an annual payment, it would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal.[28] The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on March 14, 1903, but the Senate of Colombia did not ratify it. Bunau-Varilla told President Theodore Roosevelt and Hay of a possible revolt by Panamanian rebels who aimed to separate from Colombia, and hoped that the United States would support the rebels with US troops and money.
+
+Roosevelt changed tactics, based in part on the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty of 1846, and actively supported the separation of Panama from Colombia. Shortly after recognizing Panama, he signed a treaty with the new Panamanian government under terms similar to the Hay–Herrán Treaty.[29]
+
+On November 2, 1903, US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion. Panama declared independence on November 3, 1903. The United States quickly recognized the new nation.[30] On November 6, 1903, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, as Panama's ambassador to the United States, signed the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, granting rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses.  This is sometimes misinterpreted as the "99-year lease" because of misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement.[31] Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty.[32][33] This would later become a contentious diplomatic issue among Colombia, Panama, and the United States.
+
+President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The New York Times described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest." The New York Evening Post called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture." The US maneuvers are often cited as the classic example of US gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far." After the revolution in 1903, the Republic of Panama became a US protectorate until 1939.[34]
+
+In 1904, the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations, including the Panama Railroad, for US$40 million, of which $30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in the Gaillard Cut (then called the Culebra Cut), valued at about $1.00 per cubic yard.[35] The United States also paid the new country of Panama $10 million and a $250,000 payment each following year.
+
+In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty, in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia $25 million: $5 million upon ratification, and four-$5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in the Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation.
+
+The US formally took control of the canal property on May 4, 1904, inheriting from the French a depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings, infrastructure, and equipment, much of it in poor condition. A US government commission, the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), was established to oversee construction; it was given control of the Panama Canal Zone, over which the United States exercised sovereignty.[36] The commission reported directly to Secretary of War William Howard Taft and was directed to avoid the inefficiency and corruption that had plagued the French 15 years earlier.
+
+On May 6, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed John Findley Wallace, formerly chief engineer and finally general manager of the Illinois Central Railroad, as chief engineer of the Panama Canal Project. Overwhelmed by the disease-plagued country and forced to use often dilapidated French infrastructure and equipment,[37] as well as being frustrated by the overly bureaucratic ICC, Wallace resigned abruptly in June 1905.[38] He was succeeded by John Frank Stevens, a self-educated engineer who had built the Great Northern Railroad.[39] Stevens was not a member of the ICC; he increasingly viewed its bureaucracy as a serious hindrance, bypassing the commission and sending requests and demands directly to the Roosevelt administration in Washington, DC.
+
+One of Stevens' first achievements in Panama was in building and rebuilding the housing, cafeterias, hotels, water systems, repair shops, warehouses, and other infrastructure needed by the thousands of incoming workers. Stevens began the recruitment effort to entice thousands of workers from the United States and other areas to come to the Canal Zone to work, and tried to provide accommodation in which the incoming workers could work and live in reasonable safety and comfort. He also re-established and enlarged the railway, which was to prove crucial in transporting millions of tons of soil from the cut through the mountains to the dam across the Chagres River.
+
+Colonel William C. Gorgas had been appointed chief sanitation officer of the canal construction project in 1904. Gorgas implemented a range of measures to minimize the spread of deadly diseases, particularly yellow fever and malaria, which had recently been shown to be mosquito-borne following the work of Dr. Carlos Finlay and Dr. Walter Reed.[40] Investment was made in extensive sanitation projects, including city water systems, fumigation of buildings, spraying of insect-breeding areas with oil and larvicide, installation of mosquito netting and window screens, and elimination of stagnant water. Despite opposition from the commission (one member said his ideas were barmy), Gorgas persisted, and when Stevens arrived, he threw his weight behind the project. After two years of extensive work, the mosquito-spread diseases were nearly eliminated.[41] Even after all that effort, about 5,600 workers died of disease and accidents during the US construction phase of the canal.
+
+In 1905, a US engineering panel was commissioned to review the canal design, which had not been finalized. The panel recommended to President Roosevelt a sea-level canal, as had been attempted by the French. But in 1906 Stevens, who had seen the Chagres in full flood, was summoned to Washington; he declared a sea-level approach to be "an entirely untenable proposition". He argued in favor of a canal using a lock system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 85 ft (26 m) above sea level. This would create both the largest dam (Gatun Dam) and the largest man-made lake (Gatun Lake) in the world at that time. The water to refill the locks would be taken from Gatun Lake by opening and closing enormous gates and valves and letting gravity propel the water from the lake. Gatun Lake would connect to the Pacific through the mountains at the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut. Stevens successfully convinced Roosevelt of the necessity and feasibility of this alternative scheme.[42]
+
+The construction of a canal with locks required the excavation of more than 170,000,000 cu yd (130,000,000 m3) of material over and above the 30,000,000 cu yd (23,000,000 m3) excavated by the French. As quickly as possible, the Americans replaced or upgraded the old, unusable French equipment with new construction equipment that was designed for a much larger and faster scale of work. 102 large, railroad-mounted steam shovels were purchased, 77 from Bucyrus-Erie, and 25 from the Marion Power Shovel Company. These were joined by enormous steam-powered cranes, giant hydraulic rock crushers, concrete mixers, dredges, and pneumatic power drills, nearly all of which were manufactured by new, extensive machine-building technology developed and built in the United States. The railroad also had to be comprehensively upgraded with heavy-duty, double-tracked rails over most of the line to accommodate new rolling stock. In many places, the new Gatun Lake flooded over the original rail line, and a new line had to be constructed above Gatun Lake's waterline.
+
+In 1907, Stevens resigned as chief engineer.[43] His replacement, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, was US Army Major George Washington Goethals of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Soon to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and later to general, he was a strong, West Point–trained leader and civil engineer with experience of canals (unlike Stevens). Goethals  directed the work in Panama to a successful conclusion in 1914, two years ahead of the target date of June 10, 1916.[44]
+
+Goethals divided the engineering and excavation work into three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and Pacific. The Atlantic Division, under Major William L. Sibert, was responsible for construction of the massive breakwater at the entrance to Limon Bay, the Gatun locks, and their 3½ mi (5.6 km) approach channel, and the immense Gatun Dam. The Pacific Division, under Sydney B. Williamson (the only civilian member of this high-level team), was similarly responsible for the Pacific 3 mi (4.8 km) breakwater in Panama Bay, the approach channel to the locks, and the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks and their associated dams and reservoirs.[45]
+
+The Central Division, under Major David du Bose Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, was assigned one of the most difficult parts: excavating the Culebra Cut through the continental divide to connect Gatun Lake to the Pacific Panama Canal locks.[46]
+
+On October 10, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph which triggered the explosion that destroyed the Gamboa Dike. This flooded the Culebra Cut, thereby joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal.[47] Alexandre La Valley (a floating crane built by Lobnitz & Company and launched in 1887) was the first self-propelled vessel to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. This vessel crossed the canal from the Atlantic in stages during construction, finally reaching the Pacific on January 7, 1914.[48] SS Cristobal (a cargo and passenger ship built by Maryland Steel, and launched in 1902 as SS Tremont) on August 3, 1914 was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean.[49]
+
+The construction of the canal was completed in 1914, 401 years after Panama was first crossed by Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The United States spent almost $500,000,000 (roughly equivalent to $9,169,650,000 now[50]) to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. The canal was formally opened on August 15, 1914, with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon.[51]
+
+The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused a severe drop in traffic along Chilean ports due to shifts in maritime trade routes.[52][53][54]
+
+Throughout this time, Ernest "Red" Hallen was hired by the Isthmian Canal Commission to document the progress of the work.
+
+A Marion steam shovel excavating the Panama Canal in 1908
+
+The Panama Canal locks under construction in 1910
+
+The first ship to transit the canal, the SS Ancon, passes through on 15 August 1914
+
+Spanish laborers working on the Panama Canal in early 1900s
+
+By the 1930s, water supply became an issue for the canal, prompting construction of the Madden Dam across the Chagres River above Gatun Lake. Completed in 1935, the dam created Madden Lake (later Alajeula Lake), which provides additional water storage for the canal.[55] In 1939, construction began on a further major improvement: a new set of locks large enough to carry the larger warships that the United States was building at the time and planned to continue building. The work proceeded for several years, and significant excavation was carried out on the new approach channels, but the project was cancelled after World War II.[56][57]
+
+After World War II, US control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious; relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly tense. Many Panamanians felt that the Canal Zone rightfully belonged to Panama; student protests were met by the fencing-in of the zone and an increased military presence there.[58] Demands for the United States to hand over the canal to Panama increased after the Suez Crisis in 1956, when the United States used financial and diplomatic pressure to force France and the UK to abandon their attempt to retake control of the Suez Canal, previously nationalized by the Nasser regime in Egypt. Panamanian unrest culminated in riots on Martyr's Day, January 9, 1964, when about 20 Panamanians and 3–5 US soldiers were killed.
+
+A decade later, in 1974, negotiations toward a settlement began and resulted in the Torrijos–Carter Treaties. On September 7, 1977, the treaty was signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos, de facto leader of Panama. This mobilized the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal. The treaty led to full Panamanian control effective at noon on December 31, 1999, and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) assumed command of the waterway. The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama.[59][60]
+
+Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the container shipping ports located at the canal's Atlantic and Pacific outlets. The contract was not affiliated with the ACP or Panama Canal operations and was won by the firm Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong–based shipping interest owned by Li Ka-shing.[citation needed]
+
+While globally the Atlantic Ocean is east of the isthmus and the Pacific is west, the general direction of the canal passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific is from northwest to southeast, because of the shape of the isthmus at the point the canal occupies. The Bridge of the Americas (Spanish: Puente de las Américas) at the Pacific side is about a third of a degree east of the Colón end on the Atlantic side.[62] Still, in formal nautical communications, the simplified directions "southbound" and "northbound" are used.
+
+The canal consists of artificial lakes, several improved and artificial channels, and three sets of locks. An additional artificial lake, Alajuela Lake (known during the American era as Madden Lake), acts as a reservoir for the canal. The layout of the canal as seen by a ship passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific is:[63]
+
+Thus, the total length of the canal is 50 miles.
+
+Artificially created in 1913 by damming the Chagres River, Gatun Lake is an essential part of the Panama Canal, providing the millions of litres of water necessary to operate the Panama Canal locks each time a ship passes through. At the time it was formed, Gatun Lake was the largest human-made lake in the world. The impassable rainforest around the lake has been the best defense of the Panama Canal. Today these areas remain practically unscathed by human interference and are one of the few accessible areas where various native Central American animal and plant species can be observed undisturbed in their natural habitat.
+
+The largest island on Gatun Lake is Barro Colorado Island. It was established for scientific study when the lake was formed, and is operated by the Smithsonian Institution. Many important scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom originated here. Gatun Lake covers about 470 square kilometres (180 sq mi), a vast tropical ecological zone and part of the Atlantic Forest Corridor. Ecotourism on the lake has become an industry for Panamanians.
+
+Gatun Lake also provides drinking water for Panama City and Colón. Fishing is one of the primary recreational pursuits on Gatun Lake. Non-native peacock bass were introduced by accident to Gatun Lake around 1967[64] by a local businessman,[65] and have since flourished to become the dominant angling game fish in Gatun Lake. Locally called Sargento and believed to be the species Cichla pleiozona,[66] these peacock bass originate from the Amazon, Rio Negro, and Orinoco river basins, where they are considered a premier game fish.
+
+The size of the locks determines the maximum size ship that can pass through. Because of the importance of the canal to international trade, many ships are built to the maximum size allowed. These are known as Panamax vessels. A Panamax cargo ship typically has a deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 65,000–80,000 tonnes, but its actual cargo is restricted to about 52,500 tonnes because of the 12.6 m (41.2 ft) draft restrictions within the canal.[67] The longest ship ever to transit the canal was the San Juan Prospector (now Marcona Prospector), an ore-bulk-oil carrier that is 296.57 m (973 ft) long with a beam of 32.31 m (106 ft).[68]
+
+Initially the locks at Gatun were designed to be 28.5 m (94 ft) wide. In 1908, the United States Navy requested that an increased width of at least 36 m (118 ft) to allow the passage of US naval ships. Eventually a compromise was made and the locks were built 33.53 m (110.0 ft) wide. Each lock is 320 m (1,050 ft) long, with the walls ranging in thickness from 15 m (49 ft) at the base to 3 m (9.8 ft) at the top. The central wall between the parallel locks at Gatun is 18 m (59 ft) thick and over 24 m (79 ft) high. The steel lock gates measure an average of 2 m (6.6 ft) thick, 19.5 m (64 ft) wide, and 20 m (66 ft) high.[69] Panama Canal pilots were initially unprepared to handle the significant flight deck overhang of aircraft carriers. USS Saratoga knocked over all the adjacent concrete lamp posts while passing through the Gatun Locks for the first time in 1928.[70] It is the size of the locks, specifically the Pedro Miguel Locks, along with the height of the Bridge of the Americas at Balboa, that determine the Panamax metric and limit the size of ships that may use the canal.
+
+The 2006 third set of locks project has created larger locks, allowing bigger ships to transit through deeper and wider channels. The allowed dimensions of ships using these locks increased by 25 percent in length, 51 percent in beam, and 26 percent in draft, as defined by New Panamax metrics.[71]
+
+As with a toll road, vessels transiting the canal must pay tolls. Tolls for the canal are set by the Panama Canal Authority and are based on vessel type, size, and the type of cargo.[72]
+
+For container ships, the toll is assessed on the ship's capacity expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), one TEU being the size of a standard intermodal shipping container.  Effective April 1, 2016, this toll went from US$74 per loaded container to $60 per TEU capacity plus $30 per loaded container for a potential $90 per TEU when the ship is full. A Panamax container ship may carry up to 4,400 TEU. The toll is calculated differently for passenger ships and for container ships carrying no cargo ("in ballast"). As of April 1, 2016[update], the ballast rate is US$60, down from US$65.60 per TEU.
+
+Passenger vessels in excess of 30,000 tons (PC/UMS), known popularly as cruise ships, pay a rate based on the number of berths, that is, the number of passengers that can be accommodated in permanent beds. The per-berth charge since April 1, 2016 is $111 for unoccupied berths and $138 for occupied berths in the Panamax locks. Started in 2007, this fee has greatly increased the tolls for such ships.[73] Passenger vessels of less than 30,000 tons or less than 33 tons per passenger are charged according to the same per-ton schedule as are freighters. Almost all major cruise ships have more than 33 tons per passenger; the rule of thumb for cruise line comfort is generally given as a minimum of 40 tons per passenger.
+
+Most other types of vessel pay a toll per PC/UMS net ton, in which one "ton" is actually a volume of 100 cubic feet (2.83 m3). (The calculation of tonnage for commercial vessels is quite complex.) As of fiscal year 2016[update], this toll is US$5.25 per ton for the first 10,000 tons, US$5.14 per ton for the next 10,000 tons, and US$5.06 per ton thereafter.  As with container ships, reduced tolls are charged for freight ships "in ballast", $4.19, $4.12, $4.05 respectively.
+
+On 1 April 2016, a more complicated toll system was introduced, having the neopanamax locks at a higher rate in some cases, natural gas transport as a new separate category and other changes.[74]
+As of October 1, 2017, there are modified tolls and categories of tolls in effect.[75]
+Small (less than 125 ft) vessels up to 583 PC/UMS net tons when carrying passengers or cargo, or up to 735 PC/UMS net tons when in ballast, or up to 1,048 fully loaded displacement tons, are assessed minimum tolls based upon their length overall, according to the following table (as of 29 April 2015):
+
+Morgan Adams of Los Angeles, California, holds the distinction of paying the first toll received by the United States Government for the use of the Panama Canal by a pleasure boat. His boat Lasata passed through the Zone on August 14, 1914. The crossing occurred during a 6,000-mile sea voyage from Jacksonville, Florida, to Los Angeles in 1914.
+
+The most expensive regular toll for canal passage to date was charged on April 14, 2010 to the cruise ship Norwegian Pearl, which paid US$375,600.[76][77] The average toll is around US$54,000. The highest fee for priority passage charged through the Transit Slot Auction System was US$220,300, paid on August 24, 2006, by the Panamax tanker Erikoussa,[78] bypassing a 90-ship queue waiting for the end of maintenance work on the Gatun Locks, and thus avoiding a seven-day delay. The normal fee would have been just US$13,430.[79]
+
+The lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents (equivalent to $5.36 in 2019), by American Richard Halliburton who swam the Panama Canal in 1928.[80]
+
+Opponents to the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties feared that efficiency and maintenance would suffer following the US withdrawal from the Panama Canal Zone; however, this has been proven not to be the case. Capitalizing on practices developed during the American administration, canal operations are improving under Panamanian control.[81] Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it takes a vessel to navigate the canal, including waiting time, is a key measure of efficiency; according to the ACP, since 2000, it has ranged between 20 and 30 hours. The accident rate has also not changed appreciably in the past decade, varying between 10 and 30 accidents each year from about 14,000 total annual transits.[82][83][84] An official accident is one in which a formal investigation is requested and conducted.
+
+Increasing volumes of imports from Asia, which previously landed on US West Coast ports, are now passing through the canal to the American East Coast.[85] The total number of ocean-going transits increased from 11,725 in 2003 to 13,233 in 2007, falling to 12,855 in 2009. (The canal's fiscal year runs from October through September.)[86] This has been coupled with a steady rise in average ship size and in the numbers of Panamax vessels passing through the canal, so that the total tonnage carried rose from 227.9 million PC/UMS tons in fiscal year 1999 to a then record high of 312.9 million tons in 2007, and falling to 299.1 million tons in 2009.[62][86] Tonnage for fiscal 2013, 2014 and 2015 was 320.6, 326.8 and 340.8 million PC/UMS tons carried on 13,660, 13,481 and 13,874 transits respectively.[87]
+In the first decade after the transfer to Panamanian control, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) invested nearly US$1 billion in widening and modernizing the canal, with the aim of increasing capacity by 20 percent.[88] The ACP cites a number of major improvements, including the widening and straightening of the Gaillard Cut to reduce restrictions on passing vessels, the deepening of the navigational channel in Gatun Lake to reduce draft restrictions and improve water supply, and the deepening of the Atlantic and Pacific entrances to the canal. This is supported by new equipment, such as a new drill barge and suction dredger, and an increase of the tug boat fleet by 20 percent. In addition, improvements have been made to the canal's operating machinery, including an increased and improved tug locomotive fleet, the replacement of more than 16 km (10 mi) of locomotive track, and new lock machinery controls. Improvements have been made to the traffic management system to allow more efficient control over ships in the canal.[89]
+
+In December 2010, record-breaking rains caused a 17-hour closure of the canal; this was the first closure since the United States invasion of Panama in 1989.[90][91]
+The rains also caused an access road to the Centenario Bridge to collapse.[92][93][94][95]
+
+The canal is currently handling more vessel traffic than had ever been envisioned by its builders. In 1934 it was estimated that the maximum capacity of the canal would be around 80 million tons per year;[96] as noted above, canal traffic in 2015 reached 340.8 million tons of shipping.
+
+To improve capacity, a number of improvements have been made to the current canal system. These improvements aim to maximize the possible use of current locking system:[97]
+
+These improvements enlarged the capacity from 300 million PCUMS (2008) to 340 PCUMS (2012).
+These improvements were started before the new locks project, and are complementary to it.
+
+Despite having enjoyed a privileged position for many years, the canal is increasingly facing competition from other quarters. Because canal tolls have risen as ships have become larger, some critics[99] have suggested that the Suez Canal is now a viable alternative for cargo en route from Asia to the US East Coast.[100] The Panama Canal, however, continues to serve more than 144 of the world's trade routes and the majority of canal traffic comes from the "all-water route" from Asia to the US East and Gulf Coasts.[citation needed]
+
+On June 15, 2013, Nicaragua awarded the Hong Kong-based HKND Group a 50-year concession to develop a canal through the country.[101]
+
+The increasing rate of melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean has led to speculation that the Northwest Passage or Arctic Bridge may become viable for commercial shipping at some point in the future. This route would save 9,300 km (5,800 mi) on the route from Asia to Europe compared with the Panama Canal, possibly leading to a diversion of some traffic to that route. However, such a route is beset by unresolved territorial issues and would still hold significant problems owing to ice.[102]
+
+Gatun Lake is filled with rainwater, and the lake accumulates excess water during wet months. The water is lost to the oceans at a rate of 101,000 m3 (26,700,000 US gal; 22,200,000 imp gal) per downward lock cycle. Since a ship will have to go upward to Gatun Lake first and then descend, a single passing will cost double the amount; but the same waterflow cycle can be used for another ship passing in the opposite direction. The ship's submerged volume is not relevant to this amount of water.[103][104] During the dry season, when there is less rainfall, there is also a shortfall of water in Gatun Lake.[105]
+
+As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the ACP has developed an environmentally and socially sustainable program for expansion, which protects the aquatic and terrestrial resources of the canal watershed. The expansion guarantees the availability and quality of water resources by using water-saving basins at each new lock. These water-saving basins diminish water loss and preserve freshwater resources along the waterway by reusing water from the basins into the locks. Each lock chamber has three water-saving basins, which reuse 60 percent of the water in each transit. There are a total of nine basins for each of the two lock complexes, and a total of 18 basins for the entire project.[106]
+
+The mean sea level at the Pacific side is about 20 cm (8 in) higher than that of the Atlantic side due to differences in ocean conditions such as water density and weather.[107]
+
+As demand is rising for efficient global shipping of goods, the canal is positioned to be a significant feature of world shipping for the foreseeable future. However, changes in shipping patterns —particularly the increasing numbers of larger-than-Panamax ships— necessitated changes to the canal for it to retain a significant market share. In 2006 it was anticipated that by 2011, 37 percent of the world's container ships would be too large for the present canal, and hence a failure to expand would result in a significant loss of market share. The maximum sustainable capacity of the original canal, given some relatively minor improvement work, was estimated at 340 million PC/UMS tons per year; it was anticipated that this capacity would be reached between 2009 and 2012. Close to 50 percent of transiting vessels were already using the full width of the locks.[108]
+
+An enlargement scheme similar to the 1939 Third Lock Scheme, to allow for a greater number of transits and the ability to handle larger ships, had been under consideration for some time,[109] was approved by the government of Panama,[110][111] The cost was estimated at US$5.25 billion, and the expansion allowed to double the canal's capacity, allowing more traffic and the passage of longer and wider Post-Panamax ships. The proposal to expand the canal was approved in a national referendum by about 80 percent on October 22, 2006.[112]  The canal expansion was built between 2007 and 2016, though completion was originally expected by the end of 2014.[1]
+
+The expansion plan had two new flights of locks built parallel to, and operated in addition to, the old locks: one east of the existing Gatun locks, and one southwest of the Miraflores locks, each supported by approach channels. Each flight ascends from sea level directly to the level of Gatun Lake; the existing two-stage ascent at Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks was not replicated. The new lock chambers feature sliding gates, doubled for safety, and are 427 m (1,400 ft) long, 55 m (180 ft) wide, and 18.3 m (60 ft) deep. This allows the transit of vessels with a beam of up to 49 m (160 ft), an overall length of up to 366 m (1,200 ft) and a draft of up to 15 m (49 ft), equivalent to a container ship carrying around 12,000 containers, each 6.1 m (20 ft) in length (TEU).
+
+The new locks are supported by new approach channels, including a 6.2 km (3.9 mi) channel at Miraflores from the locks to the Gaillard Cut, skirting Miraflores Lake. Each of these channels are 218 m (720 ft) wide, which will require post-Panamax vessels to navigate the channels in one direction at a time. The Gaillard Cut and the channel through Gatun Lake were widened to at least 280 m (920 ft) on the straight portions and at least 366 m (1,200 ft) on the bends. The maximum level of Gatun Lake was raised from 26.7 m (88 ft) to 27.1 m (89 ft).
+
+Each flight of locks is accompanied by nine water reutilization basins (three per lock chamber), each basin being about 70 m (230 ft) wide, 430 m (1,400 ft) long and 5.50 m (18 ft) deep. These gravity-fed basins allow 60 percent of the water used in each transit to be reused; the new locks consequently use 7 percent less water per transit than each of the existing lock lanes. The deepening of Gatun Lake and the raising of its maximum water level also provide capacity for significantly more water storage. These measures are intended to allow the expanded canal to operate without constructing new reservoirs.
+
+The estimated cost of the project is US$5.25 billion. The project was designed to allow for an anticipated growth in traffic from 280 million PC/UMS tons in 2005 to nearly 510 million PC/UMS tons in 2025. The expanded canal will have a maximum sustainable capacity of about 600 million PC/UMS tons per year. Tolls will continue to be calculated based on vessel tonnage, and in some cases depend on the locks used.
+
+An article in the February 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine described the plans for the canal expansion, focusing on the engineering aspects of the expansion project.[113] There is also a follow-up article in the February 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics.[114]
+
+On September 3, 2007, thousands of Panamanians stood across from Paraíso Hill in Panama to witness a huge initial explosion and launch of the Expansion Program. The first phase of the project was the dry excavations of the 218 meters (715 feet) wide trench connecting the Gaillard Cut with the Pacific coast, removing 47 million cubic meters of earth and rock.[115] By June 2012, a 30 m reinforced concrete monolith had been completed, the first of 46 such monoliths which will line the new Pacific-side lock walls.[116] By early July 2012, however, it was announced that the canal expansion project had fallen six months behind schedule, leading expectations for the expansion to open in April 2015 rather than October 2014, as originally planned.[117] By September 2014, the new gates were projected to be open for transit at the "beginning of 2016."[118][119][120][121]
+
+It was announced in July 2009 that the Belgian dredging company Jan De Nul, together with a consortium of contractors consisting of the Spanish Sacyr Vallehermoso, the Italian Impregilo, and the Panamanian company Grupo Cusa, had been awarded the contract to build the six new locks for US$3.1 billion, which was one billion less than the next highest competing bid due to having a concrete budget 71 percent smaller than that of the next bidder and allotted roughly 25 percent less for steel to reinforce that concrete. The contract resulted in $100 million in dredging works over the next few years for the Belgian company and a great deal of work for its construction division. The design of the locks is a carbon copy of the Berendrecht Lock, which is 68 m wide and 500 m long, making it the second largest lock in the world after the Kieldrecht lock in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. Completed in 1989 by the Port of Antwerp, which De Nul helped build, the company still has engineers and specialists who were part of that project.[122]
+
+In January 2014, a contract dispute threatened the progress of the project.[123][124] There was a delay of less than two months however, with work by the consortium members reaching goals by June 2014.[125][126]
+
+In June 2015, flooding of the new locks began: first on the Atlantic side, then on the Pacific; by then, the canal's re-inauguration was slated for April 2016.[127][128][129] On March 23, 2016, the expansion inauguration was set for June 26, 2016.[130]
+
+The new locks opened for commercial traffic on 26 June 2016, and the first ship to cross the canal using the third set of locks was a modern New Panamax vessel, the Chinese-owned container ship Cosco Shipping Panama.[1] The original locks, now over 100 years old, allow engineers greater access for maintenance, and are projected to continue operating indefinitely.[108]
+
+The total cost is unknown since the expansion's contractors are seeking at least an addition US$3.4 billion from the canal authority due to excess expenses.[131]
+
+On July 7, 2014, Wang Jing, chairman of the HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd. (HKND Group) advised that a route for Nicaragua's proposed canal had been approved. The construction work was projected by HKND to begin in 2014 and take 5 years,[132] although there has been little progress whilst a series of environmental impact assessments are being made.[133] The Nicaraguan parliament has approved plans for the 280 km (174 mi) canal through Nicaragua, and according to the deal, the company will be responsible for operating and maintaining the canal for a 50-year period. The government of Nicaragua hopes this will boost the economy; the opposition is concerned with its environmental impact.  According to the independent impact assessment by British firm ERM,[133] some 30,000 local residents will be displaced by the canal, although opposition leaders and Amnesty International claim the figure will be in the hundreds of thousands.  Supporters and the environmental impact study claim there will be net environmental benefits, but critics argue that nearly 4,000 square kilometres (1 million acres) of delicate ecosystems will be destroyed by the time construction is completed.[133][134][135]
+
+China is investigating a proposal to construct a 220 km (137 mi) railway between Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts.[136][137][138][139]
+
+Individuals, companies, and governments have explored the possibility of constructing deep water ports and rail links connecting coasts as a "dry canal" in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador/Honduras. However, plans to construct these sea-rail-sea links have yet to materialize.[140]
+
+During the last one hundred years, the Panama Canal Authority has appointed a few "Panama Canal Honorary Pilots". The most recent of these were Commodore Ronald Warwick,[141] a former Master of the Cunard Liners Queen Elizabeth 2 and RMS Queen Mary 2, who has traversed the Canal more than 50 times, and Captain Raffaele Minotauro, an Unlimited Master Senior Grade, of the former Italian governmental navigation company known as the "Italian Line". This service can be requested from the Panama canal authority at any time who will consider each request.
+
+Coordinates: 9°04′48″N 79°40′48″W / 9.08000°N 79.68000°W / 9.08000; -79.68000

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+
+The Panama Canal (Spanish: Canal de Panamá) is an artificial 82 km (51 mi) waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade.  Canal locks are at each end to lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial lake created to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal, 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 32.5 m (110 ft) wide. A third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, neo-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo.[1]
+
+France began work on the canal in 1881, but stopped because of engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15, 1914. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan and the even less popular route through the Arctic Archipelago and the Bering Strait.
+
+Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. The US continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, in 1999, the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government. It is now managed and operated by the government-owned Panama Canal Authority.
+
+Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, when the canal opened, to 14,702 vessels in 2008, for a total of 333.7 million Panama Canal/Universal Measurement System (PC/UMS) tons. By 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal.[2] It takes 11.38 hours to pass through the Panama Canal.[3] The American Society of Civil Engineers has ranked the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world.[4]
+
+The earliest record related to a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was in 1534, when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, ordered a survey for a route through the Americas in order to ease the voyage for ships traveling between Spain and Peru. The Spanish were seeking to gain a military advantage over the Portuguese.[5]
+
+In 1668, the English physician and philosopher Sir Thomas Browne speculated in his encyclopaedic work, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, that "some Isthmus have been eat through by the Sea, and others cut by the spade: And if policy would permit, that of Panama in America were most worthy the attempt: it being but few miles over, and would open a shorter cut unto the East Indies and China".[6]
+
+In 1788, American Thomas Jefferson, then Minister to France, suggested that the Spanish should build the canal, since they controlled the colonies where it would be built. He said that this would be a less treacherous route for ships than going around the southern tip of South America, and that tropical ocean currents would naturally widen the canal after construction.[7] During an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for construction of a canal.[8]
+
+Given the strategic location of Panama, and the potential of its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans, other trade links in the area were attempted over the years. The ill-fated Darien scheme was launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up an overland trade route. Generally inhospitable conditions thwarted the effort, and it was abandoned in April 1700.[9]
+
+Numerous canals were built in other countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The success of the Erie Canal through central New York in the United States in the 1820s, and the collapse of the Spanish Empire in Latin America resulted in growing American interest in building an inter-oceanic canal. Beginning in 1826, US officials began negotiations with Gran Colombia (present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama), hoping to gain a concession to build a  canal. Jealous of their newly gained independence and fearing domination by the more powerful United States, president Simón Bolívar and New Granada officials declined American offers. The new nation was politically unstable, and Panama rebelled several times during the 19th century.
+
+Great Britain attempted to develop a canal in 1843. According to the New York Daily Tribune, August 24, 1843, Barings of London and the Republic of New Granada entered into a contract for construction of a canal across the Isthmus of Darien (Isthmus of Panama). They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal, and it was a wholly British endeavor. Projected for completion in five years, the plan was never carried out. At nearly the same time, other ideas were floated, including a canal (and/or a railroad) across Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec. That did not develop, either.[10]
+
+In 1846, the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, negotiated between the US and New Granada, granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus. In 1848, the discovery of gold in California, on the West Coast of the United States, generated renewed interest in a canal crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. William H. Aspinwall, who had won the federal subsidy to build and operate the Pacific mail steamships at around the same time, benefited from the gold  discovery. Aspinwall's route included steamship legs from New York City to Panama, and from Panama to California, with an overland portage through Panama. This route with an overland leg in Panama was soon frequently traveled, as it provided one of the fastest connections between San Francisco, California, and the East Coast cities, about 40 days' transit in total. Nearly all the gold that was shipped out of California went by the fast Panama route. Several new and larger paddle steamers were soon plying this new route, including private steamship lines owned by American entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt that made use of an overland route through Nicaragua.[11]
+
+In 1850 the United States began construction of the Panama Railroad (now called the Panama Railway) to cross the isthmus; it opened in 1855. This overland link became a vital piece of Western Hemisphere infrastructure, greatly facilitating trade. The later canal route was constructed parallel to it, as it had helped clear dense forests.
+
+An all-water route between the oceans was still the goal. In 1855 William Kennish, a Manx-born engineer working for the United States government, surveyed the isthmus and issued a report on a route for a proposed Panama Canal.[12] His report was published as a book entitled The Practicability and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[13]
+
+In 1877, Armand Reclus, an officer with the French Navy, and Lucien Napoléon Bonaparte Wyse, both engineers, surveyed the route and published a French proposal for a canal.[14] The French had achieved success in building the Suez Canal in the Mideast. While it was a lengthy project, they were encouraged to plan for a canal to cross the Panamanian isthmus.[15]
+
+The first attempt to construct a canal through what was then Colombia's province of Panama began on January 1, 1881. The project was inspired by the diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was able to raise considerable funds in France as a result of the huge profits generated by his successful construction of the Suez Canal.[16] Although the Panama Canal needed to be only 40 percent as long as the Suez Canal, it was much more of an engineering challenge due to the combination of tropical rain forests, debilitating climate, the need for canal locks, and the lack of any ancient route to follow.
+
+De Lesseps wanted a sea-level canal (like the Suez), but he visited the site only a few times, during the dry season which lasts only four months of the year.[17] His men were totally unprepared for the rainy season, during which the Chagres River, where the canal started, became a raging torrent, rising up to 10 m (35 ft). The dense jungle was alive with venomous snakes, insects, and spiders, but the worst challenges were yellow fever, malaria, and other tropical diseases, which killed thousands of workers; by 1884, the death rate was over 200 per month.[18] Public health measures were ineffective because the role of the mosquito as a disease vector was then unknown. Conditions were downplayed in France to avoid recruitment problems,[19] but the high mortality rate made it difficult to maintain an experienced workforce.
+
+Workers had to continually widen the main cut through the mountain at Culebra and reduce the angles of the slopes to minimize landslides into the canal.[20] Steam shovels were used in the construction of the canal, purchased from Bay City Industrial Works, a business owned by William L. Clements in Bay City, Michigan.[21] Bucket chain excavators manufactured by both Alphonse Couvreux and Wehyer & Richemond and Buette were also used.[22] Other mechanical and electrical equipment was limited in capabilities, and steel equipment rusted rapidly in the rainy climate.[23]
+
+In France, de Lesseps kept the investment and supply of workers flowing long after it was obvious that the targets were not being met, but eventually the money ran out. The French effort went bankrupt in 1889 after reportedly spending US$287,000,000; an estimated 22,000 men died from disease and accidents, and the savings of 800,000 investors were lost.[19][24] Work was suspended on May 15, and in the ensuing scandal, known as the Panama affair, some of those deemed responsible were prosecuted, including Gustave Eiffel.[25] De Lesseps and his son Charles were found guilty of misappropriation of funds and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. This sentence was later overturned, and the father, at age 88, was never imprisoned.[19]
+
+In 1894, a second French company, the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama, was created to take over the project. A minimal workforce of a few thousand people was employed primarily to comply with the terms of the Colombian Panama Canal concession, to run the Panama Railroad, and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in saleable condition. The company sought a buyer for these assets, with an asking price of US$109,000,000. In the meantime, they continued with enough activity to maintain their franchise. Phillipe Bunau-Varilla, the French manager of the New Panama Canal Company, eventually managed to persuade de Lesseps that a lock-and-lake canal was more realistic than a sea-level canal.[26]
+
+At this time, the President and the Senate of the United States were interested in establishing a canal across the isthmus, with some favoring a canal across Nicaragua and others advocating the purchase of the French interests in Panama. Bunau-Varilla, who was seeking American involvement, asked for $100 million, but accepted $40 million in the face of the Nicaraguan option. In June 1902, the US Senate voted in favor of the Spooner Act, to pursue the Panamanian option, provided the necessary rights could be obtained.[27]
+
+On January 22, 1903, the Hay–Herrán Treaty was signed by United States Secretary of State John M. Hay and Colombian Chargé Dr. Tomás Herrán. For $10 million and an annual payment, it would have granted the United States a renewable lease in perpetuity from Colombia on the land proposed for the canal.[28] The treaty was ratified by the US Senate on March 14, 1903, but the Senate of Colombia did not ratify it. Bunau-Varilla told President Theodore Roosevelt and Hay of a possible revolt by Panamanian rebels who aimed to separate from Colombia, and hoped that the United States would support the rebels with US troops and money.
+
+Roosevelt changed tactics, based in part on the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty of 1846, and actively supported the separation of Panama from Colombia. Shortly after recognizing Panama, he signed a treaty with the new Panamanian government under terms similar to the Hay–Herrán Treaty.[29]
+
+On November 2, 1903, US warships blocked sea lanes against possible Colombian troop movements en route to put down the Panama rebellion. Panama declared independence on November 3, 1903. The United States quickly recognized the new nation.[30] On November 6, 1903, Philippe Bunau-Varilla, as Panama's ambassador to the United States, signed the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty, granting rights to the United States to build and indefinitely administer the Panama Canal Zone and its defenses.  This is sometimes misinterpreted as the "99-year lease" because of misleading wording included in article 22 of the agreement.[31] Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty.[32][33] This would later become a contentious diplomatic issue among Colombia, Panama, and the United States.
+
+President Roosevelt famously stated, "I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me." Several parties in the United States called this an act of war on Colombia: The New York Times described the support given by the United States to Bunau-Varilla as an "act of sordid conquest." The New York Evening Post called it a "vulgar and mercenary venture." The US maneuvers are often cited as the classic example of US gunboat diplomacy in Latin America, and the best illustration of what Roosevelt meant by the old African adage, "Speak softly and carry a big stick [and] you will go far." After the revolution in 1903, the Republic of Panama became a US protectorate until 1939.[34]
+
+In 1904, the United States purchased the French equipment and excavations, including the Panama Railroad, for US$40 million, of which $30 million related to excavations completed, primarily in the Gaillard Cut (then called the Culebra Cut), valued at about $1.00 per cubic yard.[35] The United States also paid the new country of Panama $10 million and a $250,000 payment each following year.
+
+In 1921, Colombia and the United States entered into the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty, in which the United States agreed to pay Colombia $25 million: $5 million upon ratification, and four-$5 million annual payments, and grant Colombia special privileges in the Canal Zone. In return, Colombia recognized Panama as an independent nation.
+
+The US formally took control of the canal property on May 4, 1904, inheriting from the French a depleted workforce and a vast jumble of buildings, infrastructure, and equipment, much of it in poor condition. A US government commission, the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC), was established to oversee construction; it was given control of the Panama Canal Zone, over which the United States exercised sovereignty.[36] The commission reported directly to Secretary of War William Howard Taft and was directed to avoid the inefficiency and corruption that had plagued the French 15 years earlier.
+
+On May 6, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed John Findley Wallace, formerly chief engineer and finally general manager of the Illinois Central Railroad, as chief engineer of the Panama Canal Project. Overwhelmed by the disease-plagued country and forced to use often dilapidated French infrastructure and equipment,[37] as well as being frustrated by the overly bureaucratic ICC, Wallace resigned abruptly in June 1905.[38] He was succeeded by John Frank Stevens, a self-educated engineer who had built the Great Northern Railroad.[39] Stevens was not a member of the ICC; he increasingly viewed its bureaucracy as a serious hindrance, bypassing the commission and sending requests and demands directly to the Roosevelt administration in Washington, DC.
+
+One of Stevens' first achievements in Panama was in building and rebuilding the housing, cafeterias, hotels, water systems, repair shops, warehouses, and other infrastructure needed by the thousands of incoming workers. Stevens began the recruitment effort to entice thousands of workers from the United States and other areas to come to the Canal Zone to work, and tried to provide accommodation in which the incoming workers could work and live in reasonable safety and comfort. He also re-established and enlarged the railway, which was to prove crucial in transporting millions of tons of soil from the cut through the mountains to the dam across the Chagres River.
+
+Colonel William C. Gorgas had been appointed chief sanitation officer of the canal construction project in 1904. Gorgas implemented a range of measures to minimize the spread of deadly diseases, particularly yellow fever and malaria, which had recently been shown to be mosquito-borne following the work of Dr. Carlos Finlay and Dr. Walter Reed.[40] Investment was made in extensive sanitation projects, including city water systems, fumigation of buildings, spraying of insect-breeding areas with oil and larvicide, installation of mosquito netting and window screens, and elimination of stagnant water. Despite opposition from the commission (one member said his ideas were barmy), Gorgas persisted, and when Stevens arrived, he threw his weight behind the project. After two years of extensive work, the mosquito-spread diseases were nearly eliminated.[41] Even after all that effort, about 5,600 workers died of disease and accidents during the US construction phase of the canal.
+
+In 1905, a US engineering panel was commissioned to review the canal design, which had not been finalized. The panel recommended to President Roosevelt a sea-level canal, as had been attempted by the French. But in 1906 Stevens, who had seen the Chagres in full flood, was summoned to Washington; he declared a sea-level approach to be "an entirely untenable proposition". He argued in favor of a canal using a lock system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 85 ft (26 m) above sea level. This would create both the largest dam (Gatun Dam) and the largest man-made lake (Gatun Lake) in the world at that time. The water to refill the locks would be taken from Gatun Lake by opening and closing enormous gates and valves and letting gravity propel the water from the lake. Gatun Lake would connect to the Pacific through the mountains at the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut. Stevens successfully convinced Roosevelt of the necessity and feasibility of this alternative scheme.[42]
+
+The construction of a canal with locks required the excavation of more than 170,000,000 cu yd (130,000,000 m3) of material over and above the 30,000,000 cu yd (23,000,000 m3) excavated by the French. As quickly as possible, the Americans replaced or upgraded the old, unusable French equipment with new construction equipment that was designed for a much larger and faster scale of work. 102 large, railroad-mounted steam shovels were purchased, 77 from Bucyrus-Erie, and 25 from the Marion Power Shovel Company. These were joined by enormous steam-powered cranes, giant hydraulic rock crushers, concrete mixers, dredges, and pneumatic power drills, nearly all of which were manufactured by new, extensive machine-building technology developed and built in the United States. The railroad also had to be comprehensively upgraded with heavy-duty, double-tracked rails over most of the line to accommodate new rolling stock. In many places, the new Gatun Lake flooded over the original rail line, and a new line had to be constructed above Gatun Lake's waterline.
+
+In 1907, Stevens resigned as chief engineer.[43] His replacement, appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt, was US Army Major George Washington Goethals of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Soon to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and later to general, he was a strong, West Point–trained leader and civil engineer with experience of canals (unlike Stevens). Goethals  directed the work in Panama to a successful conclusion in 1914, two years ahead of the target date of June 10, 1916.[44]
+
+Goethals divided the engineering and excavation work into three divisions: Atlantic, Central, and Pacific. The Atlantic Division, under Major William L. Sibert, was responsible for construction of the massive breakwater at the entrance to Limon Bay, the Gatun locks, and their 3½ mi (5.6 km) approach channel, and the immense Gatun Dam. The Pacific Division, under Sydney B. Williamson (the only civilian member of this high-level team), was similarly responsible for the Pacific 3 mi (4.8 km) breakwater in Panama Bay, the approach channel to the locks, and the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks and their associated dams and reservoirs.[45]
+
+The Central Division, under Major David du Bose Gaillard of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, was assigned one of the most difficult parts: excavating the Culebra Cut through the continental divide to connect Gatun Lake to the Pacific Panama Canal locks.[46]
+
+On October 10, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph which triggered the explosion that destroyed the Gamboa Dike. This flooded the Culebra Cut, thereby joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal.[47] Alexandre La Valley (a floating crane built by Lobnitz & Company and launched in 1887) was the first self-propelled vessel to transit the canal from ocean to ocean. This vessel crossed the canal from the Atlantic in stages during construction, finally reaching the Pacific on January 7, 1914.[48] SS Cristobal (a cargo and passenger ship built by Maryland Steel, and launched in 1902 as SS Tremont) on August 3, 1914 was the first ship to transit the canal from ocean to ocean.[49]
+
+The construction of the canal was completed in 1914, 401 years after Panama was first crossed by Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The United States spent almost $500,000,000 (roughly equivalent to $9,169,650,000 now[50]) to finish the project. This was by far the largest American engineering project to date. The canal was formally opened on August 15, 1914, with the passage of the cargo ship SS Ancon.[51]
+
+The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 caused a severe drop in traffic along Chilean ports due to shifts in maritime trade routes.[52][53][54]
+
+Throughout this time, Ernest "Red" Hallen was hired by the Isthmian Canal Commission to document the progress of the work.
+
+A Marion steam shovel excavating the Panama Canal in 1908
+
+The Panama Canal locks under construction in 1910
+
+The first ship to transit the canal, the SS Ancon, passes through on 15 August 1914
+
+Spanish laborers working on the Panama Canal in early 1900s
+
+By the 1930s, water supply became an issue for the canal, prompting construction of the Madden Dam across the Chagres River above Gatun Lake. Completed in 1935, the dam created Madden Lake (later Alajeula Lake), which provides additional water storage for the canal.[55] In 1939, construction began on a further major improvement: a new set of locks large enough to carry the larger warships that the United States was building at the time and planned to continue building. The work proceeded for several years, and significant excavation was carried out on the new approach channels, but the project was cancelled after World War II.[56][57]
+
+After World War II, US control of the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it became contentious; relations between Panama and the United States became increasingly tense. Many Panamanians felt that the Canal Zone rightfully belonged to Panama; student protests were met by the fencing-in of the zone and an increased military presence there.[58] Demands for the United States to hand over the canal to Panama increased after the Suez Crisis in 1956, when the United States used financial and diplomatic pressure to force France and the UK to abandon their attempt to retake control of the Suez Canal, previously nationalized by the Nasser regime in Egypt. Panamanian unrest culminated in riots on Martyr's Day, January 9, 1964, when about 20 Panamanians and 3–5 US soldiers were killed.
+
+A decade later, in 1974, negotiations toward a settlement began and resulted in the Torrijos–Carter Treaties. On September 7, 1977, the treaty was signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos, de facto leader of Panama. This mobilized the process of granting the Panamanians free control of the canal so long as Panama signed a treaty guaranteeing the permanent neutrality of the canal. The treaty led to full Panamanian control effective at noon on December 31, 1999, and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) assumed command of the waterway. The Panama Canal remains one of the chief revenue sources for Panama.[59][60]
+
+Before this handover, the government of Panama held an international bid to negotiate a 25-year contract for operation of the container shipping ports located at the canal's Atlantic and Pacific outlets. The contract was not affiliated with the ACP or Panama Canal operations and was won by the firm Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong–based shipping interest owned by Li Ka-shing.[citation needed]
+
+While globally the Atlantic Ocean is east of the isthmus and the Pacific is west, the general direction of the canal passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific is from northwest to southeast, because of the shape of the isthmus at the point the canal occupies. The Bridge of the Americas (Spanish: Puente de las Américas) at the Pacific side is about a third of a degree east of the Colón end on the Atlantic side.[62] Still, in formal nautical communications, the simplified directions "southbound" and "northbound" are used.
+
+The canal consists of artificial lakes, several improved and artificial channels, and three sets of locks. An additional artificial lake, Alajuela Lake (known during the American era as Madden Lake), acts as a reservoir for the canal. The layout of the canal as seen by a ship passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific is:[63]
+
+Thus, the total length of the canal is 50 miles.
+
+Artificially created in 1913 by damming the Chagres River, Gatun Lake is an essential part of the Panama Canal, providing the millions of litres of water necessary to operate the Panama Canal locks each time a ship passes through. At the time it was formed, Gatun Lake was the largest human-made lake in the world. The impassable rainforest around the lake has been the best defense of the Panama Canal. Today these areas remain practically unscathed by human interference and are one of the few accessible areas where various native Central American animal and plant species can be observed undisturbed in their natural habitat.
+
+The largest island on Gatun Lake is Barro Colorado Island. It was established for scientific study when the lake was formed, and is operated by the Smithsonian Institution. Many important scientific and biological discoveries of the tropical animal and plant kingdom originated here. Gatun Lake covers about 470 square kilometres (180 sq mi), a vast tropical ecological zone and part of the Atlantic Forest Corridor. Ecotourism on the lake has become an industry for Panamanians.
+
+Gatun Lake also provides drinking water for Panama City and Colón. Fishing is one of the primary recreational pursuits on Gatun Lake. Non-native peacock bass were introduced by accident to Gatun Lake around 1967[64] by a local businessman,[65] and have since flourished to become the dominant angling game fish in Gatun Lake. Locally called Sargento and believed to be the species Cichla pleiozona,[66] these peacock bass originate from the Amazon, Rio Negro, and Orinoco river basins, where they are considered a premier game fish.
+
+The size of the locks determines the maximum size ship that can pass through. Because of the importance of the canal to international trade, many ships are built to the maximum size allowed. These are known as Panamax vessels. A Panamax cargo ship typically has a deadweight tonnage (DWT) of 65,000–80,000 tonnes, but its actual cargo is restricted to about 52,500 tonnes because of the 12.6 m (41.2 ft) draft restrictions within the canal.[67] The longest ship ever to transit the canal was the San Juan Prospector (now Marcona Prospector), an ore-bulk-oil carrier that is 296.57 m (973 ft) long with a beam of 32.31 m (106 ft).[68]
+
+Initially the locks at Gatun were designed to be 28.5 m (94 ft) wide. In 1908, the United States Navy requested that an increased width of at least 36 m (118 ft) to allow the passage of US naval ships. Eventually a compromise was made and the locks were built 33.53 m (110.0 ft) wide. Each lock is 320 m (1,050 ft) long, with the walls ranging in thickness from 15 m (49 ft) at the base to 3 m (9.8 ft) at the top. The central wall between the parallel locks at Gatun is 18 m (59 ft) thick and over 24 m (79 ft) high. The steel lock gates measure an average of 2 m (6.6 ft) thick, 19.5 m (64 ft) wide, and 20 m (66 ft) high.[69] Panama Canal pilots were initially unprepared to handle the significant flight deck overhang of aircraft carriers. USS Saratoga knocked over all the adjacent concrete lamp posts while passing through the Gatun Locks for the first time in 1928.[70] It is the size of the locks, specifically the Pedro Miguel Locks, along with the height of the Bridge of the Americas at Balboa, that determine the Panamax metric and limit the size of ships that may use the canal.
+
+The 2006 third set of locks project has created larger locks, allowing bigger ships to transit through deeper and wider channels. The allowed dimensions of ships using these locks increased by 25 percent in length, 51 percent in beam, and 26 percent in draft, as defined by New Panamax metrics.[71]
+
+As with a toll road, vessels transiting the canal must pay tolls. Tolls for the canal are set by the Panama Canal Authority and are based on vessel type, size, and the type of cargo.[72]
+
+For container ships, the toll is assessed on the ship's capacity expressed in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), one TEU being the size of a standard intermodal shipping container.  Effective April 1, 2016, this toll went from US$74 per loaded container to $60 per TEU capacity plus $30 per loaded container for a potential $90 per TEU when the ship is full. A Panamax container ship may carry up to 4,400 TEU. The toll is calculated differently for passenger ships and for container ships carrying no cargo ("in ballast"). As of April 1, 2016[update], the ballast rate is US$60, down from US$65.60 per TEU.
+
+Passenger vessels in excess of 30,000 tons (PC/UMS), known popularly as cruise ships, pay a rate based on the number of berths, that is, the number of passengers that can be accommodated in permanent beds. The per-berth charge since April 1, 2016 is $111 for unoccupied berths and $138 for occupied berths in the Panamax locks. Started in 2007, this fee has greatly increased the tolls for such ships.[73] Passenger vessels of less than 30,000 tons or less than 33 tons per passenger are charged according to the same per-ton schedule as are freighters. Almost all major cruise ships have more than 33 tons per passenger; the rule of thumb for cruise line comfort is generally given as a minimum of 40 tons per passenger.
+
+Most other types of vessel pay a toll per PC/UMS net ton, in which one "ton" is actually a volume of 100 cubic feet (2.83 m3). (The calculation of tonnage for commercial vessels is quite complex.) As of fiscal year 2016[update], this toll is US$5.25 per ton for the first 10,000 tons, US$5.14 per ton for the next 10,000 tons, and US$5.06 per ton thereafter.  As with container ships, reduced tolls are charged for freight ships "in ballast", $4.19, $4.12, $4.05 respectively.
+
+On 1 April 2016, a more complicated toll system was introduced, having the neopanamax locks at a higher rate in some cases, natural gas transport as a new separate category and other changes.[74]
+As of October 1, 2017, there are modified tolls and categories of tolls in effect.[75]
+Small (less than 125 ft) vessels up to 583 PC/UMS net tons when carrying passengers or cargo, or up to 735 PC/UMS net tons when in ballast, or up to 1,048 fully loaded displacement tons, are assessed minimum tolls based upon their length overall, according to the following table (as of 29 April 2015):
+
+Morgan Adams of Los Angeles, California, holds the distinction of paying the first toll received by the United States Government for the use of the Panama Canal by a pleasure boat. His boat Lasata passed through the Zone on August 14, 1914. The crossing occurred during a 6,000-mile sea voyage from Jacksonville, Florida, to Los Angeles in 1914.
+
+The most expensive regular toll for canal passage to date was charged on April 14, 2010 to the cruise ship Norwegian Pearl, which paid US$375,600.[76][77] The average toll is around US$54,000. The highest fee for priority passage charged through the Transit Slot Auction System was US$220,300, paid on August 24, 2006, by the Panamax tanker Erikoussa,[78] bypassing a 90-ship queue waiting for the end of maintenance work on the Gatun Locks, and thus avoiding a seven-day delay. The normal fee would have been just US$13,430.[79]
+
+The lowest toll ever paid was 36 cents (equivalent to $5.36 in 2019), by American Richard Halliburton who swam the Panama Canal in 1928.[80]
+
+Opponents to the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties feared that efficiency and maintenance would suffer following the US withdrawal from the Panama Canal Zone; however, this has been proven not to be the case. Capitalizing on practices developed during the American administration, canal operations are improving under Panamanian control.[81] Canal Waters Time (CWT), the average time it takes a vessel to navigate the canal, including waiting time, is a key measure of efficiency; according to the ACP, since 2000, it has ranged between 20 and 30 hours. The accident rate has also not changed appreciably in the past decade, varying between 10 and 30 accidents each year from about 14,000 total annual transits.[82][83][84] An official accident is one in which a formal investigation is requested and conducted.
+
+Increasing volumes of imports from Asia, which previously landed on US West Coast ports, are now passing through the canal to the American East Coast.[85] The total number of ocean-going transits increased from 11,725 in 2003 to 13,233 in 2007, falling to 12,855 in 2009. (The canal's fiscal year runs from October through September.)[86] This has been coupled with a steady rise in average ship size and in the numbers of Panamax vessels passing through the canal, so that the total tonnage carried rose from 227.9 million PC/UMS tons in fiscal year 1999 to a then record high of 312.9 million tons in 2007, and falling to 299.1 million tons in 2009.[62][86] Tonnage for fiscal 2013, 2014 and 2015 was 320.6, 326.8 and 340.8 million PC/UMS tons carried on 13,660, 13,481 and 13,874 transits respectively.[87]
+In the first decade after the transfer to Panamanian control, the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) invested nearly US$1 billion in widening and modernizing the canal, with the aim of increasing capacity by 20 percent.[88] The ACP cites a number of major improvements, including the widening and straightening of the Gaillard Cut to reduce restrictions on passing vessels, the deepening of the navigational channel in Gatun Lake to reduce draft restrictions and improve water supply, and the deepening of the Atlantic and Pacific entrances to the canal. This is supported by new equipment, such as a new drill barge and suction dredger, and an increase of the tug boat fleet by 20 percent. In addition, improvements have been made to the canal's operating machinery, including an increased and improved tug locomotive fleet, the replacement of more than 16 km (10 mi) of locomotive track, and new lock machinery controls. Improvements have been made to the traffic management system to allow more efficient control over ships in the canal.[89]
+
+In December 2010, record-breaking rains caused a 17-hour closure of the canal; this was the first closure since the United States invasion of Panama in 1989.[90][91]
+The rains also caused an access road to the Centenario Bridge to collapse.[92][93][94][95]
+
+The canal is currently handling more vessel traffic than had ever been envisioned by its builders. In 1934 it was estimated that the maximum capacity of the canal would be around 80 million tons per year;[96] as noted above, canal traffic in 2015 reached 340.8 million tons of shipping.
+
+To improve capacity, a number of improvements have been made to the current canal system. These improvements aim to maximize the possible use of current locking system:[97]
+
+These improvements enlarged the capacity from 300 million PCUMS (2008) to 340 PCUMS (2012).
+These improvements were started before the new locks project, and are complementary to it.
+
+Despite having enjoyed a privileged position for many years, the canal is increasingly facing competition from other quarters. Because canal tolls have risen as ships have become larger, some critics[99] have suggested that the Suez Canal is now a viable alternative for cargo en route from Asia to the US East Coast.[100] The Panama Canal, however, continues to serve more than 144 of the world's trade routes and the majority of canal traffic comes from the "all-water route" from Asia to the US East and Gulf Coasts.[citation needed]
+
+On June 15, 2013, Nicaragua awarded the Hong Kong-based HKND Group a 50-year concession to develop a canal through the country.[101]
+
+The increasing rate of melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean has led to speculation that the Northwest Passage or Arctic Bridge may become viable for commercial shipping at some point in the future. This route would save 9,300 km (5,800 mi) on the route from Asia to Europe compared with the Panama Canal, possibly leading to a diversion of some traffic to that route. However, such a route is beset by unresolved territorial issues and would still hold significant problems owing to ice.[102]
+
+Gatun Lake is filled with rainwater, and the lake accumulates excess water during wet months. The water is lost to the oceans at a rate of 101,000 m3 (26,700,000 US gal; 22,200,000 imp gal) per downward lock cycle. Since a ship will have to go upward to Gatun Lake first and then descend, a single passing will cost double the amount; but the same waterflow cycle can be used for another ship passing in the opposite direction. The ship's submerged volume is not relevant to this amount of water.[103][104] During the dry season, when there is less rainfall, there is also a shortfall of water in Gatun Lake.[105]
+
+As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact and member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the ACP has developed an environmentally and socially sustainable program for expansion, which protects the aquatic and terrestrial resources of the canal watershed. The expansion guarantees the availability and quality of water resources by using water-saving basins at each new lock. These water-saving basins diminish water loss and preserve freshwater resources along the waterway by reusing water from the basins into the locks. Each lock chamber has three water-saving basins, which reuse 60 percent of the water in each transit. There are a total of nine basins for each of the two lock complexes, and a total of 18 basins for the entire project.[106]
+
+The mean sea level at the Pacific side is about 20 cm (8 in) higher than that of the Atlantic side due to differences in ocean conditions such as water density and weather.[107]
+
+As demand is rising for efficient global shipping of goods, the canal is positioned to be a significant feature of world shipping for the foreseeable future. However, changes in shipping patterns —particularly the increasing numbers of larger-than-Panamax ships— necessitated changes to the canal for it to retain a significant market share. In 2006 it was anticipated that by 2011, 37 percent of the world's container ships would be too large for the present canal, and hence a failure to expand would result in a significant loss of market share. The maximum sustainable capacity of the original canal, given some relatively minor improvement work, was estimated at 340 million PC/UMS tons per year; it was anticipated that this capacity would be reached between 2009 and 2012. Close to 50 percent of transiting vessels were already using the full width of the locks.[108]
+
+An enlargement scheme similar to the 1939 Third Lock Scheme, to allow for a greater number of transits and the ability to handle larger ships, had been under consideration for some time,[109] was approved by the government of Panama,[110][111] The cost was estimated at US$5.25 billion, and the expansion allowed to double the canal's capacity, allowing more traffic and the passage of longer and wider Post-Panamax ships. The proposal to expand the canal was approved in a national referendum by about 80 percent on October 22, 2006.[112]  The canal expansion was built between 2007 and 2016, though completion was originally expected by the end of 2014.[1]
+
+The expansion plan had two new flights of locks built parallel to, and operated in addition to, the old locks: one east of the existing Gatun locks, and one southwest of the Miraflores locks, each supported by approach channels. Each flight ascends from sea level directly to the level of Gatun Lake; the existing two-stage ascent at Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks was not replicated. The new lock chambers feature sliding gates, doubled for safety, and are 427 m (1,400 ft) long, 55 m (180 ft) wide, and 18.3 m (60 ft) deep. This allows the transit of vessels with a beam of up to 49 m (160 ft), an overall length of up to 366 m (1,200 ft) and a draft of up to 15 m (49 ft), equivalent to a container ship carrying around 12,000 containers, each 6.1 m (20 ft) in length (TEU).
+
+The new locks are supported by new approach channels, including a 6.2 km (3.9 mi) channel at Miraflores from the locks to the Gaillard Cut, skirting Miraflores Lake. Each of these channels are 218 m (720 ft) wide, which will require post-Panamax vessels to navigate the channels in one direction at a time. The Gaillard Cut and the channel through Gatun Lake were widened to at least 280 m (920 ft) on the straight portions and at least 366 m (1,200 ft) on the bends. The maximum level of Gatun Lake was raised from 26.7 m (88 ft) to 27.1 m (89 ft).
+
+Each flight of locks is accompanied by nine water reutilization basins (three per lock chamber), each basin being about 70 m (230 ft) wide, 430 m (1,400 ft) long and 5.50 m (18 ft) deep. These gravity-fed basins allow 60 percent of the water used in each transit to be reused; the new locks consequently use 7 percent less water per transit than each of the existing lock lanes. The deepening of Gatun Lake and the raising of its maximum water level also provide capacity for significantly more water storage. These measures are intended to allow the expanded canal to operate without constructing new reservoirs.
+
+The estimated cost of the project is US$5.25 billion. The project was designed to allow for an anticipated growth in traffic from 280 million PC/UMS tons in 2005 to nearly 510 million PC/UMS tons in 2025. The expanded canal will have a maximum sustainable capacity of about 600 million PC/UMS tons per year. Tolls will continue to be calculated based on vessel tonnage, and in some cases depend on the locks used.
+
+An article in the February 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine described the plans for the canal expansion, focusing on the engineering aspects of the expansion project.[113] There is also a follow-up article in the February 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics.[114]
+
+On September 3, 2007, thousands of Panamanians stood across from Paraíso Hill in Panama to witness a huge initial explosion and launch of the Expansion Program. The first phase of the project was the dry excavations of the 218 meters (715 feet) wide trench connecting the Gaillard Cut with the Pacific coast, removing 47 million cubic meters of earth and rock.[115] By June 2012, a 30 m reinforced concrete monolith had been completed, the first of 46 such monoliths which will line the new Pacific-side lock walls.[116] By early July 2012, however, it was announced that the canal expansion project had fallen six months behind schedule, leading expectations for the expansion to open in April 2015 rather than October 2014, as originally planned.[117] By September 2014, the new gates were projected to be open for transit at the "beginning of 2016."[118][119][120][121]
+
+It was announced in July 2009 that the Belgian dredging company Jan De Nul, together with a consortium of contractors consisting of the Spanish Sacyr Vallehermoso, the Italian Impregilo, and the Panamanian company Grupo Cusa, had been awarded the contract to build the six new locks for US$3.1 billion, which was one billion less than the next highest competing bid due to having a concrete budget 71 percent smaller than that of the next bidder and allotted roughly 25 percent less for steel to reinforce that concrete. The contract resulted in $100 million in dredging works over the next few years for the Belgian company and a great deal of work for its construction division. The design of the locks is a carbon copy of the Berendrecht Lock, which is 68 m wide and 500 m long, making it the second largest lock in the world after the Kieldrecht lock in the port of Antwerp, Belgium. Completed in 1989 by the Port of Antwerp, which De Nul helped build, the company still has engineers and specialists who were part of that project.[122]
+
+In January 2014, a contract dispute threatened the progress of the project.[123][124] There was a delay of less than two months however, with work by the consortium members reaching goals by June 2014.[125][126]
+
+In June 2015, flooding of the new locks began: first on the Atlantic side, then on the Pacific; by then, the canal's re-inauguration was slated for April 2016.[127][128][129] On March 23, 2016, the expansion inauguration was set for June 26, 2016.[130]
+
+The new locks opened for commercial traffic on 26 June 2016, and the first ship to cross the canal using the third set of locks was a modern New Panamax vessel, the Chinese-owned container ship Cosco Shipping Panama.[1] The original locks, now over 100 years old, allow engineers greater access for maintenance, and are projected to continue operating indefinitely.[108]
+
+The total cost is unknown since the expansion's contractors are seeking at least an addition US$3.4 billion from the canal authority due to excess expenses.[131]
+
+On July 7, 2014, Wang Jing, chairman of the HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd. (HKND Group) advised that a route for Nicaragua's proposed canal had been approved. The construction work was projected by HKND to begin in 2014 and take 5 years,[132] although there has been little progress whilst a series of environmental impact assessments are being made.[133] The Nicaraguan parliament has approved plans for the 280 km (174 mi) canal through Nicaragua, and according to the deal, the company will be responsible for operating and maintaining the canal for a 50-year period. The government of Nicaragua hopes this will boost the economy; the opposition is concerned with its environmental impact.  According to the independent impact assessment by British firm ERM,[133] some 30,000 local residents will be displaced by the canal, although opposition leaders and Amnesty International claim the figure will be in the hundreds of thousands.  Supporters and the environmental impact study claim there will be net environmental benefits, but critics argue that nearly 4,000 square kilometres (1 million acres) of delicate ecosystems will be destroyed by the time construction is completed.[133][134][135]
+
+China is investigating a proposal to construct a 220 km (137 mi) railway between Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts.[136][137][138][139]
+
+Individuals, companies, and governments have explored the possibility of constructing deep water ports and rail links connecting coasts as a "dry canal" in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador/Honduras. However, plans to construct these sea-rail-sea links have yet to materialize.[140]
+
+During the last one hundred years, the Panama Canal Authority has appointed a few "Panama Canal Honorary Pilots". The most recent of these were Commodore Ronald Warwick,[141] a former Master of the Cunard Liners Queen Elizabeth 2 and RMS Queen Mary 2, who has traversed the Canal more than 50 times, and Captain Raffaele Minotauro, an Unlimited Master Senior Grade, of the former Italian governmental navigation company known as the "Italian Line". This service can be requested from the Panama canal authority at any time who will consider each request.
+
+Coordinates: 9°04′48″N 79°40′48″W / 9.08000°N 79.68000°W / 9.08000; -79.68000

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@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+
+
+The Suez Canal (Arabic: قناة السويس‎ qanāt as-suwēs) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. It is often considered to define the border between Africa and Asia. Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it officially opened on 17 November 1869. The canal offers watercraft a more direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean and Red seas, thus avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans and reducing the journey distance from the Arabian Sea to London, for example, by approximately 8,900 kilometres (5,500 mi).[1] It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km (120.11 mi) including its northern and southern access-channels. In 2012, 17,225 vessels traversed the canal (an average of 47 per day).[2]
+
+The original canal featured a single-lane waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake.[3] It contains no lock system, with seawater flowing freely through it. In general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. South of the lakes, the current changes with the tide at Suez.[4]
+
+The United Kingdom and France owned the canal until July 1956, when the President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized it—an event which led to the Suez Crisis of October–November 1956.[5] The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority[6] (SCA) of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag".[7] Nevertheless, the canal has played an important military strategic role as a naval short-cut and choke-point. Navies with coastlines and bases on both the Mediterranean and Red Seas (Egypt and Israel) have a particular interest in the Suez Canal.
+
+In August 2014, the Egyptian government launched construction to expand and widen the Ballah Bypass for 35 km (22 mi) to speed the canal's transit-time. The expansion intended to nearly double the capacity of the Suez Canal, from 49 to 97 ships per day.[8] At a cost of $8.4 billion, this project was funded with interest-bearing investment certificates issued exclusively to Egyptian entities and individuals. The "New Suez Canal", as the expansion was dubbed, was opened with great fanfare in a ceremony on 6 August 2015.[9]
+
+On 24 February 2016, the Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel. This side channel, located at the northern side of the east extension of the Suez Canal, serves the East Terminal for berthing and unberthing vessels from the terminal.  As the East Container Terminal is located on the Canal itself, before the construction of the new side channel it was not possible to berth or unberth vessels at the terminal while a convoy was running.[10]
+
+Ancient west–east canals were built to facilitate travel from the Nile River to the Red Sea.[11][12][13] One smaller canal is believed to have been constructed under the auspices of Senusret II[14] or Ramesses II.[11][12][13] Another canal, probably incorporating a portion of the first,[11][12] was constructed under the reign of Necho II, but the only fully functional canal was engineered and completed by Darius I.[11][12][13]
+
+The legendary Sesostris (likely either Pharaoh Senusret II or Senusret III of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt[14][15]) may have started work on an ancient canal joining the Nile with the Red Sea (1897 BCE – 1839 BCE), when an irrigation channel was constructed around 1850 BCE that was navigable during the flood season, leading into a dry river valley east of the Nile River Delta named Wadi Tumilat.[16] (It is said that in ancient times the Red Sea reached northward to the Bitter Lakes[11][12] and Lake Timsah.[17][18])
+
+In his Meteorology, Aristotle wrote:
+
+One of their kings tried to make a canal to it (for it would have been of no little advantage to them for the whole region to have become navigable; Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancient kings to try), but he found that the sea was higher than the land. So he first, and Darius afterwards, stopped making the canal, lest the sea should mix with the river water and spoil it.[19]
+
+Strabo wrote that Sesostris started to build a canal, and Pliny the Elder wrote:
+
+165. Next comes the Tyro tribe and, the harbour of the Daneoi, from which Sesostris, king of Egypt, intended to carry a ship-canal to where the Nile flows into what is known as the Delta; this is a distance of over 60 miles. Later the Persian king Darius had the same idea, and yet again Ptolemy II, who made a trench 100 feet wide, 30 feet deep and about 35 miles long, as far as the Bitter Lakes.[20]
+
+In the second half of the 19th century, French cartographers discovered the remnants of an ancient north–south canal past the east side of Lake Timsah and ending near the north end of the Great Bitter Lake.[21] This proved to be the celebrated canal made by the Persian king Darius I, as his stele commemorating its construction was found at the site. (This ancient, second canal may have followed a course along the shoreline of the Red Sea when it once extended north to Lake Timsah.[18][21]) In the 20th century the northward extension of this ancient canal was discovered, extending from Lake Timsah to the Ballah Lakes.[22] This was dated to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt by extrapolating the dates of ancient sites along its course.[22]
+
+The reliefs of the Punt expedition under Hatshepsut, 1470 BCE, depict seagoing vessels carrying the expeditionary force returning from Punt. This suggests that a navigable link existed between the Red Sea and the Nile.[23] Recent excavations in Wadi Gawasis may indicate that Egypt's maritime trade started from the Red Sea and did not require a canal.[citation needed] Evidence seems to indicate its existence by the 13th century BCE during the time of Ramesses II.[11][24][25][26]
+
+Remnants of an ancient west–east canal through the ancient Egyptian cities of Bubastis, Pi-Ramesses, and Pithom were discovered by Napoleon Bonaparte and his engineers and cartographers in 1799.[12][27][28][29][30]
+
+According to the Histories of the Greek historian Herodotus,[31] about 600 BCE, Necho II undertook to dig a west–east canal through the Wadi Tumilat between Bubastis and Heroopolis,[12] and perhaps continued it to the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea.[11] Regardless, Necho is reported as having never completed his project.[11][12]
+
+Herodotus was told that 120,000 men perished in this undertaking, but this figure is doubtless exaggerated.[32] According to Pliny the Elder, Necho's extension to the canal was about 57 English miles,[12] equal to the total distance between Bubastis and the Great Bitter Lake, allowing for winding through valleys.[12] The length that Herodotus tells, of over 1000 stadia (i.e., over 114 miles (183 km)), must be understood to include the entire distance between the Nile and the Red Sea[12] at that time.
+
+With Necho's death, work was discontinued. Herodotus tells that the reason the project was abandoned was because of a warning received from an oracle that others would benefit from its successful completion.[12][33] Necho's war with Nebuchadnezzar II most probably prevented the canal's continuation.
+
+Necho's project was completed by Darius I of Persia, who ruled over Ancient Egypt after it had been conquered by his predecessor Cambyses II.[34] It may be that by Darius's time a natural[12] waterway passage which had existed[11] between the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea[35] in the vicinity of the Egyptian town of Shaluf[12] (alt. Chalouf[36] or Shaloof[18]), located just south of the Great Bitter Lake,[12][18] had become so blocked[11] with silt[12] that Darius needed to clear it out so as to allow navigation[12] once again. According to Herodotus, Darius's canal was wide enough that two triremes could pass each other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse. Darius commemorated his achievement with a number of granite stelae that he set up on the Nile bank, including one near Kabret, and a further one a few miles north of Suez. The Darius Inscriptions read:[37]
+
+Saith King Darius: I am a Persian. Setting out from Persia, I conquered Egypt. I ordered this canal dug from the river called the Nile that flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. When the canal had been dug as I ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, even as I intended.
+
+The canal left the Nile at Bubastis. An inscription[38] on a pillar at Pithom records that in 270 or 269 BCE, it was again reopened, by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. In Arsinoe,[12] Ptolemy constructed a navigable lock, with sluices, at the Heroopolite Gulf of the Red Sea,[35] which allowed the passage of vessels but prevented salt water from the Red Sea from mingling with the fresh water in the canal.[39]
+
+The Red Sea is believed by some historians to have gradually receded over the centuries, its coastline slowly moving southward away from Lake Timsah[17][18] and the Great Bitter Lake.[11][12] Coupled with persistent accumulations of Nile silt, maintenance and repair of Ptolemy's canal became increasingly cumbersome over each passing century.
+
+Two hundred years after the construction of Ptolemy's canal, Cleopatra seems to have had no west–east waterway passage,[11][12] because the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, which fed Ptolemy's west–east canal, had by that time dwindled, being choked with silt.[11][12]
+
+By the 8th century, a navigable canal existed between Old Cairo and the Red Sea,[11][12] but accounts vary as to who ordered its construction—either Trajan or 'Amr ibn al-'As, or Omar the Great.[11][12] This canal was reportedly linked to the River Nile at Old Cairo[12] and ended near modern Suez.[11][40] A geography treatise by Dicuil reports a conversation with an English monk, Fidelis, who had sailed on the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the first half of the 8th century[41]
+
+The Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur is said to have ordered this canal closed in 767 to prevent supplies from reaching Arabian detractors.[11][12]
+
+Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is claimed to have repaired the Cairo to Red Sea passageway,[11][12] but only briefly, circa 1000 CE,[11][12] as it soon "became choked with sand".[12] However, we are told that parts of this canal still continued to fill in during the Nile's annual inundations.[11][12]
+
+The successful 1488 navigation of southern Africa by Bartolomeu Dias opened a direct maritime trading route to India and the spice islands, and forever changed the balance of Mediterranean trade. One of the most prominent losers in the new order, as former middlemen, was the former spice trading center of Venice.
+
+Venetian leaders, driven to desperation, contemplated digging a waterway between the Red Sea and the Nile—anticipating the Suez Canal by almost 400 years—to bring the luxury trade flooding to their doors again. But this remained a dream.
+
+Despite entering negotiations with Egypt's ruling Mamelukes, the Venetian plan to build the canal was quickly put to rest by the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, led by Sultan Selim I.[42]
+
+During the 16th century, the Ottoman Grand Vizier Sokollu Pasha attempted to construct a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. This was motivated by a desire to connect Constantinople to the pilgrimage and trade routes of the Indian Ocean, as well as by strategic concerns—as the European presence in the Indian Ocean was growing, Ottoman mercantile and strategic interests were increasingly challenged, and the Sublime Porte was increasingly pressed to assert its position. A navigable canal would allow the Ottoman Navy to connect its Red Sea, Black Sea, and Mediterranean fleets. However, this project was deemed too expensive, and was never completed.[43][44]
+
+During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria in late 1798, Napoleon showed an interest in finding the remnants of an ancient waterway passage. This culminated in a cadre of archaeologists, scientists, cartographers and engineers scouring northern Egypt.[45][46] Their findings, recorded in the Description de l'Égypte, include detailed maps that depict the discovery of an ancient canal extending northward from the Red Sea and then westward toward the Nile.[45][47]
+
+Later, Napoleon, who would become French Emperor in 1804, contemplated the construction of a north–south canal to connect the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. But the plan was abandoned because it wrongly concluded that the waterway would require locks to operate. These would be very expensive and take a long time to construct. This decision was based on an erroneous belief that the Red Sea was 10 m (33 ft) higher than the Mediterranean. The error was the result of using fragmentary survey measurements taken in wartime during Napoleon's Egyptian Expedition.[48] In 1819 the Pacha of Egypt undertook some canal work.[49]
+
+However, as late as 1861, the unnavigable ancient route discovered by Napoleon from Bubastis to the Red Sea still channeled water in spots as far east as Kassassin.[12]
+
+Although the alleged difference in sea levels could be problematic for construction, the idea of finding a shorter route to the east remained alive. In 1830, F. R. Chesney submitted a report to the British government that stated that there was no difference in elevation and that the Suez Canal was feasible, but his report received no further attention. Lieutenant Waghorn established his "Overland Route", which transported post and passengers to India via Egypt.
+
+Linant de Bellefonds, a French explorer of Egypt, became chief engineer of Egypt's Public Works. In addition to his normal duties, he surveyed the Isthmus of Suez and made plans for the Suez Canal. French Saint-Simonianists showed an interest in the canal and in 1833, Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin tried to draw Muhammad Ali's attention to the canal but was unsuccessful. Alois Negrelli, the Austrian railroad pioneer, became interested in the idea in 1836.
+
+In 1846, Prosper Enfantin's Société d'Études du Canal de Suez invited a number of experts, among them Robert Stephenson, Negrelli and Paul-Adrien Bourdaloue to study the feasibility of the Suez Canal (with the assistance of Linant de Bellefonds). Bourdaloue's survey of the isthmus was the first generally accepted evidence that there was no practical difference in altitude between the two seas. Britain, however, feared that a canal open to everyone might interfere with its India trade and therefore preferred a connection by train from Alexandria via Cairo to Suez, which was eventually built by Stephenson.
+
+In 1854 and 1856, Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Sa'id Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, to create a company to construct a canal open to ships of all nations. The company was to operate the canal for 99 years from its opening. De Lesseps had used his friendly relationship with Sa'id, which he had developed while he was a French diplomat in the 1830s. As stipulated in the concessions, Ferdinand convened the International Commission for the piercing of the isthmus of Suez (Commission Internationale pour le percement de l'isthme des Suez) consisting of 13 experts from seven countries, among them John Robinson McClean, later President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, and again Negrelli, to examine the plans developed by Linant de Bellefonds, and to advise on the feasibility of and the best route for the canal. After surveys and analyses in Egypt and discussions in Paris on various aspects of the canal, where many of Negrelli's ideas prevailed, the commission produced a unanimous report in December 1856 containing a detailed description of the canal complete with plans and profiles.[50] The Suez Canal Company (Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez) came into being on 15 December 1858.
+
+Work started on the shore of the future Port Said on 25 April 1859.
+
+The excavation took some 10 years, with forced labour (corvée) being employed until 1864 to dig-out the canal.[51] Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed, and that thousands of labourers died, many of them from cholera and similar epidemics.[52][53]
+
+The British government had opposed the project from the outset to its completion. As one of the diplomatic moves against the canal, it disapproved of the use of "slave labour" of forced workers. The British Empire was the major global naval force and officially condemned the forced work and sent armed Bedouins to start a revolt among workers. Involuntary labour on the project ceased, and the viceroy condemned the corvée, halting the project.[54]
+
+Angered by the British opportunism, de Lesseps sent a letter to the British government remarking on the British lack of remorse a few years earlier when forced workers died in similar conditions building the British railway in Egypt.
+
+Initially international opinion was skeptical and Suez Canal Company shares did not sell well overseas. Britain, Austria, and Russia did not buy a significant number of shares. However, with assistance from the Cattaui banking family, and their relationship with James de Rothschild of the French House of Rothschild bonds and shares were successfully promoted in France and other parts of Europe.[55] All French shares were quickly sold in France. A contemporary British skeptic claimed "One thing is sure... our local merchant community doesn't pay practical attention at all to this grand work, and it is legitimate to doubt that the canal's receipts... could ever be sufficient to recover its maintenance fee. It will never become a large ship's accessible way in any case."[56]
+
+The canal opened under French control in November 1869. The opening ceremonies began at Port Said on the evening of 15 November, with illuminations, fireworks, and a banquet on the yacht of the Khedive Isma'il Pasha of Egypt and Sudan. The royal guests arrived the following morning: the French Empress Eugenie in the Imperial yacht L'Aigle; the Crown Prince of Prussia; and Prince Louis of Hesse.[57] In the afternoon there were blessings of the canal with both Muslim and Christian ceremonies, a temporary mosque and church having been built side by side on the beach. In the evening there were more illuminations and fireworks.[57]
+
+On the morning of 17 November, a procession of ships entered the canal, headed by the Aigle. Among the ships following was HMS Newport, captained by George Nares which would survey the canal on behalf of the Admiralty a few months later. The Newport was involved in an incident that demonstrated some of the problems with the canal. There were suggestions that the depth of parts of the canal at the time of the inauguration were not as great as promised, and that the deepest part of the channel was not always clear, leading to a risk of grounding.[57][58][59] The first day of the passage ended at Lake Timsah, 41 nautical miles south of Port Said. The French ship Péluse anchored close to the entrance, then swung around and grounded, the ship and its hawser blocking the way into the lake. The following boats had to anchor in the canal itself until the Péluse was hauled clear the next morning, making it difficult for them to join that night's celebration in Ismailia. Except for the Newport. Nares sent out a boat to carry out soundings, and was able to manoeuver around the Péluse to enter the lake and anchor there for the night.[60][61]
+
+Ismailia was the scene of more celebrations the following day, including a military "march past", illuminations and fireworks, and a ball at the Governor's Palace. The convoy set off again on the morning of 19 November, for the remainder of the trip to Suez.[57] After Suez, many of the participants headed for Cairo, and then to the Pyramids, where a new road had been built for the occasion[62]
+
+An Anchor Line ship, the S.S. Dido, became the first to pass through the Canal from South to North.[63][64]
+
+Although numerous technical, political, and financial problems had been overcome, the final cost was more than double the original estimate.
+
+The Khedive, in particular, was able to overcome initial reservations held by both British and French creditors by enlisting the help of the Sursock family, whose deep connections proved invaluable in securing much international support for the project.[65][66]
+
+After the opening, the Suez Canal Company was in financial difficulties. The remaining works were completed only in 1871, and traffic was below expectations in the first two years. De Lesseps therefore tried to increase revenues by interpreting the kind of net ton referred to in the second concession (tonneau de capacité) as meaning a ship's cargo capacity and not only the theoretical net tonnage of the "Moorsom System" introduced in Britain by the Merchant Shipping Act in 1854. The ensuing commercial and diplomatic activities resulted in the International Commission of Constantinople establishing a specific kind of net tonnage and settling the question of tariffs in its protocol of 18 December 1873.[67] This was the origin of the Suez Canal Net Tonnage and the Suez Canal Special Tonnage Certificate, both of which are still in use today.
+
+The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade. Combined with the American transcontinental railroad completed six months earlier, it allowed the world to be circled in record time. It played an important role in increasing European colonization of Africa. The construction of the canal was one of the reasons for the Panic of 1873, because goods from the Far East were carried in sailing vessels around the Cape of Good Hope and were stored in British warehouses. An inability to pay his bank debts led Said Pasha's successor, Isma'il Pasha, in 1875 to sell his 44% share in the canal for £4,000,000 ($19.2 million) equivalent to £432 million to £456 million ($540 million to $570 million) to the government of the United Kingdom.[68] French shareholders still held the majority.[69] Local unrest caused the British to invade in 1882 and take full control, although nominally Egypt remained part of the Ottoman Empire. The British representative 1883 to 1907 was Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, who reorganized and modernized the government and suppressed rebellions and corruption, thereby facilitating increased traffic on the canal.[70]
+
+The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 declared the canal a neutral zone under the protection of the British, who had occupied Egypt and Sudan at the request of Khedive Tewfiq to suppress the Urabi Revolt against his rule. The revolt went on from 1879 to 1882. As a result of British involvement on the side of Khedive Tewfiq, Britain gained control of the canal in 1882. The British defended the strategically important passage against a major Ottoman attack in 1915, during the First World War.[71] Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the UK retained control over the canal. The canal was again strategically important in the 1939–1945 Second World War, and Italo-German attempts to capture it were repulsed during the North Africa Campaign, during which the canal was closed to Axis shipping.  In 1951 Egypt repudiated the treaty and in October 1954 the UK agreed to remove its troops. Withdrawal was completed on 18 July 1956.
+
+Because of Egyptian overtures towards the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States withdrew their pledge to support the construction of the Aswan Dam. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser responded by nationalizing the canal on 26 July 1956[72] and transferring it to the Suez Canal Authority, intending to finance the dam project using revenue from the canal. On the same day that the canal was nationalized Nasser also closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli ships.[73] This led to the Suez Crisis in which the UK, France, and Israel invaded Egypt. According to the pre-agreed war plans under the Protocol of Sèvres, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula on 29 October, forcing Egypt to engage them militarily, and allowing the Anglo-French partnership to declare the resultant fighting a threat to stability in the Middle East and enter the war – officially to separate the two forces but in reality to regain the Canal and bring down the Nasser government.[citation needed]
+
+To save the British from what he thought was a disastrous action and to stop the war from a possible escalation, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson proposed the creation of the first United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure access to the canal for all and an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. On 4 November 1956, a majority at the United Nations voted for Pearson's peacekeeping resolution, which mandated the UN peacekeepers to stay in Sinai unless both Egypt and Israel agreed to their withdrawal. The United States backed this proposal by putting pressure on the British government through the selling of sterling, which would cause it to depreciate. Britain then called a ceasefire, and later agreed to withdraw its troops by the end of the year. Pearson was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As a result of damage and ships sunk under orders from Nasser the canal was closed until April 1957, when it was cleared with UN assistance.[74] A UN force (UNEF) was established to maintain the free navigability of the canal, and peace in the Sinai Peninsula.
+
+In May 1967, Nasser ordered the UN peacekeeping forces out of Sinai, including the Suez Canal area. Israel objected to the closing of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. The canal had been closed to Israeli shipping since 1949, except for a short period in 1951–1952.
+
+After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli forces occupied the Sinai peninsula, including the entire east bank of the Suez Canal. Unwilling to allow the Israelis to use the canal, Egypt immediately imposed a blockade which closed the canal to all shipping. Fifteen cargo ships, known as the "Yellow Fleet", were trapped in the canal, and would remain there until 1975.
+
+In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, the canal was the scene of a major crossing by the Egyptian army into Israeli-occupied Sinai and a counter-crossing by the Israeli army to Egypt. Much wreckage from this conflict remains visible along the canal's edges.[75]
+
+After the Yom Kippur War, the United States initiated Operation Nimbus Moon. The amphibious assault ship USS Inchon (LPH-12) was sent to the Canal, carrying 12 RH-53D minesweeping helicopters of HM-12. These partly cleared the canal between May and December 1974. She was relieved by the LST USS Barnstable County (LST1197). The British Royal Navy initiated Operation Rheostat and Task Group 65.2 provided for Operation Rheostat One[76] (six months in 1974), the minehunters HMS Maxton, HMS Bossington, and HMS Wilton, the Fleet Clearance Diving Team (FCDT)[77] and HMS Abdiel, a practice minelayer/MCMV support ship; and for Operation Rheostat Two[78] (six months in 1975) the minehunters HMS Hubberston and HMS Sheraton, and HMS Abdiel. When the Canal Clearance Operations were completed, the canal and its lakes were considered 99% clear of mines. The canal was then reopened by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat aboard an Egyptian destroyer, which led the first convoy northbound to Port Said in 1975.[79] At his side stood the Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, delegated to represent his father, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. The cruiser USS Little Rock was the only American naval ship in the convoy.[80]
+
+The UNEF mandate expired in 1979. Despite the efforts of the United States, Israel, Egypt, and others to obtain an extension of the UN role in observing the peace between Israel and Egypt, as called for under the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, the mandate could not be extended because of the veto by the Soviet Union in the UN Security Council, at the request of Syria. Accordingly, negotiations for a new observer force in the Sinai produced the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), stationed in Sinai in 1981 in coordination with a phased Israeli withdrawal. It is there under agreements between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and other nations.[81]
+
+In the summer of 2014, months after taking office as President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the expansion of the Ballah Bypass from 61 metres (200 ft) wide to 312 metres (1,024 ft) wide for 35 kilometres (22 mi). The project was called the New Suez Canal, as it would allow ships to transit the canal in both directions simultaneously.[82][83] The project cost more than $8 billion and was completed within one year. Sisi declared the expanded channel open for business in a ceremony on 6 August 2015.[84]
+
+Suez Canal in February 1934. Air photograph taken by Swiss pilot and photographer Walter Mittelholzer
+
+USS America (CV-66), an American aircraft carrier in the Suez Canal
+
+Container ship Hanjin Kaohsiung transiting the Suez Canal
+
+When built, the canal was 164 km (102 mi) long and 8 m (26 ft) deep. After several enlargements, it is 193.30 km (120.11 mi) long, 24 m (79 ft) deep and 205 metres (673 ft) wide.[86] It consists of the northern access channel of 22 km (14 mi), the canal itself of 162.25 km (100.82 mi) and the southern access channel of 9 km (5.6 mi).[87]
+
+The so-called New Suez Canal, functional since 6 August 2015,[88] currently has a new parallel canal in the middle part, with its length over 35 km (22 mi). The current parameters of the Suez Canal, including both individual canals of the parallel section are: depth 23 to 24 metres (75 to 79 ft) and width at least 205 to 225 metres (673 to 738 ft) (that width measured at 11 metres (36 ft) of depth).[89]
+
+The canal allows passage of ships up to 20 m (66 ft) draft or 240,000 deadweight tons and up to a height of 68 m (223 ft) above water level and a maximum beam of 77.5 m (254 ft) under certain conditions.[90][91] The canal can handle more traffic and larger ships than the Panama Canal, as Suezmax dimensions are greater than both Panamax and New Panamax. Some supertankers are too large to traverse the canal. Others can offload part of their cargo onto a canal-owned boat to reduce their draft, transit, and reload at the other end of the canal.
+
+The canal has no locks because of the flat terrain, and the minor sea level difference between each end is inconsequential for shipping. As the canal has no sea surge gates, the ports at the ends would be subject to the sudden impact of tsunamis from the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea, according to a 2012 article in the Journal of Coastal Research.[92]
+
+There is one shipping lane with passing areas in Ballah-Bypass near El Qantara and in the Great Bitter Lake. On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal, two southbound and one northbound. The passage takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around 8 knots (15 km/h; 9 mph). The low speed helps prevent erosion of the banks by ships' wakes.
+
+By 1955, about two-thirds of Europe's oil passed through the canal. Around 8% of world sea trade is carried via the canal. In 2008, 21,415 vessels passed through the canal and the receipts totaled $5.381 billion,[90] with an average cost per ship of $251,000.
+
+New Rules of Navigation came into force on 1 January 2008, passed by the board of directors of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to organise vessels' transit. The most important amendments include allowing vessels with 62-foot (19 m) draught to pass, increasing the allowed breadth from 32 metres (105 ft) to 40 metres (130 ft) (following improvement operations), and imposing a fine on vessels using divers from outside the SCA inside the canal boundaries without permission. The amendments allow vessels loaded with dangerous cargo (such as radioactive or flammable materials) to pass if they conform with the latest amendments provided by international conventions.
+
+The SCA has the right to determine the number of tugs required to assist warships traversing the canal, to achieve the highest degree of safety during transit.[93]
+
+Ships moored at El Ballah during transit
+
+Predominant currents in the Mediterranean Sea for June
+
+Before August 2015, the canal was too narrow for free two-way traffic, so ships would pass in convoys and use bypasses. The by-passes were 78 km (48 mi) out of 193 km (120 mi) (40%). From north to south, they are: Port Said by-pass (entrances) 36.5 km (23 mi), Ballah by-pass & anchorage, 9 km (6 mi), Timsah by-pass 5 km (3 mi), and the Deversoir by-pass (northern end of the Great Bitter Lake) 27.5 km (17 mi). The bypasses were completed in 1980.
+
+Typically, it would take a ship 12 to 16 hours to transit the canal. The canal's 24-hour capacity was about 76 standard ships.[94]
+
+In August 2014, Egypt chose a consortium that includes the Egyptian army and global engineering firm Dar Al-Handasah to develop an international industrial and logistics hub in the Suez Canal area,[95] and began the construction of a new canal section from km 60 to km 95 combined with expansion and deep digging of the other 37 km of the canal.[96] This will allow navigation in both directions simultaneously in the 72 km long central section of the canal. These extensions were formally opened on 6 August 2015 by President Al-Sisi.[8][97][98]
+
+Post-deepening, a capesize bulk carrier approaches the Friendship Bridge
+
+Northbound convoy waits in the Great Bitter Lake as southbound convoy passes, October 2014
+
+Since the canal does not cater to unregulated two-way traffic, all ships transit in convoys on regular times, scheduled on a 24-hour basis. Each day, a single northbound convoy starts at 04:00 from Suez. At dual lane sections, the convoy uses the eastern route.[99][100][101] Synchronised with this convoy's passage is the southbound convoy. It starts at 03:30 from Port Said and so passes the Northbound convoy in the two-lane section[clarification needed].
+
+From north to south, the crossings are:
+
+A railway on the west bank runs parallel to the canal for its entire length.
+
+Six new tunnels for cars and trains are also planned across the canal.[104] Currently the Ahmed Hamdi is the only tunnel connecting Suez to the Sinai.
+
+The main alternative is around Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, commonly referred to as the Cape of Good Hope route. This was the only sea route before the canal was constructed, and when the canal was closed. It is still the only route for ships that are too large for the canal. In the early 21st century, the Suez Canal has suffered from diminished traffic due to piracy in Somalia, with many shipping companies choosing to take the long route instead.[105][106] Between 2008 and 2010, it is estimated that the canal lost 10% of traffic due to the threat of piracy, and another 10% due to the financial crisis. An oil tanker going from Saudi Arabia to the United States has 2,700 mi (4,345 km) longer to go when taking the route south of Africa rather than the canal.[107]
+
+Before the canal's opening in 1869, goods were sometimes offloaded from ships and carried overland between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.[108]
+
+In recent years, the shrinking Arctic sea ice has made the Northern Sea Route feasible for commercial cargo ships between Europe and East Asia during a six-to-eight-week window in the summer months, shortening the voyage by thousands of miles compared to that through the Suez Canal. According to polar climate researchers, as the extent of the Arctic summer ice pack recedes the route will become passable without the help of icebreakers for a greater period each summer.[109][110]
+
+The Bremen-based Beluga Group claimed in 2009 to be the first Western company to attempt using the Northern Sea Route without assistance from icebreakers, cutting 4000 nautical miles off the journey between Ulsan, Korea and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[111]
+
+Sail ships going between Europe and Australia did often prefer to go past Cape Horn when going to Europe, due to prevalent wind directions, even if it is slightly longer from Sydney to Europe this way than past Cape Agulhas.
+
+Israel has declared that it will construct a railroad through the Negev desert to compete with the canal, with construction partly financed by China.[112]
+
+The opening of the canal created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Although the Red Sea is about 1.2 m (4 ft) higher than the eastern Mediterranean,[113] the current between the Mediterranean and the middle of the canal at the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. The current south of the Bitter Lakes is tidal, varying with the tide at Suez.[4] The Bitter Lakes, which were hypersaline natural lakes, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Sea the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonise the eastern Mediterranean.[citation needed]
+
+The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the less salty and nutrient-rich eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, most Red Sea species invade the Mediterranean biota, and only few do the opposite. This migratory phenomenon is called Lessepsian migration (after Ferdinand de Lesseps) or "Erythrean invasion". Also impacting the eastern Mediterranean, starting in 1968, was the operation of Aswan High Dam across the Nile. While providing for increased human development, the project reduced the inflow of freshwater and ended all natural nutrient-rich silt entering the eastern Mediterranean at the Nile Delta. This provided less natural dilution of Mediterranean salinity and ended the higher levels of natural turbidity, additionally making conditions more like those in the Red Sea.[citation needed]
+
+Invasive species originating from the Red Sea and introduced into the Mediterranean by the canal have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have serious impacts on the ecology, endangering many local and endemic species. About 300 species from the Red Sea have been identified in the Mediterranean, and there are probably others yet unidentified. The Egyptian government's intent to enlarge the canal has raised concerns from marine biologists, fearing that this will worsen the invasion of Red Sea species.[114]
+
+Construction of the canal was preceded by cutting a small fresh-water canal called Sweet Water Canal from the Nile delta along Wadi Tumilat to the future canal, with a southern branch to Suez and a northern branch to Port Said. Completed in 1863, these brought fresh water to a previously arid area, initially for canal construction, and subsequently facilitating growth of agriculture and settlements along the canal.[115]
+
+The Suez Canal Economic Zone, sometimes shortened to the Suez Canal Zone, describes the set of locations neighbouring the canal where customs rates have been reduced to zero in order to attract investment. The zone comprises over 600 km2 within the governorates of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. Projects in the zone are collectively described as the Suez Canal Area Development Project (SCADP).[116][117]
+
+The plan focuses on development of East Port Said and the port of Ain Sokhna, and hopes to extend to four more ports at West Port Said, El-Adabiya, Arish and El Tor.[118]
+
+The zone incorporates the three "Qualifying Industrial Zones" at Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, a 1996 American initiative to encourage economic ties between Israel and its neighbors.[119]

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+
+The Suez Canal (Arabic: قناة السويس‎ qanāt as-suwēs) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. It is often considered to define the border between Africa and Asia. Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it officially opened on 17 November 1869. The canal offers watercraft a more direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean and Red seas, thus avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans and reducing the journey distance from the Arabian Sea to London, for example, by approximately 8,900 kilometres (5,500 mi).[1] It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km (120.11 mi) including its northern and southern access-channels. In 2012, 17,225 vessels traversed the canal (an average of 47 per day).[2]
+
+The original canal featured a single-lane waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake.[3] It contains no lock system, with seawater flowing freely through it. In general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. South of the lakes, the current changes with the tide at Suez.[4]
+
+The United Kingdom and France owned the canal until July 1956, when the President of Egypt, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalized it—an event which led to the Suez Crisis of October–November 1956.[5] The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority[6] (SCA) of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag".[7] Nevertheless, the canal has played an important military strategic role as a naval short-cut and choke-point. Navies with coastlines and bases on both the Mediterranean and Red Seas (Egypt and Israel) have a particular interest in the Suez Canal.
+
+In August 2014, the Egyptian government launched construction to expand and widen the Ballah Bypass for 35 km (22 mi) to speed the canal's transit-time. The expansion intended to nearly double the capacity of the Suez Canal, from 49 to 97 ships per day.[8] At a cost of $8.4 billion, this project was funded with interest-bearing investment certificates issued exclusively to Egyptian entities and individuals. The "New Suez Canal", as the expansion was dubbed, was opened with great fanfare in a ceremony on 6 August 2015.[9]
+
+On 24 February 2016, the Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel. This side channel, located at the northern side of the east extension of the Suez Canal, serves the East Terminal for berthing and unberthing vessels from the terminal.  As the East Container Terminal is located on the Canal itself, before the construction of the new side channel it was not possible to berth or unberth vessels at the terminal while a convoy was running.[10]
+
+Ancient west–east canals were built to facilitate travel from the Nile River to the Red Sea.[11][12][13] One smaller canal is believed to have been constructed under the auspices of Senusret II[14] or Ramesses II.[11][12][13] Another canal, probably incorporating a portion of the first,[11][12] was constructed under the reign of Necho II, but the only fully functional canal was engineered and completed by Darius I.[11][12][13]
+
+The legendary Sesostris (likely either Pharaoh Senusret II or Senusret III of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt[14][15]) may have started work on an ancient canal joining the Nile with the Red Sea (1897 BCE – 1839 BCE), when an irrigation channel was constructed around 1850 BCE that was navigable during the flood season, leading into a dry river valley east of the Nile River Delta named Wadi Tumilat.[16] (It is said that in ancient times the Red Sea reached northward to the Bitter Lakes[11][12] and Lake Timsah.[17][18])
+
+In his Meteorology, Aristotle wrote:
+
+One of their kings tried to make a canal to it (for it would have been of no little advantage to them for the whole region to have become navigable; Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancient kings to try), but he found that the sea was higher than the land. So he first, and Darius afterwards, stopped making the canal, lest the sea should mix with the river water and spoil it.[19]
+
+Strabo wrote that Sesostris started to build a canal, and Pliny the Elder wrote:
+
+165. Next comes the Tyro tribe and, the harbour of the Daneoi, from which Sesostris, king of Egypt, intended to carry a ship-canal to where the Nile flows into what is known as the Delta; this is a distance of over 60 miles. Later the Persian king Darius had the same idea, and yet again Ptolemy II, who made a trench 100 feet wide, 30 feet deep and about 35 miles long, as far as the Bitter Lakes.[20]
+
+In the second half of the 19th century, French cartographers discovered the remnants of an ancient north–south canal past the east side of Lake Timsah and ending near the north end of the Great Bitter Lake.[21] This proved to be the celebrated canal made by the Persian king Darius I, as his stele commemorating its construction was found at the site. (This ancient, second canal may have followed a course along the shoreline of the Red Sea when it once extended north to Lake Timsah.[18][21]) In the 20th century the northward extension of this ancient canal was discovered, extending from Lake Timsah to the Ballah Lakes.[22] This was dated to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt by extrapolating the dates of ancient sites along its course.[22]
+
+The reliefs of the Punt expedition under Hatshepsut, 1470 BCE, depict seagoing vessels carrying the expeditionary force returning from Punt. This suggests that a navigable link existed between the Red Sea and the Nile.[23] Recent excavations in Wadi Gawasis may indicate that Egypt's maritime trade started from the Red Sea and did not require a canal.[citation needed] Evidence seems to indicate its existence by the 13th century BCE during the time of Ramesses II.[11][24][25][26]
+
+Remnants of an ancient west–east canal through the ancient Egyptian cities of Bubastis, Pi-Ramesses, and Pithom were discovered by Napoleon Bonaparte and his engineers and cartographers in 1799.[12][27][28][29][30]
+
+According to the Histories of the Greek historian Herodotus,[31] about 600 BCE, Necho II undertook to dig a west–east canal through the Wadi Tumilat between Bubastis and Heroopolis,[12] and perhaps continued it to the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea.[11] Regardless, Necho is reported as having never completed his project.[11][12]
+
+Herodotus was told that 120,000 men perished in this undertaking, but this figure is doubtless exaggerated.[32] According to Pliny the Elder, Necho's extension to the canal was about 57 English miles,[12] equal to the total distance between Bubastis and the Great Bitter Lake, allowing for winding through valleys.[12] The length that Herodotus tells, of over 1000 stadia (i.e., over 114 miles (183 km)), must be understood to include the entire distance between the Nile and the Red Sea[12] at that time.
+
+With Necho's death, work was discontinued. Herodotus tells that the reason the project was abandoned was because of a warning received from an oracle that others would benefit from its successful completion.[12][33] Necho's war with Nebuchadnezzar II most probably prevented the canal's continuation.
+
+Necho's project was completed by Darius I of Persia, who ruled over Ancient Egypt after it had been conquered by his predecessor Cambyses II.[34] It may be that by Darius's time a natural[12] waterway passage which had existed[11] between the Heroopolite Gulf and the Red Sea[35] in the vicinity of the Egyptian town of Shaluf[12] (alt. Chalouf[36] or Shaloof[18]), located just south of the Great Bitter Lake,[12][18] had become so blocked[11] with silt[12] that Darius needed to clear it out so as to allow navigation[12] once again. According to Herodotus, Darius's canal was wide enough that two triremes could pass each other with oars extended, and required four days to traverse. Darius commemorated his achievement with a number of granite stelae that he set up on the Nile bank, including one near Kabret, and a further one a few miles north of Suez. The Darius Inscriptions read:[37]
+
+Saith King Darius: I am a Persian. Setting out from Persia, I conquered Egypt. I ordered this canal dug from the river called the Nile that flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. When the canal had been dug as I ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, even as I intended.
+
+The canal left the Nile at Bubastis. An inscription[38] on a pillar at Pithom records that in 270 or 269 BCE, it was again reopened, by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. In Arsinoe,[12] Ptolemy constructed a navigable lock, with sluices, at the Heroopolite Gulf of the Red Sea,[35] which allowed the passage of vessels but prevented salt water from the Red Sea from mingling with the fresh water in the canal.[39]
+
+The Red Sea is believed by some historians to have gradually receded over the centuries, its coastline slowly moving southward away from Lake Timsah[17][18] and the Great Bitter Lake.[11][12] Coupled with persistent accumulations of Nile silt, maintenance and repair of Ptolemy's canal became increasingly cumbersome over each passing century.
+
+Two hundred years after the construction of Ptolemy's canal, Cleopatra seems to have had no west–east waterway passage,[11][12] because the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, which fed Ptolemy's west–east canal, had by that time dwindled, being choked with silt.[11][12]
+
+By the 8th century, a navigable canal existed between Old Cairo and the Red Sea,[11][12] but accounts vary as to who ordered its construction—either Trajan or 'Amr ibn al-'As, or Omar the Great.[11][12] This canal was reportedly linked to the River Nile at Old Cairo[12] and ended near modern Suez.[11][40] A geography treatise by Dicuil reports a conversation with an English monk, Fidelis, who had sailed on the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the first half of the 8th century[41]
+
+The Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur is said to have ordered this canal closed in 767 to prevent supplies from reaching Arabian detractors.[11][12]
+
+Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah is claimed to have repaired the Cairo to Red Sea passageway,[11][12] but only briefly, circa 1000 CE,[11][12] as it soon "became choked with sand".[12] However, we are told that parts of this canal still continued to fill in during the Nile's annual inundations.[11][12]
+
+The successful 1488 navigation of southern Africa by Bartolomeu Dias opened a direct maritime trading route to India and the spice islands, and forever changed the balance of Mediterranean trade. One of the most prominent losers in the new order, as former middlemen, was the former spice trading center of Venice.
+
+Venetian leaders, driven to desperation, contemplated digging a waterway between the Red Sea and the Nile—anticipating the Suez Canal by almost 400 years—to bring the luxury trade flooding to their doors again. But this remained a dream.
+
+Despite entering negotiations with Egypt's ruling Mamelukes, the Venetian plan to build the canal was quickly put to rest by the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517, led by Sultan Selim I.[42]
+
+During the 16th century, the Ottoman Grand Vizier Sokollu Pasha attempted to construct a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. This was motivated by a desire to connect Constantinople to the pilgrimage and trade routes of the Indian Ocean, as well as by strategic concerns—as the European presence in the Indian Ocean was growing, Ottoman mercantile and strategic interests were increasingly challenged, and the Sublime Porte was increasingly pressed to assert its position. A navigable canal would allow the Ottoman Navy to connect its Red Sea, Black Sea, and Mediterranean fleets. However, this project was deemed too expensive, and was never completed.[43][44]
+
+During the French campaign in Egypt and Syria in late 1798, Napoleon showed an interest in finding the remnants of an ancient waterway passage. This culminated in a cadre of archaeologists, scientists, cartographers and engineers scouring northern Egypt.[45][46] Their findings, recorded in the Description de l'Égypte, include detailed maps that depict the discovery of an ancient canal extending northward from the Red Sea and then westward toward the Nile.[45][47]
+
+Later, Napoleon, who would become French Emperor in 1804, contemplated the construction of a north–south canal to connect the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. But the plan was abandoned because it wrongly concluded that the waterway would require locks to operate. These would be very expensive and take a long time to construct. This decision was based on an erroneous belief that the Red Sea was 10 m (33 ft) higher than the Mediterranean. The error was the result of using fragmentary survey measurements taken in wartime during Napoleon's Egyptian Expedition.[48] In 1819 the Pacha of Egypt undertook some canal work.[49]
+
+However, as late as 1861, the unnavigable ancient route discovered by Napoleon from Bubastis to the Red Sea still channeled water in spots as far east as Kassassin.[12]
+
+Although the alleged difference in sea levels could be problematic for construction, the idea of finding a shorter route to the east remained alive. In 1830, F. R. Chesney submitted a report to the British government that stated that there was no difference in elevation and that the Suez Canal was feasible, but his report received no further attention. Lieutenant Waghorn established his "Overland Route", which transported post and passengers to India via Egypt.
+
+Linant de Bellefonds, a French explorer of Egypt, became chief engineer of Egypt's Public Works. In addition to his normal duties, he surveyed the Isthmus of Suez and made plans for the Suez Canal. French Saint-Simonianists showed an interest in the canal and in 1833, Barthélemy Prosper Enfantin tried to draw Muhammad Ali's attention to the canal but was unsuccessful. Alois Negrelli, the Austrian railroad pioneer, became interested in the idea in 1836.
+
+In 1846, Prosper Enfantin's Société d'Études du Canal de Suez invited a number of experts, among them Robert Stephenson, Negrelli and Paul-Adrien Bourdaloue to study the feasibility of the Suez Canal (with the assistance of Linant de Bellefonds). Bourdaloue's survey of the isthmus was the first generally accepted evidence that there was no practical difference in altitude between the two seas. Britain, however, feared that a canal open to everyone might interfere with its India trade and therefore preferred a connection by train from Alexandria via Cairo to Suez, which was eventually built by Stephenson.
+
+In 1854 and 1856, Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from Sa'id Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, to create a company to construct a canal open to ships of all nations. The company was to operate the canal for 99 years from its opening. De Lesseps had used his friendly relationship with Sa'id, which he had developed while he was a French diplomat in the 1830s. As stipulated in the concessions, Ferdinand convened the International Commission for the piercing of the isthmus of Suez (Commission Internationale pour le percement de l'isthme des Suez) consisting of 13 experts from seven countries, among them John Robinson McClean, later President of the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, and again Negrelli, to examine the plans developed by Linant de Bellefonds, and to advise on the feasibility of and the best route for the canal. After surveys and analyses in Egypt and discussions in Paris on various aspects of the canal, where many of Negrelli's ideas prevailed, the commission produced a unanimous report in December 1856 containing a detailed description of the canal complete with plans and profiles.[50] The Suez Canal Company (Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez) came into being on 15 December 1858.
+
+Work started on the shore of the future Port Said on 25 April 1859.
+
+The excavation took some 10 years, with forced labour (corvée) being employed until 1864 to dig-out the canal.[51] Some sources estimate that over 30,000 people were working on the canal at any given period, that more than 1.5 million people from various countries were employed, and that thousands of labourers died, many of them from cholera and similar epidemics.[52][53]
+
+The British government had opposed the project from the outset to its completion. As one of the diplomatic moves against the canal, it disapproved of the use of "slave labour" of forced workers. The British Empire was the major global naval force and officially condemned the forced work and sent armed Bedouins to start a revolt among workers. Involuntary labour on the project ceased, and the viceroy condemned the corvée, halting the project.[54]
+
+Angered by the British opportunism, de Lesseps sent a letter to the British government remarking on the British lack of remorse a few years earlier when forced workers died in similar conditions building the British railway in Egypt.
+
+Initially international opinion was skeptical and Suez Canal Company shares did not sell well overseas. Britain, Austria, and Russia did not buy a significant number of shares. However, with assistance from the Cattaui banking family, and their relationship with James de Rothschild of the French House of Rothschild bonds and shares were successfully promoted in France and other parts of Europe.[55] All French shares were quickly sold in France. A contemporary British skeptic claimed "One thing is sure... our local merchant community doesn't pay practical attention at all to this grand work, and it is legitimate to doubt that the canal's receipts... could ever be sufficient to recover its maintenance fee. It will never become a large ship's accessible way in any case."[56]
+
+The canal opened under French control in November 1869. The opening ceremonies began at Port Said on the evening of 15 November, with illuminations, fireworks, and a banquet on the yacht of the Khedive Isma'il Pasha of Egypt and Sudan. The royal guests arrived the following morning: the French Empress Eugenie in the Imperial yacht L'Aigle; the Crown Prince of Prussia; and Prince Louis of Hesse.[57] In the afternoon there were blessings of the canal with both Muslim and Christian ceremonies, a temporary mosque and church having been built side by side on the beach. In the evening there were more illuminations and fireworks.[57]
+
+On the morning of 17 November, a procession of ships entered the canal, headed by the Aigle. Among the ships following was HMS Newport, captained by George Nares which would survey the canal on behalf of the Admiralty a few months later. The Newport was involved in an incident that demonstrated some of the problems with the canal. There were suggestions that the depth of parts of the canal at the time of the inauguration were not as great as promised, and that the deepest part of the channel was not always clear, leading to a risk of grounding.[57][58][59] The first day of the passage ended at Lake Timsah, 41 nautical miles south of Port Said. The French ship Péluse anchored close to the entrance, then swung around and grounded, the ship and its hawser blocking the way into the lake. The following boats had to anchor in the canal itself until the Péluse was hauled clear the next morning, making it difficult for them to join that night's celebration in Ismailia. Except for the Newport. Nares sent out a boat to carry out soundings, and was able to manoeuver around the Péluse to enter the lake and anchor there for the night.[60][61]
+
+Ismailia was the scene of more celebrations the following day, including a military "march past", illuminations and fireworks, and a ball at the Governor's Palace. The convoy set off again on the morning of 19 November, for the remainder of the trip to Suez.[57] After Suez, many of the participants headed for Cairo, and then to the Pyramids, where a new road had been built for the occasion[62]
+
+An Anchor Line ship, the S.S. Dido, became the first to pass through the Canal from South to North.[63][64]
+
+Although numerous technical, political, and financial problems had been overcome, the final cost was more than double the original estimate.
+
+The Khedive, in particular, was able to overcome initial reservations held by both British and French creditors by enlisting the help of the Sursock family, whose deep connections proved invaluable in securing much international support for the project.[65][66]
+
+After the opening, the Suez Canal Company was in financial difficulties. The remaining works were completed only in 1871, and traffic was below expectations in the first two years. De Lesseps therefore tried to increase revenues by interpreting the kind of net ton referred to in the second concession (tonneau de capacité) as meaning a ship's cargo capacity and not only the theoretical net tonnage of the "Moorsom System" introduced in Britain by the Merchant Shipping Act in 1854. The ensuing commercial and diplomatic activities resulted in the International Commission of Constantinople establishing a specific kind of net tonnage and settling the question of tariffs in its protocol of 18 December 1873.[67] This was the origin of the Suez Canal Net Tonnage and the Suez Canal Special Tonnage Certificate, both of which are still in use today.
+
+The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade. Combined with the American transcontinental railroad completed six months earlier, it allowed the world to be circled in record time. It played an important role in increasing European colonization of Africa. The construction of the canal was one of the reasons for the Panic of 1873, because goods from the Far East were carried in sailing vessels around the Cape of Good Hope and were stored in British warehouses. An inability to pay his bank debts led Said Pasha's successor, Isma'il Pasha, in 1875 to sell his 44% share in the canal for £4,000,000 ($19.2 million) equivalent to £432 million to £456 million ($540 million to $570 million) to the government of the United Kingdom.[68] French shareholders still held the majority.[69] Local unrest caused the British to invade in 1882 and take full control, although nominally Egypt remained part of the Ottoman Empire. The British representative 1883 to 1907 was Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer, who reorganized and modernized the government and suppressed rebellions and corruption, thereby facilitating increased traffic on the canal.[70]
+
+The Convention of Constantinople in 1888 declared the canal a neutral zone under the protection of the British, who had occupied Egypt and Sudan at the request of Khedive Tewfiq to suppress the Urabi Revolt against his rule. The revolt went on from 1879 to 1882. As a result of British involvement on the side of Khedive Tewfiq, Britain gained control of the canal in 1882. The British defended the strategically important passage against a major Ottoman attack in 1915, during the First World War.[71] Under the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the UK retained control over the canal. The canal was again strategically important in the 1939–1945 Second World War, and Italo-German attempts to capture it were repulsed during the North Africa Campaign, during which the canal was closed to Axis shipping.  In 1951 Egypt repudiated the treaty and in October 1954 the UK agreed to remove its troops. Withdrawal was completed on 18 July 1956.
+
+Because of Egyptian overtures towards the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States withdrew their pledge to support the construction of the Aswan Dam. Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser responded by nationalizing the canal on 26 July 1956[72] and transferring it to the Suez Canal Authority, intending to finance the dam project using revenue from the canal. On the same day that the canal was nationalized Nasser also closed the Straits of Tiran to all Israeli ships.[73] This led to the Suez Crisis in which the UK, France, and Israel invaded Egypt. According to the pre-agreed war plans under the Protocol of Sèvres, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula on 29 October, forcing Egypt to engage them militarily, and allowing the Anglo-French partnership to declare the resultant fighting a threat to stability in the Middle East and enter the war – officially to separate the two forces but in reality to regain the Canal and bring down the Nasser government.[citation needed]
+
+To save the British from what he thought was a disastrous action and to stop the war from a possible escalation, Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Lester B. Pearson proposed the creation of the first United Nations peacekeeping force to ensure access to the canal for all and an Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. On 4 November 1956, a majority at the United Nations voted for Pearson's peacekeeping resolution, which mandated the UN peacekeepers to stay in Sinai unless both Egypt and Israel agreed to their withdrawal. The United States backed this proposal by putting pressure on the British government through the selling of sterling, which would cause it to depreciate. Britain then called a ceasefire, and later agreed to withdraw its troops by the end of the year. Pearson was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. As a result of damage and ships sunk under orders from Nasser the canal was closed until April 1957, when it was cleared with UN assistance.[74] A UN force (UNEF) was established to maintain the free navigability of the canal, and peace in the Sinai Peninsula.
+
+In May 1967, Nasser ordered the UN peacekeeping forces out of Sinai, including the Suez Canal area. Israel objected to the closing of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. The canal had been closed to Israeli shipping since 1949, except for a short period in 1951–1952.
+
+After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli forces occupied the Sinai peninsula, including the entire east bank of the Suez Canal. Unwilling to allow the Israelis to use the canal, Egypt immediately imposed a blockade which closed the canal to all shipping. Fifteen cargo ships, known as the "Yellow Fleet", were trapped in the canal, and would remain there until 1975.
+
+In 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, the canal was the scene of a major crossing by the Egyptian army into Israeli-occupied Sinai and a counter-crossing by the Israeli army to Egypt. Much wreckage from this conflict remains visible along the canal's edges.[75]
+
+After the Yom Kippur War, the United States initiated Operation Nimbus Moon. The amphibious assault ship USS Inchon (LPH-12) was sent to the Canal, carrying 12 RH-53D minesweeping helicopters of HM-12. These partly cleared the canal between May and December 1974. She was relieved by the LST USS Barnstable County (LST1197). The British Royal Navy initiated Operation Rheostat and Task Group 65.2 provided for Operation Rheostat One[76] (six months in 1974), the minehunters HMS Maxton, HMS Bossington, and HMS Wilton, the Fleet Clearance Diving Team (FCDT)[77] and HMS Abdiel, a practice minelayer/MCMV support ship; and for Operation Rheostat Two[78] (six months in 1975) the minehunters HMS Hubberston and HMS Sheraton, and HMS Abdiel. When the Canal Clearance Operations were completed, the canal and its lakes were considered 99% clear of mines. The canal was then reopened by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat aboard an Egyptian destroyer, which led the first convoy northbound to Port Said in 1975.[79] At his side stood the Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, delegated to represent his father, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. The cruiser USS Little Rock was the only American naval ship in the convoy.[80]
+
+The UNEF mandate expired in 1979. Despite the efforts of the United States, Israel, Egypt, and others to obtain an extension of the UN role in observing the peace between Israel and Egypt, as called for under the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty of 1979, the mandate could not be extended because of the veto by the Soviet Union in the UN Security Council, at the request of Syria. Accordingly, negotiations for a new observer force in the Sinai produced the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), stationed in Sinai in 1981 in coordination with a phased Israeli withdrawal. It is there under agreements between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and other nations.[81]
+
+In the summer of 2014, months after taking office as President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered the expansion of the Ballah Bypass from 61 metres (200 ft) wide to 312 metres (1,024 ft) wide for 35 kilometres (22 mi). The project was called the New Suez Canal, as it would allow ships to transit the canal in both directions simultaneously.[82][83] The project cost more than $8 billion and was completed within one year. Sisi declared the expanded channel open for business in a ceremony on 6 August 2015.[84]
+
+Suez Canal in February 1934. Air photograph taken by Swiss pilot and photographer Walter Mittelholzer
+
+USS America (CV-66), an American aircraft carrier in the Suez Canal
+
+Container ship Hanjin Kaohsiung transiting the Suez Canal
+
+When built, the canal was 164 km (102 mi) long and 8 m (26 ft) deep. After several enlargements, it is 193.30 km (120.11 mi) long, 24 m (79 ft) deep and 205 metres (673 ft) wide.[86] It consists of the northern access channel of 22 km (14 mi), the canal itself of 162.25 km (100.82 mi) and the southern access channel of 9 km (5.6 mi).[87]
+
+The so-called New Suez Canal, functional since 6 August 2015,[88] currently has a new parallel canal in the middle part, with its length over 35 km (22 mi). The current parameters of the Suez Canal, including both individual canals of the parallel section are: depth 23 to 24 metres (75 to 79 ft) and width at least 205 to 225 metres (673 to 738 ft) (that width measured at 11 metres (36 ft) of depth).[89]
+
+The canal allows passage of ships up to 20 m (66 ft) draft or 240,000 deadweight tons and up to a height of 68 m (223 ft) above water level and a maximum beam of 77.5 m (254 ft) under certain conditions.[90][91] The canal can handle more traffic and larger ships than the Panama Canal, as Suezmax dimensions are greater than both Panamax and New Panamax. Some supertankers are too large to traverse the canal. Others can offload part of their cargo onto a canal-owned boat to reduce their draft, transit, and reload at the other end of the canal.
+
+The canal has no locks because of the flat terrain, and the minor sea level difference between each end is inconsequential for shipping. As the canal has no sea surge gates, the ports at the ends would be subject to the sudden impact of tsunamis from the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea, according to a 2012 article in the Journal of Coastal Research.[92]
+
+There is one shipping lane with passing areas in Ballah-Bypass near El Qantara and in the Great Bitter Lake. On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal, two southbound and one northbound. The passage takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around 8 knots (15 km/h; 9 mph). The low speed helps prevent erosion of the banks by ships' wakes.
+
+By 1955, about two-thirds of Europe's oil passed through the canal. Around 8% of world sea trade is carried via the canal. In 2008, 21,415 vessels passed through the canal and the receipts totaled $5.381 billion,[90] with an average cost per ship of $251,000.
+
+New Rules of Navigation came into force on 1 January 2008, passed by the board of directors of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to organise vessels' transit. The most important amendments include allowing vessels with 62-foot (19 m) draught to pass, increasing the allowed breadth from 32 metres (105 ft) to 40 metres (130 ft) (following improvement operations), and imposing a fine on vessels using divers from outside the SCA inside the canal boundaries without permission. The amendments allow vessels loaded with dangerous cargo (such as radioactive or flammable materials) to pass if they conform with the latest amendments provided by international conventions.
+
+The SCA has the right to determine the number of tugs required to assist warships traversing the canal, to achieve the highest degree of safety during transit.[93]
+
+Ships moored at El Ballah during transit
+
+Predominant currents in the Mediterranean Sea for June
+
+Before August 2015, the canal was too narrow for free two-way traffic, so ships would pass in convoys and use bypasses. The by-passes were 78 km (48 mi) out of 193 km (120 mi) (40%). From north to south, they are: Port Said by-pass (entrances) 36.5 km (23 mi), Ballah by-pass & anchorage, 9 km (6 mi), Timsah by-pass 5 km (3 mi), and the Deversoir by-pass (northern end of the Great Bitter Lake) 27.5 km (17 mi). The bypasses were completed in 1980.
+
+Typically, it would take a ship 12 to 16 hours to transit the canal. The canal's 24-hour capacity was about 76 standard ships.[94]
+
+In August 2014, Egypt chose a consortium that includes the Egyptian army and global engineering firm Dar Al-Handasah to develop an international industrial and logistics hub in the Suez Canal area,[95] and began the construction of a new canal section from km 60 to km 95 combined with expansion and deep digging of the other 37 km of the canal.[96] This will allow navigation in both directions simultaneously in the 72 km long central section of the canal. These extensions were formally opened on 6 August 2015 by President Al-Sisi.[8][97][98]
+
+Post-deepening, a capesize bulk carrier approaches the Friendship Bridge
+
+Northbound convoy waits in the Great Bitter Lake as southbound convoy passes, October 2014
+
+Since the canal does not cater to unregulated two-way traffic, all ships transit in convoys on regular times, scheduled on a 24-hour basis. Each day, a single northbound convoy starts at 04:00 from Suez. At dual lane sections, the convoy uses the eastern route.[99][100][101] Synchronised with this convoy's passage is the southbound convoy. It starts at 03:30 from Port Said and so passes the Northbound convoy in the two-lane section[clarification needed].
+
+From north to south, the crossings are:
+
+A railway on the west bank runs parallel to the canal for its entire length.
+
+Six new tunnels for cars and trains are also planned across the canal.[104] Currently the Ahmed Hamdi is the only tunnel connecting Suez to the Sinai.
+
+The main alternative is around Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, commonly referred to as the Cape of Good Hope route. This was the only sea route before the canal was constructed, and when the canal was closed. It is still the only route for ships that are too large for the canal. In the early 21st century, the Suez Canal has suffered from diminished traffic due to piracy in Somalia, with many shipping companies choosing to take the long route instead.[105][106] Between 2008 and 2010, it is estimated that the canal lost 10% of traffic due to the threat of piracy, and another 10% due to the financial crisis. An oil tanker going from Saudi Arabia to the United States has 2,700 mi (4,345 km) longer to go when taking the route south of Africa rather than the canal.[107]
+
+Before the canal's opening in 1869, goods were sometimes offloaded from ships and carried overland between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.[108]
+
+In recent years, the shrinking Arctic sea ice has made the Northern Sea Route feasible for commercial cargo ships between Europe and East Asia during a six-to-eight-week window in the summer months, shortening the voyage by thousands of miles compared to that through the Suez Canal. According to polar climate researchers, as the extent of the Arctic summer ice pack recedes the route will become passable without the help of icebreakers for a greater period each summer.[109][110]
+
+The Bremen-based Beluga Group claimed in 2009 to be the first Western company to attempt using the Northern Sea Route without assistance from icebreakers, cutting 4000 nautical miles off the journey between Ulsan, Korea and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.[111]
+
+Sail ships going between Europe and Australia did often prefer to go past Cape Horn when going to Europe, due to prevalent wind directions, even if it is slightly longer from Sydney to Europe this way than past Cape Agulhas.
+
+Israel has declared that it will construct a railroad through the Negev desert to compete with the canal, with construction partly financed by China.[112]
+
+The opening of the canal created the first salt-water passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Although the Red Sea is about 1.2 m (4 ft) higher than the eastern Mediterranean,[113] the current between the Mediterranean and the middle of the canal at the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. The current south of the Bitter Lakes is tidal, varying with the tide at Suez.[4] The Bitter Lakes, which were hypersaline natural lakes, blocked the migration of Red Sea species into the Mediterranean for many decades, but as the salinity of the lakes gradually equalised with that of the Red Sea the barrier to migration was removed, and plants and animals from the Red Sea have begun to colonise the eastern Mediterranean.[citation needed]
+
+The Red Sea is generally saltier and more nutrient-poor than the Atlantic, so the Red Sea species have advantages over Atlantic species in the less salty and nutrient-rich eastern Mediterranean. Accordingly, most Red Sea species invade the Mediterranean biota, and only few do the opposite. This migratory phenomenon is called Lessepsian migration (after Ferdinand de Lesseps) or "Erythrean invasion". Also impacting the eastern Mediterranean, starting in 1968, was the operation of Aswan High Dam across the Nile. While providing for increased human development, the project reduced the inflow of freshwater and ended all natural nutrient-rich silt entering the eastern Mediterranean at the Nile Delta. This provided less natural dilution of Mediterranean salinity and ended the higher levels of natural turbidity, additionally making conditions more like those in the Red Sea.[citation needed]
+
+Invasive species originating from the Red Sea and introduced into the Mediterranean by the canal have become a major component of the Mediterranean ecosystem and have serious impacts on the ecology, endangering many local and endemic species. About 300 species from the Red Sea have been identified in the Mediterranean, and there are probably others yet unidentified. The Egyptian government's intent to enlarge the canal has raised concerns from marine biologists, fearing that this will worsen the invasion of Red Sea species.[114]
+
+Construction of the canal was preceded by cutting a small fresh-water canal called Sweet Water Canal from the Nile delta along Wadi Tumilat to the future canal, with a southern branch to Suez and a northern branch to Port Said. Completed in 1863, these brought fresh water to a previously arid area, initially for canal construction, and subsequently facilitating growth of agriculture and settlements along the canal.[115]
+
+The Suez Canal Economic Zone, sometimes shortened to the Suez Canal Zone, describes the set of locations neighbouring the canal where customs rates have been reduced to zero in order to attract investment. The zone comprises over 600 km2 within the governorates of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez. Projects in the zone are collectively described as the Suez Canal Area Development Project (SCADP).[116][117]
+
+The plan focuses on development of East Port Said and the port of Ain Sokhna, and hopes to extend to four more ports at West Port Said, El-Adabiya, Arish and El Tor.[118]
+
+The zone incorporates the three "Qualifying Industrial Zones" at Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, a 1996 American initiative to encourage economic ties between Israel and its neighbors.[119]

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+Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma,[7] is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung.[11] This growth can spread beyond the lung by the process of metastasis into nearby tissue or other parts of the body.[12] Most cancers that start in the lung, known as primary lung cancers, are carcinomas.[13] The two main types are small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).[3] The most common symptoms are coughing (including coughing up blood), weight loss, shortness of breath, and chest pains.[1]
+
+The vast majority (85%) of cases of lung cancer are due to long-term tobacco smoking.[4] About 10–15% of cases occur in people who have never smoked.[14] These cases are often caused by a combination of genetic factors and exposure to radon gas, asbestos, second-hand smoke, or other forms of air pollution.[4][5][15][16] Lung cancer may be seen on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans.[7] The diagnosis is confirmed by biopsy which is usually performed by bronchoscopy or CT-guidance.[6][17]
+
+Avoidance of risk factors, including smoking and air pollution, is the primary method of prevention.[18] Treatment and long-term outcomes depend on the type of cancer, the stage (degree of spread), and the person's overall health.[7] Most cases are not curable.[3] Common treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.[7] NSCLC is sometimes treated with surgery, whereas SCLC usually responds better to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.[19]
+
+Worldwide in 2012, lung cancer occurred in 1.8 million people and resulted in 1.6 million deaths.[13] This makes it the most common cause of cancer-related death in men and second most common in women after breast cancer.[20] The most common age at diagnosis is 70 years.[2] In the United States, five-year survival rate is 19.4%,[2] while in Japan it is 41.4%.[8] Outcomes on average are worse in the developing world.[21]
+
+Signs and symptoms which may suggest lung cancer include:[1]
+
+If the cancer grows in the airways, it may obstruct airflow, causing breathing difficulties. The obstruction can also lead to accumulation of secretions behind the blockage, and increase the risk of pneumonia.[1]
+
+Depending on the type of tumor, paraneoplastic phenomena — symptoms not due to the local presence of cancer — may initially attract attention to the disease.[22] In lung cancer, these phenomena may include hypercalcemia, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH, abnormally concentrated urine and diluted blood), ectopic ACTH production, or Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome (muscle weakness due to autoantibodies). Tumors in the top of the lung, known as Pancoast tumors, may invade the local part of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in Horner's syndrome (dropping of the eyelid and a small pupil on that side), as well as damage to the brachial plexus.[1]
+
+Many of the symptoms of lung cancer (poor appetite, weight loss, fever, fatigue) are not specific.[6] In many people, the cancer has already spread beyond the original site by the time they have symptoms and seek medical attention.[23] Symptoms that suggest the presence of metastatic disease include weight loss, bone pain, and neurological symptoms (headaches, fainting, convulsions, or limb weakness).[1] Common sites of spread include the brain, bone, adrenal glands, opposite lung, liver, pericardium, and kidneys.[23] About 10% of people with lung cancer do not have symptoms at diagnosis; these cancers are incidentally found on routine chest radiography.[17]
+
+Cancer develops after genetic damage to DNA and epigenetic changes. Those changes affect the cell's normal functions, including cell proliferation, programmed cell death (apoptosis), and DNA repair. As more damage accumulates, the risk for cancer increases.[24]
+
+Tobacco smoking is by far the main contributor to lung cancer.[4] Cigarette smoke contains at least 73 known carcinogens,[25] including benzo[a]pyrene,[26] NNK, 1,3-butadiene, and a radioactive isotope of polonium – polonium-210.[25] Across the developed world, 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and 70% of those in women during the year 2000 were attributed to smoking.[27] Smoking accounts for about 85% of lung cancer cases.[7] A 2014 review found that vaping may be a risk factor for lung cancer but less than that of cigarettes.[28]
+
+Passive smoking – the inhalation of smoke from another's smoking – is a cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers. A passive smoker can be defined as someone either living or working with a smoker. Studies from the US,[29][30][31] the UK[32] and other European countries[33] have consistently shown a significantly-increased risk among those exposed to passive smoking.[34] Those who live with someone who smokes have a 20–30% increase in risk while those who work in an environment with secondhand smoke have a 16–19% increase in risk.[35] Investigations of sidestream smoke suggest that it is more dangerous than direct smoke.[36] Passive smoking results in roughly 3,400 lung cancer-related deaths each year in the US.[31]
+
+Marijuana smoke contains many of the same carcinogens as those found in tobacco smoke,[37] however, the effect of smoking cannabis on lung cancer risk is not clear.[38][39] A 2013 review did not find an increased risk from light to moderate use.[40] A 2014 review found that smoking cannabis doubled the risk of lung cancer, though cannabis is in many countries commonly mixed with tobacco.[41]
+
+Radon is a colorless and odorless gas generated by the breakdown of radioactive radium, which in turn is the decay product of uranium, found in the Earth's crust. The radiation decay products ionize genetic material, causing mutations that sometimes become cancerous. Radon is the second most-common cause of lung cancer in the US,[42] causing about 21,000 deaths each year.[43] The risk increases 8–16% for every 100 Bq/m³ increase in the radon concentration.[44] Radon gas levels vary by locality and the composition of the underlying soil and rocks. About one in 15 homes in the US have radon levels above the recommended guideline of 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/l) (148 Bq/m³).[45]
+
+Asbestos can cause a variety of lung diseases such as lung cancer. Tobacco smoking and asbestos both have synergistic effects on the development of lung cancer.[5] In smokers who work with asbestos, the risk of lung cancer is increased 45-fold compared to the general population.[46] Asbestos can also cause cancer of the pleura, called mesothelioma – which actually is different from lung cancer.[47]
+
+Outdoor air pollutants, especially chemicals released from the burning of fossil fuels, increase the risk of lung cancer.[4] Fine particulates (PM2.5) and sulfate aerosols, which may be released in traffic exhaust fumes, are associated with a slightly-increased risk.[4][48] For nitrogen dioxide, an incremental increase of 10 parts per billion increases the risk of lung cancer by 14%.[49] Outdoor air pollution is estimated to cause 1–2% of lung cancers.[4]
+
+Tentative evidence supports an increased risk of lung cancer from indoor air pollution in relation to the burning of wood, charcoal, dung, or crop residue for cooking and heating.[50] Women who are exposed to indoor coal smoke have roughly twice the risk, and many of the by-products of burning biomass are known or suspected carcinogens.[51] This risk affects about 2.4 billion people worldwide,[50] and it is believed to result in 1.5% of lung cancer deaths.[51]
+
+About 8% of lung cancer is caused by inherited factors.[52] In relatives of people that are diagnosed with lung cancer, the risk is doubled, likely due to a combination of genes.[53] Polymorphisms on chromosomes 5, 6, and 15 are known to affect the risk of lung cancer.[54] Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the genes encoding the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) – CHRNA5, CHRNA3, and CHRNB4 – are of those associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, as well as RGS17 – a gene regulating G-protein signaling.[54]
+
+Numerous other substances, occupations, and environmental exposures have been linked to lung cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) states that there is some "sufficient evidence" to show that the following are carcinogenic in the lungs:[55]
+
+Similar to many other cancers, lung cancer is initiated by either the activation of oncogenes or the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes.[56] Carcinogens cause mutations in these genes that induce the development of cancer.[57]
+
+Mutations in the K-ras proto-oncogene cause roughly 10–30% of lung adenocarcinomas.[58][59] Nearly 4% of non-small-cell lung carcinomas involve an EML4-ALK tyrosine kinase fusion gene.[60]
+
+Epigenetic changes such as alteration of DNA methylation, histone tail modification, or microRNA regulation may result in the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes.[61] Importantly, cancer cells develop resistance to oxidative stress, which enables them to withstand and exacerbate inflammatory conditions that inhibit the activity of the immune system against the tumor.[62][63]
+
+The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and tumor invasion.[58] Mutations and amplification of EGFR are common in non-small-cell lung carcinoma, and they provide the basis for treatment with EGFR-inhibitors. Her2/neu is affected less frequently.[58] Other genes that are often mutated or amplified include c-MET, NKX2-1, LKB1, PIK3CA, and BRAF.[58]
+
+The cell lines of origin are not fully understood.[1] The mechanism may involve the abnormal activation of stem cells. In the proximal airways, stem cells that express keratin 5 are more likely to be affected, typically leading to squamous-cell lung carcinoma. In the middle airways, implicated stem cells include club cells and neuroepithelial cells that express club cell secretory protein. Small-cell lung carcinoma may originate from these cell lines[64] or neuroendocrine cells,[1] and it may express CD44.[64]
+
+Metastasis of lung cancer requires transition from epithelial to mesenchymal cell type. This may occur through the activation of signaling pathways such as Akt/GSK3Beta, MEK-ERK, Fas, and Par6.[65]
+
+Performing a chest radiograph is one of the first investigative steps if a person reports symptoms that may be suggestive of lung cancer. This may reveal an obvious mass, the widening of the mediastinum (suggestive of spread to lymph nodes there), atelectasis (lung collapse), consolidation (pneumonia), or pleural effusion.[7] CT imaging of the chest may reveal a spiculated mass which is highly suggestive of lung cancer, and is also used to provide more information about the type and extent of disease. Bronchoscopic or CT-guided biopsy is often used to sample the tumor for histopathology.[17]
+
+Lung cancer often appears as a solitary pulmonary nodule on a chest radiograph. However, the differential diagnosis is wide. Many other diseases can also give this appearance, including metastatic cancer, hamartomas, and infectious granulomas caused by tuberculosis, histoplasmosis or coccidioidomycosis.[66] Lung cancer can also be an incidental finding, as a solitary pulmonary nodule on a chest radiograph or CT scan done for an unrelated reason.[67] The definitive diagnosis of lung cancer is based on the histological examination of the suspicious tissue[1] in the context of the clinical and radiological features.[6]
+
+Clinical practice guidelines recommend frequencies for pulmonary nodule surveillance.[68] CT imaging should not be used for longer or more frequently than indicated, as the extended surveillance exposes people to increased radiation and is costly.[68]
+
+Lung cancers are classified according to histological type.[6] This classification is important for determining both the management and predicting outcomes of the disease. Lung cancers are carcinomas – malignancies that arise from epithelial cells. Lung carcinomas are categorized by the size and appearance of the malignant cells seen by a histopathologist under a microscope. For therapeutic purposes, two broad classes are distinguished: non-small-cell lung carcinoma and small-cell lung carcinoma.[70]
+
+The three main subtypes of NSCLC are adenocarcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma, and large-cell carcinoma.[1] Rare subtypes include pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma.[71]
+
+Nearly 40% of lung cancers are adenocarcinoma, which usually comes from peripheral lung tissue.[6] Although most cases of adenocarcinoma are associated with smoking, adenocarcinoma is also the most-common form of lung cancer among people who have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes ("never-smokers")[1][72] and ex-smokers with a modest smoking history.[1] A subtype of adenocarcinoma, the bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, is more common in female never-smokers, and may have a better long-term survival.[73]
+
+Squamous-cell carcinoma causes about 30% of lung cancers. They typically occur close to large airways. A hollow cavity and associated cell death are commonly found at the center of the tumor.[6]
+
+About 10 to 15% of lung cancers are large-cell carcinoma.[74] These are so named because the cancer cells are large, with excess cytoplasm, large nuclei, and conspicuous nucleoli.[6]
+
+In SCLC, the cells contain dense neurosecretory granules (vesicles containing neuroendocrine hormones), which give this tumor an endocrine or paraneoplastic syndrome association.[75] Most cases arise in the larger airways (primary and secondary bronchi).[17] Sixty to seventy percent have extensive disease (which cannot be targeted within a single radiation therapy field) at presentation.[1]
+
+Four main histological subtypes are recognised, although some cancers may contain a combination of different subtypes,[70] such as adenosquamous carcinoma.[6] Rare subtypes include carcinoid tumors, bronchial gland carcinomas, and sarcomatoid carcinomas.[6]
+
+The lungs are a common place for the spread of tumors from other parts of the body. Secondary cancers are classified by the site of origin; for example, breast cancer that has been spread to the lung is called metastatic breast cancer. Metastases often have a characteristic round appearance on chest radiograph.[76]
+
+Primary lung cancers also most commonly metastasize to the brain, bones, liver, and adrenal glands.[6] Immunostaining of a biopsy usually helps determine the original source.[77] The presence of Napsin-A, TTF-1, CK7, and CK20 help confirm the subtype of lung carcinoma. SCLC that originates from neuroendocrine cells may express CD56, neural cell adhesion molecule, synaptophysin, or chromogranin.[1]
+
+Lung cancer staging is an assessment of the degree of spread of the cancer from its original source.[78] It is one of the factors affecting both the prognosis and the potential treatment of lung cancer.[1][78]
+
+The evaluation of non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) staging uses the TNM classification (tumor, node, metastasis). This is based on the size of the primary tumor, lymph node involvement, and distant metastasis.[1]
+
+Using the TNM descriptors, a group is assigned, ranging from occult cancer, through stages 0, IA (one-A), IB, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB, and IV (four). This stage group assists with the choice of treatment and estimation of prognosis.[81]
+
+SCLC has traditionally been classified as "limited stage" (confined to one-half of the chest and within the scope of a single tolerable radiotherapy field) or "extensive stage" (more widespread disease).[1] However, the TNM classification and grouping are useful in estimating prognosis.[81]
+
+For both NSCLC and SCLC, the two general types of staging evaluations are clinical staging and surgical staging. Clinical staging is performed before definitive surgery. It is based on the results of imaging studies (such as CT scans and PET scans) and biopsy results. Surgical staging is evaluated either during or after the operation. It is based on the combined results of surgical and clinical findings, including surgical sampling of thoracic lymph nodes.[6]
+
+Stage IA and IB lung cancer
+
+Stage IIA lung cancer
+
+Stage IIB lung cancer
+
+One option for stage IIB lung cancer, with T2b; but if tumor is within 2 cm of the carina, this is stage 3
+
+Stage IIIA lung cancer
+
+Stage IIIA lung cancer, if there is one feature from the list on each side
+
+Stage IIIA lung cancer
+
+Stage IIIB lung cancer
+
+Stage IIIB lung cancer
+
+Stage IV lung cancer
+
+Smoking prevention and smoking cessation are effective ways of preventing the development of lung cancer.[82]
+
+While in most countries industrial and domestic carcinogens have been identified and banned, tobacco smoking is still widespread. Eliminating tobacco smoking is a primary goal in the prevention of lung cancer, and smoking cessation is an important preventive tool in this process.[83]
+
+Policy interventions to decrease passive smoking in public areas such as restaurants and workplaces have become more common in many Western countries.[84] Bhutan has had a complete smoking ban since 2005[85] while India introduced a ban on smoking in public in October 2008.[86] The World Health Organization has called for governments to institute a total ban on tobacco advertising to prevent young people from taking up smoking.[87] They assess that such bans have reduced tobacco consumption by 16% where instituted.[87]
+
+Cancer screening uses medical tests to detect disease in large groups of people who have no symptoms.[88] For individuals with high risk of developing lung cancer, computed tomography (CT) screening can detect cancer and give a person options to respond to it in a way that prolongs life.[68][89] This form of screening reduces the chance of death from lung cancer by an absolute amount of 0.3% (relative amount of 20%).[90][91] High risk people are those age 55–74 who have smoked equivalent amount of a pack of cigarettes daily for 30 years including time within the past 15 years.[68]
+
+CT screening is associated with a high rate of falsely positive tests which may result in unneeded treatment.[92] For each true positive scan there are about 19 falsely positives scans.[91] Other concerns include radiation exposure[92] and the cost of testing along with follow up.[68] Research has not found two other available tests—sputum cytology or chest radiograph (CXR) screening tests—to have any benefit.[89][93]
+
+The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends yearly screening using low-dose computed tomography in those who have a total smoking history of 30 pack-years and are between 55 and 80 years old until a person has not been smoking for more than 15 years.[94] Screening should not be done in those with other health problems that would make treatment of lung cancer if found not an option.[94] The English National Health Service was in 2014 re-examining the evidence for screening.[95]
+
+The long-term use of supplemental vitamin A,[96][97] vitamin C,[96] vitamin D[98] or vitamin E[96] does not reduce the risk of lung cancer. Some studies have found vitamin A, B, and E may increase the risk of lung cancer in those who have a history of smoking.[99]
+
+Some studies suggest that people who eat diets with a higher proportion of vegetables and fruit tend to have a lower risk,[31][100] but this may be due to confounding—with the lower risk actually due to the association of a high fruit and vegetables diet with less smoking.[101] Several rigorous studies have not demonstrated a clear association between diet and lung cancer risk,[1][100] although meta-analysis that accounts for smoking status may show benefit from a healthy diet.[102]
+
+Treatment for lung cancer depends on the cancer's specific cell type, how far it has spread, and the person's performance status. Common treatments include palliative care,[103] surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.[1] Targeted therapy of lung cancer is growing in importance for advanced lung cancer.[104] People who have lung cancer should be encouraged to stop smoking.[105] There is no clear evidence which smoking cessation program is most effective for people who have been diagnosed with lung cancer.[105] It is unclear if exercise training is beneficial for people living with advanced lung cancer.[106] Exercise training may benefit people with NSCLC who are recovering from lung surgery.[107] In addition, exercise training can benefit people with NSCLC who have received radiotherapy, chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, or palliative care.[108]
+
+Exercise training before lung cancer surgery improves outcomes.[109] A home-based component in rehabilitation is also useful.[108] Even though it is uncertain if home-based prehabilitation leads to less adverse events or hospitalization time, rehabilitation with a home-based component may improve recovery after treatment and overall lung health.[108]
+
+If investigations confirm NSCLC, the stage is assessed to determine whether the disease is localized and amenable to surgery or if it has spread to the point where it cannot be cured surgically. CT scan and positron emission tomography (PET-CT), non-invasive tests, can be used to help rule out malignancy or mediastinal lymph node involvement.[1][110]  If mediastinal lymph node involvement is suspected using PET-CT, the nodes should be sampled (using a biopsy) to assist staging, a PET-CT scan is not accurate enough to be used alone.[110] Techniques used for obtaining a sample include transthoracic needle aspiration, transbronchial needle aspiration (with or without endobronchial ultrasound), endoscopic ultrasound with needle aspiration, mediastinoscopy, and thoracoscopy.[111] Blood tests and pulmonary function testing are used to assess whether a person is well enough for surgery.[17] If pulmonary function tests reveal poor respiratory reserve, surgery may not be possible.[1]
+
+In most cases of early-stage NSCLC, removal of a lobe of lung (lobectomy) is the surgical treatment of choice. In people who are unfit for a full lobectomy, a smaller sublobar excision (wedge resection) may be performed. However, wedge resection has a higher risk of recurrence than lobectomy. Radioactive iodine brachytherapy at the margins of wedge excision may reduce the risk of recurrence. Rarely, removal of a whole lung (pneumonectomy) is performed.[112] Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and VATS lobectomy use a minimally invasive approach to lung cancer surgery.[113] VATS lobectomy is equally effective compared to conventional open lobectomy, with less postoperative illness.[114]
+
+In SCLC, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy is typically used.[115] However the role of surgery in SCLC is being reconsidered. Surgery might improve outcomes when added to chemotherapy and radiation in early stage SCLC.[116]
+
+The effectiveness of lung cancer surgery (resection) for people with stage I - IIA NSCLC is not clear, however, weak evidence suggests that a combined approach of lung cancer resection and removing the mediastinal lymph nodes (mediastinal lymph node dissection) may improve survival compared to lung resection and a sample of mediastinal nodes (not a complete node dissection).[117]
+
+Radiotherapy is often given together with chemotherapy, and may be used with curative intent in people with NSCLC who are not eligible for surgery.[118] This form of high-intensity radiotherapy is called radical radiotherapy.[119] A refinement of this technique is continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART), in which a high dose of radiotherapy is given in a short time period.[120] Radiosurgery refers to the radiotherapy technique of giving a precise high-dose of radiotherapy that is guided by a computer.[121] Postoperative (adjuvant) thoracic radiotherapy generally should not be used after curative-intent surgery for NSCLC.[122] Some people with mediastinal N2 lymph node involvement might benefit from post-operative radiotherapy.[123]
+
+For potentially curable SCLC cases, chest radiotherapy is often recommended in addition to chemotherapy.[6] The ideal timing of these therapies (the optimal time to give radiotherapy and chemotherapy for improving survival) is not known.[124]
+
+If cancer growth blocks a short section of bronchus, brachytherapy (localized radiotherapy) may be given directly inside the airway to open the passage. Compared to external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy allows a reduction in treatment time and reduced radiation exposure to healthcare staff.[125] Evidence for brachytherapy, however, is less than that for external beam radiotherapy.[126]
+
+Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is a type of radiotherapy to the brain, used to reduce the risk of metastasis.[127] PCI is most useful in SCLC. In limited-stage disease, PCI increases three-year survival from 15% to 20%; in extensive disease, one-year survival increases from 13% to 27%.[128] For people who have NSCLC and a single brain metastasis, it is not clear if surgery is more effective than radiosurgery.[121]
+
+Recent improvements in targeting and imaging have led to the development of stereotactic radiation in the treatment of early-stage lung cancer. In this form of radiotherapy, high doses are delivered over a number of sessions using stereotactic targeting techniques. Its use is primarily in patients who are not surgical candidates due to medical comorbidities.[129]
+
+For both NSCLC and SCLC patients, smaller doses of radiation to the chest may be used for symptom control (palliative radiotherapy).[130][131] The use of higher doses of radiotherapy for palliative care are not shown to prolong survival.[131]
+
+The chemotherapy regimen depends on the tumor type.[6] SCLC, even relatively early stage disease, is treated primarily with chemotherapy and radiation.[132] In SCLC, cisplatin and etoposide are most commonly used.[133] Combinations with carboplatin, gemcitabine, paclitaxel, vinorelbine, topotecan, and irinotecan are also used.[134][135] In advanced NSCLC, chemotherapy improves survival and is used as first-line treatment, provided the person is well enough for the treatment.[136] Typically, two drugs are used, of which one is often platinum-based (either cisplatin or carboplatin). Other commonly used drugs are gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel,[137][138] pemetrexed,[139] etoposide or vinorelbine.[138] Platinum-based drugs and combinations that include platinum therapy do not appear to be more beneficial for prolonging survival compared to other non-platinum medications, and may lead to a higher risk of serious adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, anaemia, and thrombocytopenia,[140] especially in people over the age of 70 years.[141] There is not enough evidence to determine which chemotherapy approach is associated with the highest quality of life.[140] There is also insufficient evidence to determine if treating people with NSCLC a second time when the first round of chemotherapy was not successful (second-line chemotherapy) causes more benefit or harm.[142]
+
+Adjuvant chemotherapy refers to the use of chemotherapy after apparently curative surgery to improve the outcome. In NSCLC, samples are taken of nearby lymph nodes during surgery to assist staging. If stage II or III disease is confirmed, adjuvant chemotherapy (including or not including postoperative radiotherapy) improves survival by 4% at five years.[143][144][145] The combination of vinorelbine and cisplatin is more effective than older regimens.[144] Adjuvant chemotherapy for people with stage IB cancer is controversial, as clinical trials have not clearly demonstrated a survival benefit.[146] Chemotherapy before surgery in NSCLC that can be removed surgically may improve outcomes.[147][148]
+
+Chemotherapy may be combined with palliative care in the treatment of the NSCLC.[149] In advanced cases, appropriate chemotherapy improves average survival over supportive care alone, as well as improving quality of life.[150][149] With adequate physical fitness maintaining chemotherapy during lung cancer palliation offers 1.5 to 3 months of prolongation of survival, symptomatic relief, and an improvement in quality of life, with better results seen with modern agents.[151][152] The NSCLC Meta-Analyses Collaborative Group recommends if the recipient wants and can tolerate treatment, then chemotherapy should be considered in advanced NSCLC.[136][153]
+
+Several drugs that target molecular pathways in lung cancer are available, especially for the treatment of advanced disease. Erlotinib, gefitinib and afatinib inhibit tyrosine kinase at the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). These EGFR inhibitors may help delay the spread of cancer cells for people with EGFR M+ lung cancer and may improve a person's quality of life.[154] EGFR inhibitors have not been shown to help people survive longer.[154] For people with EGFR mutations, treatment with gefitinib may result in an improved quality of life compared to treatment with chemotherapy.[155] Denosumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand and may be useful in the treatment of bone metastases.[156]
+
+Immunotherapy may be used for both SCLC and NSCLC.[157][158] Vaccine-based immunotherapy treatment after surgery or radiotherapy may not lead to improved survival for people with Stage I-III NSCLC.[159]
+
+Several treatments can be provided via bronchoscopy for the management of airway obstruction or bleeding. If an airway becomes obstructed by cancer growth, options include rigid bronchoscopy, balloon bronchoplasty, stenting, and microdebridement.[160] Laser photosection involves the delivery of laser light inside the airway via a bronchoscope to remove the obstructing tumor.[161]
+
+Palliative care when added to usual cancer care benefits people even when they are still receiving chemotherapy.[162] These approaches allow additional discussion of treatment options and provide opportunities to arrive at well-considered decisions.[163][164] Palliative care may avoid unhelpful but expensive care not only at the end of life, but also throughout the course of the illness. For individuals who have more advanced disease, hospice care may also be appropriate.[17][164]
+
+There is weak evidence to suggest that supportive care interventions (non-invasive interventions) that focus on well-being for people with lung cancer may improve quality of life.[165] Interventions such as nurse follow-ups, psychotherapy, psychosocial therapy, and educational programs may be beneficial, however, the evidence is not strong (further research is needed).[165] Counselling may help people cope with emotional symptoms related to lung cancer.[165] Reflexology may be effective in the short-term, however more research is needed.[165] There is no evidence to suggest that nutritional interventions or exercise programs result in an improvement in the quality of life for a person with lung cancer.[165]
+
+Of all people with lung cancer in the US, 16.8% survive for at least five years after diagnosis.[2][166] In England and Wales, between 2010 and 2011, overall five-year survival for lung cancer was estimated at 9.5%.[167] Outcomes are generally worse in the developing world.[21] Stage is often advanced at the time of diagnosis. At presentation, 30–40% of cases of NSCLC are stage IV, and 60% of SCLC are stage IV.[6] Survival for lung cancer falls as the stage at diagnosis becomes more advanced: the English data suggest that around 70% of patients survive at least a year when diagnosed at the earliest stage, but this falls to just 14% for those diagnosed with the most advanced disease (stage IV).[168]
+
+Prognostic factors in NSCLC include presence of pulmonary symptoms, large tumor size (>3 cm), non-squamous cell type (histology), degree of spread (stage) and metastases to multiple lymph nodes, and vascular invasion. For people with inoperable disease, outcomes are worse in those with poor performance status and weight loss of more than 10%.[169] Prognostic factors in small cell lung cancer include performance status, biological sex, stage of disease, and involvement of the central nervous system or liver at the time of diagnosis.[170]
+
+For NSCLC, the best prognosis is achieved with complete surgical resection of stage IA disease, with up to 70% five-year survival.[171] People with extensive-stage SCLC have an average five-year survival rate of less than 1%. The average survival time for limited-stage disease is 20 months, with a five-year survival rate of 20%.[7]
+
+According to data provided by the National Cancer Institute, the median age at diagnosis of lung cancer in the US is 70 years,[172] and the median age at death is 72 years.[173] In the US, people with medical insurance are more likely to have a better outcome.[174]
+
+Worldwide, lung cancer is the most-common cancer among men in terms of both incidence and mortality, and among women has the third-highest incidence, and is second after breast cancer in mortality. In 2012, there were 1.82 million new cases worldwide, and 1.56 million deaths due to lung cancer, representing 19.4% of all deaths from cancer.[20] The highest rates are in North America, Europe, and East Asia, with over a third of new cases in China that year.  Rates in Africa and South Asia are much lower.[175]
+
+The population segment that is most likely to develop lung cancer is people aged over 50 who have a history of smoking. Unlike the mortality rate in men – which began declining more than 20 years ago, women's lung cancer mortality rates have risen over the last decades, and are just recently beginning to stabilize.[176] In the US, the lifetime risk of developing lung cancer is 8% in men and 6% in women.[1]
+
+For every 3–4 million cigarettes smoked, one lung cancer death can occur.[177] The influence of "Big Tobacco" plays a significant role in smoking.[178] Young nonsmokers who see tobacco advertisements are more likely to smoke.[179] The role of passive smoking is increasingly being recognized as a risk factor for lung cancer,[34] resulting in policy interventions to decrease the undesired exposure of nonsmokers to others' tobacco smoke.[180]
+
+From the 1960s, the rates of lung adenocarcinoma started to rise in relation to other kinds of lung cancer, partially due to the introduction of filter cigarettes. The use of filters removes larger particles from tobacco smoke, thus reducing deposition in larger airways. However, the smoker has to inhale more deeply to receive the same amount of nicotine, increasing particle deposition in small airways where adenocarcinoma tends to arise.[181] Rates of lung adenocarcinoma continues to rise.[182]
+
+In the US, both black men and black women have a higher incidence.[183] Lung cancer rates are currently lower in developing countries.[184] With increased smoking in developing countries, the rates are expected to increase in the next few years, notably in both China[185] and India.[186]
+
+Also in the US, military veterans have a 25–50% higher rate of lung cancer primarily due to higher rates of smoking.[187] During World War II and the Korean War, asbestos also played a role, and Agent Orange may have caused some problems during the Vietnam War.[188]
+
+Lung cancer is the third most-common cancer in the UK (around 46,400 people were diagnosed with the disease in 2014),[189] and it is the most common cause of cancer-related death (around 35,900 people died in 2014).[190]
+
+Lung cancer was uncommon before the advent of cigarette smoking; it was not even recognized as a distinct disease until 1761.[191] Different aspects of lung cancer were described further in 1810.[192] Malignant lung tumors made up only 1% of all cancers seen at autopsy in 1878, but had risen to 10–15% by the early 1900s.[193] Case reports in the medical literature numbered only 374 worldwide in 1912,[194] but a review of autopsies showed the incidence of lung cancer had increased from 0.3% in 1852 to 5.66% in 1952.[195] In Germany in 1929, physician Fritz Lickint recognized the link between smoking and lung cancer,[193] which led to an aggressive antismoking campaign.[196] The British Doctors' Study, published in the 1950s, was the first solid epidemiological evidence of the link between lung cancer and smoking.[197] As a result, in 1964 the Surgeon General of the United States recommended smokers should stop smoking.[198]
+
+The connection with radon gas was first recognized among miners in the Ore Mountains near Schneeberg, Saxony. Silver has been mined there since 1470, and these mines are rich in uranium, with its accompanying radium and radon gas.[199] Miners developed a disproportionate amount of lung disease, eventually recognized as lung cancer in the 1870s.[200] Despite this discovery, mining continued into the 1950s, due to the USSR's demand for uranium.[199] Radon was confirmed as a cause of lung cancer in the 1960s.[201]
+
+The first successful pneumonectomy for lung cancer was performed in 1933.[202] Palliative radiotherapy has been used since the 1940s.[203] Radical radiotherapy, initially used in the 1950s, was an attempt to use larger radiation doses in patients with relatively early-stage lung cancer, but who were otherwise unfit for surgery.[204] In 1997, CHART was seen as an improvement over conventional radical radiotherapy.[205] With SCLC, initial attempts in the 1960s at surgical resection[206] and radical radiotherapy[207] were unsuccessful. In the 1970s, successful chemotherapy regimens were developed.[208]
+
+Current research directions for lung cancer treatment include immunotherapy,[209][210] which encourages the body's immune system to attack the tumor cells, epigenetics, and new combinations of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, both on their own and together.  Many of these new treatments work through immune checkpoint blockade, disrupting cancer's ability to evade the immune system.[209][210]
+
+Ipilimumab blocks signaling through a receptor on T cells known as CTLA-4 which dampens down the immune system. It has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of melanoma and is undergoing clinical trials for both NSCLC and SCLC.[209]
+
+Other immunotherapy treatments interfere with the binding of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) protein with its ligand PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1), and have been approved as first- and subsequent-line treatments for various subsets of lung cancers.[210] Signaling through PD-1 inactivates T cells. Some cancer cells appear to exploit this by expressing PD-L1 in order to switch off T cells that might recognise them as a threat. Monoclonal antibodies targeting both PD-1 and PD-L1, such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab,[65] atezolizumab, and durvalumab[210] are currently in clinical trials for treatment for lung cancer.[209][210]
+
+Epigenetics is the study of small, usually heritable, molecular modifications—or "tags"—that bind to DNA and modify gene expression levels. Targeting these tags with drugs can kill cancer cells. Early-stage research in NSCLC using drugs aimed at epigenetic modifications shows that blocking more than one of these tags can kill cancer cells with fewer side effects.[211] Studies also show that giving patients these drugs before standard treatment can improve its effectiveness. Clinical trials are underway to evaluate how well these drugs kill lung cancer cells in humans.[211] Several drugs that target epigenetic mechanisms are in development. Histone deacetylase inhibitors in development include valproic acid, vorinostat, belinostat, panobinostat, entinostat, and romidepsin. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors in development include decitabine, azacytidine, and hydralazine.[61]
+
+The TRACERx project is looking at how NSCLC develops and evolves, and how these tumors become resistant to treatment.[212] The project will look at tumor samples from 850 NSCLC patients at various stages including diagnosis, after first treatment, post-treatment, and relapse.[213] By studying samples at different points of tumor development, the researchers hope to identify the changes that drive tumor growth and resistance to treatment. The results of this project will help scientists and doctors gain a better understanding of NSCLC and potentially lead to the development of new treatments for the disease.[212]
+
+For lung cancer cases that develop resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors, new drugs are in development. EGFR inhibitors include afatinib and dacomitinib.[154] An alternative signaling pathway, c-Met, can be inhibited by tivantinib and onartuzumab. New ALK inhibitors include crizotinib and ceritinib.[214] If the MAPK/ERK pathway is involved, the BRAF kinase inhibitor dabrafenib and the MAPK/MEK inhibitor trametinib may be beneficial.[215]
+
+The PI3K pathway has been investigated as a target for lung cancer therapy. The most promising strategies for targeting this pathway seem to be selective inhibition of one or more members of the class I PI3Ks, and co-targeted inhibition of this pathway with others such as MEK.[216]
+
+Lung cancer stem cells are often resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This may lead to relapse after treatment. New approaches target protein or glycoprotein markers that are specific to the stem cells. Such markers include CD133, CD90, ALDH1A1, CD44 and ABCG2. Signaling pathways such as Hedgehog, Wnt and Notch are often implicated in the self-renewal of stem cell lines. Thus treatments targeting these pathways may help to prevent relapse.[217]

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+
+
+Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma,[7] is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung.[11] This growth can spread beyond the lung by the process of metastasis into nearby tissue or other parts of the body.[12] Most cancers that start in the lung, known as primary lung cancers, are carcinomas.[13] The two main types are small-cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC).[3] The most common symptoms are coughing (including coughing up blood), weight loss, shortness of breath, and chest pains.[1]
+
+The vast majority (85%) of cases of lung cancer are due to long-term tobacco smoking.[4] About 10–15% of cases occur in people who have never smoked.[14] These cases are often caused by a combination of genetic factors and exposure to radon gas, asbestos, second-hand smoke, or other forms of air pollution.[4][5][15][16] Lung cancer may be seen on chest radiographs and computed tomography (CT) scans.[7] The diagnosis is confirmed by biopsy which is usually performed by bronchoscopy or CT-guidance.[6][17]
+
+Avoidance of risk factors, including smoking and air pollution, is the primary method of prevention.[18] Treatment and long-term outcomes depend on the type of cancer, the stage (degree of spread), and the person's overall health.[7] Most cases are not curable.[3] Common treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.[7] NSCLC is sometimes treated with surgery, whereas SCLC usually responds better to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.[19]
+
+Worldwide in 2012, lung cancer occurred in 1.8 million people and resulted in 1.6 million deaths.[13] This makes it the most common cause of cancer-related death in men and second most common in women after breast cancer.[20] The most common age at diagnosis is 70 years.[2] In the United States, five-year survival rate is 19.4%,[2] while in Japan it is 41.4%.[8] Outcomes on average are worse in the developing world.[21]
+
+Signs and symptoms which may suggest lung cancer include:[1]
+
+If the cancer grows in the airways, it may obstruct airflow, causing breathing difficulties. The obstruction can also lead to accumulation of secretions behind the blockage, and increase the risk of pneumonia.[1]
+
+Depending on the type of tumor, paraneoplastic phenomena — symptoms not due to the local presence of cancer — may initially attract attention to the disease.[22] In lung cancer, these phenomena may include hypercalcemia, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH, abnormally concentrated urine and diluted blood), ectopic ACTH production, or Lambert–Eaton myasthenic syndrome (muscle weakness due to autoantibodies). Tumors in the top of the lung, known as Pancoast tumors, may invade the local part of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in Horner's syndrome (dropping of the eyelid and a small pupil on that side), as well as damage to the brachial plexus.[1]
+
+Many of the symptoms of lung cancer (poor appetite, weight loss, fever, fatigue) are not specific.[6] In many people, the cancer has already spread beyond the original site by the time they have symptoms and seek medical attention.[23] Symptoms that suggest the presence of metastatic disease include weight loss, bone pain, and neurological symptoms (headaches, fainting, convulsions, or limb weakness).[1] Common sites of spread include the brain, bone, adrenal glands, opposite lung, liver, pericardium, and kidneys.[23] About 10% of people with lung cancer do not have symptoms at diagnosis; these cancers are incidentally found on routine chest radiography.[17]
+
+Cancer develops after genetic damage to DNA and epigenetic changes. Those changes affect the cell's normal functions, including cell proliferation, programmed cell death (apoptosis), and DNA repair. As more damage accumulates, the risk for cancer increases.[24]
+
+Tobacco smoking is by far the main contributor to lung cancer.[4] Cigarette smoke contains at least 73 known carcinogens,[25] including benzo[a]pyrene,[26] NNK, 1,3-butadiene, and a radioactive isotope of polonium – polonium-210.[25] Across the developed world, 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and 70% of those in women during the year 2000 were attributed to smoking.[27] Smoking accounts for about 85% of lung cancer cases.[7] A 2014 review found that vaping may be a risk factor for lung cancer but less than that of cigarettes.[28]
+
+Passive smoking – the inhalation of smoke from another's smoking – is a cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers. A passive smoker can be defined as someone either living or working with a smoker. Studies from the US,[29][30][31] the UK[32] and other European countries[33] have consistently shown a significantly-increased risk among those exposed to passive smoking.[34] Those who live with someone who smokes have a 20–30% increase in risk while those who work in an environment with secondhand smoke have a 16–19% increase in risk.[35] Investigations of sidestream smoke suggest that it is more dangerous than direct smoke.[36] Passive smoking results in roughly 3,400 lung cancer-related deaths each year in the US.[31]
+
+Marijuana smoke contains many of the same carcinogens as those found in tobacco smoke,[37] however, the effect of smoking cannabis on lung cancer risk is not clear.[38][39] A 2013 review did not find an increased risk from light to moderate use.[40] A 2014 review found that smoking cannabis doubled the risk of lung cancer, though cannabis is in many countries commonly mixed with tobacco.[41]
+
+Radon is a colorless and odorless gas generated by the breakdown of radioactive radium, which in turn is the decay product of uranium, found in the Earth's crust. The radiation decay products ionize genetic material, causing mutations that sometimes become cancerous. Radon is the second most-common cause of lung cancer in the US,[42] causing about 21,000 deaths each year.[43] The risk increases 8–16% for every 100 Bq/m³ increase in the radon concentration.[44] Radon gas levels vary by locality and the composition of the underlying soil and rocks. About one in 15 homes in the US have radon levels above the recommended guideline of 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/l) (148 Bq/m³).[45]
+
+Asbestos can cause a variety of lung diseases such as lung cancer. Tobacco smoking and asbestos both have synergistic effects on the development of lung cancer.[5] In smokers who work with asbestos, the risk of lung cancer is increased 45-fold compared to the general population.[46] Asbestos can also cause cancer of the pleura, called mesothelioma – which actually is different from lung cancer.[47]
+
+Outdoor air pollutants, especially chemicals released from the burning of fossil fuels, increase the risk of lung cancer.[4] Fine particulates (PM2.5) and sulfate aerosols, which may be released in traffic exhaust fumes, are associated with a slightly-increased risk.[4][48] For nitrogen dioxide, an incremental increase of 10 parts per billion increases the risk of lung cancer by 14%.[49] Outdoor air pollution is estimated to cause 1–2% of lung cancers.[4]
+
+Tentative evidence supports an increased risk of lung cancer from indoor air pollution in relation to the burning of wood, charcoal, dung, or crop residue for cooking and heating.[50] Women who are exposed to indoor coal smoke have roughly twice the risk, and many of the by-products of burning biomass are known or suspected carcinogens.[51] This risk affects about 2.4 billion people worldwide,[50] and it is believed to result in 1.5% of lung cancer deaths.[51]
+
+About 8% of lung cancer is caused by inherited factors.[52] In relatives of people that are diagnosed with lung cancer, the risk is doubled, likely due to a combination of genes.[53] Polymorphisms on chromosomes 5, 6, and 15 are known to affect the risk of lung cancer.[54] Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the genes encoding the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) – CHRNA5, CHRNA3, and CHRNB4 – are of those associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, as well as RGS17 – a gene regulating G-protein signaling.[54]
+
+Numerous other substances, occupations, and environmental exposures have been linked to lung cancer. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) states that there is some "sufficient evidence" to show that the following are carcinogenic in the lungs:[55]
+
+Similar to many other cancers, lung cancer is initiated by either the activation of oncogenes or the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes.[56] Carcinogens cause mutations in these genes that induce the development of cancer.[57]
+
+Mutations in the K-ras proto-oncogene cause roughly 10–30% of lung adenocarcinomas.[58][59] Nearly 4% of non-small-cell lung carcinomas involve an EML4-ALK tyrosine kinase fusion gene.[60]
+
+Epigenetic changes such as alteration of DNA methylation, histone tail modification, or microRNA regulation may result in the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes.[61] Importantly, cancer cells develop resistance to oxidative stress, which enables them to withstand and exacerbate inflammatory conditions that inhibit the activity of the immune system against the tumor.[62][63]
+
+The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and tumor invasion.[58] Mutations and amplification of EGFR are common in non-small-cell lung carcinoma, and they provide the basis for treatment with EGFR-inhibitors. Her2/neu is affected less frequently.[58] Other genes that are often mutated or amplified include c-MET, NKX2-1, LKB1, PIK3CA, and BRAF.[58]
+
+The cell lines of origin are not fully understood.[1] The mechanism may involve the abnormal activation of stem cells. In the proximal airways, stem cells that express keratin 5 are more likely to be affected, typically leading to squamous-cell lung carcinoma. In the middle airways, implicated stem cells include club cells and neuroepithelial cells that express club cell secretory protein. Small-cell lung carcinoma may originate from these cell lines[64] or neuroendocrine cells,[1] and it may express CD44.[64]
+
+Metastasis of lung cancer requires transition from epithelial to mesenchymal cell type. This may occur through the activation of signaling pathways such as Akt/GSK3Beta, MEK-ERK, Fas, and Par6.[65]
+
+Performing a chest radiograph is one of the first investigative steps if a person reports symptoms that may be suggestive of lung cancer. This may reveal an obvious mass, the widening of the mediastinum (suggestive of spread to lymph nodes there), atelectasis (lung collapse), consolidation (pneumonia), or pleural effusion.[7] CT imaging of the chest may reveal a spiculated mass which is highly suggestive of lung cancer, and is also used to provide more information about the type and extent of disease. Bronchoscopic or CT-guided biopsy is often used to sample the tumor for histopathology.[17]
+
+Lung cancer often appears as a solitary pulmonary nodule on a chest radiograph. However, the differential diagnosis is wide. Many other diseases can also give this appearance, including metastatic cancer, hamartomas, and infectious granulomas caused by tuberculosis, histoplasmosis or coccidioidomycosis.[66] Lung cancer can also be an incidental finding, as a solitary pulmonary nodule on a chest radiograph or CT scan done for an unrelated reason.[67] The definitive diagnosis of lung cancer is based on the histological examination of the suspicious tissue[1] in the context of the clinical and radiological features.[6]
+
+Clinical practice guidelines recommend frequencies for pulmonary nodule surveillance.[68] CT imaging should not be used for longer or more frequently than indicated, as the extended surveillance exposes people to increased radiation and is costly.[68]
+
+Lung cancers are classified according to histological type.[6] This classification is important for determining both the management and predicting outcomes of the disease. Lung cancers are carcinomas – malignancies that arise from epithelial cells. Lung carcinomas are categorized by the size and appearance of the malignant cells seen by a histopathologist under a microscope. For therapeutic purposes, two broad classes are distinguished: non-small-cell lung carcinoma and small-cell lung carcinoma.[70]
+
+The three main subtypes of NSCLC are adenocarcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma, and large-cell carcinoma.[1] Rare subtypes include pulmonary enteric adenocarcinoma.[71]
+
+Nearly 40% of lung cancers are adenocarcinoma, which usually comes from peripheral lung tissue.[6] Although most cases of adenocarcinoma are associated with smoking, adenocarcinoma is also the most-common form of lung cancer among people who have smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetimes ("never-smokers")[1][72] and ex-smokers with a modest smoking history.[1] A subtype of adenocarcinoma, the bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, is more common in female never-smokers, and may have a better long-term survival.[73]
+
+Squamous-cell carcinoma causes about 30% of lung cancers. They typically occur close to large airways. A hollow cavity and associated cell death are commonly found at the center of the tumor.[6]
+
+About 10 to 15% of lung cancers are large-cell carcinoma.[74] These are so named because the cancer cells are large, with excess cytoplasm, large nuclei, and conspicuous nucleoli.[6]
+
+In SCLC, the cells contain dense neurosecretory granules (vesicles containing neuroendocrine hormones), which give this tumor an endocrine or paraneoplastic syndrome association.[75] Most cases arise in the larger airways (primary and secondary bronchi).[17] Sixty to seventy percent have extensive disease (which cannot be targeted within a single radiation therapy field) at presentation.[1]
+
+Four main histological subtypes are recognised, although some cancers may contain a combination of different subtypes,[70] such as adenosquamous carcinoma.[6] Rare subtypes include carcinoid tumors, bronchial gland carcinomas, and sarcomatoid carcinomas.[6]
+
+The lungs are a common place for the spread of tumors from other parts of the body. Secondary cancers are classified by the site of origin; for example, breast cancer that has been spread to the lung is called metastatic breast cancer. Metastases often have a characteristic round appearance on chest radiograph.[76]
+
+Primary lung cancers also most commonly metastasize to the brain, bones, liver, and adrenal glands.[6] Immunostaining of a biopsy usually helps determine the original source.[77] The presence of Napsin-A, TTF-1, CK7, and CK20 help confirm the subtype of lung carcinoma. SCLC that originates from neuroendocrine cells may express CD56, neural cell adhesion molecule, synaptophysin, or chromogranin.[1]
+
+Lung cancer staging is an assessment of the degree of spread of the cancer from its original source.[78] It is one of the factors affecting both the prognosis and the potential treatment of lung cancer.[1][78]
+
+The evaluation of non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) staging uses the TNM classification (tumor, node, metastasis). This is based on the size of the primary tumor, lymph node involvement, and distant metastasis.[1]
+
+Using the TNM descriptors, a group is assigned, ranging from occult cancer, through stages 0, IA (one-A), IB, IIA, IIB, IIIA, IIIB, and IV (four). This stage group assists with the choice of treatment and estimation of prognosis.[81]
+
+SCLC has traditionally been classified as "limited stage" (confined to one-half of the chest and within the scope of a single tolerable radiotherapy field) or "extensive stage" (more widespread disease).[1] However, the TNM classification and grouping are useful in estimating prognosis.[81]
+
+For both NSCLC and SCLC, the two general types of staging evaluations are clinical staging and surgical staging. Clinical staging is performed before definitive surgery. It is based on the results of imaging studies (such as CT scans and PET scans) and biopsy results. Surgical staging is evaluated either during or after the operation. It is based on the combined results of surgical and clinical findings, including surgical sampling of thoracic lymph nodes.[6]
+
+Stage IA and IB lung cancer
+
+Stage IIA lung cancer
+
+Stage IIB lung cancer
+
+One option for stage IIB lung cancer, with T2b; but if tumor is within 2 cm of the carina, this is stage 3
+
+Stage IIIA lung cancer
+
+Stage IIIA lung cancer, if there is one feature from the list on each side
+
+Stage IIIA lung cancer
+
+Stage IIIB lung cancer
+
+Stage IIIB lung cancer
+
+Stage IV lung cancer
+
+Smoking prevention and smoking cessation are effective ways of preventing the development of lung cancer.[82]
+
+While in most countries industrial and domestic carcinogens have been identified and banned, tobacco smoking is still widespread. Eliminating tobacco smoking is a primary goal in the prevention of lung cancer, and smoking cessation is an important preventive tool in this process.[83]
+
+Policy interventions to decrease passive smoking in public areas such as restaurants and workplaces have become more common in many Western countries.[84] Bhutan has had a complete smoking ban since 2005[85] while India introduced a ban on smoking in public in October 2008.[86] The World Health Organization has called for governments to institute a total ban on tobacco advertising to prevent young people from taking up smoking.[87] They assess that such bans have reduced tobacco consumption by 16% where instituted.[87]
+
+Cancer screening uses medical tests to detect disease in large groups of people who have no symptoms.[88] For individuals with high risk of developing lung cancer, computed tomography (CT) screening can detect cancer and give a person options to respond to it in a way that prolongs life.[68][89] This form of screening reduces the chance of death from lung cancer by an absolute amount of 0.3% (relative amount of 20%).[90][91] High risk people are those age 55–74 who have smoked equivalent amount of a pack of cigarettes daily for 30 years including time within the past 15 years.[68]
+
+CT screening is associated with a high rate of falsely positive tests which may result in unneeded treatment.[92] For each true positive scan there are about 19 falsely positives scans.[91] Other concerns include radiation exposure[92] and the cost of testing along with follow up.[68] Research has not found two other available tests—sputum cytology or chest radiograph (CXR) screening tests—to have any benefit.[89][93]
+
+The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends yearly screening using low-dose computed tomography in those who have a total smoking history of 30 pack-years and are between 55 and 80 years old until a person has not been smoking for more than 15 years.[94] Screening should not be done in those with other health problems that would make treatment of lung cancer if found not an option.[94] The English National Health Service was in 2014 re-examining the evidence for screening.[95]
+
+The long-term use of supplemental vitamin A,[96][97] vitamin C,[96] vitamin D[98] or vitamin E[96] does not reduce the risk of lung cancer. Some studies have found vitamin A, B, and E may increase the risk of lung cancer in those who have a history of smoking.[99]
+
+Some studies suggest that people who eat diets with a higher proportion of vegetables and fruit tend to have a lower risk,[31][100] but this may be due to confounding—with the lower risk actually due to the association of a high fruit and vegetables diet with less smoking.[101] Several rigorous studies have not demonstrated a clear association between diet and lung cancer risk,[1][100] although meta-analysis that accounts for smoking status may show benefit from a healthy diet.[102]
+
+Treatment for lung cancer depends on the cancer's specific cell type, how far it has spread, and the person's performance status. Common treatments include palliative care,[103] surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.[1] Targeted therapy of lung cancer is growing in importance for advanced lung cancer.[104] People who have lung cancer should be encouraged to stop smoking.[105] There is no clear evidence which smoking cessation program is most effective for people who have been diagnosed with lung cancer.[105] It is unclear if exercise training is beneficial for people living with advanced lung cancer.[106] Exercise training may benefit people with NSCLC who are recovering from lung surgery.[107] In addition, exercise training can benefit people with NSCLC who have received radiotherapy, chemotherapy, chemoradiotherapy, or palliative care.[108]
+
+Exercise training before lung cancer surgery improves outcomes.[109] A home-based component in rehabilitation is also useful.[108] Even though it is uncertain if home-based prehabilitation leads to less adverse events or hospitalization time, rehabilitation with a home-based component may improve recovery after treatment and overall lung health.[108]
+
+If investigations confirm NSCLC, the stage is assessed to determine whether the disease is localized and amenable to surgery or if it has spread to the point where it cannot be cured surgically. CT scan and positron emission tomography (PET-CT), non-invasive tests, can be used to help rule out malignancy or mediastinal lymph node involvement.[1][110]  If mediastinal lymph node involvement is suspected using PET-CT, the nodes should be sampled (using a biopsy) to assist staging, a PET-CT scan is not accurate enough to be used alone.[110] Techniques used for obtaining a sample include transthoracic needle aspiration, transbronchial needle aspiration (with or without endobronchial ultrasound), endoscopic ultrasound with needle aspiration, mediastinoscopy, and thoracoscopy.[111] Blood tests and pulmonary function testing are used to assess whether a person is well enough for surgery.[17] If pulmonary function tests reveal poor respiratory reserve, surgery may not be possible.[1]
+
+In most cases of early-stage NSCLC, removal of a lobe of lung (lobectomy) is the surgical treatment of choice. In people who are unfit for a full lobectomy, a smaller sublobar excision (wedge resection) may be performed. However, wedge resection has a higher risk of recurrence than lobectomy. Radioactive iodine brachytherapy at the margins of wedge excision may reduce the risk of recurrence. Rarely, removal of a whole lung (pneumonectomy) is performed.[112] Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and VATS lobectomy use a minimally invasive approach to lung cancer surgery.[113] VATS lobectomy is equally effective compared to conventional open lobectomy, with less postoperative illness.[114]
+
+In SCLC, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy is typically used.[115] However the role of surgery in SCLC is being reconsidered. Surgery might improve outcomes when added to chemotherapy and radiation in early stage SCLC.[116]
+
+The effectiveness of lung cancer surgery (resection) for people with stage I - IIA NSCLC is not clear, however, weak evidence suggests that a combined approach of lung cancer resection and removing the mediastinal lymph nodes (mediastinal lymph node dissection) may improve survival compared to lung resection and a sample of mediastinal nodes (not a complete node dissection).[117]
+
+Radiotherapy is often given together with chemotherapy, and may be used with curative intent in people with NSCLC who are not eligible for surgery.[118] This form of high-intensity radiotherapy is called radical radiotherapy.[119] A refinement of this technique is continuous hyperfractionated accelerated radiotherapy (CHART), in which a high dose of radiotherapy is given in a short time period.[120] Radiosurgery refers to the radiotherapy technique of giving a precise high-dose of radiotherapy that is guided by a computer.[121] Postoperative (adjuvant) thoracic radiotherapy generally should not be used after curative-intent surgery for NSCLC.[122] Some people with mediastinal N2 lymph node involvement might benefit from post-operative radiotherapy.[123]
+
+For potentially curable SCLC cases, chest radiotherapy is often recommended in addition to chemotherapy.[6] The ideal timing of these therapies (the optimal time to give radiotherapy and chemotherapy for improving survival) is not known.[124]
+
+If cancer growth blocks a short section of bronchus, brachytherapy (localized radiotherapy) may be given directly inside the airway to open the passage. Compared to external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy allows a reduction in treatment time and reduced radiation exposure to healthcare staff.[125] Evidence for brachytherapy, however, is less than that for external beam radiotherapy.[126]
+
+Prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) is a type of radiotherapy to the brain, used to reduce the risk of metastasis.[127] PCI is most useful in SCLC. In limited-stage disease, PCI increases three-year survival from 15% to 20%; in extensive disease, one-year survival increases from 13% to 27%.[128] For people who have NSCLC and a single brain metastasis, it is not clear if surgery is more effective than radiosurgery.[121]
+
+Recent improvements in targeting and imaging have led to the development of stereotactic radiation in the treatment of early-stage lung cancer. In this form of radiotherapy, high doses are delivered over a number of sessions using stereotactic targeting techniques. Its use is primarily in patients who are not surgical candidates due to medical comorbidities.[129]
+
+For both NSCLC and SCLC patients, smaller doses of radiation to the chest may be used for symptom control (palliative radiotherapy).[130][131] The use of higher doses of radiotherapy for palliative care are not shown to prolong survival.[131]
+
+The chemotherapy regimen depends on the tumor type.[6] SCLC, even relatively early stage disease, is treated primarily with chemotherapy and radiation.[132] In SCLC, cisplatin and etoposide are most commonly used.[133] Combinations with carboplatin, gemcitabine, paclitaxel, vinorelbine, topotecan, and irinotecan are also used.[134][135] In advanced NSCLC, chemotherapy improves survival and is used as first-line treatment, provided the person is well enough for the treatment.[136] Typically, two drugs are used, of which one is often platinum-based (either cisplatin or carboplatin). Other commonly used drugs are gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel,[137][138] pemetrexed,[139] etoposide or vinorelbine.[138] Platinum-based drugs and combinations that include platinum therapy do not appear to be more beneficial for prolonging survival compared to other non-platinum medications, and may lead to a higher risk of serious adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, anaemia, and thrombocytopenia,[140] especially in people over the age of 70 years.[141] There is not enough evidence to determine which chemotherapy approach is associated with the highest quality of life.[140] There is also insufficient evidence to determine if treating people with NSCLC a second time when the first round of chemotherapy was not successful (second-line chemotherapy) causes more benefit or harm.[142]
+
+Adjuvant chemotherapy refers to the use of chemotherapy after apparently curative surgery to improve the outcome. In NSCLC, samples are taken of nearby lymph nodes during surgery to assist staging. If stage II or III disease is confirmed, adjuvant chemotherapy (including or not including postoperative radiotherapy) improves survival by 4% at five years.[143][144][145] The combination of vinorelbine and cisplatin is more effective than older regimens.[144] Adjuvant chemotherapy for people with stage IB cancer is controversial, as clinical trials have not clearly demonstrated a survival benefit.[146] Chemotherapy before surgery in NSCLC that can be removed surgically may improve outcomes.[147][148]
+
+Chemotherapy may be combined with palliative care in the treatment of the NSCLC.[149] In advanced cases, appropriate chemotherapy improves average survival over supportive care alone, as well as improving quality of life.[150][149] With adequate physical fitness maintaining chemotherapy during lung cancer palliation offers 1.5 to 3 months of prolongation of survival, symptomatic relief, and an improvement in quality of life, with better results seen with modern agents.[151][152] The NSCLC Meta-Analyses Collaborative Group recommends if the recipient wants and can tolerate treatment, then chemotherapy should be considered in advanced NSCLC.[136][153]
+
+Several drugs that target molecular pathways in lung cancer are available, especially for the treatment of advanced disease. Erlotinib, gefitinib and afatinib inhibit tyrosine kinase at the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). These EGFR inhibitors may help delay the spread of cancer cells for people with EGFR M+ lung cancer and may improve a person's quality of life.[154] EGFR inhibitors have not been shown to help people survive longer.[154] For people with EGFR mutations, treatment with gefitinib may result in an improved quality of life compared to treatment with chemotherapy.[155] Denosumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B ligand and may be useful in the treatment of bone metastases.[156]
+
+Immunotherapy may be used for both SCLC and NSCLC.[157][158] Vaccine-based immunotherapy treatment after surgery or radiotherapy may not lead to improved survival for people with Stage I-III NSCLC.[159]
+
+Several treatments can be provided via bronchoscopy for the management of airway obstruction or bleeding. If an airway becomes obstructed by cancer growth, options include rigid bronchoscopy, balloon bronchoplasty, stenting, and microdebridement.[160] Laser photosection involves the delivery of laser light inside the airway via a bronchoscope to remove the obstructing tumor.[161]
+
+Palliative care when added to usual cancer care benefits people even when they are still receiving chemotherapy.[162] These approaches allow additional discussion of treatment options and provide opportunities to arrive at well-considered decisions.[163][164] Palliative care may avoid unhelpful but expensive care not only at the end of life, but also throughout the course of the illness. For individuals who have more advanced disease, hospice care may also be appropriate.[17][164]
+
+There is weak evidence to suggest that supportive care interventions (non-invasive interventions) that focus on well-being for people with lung cancer may improve quality of life.[165] Interventions such as nurse follow-ups, psychotherapy, psychosocial therapy, and educational programs may be beneficial, however, the evidence is not strong (further research is needed).[165] Counselling may help people cope with emotional symptoms related to lung cancer.[165] Reflexology may be effective in the short-term, however more research is needed.[165] There is no evidence to suggest that nutritional interventions or exercise programs result in an improvement in the quality of life for a person with lung cancer.[165]
+
+Of all people with lung cancer in the US, 16.8% survive for at least five years after diagnosis.[2][166] In England and Wales, between 2010 and 2011, overall five-year survival for lung cancer was estimated at 9.5%.[167] Outcomes are generally worse in the developing world.[21] Stage is often advanced at the time of diagnosis. At presentation, 30–40% of cases of NSCLC are stage IV, and 60% of SCLC are stage IV.[6] Survival for lung cancer falls as the stage at diagnosis becomes more advanced: the English data suggest that around 70% of patients survive at least a year when diagnosed at the earliest stage, but this falls to just 14% for those diagnosed with the most advanced disease (stage IV).[168]
+
+Prognostic factors in NSCLC include presence of pulmonary symptoms, large tumor size (>3 cm), non-squamous cell type (histology), degree of spread (stage) and metastases to multiple lymph nodes, and vascular invasion. For people with inoperable disease, outcomes are worse in those with poor performance status and weight loss of more than 10%.[169] Prognostic factors in small cell lung cancer include performance status, biological sex, stage of disease, and involvement of the central nervous system or liver at the time of diagnosis.[170]
+
+For NSCLC, the best prognosis is achieved with complete surgical resection of stage IA disease, with up to 70% five-year survival.[171] People with extensive-stage SCLC have an average five-year survival rate of less than 1%. The average survival time for limited-stage disease is 20 months, with a five-year survival rate of 20%.[7]
+
+According to data provided by the National Cancer Institute, the median age at diagnosis of lung cancer in the US is 70 years,[172] and the median age at death is 72 years.[173] In the US, people with medical insurance are more likely to have a better outcome.[174]
+
+Worldwide, lung cancer is the most-common cancer among men in terms of both incidence and mortality, and among women has the third-highest incidence, and is second after breast cancer in mortality. In 2012, there were 1.82 million new cases worldwide, and 1.56 million deaths due to lung cancer, representing 19.4% of all deaths from cancer.[20] The highest rates are in North America, Europe, and East Asia, with over a third of new cases in China that year.  Rates in Africa and South Asia are much lower.[175]
+
+The population segment that is most likely to develop lung cancer is people aged over 50 who have a history of smoking. Unlike the mortality rate in men – which began declining more than 20 years ago, women's lung cancer mortality rates have risen over the last decades, and are just recently beginning to stabilize.[176] In the US, the lifetime risk of developing lung cancer is 8% in men and 6% in women.[1]
+
+For every 3–4 million cigarettes smoked, one lung cancer death can occur.[177] The influence of "Big Tobacco" plays a significant role in smoking.[178] Young nonsmokers who see tobacco advertisements are more likely to smoke.[179] The role of passive smoking is increasingly being recognized as a risk factor for lung cancer,[34] resulting in policy interventions to decrease the undesired exposure of nonsmokers to others' tobacco smoke.[180]
+
+From the 1960s, the rates of lung adenocarcinoma started to rise in relation to other kinds of lung cancer, partially due to the introduction of filter cigarettes. The use of filters removes larger particles from tobacco smoke, thus reducing deposition in larger airways. However, the smoker has to inhale more deeply to receive the same amount of nicotine, increasing particle deposition in small airways where adenocarcinoma tends to arise.[181] Rates of lung adenocarcinoma continues to rise.[182]
+
+In the US, both black men and black women have a higher incidence.[183] Lung cancer rates are currently lower in developing countries.[184] With increased smoking in developing countries, the rates are expected to increase in the next few years, notably in both China[185] and India.[186]
+
+Also in the US, military veterans have a 25–50% higher rate of lung cancer primarily due to higher rates of smoking.[187] During World War II and the Korean War, asbestos also played a role, and Agent Orange may have caused some problems during the Vietnam War.[188]
+
+Lung cancer is the third most-common cancer in the UK (around 46,400 people were diagnosed with the disease in 2014),[189] and it is the most common cause of cancer-related death (around 35,900 people died in 2014).[190]
+
+Lung cancer was uncommon before the advent of cigarette smoking; it was not even recognized as a distinct disease until 1761.[191] Different aspects of lung cancer were described further in 1810.[192] Malignant lung tumors made up only 1% of all cancers seen at autopsy in 1878, but had risen to 10–15% by the early 1900s.[193] Case reports in the medical literature numbered only 374 worldwide in 1912,[194] but a review of autopsies showed the incidence of lung cancer had increased from 0.3% in 1852 to 5.66% in 1952.[195] In Germany in 1929, physician Fritz Lickint recognized the link between smoking and lung cancer,[193] which led to an aggressive antismoking campaign.[196] The British Doctors' Study, published in the 1950s, was the first solid epidemiological evidence of the link between lung cancer and smoking.[197] As a result, in 1964 the Surgeon General of the United States recommended smokers should stop smoking.[198]
+
+The connection with radon gas was first recognized among miners in the Ore Mountains near Schneeberg, Saxony. Silver has been mined there since 1470, and these mines are rich in uranium, with its accompanying radium and radon gas.[199] Miners developed a disproportionate amount of lung disease, eventually recognized as lung cancer in the 1870s.[200] Despite this discovery, mining continued into the 1950s, due to the USSR's demand for uranium.[199] Radon was confirmed as a cause of lung cancer in the 1960s.[201]
+
+The first successful pneumonectomy for lung cancer was performed in 1933.[202] Palliative radiotherapy has been used since the 1940s.[203] Radical radiotherapy, initially used in the 1950s, was an attempt to use larger radiation doses in patients with relatively early-stage lung cancer, but who were otherwise unfit for surgery.[204] In 1997, CHART was seen as an improvement over conventional radical radiotherapy.[205] With SCLC, initial attempts in the 1960s at surgical resection[206] and radical radiotherapy[207] were unsuccessful. In the 1970s, successful chemotherapy regimens were developed.[208]
+
+Current research directions for lung cancer treatment include immunotherapy,[209][210] which encourages the body's immune system to attack the tumor cells, epigenetics, and new combinations of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, both on their own and together.  Many of these new treatments work through immune checkpoint blockade, disrupting cancer's ability to evade the immune system.[209][210]
+
+Ipilimumab blocks signaling through a receptor on T cells known as CTLA-4 which dampens down the immune system. It has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of melanoma and is undergoing clinical trials for both NSCLC and SCLC.[209]
+
+Other immunotherapy treatments interfere with the binding of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) protein with its ligand PD-1 ligand 1 (PD-L1), and have been approved as first- and subsequent-line treatments for various subsets of lung cancers.[210] Signaling through PD-1 inactivates T cells. Some cancer cells appear to exploit this by expressing PD-L1 in order to switch off T cells that might recognise them as a threat. Monoclonal antibodies targeting both PD-1 and PD-L1, such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab,[65] atezolizumab, and durvalumab[210] are currently in clinical trials for treatment for lung cancer.[209][210]
+
+Epigenetics is the study of small, usually heritable, molecular modifications—or "tags"—that bind to DNA and modify gene expression levels. Targeting these tags with drugs can kill cancer cells. Early-stage research in NSCLC using drugs aimed at epigenetic modifications shows that blocking more than one of these tags can kill cancer cells with fewer side effects.[211] Studies also show that giving patients these drugs before standard treatment can improve its effectiveness. Clinical trials are underway to evaluate how well these drugs kill lung cancer cells in humans.[211] Several drugs that target epigenetic mechanisms are in development. Histone deacetylase inhibitors in development include valproic acid, vorinostat, belinostat, panobinostat, entinostat, and romidepsin. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors in development include decitabine, azacytidine, and hydralazine.[61]
+
+The TRACERx project is looking at how NSCLC develops and evolves, and how these tumors become resistant to treatment.[212] The project will look at tumor samples from 850 NSCLC patients at various stages including diagnosis, after first treatment, post-treatment, and relapse.[213] By studying samples at different points of tumor development, the researchers hope to identify the changes that drive tumor growth and resistance to treatment. The results of this project will help scientists and doctors gain a better understanding of NSCLC and potentially lead to the development of new treatments for the disease.[212]
+
+For lung cancer cases that develop resistance to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors, new drugs are in development. EGFR inhibitors include afatinib and dacomitinib.[154] An alternative signaling pathway, c-Met, can be inhibited by tivantinib and onartuzumab. New ALK inhibitors include crizotinib and ceritinib.[214] If the MAPK/ERK pathway is involved, the BRAF kinase inhibitor dabrafenib and the MAPK/MEK inhibitor trametinib may be beneficial.[215]
+
+The PI3K pathway has been investigated as a target for lung cancer therapy. The most promising strategies for targeting this pathway seem to be selective inhibition of one or more members of the class I PI3Ks, and co-targeted inhibition of this pathway with others such as MEK.[216]
+
+Lung cancer stem cells are often resistant to conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This may lead to relapse after treatment. New approaches target protein or glycoprotein markers that are specific to the stem cells. Such markers include CD133, CD90, ALDH1A1, CD44 and ABCG2. Signaling pathways such as Hedgehog, Wnt and Notch are often implicated in the self-renewal of stem cell lines. Thus treatments targeting these pathways may help to prevent relapse.[217]

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+
+
+Eid al-Adha (Arabic: عيد الأضحى‎, romanized: ʿīd al-ʾaḍḥā, lit. 'Feast of the Sacrifice', IPA: [ʕiːd alˈʔadˤħaː]) , also called the "Festival of the Sacrifice", is the second of two Islamic holidays celebrated worldwide each year (the other being Eid al-Fitr), and considered the holier of the two. It honors the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to God's command. But, before Ibrahim could sacrifice his son, God provided a lamb to sacrifice instead. In commemoration of this intervention, an animal, usually a sheep, is sacrificed ritually and divided into three parts. One share is given to the poor and needy, another is kept for home, and the third is given to relatives.
+
+In the Islamic lunar calendar, Eid al-Adha falls on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah, and lasts for four days. In the international (Gregorian) calendar, the dates vary from year to year shifting approximately 11 days earlier each year.
+
+In languages other than Arabic, the name is often simply translated into the local language, such as  Eid Qurban  (Persian: عيد قربان‎), Qurban Bayrami (Azerbaijani: Qurban Bayramı), Tafaska tameqrant (Berber languages: Amazigh), English Feast of the Sacrifice, German Opferfest, Dutch Offerfeest, Romanian Sărbătoarea Sacrificiului, and Hungarian Áldozati ünnep. In Spanish it is known as Fiesta del Cordero[5] or Fiesta del Borrego (both meaning "festival of the lamb"). In Kurdish it is known as (Cejna Qurbanê / جەژنی قوربان). It is also known as Eid Qurban (عید قربان) in Persian speaking countries such as Afghanistan and Iran, Kurban Bayramı[6][7] in Turkey, Qurban Bayramı in Azerbaijan, 
+কোরবানীর ঈদ in Bangladesh, as عید الكبير the big Feast in the Maghreb, as Iduladha, Hari Raya Aidiladha, Hari Raya Haji or Hari Raya Korban in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, as بکرا عید  "Goat Eid" or بڑی عید "Greater Eid" in India and Pakistan, Bakara Eid in Trinidad and Tobago, as 𞤔𞤓𞥅𞤂𞤁𞤉 𞤁𞤌𞤐𞤑𞤋𞤐 or Juulde Donkin in the Fulfulde language, as Tabaski or Tobaski in The Gambia, Guinea, and Senegal (most probably borrowed from the Serer language – and an ancient Serer religious festival[8][9][10][11]), and as Odún Iléyá by the Yorúbà people of Nigeria[12][13][14][15]
+
+The following names are used as other names of Eid al-Adha:
+
+The word عيد (ʿīd) means 'festival', 'celebration', 'feast day', or 'holiday'. It itself is a triliteral root ‏عيد‎ with associated root meanings of "to go back, to rescind, to accrue, to be accustomed, habits, to repeat, to be experienced; appointed time or place, anniversary, feast day."[19][20] Arthur Jeffery contests this etymology, and believes the term to have been borrowed into Arabic from Syriac, or less likely Targumic Aramaic.[21]
+
+The words أضحى (aḍḥā) and قربان (qurbān) are synonymous in meaning 'sacrifice' (animal sacrifice), 'offering' or 'oblation'. The first word comes from the triliteral root ضحى (ḍaḥḥā) with associated meanings of "immolate ; offer up ; sacrifice ; victimize."[22] No occurrence of this root with a meaning related to sacrifice occurs in the Qur'an[19] but in the Hadith literature. Arab Christians use the term to mean the Eucharistic host. The second word derives from the triliteral root ‏‏قرب‎‎ (qaraba) with associated meanings of "closeness, proximity... to moderate; kinship...; to hurry; ...to seek, to seek water sources...; scabbard, sheath; small boat; sacrifice."[20] Arthur Jeffery recognizes the same Semitic root, but believes the sense of the term to have entered Arabic through Aramaic.[21] Compare Hebrew korban קָרבן (qorbān).
+
+One of the main trials of Ibrahim's life was to face the command of God by sacrificing his beloved son.[23] In Islam, Ibrahim kept having dreams that he was sacrificing his son Ismael. Ibrahim knew that this was a command from God and he told his son, as stated in the Quran "O'son, I keep dreaming that I am slaughtering you", Ismael replied " Father, do what you are ordered to do." Ibraham prepared to submit to the will of God and prepared to slaughter his son as an act of faith and obedience to God.[24] During this preparation, Shaytaan (the Devil) tempted Ibraham and his family by trying to dissuade them from carrying out God's commandment, and Ibraham drove Satan away by throwing pebbles at him. In commemoration of their rejection of Satan, stones are thrown at symbolic pillars Stoning of the Devil during Hajj rites.[25]
+
+Acknowledging that Ibrahim was willing to sacrifice what is dear to him, God the almighty honoured both Ibrahim and Ismael. Jibreel (Gabriel) called Ibrahim "O' Ibrahim, you have fulfilled the revelations." and a Ram from heaven was offered by Jibreel to prophet Ibrahim to slaughter instead of Ismael. Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al Adha to commemorate both the devotion of Ibrahim and the survival of Ismael.[26][27][28]
+
+This story is known as the Akedah in Judaism (Binding of Isaac) and originates in the Torah,[29] the first book of Moses (Genesis, Ch. 22). The Quran refers to the Akedah as follows:[30]
+
+100 "O my Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!"
+101 So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.
+102 Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me if Allah so wills one practicing Patience and Constancy!"
+103 So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),
+104 We called out to him "O Ibraham!
+105 "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" –  thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
+106 For this was obviously a trial–
+107 And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
+108 And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:
+109 "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"
+110 Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
+111 For he was one of our believing Servants.
+112 And We gave him the good news of Isaac –  a prophet –  one of the Righteous.
+
+The word "Eid" appears once in Al-Ma'ida, the fifth sura of the Quran, with the meaning "solemn festival".[32]
+
+The purpose of  Sacrifice in Eid al-Adha is not about shedding of blood just to satisfy Allah. It is about sacrificing something devotees love the most to show their devotion to Allah. It is also obligatory to share the meat of the sacrificed animal in three equivalent parts - for family, for relatives and friends, and for poor people. The celebration has a clear message of devotion, kindness and equality. It is said that the meat will not reach to Allah, nor will the blood, but what reaches him is the devotion of devotees.[33]
+
+Devotees offer the Eid al-Adha prayers at the mosque. The Eid al-Adha prayer is performed any time after the sun completely rises up to just before the entering of Zuhr time, on the 10th of Dhu al-Hijjah. In the event of a force majeure (e.g. natural disaster), the prayer may be delayed to the 11th of Dhu al-Hijjah and then to the 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah.[34]
+
+Eid prayers must be offered in congregation. Participation of women in the prayer congregation varies from community to community.[35] It consists of two rakats (units) with seven takbirs in the first Raka'ah and five Takbirs in the second Raka'ah. For Shia Muslims, Salat al-Eid differs from the five daily canonical prayers in that no adhan (call to prayer) or iqama (call) is pronounced for the two Eid prayers.[36][37] The salat (prayer) is then followed by the khutbah, or sermon, by the Imam.
+
+At the conclusion of the prayers and sermon, Muslims embrace and exchange greetings with one another (Eid Mubarak), give gifts and visit one another. Many Muslims also take this opportunity to invite their friends, neighbours, co-workers and classmates to their Eid festivities to better acquaint them about Islam and Muslim culture.[38]
+
+During Eid al-Adha, distributing meat amongst the people, chanting the takbir out loud before the Eid prayers on the first day and after prayers throughout the three days of Eid, are considered essential parts of this important Islamic festival.[39]
+
+The takbir consists of:[40]
+
+الله أكبر الله أكبر
+لا إله إلا الله
+الله أكبر الله أكبر
+ولله الحمد
+
+Allāhu akbar, allāhu akbar
+lā ilāha illā-llāh
+allāhu akbar, allāhu akbar
+walillāhi l-ḥamd[a]
+
+Men, women, and children are expected to dress in their finest clothing to perform Eid prayer in a large congregation in an open waqf ("stopping") field called Eidgah or mosque. Affluent Muslims who can afford it sacrifice their best halal domestic animals (usually a cow, but can also be a camel, goat, sheep, or ram depending on the region) as a symbol of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son.[41] The sacrificed animals, called aḍḥiya (Arabic: أضحية‎), known also by the Perso-Arabic term qurbāni, have to meet certain age and quality standards or else the animal is considered an unacceptable sacrifice.[42] In Pakistan alone nearly ten million animals are slaughtered on Eid days costing over US$2.0 billion.[43]
+
+The meat from the sacrificed animal is preferred to be divided into three parts. The family retains one-third of the share; another third is given to relatives, friends, and neighbors; and the remaining third is given to the poor and needy.[41]
+
+Muslims wear their new or best clothes. Women cook special sweets, including ma'amoul (filled shortbread cookies). They gather with family and friends.[34]
+
+While Eid al-Adha is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar. The lunar calendar is approximately eleven days shorter than the solar calendar.[44] Each year, Eid al-Adha (like other Islamic holidays) falls on one of about two to four different Gregorian dates in different parts of the world, because the boundary of crescent visibility is different from the International Date Line.
+
+The following list shows the official dates of Eid al-Adha for Saudi Arabia as announced by the Supreme Judicial Council. Future dates are estimated according to the Umm al-Qura calendar of Saudi Arabia.[45] The Umm al-Qura is just a guide for planning purposes and not the absolute determinant or fixer of dates. Confirmations of actual dates by moon sighting are applied on the 29th day of the lunar month prior to Dhu al-Hijjah[46] to announce the specific dates for both Hajj rituals and the subsequent Eid festival. The three days after the listed date are also part of the festival. The time before the listed date the pilgrims visit the Mount Arafat and descend from it after sunrise of the listed day.
+
+In many countries, the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on the observation of new moon by local religious authorities, so the exact day of celebration varies by locality.
+
+Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest,
+There is no god but Allah
+Allah is greatest, Allah is greatest
+and to Allah goes all praise.[34]
+
+(federal) = federal holidays, (abbreviation) = state/territorial holidays, (religious) = religious holidays, (cultural) = holiday related to a specific racial/ethnic group or sexual minority, (week) = week-long holidays, (month) = month-long holidays, (36) = Title 36 Observances and Ceremonies
+Bold indicates major holidays commonly celebrated in the United States, which often represent the major celebrations of the month.

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+
+
+Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[2][8] These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread.[8] Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements.[1] While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they can also have other causes.[1] Over 100 types of cancers affect humans.[8]
+
+Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths.[2] Another 10% are due to obesity, poor diet, lack of physical activity or excessive drinking of alcohol.[2][9][10] Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation and environmental pollutants.[3] In the developing world, 15% of cancers are due to infections such as Helicobacter pylori, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human papillomavirus infection, Epstein–Barr virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).[2] These factors act, at least partly, by changing the genes of a cell.[11] Typically, many genetic changes are required before cancer develops.[11] Approximately 5–10% of cancers are due to inherited genetic defects from a person's parents.[12] Cancer can be detected by certain signs and symptoms or screening tests.[2] It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy.[13]
+
+The risk of developing certain cancers can be reduced by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, not drinking too much alcohol, eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, vaccination against certain infectious diseases, not eating too much processed and red meat and avoiding too much sunlight exposure.[14][15] Early detection through screening is useful for cervical and colorectal cancer.[16] The benefits of screening in breast cancer are controversial.[16][17] Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy and targeted therapy.[2][4] Pain and symptom management are an important part of care.[2] Palliative care is particularly important in people with advanced disease.[2] The chance of survival depends on the type of cancer and extent of disease at the start of treatment.[11] In children under 15 at diagnosis, the five-year survival rate in the developed world is on average 80%.[18] For cancer in the United States, the average five-year survival rate is 66%.[5]
+
+In 2015, about 90.5 million people had cancer.[6] As of 2019, about 18 million new cases occur annually.[19] It caused about 8.8 million deaths (15.7% of deaths).[7] The most common types of cancer in males are lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and stomach cancer.[20] In females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and cervical cancer.[11] If skin cancer other than melanoma were included in total new cancer cases each year, it would account for around 40% of cases.[21][22] In children, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and brain tumors are most common, except in Africa where non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more often.[18] In 2012, about 165,000 children under 15 years of age were diagnosed with cancer.[20] The risk of cancer increases significantly with age, and many cancers occur more commonly in developed countries.[11] Rates are increasing as more people live to an old age and as lifestyle changes occur in the developing world.[23] The financial costs of cancer were estimated at $1.16 trillion USD per year as of 2010[update].[24]
+
+Cancers are a large family of diseases that involve abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[2][8] They form a subset of neoplasms. A neoplasm or tumor is a group of cells that have undergone unregulated growth and will often form a mass or lump, but may be distributed diffusely.[25][26]
+
+All tumor cells show the six hallmarks of cancer. These characteristics are required to produce a malignant tumor. They include:[27]
+
+The progression from normal cells to cells that can form a detectable mass to outright cancer involves multiple steps known as malignant progression.[27][28]
+
+When cancer begins, it produces no symptoms. Signs and symptoms appear as the mass grows or ulcerates. The findings that result depend on the cancer's type and location. Few symptoms are specific. Many frequently occur in individuals who have other conditions. Cancer can be difficult to diagnose and can be considered a "great imitator."[29]
+
+People may become anxious or depressed post-diagnosis. The risk of suicide in people with cancer is approximately double.[30]
+
+Local symptoms may occur due to the mass of the tumor or its ulceration. For example, mass effects from lung cancer can block the bronchus resulting in cough or pneumonia; esophageal cancer can cause narrowing of the esophagus, making it difficult or painful to swallow; and colorectal cancer may lead to narrowing or blockages in the bowel, affecting bowel habits. Masses in breasts or testicles may produce observable lumps. Ulceration can cause bleeding that can lead to symptoms such as coughing up blood (lung cancer),  anemia or rectal bleeding (colon cancer), blood in the urine (bladder cancer), or abnormal vaginal bleeding (endometrial or cervical cancer). Although localized pain may occur in advanced cancer, the initial tumor is usually painless. Some cancers can cause a buildup of fluid within the chest or abdomen.[29]
+
+Systemic symptoms may occur due to the body's response to the cancer. This may include fatigue, unintentional weight loss, or skin changes.[31] Some cancers can cause a systemic inflammatory state that leads to ongoing muscle loss and weakness, known as cachexia.[32]
+
+Some types of cancer such as Hodgkin disease, leukemias and cancers of the liver or kidney can cause a persistent fever.[29]
+
+Some systemic symptoms of cancer are caused by hormones or other molecules produced by the tumor, known as paraneoplastic syndromes. Common paraneoplastic syndromes include hypercalcemia which can cause altered mental state, constipation and dehydration, or hyponatremia that can also cause altered mental status, vomiting, headache or seizures.[33]
+
+Cancer can spread from its original site by local spread, lymphatic spread to regional lymph nodes or by hematogenous spread via the blood to distant sites, known as metastasis. When cancer spreads through the blood, it may spread through the body but is more likely to travel to certain areas depending on the cancer type. The symptoms of metastatic cancers depend on the tumor location and can include enlarged lymph nodes (which can be felt or sometimes seen under the skin and are typically hard), enlarged liver or enlarged spleen, which can be felt in the abdomen, pain or fracture of affected bones and neurological symptoms.[29]
+
+The majority of cancers, some 90–95% of cases, are due to genetic mutations from environmental and lifestyle factors.[3] The remaining 5–10% are due to inherited genetics.[3] Environmental refers to any cause that is not inherited genetically, such as lifestyle, economic, and behavioral factors and not merely pollution.[35] Common environmental factors that contribute to cancer death include tobacco (25–30%), diet and obesity (30–35%), infections (15–20%), radiation (both ionizing and non-ionizing, up to 10%), lack of physical activity, and pollution.[3][36] Psychological stress does not appear to be a risk factor for the onset of cancer,[37][38] though it may worsen outcomes in those who already have cancer.[37]
+
+It is not generally possible to prove what caused a particular cancer because the various causes do not have specific fingerprints. For example, if a person who uses tobacco heavily develops lung cancer, then it was probably caused by the tobacco use, but since everyone has a small chance of developing lung cancer as a result of air pollution or radiation, the cancer may have developed for one of those reasons. Excepting the rare transmissions that occur with pregnancies and occasional organ donors, cancer is generally not a transmissible disease.[39]
+
+Exposure to particular substances have been linked to specific types of cancer. These substances are called carcinogens.
+
+Tobacco smoke, for example, causes 90% of lung cancer.[40] It also causes cancer in the larynx, head, neck, stomach, bladder, kidney, esophagus and pancreas.[41] Tobacco smoke contains over fifty known carcinogens, including nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.[42]
+
+Tobacco is responsible for about one in five cancer deaths worldwide[42] and about one in three in the developed world.[43] Lung cancer death rates in the United States have mirrored smoking patterns, with increases in smoking followed by dramatic increases in lung cancer death rates and, more recently, decreases in smoking rates since the 1950s followed by decreases in lung cancer death rates in men since 1990.[44][45]
+
+In Western Europe, 10% of cancers in males and 3% of cancers in females are attributed to alcohol exposure, especially liver and digestive tract cancers.[46] Cancer from work-related substance exposures may cause between 2 and 20% of cases,[47] causing at least 200,000 deaths.[48] Cancers such as lung cancer and mesothelioma can come from inhaling tobacco smoke or asbestos fibers, or leukemia from exposure to benzene.[48]
+
+Diet, physical inactivity and obesity are related to up to 30–35% of cancer deaths.[3][49] In the United States, excess body weight is associated with the development of many types of cancer and is a factor in 14–20% of cancer deaths.[49] A UK study including data on over 5 million people showed higher body mass index to be related to at least 10 types of cancer and responsible for around 12,000 cases each year in that country.[50] Physical inactivity is believed to contribute to cancer risk, not only through its effect on body weight but also through negative effects on the immune system and endocrine system.[49] More than half of the effect from diet is due to overnutrition (eating too much), rather than from eating too few vegetables or other healthful foods.
+
+Some specific foods are linked to specific cancers. A high-salt diet is linked to gastric cancer.[51] Aflatoxin B1, a frequent food contaminant, causes liver cancer.[51] Betel nut chewing can cause oral cancer.[51] National differences in dietary practices may partly explain differences in cancer incidence. For example, gastric cancer is more common in Japan due to its high-salt diet[52] while colon cancer is more common in the United States. Immigrant cancer profiles mirror those of their new country, often within one generation.[53]
+
+Worldwide approximately 18% of cancer deaths are related to infectious diseases.[3] This proportion ranges from a high of 25% in Africa to less than 10% in the developed world.[3] Viruses are the usual infectious agents that cause cancer but cancer bacteria and parasites may also play a role.
+
+Oncoviruses (viruses that can cause cancer) include human papillomavirus (cervical cancer), Epstein–Barr virus (B-cell lymphoproliferative disease and nasopharyngeal carcinoma), Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (Kaposi's sarcoma and primary effusion lymphomas), hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (hepatocellular carcinoma) and human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (T-cell leukemias). Bacterial infection may also increase the risk of cancer, as seen in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinoma.[54][55] Parasitic infections associated with cancer include Schistosoma haematobium (squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder) and the liver flukes, Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis (cholangiocarcinoma).[56]
+
+Radiation exposure such as ultraviolet radiation and radioactive material is a risk factor for cancer.[57][58][59] Many non-melanoma skin cancers are due to ultraviolet radiation, mostly from sunlight.[58] Sources of ionizing radiation include medical imaging and radon gas.[58]
+
+Ionizing radiation is not a particularly strong mutagen.[60] Residential exposure to radon gas, for example, has similar cancer risks as passive smoking.[60] Radiation is a more potent source of cancer when combined with other cancer-causing agents, such as radon plus tobacco smoke.[60] Radiation can cause cancer in most parts of the body, in all animals and at any age. Children are twice as likely to develop radiation-induced leukemia as adults; radiation exposure before birth has ten times the effect.[60]
+
+Medical use of ionizing radiation is a small but growing source of radiation-induced cancers. Ionizing radiation may be used to treat other cancers, but this may, in some cases, induce a second form of cancer.[60] It is also used in some kinds of medical imaging.[61]
+
+Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun can lead to melanoma and other skin malignancies.[62] Clear evidence establishes ultraviolet radiation, especially the non-ionizing medium wave UVB, as the cause of most non-melanoma skin cancers, which are the most common forms of cancer in the world.[62]
+
+Non-ionizing radio frequency radiation from mobile phones, electric power transmission and other similar sources has been described as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.[63] Evidence, however, has not supported a concern.[64] [57] This includes that studies have not found a consistent link between mobile phone radiation and cancer risk.[65]
+
+The vast majority of cancers are non-hereditary (sporadic). Hereditary cancers are primarily caused by an inherited genetic defect. Less than 0.3% of the population are carriers of a genetic mutation that has a large effect on cancer risk and these cause less than 3–10% of cancer.[66] Some of these syndromes include: certain inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 with a more than 75% risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer,[66] and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome), which is present in about 3% of people with colorectal cancer,[67] among others.
+
+Statistically for cancers causing most mortality, the relative risk of developing colorectal cancer when a first-degree relative (parent, sibling or child) has been diagnosed with it is about 2.[68] The corresponding relative risk is 1.5 for lung cancer,[69] and 1.9 for prostate cancer.[70] For breast cancer, the relative risk is 1.8 with a first-degree relative having developed it at 50 years of age or older, and 3.3 when the relative developed it when being younger than 50 years of age.[71]
+
+Taller people have an increased risk of cancer because they have more cells than shorter people. Since height is genetically determined to a large extent, taller people have a heritable increase of cancer risk.[72]
+
+Some substances cause cancer primarily through their physical, rather than chemical, effects.[73] A prominent example of this is prolonged exposure to asbestos, naturally occurring mineral fibers that are a major cause of mesothelioma (cancer of the serous membrane) usually the serous membrane surrounding the lungs.[73] Other substances in this category, including both naturally occurring and synthetic asbestos-like fibers, such as wollastonite, attapulgite, glass wool and rock wool, are believed to have similar effects.[73] Non-fibrous particulate materials that cause cancer include powdered metallic cobalt and nickel and crystalline silica (quartz, cristobalite and tridymite).[73] Usually, physical carcinogens must get inside the body (such as through inhalation) and require years of exposure to produce cancer.[73]
+
+Physical trauma resulting in cancer is relatively rare.[74] Claims that breaking bones resulted in bone cancer, for example, have not been proven.[74] Similarly, physical trauma is not accepted as a cause for cervical cancer, breast cancer or brain cancer.[74] One accepted source is frequent, long-term application of hot objects to the body. It is possible that repeated burns on the same part of the body, such as those produced by kanger and kairo heaters (charcoal hand warmers), may produce skin cancer, especially if carcinogenic chemicals are also present.[74] Frequent consumption of scalding hot tea may produce esophageal cancer.[74] Generally, it is believed that cancer arises, or a pre-existing cancer is encouraged, during the process of healing, rather than directly by the trauma.[74] However, repeated injuries to the same tissues might promote excessive cell proliferation, which could then increase the odds of a cancerous mutation.
+
+Chronic inflammation has been hypothesized to directly cause mutation.[74][75] Inflammation can contribute to proliferation, survival, angiogenesis and migration of cancer cells by influencing the tumor microenvironment.[76][77] Oncogenes build up an inflammatory pro-tumorigenic microenvironment.[78]
+
+Some hormones play a role in the development of cancer by promoting cell proliferation.[79] Insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins play a key role in cancer cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, suggesting possible involvement in carcinogenesis.[80]
+
+Hormones are important agents in sex-related cancers, such as cancer of the breast, endometrium, prostate, ovary and testis and also of thyroid cancer and bone cancer.[79] For example, the daughters of women who have breast cancer have significantly higher levels of estrogen and progesterone than the daughters of women without breast cancer. These higher hormone levels may explain their higher risk of breast cancer, even in the absence of a breast-cancer gene.[79] Similarly, men of African ancestry have significantly higher levels of testosterone than men of European ancestry and have a correspondingly higher level of prostate cancer.[79] Men of Asian ancestry, with the lowest levels of testosterone-activating androstanediol glucuronide, have the lowest levels of prostate cancer.[79]
+
+Other factors are relevant: obese people have higher levels of some hormones associated with cancer and a higher rate of those cancers.[79] Women who take hormone replacement therapy have a higher risk of developing cancers associated with those hormones.[79] On the other hand, people who exercise far more than average have lower levels of these hormones and lower risk of cancer.[79] Osteosarcoma may be promoted by growth hormones.[79] Some treatments and prevention approaches leverage this cause by artificially reducing hormone levels and thus discouraging hormone-sensitive cancers.[79]
+
+There is an association between celiac disease and an increased risk of all cancers. People with untreated celiac disease have a higher risk, but this risk decreases with time after diagnosis and strict treatment, probably due to the adoption of a gluten-free diet, which seems to have a protective role against development of malignancy in people with celiac disease. However, the delay in diagnosis and initiation of a gluten-free diet seems to increase the risk of malignancies.[81] Rates of gastrointestinal cancers are increased in people with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, due to chronic inflammation. Also, immunomodulators and biologic agents used to treat these diseases may promote developing extra-intestinal malignancies.[82]
+
+Cancer is fundamentally a disease of tissue growth regulation. In order for a normal cell to transform into a cancer cell, the genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation must be altered.[83]
+
+The affected genes are divided into two broad categories. Oncogenes are genes that promote cell growth and reproduction. Tumor suppressor genes are genes that inhibit cell division and survival. Malignant transformation can occur through the formation of novel oncogenes, the inappropriate over-expression of normal oncogenes, or by the under-expression or disabling of tumor suppressor genes. Typically, changes in multiple genes are required to transform a normal cell into a cancer cell.[84]
+
+Genetic changes can occur at different levels and by different mechanisms. The gain or loss of an entire chromosome can occur through errors in mitosis. More common are mutations, which are changes in the nucleotide sequence of genomic DNA.
+
+Large-scale mutations involve the deletion or gain of a portion of a chromosome. Genomic amplification occurs when a cell gains copies (often 20 or more) of a small chromosomal locus, usually containing one or more oncogenes and adjacent genetic material. Translocation occurs when two separate chromosomal regions become abnormally fused, often at a characteristic location. A well-known example of this is the Philadelphia chromosome, or translocation of chromosomes 9 and 22, which occurs in chronic myelogenous leukemia and results in production of the BCR-abl fusion protein, an oncogenic tyrosine kinase.
+
+Small-scale mutations include point mutations, deletions, and insertions, which may occur in the promoter region of a gene and affect its expression, or may occur in the gene's coding sequence and alter the function or stability of its protein product. Disruption of a single gene may also result from integration of genomic material from a DNA virus or retrovirus, leading to the expression of viral oncogenes in the affected cell and its descendants.
+
+Replication of the data contained within the DNA of living cells will probabilistically result in some errors (mutations). Complex error correction and prevention is built into the process and safeguards the cell against cancer. If a significant error occurs, the damaged cell can self-destruct through programmed cell death, termed apoptosis. If the error control processes fail, then the mutations will survive and be passed along to daughter cells.
+
+Some environments make errors more likely to arise and propagate. Such environments can include the presence of disruptive substances called carcinogens, repeated physical injury, heat, ionising radiation or hypoxia.[85]
+
+The errors that cause cancer are self-amplifying and compounding, for example:
+
+The transformation of a normal cell into cancer is akin to a chain reaction caused by initial errors, which compound into more severe errors, each progressively allowing the cell to escape more controls that limit normal tissue growth. This rebellion-like scenario is an undesirable survival of the fittest, where the driving forces of evolution work against the body's design and enforcement of order. Once cancer has begun to develop, this ongoing process, termed clonal evolution, drives progression towards more invasive stages.[86] Clonal evolution leads to intra-tumour heterogeneity (cancer cells with heterogeneous mutations) that complicates designing effective treatment strategies.
+
+Characteristic abilities developed by cancers are divided into categories, specifically evasion of apoptosis, self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to anti-growth signals, sustained angiogenesis, limitless replicative potential, metastasis, reprogramming of energy metabolism and evasion of immune destruction.[27][28]
+
+The classical view of cancer is a set of diseases that are driven by progressive genetic abnormalities that include mutations in tumor-suppressor genes and oncogenes and chromosomal abnormalities. Later epigenetic alterations' role was identified.[87]
+
+Epigenetic alterations are functionally relevant modifications to the genome that do not change the nucleotide sequence. Examples of such modifications are changes in DNA methylation (hypermethylation and hypomethylation), histone modification[88] and changes in chromosomal architecture (caused by inappropriate expression of proteins such as HMGA2 or HMGA1).[89] Each of these alterations regulates gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. These changes may remain through cell divisions, last for multiple generations and can be considered to be epimutations (equivalent to mutations).
+
+Epigenetic alterations occur frequently in cancers. As an example, one study listed protein coding genes that were frequently altered in their methylation in association with colon cancer. These included 147 hypermethylated and 27 hypomethylated genes. Of the hypermethylated genes, 10 were hypermethylated in 100% of colon cancers and many others were hypermethylated in more than 50% of colon cancers.[90]
+
+While epigenetic alterations are found in cancers, the epigenetic alterations in DNA repair genes, causing reduced expression of DNA repair proteins, may be of particular importance. Such alterations are thought to occur early in progression to cancer and to be a likely cause of the genetic instability characteristic of cancers.[91][92][93]
+
+Reduced expression of DNA repair genes disrupts DNA repair. This is shown in the figure at the 4th level from the top. (In the figure, red wording indicates the central role of DNA damage and defects in DNA repair in progression to cancer.) When DNA repair is deficient DNA damage remains in cells at a higher than usual level (5th level) and cause increased frequencies of mutation and/or epimutation (6th level). Mutation rates increase substantially in cells defective in DNA mismatch repair[94][95] or in homologous recombinational repair (HRR).[96] Chromosomal rearrangements and aneuploidy also increase in HRR defective cells.[97]
+
+Higher levels of DNA damage cause increased mutation (right side of figure) and increased epimutation. During repair of DNA double strand breaks, or repair of other DNA damage, incompletely cleared repair sites can cause epigenetic gene silencing.[98][99]
+
+Deficient expression of DNA repair proteins due to an inherited mutation can increase cancer risks. Individuals with an inherited impairment in any of 34 DNA repair genes (see article DNA repair-deficiency disorder) have increased cancer risk, with some defects ensuring a 100% lifetime chance of cancer (e.g. p53 mutations).[100] Germ line DNA repair mutations are noted on the figure's left side. However, such germline mutations (which cause highly penetrant cancer syndromes) are the cause of only about 1 percent of cancers.[101]
+
+In sporadic cancers, deficiencies in DNA repair are occasionally caused by a mutation in a DNA repair gene but are much more frequently caused by epigenetic alterations that reduce or silence expression of DNA repair genes. This is indicated in the figure at the 3rd level. Many studies of heavy metal-induced carcinogenesis show that such heavy metals cause a reduction in expression of DNA repair enzymes, some through epigenetic mechanisms. DNA repair inhibition is proposed to be a predominant mechanism in heavy metal-induced carcinogenicity. In addition, frequent epigenetic alterations of the DNA sequences code for small RNAs called microRNAs (or miRNAs). miRNAs do not code for proteins, but can "target" protein-coding genes and reduce their expression.
+
+Cancers usually arise from an assemblage of mutations and epimutations that confer a selective advantage leading to clonal expansion (see Field defects in progression to cancer). Mutations, however, may not be as frequent in cancers as epigenetic alterations. An average cancer of the breast or colon can have about 60 to 70 protein-altering mutations, of which about three or four may be "driver" mutations and the remaining ones may be "passenger" mutations.[102]
+
+Metastasis is the spread of cancer to other locations in the body. The dispersed tumors are called metastatic tumors, while the original is called the primary tumor. Almost all cancers can metastasize.[103] Most cancer deaths are due to cancer that has metastasized.[104]
+
+Metastasis is common in the late stages of cancer and it can occur via the blood or the lymphatic system or both. The typical steps in metastasis are local invasion, intravasation into the blood or lymph, circulation through the body, extravasation into the new tissue, proliferation and angiogenesis. Different types of cancers tend to metastasize to particular organs, but overall the most common places for metastases to occur are the lungs, liver, brain and the bones.[103]
+
+Most cancers are initially recognized either because of the appearance of signs or symptoms or through screening. Neither of these leads to a definitive diagnosis, which requires the examination of a tissue sample by a pathologist. People with suspected cancer are investigated with medical tests. These commonly include blood tests, X-rays, (contrast) CT scans and endoscopy.
+
+The tissue diagnosis from the biopsy indicates the type of cell that is proliferating, its histological grade, genetic abnormalities and other features. Together, this information is useful to evaluate the prognosis and to choose the best treatment.
+
+Cytogenetics and immunohistochemistry are other types of tissue tests. These tests provide information about molecular changes (such as mutations, fusion genes and numerical chromosome changes) and may thus also indicate the prognosis and best treatment.
+
+Cancer diagnosis can cause psychological distress and psychosocial interventions, such as talking therapy, may help people with this.[105]
+
+Cancers are classified by the type of cell that the tumor cells resemble and is therefore presumed to be the origin of the tumor. These types include:
+
+Cancers are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ or tissue of origin as the root. For example, cancers of the liver parenchyma arising from malignant epithelial cells is called hepatocarcinoma, while a malignancy arising from primitive liver precursor cells is called a hepatoblastoma and a cancer arising from fat cells is called a liposarcoma. For some common cancers, the English organ name is used. For example, the most common type of breast cancer is called ductal carcinoma of the breast. Here, the adjective ductal refers to the appearance of cancer under the microscope, which suggests that it has originated in the milk ducts.
+
+Benign tumors (which are not cancers) are named using -oma as a suffix with the organ name as the root. For example, a benign tumor of smooth muscle cells is called a leiomyoma (the common name of this frequently occurring benign tumor in the uterus is fibroid). Confusingly, some types of cancer use the -noma suffix, examples including melanoma and seminoma.
+
+Some types of cancer are named for the size and shape of the cells under a microscope, such as giant cell carcinoma, spindle cell carcinoma and small-cell carcinoma.
+
+An invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast (pale area at the center) surrounded by spikes of whitish scar tissue and yellow fatty tissue
+
+An invasive colorectal carcinoma (top center) in a colectomy specimen
+
+A squamous-cell carcinoma (the whitish tumor) near the bronchi in a lung specimen
+
+A large invasive ductal carcinoma in a mastectomy specimen
+
+Cancer prevention is defined as active measures to decrease cancer risk.[107] The vast majority of cancer cases are due to environmental risk factors. Many of these environmental factors are controllable lifestyle choices. Thus, cancer is generally preventable.[108] Between 70% and 90% of common cancers are due to environmental factors and therefore potentially preventable.[109]
+
+Greater than 30% of cancer deaths could be prevented by avoiding risk factors including: tobacco, excess weight/obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, sexually transmitted infections and air pollution.[110] Not all environmental causes are controllable, such as naturally occurring background radiation and cancers caused through hereditary genetic disorders and thus are not preventable via personal behavior.
+
+While many dietary recommendations have been proposed to reduce cancer risks, the evidence to support them is not definitive.[14][111] The primary dietary factors that increase risk are obesity and alcohol consumption. Diets low in fruits and vegetables and high in red meat have been implicated but reviews and meta-analyses do not come to a consistent conclusion.[112][113] A 2014 meta-analysis found no relationship between fruits and vegetables and cancer.[114] Coffee is associated with a reduced risk of liver cancer.[115] Studies have linked excess consumption of red or processed meat to an increased risk of breast cancer, colon cancer and pancreatic cancer, a phenomenon that could be due to the presence of carcinogens in meats cooked at high temperatures.[116][117] In 2015 the IARC reported that eating processed meat (e.g., bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages) and, to a lesser degree, red meat was linked to some cancers.[118][119]
+
+Dietary recommendations for cancer prevention typically include an emphasis on vegetables, fruit, whole grains and fish and an avoidance of processed and red meat (beef, pork, lamb), animal fats, pickled foods and refined carbohydrates.[14][111]
+
+Medications can be used to prevent cancer in a few circumstances.[120] In the general population, NSAIDs reduce the risk of colorectal cancer; however, due to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal side effects, they cause overall harm when used for prevention.[121] Aspirin has been found to reduce the risk of death from cancer by about 7%.[122] COX-2 inhibitors may decrease the rate of polyp formation in people with familial adenomatous polyposis; however, it is associated with the same adverse effects as NSAIDs.[123] Daily use of tamoxifen or raloxifene reduce the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women.[124] The benefit versus harm for 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor such as finasteride is not clear.[125]
+
+Vitamin supplementation does not appear to be effective at preventing cancer.[126] While low blood levels of vitamin D are correlated with increased cancer risk,[127][128][129] whether this relationship is causal and vitamin D supplementation is protective is not determined.[130][131] One 2014 review found that supplements had no significant effect on cancer risk.[131] Another 2014 review concluded that vitamin D3 may decrease the risk of death from cancer (one fewer death in 150 people treated over 5 years), but concerns with the quality of the data were noted.[132]
+
+Beta-carotene supplementation increases lung cancer rates in those who are high risk.[133] Folic acid supplementation is not effective in preventing colon cancer and may increase colon polyps.[134] Selenium supplementation has not been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.[135]
+
+Vaccines have been developed that prevent infection by some carcinogenic viruses.[136] Human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil and Cervarix) decrease the risk of developing cervical cancer.[136] The hepatitis B vaccine prevents infection with hepatitis B virus and thus decreases the risk of liver cancer.[136] The administration of human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccinations is recommended where resources allow.[137]
+
+Unlike diagnostic efforts prompted by symptoms and medical signs, cancer screening involves efforts to detect cancer after it has formed, but before any noticeable symptoms appear.[138] This may involve physical examination, blood or urine tests or medical imaging.[138]
+
+Cancer screening is not available for many types of cancers. Even when tests are available, they may not be recommended for everyone. Universal screening or mass screening involves screening everyone.[139] Selective screening identifies people who are at higher risk, such as people with a family history.[139] Several factors are considered to determine whether the benefits of screening outweigh the risks and the costs of screening.[138] These factors include:
+
+The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issues recommendations for various cancers:
+
+Screens for gastric cancer using photofluorography due to the high incidence there.[23]
+
+Genetic testing for individuals at high-risk of certain cancers is recommended by unofficial groups.[137][153] Carriers of these mutations may then undergo enhanced surveillance, chemoprevention, or preventative surgery to reduce their subsequent risk.[153]
+
+Many treatment options for cancer exist. The primary ones include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and palliative care. Which treatments are used depends on the type, location and grade of the cancer as well as the patient's health and preferences. The treatment intent may or may not be curative.
+
+Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with one or more cytotoxic anti-neoplastic drugs (chemotherapeutic agents) as part of a standardized regimen. The term encompasses a variety of drugs, which are divided into broad categories such as alkylating agents and antimetabolites.[154] Traditional chemotherapeutic agents act by killing cells that divide rapidly, a critical property of most cancer cells.
+
+It was found that providing combined cytotoxic drugs is better than a single drug; a process called the combination therapy; which has an  advantage in the statistics of survival and response to the tumor and in the progress of the disease.[155] A Cochrane review concluded that combined therapy was more effective to treat metastasized breast cancer. However, generally it is not certain whether combination chemotherapy leads to better health outcomes, when both survival and toxicity are considered.[156]
+
+Targeted therapy is a form of chemotherapy that targets specific molecular differences between cancer and normal cells. The first targeted therapies blocked the estrogen receptor molecule, inhibiting the growth of breast cancer. Another common example is the class of Bcr-Abl inhibitors, which are used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).[4] Currently, targeted therapies exist for many of the most common cancer types, including bladder cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, and thyroid cancer as well as other cancer types.[157]
+
+The efficacy of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer and the stage. In combination with surgery, chemotherapy has proven useful in cancer types including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer and certain lung cancers.[158] Chemotherapy is curative for some cancers, such as some leukemias,[159][160] ineffective in some brain tumors,[161] and needless in others, such as most non-melanoma skin cancers.[162] The effectiveness of chemotherapy is often limited by its toxicity to other tissues in the body. Even when chemotherapy does not provide a permanent cure, it may be useful to reduce symptoms such as pain or to reduce the size of an inoperable tumor in the hope that surgery will become possible in the future.
+
+Radiation therapy involves the use of ionizing radiation in an attempt to either cure or improve symptoms. It works by damaging the DNA of cancerous tissue, killing it. To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs, which radiation must pass through to treat the tumor), shaped radiation beams are aimed from multiple exposure angles to intersect at the tumor, providing a much larger dose there than in the surrounding, healthy tissue. As with chemotherapy, cancers vary in their response to radiation therapy.[163][164][165]
+
+Radiation therapy is used in about half of cases. The radiation can be either from internal sources (brachytherapy) or external sources. The radiation is most commonly low energy X-rays for treating skin cancers, while higher energy X-rays are used for cancers within the body.[166] Radiation is typically used in addition to surgery and or chemotherapy. For certain types of cancer, such as early head and neck cancer, it may be used alone.[167] For painful bone metastasis, it has been found to be effective in about 70% of patients.[167]
+
+Surgery is the primary method of treatment for most isolated, solid cancers and may play a role in palliation and prolongation of survival. It is typically an important part of definitive diagnosis and staging of tumors, as biopsies are usually required. In localized cancer, surgery typically attempts to remove the entire mass along with, in certain cases, the lymph nodes in the area. For some types of cancer this is sufficient to eliminate the cancer.[158]
+
+Palliative care is treatment that attempts to help the patient feel better and may be combined with an attempt to treat the cancer. Palliative care includes action to reduce physical, emotional, spiritual and psycho-social distress. Unlike treatment that is aimed at directly killing cancer cells, the primary goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life.
+
+People at all stages of cancer treatment typically receive some kind of palliative care. In some cases, medical specialty professional organizations recommend that patients and physicians respond to cancer only with palliative care.[168] This applies to patients who:[169]
+
+Palliative care may be confused with hospice and therefore only indicated when people approach end of life. Like hospice care, palliative care attempts to help the patient cope with their immediate needs and to increase comfort. Unlike hospice care, palliative care does not require people to stop treatment aimed at the cancer.
+
+Multiple national medical guidelines recommend early palliative care for patients whose cancer has produced distressing symptoms or who need help coping with their illness. In patients first diagnosed with metastatic disease, palliative care may be immediately indicated. Palliative care is indicated for patients with a prognosis of less than 12 months of life even given aggressive treatment.[170][171][172]
+
+A variety of therapies using immunotherapy, stimulating or helping the immune system to fight cancer, have come into use since 1997. Approaches include antibodies, checkpoint therapy, and adoptive cell transfer.[173]
+
+Laser therapy uses high-intensity light to treat cancer by shrinking or destroying tumors or precancerous growths. Lasers are most commonly used to treat superficial cancers that are on the surface of the body or the lining of internal organs. It is used to treat basal cell skin cancer and the very early stages of others like cervical, penile, vaginal, vulvar, and non-small cell lung cancer. It is often combined with other treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. Laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT), or interstitial laser photocoagulation, uses lasers to treat some cancers using hyperthermia, which uses heat to shrink tumors by damaging or killing cancer cells. Laser are more precise than surgery and cause less damage, pain, bleeding, swelling, and scarring. A disadvantage is surgeons must have specialized training. It may be more expensive than other treatments.[174]
+
+Complementary and alternative cancer treatments are a diverse group of therapies, practices and products that are not part of conventional medicine.[175] "Complementary medicine" refers to methods and substances used along with conventional medicine, while "alternative medicine" refers to compounds used instead of conventional medicine.[176] Most complementary and alternative medicines for cancer have not been studied or tested using conventional techniques such as clinical trials. Some alternative treatments have been investigated and shown to be ineffective but still continue to be marketed and promoted. Cancer researcher Andrew J. Vickers stated, "The label 'unproven' is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been 'disproven'."[177]
+
+Survival rates vary by cancer type and by the stage at which it is diagnosed, ranging from majority survival to complete mortality five years after diagnosis. Once a cancer has metastasized, prognosis normally becomes much worse. About half of patients receiving treatment for invasive cancer (excluding carcinoma in situ and non-melanoma skin cancers) die from that cancer or its treatment.[23] A majority of cancer deaths are due to metastases of the primary tumor.[179]
+
+Survival is worse in the developing world,[23] partly because the types of cancer that are most common there are harder to treat than those associated with developed countries.[180]
+
+Those who survive cancer develop a second primary cancer at about twice the rate of those never diagnosed.[181] The increased risk is believed to be due to the random chance of developing any cancer, the likelihood of surviving the first cancer, the same risk factors that produced the first cancer, unwanted side effects of treating the first cancer (particularly radiation therapy), and to better compliance with screening.[181]
+
+Predicting short- or long-term survival depends on many factors. The most important are the cancer type and the patient's age and overall health. Those who are frail with other health problems have lower survival rates than otherwise healthy people. Centenarians are unlikely to survive for five years even if treatment is successful. People who report a higher quality of life tend to survive longer.[182] People with lower quality of life may be affected by depression and other complications and/or disease progression that both impairs quality and quantity of life. Additionally, patients with worse prognoses may be depressed or report poorer quality of life because they perceive that their condition is likely to be fatal.
+
+People with cancer have an increased risk of blood clots in their veins which can be life-threatening.[183] The use of blood thinners such as heparin decrease the risk of blood clots but have not been shown to increase survival in people with cancer.[183] People who take blood thinners also have an increased risk of bleeding.[183]
+
+Estimates are that in 2018, 18.1 million new cases of cancer and 9.6 million deaths occur globally.[185] About 20% of males and 17% of females will get cancer at some point in time while 13% of males and 9% of females will die from it.[185]
+
+In 2008, approximately 12.7 million cancers were diagnosed (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers and other non-invasive cancers)[23] and in 2010 nearly 7.98 million people died.[186] Cancers account for approximately 16% of deaths. The most common as of 2018[update] are lung cancer (1.76 million deaths), colorectal cancer (860,000) stomach cancer (780,000), liver cancer (780,000), and breast cancer (620,000).[2] This makes invasive cancer the leading cause of death in the developed world and the second leading in the developing world.[23] Over half of cases occur in the developing world.[23]
+
+Deaths from cancer were 5.8 million in 1990.[186] Deaths have been increasing primarily due to longer lifespans and lifestyle changes in the developing world.[23] The most significant risk factor for developing cancer is age.[187] Although it is possible for cancer to strike at any age, most patients with invasive cancer are over 65.[187] According to cancer researcher Robert A. Weinberg, "If we lived long enough, sooner or later we all would get cancer."[188] Some of the association between aging and cancer is attributed to immunosenescence,[189] errors accumulated in DNA over a lifetime[190] and age-related changes in the endocrine system.[191] Aging's effect on cancer is complicated by factors such as DNA damage and inflammation promoting it and factors such as vascular aging and endocrine changes inhibiting it.[192]
+
+Some slow-growing cancers are particularly common, but often are not fatal. Autopsy studies in Europe and Asia showed that up to 36% of people have undiagnosed and apparently harmless thyroid cancer at the time of their deaths and that 80% of men develop prostate cancer by age 80.[193][194] As these cancers do not cause the patient's death, identifying them would have represented overdiagnosis rather than useful medical care.
+
+The three most common childhood cancers are leukemia (34%), brain tumors (23%) and lymphomas (12%).[195] In the United States cancer affects about 1 in 285 children.[196] Rates of childhood cancer increased by 0.6% per year between 1975 and 2002 in the United States[197] and by 1.1% per year between 1978 and 1997 in Europe.[195] Death from childhood cancer decreased by half between 1975 and 2010 in the United States.[196]
+
+Cancer has existed for all of human history.[198] The earliest written record regarding cancer is from circa 1600 BC in the Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus and describes breast cancer.[198] Hippocrates (c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC) described several kinds of cancer, referring to them with the Greek word καρκίνος karkinos (crab or crayfish).[198] This name comes from the appearance of the cut surface of a solid malignant tumor, with "the veins stretched on all sides as the animal the crab has its feet, whence it derives its name".[199] Galen stated that "cancer of the breast is so called because of the fancied resemblance to a crab given by the lateral prolongations of the tumor and the adjacent distended veins".[200]:738 Celsus (c. 25 BC – 50 AD) translated karkinos into the Latin cancer, also meaning crab and recommended surgery as treatment.[198] Galen (2nd century AD) disagreed with the use of surgery and recommended purgatives instead.[198] These recommendations largely stood for 1000 years.[198]
+
+In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, it became acceptable for doctors to dissect bodies to discover the cause of death.[201] The German professor Wilhelm Fabry believed that breast cancer was caused by a milk clot in a mammary duct. The Dutch professor Francois de la Boe Sylvius, a follower of Descartes, believed that all disease was the outcome of chemical processes and that acidic lymph fluid was the cause of cancer. His contemporary Nicolaes Tulp believed that cancer was a poison that slowly spreads and concluded that it was contagious.[202]
+
+The physician John Hill described tobacco snuff as the cause of nose cancer in 1761.[201] This was followed by the report in 1775 by British surgeon Percivall Pott that chimney sweeps' carcinoma, a cancer of the scrotum, was a common disease among chimney sweeps.[203] With the widespread use of the microscope in the 18th century, it was discovered that the 'cancer poison' spread from the primary tumor through the lymph nodes to other sites ("metastasis"). This view of the disease was first formulated by the English surgeon Campbell De Morgan between 1871 and 1874.[204]
+
+Although many diseases (such as heart failure) may have a worse prognosis than most cases of cancer, cancer is the subject of widespread fear and taboos. The euphemism of "a long illness" to describe cancers leading to death is still commonly used in obituaries, rather than naming the disease explicitly, reflecting an apparent stigma.[205] Cancer is also euphemised as "the C-word"[206][207][208]; Macmillan Cancer Support uses the term to try to lessen the fear around the disease.[209] In Nigeria, one local name for cancer translates into English as "the disease that cannot be cured".[210] This deep belief that cancer is necessarily a difficult and usually deadly disease is reflected in the systems chosen by society to compile cancer statistics: the most common form of cancer—non-melanoma skin cancers, accounting for about one-third of cancer cases worldwide, but very few deaths[211][212]—are excluded from cancer statistics specifically because they are easily treated and almost always cured, often in a single, short, outpatient procedure.[213]
+
+Western conceptions of patients' rights for people with cancer include a duty to fully disclose the medical situation to the person, and the right to engage in shared decision-making in a way that respects the person's own values. In other cultures, other rights and values are preferred. For example, most African cultures value whole families rather than individualism. In parts of Africa, a diagnosis is commonly made so late that cure is not possible, and treatment, if available at all, would quickly bankrupt the family. As a result of these factors, African healthcare providers tend to let family members decide whether, when and how to disclose the diagnosis, and they tend to do so slowly and circuitously, as the person shows interest and an ability to cope with the grim news.[210] People from Asian and South American countries also tend to prefer a slower, less candid approach to disclosure than is idealized in the United States and Western Europe, and they believe that sometimes it would be preferable not to be told about a cancer diagnosis.[210] In general, disclosure of the diagnosis is more common than it was in the 20th century, but full disclosure of the prognosis is not offered to many patients around the world.[210]
+
+In the United States and some other cultures, cancer is regarded as a disease that must be "fought" to end the "civil insurrection"; a War on Cancer was declared in the US. Military metaphors are particularly common in descriptions of cancer's human effects, and they emphasize both the state of the patient's health and the need to take immediate, decisive actions himself rather than to delay, to ignore or to rely entirely on others. The military metaphors also help rationalize radical, destructive treatments.[214][215]
+
+In the 1970s, a relatively popular alternative cancer treatment in the US was a specialized form of talk therapy, based on the idea that cancer was caused by a bad attitude.[216] People with a "cancer personality"—depressed, repressed, self-loathing and afraid to express their emotions—were believed to have manifested cancer through subconscious desire. Some psychotherapists said that treatment to change the patient's outlook on life would cure the cancer.[216] Among other effects, this belief allowed society to blame the victim for having caused the cancer (by "wanting" it) or having prevented its cure (by not becoming a sufficiently happy, fearless and loving person).[217] It also increased patients' anxiety, as they incorrectly believed that natural emotions of sadness, anger or fear shorten their lives.[217] The idea was ridiculed by Susan Sontag, who published Illness as Metaphor while recovering from treatment for breast cancer in 1978.[216] Although the original idea is now generally regarded as nonsense, the idea partly persists in a reduced form with a widespread, but incorrect, belief that deliberately cultivating a habit of positive thinking will increase survival.[217] This notion is particularly strong in breast cancer culture.[217]
+
+One idea about why people with cancer are blamed or stigmatized, called the just-world hypothesis, is that blaming cancer on the patient's actions or attitudes allows the blamers to regain a sense of control. This is based upon the blamers' belief that the world is fundamentally just and so any dangerous illness, like cancer, must be a type of punishment for bad choices, because in a just world, bad things would not happen to good people.[218]
+
+The total health care expenditure on cancer in the US was estimated to be $80.2 billion in 2015.[219] Even though cancer-related health care expenditure have increased in absolute terms during recent decades, the share of health expenditure devoted to cancer treatment has remained close to 5% between the 1960s and 2004.[220][221] A similar pattern has been observed in Europe where about 6% of all health care expenditure are spent on cancer treatment.[222][223] In addition to health care expenditure, cancer causes indirect costs in the form of productivity losses due to sick days, permanent incapacity and disability as well as premature death during working age. Cancer causes also costs for informal care. Indirect costs and informal care costs are typically estimated to exceed or equal the health care costs of cancer.[224][223]
+
+In the United States, cancer is included as a protected condition by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), mainly due to the potential for cancer having discriminating effects on workers.[225] Discrimination in the workplace could occur if an employer holds a false belief that a person with cancer is not capable of doing a job properly, and may ask for more sick leave than other employees. Employers may also make hiring or firing decisions based on  misconceptions about cancer disabilities, if present. The EEOC provides interview guidelines for employers, as well as lists of possible solutions for assessing and accommodating employees with cancer.[225]
+
+Because cancer is a class of diseases,[226][227] it is unlikely that there will ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a single treatment for all infectious diseases.[228] Angiogenesis inhibitors were once incorrectly thought to have potential as a "silver bullet" treatment applicable to many types of cancer.[229] Angiogenesis inhibitors and other cancer therapeutics are used in combination to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality.[230]
+
+Experimental cancer treatments are studied in clinical trials to compare the proposed treatment to the best existing treatment. Treatments that succeeded in one cancer type can be tested against other types.[231] Diagnostic tests are under development to better target the right therapies to the right patients, based on their individual biology.[232]
+
+Cancer research focuses on the following issues:
+
+The improved understanding of molecular biology and cellular biology due to cancer research has led to new treatments for cancer since US President Richard Nixon declared the "War on Cancer" in 1971. Since then, the country has spent over $200 billion on cancer research, including resources from public and private sectors.[233] The cancer death rate (adjusting for size and age of the population) declined by five percent between 1950 and 2005.[234]
+
+Competition for financial resources appears to have suppressed the creativity, cooperation, risk-taking and original thinking required to make fundamental discoveries, unduly favoring low-risk research into small incremental advancements over riskier, more innovative research. Other consequences of competition appear to be many studies with dramatic claims whose results cannot be replicated and perverse incentives that encourage grantee institutions to grow without making sufficient investments in their own faculty and facilities.[235][236][237][238]
+
+Virotherapy, which uses convert viruses, is being studied.
+
+Cancer affects approximately 1 in 1,000 pregnant women. The most common cancers found during pregnancy are the same as the most common cancers found in non-pregnant women during childbearing ages: breast cancer, cervical cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer.[239]
+
+Diagnosing a new cancer in a pregnant woman is difficult, in part because any symptoms are commonly assumed to be a normal discomfort associated with pregnancy. As a result, cancer is typically discovered at a somewhat later stage than average. Some imaging procedures, such as MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging), CT scans, ultrasounds and mammograms with fetal shielding are considered safe during pregnancy; some others, such as PET scans, are not.[239]
+
+Treatment is generally the same as for non-pregnant women. However, radiation and radioactive drugs are normally avoided during pregnancy, especially if the fetal dose might exceed 100 cGy. In some cases, some or all treatments are postponed until after birth if the cancer is diagnosed late in the pregnancy. Early deliveries are often used to advance the start of treatment. Surgery is generally safe, but pelvic surgeries during the first trimester may cause miscarriage. Some treatments, especially certain chemotherapy drugs given during the first trimester, increase the risk of birth defects and pregnancy loss (spontaneous abortions and stillbirths).[239]
+
+Elective abortions are not required and, for the most common forms and stages of cancer, do not improve the mother's survival. In a few instances, such as advanced uterine cancer, the pregnancy cannot be continued and in others, the patient may end the pregnancy so that she can begin aggressive chemotherapy.[239]
+
+Some treatments can interfere with the mother's ability to give birth vaginally or to breastfeed.[239] Cervical cancer may require birth by Caesarean section. Radiation to the breast reduces the ability of that breast to produce milk and increases the risk of mastitis. Also, when chemotherapy is given after birth, many of the drugs appear in breast milk, which could harm the baby.[239]
+
+Veterinary oncology, concentrating mainly on cats and dogs, is a growing specialty in wealthy countries and the major forms of human treatment such as surgery and radiotherapy may be offered. The most common types of cancer differ, but the cancer burden seems at least as high in pets as in humans. Animals, typically rodents, are often used in cancer research and studies of natural cancers in larger animals may benefit research into human cancer.[240]
+
+In non-humans, a few types of transmissible cancer have been described, wherein the cancer spreads between animals by transmission of the tumor cells themselves. This phenomenon is seen in dogs with Sticker's sarcoma (also known as canine transmissible venereal tumor), and in Tasmanian devils with devil facial tumour disease (DFTD).[241]

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+
+Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[2][8] These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread.[8] Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements.[1] While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they can also have other causes.[1] Over 100 types of cancers affect humans.[8]
+
+Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths.[2] Another 10% are due to obesity, poor diet, lack of physical activity or excessive drinking of alcohol.[2][9][10] Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation and environmental pollutants.[3] In the developing world, 15% of cancers are due to infections such as Helicobacter pylori, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human papillomavirus infection, Epstein–Barr virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).[2] These factors act, at least partly, by changing the genes of a cell.[11] Typically, many genetic changes are required before cancer develops.[11] Approximately 5–10% of cancers are due to inherited genetic defects from a person's parents.[12] Cancer can be detected by certain signs and symptoms or screening tests.[2] It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy.[13]
+
+The risk of developing certain cancers can be reduced by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, not drinking too much alcohol, eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, vaccination against certain infectious diseases, not eating too much processed and red meat and avoiding too much sunlight exposure.[14][15] Early detection through screening is useful for cervical and colorectal cancer.[16] The benefits of screening in breast cancer are controversial.[16][17] Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy and targeted therapy.[2][4] Pain and symptom management are an important part of care.[2] Palliative care is particularly important in people with advanced disease.[2] The chance of survival depends on the type of cancer and extent of disease at the start of treatment.[11] In children under 15 at diagnosis, the five-year survival rate in the developed world is on average 80%.[18] For cancer in the United States, the average five-year survival rate is 66%.[5]
+
+In 2015, about 90.5 million people had cancer.[6] As of 2019, about 18 million new cases occur annually.[19] It caused about 8.8 million deaths (15.7% of deaths).[7] The most common types of cancer in males are lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and stomach cancer.[20] In females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and cervical cancer.[11] If skin cancer other than melanoma were included in total new cancer cases each year, it would account for around 40% of cases.[21][22] In children, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and brain tumors are most common, except in Africa where non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more often.[18] In 2012, about 165,000 children under 15 years of age were diagnosed with cancer.[20] The risk of cancer increases significantly with age, and many cancers occur more commonly in developed countries.[11] Rates are increasing as more people live to an old age and as lifestyle changes occur in the developing world.[23] The financial costs of cancer were estimated at $1.16 trillion USD per year as of 2010[update].[24]
+
+Cancers are a large family of diseases that involve abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[2][8] They form a subset of neoplasms. A neoplasm or tumor is a group of cells that have undergone unregulated growth and will often form a mass or lump, but may be distributed diffusely.[25][26]
+
+All tumor cells show the six hallmarks of cancer. These characteristics are required to produce a malignant tumor. They include:[27]
+
+The progression from normal cells to cells that can form a detectable mass to outright cancer involves multiple steps known as malignant progression.[27][28]
+
+When cancer begins, it produces no symptoms. Signs and symptoms appear as the mass grows or ulcerates. The findings that result depend on the cancer's type and location. Few symptoms are specific. Many frequently occur in individuals who have other conditions. Cancer can be difficult to diagnose and can be considered a "great imitator."[29]
+
+People may become anxious or depressed post-diagnosis. The risk of suicide in people with cancer is approximately double.[30]
+
+Local symptoms may occur due to the mass of the tumor or its ulceration. For example, mass effects from lung cancer can block the bronchus resulting in cough or pneumonia; esophageal cancer can cause narrowing of the esophagus, making it difficult or painful to swallow; and colorectal cancer may lead to narrowing or blockages in the bowel, affecting bowel habits. Masses in breasts or testicles may produce observable lumps. Ulceration can cause bleeding that can lead to symptoms such as coughing up blood (lung cancer),  anemia or rectal bleeding (colon cancer), blood in the urine (bladder cancer), or abnormal vaginal bleeding (endometrial or cervical cancer). Although localized pain may occur in advanced cancer, the initial tumor is usually painless. Some cancers can cause a buildup of fluid within the chest or abdomen.[29]
+
+Systemic symptoms may occur due to the body's response to the cancer. This may include fatigue, unintentional weight loss, or skin changes.[31] Some cancers can cause a systemic inflammatory state that leads to ongoing muscle loss and weakness, known as cachexia.[32]
+
+Some types of cancer such as Hodgkin disease, leukemias and cancers of the liver or kidney can cause a persistent fever.[29]
+
+Some systemic symptoms of cancer are caused by hormones or other molecules produced by the tumor, known as paraneoplastic syndromes. Common paraneoplastic syndromes include hypercalcemia which can cause altered mental state, constipation and dehydration, or hyponatremia that can also cause altered mental status, vomiting, headache or seizures.[33]
+
+Cancer can spread from its original site by local spread, lymphatic spread to regional lymph nodes or by hematogenous spread via the blood to distant sites, known as metastasis. When cancer spreads through the blood, it may spread through the body but is more likely to travel to certain areas depending on the cancer type. The symptoms of metastatic cancers depend on the tumor location and can include enlarged lymph nodes (which can be felt or sometimes seen under the skin and are typically hard), enlarged liver or enlarged spleen, which can be felt in the abdomen, pain or fracture of affected bones and neurological symptoms.[29]
+
+The majority of cancers, some 90–95% of cases, are due to genetic mutations from environmental and lifestyle factors.[3] The remaining 5–10% are due to inherited genetics.[3] Environmental refers to any cause that is not inherited genetically, such as lifestyle, economic, and behavioral factors and not merely pollution.[35] Common environmental factors that contribute to cancer death include tobacco (25–30%), diet and obesity (30–35%), infections (15–20%), radiation (both ionizing and non-ionizing, up to 10%), lack of physical activity, and pollution.[3][36] Psychological stress does not appear to be a risk factor for the onset of cancer,[37][38] though it may worsen outcomes in those who already have cancer.[37]
+
+It is not generally possible to prove what caused a particular cancer because the various causes do not have specific fingerprints. For example, if a person who uses tobacco heavily develops lung cancer, then it was probably caused by the tobacco use, but since everyone has a small chance of developing lung cancer as a result of air pollution or radiation, the cancer may have developed for one of those reasons. Excepting the rare transmissions that occur with pregnancies and occasional organ donors, cancer is generally not a transmissible disease.[39]
+
+Exposure to particular substances have been linked to specific types of cancer. These substances are called carcinogens.
+
+Tobacco smoke, for example, causes 90% of lung cancer.[40] It also causes cancer in the larynx, head, neck, stomach, bladder, kidney, esophagus and pancreas.[41] Tobacco smoke contains over fifty known carcinogens, including nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.[42]
+
+Tobacco is responsible for about one in five cancer deaths worldwide[42] and about one in three in the developed world.[43] Lung cancer death rates in the United States have mirrored smoking patterns, with increases in smoking followed by dramatic increases in lung cancer death rates and, more recently, decreases in smoking rates since the 1950s followed by decreases in lung cancer death rates in men since 1990.[44][45]
+
+In Western Europe, 10% of cancers in males and 3% of cancers in females are attributed to alcohol exposure, especially liver and digestive tract cancers.[46] Cancer from work-related substance exposures may cause between 2 and 20% of cases,[47] causing at least 200,000 deaths.[48] Cancers such as lung cancer and mesothelioma can come from inhaling tobacco smoke or asbestos fibers, or leukemia from exposure to benzene.[48]
+
+Diet, physical inactivity and obesity are related to up to 30–35% of cancer deaths.[3][49] In the United States, excess body weight is associated with the development of many types of cancer and is a factor in 14–20% of cancer deaths.[49] A UK study including data on over 5 million people showed higher body mass index to be related to at least 10 types of cancer and responsible for around 12,000 cases each year in that country.[50] Physical inactivity is believed to contribute to cancer risk, not only through its effect on body weight but also through negative effects on the immune system and endocrine system.[49] More than half of the effect from diet is due to overnutrition (eating too much), rather than from eating too few vegetables or other healthful foods.
+
+Some specific foods are linked to specific cancers. A high-salt diet is linked to gastric cancer.[51] Aflatoxin B1, a frequent food contaminant, causes liver cancer.[51] Betel nut chewing can cause oral cancer.[51] National differences in dietary practices may partly explain differences in cancer incidence. For example, gastric cancer is more common in Japan due to its high-salt diet[52] while colon cancer is more common in the United States. Immigrant cancer profiles mirror those of their new country, often within one generation.[53]
+
+Worldwide approximately 18% of cancer deaths are related to infectious diseases.[3] This proportion ranges from a high of 25% in Africa to less than 10% in the developed world.[3] Viruses are the usual infectious agents that cause cancer but cancer bacteria and parasites may also play a role.
+
+Oncoviruses (viruses that can cause cancer) include human papillomavirus (cervical cancer), Epstein–Barr virus (B-cell lymphoproliferative disease and nasopharyngeal carcinoma), Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (Kaposi's sarcoma and primary effusion lymphomas), hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (hepatocellular carcinoma) and human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (T-cell leukemias). Bacterial infection may also increase the risk of cancer, as seen in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinoma.[54][55] Parasitic infections associated with cancer include Schistosoma haematobium (squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder) and the liver flukes, Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis (cholangiocarcinoma).[56]
+
+Radiation exposure such as ultraviolet radiation and radioactive material is a risk factor for cancer.[57][58][59] Many non-melanoma skin cancers are due to ultraviolet radiation, mostly from sunlight.[58] Sources of ionizing radiation include medical imaging and radon gas.[58]
+
+Ionizing radiation is not a particularly strong mutagen.[60] Residential exposure to radon gas, for example, has similar cancer risks as passive smoking.[60] Radiation is a more potent source of cancer when combined with other cancer-causing agents, such as radon plus tobacco smoke.[60] Radiation can cause cancer in most parts of the body, in all animals and at any age. Children are twice as likely to develop radiation-induced leukemia as adults; radiation exposure before birth has ten times the effect.[60]
+
+Medical use of ionizing radiation is a small but growing source of radiation-induced cancers. Ionizing radiation may be used to treat other cancers, but this may, in some cases, induce a second form of cancer.[60] It is also used in some kinds of medical imaging.[61]
+
+Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun can lead to melanoma and other skin malignancies.[62] Clear evidence establishes ultraviolet radiation, especially the non-ionizing medium wave UVB, as the cause of most non-melanoma skin cancers, which are the most common forms of cancer in the world.[62]
+
+Non-ionizing radio frequency radiation from mobile phones, electric power transmission and other similar sources has been described as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.[63] Evidence, however, has not supported a concern.[64] [57] This includes that studies have not found a consistent link between mobile phone radiation and cancer risk.[65]
+
+The vast majority of cancers are non-hereditary (sporadic). Hereditary cancers are primarily caused by an inherited genetic defect. Less than 0.3% of the population are carriers of a genetic mutation that has a large effect on cancer risk and these cause less than 3–10% of cancer.[66] Some of these syndromes include: certain inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 with a more than 75% risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer,[66] and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome), which is present in about 3% of people with colorectal cancer,[67] among others.
+
+Statistically for cancers causing most mortality, the relative risk of developing colorectal cancer when a first-degree relative (parent, sibling or child) has been diagnosed with it is about 2.[68] The corresponding relative risk is 1.5 for lung cancer,[69] and 1.9 for prostate cancer.[70] For breast cancer, the relative risk is 1.8 with a first-degree relative having developed it at 50 years of age or older, and 3.3 when the relative developed it when being younger than 50 years of age.[71]
+
+Taller people have an increased risk of cancer because they have more cells than shorter people. Since height is genetically determined to a large extent, taller people have a heritable increase of cancer risk.[72]
+
+Some substances cause cancer primarily through their physical, rather than chemical, effects.[73] A prominent example of this is prolonged exposure to asbestos, naturally occurring mineral fibers that are a major cause of mesothelioma (cancer of the serous membrane) usually the serous membrane surrounding the lungs.[73] Other substances in this category, including both naturally occurring and synthetic asbestos-like fibers, such as wollastonite, attapulgite, glass wool and rock wool, are believed to have similar effects.[73] Non-fibrous particulate materials that cause cancer include powdered metallic cobalt and nickel and crystalline silica (quartz, cristobalite and tridymite).[73] Usually, physical carcinogens must get inside the body (such as through inhalation) and require years of exposure to produce cancer.[73]
+
+Physical trauma resulting in cancer is relatively rare.[74] Claims that breaking bones resulted in bone cancer, for example, have not been proven.[74] Similarly, physical trauma is not accepted as a cause for cervical cancer, breast cancer or brain cancer.[74] One accepted source is frequent, long-term application of hot objects to the body. It is possible that repeated burns on the same part of the body, such as those produced by kanger and kairo heaters (charcoal hand warmers), may produce skin cancer, especially if carcinogenic chemicals are also present.[74] Frequent consumption of scalding hot tea may produce esophageal cancer.[74] Generally, it is believed that cancer arises, or a pre-existing cancer is encouraged, during the process of healing, rather than directly by the trauma.[74] However, repeated injuries to the same tissues might promote excessive cell proliferation, which could then increase the odds of a cancerous mutation.
+
+Chronic inflammation has been hypothesized to directly cause mutation.[74][75] Inflammation can contribute to proliferation, survival, angiogenesis and migration of cancer cells by influencing the tumor microenvironment.[76][77] Oncogenes build up an inflammatory pro-tumorigenic microenvironment.[78]
+
+Some hormones play a role in the development of cancer by promoting cell proliferation.[79] Insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins play a key role in cancer cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, suggesting possible involvement in carcinogenesis.[80]
+
+Hormones are important agents in sex-related cancers, such as cancer of the breast, endometrium, prostate, ovary and testis and also of thyroid cancer and bone cancer.[79] For example, the daughters of women who have breast cancer have significantly higher levels of estrogen and progesterone than the daughters of women without breast cancer. These higher hormone levels may explain their higher risk of breast cancer, even in the absence of a breast-cancer gene.[79] Similarly, men of African ancestry have significantly higher levels of testosterone than men of European ancestry and have a correspondingly higher level of prostate cancer.[79] Men of Asian ancestry, with the lowest levels of testosterone-activating androstanediol glucuronide, have the lowest levels of prostate cancer.[79]
+
+Other factors are relevant: obese people have higher levels of some hormones associated with cancer and a higher rate of those cancers.[79] Women who take hormone replacement therapy have a higher risk of developing cancers associated with those hormones.[79] On the other hand, people who exercise far more than average have lower levels of these hormones and lower risk of cancer.[79] Osteosarcoma may be promoted by growth hormones.[79] Some treatments and prevention approaches leverage this cause by artificially reducing hormone levels and thus discouraging hormone-sensitive cancers.[79]
+
+There is an association between celiac disease and an increased risk of all cancers. People with untreated celiac disease have a higher risk, but this risk decreases with time after diagnosis and strict treatment, probably due to the adoption of a gluten-free diet, which seems to have a protective role against development of malignancy in people with celiac disease. However, the delay in diagnosis and initiation of a gluten-free diet seems to increase the risk of malignancies.[81] Rates of gastrointestinal cancers are increased in people with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, due to chronic inflammation. Also, immunomodulators and biologic agents used to treat these diseases may promote developing extra-intestinal malignancies.[82]
+
+Cancer is fundamentally a disease of tissue growth regulation. In order for a normal cell to transform into a cancer cell, the genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation must be altered.[83]
+
+The affected genes are divided into two broad categories. Oncogenes are genes that promote cell growth and reproduction. Tumor suppressor genes are genes that inhibit cell division and survival. Malignant transformation can occur through the formation of novel oncogenes, the inappropriate over-expression of normal oncogenes, or by the under-expression or disabling of tumor suppressor genes. Typically, changes in multiple genes are required to transform a normal cell into a cancer cell.[84]
+
+Genetic changes can occur at different levels and by different mechanisms. The gain or loss of an entire chromosome can occur through errors in mitosis. More common are mutations, which are changes in the nucleotide sequence of genomic DNA.
+
+Large-scale mutations involve the deletion or gain of a portion of a chromosome. Genomic amplification occurs when a cell gains copies (often 20 or more) of a small chromosomal locus, usually containing one or more oncogenes and adjacent genetic material. Translocation occurs when two separate chromosomal regions become abnormally fused, often at a characteristic location. A well-known example of this is the Philadelphia chromosome, or translocation of chromosomes 9 and 22, which occurs in chronic myelogenous leukemia and results in production of the BCR-abl fusion protein, an oncogenic tyrosine kinase.
+
+Small-scale mutations include point mutations, deletions, and insertions, which may occur in the promoter region of a gene and affect its expression, or may occur in the gene's coding sequence and alter the function or stability of its protein product. Disruption of a single gene may also result from integration of genomic material from a DNA virus or retrovirus, leading to the expression of viral oncogenes in the affected cell and its descendants.
+
+Replication of the data contained within the DNA of living cells will probabilistically result in some errors (mutations). Complex error correction and prevention is built into the process and safeguards the cell against cancer. If a significant error occurs, the damaged cell can self-destruct through programmed cell death, termed apoptosis. If the error control processes fail, then the mutations will survive and be passed along to daughter cells.
+
+Some environments make errors more likely to arise and propagate. Such environments can include the presence of disruptive substances called carcinogens, repeated physical injury, heat, ionising radiation or hypoxia.[85]
+
+The errors that cause cancer are self-amplifying and compounding, for example:
+
+The transformation of a normal cell into cancer is akin to a chain reaction caused by initial errors, which compound into more severe errors, each progressively allowing the cell to escape more controls that limit normal tissue growth. This rebellion-like scenario is an undesirable survival of the fittest, where the driving forces of evolution work against the body's design and enforcement of order. Once cancer has begun to develop, this ongoing process, termed clonal evolution, drives progression towards more invasive stages.[86] Clonal evolution leads to intra-tumour heterogeneity (cancer cells with heterogeneous mutations) that complicates designing effective treatment strategies.
+
+Characteristic abilities developed by cancers are divided into categories, specifically evasion of apoptosis, self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to anti-growth signals, sustained angiogenesis, limitless replicative potential, metastasis, reprogramming of energy metabolism and evasion of immune destruction.[27][28]
+
+The classical view of cancer is a set of diseases that are driven by progressive genetic abnormalities that include mutations in tumor-suppressor genes and oncogenes and chromosomal abnormalities. Later epigenetic alterations' role was identified.[87]
+
+Epigenetic alterations are functionally relevant modifications to the genome that do not change the nucleotide sequence. Examples of such modifications are changes in DNA methylation (hypermethylation and hypomethylation), histone modification[88] and changes in chromosomal architecture (caused by inappropriate expression of proteins such as HMGA2 or HMGA1).[89] Each of these alterations regulates gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. These changes may remain through cell divisions, last for multiple generations and can be considered to be epimutations (equivalent to mutations).
+
+Epigenetic alterations occur frequently in cancers. As an example, one study listed protein coding genes that were frequently altered in their methylation in association with colon cancer. These included 147 hypermethylated and 27 hypomethylated genes. Of the hypermethylated genes, 10 were hypermethylated in 100% of colon cancers and many others were hypermethylated in more than 50% of colon cancers.[90]
+
+While epigenetic alterations are found in cancers, the epigenetic alterations in DNA repair genes, causing reduced expression of DNA repair proteins, may be of particular importance. Such alterations are thought to occur early in progression to cancer and to be a likely cause of the genetic instability characteristic of cancers.[91][92][93]
+
+Reduced expression of DNA repair genes disrupts DNA repair. This is shown in the figure at the 4th level from the top. (In the figure, red wording indicates the central role of DNA damage and defects in DNA repair in progression to cancer.) When DNA repair is deficient DNA damage remains in cells at a higher than usual level (5th level) and cause increased frequencies of mutation and/or epimutation (6th level). Mutation rates increase substantially in cells defective in DNA mismatch repair[94][95] or in homologous recombinational repair (HRR).[96] Chromosomal rearrangements and aneuploidy also increase in HRR defective cells.[97]
+
+Higher levels of DNA damage cause increased mutation (right side of figure) and increased epimutation. During repair of DNA double strand breaks, or repair of other DNA damage, incompletely cleared repair sites can cause epigenetic gene silencing.[98][99]
+
+Deficient expression of DNA repair proteins due to an inherited mutation can increase cancer risks. Individuals with an inherited impairment in any of 34 DNA repair genes (see article DNA repair-deficiency disorder) have increased cancer risk, with some defects ensuring a 100% lifetime chance of cancer (e.g. p53 mutations).[100] Germ line DNA repair mutations are noted on the figure's left side. However, such germline mutations (which cause highly penetrant cancer syndromes) are the cause of only about 1 percent of cancers.[101]
+
+In sporadic cancers, deficiencies in DNA repair are occasionally caused by a mutation in a DNA repair gene but are much more frequently caused by epigenetic alterations that reduce or silence expression of DNA repair genes. This is indicated in the figure at the 3rd level. Many studies of heavy metal-induced carcinogenesis show that such heavy metals cause a reduction in expression of DNA repair enzymes, some through epigenetic mechanisms. DNA repair inhibition is proposed to be a predominant mechanism in heavy metal-induced carcinogenicity. In addition, frequent epigenetic alterations of the DNA sequences code for small RNAs called microRNAs (or miRNAs). miRNAs do not code for proteins, but can "target" protein-coding genes and reduce their expression.
+
+Cancers usually arise from an assemblage of mutations and epimutations that confer a selective advantage leading to clonal expansion (see Field defects in progression to cancer). Mutations, however, may not be as frequent in cancers as epigenetic alterations. An average cancer of the breast or colon can have about 60 to 70 protein-altering mutations, of which about three or four may be "driver" mutations and the remaining ones may be "passenger" mutations.[102]
+
+Metastasis is the spread of cancer to other locations in the body. The dispersed tumors are called metastatic tumors, while the original is called the primary tumor. Almost all cancers can metastasize.[103] Most cancer deaths are due to cancer that has metastasized.[104]
+
+Metastasis is common in the late stages of cancer and it can occur via the blood or the lymphatic system or both. The typical steps in metastasis are local invasion, intravasation into the blood or lymph, circulation through the body, extravasation into the new tissue, proliferation and angiogenesis. Different types of cancers tend to metastasize to particular organs, but overall the most common places for metastases to occur are the lungs, liver, brain and the bones.[103]
+
+Most cancers are initially recognized either because of the appearance of signs or symptoms or through screening. Neither of these leads to a definitive diagnosis, which requires the examination of a tissue sample by a pathologist. People with suspected cancer are investigated with medical tests. These commonly include blood tests, X-rays, (contrast) CT scans and endoscopy.
+
+The tissue diagnosis from the biopsy indicates the type of cell that is proliferating, its histological grade, genetic abnormalities and other features. Together, this information is useful to evaluate the prognosis and to choose the best treatment.
+
+Cytogenetics and immunohistochemistry are other types of tissue tests. These tests provide information about molecular changes (such as mutations, fusion genes and numerical chromosome changes) and may thus also indicate the prognosis and best treatment.
+
+Cancer diagnosis can cause psychological distress and psychosocial interventions, such as talking therapy, may help people with this.[105]
+
+Cancers are classified by the type of cell that the tumor cells resemble and is therefore presumed to be the origin of the tumor. These types include:
+
+Cancers are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ or tissue of origin as the root. For example, cancers of the liver parenchyma arising from malignant epithelial cells is called hepatocarcinoma, while a malignancy arising from primitive liver precursor cells is called a hepatoblastoma and a cancer arising from fat cells is called a liposarcoma. For some common cancers, the English organ name is used. For example, the most common type of breast cancer is called ductal carcinoma of the breast. Here, the adjective ductal refers to the appearance of cancer under the microscope, which suggests that it has originated in the milk ducts.
+
+Benign tumors (which are not cancers) are named using -oma as a suffix with the organ name as the root. For example, a benign tumor of smooth muscle cells is called a leiomyoma (the common name of this frequently occurring benign tumor in the uterus is fibroid). Confusingly, some types of cancer use the -noma suffix, examples including melanoma and seminoma.
+
+Some types of cancer are named for the size and shape of the cells under a microscope, such as giant cell carcinoma, spindle cell carcinoma and small-cell carcinoma.
+
+An invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast (pale area at the center) surrounded by spikes of whitish scar tissue and yellow fatty tissue
+
+An invasive colorectal carcinoma (top center) in a colectomy specimen
+
+A squamous-cell carcinoma (the whitish tumor) near the bronchi in a lung specimen
+
+A large invasive ductal carcinoma in a mastectomy specimen
+
+Cancer prevention is defined as active measures to decrease cancer risk.[107] The vast majority of cancer cases are due to environmental risk factors. Many of these environmental factors are controllable lifestyle choices. Thus, cancer is generally preventable.[108] Between 70% and 90% of common cancers are due to environmental factors and therefore potentially preventable.[109]
+
+Greater than 30% of cancer deaths could be prevented by avoiding risk factors including: tobacco, excess weight/obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, sexually transmitted infections and air pollution.[110] Not all environmental causes are controllable, such as naturally occurring background radiation and cancers caused through hereditary genetic disorders and thus are not preventable via personal behavior.
+
+While many dietary recommendations have been proposed to reduce cancer risks, the evidence to support them is not definitive.[14][111] The primary dietary factors that increase risk are obesity and alcohol consumption. Diets low in fruits and vegetables and high in red meat have been implicated but reviews and meta-analyses do not come to a consistent conclusion.[112][113] A 2014 meta-analysis found no relationship between fruits and vegetables and cancer.[114] Coffee is associated with a reduced risk of liver cancer.[115] Studies have linked excess consumption of red or processed meat to an increased risk of breast cancer, colon cancer and pancreatic cancer, a phenomenon that could be due to the presence of carcinogens in meats cooked at high temperatures.[116][117] In 2015 the IARC reported that eating processed meat (e.g., bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages) and, to a lesser degree, red meat was linked to some cancers.[118][119]
+
+Dietary recommendations for cancer prevention typically include an emphasis on vegetables, fruit, whole grains and fish and an avoidance of processed and red meat (beef, pork, lamb), animal fats, pickled foods and refined carbohydrates.[14][111]
+
+Medications can be used to prevent cancer in a few circumstances.[120] In the general population, NSAIDs reduce the risk of colorectal cancer; however, due to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal side effects, they cause overall harm when used for prevention.[121] Aspirin has been found to reduce the risk of death from cancer by about 7%.[122] COX-2 inhibitors may decrease the rate of polyp formation in people with familial adenomatous polyposis; however, it is associated with the same adverse effects as NSAIDs.[123] Daily use of tamoxifen or raloxifene reduce the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women.[124] The benefit versus harm for 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor such as finasteride is not clear.[125]
+
+Vitamin supplementation does not appear to be effective at preventing cancer.[126] While low blood levels of vitamin D are correlated with increased cancer risk,[127][128][129] whether this relationship is causal and vitamin D supplementation is protective is not determined.[130][131] One 2014 review found that supplements had no significant effect on cancer risk.[131] Another 2014 review concluded that vitamin D3 may decrease the risk of death from cancer (one fewer death in 150 people treated over 5 years), but concerns with the quality of the data were noted.[132]
+
+Beta-carotene supplementation increases lung cancer rates in those who are high risk.[133] Folic acid supplementation is not effective in preventing colon cancer and may increase colon polyps.[134] Selenium supplementation has not been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.[135]
+
+Vaccines have been developed that prevent infection by some carcinogenic viruses.[136] Human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil and Cervarix) decrease the risk of developing cervical cancer.[136] The hepatitis B vaccine prevents infection with hepatitis B virus and thus decreases the risk of liver cancer.[136] The administration of human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccinations is recommended where resources allow.[137]
+
+Unlike diagnostic efforts prompted by symptoms and medical signs, cancer screening involves efforts to detect cancer after it has formed, but before any noticeable symptoms appear.[138] This may involve physical examination, blood or urine tests or medical imaging.[138]
+
+Cancer screening is not available for many types of cancers. Even when tests are available, they may not be recommended for everyone. Universal screening or mass screening involves screening everyone.[139] Selective screening identifies people who are at higher risk, such as people with a family history.[139] Several factors are considered to determine whether the benefits of screening outweigh the risks and the costs of screening.[138] These factors include:
+
+The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issues recommendations for various cancers:
+
+Screens for gastric cancer using photofluorography due to the high incidence there.[23]
+
+Genetic testing for individuals at high-risk of certain cancers is recommended by unofficial groups.[137][153] Carriers of these mutations may then undergo enhanced surveillance, chemoprevention, or preventative surgery to reduce their subsequent risk.[153]
+
+Many treatment options for cancer exist. The primary ones include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and palliative care. Which treatments are used depends on the type, location and grade of the cancer as well as the patient's health and preferences. The treatment intent may or may not be curative.
+
+Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with one or more cytotoxic anti-neoplastic drugs (chemotherapeutic agents) as part of a standardized regimen. The term encompasses a variety of drugs, which are divided into broad categories such as alkylating agents and antimetabolites.[154] Traditional chemotherapeutic agents act by killing cells that divide rapidly, a critical property of most cancer cells.
+
+It was found that providing combined cytotoxic drugs is better than a single drug; a process called the combination therapy; which has an  advantage in the statistics of survival and response to the tumor and in the progress of the disease.[155] A Cochrane review concluded that combined therapy was more effective to treat metastasized breast cancer. However, generally it is not certain whether combination chemotherapy leads to better health outcomes, when both survival and toxicity are considered.[156]
+
+Targeted therapy is a form of chemotherapy that targets specific molecular differences between cancer and normal cells. The first targeted therapies blocked the estrogen receptor molecule, inhibiting the growth of breast cancer. Another common example is the class of Bcr-Abl inhibitors, which are used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).[4] Currently, targeted therapies exist for many of the most common cancer types, including bladder cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, and thyroid cancer as well as other cancer types.[157]
+
+The efficacy of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer and the stage. In combination with surgery, chemotherapy has proven useful in cancer types including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer and certain lung cancers.[158] Chemotherapy is curative for some cancers, such as some leukemias,[159][160] ineffective in some brain tumors,[161] and needless in others, such as most non-melanoma skin cancers.[162] The effectiveness of chemotherapy is often limited by its toxicity to other tissues in the body. Even when chemotherapy does not provide a permanent cure, it may be useful to reduce symptoms such as pain or to reduce the size of an inoperable tumor in the hope that surgery will become possible in the future.
+
+Radiation therapy involves the use of ionizing radiation in an attempt to either cure or improve symptoms. It works by damaging the DNA of cancerous tissue, killing it. To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs, which radiation must pass through to treat the tumor), shaped radiation beams are aimed from multiple exposure angles to intersect at the tumor, providing a much larger dose there than in the surrounding, healthy tissue. As with chemotherapy, cancers vary in their response to radiation therapy.[163][164][165]
+
+Radiation therapy is used in about half of cases. The radiation can be either from internal sources (brachytherapy) or external sources. The radiation is most commonly low energy X-rays for treating skin cancers, while higher energy X-rays are used for cancers within the body.[166] Radiation is typically used in addition to surgery and or chemotherapy. For certain types of cancer, such as early head and neck cancer, it may be used alone.[167] For painful bone metastasis, it has been found to be effective in about 70% of patients.[167]
+
+Surgery is the primary method of treatment for most isolated, solid cancers and may play a role in palliation and prolongation of survival. It is typically an important part of definitive diagnosis and staging of tumors, as biopsies are usually required. In localized cancer, surgery typically attempts to remove the entire mass along with, in certain cases, the lymph nodes in the area. For some types of cancer this is sufficient to eliminate the cancer.[158]
+
+Palliative care is treatment that attempts to help the patient feel better and may be combined with an attempt to treat the cancer. Palliative care includes action to reduce physical, emotional, spiritual and psycho-social distress. Unlike treatment that is aimed at directly killing cancer cells, the primary goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life.
+
+People at all stages of cancer treatment typically receive some kind of palliative care. In some cases, medical specialty professional organizations recommend that patients and physicians respond to cancer only with palliative care.[168] This applies to patients who:[169]
+
+Palliative care may be confused with hospice and therefore only indicated when people approach end of life. Like hospice care, palliative care attempts to help the patient cope with their immediate needs and to increase comfort. Unlike hospice care, palliative care does not require people to stop treatment aimed at the cancer.
+
+Multiple national medical guidelines recommend early palliative care for patients whose cancer has produced distressing symptoms or who need help coping with their illness. In patients first diagnosed with metastatic disease, palliative care may be immediately indicated. Palliative care is indicated for patients with a prognosis of less than 12 months of life even given aggressive treatment.[170][171][172]
+
+A variety of therapies using immunotherapy, stimulating or helping the immune system to fight cancer, have come into use since 1997. Approaches include antibodies, checkpoint therapy, and adoptive cell transfer.[173]
+
+Laser therapy uses high-intensity light to treat cancer by shrinking or destroying tumors or precancerous growths. Lasers are most commonly used to treat superficial cancers that are on the surface of the body or the lining of internal organs. It is used to treat basal cell skin cancer and the very early stages of others like cervical, penile, vaginal, vulvar, and non-small cell lung cancer. It is often combined with other treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. Laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT), or interstitial laser photocoagulation, uses lasers to treat some cancers using hyperthermia, which uses heat to shrink tumors by damaging or killing cancer cells. Laser are more precise than surgery and cause less damage, pain, bleeding, swelling, and scarring. A disadvantage is surgeons must have specialized training. It may be more expensive than other treatments.[174]
+
+Complementary and alternative cancer treatments are a diverse group of therapies, practices and products that are not part of conventional medicine.[175] "Complementary medicine" refers to methods and substances used along with conventional medicine, while "alternative medicine" refers to compounds used instead of conventional medicine.[176] Most complementary and alternative medicines for cancer have not been studied or tested using conventional techniques such as clinical trials. Some alternative treatments have been investigated and shown to be ineffective but still continue to be marketed and promoted. Cancer researcher Andrew J. Vickers stated, "The label 'unproven' is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been 'disproven'."[177]
+
+Survival rates vary by cancer type and by the stage at which it is diagnosed, ranging from majority survival to complete mortality five years after diagnosis. Once a cancer has metastasized, prognosis normally becomes much worse. About half of patients receiving treatment for invasive cancer (excluding carcinoma in situ and non-melanoma skin cancers) die from that cancer or its treatment.[23] A majority of cancer deaths are due to metastases of the primary tumor.[179]
+
+Survival is worse in the developing world,[23] partly because the types of cancer that are most common there are harder to treat than those associated with developed countries.[180]
+
+Those who survive cancer develop a second primary cancer at about twice the rate of those never diagnosed.[181] The increased risk is believed to be due to the random chance of developing any cancer, the likelihood of surviving the first cancer, the same risk factors that produced the first cancer, unwanted side effects of treating the first cancer (particularly radiation therapy), and to better compliance with screening.[181]
+
+Predicting short- or long-term survival depends on many factors. The most important are the cancer type and the patient's age and overall health. Those who are frail with other health problems have lower survival rates than otherwise healthy people. Centenarians are unlikely to survive for five years even if treatment is successful. People who report a higher quality of life tend to survive longer.[182] People with lower quality of life may be affected by depression and other complications and/or disease progression that both impairs quality and quantity of life. Additionally, patients with worse prognoses may be depressed or report poorer quality of life because they perceive that their condition is likely to be fatal.
+
+People with cancer have an increased risk of blood clots in their veins which can be life-threatening.[183] The use of blood thinners such as heparin decrease the risk of blood clots but have not been shown to increase survival in people with cancer.[183] People who take blood thinners also have an increased risk of bleeding.[183]
+
+Estimates are that in 2018, 18.1 million new cases of cancer and 9.6 million deaths occur globally.[185] About 20% of males and 17% of females will get cancer at some point in time while 13% of males and 9% of females will die from it.[185]
+
+In 2008, approximately 12.7 million cancers were diagnosed (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers and other non-invasive cancers)[23] and in 2010 nearly 7.98 million people died.[186] Cancers account for approximately 16% of deaths. The most common as of 2018[update] are lung cancer (1.76 million deaths), colorectal cancer (860,000) stomach cancer (780,000), liver cancer (780,000), and breast cancer (620,000).[2] This makes invasive cancer the leading cause of death in the developed world and the second leading in the developing world.[23] Over half of cases occur in the developing world.[23]
+
+Deaths from cancer were 5.8 million in 1990.[186] Deaths have been increasing primarily due to longer lifespans and lifestyle changes in the developing world.[23] The most significant risk factor for developing cancer is age.[187] Although it is possible for cancer to strike at any age, most patients with invasive cancer are over 65.[187] According to cancer researcher Robert A. Weinberg, "If we lived long enough, sooner or later we all would get cancer."[188] Some of the association between aging and cancer is attributed to immunosenescence,[189] errors accumulated in DNA over a lifetime[190] and age-related changes in the endocrine system.[191] Aging's effect on cancer is complicated by factors such as DNA damage and inflammation promoting it and factors such as vascular aging and endocrine changes inhibiting it.[192]
+
+Some slow-growing cancers are particularly common, but often are not fatal. Autopsy studies in Europe and Asia showed that up to 36% of people have undiagnosed and apparently harmless thyroid cancer at the time of their deaths and that 80% of men develop prostate cancer by age 80.[193][194] As these cancers do not cause the patient's death, identifying them would have represented overdiagnosis rather than useful medical care.
+
+The three most common childhood cancers are leukemia (34%), brain tumors (23%) and lymphomas (12%).[195] In the United States cancer affects about 1 in 285 children.[196] Rates of childhood cancer increased by 0.6% per year between 1975 and 2002 in the United States[197] and by 1.1% per year between 1978 and 1997 in Europe.[195] Death from childhood cancer decreased by half between 1975 and 2010 in the United States.[196]
+
+Cancer has existed for all of human history.[198] The earliest written record regarding cancer is from circa 1600 BC in the Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus and describes breast cancer.[198] Hippocrates (c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC) described several kinds of cancer, referring to them with the Greek word καρκίνος karkinos (crab or crayfish).[198] This name comes from the appearance of the cut surface of a solid malignant tumor, with "the veins stretched on all sides as the animal the crab has its feet, whence it derives its name".[199] Galen stated that "cancer of the breast is so called because of the fancied resemblance to a crab given by the lateral prolongations of the tumor and the adjacent distended veins".[200]:738 Celsus (c. 25 BC – 50 AD) translated karkinos into the Latin cancer, also meaning crab and recommended surgery as treatment.[198] Galen (2nd century AD) disagreed with the use of surgery and recommended purgatives instead.[198] These recommendations largely stood for 1000 years.[198]
+
+In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, it became acceptable for doctors to dissect bodies to discover the cause of death.[201] The German professor Wilhelm Fabry believed that breast cancer was caused by a milk clot in a mammary duct. The Dutch professor Francois de la Boe Sylvius, a follower of Descartes, believed that all disease was the outcome of chemical processes and that acidic lymph fluid was the cause of cancer. His contemporary Nicolaes Tulp believed that cancer was a poison that slowly spreads and concluded that it was contagious.[202]
+
+The physician John Hill described tobacco snuff as the cause of nose cancer in 1761.[201] This was followed by the report in 1775 by British surgeon Percivall Pott that chimney sweeps' carcinoma, a cancer of the scrotum, was a common disease among chimney sweeps.[203] With the widespread use of the microscope in the 18th century, it was discovered that the 'cancer poison' spread from the primary tumor through the lymph nodes to other sites ("metastasis"). This view of the disease was first formulated by the English surgeon Campbell De Morgan between 1871 and 1874.[204]
+
+Although many diseases (such as heart failure) may have a worse prognosis than most cases of cancer, cancer is the subject of widespread fear and taboos. The euphemism of "a long illness" to describe cancers leading to death is still commonly used in obituaries, rather than naming the disease explicitly, reflecting an apparent stigma.[205] Cancer is also euphemised as "the C-word"[206][207][208]; Macmillan Cancer Support uses the term to try to lessen the fear around the disease.[209] In Nigeria, one local name for cancer translates into English as "the disease that cannot be cured".[210] This deep belief that cancer is necessarily a difficult and usually deadly disease is reflected in the systems chosen by society to compile cancer statistics: the most common form of cancer—non-melanoma skin cancers, accounting for about one-third of cancer cases worldwide, but very few deaths[211][212]—are excluded from cancer statistics specifically because they are easily treated and almost always cured, often in a single, short, outpatient procedure.[213]
+
+Western conceptions of patients' rights for people with cancer include a duty to fully disclose the medical situation to the person, and the right to engage in shared decision-making in a way that respects the person's own values. In other cultures, other rights and values are preferred. For example, most African cultures value whole families rather than individualism. In parts of Africa, a diagnosis is commonly made so late that cure is not possible, and treatment, if available at all, would quickly bankrupt the family. As a result of these factors, African healthcare providers tend to let family members decide whether, when and how to disclose the diagnosis, and they tend to do so slowly and circuitously, as the person shows interest and an ability to cope with the grim news.[210] People from Asian and South American countries also tend to prefer a slower, less candid approach to disclosure than is idealized in the United States and Western Europe, and they believe that sometimes it would be preferable not to be told about a cancer diagnosis.[210] In general, disclosure of the diagnosis is more common than it was in the 20th century, but full disclosure of the prognosis is not offered to many patients around the world.[210]
+
+In the United States and some other cultures, cancer is regarded as a disease that must be "fought" to end the "civil insurrection"; a War on Cancer was declared in the US. Military metaphors are particularly common in descriptions of cancer's human effects, and they emphasize both the state of the patient's health and the need to take immediate, decisive actions himself rather than to delay, to ignore or to rely entirely on others. The military metaphors also help rationalize radical, destructive treatments.[214][215]
+
+In the 1970s, a relatively popular alternative cancer treatment in the US was a specialized form of talk therapy, based on the idea that cancer was caused by a bad attitude.[216] People with a "cancer personality"—depressed, repressed, self-loathing and afraid to express their emotions—were believed to have manifested cancer through subconscious desire. Some psychotherapists said that treatment to change the patient's outlook on life would cure the cancer.[216] Among other effects, this belief allowed society to blame the victim for having caused the cancer (by "wanting" it) or having prevented its cure (by not becoming a sufficiently happy, fearless and loving person).[217] It also increased patients' anxiety, as they incorrectly believed that natural emotions of sadness, anger or fear shorten their lives.[217] The idea was ridiculed by Susan Sontag, who published Illness as Metaphor while recovering from treatment for breast cancer in 1978.[216] Although the original idea is now generally regarded as nonsense, the idea partly persists in a reduced form with a widespread, but incorrect, belief that deliberately cultivating a habit of positive thinking will increase survival.[217] This notion is particularly strong in breast cancer culture.[217]
+
+One idea about why people with cancer are blamed or stigmatized, called the just-world hypothesis, is that blaming cancer on the patient's actions or attitudes allows the blamers to regain a sense of control. This is based upon the blamers' belief that the world is fundamentally just and so any dangerous illness, like cancer, must be a type of punishment for bad choices, because in a just world, bad things would not happen to good people.[218]
+
+The total health care expenditure on cancer in the US was estimated to be $80.2 billion in 2015.[219] Even though cancer-related health care expenditure have increased in absolute terms during recent decades, the share of health expenditure devoted to cancer treatment has remained close to 5% between the 1960s and 2004.[220][221] A similar pattern has been observed in Europe where about 6% of all health care expenditure are spent on cancer treatment.[222][223] In addition to health care expenditure, cancer causes indirect costs in the form of productivity losses due to sick days, permanent incapacity and disability as well as premature death during working age. Cancer causes also costs for informal care. Indirect costs and informal care costs are typically estimated to exceed or equal the health care costs of cancer.[224][223]
+
+In the United States, cancer is included as a protected condition by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), mainly due to the potential for cancer having discriminating effects on workers.[225] Discrimination in the workplace could occur if an employer holds a false belief that a person with cancer is not capable of doing a job properly, and may ask for more sick leave than other employees. Employers may also make hiring or firing decisions based on  misconceptions about cancer disabilities, if present. The EEOC provides interview guidelines for employers, as well as lists of possible solutions for assessing and accommodating employees with cancer.[225]
+
+Because cancer is a class of diseases,[226][227] it is unlikely that there will ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a single treatment for all infectious diseases.[228] Angiogenesis inhibitors were once incorrectly thought to have potential as a "silver bullet" treatment applicable to many types of cancer.[229] Angiogenesis inhibitors and other cancer therapeutics are used in combination to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality.[230]
+
+Experimental cancer treatments are studied in clinical trials to compare the proposed treatment to the best existing treatment. Treatments that succeeded in one cancer type can be tested against other types.[231] Diagnostic tests are under development to better target the right therapies to the right patients, based on their individual biology.[232]
+
+Cancer research focuses on the following issues:
+
+The improved understanding of molecular biology and cellular biology due to cancer research has led to new treatments for cancer since US President Richard Nixon declared the "War on Cancer" in 1971. Since then, the country has spent over $200 billion on cancer research, including resources from public and private sectors.[233] The cancer death rate (adjusting for size and age of the population) declined by five percent between 1950 and 2005.[234]
+
+Competition for financial resources appears to have suppressed the creativity, cooperation, risk-taking and original thinking required to make fundamental discoveries, unduly favoring low-risk research into small incremental advancements over riskier, more innovative research. Other consequences of competition appear to be many studies with dramatic claims whose results cannot be replicated and perverse incentives that encourage grantee institutions to grow without making sufficient investments in their own faculty and facilities.[235][236][237][238]
+
+Virotherapy, which uses convert viruses, is being studied.
+
+Cancer affects approximately 1 in 1,000 pregnant women. The most common cancers found during pregnancy are the same as the most common cancers found in non-pregnant women during childbearing ages: breast cancer, cervical cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer.[239]
+
+Diagnosing a new cancer in a pregnant woman is difficult, in part because any symptoms are commonly assumed to be a normal discomfort associated with pregnancy. As a result, cancer is typically discovered at a somewhat later stage than average. Some imaging procedures, such as MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging), CT scans, ultrasounds and mammograms with fetal shielding are considered safe during pregnancy; some others, such as PET scans, are not.[239]
+
+Treatment is generally the same as for non-pregnant women. However, radiation and radioactive drugs are normally avoided during pregnancy, especially if the fetal dose might exceed 100 cGy. In some cases, some or all treatments are postponed until after birth if the cancer is diagnosed late in the pregnancy. Early deliveries are often used to advance the start of treatment. Surgery is generally safe, but pelvic surgeries during the first trimester may cause miscarriage. Some treatments, especially certain chemotherapy drugs given during the first trimester, increase the risk of birth defects and pregnancy loss (spontaneous abortions and stillbirths).[239]
+
+Elective abortions are not required and, for the most common forms and stages of cancer, do not improve the mother's survival. In a few instances, such as advanced uterine cancer, the pregnancy cannot be continued and in others, the patient may end the pregnancy so that she can begin aggressive chemotherapy.[239]
+
+Some treatments can interfere with the mother's ability to give birth vaginally or to breastfeed.[239] Cervical cancer may require birth by Caesarean section. Radiation to the breast reduces the ability of that breast to produce milk and increases the risk of mastitis. Also, when chemotherapy is given after birth, many of the drugs appear in breast milk, which could harm the baby.[239]
+
+Veterinary oncology, concentrating mainly on cats and dogs, is a growing specialty in wealthy countries and the major forms of human treatment such as surgery and radiotherapy may be offered. The most common types of cancer differ, but the cancer burden seems at least as high in pets as in humans. Animals, typically rodents, are often used in cancer research and studies of natural cancers in larger animals may benefit research into human cancer.[240]
+
+In non-humans, a few types of transmissible cancer have been described, wherein the cancer spreads between animals by transmission of the tumor cells themselves. This phenomenon is seen in dogs with Sticker's sarcoma (also known as canine transmissible venereal tumor), and in Tasmanian devils with devil facial tumour disease (DFTD).[241]

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+Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[2][8] These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread.[8] Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements.[1] While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they can also have other causes.[1] Over 100 types of cancers affect humans.[8]
+
+Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths.[2] Another 10% are due to obesity, poor diet, lack of physical activity or excessive drinking of alcohol.[2][9][10] Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation and environmental pollutants.[3] In the developing world, 15% of cancers are due to infections such as Helicobacter pylori, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, human papillomavirus infection, Epstein–Barr virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).[2] These factors act, at least partly, by changing the genes of a cell.[11] Typically, many genetic changes are required before cancer develops.[11] Approximately 5–10% of cancers are due to inherited genetic defects from a person's parents.[12] Cancer can be detected by certain signs and symptoms or screening tests.[2] It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy.[13]
+
+The risk of developing certain cancers can be reduced by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, not drinking too much alcohol, eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, vaccination against certain infectious diseases, not eating too much processed and red meat and avoiding too much sunlight exposure.[14][15] Early detection through screening is useful for cervical and colorectal cancer.[16] The benefits of screening in breast cancer are controversial.[16][17] Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy and targeted therapy.[2][4] Pain and symptom management are an important part of care.[2] Palliative care is particularly important in people with advanced disease.[2] The chance of survival depends on the type of cancer and extent of disease at the start of treatment.[11] In children under 15 at diagnosis, the five-year survival rate in the developed world is on average 80%.[18] For cancer in the United States, the average five-year survival rate is 66%.[5]
+
+In 2015, about 90.5 million people had cancer.[6] As of 2019, about 18 million new cases occur annually.[19] It caused about 8.8 million deaths (15.7% of deaths).[7] The most common types of cancer in males are lung cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and stomach cancer.[20] In females, the most common types are breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and cervical cancer.[11] If skin cancer other than melanoma were included in total new cancer cases each year, it would account for around 40% of cases.[21][22] In children, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and brain tumors are most common, except in Africa where non-Hodgkin lymphoma occurs more often.[18] In 2012, about 165,000 children under 15 years of age were diagnosed with cancer.[20] The risk of cancer increases significantly with age, and many cancers occur more commonly in developed countries.[11] Rates are increasing as more people live to an old age and as lifestyle changes occur in the developing world.[23] The financial costs of cancer were estimated at $1.16 trillion USD per year as of 2010[update].[24]
+
+Cancers are a large family of diseases that involve abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body.[2][8] They form a subset of neoplasms. A neoplasm or tumor is a group of cells that have undergone unregulated growth and will often form a mass or lump, but may be distributed diffusely.[25][26]
+
+All tumor cells show the six hallmarks of cancer. These characteristics are required to produce a malignant tumor. They include:[27]
+
+The progression from normal cells to cells that can form a detectable mass to outright cancer involves multiple steps known as malignant progression.[27][28]
+
+When cancer begins, it produces no symptoms. Signs and symptoms appear as the mass grows or ulcerates. The findings that result depend on the cancer's type and location. Few symptoms are specific. Many frequently occur in individuals who have other conditions. Cancer can be difficult to diagnose and can be considered a "great imitator."[29]
+
+People may become anxious or depressed post-diagnosis. The risk of suicide in people with cancer is approximately double.[30]
+
+Local symptoms may occur due to the mass of the tumor or its ulceration. For example, mass effects from lung cancer can block the bronchus resulting in cough or pneumonia; esophageal cancer can cause narrowing of the esophagus, making it difficult or painful to swallow; and colorectal cancer may lead to narrowing or blockages in the bowel, affecting bowel habits. Masses in breasts or testicles may produce observable lumps. Ulceration can cause bleeding that can lead to symptoms such as coughing up blood (lung cancer),  anemia or rectal bleeding (colon cancer), blood in the urine (bladder cancer), or abnormal vaginal bleeding (endometrial or cervical cancer). Although localized pain may occur in advanced cancer, the initial tumor is usually painless. Some cancers can cause a buildup of fluid within the chest or abdomen.[29]
+
+Systemic symptoms may occur due to the body's response to the cancer. This may include fatigue, unintentional weight loss, or skin changes.[31] Some cancers can cause a systemic inflammatory state that leads to ongoing muscle loss and weakness, known as cachexia.[32]
+
+Some types of cancer such as Hodgkin disease, leukemias and cancers of the liver or kidney can cause a persistent fever.[29]
+
+Some systemic symptoms of cancer are caused by hormones or other molecules produced by the tumor, known as paraneoplastic syndromes. Common paraneoplastic syndromes include hypercalcemia which can cause altered mental state, constipation and dehydration, or hyponatremia that can also cause altered mental status, vomiting, headache or seizures.[33]
+
+Cancer can spread from its original site by local spread, lymphatic spread to regional lymph nodes or by hematogenous spread via the blood to distant sites, known as metastasis. When cancer spreads through the blood, it may spread through the body but is more likely to travel to certain areas depending on the cancer type. The symptoms of metastatic cancers depend on the tumor location and can include enlarged lymph nodes (which can be felt or sometimes seen under the skin and are typically hard), enlarged liver or enlarged spleen, which can be felt in the abdomen, pain or fracture of affected bones and neurological symptoms.[29]
+
+The majority of cancers, some 90–95% of cases, are due to genetic mutations from environmental and lifestyle factors.[3] The remaining 5–10% are due to inherited genetics.[3] Environmental refers to any cause that is not inherited genetically, such as lifestyle, economic, and behavioral factors and not merely pollution.[35] Common environmental factors that contribute to cancer death include tobacco (25–30%), diet and obesity (30–35%), infections (15–20%), radiation (both ionizing and non-ionizing, up to 10%), lack of physical activity, and pollution.[3][36] Psychological stress does not appear to be a risk factor for the onset of cancer,[37][38] though it may worsen outcomes in those who already have cancer.[37]
+
+It is not generally possible to prove what caused a particular cancer because the various causes do not have specific fingerprints. For example, if a person who uses tobacco heavily develops lung cancer, then it was probably caused by the tobacco use, but since everyone has a small chance of developing lung cancer as a result of air pollution or radiation, the cancer may have developed for one of those reasons. Excepting the rare transmissions that occur with pregnancies and occasional organ donors, cancer is generally not a transmissible disease.[39]
+
+Exposure to particular substances have been linked to specific types of cancer. These substances are called carcinogens.
+
+Tobacco smoke, for example, causes 90% of lung cancer.[40] It also causes cancer in the larynx, head, neck, stomach, bladder, kidney, esophagus and pancreas.[41] Tobacco smoke contains over fifty known carcinogens, including nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.[42]
+
+Tobacco is responsible for about one in five cancer deaths worldwide[42] and about one in three in the developed world.[43] Lung cancer death rates in the United States have mirrored smoking patterns, with increases in smoking followed by dramatic increases in lung cancer death rates and, more recently, decreases in smoking rates since the 1950s followed by decreases in lung cancer death rates in men since 1990.[44][45]
+
+In Western Europe, 10% of cancers in males and 3% of cancers in females are attributed to alcohol exposure, especially liver and digestive tract cancers.[46] Cancer from work-related substance exposures may cause between 2 and 20% of cases,[47] causing at least 200,000 deaths.[48] Cancers such as lung cancer and mesothelioma can come from inhaling tobacco smoke or asbestos fibers, or leukemia from exposure to benzene.[48]
+
+Diet, physical inactivity and obesity are related to up to 30–35% of cancer deaths.[3][49] In the United States, excess body weight is associated with the development of many types of cancer and is a factor in 14–20% of cancer deaths.[49] A UK study including data on over 5 million people showed higher body mass index to be related to at least 10 types of cancer and responsible for around 12,000 cases each year in that country.[50] Physical inactivity is believed to contribute to cancer risk, not only through its effect on body weight but also through negative effects on the immune system and endocrine system.[49] More than half of the effect from diet is due to overnutrition (eating too much), rather than from eating too few vegetables or other healthful foods.
+
+Some specific foods are linked to specific cancers. A high-salt diet is linked to gastric cancer.[51] Aflatoxin B1, a frequent food contaminant, causes liver cancer.[51] Betel nut chewing can cause oral cancer.[51] National differences in dietary practices may partly explain differences in cancer incidence. For example, gastric cancer is more common in Japan due to its high-salt diet[52] while colon cancer is more common in the United States. Immigrant cancer profiles mirror those of their new country, often within one generation.[53]
+
+Worldwide approximately 18% of cancer deaths are related to infectious diseases.[3] This proportion ranges from a high of 25% in Africa to less than 10% in the developed world.[3] Viruses are the usual infectious agents that cause cancer but cancer bacteria and parasites may also play a role.
+
+Oncoviruses (viruses that can cause cancer) include human papillomavirus (cervical cancer), Epstein–Barr virus (B-cell lymphoproliferative disease and nasopharyngeal carcinoma), Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (Kaposi's sarcoma and primary effusion lymphomas), hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (hepatocellular carcinoma) and human T-cell leukemia virus-1 (T-cell leukemias). Bacterial infection may also increase the risk of cancer, as seen in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric carcinoma.[54][55] Parasitic infections associated with cancer include Schistosoma haematobium (squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder) and the liver flukes, Opisthorchis viverrini and Clonorchis sinensis (cholangiocarcinoma).[56]
+
+Radiation exposure such as ultraviolet radiation and radioactive material is a risk factor for cancer.[57][58][59] Many non-melanoma skin cancers are due to ultraviolet radiation, mostly from sunlight.[58] Sources of ionizing radiation include medical imaging and radon gas.[58]
+
+Ionizing radiation is not a particularly strong mutagen.[60] Residential exposure to radon gas, for example, has similar cancer risks as passive smoking.[60] Radiation is a more potent source of cancer when combined with other cancer-causing agents, such as radon plus tobacco smoke.[60] Radiation can cause cancer in most parts of the body, in all animals and at any age. Children are twice as likely to develop radiation-induced leukemia as adults; radiation exposure before birth has ten times the effect.[60]
+
+Medical use of ionizing radiation is a small but growing source of radiation-induced cancers. Ionizing radiation may be used to treat other cancers, but this may, in some cases, induce a second form of cancer.[60] It is also used in some kinds of medical imaging.[61]
+
+Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun can lead to melanoma and other skin malignancies.[62] Clear evidence establishes ultraviolet radiation, especially the non-ionizing medium wave UVB, as the cause of most non-melanoma skin cancers, which are the most common forms of cancer in the world.[62]
+
+Non-ionizing radio frequency radiation from mobile phones, electric power transmission and other similar sources has been described as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer.[63] Evidence, however, has not supported a concern.[64] [57] This includes that studies have not found a consistent link between mobile phone radiation and cancer risk.[65]
+
+The vast majority of cancers are non-hereditary (sporadic). Hereditary cancers are primarily caused by an inherited genetic defect. Less than 0.3% of the population are carriers of a genetic mutation that has a large effect on cancer risk and these cause less than 3–10% of cancer.[66] Some of these syndromes include: certain inherited mutations in the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 with a more than 75% risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer,[66] and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC or Lynch syndrome), which is present in about 3% of people with colorectal cancer,[67] among others.
+
+Statistically for cancers causing most mortality, the relative risk of developing colorectal cancer when a first-degree relative (parent, sibling or child) has been diagnosed with it is about 2.[68] The corresponding relative risk is 1.5 for lung cancer,[69] and 1.9 for prostate cancer.[70] For breast cancer, the relative risk is 1.8 with a first-degree relative having developed it at 50 years of age or older, and 3.3 when the relative developed it when being younger than 50 years of age.[71]
+
+Taller people have an increased risk of cancer because they have more cells than shorter people. Since height is genetically determined to a large extent, taller people have a heritable increase of cancer risk.[72]
+
+Some substances cause cancer primarily through their physical, rather than chemical, effects.[73] A prominent example of this is prolonged exposure to asbestos, naturally occurring mineral fibers that are a major cause of mesothelioma (cancer of the serous membrane) usually the serous membrane surrounding the lungs.[73] Other substances in this category, including both naturally occurring and synthetic asbestos-like fibers, such as wollastonite, attapulgite, glass wool and rock wool, are believed to have similar effects.[73] Non-fibrous particulate materials that cause cancer include powdered metallic cobalt and nickel and crystalline silica (quartz, cristobalite and tridymite).[73] Usually, physical carcinogens must get inside the body (such as through inhalation) and require years of exposure to produce cancer.[73]
+
+Physical trauma resulting in cancer is relatively rare.[74] Claims that breaking bones resulted in bone cancer, for example, have not been proven.[74] Similarly, physical trauma is not accepted as a cause for cervical cancer, breast cancer or brain cancer.[74] One accepted source is frequent, long-term application of hot objects to the body. It is possible that repeated burns on the same part of the body, such as those produced by kanger and kairo heaters (charcoal hand warmers), may produce skin cancer, especially if carcinogenic chemicals are also present.[74] Frequent consumption of scalding hot tea may produce esophageal cancer.[74] Generally, it is believed that cancer arises, or a pre-existing cancer is encouraged, during the process of healing, rather than directly by the trauma.[74] However, repeated injuries to the same tissues might promote excessive cell proliferation, which could then increase the odds of a cancerous mutation.
+
+Chronic inflammation has been hypothesized to directly cause mutation.[74][75] Inflammation can contribute to proliferation, survival, angiogenesis and migration of cancer cells by influencing the tumor microenvironment.[76][77] Oncogenes build up an inflammatory pro-tumorigenic microenvironment.[78]
+
+Some hormones play a role in the development of cancer by promoting cell proliferation.[79] Insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins play a key role in cancer cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, suggesting possible involvement in carcinogenesis.[80]
+
+Hormones are important agents in sex-related cancers, such as cancer of the breast, endometrium, prostate, ovary and testis and also of thyroid cancer and bone cancer.[79] For example, the daughters of women who have breast cancer have significantly higher levels of estrogen and progesterone than the daughters of women without breast cancer. These higher hormone levels may explain their higher risk of breast cancer, even in the absence of a breast-cancer gene.[79] Similarly, men of African ancestry have significantly higher levels of testosterone than men of European ancestry and have a correspondingly higher level of prostate cancer.[79] Men of Asian ancestry, with the lowest levels of testosterone-activating androstanediol glucuronide, have the lowest levels of prostate cancer.[79]
+
+Other factors are relevant: obese people have higher levels of some hormones associated with cancer and a higher rate of those cancers.[79] Women who take hormone replacement therapy have a higher risk of developing cancers associated with those hormones.[79] On the other hand, people who exercise far more than average have lower levels of these hormones and lower risk of cancer.[79] Osteosarcoma may be promoted by growth hormones.[79] Some treatments and prevention approaches leverage this cause by artificially reducing hormone levels and thus discouraging hormone-sensitive cancers.[79]
+
+There is an association between celiac disease and an increased risk of all cancers. People with untreated celiac disease have a higher risk, but this risk decreases with time after diagnosis and strict treatment, probably due to the adoption of a gluten-free diet, which seems to have a protective role against development of malignancy in people with celiac disease. However, the delay in diagnosis and initiation of a gluten-free diet seems to increase the risk of malignancies.[81] Rates of gastrointestinal cancers are increased in people with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, due to chronic inflammation. Also, immunomodulators and biologic agents used to treat these diseases may promote developing extra-intestinal malignancies.[82]
+
+Cancer is fundamentally a disease of tissue growth regulation. In order for a normal cell to transform into a cancer cell, the genes that regulate cell growth and differentiation must be altered.[83]
+
+The affected genes are divided into two broad categories. Oncogenes are genes that promote cell growth and reproduction. Tumor suppressor genes are genes that inhibit cell division and survival. Malignant transformation can occur through the formation of novel oncogenes, the inappropriate over-expression of normal oncogenes, or by the under-expression or disabling of tumor suppressor genes. Typically, changes in multiple genes are required to transform a normal cell into a cancer cell.[84]
+
+Genetic changes can occur at different levels and by different mechanisms. The gain or loss of an entire chromosome can occur through errors in mitosis. More common are mutations, which are changes in the nucleotide sequence of genomic DNA.
+
+Large-scale mutations involve the deletion or gain of a portion of a chromosome. Genomic amplification occurs when a cell gains copies (often 20 or more) of a small chromosomal locus, usually containing one or more oncogenes and adjacent genetic material. Translocation occurs when two separate chromosomal regions become abnormally fused, often at a characteristic location. A well-known example of this is the Philadelphia chromosome, or translocation of chromosomes 9 and 22, which occurs in chronic myelogenous leukemia and results in production of the BCR-abl fusion protein, an oncogenic tyrosine kinase.
+
+Small-scale mutations include point mutations, deletions, and insertions, which may occur in the promoter region of a gene and affect its expression, or may occur in the gene's coding sequence and alter the function or stability of its protein product. Disruption of a single gene may also result from integration of genomic material from a DNA virus or retrovirus, leading to the expression of viral oncogenes in the affected cell and its descendants.
+
+Replication of the data contained within the DNA of living cells will probabilistically result in some errors (mutations). Complex error correction and prevention is built into the process and safeguards the cell against cancer. If a significant error occurs, the damaged cell can self-destruct through programmed cell death, termed apoptosis. If the error control processes fail, then the mutations will survive and be passed along to daughter cells.
+
+Some environments make errors more likely to arise and propagate. Such environments can include the presence of disruptive substances called carcinogens, repeated physical injury, heat, ionising radiation or hypoxia.[85]
+
+The errors that cause cancer are self-amplifying and compounding, for example:
+
+The transformation of a normal cell into cancer is akin to a chain reaction caused by initial errors, which compound into more severe errors, each progressively allowing the cell to escape more controls that limit normal tissue growth. This rebellion-like scenario is an undesirable survival of the fittest, where the driving forces of evolution work against the body's design and enforcement of order. Once cancer has begun to develop, this ongoing process, termed clonal evolution, drives progression towards more invasive stages.[86] Clonal evolution leads to intra-tumour heterogeneity (cancer cells with heterogeneous mutations) that complicates designing effective treatment strategies.
+
+Characteristic abilities developed by cancers are divided into categories, specifically evasion of apoptosis, self-sufficiency in growth signals, insensitivity to anti-growth signals, sustained angiogenesis, limitless replicative potential, metastasis, reprogramming of energy metabolism and evasion of immune destruction.[27][28]
+
+The classical view of cancer is a set of diseases that are driven by progressive genetic abnormalities that include mutations in tumor-suppressor genes and oncogenes and chromosomal abnormalities. Later epigenetic alterations' role was identified.[87]
+
+Epigenetic alterations are functionally relevant modifications to the genome that do not change the nucleotide sequence. Examples of such modifications are changes in DNA methylation (hypermethylation and hypomethylation), histone modification[88] and changes in chromosomal architecture (caused by inappropriate expression of proteins such as HMGA2 or HMGA1).[89] Each of these alterations regulates gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. These changes may remain through cell divisions, last for multiple generations and can be considered to be epimutations (equivalent to mutations).
+
+Epigenetic alterations occur frequently in cancers. As an example, one study listed protein coding genes that were frequently altered in their methylation in association with colon cancer. These included 147 hypermethylated and 27 hypomethylated genes. Of the hypermethylated genes, 10 were hypermethylated in 100% of colon cancers and many others were hypermethylated in more than 50% of colon cancers.[90]
+
+While epigenetic alterations are found in cancers, the epigenetic alterations in DNA repair genes, causing reduced expression of DNA repair proteins, may be of particular importance. Such alterations are thought to occur early in progression to cancer and to be a likely cause of the genetic instability characteristic of cancers.[91][92][93]
+
+Reduced expression of DNA repair genes disrupts DNA repair. This is shown in the figure at the 4th level from the top. (In the figure, red wording indicates the central role of DNA damage and defects in DNA repair in progression to cancer.) When DNA repair is deficient DNA damage remains in cells at a higher than usual level (5th level) and cause increased frequencies of mutation and/or epimutation (6th level). Mutation rates increase substantially in cells defective in DNA mismatch repair[94][95] or in homologous recombinational repair (HRR).[96] Chromosomal rearrangements and aneuploidy also increase in HRR defective cells.[97]
+
+Higher levels of DNA damage cause increased mutation (right side of figure) and increased epimutation. During repair of DNA double strand breaks, or repair of other DNA damage, incompletely cleared repair sites can cause epigenetic gene silencing.[98][99]
+
+Deficient expression of DNA repair proteins due to an inherited mutation can increase cancer risks. Individuals with an inherited impairment in any of 34 DNA repair genes (see article DNA repair-deficiency disorder) have increased cancer risk, with some defects ensuring a 100% lifetime chance of cancer (e.g. p53 mutations).[100] Germ line DNA repair mutations are noted on the figure's left side. However, such germline mutations (which cause highly penetrant cancer syndromes) are the cause of only about 1 percent of cancers.[101]
+
+In sporadic cancers, deficiencies in DNA repair are occasionally caused by a mutation in a DNA repair gene but are much more frequently caused by epigenetic alterations that reduce or silence expression of DNA repair genes. This is indicated in the figure at the 3rd level. Many studies of heavy metal-induced carcinogenesis show that such heavy metals cause a reduction in expression of DNA repair enzymes, some through epigenetic mechanisms. DNA repair inhibition is proposed to be a predominant mechanism in heavy metal-induced carcinogenicity. In addition, frequent epigenetic alterations of the DNA sequences code for small RNAs called microRNAs (or miRNAs). miRNAs do not code for proteins, but can "target" protein-coding genes and reduce their expression.
+
+Cancers usually arise from an assemblage of mutations and epimutations that confer a selective advantage leading to clonal expansion (see Field defects in progression to cancer). Mutations, however, may not be as frequent in cancers as epigenetic alterations. An average cancer of the breast or colon can have about 60 to 70 protein-altering mutations, of which about three or four may be "driver" mutations and the remaining ones may be "passenger" mutations.[102]
+
+Metastasis is the spread of cancer to other locations in the body. The dispersed tumors are called metastatic tumors, while the original is called the primary tumor. Almost all cancers can metastasize.[103] Most cancer deaths are due to cancer that has metastasized.[104]
+
+Metastasis is common in the late stages of cancer and it can occur via the blood or the lymphatic system or both. The typical steps in metastasis are local invasion, intravasation into the blood or lymph, circulation through the body, extravasation into the new tissue, proliferation and angiogenesis. Different types of cancers tend to metastasize to particular organs, but overall the most common places for metastases to occur are the lungs, liver, brain and the bones.[103]
+
+Most cancers are initially recognized either because of the appearance of signs or symptoms or through screening. Neither of these leads to a definitive diagnosis, which requires the examination of a tissue sample by a pathologist. People with suspected cancer are investigated with medical tests. These commonly include blood tests, X-rays, (contrast) CT scans and endoscopy.
+
+The tissue diagnosis from the biopsy indicates the type of cell that is proliferating, its histological grade, genetic abnormalities and other features. Together, this information is useful to evaluate the prognosis and to choose the best treatment.
+
+Cytogenetics and immunohistochemistry are other types of tissue tests. These tests provide information about molecular changes (such as mutations, fusion genes and numerical chromosome changes) and may thus also indicate the prognosis and best treatment.
+
+Cancer diagnosis can cause psychological distress and psychosocial interventions, such as talking therapy, may help people with this.[105]
+
+Cancers are classified by the type of cell that the tumor cells resemble and is therefore presumed to be the origin of the tumor. These types include:
+
+Cancers are usually named using -carcinoma, -sarcoma or -blastoma as a suffix, with the Latin or Greek word for the organ or tissue of origin as the root. For example, cancers of the liver parenchyma arising from malignant epithelial cells is called hepatocarcinoma, while a malignancy arising from primitive liver precursor cells is called a hepatoblastoma and a cancer arising from fat cells is called a liposarcoma. For some common cancers, the English organ name is used. For example, the most common type of breast cancer is called ductal carcinoma of the breast. Here, the adjective ductal refers to the appearance of cancer under the microscope, which suggests that it has originated in the milk ducts.
+
+Benign tumors (which are not cancers) are named using -oma as a suffix with the organ name as the root. For example, a benign tumor of smooth muscle cells is called a leiomyoma (the common name of this frequently occurring benign tumor in the uterus is fibroid). Confusingly, some types of cancer use the -noma suffix, examples including melanoma and seminoma.
+
+Some types of cancer are named for the size and shape of the cells under a microscope, such as giant cell carcinoma, spindle cell carcinoma and small-cell carcinoma.
+
+An invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast (pale area at the center) surrounded by spikes of whitish scar tissue and yellow fatty tissue
+
+An invasive colorectal carcinoma (top center) in a colectomy specimen
+
+A squamous-cell carcinoma (the whitish tumor) near the bronchi in a lung specimen
+
+A large invasive ductal carcinoma in a mastectomy specimen
+
+Cancer prevention is defined as active measures to decrease cancer risk.[107] The vast majority of cancer cases are due to environmental risk factors. Many of these environmental factors are controllable lifestyle choices. Thus, cancer is generally preventable.[108] Between 70% and 90% of common cancers are due to environmental factors and therefore potentially preventable.[109]
+
+Greater than 30% of cancer deaths could be prevented by avoiding risk factors including: tobacco, excess weight/obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, alcohol, sexually transmitted infections and air pollution.[110] Not all environmental causes are controllable, such as naturally occurring background radiation and cancers caused through hereditary genetic disorders and thus are not preventable via personal behavior.
+
+While many dietary recommendations have been proposed to reduce cancer risks, the evidence to support them is not definitive.[14][111] The primary dietary factors that increase risk are obesity and alcohol consumption. Diets low in fruits and vegetables and high in red meat have been implicated but reviews and meta-analyses do not come to a consistent conclusion.[112][113] A 2014 meta-analysis found no relationship between fruits and vegetables and cancer.[114] Coffee is associated with a reduced risk of liver cancer.[115] Studies have linked excess consumption of red or processed meat to an increased risk of breast cancer, colon cancer and pancreatic cancer, a phenomenon that could be due to the presence of carcinogens in meats cooked at high temperatures.[116][117] In 2015 the IARC reported that eating processed meat (e.g., bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages) and, to a lesser degree, red meat was linked to some cancers.[118][119]
+
+Dietary recommendations for cancer prevention typically include an emphasis on vegetables, fruit, whole grains and fish and an avoidance of processed and red meat (beef, pork, lamb), animal fats, pickled foods and refined carbohydrates.[14][111]
+
+Medications can be used to prevent cancer in a few circumstances.[120] In the general population, NSAIDs reduce the risk of colorectal cancer; however, due to cardiovascular and gastrointestinal side effects, they cause overall harm when used for prevention.[121] Aspirin has been found to reduce the risk of death from cancer by about 7%.[122] COX-2 inhibitors may decrease the rate of polyp formation in people with familial adenomatous polyposis; however, it is associated with the same adverse effects as NSAIDs.[123] Daily use of tamoxifen or raloxifene reduce the risk of breast cancer in high-risk women.[124] The benefit versus harm for 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor such as finasteride is not clear.[125]
+
+Vitamin supplementation does not appear to be effective at preventing cancer.[126] While low blood levels of vitamin D are correlated with increased cancer risk,[127][128][129] whether this relationship is causal and vitamin D supplementation is protective is not determined.[130][131] One 2014 review found that supplements had no significant effect on cancer risk.[131] Another 2014 review concluded that vitamin D3 may decrease the risk of death from cancer (one fewer death in 150 people treated over 5 years), but concerns with the quality of the data were noted.[132]
+
+Beta-carotene supplementation increases lung cancer rates in those who are high risk.[133] Folic acid supplementation is not effective in preventing colon cancer and may increase colon polyps.[134] Selenium supplementation has not been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.[135]
+
+Vaccines have been developed that prevent infection by some carcinogenic viruses.[136] Human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil and Cervarix) decrease the risk of developing cervical cancer.[136] The hepatitis B vaccine prevents infection with hepatitis B virus and thus decreases the risk of liver cancer.[136] The administration of human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccinations is recommended where resources allow.[137]
+
+Unlike diagnostic efforts prompted by symptoms and medical signs, cancer screening involves efforts to detect cancer after it has formed, but before any noticeable symptoms appear.[138] This may involve physical examination, blood or urine tests or medical imaging.[138]
+
+Cancer screening is not available for many types of cancers. Even when tests are available, they may not be recommended for everyone. Universal screening or mass screening involves screening everyone.[139] Selective screening identifies people who are at higher risk, such as people with a family history.[139] Several factors are considered to determine whether the benefits of screening outweigh the risks and the costs of screening.[138] These factors include:
+
+The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issues recommendations for various cancers:
+
+Screens for gastric cancer using photofluorography due to the high incidence there.[23]
+
+Genetic testing for individuals at high-risk of certain cancers is recommended by unofficial groups.[137][153] Carriers of these mutations may then undergo enhanced surveillance, chemoprevention, or preventative surgery to reduce their subsequent risk.[153]
+
+Many treatment options for cancer exist. The primary ones include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy and palliative care. Which treatments are used depends on the type, location and grade of the cancer as well as the patient's health and preferences. The treatment intent may or may not be curative.
+
+Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with one or more cytotoxic anti-neoplastic drugs (chemotherapeutic agents) as part of a standardized regimen. The term encompasses a variety of drugs, which are divided into broad categories such as alkylating agents and antimetabolites.[154] Traditional chemotherapeutic agents act by killing cells that divide rapidly, a critical property of most cancer cells.
+
+It was found that providing combined cytotoxic drugs is better than a single drug; a process called the combination therapy; which has an  advantage in the statistics of survival and response to the tumor and in the progress of the disease.[155] A Cochrane review concluded that combined therapy was more effective to treat metastasized breast cancer. However, generally it is not certain whether combination chemotherapy leads to better health outcomes, when both survival and toxicity are considered.[156]
+
+Targeted therapy is a form of chemotherapy that targets specific molecular differences between cancer and normal cells. The first targeted therapies blocked the estrogen receptor molecule, inhibiting the growth of breast cancer. Another common example is the class of Bcr-Abl inhibitors, which are used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML).[4] Currently, targeted therapies exist for many of the most common cancer types, including bladder cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, kidney cancer, leukemia, liver cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, skin cancer, and thyroid cancer as well as other cancer types.[157]
+
+The efficacy of chemotherapy depends on the type of cancer and the stage. In combination with surgery, chemotherapy has proven useful in cancer types including breast cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, osteogenic sarcoma, testicular cancer, ovarian cancer and certain lung cancers.[158] Chemotherapy is curative for some cancers, such as some leukemias,[159][160] ineffective in some brain tumors,[161] and needless in others, such as most non-melanoma skin cancers.[162] The effectiveness of chemotherapy is often limited by its toxicity to other tissues in the body. Even when chemotherapy does not provide a permanent cure, it may be useful to reduce symptoms such as pain or to reduce the size of an inoperable tumor in the hope that surgery will become possible in the future.
+
+Radiation therapy involves the use of ionizing radiation in an attempt to either cure or improve symptoms. It works by damaging the DNA of cancerous tissue, killing it. To spare normal tissues (such as skin or organs, which radiation must pass through to treat the tumor), shaped radiation beams are aimed from multiple exposure angles to intersect at the tumor, providing a much larger dose there than in the surrounding, healthy tissue. As with chemotherapy, cancers vary in their response to radiation therapy.[163][164][165]
+
+Radiation therapy is used in about half of cases. The radiation can be either from internal sources (brachytherapy) or external sources. The radiation is most commonly low energy X-rays for treating skin cancers, while higher energy X-rays are used for cancers within the body.[166] Radiation is typically used in addition to surgery and or chemotherapy. For certain types of cancer, such as early head and neck cancer, it may be used alone.[167] For painful bone metastasis, it has been found to be effective in about 70% of patients.[167]
+
+Surgery is the primary method of treatment for most isolated, solid cancers and may play a role in palliation and prolongation of survival. It is typically an important part of definitive diagnosis and staging of tumors, as biopsies are usually required. In localized cancer, surgery typically attempts to remove the entire mass along with, in certain cases, the lymph nodes in the area. For some types of cancer this is sufficient to eliminate the cancer.[158]
+
+Palliative care is treatment that attempts to help the patient feel better and may be combined with an attempt to treat the cancer. Palliative care includes action to reduce physical, emotional, spiritual and psycho-social distress. Unlike treatment that is aimed at directly killing cancer cells, the primary goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life.
+
+People at all stages of cancer treatment typically receive some kind of palliative care. In some cases, medical specialty professional organizations recommend that patients and physicians respond to cancer only with palliative care.[168] This applies to patients who:[169]
+
+Palliative care may be confused with hospice and therefore only indicated when people approach end of life. Like hospice care, palliative care attempts to help the patient cope with their immediate needs and to increase comfort. Unlike hospice care, palliative care does not require people to stop treatment aimed at the cancer.
+
+Multiple national medical guidelines recommend early palliative care for patients whose cancer has produced distressing symptoms or who need help coping with their illness. In patients first diagnosed with metastatic disease, palliative care may be immediately indicated. Palliative care is indicated for patients with a prognosis of less than 12 months of life even given aggressive treatment.[170][171][172]
+
+A variety of therapies using immunotherapy, stimulating or helping the immune system to fight cancer, have come into use since 1997. Approaches include antibodies, checkpoint therapy, and adoptive cell transfer.[173]
+
+Laser therapy uses high-intensity light to treat cancer by shrinking or destroying tumors or precancerous growths. Lasers are most commonly used to treat superficial cancers that are on the surface of the body or the lining of internal organs. It is used to treat basal cell skin cancer and the very early stages of others like cervical, penile, vaginal, vulvar, and non-small cell lung cancer. It is often combined with other treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. Laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy (LITT), or interstitial laser photocoagulation, uses lasers to treat some cancers using hyperthermia, which uses heat to shrink tumors by damaging or killing cancer cells. Laser are more precise than surgery and cause less damage, pain, bleeding, swelling, and scarring. A disadvantage is surgeons must have specialized training. It may be more expensive than other treatments.[174]
+
+Complementary and alternative cancer treatments are a diverse group of therapies, practices and products that are not part of conventional medicine.[175] "Complementary medicine" refers to methods and substances used along with conventional medicine, while "alternative medicine" refers to compounds used instead of conventional medicine.[176] Most complementary and alternative medicines for cancer have not been studied or tested using conventional techniques such as clinical trials. Some alternative treatments have been investigated and shown to be ineffective but still continue to be marketed and promoted. Cancer researcher Andrew J. Vickers stated, "The label 'unproven' is inappropriate for such therapies; it is time to assert that many alternative cancer therapies have been 'disproven'."[177]
+
+Survival rates vary by cancer type and by the stage at which it is diagnosed, ranging from majority survival to complete mortality five years after diagnosis. Once a cancer has metastasized, prognosis normally becomes much worse. About half of patients receiving treatment for invasive cancer (excluding carcinoma in situ and non-melanoma skin cancers) die from that cancer or its treatment.[23] A majority of cancer deaths are due to metastases of the primary tumor.[179]
+
+Survival is worse in the developing world,[23] partly because the types of cancer that are most common there are harder to treat than those associated with developed countries.[180]
+
+Those who survive cancer develop a second primary cancer at about twice the rate of those never diagnosed.[181] The increased risk is believed to be due to the random chance of developing any cancer, the likelihood of surviving the first cancer, the same risk factors that produced the first cancer, unwanted side effects of treating the first cancer (particularly radiation therapy), and to better compliance with screening.[181]
+
+Predicting short- or long-term survival depends on many factors. The most important are the cancer type and the patient's age and overall health. Those who are frail with other health problems have lower survival rates than otherwise healthy people. Centenarians are unlikely to survive for five years even if treatment is successful. People who report a higher quality of life tend to survive longer.[182] People with lower quality of life may be affected by depression and other complications and/or disease progression that both impairs quality and quantity of life. Additionally, patients with worse prognoses may be depressed or report poorer quality of life because they perceive that their condition is likely to be fatal.
+
+People with cancer have an increased risk of blood clots in their veins which can be life-threatening.[183] The use of blood thinners such as heparin decrease the risk of blood clots but have not been shown to increase survival in people with cancer.[183] People who take blood thinners also have an increased risk of bleeding.[183]
+
+Estimates are that in 2018, 18.1 million new cases of cancer and 9.6 million deaths occur globally.[185] About 20% of males and 17% of females will get cancer at some point in time while 13% of males and 9% of females will die from it.[185]
+
+In 2008, approximately 12.7 million cancers were diagnosed (excluding non-melanoma skin cancers and other non-invasive cancers)[23] and in 2010 nearly 7.98 million people died.[186] Cancers account for approximately 16% of deaths. The most common as of 2018[update] are lung cancer (1.76 million deaths), colorectal cancer (860,000) stomach cancer (780,000), liver cancer (780,000), and breast cancer (620,000).[2] This makes invasive cancer the leading cause of death in the developed world and the second leading in the developing world.[23] Over half of cases occur in the developing world.[23]
+
+Deaths from cancer were 5.8 million in 1990.[186] Deaths have been increasing primarily due to longer lifespans and lifestyle changes in the developing world.[23] The most significant risk factor for developing cancer is age.[187] Although it is possible for cancer to strike at any age, most patients with invasive cancer are over 65.[187] According to cancer researcher Robert A. Weinberg, "If we lived long enough, sooner or later we all would get cancer."[188] Some of the association between aging and cancer is attributed to immunosenescence,[189] errors accumulated in DNA over a lifetime[190] and age-related changes in the endocrine system.[191] Aging's effect on cancer is complicated by factors such as DNA damage and inflammation promoting it and factors such as vascular aging and endocrine changes inhibiting it.[192]
+
+Some slow-growing cancers are particularly common, but often are not fatal. Autopsy studies in Europe and Asia showed that up to 36% of people have undiagnosed and apparently harmless thyroid cancer at the time of their deaths and that 80% of men develop prostate cancer by age 80.[193][194] As these cancers do not cause the patient's death, identifying them would have represented overdiagnosis rather than useful medical care.
+
+The three most common childhood cancers are leukemia (34%), brain tumors (23%) and lymphomas (12%).[195] In the United States cancer affects about 1 in 285 children.[196] Rates of childhood cancer increased by 0.6% per year between 1975 and 2002 in the United States[197] and by 1.1% per year between 1978 and 1997 in Europe.[195] Death from childhood cancer decreased by half between 1975 and 2010 in the United States.[196]
+
+Cancer has existed for all of human history.[198] The earliest written record regarding cancer is from circa 1600 BC in the Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus and describes breast cancer.[198] Hippocrates (c. 460 BC – c. 370 BC) described several kinds of cancer, referring to them with the Greek word καρκίνος karkinos (crab or crayfish).[198] This name comes from the appearance of the cut surface of a solid malignant tumor, with "the veins stretched on all sides as the animal the crab has its feet, whence it derives its name".[199] Galen stated that "cancer of the breast is so called because of the fancied resemblance to a crab given by the lateral prolongations of the tumor and the adjacent distended veins".[200]:738 Celsus (c. 25 BC – 50 AD) translated karkinos into the Latin cancer, also meaning crab and recommended surgery as treatment.[198] Galen (2nd century AD) disagreed with the use of surgery and recommended purgatives instead.[198] These recommendations largely stood for 1000 years.[198]
+
+In the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, it became acceptable for doctors to dissect bodies to discover the cause of death.[201] The German professor Wilhelm Fabry believed that breast cancer was caused by a milk clot in a mammary duct. The Dutch professor Francois de la Boe Sylvius, a follower of Descartes, believed that all disease was the outcome of chemical processes and that acidic lymph fluid was the cause of cancer. His contemporary Nicolaes Tulp believed that cancer was a poison that slowly spreads and concluded that it was contagious.[202]
+
+The physician John Hill described tobacco snuff as the cause of nose cancer in 1761.[201] This was followed by the report in 1775 by British surgeon Percivall Pott that chimney sweeps' carcinoma, a cancer of the scrotum, was a common disease among chimney sweeps.[203] With the widespread use of the microscope in the 18th century, it was discovered that the 'cancer poison' spread from the primary tumor through the lymph nodes to other sites ("metastasis"). This view of the disease was first formulated by the English surgeon Campbell De Morgan between 1871 and 1874.[204]
+
+Although many diseases (such as heart failure) may have a worse prognosis than most cases of cancer, cancer is the subject of widespread fear and taboos. The euphemism of "a long illness" to describe cancers leading to death is still commonly used in obituaries, rather than naming the disease explicitly, reflecting an apparent stigma.[205] Cancer is also euphemised as "the C-word"[206][207][208]; Macmillan Cancer Support uses the term to try to lessen the fear around the disease.[209] In Nigeria, one local name for cancer translates into English as "the disease that cannot be cured".[210] This deep belief that cancer is necessarily a difficult and usually deadly disease is reflected in the systems chosen by society to compile cancer statistics: the most common form of cancer—non-melanoma skin cancers, accounting for about one-third of cancer cases worldwide, but very few deaths[211][212]—are excluded from cancer statistics specifically because they are easily treated and almost always cured, often in a single, short, outpatient procedure.[213]
+
+Western conceptions of patients' rights for people with cancer include a duty to fully disclose the medical situation to the person, and the right to engage in shared decision-making in a way that respects the person's own values. In other cultures, other rights and values are preferred. For example, most African cultures value whole families rather than individualism. In parts of Africa, a diagnosis is commonly made so late that cure is not possible, and treatment, if available at all, would quickly bankrupt the family. As a result of these factors, African healthcare providers tend to let family members decide whether, when and how to disclose the diagnosis, and they tend to do so slowly and circuitously, as the person shows interest and an ability to cope with the grim news.[210] People from Asian and South American countries also tend to prefer a slower, less candid approach to disclosure than is idealized in the United States and Western Europe, and they believe that sometimes it would be preferable not to be told about a cancer diagnosis.[210] In general, disclosure of the diagnosis is more common than it was in the 20th century, but full disclosure of the prognosis is not offered to many patients around the world.[210]
+
+In the United States and some other cultures, cancer is regarded as a disease that must be "fought" to end the "civil insurrection"; a War on Cancer was declared in the US. Military metaphors are particularly common in descriptions of cancer's human effects, and they emphasize both the state of the patient's health and the need to take immediate, decisive actions himself rather than to delay, to ignore or to rely entirely on others. The military metaphors also help rationalize radical, destructive treatments.[214][215]
+
+In the 1970s, a relatively popular alternative cancer treatment in the US was a specialized form of talk therapy, based on the idea that cancer was caused by a bad attitude.[216] People with a "cancer personality"—depressed, repressed, self-loathing and afraid to express their emotions—were believed to have manifested cancer through subconscious desire. Some psychotherapists said that treatment to change the patient's outlook on life would cure the cancer.[216] Among other effects, this belief allowed society to blame the victim for having caused the cancer (by "wanting" it) or having prevented its cure (by not becoming a sufficiently happy, fearless and loving person).[217] It also increased patients' anxiety, as they incorrectly believed that natural emotions of sadness, anger or fear shorten their lives.[217] The idea was ridiculed by Susan Sontag, who published Illness as Metaphor while recovering from treatment for breast cancer in 1978.[216] Although the original idea is now generally regarded as nonsense, the idea partly persists in a reduced form with a widespread, but incorrect, belief that deliberately cultivating a habit of positive thinking will increase survival.[217] This notion is particularly strong in breast cancer culture.[217]
+
+One idea about why people with cancer are blamed or stigmatized, called the just-world hypothesis, is that blaming cancer on the patient's actions or attitudes allows the blamers to regain a sense of control. This is based upon the blamers' belief that the world is fundamentally just and so any dangerous illness, like cancer, must be a type of punishment for bad choices, because in a just world, bad things would not happen to good people.[218]
+
+The total health care expenditure on cancer in the US was estimated to be $80.2 billion in 2015.[219] Even though cancer-related health care expenditure have increased in absolute terms during recent decades, the share of health expenditure devoted to cancer treatment has remained close to 5% between the 1960s and 2004.[220][221] A similar pattern has been observed in Europe where about 6% of all health care expenditure are spent on cancer treatment.[222][223] In addition to health care expenditure, cancer causes indirect costs in the form of productivity losses due to sick days, permanent incapacity and disability as well as premature death during working age. Cancer causes also costs for informal care. Indirect costs and informal care costs are typically estimated to exceed or equal the health care costs of cancer.[224][223]
+
+In the United States, cancer is included as a protected condition by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), mainly due to the potential for cancer having discriminating effects on workers.[225] Discrimination in the workplace could occur if an employer holds a false belief that a person with cancer is not capable of doing a job properly, and may ask for more sick leave than other employees. Employers may also make hiring or firing decisions based on  misconceptions about cancer disabilities, if present. The EEOC provides interview guidelines for employers, as well as lists of possible solutions for assessing and accommodating employees with cancer.[225]
+
+Because cancer is a class of diseases,[226][227] it is unlikely that there will ever be a single "cure for cancer" any more than there will be a single treatment for all infectious diseases.[228] Angiogenesis inhibitors were once incorrectly thought to have potential as a "silver bullet" treatment applicable to many types of cancer.[229] Angiogenesis inhibitors and other cancer therapeutics are used in combination to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality.[230]
+
+Experimental cancer treatments are studied in clinical trials to compare the proposed treatment to the best existing treatment. Treatments that succeeded in one cancer type can be tested against other types.[231] Diagnostic tests are under development to better target the right therapies to the right patients, based on their individual biology.[232]
+
+Cancer research focuses on the following issues:
+
+The improved understanding of molecular biology and cellular biology due to cancer research has led to new treatments for cancer since US President Richard Nixon declared the "War on Cancer" in 1971. Since then, the country has spent over $200 billion on cancer research, including resources from public and private sectors.[233] The cancer death rate (adjusting for size and age of the population) declined by five percent between 1950 and 2005.[234]
+
+Competition for financial resources appears to have suppressed the creativity, cooperation, risk-taking and original thinking required to make fundamental discoveries, unduly favoring low-risk research into small incremental advancements over riskier, more innovative research. Other consequences of competition appear to be many studies with dramatic claims whose results cannot be replicated and perverse incentives that encourage grantee institutions to grow without making sufficient investments in their own faculty and facilities.[235][236][237][238]
+
+Virotherapy, which uses convert viruses, is being studied.
+
+Cancer affects approximately 1 in 1,000 pregnant women. The most common cancers found during pregnancy are the same as the most common cancers found in non-pregnant women during childbearing ages: breast cancer, cervical cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, melanoma, ovarian cancer and colorectal cancer.[239]
+
+Diagnosing a new cancer in a pregnant woman is difficult, in part because any symptoms are commonly assumed to be a normal discomfort associated with pregnancy. As a result, cancer is typically discovered at a somewhat later stage than average. Some imaging procedures, such as MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging), CT scans, ultrasounds and mammograms with fetal shielding are considered safe during pregnancy; some others, such as PET scans, are not.[239]
+
+Treatment is generally the same as for non-pregnant women. However, radiation and radioactive drugs are normally avoided during pregnancy, especially if the fetal dose might exceed 100 cGy. In some cases, some or all treatments are postponed until after birth if the cancer is diagnosed late in the pregnancy. Early deliveries are often used to advance the start of treatment. Surgery is generally safe, but pelvic surgeries during the first trimester may cause miscarriage. Some treatments, especially certain chemotherapy drugs given during the first trimester, increase the risk of birth defects and pregnancy loss (spontaneous abortions and stillbirths).[239]
+
+Elective abortions are not required and, for the most common forms and stages of cancer, do not improve the mother's survival. In a few instances, such as advanced uterine cancer, the pregnancy cannot be continued and in others, the patient may end the pregnancy so that she can begin aggressive chemotherapy.[239]
+
+Some treatments can interfere with the mother's ability to give birth vaginally or to breastfeed.[239] Cervical cancer may require birth by Caesarean section. Radiation to the breast reduces the ability of that breast to produce milk and increases the risk of mastitis. Also, when chemotherapy is given after birth, many of the drugs appear in breast milk, which could harm the baby.[239]
+
+Veterinary oncology, concentrating mainly on cats and dogs, is a growing specialty in wealthy countries and the major forms of human treatment such as surgery and radiotherapy may be offered. The most common types of cancer differ, but the cancer burden seems at least as high in pets as in humans. Animals, typically rodents, are often used in cancer research and studies of natural cancers in larger animals may benefit research into human cancer.[240]
+
+In non-humans, a few types of transmissible cancer have been described, wherein the cancer spreads between animals by transmission of the tumor cells themselves. This phenomenon is seen in dogs with Sticker's sarcoma (also known as canine transmissible venereal tumor), and in Tasmanian devils with devil facial tumour disease (DFTD).[241]

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+A knife (plural knives; possibly from Old Norse  knifr ("blade")[1]) is a tool with a cutting edge or blade often attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by mankind, knives appeared at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools.[2][3]  Originally made of wood, bone, and stone (such as flint and obsidian), over the centuries, in step with improvements in both metallurgy and manufacturing, knife blades have been made from copper, bronze, iron, steel, ceramic, and titanium.   Most modern knives have either fixed or folding blades; blade patterns and styles vary by maker and country of origin.
+
+Knives can serve various purposes. Hunters use a hunting knife, soldiers use the combat knife, scouts, campers, and hikers carry a pocket knife; there are kitchen knives for preparing foods (the chef's knife, the paring knife, bread knife, cleaver), table knives (butter knives and steak knives), weapons (daggers or switchblades), knives for throwing or juggling, and knives for religious ceremony or display (the kirpan).[4]
+
+A modern knife consists of:
+
+The blade edge can be plain or serrated, or a combination of both. Single-edged knives may have a reverse edge or false edge occupying a section of the spine.  These edges are usually serrated and are used to further enhance function.
+
+The handle, used to grip and manipulate the blade safely, may include a tang, a portion of the blade that extends into the handle. Knives are made with partial tangs (extending part way into the handle, known as "stick tangs") or full tangs (extending the full length of the handle, often visible on top and bottom). The handle may include a bolster, a piece of heavy material (usually metal) situated at the front or rear of the handle. The bolster, as its name suggests, is used to mechanically strengthen the knife.
+
+Knife blades can be manufactured from a variety of materials, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Carbon steel, an alloy of iron and carbon, can be very sharp. It holds its edge well, and remains easy to sharpen, but is vulnerable to rust and stains. Stainless steel is an alloy of iron, chromium, possibly nickel, and molybdenum, with only a small amount of carbon. It is not able to take quite as sharp an edge as carbon steel, but is highly resistant to corrosion. High carbon stainless steel is stainless steel with a higher amount of carbon, intended to incorporate the better attributes of carbon steel and stainless steel. High carbon stainless steel blades do not discolor or stain, and maintain a sharp edge. Laminated blades use multiple metals to create a layered sandwich, combining the attributes of both. For example, a harder, more brittle steel may be sandwiched between an outer layer of softer, tougher, stainless steel to reduce vulnerability to corrosion. In this case, however, the part most affected by corrosion, the edge, is still vulnerable. Damascus steel is a form of pattern welding with similarities to laminate construction. Layers of different steel types are welded together, but then the stock is manipulated to create patterns in the steel.[5]
+
+Titanium is a metal that has a better strength-to-weight ratio, is more wear resistant, and more flexible than steel. Although less hard and unable to take as sharp an edge, carbides in the titanium alloy allow them to be heat-treated to a sufficient hardness. Ceramic blades are hard, brittle, and lightweight: they may maintain a sharp edge for years with no maintenance at all, but are as fragile as glass and will break if dropped on a hard surface. They are immune to common corrosion, and can only be sharpened on silicon carbide sandpaper and some grinding wheels. Plastic blades are not especially sharp and typically serrated. They are often disposable.
+
+Steel blades are commonly shaped by forging or stock removal. Forged blades are made by heating a single piece of steel, then shaping the metal while hot using a hammer or press. Stock removal blades are shaped by grinding and removing metal. With both methods, after shaping, the steel must be heat treated. This involves heating the steel above its critical point, then quenching the blade to harden it. After hardening, the blade is tempered to remove stresses and make the blade tougher. Mass manufactured kitchen cutlery uses both the forging and stock removal processes.[6] Forging tends to be reserved for manufacturers' more expensive product lines, and can often be distinguished from stock removal product lines by the presence of an integral bolster, though integral bolsters can be crafted through either shaping method.
+
+Knives are sharpened in various ways. Flat ground blades have a profile that tapers from the thick spine to the sharp edge in a straight or convex line. Seen in cross section, the blade would form a long, thin triangle, or where the taper does not extend to the back of the blade, a long thin rectangle with one peaked side. Hollow ground blades have concave, beveled edges. The resulting blade has a thinner edge, so it may have better cutting ability for shallow cuts, but it is lighter and less durable than flat ground blades and will tend to bind in deep cuts.[citation needed] Serrated blade knives have a wavy, scalloped or saw-like blade. Serrated blades are more well suited for tasks that require aggressive 'sawing' motions, whereas plain edge blades are better suited for tasks that require push-through cuts (e.g., shaving, chopping, slicing).
+
+Many knives have holes in the blade for various uses. Holes are commonly drilled in blades to reduce friction while cutting, increase single-handed usability of pocket knives, and, for butchers' knives, allow hanging out of the way when not in use.
+
+A fixed blade knife, sometimes called a sheath knife, does not fold or slide, and is typically stronger due to the tang, the extension of the blade into the handle, and lack of moving parts.
+
+A folding knife connects the blade to the handle through a pivot, allowing the blade to fold into the handle. To prevent injury to the knife user through the blade accidentally closing on the user's hand, folding knives typically have a locking mechanism. Different locking mechanisms are favored by various individuals for reasons such as perceived strength (lock safety), legality, and ease of use.
+Popular locking mechanisms include:
+
+Another prominent feature on many folding knives is the opening mechanism. Traditional pocket knives and Swiss Army knives commonly employ the nail nick, while modern folding knives more often use a stud, hole, disk, or flipper located on the blade, all which have the benefit of allowing the user to open the knife with one hand.
+
+The "wave" feature is another prominent design, which uses a part of the blade that protrudes outward to catch on one's pocket as it is drawn, thus opening the blade; this was patented by Ernest Emerson and is not only used on many of the Emerson knives, but also on knives produced by several other manufacturers, notably Spyderco and Cold Steel.[16]
+
+Automatic or switchblade knives open using the stored energy from a spring that is released when the user presses a button or lever or other actuator built into the handle of the knife. Automatic knives are severely restricted by law in the UK and most American states.[17]
+
+Increasingly common are assisted opening knives which use springs to propel the blade once the user has moved it past a certain angle. These differ from automatic or switchblade knives in that the blade is not released by means of a button or catch on the handle; rather, the blade itself is the actuator. Most assisted openers use flippers as their opening mechanism. Assisted opening knives can be as fast or faster than automatic knives to deploy.[18]
+
+In the lock back, as in many folding knives, a stop pin acting on the top (or behind) the blade prevents it from rotating clockwise. A hook on the tang of the blade engages with a hook on the rocker bar which prevents the blade rotating counter-clockwise. The rocker bar is held in position by a torsion bar. To release the knife the rocker bar is pushed downwards as indicated and pivots around the rocker pin, lifting the hook and freeing the blade.
+
+When negative pressure (pushing down on the spine) is applied to the blade all the stress is transferred from the hook on the blade's tang to the hook on rocker bar and thence to the small rocker pin. Excessive stress can shear one or both of these hooks rendering the knife effectively useless. Knife company Cold Steel uses a variant of the lock back called the Tri-Ad Lock which introduces a pin in front of the rocker bar to relieve stress on the rocker pin, has an elongated hole around the rocker pin to allow the mechanism to wear over time without losing strength and angles the hooks so that the faces no longer meet vertically.
+
+The bolt in the bolt lock is a rectangle of metal that is constrained to slide only back and forward. When the knife is open a spring biases the bolt to the forward position where it rests above the tang of the blade preventing the blade from closing. Small knobs extend through the handle of the knife on both sides allowing the user to slide the bolt backwards freeing the knife to close. The Axis Lock used by knife maker Benchmade is functionally identical to the bolt lock except that it uses a cylinder rather than a rectangle to trap the blade.[12] The Arc Lock by knife maker SOG is similar to the Axis Lock except the cylinder follows a curved path rather than a straight path.[13]
+
+In the liner lock, an "L"-shaped split in the liner allows part of the liner to move sideways from its resting position against the handle to the centre of the knife where it rests against the flat end of the tang. To disengage, this leaf spring is pushed so it again rests flush against the handle allowing the knife to rotate.[8] A frame lock is functionally identical but instead of using a thin liner inside the handle material uses a thicker piece of metal as the handle and the same split in it allows a section of the frame to press against the tang.[8]
+
+A sliding knife is a knife that can be opened by sliding the knife blade out the front of the handle. One method of opening is where the blade exits out the front of the handle point-first and then is locked into place (an example of this is the gravity knife). Another form is an OTF (out-the-front) switchblade, which only requires the push of a button or spring to cause the blade to slide out of the handle and lock into place. To retract the blade back into the handle, a release lever or button, usually the same control as to open, is pressed.  A very common form of sliding knife is the sliding utility knife (commonly known as a stanley knife or boxcutter).
+
+The handles of knives can be made from a number of different materials, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Handles are produced in a wide variety of shapes and styles. Handles are often textured to enhance grip.
+
+More exotic materials usually only seen on art or ceremonial knives include: Stone, bone, mammoth tooth, mammoth ivory, oosik (walrus penis bone), walrus tusk, antler (often called stag in a knife context), sheep horn, buffalo horn, teeth, and mop (mother of pearl or "pearl"). Many materials have been employed in knife handles.
+
+Handles may be adapted to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. For example, knife handles may be made thicker or with more cushioning for people with arthritis in their hands. A non-slip handle accommodates people with palmar hyperhidrosis.
+
+As a weapon, the knife is universally adopted as an essential tool. It is the essential element of a knife fight. For example:
+
+A primary aspect of the knife as a tool includes dining, used either in food preparation or as cutlery. Examples of this include:
+
+As a utility tool the knife can take many forms, including:
+
+The knife plays a significant role in some cultures through ritual and superstition, as the knife was an essential tool for survival since early man.[3] Knife symbols can be found in various cultures to symbolize all stages of life; for example, a knife placed under the bed while giving birth is said to ease the pain, or, stuck into the headboard of a cradle, to protect the baby;[20][21] knives were included in some Anglo-Saxon burial rites, so the dead would not be defenseless in the next world.[22][23] The knife plays an important role in some initiation rites, and many cultures perform rituals with a variety of knives, including the ceremonial sacrifices of animals.[24] Samurai warriors, as part of bushido, could perform ritual suicide, or seppuku, with a tantō, a common Japanese knife.[25] An athame, a ceremonial  knife, is used in Wicca and derived forms of neopagan witchcraft.[26][27]
+
+In Greece, a black-handled knife placed under the pillow is used to keep away nightmares.[28] As early as 1646 reference is made to a superstition of laying a knife across another piece of cutlery being a sign of witchcraft.[29] A common belief is that if a knife is given as a gift, the relationship of the giver and recipient will be severed. Something such as a small coin, dove or a valuable item is exchanged for the gift, rendering "payment."[30]
+
+Knives are typically restricted by law, although restrictions vary greatly by country or state and type of knife. For example, some laws prohibit carrying knives in public while other laws prohibit private ownership of certain knives, such as switchblades.

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+
+
+A tooth (plural teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are covered by gums. Teeth are not made of bone, but rather of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness that originate from the embryonic germ layer, the ectoderm.
+
+The general structure of teeth is similar across the vertebrates, although there is considerable variation in their form and position. The teeth of mammals have deep roots, and this pattern is also found in some fish, and in crocodilians. In most teleost fish, however, the teeth are attached to the outer surface of the bone, while in lizards they are attached to the inner surface of the jaw by one side. In cartilaginous fish, such as sharks, the teeth are attached by tough ligaments to the hoops of cartilage that form the jaw.[1]
+
+Some animals develop only one set of teeth (monophyodonts) while others develop many sets (polyphyodonts). Sharks, for example, grow a new set of teeth every two weeks to replace worn teeth. Rodent incisors grow and wear away continually through gnawing, which helps maintain relatively constant length. The industry of the beaver is due in part to this qualification. Many rodents such as voles and guinea pigs, but not mice, as well as leporidae like rabbits, have continuously growing molars in addition to incisors.[2][3]
+
+Teeth are not always attached to the jaw, as they are in mammals. In many reptiles and fish, teeth are attached to the palate or to the floor of the mouth, forming additional rows inside those on the jaws proper. Some teleosts even have teeth in the pharynx. While not true teeth in the usual sense, the dermal denticles of sharks are almost identical in structure and are likely to have the same evolutionary origin. Indeed, teeth appear to have first evolved in sharks, and are not found in the more primitive jawless fish – while lampreys do have tooth-like structures on the tongue, these are in fact, composed of keratin, not of dentine or enamel, and bear no relationship to true teeth.[1] Though "modern" teeth-like structures with dentine and enamel have been found in late conodonts, they are now supposed to have evolved independently of later vertebrates' teeth.[4][5]
+
+Living amphibians typically have small teeth, or none at all, since they commonly feed only on soft foods. In reptiles, teeth are generally simple and conical in shape, although there is some variation between species, most notably the venom-injecting fangs of snakes. The pattern of incisors, canines, premolars and molars is found only in mammals, and to varying extents, in their evolutionary ancestors. The numbers of these types of teeth vary greatly between species; zoologists use a standardised dental formula to describe the precise pattern in any given group.[1]
+
+The genes governing tooth development in mammals are homologous to those involved in the development of fish scales.[6] Study of a tooth plate of a fossil of the extinct fish Romundina stellina showed that the teeth and scales were made of the same tissues, also found in mammal teeth, lending support to the theory that teeth evolved as a modification of scales.[7]
+
+Teeth are among the most distinctive (and long-lasting) features of mammal species. Paleontologists use teeth to identify fossil species and determine their relationships. The shape of the animal's teeth are related to its diet. For example, plant matter is hard to digest, so herbivores have many molars for chewing and grinding. Carnivores, on the other hand, have canine teeth to kill prey and to tear meat.
+
+Mammals, in general, are diphyodont, meaning that they develop two sets of teeth. In humans, the first set (the "baby," "milk," "primary" or "deciduous" set) normally starts to appear at about six months of age, although some babies are born with one or more visible teeth, known as neonatal teeth.  Normal tooth eruption at about six months is known as teething and can be painful.  Kangaroos, elephants, and manatees are unusual among mammals because they are polyphyodonts.
+
+In Aardvarks, teeth lack enamel and have many pulp tubules, hence the name of the order Tubulidentata.
+
+In dogs, the teeth are less likely than humans to form dental cavities because of the very high pH of dog saliva, which prevents enamel from demineralizing.[8] Sometimes called cuspids, these teeth are shaped like points (cusps) and are used for tearing and grasping food[9]
+
+Like human teeth, whale teeth have polyp-like protrusions located on the root surface of the tooth. These polyps are made of cementum in both species, but in human teeth, the protrusions are located on the outside of the root, while in whales the nodule is located on the inside of the pulp chamber. While the roots of human teeth are made of cementum on the outer surface, whales have cementum on the entire surface of the tooth with a very small layer of enamel at the tip. This small enamel layer is only seen in older whales where the cementum has been worn away to show the underlying enamel.[10]
+
+The toothed whale is a suborder of the cetaceans characterized by having teeth.  The teeth differ considerably among the species. They may be numerous, with some dolphins bearing over 100 teeth in their jaws.  On the other hand, the narwhals have a giant unicorn-like tusk, which is a tooth containing millions of sensory pathways and used for sensing during feeding, navigation, and mating. It is the most neurologically complex tooth known.  Beaked whales are almost toothless, with only bizarre teeth found in males.  These teeth may be used for feeding but also for demonstrating aggression and showmanship.
+
+In humans (and most other primates) there are usually 20 primary (also "baby" or "milk") teeth, and later up to 32 permanent teeth. Four of these 32 may be third molars or wisdom teeth, although these are not present in all adults, and may be removed surgically later in life.[11]
+
+Among primary teeth, 10 of them are usually found in the maxilla (i.e. upper jaw) and the other 10 in the mandible (i.e. lower jaw). Among permanent teeth, 16 are found in the maxilla and the other 16 in the mandible. Most of the teeth have uniquely distinguishing features.
+
+An adult horse has between 36 and 44 teeth. The enamel and dentin layers of horse teeth are intertwined.[12] All horses have 12 premolars, 12 molars, and 12 incisors.[13]  Generally, all male equines also have four canine teeth (called tushes) between the molars and incisors.  However, few female horses (less than 28%) have canines, and those that do usually have only one or two, which many times are only partially erupted.[14]  A few horses have one to four wolf teeth, which are vestigial premolars, with most of those having only one or two. They are equally common in male and female horses and much more likely to be on the upper jaw.  If present these can cause problems as they can interfere with the horse's bit contact. Therefore, wolf teeth are commonly removed.[13]
+
+Horse teeth can be used to estimate the animal's age.  Between birth and five years, age can be closely estimated by observing the eruption pattern on milk teeth and then permanent teeth.  By age five, all permanent teeth have usually erupted. The horse is then said to have a "full" mouth.  After the age of five, age can only be conjectured by studying the wear patterns on the incisors, shape, the angle at which the incisors meet, and other factors. The wear of teeth may also be affected by diet, natural abnormalities, and cribbing.  Two horses of the same age may have different wear patterns.
+
+A horse's incisors, premolars, and molars, once fully developed, continue to erupt as the grinding surface is worn down through chewing. A young adult horse will have teeth which are 4.5-5 inches long, with the majority of the crown remaining below the gumline in the dental socket. The rest of the tooth will slowly emerge from the jaw, erupting about 1/8" each year, as the horse ages. When the animal reaches old age, the crowns of the teeth are very short and the teeth are often lost altogether. Very old horses, if lacking molars, may need to have their fodder ground up and soaked in water to create a soft mush for them to eat in order to obtain adequate nutrition.
+
+Elephants' tusks are specialized incisors for digging food up and fighting. Some elephant teeth are similar to those in manatees, and it is notable that elephants are believed to have undergone an aquatic phase in their evolution.
+
+At birth, elephants have a total of 28 molar plate-like grinding teeth not including the tusks.  These are organized into four sets of seven successively larger teeth which the elephant will slowly wear through during its lifetime of chewing rough plant material.  Only four teeth are used for chewing at a given time, and as each tooth wears out, another tooth moves forward to take its place in a process similar to a conveyor belt.  The last and largest of these teeth usually becomes exposed when the animal is around 40 years of age, and will often last for an additional 20 years. When the last of these teeth has fallen out, regardless of the elephant's age, the animal will no longer be able to chew food and will die of starvation.[15][16]
+
+Rabbits and other lagomorphs usually shed their deciduous teeth before (or very shortly after) their birth, and are usually born with their permanent teeth.[17]  The teeth of rabbits complement their diet, which consists of a wide range of vegetation. Since many of the foods are abrasive enough to cause attrition, rabbit teeth grow continuously throughout life.[18]  Rabbits have a total of 6 incisors, three upper premolars, three upper molars, two lower premolars, and two lower molars on each side. There are no canines. Three to four millimeters of the tooth is worn away by incisors every week, whereas the posterior teeth require a month to wear away the same amount.[19]
+
+The incisors and cheek teeth of rabbits are called aradicular hypsodont teeth. This is sometimes referred to as an elodent dentition. These teeth grow or erupt continuously.  The growth or eruption is held in balance by dental abrasion from chewing a diet high in fiber.
+
+Rodents have upper and lower hypselodont incisors that can continuously grow enamel throughout its life without having properly formed roots.[20] These teeth are also known as aradicular teeth, and unlike humans whose ameloblasts die after tooth development, rodents continually produce enamel, they must wear down their teeth by gnawing on various materials.[21] Enamel and dentin are produced by the enamel organ, and growth is dependent on the presence of stem cells, cellular amplification, and cellular maturation structures in the odontogenic region.[22] Rodent incisors are used for cutting wood, biting through the skin of fruit, or for defense. This allows for the rate of wear and tooth growth to be at equilibrium.[20] The microstructure of rodent incisor enamel has shown to be useful in studying the phylogeny and systematics of rodents because of its independent evolution from the other dental traits. The enamel on rodent incisors are composed of two layers: the inner portio interna (PI) with Hunter-Schreger bands (HSB) and an outer portio externa (PE) with radial enamel (RE).[23] It usually involves the differential regulation of the epithelial stem cell niche in the tooth of two rodent species, such as guinea pigs.[24][25]
+
+The teeth have enamel on the outside and exposed dentin on the inside, so they self-sharpen during gnawing. On the other hand, continually growing molars are found in some rodent species, such as the sibling vole and the guinea pig.[24][25][24][25] There is variation in the dentition of the rodents, but generally, rodents lack canines and premolars, and have a space between their incisors and molars, called the diastema region.
+
+Manatees are polyphyodont with mandibular molars developing separately from the jaw and are encased in a bony shell separated by soft tissue.
+
+Walrus tusks are canine teeth that grow continuously throughout life.[26]
+
+Fish, such as sharks, may go through many teeth in their lifetime. The replacement of multiple teeth is known as polyphyodontia.
+
+A class of prehistoric shark are called cladodonts for their strange forked teeth.
+
+All amphibians have pedicellate teeth which are modified to be flexible due to connective tissue and uncalcified dentine that separates the crown from the base of the tooth.[27]
+
+Most amphibians exhibit teeth that have a slight attachment to the jaw or acrodont teeth. Acrodont teeth exhibit limited connection to the dentary and have little enervation.[28] This is ideal for organisms who mostly use their teeth for grasping, but not for crushing and allows for rapid regeneration of teeth at a low energy cost. Teeth are usually lost in the course of feeding if the prey is struggling.  Additionally, amphibians that undergo a metamorphosis develop bicuspid shaped teeth.[29]
+
+The teeth of reptiles are replaced constantly during their life.  Juvenile crocodilians replace teeth with larger ones at a rate as high as one new tooth per socket every month.  Once adult, tooth replacement rates can slow to two years and even longer.  Overall, crocodilians may use 3,000 teeth from birth to death. New teeth are created within old teeth.[citation needed]
+
+A skull of Ichthyornis discovered in 2014 suggests that the beak of birds may have evolved from teeth to allow chicks to escape their shells earlier, and thus avoid predators and also to penetrate protective covers such as hard earth to access underlying food.[30][31]
+
+True teeth are unique to vertebrates,[32] although many invertebrates have analogous structures often referred to as teeth. The organisms with the simplest genome bearing such tooth-like structures are perhaps the parasitic worms of the family Ancylostomatidae.[33] For example, the hookworm Necator americanus has two dorsal and two ventral cutting plates or teeth around the anterior margin of the buccal capsule. It also has a pair of subdorsal and a pair of subventral teeth located close to the rear.[34]
+
+Historically the European medicinal leech, another invertebrate parasite, has been used in medicine to remove blood from patients.[35] They have three jaws (tripartite) that look like little saws, and on them are about 100 sharp teeth used to incise the host. The incision leaves a mark that is an inverted Y inside of a circle. After piercing the skin and injecting anticoagulants (hirudin) and anaesthetics, they suck out blood, consuming up to ten times their body weight in a single meal.[36]
+
+In some species of Bryozoa, the first part of the stomach forms a muscular gizzard lined with chitinous teeth that crush armoured prey such as diatoms. Wave-like peristaltic contractions then move the food through the stomach for digestion.[37]
+
+Molluscs have a structure called a radula which bears a ribbon of chitinous teeth. However, these teeth are histologically and developmentally different from vertebrate teeth and are unlikely to be homologous. For example, vertebrate teeth develop from a neural crest mesenchyme-derived dental papilla, and the neural crest is specific to vertebrates, as are tissues such as enamel.[32]
+
+The radula is used by molluscs for feeding and is sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the oesophagus. The radula is unique to molluscs, and is found in every class of mollusc apart from bivalves.
+
+Within the gastropods, the radula is used in feeding by both herbivorous and carnivorous snails and slugs. The arrangement of teeth (also known as denticles) on the radula ribbon varies considerably from one group to another as shown in the diagram on the left.
+
+Predatory marine snails such as the Naticidae use the radula plus an acidic secretion to bore through the shell of other molluscs. Other predatory marine snails, such as the Conidae, use a specialized radula tooth as a poisoned harpoon. Predatory pulmonate land slugs, such as the ghost slug, use elongated razor-sharp teeth on the radula to seize and devour earthworms. Predatory cephalopods, such as squid, use the radula for cutting prey.
+
+In most of the more ancient lineages of gastropods, the radula is used to graze by scraping diatoms and other microscopic algae off rock surfaces and other substrates. Limpets scrape algae from rocks using radula equipped with exceptionally hard rasping teeth.[38] These teeth have the strongest known tensile strength of any biological material, outperforming spider silk.[38] The mineral protein of the limpet teeth can withstand a tensile stress of 4.9 GPa, compared to 4 GPa of spider silk and 0.5 GPa of human teeth.[39]
+
+Because teeth are very resistant, often preserved when bones are not,[40] and reflect the diet of the host organism, they are very valuable to archaeologists and palaeontologists.[41] Early fish such as the thelodonts had scales composed of dentine and an enamel-like compound, suggesting that the origin of teeth was from scales which were retained in the mouth. Fish as early as the late Cambrian had dentine in their exoskeleton, which may have functioned in defense or for sensing their environment.[42] Dentine can be as hard as the rest of teeth and is composed of collagen fibres, reinforced with hydroxyapatite.[42]
+
+Though teeth are very resistant, they also can be brittle and highly susceptible to cracking.[43] However, cracking of the tooth can be used as a diagnostic tool for predicting bite force. Additionally, enamel fractures can also give valuable insight into the diet and behaviour of archaeological and fossil samples.
+
+Decalcification removes the enamel from teeth and leaves only the organic interior intact, which comprises dentine and cementine.[44] Enamel is quickly decalcified in acids,[45] perhaps by dissolution by plant acids or via diagenetic solutions, or in the stomachs of vertebrate predators.[44] Enamel can be lost by abrasion or spalling,[44] and is lost before dentine or bone are destroyed by the fossilisation process.[45]  In such a case, the 'skeleton' of the teeth would consist of the dentine, with a hollow pulp cavity.[44]
+The organic part of dentine, conversely, is destroyed by alkalis.[45]

en/835.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,256 @@
+
+
+
+
+Canis familiaris Linnaeus, 1758[2][3]
+
+aegyptius Linnaeus, 1758,
+alco C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+americanus Gmelin, 1792,
+anglicus Gmelin, 1792,
+antarcticus Gmelin, 1792,
+aprinus Gmelin, 1792,
+aquaticus Linnaeus, 1758,
+aquatilis Gmelin, 1792,
+avicularis Gmelin, 1792,
+borealis C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+brevipilis Gmelin, 1792,
+cursorius Gmelin, 1792,
+domesticus Linnaeus, 1758,
+extrarius Gmelin, 1792,
+ferus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+fricator Gmelin, 1792,
+fricatrix Linnaeus, 1758,
+fuillus Gmelin, 1792,
+gallicus Gmelin, 1792,
+glaucus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+graius Linnaeus, 1758,
+grajus Gmelin, 1792,
+hagenbecki Krumbiegel, 1950,
+haitensis C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+hibernicus Gmelin, 1792,
+hirsutus Gmelin, 1792,
+hybridus Gmelin, 1792,
+islandicus Gmelin, 1792,
+italicus Gmelin, 1792,
+laniarius Gmelin, 1792,
+leoninus Gmelin, 1792,
+leporarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+major Gmelin, 1792,
+mastinus Linnaeus, 1758,
+melitacus Gmelin, 1792,
+melitaeus Linnaeus, 1758,
+minor Gmelin, 1792,
+molossus Gmelin, 1792,
+mustelinus Linnaeus, 1758,
+obesus Gmelin, 1792,
+orientalis Gmelin, 1792,
+pacificus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+plancus Gmelin, 1792,
+pomeranus Gmelin, 1792,
+sagaces C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+sanguinarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+sagax Linnaeus, 1758,
+scoticus Gmelin, 1792,
+sibiricus Gmelin, 1792,
+suillus C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+terraenovae C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+terrarius C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+turcicus Gmelin, 1792,
+urcani C. E. H. Smith, 1839,
+variegatus Gmelin, 1792,
+venaticus Gmelin, 1792,
+vertegus Gmelin, 1792[4]
+
+The dog (Canis familiaris when considered a distinct species or Canis lupus familiaris when considered a subspecies of the wolf)[5] is a domesticated carnivoran of the family Canidae. It is part of the wolf-like canids,[6] and is the most widely abundant terrestrial carnivore.[7][8][9][10][11] The dog and the extant gray wolf are sister taxa as modern wolves are not closely related to the wolves that were first domesticated, [12][13][14] which implies that the direct ancestor of the dog is extinct.[15] The dog was the first species to be domesticated,[14][16] and has been selectively bred over millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes.[17]
+
+Their long association with humans has led dogs to be uniquely attuned to human behavior[18] and they are able to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids.[19] Dogs vary widely in shape, size and colors.[20] They perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting police and military, companionship and, more recently, aiding disabled people and therapeutic roles. This influence on human society has given them the sobriquet of "man's best friend".
+
+In 1758, the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus published in his Systema Naturae the binomial nomenclature – or the two-word naming – of species. Canis is the Latin word meaning "dog",[21] and under this genus he listed the dog-like carnivores including domestic dogs, wolves, and jackals. He classified the domestic dog as Canis familiaris, and on the next page he classified the wolf as Canis lupus.[2] Linnaeus considered the dog to be a separate species from the wolf because of its cauda recurvata - its upturning tail which is not found in any other canid.[22]
+
+In 1999, a study of mitochondrial DNA indicated that the domestic dog may have originated from multiple grey wolf populations, with the dingo and New Guinea singing dog "breeds" having developed at a time when human populations were more isolated from each other.[23] In the third edition of Mammal Species of the World published in 2005, the mammalogist W. Christopher Wozencraft listed under the wolf Canis lupus its wild subspecies, and proposed two additional subspecies: "familiaris Linneaus, 1758 [domestic dog]" and "dingo Meyer, 1793 [domestic dog]". Wozencraft included hallstromi – the New Guinea singing dog – as a taxonomic synonym for the dingo. Wozencraft referred to the mDNA study as one of the guides in forming his decision.[4] The inclusion of familiaris and dingo under a "domestic dog" clade has been noted by other mammalogists.[24] This classification by Wozencraft is debated among zoologists.[25]
+
+In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/Species Survival Commission's Canid Specialist Group considered the New Guinea singing dog and the dingo to be feral dogs Canis familiaris, and therefore should not be assessed for the IUCN Red List.[26]
+
+The origin of the domestic dog includes the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf, its domestication, and its development into dog types and dog breeds. The dog is a member of the genus Canis, which forms part of the wolf-like canids, and was the first species and the only large carnivore to have been domesticated.[14][27] Genetic studies comparing dogs with modern wolves show reciprocal monophyly (separate groups), which implies that dogs are not genetically close to any living wolf and that their wild ancestor is extinct.[28][14] An extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog,[27][1] with the dog's similarity to the extant grey wolf being the result of genetic admixture between the two.[1] In 2020, a literature review of canid domestication stated that modern dogs were not descended from the same Canis lineage as modern wolves, and proposes that dogs may be descended from a Pleistocene wolf closer in size to a village dog.[29]
+
+The genetic divergence between dogs and wolves occurred between 20,000–40,000 years ago, just before or during the Last Glacial Maximum[30][1] (20,000-27,000 years ago). This timespan represents the upper time-limit for the commencement of domestication because it is the time of divergence and not the time of domestication, which occurred later.[30][31] One of the most important transitions in human history was the domestication of animals, which began with the long-term association between wolves and hunter–gatherers more than 15,000 years ago.[28] The archaeological record and genetic analysis show the remains of the Bonn–Oberkassel dog buried beside humans 14,200 years ago to be the first undisputed dog, with disputed remains occurring 36,000 years ago.[1]
+
+Domestic dogs have been selectively bred for millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes.[17] Modern dog breeds show more variation in size, appearance, and behavior than any other domestic animal.[17] Dogs are predators and scavengers; like many other predatory mammals, the dog has powerful muscles, fused wrist bones, a cardiovascular system that supports both sprinting and endurance, and teeth for catching and tearing.
+
+Dogs are highly variable in height and weight. The smallest known adult dog was a Yorkshire Terrier, that stood only 6.3 centimetres (2 1⁄2 inches) at the shoulder, 9.5 cm (3 3⁄4 in) in length along the head-and-body, and weighed only 113 grams (4 ounces). The largest known dog was a Saint Bernard which weighed 167.6 kg (369 1⁄2 lb) and was 250 cm (8 ft 2 in) from the snout to the tail.[32] The tallest dog is a Great Dane that stands 106.7 cm (3 ft 6 in) at the shoulder.[33]
+
+The dog's senses include vision, hearing, sense of smell, sense of taste, touch and sensitivity to the earth's magnetic field. Another study suggested that dogs can see the earth's magnetic field.[34][35][36]
+
+The coats of domestic dogs are of two varieties: "double" being common with dogs (as well as wolves) originating from colder climates, made up of a coarse guard hair and a soft down hair, or "single", with the topcoat only. Breeds may have an occasional "blaze", stripe, or "star" of white fur on their chest or underside.[37]
+
+Regarding coat appearance or health, the coat can be maintained or affected by multiple nutrients present in the diet, see Coat (dog) for more information.
+
+Premature graying can occur in dogs from as early as one year of age. This has been shown to be associated with impulsive behaviors, anxiety behaviors, fear of noise, and fear of unfamiliar people or animals.[38]
+
+There are many different shapes for dog tails: straight, straight up, sickle, curled, or cork-screw. As with many canids, one of the primary functions of a dog's tail is to communicate their emotional state, which can be important in getting along with others. In some hunting dogs, however, the tail is traditionally docked to avoid injuries.[39] In some breeds, such as the Braque du Bourbonnais, puppies can be born with a short tail or no tail at all.[40]
+
+Despite their close genetic relationship and the ability to inter-breed, there are a number of diagnostic features to distinguish the gray wolves from domestic dogs. Domesticated dogs are clearly distinguishable from wolves by starch gel electrophoresis of red blood cell acid phosphatase.[42] The tympanic bullae are large, convex and almost spherical in gray wolves, while the bullae of dogs are smaller, compressed and slightly crumpled.[43] Compared with equally sized wolves, dogs tend to have 20% smaller skulls and 30% smaller brains.[44]:35 The teeth of gray wolves are also proportionately larger than those of dogs.[45] Dogs have a more domed forehead and a distinctive "stop" between forehead and nose.[46] The temporalis muscle that closes the jaws is more robust in wolves.[5]:158 Wolves do not have dewclaws on their back legs, unless there has been admixture with dogs that had them.[47]  Most dogs lack a functioning pre-caudal gland and enter estrus twice yearly, unlike gray wolves which only do so once a year.[48] So-called primitive dogs such as dingoes and Basenjis retain the yearly estrus cycle.[49]
+
+Dogs generally have brown eyes and wolves almost always have amber or light colored eyes.[50] The skin of domestic dogs tends to be thicker than that of wolves, with some Inuit tribes favoring the former for use as clothing due to its greater resistance to wear and tear in harsh weather.[51] The paws of a dog are half the size of those of a wolf, and their tails tend to curl upwards, another trait not found in wolves.[52] The dog has developed into hundreds of varied breeds, and shows more behavioral and morphological variation than any other land mammal.[53]
+
+There are many household plants that are poisonous to dogs (and other mammals) including begonia, Poinsettia and aloe vera.[54]
+
+Some breeds of dogs are prone to certain genetic ailments such as elbow and hip dysplasia, blindness, deafness, pulmonic stenosis, cleft palate, and trick knees. Two serious medical conditions particularly affecting dogs are pyometra, affecting unspayed females of all types and ages, and gastric dilatation volvulus (bloat), which affects the larger breeds or deep-chested dogs. Both of these are acute conditions, and can kill rapidly. Dogs are also susceptible to parasites such as fleas, ticks, mites, hookworms, tapeworms, roundworms, and heartworms (roundworm species that lives in the heart of dogs).
+
+A number of common human foods and household ingestibles are toxic to dogs, including chocolate solids (theobromine poisoning), onion and garlic (thiosulphate, sulfoxide or disulfide poisoning),[55] grapes and raisins, macadamia nuts, xylitol,[56] as well as various plants and other potentially ingested materials.[57][58] The nicotine in tobacco can also be dangerous. Dogs can be exposed to the substance by scavenging through garbage bins or ashtrays and eating cigars and cigarettes. Signs can be vomiting of large amounts (e.g., from eating cigar butts) or diarrhea. Some other signs are abdominal pain, loss of coordination, collapse, or death.[59] Dogs are susceptible to theobromine poisoning, typically from ingestion of chocolate. Theobromine is toxic to dogs because, although the dog's metabolism is capable of breaking down the chemical, the process is so slow that for some dogs even small amounts of chocolate can be fatal, especially dark chocolate.
+
+Dogs are also vulnerable to some of the same health conditions as humans, including diabetes, dental and heart disease, epilepsy, cancer, hypothyroidism, and arthritis.[60]
+
+In 2013, a study found that mixed breeds live on average 1.2 years longer than pure breeds, and that increasing body-weight was negatively correlated with longevity (i.e. the heavier the dog the shorter its lifespan).[61]
+
+The typical lifespan of dogs varies widely among breeds, but for most the median longevity, the age at which half the dogs in a population have died and half are still alive, ranges from 10 to 13 years.[62][63][64][65] Individual dogs may live well beyond the median of their breed.
+
+The breed with the shortest lifespan (among breeds for which there is a questionnaire survey with a reasonable sample size) is the Dogue de Bordeaux, with a median longevity of about 5.2 years, but several breeds, including miniature bull terriers, bloodhounds, and Irish wolfhounds are nearly as short-lived, with median longevities of 6 to 7 years.[65]
+
+The longest-lived breeds, including toy poodles, Japanese spitz, Border terriers, and Tibetan spaniels, have median longevities of 14 to 15 years.[65] The median longevity of mixed-breed dogs, taken as an average of all sizes, is one or more years longer than that of purebred dogs when all breeds are averaged.[63][64][65][66] The longest-lived dog was "Bluey", an Australian Cattle Dog who died in 1939 at 29.5 years of age.[67][68]
+
+In domestic dogs, sexual maturity happens around six to twelve months of age for both males and females,[17][69] although this can be delayed until up to two years old for some large breeds. This is the time at which female dogs will have their first estrous cycle. They will experience subsequent estrous cycles semiannually, during which the body prepares for pregnancy. At the peak of the cycle, females will come into estrus, being mentally and physically receptive to copulation.[17] Because the ova survive and are capable of being fertilized for a week after ovulation, it is possible for more than one male to sire the same litter.[17]
+
+Fertilization typically occurs 2–5 days after ovulation; 14–16 days after ovulation, the embryo attaches to the uterus, and after 7-8 more days the heart beat is detectable.[70][71]
+
+Dogs bear their litters roughly 58 to 68 days after fertilization,[17][72] with an average of 63 days, although the length of gestation can vary. An average litter consists of about six puppies,[73] though this number may vary widely based on the breed of dog. In general, toy dogs produce from one to four puppies in each litter, while much larger breeds may average as many as twelve.
+
+Some dog breeds have acquired traits through selective breeding that interfere with reproduction. Male French Bulldogs, for instance, are incapable of mounting the female. For many dogs of this breed, the female must be artificially inseminated in order to reproduce.[74]
+
+Neutering refers to the sterilization of animals, usually by removal of the male's testicles or the female's ovaries and uterus, in order to eliminate the ability to procreate and reduce sex drive. Because of the overpopulation of dogs in some countries, many animal control agencies, such as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), advise that dogs not intended for further breeding should be neutered, so that they do not have undesired puppies that may later be euthanized.[75]
+
+According to the Humane Society of the United States, 3–4 million dogs and cats are euthanized each year in the United States and many more are confined to cages in shelters because there are many more animals than there are homes. Spaying or castrating dogs helps keep overpopulation down.[76] Local humane societies, SPCAs, and other animal protection organizations urge people to neuter their pets and to adopt animals from shelters instead of purchasing them.
+
+Neutering reduces problems caused by hypersexuality, especially in male dogs.[77] Spayed female dogs are less likely to develop some forms of cancer, affecting mammary glands, ovaries, and other reproductive organs.[78] However, neutering increases the risk of urinary incontinence in female dogs,[79] and prostate cancer in males,[80] as well as osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, cruciate ligament rupture, obesity, and diabetes mellitus in either sex.[81]
+
+A common breeding practice for pet dogs is mating between close relatives (e.g. between half- and full siblings).[82] Inbreeding depression is considered to be due largely to the expression of homozygous deleterious recessive mutations.[83] Outcrossing between unrelated individuals, including dogs of different breeds, results in the beneficial masking of deleterious recessive mutations in progeny.[84]
+
+In a study of seven breeds of dogs (Bernese mountain dog, basset hound, Cairn terrier, Epagneul Breton, German Shepherd dog, Leonberger, and West Highland white terrier) it was found that inbreeding decreases litter size and survival.[85] Another analysis of data on 42,855 dachshund litters found that as the inbreeding coefficient increased, litter size decreased and the percentage of stillborn puppies increased, thus indicating inbreeding depression.[86] In a study of boxer litters, 22% of puppies died before reaching 7 weeks of age.[87] Stillbirth was the most frequent cause of death, followed by infection. Mortality due to infection increased significantly with increases in inbreeding.[87]
+
+Dog intelligence is the ability of the dog to perceive information and retain it as knowledge for applying to solve problems. Studies of two dogs suggest that dogs can learn by inference and have advanced memory skills.  A study with Rico, a border collie, showed that he knew the labels of over 200 different items. He inferred the names of novel items by exclusion learning and correctly retrieved those novel items immediately and also 4 weeks after the initial exposure. A study of another border collie, "Chaser", documented his learning and memory capabilities. He had learned the names and could associate by verbal command over 1,000 words.[88] Dogs are able to read and react appropriately to human body language such as gesturing and pointing, and to understand human voice commands.
+
+A 2018 study on canine cognitive abilities found that dogs' capabilities are no more exceptional than those of other animals, such as horses, chimpanzees or cats.[89] Various animals, including pigs, pigeons and chimpanzees, are able to remember the what, where and when of an event, which dogs cannot do.[90]
+
+Dogs demonstrate a theory of mind by engaging in deception.[91] An experimental study showed compelling evidence that Australian dingos can outperform domestic dogs in non-social problem-solving, indicating that domestic dogs may have lost much of their original problem-solving abilities once they joined humans.[92] Another study indicated that after undergoing training to solve a simple manipulation task, dogs that are faced with an insoluble version of the same problem look at the human, while socialized wolves do not.[93]
+
+Dog behavior is the internally coordinated responses (actions or inactions) of the domestic dog (individuals or groups) to internal and/or external stimuli.[94] As the oldest domesticated species, with estimates ranging from 9,000–30,000 years BCE, the minds of dogs inevitably have been shaped by millennia of contact with humans. As a result of this physical and social evolution, dogs, more than any other species, have acquired the ability to understand and communicate with humans, and they are uniquely attuned to human behaviors.[18] Behavioral scientists have uncovered a surprising set of social-cognitive abilities in the domestic dog. These abilities are not possessed by the dog's closest canine
+relatives nor by other highly intelligent mammals such as great apes but rather parallel some of the social-cognitive skills of human children.[95]
+
+Unlike other domestic species which were primarily selected for production-related traits, dogs were initially selected for their behaviors.[96][97] In 2016, a study found that there were only 11 fixed genes that showed variation between wolves and dogs. These gene variations were unlikely to have been the result of natural evolution, and indicate selection on both morphology and behavior during dog domestication. These genes have been shown to affect the catecholamine synthesis pathway, with the majority of the genes affecting the fight-or-flight response[97][98] (i.e. selection for tameness), and emotional processing.[97] Dogs generally show reduced fear and aggression compared with wolves.[97][99] Some of these genes have been associated with aggression in some dog breeds, indicating their importance in both the initial domestication and then later in breed formation.[97] Traits of high sociability and lack of fear in dogs may include genetic modifications related to Williams-Beuren syndrome in humans, which cause hypersociability at the expense of problem solving ability.[100][101][102]
+
+Dog communication is how dogs convey information to other dogs, how they understand messages from humans, and how humans translate the information that dogs are transmitting.[103]:xii Communication behaviors of dogs include eye gaze, facial expression, vocalization, body posture (including movements of bodies and limbs) and gustatory communication (scents, pheromones and taste). Humans communicate to dogs by using vocalization, hand signals and body posture.
+
+In 2013, an estimate of the global dog population was between 700 million[104] and 987 million.[105] Although it is said that the "dog is man's best friend",[106] this refers largely to the ~20% of dogs that live in developed countries. In the developing world, dogs are more commonly feral or communally owned, with pet dogs uncommon.[51] Most of these dogs live their lives as scavengers and have never been owned by humans, with one study showing their most common response when approached by strangers is to run away (52%) or respond aggressively (11%).[107] Little is known about these dogs, or the dogs in developed countries that are feral, stray or are in shelters, because the great majority of modern research on dog cognition has focused on pet dogs living in human homes.[108]
+
+Although dogs are the most abundant and widely distributed terrestrial carnivores, the potential of feral and free-ranging dogs to compete with other large carnivores is limited by their strong association with humans.[7] For example, a review of the studies in the competitive effects of dogs on sympatric carnivores did not mention any research on competition between dogs and wolves.[109][110] Although wolves are known to kill dogs, they tend to live in pairs or in small packs in areas where they are highly persecuted, giving them a disadvantage facing large dog groups.[109][111]
+
+Wolves kill dogs wherever they are found together.[112] One study reported that in Wisconsin in 1999 more compensation had been paid for losses due to wolves taking dogs than for wolves taking livestock. In Wisconsin wolves will often kill hunting dogs, possibly because the dogs are in the wolf's territory.[112] A strategy has been reported in Russia where one wolf lures a dog into heavy brush where another wolf waits in ambush.[113] In some instances, wolves have displayed an uncharacteristic fearlessness of humans and buildings when attacking dogs, to the extent that they have to be beaten off or killed.[114] Although the numbers of dogs killed each year are relatively low, it induces a fear of wolves entering villages and farmyards to take dogs, and losses of dogs to wolves has led to demands for more liberal wolf hunting regulations.[109]
+
+Coyotes and big cats have also been known to attack dogs. Leopards in particular are known to have a predilection for dogs, and have been recorded to kill and consume them regardless of their size.[115] Tigers in Manchuria, Indochina, Indonesia, and Malaysia are also reported to kill dogs.[116] Striped hyenas are known to kill dogs in Turkmenistan, India, and the Caucasus.[117]
+
+Dogs are normal prey for the American alligator.
+
+Dogs have been described as carnivores[118][119] or omnivores.[17][120][121][122] Compared to wolves, dogs from agricultural societies have extra copies of amylase and other genes involved in starch digestion that contribute to an increased ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet.[19] Also like humans, some dog breeds produce amylase in their saliva. Based on metabolism and nutrition, many consider the dog to be an omnivore.[123]
+
+However, the dog is not simply an omnivore. More like the cat and less like other omnivores, the dog can only produce bile acid with taurine, and it cannot produce vitamin D, which it obtains from animal flesh. Also more like the cat, the dog requires arginine to maintain its nitrogen balance. These nutritional requirements place the dog part-way between carnivores and omnivores.[124]
+
+As a domesticated or semi-domesticated animal, the dog is nearly universal among human societies. Notable exceptions once included:
+
+Dogs were introduced to Antarctica as sled dogs but were later outlawed by international agreement due to the possible risk of spreading infections.[132]
+
+The domestic dog is the first species, and the only large carnivore, known to have been domesticated. Especially over the past 200 years, dogs have undergone rapid phenotypic change and were formed into today's modern dog breeds due to artificial selection by humans. These breeds can vary in size and weight from a 0.46 kg (1 lb) teacup poodle to a 90 kg (200 lb) giant mastiff. Phenotypic variation can include height measured to the withers ranging from 15.2 cm (6 in) in the Chihuahua to 76 cm (30 in) in the Irish Wolfhound; color varies from white through grays (usually called "blue") to black, and browns from light (tan) to dark ("red" or "chocolate") in a wide variation of patterns; coats can be short or long, coarse-haired to wool-like, straight, curly, or smooth.[133] The skull, body, and limb proportions vary significantly between breeds, with dogs displaying more phenotypic diversity than can be found within the entire order of carnivores. Some breeds demonstrate outstanding skills in herding, retrieving, scent detection, and guarding, which demonstrates the functional and behavioral diversity of dogs. The first dogs were domesticated from shared ancestors of modern wolves, however the phenotypic changes that coincided with the dog–wolf genetic divergence are not known.[27]
+
+Domestic dogs inherited complex behaviors, such as bite inhibition, from their wolf ancestors, which would have been pack hunters with complex body language. These sophisticated forms of social cognition and communication may account for their trainability, playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and social situations, and these attributes have given dogs a relationship with humans that has enabled them to become one of the most successful species on the planet today.[134]:pages95–136
+
+The dogs' value to early human hunter-gatherers led to them quickly becoming ubiquitous across world cultures. Dogs perform many roles for people, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, assisting police and military, companionship, and, more recently, aiding handicapped individuals. This influence on human society has given them the nickname "man's best friend" in the Western world. In some cultures, however, dogs are also a source of meat.[135][136]
+
+Wolves, and their dog descendants, likely derived significant benefits from living in human camps – more safety, more reliable food, lesser caloric needs, and more chance to breed.[137] They would have benefited from humans' upright gait that gives them larger range over which to see potential predators and prey, as well as better color vision that, at least by day, gives humans better visual discrimination.[137] Camp dogs would also have benefited from human tool use, as in bringing down larger prey and controlling fire for a range of purposes.[137]
+
+Humans would also have derived enormous benefit from the dogs associated with their camps.[138] For instance, dogs would have improved sanitation by cleaning up food scraps.[138] Dogs may have provided warmth, as referred to in the Australian Aboriginal expression "three dog night" (an exceptionally cold night), and they would have alerted the camp to the presence of predators or strangers, using their acute hearing to provide an early warning.[138]
+
+It has been suggested that the most significant benefit would have been the use of dogs' robust sense of smell to assist with the hunt.[138] The relationship between the presence of a dog and success in the hunt is often mentioned as a primary reason for the domestication of the wolf, and a 2004 study of hunter groups with and without a dog gives quantitative support to the hypothesis that the benefits of cooperative hunting was an important factor in wolf domestication.[139]
+
+The cohabitation of dogs and humans likely improved the chances of survival for early human groups, and the domestication of dogs may have been one of the key forces that led to human success.[140]
+
+Human emigrants from Siberia that came across the Bering land bridge into North America likely had dogs in their company. Although one writer[141] even suggests that the use of sled dogs may have been critical to the success of the waves that entered North America roughly 12,000 years ago,[141] the earliest archaeological evidence of dog-like canids in North America dates from about 9,400 years ago.[134]:104[142] Dogs were an important part of life for the Athabascan population in North America, and were their only domesticated animal. Dogs as pack animals  may have contributed to the migration of the Apache and Navajo tribes 1,400 years ago. This use of dogs in these cultures often persisted after the introduction of the horse to North America.[143]
+
+It is estimated that three-quarters of the world's dog population lives in the developing world as feral, village, or community dogs, with pet dogs uncommon.[51]
+
+"The most widespread form of interspecies bonding occurs between humans and dogs"[138] and the keeping of dogs as companions, particularly by elites, has a long history[144] (see the Bonn–Oberkassel dog). Pet-dog populations grew significantly after World War II as suburbanization increased.[144] In the 1950s and 1960s, dogs were kept outside more often than they tend to be today[145] (the expression "in the doghouse" - recorded since 1932[146] - to describe exclusion from the group implies distance between the doghouse and the home) and were still primarily functional, acting as a guard, children's playmate, or walking companion. From the 1980s there have been changes in the role of the pet dog, such as the increased role of dogs in the emotional support of their human guardians.[147] People and their dogs have become increasingly integrated and implicated in each other's lives,[148] to the point where pet dogs actively shape the way a family and home are experienced.[149]
+
+There have been two major trends occurring within the second half of the 20th century in the changing status of pet dogs. The first has been the "commodification" of the dog, shaping it to conform to human expectations of personality and behaviour.[149] The second has been the broadening of the concept of the family and the home to include dogs-as-dogs within everyday routines and practices.[149]
+
+A vast range of commodity forms aim to transform a pet dog into an ideal companion.[150] The list of goods, services and places available is enormous: from dog perfumes, couture, furniture and housing, to dog groomers, therapists, trainers and caretakers, dog cafes, spas, parks and beaches, and dog hotels, airlines and cemeteries.[150] While dog training as an organized activity has operated since the 18th century, in the last decades of the 20th century it became a high-profile issue as many normal dog behaviors such as barking, jumping up, digging, rolling in dung, fighting, and urine marking (which dogs do to establish territory through scent), became increasingly incompatible with the new role of a pet dog.[151] Dog training books, classes and television programs proliferated as the process of commodifying the pet dog continued.[152]
+
+The majority of contemporary dog-owners describe their pet as part of the family,[149] although some ambivalence about the relationship is evident in the popular reconceptualization of the dog–human family as a pack.[149] Some dog-trainers, such as on the television program Dog Whisperer, have promoted a dominance-model of dog–human relationships. However it has been disputed that "trying to achieve status" is characteristic of dog–human interactions.[153] Pet dogs play an active role in family life; for example, a study of conversations in dog–human families showed how family members use the dog as a resource, talking to the dog, or talking through the dog, to mediate their interactions with each other.[154]
+
+Increasingly, human family-members engage in activities centered on the perceived needs and interests of the dog, or in which the dog is an integral partner, such as dog dancing and dog yoga.[150]
+
+According to statistics published by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in the National Pet Owner Survey in 2009–2010, an estimated 77.5 million people in the United States have pet dogs.[155] The same source shows that nearly 40% of American households own at least one dog, of which 67% own just one dog, 25% two dogs and nearly 9% more than two dogs. There does not seem to be any gender preference among dogs as pets, as the statistical data reveal an equal number of female and male dog pets. Although several programs promote pet adoption, less than a fifth of the owned dogs come from a shelter.
+
+Some research suggests that a pet dog produces a considerable carbon footprint.[156][157]
+
+A study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare humans and dogs showed that dogs have the same response to voices and use the same parts of the brain as humans do. This gives dogs the ability to recognize emotional human sounds, making them friendly social pets to humans.[158]
+
+Dogs have lived and worked with humans in many roles. In addition to dogs' role as companion animals, dogs have been bred for herding livestock (collies, sheepdogs),[159][17]  hunting (hounds, pointers),[44] and rodent control (terriers).[17] Other types of working dogs include search and rescue dogs,[160] detection dogs trained to detect illicit drugs[161] or chemical weapons;[162] guard dogs; dogs who assist fishermen with the use of nets; and dogs that pull loads.[17] In 1957, the dog Laika became the first animal to be launched into Earth orbit, aboard the Soviets' Sputnik 2; she died during the flight.[163][164]
+
+Various kinds of service dogs and assistance dogs, including guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility assistance dogs, and psychiatric service dogs provide assistance to individuals with disabilities.[165][166] Some dogs owned by epileptics have been shown to alert their handler when the handler shows signs of an impending seizure, sometimes well in advance of onset, allowing the guardian to seek safety, medication, or medical care.[167]
+
+People often enter their dogs in competitions[168] such as breed-conformation shows or sports, including racing, sledding and agility competitions.
+
+In conformation shows, also referred to as breed shows, a judge familiar with the specific dog breed evaluates individual purebred dogs for conformity with their established breed type as described in the breed standard. As the breed standard only deals with the externally observable qualities of the dog (such as appearance, movement, and temperament), separately tested qualities (such as ability or health) are not part of the judging in conformation shows.
+
+Dog meat is consumed in some East Asian countries, including Korea, China[135] and Vietnam,[136] a practice that dates back to antiquity.[169] It is estimated that 13–16 million dogs are killed and consumed in Asia every year.[170] In China, debates have ensued over banning the consumption of dog meat.[171]  Following the Sui and Tang dynasties of the first millennium, however, people living on the plains of northern China began to eschew eating dogs. This is likely due to the spread of Buddhism and Islam, two religions that forbade the consumption of certain animals, including dogs. As members of the upper classes shunned dog meat, it gradually became a social taboo to eat it, despite the fact that the general population continued to consume it for centuries afterward.[172] Other cultures, such as Polynesia and pre-Columbian Mexico, also consumed dog meat in their history. However, Western, South Asian, African, and Middle Eastern cultures, in general, regard consumption of dog meat as taboo. In some places, however, such as in rural areas of Poland, dog fat is believed to have medicinal properties – being good for the lungs for instance.[173] Dog meat is also consumed in some parts of Switzerland.[174]  Proponents of eating dog meat have argued that placing a distinction between livestock and dogs is western hypocrisy, and that there is no difference with eating the meat of different animals.[175][176][177][178]
+
+In Korea, the primary dog breed raised for meat, the nureongi (누렁이), differs from those breeds raised for pets that Koreans may keep in their homes.[179]
+
+The most popular Korean dog dish is gaejang-guk (also called bosintang), a spicy stew meant to balance the body's heat during the summer months. Followers of the custom claim this is done to ensure good health by balancing one's gi, or vital energy of the body. A 19th century version of gaejang-guk explains that the dish is prepared by boiling dog meat with scallions and chili powder. Variations of the dish contain chicken and bamboo shoots. While the dishes are still popular in Korea with a segment of the population, dog is not as widely consumed as beef, chicken, and pork.[179]
+
+In 2005, the WHO reported that 55,000 people died in Asia and Africa from rabies, a disease for which dogs are the most important vector.[180]
+
+Citing a 2008 study, the U.S. Center for Disease Control estimated in 2015 that 4.5 million people in the USA are bitten by dogs each year.[181] A 2015 study estimated that 1.8% of the U.S. population is bitten each year.[182] In the 1980s and 1990s the US averaged 17 fatalities per year, while since 2007 this has increased to an average of 31.[183] 77% of dog bites are from the pet of family or friends, and 50% of attacks occur on the property of the dog's legal owner.[183]
+
+A Colorado study found bites in children were less severe than bites in adults.[184] The incidence of dog bites in the US is 12.9 per 10,000 inhabitants, but for boys aged 5 to 9, the incidence rate is 60.7 per 10,000. Moreover, children have a much higher chance to be bitten in the face or neck.[185] Sharp claws with powerful muscles behind them can lacerate flesh in a scratch that can lead to serious infections.[186]
+
+In the UK between 2003 and 2004, there were 5,868 dog attacks on humans, resulting in 5,770 working days lost in sick leave.[187]
+
+In the United States, cats and dogs are a factor in more than 86,000 falls each year.[188] It has been estimated around 2% of dog-related injuries treated in UK hospitals are domestic accidents. The same study found that while dog involvement in road traffic accidents was difficult to quantify, dog-associated road accidents involving injury more commonly involved two-wheeled vehicles.[189]
+
+Toxocara canis (dog roundworm) eggs in dog feces can cause toxocariasis. In the United States, about 10,000 cases of Toxocara infection are reported in humans each year, and almost 14% of the U.S. population is infected.[190] In Great Britain, 24% of soil samples taken from public parks contained T. canis eggs.[191][failed verification] Untreated toxocariasis can cause retinal damage and decreased vision.[191] Dog feces can also contain hookworms that cause cutaneous larva migrans in humans.[192][193][194][195]
+
+Dogs suffer from the same common disorders as humans, these includes cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and neurologic disorders. The pathology is similar to humans, as is their response to treatment and their final outcomes. Researchers are now identifying the genes associated with dog diseases that are similar to human disorders but which lack mouse models in order to find treatments for both dogs and humans. The genes which are involved in canine obsessive compulsive disorders led to the detection of four genes in related pathways in humans.[196]
+
+The scientific evidence is mixed as to whether companionship of a dog can enhance human physical health and psychological wellbeing.[197] Studies suggesting that there are benefits to physical health and psychological wellbeing[198] have been criticised for being poorly controlled,[199] and finding that "the health of elderly people is related to their health habits and social supports but not to their ownership of, or attachment to, a companion animal." Earlier studies have shown that people who keep pet dogs or cats exhibit better mental and physical health than those who do not, making fewer visits to the doctor and being less likely to be on medication than non-guardians.[200]
+
+A 2005 paper states "recent research has failed to support earlier findings that pet ownership is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, a reduced use of general practitioner services, or any psychological or physical benefits on health for community dwelling older people. Research has, however, pointed to significantly less absenteeism from school through sickness among children who live with pets."[197] In one study, new guardians reported a highly significant reduction in minor health problems during the first month following pet acquisition, and this effect was sustained in those with dogs through to the end of the study.[201]
+
+In addition, people with pet dogs took considerably more physical exercise than those with cats and those without pets. The results provide evidence that keeping pets may have positive effects on human health and behaviour, and that for guardians of dogs these effects are relatively long-term.[201] Pet guardianship has also been associated with increased coronary artery disease survival, with human guardians being significantly less likely to die within one year of an acute myocardial infarction than those who did not own dogs.[202]
+
+The health benefits of dogs can result from contact with dogs in general, and not solely from having dogs as pets. For example, when in the presence of a pet dog, people show reductions in cardiovascular, behavioral, and psychological indicators of anxiety.[203] Other health benefits are gained from exposure to immune-stimulating microorganisms, which, according to the hygiene hypothesis, can protect against allergies and autoimmune diseases. The benefits of contact with a dog also include social support, as dogs are able to not only provide companionship and social support themselves, but also to act as facilitators of social interactions between humans.[204] One study indicated that wheelchair users experience more positive social interactions with strangers when they are accompanied by a dog than when they are not.[205] In 2015, a study found that pet owners were significantly more likely to get to know people in their neighborhood than non-pet owners.[206]
+
+The practice of using dogs and other animals as a part of therapy dates back to the late 18th century, when animals were introduced into mental institutions to help socialize patients with mental disorders.[207] Animal-assisted intervention research has shown that animal-assisted therapy with a dog can increase social behaviors, such as smiling and laughing, among people with Alzheimer's disease.[208] One study demonstrated that children with ADHD and conduct disorders who participated in an education program with dogs and other animals showed increased attendance, increased knowledge and skill objectives, and decreased antisocial and violent behavior compared with those who were not in an animal-assisted program.[209]
+
+Every year, between 6 and 8 million dogs and cats enter US animal shelters.[210] The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) estimates that approximately 3 to 4 million of those dogs and cats are euthanized yearly in the United States.[211] However, the percentage of dogs in US animal shelters that are eventually adopted and removed from the shelters by their new legal owners has increased since the mid-1990s from around 25% to a 2012 average of 40% among reporting shelters[212] (with many shelters reporting 60–75%).[213]
+
+In China, Korea, and Japan, dogs are viewed as kind protectors.[214]
+
+In ancient Mesopotamia, from the Old Babylonian period until the Neo-Babylonian, dogs were the symbol of Ninisina, the goddess of healing and medicine,[215] and her worshippers frequently dedicated small models of seated dogs to her.[215] In the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, dogs were used as emblems of magical protection.[215]
+
+In mythology, dogs often serve as pets or as watchdogs.[214] Stories of dogs guarding the gates of the underworld recur throughout Indo-European mythologies[216][217] and may originate from Proto-Indo-European religion.[216][217] In Greek mythology, Cerberus is a three-headed watchdog who guards the gates of Hades.[214] In Norse mythology, a bloody, four-eyed dog called Garmr guards Helheim.[214] In Persian mythology, two four-eyed dogs guard the Chinvat Bridge.[214] In Welsh mythology, Annwn is guarded by Cŵn Annwn.[214] In Hindu mythology, Yama, the god of death, owns two watch dogs who have four eyes. They are said to watch over the gates of Naraka.[218]
+
+The hunter god Muthappan from North Malabar region of Kerala has a hunting dog as his mount. Dogs are found in and out of the Muthappan Temple and offerings at the shrine take the form of bronze dog figurines.[219] In Philippine mythology, Kimat who is the pet of Tadaklan, god of thunder, is responsible for lightning.
+
+The role of the dog in Chinese mythology includes a position as one of the twelve animals which cyclically represent years (the zodiacal dog). Three of the 88 constellations in western astronomy also represent dogs: Canis Major (the Great Dog, whose brightest star, Sirius, is also called the Dog Star), Canis Minor (the Little Dog), and Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs).
+
+In Christianity, dogs represent faithfulness.[214] Within the Roman Catholic denomination specifically, the iconography of Saint Dominic includes a dog, after the hallow's mother dreamt of a dog springing from her womb and becoming pregnant shortly thereafter.[220] As such, the Dominican Order (Ecclesiastical Latin: Dominicanus) means "dogs of the Lord" or "hounds of the Lord" (Ecclesiastical Latin: domini canis).[220] In Christian folklore, a church grim often takes the form of a black dog to guard Christian churches and their churchyards from sacrilege.[221]
+
+Jewish law does not prohibit keeping dogs and other pets.[222] Jewish law requires Jews to feed dogs (and other animals that they own) before themselves, and make arrangements for feeding them before obtaining them.[222]
+
+The view on dogs in Islam is mixed, with some schools of thought viewing it as unclean,[214] although Khaled Abou El Fadl states that this view is based on "pre-Islamic Arab mythology" and "a tradition to be falsely attributed to the Prophet".[223] Therefore, Sunni Malaki and Hanafi jurists permit the trade of and keeping of dogs as pets.[224]
+
+In Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, when the disguised Odysseus returns home after 20 years he is recognized only by his faithful dog, Argos, who has been waiting for his return.
+
+Cultural depictions of dogs in art extend back thousands of years to when dogs were portrayed on the walls of caves. Representations of dogs became more elaborate as individual breeds evolved and the relationships between human and canine developed. Hunting scenes were popular in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Dogs were depicted to symbolize guidance, protection, loyalty, fidelity, faithfulness, watchfulness, and love.[225]
+
+The American Kennel Club reopened a museum called "Museum of the Dog" in Manhattan after moving the attraction from outside of St. Louis.[226] The museum contains ancient artifacts, fine art, and educational opportunities for visitors.[226]

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+
+
+See Subspecies of Canis lupus
+
+The wolf (Canis lupus[a]), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus have been recognized, and gray wolves, as colloquially understood, comprise non-domestic/feral subspecies. The wolf is the largest extant member of Canidae, males averaging 40 kg (88 lb) and females 37 kg (82 lb). Wolves measure 105–160 cm (41–63 in) in length and 80–85 cm (31–33 in) at shoulder height. The wolf is also distinguished from other Canis species by its less pointed ears and muzzle, as well as a shorter torso and a longer tail. The wolf is nonetheless related closely enough to smaller Canis species, such as the coyote and the golden jackal, to produce fertile hybrids with them. The banded fur of a wolf is usually mottled white, brown, gray, and black, although subspecies in the arctic region may be nearly all white.
+
+Of all members of the genus Canis, the wolf is most specialized for cooperative game hunting as demonstrated by its physical adaptations to tackling large prey, its more social nature, and its highly advanced expressive behaviour. It travels in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair accompanied by their offspring. Offspring may leave to form their own packs on the onset of sexual maturity and in response to competition for food within the pack. Wolves are also territorial and fights over territory are among the principal causes of wolf mortality. The wolf is mainly a carnivore and feeds on large wild hooved mammals as well as smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. Single wolves or mated pairs typically have higher success rates in hunting than do large packs. Pathogens and parasites, notably rabies, may infect wolves.
+
+The global wild wolf population was estimated to be 300,000 in 2003 and is considered to be of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Wolves have a long history of interactions with humans, having been despised and hunted in most pastoral communities because of their attacks on livestock, while conversely being respected in some agrarian and hunter-gatherer societies. Although the fear of wolves exists in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies. Wolf attacks on humans are rare because wolves are relatively few, live away from people, and have developed a fear of humans because of their experiences with hunters, ranchers, and shepherds.
+
+The English "wolf" stems from the Old English wulf, which is itself thought to be derived from the Proto-Germanic *wulfaz. The Proto-Indo-European root *wĺ̥kʷos may also be the source of the Latin word for the animal lupus (*lúkʷos).[4][5] The name "gray wolf" refers to the grayish colour of the species.[6]
+
+Since pre-Christian times, Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons took on wulf as a prefix or suffix in their names. Examples include Wulfhere ("Wolf Army", or "He whose army is the wolf"), Cynewulf ("Royal Wolf"), Cēnwulf ("Bold Wolf"), Wulfheard ("Wolf-hard"), Earnwulf ("Eagle Wolf"), Wulfstān ("Wolf Stone") Æðelwulf ("Noble Wolf"), Wolfhroc ("Wolf-Frock"), Wolfhetan ("Wolf Hide"), Isangrim ("Gray Mask"), Scrutolf ("Garb Wolf"), Wolfgang ("Wolf Gait") and Wolfdregil ("Wolf Runner").[7]
+
+Gray wolf
+
+Coyote
+
+African golden wolf
+
+Ethiopian wolf
+
+Golden jackal
+
+Dhole
+
+African wild dog
+
+Side-striped jackal
+
+Black-backed jackal
+
+In 1758, the Swedish botanist and zoologist Carl Linnaeus published in his Systema Naturae the binomial nomenclature.[3] Canis is the Latin word meaning "dog",[9] and under this genus he listed the doglike carnivores including domestic dogs, wolves, and jackals. He classified the domestic dog as Canis familiaris, and the wolf as Canis lupus.[3] Linnaeus considered the dog to be a separate species from the wolf because of its cauda recurvata—its upturning tail—which is not found in any other canid.[10]
+
+In the third edition of Mammal Species of the World published in 2005, the mammalogist W. Christopher Wozencraft listed under C. lupus 36 wild subspecies, and proposed two additional subspecies: familiaris (Linnaeus, 1758) and dingo (Meyer, 1793). Wozencraft included hallstromi—the New Guinea singing dog—as a taxonomic synonym for the dingo. Wozencraft referred to a 1999 mitochondrial DNA study as one of the guides in forming his decision, and listed the 38 subspecies of C. lupus under the biological common name of "wolf", the nominate subspecies being the Eurasian wolf (C. l. lupus) based on the type specimen that Linnaeus studied in Sweden.[11] Studies using paleogenomic techniques reveal that the modern wolf and the dog are sister taxa, as modern wolves are not closely related to the population of wolves that was first domesticated.[12] In 2019, a workshop hosted by the IUCN/Species Survival Commission's Canid Specialist Group considered the New Guinea singing dog and the dingo to be feral dogs Canis familiaris, and therefore should not be assessed for the IUCN Red List.[13]
+
+The phylogenetic descent of the extant wolf C. lupus from C. etruscus through C. mosbachensis is widely accepted.[14] The earliest fossils of C. lupus were found in what was once eastern Beringia at Old Crow, Yukon, Canada, and at Cripple Creek Sump, Fairbanks, Alaska. The age is not agreed upon but could date to one million years ago. Considerable morphological diversity existed among wolves by the Late Pleistocene. They had more robust skulls and teeth than modern wolves, often with a shortened snout, a pronounced development of the temporalis muscle, and robust premolars. It is proposed that these features were specialized adaptations for the processing of carcass and bone associated with the hunting and scavenging of Pleistocene megafauna. Compared with modern wolves, some Pleistocene wolves showed an increase in tooth breakage similar to that seen in the extinct dire wolf. This suggests they either often processed carcasses, or that they competed with other carnivores and needed to consume their prey quickly. Compared with those found in the modern spotted hyena, the frequency and location of tooth fractures in these wolves indicates they were habitual bone crackers.[15] In June 2019, the severed yet preserved head of a Pleistocene wolf, dated to over 40,000 years ago, was found close to the Tirekhtyakh River in Yakutia, Russia, near the Arctic Circle. The head was about 16 in (41 cm) long, much bigger than a modern wolf's head.[16][17][18]
+
+Genomic studies suggest modern wolves and dogs descend from a common ancestral wolf population[19][20][21] that existed 20,000 years ago.[19] Studies in 2017 and 2018 found that the Himalayan wolf is part of a lineage that is basal to other wolves and split from them 691,000–740,000 years ago.[22][23] Other wolves appear to have originated in Beringia in an expansion that was driven by the huge ecological changes during the close of the Late Pleistocene.[23] A study in 2016 indicates that a population bottleneck was followed by a rapid radiation from an ancestral population at a time during, or just after, the Last Glacial Maximum. This implies that the original morphologically diverse wolf populations were out-competed and replaced by more modern wolves.[24]
+
+A 2016 genomic study suggests that Old World and New World wolves split around 12,500 years ago followed by the divergence of the lineage that led to dogs from other Old World wolves around 11,100–12,300 years ago.[21] An extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog,[25][15] with the dog's similarity to the extant wolf being the result of genetic admixture between the two.[15] The dingo, Basenji, Tibetan Mastiff and Chinese indigenous breeds are basal members of the domestic dog clade. The divergence time for wolves in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia is estimated to be fairly recent at around 1,600 years ago. Among New World wolves, the Mexican wolf diverged around 5,400 years ago.[21]
+
+In the distant past, there has been gene flow between African golden wolves, golden jackals, and gray wolves. The African golden wolf is a descendant of a genetically admixed canid of 72% wolf and 28% Ethiopian wolf ancestry. One African golden wolf from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula shows admixture with Middle Eastern wolves and dogs.[26] There is evidence of gene flow between golden jackals and Middle Eastern wolves, less so with European and Asian wolves, and least with North American wolves. This indicates the golden jackal ancestry found in North American wolves may have occurred before the divergence of the Eurasian and North American wolves.[27]
+
+The common ancestor of the coyote and the wolf has admixed with a ghost population of an extinct unidentified canid. This canid is genetically close to the dhole and evolved after the divergence of the African hunting dog from the other canid species. The basal position of the coyote compared to the wolf is proposed to be due to the coyote retaining more of the mitochondrial genome of this unidentified canid.[26] Similarly, a museum specimen of a wolf from southern China collected in 1963 showed a genome that was 12–14% admixed from this unknown canid.[28] In North America, most coyotes and wolves show varying degrees of past genetic admixture. The red wolf of the southeastern United States is a hybrid animal with 40%:60% wolf to coyote ancestry. In addition, there was found to be 60%:40% wolf to coyote genetics in Eastern timber wolves, and 75%:25% in the Great Lakes region wolves.[27]
+
+In more recent times, some male Italian wolves originated from dog ancestry, which indicates female wolves will breed with male dogs in the wild.[29] In the Caucasus Mountains, 10% of dogs including livestock guardian dogs, are first generation hybrids.[30] Although mating between golden jackals and wolves has never been observed, evidence of jackal-wolf hybridization was discovered through mitochondrial DNA analysis of jackals living in the Caucasus Mountains[30] and in Bulgaria.[31]
+
+The wolf is the largest member of the Canidae family,[32] and is further distinguished from coyotes and jackals by a broader snout, shorter ears, a shorter torso and a longer tail.[33][32] It is slender and powerfully built with a large, deeply descending rib cage, a sloping back, and a heavily muscled neck.[34] The wolf's legs are moderately longer than those of other canids, which enables the animal to move swiftly, and to overcome the deep snow that covers most of its geographical range in winter.[35] The ears are relatively small and triangular.[34] The wolf's head is large and heavy, with a wide forehead, strong jaws and a long, blunt muzzle.[36] The skull is 230–280 mm (9–11 in) in length and 130–150 mm (5–6 in) in width.[37] The teeth are heavy and large, making them better suited to crushing bone than those of other canids. They are not as specialized as those found in hyenas though.[38][39] Its molars have a flat chewing surface, but not to the same extent as the coyote, whose diet contains more vegetable matter.[40] Females tend to have narrower muzzles and foreheads, thinner necks, slightly shorter legs, and less massive shoulders than males.[41]
+
+Adult wolves measure 105–160 cm (41–63 in) in length and 80–85 cm (31–33 in) at shoulder height.[36] The tail measures 29–50 cm (11–20 in) in length, the ears 90–110 mm (3 1⁄2–4 3⁄8 in) in height, and the hind feet are 220–250 mm (8 5⁄8–9 7⁄8 in).[42] The size and weight of the modern wolf increases proportionally with latitude in accord with Bergmann's rule.[43] The mean body mass of the wolf is 40 kg (88 lb), the smallest specimen recorded at 12 kg (26 lb) and the largest at 79.4 kg (175 lb).[44][36] On average, European wolves weigh 38.5 kg (85 lb), North American wolves 36 kg (79 lb), and Indian and Arabian wolves 25 kg (55 lb).[45] Females in any given wolf population typically weigh 2.3–4.5 kg (5–10 lb) less than males. Wolves weighing over 54 kg (119 lb) are uncommon, though exceptionally large individuals have been recorded in Alaska and Canada.[46] In middle Russia, exceptionally large males are given a maximum weight of 69–79 kg (152–174 lb).[42]
+
+The wolf has very dense and fluffy winter fur, with a short undercoat and long, coarse guard hairs.[36] Most of the undercoat and some guard hairs are shed in spring and grow back in autumn.[45] The longest hairs occur on the back, particularly on the front quarters and neck. Especially long hairs grow on the shoulders and almost form a crest on the upper part of the neck. The hairs on the cheeks are elongated and form tufts. The ears are covered in short hairs and project from the fur. Short, elastic and closely adjacent hairs are present on the limbs from the elbows down to the calcaneal tendons.[36] The winter fur is highly resistant to the cold. Wolves in northern climates can rest comfortably in open areas at −40 °C (−40 °F) by placing their muzzles between the rear legs and covering their faces with their tail. Wolf fur provides better insulation than dog fur and does not collect ice when warm breath is condensed against it.[45]
+
+In cold climates, the wolf can reduce the flow of blood near its skin to conserve body heat. The warmth of the foot pads is regulated independently from the rest of the body and is maintained at just above tissue-freezing point where the pads come in contact with ice and snow.[47] In warm climates, the fur is coarser and scarcer than in northern wolves.[36] Female wolves tend to have smoother furred limbs than males and generally develop the smoothest overall coats as they age. Older wolves generally have more white hairs on the tip of the tail, along the nose, and on the forehead. Winter fur is retained longest by lactating females, although with some hair loss around their teats.[41] Hair length on the middle of the back is 60–70 mm (2 3⁄8–2 3⁄4 in), and the guard hairs on the shoulders generally do not exceed 90 mm (3 1⁄2 in), but can reach 110–130 mm (4 3⁄8–5 1⁄8 in).[36]
+
+A wolf's coat colour is determined by its guard hairs. Wolves usually have some hairs that are white, brown, gray and black.[48] The coat of the Eurasian wolf is a mixture of ochreous (yellow to orange) and rusty ochreous (orange/red/brown) colours with light gray. The muzzle is pale ochreous gray, and the area of the lips, cheeks, chin, and throat is white. The top of the head, forehead, under and between the eyes, and between the eyes and ears is gray with a reddish film. The neck is ochreous. Long, black tips on the hairs along the back form a broad stripe, with black hair tips on the shoulders, upper chest and rear of the body. The sides of the body, tail, and outer limbs are a pale dirty ochreous colour, while the inner sides of the limbs, belly, and groin are white. Apart from those wolves which are pure white or black, these tones vary little across geographical areas, although the patterns of these colours vary between individuals.[49]
+
+In North America, the coat colours of wolves follow Gloger's rule, wolves in the Canadian arctic being white and those in southern Canada, the U.S., and Mexico being predominantly gray. In some areas of the Rocky Mountains of Alberta and British Columbia, the coat colour is predominantly black, some being blue-gray and some with silver and black.[48] Differences in coat colour between sexes is absent in Eurasia;[50] females tend to have redder tones in North America.[51] Black-coloured wolves in North America acquired their colour from wolf-dog admixture after the first arrival of dogs that accompanied humans across the Bering Strait 12,000 to 14,000 years ago.[52] Research into the inheritance of white colour from dogs into wolves has yet to be undertaken.[53]
+
+Wolves occurred originally across Eurasia and North America. Deliberate human persecution because of livestock predation and fear of attacks on humans has reduced the wolf's range to about one-third of what it once was. The wolf is now extirpated (locally extinct) in much of Western Europe, the United States and Mexico, and in Japan. In modern times, the wolf occurs mostly in wilderness and remote areas. The wolf can be found between sea level and 3,000 m (9,800 ft). Wolves live in forests, inland wetlands, shrublands, grasslands (including Arctic tundra), pastures, deserts, and rocky peaks on mountains.[2] Habitat use by wolves depends on the abundance of prey, snow conditions, livestock densities, road densities, human presence and topography.[40]
+
+Like all land mammals that are pack hunters, the wolf feeds predominantly on wild herbivorous hoofed mammals that can be divided into large size 240–650 kg (530–1,430 lb) and medium size 23–130 kg (51–287 lb), and have a body mass similar to that of the combined mass of the pack members.[54][55] The wolf specializes in preying on the vulnerable individuals of large prey,[40] with a pack of 15 able to bring down an adult moose.[56] The variation in diet between wolves living on different continents is based on the variety of hoofed mammals and of available smaller and domesticated prey.[57]
+
+In North America, the wolf's diet is dominated by wild large hoofed mammals (ungulates) and medium-sized mammals. In Asia and Europe, their diet is dominated by wild medium-sized hoofed mammals and domestic species. The wolf depends on wild species, and if these are not readily available, as in Asia, the wolf is more reliant on domestic species.[57] Across Eurasia, wolves prey mostly on moose, red deer, roe deer and wild boar.[58] In North America, important range-wide prey are elk, moose, caribou, white-tailed deer and mule deer.[59] Wolves can digest their meal in a few hours and can feed several times in one day, making quick use of large quantities of meat.[60] A well-fed wolf stores fat under the skin, around the heart, intestines, kidneys, and bone marrow, particularly during the autumn and winter.[61]
+
+Nonetheless, wolves are not fussy eaters. Smaller-sized animals that may supplement their diet include rodents, hares, insectivores and smaller carnivores. They frequently eat waterfowl and their eggs. When such foods are insufficient, they prey on lizards, snakes, frogs, and large insects when available.[62] Wolves in northern Minnesota prey on northern pike in freshwater streams.[63] The diet of coastal wolves in Alaska includes 20% salmon,[64] while those of coastal wolves in British Columbia includes 25% marine sources, and those on the nearby islands 75%.[65]
+
+In Europe, wolves eat apples, pears, figs, melons, berries and cherries. In North America, wolves eat blueberries and raspberries. Wolves also eat grass, which may provide some vitamins.[66] They are known to eat the berries of mountain-ash, lily of the valley, bilberries, cowberries, European black nightshade, grain crops, and the shoots of reeds.[62]
+
+In times of scarcity, wolves will readily eat carrion.[62] In Eurasian areas with dense human activity, many wolf populations are forced to subsist largely on livestock and garbage.[58] Prey in North America continue to occupy suitable habitats with low human density, the wolves eating livestock and garbage only in dire circumstances.[67] Cannibalism is not uncommon in wolves during harsh winters, when packs often attack weak or injured wolves and may eat the bodies of dead pack members.[62][68][69]
+
+Wolves typically dominate other canid species in areas where they both occur. In North America, incidents of wolves killing coyotes are common, particularly in winter, when coyotes feed on wolf kills. Wolves may attack coyote den sites, digging out and killing their pups, though rarely eating them. There are no records of coyotes killing wolves, though coyotes may chase wolves if they outnumber them.[70] According to a press release by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1921, the infamous Custer Wolf relied on coyotes to accompany him and warn him of danger. Though they fed from his kills, he never allowed them to approach him.[71] Interactions have been observed in Eurasia between wolves and golden jackals, the latter's numbers being comparatively small in areas with high wolf densities.[36][70][72] Wolves also kill red, Arctic and corsac foxes, usually in disputes over carcasses, sometimes eating them.[36][73]
+
+Brown bears typically dominate wolf packs in disputes over carcasses, while wolf packs mostly prevail against bears when defending their den sites. Both species kill each other's young. Wolves eat the brown bears they kill, while brown bears seem to eat only young wolves.[74] Wolf interactions with American black bears are much rarer because of differences in habitat preferences. Wolves have been recorded on numerous occasions actively seeking out American black bears in their dens and killing them without eating them. Unlike brown bears, American black bears frequently lose against wolves in disputes over kills.[75] Wolves also dominate and sometimes kill wolverines, and will chase off those that attempt to scavenge from their kills. Wolverines escape from wolves in caves or up trees.[76]
+
+Wolves may interact and compete with felids, such as the Eurasian lynx, which may feed on smaller prey where wolves are present[77] and may be suppressed by large wolf populations.[78] Wolves encounter cougars along portions of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent mountain ranges. Wolves and cougars typically avoid encountering each other by hunting at different elevations for different prey (niche partitioning). In winter, when snow accumulation forces their prey into valleys, interactions between the two species become more likely. Wolves in packs usually dominate cougars and can steal their kills or even kill them,[79] while one-to-one encounters tend to be dominated by the cat. There are several documented cases of cougars killing wolves.[80] Wolves more broadly affect cougar population dynamics and distribution by dominating territory and prey opportunities and disrupting the feline's behaviour.[81] Wolf and Siberian tiger interactions are well-documented in the Russian Far East, where tigers significantly depress wolf numbers, sometimes to the point of localized extinction. Only human depletion of tiger numbers appears to protect wolves from competitive exclusion from them. With perhaps only four proven records of tigers killing wolves, these cases are rare; attacks appear to be competitive rather than predatory in nature.[82][77]
+
+In Israel, Central Asia and India wolves may encounter striped hyenas, usually in disputes over carcasses. Striped hyenas feed extensively on wolf-killed carcasses in areas where the two species interact. One-to-one, hyenas dominate wolves, and may prey on them,[83] but wolf packs can drive off single or outnumbered hyenas.[84][85] There is at least one case in Israel of a hyena associating and cooperating with a wolf pack. It is proposed that the hyena could benefit from the wolves' superior ability to hunt large, agile prey. The wolves could benefit from the hyena's superior sense of smell, to locate and dig out tortoises, to crack open large bones, and to tear open discarded food containers like tin cans.[86]
+
+
+
+The wolf is a social animal.[36] Its populations consist of packs and lone wolves, most lone wolves being temporarily alone while they disperse from packs to form their own or join another one.[87] The wolf's basic social unit is the nuclear family consisting of a mated pair accompanied by their offspring.[36] The average pack size in North America is eight wolves and in Europe 5.5 wolves.[43] The average pack across Eurasia consists of a family of eight wolves (two adults, juveniles, and yearlings),[36] or sometimes two or three such families,[40] with examples of exceptionally large packs consisting of up to 42 wolves being known.[88] Cortisol levels in wolves rise significantly when a pack member dies, indicating the presence of stress.[89] During times of prey abundance caused by calving or migration, different wolf packs may join together temporarily.[36]
+
+Offspring typically stay in the pack for 10–54 months before dispersing.[90] Triggers for dispersal include the onset of sexual maturity and competition within the pack for food.[91] The distance travelled by dispersing wolves varies widely; some stay in the vicinity of the parental group, while other individuals may travel great distances of upwards of 206 km (128 mi), 390 km (240 mi), and 670 km (420 mi) from their natal (birth) packs.[92] A new pack is usually founded by an unrelated dispersing male and female, travelling together in search of an area devoid of other hostile packs.[93] Wolf packs rarely adopt other wolves into their fold and typically kill them. In the rare cases where other wolves are adopted, the adoptee is almost invariably an immature animal of one to three years old, and unlikely to compete for breeding rights with the mated pair. This usually occurs between the months of February and May. Adoptee males may mate with an available pack female and then form their own pack. In some cases, a lone wolf is adopted into a pack to replace a deceased breeder.[88]
+
+Wolves are territorial and generally establish territories far larger than they require to survive assuring a steady supply of prey. Territory size depends largely on the amount of prey available and the age of the pack's pups. They tend to increase in size in areas with low prey populations,[94] or when the pups reach the age of six months when they have the same nutritional needs as adults.[95] Wolf packs travel constantly in search of prey, covering roughly 9% of their territory per day, on average 25 km/d (16 mi/d). The core of their territory is on average 35 km2 (14 sq mi) where they spend 50% of their time.[94] Prey density tends to be much higher on the territory's periphery. Except out of desperation, wolves tend to avoid hunting on the fringes of their range to avoid fatal confrontations with neighbouring packs.[96] The smallest territory on record was held by a pack of six wolves in northeastern Minnesota, which occupied an estimated 33 km2 (13 sq mi), while the largest was held by an Alaskan pack of ten wolves encompassing 6,272 km2 (2,422 sq mi).[95] Wolf packs are typically settled, and usually leave their accustomed ranges only during severe food shortages.[36]
+
+Wolves advertise their territories to other packs through howling and scent marking. Scent marking involves urine, feces, and anal gland scents. This is more effective at advertising territory than howling and is often used in combination with scratch marks. Wolves increase their rate of scent marking when they encounter the marks of wolves from other packs. Lone wolves will rarely mark, but newly bonded pairs will scent mark the most.[40] These marks are generally left every 240 m (260 yd) throughout the territory on regular travelways and junctions. Such markers can last for two to three weeks,[95] and are typically placed near rocks, boulders, trees, or the skeletons of large animals.[36] Territorial fights are among the principal causes of wolf mortality, one study concluding that 14–65% of wolf deaths in Minnesota and the Denali National Park and Preserve were due to other wolves.[97]
+
+Wolves communicate to anticipate what their pack mates or other wolves might do next.[98] This includes the use of vocalization, body posture, scent, touch, and taste.[99] The phases of the moon have no effect on wolf vocalization, and despite popular belief, wolves do not howl at the moon.[100] Wolves howl to assemble the pack usually before and after hunts, to pass on an alarm particularly at a den site, to locate each other during a storm, while crossing unfamiliar territory, and to communicate across great distances.[101] Wolf howls can under certain conditions be heard over areas of up to 130 km2 (50 sq mi).[40] Other vocalizations include growls, barks and whines. Wolves do not bark as loudly or continuously as dogs do in confrontations, rather barking a few times and then retreating from a perceived danger.[102] Aggressive or self-assertive wolves are characterized by their slow and deliberate movements, high body posture and raised hackles, while submissive ones carry their bodies low, flatten their fur, and lower their ears and tail.[103] Raised leg urination is considered to be one of the most important forms of scent communication in the wolf, making up 60–80% of all scent marks observed.[104]
+
+Wolves are monogamous, mated pairs usually remaining together for life. Should one of the pair die, another mate is found quickly.[105] With wolves in the wild, inbreeding does not occur where outbreeding is possible.[106] Wolves become mature at the age of two years and sexually mature from the age of three years.[105] The age of first breeding in wolves depends largely on environmental factors: when food is plentiful, or when wolf populations are heavily managed, wolves can rear pups at younger ages to better exploit abundant resources. Females are capable of producing pups every year, one litter annually being the average.[107] Oestrus and rut begin in the second half of winter and lasts for two weeks.[105]
+
+Dens are usually constructed for pups during the summer period. When building dens, females make use of natural shelters like fissures in rocks, cliffs overhanging riverbanks and holes thickly covered by vegetation. Sometimes, the den is the appropriated burrow of smaller animals such as foxes, badgers or marmots. An appropriated den is often widened and partly remade. On rare occasions, female wolves dig burrows themselves, which are usually small and short with one to three openings. The den is usually constructed not more than 500 m (550 yd) away from a water source. It typically faces southwards where it can be better warmed by sunlight exposure, and the snow can thaw more quickly. Resting places, play areas for the pups, and food remains are commonly found around wolf dens. The odor of urine and rotting food emanating from the denning area often attracts scavenging birds like magpies and ravens. Though they mostly avoid areas within human sight, wolves have been known to nest near domiciles, paved roads and railways.[108] During pregnancy, female wolves remain in a den located away from the peripheral zone of their territories, where violent encounters with other packs are less likely to occur.[109]
+
+The gestation period lasts 62–75 days with pups usually being born in the spring months or early summer in very cold places such as on the tundra. Young females give birth to four to five young, and older females from six to eight young and up to 14. Their mortality rate is 60–80%.[110] Newborn wolf pups look similar to German Shepherd Dog pups.[111] They are born blind and deaf and are covered in short soft grayish-brown fur. They weigh 300–500 g (10 1⁄2–17 3⁄4 oz) at birth and begin to see after nine to 12 days. The milk canines erupt after one month. Pups first leave the den after three weeks. At one-and-a-half months of age, they are agile enough to flee from danger. Mother wolves do not leave the den for the first few weeks, relying on the fathers to provide food for them and their young. Pups begin to eat solid food at the age of three to four weeks. They have a fast growth rate during their first four months of life: during this period, a pup's weight can increase nearly 30 times.[110][112] Wolf pups begin play-fighting at the age of three weeks, though unlike young coyotes and foxes, their bites are gentle and controlled. Actual fights to establish hierarchy usually occur at five to eight weeks of age. This is in contrast to young coyotes and foxes, which may begin fighting even before the onset of play behaviour.[113] By autumn, the pups are mature enough to accompany the adults on hunts for large prey.[109]
+
+Single wolves or mated pairs typically have higher success rates in hunting than do large packs; single wolves have occasionally been observed to kill large prey such as moose, bison and muskoxen unaided.[114][115] This contrasts with the commonly held belief that larger packs benefit from cooperative hunting to bring down large game.[115] The size of a wolf hunting pack is related to the number of pups that survived the previous winter, adult survival, and the rate of dispersing wolves leaving the pack. The optimal pack size for hunting elk is four wolves, and for bison a large pack size is more successful.[116]
+
+As well as their physical adaptations for hunting hoofed mammals, wolves possess certain behavioural, cognitive, and psychological adaptations to assist with their hunting lifestyle. Wolves are excellent learners that match or outperform domestic dogs. They can use gaze to focus attention on where other wolves are looking. This is important because wolves do not use vocalization when hunting. In laboratory tests, they appear to exhibit insight, foresight, understanding, and the ability to plan. [117] To survive, wolves must be able to solve two problems—finding a prey animal, then confronting it.[117]
+
+Wolves move around their territory when hunting, using the same trails for extended periods. After snowfalls, wolves find their old trails and continue using them. These follow the banks of rivers, the shorelines of lakes, through ravines overgrown with shrubs, through plantations, or roads and human paths.[118] Wolves are nocturnal predators. During the winter, a pack will commence hunting in the twilight of early evening and will hunt all night, traveling tens of kilometres. Sometimes hunting large prey occurs during the day. During the summer, wolves generally tend to hunt individually, ambushing their prey and rarely giving pursuit.[119]
+
+The wolf usually travels at a loping pace, placing one of its paws directly in front of the other. This gait can be maintained for hours at a rate of 8–9 km/h (5.0–5.6 mph).[120] On bare paths, a wolf can quickly achieve speeds of 50–60 km/h (31–37 mph). The wolf has a running gait of 55–70 km/h (34–43 mph), can leap 5 m (16 ft) horizontally in a single bound, and can maintain rapid pursuit for at least 20 minutes.[92] A wolf's foot is large and flexible, which allows it to tread on a wide variety of terrain. A wolf's legs are long compared to their body size allowing them to travel up to 76 km (47 mi) in 12 hours. This adaptation allows wolves to locate prey within hours, but it can take days to find prey that can be killed without great risk. Moose and deer live singly in the summer. Caribou live in herds of thousands which presents dangers for wolves. Elk live in small herds and these are a safer target.[117]
+
+A wolf carries its head at the same level as its back, lifting it only when alert.[36] In one study, wolves detected moose using scent ten times, vision six times, and once by following tracks in the snow. Their vision is as good as a human's, and they can smell prey at least 2.4 km (1 1⁄2 mi) away. One wolf travelled to a herd 103 km (64 mi) away. A human can detect the smell of a forest fire over the same distance from downwind. The wolf's sense of smell is at least comparable to that of the domestic dog, which is at least 10,000 times more sensitive than a human's.[117]
+
+When hunting large gregarious prey, wolves will try to isolate an individual from its group.[121] If successful, a wolf pack can bring down game that will feed it for days, but one error in judgement can lead to serious injury or death. Most large prey have developed defensive adaptations and behaviours. Wolves have been killed while attempting to bring down bison, elk, moose, muskoxen, and even by one of their smallest hoofed prey, the white-tailed deer.[117] Although people often believe that wolves can easily overcome any of their prey, their success rate in hunting hoofed prey is usually low.[122]
+
+Generally, bison, elk, and moose will stand their ground, then the wolves must struggle with them to bring them down. Often caribou and deer will flee, but sometimes deer also make a stand. With smaller prey like beaver, geese, and hares, there is no risk to the wolf.[117] If the targeted animal stands its ground, wolves either ignore it, or try to intimidate it into running.[114] Wolves, or even a wolf on its own, will attempt to frighten a herd into panicking and dispersing.[123]
+
+When wolves encounter prey that flees, they give chase. The speed of sprinting prey is closely related to the speed of their main predators. Wolves can run at 56–64 km/h (35–40 mph) across several kilometres and will often pursue prey for at least 1 km (1⁄2 mi). One wolf chased a caribou for 8 km (5 mi), another chased and tracked a deer for 20 km (12 mi), and one 11-year-old wolf chased and caught an Arctic hare after seven minutes. Most wolf prey will try to run to water, where they will either escape or be better placed to attempt to ward off the wolves.[117]
+
+The wolf must give chase and gain on its fleeing prey, slow it down by biting through thick hair and hide, and then disable it enough to begin feeding.[117] After chasing and then confronting a large prey animal, the wolf makes use of its 6 cm (2 1⁄2 in) fangs and its powerful masseter muscles to deliver a bite force of 28 kg/cm2 (400 lbf/in2), which is capable of breaking open the skulls of many of its prey animals. The wolf leaps at its quarry and tears at it. One wolf was observed being dragged for dozens of metres attached to the hind leg of a moose; another was seen being dragged over a fallen log while attached to a bull elk's nose.[116]
+
+The most common point of wolf attacks on moose is the upper hind legs.[124][125][126] Hind leg wounds are inflicted from the rear, midway up the hock with the canine teeth. These leave gaping skin perforations over 4 cm (1 1⁄2 in) in diameter. Although blood loss, muscle damage, and tendon exposure may occur, there is no evidence of hamstringing. Attacks also occur on the fleshy nose, the back and sides of the neck, the ears, and the perineum.[126] Wolves may wound large prey and then lie around resting for hours before killing it when it is weaker due to blood loss, thereby lessening the risk of injury to themselves.[127]
+
+With medium-sized prey, such as roe deer or sheep, wolves kill by biting the throat, severing nerve tracks and the carotid artery, thus causing the animal to die within a few seconds to a minute. With small, mouselike prey, wolves leap in a high arc and immobilize it with their forepaws.[128] When prey is vulnerable and abundant, wolves may occasionally surplus kill. Such instances are common with domestic animals, but rare with wild prey. In the wild, surplus killing occurs primarily during late winter or spring, when snow is unusually deep (thus impeding the movements of prey)[129] or during the denning period, when den bound wolves require a ready supply of meat.[130] Medium-sized prey are especially vulnerable to surplus killing, as the swift throat-biting method allows wolves to kill one animal quickly and move on to another.[128]
+
+Once prey is brought down, wolves begin to feed excitedly, ripping and tugging at the carcass in all directions, and bolting down large chunks of it.[131] The breeding pair typically monopolizes food to continue producing pups. When food is scarce, this is done at the expense of other family members, especially non-pups.[132] The breeding pair typically eats first. They usually work the hardest at killing prey, and may rest after a long hunt and allow the rest of the family to eat undisturbed. Once the breeding pair has finished eating, the rest of the family tears off pieces of the carcass and transports them to secluded areas where they can eat in peace. Wolves typically commence feeding by consuming the larger internal organs, like the heart, liver, lungs, and stomach lining. The kidneys and spleen are eaten once they are exposed, followed by the muscles.[133] A wolf can eat 15–19% of its body weight in a single feeding.[61]
+
+Viral diseases carried by wolves include: rabies, canine distemper, canine parvovirus, infectious canine hepatitis, papillomatosis, and canine coronavirus.[134] Wolves are a major host for rabies in Russia, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and India.[135] In wolves, the incubation period is eight to 21 days, and results in the host becoming agitated, deserting its pack, and travelling up to 80 km (50 mi) a day, thus increasing the risk of infecting other wolves. Infected wolves do not show any fear of humans, most documented wolf attacks on people being attributed to rabid animals. Although canine distemper is lethal in dogs, it has not been recorded to kill wolves, except in Canada and Alaska. The canine parvovirus, which causes death by dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and endotoxic shock or sepsis, is largely survivable in wolves, but can be lethal to pups. Wolves may catch infectious canine hepatitis from dogs, though there are no records of wolves dying from it. Papillomatosis has been recorded only once in wolves, and likely does not cause serious illness or death, though it may alter feeding behaviours. The canine coronavirus has been recorded in Alaskan wolves, infections being most prevalent in winter months.[134]
+
+Bacterial diseases carried by wolves include: brucellosis, Lyme disease, leptospirosis, tularemia, bovine tuberculosis,[136] listeriosis and anthrax.[135] Wolves can catch Brucella suis from wild and domestic reindeer. While adult wolves tend not to show any clinical signs, it can severely weaken the pups of infected females. Although lyme disease can debilitate individual wolves, it does not appear to significantly affect wolf populations. Leptospirosis can be contracted through contact with infected prey or urine, and can cause fever, anorexia, vomiting, anemia, hematuria, icterus, and death. Wolves living near farms are more vulnerable to the disease than those living in the wilderness, probably because of prolonged contact with infected domestic animal waste. Wolves may catch tularemia from lagomorph prey, though its effect on wolves is unknown. Although bovine tuberculosis is not considered a major threat to wolves, it has been recorded to have killed two wolf pups in Canada.[136]
+
+Wolves carry ectoparasites and endoparasites; those in the former Soviet Union have been recorded to carry at least 50 species.[135] Most of these parasites infect wolves without adverse effects, though the effects may become more serious in sick or malnourished specimens.[137] Parasitic infection in wolves is of particular concern to people. Wolves can spread them to dogs, which in turn can carry the parasites to humans. In areas where wolves inhabit pastoral areas, the parasites can be spread to livestock.[135]
+
+Wolves are often infested with a variety of arthropod exoparasites, including fleas, ticks, lice, and mites. The most harmful to wolves, particularly pups, is the mange mite (Sarcoptes scabiei),[137] though they rarely develop full-blown mange, unlike foxes.[36] Lice, such as Trichodectes canis, may cause sickness in wolves, but rarely death. Ticks of the genus Ixodes can infect wolves with Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.[137] The tick Dermacentor pictus also infests wolves. Other ectoparasites include chewing lice, sucking lice and the fleas Pulex irritans and Ctenocephalides canis.[36]
+
+Endoparasites known to infect wolves include: protozoans and helminths (flukes, tapeworms, roundworms and thorny-headed worms). Of 30,000 protozoan species, only a few have been recorded to infect wolves: Isospora, Toxoplasma, Sarcocystis, Babesia, and Giardia.[137] Some wolves carry Neospora caninum, which can be spread to cattle and is correlated with bovine miscarriages.[138] Among flukes, the most common in North American wolves is Alaria, which infects small rodents and amphibians that are eaten by wolves. Upon reaching maturity, Alaria migrates to the wolf's intestine, but does little harm. Metorchis conjunctus, which enters wolves through eating fish, infects the wolf's liver or gall bladder, causing liver disease, inflammation of the pancreas, and emaciation. Most other fluke species reside in the wolf's intestine, though Paragonimus westermani lives in the lungs. Tapeworms are commonly found in wolves, as their primary hosts are ungulates, small mammals, and fish, which wolves feed upon. Tapeworms generally cause little harm in wolves, though this depends on the number and size of the parasites, and the sensitivity of the host. Symptoms often include constipation, toxic and allergic reactions, irritation of the intestinal mucosa, and malnutrition. Infections by the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus in ungulate populations tend to increase in areas with high wolf densities, as wolves can shed Echinoccocus eggs in their feces onto grazing areas.[137]
+
+Wolves can carry over 30 roundworm species, though most roundworm infections appear benign, depending on the number of worms and the age of the host. Ancylostoma caninum attaches itself on the intestinal wall to feed on the host's blood, and can cause hyperchromic anemia, emaciation, diarrhea, and possibly death. Toxocara canis, a hookworm known to infect wolf pups in the uterus, can cause intestinal irritation, bloating, vomiting, and diarrhea. Wolves may catch Dioctophyma renale from minks, which infects the kidneys, and can grow to lengths of 100 cm (40 in). D. renale causes the complete destruction of the kidney's functional tissue and can be fatal if both kidneys are infected. Wolves can tolerate low levels of Dirofilaria immitis for many years without showing any ill effects, though high levels can kill wolves through cardiac enlargement and congestive hepatopathy. Wolves probably become infected with Trichinella spiralis by eating infected ungulates. Although T. spiralis is not known to produce clinical signs in wolves, it can cause emaciation, salivation, and crippling muscle pains in dogs. Thorny-headed worms rarely infect wolves, though three species have been identified in Russian wolves: Nicolla skrjabini, Macrocantorhynchus catulinus, and Moniliformis moniliformis.[137]
+
+The global wild wolf population in 2003 was estimated at 300,000.[139] Wolf population declines have been arrested since the 1970s. This has fostered recolonization and reintroduction in parts of its former range as a result of legal protection, changes in land use, and rural human population shifts to cities. Competition with humans for livestock and game species, concerns over the danger posed by wolves to people, and habitat fragmentation pose a continued threat to the wolf. Despite these threats, the IUCN classifies the wolf as Least Concern on its Red List due to its relatively widespread range and stable population. The species is listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in its Appendix II, indicating that it is not threatened with extinction. However, those wolf populations living in Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan are listed in its Appendix I, indicating that these may become extinct without restrictions on their trade.[2]
+
+In Canada, 50,000–60,000 wolves live in 80% of their historical range, making Canada an important stronghold for the species.[40] Under Canadian law, First Nations people can hunt wolves without restrictions, but others must acquire licenses for the hunting and trapping seasons. As many as 4,000 wolves may be harvested in Canada each year.[140] The wolf is a protected species in national parks under the Canada National Parks Act.[141] In Alaska, 7,000–11,000 wolves are found on 85% of the state's 1,517,733 km2 (586,000 sq mi). Wolves may be hunted or trapped with a license; around 1,200 wolves are harvested annually.[142]
+
+In the contiguous United States, wolf declines were caused by the expansion of agriculture, the decimation of the wolf's main prey species like the American bison, and extermination campaigns.[40] Wolves were given protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, and have since returned to parts of their former range thanks to both natural recolonizations and reintroductions.[143] Wolf populations in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan number over 4,000 as of 2018.[144] Wolves also occupy much of the northern Rocky Mountains region, with at least 1,704 wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming as of 2015. They have also established populations in Washington and Oregon.[145] In Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States, the Mexican and U.S. governments collaborated from 1977 to 1980 in capturing all Mexican wolves remaining in the wild to prevent their extinction and established captive breeding programs for reintroduction.[146] As of 2018, there were 230 Mexican wolves living in Mexico, 64 in Arizona, 67 in New Mexico, and 240 in captive breeding programs in both countries.[147]
+
+Europe, excluding Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, has 17,000 wolves in more than 28 countries.[148] In the European Union, the wolf is strictly protected under the 1979 Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Appendix II) and the 1992 Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (Annex II and IV). There is extensive legal protection in many European countries, although there are national exceptions and enforcement is variable and often non-existent.[2]
+
+Wolves have been persecuted in Europe for centuries, having been exterminated in Great Britain by 1684, in Ireland by 1770, in Central Europe by 1899, in France by the 1930s, and in much of Scandinavia by the early 1970s. They continued to survive in parts of Finland, Southern Europe, and Eastern Europe.[149] Since 1980, European wolves have rebounded and expanded into parts of their former range. The decline of the traditional pastoral and rural economies seems to have ended the need to exterminate the wolf in parts of Europe.[140] As of 2016, estimates of wolf numbers include: 4,000 in the Balkans, 3,460–3,849 in the Carpathian Mountains, 1,700–2,240 in the Baltic states, 1,100–2,400 in the Italian peninsula, and around 2,500 in the northwest Iberian peninsula as of 2007.[148]
+
+In the former Soviet Union, wolf populations have retained much of their historical range despite Soviet-era large scale extermination campaigns. Their numbers range from 1,500 in Georgia, to 20,000 in Kazakhstan and up to 45,000 in Russia.[150] In Russia, the wolf is regarded as a pest because of its attacks on livestock, and wolf management means controlling their numbers by destroying them throughout the year. Russian history over the past century shows that reduced hunting leads to an abundance of wolves.[151] The Russian government has continued to pay bounties for wolves and annual harvests of 20-30% do not appear to significantly affect their numbers.[152]
+
+During the 19th century, wolves were widespread in many parts of the Holy Land east and west of the Jordan River, but decreased considerably in number between 1964 and 1980, largely due to persecution by farmers.[153] In the Middle East, only Israel and Oman give wolves explicit legal protection.[154] Israel has protected its wolves since 1954 and has maintained a moderately sized population of 150 through effective enforcement of conservation policies. These wolves have moved into neighboring countries. Approximately 300–600 wolves inhabit the Arabian Peninsula.[155] The wolf also appears to be widespread in Iran.[156] Turkey has an estimated population of about 7,000 wolves.[157] Outside of Turkey, wolf populations in the Middle East may total 1,000–2,000.[154]
+
+In southern Asia, the northern regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan are important strongholds for wolves. The wolf has been protected in India since 1972.[158] Hindus traditionally considered the hunting of wolves, even dangerous ones, as taboo, for fear of causing a bad harvest. The Santals considered them fair game, as they did every other forest-dwelling animal.[159] During British rule in India, wolves were not considered game species, and were killed primarily in response to them attacking game herds, livestock, and people.[160] The Indian wolf is distributed across the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.[161] As of 2019, it is estimated that there are around 2,000–3,000 Indian wolves in the country.[162] In East Asia, Mongolia's population numbers 10,000–20,000. In China, Heilongjiang has roughly 650 wolves, Xinjiang has 10,000 and Tibet has 2,000.[163] 2017 evidence suggests that wolves range across all of mainland China.[164] Wolves have been historically persecuted in China[165] but have been legally protected since 1998.[166] The last Japanese wolf was captured and killed in 1905.[167]
+
+The wolf is a common motif in the mythologies and cosmologies of peoples throughout its historical range. The Ancient Greeks associated wolves with Apollo, the god of light and order.[168] The Ancient Romans connected the wolf with their god of war and agriculture Mars,[169] and believed their city's founders, Romulus and Remus, were suckled by a she-wolf.[170] Norse mythology includes the feared giant wolf Fenrir, eldest child of Loki and the giantess Angrboda,[171] and Geri and Freki, Odin's faithful pets.[172] The wolf was held in high esteem by the Dacians, who viewed it as the lord of all animals and as the only effective defender against evil.[173]
+
+In the Pawnee creation myth, the wolf was the first animal brought to Earth. When humans killed it, they were punished with death, destruction and the loss of immortality.[174] For the Pawnee, Sirius is the "wolf star" and its disappearance and reappearance signified the wolf moving to and from the spirit world. Both the Pawnee and Blackfoot call the Milky Way the "wolf trail".[175] The wolf is also an important totem animal for the Tlingit and Tsimshian.[176] In Chinese astronomy, the wolf represents Sirius as the "blue beast" and the star itself is called the "heavenly wolf".[177] In China, the wolf was traditionally associated with greed and cruelty and wolf epithets were used to describe negative behaviours such as cruelty ("wolf's heart"), mistrust ("wolf's look") and lechery ("wolf-sex").[178]
+
+Tengrism places high importance on the wolf, as it is thought that, when howling, it is praying to Tengri, thus making it the only creature other than man to worship a deity.[179] In both Hinduism and Buddhism, the wolf is ridden by gods of protection. In Vedic Hinduism, the wolf is a symbol of the night and the daytime quail must escape from its jaws.[178] In Hindu mythology, Krishna, to convince the people of Vraja to migrate to Vṛndāvana, creates hundreds of wolves from his hairs, which frighten the inhabitants of Vraja into making the journey.[180] In Tantric Buddhism, wolves are depicted as inhabitants of graveyards and destroyers of corpses.[178] In Zoroastrianism, the wolf has been demonized as the creation of Ahriman.[181]
+
+The concept of people turning into wolves has been present in many cultures. One Greek myth tells of Lycaon of Arcadia being transformed into a wolf by Zeus as punishment for his evil deeds.[182] The legend of the werewolf has been widespread in European folklore and involves people willingly turning into wolves to attack and kill others.[183] The Navajo have traditionally believed that witches would turn into wolves by donning wolf skins and would kill people and raid graveyards.[184] The Dena'ina believed wolves were once men and viewed them as brothers.[168] Similarly, in Turkic mythology wolves were believed to be the ancestors of their people.[185]
+
+Aesop featured wolves in several of his fables, playing on the concerns of Ancient Greece's settled, sheep-herding world. His most famous is the fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", which is directed at those who knowingly raise false alarms, and from which the idiomatic phrase "to cry wolf" is derived. Some of his other fables concentrate on maintaining the trust between shepherds and guard dogs in their vigilance against wolves, as well as anxieties over the close relationship between wolves and dogs. Although Aesop used wolves to warn, criticize and moralize about human behaviour, his portrayals added to the wolf's image as a deceitful and dangerous animal.[186] The Bible contains 13 references to wolves, usually as metaphors for greed and destructiveness. In the New Testament, Jesus is said to have used wolves as illustrations of the dangers his followers, whom he represents as sheep, would face should they follow him.(Matthew 7:15, Matthew 10:16 and Acts 20:29).[187] In the Jataka tales the wolf is portrayed as a trickster, including one story in which it makes a hunter stop playing dead by pulling on his club.[188] In another story, the wolf tricks and eats some rats by pretending to be lame but is foiled by the chief rat.[189]
+
+Isengrim the wolf, a character first appearing in the 12th-century Latin poem Ysengrimus, is a major character in the Reynard Cycle, where he stands for the low nobility, whilst his adversary, Reynard the fox, represents the peasant hero. Isengrim is forever the victim of Reynard's wit and cruelty, often dying at the end of each story.[190] The tale of "Little Red Riding Hood", first written in 1697 by Charles Perrault, is considered to have further contributed to the wolf's negative reputation in the Western world. The Big Bad Wolf is portrayed as a villain capable of imitating human speech and disguising itself with human clothing. The character has been interpreted as an allegorical sexual predator.[191] Villainous wolf characters also appear in The Three Little Pigs and "The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats".[192] The hunting of wolves, and their attacks on humans and livestock, feature prominently in Russian literature, and are included in the works of Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Nikolay Nekrasov, Ivan Bunin, Leonid Pavlovich Sabaneyev, and others. Tolstoy's War and Peace and Chekhov's Peasants both feature scenes in which wolves are hunted with hounds and Borzois.[193] The musical Peter and the Wolf involves a wolf being captured for eating a farm duck, but is spared and sent to a zoo.[194]
+
+Wolves are among the central characters of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. His portrayal of wolves has been praised posthumously by wolf biologists for his depiction of them: rather than being villainous or gluttonous, as was common in wolf portrayals at the time of the book's publication, they are shown as living in amiable family groups and drawing on the experience of infirm but experienced elder pack members.[195] Farley Mowat's largely fictional 1963 memoir Never Cry Wolf is widely considered to be the most popular book on wolves, having been adapted into a Hollywood film and taught in several schools decades after its publication. Although credited with having changed popular perceptions on wolves by portraying them as loving, cooperative and noble, it has been criticized for its idealization of wolves and its factual inaccuracies.[196][197][198] Lü Jiamin's 2004 semi-autobiographical novel Wolf Totem uses wolves as symbols of freedom and independence. He associates the Mongolian nomads with wolves and compares the Han Chinese of the present day to sheep, claiming they accept any leadership. As such, the novel has caused controversy with the Chinese Communist Party.[199][200]
+
+The wolf is a frequent charge in English heraldry. It is illustrated as a supporter on the shields of Lord Welby, Rendel, and Viscount Wolseley, and can be found on the coat of arms of Lovett and the vast majority of the Wilsons and Lows. The demi-wolf is a common crest, appearing in the arms and crests of members of many families, including that of the Wolfes, whose crest depicts a demi-wolf holding a crown in its paws, in reference to the assistance the family gave to Charles II during the Battle of Worcester. Wolf heads are common in Scottish heraldry, particularly in the coats of Clan Robertson and Skene. The wolf is the most common animal in Spanish heraldry and is often depicted as carrying a lamb in its mouth, or across its back.[201]
+
+The wolf is featured on the flags of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and the Pawnee.[202] The Chechen wolf has been a symbol of the Chechen Nation.[203] In modern times, the wolf is widely used as an emblem for military and paramilitary groups. It is the unofficial symbol of the spetsnaz, and serves as the logo of the Turkish Gray Wolves. During the Yugoslav Wars, several Serb paramilitary units adopted the wolf as their symbol, including the White Wolves and the Wolves of Vučjak.[204]
+
+Human presence appears to stress wolves, as seen by increased cortisol levels in instances such as snowmobiling near their territory.[205]
+
+Livestock depredation has been one of the primary reasons for hunting wolves and can pose a severe problem for wolf conservation. As well as causing economic losses, the threat of wolf predation causes great stress on livestock producers, and no foolproof solution of preventing such attacks short of exterminating wolves has been found.[206] Some nations help offset economic losses to wolves through compensation programs or state insurance.[207] Domesticated animals are easy prey for wolves, as they have been bred under constant human protection, and are thus unable to defend themselves very well.[208] Wolves typically resort to attacking livestock when wild prey is depleted. In Eurasia, a large part of the diet of some wolf populations consists of livestock, while such incidents are rare in North America, where healthy populations of wild prey have been largely restored.[206]
+
+The majority of losses occur during the summer grazing period, untended livestock in remote pastures being the most vulnerable to wolf predation.[209] The most frequently targeted livestock species are sheep (Europe), domestic reindeer (northern Scandinavia), goats (India), horses (Mongolia), cattle and turkeys (North America).[206] The number of animals killed in single attacks varies according to species: most attacks on cattle and horses result in one death, while turkeys, sheep and domestic reindeer may be killed in surplus.[210] Wolves mainly attack livestock when the animals are grazing, though they occasionally break into fenced enclosures.[211]
+
+A review of the studies on the competitive effects of dogs on sympatric carnivores did not mention any research on competition between dogs and wolves.[212][213] Competition would favour the wolf, which is known to kill dogs; however wolves usually live in pairs or in small packs in areas with high human persecution, giving them a disadvantage facing large groups of dogs.[213][214]
+
+Wolves kill dogs on occasion, and some wolf populations rely on dogs as an important food source. In Croatia, wolves kill more dogs than sheep, and wolves in Russia appear to limit stray dog populations. Wolves may display unusually bold behaviour when attacking dogs accompanied by people, sometimes ignoring nearby humans. Wolf attacks on dogs may occur both in house yards and in forests. Wolf attacks on hunting dogs are considered a major problem in Scandinavia and Wisconsin.[206][215] The most frequently killed hunting breeds in Scandinavia are Harriers, older animals being most at risk, likely because they are less timid than younger animals, and react to the presence of wolves differently. Large hunting dogs such as Swedish Elkhounds are more likely to survive wolf attacks because of their better ability to defend themselves.[215]
+
+Although the number of dogs killed each year by wolves is relatively low, it induces a fear of wolves' entering villages and farmyards to prey on them. In many cultures, dogs are seen as family members, or at least working team members, and losing one can lead to strong emotional responses such as demanding more liberal hunting regulations.[213]
+
+Dogs that are employed to guard sheep help to mitigate human–wolf conflicts, and are often proposed as one of the non-lethal tools in the conservation of wolves.[213][216] Shepherd dogs are not particularly aggressive, but they can disrupt potential wolf predation by displaying what is to the wolf ambiguous behaviours, such as barking, social greeting, invitation to play or aggression. The historical use of shepherd dogs across Eurasia has been effective against wolf predation,[213][217] especially when confining sheep in the presence of several livestock guardian dogs.[213][218] Shepherd dogs are sometimes killed by wolves.[213]
+
+The fear of wolves has been pervasive in many societies, though humans are not part of the wolf's natural prey.[219] How wolves react to humans depends largely on their prior experience with people: wolves lacking any negative experience of humans, or which are food-conditioned, may show little fear of people.[220] Although wolves may react aggressively when provoked, such attacks are mostly limited to quick bites on extremities, and the attacks are not pressed.[219]
+
+Predatory attacks may be preceded by a long period of habituation, in which wolves gradually lose their fear of humans. The victims are repeatedly bitten on the head and face, and are then dragged off and consumed unless the wolves are driven off. Such attacks typically occur only locally and do not stop until the wolves involved are eliminated. Predatory attacks can occur at any time of the year, with a peak in the June–August period, when the chances of people entering forested areas (for livestock grazing or berry and mushroom picking) increase.[219] Cases of non-rabid wolf attacks in winter have been recorded in Belarus, Kirov and Irkutsk oblasts, Karelia and Ukraine. Also, wolves with pups experience greater food stresses during this period.[36] The majority of victims of predatory wolf attacks are children under the age of 18 and, in the rare cases where adults are killed, the victims are almost always women.[219] Indian wolves have a history of preying on children, a phenomenon called "child-lifting". They may be taken primarily in the summer period in the evening hours, and often within human settlements.[221]
+
+Cases of rabid wolves are low when compared to other species, as wolves do not serve as primary reservoirs of the disease, but can be infected by animals such as dogs, jackals and foxes. Incidents of rabies in wolves are very rare in North America, though numerous in the eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Central Asia. Wolves apparently develop the "furious" phase of rabies to a very high degree. This, coupled with their size and strength, makes rabid wolves perhaps the most dangerous of rabid animals.[219] Bites from rabid wolves are 15 times more dangerous than those of rabid dogs.[222] Rabid wolves usually act alone, travelling large distances and often biting large numbers of people and domestic animals. Most rabid wolf attacks occur in the spring and autumn periods. Unlike with predatory attacks, the victims of rabid wolves are not eaten, and the attacks generally occur only on a single day. The victims are chosen at random, though most cases involve adult men. During the fifty years up to 2002, there were eight fatal attacks in Europe and Russia, and more than two hundred in southern Asia.[219]
+
+Theodore Roosevelt said wolves are difficult to hunt because of their elusiveness, sharp senses, high endurance, and ability to quickly incapacitate and kill a dog.[223] Historic methods included killing of spring-born litters in their dens, coursing with dogs (usually combinations of sighthounds, Bloodhounds and Fox Terriers), poisoning with strychnine, and trapping.[224][225]
+
+A popular method of wolf hunting in Russia involves trapping a pack within a small area by encircling it with fladry poles carrying a human scent. This method relies heavily on the wolf's fear of human scents, though it can lose its effectiveness when wolves become accustomed to the odor. Some hunters can lure wolves by imitating their calls. In Kazakhstan and Mongolia, wolves are traditionally hunted with eagles and falcons, though this practice is declining, as experienced falconers are becoming few in number. Shooting wolves from aircraft is highly effective, due to increased visibility and direct lines of fire.[225] Several types of dog, including the Borzoi and Kyrgyz Tajgan, have been specifically bred for wolf hunting.[213]
+
+Wolves and wolf-dog hybrids are sometimes kept as exotic pets. Although closely related to domestic dogs, wolves do not show the same tractability as dogs in living alongside humans, being generally less responsive to human commands and more likely to act aggressively. A person is more likely to be fatally mauled by a pet wolf or wolf-dog hybrid than by a dog.[226]
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+Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species.[1] Human cannibalism is well documented, both in ancient and in recent times.[2]
+
+The rate of cannibalism increases in nutritionally poor environments as individuals turn to conspecifics as an additional food source.[3] Cannibalism regulates population numbers, whereby resources such as food, shelter and territory become more readily available with the decrease of potential competition. Although it may benefit the individual, it has been shown that the presence of cannibalism decreases the expected survival rate of the whole population and increases the risk of consuming a relative.[3] Other negative effects may include the increased risk of pathogen transmission as the encounter rate of hosts increases.[4] Cannibalism, however, does not—as once believed—occur only as a result of extreme food shortage or of artificial/unnatural conditions, but may also occur under natural conditions in a variety of species.[1][5][6]
+
+Cannibalism is prevalent in aquatic ecosystems, in which up to approximately 90% of the organisms[vague] engage in cannibalistic activity at some point in their life-cycle.[vague][7] Cannibalism is not restricted to carnivorous species: it also occurs in herbivores and in detritivores.[vague][5] Sexual cannibalism normally involves the consumption of the male by the female individual before, during or after copulation.[3] Other forms of cannibalism include size-structured cannibalism and intrauterine cannibalism.
+
+Behavioural, physiological and morphological adaptations have evolved to decrease the rate of cannibalism in individual species.[3]
+
+In environments where food availability is constrained, individuals can receive extra nutrition and energy if they use other conspecific individuals as an additional food source. This would, in turn, increase the survival rate of the cannibal and thus provide an evolutionary advantage in environments where food is scarce.[8] A study conducted on wood frog tadpoles showed that those that exhibited cannibalistic tendencies had faster growth rates and higher fitness levels than non-cannibals.[9] An increase of size and growth would give them the added benefit of protection from potential predators such as other cannibals and give them an advantage when competing for resources.[3]
+
+The nutritional benefits of cannibalism may allow for the more efficient conversion of a conspecific diet into reusable resources than a fully herbaceous diet; as herbaceous diets may consist of excess elements which the animal has to expend energy to get rid of.[10] This facilitates for faster development; however, a trade-off may occur as there may be less time to ingest these acquired resources. Studies have shown that there is a noticeable size difference between animals fed on a high conspecific diet which were smaller compared to those fed on a low conspecific diet.[10]  Hence, individual fitness could only be increased if the balance between developmental rate and size is balanced out, with studies showing that this is achieved in low conspecific diets.[10]
+
+Cannibalism regulates population numbers and benefits the cannibalistic individual and its kin as resources such as extra shelter, territory and food are freed; thereby increasing the fitness of the cannibal;[8] by lowering crowding effects.[11] However, this is only the case if the cannibal recognizes its own kin as this won't hinder any future chances of perpetuating its genes in future generations. The elimination of competition can also increase mating opportunities, allowing further spread of an individual's genes.
+
+Animals which have diets consisting of predominantly conspecific prey  expose themselves to a greater risk of injury and expend more energy foraging for suitable prey as compared to non-cannibalistic species.[3]
+
+In order to combat the risk of personal injury, a predator often targets younger or more vulnerable prey.[citation needed] However, the time necessitated by such selective predation could result in a failure to meet the predator's self-set nutritional requirements.[12] In addition, the consumption of conspecific prey may also involve the ingestion of defense compounds and hormones, which have the capacity to  impact the developmental growth of the cannibal's offspring.[10] Hence, predators normally partake in a cannibalistic diet in conditions where alternative food sources are absent or not as readily available.
+
+Failure to recognize kin prey is also a disadvantage, provided cannibals target and consume younger individuals. For example, a male stickleback fish may often mistake their own "eggs" for their competitor's eggs, and hence would inadvertently eliminate some of its own genes from the available gene pool.[3] Kin recognition has been observed in tadpoles of the spadefoot toad, whereby cannibalistic tadpoles of the same clutch tended to avoid consuming and harming siblings, while eating other non-siblings.[13]
+
+The act of cannibalism may also facilitate trophic disease transmission within a population, though cannibalistically spread pathogens and parasites generally employ alternative modes of infection.[4]
+
+Cannibalism can potentially reduce the prevalence of parasites in the population by decreasing the number of susceptible hosts and indirectly killing the parasite in the host.[14] It has been shown in some studies that the risk of encountering an infected victim increases when there is a higher cannibalism rate, though this risk drops as the number of available hosts decreases.[14] However, this is only the case if the risk of disease transmission is low.[4] Cannibalism is an ineffective method of disease spread as cannibalism in the animal kingdom is normally a one-on-one interaction, and the spread of disease requires group cannibalism; thereby it is rare for a disease to have evolved to rely solely on cannibalism to spread. Usually there are different means of transmission, such as with direct contact, maternal transmission, coprophagy, and necrophagy with different species.[4] Infected individuals are more likely to be consumed than non-infected individuals, thus some research has suggested that the spread of disease may be a limiting factor to the prevalence of cannibalism in the population.[14]
+
+Some examples of diseases transmitted by cannibalism in mammals include Kuru which is a prion disease that degenerates the brain.[4] This disease was prevalent in Papua New Guinea where tribes practiced endocannibalism in cannibalistic funeral rituals and consume the brains infected by these prions.[15] It is a cerebellar dysfunctional disease which has symptoms including a broad-based gait and decreased motor activity control; however, the disease has a long incubation rate and symptoms may not appear until years later.[15]
+
+Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease is another prion disease which is usually caused by feeding contaminated bovine tissue to other cattle.[16] It is a neurodegenerative disease and could be spread to humans if the individual were to consume contaminated beef. The spread of parasites such as nematodes may also be facilitated by cannibalism as eggs from these parasites are transferred more easily from one host to another.[4]
+
+Other forms of diseases include sarcocystis and iridovirus in reptiles and amphibians; granulosus virus, chagas disease, and microsporidia in insects; stained prawn disease, white pot syndrome, helminthes and tapeworms in crustaceans and fish.[4]
+
+Cannibalism may become apparent when direct competition for limited resources forces individuals to use other conspecific individuals as an additional resource to maintain their metabolic rates.[3] Hunger drives individuals to increase their foraging rates, which in turn decreases their attack threshold and tolerance to other conspecific individuals. As resources dwindle, individuals are forced to change their behaviour which may lead to animal migration,[17] confrontation, or cannibalism.[3]
+
+Cannibalism rates increase with increasing population density as it becomes more advantageous to prey on conspecific organisms than to forage in the environment.[3] This is because the encounter rate between predator and prey increases, making cannibalism more convenient and beneficial than foraging within the environment. Over time, the dynamics within the population change as those with cannibalistic tendencies may receive additional nutritional benefits and increase the size ratio of predator to prey.[18] The presence of smaller prey, or prey which are at a vulnerable stage of their life cycle, increases the chances of cannibalism occurring due to the reduced risk of injury.[19] A feedback loop occurs when increasing rates of cannibalism decreases population densities, leading to an increased abundance of alternative food sources; making it more beneficial to forage within the environment than for cannibalism to occur.[3] When population numbers and foraging rates increase, the carrying capacity for that resource in the area may be reached, thus forcing individuals to look for other resources such as conspecific prey.
+
+Sexual cannibalism is present largely in spiders and other invertebrates, including gastropods.[3] This refers to the killing and consumption of conspecific sexual partners during courtship, and during or after copulation. Normally, it is the female which consumes the conspecific male organism, though there have been some reported cases of the male consuming the adult female, however, this has only been recorded under laboratory conditions.[3][20][21] Sexual cannibalism has been recorded in the female redback spider, black widow spider, praying mantis, and scorpion, among others.
+
+In most species of spiders, the consumption of the male individual occurs before copulation and the male fails to transfer his sperm into the female.[3] This may be due to mistaken identity such as in the case of the orb weaving spider which holds little tolerance to any spider which is present in its web and may mistake the vibrations for those of a prey item.[3] Other reasons for male consumption before mating may include female choice and the nutritional advantages of cannibalism.[22] The size of the male spider may play a part in determining its reproductive success as smaller males are less likely to be consumed during pre-copulation; however, larger males may be able to prevent the smaller ones from gaining access to the female.[22]
+There exists a conflict of interest between males and females, as females may be more inclined to turn to cannibalism as a source of nutritional intake while the male's interest is mostly focused on ensuring paternity of the future generations.[3] It was found that cannibalistic females produced offspring with greater survival rates than non-cannibalistic females, as cannibals produced greater clutches and larger egg sizes.[23] Hence, species such as the male dark fishing spider of the family Dolomedes self-sacrifice and spontaneously die during copulation to facilitate their own consumption by the female, thereby increasing the chance of survivorship of future offspring.[24]
+
+Sexual dimorphism has been theorised to have arisen from sexual selection as smaller males were captured more easily than larger males; however, it is also possible that sexual cannibalism only occurs due to the difference in size between male and females.[3] Data comparing female and male spider body length shows that there is little support for the prior theory as there is not much correlation between body size and the presence of sexual cannibalism. Not all species of spiders which partake in sexual cannibalism exhibit size dimorphism.[3]
+
+The avoidance of sexual cannibalism is present in many male species to increase their rate of survival, whereby the male uses cautionary methods to lower the risk of his consumption.[3] Male orb weaving spiders would often wait for females to moult or to finish eating before attempting to initiate mating, as the females are less likely to attack.[3] Males which are vulnerable to post-copulation consumption may gather mating thread to generate a mechanical tension which they could use to spring away after insemination, while other spiders such as the crab spider may tangle the female's legs in webs to reduce the risk of the female capturing him.[3] Male choice is common in mantids whereby males were observed to choose fatter females due to the reduced risk of attack and were more hesitant to approach starved females.[25]
+
+Size-structured cannibalism is cannibalism in which older, larger, more mature individuals consume smaller, younger conspecifics. In size-structured populations, (where populations are made of individuals of various sizes, ages, and maturities), cannibalism can be responsible for 8% (Belding's ground squirrel) to 95% (dragonfly larvae) of the total mortality,[1] making it a significant and important factor for population[26] and community dynamics.[27]
+
+Size-structured cannibalism has commonly been observed in the wild for a variety of taxa. Vertebrate examples include chimpanzees, where groups of adult males have been observed to attack and consume infants.[28][29][30]
+
+Filial cannibalism is a specific type of size-structured cannibalism in which adults eat their own offspring.[31] Although most often thought of as parents eating live young, filial cannibalism includes parental consumption of stillborn infants and miscarried fetuses as well as infertile and still-incubating eggs. Vertebrate examples include pigs, where savaging accounts for a sizable percentage of total piglet deaths, and cats.[32]
+
+Filial cannibalism is particularly common in teleost fishes, appearing in at least seventeen different families of teleosts.[33] Within this diverse group of fish, there have been many, variable explanations of the possible adaptive value of filial cannibalism. One of these is the energy-based hypothesis, which suggests that fish eat their offspring when they are low on energy as an investment in future reproductive success.[31] This has been supported by experimental evidence, showing that male three-spined sticklebacks,[31][34][35] male tessellated darters,[36] and male sphinx blenny fish[37] all consume or absorb their own eggs to maintain their physical conditions. In other words, when males of a fish species are low on energy, it might sometimes be beneficial for them to feed on their own offspring to survive and invest in future reproductive success.
+
+Another hypothesis as to the adaptive value of filial cannibalism in teleosts is that it increases density-dependent egg survivorship. In other words, filial cannibalism simply increases overall reproductive success by helping the other eggs make it to maturity by thinning out the numbers. Possible explanations as to why this is so include increasing oxygen availability to the remaining eggs,[38] the negative effects of accumulating embryo waste,[39] and predation.[39]
+
+In some species of eusocial wasps, such as Polistes chinensis, the reproducing female will kill and feed younger larvae to her older brood. This occurs under food stressed conditions in order to ensure that the first generation of workers emerges without delay.[40]
+Further evidence also suggests that occasionally filial cannibalism might be the unfortunate by-product of cuckoldry in fish. Males consume broods, which may include their own offspring, when they believe a certain percentage of the brood contains genetic material that is not theirs.[34][41]
+
+It is not always the parent that cannibalises the offspring, in some spiders mothers have been observed to feed themselves to their brood as the ultimate provision from mother to children, known as matriphagy.[42]
+
+The dinosaur Coelophysis was once suspected to practice this form of cannibalism but this turned out to be wrong, although Deinonychus may have done. Skeletal remains from subadults with missing parts are suspected of having been eaten by other Deinonychus, mainly full-grown adults.
+
+Infanticide is the killing of a non-adult animal by an adult of the same species. Infanticide is often, but not always, accompanied by cannibalism. It is often displayed in lions; a male lion encroaching on the territory of a rival pride will often kill any existing cubs fathered by other males; this brings the lionesses into heat more quickly, enabling the invading lion to sire his own young. This is a good example of cannibalistic behavior in a genetic context.
+
+In many species of Lepidoptera, such as Cupido minimus and the Indian mealmoth, the first larvae to hatch will consume the other eggs or smaller larvae on the host plant, decreasing competition.[43][44]
+
+Intrauterine cannibalism is a behaviour in some carnivorous species, in which multiple embryos are created at impregnation, but only one or two are born. The larger or stronger ones consume their less-developed siblings as a source of nutrients.
+
+In adelphophagy or embryophagy, the fetus eats sibling embryos, while in oophagy it feeds on eggs.[45][46]
+
+Adelphophagy occurs in some marine gastropods (calyptraeids, muricids, vermetids, and buccinids) and in some marine annelids (Boccardia proboscidia in Spionidae).[47]
+
+Intrauterine cannibalism is known to occur in lamnoid sharks[48] such as the sand tiger shark, and in the fire salamander,[49] as well as in some teleost fishes.[46]  The Carboniferous period chimaera, Delphyodontos dacriformes, is suspected of having practiced intrauterine cannibalism, also, due to the sharp teeth of the recently born (or possibly aborted) juveniles, and the presence of fecal matter in the juveniles' intestines.[50]
+
+Animals have evolved protection to prevent and deter potential predators such as those from their own kind.[3] Many amphibian eggs are gelatinous and toxic to decrease edibility. Often, adults would lay their eggs in crevices, holes, or empty nesting sites to hide their eggs from potential conspecific predators which tend to ingest the eggs for an additional nutritional benefit or to get rid of genetic competition. In amphibians, the development of non-aquatic egg deposition has helped increase the survival rates of their young by the evolution of viviparity or direct development.[3] In bees, worker policing occurs to prohibit worker reproduction, whereby workers cannibalize other worker laid eggs.[51] Queen laid eggs have a different scent than worker laid eggs, allowing workers to differentiate between the two, allowing them to nurture and protect queen laid eggs rather than cannibalising them.[51] Parental presence at nesting sites is also a common method of protection against infanticide committed by conspecific individuals, whereby the parent exhibits defensive displays to ward off potential predators. Parental investment in newborns are generally higher during their early stages of development whereby behaviours such as aggression, territorial behaviour, and pregnancy blocking become more apparent.[3]
+
+Morphological plasticity helps an individual account for different predation stresses, thereby increasing individual survival rates.[52] Japanese brown frog tadpoles have been shown to exhibit morphological plasticity when they are in a high stress environment where cannibalism between tadpoles and more developed individuals were present. Shifting their morphology plays a key role in their survival, creating bulkier bodies when put into environments where more developed tadpoles were present, to make it difficult for the individuals to swallow them whole.[52] Diet shifts between different stages of development have also evolved to decrease competition between each stage, thereby increasing the amount of food availability so that there is a decreased chance that the individuals will turn to cannibalism as an additional food source.[3]
+

en/838.html.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+
+
+Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species.[1] Human cannibalism is well documented, both in ancient and in recent times.[2]
+
+The rate of cannibalism increases in nutritionally poor environments as individuals turn to conspecifics as an additional food source.[3] Cannibalism regulates population numbers, whereby resources such as food, shelter and territory become more readily available with the decrease of potential competition. Although it may benefit the individual, it has been shown that the presence of cannibalism decreases the expected survival rate of the whole population and increases the risk of consuming a relative.[3] Other negative effects may include the increased risk of pathogen transmission as the encounter rate of hosts increases.[4] Cannibalism, however, does not—as once believed—occur only as a result of extreme food shortage or of artificial/unnatural conditions, but may also occur under natural conditions in a variety of species.[1][5][6]
+
+Cannibalism is prevalent in aquatic ecosystems, in which up to approximately 90% of the organisms[vague] engage in cannibalistic activity at some point in their life-cycle.[vague][7] Cannibalism is not restricted to carnivorous species: it also occurs in herbivores and in detritivores.[vague][5] Sexual cannibalism normally involves the consumption of the male by the female individual before, during or after copulation.[3] Other forms of cannibalism include size-structured cannibalism and intrauterine cannibalism.
+
+Behavioural, physiological and morphological adaptations have evolved to decrease the rate of cannibalism in individual species.[3]
+
+In environments where food availability is constrained, individuals can receive extra nutrition and energy if they use other conspecific individuals as an additional food source. This would, in turn, increase the survival rate of the cannibal and thus provide an evolutionary advantage in environments where food is scarce.[8] A study conducted on wood frog tadpoles showed that those that exhibited cannibalistic tendencies had faster growth rates and higher fitness levels than non-cannibals.[9] An increase of size and growth would give them the added benefit of protection from potential predators such as other cannibals and give them an advantage when competing for resources.[3]
+
+The nutritional benefits of cannibalism may allow for the more efficient conversion of a conspecific diet into reusable resources than a fully herbaceous diet; as herbaceous diets may consist of excess elements which the animal has to expend energy to get rid of.[10] This facilitates for faster development; however, a trade-off may occur as there may be less time to ingest these acquired resources. Studies have shown that there is a noticeable size difference between animals fed on a high conspecific diet which were smaller compared to those fed on a low conspecific diet.[10]  Hence, individual fitness could only be increased if the balance between developmental rate and size is balanced out, with studies showing that this is achieved in low conspecific diets.[10]
+
+Cannibalism regulates population numbers and benefits the cannibalistic individual and its kin as resources such as extra shelter, territory and food are freed; thereby increasing the fitness of the cannibal;[8] by lowering crowding effects.[11] However, this is only the case if the cannibal recognizes its own kin as this won't hinder any future chances of perpetuating its genes in future generations. The elimination of competition can also increase mating opportunities, allowing further spread of an individual's genes.
+
+Animals which have diets consisting of predominantly conspecific prey  expose themselves to a greater risk of injury and expend more energy foraging for suitable prey as compared to non-cannibalistic species.[3]
+
+In order to combat the risk of personal injury, a predator often targets younger or more vulnerable prey.[citation needed] However, the time necessitated by such selective predation could result in a failure to meet the predator's self-set nutritional requirements.[12] In addition, the consumption of conspecific prey may also involve the ingestion of defense compounds and hormones, which have the capacity to  impact the developmental growth of the cannibal's offspring.[10] Hence, predators normally partake in a cannibalistic diet in conditions where alternative food sources are absent or not as readily available.
+
+Failure to recognize kin prey is also a disadvantage, provided cannibals target and consume younger individuals. For example, a male stickleback fish may often mistake their own "eggs" for their competitor's eggs, and hence would inadvertently eliminate some of its own genes from the available gene pool.[3] Kin recognition has been observed in tadpoles of the spadefoot toad, whereby cannibalistic tadpoles of the same clutch tended to avoid consuming and harming siblings, while eating other non-siblings.[13]
+
+The act of cannibalism may also facilitate trophic disease transmission within a population, though cannibalistically spread pathogens and parasites generally employ alternative modes of infection.[4]
+
+Cannibalism can potentially reduce the prevalence of parasites in the population by decreasing the number of susceptible hosts and indirectly killing the parasite in the host.[14] It has been shown in some studies that the risk of encountering an infected victim increases when there is a higher cannibalism rate, though this risk drops as the number of available hosts decreases.[14] However, this is only the case if the risk of disease transmission is low.[4] Cannibalism is an ineffective method of disease spread as cannibalism in the animal kingdom is normally a one-on-one interaction, and the spread of disease requires group cannibalism; thereby it is rare for a disease to have evolved to rely solely on cannibalism to spread. Usually there are different means of transmission, such as with direct contact, maternal transmission, coprophagy, and necrophagy with different species.[4] Infected individuals are more likely to be consumed than non-infected individuals, thus some research has suggested that the spread of disease may be a limiting factor to the prevalence of cannibalism in the population.[14]
+
+Some examples of diseases transmitted by cannibalism in mammals include Kuru which is a prion disease that degenerates the brain.[4] This disease was prevalent in Papua New Guinea where tribes practiced endocannibalism in cannibalistic funeral rituals and consume the brains infected by these prions.[15] It is a cerebellar dysfunctional disease which has symptoms including a broad-based gait and decreased motor activity control; however, the disease has a long incubation rate and symptoms may not appear until years later.[15]
+
+Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease is another prion disease which is usually caused by feeding contaminated bovine tissue to other cattle.[16] It is a neurodegenerative disease and could be spread to humans if the individual were to consume contaminated beef. The spread of parasites such as nematodes may also be facilitated by cannibalism as eggs from these parasites are transferred more easily from one host to another.[4]
+
+Other forms of diseases include sarcocystis and iridovirus in reptiles and amphibians; granulosus virus, chagas disease, and microsporidia in insects; stained prawn disease, white pot syndrome, helminthes and tapeworms in crustaceans and fish.[4]
+
+Cannibalism may become apparent when direct competition for limited resources forces individuals to use other conspecific individuals as an additional resource to maintain their metabolic rates.[3] Hunger drives individuals to increase their foraging rates, which in turn decreases their attack threshold and tolerance to other conspecific individuals. As resources dwindle, individuals are forced to change their behaviour which may lead to animal migration,[17] confrontation, or cannibalism.[3]
+
+Cannibalism rates increase with increasing population density as it becomes more advantageous to prey on conspecific organisms than to forage in the environment.[3] This is because the encounter rate between predator and prey increases, making cannibalism more convenient and beneficial than foraging within the environment. Over time, the dynamics within the population change as those with cannibalistic tendencies may receive additional nutritional benefits and increase the size ratio of predator to prey.[18] The presence of smaller prey, or prey which are at a vulnerable stage of their life cycle, increases the chances of cannibalism occurring due to the reduced risk of injury.[19] A feedback loop occurs when increasing rates of cannibalism decreases population densities, leading to an increased abundance of alternative food sources; making it more beneficial to forage within the environment than for cannibalism to occur.[3] When population numbers and foraging rates increase, the carrying capacity for that resource in the area may be reached, thus forcing individuals to look for other resources such as conspecific prey.
+
+Sexual cannibalism is present largely in spiders and other invertebrates, including gastropods.[3] This refers to the killing and consumption of conspecific sexual partners during courtship, and during or after copulation. Normally, it is the female which consumes the conspecific male organism, though there have been some reported cases of the male consuming the adult female, however, this has only been recorded under laboratory conditions.[3][20][21] Sexual cannibalism has been recorded in the female redback spider, black widow spider, praying mantis, and scorpion, among others.
+
+In most species of spiders, the consumption of the male individual occurs before copulation and the male fails to transfer his sperm into the female.[3] This may be due to mistaken identity such as in the case of the orb weaving spider which holds little tolerance to any spider which is present in its web and may mistake the vibrations for those of a prey item.[3] Other reasons for male consumption before mating may include female choice and the nutritional advantages of cannibalism.[22] The size of the male spider may play a part in determining its reproductive success as smaller males are less likely to be consumed during pre-copulation; however, larger males may be able to prevent the smaller ones from gaining access to the female.[22]
+There exists a conflict of interest between males and females, as females may be more inclined to turn to cannibalism as a source of nutritional intake while the male's interest is mostly focused on ensuring paternity of the future generations.[3] It was found that cannibalistic females produced offspring with greater survival rates than non-cannibalistic females, as cannibals produced greater clutches and larger egg sizes.[23] Hence, species such as the male dark fishing spider of the family Dolomedes self-sacrifice and spontaneously die during copulation to facilitate their own consumption by the female, thereby increasing the chance of survivorship of future offspring.[24]
+
+Sexual dimorphism has been theorised to have arisen from sexual selection as smaller males were captured more easily than larger males; however, it is also possible that sexual cannibalism only occurs due to the difference in size between male and females.[3] Data comparing female and male spider body length shows that there is little support for the prior theory as there is not much correlation between body size and the presence of sexual cannibalism. Not all species of spiders which partake in sexual cannibalism exhibit size dimorphism.[3]
+
+The avoidance of sexual cannibalism is present in many male species to increase their rate of survival, whereby the male uses cautionary methods to lower the risk of his consumption.[3] Male orb weaving spiders would often wait for females to moult or to finish eating before attempting to initiate mating, as the females are less likely to attack.[3] Males which are vulnerable to post-copulation consumption may gather mating thread to generate a mechanical tension which they could use to spring away after insemination, while other spiders such as the crab spider may tangle the female's legs in webs to reduce the risk of the female capturing him.[3] Male choice is common in mantids whereby males were observed to choose fatter females due to the reduced risk of attack and were more hesitant to approach starved females.[25]
+
+Size-structured cannibalism is cannibalism in which older, larger, more mature individuals consume smaller, younger conspecifics. In size-structured populations, (where populations are made of individuals of various sizes, ages, and maturities), cannibalism can be responsible for 8% (Belding's ground squirrel) to 95% (dragonfly larvae) of the total mortality,[1] making it a significant and important factor for population[26] and community dynamics.[27]
+
+Size-structured cannibalism has commonly been observed in the wild for a variety of taxa. Vertebrate examples include chimpanzees, where groups of adult males have been observed to attack and consume infants.[28][29][30]
+
+Filial cannibalism is a specific type of size-structured cannibalism in which adults eat their own offspring.[31] Although most often thought of as parents eating live young, filial cannibalism includes parental consumption of stillborn infants and miscarried fetuses as well as infertile and still-incubating eggs. Vertebrate examples include pigs, where savaging accounts for a sizable percentage of total piglet deaths, and cats.[32]
+
+Filial cannibalism is particularly common in teleost fishes, appearing in at least seventeen different families of teleosts.[33] Within this diverse group of fish, there have been many, variable explanations of the possible adaptive value of filial cannibalism. One of these is the energy-based hypothesis, which suggests that fish eat their offspring when they are low on energy as an investment in future reproductive success.[31] This has been supported by experimental evidence, showing that male three-spined sticklebacks,[31][34][35] male tessellated darters,[36] and male sphinx blenny fish[37] all consume or absorb their own eggs to maintain their physical conditions. In other words, when males of a fish species are low on energy, it might sometimes be beneficial for them to feed on their own offspring to survive and invest in future reproductive success.
+
+Another hypothesis as to the adaptive value of filial cannibalism in teleosts is that it increases density-dependent egg survivorship. In other words, filial cannibalism simply increases overall reproductive success by helping the other eggs make it to maturity by thinning out the numbers. Possible explanations as to why this is so include increasing oxygen availability to the remaining eggs,[38] the negative effects of accumulating embryo waste,[39] and predation.[39]
+
+In some species of eusocial wasps, such as Polistes chinensis, the reproducing female will kill and feed younger larvae to her older brood. This occurs under food stressed conditions in order to ensure that the first generation of workers emerges without delay.[40]
+Further evidence also suggests that occasionally filial cannibalism might be the unfortunate by-product of cuckoldry in fish. Males consume broods, which may include their own offspring, when they believe a certain percentage of the brood contains genetic material that is not theirs.[34][41]
+
+It is not always the parent that cannibalises the offspring, in some spiders mothers have been observed to feed themselves to their brood as the ultimate provision from mother to children, known as matriphagy.[42]
+
+The dinosaur Coelophysis was once suspected to practice this form of cannibalism but this turned out to be wrong, although Deinonychus may have done. Skeletal remains from subadults with missing parts are suspected of having been eaten by other Deinonychus, mainly full-grown adults.
+
+Infanticide is the killing of a non-adult animal by an adult of the same species. Infanticide is often, but not always, accompanied by cannibalism. It is often displayed in lions; a male lion encroaching on the territory of a rival pride will often kill any existing cubs fathered by other males; this brings the lionesses into heat more quickly, enabling the invading lion to sire his own young. This is a good example of cannibalistic behavior in a genetic context.
+
+In many species of Lepidoptera, such as Cupido minimus and the Indian mealmoth, the first larvae to hatch will consume the other eggs or smaller larvae on the host plant, decreasing competition.[43][44]
+
+Intrauterine cannibalism is a behaviour in some carnivorous species, in which multiple embryos are created at impregnation, but only one or two are born. The larger or stronger ones consume their less-developed siblings as a source of nutrients.
+
+In adelphophagy or embryophagy, the fetus eats sibling embryos, while in oophagy it feeds on eggs.[45][46]
+
+Adelphophagy occurs in some marine gastropods (calyptraeids, muricids, vermetids, and buccinids) and in some marine annelids (Boccardia proboscidia in Spionidae).[47]
+
+Intrauterine cannibalism is known to occur in lamnoid sharks[48] such as the sand tiger shark, and in the fire salamander,[49] as well as in some teleost fishes.[46]  The Carboniferous period chimaera, Delphyodontos dacriformes, is suspected of having practiced intrauterine cannibalism, also, due to the sharp teeth of the recently born (or possibly aborted) juveniles, and the presence of fecal matter in the juveniles' intestines.[50]
+
+Animals have evolved protection to prevent and deter potential predators such as those from their own kind.[3] Many amphibian eggs are gelatinous and toxic to decrease edibility. Often, adults would lay their eggs in crevices, holes, or empty nesting sites to hide their eggs from potential conspecific predators which tend to ingest the eggs for an additional nutritional benefit or to get rid of genetic competition. In amphibians, the development of non-aquatic egg deposition has helped increase the survival rates of their young by the evolution of viviparity or direct development.[3] In bees, worker policing occurs to prohibit worker reproduction, whereby workers cannibalize other worker laid eggs.[51] Queen laid eggs have a different scent than worker laid eggs, allowing workers to differentiate between the two, allowing them to nurture and protect queen laid eggs rather than cannibalising them.[51] Parental presence at nesting sites is also a common method of protection against infanticide committed by conspecific individuals, whereby the parent exhibits defensive displays to ward off potential predators. Parental investment in newborns are generally higher during their early stages of development whereby behaviours such as aggression, territorial behaviour, and pregnancy blocking become more apparent.[3]
+
+Morphological plasticity helps an individual account for different predation stresses, thereby increasing individual survival rates.[52] Japanese brown frog tadpoles have been shown to exhibit morphological plasticity when they are in a high stress environment where cannibalism between tadpoles and more developed individuals were present. Shifting their morphology plays a key role in their survival, creating bulkier bodies when put into environments where more developed tadpoles were present, to make it difficult for the individuals to swallow them whole.[52] Diet shifts between different stages of development have also evolved to decrease competition between each stage, thereby increasing the amount of food availability so that there is a decreased chance that the individuals will turn to cannibalism as an additional food source.[3]
+

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+
+The Republic and canton of Geneva (French: République et canton de Genève; Arpitan: Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; German: Republik und Kanton Genf; Italian: Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; Romansh: Republica e chantun Genevra) is the French-speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). As is the case in several other Swiss cantons (canton of Ticino, canton of Neuchâtel, and canton of Jura), this canton is referred to as a republic within the Swiss Confederation.
+
+The canton of Geneva is located in the southwestern corner of Switzerland and is considered one of the most cosmopolitan areas of the country. As a center of the Calvinist Reformation, the city of Geneva has had a great influence on the canton, which essentially consists of the city and its hinterlands.
+
+Geneva was controlled by the Allobroges tribe until 121 BC.
+
+It was annexed to the Roman Empire in 121 BC and remained part of it until 443.
+
+In 443, Burgundians took over Geneva.
+
+In 532, the land controlled by Burgundians became part of the Frankish Empire.
+
+Geneva became a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy in 888.
+
+Geneva became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in 1032 and officially remained in it until the Peace of Westphalia.
+
+The Prince-Bishopric of Geneva was a Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire from 1154, but from 1290, secular authority over the citizens was divided from the bishop's authority, at first only lower jurisdiction, the office of vidame given to François de Candie in 1314, but from 1387 the bishops granted the citizens of Geneva full communal self-government.
+
+As from 1416, the Dukes of Savoy attempted to annex the city, both by claiming secular authority and by installing members of the Savoy dynasty as bishops, the city sought assistance in allying itself with the Old Swiss Confederacy.
+
+The Republic of Geneva existed, depending on sources, either from 1534 [3], or from November 30, 1541[4], when the General Council ratified the ecclesiastical ordinances of John Calvin, until April 26, 1798, when it was annexed by France, and then from December 31, 1813, until May 19, 1815, during the Restauration of the Republic. It was given a constitution (Édits civils) in 1543, and it effectively functioned as a Protestant theocracy. The Republic of Geneva reinforced its alliance to the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederacy, becoming an "everlasting ally" in 1584.
+
+The French Revolution reached Geneva in 1792, and in February 1794, the Republic gave itself a new, revolutionary constitution which proclaimed the equality of all citizens. After the death of Robespierre in July of the same year, there was a counter-revolution, which gained the upper hand by 1796.
+
+Robespierre's death prompted the French invasion of 1798, and the annexation of Geneva which became the capital of the French département du Léman.
+
+The Napoleonic army left Geneva on December 30, 1813, and on the next day the return of the Republic (Restauration de la République) was proclaimed.
+
+Geneva finally joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815 as the 22nd canton, having been enlarged by French and Savoyard territories at the Congress of Vienna (see Restoration and Regeneration).
+
+The area of the canton of Geneva is 282 square kilometers (108.9 sq mi). The canton is surrounded on almost all sides by France (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) and bordered by the Swiss canton of Vaud on the northeast. The adjoining French départements are Ain (to the west) and Haute-Savoie (to the south and east). The current boundaries of the canton were established in 1815.
+
+There are 45 municipalities in the canton (As of 2017[update]).[5]
+
+Geneva does not have any administrative districts. There are 13 cities with a population of over 10,000 as of 2018:[2]
+
+The constitution of the canton was established in 1847 and has, since then, been amended several times. The cantonal executive government (Conseil d'État) has seven members, who are elected for five years.
+
+The last regular election for the legislation 2018-2023 were held on 15 April 2018 and 6 May 2018.[6]
+
+Michèle Righetti is the chancellor of the canton (Chancilière d'Etat) since 2018.
+
+Le Grand Conseil of canton of Geneva for the mandate period of 2018-2023[8]
+
+The legislature, the Grand Council (Grand Conseil), has 100 seats, with deputies elected for four years at a time.[9]
+
+The last election was held on 15 April 2018.[10]
+
+In a similar way to what happens at the Federal level, any change to the Constitution is subject to compulsory referendum. In addition, any law can be subject to a referendum if it is demanded by 7,000 persons entitled to vote,[11] and 10,000 persons may also propose a new law.[12]
+
+The Republique and canton of Geneva has 11 seats in the National Council. On 18 October 2015, in the federal election the most popular party was The Liberals (PLR/FDP) which received three seats with 20.5% of the votes. The next two most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (PS/SP) with also 3 seats (19.9%), followed by UDC/SVP with two seats (17.6%), and the Christian Democratic People's Party (PDC/CVP) (12.1%), Green Party (PES/GPS) (11.5%), and the Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG) (7.9%) each with one seat. In the federal election, a total of 106,852 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 42.9%.[13]
+
+On 8/16 November 2015, in the federal election, Councilor Liliane Maury Pasquier, member of the Social Democratic Party (PS/SP), was re-elected in the second round as Conseillère des États of the canton of Geneva with a majority of 44,215 votes. She is part of the Council of States (French: Conseil des États) since 2007. Councilor Robert Cramer, member of the Green Party (PES/GPS), was re-elected in the second round with a majority of 42,075 votes. He is part of the Council of States since 2007.[14]
+
+The population of the canton (as of 31 December 2018) is 499,480.[2]  As of 2013[update], the population included 194,623 foreigners from 187 different nations, or about 40.1% of the total population.[2]
+
+The population of the canton, as of December 2013[update], contained 168,505 people originally from Geneva (35.4%) and 112,878 Swiss from other cantons (23.7%). About 73% of foreigners came from Europe (EU28: 64.4%), 9.1% from Africa, 9.0% from the Americas, and 8.5% from Asia.[2] Including people holding multiple citizenship, 54.4% of people living in Geneva held a foreign passport.[16]
+
+In 2014, the predominant language of Geneva was French, spoken by 81.04% of the population at home; the next largest home languages were English (10.84%), Portuguese (9.89%), Spanish (7.82%) and German (5.32%); respondents were permitted to report more than one language.[17]
+
+As home of Calvin's Reformation, the canton of Geneva has traditionally been a Protestant Christian stronghold. However, over the latter part of the 20th century, the proportion of Roman Catholics (220,139 people or 44.5% as of 2017[update]) in the total population rose, in large part due to immigration from Southern Europe, and now they outnumber members of the Swiss Reformed Church (65,629 people or 13.3% as of 2017[update]) in the canton by far; there has also been an increasing tendency in the Swiss population toward becoming religiously unaffiliated.[18] However, the canton is still officially considered Protestant. The surrounding regions of France are mostly Roman Catholic.
+
+In 2012, 5.4% of the Genevan population (aged 15 years and older) belonged to other Christian groups, 5.5% were Muslims, and 5.9% belonged to other religious groups.[19][20] The remainder of the population was religiously unaffiliated or did not answer the census question.
+
+The city of Geneva dominates the economy of the canton. It is a center of commerce, trade and finance. Geneva is of international significance also as a financial center. A great number of Swiss banks are located in Geneva, particularly in the area of private banking. It is also a major global center for commodities trading, including oil, metals and foodstuff.
+
+The service industry is most significant in Geneva where there are headquarters of a number of international corporations and organizations, such as the United Nations and the International Labour Organization. Agriculture is commonplace in the hinterlands of Geneva, particularly wheat and wine. Precision machinery and instruments are other branches where the economy of the canton of Geneva is strong. This is also reflected in the tradition of watchmaking in Geneva.
+
+Most of the main roads in the canton of Geneva radiate from the capital city of Geneva. Of these main roads, a great number lead into France rather than other Swiss cantons. The canton is served by an international airport at Cointrin (Geneva International Airport), which only has one terminal. There are many railway services including commuter, intercity regional, and international mostly originating from Geneve Cornavin Station in Geneva. The services are operated by the Swiss Federal Railways, SNCF (France's national rail), and Trenitalia. Since 1984 the French high-speed trains (TGV) come to Geneva. In 1964, the canton of Geneva was connected to the Swiss highway system and in 1970 to that of France.
+
+The main educational institution is the University of Geneva, founded in 1559 by John Calvin. It was originally called Schola Genevensis. The original buildings are no longer used by the University, and is now used by Collège Calvin.
+
+The Jeûne genevois is a public holiday specific to Geneva, celebrated on the Thursday following the first Sunday of September.
+
+L'Escalade, or Fête de l'Escalade (from escalade, the act of scaling defensive walls), is an annual festival held in December in Geneva, Switzerland, celebrating the defeat of the surprise attack by troops sent by Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy during the night of 11–12 December 1602 (Old style). The celebrations and other commemorative activities are usually held on 12 December or the closest weekend.

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+Eid al-Fitr (/iːd əl ˈfɪtər/ eed əl FIT-ər; Arabic: عيد الفطر‎ ʻĪd al-Fiṭr, IPA: [ʕiːd al fitˤr]),[4] (sometimes known as Eid ul-Fitr), also called the "Festival of Breaking the Fast", is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.[5] This religious Eid is the only day in the month of Shawwal during which Muslims are not permitted to fast. The date for the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on when the new moon is sighted by local religious authorities, so the day of celebration varies by locality.
+
+Eid al-Fitr has a particular salat (Islamic prayer) that consists of two rakats (units) generally performed in an open field or large hall. It may only be performed in congregation (jamāʿat) and features six additional Takbirs (raising of the hands to the ears while saying "Allāhu ʾAkbar", meaning "God is the greatest") in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam: three at the start of the first rakat and three just before rukūʿ in the second rakat.[6] Other Sunni schools usually have twelve Takbirs, similarly split in groups of seven and five. In Shia Islam, the salat has six Takbirs in the first rakat at the end of qira'a, before rukūʿ, and five in the second.[7] Depending on the juristic opinion of the locality, this salat is either farḍ فرض (obligatory), mustaḥabb مستحب (strongly recommended) or mandūb مندوب (preferable).
+
+Eid al-Fitr was originated by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to certain traditions, these festivals were initiated in Medina after the migration of Muhammad from Mecca. Anas, a well-known companion of the Prophet, narrated that, when the Prophet arrived in Medina, he found people celebrating two specific days in which they entertained themselves with recreation and merriment. At this, the Prophet remarked that Almighty has fixed two days of festivity instead of these for you which are better than these: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.[8]
+
+Traditionally, Eid al-Fitr begins at sunset on the night of the first sighting of the crescent moon. If the moon is not observed immediately after the 29th day of the previous lunar month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the holiday is celebrated the following day.[9] Eid al-Fitr is celebrated for one to three days, depending on the country.[10] It is forbidden to fast on the Day of Eid, and a specific prayer is nominated for this day.[11] As an obligatory act of charity, money is paid to the poor and the needy (Arabic: Zakat-ul-fitr) before performing the ‘Eid prayer.[12][better source needed]
+
+The Eid prayer is performed in congregation in open areas like fields, community centers, or mosques.[10] No call to prayer is given for this Eid prayer, and it consists of only two units of prayer with a variable amount of Takbirs and other prayer elements depending on the branch of Islam observed.The Eid prayer is followed by the sermon and then a supplication asking for Allah's forgiveness, mercy, peace and blessings for all living beings across the world. The sermon also instructs Muslims as to the performance of rituals of Eid, such as the zakat.[13] The sermon of Eid takes place after the Eid prayer, unlike Friday prayer which comes first before prayer. Some imams believe that listening to the sermon at Eid is optional.[14] After the prayers, Muslims visit their relatives, friends, and acquaintances or hold large communal celebrations in homes, community centers, or rented halls.[10]
+
+As ritual dictates, Sunnis praise Allah in a loud voice while going to the Eid prayer: Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Lā ilāha illà l-Lāh wal-Lāhu akbar, Allahu akbar walil-Lāhi l-ḥamd. Recitation ceases when they get to the place of Eid or once the Imam commences activities.[15]
+
+The prayer starts by doing "Niyyat" for the prayer and then Takbir is said by the Imam and his followers. Next, "Takbeer-e-Tehreema" is recited, followed by Allahu Akbar three times, raising hands to the ears and dropping them each time, except for the last when the hands are folded. Then the Imam reads the Surah-e-Fatiha and other Surah. Then the congregation performs Ruku and Sujud as in other prayers. This completes the first rakat. The congregation rises up and folds their hands for the second rakat., during which the Imam recites Surah Fatiha and another Surah. After this, three Takbirs are called out just before the Ruku, each time raising hands to the ears and dropping them. For the fourth time, the congregation says Allah o Akbar and subsequently goes into the Ruku. The rest of the prayer is completed in the regular manner. This completes the Eid prayer. After the prayer there is a khutbah.[16]
+
+Prayer starts with the Niyyat followed by five Takbirs. During every Takbir of the first rakat, a special Dua is recited. Then, the Imam recites Sūrat al-Fātiḥah and Surat Al-'A`lá and the congregation performs Ruku and Sujud as in other prayers. In the second Rakat, the same above steps (five Takbeers, Sūrat al-Fātiḥah and Surat Al-'A`lá, Ruku and Sujud) are repeated. After the prayer, Khutbah starts.[17]
+
+Jordanians decorate their homes and prepare sumptuous meals for family and friends. They prepare new clothes and shoes for the festival. Eid festivities in Jordan may vary culturally depending on the region, but one common thread in all celebrations is generosity and hospitality. It is a common Jordanian tradition for families to gather at the patriarchal home after the Eid prayers. Before the special Eid meal is served, young children will line up in front of each adult family member, who dispense money as gifts to the children.
+
+Saudis decorate their homes and prepare sumptuous meals for family and friends. They prepare new clothes and shoes for the festival. Eid festivities in Saudi Arabia may vary culturally depending on the region, but one common thread in all celebrations is generosity and hospitality. It is a common Saudi tradition for families to gather at the patriarchal home after the Eid prayers. Before the special Eid meal is served, young children will line up in front of each adult family member, who dispense money as gifts to the children.[18]
+
+In Iran, at the last days of the month of Ramadan, several groups of experts representing the office of Ayatollah Khamenei go to the different zones of the country to determine the date of Eid al-Fitr.[19] Iranian Muslims take part in the Eid al-Fitr prayer and pay the Zakat al-Fitr.[20] The Eid al-Fitr prayer, and the following sermon, has been led by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Grand Prayer Grounds (Mossalla).[21][22] The celebration is typically marked by a one- or two-day national holiday.[23]
+
+In Turkey, nationwide celebrated holidays are referred to as bayram, and Eid al-Fitr is referred to as both Şeker Bayramı ("Bayram of Sweets") and Ramazan Bayramı ("Ramadan Bayram"). It is a time for people to attend prayer services, put on their best clothes (referred to as bayramlık, often purchased just for the occasion), visit all their loved ones (such as relatives, neighbors, and friends), and pay their respects to the deceased with organised visits to cemeteries. It is also customary for young children to go around their neighborhood, door to door, and wish everyone a "Happy Bayram", for which they are awarded candy, chocolates, traditional sweets such as baklava and Turkish Delight, or a small amount of money at every door.[24]
+
+In the predominantly Sunni Muslim culture of Afghanistan, Eid al-Fitr holds significant importance and is celebrated widely for three days. The most common greeting is Kochnai Akhtar (Blessed Eid) in the Pashto-speaking community. Afghans start preparing for the Eid al-Fitr festival up to ten days prior by cleaning their homes (called Khana Takani in Dari). Afghans visit their local bazaars to buy new clothes, sweets, and snacks including Jelabi (Jalebi), Shor-Nakhod (made with chickpeas), and Cake wa Kolcha (a simple cake, similar to pound cake). On the day of Eid al-Fitr, Afghans will first offer their Eid prayers and then gather in their homes with their families, greeting one another by saying "Eid Mubarak" and usually adding "Eidet Mobarak Roza wa Namazet Qabool Dakhel Hajiha wa Ghaziha," which means "Happy Eid to you; may your fasting and prayers be accepted by Allah, and may you be counted among those who will go to the Hajj-pilgrimage." Family elders will give money and gifts to children. It is also common practice to visit families and friends, which may be difficult to do at other times of the year. Children walk from home to home saying "Khala Eidet Mubarak" ("aunt happy Eid"), and they receive cookies or Pala. At night, multiple campfires are set around houses, sometimes to the point that entire valleys may initially appear to be engulfed in flame. Celebratory fire with automatic rifles, particularly tracer rounds, can also be expected in high density.[25]
+
+Egyptians spend the first day of Eid al-Fitr to gather all family members and celebrate the Eid at public gardens. It is customary for children to also receive an Eidi, a small sum of money to be spent on activities throughout the Eid.[26] Egyptians like to celebrate with others, so the streets are always crowded during the days and nights of Eid.[27]
+
+There were several accounts of a heightened number of sexual assaults and rapes during the 2006 Egyptian Eid.[28][29][30][31] Subsequent reports indicated that the phenomenon continued to grow in following years.[32][33][34][35] One Egyptian journalist wrote "The Eid al-Fitr holiday following this year's Ramadan brought its usual share of sexual harassment".[36] Operation Anti Sexual Harassment, an Egyptian organisation founded to protect against sexual assaults, described Eid al-Fitr as a "season for harassment",[37] and the prevalence of such attacks "a trend that has become associated with Eid al-Fitr celebrations in recent years".[34] Despite this rise, sexual assault and "intrigue" with women during Eid al-Fitr dates back to the early 19th century, as Edward Lane alludes to.[38] In 2013, allegations, the discussion of which was considered taboo,[39] surfaced in Cairo and Tanta.[40][41][42] 2014 saw lower rates of attempted harassment, and activists reported more confidence since the amendment of the penal code.[43] 141 police reports for harassment were filed in Cairo in 2015, though this number may underestimate the issue as many reports were reportedly withdrawn.[44] Despite a reduction to 120 complaints and 35 arrests for harassment in 2016,[45] many women still find it necessary to take significant precautions during Eid.[46] 2018 showed continued evidence of reduction.[47]
+
+Since 2012, Tunisia celebrates Eid for three days (with preparations starting several days earlier), two of which are national holidays. Special biscuits, including Baklawa and several kinds of "ka'ak", are made to give to friends and relatives on the day.[48]
+
+In Somalia and other Islamic parts of the Horn region, Eid al-Fitr is observed by the Muslim communities. Celebrations marking the event are typically accompanied by elaborate banquets, where special dishes such as xalwo (halwo) and buskut (buskuit) are served.[49]
+
+In Cape Town, hundreds of Muslims—each with something to share with others at the time of the breaking of the fast—gather at Green Point in the evening of the last day of Ramadan for the sighting of the moon. The Maghrib (sunset) prayer is then performed in congregation and the formal moon-sighting results are announced thereafter.[50]
+
+In Sudan, where 97% of the population is Muslim,[51] preparations for Eid begin the last few days of Ramadan. For days, ka'ak (sugar powdered cookies), bettifour (dry baked goods including dainty biscuits, baked meringues and macaroons—whose name are derived from the French petit four), and popcorn are baked in large batches to serve to guests and to give to family and friends; dressy Eid clothes are either shopped for or sewn; girls and women decorate their hands and feet with henna; and parts of the house may even be painted. The night before Eid, the whole household partakes in cleaning the house and yard and setting out the finest bedsheets, table cloths, and decorations. On the day of Eid, men and boys (and occasionally women and girls) will attend the Eid prayer. For the next 3 days, families will then visit each other, extended family, neighbors, and close friends. In these short visits, the baked goods, chocolates, and sweets are served, and often large lunches are prepared for the visiting well-wishers. Children are given gifts, either in the form of toys or money.[52]
+
+Special celebratory dishes in India include Lachcha or sivayyan, a dish of fine, toasted sweet vermicelli noodles with milk and dried fruit (see Sheer khurma).[53]
+
+In Pakistan, Eid al-Fitr is also referred to as both میٹھی عید‎, mīṭhī īd, 'Sweet Eid' and چھوٹی عید‎, chhotī īd, 'the Lesser Eid'.[54] People are supposed to give obligatory charity on behalf of each of their family members to the needy or poor before Eid day or, minimally, Eid prayer, allowing for all to share in the joy of Eid. At home, family members enjoy special Eid breakfast with various types of sweets and desserts, including Kheer and the traditional dessert Sheer Khurma, which is made of vermicelli, milk, butter, dry fruits, and dates. Eid is mainly enjoyed by the kids, as they mostly receive money in cash called "Eidi" as gift from their relatives and elders.[55] People tend to get fresh and crisp banknotes to gift children with. State Bank of Pakistan issues fresh currency notes every year for this purpose.[56]
+
+The preparation for Eid in Bangladesh starts from the last quarter of the holy month of Ramadan. The markets and shopping malls become overwhelmed with people. Those who live away from their families for their job or livelihood, they return to their home towns and villages to celebrate the festival with family members and relatives. In the Chaand Raat children gather at the open field to see the Hilal (crescent moon) of the month of Shawwal. Girls decorate their hands with Mehndi. Like other South Asian countries, Lachcha (Vermicelli) are served with Roti as breakfast in Bangladesh. Then people attend the Eid prayer in Eidgah. Children do salam by touching the legs of the elderly members of the family. And elders give them a small amount of money which is known as "Salami" or "Eidi (gift)", which is a major part of Eid happiness for children. Delicious dishes like Biryani, Polao, Korma etc are served in the dining table. Wealthy Muslims in Bangladesh also distribute Zakat alms to the poor people. People visit the house of relatives and greet each other saying "Eid Mubarak" (Happy Eid).[57]
+
+Eid is known in Indonesia as Hari Raya Idul Fitri, or more popularly as Lebaran, and is a national holiday.[58] People return to their home town or city (an exodus known as mudik) to celebrate with their families and to ask forgiveness from parents, in-laws, and other elders.[59] Festivities start the night before with chanting the Takbir and lighting lamps. On the day itself, after Eid prayer in the morning, zakat alms for the poor are distributed in the mosques. People gather with family and neighbors in traditional clothing and have a special Lebaran meal. Children are given money in colourful envelopes.[60] Later, it is common for Muslims in Indonesia to visit the graves of relatives to ritually clean the grave. Muslims also visit the living in a special ritual called Halal bi-Halal sometime during or several days after Idul Fitri.[61]
+
+In Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, children are given token sums of money, known as "duit raya" also known as green envelope, from their parents or elders.[62][63]
+
+During Ramadan, in small towns and big villages with significant Muslim populations, Burmese Muslim youth organize singing teams called Jago (meaning "wake up). Jago teams usually do not use musical instruments apart from the occasional use of harmonica mouth organs.[64] The roving groups of singers will take the tunes of popular Hindi movie songs, replaced with Burmese lyrics and invocations about fasting, the principles of Islam, and the benefits of Salat.[65]
+
+Among Muslim Filipinos in the Philippines, Eid al-Fitr is commonly known as Hariraya, Buka, Hariraya Buka, or Hariraya Buka Puasa.[66][67][68] It is also known as Wakas ng Ramadan (literally "End of Ramadan"), Araw ng Raya ("Feast Day"), or Pagtatapos ng Pag-aayuno ("End of the Fast") in Filipino. It was proclaimed a legal holiday for Muslim Filipinos in 1977 by Presidential Decree 1083. In 2002, this was upgraded to a public national holiday by Republic Act 9177. It is also sometimes known by its Malay name "Hari Raya Puasa"; and by its Indonesian name "Lebaran".[69][70][71]
+
+Its beginning is decided by the sighting of the crescent moon (hilal), followed by morning prayers in mosques or public plazas.[72] When this occurs can sometimes differ depending on the regional government. In some places it is based on the physical sighting of the hilal; while in others it is determined by the Regional Darul Ifta’ of Bangsamoro (RDI-BARMM) or the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), especially during cloudy days.[66][73][74]
+
+The sighting of the hilal is traditionally marked by the beating of drums in some regions. In modern times, this has evolved into a noise barrage known as "Mobile Takbir", where celebrants, especially youths, rev their motorcycles or honk their horns while driving through the streets. Guns are also sometimes fired. These practices have been discouraged by the Grand Mufti of Bangsamoro and local government officials as not being in accordance with Islamic teachings as well as being dangerous and causing accidents in the past.[74][75][76]
+
+Hariraya is characterized by the giving of gifts (known as Eidi), food sharing (salu-salo), and visiting the elderly and the sick.[76][77] Food, alms, and basic necessities are also donated to the poor, a practice known as Fitrana or Zakat al-Fitr. This is usually done a day before Eid al-Fitr.[69][78] Various traditional sweet delicacies of the different Muslim Filipino ethnic groups are served for breakfast, including daral, dodol, browas, tinagtag, panyalam, jampok, and so on.[79] Various activities also mark the celebrations, including dancing, boat races, horse races, and carabao fighting in cities and towns with significant Muslim populations. In Metro Manila, the celebrations are usually held at the Manila Golden Mosque and the Quirino Grandstand.[72] The celebration lasts for three days.[73]
+
+In the People's Republic of China, out of 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by at least 10 ethnic groups that are predominantly Muslim. These groups are said to total 18 million according to official statistics, but some observers say the actual number may be much higher. It is also a public holiday in China in certain regions, including two Province Prefecture Level regions, Ningxia and Xinjiang. All residents in these areas, regardless of religion, are entitled to either a one-day or three-day official holiday. Outside the Muslim-majority regions, only Muslims are entitled to a one-day holiday. In Xinjiang province, Eid al-Fitr is even celebrated by the Han Chinese population. During the holiday, supplies of mutton, lamb and beef are distributed to households as part of a welfare program funded by government agencies, public and private institutions, and businesses. In Yunnan, Muslim populations are spread throughout the region. On Eid al-Fitr, however, some devotees may travel to Sayyid 'Ajjal's grave after their communal prayers. There, they will conduct readings from the Quran and clean the tomb, reminiscent of the historic annual Chinese Qingming festival, in which people go to their ancestors' graves, sweep and clean the area, and make food offerings.[citation needed] Finally the accomplishments of the Sayyid 'Ajall will be related in story form, concluded by a special prayer service to honour the hundreds of thousands of Muslims killed during the Panthay Rebellion, and the hundreds killed during the Cultural Revolution.[80]
+
+Eid al-Fitr (i.e. Seker Bayram, Sugar Feast) is celebrated in Greece mainly in the Western Thrace region from the local Muslim minority (Turks, Pomaks and Roma), along with the other two major celebrations, Kurban Bayram (Sacrifice Feast) and Hıdırellez. On the day of the Bayram, family gathers together, wear their best clothes, and celebrate with a common meal, after attending the morning prayer. The women prepare and offer sweets to family and visitors, while small children go around and pay their respects to the elderly by kissing their hands. The elder in turn reward them with candies, sweets, and small amounts of money.[81][82] Local Muslim shopkeepers close their shops this day, while Muslim minority schools have a 5-day holiday for the feast.[82] Some entertainment venues and clubs hold special events for the night of the Bayram.[83]
+
+Although Eid al-Fitr is not a recognized public holiday in the United Kingdom,[84] many schools, businesses, and organisations allow for at least a day's leave to be taken for religious celebrations.[85][86]
+
+In New York City, alternate side parking (street cleaning) regulations are suspended on Eid. Beginning in 2016, New York City Public Schools also remain closed on Eid.[87] In Houston, Texas, the annual prayers are offered at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, organised by the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH). In other states, with smaller Muslim populations, it is common that schools will remain open on Eid al-Fitr.
+
+The United States Postal Service (USPS) has issued several Eid postage stamps, across several years—starting in 2001—honoring "two of the most important festivals in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha." Eid stamps were released in 2001 – 2002, 2006 – 2009, 2011.[88][89][90][91]
+
+Although the date of Eid al-Fitr is always the same in the Islamic calendar, the date in the Gregorian calendar falls approximately 11 days earlier each successive year, since the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Gregorian calendar is solar. Hence if the Eid falls in the first ten days of a Gregorian calendar year, there will be a second Eid in the last ten days of the same Gregorian calendar year, as happened in 2000 CE. The Gregorian date may vary between countries depending on the local visibility of the new moon. Some expatriate Muslim communities follow the dates as determined for their home country, while others follow the local dates of their country of residence.
+
+The following table shows predicted dates and announced dates based on new moon sightings for Saudi Arabia.[1][92]
+
+The first Mughal Emperor Babur greets courtiers during the Eid al-Fitr festival
+
+Eid al-Fitr mass prayer at Delhi's Jama Masjid
+
+Muslims in Britain performing the Eid prayers during the celebration, 1941
+
+An ethnic Hui family celebrating Eid al-Fitr in Ningxia
+
+Muslims in Singapore celebrating Eid al-Fitr
+
+An Indonesian family celebrating lebaran with various culinary dishes specific to this holiday
+
+(federal) = federal holidays, (abbreviation) = state/territorial holidays, (religious) = religious holidays, (cultural) = holiday related to a specific racial/ethnic group or sexual minority, (week) = week-long holidays, (month) = month-long holidays, (36) = Title 36 Observances and Ceremonies
+Bold indicates major holidays commonly celebrated in the United States, which often represent the major celebrations of the month.

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+A canyon (Spanish: cañón; archaic British English spelling: cañon)[1] or gorge is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic timescales.[2] Rivers have a natural tendency to cut through underlying surfaces, eventually wearing away rock layers as sediments are removed downstream. A river bed will gradually reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water into which the river drains. The processes of weathering and erosion will form canyons when the river's headwaters and estuary are at significantly different elevations,[3] particularly through regions where softer rock layers are intermingled with harder layers more resistant to weathering.
+
+A canyon may also refer to a rift between two mountain peaks, such as those in ranges including the Rocky Mountains, the Alps, the Himalayas or the Andes. Usually, a river or stream carves out such splits between mountains. Examples of mountain-type canyons are Provo Canyon in Utah or Yosemite Valley in California's Sierra Nevada. Canyons within mountains, or gorges that have an opening on only one side, are called box canyons. Slot canyons are very narrow canyons that often have smooth walls.
+
+Steep-sided valleys in the seabed of the continental slope are referred to as submarine canyons. Unlike canyons on land, submarine canyons are thought to be formed by turbidity currents and landslides.
+
+The word canyon is Spanish in origin (cañón,[4] pronounced [kaˈjɲon]), with the same meaning. The word canyon is generally used in North America while the words gorge and ravine (French in origin) are used in Europe and Oceania, though gorge and ravine are also used in some parts of North America. In the United States, place names generally use canyon in the southwest (due to their proximity to Spanish-speaking Mexico) and gorge in the northeast (which is closer to French Canada), with the rest of the country graduating between these two according to geography. In Canada, a gorge is usually narrow while a ravine is more open and often wooded. The military-derived word defile is occasionally used in the United Kingdom.
+
+Most canyons were formed by a process of long-time erosion from a plateau or table-land level. The cliffs form because harder rock strata that are resistant to erosion and weathering remain exposed on the valley walls.
+
+Canyons are much more common in arid than in wet areas because physical weathering has a more localized effect in arid zones. The wind and water from the river combine to erode and cut away less resistant materials such as shales. The freezing and expansion of water also serve to help form canyons. Water seeps into cracks between the rocks and freezes, pushing the rocks apart and eventually causing large chunks to break off the canyon walls, in a process known as frost wedging.[5] Canyon walls are often formed of resistant sandstones or granite.
+
+Sometimes large rivers run through canyons as the result of gradual geological uplift. These are called entrenched rivers, because they are unable to easily alter their course. In the United States, the Colorado River in the Southwest and the Snake River in the Northwest are two examples of tectonic uplift.
+
+Canyons often form in areas of limestone rock. As limestone is soluble to a certain extent, cave systems form in the rock. When a cave system collapses, a canyon is left, as in the Mendip Hills in Somerset and Yorkshire Dales in Yorkshire, England.
+
+A box canyon is a small canyon that is generally shorter and narrower than a river canyon, with steep walls on three sides, allowing access and egress only through the mouth of the canyon. Box canyons were frequently used in the western United States as convenient corrals, with their entrances fenced.[6]
+
+The definition of "largest canyon" is imprecise, because a canyon can be large by its depth, its length, or the total area of the canyon system. Also, the inaccessibility of the major canyons in the Himalaya contributes to their not being regarded as candidates for the biggest canyon. The definition of "deepest canyon" is similarly imprecise, especially if one includes mountain canyons, as well as canyons cut through relatively flat plateaus (which have a somewhat well-defined rim elevation).
+
+The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon (or Tsangpo Canyon), along the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet, is regarded by some as the deepest canyon in the world at 5,500 m (18,000  ft). It is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon in the United States.[7] Others consider the Kali Gandaki Gorge in midwest Nepal to be the deepest canyon, with a 6400 m (21,000  ft) difference between the level of the river and the peaks surrounding it.
+
+Vying for the deepest canyon in the Americas is the Cotahuasi Canyon and Colca Canyon, in southern Peru. Both have been measured at over 3500 m (12,000 ft) deep.
+
+The Grand Canyon of northern Arizona in the United States, with an average depth of 1,600 m (one mile) and a volume of 4.17 trillion cubic metres,[8] is one of the world's largest canyons. It was among the 28 finalists of the New7Wonders of Nature worldwide poll. (Some referred to it as one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.[9])
+
+The largest canyon in Africa is the Fish River Canyon in Namibia.[10]
+
+In August 2013, the discovery of Greenland's Grand Canyon was reported, based on the analysis of data from Operation IceBridge. It is located under an ice sheet. At 750 kilometres (466 mi) long, it is believed to be the longest canyon in the world.[11]
+
+The Capertee Valley in Australia is commonly reported as being the second largest (in terms of width) canyon in the world.[12][13]
+
+Some canyons have notable cultural significance. Evidence of early humanoids has been discovered in Africa's Olduvai Gorge. In the southwestern United States, canyons are important archeologically because of the many cliff-dwellings built in such areas, largely by the ancient Pueblo people who were their first inhabitants.
+
+The following list contains only the most notable canyons of the world, arranged by continent and then country.
+
+Venus has many craters and canyons on its surface. The troughs on the planet are part of a system of canyons that is more than 6 400  km long.
+
+Environment portal
+
+Media related to Canyons at Wikimedia Commons

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+Capital most commonly refers to:
+
+Capital may also refer to:
+
+See all terms: Category:Capital (economics).
+
+Some common terms include:

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+A capital or capital city is the municipality exercising primary status in a country, state, province, or other administrative region, usually as its seat of government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the government's offices and meeting places; the status as capital is often designated by its law or constitution. In some jurisdictions, including several countries, the different branches of government are located in different settlements. In some cases, a distinction is made between the official (constitutional) capital and the seat of government, which is in another place.
+
+News media often use the name of a capital city as an alternative name for the country of which it is the capital or of the government that is seated there, as a form of metonymy. For example, "relations between Washington, D.C. and London" refer to "relations between the United States and the United Kingdom".[1]
+
+The word capital derives from the Latin caput (genitive capitis), meaning 'head'.
+
+In several English-speaking states, the terms county town and county seat are also used in lower subdivisions. In some unitary states, subnational capitals may be known as 'administrative centres'. The capital is often the largest city of its constituent, though not always.
+
+In Russian tradition Capital city is known as "Stolitsa" which derived from a phrase "city of the throne" (Russian: Град стольный, Grad stolny).[2][3] In Medieval Russia existed an official (courtier) known as stolnik. The drink Stolichnaya also carries the same meaning related to the prime city rather than some big city.
+
+Historically, the major economic centre of a state or region has often become the focal point of political power, and became a capital through conquest or federation.[4] (The modern capital city has, however, not always existed: in medieval Western Europe, an itinerant (wandering) government was common.)[5] Examples are ancient Babylon, Abbasid Baghdad, ancient Athens, Rome, Constantinople, Chang'an, ancient Cusco, Madrid, Paris, London, Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Vienna, Lisbon, and Berlin. The capital city naturally attracts politically motivated people and those whose skills are needed for efficient administration of national or imperial governments, such as lawyers, political scientists, bankers, journalists, and public policy makers. Some of these cities are or were also religious centres,[6] e.g. Constantinople (more than one religion), Rome (the Roman Catholic Church), Jerusalem (more than one religion), Babylon, Moscow (the Russian Orthodox Church), Belgrade (the Serbian Orthodox Church), Paris, and Beijing.
+
+The convergence of political and economic or cultural power is by no means universal. Traditional capitals may be economically eclipsed by provincial rivals, e.g. Nanking by Shanghai, Quebec City by Montreal, and numerous US state capitals. The decline of a dynasty or culture could also mean the extinction of its capital city, as occurred at Babylon[7] and Cahokia.
+
+Although many capitals are defined by constitution or legislation, many long-time capitals have no legal designation as such, including Bern, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London, Paris, and Wellington. They are recognised as capitals as a matter of convention, and because all or almost all the country's central political institutions, such as government departments, supreme court, legislature, embassies, etc., are located in or near them.
+
+Counties in the United Kingdom have historic county towns, which are often not the largest settlement within the county and often are no longer administrative centres, as many historical counties are now only ceremonial, and administrative boundaries are different.
+
+In Canada, there is a federal capital, while the ten provinces and three territories each have capital cities. The states of such countries as Mexico, Brazil (including the famous cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, capitals of their respective states), and Australia also each have capital cities. For example, the six state capitals of Australia are Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. In Australia, the term "capital cities" is regularly used to refer to those six state capitals plus the federal capital Canberra, and Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory. Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and also of the United Arab Emirates overall.
+
+In unitary states which consist of multiple constituent nations, such as the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Denmark, each will usually have its own capital city. Unlike in federations, there is usually not a separate national capital, but rather the capital city of one constituent nation will also be the capital of the state overall, such as London, which is the capital of England and of the United Kingdom. Similarly, each of the autonomous communities of Spain and regions of Italy has a capital city, such as Seville and Naples, while Madrid is the capital of the Community of Madrid and of the Kingdom of Spain as a whole and Rome is the capital of Italy and of the region of Lazio.
+
+In the Federal Republic of Germany, each of its constituent states (or Länder, plural of Land) has its own capital city, such as Dresden, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, and Munich, as do all of the republics of the Russian Federation. The national capitals of Germany and Russia (the Stadtstaat of Berlin and the federal city of Moscow) are also constituent states of both countries in their own right. Each of the states of Austria and cantons of Switzerland also have their own capital cities. Vienna, the national capital of Austria, is also one of the states, while Bern is the (de facto) capital of both Switzerland and of the Canton of Bern.
+
+Many national capitals are also the largest city in their respective countries, but in many countries this is not the case.
+
+Governing entities sometimes plan, design and build new capital cities to house the seat of government of a polity or of a subdivision. Deliberately planned and designed capitals include:
+
+These cities satisfy one or both of the following criteria:
+
+Some examples of the second situation (compromise locations) are:
+
+Changes in a nation's political regime sometimes result in the designation of a new capital. Akmola (from 1998 Astana and from March 2019 Nur-Sultan) became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Naypyidaw was founded in Burma's interior as the former capital, Rangoon, was claimed to be overcrowded.[11]
+
+A few nation states have multiple capitals, and there are also several states that have no capital. Some have a city as the capital but with most government agencies elsewhere.
+
+There is also a ghost town which is currently the de jure capital of a territory: Plymouth in Montserrat.
+
+There are several countries where, for various reasons, the official capital and de facto seat of government are separated:
+
+Some historical examples of similar arrangements, where the recognized capital was not the official seat of government:
+
+With the rise of modern empires and the nation-state, the capital city has become a symbol for the state and its government, and imbued with political meaning. Unlike medieval capitals, which were declared wherever a monarch held his or her court, the selection, relocation, founding, or capture of a modern capital city is an emotional event. For example:
+
+The capital city is usually but not always a primary target in a war, as capturing it usually guarantees capture of much of the enemy government, victory for the attacking forces, or at the very least demoralization for the defeated forces.
+
+In ancient China, where governments were massive centralized bureaucracies with little flexibility on the provincial level, a dynasty could easily be toppled with the fall of its capital. In the Three Kingdoms period, both Shu and Wu fell when their respective capitals of Chengdu and Jianye fell. The Ming dynasty relocated its capital from Nanjing to Beijing, where they could more effectively control the generals and troops guarding the borders from Mongols and Manchus. The Ming was destroyed when Li Zicheng took their seat of power, and this pattern repeats itself in Chinese history, until the fall of the traditional Confucian monarchy in the 20th century. After the Qing dynasty's collapse, decentralization of authority and improved transportation and communication technologies allowed both the Chinese Nationalists and Chinese Communists to rapidly relocate capitals and keep their leadership structures intact during the great crisis of Japanese invasion.
+
+National capitals were arguably less important as military objectives in other parts of the world, including the West, because of socioeconomic trends toward localized authority, a strategic modus operandi especially popular after the development of feudalism and reaffirmed by the development of democratic and capitalistic philosophies. In 1204, after the Latin Crusaders captured the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, Byzantine forces were able to regroup in several provinces; provincial noblemen managed to reconquer the capital after 60 years and preserve the empire for another 200 years after that. The British forces sacked various American capitals repeatedly during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, but American forces could still carry on fighting from the countryside, where they enjoyed support from local governments and the traditionally independent civilian frontiersmen. Exceptions to these generalizations include highly centralized states such as France, whose centralized bureaucracies could effectively coordinate far-flung resources, giving the state a powerful advantage over less coherent rivals, but risking utter ruin if the capital were taken.
+
+
+

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+
+
+
+
+Cape Verde (/ˈvɜːrd(i)/ (listen)) or Cabo Verde (/ˌkɑːboʊ ˈvɜːrdeɪ/ (listen), /ˌkæb-/) (Portuguese: Cabo Verde, pronounced [ˈkabu ˈveɾdɨ]), officially the Republic of Cabo Verde,[10] is an island country in the central Atlantic Ocean. The ten volcanic islands in its archipelago have a combined land area of about 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 sq mi). The capital Praia, on the southern coast of Santiago island, lies approximately 650 kilometres (400 mi) west of Dakar, Senegal on the Cape Verde Peninsula, the westernmost point of continental Africa. Cape Verde forms part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Savage Isles.
+
+The archipelago remained uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, establishing the first European settlement in the tropics. Ideally located for a role in the Atlantic slave-trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The suppression of the Atlantic slave-trade in the 19th century led to economic decline and emigration. Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for shipping routes. Incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to campaign for independence, which they achieved in 1975.
+
+Since the early 1990s Cape Verde has operated as a stable representative democracy, and remains one of the most developed and democratic countries in Africa. Lacking natural resources, its developing economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism and foreign investment. Its population of around 550,000 (as of mid 2019[update]) is mostly of mixed African, Moorish, Arab and European heritage, and predominantly Roman Catholic, reflecting the legacy of Portuguese rule. A sizeable diaspora community exists across the world, considerably outnumbering inhabitants on the islands. Cape Verde is a member state of the African Union.
+
+The country is named after the nearby Cap-Vert peninsula, on the Senegalese coast.[11] In 1444, a few years before they discovered the islands, Portuguese explorers named that landmark Cabo Verde ("green cape").
+
+On 24 October 2013, the country's delegation announced at the United Nations that the official name should no longer be translated into other languages. Instead of "Cape Verde", the designation "Republic of Cabo Verde" is to be used.[10][12] English-speakers have used the name "Cape Verde" for the archipelago and, since independence in 1975, for the country. In 2013 the Cape Verdean government determined that the Portuguese designation Cabo Verde would henceforth be used for official purposes, such as at the United Nations, even in English-language contexts.
+
+Before the arrival of Europeans, the Cape Verde Islands were uninhabited.[13] They were discovered by Genoese and Portuguese navigators around 1456. According to Portuguese official records,[14] the first discoveries were made by Genoa-born António de Noli, who was afterwards appointed governor of Cape Verde by Portuguese King Afonso V. Other navigators mentioned as contributing to discoveries in the Cape Verde archipelago are Diogo Gomes (who was with António de Noli and claimed to have been the first to land on and name Santiago island), Diogo Dias, Diogo Afonso and the Italian (Venice-born) Alvise Cadamosto.
+
+In 1462, Portuguese settlers arrived at Santiago and founded a settlement they called Ribeira Grande (now called Cidade Velha ("Old City"), to avoid being confused with the town of Ribeira Grande on the Santo Antão island). Ribeira Grande was the first permanent European settlement in the tropics.[15]
+
+In the 16th century, the archipelago prospered from the Atlantic slave trade.[15] Pirates occasionally attacked the Portuguese settlements. Francis Drake, an English privateer, twice sacked the (then) capital Ribeira Grande in 1585 when it was a part of the Iberian Union.[15] After a French attack in 1712, the town declined in importance relative to nearby Praia, which became the capital in 1770.[15]
+
+Decline in the slave trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis. Cape Verde's early prosperity slowly vanished. However, the islands' position astride mid-Atlantic shipping lanes made Cape Verde an ideal location for re-supplying ships. Because of its excellent harbour, the city of Mindelo, located on the island of São Vicente, became an important commercial centre during the 19th century.[15] Diplomat Edmund Roberts visited Cape Verde in 1832.[16] Cape Verde was the first stop of Charles Darwin's voyage with HMS Beagle in 1832.[17]
+
+With few natural resources and inadequate sustainable investment from the Portuguese, the citizens grew increasingly discontented with the colonial masters, who nevertheless refused to provide the local authorities with more autonomy. In 1951, Portugal changed Cape Verde's status from a colony to an overseas province in an attempt to blunt growing nationalism.
+
+In 1956, Amílcar Cabral and a group of fellow Cape Verdeans and Guineans organised (in Portuguese Guinea) the clandestine African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).[15] It demanded improvement in economic, social and political conditions in Cape Verde and Portuguese Guinea and formed the basis of the two nations' independence movement. Moving its headquarters to Conakry, Guinea in 1960, the PAIGC began an armed rebellion against Portugal in 1961. Acts of sabotage eventually grew into a war in Portuguese Guinea that pitted 10,000 Soviet Bloc-supported PAIGC soldiers against 35,000 Portuguese and African troops.[15]
+
+By 1972, the PAIGC controlled much of Portuguese Guinea despite the presence of the Portuguese troops, but the organization did not attempt to disrupt Portuguese control in Cape Verde. Portuguese Guinea declared independence in 1973 and was granted de jure independence in 1974. A budding independence movement — originally led by Amílcar Cabral, assassinated in 1973 — passed on to his half-brother Luís Cabral and culminated in independence for the archipelago in 1975.
+
+Following the April 1974 revolution in Portugal, the PAIGC became an active political movement in Cape Verde. In December 1974, the PAIGC and Portugal signed an agreement providing for a transitional government composed of Portuguese and Cape Verdeans. On 30 June 1975, Cape Verdeans elected a National Assembly which received the instruments of independence from Portugal on 5 July 1975.[15] In the late 1970s and 1980s, most African countries prohibited South African Airways from overflights but Cape Verde allowed them and became a centre of activity for the airline's flights to Europe and the United States.
+
+Immediately following the November 1980 coup in Guinea-Bissau, relations between Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau became strained. Cape Verde abandoned its hope for unity with Guinea-Bissau and formed the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). Problems have since been resolved and relations between the countries are good. The PAICV and its predecessor established a one-party system and ruled Cape Verde from independence until 1990.[15]
+
+Responding to growing pressure for pluralistic democracy, the PAICV called an emergency congress in February 1990 to discuss proposed constitutional changes to end one-party rule. Opposition groups came together to form the Movement for Democracy (MPD) in Praia in April 1990. Together, they campaigned for the right to contest the presidential election scheduled for December 1990.
+
+The one-party state was abolished 28 September 1990, and the first multi-party elections were held in January 1991. The MPD won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, and MPD presidential candidate António Mascarenhas Monteiro defeated the PAICV's candidate with 73.5% of the votes. Legislative elections in December 1995 increased the MPD majority in the National Assembly. The party won 50 of the National Assembly's 72 seats.
+
+A February 1996 presidential election returned President Monteiro to office. Legislative elections in January 2001 returned power to the PAICV, with the PAICV holding 40 of the National Assembly seats, MPD 30, and Party for Democratic Convergence (PCD) and Labour and Solidarity Party (PTS) 1 each. In February 2001, the PAICV-supported presidential candidate Pedro Pires defeated former MPD leader Carlos Veiga by only 13 votes.[15]
+
+Cape Verde is a stable semi-presidential representative democratic republic.[3][18] It is among the most democratic nations in Africa, ranking 26th in the world, according to the 2018 Democracy Index.[19] The constitution — adopted in 1980 and revised in 1992, 1995 and 1999 — defines the basic principles of its government. The president is the head of state and is elected by popular vote for a 5-year term.[15]
+
+The prime minister is the head of government and proposes other ministers and secretaries of state. The prime minister is nominated by the National Assembly and appointed by the president.[citation needed] Members of the National Assembly are elected by popular vote for 5-year terms. Three parties now hold seats in the National Assembly — MPD (36), PAICV (25) and the Cape Verdean Independent Democratic Union (UCID) (3).[20]
+
+The judicial system consists of a Supreme Court of Justice — whose members are appointed by the president, the National Assembly, and the Board of the Judiciary — and regional courts. Separate courts hear civil, constitutional, and criminal cases. Appeal is to the Supreme Court.[15]
+
+The two main political parties are PAICV and MPD.[20]
+
+Cape Verde follows a policy of nonalignment and seeks cooperative relations with all friendly states.[15] Angola, Brazil, China, Libya, Cuba, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Senegal, Russia, Luxembourg, and the United States maintain embassies in Praia.[15] Cape Verde maintains a vigorously active foreign policy, especially in Africa.[15]
+
+Cape Verde is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, and international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.
+
+Cape Verde has bilateral relations with some Lusophone nations and holds membership in a number of international organisations.[15] It also participates in most international conferences on economic and political issues.[15] Since 2007, Cape Verde has a special partnership status[21] with the EU, under the Cotonou Agreement, and might apply for special membership, even because the Cape Verdean escudo, the country's currency, is indexed to the Euro.[22] In 2011 Cape Verde ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.[23] In 2017 Cape Verde signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[24]
+
+The military of Cape Verde consists of the National Guard and the Coast Guard; 0.7% of the country's GDP was spent on the military in 2005.
+
+Having fought their only war for independence against Portugal between 1974 and 1975, the efforts of the Caboverdean Armed Forces have now been turned to combating international drug trafficking. In 2007, together with the Cape Verdean Police, they carried out Operation Flying Launch (Operacão Lancha Voadora), a successful operation to put an end to a drug trafficking group which smuggled cocaine from Colombia to the Netherlands and Germany using the country as a reorder point. The operation took more than three years, being a secret operation during the first two years, and ended in 2010.
+
+Although located in Africa, Cape Verde has always had close relations with Europe. Because of this, some scholars argue that Cape Verde may be eligible to join the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and NATO.[25]
+
+The most recent engagement of the Armed Forces was the Monte Tchota massacre that resulted in 11 deaths.[26]
+
+Cape Verde is often praised as an example among African nations for its stability and developmental growth despite its lack of natural resources. In 2013 then United States President Barack Obama said Cape Verde is "a real success story".[27] Among other achievements, it has been recognised with the following assessments:
+
+The Cape Verde archipelago is in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 570 kilometres (350 mi) off the western coast of the African continent, near Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is part of the Macaronesia ecoregion. It lies between latitudes 14° and 18°N, and longitudes 22° and 26°W.
+
+The country is a horseshoe-shaped cluster of ten islands (nine inhabited) and eight islets,[32] that constitute an area of 4033 km2.[32]
+
+The islands are spatially divided into two groups:
+
+The largest island, both in size and population, is Santiago, which hosts the nation's capital, Praia, the principal urban agglomeration in the archipelago.[32]
+
+Three of the Cape Verde islands, Sal, Boa Vista and Maio, are fairly flat, sandy, and dry; the others are generally rockier with more vegetation.
+
+Geologically, the islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 square miles), are principally composed of igneous rocks, with volcanic structures and pyroclastic debris comprising the majority of the archipelago's total volume. The volcanic and plutonic rocks are distinctly basic; the archipelago is a soda-alkaline petrographic province, with a petrologic succession similar to that found in other Macaronesian islands.
+
+Magnetic anomalies identified in the vicinity of the archipelago indicate that the structures forming the islands date back 125–150 million years: the islands themselves date from 8 million (in the west) to 20 million years (in the east).[33] The oldest exposed rocks occurred on Maio and northern peninsula of Santiago and are 128–131 million year old pillow lavas. The first stage of volcanism in the islands began in the early Miocene, and reached its peak at the end of this period, when the islands reached their maximum sizes. Historical volcanism (within human settlement) has been restricted to the island of Fogo.
+
+The origin of the islands' volcanism has been attributed to a hotspot, associated with bathymetric swell that formed the Cape Verde Rise.[34] The Rise is one of the largest protuberances in the world's oceans, rising 2.2 kilometres (1.4 miles) in a semi-circular region of 1200 km2, associated with a rise of the geoid and elevated surface heat flow.[33]
+
+Most recently erupting in 2014, Pico do Fogo is the largest active volcano in the region. It has an 8 kilometres (5 miles) diameter caldera, whose rim is 1,600 metres (5,249 feet) altitude and an interior cone that rises to 2,829 metres (9,281 feet) above sea level. The caldera resulted from subsidence, following the partial evacuation (eruption) of the magma chamber, along a cylindrical column from within magma chamber (at a depth of 8 kilometres (5 miles)).
+
+Extensive salt flats are found on Sal and Maio.[32] On Santiago, Santo Antão, and São Nicolau, arid slopes give way in places to sugarcane fields or banana plantations spread along the base of towering mountains.[32] Ocean cliffs have been formed by catastrophic debris landslides.[35]
+
+According to the president of Nauru, Cape Verde has been ranked the eighth most endangered nation due to flooding from climate change.[36]
+
+Cape Verde's climate is milder than that of the African mainland, because the surrounding sea moderates temperatures on the islands and cold Atlantic currents produce an arid atmosphere around the archipelago. Conversely, the islands do not receive the upwellings (cold streams) that affect the West African coast, so the air temperature is cooler than in Senegal, but the sea is warmer, because the orographic relief of some islands, such as Santiago with steep mountains, cover it with rich woods and luxuriant vegetation where the humid air condenses and soak the plants, rocks, soil, logs, moss, etc. On the higher islands and somewhat wetter islands, exclusively in mountainous areas, like Santo Antão island, the climate is suitable for the development of dry monsoon forest, and laurel forest as this vegetation.[32] Average daily high temperatures range from 26 °C (79 °F) in February to 31 °C (87.8 °F) in September.[37] Cape Verde is part of the Sahelian arid belt, with nothing like the rainfall levels of nearby West Africa.[32] It rains irregularly between August and October, with frequent brief heavy downpours.[32] A desert is usually defined as terrain that receives less than 250 mm (9.8 in) of annual rainfall. Sal's total of (145 mm (5.7 in)) confirms this classification. Most of the year's rain falls in September.[38]
+
+Sal, Boa Vista and Maio have a flat landscape and arid climate, whilst the other islands are generally rockier and have more vegetation. Because of the infrequent occurrence of rainfall the landscape is arid. The archipelago can be divided into four broad ecological zones — arid, semiarid, subhumid and humid, according to altitude and average annual rainfall ranging from less than 100 millimetres (3.9 inches) in the arid areas of the coast as in the Deserto de Viana (67 millimetres (2.6 inches) in Sal Rei) to more than 1,000 millimetres (39 inches) in the humid mountain. Most rainfall precipitation is due to condensation of the ocean mist.
+
+In some islands, as Santiago, the wetter climate of the interior and the eastern coast contrasts with the dryer one in the south/southwest coast. Praia, on the southeast coast, is the largest city of the island and the largest city and capital of the country.
+
+Because of their proximity to the Sahara, most of the Cape Verde islands are dry, but on islands with high mountains and farther away from the coast, by orography, the humidity is much higher, providing a rainforest habitat, although much affected by the human presence. Northeastern slopes of high mountains often receive a lot of rain while southwest slopes do not. These umbria areas are identified with cool and moisture.
+
+Western Hemisphere-bound hurricanes often have their early beginnings near the Cape Verde Islands. These are referred to as Cape Verde-type hurricanes. These hurricanes can become very intense as they cross warm Atlantic waters away from Cape Verde. The average hurricane season has about two Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the largest and most intense storms of the season because they often have plenty of warm open ocean over which to develop before encountering land. The five largest Atlantic tropical cyclones on record have been Cape Verde-type hurricanes. Most of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin are Cape Verde hurricanes.
+
+The islands themselves have only been struck by hurricanes twice in recorded history (since 1851): once in 1892, and again in 2015 by Hurricane Fred, the easternmost hurricane ever to form in the Atlantic.
+
+Cape Verde's isolation has resulted in the islands having a number of endemic species, particularly birds and reptiles, many of which are endangered by human development. Endemic birds include Alexander's swift (Apus alexandri), Bourne's heron (Ardea purpurea bournei), the Raso lark (Alauda razae), the Cape Verde warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis), and the Iago sparrow (Passer iagoensis).[40] The islands are also an important breeding area for seabirds including the Cape Verde shearwater. Reptiles include the Cape Verde giant gecko (Tarentola gigas).
+
+Cape Verde is divided into 22 municipalities (concelhos) and subdivided into 32 parishes (freguesias), based on the religious parishes that existed during the colonial period:
+
+Cape Verde's notable economic growth and improvement in living conditions despite a lack of natural resources has garnered international recognition, with other countries and international organizations often providing development aid. Since 2007, the UN has classified it as a developing nation rather than a least developed country.
+
+Cape Verde has few natural resources. Only five of the ten main islands (Santiago, Santo Antão, São Nicolau, Fogo, and Brava) normally support significant agricultural production,[43] and over 90% of all food consumed in Cape Verde is imported. Mineral resources include salt, pozzolana (a volcanic rock used in cement production), and limestone.[15] Its small number of wineries making Portuguese-style wines have traditionally focused on the domestic market, but have recently met with some international acclaim. A number of wine tours of Cape Verde's various microclimates began to be offered in spring 2010.
+
+The economy of Cape Verde is service-oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services accounting for more than 70% of GDP.[citation needed] Although nearly 35% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture and fishing contribute only about 9% of GDP. Light manufacturing accounts for most of the remainder. Fish and shellfish are plentiful, and small quantities are exported. Cape Verde has cold storage and freezing facilities and fish processing plants in Mindelo, Praia, and on Sal. Expatriate Cape Verdeans contribute an amount estimated at about 20% of GDP to the domestic economy through remittances.[15]
+In spite of having few natural resources and being semi-desert, the country boasts the highest living standards in the region, and has attracted thousands of immigrants of different nationalities.
+
+Since 1991, the government has pursued market-oriented economic policies, including an open welcome to foreign investors and a far-reaching privatization programme. It established as top development priorities the promotion of a market economy and of the private sector; the development of tourism, light manufacturing industries, and fisheries; and the development of transport, communications, and energy facilities. From 1994 to 2000 about $407 million in foreign investments were made or planned, of which 58% were in tourism,[44] 17% in industry, 4% in infrastructure, and 21% in fisheries and services.[15]
+
+In 2011, on four islands a wind farm was built that supplies about 30% of the electricity of the country. It is one of the top countries for renewable energy.[45]
+
+Between 2000 and 2009, real GDP increased on average by over 7 percent a year, well above the average for Sub-Saharan countries and faster than most small island economies in the region. Strong economic performance was bolstered by one of the fastest growing tourism industries in the world, as well as by substantial capital inflows that allowed Cape Verde to build up national currency reserves to the current 3.5 months of imports. Unemployment has been falling rapidly, and the country is on track to achieve most of the UN Millennium Development Goals – including halving its 1990 poverty level.
+
+In 2007, Cape Verde joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in 2008 the country graduated from Least Developed Country (LDC) to Middle Income Country (MIC) status.[46][47]
+
+Cape Verde has significant cooperation with Portugal at every level of the economy, which has led it to link its currency first to the Portuguese escudo and, in 1999, to the euro. On 23 June 2008 Cape Verde became the 153rd member of the WTO.[48]
+
+In early January 2018, the government announced that the minimum wage would be raised to 13,000 CVE (US$140 or EUR 130) per month, from 11,000 CVE, which was effective in mid-January 2018.[49][50]
+
+The European Commission's total allocation for the period of 2008–2013 foreseen for Cape Verde to address "poverty reduction, in particular in rural and periurban areas where women are heading the households, as well as good governance" amounts to €54.1 million.[51]
+
+Cape Verde's strategic location at the crossroads of mid-Atlantic air and sea lanes has been enhanced by significant improvements at Mindelo's harbour (Porto Grande) and at Sal's and Praia's international airports. A new international airport was opened in Boa Vista in December 2007 and on the island of São Vicente the newest international airport (Cesária Évora Airport) in Cape Verde was opened in late 2009. Ship repair facilities at Mindelo were opened in 1983.[15]
+
+The major ports are Mindelo and Praia, but all other islands have smaller port facilities. In addition to the international airport on Sal, airports have been built on all of the inhabited islands. All but the airports on Brava and Santo Antão enjoy scheduled air service. The archipelago has 3,050 km (1,895 mi) of roads, of which 1,010 km (628 mi) are paved, most using cobblestone.[15]
+
+The country's future economic prospects depend heavily on the maintenance of aid flows, the encouragement of tourism, remittances, outsourcing labour to neighbouring African countries, and the momentum of the government's development programme.[15]
+
+The official Census recorded that Cape Verde had a population of 512,096 in 2013.[52] A large proportion (236,000) of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago.[53]
+
+The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited when the Portuguese discovered it in 1456. The modern population of Cape Verde descends from the mixture of European settlers and African slaves who were brought to the islands to work on Portuguese plantations. Most Cape Verdeans are therefore mulattos, also called mestiços in Portuguese. Another term is creole, meaning those of mixed native-born African and native-born European descent.
+
+European input included Spaniards and Italian seamen who were granted land by the Portuguese Empire, followed by Portuguese settlers and exiles, as well as Portuguese Muslims (ethnic Moors) and Portuguese Jews (ethnic Sephardim). Both of these religious groups were victims of the Inquisition. Other immigrants came from places such as the Netherlands, France, Britain, the Arab countries (especially Lebanon and Morocco), China (especially from Macau), India, Indonesia, South America, and North America (including people of Portuguese and African descent) and were absorbed into the mestiço population.
+
+Cape Verde's population in the 21st century is mostly creole; the capital city Praia accounts for a quarter of the country's population. Over 65% of the population in the archipelago live in urban centers, and the literacy rate is 89% (i.e., 93,3% among men aged 15 and above and 84,7% among women aged 15 and above) according to the 2017 National Statistics Bureau data. Many Cape Verdeans have since emigrated, mainly to the United States and Europe.
+
+A genetic study revealed that the ancestry of the population in Cape Verde is predominantly European in the male line and West African in the female line; counted together the percentage is 56% African and 44% European.[54] The high degree of genetic and ethnic mixture of individuals is a result of centuries of migration.
+
+Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese.[1] It is the language of instruction and government. It is also used in newspapers, television, and radio.
+
+Cape Verdean Creole is used colloquially and is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans. The national constitution calls for measures to give it parity with Portuguese.[1] Cape Verdean Creole or Kriolu is a dialect continuum of a Portuguese-based creole. There is a substantial body of literature in Creole, especially in the Santiago Creole and the São Vicente Creole. Creole has been gaining prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal.
+
+The differences between the forms of the language within the islands have been a major obstacle in the way of standardization of the language. Some people have advocated the development of two standards: a North (Barlavento) standard, centered on the São Vicente Creole, and a South (Sotavento) standard, centered on the Santiago Creole. Manuel Veiga, PhD, a linguist and Minister of Culture of Cape Verde, is the premier proponent of Kriolu's officialization and standardization.[55]
+
+Religion in Cape Verde (2010)[56]
+
+Around 95% of the population are Christian. More than 85% of the population was nominally Roman Catholic in 2007.[57] For a minority of the population, Catholicism is syncretized with African influences.[58]
+
+As of 2007, the largest Protestant denomination is the Church of the Nazarene; other groups include the Seventh-day Adventist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Assemblies of God, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, and other Pentecostal and evangelical groups.[57] There is a small Muslim community.[57] There were Jewish settlements on several islands.[59] The number of atheists is estimated at less than 1% of the population.[57]
+
+Today, more Cape Verdeans live abroad (nearly a million) than in Cape Verde itself, with significant emigrant[60] Cape Verdean communities in the United States (500,000) of Cape Verdean descent, with a major concentration on the New England coast; Providence, Rhode Island, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts. Brockton, Massachusetts is the city with the largest number of Cape Verdean descents and immigrants (18,832)[61] in the United States.
+
+There are significant Cape Verde populations in Portugal (150,000), Angola (45,000), São Tomé and Príncipe (25,000), Senegal (25,000), the Netherlands (20,000, of which 15,000 are concentrated in Rotterdam), Spain (65,500), United Kingdom (35,500), France (25,000), Italy (10,000), Luxembourg (7,000), and Scandinavia (7,000). There is a Cape Verdean community in Argentina numbering 8,000. A large number of Cape Verdeans and people of Cape Verdean descent who emigrated before 1975 are not included in these statistics, because Cape Verdeans had Portuguese passports before 1975.
+
+The Chinese make up a sizable and important segment of the immigrant population in Cape Verde. The immigrants from the nearby West African coast make up the majority of foreigners in the country. Over the last several years, a few thousand Europeans and Latin Americans have settled in the country. On the islands, there are over 22,000 foreign-born naturalized Cape Verdeans who hail from over 90 countries around the world, living and working in the country on a permanent basis.
+
+Over the years, Cape Verde has increasingly become a net immigration country due to its relative high per capita income, political and social stability, and freedom.[citation needed]
+
+Emigrants from the Cape Verde islands to North America have a long history of involvement with the armed forces. They have enlisted in aid of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.[62] Cape Verdeans moved to places all over the world, from Macau to Haiti, and Argentina to northern Europe.[63]
+
+The Cape Verdean people's history and experience with immigration has inspired many songs and musicians, like the song Sodade by Cesaria Evora.[64]
+
+The infant mortality rate among Cape Verdean children between 0 and 5 years old is 15 per 1,000 live births according to the latest (2017) data from the National Statistics Bureau,[65] while the maternal mortality rate is 42 deaths per 100,000 live births. The HIV-AIDS prevalence rate among Cape Verdeans between 15 and 49 years old is 0.8%.[66]
+
+According to the latest data (2017) from the National Statistics Bureau,[65] life expectancy at birth in Cape Verde is 76,2 years, that is, 72,2 years for males and 80,2 years for females. There are six hospitals in the Cape Verde archipelago: two central hospitals (one in the capital city of Praia and one in Mindelo, São Vicente) and four regional hospitals (one in Santa Catarina (northern Santiago region), one on São Antão, one on Fogo, and one on Sal). In addition, there are 28 health centers, 35 sanitation centers and a variety of private clinics located throughout the archipelago.
+
+Cape Verde's population is among the healthiest in Africa. Since its independence, it has greatly improved its health indicators. Besides having been promoted to the group of "medium development" countries in 2007, leaving the least developed countries category (becoming the second country to do so[67]), is currently the 10th best ranked country in Africa in its Human Development Index.
+
+The total expenditure for health was 7.1% of GDP (2015).
+
+Although the Cape Verdean educational system is similar to the Portuguese system, over the years the local universities have been increasingly adopting the American educational system; for instance, all 10 existing universities in the country offer 4-year bachelor's degree programs as opposed to 5-year bachelor's degree programs that existed before 2010. Cape Verde has the second best educational system in Africa, after South Africa.[citation needed]
+Primary school education in Cape Verde is mandatory and free for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years.[68]
+
+In 2011, the net enrollment ratio for primary school was 85%.[68][69] Approximately 90% of the total population over 15 years of age is literate, and roughly 25% of the population holds a college degree; a significant number of these college graduates hold doctorate degrees in different academic fields. Textbooks have been made available to 90 percent of school children, and 98 percent of the teachers have attended in-service teacher training.[68] Although most children have access to education, some problems remain.[68] For example, there is insufficient spending on school materials, lunches, and books.[68]
+
+As of October 2016[update], there were 69 secondary schools throughout the archipelago (including 19 private secondary schools) and at least 10 universities in the country which are based on the two islands of Santiago and São Vicente.
+
+In 2015, 23% of the Cape Verdean population had either attended or graduated from secondary schools.
+When it came to higher education, 9% of Cape Verdean men and 8% of Cape Verdean women held a bachelor's degree or had attended universities. The overall college education rate (i.e., college graduates and undergraduate students) in Cape Verde is about 24%, in relation to the local college age population [1].
+The total expenditure on education was 5.6% of GDP (2010).
+The mean years of schooling of adults over 25 years is 12.
+
+In 2011, Cape Verde devoted just 0.07% of its GDP to research and development, among the lowest rates in West Africa. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture plans to strengthen the research and academic sectors by placing emphasis on greater mobility, through exchange programmes and international co-operation agreements. As part of this strategy, Cape Verde is participating in the Ibero-American academic mobility programme that expects to mobilize 200,000 academics between 2015 and 2020.[70]
+
+Cape Verde counted 25 researchers in 2011, a researcher density of 51 per million inhabitants. The world average was 1,083 per million in 2013. All 25 researchers were working in the government sector in 2011 and one in three were women (36%). There was no research being conducted in either medical or agricultural sciences. Of the eight engineers involved in research and development, one was a woman. Three of the five researchers working in natural sciences were women, as were three of the six social scientists and two of the five researchers from the humanities.[70]
+
+In 2015, the government was planning to build a 'cyber-island' which would develop and offer services that include software development, computer maintenance and back office operations. Approved in 2013, the Praia Technology Park is a step in this direction. Financed by the African Development Bank, it is expected to be operational by 2018.[70]
+
+Theft and burglary are common in Cape Verde, especially in crowded environments such as marketplaces, festivals, and celebrations.[71] Often the perpetrators of these crimes are gangs of street children.[71] Murders are concentrated in the major population centres of Praia and Mindelo.[71]
+
+The culture of Cape Verde is characterized by a mixture of European and African elements. This is not a sum of two cultures living side by side, but a new culture resulting from an exchange that began in the 15th century.
+
+The Cape Verdean case may be situated in the common context of African nations, in which elites, who questioned European racial and cultural superiority and who in some cases undertook a long armed struggle against European imperialism and national liberation, use the rule of Western codes as the main instrument of internal domination.[32]
+
+Cape Verdean social and cultural patterns are similar to those of rural Portugal.[32] Football games and church activities are typical sources of social interaction and entertainment.[32] The traditional walk around the praça (town square) to meet friends is practiced regularly in Cape Verde towns.[32]
+
+In towns with electricity, television is available on three channels; one state owned (RTC - TCV) and three foreign owned, RTI Cabo Verde launched by the Portuguese-based RTI in 2005, on 31 March 2007, Record Cabo Verde, its own version was launched by the Brazilian-based Rede Record.[32] Cape Verde has now received TV CPLP and some of its programs are broadcast, the network first aired in 2016. Premium channels includes the Cape Verdean versions of Boom TV and Zap Cabo Verde, two channels owned by Brazil's Record.[72] Other premium channels are aired in Cape Verde, especially satellite networks common in hotels and villas. Availability is mostly limited, though. One channel is RDP África, the African version of the Portuguese radio station RDP.
+
+As of early 2017, about 19% of the Cape Verdean population own an active cellular phone, 70% have access to the Internet, 11% own a landline telephone, and 2% of the population subscribe to local cable TV. In 2003, Cape Verde had 71,700 main line telephones with an additional 53,300 cellular phones in use throughout the country.
+
+In 2004, there were seven radio stations; six independent and one state owned. The media is operated by the Capeverdean News Agency (secondarily as Inforpress). Nationwide radio stations include RCV, RCV+, Radio Kriola, the religious station Radio Nova.[citation needed] Local radio stations include Rádio Praia, the first radio station in Cape Verde, Praia FM, the first FM station in the nation, Rádio Barlavento, Rádio Clube do Mindelo and Radio Morabeza in Mindelo.[citation needed]
+
+The Cape Verdean people are known for their musicality, well expressed by popular manifestations such as the Carnival of Mindelo. Cape Verde music incorporates "African, Portuguese and Brazilian influences."[73] Cape Verde's quintessential national music is the morna, a melancholy and lyrical song form typically sung in Cape Verdean Creole. The most popular music genre after morna is the coladeira, followed by funaná and batuque music. Cesária Évora was the best-known Cape Verdean singer in the world, known as the "barefoot diva", because she liked to perform barefooted on stage. The international success of Cesária Évora has made other Cape Verdean artists, or descendants of Cape Verdeans born in Portugal, gain more space in the music market. Examples of this are singers Sara Tavares, Lura and Mayra Andrade.
+
+Another great exponent of traditional music from Cape Verde was Antonio Vicente Lopes, better known as Travadinha and Ildo Lobo, who died in 2004. The House of Culture in the center of the city of Praia is called Ildo Lobo House of Culture, in his honor.
+
+There are also well known artists born to Cape Verdean parents who excelled themselves in the international music scene. Amongst these artists are jazz pianist Horace Silver, Duke Ellington's saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, Teófilo Chantre, Paul Pena, the Tavares brothers and singer Lura.
+
+Dance forms include the soft dance morna, the coladeira, the Cape Verdean version of the zouk from Guadeloupe called Cabo love, the Funaná (a sensual mixed Portuguese and African dance), the Batuque dance, and the Cabo Zouk.
+
+Cape Verdean literature is one of the richest of Lusophone Africa. Famous poets include Paulino Vieira, Manuel de Novas, Sergio Frusoni, Eugénio Tavares, and B. Léza, and famous authors include Baltasar Lopes da Silva, António Aurélio Gonçalves, Manuel Lopes, Orlanda Amarílis, Henrique Teixeira de Sousa, Arménio Vieira, Kaoberdiano Dambará, Dr. Azágua, and Germano Almeida.
+
+The Carnival and the island of São Vicente are portrayed in the 2015 feature documentary Tchindas, nominated at the 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards.
+
+The Cape Verde diet is mostly based on fish and staple foods like corn and rice. Vegetables available during most of the year are potatoes, onions, tomatoes, manioc, cabbage, kale, and dried beans. Fruits such as bananas and papayas are available year-round, while others like mangoes and avocados are seasonal.[32]
+
+A popular dish served in Cape Verde is Cachupa, a slow cooked stew of corn (hominy), beans, and fish or meat. A common appetizer is the pastel which is a pastry shell filled with fish or meat that is then fried.[32]
+
+The country's most successful sports team is the Cape Verde national basketball team, which won the bronze medal at the FIBA Africa Championship 2007, after beating Egypt in its last game. The country's most well-known player is Walter Tavares, who plays for Real Madrid of Spain.
+
+Cape Verde is famous for wave sailing[citation needed] (a type of windsurfing) and kiteboarding[citation needed]. Josh Angulo, a Hawaiian and 2009 PWA Wave World Champion, has done much to promote the archipelago as a windsurfing destination.[citation needed] Mitu Monteiro, a local kitesurfer, was the 2008 Kite Surfing World Champion in the wave discipline.
+
+The Cape Verde national football team, nicknamed either the Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks) or Crioulos (Creoles), is the national team of Cape Verde and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team has played at two Africa Cup of Nations, in 2013 and 2015.[74]
+
+The country has competed at every Summer Olympics since 1996.
+
+There are four international ports: Mindelo, São Vicente; Praia, Santiago; Palmeira, Sal; and Sal Rei, Boa Vista. Mindelo on São Vicente is the main port for cruise liners and the terminus for the ferry service to Santo Antão. Praia on Santiago is a main hub for local ferry services to other islands. Palmeira on Sal supplies fuel for the main airport on the island, Amílcar Cabral International Airport, and is important for the hotel construction taking place on the island. Porto Novo on Santo Antão is the only source for imports and exports of produce from the island as well as passenger traffic since the closure of the airstrip at Ponta do Sol.
+There are smaller harbors, essentially single jetties at Tarrafal on São Nicolau, Sal Rei on Boa Vista, Vila do Maio (Porto Inglês) on Maio, São Filipe on Fogo and Furna on Brava. These act as terminals for the inter-island ferry services, which carry both freight and passengers. The pier at Santa Maria on Sal used by both fishing and dive boats has been rehabilitated.
+
+There were seven operational airports as of 2014[update] — 4 international and 3 domestic. Two others were non-operational, one on Brava and the other on Santo Antão, closed for safety reasons.
+
+Due to its geographical location, Cape Verde is often flown over by transatlantic airliners. It is part of the conventional air traffic route from Europe to South America, which goes from southern Portugal via the Canary Islands and Cape Verde to northern Brazil.
+
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+Coordinates: 15°06′40″N 23°37′00″W / 15.11111°N 23.61667°W / 15.11111; -23.61667

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+Cape Verde (/ˈvɜːrd(i)/ (listen)) or Cabo Verde (/ˌkɑːboʊ ˈvɜːrdeɪ/ (listen), /ˌkæb-/) (Portuguese: Cabo Verde, pronounced [ˈkabu ˈveɾdɨ]), officially the Republic of Cabo Verde,[10] is an island country in the central Atlantic Ocean. The ten volcanic islands in its archipelago have a combined land area of about 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 sq mi). The capital Praia, on the southern coast of Santiago island, lies approximately 650 kilometres (400 mi) west of Dakar, Senegal on the Cape Verde Peninsula, the westernmost point of continental Africa. Cape Verde forms part of the Macaronesia ecoregion, along with the Azores, Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Savage Isles.
+
+The archipelago remained uninhabited until the 15th century, when Portuguese explorers discovered and colonized the islands, establishing the first European settlement in the tropics. Ideally located for a role in the Atlantic slave-trade, the islands grew prosperous throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, attracting merchants, privateers, and pirates. The suppression of the Atlantic slave-trade in the 19th century led to economic decline and emigration. Cape Verde gradually recovered as an important commercial center and stopover for shipping routes. Incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to campaign for independence, which they achieved in 1975.
+
+Since the early 1990s Cape Verde has operated as a stable representative democracy, and remains one of the most developed and democratic countries in Africa. Lacking natural resources, its developing economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism and foreign investment. Its population of around 550,000 (as of mid 2019[update]) is mostly of mixed African, Moorish, Arab and European heritage, and predominantly Roman Catholic, reflecting the legacy of Portuguese rule. A sizeable diaspora community exists across the world, considerably outnumbering inhabitants on the islands. Cape Verde is a member state of the African Union.
+
+The country is named after the nearby Cap-Vert peninsula, on the Senegalese coast.[11] In 1444, a few years before they discovered the islands, Portuguese explorers named that landmark Cabo Verde ("green cape").
+
+On 24 October 2013, the country's delegation announced at the United Nations that the official name should no longer be translated into other languages. Instead of "Cape Verde", the designation "Republic of Cabo Verde" is to be used.[10][12] English-speakers have used the name "Cape Verde" for the archipelago and, since independence in 1975, for the country. In 2013 the Cape Verdean government determined that the Portuguese designation Cabo Verde would henceforth be used for official purposes, such as at the United Nations, even in English-language contexts.
+
+Before the arrival of Europeans, the Cape Verde Islands were uninhabited.[13] They were discovered by Genoese and Portuguese navigators around 1456. According to Portuguese official records,[14] the first discoveries were made by Genoa-born António de Noli, who was afterwards appointed governor of Cape Verde by Portuguese King Afonso V. Other navigators mentioned as contributing to discoveries in the Cape Verde archipelago are Diogo Gomes (who was with António de Noli and claimed to have been the first to land on and name Santiago island), Diogo Dias, Diogo Afonso and the Italian (Venice-born) Alvise Cadamosto.
+
+In 1462, Portuguese settlers arrived at Santiago and founded a settlement they called Ribeira Grande (now called Cidade Velha ("Old City"), to avoid being confused with the town of Ribeira Grande on the Santo Antão island). Ribeira Grande was the first permanent European settlement in the tropics.[15]
+
+In the 16th century, the archipelago prospered from the Atlantic slave trade.[15] Pirates occasionally attacked the Portuguese settlements. Francis Drake, an English privateer, twice sacked the (then) capital Ribeira Grande in 1585 when it was a part of the Iberian Union.[15] After a French attack in 1712, the town declined in importance relative to nearby Praia, which became the capital in 1770.[15]
+
+Decline in the slave trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis. Cape Verde's early prosperity slowly vanished. However, the islands' position astride mid-Atlantic shipping lanes made Cape Verde an ideal location for re-supplying ships. Because of its excellent harbour, the city of Mindelo, located on the island of São Vicente, became an important commercial centre during the 19th century.[15] Diplomat Edmund Roberts visited Cape Verde in 1832.[16] Cape Verde was the first stop of Charles Darwin's voyage with HMS Beagle in 1832.[17]
+
+With few natural resources and inadequate sustainable investment from the Portuguese, the citizens grew increasingly discontented with the colonial masters, who nevertheless refused to provide the local authorities with more autonomy. In 1951, Portugal changed Cape Verde's status from a colony to an overseas province in an attempt to blunt growing nationalism.
+
+In 1956, Amílcar Cabral and a group of fellow Cape Verdeans and Guineans organised (in Portuguese Guinea) the clandestine African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).[15] It demanded improvement in economic, social and political conditions in Cape Verde and Portuguese Guinea and formed the basis of the two nations' independence movement. Moving its headquarters to Conakry, Guinea in 1960, the PAIGC began an armed rebellion against Portugal in 1961. Acts of sabotage eventually grew into a war in Portuguese Guinea that pitted 10,000 Soviet Bloc-supported PAIGC soldiers against 35,000 Portuguese and African troops.[15]
+
+By 1972, the PAIGC controlled much of Portuguese Guinea despite the presence of the Portuguese troops, but the organization did not attempt to disrupt Portuguese control in Cape Verde. Portuguese Guinea declared independence in 1973 and was granted de jure independence in 1974. A budding independence movement — originally led by Amílcar Cabral, assassinated in 1973 — passed on to his half-brother Luís Cabral and culminated in independence for the archipelago in 1975.
+
+Following the April 1974 revolution in Portugal, the PAIGC became an active political movement in Cape Verde. In December 1974, the PAIGC and Portugal signed an agreement providing for a transitional government composed of Portuguese and Cape Verdeans. On 30 June 1975, Cape Verdeans elected a National Assembly which received the instruments of independence from Portugal on 5 July 1975.[15] In the late 1970s and 1980s, most African countries prohibited South African Airways from overflights but Cape Verde allowed them and became a centre of activity for the airline's flights to Europe and the United States.
+
+Immediately following the November 1980 coup in Guinea-Bissau, relations between Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau became strained. Cape Verde abandoned its hope for unity with Guinea-Bissau and formed the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). Problems have since been resolved and relations between the countries are good. The PAICV and its predecessor established a one-party system and ruled Cape Verde from independence until 1990.[15]
+
+Responding to growing pressure for pluralistic democracy, the PAICV called an emergency congress in February 1990 to discuss proposed constitutional changes to end one-party rule. Opposition groups came together to form the Movement for Democracy (MPD) in Praia in April 1990. Together, they campaigned for the right to contest the presidential election scheduled for December 1990.
+
+The one-party state was abolished 28 September 1990, and the first multi-party elections were held in January 1991. The MPD won a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, and MPD presidential candidate António Mascarenhas Monteiro defeated the PAICV's candidate with 73.5% of the votes. Legislative elections in December 1995 increased the MPD majority in the National Assembly. The party won 50 of the National Assembly's 72 seats.
+
+A February 1996 presidential election returned President Monteiro to office. Legislative elections in January 2001 returned power to the PAICV, with the PAICV holding 40 of the National Assembly seats, MPD 30, and Party for Democratic Convergence (PCD) and Labour and Solidarity Party (PTS) 1 each. In February 2001, the PAICV-supported presidential candidate Pedro Pires defeated former MPD leader Carlos Veiga by only 13 votes.[15]
+
+Cape Verde is a stable semi-presidential representative democratic republic.[3][18] It is among the most democratic nations in Africa, ranking 26th in the world, according to the 2018 Democracy Index.[19] The constitution — adopted in 1980 and revised in 1992, 1995 and 1999 — defines the basic principles of its government. The president is the head of state and is elected by popular vote for a 5-year term.[15]
+
+The prime minister is the head of government and proposes other ministers and secretaries of state. The prime minister is nominated by the National Assembly and appointed by the president.[citation needed] Members of the National Assembly are elected by popular vote for 5-year terms. Three parties now hold seats in the National Assembly — MPD (36), PAICV (25) and the Cape Verdean Independent Democratic Union (UCID) (3).[20]
+
+The judicial system consists of a Supreme Court of Justice — whose members are appointed by the president, the National Assembly, and the Board of the Judiciary — and regional courts. Separate courts hear civil, constitutional, and criminal cases. Appeal is to the Supreme Court.[15]
+
+The two main political parties are PAICV and MPD.[20]
+
+Cape Verde follows a policy of nonalignment and seeks cooperative relations with all friendly states.[15] Angola, Brazil, China, Libya, Cuba, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Senegal, Russia, Luxembourg, and the United States maintain embassies in Praia.[15] Cape Verde maintains a vigorously active foreign policy, especially in Africa.[15]
+
+Cape Verde is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, and international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.
+
+Cape Verde has bilateral relations with some Lusophone nations and holds membership in a number of international organisations.[15] It also participates in most international conferences on economic and political issues.[15] Since 2007, Cape Verde has a special partnership status[21] with the EU, under the Cotonou Agreement, and might apply for special membership, even because the Cape Verdean escudo, the country's currency, is indexed to the Euro.[22] In 2011 Cape Verde ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.[23] In 2017 Cape Verde signed the UN treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[24]
+
+The military of Cape Verde consists of the National Guard and the Coast Guard; 0.7% of the country's GDP was spent on the military in 2005.
+
+Having fought their only war for independence against Portugal between 1974 and 1975, the efforts of the Caboverdean Armed Forces have now been turned to combating international drug trafficking. In 2007, together with the Cape Verdean Police, they carried out Operation Flying Launch (Operacão Lancha Voadora), a successful operation to put an end to a drug trafficking group which smuggled cocaine from Colombia to the Netherlands and Germany using the country as a reorder point. The operation took more than three years, being a secret operation during the first two years, and ended in 2010.
+
+Although located in Africa, Cape Verde has always had close relations with Europe. Because of this, some scholars argue that Cape Verde may be eligible to join the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and NATO.[25]
+
+The most recent engagement of the Armed Forces was the Monte Tchota massacre that resulted in 11 deaths.[26]
+
+Cape Verde is often praised as an example among African nations for its stability and developmental growth despite its lack of natural resources. In 2013 then United States President Barack Obama said Cape Verde is "a real success story".[27] Among other achievements, it has been recognised with the following assessments:
+
+The Cape Verde archipelago is in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 570 kilometres (350 mi) off the western coast of the African continent, near Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is part of the Macaronesia ecoregion. It lies between latitudes 14° and 18°N, and longitudes 22° and 26°W.
+
+The country is a horseshoe-shaped cluster of ten islands (nine inhabited) and eight islets,[32] that constitute an area of 4033 km2.[32]
+
+The islands are spatially divided into two groups:
+
+The largest island, both in size and population, is Santiago, which hosts the nation's capital, Praia, the principal urban agglomeration in the archipelago.[32]
+
+Three of the Cape Verde islands, Sal, Boa Vista and Maio, are fairly flat, sandy, and dry; the others are generally rockier with more vegetation.
+
+Geologically, the islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,033 square kilometres (1,557 square miles), are principally composed of igneous rocks, with volcanic structures and pyroclastic debris comprising the majority of the archipelago's total volume. The volcanic and plutonic rocks are distinctly basic; the archipelago is a soda-alkaline petrographic province, with a petrologic succession similar to that found in other Macaronesian islands.
+
+Magnetic anomalies identified in the vicinity of the archipelago indicate that the structures forming the islands date back 125–150 million years: the islands themselves date from 8 million (in the west) to 20 million years (in the east).[33] The oldest exposed rocks occurred on Maio and northern peninsula of Santiago and are 128–131 million year old pillow lavas. The first stage of volcanism in the islands began in the early Miocene, and reached its peak at the end of this period, when the islands reached their maximum sizes. Historical volcanism (within human settlement) has been restricted to the island of Fogo.
+
+The origin of the islands' volcanism has been attributed to a hotspot, associated with bathymetric swell that formed the Cape Verde Rise.[34] The Rise is one of the largest protuberances in the world's oceans, rising 2.2 kilometres (1.4 miles) in a semi-circular region of 1200 km2, associated with a rise of the geoid and elevated surface heat flow.[33]
+
+Most recently erupting in 2014, Pico do Fogo is the largest active volcano in the region. It has an 8 kilometres (5 miles) diameter caldera, whose rim is 1,600 metres (5,249 feet) altitude and an interior cone that rises to 2,829 metres (9,281 feet) above sea level. The caldera resulted from subsidence, following the partial evacuation (eruption) of the magma chamber, along a cylindrical column from within magma chamber (at a depth of 8 kilometres (5 miles)).
+
+Extensive salt flats are found on Sal and Maio.[32] On Santiago, Santo Antão, and São Nicolau, arid slopes give way in places to sugarcane fields or banana plantations spread along the base of towering mountains.[32] Ocean cliffs have been formed by catastrophic debris landslides.[35]
+
+According to the president of Nauru, Cape Verde has been ranked the eighth most endangered nation due to flooding from climate change.[36]
+
+Cape Verde's climate is milder than that of the African mainland, because the surrounding sea moderates temperatures on the islands and cold Atlantic currents produce an arid atmosphere around the archipelago. Conversely, the islands do not receive the upwellings (cold streams) that affect the West African coast, so the air temperature is cooler than in Senegal, but the sea is warmer, because the orographic relief of some islands, such as Santiago with steep mountains, cover it with rich woods and luxuriant vegetation where the humid air condenses and soak the plants, rocks, soil, logs, moss, etc. On the higher islands and somewhat wetter islands, exclusively in mountainous areas, like Santo Antão island, the climate is suitable for the development of dry monsoon forest, and laurel forest as this vegetation.[32] Average daily high temperatures range from 26 °C (79 °F) in February to 31 °C (87.8 °F) in September.[37] Cape Verde is part of the Sahelian arid belt, with nothing like the rainfall levels of nearby West Africa.[32] It rains irregularly between August and October, with frequent brief heavy downpours.[32] A desert is usually defined as terrain that receives less than 250 mm (9.8 in) of annual rainfall. Sal's total of (145 mm (5.7 in)) confirms this classification. Most of the year's rain falls in September.[38]
+
+Sal, Boa Vista and Maio have a flat landscape and arid climate, whilst the other islands are generally rockier and have more vegetation. Because of the infrequent occurrence of rainfall the landscape is arid. The archipelago can be divided into four broad ecological zones — arid, semiarid, subhumid and humid, according to altitude and average annual rainfall ranging from less than 100 millimetres (3.9 inches) in the arid areas of the coast as in the Deserto de Viana (67 millimetres (2.6 inches) in Sal Rei) to more than 1,000 millimetres (39 inches) in the humid mountain. Most rainfall precipitation is due to condensation of the ocean mist.
+
+In some islands, as Santiago, the wetter climate of the interior and the eastern coast contrasts with the dryer one in the south/southwest coast. Praia, on the southeast coast, is the largest city of the island and the largest city and capital of the country.
+
+Because of their proximity to the Sahara, most of the Cape Verde islands are dry, but on islands with high mountains and farther away from the coast, by orography, the humidity is much higher, providing a rainforest habitat, although much affected by the human presence. Northeastern slopes of high mountains often receive a lot of rain while southwest slopes do not. These umbria areas are identified with cool and moisture.
+
+Western Hemisphere-bound hurricanes often have their early beginnings near the Cape Verde Islands. These are referred to as Cape Verde-type hurricanes. These hurricanes can become very intense as they cross warm Atlantic waters away from Cape Verde. The average hurricane season has about two Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which are usually the largest and most intense storms of the season because they often have plenty of warm open ocean over which to develop before encountering land. The five largest Atlantic tropical cyclones on record have been Cape Verde-type hurricanes. Most of the longest-lived tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin are Cape Verde hurricanes.
+
+The islands themselves have only been struck by hurricanes twice in recorded history (since 1851): once in 1892, and again in 2015 by Hurricane Fred, the easternmost hurricane ever to form in the Atlantic.
+
+Cape Verde's isolation has resulted in the islands having a number of endemic species, particularly birds and reptiles, many of which are endangered by human development. Endemic birds include Alexander's swift (Apus alexandri), Bourne's heron (Ardea purpurea bournei), the Raso lark (Alauda razae), the Cape Verde warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis), and the Iago sparrow (Passer iagoensis).[40] The islands are also an important breeding area for seabirds including the Cape Verde shearwater. Reptiles include the Cape Verde giant gecko (Tarentola gigas).
+
+Cape Verde is divided into 22 municipalities (concelhos) and subdivided into 32 parishes (freguesias), based on the religious parishes that existed during the colonial period:
+
+Cape Verde's notable economic growth and improvement in living conditions despite a lack of natural resources has garnered international recognition, with other countries and international organizations often providing development aid. Since 2007, the UN has classified it as a developing nation rather than a least developed country.
+
+Cape Verde has few natural resources. Only five of the ten main islands (Santiago, Santo Antão, São Nicolau, Fogo, and Brava) normally support significant agricultural production,[43] and over 90% of all food consumed in Cape Verde is imported. Mineral resources include salt, pozzolana (a volcanic rock used in cement production), and limestone.[15] Its small number of wineries making Portuguese-style wines have traditionally focused on the domestic market, but have recently met with some international acclaim. A number of wine tours of Cape Verde's various microclimates began to be offered in spring 2010.
+
+The economy of Cape Verde is service-oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services accounting for more than 70% of GDP.[citation needed] Although nearly 35% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture and fishing contribute only about 9% of GDP. Light manufacturing accounts for most of the remainder. Fish and shellfish are plentiful, and small quantities are exported. Cape Verde has cold storage and freezing facilities and fish processing plants in Mindelo, Praia, and on Sal. Expatriate Cape Verdeans contribute an amount estimated at about 20% of GDP to the domestic economy through remittances.[15]
+In spite of having few natural resources and being semi-desert, the country boasts the highest living standards in the region, and has attracted thousands of immigrants of different nationalities.
+
+Since 1991, the government has pursued market-oriented economic policies, including an open welcome to foreign investors and a far-reaching privatization programme. It established as top development priorities the promotion of a market economy and of the private sector; the development of tourism, light manufacturing industries, and fisheries; and the development of transport, communications, and energy facilities. From 1994 to 2000 about $407 million in foreign investments were made or planned, of which 58% were in tourism,[44] 17% in industry, 4% in infrastructure, and 21% in fisheries and services.[15]
+
+In 2011, on four islands a wind farm was built that supplies about 30% of the electricity of the country. It is one of the top countries for renewable energy.[45]
+
+Between 2000 and 2009, real GDP increased on average by over 7 percent a year, well above the average for Sub-Saharan countries and faster than most small island economies in the region. Strong economic performance was bolstered by one of the fastest growing tourism industries in the world, as well as by substantial capital inflows that allowed Cape Verde to build up national currency reserves to the current 3.5 months of imports. Unemployment has been falling rapidly, and the country is on track to achieve most of the UN Millennium Development Goals – including halving its 1990 poverty level.
+
+In 2007, Cape Verde joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in 2008 the country graduated from Least Developed Country (LDC) to Middle Income Country (MIC) status.[46][47]
+
+Cape Verde has significant cooperation with Portugal at every level of the economy, which has led it to link its currency first to the Portuguese escudo and, in 1999, to the euro. On 23 June 2008 Cape Verde became the 153rd member of the WTO.[48]
+
+In early January 2018, the government announced that the minimum wage would be raised to 13,000 CVE (US$140 or EUR 130) per month, from 11,000 CVE, which was effective in mid-January 2018.[49][50]
+
+The European Commission's total allocation for the period of 2008–2013 foreseen for Cape Verde to address "poverty reduction, in particular in rural and periurban areas where women are heading the households, as well as good governance" amounts to €54.1 million.[51]
+
+Cape Verde's strategic location at the crossroads of mid-Atlantic air and sea lanes has been enhanced by significant improvements at Mindelo's harbour (Porto Grande) and at Sal's and Praia's international airports. A new international airport was opened in Boa Vista in December 2007 and on the island of São Vicente the newest international airport (Cesária Évora Airport) in Cape Verde was opened in late 2009. Ship repair facilities at Mindelo were opened in 1983.[15]
+
+The major ports are Mindelo and Praia, but all other islands have smaller port facilities. In addition to the international airport on Sal, airports have been built on all of the inhabited islands. All but the airports on Brava and Santo Antão enjoy scheduled air service. The archipelago has 3,050 km (1,895 mi) of roads, of which 1,010 km (628 mi) are paved, most using cobblestone.[15]
+
+The country's future economic prospects depend heavily on the maintenance of aid flows, the encouragement of tourism, remittances, outsourcing labour to neighbouring African countries, and the momentum of the government's development programme.[15]
+
+The official Census recorded that Cape Verde had a population of 512,096 in 2013.[52] A large proportion (236,000) of Cape Verdeans live on the main island, Santiago.[53]
+
+The Cape Verde archipelago was uninhabited when the Portuguese discovered it in 1456. The modern population of Cape Verde descends from the mixture of European settlers and African slaves who were brought to the islands to work on Portuguese plantations. Most Cape Verdeans are therefore mulattos, also called mestiços in Portuguese. Another term is creole, meaning those of mixed native-born African and native-born European descent.
+
+European input included Spaniards and Italian seamen who were granted land by the Portuguese Empire, followed by Portuguese settlers and exiles, as well as Portuguese Muslims (ethnic Moors) and Portuguese Jews (ethnic Sephardim). Both of these religious groups were victims of the Inquisition. Other immigrants came from places such as the Netherlands, France, Britain, the Arab countries (especially Lebanon and Morocco), China (especially from Macau), India, Indonesia, South America, and North America (including people of Portuguese and African descent) and were absorbed into the mestiço population.
+
+Cape Verde's population in the 21st century is mostly creole; the capital city Praia accounts for a quarter of the country's population. Over 65% of the population in the archipelago live in urban centers, and the literacy rate is 89% (i.e., 93,3% among men aged 15 and above and 84,7% among women aged 15 and above) according to the 2017 National Statistics Bureau data. Many Cape Verdeans have since emigrated, mainly to the United States and Europe.
+
+A genetic study revealed that the ancestry of the population in Cape Verde is predominantly European in the male line and West African in the female line; counted together the percentage is 56% African and 44% European.[54] The high degree of genetic and ethnic mixture of individuals is a result of centuries of migration.
+
+Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese.[1] It is the language of instruction and government. It is also used in newspapers, television, and radio.
+
+Cape Verdean Creole is used colloquially and is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans. The national constitution calls for measures to give it parity with Portuguese.[1] Cape Verdean Creole or Kriolu is a dialect continuum of a Portuguese-based creole. There is a substantial body of literature in Creole, especially in the Santiago Creole and the São Vicente Creole. Creole has been gaining prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal.
+
+The differences between the forms of the language within the islands have been a major obstacle in the way of standardization of the language. Some people have advocated the development of two standards: a North (Barlavento) standard, centered on the São Vicente Creole, and a South (Sotavento) standard, centered on the Santiago Creole. Manuel Veiga, PhD, a linguist and Minister of Culture of Cape Verde, is the premier proponent of Kriolu's officialization and standardization.[55]
+
+Religion in Cape Verde (2010)[56]
+
+Around 95% of the population are Christian. More than 85% of the population was nominally Roman Catholic in 2007.[57] For a minority of the population, Catholicism is syncretized with African influences.[58]
+
+As of 2007, the largest Protestant denomination is the Church of the Nazarene; other groups include the Seventh-day Adventist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Assemblies of God, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, and other Pentecostal and evangelical groups.[57] There is a small Muslim community.[57] There were Jewish settlements on several islands.[59] The number of atheists is estimated at less than 1% of the population.[57]
+
+Today, more Cape Verdeans live abroad (nearly a million) than in Cape Verde itself, with significant emigrant[60] Cape Verdean communities in the United States (500,000) of Cape Verdean descent, with a major concentration on the New England coast; Providence, Rhode Island, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Boston, Massachusetts. Brockton, Massachusetts is the city with the largest number of Cape Verdean descents and immigrants (18,832)[61] in the United States.
+
+There are significant Cape Verde populations in Portugal (150,000), Angola (45,000), São Tomé and Príncipe (25,000), Senegal (25,000), the Netherlands (20,000, of which 15,000 are concentrated in Rotterdam), Spain (65,500), United Kingdom (35,500), France (25,000), Italy (10,000), Luxembourg (7,000), and Scandinavia (7,000). There is a Cape Verdean community in Argentina numbering 8,000. A large number of Cape Verdeans and people of Cape Verdean descent who emigrated before 1975 are not included in these statistics, because Cape Verdeans had Portuguese passports before 1975.
+
+The Chinese make up a sizable and important segment of the immigrant population in Cape Verde. The immigrants from the nearby West African coast make up the majority of foreigners in the country. Over the last several years, a few thousand Europeans and Latin Americans have settled in the country. On the islands, there are over 22,000 foreign-born naturalized Cape Verdeans who hail from over 90 countries around the world, living and working in the country on a permanent basis.
+
+Over the years, Cape Verde has increasingly become a net immigration country due to its relative high per capita income, political and social stability, and freedom.[citation needed]
+
+Emigrants from the Cape Verde islands to North America have a long history of involvement with the armed forces. They have enlisted in aid of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Korean and Vietnam Wars.[62] Cape Verdeans moved to places all over the world, from Macau to Haiti, and Argentina to northern Europe.[63]
+
+The Cape Verdean people's history and experience with immigration has inspired many songs and musicians, like the song Sodade by Cesaria Evora.[64]
+
+The infant mortality rate among Cape Verdean children between 0 and 5 years old is 15 per 1,000 live births according to the latest (2017) data from the National Statistics Bureau,[65] while the maternal mortality rate is 42 deaths per 100,000 live births. The HIV-AIDS prevalence rate among Cape Verdeans between 15 and 49 years old is 0.8%.[66]
+
+According to the latest data (2017) from the National Statistics Bureau,[65] life expectancy at birth in Cape Verde is 76,2 years, that is, 72,2 years for males and 80,2 years for females. There are six hospitals in the Cape Verde archipelago: two central hospitals (one in the capital city of Praia and one in Mindelo, São Vicente) and four regional hospitals (one in Santa Catarina (northern Santiago region), one on São Antão, one on Fogo, and one on Sal). In addition, there are 28 health centers, 35 sanitation centers and a variety of private clinics located throughout the archipelago.
+
+Cape Verde's population is among the healthiest in Africa. Since its independence, it has greatly improved its health indicators. Besides having been promoted to the group of "medium development" countries in 2007, leaving the least developed countries category (becoming the second country to do so[67]), is currently the 10th best ranked country in Africa in its Human Development Index.
+
+The total expenditure for health was 7.1% of GDP (2015).
+
+Although the Cape Verdean educational system is similar to the Portuguese system, over the years the local universities have been increasingly adopting the American educational system; for instance, all 10 existing universities in the country offer 4-year bachelor's degree programs as opposed to 5-year bachelor's degree programs that existed before 2010. Cape Verde has the second best educational system in Africa, after South Africa.[citation needed]
+Primary school education in Cape Verde is mandatory and free for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years.[68]
+
+In 2011, the net enrollment ratio for primary school was 85%.[68][69] Approximately 90% of the total population over 15 years of age is literate, and roughly 25% of the population holds a college degree; a significant number of these college graduates hold doctorate degrees in different academic fields. Textbooks have been made available to 90 percent of school children, and 98 percent of the teachers have attended in-service teacher training.[68] Although most children have access to education, some problems remain.[68] For example, there is insufficient spending on school materials, lunches, and books.[68]
+
+As of October 2016[update], there were 69 secondary schools throughout the archipelago (including 19 private secondary schools) and at least 10 universities in the country which are based on the two islands of Santiago and São Vicente.
+
+In 2015, 23% of the Cape Verdean population had either attended or graduated from secondary schools.
+When it came to higher education, 9% of Cape Verdean men and 8% of Cape Verdean women held a bachelor's degree or had attended universities. The overall college education rate (i.e., college graduates and undergraduate students) in Cape Verde is about 24%, in relation to the local college age population [1].
+The total expenditure on education was 5.6% of GDP (2010).
+The mean years of schooling of adults over 25 years is 12.
+
+In 2011, Cape Verde devoted just 0.07% of its GDP to research and development, among the lowest rates in West Africa. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture plans to strengthen the research and academic sectors by placing emphasis on greater mobility, through exchange programmes and international co-operation agreements. As part of this strategy, Cape Verde is participating in the Ibero-American academic mobility programme that expects to mobilize 200,000 academics between 2015 and 2020.[70]
+
+Cape Verde counted 25 researchers in 2011, a researcher density of 51 per million inhabitants. The world average was 1,083 per million in 2013. All 25 researchers were working in the government sector in 2011 and one in three were women (36%). There was no research being conducted in either medical or agricultural sciences. Of the eight engineers involved in research and development, one was a woman. Three of the five researchers working in natural sciences were women, as were three of the six social scientists and two of the five researchers from the humanities.[70]
+
+In 2015, the government was planning to build a 'cyber-island' which would develop and offer services that include software development, computer maintenance and back office operations. Approved in 2013, the Praia Technology Park is a step in this direction. Financed by the African Development Bank, it is expected to be operational by 2018.[70]
+
+Theft and burglary are common in Cape Verde, especially in crowded environments such as marketplaces, festivals, and celebrations.[71] Often the perpetrators of these crimes are gangs of street children.[71] Murders are concentrated in the major population centres of Praia and Mindelo.[71]
+
+The culture of Cape Verde is characterized by a mixture of European and African elements. This is not a sum of two cultures living side by side, but a new culture resulting from an exchange that began in the 15th century.
+
+The Cape Verdean case may be situated in the common context of African nations, in which elites, who questioned European racial and cultural superiority and who in some cases undertook a long armed struggle against European imperialism and national liberation, use the rule of Western codes as the main instrument of internal domination.[32]
+
+Cape Verdean social and cultural patterns are similar to those of rural Portugal.[32] Football games and church activities are typical sources of social interaction and entertainment.[32] The traditional walk around the praça (town square) to meet friends is practiced regularly in Cape Verde towns.[32]
+
+In towns with electricity, television is available on three channels; one state owned (RTC - TCV) and three foreign owned, RTI Cabo Verde launched by the Portuguese-based RTI in 2005, on 31 March 2007, Record Cabo Verde, its own version was launched by the Brazilian-based Rede Record.[32] Cape Verde has now received TV CPLP and some of its programs are broadcast, the network first aired in 2016. Premium channels includes the Cape Verdean versions of Boom TV and Zap Cabo Verde, two channels owned by Brazil's Record.[72] Other premium channels are aired in Cape Verde, especially satellite networks common in hotels and villas. Availability is mostly limited, though. One channel is RDP África, the African version of the Portuguese radio station RDP.
+
+As of early 2017, about 19% of the Cape Verdean population own an active cellular phone, 70% have access to the Internet, 11% own a landline telephone, and 2% of the population subscribe to local cable TV. In 2003, Cape Verde had 71,700 main line telephones with an additional 53,300 cellular phones in use throughout the country.
+
+In 2004, there were seven radio stations; six independent and one state owned. The media is operated by the Capeverdean News Agency (secondarily as Inforpress). Nationwide radio stations include RCV, RCV+, Radio Kriola, the religious station Radio Nova.[citation needed] Local radio stations include Rádio Praia, the first radio station in Cape Verde, Praia FM, the first FM station in the nation, Rádio Barlavento, Rádio Clube do Mindelo and Radio Morabeza in Mindelo.[citation needed]
+
+The Cape Verdean people are known for their musicality, well expressed by popular manifestations such as the Carnival of Mindelo. Cape Verde music incorporates "African, Portuguese and Brazilian influences."[73] Cape Verde's quintessential national music is the morna, a melancholy and lyrical song form typically sung in Cape Verdean Creole. The most popular music genre after morna is the coladeira, followed by funaná and batuque music. Cesária Évora was the best-known Cape Verdean singer in the world, known as the "barefoot diva", because she liked to perform barefooted on stage. The international success of Cesária Évora has made other Cape Verdean artists, or descendants of Cape Verdeans born in Portugal, gain more space in the music market. Examples of this are singers Sara Tavares, Lura and Mayra Andrade.
+
+Another great exponent of traditional music from Cape Verde was Antonio Vicente Lopes, better known as Travadinha and Ildo Lobo, who died in 2004. The House of Culture in the center of the city of Praia is called Ildo Lobo House of Culture, in his honor.
+
+There are also well known artists born to Cape Verdean parents who excelled themselves in the international music scene. Amongst these artists are jazz pianist Horace Silver, Duke Ellington's saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, Teófilo Chantre, Paul Pena, the Tavares brothers and singer Lura.
+
+Dance forms include the soft dance morna, the coladeira, the Cape Verdean version of the zouk from Guadeloupe called Cabo love, the Funaná (a sensual mixed Portuguese and African dance), the Batuque dance, and the Cabo Zouk.
+
+Cape Verdean literature is one of the richest of Lusophone Africa. Famous poets include Paulino Vieira, Manuel de Novas, Sergio Frusoni, Eugénio Tavares, and B. Léza, and famous authors include Baltasar Lopes da Silva, António Aurélio Gonçalves, Manuel Lopes, Orlanda Amarílis, Henrique Teixeira de Sousa, Arménio Vieira, Kaoberdiano Dambará, Dr. Azágua, and Germano Almeida.
+
+The Carnival and the island of São Vicente are portrayed in the 2015 feature documentary Tchindas, nominated at the 12th Africa Movie Academy Awards.
+
+The Cape Verde diet is mostly based on fish and staple foods like corn and rice. Vegetables available during most of the year are potatoes, onions, tomatoes, manioc, cabbage, kale, and dried beans. Fruits such as bananas and papayas are available year-round, while others like mangoes and avocados are seasonal.[32]
+
+A popular dish served in Cape Verde is Cachupa, a slow cooked stew of corn (hominy), beans, and fish or meat. A common appetizer is the pastel which is a pastry shell filled with fish or meat that is then fried.[32]
+
+The country's most successful sports team is the Cape Verde national basketball team, which won the bronze medal at the FIBA Africa Championship 2007, after beating Egypt in its last game. The country's most well-known player is Walter Tavares, who plays for Real Madrid of Spain.
+
+Cape Verde is famous for wave sailing[citation needed] (a type of windsurfing) and kiteboarding[citation needed]. Josh Angulo, a Hawaiian and 2009 PWA Wave World Champion, has done much to promote the archipelago as a windsurfing destination.[citation needed] Mitu Monteiro, a local kitesurfer, was the 2008 Kite Surfing World Champion in the wave discipline.
+
+The Cape Verde national football team, nicknamed either the Tubarões Azuis (Blue Sharks) or Crioulos (Creoles), is the national team of Cape Verde and is controlled by the Cape Verdean Football Federation. The team has played at two Africa Cup of Nations, in 2013 and 2015.[74]
+
+The country has competed at every Summer Olympics since 1996.
+
+There are four international ports: Mindelo, São Vicente; Praia, Santiago; Palmeira, Sal; and Sal Rei, Boa Vista. Mindelo on São Vicente is the main port for cruise liners and the terminus for the ferry service to Santo Antão. Praia on Santiago is a main hub for local ferry services to other islands. Palmeira on Sal supplies fuel for the main airport on the island, Amílcar Cabral International Airport, and is important for the hotel construction taking place on the island. Porto Novo on Santo Antão is the only source for imports and exports of produce from the island as well as passenger traffic since the closure of the airstrip at Ponta do Sol.
+There are smaller harbors, essentially single jetties at Tarrafal on São Nicolau, Sal Rei on Boa Vista, Vila do Maio (Porto Inglês) on Maio, São Filipe on Fogo and Furna on Brava. These act as terminals for the inter-island ferry services, which carry both freight and passengers. The pier at Santa Maria on Sal used by both fishing and dive boats has been rehabilitated.
+
+There were seven operational airports as of 2014[update] — 4 international and 3 domestic. Two others were non-operational, one on Brava and the other on Santo Antão, closed for safety reasons.
+
+Due to its geographical location, Cape Verde is often flown over by transatlantic airliners. It is part of the conventional air traffic route from Europe to South America, which goes from southern Portugal via the Canary Islands and Cape Verde to northern Brazil.
+
+15th century
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+16th century
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+15th century
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+16th century
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+19th century
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+16th century
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+17th century
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+15th century
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+16th century
+Portuguese India
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+17th century
+Portuguese India
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+18th century
+Portuguese India
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+16th century
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+17th century
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+19th century
+Portuguese Macau
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+20th century
+Portuguese Macau
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+15th century [Atlantic islands]
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+16th century [Canada]
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+16th century
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+17th century
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+18th century
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+19th century
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+Coordinates: 15°06′40″N 23°37′00″W / 15.11111°N 23.61667°W / 15.11111; -23.61667

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+
+
+Sus hydrochaeris Linnaeus, 1766
+
+The capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is a giant cavy rodent native to South America. It is the largest living rodent in the world.[2] Also called capivara (in Brazil), chigüire, chigüiro (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru), it is a member of the genus Hydrochoerus, of which the only other extant member is the lesser capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius).  Its close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the coypu. The capybara inhabits savannas and dense forests and lives near bodies of water. It is a highly social species and can be found in groups as large as 100 individuals, but usually lives in groups of 10–20 individuals. The capybara is not a threatened species, but it is hunted for its meat and hide and also for grease from its thick fatty skin.[3]
+
+Its common name is derived from Tupi ka'apiûara, a complex agglutination of kaá (leaf) + píi (slender) + ú (eat) + ara (a suffix for agent nouns), meaning "one who eats slender leaves", or "grass-eater".[4] Capybaras were called several times "Cuartins" in Colombia in 2018: in Eje Cafetero (Alcalà) and near Barranquilla where the meat was offered as "Cuartin Asado".
+
+The scientific name, both hydrochoerus and hydrochaeris, comes from Greek ὕδωρ (hydor "water") and χοῖρος (choiros "pig, hog").[5][6]
+
+The capybara and the lesser capybara belong to the subfamily Hydrochoerinae along with the rock cavies. The living capybaras and their extinct relatives were previously classified in their own family Hydrochoeridae.[7] Since 2002, molecular phylogenetic studies have recognized a close relationship between Hydrochoerus and Kerodon, the rock cavies,[8] supporting placement of both genera in a subfamily of Caviidae.[5]
+
+Paleontological classifications previously used Hydrochoeridae for all capybaras, while using Hydrochoerinae for the living genus and its closest fossil relatives, such as Neochoerus[9][10], but more recently have adopted the classification of Hydrochoerinae within Caviidae.[11]  The taxonomy of fossil hydrochoerines is also in a state of flux. In recent years, the diversity of fossil hydrochoerines has been substantially reduced.[9][10] This is largely due to the recognition that capybara molar teeth show strong variation in shape over the life of an individual.[9] In one instance, material once referred to four genera and seven species on the basis of differences in molar shape is now thought to represent differently aged individuals of a single species, Cardiatherium paranense.[9]
+Among fossil species, the name "capybara" can refer to the many species of Hydrochoerinae that are more closely related to the modern Hydrochoerus than to the "cardiomyine" rodents like Cardiomys.[11]  The fossil genera Cardiatherium, Phugatherium, Hydrochoeropsis, and Neochoerus are all capybaras under that concept.
+
+The capybara has a heavy, barrel-shaped body and short head, with reddish-brown fur on the upper part of its body that turns yellowish-brown underneath. Its sweat glands can be found in the surface of the hairy portions of its skin, an unusual trait among rodents.[7] The animal lacks down hair, and its guard hair differs little from over hair.[12]
+
+Adult capybaras grow to 106 to 134 cm (3.48 to 4.40 ft) in length, stand 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) tall at the withers, and typically weigh 35 to 66 kg (77 to 146 lb), with an average in the Venezuelan llanos of 48.9 kg (108 lb).[13][14][15] Females are slightly heavier than males. The top recorded weights are 91 kg (201 lb) for a wild female from Brazil and 73.5 kg (162 lb) for a wild male from Uruguay.[7][16] Also, an 81 kg individual was reported in São Paulo in 2001 or 2002.[17] The dental formula is 1.0.1.31.0.1.3.[7] Capybaras have slightly webbed feet and  vestigial tails.[7] Their hind legs are slightly longer than their forelegs; they have three toes on their rear feet and four toes on their front feet.[18] Their muzzles are blunt, with nostrils, and the eyes and ears are near the top of their heads.
+
+Its karyotype has 2n = 66 and FN = 102.[5][7]
+
+Capybaras are semiaquatic mammals[15] found throughout almost all countries of South America except Chile.[19] They live in densely forested areas near bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds, and marshes,[14] as well as flooded savannah and along rivers in the tropical rainforest. They are superb swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes at a time.[20] Capybara have flourished in cattle ranches.[7] They roam in home ranges averaging 10 hectares (25 acres) in high-density populations.[7]
+
+Many escapees from captivity can also be found in similar watery habitats around the world. Sightings are fairly common in Florida, although a breeding population has not yet been confirmed.[21] In 2011, one specimen was spotted on the Central Coast of California.[22]
+
+Capybaras are herbivores, grazing mainly on grasses and aquatic plants,[14][23] as well as fruit and tree bark.[15] They are very selective feeders[24] and feed on the leaves of one species and disregard other species surrounding it. They eat a greater variety of plants during the dry season, as fewer plants are available. While they eat grass during the wet season, they have to switch to more abundant reeds during the dry season.[25] Plants that capybaras eat during the summer lose their nutritional value in the winter, so are not consumed at that time.[24] The capybara's jaw hinge is not perpendicular, so they chew food by grinding back-and-forth rather than side-to-side.[26] Capybaras are autocoprophagous, meaning they eat their own feces as a source of bacterial gut flora, to help digest the cellulose in the grass that forms their normal diet, and to extract the maximum protein and vitamins from their food. They may also regurgitate food to masticate again, similar to cud-chewing by cattle.[27] As is the case with other rodents, the front teeth of capybaras grow continually to compensate for the constant wear from eating grasses;[19] their cheek teeth also grow continuously.[26]
+
+Like its relative the guinea pig, the capybara does not have the capacity to synthesize vitamin C, and capybaras not supplemented with vitamin C in captivity have been reported to develop gum disease as a sign of scurvy.[28]
+
+They can have a lifespan of 8–10 years,[29] but live less than four years in the wild, because they are "a favourite food of jaguar, puma, ocelot, eagle, and caiman".[19] The capybara is also the preferred prey of the anaconda.[30]
+
+Capybaras are known to be gregarious. While they sometimes live solitarily, they are more commonly found in groups of around 10–20 individuals, with two to four adult males, four to seven adult females, and the remainder juveniles.[31] Capybara groups can consist of as many as 50 or 100 individuals during the dry season[27][32] when the animals gather around available water sources. Males establish social bonds, dominance, or general group consensus.[clarification needed][32] They can make dog-like barks[27] when threatened or when females are herding young.[33]
+
+Capybaras have two types of scent glands; a morrillo, located on the snout, and anal glands.[34] Both sexes have these glands, but males have much larger morrillos and use their anal glands more frequently. The anal glands of males are also lined with detachable hairs. A crystalline form of scent secretion is coated on these hairs and is released when in contact with objects such as plants. These hairs have a longer-lasting scent mark and are tasted by other capybaras. Capybaras scent-mark by rubbing their morrillos on objects, or by walking over scrub and marking it with their anal glands. Capybaras can spread their scent further by urinating; however, females usually mark without urinating and scent-mark less frequently than males overall. Females mark more often during the wet season when they are in estrus. In addition to objects, males also scent-mark females.[34]
+
+When in estrus, the female's scent changes subtly and nearby males begin pursuit.[35] In addition, a female alerts males she is in estrus by whistling through her nose.[27] During mating, the female has the advantage and mating choice. Capybaras mate only in water, and if a female does not want to mate with a certain male, she either submerges or leaves the water.[27][32] Dominant males are highly protective of the females, but they usually cannot prevent some of the subordinates from copulating.[35] The larger the group, the harder it is for the male to watch all the females. Dominant males secure significantly more matings than each subordinate, but subordinate males, as a class, are responsible for more matings than each dominant male.[35] The lifespan of the capybara's sperm is longer than that of other rodents.[36]
+
+Capybara gestation is 130–150 days, and produces a litter of four capybaras young on average, but may produce between one and eight in a single litter.[7] Birth is on land and the female rejoins the group within a few hours of delivering the newborn capybaras, which join the group as soon as they are mobile. Within a week, the young can eat grass, but continue to suckle—from any female in the group—until weaned around 16 weeks. The young form a group within the main group.[19] Alloparenting has been observed in this species.[32] Breeding peaks between April and May in Venezuela and between October and November in Mato Grosso, Brazil.[7]
+
+Though quite agile on land, capybaras are equally at home in the water. They are excellent swimmers, and can remain completely submerged for up to five minutes,[14] an ability they use to evade predators. Capybaras can sleep in water, keeping only their noses out of the water. As temperatures increase during the day, they wallow in water and then graze during the late afternoon and early evening.[7] They also spend time wallowing in mud.[18] They rest around midnight and then continue to graze before dawn.
+
+Capybaras are not considered a threatened species;[1] their population is stable throughout most of their South American range, though in some areas hunting has reduced their numbers.[14][19]
+
+Capybaras are hunted for their meat and pelts in some areas,[37] and otherwise killed by humans who see their grazing as competition for livestock. In some areas, they are farmed, which has the effect of ensuring the wetland habitats are protected. Their survival is aided by their ability to breed rapidly.[19]
+
+Capybaras have adapted well to urbanization in South America. They can be found in many areas in zoos and parks,[26] and may live for 12 years in captivity, more than double their natural lifespan.[19] Capybaras are docile and usually allow humans to pet and hand-feed them, but physical contact is normally discouraged, as their ticks can be vectors to Rocky Mountain spotted fever.[38]
+
+The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria asked Drusillas Park in Alfriston, Sussex, England to keep the studbook for capybaras, to monitor captive populations in Europe. The studbook includes information about all births, deaths and movements of capybaras, as well as how they are related.[39]
+
+Capybaras are farmed for meat and skins in South America.[40] The meat is considered unsuitable to eat in some areas, while in other areas it is considered an important source of protein.[7] In parts of South America, especially in Venezuela, capybara meat is popular during Lent and Holy Week as the Catholic Church previously issued special dispensation to allow it to be eaten while other meats are generally forbidden.[41] There is widespread perception in Venezuela that consumption of capybaras is exclusive to rural people.
+
+Although it is illegal in some states,[42] capybaras are occasionally kept as pets in the United States.[43]
+
+The image of a capybara features on the 2-peso coin of Uruguay.[44]
+
+In Japan, following the lead of Izu Shaboten Park in 1982,[45] multiple establishments or zoos in Japan that raise capybaras have adopted the practice of having them relax in onsen during the winter. They are seen as an attraction by Japanese people.[45] Capybaras became big in Japan due to the popular cartoon character Kapibara-san.[46]
+
+Brazilian Lyme-like borreliosis likely involves capybaras as reservoirs and Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus ticks as vectors.[47]

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+
+
+
+Pokémon[a] (English: /ˈpoʊkɪˌmɒn, -ki-, -keɪ-/),[1][2][3] also known as Pocket Monsters[b] in Japan, is a Japanese media franchise managed by the Pokémon Company, a company founded and with shares divided between Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures.[4] The franchise copyright and Japanese trademark is shared by all three companies,[5] but Nintendo is the sole owner of the trademark in other countries.[6] The franchise was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995,[7] and is centered on fictional creatures called "Pokémon", which humans, known as Pokémon Trainers, catch and train to battle each other for sport. The English slogan for the franchise is "Gotta Catch 'Em All".[8][9] Works within the franchise are set in the Pokémon universe.
+
+The franchise began as Pokémon Red and Green (later released outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue), a pair of video games for the original Game Boy handheld system that were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in February 1996. It soon became a media mix franchise adapted into various different media.[10] Pokémon has since become the highest-grossing media franchise of all time,[11][12][13] with $90 billion in total franchise revenue.[14][15] The original video game series is the second-best-selling video game franchise (behind Nintendo's Mario franchise)[16] with more than 346 million copies sold[17] and one billion mobile downloads,[18] and it spawned a hit anime television series that has become the most successful video game adaptation[19] with over 20 seasons and 1,000 episodes in 169 countries.[17] In addition, the Pokémon franchise includes the world's top-selling toy brand,[20] the top-selling trading card game[21] with over 28.8 billion cards sold,[17] an anime film series, a live-action film, books, manga comics, music, merchandise, and a theme park. The franchise is also represented in other Nintendo media, such as the Super Smash Bros. series.
+
+In November 2005, 4Kids Entertainment, which had managed the non-game related licensing of Pokémon, announced that it had agreed not to renew the Pokémon representation agreement. The Pokémon Company International oversees all Pokémon licensing outside Asia.[22] In 2006, the franchise celebrated its tenth anniversary.[23] In 2016, the Pokémon Company celebrated Pokémon's 20th anniversary by airing an ad during Super Bowl 50 in January and issuing re-releases of the 1996 Game Boy games Pokémon Red, Green (only in Japan), and Blue, and the 1998 Game Boy Color game Pokémon Yellow for the Nintendo 3DS on February 26, 2016.[24][25] The mobile augmented reality game Pokémon Go was released in July 2016.[26] The first live-action film in the franchise, Pokémon Detective Pikachu, based on the 2018 Nintendo 3DS spinoff game Detective Pikachu, was released in 2019.[11] The most recently released games, Pokémon Sword and Shield, were released worldwide on the Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019.[27]
+
+The name Pokémon is the portmanteau of the Japanese brand Pocket Monsters.[28] The term "Pokémon", in addition to referring to the Pokémon franchise itself, also collectively refers to the 896 fictional species that have made appearances in Pokémon media as of the release of the eighth generation titles Pokémon Sword and Shield. "Pokémon" is identical in the singular and plural, as is each individual species name; it is grammatically correct to say "one Pokémon" and "many Pokémon", as well as "one Pikachu" and "many Pikachu".[29]
+
+Pokémon executive director Satoshi Tajiri first thought of Pokémon, albeit with a different concept and name, around 1989, when the Game Boy was released. The concept of the Pokémon universe, in both the video games and the general fictional world of Pokémon, stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime which Tajiri enjoyed as a child.[30] Players are designated as Pokémon Trainers and have three general goals: to complete the regional Pokédex by collecting all of the available Pokémon species found in the fictional region where a game takes place, to complete the national Pokédex by transferring Pokémon from other regions, and to train a team of powerful Pokémon from those they have caught to compete against teams owned by other Trainers so they may eventually win the Pokémon League and become the regional Champion. These themes of collecting, training, and battling are present in almost every version of the Pokémon franchise, including the video games, the anime and manga series, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
+
+In most incarnations of the Pokémon universe, a Trainer who encounters a wild Pokémon is able to capture that Pokémon by throwing a specially designed, mass-producible spherical tool called a Poké Ball at it. If the Pokémon is unable to escape the confines of the Poké Ball, it is considered to be under the ownership of that Trainer. Afterwards, it will obey whatever commands it receives from its new Trainer, unless the Trainer demonstrates such a lack of experience that the Pokémon would rather act on its own accord. Trainers can send out any of their Pokémon to wage non-lethal battles against other Pokémon; if the opposing Pokémon is wild, the Trainer can capture that Pokémon with a Poké Ball, increasing their collection of creatures. In Pokémon Go, and in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, wild Pokémon encountered by players can be caught in Poké Balls, but generally cannot be battled. Pokémon already owned by other Trainers cannot be captured, except under special circumstances in certain side games. If a Pokémon fully defeats an opponent in battle so that the opponent is knocked out ("faints"), the winning Pokémon gains experience points and may level up. Beginning with Pokémon X and Y, experience points are also gained from catching Pokémon in Poké Balls. When leveling up, the Pokémon's battling aptitude statistics ("stats", such as "Attack" and "Speed") increase. At certain levels, the Pokémon may also learn new moves, which are techniques used in battle. In addition, many species of Pokémon can undergo a form of metamorphosis and transform into a similar but stronger species of Pokémon, a process called evolution; this process occurs spontaneously under differing circumstances, and is itself a central theme of the series. Some species of Pokémon may undergo a maximum of two evolutionary transformations, while others may undergo only one, and others may not evolve at all. For example, the Pokémon Pichu may evolve into Pikachu, which in turn may evolve into Raichu, following which no further evolutions may occur. Pokémon X and Y introduced the concept of "Mega Evolution," by which certain fully evolved Pokémon may temporarily undergo an additional evolution into a stronger form for the purpose of battling; this evolution is considered a special case, and unlike other evolutionary stages, is reversible.
+
+In the main series, each game's single-player mode requires the Trainer to raise a team of Pokémon to defeat many non-player character (NPC) Trainers and their Pokémon. Each game lays out a somewhat linear path through a specific region of the Pokémon world for the Trainer to journey through, completing events and battling opponents along the way (including foiling the plans of an 'evil' team of Pokémon Trainers who serve as antagonists to the player). Excluding Pokémon Sun and Moon and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, the games feature eight powerful Trainers, referred to as Gym Leaders, that the Trainer must defeat in order to progress. As a reward, the Trainer receives a Gym Badge, and once all eight badges are collected, the Trainer is eligible to challenge the region's Pokémon League, where four talented trainers (referred to collectively as the "Elite Four") challenge the Trainer to four Pokémon battles in succession. If the trainer can overcome this gauntlet, they must challenge the Regional Champion, the master Trainer who had previously defeated the Elite Four. Any Trainer who wins this last battle becomes the new champion.
+
+All of the licensed Pokémon properties overseen by the Pokémon Company International are divided roughly by generation. These generations are roughly chronological divisions by release; every several years, when a sequel to the 1996 role-playing video games Pokémon Red and Green is released that features new Pokémon, characters, and gameplay concepts, that sequel is considered the start of a new generation of the franchise. The main Pokémon video games and their spin-offs, the anime, manga, and trading card game are all updated with the new Pokémon properties each time a new generation begins.[32] Some Pokémon from the newer games appear in anime episodes or films months, or even years, before the game they were programmed for came out. The first generation began in Japan with Pokémon Red and Green on the Game Boy. As of 2020, there currently are eight generations of main series video games. The most recent games in the main series, Pokémon Sword and Shield, began the eighth and latest generation and were released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on November 15, 2019.[33][34][35]
+
+Pokémon, also known as Pokémon the Series to Western audiences since 2013, is an anime television series based on the Pokémon video game series. It was originally broadcast on TV Tokyo in 1997. To date, the anime has produced and aired over 1,000 episodes, divided into 7 series in Japan and 22 seasons internationally. It is one of the longest currently running anime series.[38]
+
+The anime follows the quest of the main character, Ash Ketchum (known as Satoshi in Japan), a Pokémon Master in training, as he and a small group of friends travel around the world of Pokémon along with their Pokémon partners.[39]
+
+Various children's books, collectively known as Pokémon Junior, are also based on the anime.[40]
+
+A new seven part anime series called Pokémon: Twilight Wings began airing on YouTube in 2020.[41] The series was animated by Studio Colorido.[42]
+
+To date, there have been 23 animated theatrical Pokémon films (one in the making for July 2020[43]), which have been directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Tetsuo Yajima, and distributed in Japan by Toho since 1998. The pair of films, Pokémon the Movie: Black—Victini and Reshiram and White—Victini and Zekrom are considered together as one film. Collectibles, such as promotional trading cards, have been available with some of the films. Since the 20th film, the films have been set in an alternate continuity separate from the anime series.
+
+List of Pokémon animated theatrical films
+
+A reboot to the film franchise began with the release of the 20th movie, Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, in Japan on July 15, 2017. It was followed by a continuation, Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us, which was released in Japan on July 13, 2018.
+
+A live-action Pokémon film directed by Rob Letterman, produced by Legendary Entertainment,[48] and distributed in Japan by Toho and internationally by Warner Bros.[49] began filming in January 2018.[50] On August 24, the film's official title was announced as Pokémon Detective Pikachu.[51] It was released on May 10, 2019.[11] The film is based on the 2018 Nintendo 3DS spin-off video game Detective Pikachu. Development of a sequel was announced in January 2019, before the release of the first film.[52]
+
+Pokémon CDs have been released in North America, some of them in conjunction with the theatrical releases of the first three and the 20th Pokémon films. These releases were commonplace until late 2001. On March 27, 2007, a tenth anniversary CD was released containing 18 tracks from the English dub; this was the first English-language release in over five years. Soundtracks of the Pokémon feature films have been released in Japan each year in conjunction with the theatrical releases. In 2017, a soundtrack album featuring music from the North American versions of the 17th through 20th movies was released.
+
+^  The exact date of release is unknown.
+
+^  Featuring music from Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, Pokémon the Movie: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, and Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!
+
+The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) is a collectible card game with a goal similar to a Pokémon battle in the video game series. Players use Pokémon cards, with individual strengths and weaknesses, in an attempt to defeat their opponent by "knocking out" their Pokémon cards.[55] The game was published in North America by Wizards of the Coast in 1999.[56] With the release of the Game Boy Advance video games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the Pokémon Company took back the card game from Wizards of the Coast and started publishing the cards themselves.[56] The Expedition expansion introduced the Pokémon-e Trading Card Game, where the cards (for the most part) were compatible with the Nintendo e-Reader. Nintendo discontinued its production of e-Reader compatible cards with the release of FireRed and LeafGreen. In 1998, Nintendo released a Game Boy Color version of the trading card game in Japan; Pokémon Trading Card Game was subsequently released to the US and Europe in 2000. The game included digital versions cards from the original set of cards and the first two expansions (Jungle and Fossil), as well as several cards exclusive to the game. A sequel was released in Japan in 2001.[57]
+
+There are various Pokémon manga series, four of which were released in English by Viz Media, and seven of them released in English by Chuang Yi. The manga series vary from game-based series to being based on the anime and the Trading Card Game. Original stories have also been published. As there are several series created by different authors, most Pokémon manga series differ greatly from each other and other media, such as the anime.[example  needed] Pokémon Pocket Monsters and Pokémon Adventures are the two manga in production since the first generation.
+
+A Pokémon-styled Monopoly board game was released in August 2014.[72]
+
+Pokémon has been criticized by some fundamentalist Christians over perceived occult and violent themes and the concept of "Pokémon evolution", which they feel goes against the Biblical creation account in Genesis.[73] Sat2000, a satellite television station based in Vatican City, has countered that the Pokémon Trading Card Game and video games are "full of inventive imagination" and have no "harmful moral side effects".[74][75] In the United Kingdom, the "Christian Power Cards" game was introduced in 1999 by David Tate who stated, "Some people aren't happy with Pokémon and want an alternative, others just want Christian games." The game was similar to the Pokémon Trading Card Game but used Biblical figures.[76]
+
+In 1999, Nintendo stopped manufacturing the Japanese version of the "Koga's Ninja Trick" trading card because it depicted a manji, a traditionally Buddhist symbol with no negative connotations. The Jewish civil rights group Anti-Defamation League complained because the symbol is the reverse of a swastika, a Nazi symbol. The cards were intended for sale in Japan only, but the popularity of Pokémon led to import into the United States with approval from Nintendo. The Anti-Defamation League understood that the portrayed symbol was not intended to offend and acknowledged the sensitivity that Nintendo showed by removing the product.[77][78]
+
+In 1999, two nine-year-old boys from Merrick, New York sued Nintendo because they claimed the Pokémon Trading Card Game caused their problematic gambling.[79]
+
+In 2001, Saudi Arabia banned Pokémon games and the trading cards, alleging that the franchise promoted Zionism by displaying the Star of David in the trading cards (a six-pointed star is featured in the card game) as well as other religious symbols such as crosses they associated with Christianity and triangles they associated with Freemasonry; the games also involved gambling, which is in violation of Muslim doctrine.[80][81]
+
+Pokémon has also been accused of promoting materialism.[82]
+
+In 2012, PETA criticized the concept of Pokémon as supporting cruelty to animals. PETA compared the game's concept, of capturing animals and forcing them to fight, to cockfights, dog fighting rings and circuses, events frequently criticized for cruelty to animals. PETA released a game spoofing Pokémon where the Pokémon battle their trainers to win their freedom.[83] PETA reaffirmed their objections in 2016 with the release of Pokémon Go, promoting the hashtag #GottaFreeThemAll.[84]
+
+On December 16, 1997, more than 635 Japanese children were admitted to hospitals with epileptic seizures.[85] It was determined the seizures were caused by watching an episode of Pokémon "Dennō Senshi Porygon", (most commonly translated "Electric Soldier Porygon", season 1, episode 38); as a result, this episode has not been aired since. In this particular episode, there were bright explosions with rapidly alternating blue and red color patterns.[86] It was determined in subsequent research that these strobing light effects cause some individuals to have epileptic seizures, even if the person had no previous history of epilepsy.[87] This incident is a common focus of Pokémon-related parodies in other media, and was lampooned by The Simpsons episode "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo"[88] and the South Park episode "Chinpokomon",[89] among others.
+
+In March 2000, Morrison Entertainment Group, a toy developer based at Manhattan Beach, California, sued Nintendo over claims that Pokémon infringed on its own Monster in My Pocket characters. A judge ruled there was no infringement and Morrison appealed the ruling. On February 4, 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision by the District Court to dismiss the suit.[90]
+
+Within its first two days of release, Pokémon Go raised safety concerns among players. Multiple people also suffered minor injuries from falling while playing the game due to being distracted.[91]
+
+Multiple police departments in various countries have issued warnings, some tongue-in-cheek, regarding inattentive driving, trespassing, and being targeted by criminals due to being unaware of one's surroundings.[92][93] People have suffered various injuries from accidents related to the game,[94][95][96][97] and Bosnian players have been warned to stay out of minefields left over from the 1990s Bosnian War.[98] On July 20, 2016, it was reported that an 18-year-old boy in Chiquimula, Guatemala was shot and killed while playing the game in the late evening hours. This was the first reported death in connection with the app. The boy's 17-year-old cousin, who was accompanying the victim, was shot in the foot. Police speculated that the shooters used the game's GPS capability to find the two.[99]
+
+Pokémon, being a globally popular franchise, has left a significant mark on today's popular culture. The various species of Pokémon have become pop culture icons; examples include two different Pikachu balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Pokémon-themed airplanes operated by All Nippon Airways, merchandise items, and a traveling theme park that was in Nagoya, Japan in 2005 and in Taipei in 2006. Pokémon also appeared on the cover of the U.S. magazine Time in 1999.[100] The Comedy Central show Drawn Together has a character named Ling-Ling who is a parody of Pikachu.[101] Several other shows such as The Simpsons,[102] South Park[103] and Robot Chicken[104] have made references and spoofs of Pokémon, among other series. Pokémon was featured on VH1's I Love the '90s: Part Deux. A live action show based on the anime called Pokémon Live! toured the United States in late 2000.[105] Jim Butcher cites Pokémon as one of the inspirations for the Codex Alera series of novels.[106]
+
+Pokémon has even made its mark in the realm of science. This includes animals named after Pokémon, such as Stentorceps weedlei (named after the Pokémon Weedle for its resemblance) and Chilicola Charizard Monckton (named after the Pokémon Charizard).[107] There is also a protein named after Pikachu, called Pikachurin.
+
+In November 2001, Nintendo opened a store called the Pokémon Center in New York, in Rockefeller Center,[108] modeled after the two other Pokémon Center stores in Tokyo and Osaka and named after a staple of the video game series. Pokémon Centers are fictional buildings where Trainers take their injured Pokémon to be healed after combat.[109] The store sold Pokémon merchandise on a total of two floors, with items ranging from collectible shirts to stuffed Pokémon plushies.[110] The store also featured a Pokémon Distributing Machine in which players would place their game to receive an egg of a Pokémon that was being given out at that time. The store also had tables that were open for players of the Pokémon Trading Card Game to duel each other or an employee. The store was closed and replaced by the Nintendo World Store on May 14, 2005.[111] Four Pokémon Center kiosks were put in malls in the Seattle area.[112] The Pokémon Center online store was relaunched on August 6, 2014.[113]
+
+Professor of Education Joseph Tobin theorizes that the success of the franchise was due to the long list of names that could be learned by children and repeated in their peer groups. Its rich fictional universe provides opportunities for discussion and demonstration of knowledge in front of their peers. The names of the creatures were linked to its characteristics, which converged with the children's belief that names have symbolic power. Children can pick their favourite Pokémon and affirm their individuality while at the same time affirming their conformance to the values of the group, and they can distinguish themselves from others by asserting what they liked and what they did not like from every chapter. Pokémon gained popularity because it provides a sense of identity to a wide variety of children, and lost it quickly when many of those children found that the identity groups were too big and searched for identities that would distinguish them into smaller groups.[114]
+
+Pokémon's history has been marked at times by rivalry with the Digimon media franchise that debuted at a similar time. Described as "the other 'mon'" by IGN's Juan Castro, Digimon has not enjoyed Pokémon's level of international popularity or success, but has maintained a dedicated fanbase.[115] IGN's Lucas M. Thomas stated that Pokémon is Digimon's "constant competition and comparison", attributing the former's relative success to the simplicity of its evolution mechanic as opposed to Digivolution.[116] The two have been noted for conceptual and stylistic similarities by sources such as GameZone.[117] A debate among fans exists over which of the two franchises came first.[118] In actuality, the first Pokémon media, Pokémon Red and Green, were released initially on February 27, 1996;[119] whereas the Digimon virtual pet was released on June 26, 1997.
+
+While Pokémon's target demographic is children, early purchasers of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire were in their 20s.[120] Many fans are adults who originally played the games as children and had later returned to the series.[121]
+
+Numerous fan sites exist for the Pokémon franchise, including Bulbapedia, a wiki-based encyclopedia,[122][123][124] and Serebii,[125] a news and reference website.[126] Other large fan communities exist on other platforms, such as the r/pokemon subreddit with over 2.2 million subscribers.[127]
+
+A significant community around the Pokémon video games' metagame has existed for a long time, analyzing the best ways to use each Pokémon to their full potential in competitive battles. The most prolific competitive community is Smogon University, which has created a widely accepted tier-based battle system.[128]
+Smogon is affiliated with an online Pokémon game called Pokémon Showdown, in which players create a team and battle against other players around the world using the competitive tiers created by Smogon.[129]
+
+In early 2014, an anonymous video streamer on Twitch launched Twitch Plays Pokémon, an experiment trying to crowdsource playing subsequent Pokémon games, starting with Pokémon Red.[130][131]
+
+A challenge called the Nuzlocke Challenge allows players to only capture the first Pokémon encountered in each area. If they do not succeed in capturing that Pokémon, there are no second chances. When a Pokémon faints, it is considered "dead" and must be released or stored in the PC permanently.[132] If the player faints, the game is considered over, and the player must restart.[133] The original idea consisted of 2 to 3 rules that the community has built upon. There are many fan made Pokémon games that contain a game mode similar to the Nuzlocke Challenge, such as Pokémon Uranium.[134]
+
+A study at Stanford Neurosciences published in Nature performed magnetic resonance imaging scans of 11 Pokémon experts and 11 controls, finding that seeing Pokémon stimulated activity in the visual cortex, in a different place than is triggered by recognizing faces, places or words, demonstrating the brain's ability to create such specialized areas.[135]

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+Caracas (/kəˈrækəs, -ˈrɑːk-/, Spanish: [kaˈɾakas]), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas).[3] Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, within the Caracas Valley of the Venezuelan coastal mountain range (Cordillera de la Costa). The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep 2,200-metre-high (7,200 ft) mountain range, Cerro El Ávila; to the south there are more hills and mountains. The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an estimated population of almost 5 million inhabitants.
+
+The center of the city is still Catedral, located near Bolívar Square,[4] though some consider the center to be Plaza Venezuela, located in the Los Caobos area.[3][5][6] Businesses in the city include service companies, banks, and malls. Caracas has a largely service-based economy, apart from some industrial activity in its metropolitan area.[7] The Caracas Stock Exchange and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) are headquartered in Caracas. PDVSA is the largest company in Venezuela. Caracas is also Venezuela's cultural capital, with many restaurants, theaters, museums, and shopping centers. Caracas has some of the tallest skyscrapers in Latin America,[8] such as the Parque Central Towers.[9] The Museum of Contemporary Art of Caracas is one of the most important in South America.[10]
+
+Caracas has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world, with 111.19 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.[11]
+
+Before the city was founded in 1567,[12] the valley of Caracas was populated by indigenous peoples. Francisco Fajardo, the son of a Spanish captain and a Guaiqueri cacica, who came from Margarita, began establishing settlements in the area of La Guaira and the Caracas valley between 1555 and 1560. Fajardo attempted to establish a plantation in the valley in 1562 after these unsuccessful coastal towns, but it did not last long: it was destroyed by natives of the region led by Terepaima and Guaicaipuro.[13][14] Fajardo's 1560 settlement was known as Hato de San Francisco, and another attempt in 1561 by Juan Rodríguez de Suárez was called Villa de San Francisco, and was also destroyed by the same native people.[1] The eventual settlers of Caracas came from Coro, the German capital of their Klein-Venedig colony around the present-day coastal Colombia–Venezuela border; from the 1540s, the colony had been de facto controlled by Spaniards. Moving eastward from Coro, groups of Spanish settlers founded inland towns including Barquisimeto and Valencia before reaching the Caracas valley.[13]
+
+On 25 July 1567, Captain Diego de Losada laid the foundations of the city of Santiago de León de Caracas.[12] De Losada had been commissioned to capture the valley, and was successful by splitting the natives into different groups to work with, then fighting and defeating each of them.[1] The town was the closest to the coast of these new settlements, and the colonists retained a native workforce, which allowed a trade network to develop between Caracas, the interior, and Margarita; the towns further inland produced ample cotton products and beeswax, and Margarita was a rich source of pearls. The Caracas valley had a good environment for both agricultural and arable farming, which contributed to the system of commerce but meant that the town's population was initially sparse, as it was only large enough to support a few farms.[13]
+
+In 1577, Caracas became the capital of the Spanish Empire's Venezuela Province[15] under the province's new governor, Juan de Pimentel (1576–1583).[1] In the 1580s, Caraqueños started selling food to the Spanish soldiers in Cartagena, who often docked in the coastal city when collecting products from the empire in South America. Wheat was growing increasingly expensive in the Iberian Peninsula, and the Spanish profited from buying it from Caracas farmers. This cemented the city in the empire's trade circuit.[13]
+
+During the 16th and 17th centuries, the coast of Venezuela was frequently raided by pirates. With the coastal mountains of the Central Range as a barrier, Caracas was relatively immune to such attacks, compared to other Caribbean coastal settlements,[13] but in 1595 the Preston–Somers expedition landed and around 200 English privateers, including George Somers and Amyas Preston, crossed the mountains through a little-used pass while the town's defenders were guarding the more frequently used one. Encountering little resistance, the invaders sacked and set fire to the town after a failed ransom negotiation.[16][17] The city managed to rebuild, using wheat profits and "a lot of sacrifice".[1] In the 1620s, farmers in Caracas discovered that cacao beans could be sold, first selling them to native people of Mexico and quickly growing across the Caribbean. The city became important in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, as well as moving from largely native slave labor to African slaves, the first of the Spanish colonies to become part of the slave trade. The city was successful and operated on cacao and slave trade until the 1650s, when an alhorra blight, the Mexican Inquisition of many of their Portuguese traders, and increased cacao production in Guayaquil greatly affected the market. This and the destructive 1641 earthquake put the city into decline, and they likely began illegally trading with the Dutch Empire, which Caraqueños later proved sympathetic to; by the 1670s, Caracas had a trading route through Curaçao.[13]
+
+In 1728, the Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas was founded by the king, and the cacao business grew in importance. Caracas was made one of the three provinces of Nueva Granada, corresponding to Venezuela, in 1739. Over the next three decades the Viceroyalty was variously split, with Caracas province becoming the Venezuela province and then the Captaincy General of Venezuela in 1777, with Caracas as the capital.[1] Venezuela then attempted to become independent, first with the 1797 Gual and España conspiracy, based in Caracas,[18] and then the successful 1811 Venezuelan Declaration of Independence.[1] Caracas then came under worse luck: in 1812, an earthquake destroyed Caracas, a quarter of its population migrated in 1814, and the Venezuelan War of Independence continued until 24 June 1821, when Simón Bolívar defeated royalists in the Battle of Carabobo.[1][19] Urban reforms only took place towards the end of the 19th century, under Antonio Guzmán Blanco: some landmarks were built, but the city remained distinctly colonial until the 1930s.[1]
+
+Caracas grew in size, population, and economic importance during Venezuela's oil boom in the early 20th century. In the 1950s, the metropolitan area of Gran Caracas was developed, and the city began an intensive modernization program, funding public buildings, which continued throughout the 1960s and early 1970s.[1] Cultural landmarks, like the University City of Caracas, designed by modernist architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000;[20] the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex were built, as well as the Caracas Metro and a developed downtown area. Urban development was rapid, leading to the growth of slums on the hillsides surrounding the new city. Much of the city development also fell into disrepair come the end of the 20th century, with the 1980s oil glut and political instability like the Caracazo, meaning maintenance can not be sustained. The economic and social problems persist throughout the capital and country, characterized as the Crisis in Venezuela. Caracas is the most violent city in the world.[1]
+
+The coat of arms was adopted in 1591. Simón de Bolívar, an ancestor of Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar,[21] had been named the first procurator general of the Venezuelan province in 1589. He served as the representative of Venezuela to the Spanish Crown, and vice versa.[22] In 1591, de Bolívar introduced a petition to King Philip II for a coat of arms, which he granted by Royal Cedula on 4 September that year in San Lorenzo. The coat of arms represents the city's name with the red Santiago (St. James') cross. It originally depicted "a brown bear rampant on a field of silver, holding between its paws a golden shell with the red cross of Santiago; and its seal is a crown with five golden points".[23] In the same act, the king declared Caracas as "The Most Noble and Very Loyal City of Santiago de León de Caracas".[24]
+
+The anthem of the city is the Marcha a Caracas, written by the composer Tiero Pezzuti de Matteis with the lyrics by José Enrique Sarabia and approved in 1984.[25]
+
+Caracas is contained entirely within a valley of the Venezuelan Central Range, and is separated from the Caribbean coast by a roughly 15-kilometre (9 mi) expanse of El Ávila National Park. The valley is relatively small and quite irregular, and the altitude varies from between 870 and 1,043 meters (2,854 and 3,422 ft) above sea level; the historic center lies at about 900 meters (3,000 feet) above sea level.[26] This, along with the rapid population growth, has profoundly influenced the urban development of the city.[27] The most elevated point of the Capital District, wherein the city is located, is the Pico El Ávila, which rises to 2,159 meters (7,083 feet).[26]
+
+The main body of water in Caracas is the Guaire River, which flows across the city and empties into the Tuy River, which is also fed by the El Valle and San Pedro rivers, in addition to numerous streams which descend from El Ávila. The La Mariposa and Camatagua [es] reservoirs provide water to the city.[28][29][30][31] The city is occasionally subject to earthquakes – notably in 1641 and 1967.
+
+Geologically, Caracas was formed in the Late Cretaceous period, with much of the rest of the Caribbean, and sits on what is mostly metamorphic rock. Deformation of the land in this period formed the region.[32]
+
+Under the Köppen climate classification, Caracas has a mix of tropical savanna climate (Aw) with subtropical highland (Cwb) influences due to its altitude. Caracas is also intertropical, with precipitation that varies between 900 and 1,300 millimeters (35 and 51 inches) (annual), in the city proper, and up to 2,000 millimeters (79 inches) in some parts of the Mountain range. While Caracas is within the tropics, due to its altitude temperatures are generally not nearly as high as other tropical locations at sea level. The annual average temperature is approximately 23.8 °C (75 °F), with the average of the coldest month (January) 22.8 °C (73 °F) and the average of the warmest month (July) 25.0 °C (77 °F), which gives a small annual thermal amplitude of 2.2 °C (4.0 °F).[33]
+
+In the months of December and January abundant fog may appear, in addition to a sudden nightly drop in temperature, until reaching 8 °C (46 °F).[33] This peculiar weather is known by the natives of Caracas as the Pacheco. In addition, nightly temperatures at any time of the year are much (14 to 20 °C) lower than daytime highs and usually do not remain above 24 °C (75 °F), resulting in very pleasant evening temperatures. Hail storms appear in Caracas, although only on rare occasions. Electrical storms are much more frequent, especially between June and October, due to the city being in a closed valley and the orographic action of Cerro El Ávila.[34]
+
+According to the population census of 2011 the Caracas proper (Distrito Capital) is over 1.9 million inhabitants,[40] while that of the Metropolitan District of Caracas is estimated at 2.9 million as of 2011[update]. The majority of the population is mixed-race, typically with varying degrees of European, African, Indigenous and occasional Asian ancestry. There is a noteworthy Afro-Venezuelan community. Additionally, the city has a large number of both European Venezuelans and Asian Venezuelans who descend from the massive influx of various immigrants Venezuela received from all across Eurasia during the 20th century; in particular are descendants of Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians, Chinese, Colombians, Germans, Syrians and Lebanese people.[40][41] In 2020, the poorest 55% of the Caracas population lived on about a third of its land, in poorly-planned slums that are generally dangerous to live in and access.[42]
+
+Venezuela and its capital, Caracas, are reported to both have among the highest per capita murder rates in the world. Caracas is the city with the highest homicide rate in the world outside of a warzone, with a 2016 rate of around 120 murders per 100,000 people.[43][44][45][46][47][48] Most murders and other violent crimes go unsolved, with estimates of the number of unresolved crimes as high as 98%.[49][50][51] The U.S. Department of State and British Foreign and Commonwealth Office have issued travel warnings for Venezuela (especially Caracas) due to high rates of crime.[52][53]
+
+Businesses that are located in Caracas include service companies, banks, and malls, among others. It has a largely service-based economy, apart from some industrial activity in its metropolitan area.[7] The Caracas Stock Exchange and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) are headquartered here. PDVSA, a state-run organization, is the largest company in Venezuela,[54] and negotiates all the international agreements for the distribution and export of petroleum.[55] When it existed, the airline Viasa had its headquarters in the Torre Viasa.[56][57]
+
+Several international companies and embassies are located in El Rosal and Las Mercedes, in the Caracas area. The city also serves as a hub for communication and transportation infrastructure between the metropolitan area and the rest of the country. Important industries in Caracas include chemicals, textiles, leather, food, iron, and wood products. There are also rubber and cement factories.[58] Its nominal GDP is US$70 billion and the GDP (PPP) per capita is US$24,000.[59]
+
+A 2009 United Nations survey reported that the cost of living in Caracas was 89% of that of the survey's baseline city, New York.[60] However, this statistic is based upon a fixed currency-exchange-rate of 2003 and might not be completely realistic, due to the elevated inflation rates of the last several years.[61]
+
+In 2013, the World Economic Forum evaluated countries in terms of how successful they were in advertising campaigns to attract foreign visitors. Out of the 140 countries evaluated, Venezuela came last. A major factor that has contributed to the lack of foreign visitors has been poor transport for tourists. Venezuela has limited railway systems and airlines. High crime rates and the negative attitude of the Venezuelan population towards tourism also contributed to the poor evaluation.[62]
+
+In an attempt to attract more foreign visitors, the Venezuelan Ministry of Tourism invested in multiple hotel infrastructures. The largest hotel investment has been in the Hotel Alba Caracas. The cost for the general maintenance of the north and south towers of the hotel is approximately 231.5 million Venezuelan bolivars. Although the Venezuelan Ministry of Tourism has taken the initiative to recognize the importance of the tourism industry, the Venezuelan government has not placed the tourism industry as an economic priority. In 2013, the budget for the Ministry of Tourism was only 173.8 million bolivars, while the Ministry of the Youth received approximately 724.6 million bolivars.[62] The tourism industry in Venezuela contributes approximately 3.8 percent of the country GDP. The World Economic Forum predicts Venezuela's GDP to rise to 4.2 percent by 2022.[63]
+
+On 8 March 2000, the year after a new constitution was introduced in Venezuela, it was decreed in Gaceta Official N° 36,906 that the Metropolitan District of Caracas would be created and that some of the powers of the Libertador, Chacao, Baruta, Sucre, and El Hatillo municipalities would be delegated to the Alcaldía Mayor, physically located in the large Libertador municipality, in the center of the city.[64] The Metropolitan District of Caracas was suppressed on 20 December 2017 by the Constituent National Assembly of Venezuela.[65]
+
+Caracas is Venezuela's cultural capital, with many restaurants, theaters, museums, and shopping centers. The city is home to many immigrants from Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Middle East, Germany, China, and other Latin American countries.[66][67][68][69]
+
+Professional sports teams in the city include the football clubs Caracas Fútbol Club, Deportivo Petare, Atlético Venezuela, SD Centro Italo Venezolano, Estrella Roja FC and Deportivo La Guaira. Deportivo Petare has reached the semi-finals of international tournaments, such as the Copa Libertadores, while the Caracas Fútbol Club has reached the quarterfinals.[citation needed] Baseball teams Tiburones de La Guaira and Leones del Caracas play at University Stadium, with a capacity of nearly 26,000 spectators.[70]
+
+The football stadiums in the city include the Olympic Stadium, home to Caracas Fútbol Club and Deportivo La Guaira, with a capacity of 30,000 spectators, and the Brígido Iriarte Stadium, home to Atlético Venezuela, with a capacity of 12,000 spectators. In basketball, the Cocodrilos de Caracas play their games in the Poliedro de Caracas in the El Paraíso neighborhood.[citation needed]
+
+Caracas is the seat of the National Institute of Sports and of the Venezuelan Olympic Committee. The city hosted the 1983 Pan American Games.[71]
+
+The Central University of Venezuela (Universidad Central de Venezuela, UCV) is a public university founded in 1721: it is the oldest university in Venezuela.[72] The university campus was designed by architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.[73]
+
+The Simón Bolívar University (Universidad Simón Bolívar, USB) is a public institution in Caracas that focuses on science and technology. Its motto is "La Universidad de la Excelencia" ("University of Excellence").[citation needed]
+
+The Caracas Metro has been in operation since 27 March 1983. With 4 lines, 47 stations and about 10 more to be constructed. It covers a great part of the city and also has an integrated ticket system that combines the route of the Metro with those offered by the Metrobús, a bus service of the Caracas Metro. In 2010, the first segment of a new ariel cable car system opened, Metrocable[74] which feeds into the larger metro system.
+
+Buses are the main means of mass transportation. There are two bus systems: the traditional system and the Metrobús. Other transportation services include the IFE train to and from the Tuy Valley cities of Charallave and Cúa; the Simón Bolívar International Airport, the biggest and most important in the country; the metro additional services Caracas Aerial Tramway and Los Teques Metro (connecting Caracas with the suburban city of Los Teques); and the Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base used by military aviation and government airplanes.[citation needed]
+
+Caracas is twinned with:
+
+Caracas is part of the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities[79] from 12 October 1982 establishing brotherly relations with the following cities:

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+Eid al-Fitr (/iːd əl ˈfɪtər/ eed əl FIT-ər; Arabic: عيد الفطر‎ ʻĪd al-Fiṭr, IPA: [ʕiːd al fitˤr]),[4] (sometimes known as Eid ul-Fitr), also called the "Festival of Breaking the Fast", is a religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide that marks the end of the month-long dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan.[5] This religious Eid is the only day in the month of Shawwal during which Muslims are not permitted to fast. The date for the start of any lunar Hijri month varies based on when the new moon is sighted by local religious authorities, so the day of celebration varies by locality.
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+Eid al-Fitr has a particular salat (Islamic prayer) that consists of two rakats (units) generally performed in an open field or large hall. It may only be performed in congregation (jamāʿat) and features six additional Takbirs (raising of the hands to the ears while saying "Allāhu ʾAkbar", meaning "God is the greatest") in the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam: three at the start of the first rakat and three just before rukūʿ in the second rakat.[6] Other Sunni schools usually have twelve Takbirs, similarly split in groups of seven and five. In Shia Islam, the salat has six Takbirs in the first rakat at the end of qira'a, before rukūʿ, and five in the second.[7] Depending on the juristic opinion of the locality, this salat is either farḍ فرض (obligatory), mustaḥabb مستحب (strongly recommended) or mandūb مندوب (preferable).
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+Eid al-Fitr was originated by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. According to certain traditions, these festivals were initiated in Medina after the migration of Muhammad from Mecca. Anas, a well-known companion of the Prophet, narrated that, when the Prophet arrived in Medina, he found people celebrating two specific days in which they entertained themselves with recreation and merriment. At this, the Prophet remarked that Almighty has fixed two days of festivity instead of these for you which are better than these: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.[8]
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+Traditionally, Eid al-Fitr begins at sunset on the night of the first sighting of the crescent moon. If the moon is not observed immediately after the 29th day of the previous lunar month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the holiday is celebrated the following day.[9] Eid al-Fitr is celebrated for one to three days, depending on the country.[10] It is forbidden to fast on the Day of Eid, and a specific prayer is nominated for this day.[11] As an obligatory act of charity, money is paid to the poor and the needy (Arabic: Zakat-ul-fitr) before performing the ‘Eid prayer.[12][better source needed]
+
+The Eid prayer is performed in congregation in open areas like fields, community centers, or mosques.[10] No call to prayer is given for this Eid prayer, and it consists of only two units of prayer with a variable amount of Takbirs and other prayer elements depending on the branch of Islam observed.The Eid prayer is followed by the sermon and then a supplication asking for Allah's forgiveness, mercy, peace and blessings for all living beings across the world. The sermon also instructs Muslims as to the performance of rituals of Eid, such as the zakat.[13] The sermon of Eid takes place after the Eid prayer, unlike Friday prayer which comes first before prayer. Some imams believe that listening to the sermon at Eid is optional.[14] After the prayers, Muslims visit their relatives, friends, and acquaintances or hold large communal celebrations in homes, community centers, or rented halls.[10]
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+As ritual dictates, Sunnis praise Allah in a loud voice while going to the Eid prayer: Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Lā ilāha illà l-Lāh wal-Lāhu akbar, Allahu akbar walil-Lāhi l-ḥamd. Recitation ceases when they get to the place of Eid or once the Imam commences activities.[15]
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+The prayer starts by doing "Niyyat" for the prayer and then Takbir is said by the Imam and his followers. Next, "Takbeer-e-Tehreema" is recited, followed by Allahu Akbar three times, raising hands to the ears and dropping them each time, except for the last when the hands are folded. Then the Imam reads the Surah-e-Fatiha and other Surah. Then the congregation performs Ruku and Sujud as in other prayers. This completes the first rakat. The congregation rises up and folds their hands for the second rakat., during which the Imam recites Surah Fatiha and another Surah. After this, three Takbirs are called out just before the Ruku, each time raising hands to the ears and dropping them. For the fourth time, the congregation says Allah o Akbar and subsequently goes into the Ruku. The rest of the prayer is completed in the regular manner. This completes the Eid prayer. After the prayer there is a khutbah.[16]
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+Prayer starts with the Niyyat followed by five Takbirs. During every Takbir of the first rakat, a special Dua is recited. Then, the Imam recites Sūrat al-Fātiḥah and Surat Al-'A`lá and the congregation performs Ruku and Sujud as in other prayers. In the second Rakat, the same above steps (five Takbeers, Sūrat al-Fātiḥah and Surat Al-'A`lá, Ruku and Sujud) are repeated. After the prayer, Khutbah starts.[17]
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+Jordanians decorate their homes and prepare sumptuous meals for family and friends. They prepare new clothes and shoes for the festival. Eid festivities in Jordan may vary culturally depending on the region, but one common thread in all celebrations is generosity and hospitality. It is a common Jordanian tradition for families to gather at the patriarchal home after the Eid prayers. Before the special Eid meal is served, young children will line up in front of each adult family member, who dispense money as gifts to the children.
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+Saudis decorate their homes and prepare sumptuous meals for family and friends. They prepare new clothes and shoes for the festival. Eid festivities in Saudi Arabia may vary culturally depending on the region, but one common thread in all celebrations is generosity and hospitality. It is a common Saudi tradition for families to gather at the patriarchal home after the Eid prayers. Before the special Eid meal is served, young children will line up in front of each adult family member, who dispense money as gifts to the children.[18]
+
+In Iran, at the last days of the month of Ramadan, several groups of experts representing the office of Ayatollah Khamenei go to the different zones of the country to determine the date of Eid al-Fitr.[19] Iranian Muslims take part in the Eid al-Fitr prayer and pay the Zakat al-Fitr.[20] The Eid al-Fitr prayer, and the following sermon, has been led by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Grand Prayer Grounds (Mossalla).[21][22] The celebration is typically marked by a one- or two-day national holiday.[23]
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+In Turkey, nationwide celebrated holidays are referred to as bayram, and Eid al-Fitr is referred to as both Şeker Bayramı ("Bayram of Sweets") and Ramazan Bayramı ("Ramadan Bayram"). It is a time for people to attend prayer services, put on their best clothes (referred to as bayramlık, often purchased just for the occasion), visit all their loved ones (such as relatives, neighbors, and friends), and pay their respects to the deceased with organised visits to cemeteries. It is also customary for young children to go around their neighborhood, door to door, and wish everyone a "Happy Bayram", for which they are awarded candy, chocolates, traditional sweets such as baklava and Turkish Delight, or a small amount of money at every door.[24]
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+In the predominantly Sunni Muslim culture of Afghanistan, Eid al-Fitr holds significant importance and is celebrated widely for three days. The most common greeting is Kochnai Akhtar (Blessed Eid) in the Pashto-speaking community. Afghans start preparing for the Eid al-Fitr festival up to ten days prior by cleaning their homes (called Khana Takani in Dari). Afghans visit their local bazaars to buy new clothes, sweets, and snacks including Jelabi (Jalebi), Shor-Nakhod (made with chickpeas), and Cake wa Kolcha (a simple cake, similar to pound cake). On the day of Eid al-Fitr, Afghans will first offer their Eid prayers and then gather in their homes with their families, greeting one another by saying "Eid Mubarak" and usually adding "Eidet Mobarak Roza wa Namazet Qabool Dakhel Hajiha wa Ghaziha," which means "Happy Eid to you; may your fasting and prayers be accepted by Allah, and may you be counted among those who will go to the Hajj-pilgrimage." Family elders will give money and gifts to children. It is also common practice to visit families and friends, which may be difficult to do at other times of the year. Children walk from home to home saying "Khala Eidet Mubarak" ("aunt happy Eid"), and they receive cookies or Pala. At night, multiple campfires are set around houses, sometimes to the point that entire valleys may initially appear to be engulfed in flame. Celebratory fire with automatic rifles, particularly tracer rounds, can also be expected in high density.[25]
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+Egyptians spend the first day of Eid al-Fitr to gather all family members and celebrate the Eid at public gardens. It is customary for children to also receive an Eidi, a small sum of money to be spent on activities throughout the Eid.[26] Egyptians like to celebrate with others, so the streets are always crowded during the days and nights of Eid.[27]
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+There were several accounts of a heightened number of sexual assaults and rapes during the 2006 Egyptian Eid.[28][29][30][31] Subsequent reports indicated that the phenomenon continued to grow in following years.[32][33][34][35] One Egyptian journalist wrote "The Eid al-Fitr holiday following this year's Ramadan brought its usual share of sexual harassment".[36] Operation Anti Sexual Harassment, an Egyptian organisation founded to protect against sexual assaults, described Eid al-Fitr as a "season for harassment",[37] and the prevalence of such attacks "a trend that has become associated with Eid al-Fitr celebrations in recent years".[34] Despite this rise, sexual assault and "intrigue" with women during Eid al-Fitr dates back to the early 19th century, as Edward Lane alludes to.[38] In 2013, allegations, the discussion of which was considered taboo,[39] surfaced in Cairo and Tanta.[40][41][42] 2014 saw lower rates of attempted harassment, and activists reported more confidence since the amendment of the penal code.[43] 141 police reports for harassment were filed in Cairo in 2015, though this number may underestimate the issue as many reports were reportedly withdrawn.[44] Despite a reduction to 120 complaints and 35 arrests for harassment in 2016,[45] many women still find it necessary to take significant precautions during Eid.[46] 2018 showed continued evidence of reduction.[47]
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+Since 2012, Tunisia celebrates Eid for three days (with preparations starting several days earlier), two of which are national holidays. Special biscuits, including Baklawa and several kinds of "ka'ak", are made to give to friends and relatives on the day.[48]
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+In Somalia and other Islamic parts of the Horn region, Eid al-Fitr is observed by the Muslim communities. Celebrations marking the event are typically accompanied by elaborate banquets, where special dishes such as xalwo (halwo) and buskut (buskuit) are served.[49]
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+In Cape Town, hundreds of Muslims—each with something to share with others at the time of the breaking of the fast—gather at Green Point in the evening of the last day of Ramadan for the sighting of the moon. The Maghrib (sunset) prayer is then performed in congregation and the formal moon-sighting results are announced thereafter.[50]
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+In Sudan, where 97% of the population is Muslim,[51] preparations for Eid begin the last few days of Ramadan. For days, ka'ak (sugar powdered cookies), bettifour (dry baked goods including dainty biscuits, baked meringues and macaroons—whose name are derived from the French petit four), and popcorn are baked in large batches to serve to guests and to give to family and friends; dressy Eid clothes are either shopped for or sewn; girls and women decorate their hands and feet with henna; and parts of the house may even be painted. The night before Eid, the whole household partakes in cleaning the house and yard and setting out the finest bedsheets, table cloths, and decorations. On the day of Eid, men and boys (and occasionally women and girls) will attend the Eid prayer. For the next 3 days, families will then visit each other, extended family, neighbors, and close friends. In these short visits, the baked goods, chocolates, and sweets are served, and often large lunches are prepared for the visiting well-wishers. Children are given gifts, either in the form of toys or money.[52]
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+Special celebratory dishes in India include Lachcha or sivayyan, a dish of fine, toasted sweet vermicelli noodles with milk and dried fruit (see Sheer khurma).[53]
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+In Pakistan, Eid al-Fitr is also referred to as both میٹھی عید‎, mīṭhī īd, 'Sweet Eid' and چھوٹی عید‎, chhotī īd, 'the Lesser Eid'.[54] People are supposed to give obligatory charity on behalf of each of their family members to the needy or poor before Eid day or, minimally, Eid prayer, allowing for all to share in the joy of Eid. At home, family members enjoy special Eid breakfast with various types of sweets and desserts, including Kheer and the traditional dessert Sheer Khurma, which is made of vermicelli, milk, butter, dry fruits, and dates. Eid is mainly enjoyed by the kids, as they mostly receive money in cash called "Eidi" as gift from their relatives and elders.[55] People tend to get fresh and crisp banknotes to gift children with. State Bank of Pakistan issues fresh currency notes every year for this purpose.[56]
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+The preparation for Eid in Bangladesh starts from the last quarter of the holy month of Ramadan. The markets and shopping malls become overwhelmed with people. Those who live away from their families for their job or livelihood, they return to their home towns and villages to celebrate the festival with family members and relatives. In the Chaand Raat children gather at the open field to see the Hilal (crescent moon) of the month of Shawwal. Girls decorate their hands with Mehndi. Like other South Asian countries, Lachcha (Vermicelli) are served with Roti as breakfast in Bangladesh. Then people attend the Eid prayer in Eidgah. Children do salam by touching the legs of the elderly members of the family. And elders give them a small amount of money which is known as "Salami" or "Eidi (gift)", which is a major part of Eid happiness for children. Delicious dishes like Biryani, Polao, Korma etc are served in the dining table. Wealthy Muslims in Bangladesh also distribute Zakat alms to the poor people. People visit the house of relatives and greet each other saying "Eid Mubarak" (Happy Eid).[57]
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+Eid is known in Indonesia as Hari Raya Idul Fitri, or more popularly as Lebaran, and is a national holiday.[58] People return to their home town or city (an exodus known as mudik) to celebrate with their families and to ask forgiveness from parents, in-laws, and other elders.[59] Festivities start the night before with chanting the Takbir and lighting lamps. On the day itself, after Eid prayer in the morning, zakat alms for the poor are distributed in the mosques. People gather with family and neighbors in traditional clothing and have a special Lebaran meal. Children are given money in colourful envelopes.[60] Later, it is common for Muslims in Indonesia to visit the graves of relatives to ritually clean the grave. Muslims also visit the living in a special ritual called Halal bi-Halal sometime during or several days after Idul Fitri.[61]
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+In Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand, children are given token sums of money, known as "duit raya" also known as green envelope, from their parents or elders.[62][63]
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+During Ramadan, in small towns and big villages with significant Muslim populations, Burmese Muslim youth organize singing teams called Jago (meaning "wake up). Jago teams usually do not use musical instruments apart from the occasional use of harmonica mouth organs.[64] The roving groups of singers will take the tunes of popular Hindi movie songs, replaced with Burmese lyrics and invocations about fasting, the principles of Islam, and the benefits of Salat.[65]
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+Among Muslim Filipinos in the Philippines, Eid al-Fitr is commonly known as Hariraya, Buka, Hariraya Buka, or Hariraya Buka Puasa.[66][67][68] It is also known as Wakas ng Ramadan (literally "End of Ramadan"), Araw ng Raya ("Feast Day"), or Pagtatapos ng Pag-aayuno ("End of the Fast") in Filipino. It was proclaimed a legal holiday for Muslim Filipinos in 1977 by Presidential Decree 1083. In 2002, this was upgraded to a public national holiday by Republic Act 9177. It is also sometimes known by its Malay name "Hari Raya Puasa"; and by its Indonesian name "Lebaran".[69][70][71]
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+Its beginning is decided by the sighting of the crescent moon (hilal), followed by morning prayers in mosques or public plazas.[72] When this occurs can sometimes differ depending on the regional government. In some places it is based on the physical sighting of the hilal; while in others it is determined by the Regional Darul Ifta’ of Bangsamoro (RDI-BARMM) or the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), especially during cloudy days.[66][73][74]
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+The sighting of the hilal is traditionally marked by the beating of drums in some regions. In modern times, this has evolved into a noise barrage known as "Mobile Takbir", where celebrants, especially youths, rev their motorcycles or honk their horns while driving through the streets. Guns are also sometimes fired. These practices have been discouraged by the Grand Mufti of Bangsamoro and local government officials as not being in accordance with Islamic teachings as well as being dangerous and causing accidents in the past.[74][75][76]
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+Hariraya is characterized by the giving of gifts (known as Eidi), food sharing (salu-salo), and visiting the elderly and the sick.[76][77] Food, alms, and basic necessities are also donated to the poor, a practice known as Fitrana or Zakat al-Fitr. This is usually done a day before Eid al-Fitr.[69][78] Various traditional sweet delicacies of the different Muslim Filipino ethnic groups are served for breakfast, including daral, dodol, browas, tinagtag, panyalam, jampok, and so on.[79] Various activities also mark the celebrations, including dancing, boat races, horse races, and carabao fighting in cities and towns with significant Muslim populations. In Metro Manila, the celebrations are usually held at the Manila Golden Mosque and the Quirino Grandstand.[72] The celebration lasts for three days.[73]
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+In the People's Republic of China, out of 56 officially recognized ethnic groups, Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by at least 10 ethnic groups that are predominantly Muslim. These groups are said to total 18 million according to official statistics, but some observers say the actual number may be much higher. It is also a public holiday in China in certain regions, including two Province Prefecture Level regions, Ningxia and Xinjiang. All residents in these areas, regardless of religion, are entitled to either a one-day or three-day official holiday. Outside the Muslim-majority regions, only Muslims are entitled to a one-day holiday. In Xinjiang province, Eid al-Fitr is even celebrated by the Han Chinese population. During the holiday, supplies of mutton, lamb and beef are distributed to households as part of a welfare program funded by government agencies, public and private institutions, and businesses. In Yunnan, Muslim populations are spread throughout the region. On Eid al-Fitr, however, some devotees may travel to Sayyid 'Ajjal's grave after their communal prayers. There, they will conduct readings from the Quran and clean the tomb, reminiscent of the historic annual Chinese Qingming festival, in which people go to their ancestors' graves, sweep and clean the area, and make food offerings.[citation needed] Finally the accomplishments of the Sayyid 'Ajall will be related in story form, concluded by a special prayer service to honour the hundreds of thousands of Muslims killed during the Panthay Rebellion, and the hundreds killed during the Cultural Revolution.[80]
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+Eid al-Fitr (i.e. Seker Bayram, Sugar Feast) is celebrated in Greece mainly in the Western Thrace region from the local Muslim minority (Turks, Pomaks and Roma), along with the other two major celebrations, Kurban Bayram (Sacrifice Feast) and Hıdırellez. On the day of the Bayram, family gathers together, wear their best clothes, and celebrate with a common meal, after attending the morning prayer. The women prepare and offer sweets to family and visitors, while small children go around and pay their respects to the elderly by kissing their hands. The elder in turn reward them with candies, sweets, and small amounts of money.[81][82] Local Muslim shopkeepers close their shops this day, while Muslim minority schools have a 5-day holiday for the feast.[82] Some entertainment venues and clubs hold special events for the night of the Bayram.[83]
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+Although Eid al-Fitr is not a recognized public holiday in the United Kingdom,[84] many schools, businesses, and organisations allow for at least a day's leave to be taken for religious celebrations.[85][86]
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+In New York City, alternate side parking (street cleaning) regulations are suspended on Eid. Beginning in 2016, New York City Public Schools also remain closed on Eid.[87] In Houston, Texas, the annual prayers are offered at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston, organised by the Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH). In other states, with smaller Muslim populations, it is common that schools will remain open on Eid al-Fitr.
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+The United States Postal Service (USPS) has issued several Eid postage stamps, across several years—starting in 2001—honoring "two of the most important festivals in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha." Eid stamps were released in 2001 – 2002, 2006 – 2009, 2011.[88][89][90][91]
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+Although the date of Eid al-Fitr is always the same in the Islamic calendar, the date in the Gregorian calendar falls approximately 11 days earlier each successive year, since the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Gregorian calendar is solar. Hence if the Eid falls in the first ten days of a Gregorian calendar year, there will be a second Eid in the last ten days of the same Gregorian calendar year, as happened in 2000 CE. The Gregorian date may vary between countries depending on the local visibility of the new moon. Some expatriate Muslim communities follow the dates as determined for their home country, while others follow the local dates of their country of residence.
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+The following table shows predicted dates and announced dates based on new moon sightings for Saudi Arabia.[1][92]
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+The first Mughal Emperor Babur greets courtiers during the Eid al-Fitr festival
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+Eid al-Fitr mass prayer at Delhi's Jama Masjid
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+Muslims in Britain performing the Eid prayers during the celebration, 1941
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+An ethnic Hui family celebrating Eid al-Fitr in Ningxia
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+Muslims in Singapore celebrating Eid al-Fitr
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+An Indonesian family celebrating lebaran with various culinary dishes specific to this holiday
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+(federal) = federal holidays, (abbreviation) = state/territorial holidays, (religious) = religious holidays, (cultural) = holiday related to a specific racial/ethnic group or sexual minority, (week) = week-long holidays, (month) = month-long holidays, (36) = Title 36 Observances and Ceremonies
+Bold indicates major holidays commonly celebrated in the United States, which often represent the major celebrations of the month.