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Acephali
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Acephaly}} `{{about|the ancient Christian sects|the legendary men without heads|Headless men}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Italic title}}`{=mediawiki} In church history, the term ****acephali**** (from Ancient Greek: *italic=no* **akephaloi**, \"headless\", singular *italic=no* **akephalos** from *italic=no* **a-**, \"without\", and *italic=no* **kephalé**, \"head\") has been applied to several sects that supposedly had no leader. E. Cobham Brewer wrote, in *Dictionary of Phrase and Fable*, that acephalites, \"properly means men without a head.\" Jean Cooper wrote, in *Dictionary of Christianity*, that it characterizes \"various schismatical Christian bodies\". Among them were Nestorians who rejected the Council of Ephesus' condemnation of Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople, which deposed Nestorius and declared him a heretic.
## Fifth-century *acephali* {#fifth_century_acephali}
Those who refused to acknowledge the authority of the Council of Chalcedon were originally called Haesitantes; the **Acephali** developed from among them, and, according to Blunt, the earlier name -- Haesitantes -- seems to have been used for only a short time.
With the apparent purpose of bringing the Orthodox and heretics into unity, Patriarch Peter III of Alexandria and Patriarch Acacius of Constantinople had elaborated a new creed in which they expressly condemned both Nestorius and Eutyches, a presbyter and archimandrite, but at the same time rejected the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon. This ambiguous formula, though approved by Byzantine Emperor Zeno and imposed in his *Henoticon*, could only satisfy the indifferent.
The term applied to a 5th-century faction among the Eutychians, who seceded from Peter, a Miaphysite, in 482, after Peter signed the *Henoticon* and was recognised by Zeno as the legitimate patriarch of Alexandria, by which they were \"deprived of their head\". They remained \"without king or bishop\" until they were reconciled with Coptic Orthodox Pope Mark II of Alexandria (799--819). The condemnation of Eutyches irritated the rigid Monophysites; the equivocal attitude taken towards the Council of Chalcedon appeared to them insufficient, and many of them, especially the monks, deserted Peter, preferring to be without a head, rather than remain in communion with him. Later, they joined the adherents of the non-Chalcedonian Patriarch Severus of Antioch. They were, according to *Oxford English Dictionary Online*, a \"group of extreme Monophysites\" and \"were absorbed by the Jacobites\".
Liberatus of Carthage wrote, in **Breviarium causae Nestorianorum et Eutychianorum**, that those at the Council of Ephesus who followed neither Patriarch Cyril I of Alexandria nor Patriarch John I of Antioch were called **Acephali**.
Esaianites were one of the sects into which the Alexandrian **Acephali** separated at the end of the 5th century. They were the followers of Esaias, a deacon of Palestine, who claimed to have been consecrated to the episcopal office by the Bishop Eusebius. His opponents averred that after the bishop\'s death, his hands had been laid upon the head of Esaias by some of his friends.
**Paulitae** were a sect of **Acephali** who followed Chalcedonian Patriarch Paul of Alexandria, who was deposed by a synod at Gaza, in 541, for his uncanonical consecration by the Patriarch of Constantinople, and who, after his deposition, sided with the Miaphysites.
Barsanians, later called Semidalites, were a sect of **Acephali** at the end of the 5th century. They had no succession of priests, and professed to keep up the celebration of a valid Eucharist by placing a few crumbs of some of the bread which had been consecrated by Dioscorus into a vessel of meal, and then using as fully consecrated the bread baked from it.
The Barsanuphians separated from the *Acephali* in the late 6th century and developed their own episcopal hierarchy.
## Other *acephali* {#other_acephali}
According to Brewer, acephalites were also certain bishops exempt from the jurisdiction and discipline of their patriarch. Cooper explains that they are \"priests rejecting episcopal authority or bishops that of their metropolitans.\" Blunt described **clerici acephali** as those clergy who were ordained with a sinecure benefice and who generally obtained their orders by paying for them, that is, by simony. The Council of Pavia, in 853, legislated its canons 18 and 23 against them, from which it appears, according to Blunt, that they were mostly chaplains to noblemen, that they produced much scandal in the Church, and that they disseminated many errors.
clergy without title or benefice.
According to Brewer, acephalites were also a sect of Levellers during the reign of Henry I of England who acknowledged no leader. They were, according to *Oxford English Dictionary Online*, \"a group of free socagers having no feudal superior except the king.\" This usage is now considered obsolete.
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3,269 |
Anthony, King of Saxony
|
**Anthony of Saxony** (*Anton*; 27 December 1755 -- 6 June 1836) was a King of Saxony from the House of Wettin. He became known as *Anton der Gütige* (\"Anthony the Kind\").
He was the fifth but third surviving son of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony and his wife Duchess Maria Antonia of Bavaria.
## Early life {#early_life}
With few chances to take part in the politics of the Electorate of Saxony or receive any land from his older brother Frederick Augustus III, Anton lived under the shadows. No Elector of Saxony after Johann Georg I gave appanages to his younger sons.
During the first years of the reign of his older brother as Elector, Anthony was the third in line, preceded only by his older brother Charles. The death of Charles (8 September 1781) made him the next in line to the Electorate as Electoral Prince (de: *Kurprinz*); this was because all the pregnancies of the Electress Amalie, except for one daughter, ended in a stillbirth.
His aunt, the Dauphine of France, had wanted to engage her daughter Marie Zéphyrine of France to Anthony; Marie Zéphyrine died in 1755 abandoning plans. Another French candidate was Marie Zéphyrine\'s sister Marie Clothilde (later Queen of Sardinia) but again nothing happened.
In Turin on 29 September 1781 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 24 October 1781 (in person), Anthony married firstly with the Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy, daughter of the King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and Maria Antonietta of Spain. Caroline died after only one year of marriage, on 28 December 1782 having succumbed to smallpox. They had no children.
In Florence on 8 September 1787 (by proxy) and again in Dresden on 18 October 1787 (in person), Anthony entered his second marriage, to the Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria (Maria Theresia Josephe Charlotte Johanna), daughter of the Grand Duke Leopold I of Tuscany, later Emperor Leopold II. Mozart\'s opera *Don Giovanni* was originally intended to be performed in honor of his bride for a visit to Prague on 14 October 1787, as she traveled between Vienna and Dresden for the in-person ceremony, and librettos were printed with mention of the names of both Anton and the archduchess. The premiere could not be arranged in time, however, so the opera *The Marriage of Figaro* was substituted on the express orders of the bride\'s uncle, the Emperor Joseph II. The choice of *The Marriage of Figaro* was considered improper for a new bride by many observers, and the archduchess left the opera theater early without seeing the entire work performed. Mozart complained bitterly of the intrigues surrounding this incident in a letter to his friend Gottfried von Jacquin that was written in stages between 15 October and 25 October 1787. Anthony was present in Prague in September 1791 for the first performance of Mozart\'s opera *La clemenza di Tito*, which was written as part of the coronation ceremonies of his father-in-law, the Emperor Leopold II, as King of Bohemia.
The couple had four children, but none survived to the age of two:
1. Maria Ludovika Auguste Fredericka Therese Franziska Johanna Aloysia Nepomucena Ignatia Anna Josepha Xaveria Franziska de Paula Barbara (b. Dresden, 14 March 1795 -- d. Dresden, 25 April 1796) died in infancy.
2. Frederick Augustus (b. and d. Dresden, 5 April 1796) died at birth
3. Maria Johanna Ludovica Anna Amalia Nepomucena Aloysia Ignatia Xaveria Josepha Franziska de Chantal Eva Apollonia Magdalena Crescentia Vincentia (b. Dresden, 5 April 1798 -- d. Dresden, 30 October 1799) died in infancy.
4. Maria Theresia (b. and d. Dresden, 15 October 1799) died at birth
Electress Amalie gave birth for last time in 1799 to another stillborn child. After this, it became apparent that Anthony would succeed to the Electorate of Saxony, which was raised to kingdom in 1806.
## King of Saxony {#king_of_saxony}
Anthony succeeded his brother Frederick August I as King of Saxony upon the latter\'s death, on 5 May 1827. The 71-year-old new king was completely inexperienced in government, and hence had no intention of initiating profound changes in foreign or domestic policy.
Prussian diplomats discussed granting the Prussian Rhineland (predominantly Catholic) to Anthony (a Catholic) in exchange for Lutheran Saxony in 1827, but nothing came of these talks.
After the July Revolution of 1830 in France, disturbances in Saxony began in autumn. These were directed primarily against the old Constitution. Therefore, on 13 September the cabinet dismissed Count Detlev von Einsiedel, followed by Bernhard von Lindenau. Because the people wished to have a younger regent, Anthony agreed to appoint his nephew Frederick Augustus Prince Co-Regent (de: *Prinz-Mitregenten*). As another consequence of the disturbances, a new constitution was adopted in 1831 and came into effect on 4 September of that year. With it Saxony became a Constitutional monarchy and obtained a bi-cameral legislature and a responsible ministry, which replaced the old feudal estates. The constitution was more conservative than other constitutions existing at this time in the German Union. Nevertheless, it remained in force in Saxony until 1918. The king kept his exclusive sovereignty but was bound by the Government Business to cooperate with the Ministers and the decisions of both Chambers of the Estates (de: *Kammern der Ständeversammlung*) meeting. The entry of Saxony into the *Zollverein* in 1833 let trade, industry and traffic blossom farther.
Without surviving male issue, Anthony was succeeded as king by his nephew, Frederick Augustus II.
## Ancestors
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Albert III, Duke of Saxony
|
**Albert III** (*Albrecht*) (27 January 1443`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}12 September 1500) was a Duke of Saxony. He was nicknamed **Albert the Bold** or **Albert the Courageous** and founded the *Albertine line* of the House of Wettin.
## Biography
Albert was born in Grimma as the third and youngest son (but fifth child in order of birth) of Frederick II the Gentle, Elector of Saxony, and Margarete of Austria, sister of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. Later, he was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
After escaping from the hands of Kunz von Kaufungen, who had abducted him together with his brother Ernest, he spent some time at the court of the emperor Frederick III in Vienna.`{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Albert III. (duke of Saxony) |display=Albert III.|volume=1|pages=497-498}}`{=mediawiki} Endnote: See
- F. A. von Langenn, *Herzog Albrecht der Beherzte, Stammvater des königlichen Hauses Sachsen* (Leipzig, 1838)
- O. Sperling, *Herzog Albrecht der Beherzte von Sachsen als Gubernator Frieslands* (Leipzig, 1892).
In Eger (Cheb) on 11 November 1464 Albert married Zdenka (Sidonie), daughter of George of Podebrady, King of Bohemia; but failed to obtain the Bohemian Crown on the death of George in 1471. After the death of his father in 1464, Albert and Ernest ruled their lands together, but in 1485 a division was made by the Treaty of Leipzig, and Albert received the Meissen, together with some adjoining districts, and founded the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin.
Regarded as a capable soldier by the emperor, Albert (in 1475) took a prominent part in the campaign against Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and in 1487 led an expedition against Matthias Corvinus, King of Hungary, which failed owing to lack of support on the part of the emperor.
From 1477 a new conflict arose with king Matthias Corvinus of Hungary who started to invade the Austrian Habsburg lands. The conflict is known as the Austrian--Hungarian War (1477--1488). The Kaiser did not succeed in persuading the German electors and other imperial estates to provide military assistance. In the spring of 1483 Frederick fled Vienna to the safe city of Wiener Neustadt, in 1485 Corvinus was able to conquer Vienna and had himself called " Archduke of Austria " (Dux Austriae). In August 1487, the Hungarians succeeded in taking Wiener Neustadt, the new imperial residence in eastern Lower Austria. Friedrich first had to flee to Graz and temporarily flee to Linz in Upper Austria. After the imperial war against Hungary had been decided at the Nuremberg Diet in 1487, Duke Albert was appointed as the supreme commander of the entire imperial army. He was supposed to oppose Matthias\' famous standing professional army, the Black Army of Hungary. After the Hungarian occupation of Vienna, Albrecht\'s task was to reconquer the lost Austrian territories. However, this failed due to the poor equipment of his army, so he had to wage a difficult defensive war under adverse circumstances. Duke Albrecht knew that no decisive help was to be expected from the Reich in the near future, but that the situation in the hereditary lands would deteriorate visibly. On 17 November 1487, Duke Albrecht informed Emperor Frederick that, under the ongoing military situation in his hereditary lands, a compromise with the King of Hungary would be the only rational solution. The war came to an end with an armistice in 1488, although the Habsburgs rankled with the peace. At the beginning of December, Matthias Corvinus met with Albrecht of Saxony in Markersdorf an der Pielach, a little later an armistice was reached in St. Pölten on 6 December, which was extended several times until the death of the Hungarian king.
In 1488 he was appointed Governor of the Netherlands (until 1493) and marched with the imperial forces to free the Roman king Maximilian from his imprisonment at Bruges, and when, in 1489, the King returned to Germany, Albert was left as his representative to prosecute the war against the rebels. He was successful in restoring the authority of Maximilian in Holland, Flanders, and Brabant, but failed to obtain any repayment of the large sums of money which he had spent in these campaigns.
His services were rewarded in 1498 when Maximilian bestowed upon him the title of Hereditary Governor (*potestat*) of Friesland, but he had to make good his claim by force of arms. He had to a great extent succeeded, and was paying a visit to Saxony, when he was recalled by news of a fresh rising. The duke recaptured Groningen, but soon afterwards he died at Emden. He was buried at Meissen.
Albert, who was a man of great strength and considerable skill in feats of arms, delighted in tournaments and knightly exercises. His loyalty to the emperor Frederick, and the expenses incurred in this connection, aroused some irritation among his subjects, but his rule was a period of prosperity in Saxony.
## Family and children {#family_and_children}
With his wife Sidonie, Albrecht had nine children:
1. Katharina (Meissen, 24 July 1468`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Göttingen, 10 February 1524), married firstly on 24 February 1484 in Innsbruck to Duke Sigismund of Austria, and secondly on 1497 to Duke Eric I of Brunswick-Calenberg.
2. Georg \"der Bärtige\" (Meissen, 27 August 1471`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Dresden, 17 April 1539).
3. Heinrich V \"der Fromme\" (Dresden, 16 March 1473`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Dresden, 18 August 1541).
4. Frederick (Torgau, 26 October 1473`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Rochlitz, 14 December 1510), Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
5. Anna (Dresden, 3 August 1478`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Dresden, 1479).
6. Stillborn child (1479).
7. Louis (Torgau, 28 September 1481`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Torgau?, some days later / Torgau?, young after 1498) \[?\].
8. John (born and died Torgau, 24 June 1484).
9. John (Torgau, 2 December 1498`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Torgau?, some days later / Torgau?, young in September of the same year as his brother Louis) \[?\].
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3,275 |
Book of Alma
|
thumb\|upright=1.5\|Captain Moroni raises the \"Title of Liberty\", as found in the 1910 book *Cities in the Sun*.\|alt=A figure (presumably Captain Moroni) stands with arms aloft at the top of a wide set of outdoor stairs that appear to descend from a large public building; implicitly, in the context of the Book of Mormon, a religious edifice like a temple. Two figures flank Captain Moroni, one seated and the other standing, a few steps down. Behind them, a the building looms, with two gaping square-arched entrances. Crowds seem to be trailing out from each. At the bottom of the steps, another crowd gathers. They are animated, and many have their arms raised up. Captain Moroni has evidently energized the crowd, rallying them to arms in defense of Nephite society. `{{Books of the Book of Mormon}}`{=mediawiki} **The Book of Alma: The Son of Alma** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|l|m|ə}}`{=mediawiki}), usually referred to as the **Book of Alma**, is one of the books that make up the Book of Mormon. The title refers to Alma the Younger, a prophet and \"chief judge\" of the Nephites. Alma is the longest book in the Book of Mormon and consists of sixty-three chapters, taking up almost a third of the volume.
## Narrative
The Book of Alma is the longest of all the books of the Book of Mormon, consisting of 63 chapters. The book records the first 39 years of what the Nephites termed \"the reign of the judges\", a period in which the Nephite nation adopted a constitutional theocratic government in which the judicial and executive branches of the government were combined.
## Characters
- Alma the Younger
- Gideon
- Nephihah
- Sons of Mosiah
- Ammon
- Aaron^3^
- Omner
- Himni
- Amulek
- Zoram^2^
- Ammon
- Melek
- Lehonti
- Helaman
- Shiblon
- Corianton
- Captain Moroni
- Two thousand stripling warriors
- Teancum
- Laman^4^
- Gid
- Teomner
- Pahoran
- Moronihah
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
- Nehor
- Amlici
- Zoram
- Zerahemnah
- Amalickiah
- Morianton
- Ammoron
- King-men
- Gidoni
### Converts
- Zeezrom
- Lamoni
- Anti-Nephi-Lehi
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3,340 |
BearShare
|
**BearShare** was a peer-to-peer-file-sharing-application originally created by Free Peers, Inc. for Microsoft Windows and also a rebranded version of iMesh by MusicLab, LLC, tightly integrated with their music subscription service.
## History
The principal operators of Free Peers, Inc. were Vincent Falco and Louis Tatta. Bearshare was launched on December 4, 2000, as a Gnutella-based peer-to-peer file sharing application with innovative features that eventually grew to include IRC, a free library of software and media called BearShare Featured Artists, online help pages and a support forum integrated as dedicated web browser windows in the application; as well as a media player and a library window to organize the user\'s media collection.
Following the June 27, 2005 United States Supreme Court decision on the *MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.* case the BearShare Community support forums were abruptly closed during negotiations to settle an impending lawsuit with the RIAA. The webmaster and forum administrator immediately created a new site called Technutopia and the same support staff continue to support the gnutella versions from there. A few months later the unused Community window was removed from BearShare 5.1.
On May 4, 2006, Free Peers agreed to transfer all their BearShare-related assets to MusicLab, LLC (an iMesh subsidiary) and use the \$30 million raised from that sale to settle with the RIAA.
On August 17, 2006, MusicLab released a reskinned and updated version of iMesh named BearSharev6 which connected to its proprietary iMesh network instead of gnutella. BearShareV6 and its successors offer paid music downloads in the PlaysForSure DRM controlled WMA format as well as free content in various formats, chiefly MP3. Like BearShare they also include a media player and embedded online and social networking features but with a Web 2.0 style, somewhat similar to MySpace or Facebook. Free content provided by users is automatically verified using acoustic fingerprinting as non-infringing before it can be shared. Video files more than 50 Mb in size and 15 minutes in length cannot be shared, ensuring television shows and feature-length movies cannot be distributed over the network. Only a limited set of music and video file types can be shared, thus excluding everything else like executable files, documents and compressed archives.
In August 2006, MusicLab released a variant of the original BearShare gnutella servant, called BearFlix, which was altered to limit sharing, searches and downloads to images and videos. Shared videos were limited in length and duration, similar to limits in BearShareV6. The first release was version 1.2.1. Its version numbers appear to start from 1.1.2.1 in the user interface but it presents itself on the gnutella network as versions 6.1.2.1 to 6.2.2.530. This version has since been discontinued by MusicLab and no longer available on their websites; however, it remains in wide usage.
On October 27, 2008, responding to uncertainty around the future of PlaysForSure, MusicLab added iPod support in BearShareV7.
As of June 12, 2016, BearShare is no longer available to download. The official page with a message announcing its discontinuation remained active until March 2017.
## Popular versions {#popular_versions}
Three variants of the original BearShare gnutella servant were distributed by Free Peers: Free, Lite, and Pro. The Free-version had higher performance limits than the Lite version but contained some adware. The Pro version had higher limits than both the Free and Lite versions but cost US\$24. Version numbers in this series ranged from 1.0 to 5.2.5.9. Though lacking MusicLab\'s support a wide spread of BearShare versions from 4.7 to 5.2.5.6 remain the second most popular servant on gnutella, alongside LimeWire.
Old-School fans of the gnutella versions tend to favour the last of the beta versions, 5.1.0 beta25, because it has no adware, is hard-coded for performance levels roughly between Pro and regular (ad-supported) versions and has the unique ability to switch between leaf and ultrapeer mode on demand, a feature deemed necessary for effective testing. No other gnutella servant has enjoyed this capability.
The most recent MusicLab version, V10, was available by free download from their support website and \"Pro\" features could be unlocked with a six or twelve-month subscription. Access to premium content required a \$9.95 monthly subscription. Customers in Canada and the U.S.A. could opt for a \$14.95 monthly \"BearShare ToGo\" subscription which allowed downloads of premium music to portable music players.
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3,352 |
Blues
|
**Blues** is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African-American culture. The blues form is ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll, and is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale, and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common. Blue notes (or \"worried notes\"), usually thirds, fifths or sevenths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove.
Blues music is characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation. Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times. It was only in the first decades of the 20th century that the most common current structure became standard: the AAB pattern, consisting of a line sung over the four first bars, its repetition over the next four, and then a longer concluding line over the last bars. Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating the racial discrimination and other challenges experienced by African Americans.
Many elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced back to the music of Africa. The origins of the blues are also closely related to the religious music of the African-American community, the spirituals. The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery, with the development of juke joints occurring later. It is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century. The first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908. Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues and West Coast blues. World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid form called blues rock developed, which blended blues styles with rock music.
## Etymology
The term \'Blues\' may have originated from \"blue devils\", meaning melancholy and sadness. An early use of the term in this sense is in George Colman\'s one-act farce *Blue Devils* (1798). The phrase \'blue devils\' may also have been derived from a British usage of the 1600s referring to the \"intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal\". As time went on, the phrase lost the reference to devils and came to mean a state of agitation or depression. By the 1800s in the United States, the term \"blues\" was associated with drinking alcohol, a meaning which survives in the phrase \'blue law\', which prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sunday.
In 1827, it was in the sense of a sad state of mind that John James Audubon wrote to his wife that he \"had the blues\".
In Henry David Thoreau\'s book *Walden*, he mentions \"the blues\" in the chapter reflecting on his time in solitude. He wrote his account of his personal quest in 1845, although it was not published until 1854.
The phrase \"the blues\" was written by Charlotte Forten, then aged 25, in her diary on December 14, 1862. She was a free-born black woman from Pennsylvania who was working as a schoolteacher in South Carolina, instructing both slaves and freedmen, and wrote that she \"came home with the blues\" because she felt lonesome and pitied herself. She overcame her depression and later noted a number of songs, such as \"Poor Rosy\", that were popular among the slaves. Although she admitted being unable to describe the manner of singing she heard, Forten wrote that the songs \"can\'t be sung without a full heart and a troubled spirit\", conditions that have inspired countless blues songs.
Though the use of the phrase in African-American music may be older, it has been attested to in print since 1912, when Hart Wand\'s \"Dallas Blues\" became the first copyrighted blues composition. In lyrics, the phrase is often used to describe a depressed mood.
## Lyrics
thumb\|right\|upright=0.9\|American blues singer Ma Rainey (1886--1939), the \"Mother of the Blues\" Early traditional blues verses often consisted of a single line repeated four times. However, the most common structure of blues lyrics today was established in the first few decades of the 20th century, known as the \"AAB\" pattern. This structure consists of a line sung over the first four bars, its repetition over the next four, and a longer concluding line over the last bars. This pattern can be heard in some of the first published blues songs, such as \"Dallas Blues\" (1912) and \"Saint Louis Blues\" (1914). According to W.C. Handy, the \"AAB\" pattern was adopted to avoid the monotony of lines repeated three times. The lyrics are often sung in a rhythmic talk style rather than a melody, resembling a form of talking blues.
Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative. African-American singers voiced their \"personal woes in a world of harsh reality: a lost love, the cruelty of police officers, oppression at the hands of white folk, \[and\] hard times\". This melancholy has led to the suggestion of an Igbo origin for blues, because of the reputation the Igbo had throughout plantations in the Americas for their melancholic music and outlook on life when they were enslaved. Other historians have argued that there is little evidence of Sub-Sahelian influence in the blues as \"elaborate polyrhythm, percussion on African drums (as opposed to European drums), \[and\] collective participation\" which are characteristic of West-Central African music below the savannah, are conspicuously absent. According to the historian Paul Oliver, \"the roots of the blues were not to be found in the coastal and forest regions of Africa. Rather\... the blues was rooted in \... the savanna hinterland, from Senegambia through Mali, Burkina Faso, Northern Ghana, Niger, and northern Nigeria\". Additionally, ethnomusicologist John Storm Roberts has argued that \"The parallels between African savanna-belt string-playing and the techniques of many blues guitarists are remarkable. The big kora of Senegal and Guinea are played in a rhythmic-melodic style that uses constantly changing rhythms, often providing a ground bass overlaid with complex treble patterns, while vocal supplies a third rhythmic layer. Similar techniques can be found in hundreds of blues records\".
The lyrics often relate troubles experienced within African American society. For instance Blind Lemon Jefferson\'s \"Rising High Water Blues\" (1927) tells of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927: `{{poemquote|Backwater rising, Southern peoples can't make no time
I said, backwater rising, Southern peoples can't make no time
And I can't get no hearing from that Memphis girl of mine}}`{=mediawiki}
Although the blues gained an association with misery and oppression, the lyrics could also be humorous and raunchy: `{{poemquote|Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,
Rebecca, Rebecca, get your big legs off of me,
It may be sending you baby, but it's worrying the hell out of me.<ref>From [[Big Joe Turner]]'s "Rebecca", a compilation of [[traditional blues lyrics]]</ref>}}`{=mediawiki}
Hokum blues celebrated both comedic lyrical content and a boisterous, farcical performance style. Tampa Red and Georgia Tom\'s \"It\'s Tight Like That\" (1928) is a sly wordplay with the double meaning of being \"tight\" with someone, coupled with a more salacious physical familiarity. Blues songs with sexually explicit lyrics were known as dirty blues. The lyrical content became slightly simpler in postwar blues, which tended to focus on relationship woes or sexual worries. Lyrical themes that frequently appeared in prewar blues, such as economic depression, farming, devils, gambling, magic, floods and drought, were less common in postwar blues.
The writer Ed Morales claimed that Yoruba mythology played a part in early blues, citing Robert Johnson\'s \"Cross Road Blues\" as a \"thinly veiled reference to Eleggua, the orisha in charge of the crossroads\". However, the Christian influence was far more obvious. The repertoires of many seminal blues artists, such as Charley Patton and Skip James, included religious songs or spirituals. Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Willie Johnson are examples of artists often categorized as blues musicians for their music, although their lyrics clearly belong to spirituals.
## Form
The blues form is a cyclic musical form in which a repeating progression of chords mirrors the call and response scheme commonly found in African and African-American music. During the first decades of the 20th century blues music was not clearly defined in terms of a particular chord progression. With the popularity of early performers, such as Bessie Smith, use of the twelve-bar blues spread across the music industry during the 1920s and 1930s. Other chord progressions, such as 8-bar forms, are still considered blues; examples include \"How Long Blues\", \"Trouble in Mind\", and Big Bill Broonzy\'s \"Key to the Highway\". There are also 16-bar blues, such as Ray Charles\'s instrumental \"Sweet 16 Bars\" and Herbie Hancock\'s \"Watermelon Man\". Idiosyncratic numbers of bars are occasionally used, such as the 9-bar progression in \"Sitting on Top of the World\", by Walter Vinson.
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+
| Chords played over a 12-bar scheme: | Chords for a blues in C: |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+
| ---- --------- --- -------- | --- --- --- ---- |
| I I or IV I I7 | C C C C7 |
| IV IV I I7 | F F C C7 |
| V V or IV I I or V | G G C C |
| ---- --------- --- -------- | --- --- --- ---- |
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+
The basic 12-bar lyric framework of many blues compositions is reflected by a standard harmonic progression of 12 bars in a 4/4 time signature. The blues chords associated to a twelve-bar blues are typically a set of three different chords played over a 12-bar scheme. They are labeled by Roman numbers referring to the degrees of the progression. For instance, for a blues in the key of C, C is the tonic chord (I) and F is the subdominant (IV).
The last chord is the dominant (V) turnaround, marking the transition to the beginning of the next progression. The lyrics generally end on the last beat of the tenth bar or the first beat of the 11th bar, and the final two bars are given to the instrumentalist as a break; the harmony of this two-bar break, the turnaround, can be extremely complex, sometimes consisting of single notes that defy analysis in terms of chords.
Much of the time, some or all of these chords are played in the harmonic seventh (7th) form. The use of the harmonic seventh interval is characteristic of blues and is popularly called the \"blues seven\". Blues seven chords add to the harmonic chord a note with a frequency in a 7:4 ratio to the fundamental note. At a 7:4 ratio, it is not close to any interval on the conventional Western diatonic scale. For convenience or by necessity it is often approximated by a minor seventh interval or a dominant seventh chord.
thumb\|upright=1.6\|A minor pentatonic scale; `{{Audio|PentMinor.mid|play}}`{=mediawiki}
In melody, blues is distinguished by the use of the flattened third, fifth and seventh of the associated major scale.
Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and call-and-response, and they form a repetitive effect called a groove. Characteristic of the blues since its Afro-American origins, the shuffles played a central role in swing music. The simplest shuffles, which were the clearest signature of the R&B wave that started in the mid-1940s, were a three-note riff on the bass strings of the guitar. When this riff was played over the bass and the drums, the groove \"feel\" was created. Shuffle rhythm is often vocalized as \"*dow*, da *dow*, da *dow*, da\" or \"*dump*, da *dump*, da *dump*, da\": it consists of uneven, or \"swung\", eighth notes. On a guitar this may be played as a simple steady bass or it may add to that stepwise quarter note motion from the fifth to the sixth of the chord and back.
## History
### Origin
Hart Wand\'s \"Dallas Blues\" was published in 1912; W.C. Handy\'s \"The Memphis Blues\" followed in the same year. The first recording by an African-American singer was Mamie Smith\'s 1920 rendition of Perry Bradford\'s \"Crazy Blues\". But the origins of the blues were some decades earlier, probably around 1890. This music is poorly documented, partly because of racial discrimination in U.S. society, including academic circles, and partly because of the low rate of literacy among rural African Americans at the time.
Reports of blues music in southern Texas and the Deep South were written at the dawn of the 20th century. Charles Peabody mentioned the appearance of blues music at Clarksdale, Mississippi, and Gate Thomas reported similar songs in southern Texas around 1901--1902. These observations coincide more or less with the recollections of Jelly Roll Morton, who said he first heard blues music in New Orleans in 1902; Ma Rainey, who remembered first hearing the blues in the same year in Missouri; and W.C. Handy, who first heard the blues in Tutwiler, Mississippi, in 1903. The first extensive research in the field was performed by Howard W. Odum, who published an anthology of folk songs from Lafayette County, Mississippi, and Newton County, Georgia, between 1905 and 1908. The first non-commercial recordings of blues music, termed *proto-blues* by Paul Oliver, were made by Odum for research purposes at the beginning of the 20th century. They are now lost.
Other recordings that are still available were made in 1924 by Lawrence Gellert. Later, several recordings were made by Robert W. Gordon, who became head of the Archive of American Folk Songs of the Library of Congress. Gordon\'s successor at the library was John Lomax. In the 1930s, Lomax and his son Alan made a large number of non-commercial blues recordings that testify to the huge variety of proto-blues styles, such as field hollers and ring shouts. A record of blues music as it existed before 1920 can also be found in the recordings of artists such as Lead Belly and Henry Thomas. All these sources show the existence of many different structures distinct from twelve-, eight-, or sixteen-bar. The social and economic reasons for the appearance of the blues are not fully known. The first appearance of the blues is usually dated after the Emancipation Act of 1863, between 1860s and 1890s, a period that coincides with post-emancipation and later, the establishment of juke joints as places where African Americans went to listen to music, dance, or gamble after a hard day\'s work. This period corresponds to the transition from slavery to sharecropping, small-scale agricultural production, and the expansion of railroads in the southern United States. Several scholars characterize the development of blues music in the early 1900s as a move from group performance to individualized performance. They argue that the development of the blues is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the enslaved people.
According to Lawrence Levine, \"there was a direct relationship between the national ideological emphasis upon the individual, the popularity of Booker T. Washington\'s teachings, and the rise of the blues.\" Levine stated that \"psychologically, socially, and economically, African-Americans were being acculturated in a way that would have been impossible during slavery, and it is hardly surprising that their secular music reflected this as much as their religious music did.\"
There are few characteristics common to all blues music, because the genre took its shape from the idiosyncrasies of individual performers. However, there are some characteristics that were present long before the creation of the modern blues. Call-and-response shouts were an early form of blues-like music; they were a \"functional expression \... style without accompaniment or harmony and unbounded by the formality of any particular musical structure\". A form of this pre-blues was heard in slave ring shouts and field hollers, expanded into \"simple solo songs laden with emotional content\".
Blues has evolved from the unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves imported from West Africa and Black Americans in rural areas into a wide variety of styles and subgenres, with regional variations across the United States. Although blues (as it is now known) can be seen as a musical style based on both European harmonic structure and the African call-and-response tradition that transformed into an interplay of voice and guitar, the blues form itself bears no resemblance to the melodic styles of the West African griots. Additionally, there are theories that the four-beats-per-measure structure of the blues might have its origins in the Native American tradition of pow wow drumming. Some scholars identify strong influences on the blues from the melodic structures of certain West African musical styles of the savanna and sahel. Lucy Durran finds similarities with the melodies of the Bambara people, and to a lesser degree, the Soninke people and Wolof people, but not as much of the Mandinka people. Gerard Kubik finds similarities to the melodic styles of both the west African savanna and central Africa, both of which were sources of enslaved people.
No specific African musical form can be identified as the single direct ancestor of the blues. However the call-and-response format can be traced back to the music of Africa. That blue notes predate their use in blues and have an African origin is attested to by \"A Negro Love Song\", by the English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, from his *African Suite for Piano*, written in 1898, which contains blue third and seventh notes.
The Diddley bow (a homemade one-stringed instrument found in parts of the American South sometimes referred to as a *jitterbug* or a *one-string* in the early twentieth century) and the banjo are African-derived instruments that may have helped in the transfer of African performance techniques into the early blues instrumental vocabulary. The banjo seems to be directly imported from West African music. It is similar to the musical instrument that griots and other Africans such as the Igbo played (called halam or akonting by African peoples such as the Wolof, Fula and Mandinka). However, in the 1920s, when country blues began to be recorded, the use of the banjo in blues music was quite marginal and limited to individuals such as Papa Charlie Jackson and later Gus Cannon.
Blues music also adopted elements from the \"Ethiopian airs\", minstrel shows and Negro spirituals, including instrumental and harmonic accompaniment. The style also was closely related to ragtime, which developed at about the same time, though the blues better preserved \"the original melodic patterns of African music\".
The musical forms and styles that are now considered the blues as well as modern country music arose in the same regions of the southern United States during the 19th century. Recorded blues and country music can be found as far back as the 1920s, when the record industry created the marketing categories \"race music\" and \"hillbilly music\" to sell music by blacks for blacks and by whites for whites, respectively. At the time, there was no clear musical division between \"blues\" and \"country\", except for the ethnicity of the performer, and even that was sometimes documented incorrectly by record companies.
Though musicologists can now attempt to define the blues narrowly in terms of certain chord structures and lyric forms thought to have originated in West Africa, audiences originally heard the music in a far more general way: it was simply the music of the rural South, notably the Mississippi Delta. Black and white musicians shared the same repertoire and thought of themselves as \"songsters\" rather than blues musicians. The notion of blues as a separate genre arose during the black migration from the countryside to urban areas in the 1920s and the simultaneous development of the recording industry. *Blues* became a code word for a record designed to sell to black listeners.
The origins of the blues are closely related to the religious music of Afro-American community, the spirituals. The origins of spirituals go back much further than the blues, usually dating back to the middle of the 18th century, when the slaves were Christianized and began to sing and play Christian hymns, in particular those of Isaac Watts, which were very popular. Before the blues gained its formal definition in terms of chord progressions, it was defined as the secular counterpart of spirituals. It was the low-down music played by rural blacks.
Depending on the religious community a musician belonged to, it was more or less considered a sin to play this low-down music: blues was the devil\'s music. Musicians were therefore segregated into two categories: gospel singers and blues singers, guitar preachers and songsters. However, when rural black music began to be recorded in the 1920s, both categories of musicians used similar techniques: call-and-response patterns, blue notes, and slide guitars. Gospel music was nevertheless using musical forms that were compatible with Christian hymns and therefore less marked by the blues form than its secular counterpart.
### Pre-war blues {#pre_war_blues}
The American sheet music publishing industry produced a great deal of ragtime music. By 1912, the sheet music industry had published three popular blues-like compositions, precipitating the Tin Pan Alley adoption of blues elements: \"Baby Seals\' Blues\", by Baby Franklin Seals (arranged by Artie Matthews); \"Dallas Blues\", by Hart Wand; and \"The Memphis Blues\", by W.C. Handy.
thumb\|upright=0.9\|Sheet music from \"Saint Louis Blues\" (1914) Handy was a formally trained musician, composer, and arranger who helped to popularize the blues by transcribing and orchestrating blues in an almost symphonic style, with bands and singers. He became a popular and prolific composer, and billed himself as the \"Father of the Blues\"; however, his compositions can be described as a fusion of blues with ragtime and jazz, a merger facilitated using the Cuban habanera rhythm that had long been a part of ragtime; Handy\'s signature work was the \"Saint Louis Blues\".
In the 1920s, the blues became a major element of African-American and American popular music, also reaching white audiences via Handy\'s arrangements and the classic female blues performers. These female performers became perhaps the first African-American \"superstars\", and their recording sales demonstrated \"a huge appetite for records made by and for black people.\" The blues evolved from informal performances in bars to entertainment in theaters. Blues performances were organized by the Theater Owners Booking Association in nightclubs such as the Cotton Club and juke joints such as the bars along Beale Street in Memphis. Several record companies, such as the American Record Corporation, Okeh Records, and Paramount Records, began to record African-American music.
As the recording industry grew, country blues performers like Bo Carter, Jimmie Rodgers, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Lonnie Johnson, Tampa Red, and Blind Blake became more popular in the African-American community. Kentucky-born Sylvester Weaver was in 1923 the first to record the slide guitar style, in which a guitar is fretted with a knife blade or the sawed-off neck of a bottle. The slide guitar became an important part of the Delta blues. The first blues recordings from the 1920s are categorized as a traditional, rural country blues and a more polished city or urban blues.
Country blues performers often improvised, either without accompaniment or with only a banjo or guitar. Regional styles of country blues varied widely in the early 20th century. The (Mississippi) Delta blues was a rootsy sparse style with passionate vocals accompanied by slide guitar. The little-recorded Robert Johnson combined elements of urban and rural blues. In addition to Robert Johnson, influential performers of this style included his predecessors Charley Patton and Son House. Singers such as Blind Willie McTell and Blind Boy Fuller performed in the southeastern \"delicate and lyrical\" Piedmont blues tradition, which used an elaborate ragtime-based fingerpicking guitar technique. Georgia also had an early slide tradition, with Curley Weaver, Tampa Red, \"Barbecue Bob\" Hicks and James \"Kokomo\" Arnold as representatives of this style.
The lively Memphis blues style, which developed in the 1920s and 1930s near Memphis, Tennessee, was influenced by jug bands such as the Memphis Jug Band or the Gus Cannon\'s Jug Stompers. Performers such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Robert Wilkins, Kansas Joe McCoy, Casey Bill Weldon, and Memphis Minnie used a variety of unusual instruments such as washboard, fiddle, kazoo or mandolin. Memphis Minnie was famous for her virtuoso guitar style. Pianist Memphis Slim began his career in Memphis, but his distinct style was smoother and had some swing elements. Many blues musicians based in Memphis moved to Chicago in the late 1930s or early 1940s and became part of the urban blues movement.
thumb\|right\|upright=0.8\|Bessie Smith, an early blues singer, known for her powerful voice
#### Urban blues {#urban_blues}
City or urban blues styles were more codified and elaborate, as a performer was no longer within their local, immediate community, and had to adapt to a larger, more varied audience\'s aesthetic. Classic female urban and vaudeville blues singers were popular in the 1920s, among them \"the big three\"---Gertrude \"Ma\" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Lucille Bogan. Mamie Smith, more a vaudeville performer than a blues artist, was the first African American to record a blues song, in 1920; her second record, \"Crazy Blues\", sold 75,000 copies in its first month. Ma Rainey, the \"Mother of Blues\", and Bessie Smith each \"\[sang\] around center tones, perhaps in order to project her voice more easily to the back of a room\". Smith would \"sing a song in an unusual key, and her artistry in bending and stretching notes with her beautiful, powerful contralto to accommodate her own interpretation was unsurpassed\".
In 1920, the vaudeville singer Lucille Hegamin became the second black woman to record blues when she recorded \"The Jazz Me Blues\", and Victoria Spivey, sometimes called Queen Victoria or Za Zu Girl, had a recording career that began in 1926 and spanned forty years. These recordings were typically labeled \"race records\" to distinguish them from records sold to white audiences. Nonetheless, the recordings of some of the classic female blues singers were purchased by white buyers as well. These blueswomen\'s contributions to the genre included \"increased improvisation on melodic lines, unusual phrasing which altered the emphasis and impact of the lyrics, and vocal dramatics using shouts, groans, moans, and wails. The blues women thus effected changes in other types of popular singing that had spin-offs in jazz, Broadway musicals, torch songs of the 1930s and 1940s, gospel, rhythm and blues, and eventually rock and roll.\"
Urban male performers included popular black musicians of the era, such as Tampa Red, Big Bill Broonzy and Leroy Carr. An important label of this era was the Chicago-based Bluebird Records. Before World War II, Tampa Red was sometimes referred to as \"the Guitar Wizard\". Carr accompanied himself on the piano with Scrapper Blackwell on guitar, a format that continued well into the 1950s with artists such as Charles Brown and even Nat \"King\" Cole.
thumb\|upright=0.9\|A typical boogie-woogie bass line `{{audio|"Texarkana and Northern" Boogie-woogie bassline.mid|Play}}`{=mediawiki}
Boogie-woogie was another important style of 1930s and early 1940s urban blues. While the style is often associated with solo piano, boogie-woogie was also used to accompany singers and, as a solo part, in bands and small combos. Boogie-woogie style was characterized by a regular bass figure, an ostinato or riff and shifts of level in the left hand, elaborating each chord and trills and decorations in the right hand. Boogie-woogie was pioneered by the Chicago-based Jimmy Yancey and the Boogie-Woogie Trio (Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis). Chicago boogie-woogie performers included Clarence \"Pine Top\" Smith and Earl Hines, who \"linked the propulsive left-hand rhythms of the ragtime pianists with melodic figures similar to those of Armstrong\'s trumpet in the right hand\". The smooth Louisiana style of Professor Longhair and, more recently, Dr. John blends classic rhythm and blues with blues styles.
Another development in this period was big band blues. The \"territory bands\" operating out of Kansas City, the Bennie Moten orchestra, Jay McShann, and the Count Basie Orchestra were also concentrating on the blues, with 12-bar blues instrumentals such as Basie\'s \"One O\'Clock Jump\" and \"Jumpin\' at the Woodside\" and boisterous \"blues shouting\" by Jimmy Rushing on songs such as \"Going to Chicago\" and \"Sent for You Yesterday\". A well-known big band blues tune is Glenn Miller\'s \"In the Mood\". In the 1940s, the jump blues style developed. Jump blues grew up from the boogie-woogie wave and was strongly influenced by big band music. It uses saxophone or other brass instruments and the guitar in the rhythm section to create a jazzy, up-tempo sound with declamatory vocals. Jump blues tunes by Louis Jordan and Big Joe Turner, based in Kansas City, Missouri, influenced the development of later styles such as rock and roll and rhythm and blues. Dallas-born T-Bone Walker, who is often associated with the California blues style, performed a successful transition from the early urban blues à la Lonnie Johnson and Leroy Carr to the jump blues style and dominated the blues-jazz scene at Los Angeles during the 1940s.
### 1950s
The transition from country blues to urban blues that began in the 1920s was driven by the successive waves of economic crisis and booms that led many rural blacks to move to urban areas, in a movement known as the Great Migration. The long boom following World War II induced another massive migration of the African-American population, the Second Great Migration, which was accompanied by a significant increase of the real income of the urban blacks. The new migrants constituted a new market for the music industry. The term *race record*, initially used by the music industry for African-American music, was replaced by the term *rhythm and blues*. This rapidly evolving market was mirrored by *Billboard* magazine\'s Rhythm & Blues chart. This marketing strategy reinforced trends in urban blues music such as the use of electric instruments and amplification and the generalization of the blues beat, the blues shuffle, which became ubiquitous in rhythm and blues (R&B). This commercial stream had important consequences for blues music, which, together with jazz and gospel music, became a component of R&B.
After World War II, new styles of electric blues became popular in cities such as Chicago, Memphis, Detroit and St. Louis. Electric blues used electric guitars, double bass (gradually replaced by bass guitar), drums, and harmonica (or \"blues harp\") played through a microphone and a PA system or an overdriven guitar amplifier. Chicago became a center for electric blues from 1948 on, when Muddy Waters recorded his first success, \"I Can\'t Be Satisfied\". Chicago blues is influenced to a large extent by Delta blues, because many performers had migrated from the Mississippi region.
Howlin\' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Jimmy Reed were all born in Mississippi and moved to Chicago during the Great Migration. Their style is characterized by the use of electric guitar, sometimes slide guitar, harmonica, and a rhythm section of bass and drums. The saxophonist J. T. Brown played in bands led by Elmore James and by J. B. Lenoir, but the saxophone was used as a backing instrument for rhythmic support more than as a lead instrument.
Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) and Sonny Terry are well known harmonica (called \"harp\" by blues musicians) players of the early Chicago blues scene. Other harp players such as Big Walter Horton were also influential. Muddy Waters and Elmore James were known for their innovative use of slide electric guitar. Howlin\' Wolf and Muddy Waters were known for their deep, \"gravelly\" voices.
The bassist and prolific songwriter and composer Willie Dixon played a major role on the Chicago blues scene. He composed and wrote many standard blues songs of the period, such as \"Hoochie Coochie Man\", \"I Just Want to Make Love to You\" (both penned for Muddy Waters), and \"Wang Dang Doodle\" and \"Back Door Man\" for Howlin\' Wolf. Most artists of the Chicago blues style recorded for the Chicago-based Chess Records and Checker Records labels. Smaller blues labels of this era included Vee-Jay Records and J.O.B. Records. During the early 1950s, the dominating Chicago labels were challenged by Sam Phillips\' Sun Records company in Memphis, which recorded B. B. King and Howlin\' Wolf before he moved to Chicago in 1960. After Phillips discovered Elvis Presley in 1954, the Sun label turned to the rapidly expanding white audience and started recording mostly rock \'n\' roll.
In the 1950s, blues had a huge influence on mainstream American popular music. While popular musicians like Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, both recording for Chess, were influenced by the Chicago blues, their enthusiastic playing styles departed from the melancholy aspects of blues. Chicago blues also influenced Louisiana\'s zydeco music, with Clifton Chenier using blues accents. Zydeco musicians used electric solo guitar and cajun arrangements of blues standards.
In England, electric blues took root there during a much acclaimed Muddy Waters tour in 1958. Waters, unsuspecting of his audience\'s tendency towards skiffle, an acoustic, softer brand of blues, turned up his amp and started to play his Chicago brand of electric blues. Although the audience was largely jolted by the performance, the performance influenced local musicians such as Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies to emulate this louder style, inspiring the British Invasion of the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds.
In the late 1950s, a new blues style emerged on Chicago\'s West Side pioneered by Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, and Otis Rush on Cobra Records. The \"West Side sound\" had strong rhythmic support from a rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and drums and as perfected by Guy, Freddie King, Magic Slim, and Luther Allison, was dominated by amplified electric lead guitar. Expressive guitar solos were a key feature of this music.
Other blues artists, such as John Lee Hooker, had influences not directly related to the Chicago style. John Lee Hooker\'s blues is more \"personal\", based on Hooker\'s deep rough voice accompanied by a single electric guitar. Though not directly influenced by boogie-woogie, his \"groovy\" style is sometimes called \"guitar boogie\". His first hit, \"Boogie Chillen\", reached number 1 on the R&B charts in 1949.
By the late 1950s, the swamp blues genre developed near Baton Rouge, with performers such as Lightnin\' Slim, Slim Harpo, Sam Myers and Jerry McCain around the producer J. D. \"Jay\" Miller and the Excello label. Strongly influenced by Jimmy Reed, swamp blues has a slower pace and a simpler use of the harmonica than the Chicago blues style performers such as Little Walter or Muddy Waters. Songs from this genre include \"Scratch my Back,\" \"She\'s Tough,\" and \"I\'m a King Bee\". Alan Lomax\'s recordings of Mississippi Fred McDowell would eventually bring him wider attention on both the blues and folk circuit, with McDowell\'s droning style influencing North Mississippi hill country blues musicians.
### 1960s and 1970s {#s_and_1970s}
thumb\|upright=0.8\|right\|Blues legend B.B. King with his guitar, \"Lucille\"
By the beginning of the 1960s, genres influenced by African American music such as rock and roll and soul were part of mainstream popular music. White performers such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles had brought African-American music to new audiences, within the U.S. and abroad. However, the blues wave that brought artists such as Muddy Waters to the foreground had stopped. Bluesmen such as Big Bill Broonzy and Willie Dixon started looking for new markets in Europe. Dick Waterman and the blues festivals he organized in Europe played a major role in propagating blues music abroad. In the UK, bands emulated U.S. blues legends, and UK blues rock-based bands had an influential role throughout the 1960s.
Blues performers such as John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters continued to perform to enthusiastic audiences, inspiring new artists steeped in traditional blues, such as New York--born Taj Mahal. John Lee Hooker blended his blues style with rock elements and playing with younger white musicians, creating a musical style that can be heard on the 1971 album *Endless Boogie*. B. B. King\'s singing and virtuoso guitar technique earned him the eponymous title \"king of the blues\". King introduced a sophisticated style of guitar soloing based on fluid string bending and shimmering vibrato that influenced many later electric blues guitarists. In contrast to the Chicago style, King\'s band used strong brass support from a saxophone, trumpet, and trombone, instead of using slide guitar or harp. Tennessee-born Bobby \"Blue\" Bland, like B. B. King, also straddled the blues and R&B genres. During this period, Freddie King and Albert King often played with rock and soul musicians (Eric Clapton and Booker T & the MGs) and had a major influence on those styles of music.
The music of the civil rights movement and Free Speech Movement in the U.S. prompted a resurgence of interest in American roots music and early African-American music. As well, festivals such as the Newport Folk Festival brought traditional blues to a new audience, which helped to revive interest in prewar acoustic blues and performers such as Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, and Reverend Gary Davis. Many compilations of classic prewar blues were republished by the Yazoo Records. J. B. Lenoir from the Chicago blues movement in the 1950s recorded several LPs using acoustic guitar, sometimes accompanied by Willie Dixon on the acoustic bass or drums. His songs, originally distributed only in Europe, commented on political issues such as racism or Vietnam War issues, which was unusual for this period. His album *Alabama Blues* contained a song with the following lyric: `{{poemquote|I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me,
I never will go back to Alabama, that is not the place for me.
You know they killed my sister and my brother
and the whole world let them peoples go down there free}}`{=mediawiki} White audiences\' interest in the blues during the 1960s increased due to the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band, featuring guitarist Michael Bloomfield and singer/songwriter Nick Gravenites, and the British blues movement. The style of British blues developed in the UK, when musicians such as Cyril Davies, Alexis Korner\'s Blues Incorporated, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, the Rolling Stones, Animals, the Yardbirds, Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, Chicken Shack, early Jethro Tull, Cream, and the Irish musician Rory Gallagher performed classic blues songs from the Delta or Chicago blues traditions.
In 1963, Amiri Baraka, then known as LeRoi Jones, was the first to write a book on the social history of the blues in *Blues People: The Negro Music in White America*. The British and blues musicians of the early 1960s inspired a number of American blues rock performers, including Canned Heat, Janis Joplin, Johnny Winter, the J. Geils Band, Ry Cooder, and the Allman Brothers Band. One blues rock performer, Jimi Hendrix, was a rarity in his field at the time: a Black man who played psychedelic rock. Hendrix was a skilled guitarist, and a pioneer in the innovative use of distortion and audio feedback in his music. Through these artists and others, blues music influenced the development of rock music. Later in the 1960s, British singer Jo Ann Kelly started her recording career. In the US, from the 1970s, female singers Bonnie Raitt and Phoebe Snow performed blues.
In the early 1970s, the Texas rock-blues style emerged, which used guitars in both solo and rhythm roles. In contrast with the West Side blues, the Texas style is strongly influenced by the British rock-blues movement. Major artists of the Texas style are Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Fabulous Thunderbirds (led by harmonica player and singer-songwriter Kim Wilson), and ZZ Top. These artists all began their musical careers in the 1970s but they did not achieve international success until the next decade.
### 1980s to the present {#s_to_the_present}
Since the 1980s, there has been a resurgence of interest in the blues among a certain part of the African-American population, particularly around Jackson, Mississippi, and other deep South regions. Often termed \"soul blues\" or \"Southern soul\", the music at the heart of this movement was given new life by the unexpected success of two particular recordings on the Jackson-based Malaco label: Z. Z. Hill\'s *Down Home Blues* (1982) and Little Milton\'s *The Blues is Alright* (1984). Contemporary African-American performers who work in this style of the blues include Bobby Rush, Denise LaSalle, Sir Charles Jones, Bettye LaVette, Marvin Sease, Peggy Scott-Adams, Clarence Carter, Charles Bradley, Trudy Lynn, Roy C, Barbara Carr, Willie Clayton, and Shirley Brown, among others.
thumb\|left\|upright=1.1\|Eric Clapton performing at Hyde Park, London, in June 2008
During the 1980s, blues also continued in both traditional and new forms. In 1986, the album *Strong Persuader* announced Robert Cray as a major blues artist. The first Stevie Ray Vaughan recording *Texas Flood* was released in 1983, and the Texas-based guitarist exploded onto the international stage. John Lee Hooker\'s popularity was revived with the album *The Healer* in 1989. Eric Clapton, known for his performances with the Blues Breakers and Cream, made a comeback in the 1990s with his album *Unplugged*, in which he played some standard blues numbers on acoustic guitar.
However, beginning in the 1990s, digital multi-track recording and other technological advances and new marketing strategies, including video clip production, increased costs, challenging the spontaneity and improvisation that are an important component of blues music. In the 1980s and 1990s, blues publications such as *Living Blues* and *Blues Revue* were launched, major cities began forming blues societies, outdoor blues festivals became more common, and Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gov\'t Mule released blues rock albums. Female blues singers such as Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeschi, Sue Foley, and Shannon Curfman also recorded albums.
thumb\|upright=1.2\|Etta James career spanned multiple decades, and she continued to impact the blues world into the 1990s with her powerful voice and ability to blend blues with soul, gospel, and R&B.
In the 1990s, the largely ignored hill country blues gained minor recognition in both blues and alternative rock music circles with northern Mississippi artists R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. Blues performers explored a range of musical genres, for example, from the broad array of nominees of the yearly Blues Music Awards (previously named W.C. Handy Awards) or of the Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary and Traditional Blues Album. The *Billboard* Blues Album chart provides an overview of current blues hits. Contemporary blues music is nurtured by several blues labels such as Alligator Records, Ruf Records, Severn Records, Chess Records (MCA), Delmark Records, NorthernBlues Music, Fat Possum Records, and Vanguard Records (Artemis Records). Some labels are famous for rediscovering and remastering blues rarities, including Arhoolie Records, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (heir of Folkways Records), and Yazoo Records (Shanachie Records).
## Musical impact {#musical_impact}
Blues musical styles, forms (12-bar blues), melodies, and the blues scale have influenced many other genres of music, such as rock and roll, jazz, and popular music. Prominent jazz, folk, or rock performers, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Bob Dylan, have performed significant blues recordings. The blues scale is often used in popular songs like Harold Arlen\'s \"Blues in the Night\", blues ballads like \"Since I Fell for You\" and \"Please Send Me Someone to Love\", and even in orchestral works such as George Gershwin\'s \"Rhapsody in Blue\" and \"Concerto in F\". Gershwin\'s second \"Prelude\" for solo piano is an interesting example of a classical blues, maintaining the form with academic strictness. The blues scale is ubiquitous in modern popular music and informs many modal frames, especially the ladder of thirds used in rock music (for example, in \"A Hard Day\'s Night\"). Blues forms are used in the theme to the televised *Batman*, teen idol Fabian Forte\'s hit, \"Turn Me Loose\", country music star Jimmie Rodgers\' music, and guitarist/vocalist Tracy Chapman\'s hit \"Give Me One Reason\".
Early country bluesmen such as Skip James, Charley Patton, and Georgia Tom Dorsey played country and urban blues and had influences from spiritual singing. Dorsey helped to popularize Gospel music. Gospel music developed in the 1930s, with the Golden Gate Quartet. In the 1950s, soul music by Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, and James Brown used gospel and blues music elements. In the 1960s and 1970s, gospel and blues were merged in soul blues music. Funk music of the 1970s was influenced by soul; funk can be seen as an antecedent of hip-hop and contemporary R&B.
R&B music can be traced back to spirituals and blues. Musically, spirituals were a descendant of New England choral traditions, and in particular of Isaac Watts\'s hymns, mixed with African rhythms and call-and-response forms. Spirituals or religious chants in the African-American community are much better documented than the \"low-down\" blues. Spiritual singing developed because African-American communities could gather for mass or worship gatherings, which were called camp meetings.
Edward P. Comentale has noted how the blues was often used as a medium for art or self-expression, stating: \"As heard from Delta shacks to Chicago tenements to Harlem cabarets, the blues proved---despite its pained origins---a remarkably flexible medium and a new arena for the shaping of identity and community.\"
Before World War II, the boundaries between blues and jazz were less clear. Usually, jazz had harmonic structures stemming from brass bands, whereas blues had blues forms such as the 12-bar blues. However, the jump blues of the 1940s mixed both styles. After WWII, blues had a substantial influence on jazz. Bebop classics, such as Charlie Parker\'s \"Now\'s the Time\", used the blues form with the pentatonic scale and blue notes.
Bebop marked a major shift in the role of jazz, from a popular style of music for dancing to a \"high-art\", less accessible, cerebral \"musician\'s music\". The audience for both blues and jazz split, and the border between blues and jazz became more defined.
The blues\' 12-bar structure and the blues scale was a major influence on rock and roll music. Rock and roll has been called \"blues with a backbeat\"; Carl Perkins called rockabilly \"blues with a country beat\". Rockabillies were also said to be 12-bar blues played with a bluegrass beat. \"Hound Dog\", with its unmodified 12-bar structure (in both harmony and lyrics) and a melody centered on flatted third of the tonic (and flatted seventh of the subdominant), is a blues song transformed into a rock and roll song. Jerry Lee Lewis\'s style of rock and roll was heavily influenced by the blues and its derivative boogie-woogie. His style of music was not exactly rockabilly but it has been often called real rock and roll (this is a label he shares with several African-American rock and roll performers).
Many early rock and roll songs are based on blues: \"That\'s All Right Mama\", \"Johnny B. Goode\", \"Blue Suede Shoes\", \"Whole Lotta Shakin\' Goin On\", \"Shake, Rattle, and Roll\", and \"Long Tall Sally\". The early African-American rock musicians retained the sexual themes and innuendos of blues music: \"Got a gal named Sue, knows just what to do\" (\"Tutti Frutti\", Little Richard) or \"See the girl with the red dress on, She can do the Birdland all night long\" (\"What\'d I Say\", Ray Charles). The 12-bar blues structure can be found even in novelty pop songs, such as Bob Dylan\'s \"Obviously Five Believers\" and Esther and Abi Ofarim\'s \"Cinderella Rockefella\".
Early country music was infused with the blues. Jimmie Rodgers, Moon Mullican, Bob Wills, Bill Monroe, and Hank Williams have all described themselves as blues singers and their music has a blues feel that is different, at first glance at least, from the later country-pop of artists like Eddy Arnold. Yet, if one looks back further, Arnold also started out singing bluesy songs like \'I\'ll Hold You in My Heart\'. A lot of the 1970s-era \"outlaw\" country music by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings also borrowed from the blues. When Jerry Lee Lewis returned to country music after the decline of 1950s style rock and roll, he sang with a blues feel and often included blues standards on his albums.
## In popular culture {#in_popular_culture}
thumb\|right\|upright=0.8\|The music of Taj Mahal for the 1972 movie *Sounder* marked a revival of interest in acoustic blues. Like many other genres, blues has been called the \"devil\'s music\" or \"music of the devil\", even of inciting violence and other poor behavior. In the early 20th century, the blues was considered disreputable, especially as white audiences began listening to the blues during the 1920s. The close association with the devil was actually a well-known characteristic of blues lyrics and culture between the 1920s and 1960s. The devil\'s connection to the blues has faded from popular memory since then for a number of reasons, other than in the narrow sense of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil at the crossroads. A study of the devil\'s role in the blues was published in 2017, called *Beyond the Crossroads: The Devil & The Blues Tradition*.
During the blues revival of the 1960s and 1970s, acoustic blues artist Taj Mahal and Texas bluesman Lightnin\' Hopkins wrote and performed music that figured prominently in the critically acclaimed film *Sounder* (1972). The film earned Mahal a Grammy nomination for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture and a BAFTA nomination. Almost 30 years later, Mahal wrote blues for, and performed a banjo composition, claw-hammer style, in the 2001 movie release *Songcatcher*, which focused on the story of the preservation of the roots music of Appalachia.
Perhaps the most visible example of the blues style of music in the late 20th century came in 1980, when Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi released the film *The Blues Brothers*. The film drew many of the biggest living influencers of the rhythm and blues genre together, such as Ray Charles, James Brown, Cab Calloway, Aretha Franklin, and John Lee Hooker. The band formed also began a successful tour under the Blues Brothers marquee. 1998 brought a sequel, *Blues Brothers 2000* that, while not holding as great a critical and financial success, featured a much larger number of blues artists, such as B.B. King, Bo Diddley, Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Charlie Musselwhite, Blues Traveler, Jimmie Vaughan, and Jeff Baxter.
In 2003, Martin Scorsese made significant efforts to promote the blues to a larger audience. He asked several famous directors, such as Clint Eastwood and Wim Wenders, to participate in a series of documentary films for PBS called *The Blues*. He also participated in the rendition of compilations of major blues artists in a series of high-quality CDs. Blues guitarist and vocalist Keb\' Mo\' performed his blues rendition of \"America, the Beautiful\" in 2006 to close out the final season of the television series *The West Wing*.
The blues was highlighted in season 2012, episode 1 of *In Performance at the White House*, entitled \"Red, White and Blues\". Hosted by Barack and Michelle Obama, the show featured performances by B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks, Keb Mo, and others.
The 2025 vampire horror film *Sinners* explores the blues genre through a supernatural narrative placed in the 1930s Mississippi Delta.
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Black-letter law
|
In common law legal systems, **black-letter law** refers to well-established legal rules that are no longer subject to reasonable dispute. Black-letter law can be contrasted with legal theory or unsettled legal issues.
## History and etymology {#history_and_etymology}
In an 1831 case in the U.S. Supreme Court, *Jackson ex dem. Bradstreet v. Huntington*, the phrase \"black letter\" was used: \"It is seldom that a case in our time savours so much of the black letter; but the course of decisions in New York renders it unavoidable\...\". The phrase \"black-letter law\" was used in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case *Naglee v. Ingersoll,* 7 Pa. 185 (1847). The phrase does not apparently come directly from association with *Black\'s Law Dictionary*, which was first published in 1891. It may refer to the practice of setting law books and citing legal precedents in blackletter type, a tradition that survived long after the switch to Roman and italic text for other printed works. It may also be linked to the Black Book of the Admiralty published in the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that collates at least 1,000 years of European-based laws of the sea and an authority for the High Court of Admiralty Court and maritime cases in the early modern period.
The phrase refers to a distillation of the common law into general and accepted legal principles. This can be seen in the quote above from the Supreme Court where the court is noting that while the black-letter law is clear, New York precedent deviates from the general principles.
In common law, the informal notion of black-letter law includes the basic principles of law generally accepted by the courts and/or embodied in the statutes of a particular jurisdiction. The letter of the law is its actual implementation, thereby demonstrating that black-letter laws are those statutes, rules, acts, laws, provisions, etc. that are or have been written down, codified, or indicated somewhere in legal texts throughout history of specific state law. This is often the case for many precedents that have been set in the common law.
An example of such a state within the common law jurisdiction, and using the black letter legal doctrine is Canada. Canadian law is based on British law and black-letter law is the principles of law accepted by the majority of judges in most provinces and territories. Sometimes it is referred to as \"hornbook law\" meaning treatise or textbook, often relied upon as authoritative, competent, and generally accepted in the field of Canadian law.
In lawyer lingo, hornbook law or black-letter law is a fundamental and well-accepted legal principle that does not require any further explanation, since a hornbook is a primer of basics. Law is the rule which establish that a principle, provision, references, inference, observation, etc. may not require further explanation or clarification when the very nature of them shows that they are basic and elementary.
## Similar phrases {#similar_phrases}
The phrase is nearly synonymous with the phrase \"hornbook law\". There are a number of venerable legal sources that distill the common law on various subjects known as restatement of the Law. The specific titles will be \"The Restatement (First) of Contracts\" or \"The Restatement of Agency\", etc. Each of these volumes is divided into sections that begin with a text in boldface that summarizes a basic rule on an aspect of the law of contracts, agency, etc. This \"restatement\" is followed by commentary and examples that expand on the principle stated.
Another synonymous term, usually used in the United Kingdom, is \"trite law\".
## Examples
Examples of black-letter law include that the formation of a contract requires consideration, or that the registration of a trademark requires established use in the course of trade.
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Beadwork
|
thumb\|upright=1.3\|Beadwork on the ceremonial dress of a Datooga woman **Beadwork** is the art or craft of attaching beads to one another by stringing them onto a thread or thin wire with a sewing or beading needle or sewing them to cloth. Beads are produced in a diverse range of materials, shapes, and sizes, and vary by the kind of art produced. Most often, beadwork is a form of personal adornment (e.g. jewelry), but it also commonly makes up other artworks.
Beadwork techniques are broadly divided into several categories, including loom and off-loom weaving, stringing, bead embroidery, bead crochet, bead knitting, and bead tatting.
## Ancient beading {#ancient_beading}
The art of creating and utilizing beads is ancient, and ostrich shell beads discovered in Africa can be carbon-dated to 10,000 BC. Faience beads, a type of ceramic created by mixing powdered clays, lime, soda, and silica sand with water until a paste forms, then molding it around a stick or straw and firing until hard, were notably used in ancient Egyptian jewelry from the First Dynasty (beginning in the early Bronze Age) onward. Faience and other ceramic beads with vitrified quartz coatings predate pure glass beads.
Beads and work created with them were found near-ubiquitously across the ancient world, often made of locally available materials. For example, the Athabaskan peoples of Alaska used tusk shells (scaphopod mollusks), which are naturally hollow, as beads and incorporated them into elaborate jewelry.
Beadwork has historically been used for religious purposes, as good luck talismans, for barter and trade, and for ritual exchange.
## Modern beading {#modern_beading}
thumb\|upright=.75\|Modern beaded flowers, yellow made in the French beading technique and pink in the Victorian beading technique. Today, beadwork is commonly practiced by jewelers, hobbyists, and contemporary artists; artists known for using beadwork as a medium include Liza Lou, Ran Hwang, Hew Locke, Jeffery Gibson, and Joyce J. Scott.
Some ancient stitches have become especially popular among contemporary artists. The off-loom peyote stitch, for example, is used in Native American Church members\' beadwork.
Jewelry made of beads was widespread and fashionable in Western Ukraine, which was connected with the familiarity of Ukrainian artists with the artistic achievements of the countries of Western Europe, where from the 18th century. There was a fashion for artistic products made of beads. Modern Ukrainian beadwork includes: beaded clothing, collars, bracelets, necklaces, necklaces-gerdanes, clothing accessories, and household items such as pysanka.
## Europe
thumb\|upright=.75\|Russian Countess Olga Orlova-Davydova wearing a heavily beaded kokoshnik, 1903Beadwork in Europe, much like in Egypt and the Americas, can be traced to the use of bone and shell as adornments amongst early modern humans. As glassmaking increased in popularity through the Middle Ages, glass beads began to appear extensively in bead embroidery, beaded necklaces, and similar wares.
In Northern Russia, the Kokoshnik headdress typically includes river pearl netting around the forehead in addition to traditional bead embroidery.
By 1291, artists in Murano, Italy had begun production of intricate glass Murano beads inspired by Venetian glassware. With the advent of lampwork glass, Europeans started producing seed beads for embroidery, crochet, and other, mostly off-loom techniques. Czech seed beads are among the most popular contemporary bead styles.
One technique of European beadwork is beaded \"immortal\" flowers. The technique\'s origins, though indistinct, are generally agreed to range at least several centuries back, as far back as at least the 16th if not 14th century. Two mayor styles were developed: French beading, in which the wire only goes through each bead once and the wires are arranged vertically, and Victorian (also called English or Russian) beading, in which the wires go through each bead twice and are arranged horizontally. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the beaded flowers were used to create long lasting funeral wreaths, called *immortelles* (French for \"immortals\"). In the mid-20th century, the art was introduced to United States with sales of flower beading kits. In 1960s to 1970s, books by emerging beaded flower designers emerged. In the 1990s and 2000s, there was another revival of interest in the craft, exemplified for example by the funeral wreaths made to commemorate victims of the September 11 attacks.
Ukrainian masters develop exclusively national motifs in their bead collections. Beaded artworks include clothing ensembles, clothing accessories, priestly clothing decorations, and household items. At the beginning of the 20th century embroidery workshops were created on the territory of Galicia and Bukovyna, where, along with weaving and embroidery, jewelry from beads was made. Contemporary beadwork includes: beaded clothing, collars, bracelets, necklaces, clothing accessories like handbags and purses.
## North America {#north_america}
Native American beadwork, already established via the use of materials like shells, dendrite, claws, and bone, evolved to incorporate glass beads as Europeans brought them to the Americas beginning in the early 17th century.
Native beadwork today heavily utilizes small glass beads, but artists also continue to use traditionally important materials. Wampum shells, for instance, are ceremonially and politically important to a range of Eastern Woodlands tribes, and are used to depict important events.
Several Native American artists from a wide range of nations are considered to be at the forefront of modern American bead working. These artists include Teri Greeves (Kiowa, known for beaded commentaries on Native voting rights), Marcus Amerman (Choctaw, known for realistic beaded portraits of historical figures and celebrities), and Jamie Okuma (Luiseño-Shoshone-Bannock, known for beaded dolls).
### Great Lakes tribes {#great_lakes_tribes}
Ursuline nuns in the Great Lakes introduced floral patterns to young Indigenous women, who quickly applied them to beadwork. Ojibwe women in the area created ornately decorated shoulder bags known as *gashkibidaagan* (bandolier bags).
### Eastern Woodlands tribes {#eastern_woodlands_tribes}
Innu, Mi\'kmaq, Penobscot, and Haudenosaunee peoples developed, and are known for, beading symmetrical scroll motifs, most often in white beads. Tribes of the Iroqouis Confederacy practice raised beading, where threads are pulled taut to force beads into a bas-relief, which creates a three-dimensional effect.
### Southeastern tribes {#southeastern_tribes}
Southeastern tribes pioneered a beadwork style that features images with white outlines, a visual reference to the shells and pearls coastal Southeasterners used pre-contact. This style was nearly lost during the Trail of Tears, as many beadworkers died during their forced removal to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Roger Amerman (Choctaw, brother of Marcus Amerman) and Martha Berry (Cherokee) have effectively revived the style, however.
### Sierra Madre tribes {#sierra_madre_tribes}
Huichol communities in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit uniquely attach their beads to objects and surfaces via the use of a resin-beeswax mixture (in lieu of wire or waxed thread). Huichol beadwork is commonly characterized by bright colors and geometric shapes, and motifs of animals and spirits illustrate their spiritual beliefs.
### Métis Nation {#métis_nation}
Métis were known as the Flower Beadwork People by the Cree and Dene because of their culture of colourful floral beadwork and embroidery. During the early 19th century, European and Euro-North American observers and travelers frequently noted the intricate beadwork adorning Métis clothing. This beadwork, particularly floral patterns, has evolved into one of the most recognizable symbols of Métis culture. Métis artisans employed First Nations beadwork techniques along with floral designs influenced by French-Canadian nuns in Roman Catholic missions. By the 1830s, vibrant and lifelike floral motifs dominated Métis creations from the Red River region. Beadwork adorned nearly every traditional Métis garment, from moccasins to coats, belts to bags. The practice of beadwork became a vital economic activity for Métis women and families, spanning generations and providing both personal and commercial expression. Métis organizations like the Louis Riel Institute and the Gabriel Dumont Institute actively promote and preserve traditional beading through workshops and resources, ensuring its continuation within the community.
## East Asia {#east_asia}
Aside from jewelry and apparel bead work, bead curtains made a rise in the 1960-1970\'s. Bead curtains root back to as early as the 20th century in China, where they were known for the positive energy that they shared. They typically consist of a horizontal pole or piece of wood that has rows of string dangling vertically, each string adorned with beads from top to bottom. These curtains provide a sense of separation between rooms and sometimes to deflect insects along with their decorative qualities. They often fall under the category of 'screen' alongside cloth, stone, or wood, though offer a completely different sensory experience while passing though them.
In both Chinese and Japanese glass bead curtains, they\'re inscribed with important messages; they often deal with auspicious factors like 'double happiness' and immortality. Common iconography, which was created by hanging the beads in a certain pattern, included suns and cranes, to signify happiness and peace.
While there\'s no physical evidence of these existing before the 20th century, early bead curtains were found to be made of jade, agate, shell, serpentine, faience, glass, bamboo tubes, wood and seeds. They were originally referred to as knotted bead nets or corpse curtains, as they often served as a rank of wealth when an individual was buried. Although pearl and crystal curtains gained popularity around the same time, they were often mistaken for glass bead curtains due to looks. Historical texts indicate that pearl curtains were made from real pearls, although we lack any substantial evidence.
## Africa
Several African nations outside of Egypt have beadwork traditions. Aggry (also spelled aggri or aggrey) beads, a type of decorated glass bead, are used by Ghanaians and other West Africans to make necklaces and bracelets that may be traded for other goods. These beads are often believed to have magical medicinal of fertility powers. In Mauritania, powder-glass Kiffa beads represent a beading tradition that may date as far back as 1200 CE; a group of women have been revitalizing the craft after the last traditional Kiffa artisans died in the 1970s. Cameroonian women are known for crafting wooden sculptures covered in beadwork.
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Bead
|
thumb\|upright=1\|right\|A selection of glass beads
A **bead** is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under 1 mm to over 1 cm in diameter.
Beads represent some of the earliest forms of jewellery, with a pair of beads made from *Nassarius* sea snail shells dating to approximately `{{gaps|100|000}}`{=mediawiki} years ago thought to be the earliest known example.^\[1\]\[2\]^ Beadwork is the art or craft of making things with beads. Beads can be woven together with specialized thread, strung onto thread or soft, flexible wire, or adhered to a surface (e.g. fabric, clay).
## Etymology
The word \"bead\" derives from Old English *gebed*, originally meaning \"prayer\", until transferred to small globular objects. This refers to the use of beads for counting repetitions of prayers, as in Christian Pater Noster cords and rosaries.
## Types
Beads can be divided into several types of overlapping categories based on different criteria such as the materials from which they are made, the process used in their manufacturing, the place or period of origin, the patterns on their surface, or their general shape. In some cases, such as millefiori and cloisonné beads, multiple categories may overlap in an interdependent fashion.
## Components
Beads can be made of many different materials. The earliest beads were made of a variety of natural materials which, after they were gathered, could be readily drilled and shaped. As humans became capable of obtaining and working with more difficult materials, those materials were added to the range of available substances.
Beads were a part of different cultures, each made with different materials throughout history and using beads to form something handmade. Beads came in different colors, shapes, and forms, what materials were used, and whether there was a meaning or meaning behind the beads.
In modern manufacturing, the most common bead materials are wood, plastic, glass, metal, and stone.
### Natural materials {#natural_materials}
Beads are still made from many naturally occurring materials, both organic (i.e., of animal- or plant-based origin) and inorganic (purely mineral origin). However, some of these materials now routinely undergo some extra processing beyond mere shaping and drilling such as color enhancement via dyes or irradiation.
The natural organics include bone, coral, horn, ivory, seeds (such as tagua nuts), animal shells, and wood. For most of human history, pearls were the ultimate precious beads of natural origin because of their rarity; the modern pearl-culturing process has made them far more common. Amber and jet are also of natural organic origin although both are the result of partial fossilization.
The natural inorganics include various types of stones, ranging from gemstones to common minerals, and metals. Of the latter, only a few precious metals occur in pure forms, but other purified base metals may as well be placed in this category along with certain naturally occurring alloys such as electrum.
### Synthetic materials {#synthetic_materials}
The oldest-surviving synthetic materials used for bead making have generally been ceramics: pottery and glass. Beads were also made from ancient alloys such as bronze and brass, but as those were more vulnerable to oxidation they have generally been less well-preserved at archaeological sites.
Many different subtypes of glass are now used for beadmaking, some of which have their component-specific names. Lead crystal beads have a high percentage of lead oxide in the glass formula, increasing the refractive index. Most of the other named glass types have their formulations and patterns inseparable from the manufacturing process.
Small, colorful, fusible plastic beads can be placed on a solid plastic-backed peg array to form designs and then melted together with a clothes iron; alternatively, they can be strung into necklaces and bracelets or woven into keychains. Fusible beads come in many colors and degrees of transparency/opacity, including varieties that glow in the dark or have internal glitter; peg boards come in various shapes and several geometric patterns. Plastic toy beads, made by chopping plastic tubes into short pieces, were introduced in 1958 by Munkplast AB in Munka-Ljungby, Sweden. Known as Indian beads, they were originally sewn together to form ribbons. The pegboard for bead designs was invented in the early 1960s (patented 1962, patent granted 1967) by Gunnar Knutsson in Vällingby, Sweden, as a therapy for elderly homes; the pegboard later gained popularity as a toy for children.^\[1\]^ The bead designs were glued to cardboard or Masonite boards and used as trivets. Later, when the beads were made of polyethylene, it became possible to fuse them with a flat iron. Hama come in three sizes: mini (diameter 2 mm (0.079 in)), midi (5 mm (0.20 in)) and maxi (10 mm (0.39 in)).^\[2\]^ Perler beads come in two sizes called classic (5 mm) and biggie (10 mm). Pyssla beads (by IKEA) only come in one size (5 mm).
## Manufacturing
Modern mass-produced beads are generally shaped by carving or casting, depending on the material and desired effect. In some cases, more specialized metalworking or glassworking techniques may be employed, or a combination of multiple techniques and materials may be used such as in cloisonné.
Beads are small circular shapes that come in different shapes and sizes. The materials are made from different qualities such as color, shape, shine, pattern, or even exotic materials used, etc. In making beads, they have to have holes in the center in putting through a string to hold the beads together using different techniques that can help. Some archaeologists had been working at Blombos cave located in South Africa, there was a recent discovery showing forty-one marine shell (*Nassarius kraussianus*) beads. It was estimated that it was made about seventy-five thousand years ago.
### Glassworking
Most glass beads are pressed glass, mass-produced by preparing a molten batch of glass of the desired color and pouring it into molds to form the desired shape. This is also true of most plastic beads.
A smaller and more expensive subset of glass and lead crystal beads are cut into precise faceted shapes on an individual basis. This was once done by hand but has largely been taken over by precision machinery.
\"Fire-polished\" faceted beads are a less expensive alternative to hand-cut faceted glass or crystal. They derive their name from the second half of a two-part process: first, the glass batch is poured into round bead molds, then they are faceted with a grinding wheel. The faceted beads are then poured onto a tray and briefly reheated just long enough to melt the surface, \"polishing\" out any minor surface irregularities from the grinding wheel.
#### Specialized glass techniques and types {#specialized_glass_techniques_and_types}
There are several specialized glassworking techniques that create a distinctive appearance throughout the body of the resulting beads, which are then primarily referred to by the glass type.
If the glass batch is used to create a large massive block instead of pre-shaping it as it cools, the result may then be carved into smaller items in the same manner as stone. Conversely, glass artisans may make beads by lampworking the glass on an individual basis; once formed, the beads undergo little or no further shaping after the layers have been properly annealed.
Most of these glass subtypes are some form of fused glass, although goldstone is created by controlling the reductive atmosphere and cooling conditions of the glass batch rather than by fusing separate components together.
Dichroic glass beads incorporate a semitransparent microlayer of metal between two or more layers. Fibre optic glass beads have an eyecatching chatoyant effect across the grain.
There are also several ways to fuse many small glass canes together into a multicolored pattern, resulting in millefiori beads or chevron beads (sometimes called \"trade beads\"). \"Furnace glass\" beads encase a multicolored core in a transparent exterior layer which is then annealed in a furnace.
More economically, millefiori beads can also be made by limiting the patterning process to long, narrow canes or rods known as murrine. Thin cross-sections, or \"decals\", can then be cut from the murrine and fused into the surface of a plain glass bead.
## Shapes
Beads can be made in variety of shapes, including the following, as well as tubular and oval-shaped beads.
### Round
This is the most common shape of beads that are strung on wire to create necklaces, and bracelets. The shape of the round beads lay together and are pleasing to the eye. Round beads can be made of glass, stone, ceramic, metal, or wood.
### Square or cubed {#square_or_cubed}
Square beads can be to enhance a necklace design as a spacer however a necklace can be strung with just square beads. The necklaces with square beads are used in Rosary necklaces/prayer necklaces, and wooden or shell ones are made for beachwear.
### Hair pipe beads {#hair_pipe_beads}
Elk rib bones were the original material for the long, tubular hair pipe beads. Today these beads are commonly made of bison and water buffalo bones and are popular for breastplates and chokers among Plains Indians. Black variations of these beads are made from the animals\' horns.
### Seed beads {#seed_beads}
Seed beads are uniformly shaped spheroidal or tube shaped beads ranging in size from under a millimetre to several millimetres. \"Seed bead\" is a generic term for any small bead. Usually rounded in shape, seed beads are most commonly used for loom and off-loom bead weaving.
## Place or period of origin {#place_or_period_of_origin}
- **African trade beads** or **slave beads** may be antique beads that were manufactured in Europe and used for trade during the colonial period, such as chevron beads; or they may have been made in West Africa by and for Africans, such as Mauritanian Kiffa beads, Ghanaian and Nigerian powder glass beads, or African-made brass beads. Archaeologists have documented that as recently as the late-nineteenth century beads manufactured in Europe continued to accompany exploration of Africa using Indigenous routes into the interior.
- **Austrian crystal** is a generic term for cut lead-crystal beads, based on the location and prestige of the Swarovski firm.
- **Czech glass** beads are made in the Czech Republic, in particular an area called Jablonec nad Nisou. Production of glass beads in the area dates back to the 14th century, though production was depressed under communist rule. Because of this long tradition, their workmanship and quality has an excellent reputation.
- **Islamic glass beads** have been made in a wide geographical and historical range of Islamic cultures. Used and manufactured from medieval Spain and North Africa in the West and to China in the East, they can be identified by recognizable features, including styles and techniques.
- **Vintage beads**, in the collectibles and antique market, refers to items that are at least 25 or more years old. Vintage beads are available in materials that include lucite, plastic, crystal, metal and glass.
### Miscellaneous ethnic beads {#miscellaneous_ethnic_beads}
Tibetan Dzi beads and Rudraksha beads are used to make Buddhist and Hindu rosaries (malas). Magatama are traditional Japanese beads, and cinnabar was often used for making beads in China. Wampum are cylindrical white or purple beads made from quahog or North Atlantic channeled whelk shells by northeastern Native American tribes, such as the Wampanoag and Shinnecock. Job\'s tears are seed beads popular among southeastern Native American tribes. Heishe are beads made of shells or stones by the Kewa Pueblo people of New Mexico.
## Uses
- For prayer or devotion - e.g. rosaries and Pater Noster cords for Christians, misbaha for Muslims, japamala/nenju for Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, some Sikhs, Confucianism, Taoists/Daoists, Shinto, etc. The English word \"bead\" derives from Old English *gebed*, meaning \"prayer\", reflecting this use of beads.
- For anti-tension devices, e.g. Greek komboloi (\"worry beads\").
- As currency, e.g. Aggrey beads from Ghana.
- For gaming, e.g. oware beads for mancala.
- As a calculation aid, threaded on an abacus.
## History
Beads are thought to be one of the earliest forms of trade between members of the human race. It is believed that bead trading was one of the reasons why humans developed language. Beads are said to have been used and traded for most of human history. The oldest beads were found in Blombos Cave, South Africa (about `{{gaps|75|000}}`{=mediawiki} years old), and Ksar Akil, Lebanon (about `{{gaps|45|000}}`{=mediawiki} years old).
## Surface patterns {#surface_patterns}
After shaping, glass and crystal beads can have their surface appearance enhanced by etching a translucent frosted layer, applying an additional color layer, or both. *Aurora Borealis*, or AB, is a surface coating that diffuses light into a rainbow. Other surface coatings are vitrail, moonlight, dorado, satin, star shine, and heliotrope.
- Faux beads are beads that are made to look like a more expensive original material, especially in the case of fake pearls and simulated rocks, minerals and gemstones. Precious metals and ivory are also imitated.
Tagua nuts from South America are used as an ivory substitute since the natural ivory trade has been restricted worldwide.
## Magnetic beads {#magnetic_beads}
Selecting magnetic materials are considered useful for medical care and medical research. By linking monoclonal antibodies or DNA to magnetic beads, or by using magnetic beads coated with streptavidin, a specific interaction with the corresponding target is ensured. By means of an external magnet, the recovery of material for further studies is greatly simplified.
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Bead weaving
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**Bead weaving** (or **beadweaving**) is a set of techniques for weaving sheets and objects of seed beads. Threads are strung through and/or around the beads to hold them together. It can be done either on a loom or using one of a number of off-loom stitches.
## On-loom beadweaving {#on_loom_beadweaving}
When weaving on a loom, the beads are strung on the weft threads and locked in between the warp threads. Although loomed pieces are typically rectangular, it is possible to increase and decrease to produce angular or curvy shapes. Fringe can also be added during weaving or before the piece is removed from the loom.
### Frame looms {#frame_looms}
The most common modern loom bead weaving technique requires two passes of the weft thread per row of beads. First, an entire row of beads is strung on the weft thread. Then the beads are pressed in between the warp threads from below. Then the needle is passed back through the beads, but above the warp threads, to lock the beads into place.
Bead looms vary in size and are typically made of wood or metal. Usually, a comb or spring is used to hold the warp threads a bead-width apart (the lede image shows a threaded rod). Some looms have roller bars; these allow the weaver to produce pieces that are longer than the loom. Most looms are meant to sit on a table, but some have floor stands or are meant to sit in the lap. Cheap bead looms are sometimes made from styrofoam trays, wrapping the warp through evenly-spaced small slits notched into opposite edges.
### Heddle looms {#heddle_looms}
Heddle bead looms were popular in the United States near the beginning of the 20th century. They allow weaving of beads by raising every other thread and inserting strung beads in the shed, the space between the lowered and raised threads. There are still a few heddle bead looms being manufactured today. The most difficult part of loomwork is finishing off the warp threads.
## Off-loom beadweaving {#off_loom_beadweaving}
Off-loom beadweaving is a family of beadwork techniques in which seed beads are woven together into a flat fabric, a tubular rope, or a three-dimensional object such as a ball, clasp, box, or a piece of jewelry. Most off-loom techniques can be accomplished using a single needle and thread (no warp threads), and some have two-needle variations. Different stitches produce pieces with distinct textures, shapes, and patterns. There are many different off-loom bead stitches, including new stitches (distinct thread paths) published as recently as 2015:
- albion stitch, developed by Heather Kingsley-Heath, published May 2009
- brick stitch, also known as Comanche or Cheyenne stitch
- chevron stitch, a triangular form of bead netting
- diamond weave, developed over a number of years by Gerlinde Lenz, published August 2015
- herringbone stitch, also known as Ndebele stitch
- hubble stitch and wave hubble stitch, created and developed by Melanie de Miguel, published 2015
- netting, to avoid confusion specifically *bead* netting
- peyote stitch, also known as gourd stitch
- plaiting, crossing multiple threads as in a plait or braid, using beads to connect the crossings
- pondo stitch, also known as African circle stitch
- right-angle weave
- Saint Petersburg chain
- square stitch, an off loom stitch that mimics the look of loomed bead projects.
- ladder stitch, a foundation stitch that is used to build a base for brick stitch or herringbone stitch.
- triangle weave
Spiral Bead Weaving Stitches
- Cellini spiral, a tubular peyote stitch
- Dutch spiral
- African helix
- Russian spiral
- Chenille
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Branchiopoda
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**Branchiopoda**, from Ancient Greek βράγχια (*bránkhia*), meaning \"gill\", and πούς (*poús*), meaning \"foot\", is a class of crustaceans. It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Diplostraca (or Cladocera), Notostraca, the Devonian *Lepidocaris* and possibly the Cambrian *Rehbachiella*. They are mostly small, freshwater animals that feed on plankton and detritus.
## Description
Members of the Branchiopoda are unified by the presence of gills on many of the animals\' appendages, including some of the mouthparts. This is also responsible for the name of the group (from the *βράγχια*, gills, akin to *βρόγχος*, windpipe; *πούς*, foot). They generally possess compound eyes and a carapace, which may be a shell of two valves enclosing the trunk (as in most Cladocera), broad and shallow (as in the Notostraca), or entirely absent (as in the Anostraca). In the groups where the carapace prevents the use of the trunk limbs for swimming (Cladocera and clam shrimp), the antennae are used for locomotion, as they are in the nauplius. Male fairy shrimp have an enlarged pair of antennae with which they grasp the female during mating, while in the bottom-feeding Notostraca, the antennae are reduced to vestiges. The trunk limbs are beaten in a metachronal rhythm, causing a flow of water along the midline of the animal, from which it derives oxygen, food and, in the case of the Anostraca and Notostraca, movement.
## Ecology
Branchiopods are found in continental fresh water, including temporary pools and in hypersaline lakes, and some in brackish water. Only two groups of water fleas include marine species: Family Podonidae in the order Diplostraca, and family Sididae in the order Diplostraca. Most branchiopodans eat floating detritus or plankton, which they take using the setae on their appendages. But notostracans are omnivorous and very opportunistic feeders and will eat algae and bacteria in addition to animals as both predators and scavengers.
## Taxonomy
In early taxonomic treatments, the current members of the Branchiopoda were all placed in a single genus, *Monoculus*. The taxon Branchiopoda was erected by Pierre André Latreille in 1817, initially at the rank of order.
The current upper-level classification of Branchiopoda, according to the World Register of Marine Species (2021), is as follows:
**Class Branchiopoda Latreille, 1817**
: **Subclass Sarsostraca Tasch, 1969**
: Order Anostraca Sars, 1867
: Suborder Anostracina Weekers et al., 2002
: Suborder Artemiina Weekers et al., 2002
: **Subclass Phyllopoda Preuss, 1951**
: Superorder Diplostraca Gerstaecker, 1866
: Order Anomopoda G.O. Sars, 1865
: Order Ctenopoda G.O. Sars, 1865
: Order Cyclestherida Sars G.O., 1899
: Order Haplopoda G.O. Sars, 1865
: Order Laevicaudata Linder, 1945
: Order Onychopoda G.O. Sars, 1865
: Order Spinicaudata Linder, 1945
: Order Notostraca G. O. Sars, 1867
: Genus †*Rehbachiella*? Müller, 1983
In addition, the extinct genus *Lepidocaris* is generally placed in Branchiopoda.
### Anostraca
*Main article: Anostraca* The fairy shrimp of the order Anostraca are usually 6 - long (exceptionally up to 170 mm). Most species have 20 body segments, bearing 11 pairs of leaf-like *phyllopodia* (swimming legs), and the body lacks a carapace. They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, including pools in deserts, in ice-covered mountain lakes and in Antarctica. They swim \"upside-down\" and feed by filtering organic particles from the water or by scraping algae from surfaces. They are an important food for many birds and fish, and are cultured and harvested for use as fish food. There are 300 species spread across 8 families.
### Lipostraca
Lipostraca contains a single extinct Early Devonian species, *Lepidocaris rhyniensis*, which is the most abundant animal in the Rhynie chert deposits. It resembles modern Anostraca, to which it is probably closely related, although its relationships to other orders remain unclear. The body is 3 mm long, with 23 body segments and 19 pairs of appendages, but no carapace. It occurred chiefly among charophytes, probably in alkaline temporary pools.
### Notostraca
The order Notostraca comprises the single family Triopsidae, containing the tadpole shrimp or shield shrimp. The two genera, *Triops* and *Lepidurus*, are considered living fossils, having not changed significantly in outward form since the Triassic. They have a broad, flat carapace, which conceals the head and bears a single pair of compound eyes. The abdomen is long, appears to be segmented and bears numerous pairs of flattened legs. The telson is flanked by a pair of long, thin caudal rami. Phenotypic plasticity within taxa makes species-level identification difficult, and is further compounded by variation in the mode of reproduction. The evidence of phenotypic plasticity of Arctic tadpole shrimp (*Lepidurus arcticus*, Notostraca) has been observed in Svalbard. Notostracans are the largest branchiopodans and are omnivores living on the bottom of temporary pools, ponds and shallow lakes.
### Laevicaudata, Spinicaudata and Cyclestherida (once Conchostraca) {#laevicaudata_spinicaudata_and_cyclestherida_once_conchostraca}
Clam shrimp are bivalved animals which have lived since at least the Devonian. The three groups are not believed to form a clade. They have 10--32 trunk segments, decreasing in size from front to back, and each bears a pair of legs which also carry gills. A strong muscle can close the two halves of the shell together.
### Anomopoda, Ctenopoda, Onychopoda, and Haplopoda (once Cladocera) {#anomopoda_ctenopoda_onychopoda_and_haplopoda_once_cladocera}
These four orders make up a group of small crustaceans commonly called water fleas. Around 620 species have been recognised so far, with many more undescribed. They are ubiquitous in inland aquatic habitats, but rare in the oceans. Most are 0.2 - long, with a down-turned head, and a carapace covering the apparently unsegmented thorax and abdomen. There is a single median compound eye. Most species show cyclical parthenogenesis, where asexual reproduction is occasionally supplemented by sexual reproduction, which produces resting eggs that allow the species to survive harsh conditions and disperse to distant habitats. In the water bodies of the world, a lot of Cladocera are non-native species, many of which pose a great threat to aquatic ecosystems.
## Evolution
The fossil record of branchiopods extends back at least into the Upper Cambrian and possibly further. The group is thought to be monophyletic, with the Anostraca having been the first group to branch off. It is thought that the group evolved in the seas, but was forced into temporary pools and hypersaline lakes by the evolution of bony fishes. Although they were previously considered the sister group to the remaining crustaceans, it is now widely accepted that crustaceans form a paraphyletic group, and Branchiopoda are thought to be sister to a clade comprising Xenocarida (Remipedia and Cephalocarida) and Hexapoda (insects and their relatives).
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Burn card
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In card games, a **burn card** is a playing card dealt from the top of a deck and discarded (\"burned\"), unused by the players. Burn cards are usually not shown to the players.
Burning is most often performed in casinos to deter a form of cheating known as card marking.
## Usage
In poker, the top card of the deck stub is burned at the beginning of each betting round so that players who might have been able to read markings on that card during the previous round are less able to take advantage of that information. Knowledge of a burn card might be marginally useful, such as knowing there is one fewer Ace in the deck, but far less so than knowing it is about to be in play.
Two other uses for burning are: to prevent second dealing and to provide extra cards for use when an irregularity of play occurs. Sometimes a misdealt card (such as one of the down cards in poker that has flashed during the deal) will be used as the burn card -- in those cases, the card should be immediately placed face-up on the deck after the deal is complete.
When Texas hold \'em (as well as in Omaha hold \'em) is played in casinos (or other formal games where cheating is a concern), a card is burned before dealing the flop, turn, and river, for a maximum of 3 total burn cards.
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Piano Trios, Op. 1 (Beethoven)
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Ludwig van Beethoven\'s Opus 1 is a set of three piano trios (written for piano, violin, and cello), first performed in 1795 in the house of Prince Lichnowsky, to whom they are dedicated. The trios were published in 1795.
Despite the Op. 1 designation, these trios were not Beethoven\'s first published compositions; this distinction belongs rather to his *Dressler Variations* for keyboard (WoO 63). Clearly he recognized the Op. 1 compositions as the earliest ones he had produced that were substantial enough (and marketable enough) to fill out a first major publication to introduce his style of writing to the musical public.
## No. 1 in E-flat major {#no._1_in_e_flat_major}
1. Allegro (E-flat major), `{{music|time|4|4}}`{=mediawiki}
2. Adagio cantabile (A-flat major), `{{music|time|3|4}}`{=mediawiki}
3. Scherzo. Allegro assai (E-flat major, with trio in A-flat major), `{{music|time|3|4}}`{=mediawiki}
4. Finale. Presto (E-flat major), `{{music|time|2|4}}`{=mediawiki}
The first movement opens with an ascending arpeggiated figure (a so-called Mannheim Rocket, like that opening the first movement of the composer\'s own Piano Sonata no 1, Opus 2 no 1),
## No. 2 in G major {#no._2_in_g_major}
1. Adagio, `{{music|time|3|4}}`{=mediawiki} -- Allegro vivace, `{{music|time|2|4}}`{=mediawiki} (G major)
2. Largo con espressione (E major), `{{music|time|6|8}}`{=mediawiki}
3. Scherzo. Allegro (G major, with a trio in B minor), `{{music|time|3|4}}`{=mediawiki}
4. Finale. Presto (G major), `{{music|time|2|4}}`{=mediawiki}
## No. 3 in C minor {#no._3_in_c_minor}
1. Allegro con brio (C minor), `{{music|time|3|4}}`{=mediawiki}
2. Andante cantabile con Variazioni (E-flat major), `{{music|time|2|4}}`{=mediawiki}
3. Minuetto. Quasi allegro (C minor, with a trio in C major), `{{music|time|3|4}}`{=mediawiki}
4. Finale. Prestissimo (C minor, concluding in C major), `{{music|time|2|2}}`{=mediawiki}
Unlike the other piano trios in this opus, the third trio does not have a scherzo as its third movement but a minuet instead.
This third piano trio was later reworked by Beethoven into the C minor string quintet, Op. 104.
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Piano Trio, Op. 97 (Beethoven)
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The **Piano Trio** in B-flat major, Op. 97, by Ludwig van Beethoven is a piano trio completed in 1811. It is commonly referred to as the ***Archduke Trio***, because it was dedicated to Archduke Rudolph of Austria, the youngest of twelve children of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. Rudolf was an amateur pianist and a patron, friend, and composition student of Beethoven. Beethoven dedicated about a dozen compositions to him.
The Archduke Trio was written late in Beethoven\'s so-called \"middle period\". He sketched out the draft for it in the summer of 1810 and completed the composition in March 1811. It follows the traditional four movement structure with sonata form in the first and rondo sonata form in the last movement. It also allows for a more prominent part for the piano than previous compositions.
## Historical Context {#historical_context}
The Archduke Trio came to fruition just months after a highly successful premiere of his Battle Symphony (Wellingtons Sieg, Op. 91). Though the relationship between Beethoven and Archduke Rudolf had its challenges, Beethoven was indebted to him for his unwavering financial support, on which account Beethoven continued to dedicate works to him. In this work, Beethoven increases the independence of the piano\'s role in relation to the violin and cello and in comparison with his earlier piano trios. There is much debate over the amount of time Beethoven dedicated to composing the Archduke Trio, though an earlier autograph from March 1811 could prove that it was composed in only three weeks\' time. At this time, Beethoven was experiencing great success with his compositions and pitting publishers against each other. He may have been considering marriage according to personal correspondence via letters. Beethoven also wrote personally to Archduke Rudolf with the newly composed trio to have it copied within the archduke\'s palace out of fear that it would be stolen. This was a frequent transaction between the two and resulted in the archduke establishing a library of all of Beethoven\'s compositions with manuscript copies for preservation.
## First performances {#first_performances}
Two days after its completion in 1811, Beethoven played the Archduke Trio in an informal setting at the Baron Neuworth\'s residency. The first public performance was given by Beethoven himself, Ignaz Schuppanzigh (violin), and Josef Linke (cello) at the Viennese hotel *Zum römischen Kaiser* on April 11, 1814. At the time, Beethoven\'s deafness compromised his ability as a performer, and after a repeat performance a few weeks later, Beethoven never appeared again in public as a pianist.
The violinist and composer Louis Spohr witnessed a rehearsal of the work, and wrote, \"on account of his deafness there was scarcely anything left of the virtuosity of the artist which had formerly been so greatly admired. In *forte* passages the poor deaf man pounded on the keys until the strings jangled, and in *piano* he played so softly that whole groups of notes were omitted, so that the music was unintelligible unless one could look into the pianoforte part. I was deeply saddened at so hard a fate.\"
The pianist and composer Ignaz Moscheles attended the premiere, and wrote about the work, \"in the case of how many compositions is the word \'new\' misapplied! But never in Beethoven\'s, and least of all in this, which again is full of originality. His playing, aside from its intellectual element, satisfied me less, being wanting in clarity and precision; but I observed many traces of the grand style of playing which I had long recognized in his compositions.\"
## Structure
The work is in four movements. A typical performance runs more than 40 minutes in length.
### Allegro moderato {#allegro_moderato}
This first movement is in the home key of B-flat major and is in Sonata form. The first two measures present a motif consisting of five notes which are used throughout the trio in various altered forms. The main theme remains *piano* until the coda where it returns at a *fortissimo* indication.
### Scherzo (Allegro) {#scherzo_allegro}
Also in the home key of B-flat major, the second movement consists of a fast scherzo and trio rather than the traditional slow movement. Some editions show the repeats of scherzo and trio sections, but Beethoven published it originally as written out repeats. The triad used as motivic material in the first movement is presented as scales here in the second.
### Andante cantabile, ma però con moto {#andante_cantabile_ma_però_con_moto}
The third movement is in the key of D major and follows variation form and is approached attacca to the finale movement. There has been some debate over the specific tempo intended by Beethoven as to the authenticity of the inclusion of \"con moto\" in the score.
### Allegro moderato {#allegro_moderato_1}
This finale movement is in the home key of B-flat major and employs a loose interpretation of the Rondo Sonata form structure: A B A\' B A\' (Coda) The rhythmic similarities between all four movements culminates here, where Beethoven increasingly shortens the rhythmic values before bar lines. During the lengthy coda, there is a stray in key centers as far as A major and E flat Major until returning to B-flat major at the end. Beethoven himself indicated during a rehearsal of the piece that it should not be played in a gentle manner, but with much energy and force.
## Reception
Though there were complaints directed towards Beethoven after the public premiere regarding his abilities as a performer due to his increasing deafness, the trio itself enjoyed much success and was quickly considered as one of his masterpieces. His reputation and credibility as a composer did not diminish, but rather continued to soar. Music journals such as the *Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung* viewed the trio as typical of the composer\'s output with nothing out of the ordinary. They considered the scherzo to be contrapuntal in nature, which speaks to what music textures were still acceptable for audiences at this time between the Classical and Romantic eras. Likewise, in 1823 the *Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung* issued a call to musicians to perform the piece with much dedication and inspiration.
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Barratry (common law)
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Barratry}}
**Barratry** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ær|ə|t|r|i}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Respell|BARR|ə|tree}}`{=mediawiki}, from Old French `{{Wikt-lang|fr|barat}}`{=mediawiki} (\"deceit, trickery\")) is a legal term that, at common law, described a criminal offense committed by people who are overly officious in instigating or encouraging prosecution of groundless litigation, or who bring repeated or persistent acts of litigation for the purposes of profit or harassment.
Although it remains a crime in some jurisdictions, barratry has frequently been abolished as being anachronistic and obsolete.
If barratrous litigation is deemed to be for the purpose of silencing critics, it is known as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP). Jurisdictions that otherwise have no barratry laws may have SLAPP laws.
## Barratry by country {#barratry_by_country}
### Australia
In Australia, the term barratry is predominantly used in the first sense of a frivolous or harassing litigant. The concept has fallen into disuse in Australia.
#### New South Wales {#new_south_wales}
The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in New South Wales by Section 4A of the Maintenance, Champerty and Barratry Abolition Act 1993.
#### Victoria
The offence of being a common barrator was abolished in Victoria by section 2 of the Abolition of Obsolete Offences Act 1969.
### Canada
In Canada, barratry, alongside all common law offences except contempt of court and contempt of Parliament, was abolished by the 1953 consolidation of the *Criminal Code*.
### United Kingdom {#united_kingdom}
#### England and Wales {#england_and_wales}
In England and Wales the common law offence of **being a common barrator** was abolished by section 13(1)(a) of the Criminal Law Act 1967.
##### History
Being a common barrator was an offence under the common law of England. It was classified as a misdemeanor . It consisted of \"persistently stirring up quarrels in the Courts or out of them\". It is uncertain whether, in the ordinary way, persons charged with commission of the offence were dealt with by indictment.
In 1966, the Law Commission recommended for the offence to be abolished. It said that there had been no indictments for this offence for \"many years\" and that, as an indictable misdemeanor, it was \"wholly obsolete\". Its recommendation was implemented by the Criminal Law Act 1967.
#### Scotland
In Scots law, barratry referred to the crime committed by a judge who is induced by bribery to pronounce judgment.
### United States {#united_states}
Several jurisdictions in the United States have declared barratry (in the sense of a frivolous or harassing litigant) to be a crime as part of their tort reform efforts. For example, in the U.S. states of California, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, barratry is a misdemeanor. In Texas, barratry is a misdemeanor on the first conviction, but a felony on subsequent convictions.
- California Penal Code Section 158: \"Common barratry is the practice of exciting groundless judicial proceedings, and is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months and by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars (\$1,000).\"
- California Penal Code Section 159: \"No person can be convicted of common barratry except upon proof that he has excited suits or proceedings at law in at least three instances, and with a corrupt or malicious intent to vex and annoy.\"
- Revised Code of Washington 9.12.010: \"Every person who brings on his or her own behalf, or instigates, incites, or encourages another to bring, any false suit at law or in equity in any court of this state, with intent thereby to distress or harass a defendant in the suit, or who serves or sends any paper or document purporting to be or resembling a judicial process, that is not in fact a judicial process, is guilty of a misdemeanor; and in case the person offending is an attorney, he or she may, in addition thereto be disbarred from practicing law within this state.\"
- Virginia laws on barratry, champerty, and maintenance were overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in *NAACP v. Button* 371 U.S. 415 (1963).
- Vermont Statutes [Title 13, § 701](https://codes.findlaw.com/vt/title-13-crimes-and-criminal-procedure/vt-st-tit-13-sect-701.html): \"A person who is a common barrator shall be fined not more than \$50.00 and become bound with sufficient surety for his or her good behavior for not less than one year.\"
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Bomber
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A **bomber** is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles.
There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strategic bombing is done by heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets to diminish the enemy\'s ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure, reducing industrial output, or inflicting massive civilian casualties to an extent deemed to force surrender. Tactical bombing is aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations, and is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping.
Bombs were first dropped from an aircraft during the Italo-Turkish War, with the first major deployments coming in the First World War and Second World War by all major airforces, damaging cities, towns, and rural areas. The first bomber planes in history were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913. Some bombers were decorated with nose art or victory markings.
During WWII with engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles. Early in the Cold War however, bombers were the only means of carrying nuclear weapons to enemy targets, and held the role of deterrence.
With the advent of guided air-to-air missiles, bombers needed to avoid interception. High-speed and high-altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack. With the advent of ICBMs the role of the bomber was brought to a more tactical focus in close air support roles, and a focus on stealth technology for strategic bombers.
## Classification
### Strategic
Further information: Carpet bombing, Strategic bomber Strategic bombing is done by heavy bombers primarily designed for long-range bombing missions against strategic targets such as supply bases, bridges, factories, shipyards, and cities themselves, to diminish the enemy\'s ability to wage war by limiting access to resources through crippling infrastructure or reducing industrial output. Current examples include the strategic nuclear-armed bombers: B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95 \'Bear\', Tupolev Tu-22M \'Backfire\' and Tupolev Tu-160 \"Blackjack\"; historically notable examples are the: Gotha G.IV, Avro Lancaster, Heinkel He 111, Junkers Ju 88, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Consolidated B-24 Liberator, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, and Tupolev Tu-16 \'Badger\'.
### Tactical
Tactical bombing, aimed at countering enemy military activity and in supporting offensive operations, is typically assigned to smaller aircraft operating at shorter ranges, typically near the troops on the ground or against enemy shipping. This role is filled by tactical bomber class, which crosses and blurs with various other aircraft categories: light bombers, medium bombers, dive bombers, interdictors, fighter-bombers, attack aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, and others.
- Current examples: Xian JH-7, Dassault Mirage 2000D, and the Panavia Tornado IDS
- Historical examples: Ilyushin Il-2 *Shturmovik*, Junkers Ju 87 *Stuka*, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon and Mikoyan MiG-27.
## History
The first use of an air-dropped bomb (actually four hand grenades specially manufactured by the Italian naval arsenal) was carried out by Italian Second Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti on 1 November 1911 during the Italo-Turkish war in Libya -- although his plane was not designed for the task of bombing, and his improvised attacks on Ottoman positions had little impact. These picric acid-filled steel spheres were nicknamed \"ballerinas\" from the fluttering fabric ribbons attached. Turks carried out the first ever anti-airplane operation in history during the Italo-Turkish war. Although lacking anti-aircraft weapons, they were the first to shoot down an airplane by rifle fire. The first aircraft to crash in a war was the one of Lieutenant Piero Manzini, shot down on 25 August 1912.
### Early bombers {#early_bombers}
On 16 October 1912, Bulgarian observer Prodan Tarakchiev dropped two of those bombs on the Turkish railway station of Karağaç (near the besieged Edirne) from an Albatros F.2 aircraft piloted by Radul Milkov, during the First Balkan War. This is deemed to be the first use of an aircraft as a bomber.
The first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the Italian Caproni Ca 30 and British Bristol T.B.8, both of 1913. The Bristol T.B.8 was an early British single engined biplane built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. They were fitted with a prismatic Bombsight in the front cockpit and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying twelve 10 lb bombs, which could be dropped singly or as a salvo as required.
The aircraft was purchased for use both by the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), and three T.B.8s, that were being displayed in Paris during December 1913 fitted with bombing equipment, were sent to France following the outbreak of war. Under the command of Charles Rumney Samson, a bombing attack on German gun batteries at Middelkerke, Belgium was executed on 25 November 1914.
The dirigible, or airship, was developed in the early 20th century. Early airships were prone to disaster, but slowly the airship became more dependable, with a more rigid structure and stronger skin. Prior to the outbreak of war, Zeppelins, a larger and more streamlined form of airship designed by German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, were outfitted to carry bombs to attack targets at long range. These were the first long range, strategic bombers. Although the German air arm was strong, with a total of 123 airships by the end of the war, they were vulnerable to attack and engine failure, as well as navigational issues. German airships inflicted little damage on all 51 raids, with 557 Britons killed and 1,358 injured. The German Navy lost 53 of its 73 airships, and the German Army lost 26 of its 50 ships.
The Caproni Ca 30 was built by Gianni Caproni in Italy. It was a twin-boom biplane with three 67 kW Gnome rotary engines and first flew in October 1914. Test flights revealed power to be insufficient and the engine layout unworkable, and Caproni soon adopted a more conventional approach installing three 81 kW Fiat A.10s. The improved design was bought by the Italian Army and it was delivered in quantity from August 1915.
While mainly used as a trainer, Avro 504s were also briefly used as bombers at the start of the First World War by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) when they were used for raids on the German airship sheds.
### Strategic bombing {#strategic_bombing}
Bombing raids and interdiction operations were mainly carried out by French and British forces during the War as the German air arm was forced to concentrate its resources on a defensive strategy. Notably, bombing campaigns formed a part of the British offensive at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915, with Royal Flying Corps squadrons attacking German railway stations in an attempt to hinder the logistical supply of the German army. The early, improvised attempts at bombing that characterized the early part of the war slowly gave way to a more organized and systematic approach to strategic and tactical bombing, pioneered by various air power strategists of the Entente, especially Major Hugh Trenchard; he was the first to advocate that there should be \"\... sustained \[strategic bombing\] attacks with a view to interrupting the enemy\'s railway communications \... in conjunction with the main operations of the Allied Armies.\"
When the war started, bombing was very crude (hand-held bombs were thrown over the side) yet by the end of the war long-range bombers equipped with complex mechanical bombing computers were being built, designed to carry large loads to destroy enemy industrial targets. The most important bombers used in World War I were the French Breguet 14, British de Havilland DH-4, German Albatros C.III and Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets. The Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets, was the first four-engine bomber to equip a dedicated strategic bombing unit during World War I. This heavy bomber was unrivaled in the early stages of the war, as the Central Powers had no comparable aircraft until much later.
Long range bombing raids were carried out at night by multi-engine biplanes such as the Gotha G.IV (whose name was synonymous with all multi-engine German bombers) and later the Handley Page Type O; the majority of bombing was done by single-engined biplanes with one or two crew members flying short distances to attack enemy lines and immediate hinterland. As the effectiveness of a bomber was dependent on the weight and accuracy of its bomb load, ever larger bombers were developed starting in World War I, while considerable money was spent developing suitable bombsights.
### World War II {#world_war_ii}
With engine power as a major limitation, combined with the desire for accuracy and other operational factors, bomber designs tended to be tailored to specific roles. By the start of the war this included:
- dive bomber -- specially strengthened for vertical diving attacks for greater accuracy
- light bomber, medium bomber and heavy bomber -- subjective definitions based on size and/or payload capacity
- torpedo bomber -- specialized aircraft armed with torpedoes
- ground attack aircraft -- aircraft used against targets on a battlefield such as troop or tank concentrations
- night bomber -- specially equipped to operate at night when opposing defences are limited
- maritime patrol -- long range bombers that were used against enemy shipping, particularly submarines
- fighter-bomber -- a modified fighter aircraft used as a light bomber
Bombers of this era were not intended to attack other aircraft although most were fitted with defensive weapons. World War II saw the beginning of the widespread use of high speed bombers which began to minimize defensive weaponry in order to attain higher speed. Some smaller designs were used as the basis for night fighters. A number of fighters, such as the Hawker Hurricane were used as ground attack aircraft, replacing earlier conventional light bombers that proved unable to defend themselves while carrying a useful bomb load.
### Cold War {#cold_war}
At the start of the Cold War, bombers were the only means of carrying nuclear weapons to enemy targets, and had the role of deterrence. With the advent of guided air-to-air missiles, bombers needed to avoid interception. High-speed and high-altitude flying became a means of evading detection and attack. Designs such as the English Electric Canberra could fly faster or higher than contemporary fighters. When surface-to-air missiles became capable of hitting high-flying bombers, bombers were flown at low altitudes to evade radar detection and interception.
Once \"stand off\" nuclear weapon designs were developed, bombers did not need to pass over the target to make an attack; they could fire and turn away to escape the blast. Nuclear strike aircraft were generally finished in bare metal or anti-flash white to minimize absorption of thermal radiation from the flash of a nuclear explosion. The need to drop conventional bombs remained in conflicts with non-nuclear powers, such as the Vietnam War or Malayan Emergency.
The development of large strategic bombers stagnated in the later part of the Cold War because of spiraling costs and the development of the Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) -- which was felt to have similar deterrent value while being impossible to intercept. Because of this, the United States Air Force XB-70 Valkyrie program was cancelled in the early 1960s; the later B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit aircraft entered service only after protracted political and development problems. Their high cost meant that few were built and the 1950s-designed B-52s are projected to remain in use until the 2040s. Similarly, the Soviet Union used the intermediate-range Tu-22M \'Backfire\' in the 1970s, but their Mach 3 bomber project stalled. The Mach 2 Tu-160 \'Blackjack\' was built only in tiny numbers, leaving the 1950s Tupolev Tu-16 and Tu-95 \'Bear\' heavy bombers to continue being used into the 21st century.
The British strategic bombing force largely came to an end when the V bomber force was phased out; the last of which left service in 1983. The French Mirage IV bomber version was retired in 1996, although the Mirage 2000N and the Rafale have taken on this role. The only other nation that fields strategic bombing forces is China, which has a number of Xian H-6s.
### Modern era {#modern_era}
Currently, only the United States Air Force, the Russian Aerospace Forces\' Long-Range Aviation command, and China\'s People\'s Liberation Army Air Force operate strategic heavy bombers. Other air forces have transitioned away from dedicated bombers in favor of multirole combat aircraft.
At present, these air forces are each developing stealth replacements for their legacy bomber fleets, the USAF with the Northrop Grumman B-21, the Russian Aerospace Forces with the PAK DA, and the PLAAF with the Xian H-20. `{{As of|2021}}`{=mediawiki}, the B-21 is expected to enter service by 2026--2027. The B-21 would be capable of loitering near target areas for extended periods of time.
## Other uses {#other_uses}
Occasionally, military aircraft have been used to bomb ice jams with limited success as part of an effort to clear them. In 2018, the Swedish Air Force dropped bombs on a forest fire, snuffing out flames with the aid of the blast waves. The fires had been raging in an area contaminated with unexploded ordnance, rendering them difficult to extinguish for firefighters.
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3,456 |
Bassas da India
|
**Bassas da India** (`{{IPA|fr|basa da ɛ̃dja}}`{=mediawiki}; *Nosy Bedimaky*) is an uninhabited, roughly circular atoll located in the southern Mozambique Channel, about halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar (about 385 km further east) and around 110 km northwest of Europa Island. It is administered by France as part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, though it is claimed by Madagascar. The rim of the atoll averages around 100 m in width and encloses a shallow lagoon of depth no greater than 15 m. Overall, the atoll is about 10 km in diameter, rising steeply from the seabed 3000 m below to encircle an area (including lagoon) of 80 km2. Its exclusive economic zone, 123700 km² in size, is contiguous with that of Europa Island.
The atoll consists of ten barren rocky islets, with no vegetation, totalling 20 ha in area. Those on the north and east sides are 7 to high, while those on the west and south sides are 4 ft high. The reef, whose coastline measures 35.2 km, is entirely covered by the sea from three hours before high tide to three hours afterward. The region is also subject to cyclones, making the atoll a long-time maritime hazard and the site of numerous shipwrecks.
Jaguar Seamount and Hall Tablemount lie about 40 and further southwest.
## History
The Bassas da India was first recorded by Portuguese explorers in the early sixteenth century as the \"***Baixo da* Judia**\" (\"*Jewess* Shoals\"). The *Judia* (\"*Jewess*\", for the ancestry of its owner Fernão de Loronha) was the Portuguese ship that discovered the feature by running aground on it in 1506. The name became \"**Bassas da India**\" due to transcription errors by cartographers. The *Santiago* broke up on the shoal in 1585.
It was rediscovered by the *Europa* in 1774, whence the name \"Europa Rocks\". The *Malay* was lost 27 July 1842 on the Europa Rocks.
In 1897, the shoal became a French possession, later being placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in Réunion in 1968. Madagascar became independent in 1960 and has claimed sovereignty over the shoal since 1972. The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean are partially claimed by the Comoros, Madagascar, and Mauritius. The Malagasy and Mauritian claims, however, are significantly later than their access to independence. However, the agreement reached in October 2024 on the restitution to Mauritius of the Chagos Islands by Great Britain, in the heart of the Indian Ocean, notably home to the American base of Diego Garcia, has relaunched the debate in Madagascar.
## Wildlife
The presence of Galapagos sharks was reported in 2003, which is a first in the Mozambique Channel.
## Tourism
Mooring at Bassas da India requires a permit from the French Government. Fishing without such a permit may result in the boat being expelled or even confiscated. Several illegal tourism charters departing from Mozambique or South Africa have been seized since 2013 by the French navy.
## Gallery
<File:Bassas> da India atoll map-fr.png\|Detailed map. <File:Bassas> da india.jpg\|International Space Station (ISS) photograph. <File:Bassas> da India.png\|Landsat 7 image. <File:Bassas> da India-CIA WFB Map.png\|*CIA World Factbook* map. <File:Bassas> da india 76.jpg\|Central Intelligence Agency map. <File:Bassas> da India in Sunglint.jpg\|ISS image of Bassas da India with varying degrees of sunglint.
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Government of Barbados
|
The **Government of Barbados** (GoB) is a unitary parliamentary republic, where the president of Barbados is the head of state and the prime minister of Barbados is the head of government.
## Structure
The country has a bicameral legislature and a political party system, based on universal adult suffrage and fair elections. The Senate has 21 members, appointed by the President, 12 on the advice of the Prime Minister, two on the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, and seven at the President\'s sole discretion. The House of Assembly has 30 members, all elected. Both houses debate all legislation. However, the House of Assembly may override Senate\'s rejection of money bills and other bills except bills amending the Constitution.
Officers of each house (President and Deputy President of the Senate; Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and Chairman of Committees of the Assembly) are elected from the members of the respective houses.
In keeping with the Westminster system of governance, Barbados has evolved into an independent parliamentary democracy, meaning that all political power rests with the Parliament under a non-political President as head of state. Executive authority is vested in the President, who normally acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, who are collectively responsible to Parliament. Barbadian law is rooted in English common law, and the Constitution of Barbados implemented in 1966, is the supreme law of the land.
Fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual are set out in the Constitution and are protected by a strict legal code.
The Cabinet is headed by the Prime Minister, who must be an elected member of Parliament, and other ministers are appointed from either chamber by the President, as advised by the Prime Minister.
The President appoints as Leader of the Opposition the member of House of Assembly who commands the support of the largest number of members of that House in opposition to the ruling party\'s government.
The maximum duration of a Parliament is five years from the first sitting. There is a simultaneous dissolution of both Houses of Parliament by the President, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister.
There is an established non-political civil service. Also, there are separate constitutional commissions for the Judicial and Legal Service, the Public Service, and the Police Service.
## History
The government has been chosen by elections since 1961 elections, when Barbados achieved full self-governance. Before then, the government was a Crown colony consisting of either colonial administration solely (such as the Executive Council), or a mixture of colonial rule and a partially elected assembly, such as the Legislative Council.
Between 1966 and 2021, the head of state of Barbados was the Monarchy of Barbados represented by the Governor-General of Barbados as its representative. After decades of republicanism, the monarchy was abolished and replaced with a new head of state office, the President of Barbados, on 30 November 2021.
Since independence the Democratic Labour Party (DLP) held office 1966 to 1976, from 1986 to 1994, and from January 2008 to 2018. The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) governed from 1976 to 1986, from September 1994--2008 and has formed the government from 2018--Present.
## Executive branch {#executive_branch}
\| President \| \
Sandra Mason
\| Independent \| 30 November 2021 \|- \|Prime Minister \|\
Mia Mottley
\|Barbados Labour Party \|25 May 2018 \|} The Executive Branch of government conducts the ordinary business of government. These functions are called out by the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers. The prime minister chooses the ministers of government they wish to have in the cabinet but they are actually appointed by the President.
- Heads of State
- President
- Head of Government
- Prime Minister
- Attorney General\'s
- Ministers
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Office | Office Holder | Constituency | Political Party |
+==========================================================================================================================================+=======================+============================+=======================+
| Prime Minister\ | Mia Mottley | St. Michael North East | Barbados Labour Party |
| Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, with responsibility for Culture, Security, Public Service, Caricom and Development Commissions | | | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Deputy Prime Minister\ | Sanita Bradshaw | St. Michael South East | |
| Senior Minister\ | | | |
| Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources | | | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs\ | Dale Marshall | St. Joseph | |
| Senior Minister Governance | | | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Energy and Business Development\ | Kerrie Symmonds | St. James Central | |
| Senior Minister | | | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade\ | Jerome Walcott | N/A (Senator) | |
| Senior Minister, Social and Environmental Policy | | | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Senior Minister in the Prime Minister\'s Office, with responsibility for Infrastructure and Town Planning Matters | William Duguid | Christ Church West | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Homes Affairs and Information | Wilfred Abrahams | Christ Church East | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security | Indar Weir | St. Philip South | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Tourism and International Transport | Ian Gooding Edghill | St. Michael West Central | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister for the Public Service, Home Affairs, Labour and Gender Affairs | Lisa Cummings | N/A (Senator) | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training | Kay McConney | St. Philip West | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Housing, lands and Maintenance | Dwight Sutherland | St. George South | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs | Kirk Humphrey | St. Michael South | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of the Environment and National Beautification and Blue Economy | Adrian Forde | Christ Church West Central | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Labour, Social Security and Third Sector | Colin Jordan | St. Peter | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology | Davidson Ishmael | St. Michael North | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment | Charles Griffith | St. John | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development | Ryan Straughn | Christ Church East Central | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister | Chantal Munroe Knight | N/A (Senator) | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness | Sonia Browne | St. Philip North | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Ministry of Business Development | Sandra Husbands | St. James South | |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------+-----------------------+
Source: [St.Lucia Times](https://stluciatimes.com/barbados-prime-minister-names-new-cabinet/) `{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413124330/https://stluciatimes.com/barbados-prime-minister-names-new-cabinet/ |date=2022-04-13 }}`{=mediawiki}
Office Office Holder Constituency Political party
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------- -------------------- -----------------------
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Water Resources, with responsibility for Water Resources Rommel Springer St. Andrew Barbados Labour Party
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs Corey Layne City of Bridgetown
: Parliamentary Secretaries
Source: [St.Lucia Times](https://stluciatimes.com/barbados-prime-minister-names-new-cabinet/) `{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220413124330/https://stluciatimes.com/barbados-prime-minister-names-new-cabinet/ |date=2022-04-13 }}`{=mediawiki}
Ministerial Office Position Office Holder
-------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade HEAD OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF FOREIGN TRADE Louis Woodroffe
Prime Minister\'s Office PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Alies Jordan
Ministry of the Public Service DIRECTOR GENERAL (HUMAN RESOURCES) Ms. Gail Atkins
Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Nancy Headley
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Simone Rudder
Office of the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Yvette Goddard
Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Betty Alleyne Headley
Ministry of Home Affairs PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Deborah Payne
Ministry of Health & Wellness PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Janet Philips
Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security PERMANENT SECRETARY Mr. Terry Bascombe
Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations PERMANENT SECRETARY Dr. Karen Best
Ministry of Housing, Lands and Rural Development PERMANENT SECRETARY Mr. Timothy Maynard
Ministry of International Business and Industry PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. June Chandler
National Insurance Department DIRECTOR Ms. Jennifer Hunte
Ministry of Tourism and International Transport PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Donna Cadogan
Ministry of Youth and Community Empowerment PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Yolande Howard
Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Gabrielle Springer
Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship PERMANENT SECRETARY (SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS) Mr. Andrew Gittens
Ministry of Environment and National Beautification PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Daphne Kellman
Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship PERMANENT SECRETARY (SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP) Ms. Francine Blackman
Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance PERMANENT SECRETARY Mr. Mark Cummins
Prime Minister\'s Office PERMANENT SECRETARY (CULTURE) Mr. Jehu Wiltshire
Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Sonia Foster
Ministry of Innovation, Science and Smart Technology PERMANENT SECRETARY Mr. Charley Browne
Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Public Affairs PERMANENT SECRETARY Ms. Sandra Phillips
Cabinet Office CABINET SECRETARY Mrs. Cecile Humphrey
Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship PERMANENT SECRETARY (Small Business and Entrepreneurship) Mr. Esworth Reid
: Permanent Secretaries
Source: [BGIS](https://web.archive.org/web/20201128014149/https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/download/list-of-permanent-secretaries-october-28-2020/)
## Legislative Branch {#legislative_branch}
Under Barbados\' version of the Westminster system of government, the executive and legislative branches are partly intertwined. The only official Cabinet office (other than Prime Minister) expressly mentioned in the Constitution of Barbados is Office of the Attorney-General.
- President
- Chief Secretaries (Abolished)
- Auditors-General
- Senators
- Presidents of the Senate
- Members of the House ( a/k/a Members of Parliament)
- Speakers of the House of Assembly
- Clerks of Parliament
### Law
The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law of the nation. The Attorney General heads the independent judiciary. Historically, Barbadian law was based entirely on English common law with a few local adaptations. At the time of independence, the Parliament of the United Kingdom lost its ability to legislate for Barbados, but the existing English and British common law and statutes in force at that time, together with other measures already adopted by the Barbadian Parliament, became the basis of the new country\'s legal system.
Legislation may be shaped or influenced by such organisations as the United Nations, the Organization of American States, or other international bodies to which Barbados has obligatory commitments by treaty. Additionally, through international co-operation, other institutions may supply the Barbados Parliament with key sample legislation to be adapted to meet local circumstances before enacting it as local law.
New acts are passed by the Barbadian Parliament and require approval by the President to become law. The President, has the power to \"withhold assent\" from laws by vetoing the proposed law without parliamentary override.
## Judicial branch {#judicial_branch}
The judiciary is the legal system through which punishments are handed out to individuals who break the law. The functions of the judiciary are to enforce laws; to interpret laws; to conduct court hearings; to hear court appeals.
The local court system of Barbados is made up of:
- Magistrates\' Courts: Covering Criminal, Civil, Domestic, Domestic Violence, and Juvenile matters. But can also take up matters dealing with Coroner\'s Inquests, Liquor Licences, and civil marriages. Further, the Magistrates\' Courts deal with Contract and Tort law where claims do not exceed \$10,000.00.
- The Supreme Court: is made up of High Court and Court of Appeals.
- High Court: Consisting of Civil, Criminal, and Family law divisions.
- Court of Appeal: Handles appeals from the High Court and Magistrates\' Court. It hears appeals in both the civil, and criminal law jurisdictions. It may consist of a single Justice of Appeal sitting in Chambers; or may sit as a Full Court of three Justices of Appeals.
- The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), (based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), is the court of last resort (final jurisdiction) over Barbadian law. It replaced the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC). The CCJ may resolve other disputed matters dealing with the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
- Chief Justices
- Justices of Appeals
- Magistrates
## Perception
Transparency International ranked Barbados as 29th place (of 180) in the world on its Corruption Perceptions Index in 2021, being the least corrupt country in the Caribbean.
## Gallery
<File:Barbadian> Prime Minister\'s Office.jpg\|Office of the Prime Minister <File:Government> Headquarters2 (Cabinet Office), Barbados.jpg\|The Cabinet Office in the Government Headquarters complex <File:Government> Headquarters (Cabinet Office), Barbados.jpg\|Main entrance to the Government Headquarters complex, with a statue of Sir Grantley Adams in the foreground
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3,535 |
Telecommunications in Belarus
|
**Telecommunications in Belarus** involves the availability and use of electronic devices and services, such as the telephone, television, radio or computer, for the purpose of communication.
## Telephone system {#telephone_system}
- Telephone lines in use: 3,9741 million (2011).
- Mobile/cellular: 11,559,473 subscribers (Q1 2019).
- The phone calling code for Belarus is +375.
The Ministry of Telecommunications controls all telecommunications originating within the country through its carrier unitary enterprise, Beltelecom. thumb\|right\|200px\|Telephone booths in Minsk, September 2007 Minsk has a digital metropolitan network; waiting lists for telephones are long; fixed line penetration is improving although rural areas continue to be underserved; intercity -- Belarus has developed a fibre-optic backbone system presently serving at least 13 major cities (1998). Belarus\'s fibre optics form synchronous digital hierarchy rings through other countries\' systems.
### International connection {#international_connection}
Belarus is a member of the Trans-European Line (TEL), Trans-Asia-Europe Fibre-Optic Line (TAE) and has access to the Trans-Siberia Line (TSL); three fibre-optic segments provide connectivity to Latvia, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine; worldwide service is available to Belarus through this infrastructure; Intelsat, Eutelsat, and Intersputnik earth stations.
In 2006 it was announced that Belarus and Russia completed the second broadband link between the two countries, the Yartsevo-Vitebsk cable. The capacity of this high speed terrestrial link which based on DWDM and STM technology is 400 Gbit/s with the ability to upgrade in the future.
### Cellular communications {#cellular_communications}
Belarus has 3 GSM/UMTS operators -- A1, MTS, life:). For 4G data operators use the infrastructure managed by state operator beCloud, VoLTE service currently is offered only with A1.
## Radio and television {#radio_and_television}
- Television broadcast stations: 100 of which 59 are privately owned.
Belarus has switched from an analog to digital broadcast television. The process finished in May 2015. Belarus broadcasts according to the DVB-T2 standard with MPEG-4 compression.
- Radio broadcast stations: 173 with 24 privately owned, including 30 FM stations.
- Radios: 3.02 million (1997).`{{update after|2013|12|28}}`{=mediawiki}
## Internet
- Country code: .by
The state telecom monopoly, Beltelecom, holds the exclusive interconnection with Internet providers outside of Belarus. Beltelecom owns all the backbone channels that linked to the Lattelecom, TEO LT, Tata Communications (former Teleglobe), Synterra, Rostelecom, Transtelekom and MTS ISP\'s. Beltelecom is the only operator licensed to provide commercial VoIP services in Belarus.
Until 2005--2006 broadband access (mostly using ADSL) was available only in a few major cities in Belarus. In Minsk there were a dozen privately owned ISP\'s and in some larger cities Beltelecom\'s broadband was available. Outside these cities the only options for Internet access were dial-up from Beltelecom or GPRS/cdma2000 from mobile operators. In 2006 Beltelecom introduced a new trademark, *Byfly*, for its ADSL access. As of 2008 Byfly was available in all administrative centres of Belarus. Other ISPs are expanding their broadband networks beyond Minsk as well.
Internet use:
- According to a 2006 survey of 1,500 adults by Satio, a third of Belarusians use the Internet---38% of the urban population and 16% of the rural population.
- A 2006 study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indicates 56.5% of Belarus\' population were internet-users.
- The International Telecommunication Union showed Internet penetration (Internet users per 100 population) in 2009 at 27% for Belarus, 42% for Serbia, 37% for Romania, 29% for Russia, and 17% for Ukraine.
- According to Internet World Stats, Internet penetration in June 2010 was 47.5%. For comparison, Internet penetration in Ukraine was 33.7%, in Romania 35.5%, Russia 42.8%, and Serbia 55.9%.
The most active Internet users in Belarus belong to the 17--22 age group (38 percent), followed by users in the 23--29 age group. Internet access in Belarus is predominantly urban, with 60 percent of users living in the capital Minsk. The profile of the average Internet user is male, university educated, living in the capital, and working in a state enterprise. The Ministry for Statistics and Analysis estimates that one in four families in Belarus owns a computer at home. The popularity of Internet cafés has fallen in recent years, as most users prefer to access the Internet from home or work. Russian is the most widely used language by Belarusians on the Internet, followed by Belarusian, English, and Polish.
In mid-2009 there were more than 22,300 Belarusian Web sites, of which roughly 13,500 domain names were registered with the top-level domain name \".by\".
In June 2011 E-Belarus.org listed:
- 2 ISPs in the Brest region, 4 in the Gomel region, 1 in the Grodno region, 26 in the Minsk region, 1 in the Mogilev region, and 1 in the Vitebsk region
- 4 ADSL providers
- 3 technology parks
- 2 educational networks
- more than 30 Internet cafes and Wi-Fi Hotspots
## Censorship and media freedom {#censorship_and_media_freedom}
Many western human rights groups state that civil rights and free expression are severely limited in Belarus, though there are some individuals and groups that refuse to be controlled and some journalists have disappeared.
Because the Belarus government limits freedom of expression, several opposition media outlets are broadcast from nearby countries to help provide Belarusians an alternative points of view. This includes the Polish state-owned Belsat TV station and European Radio for Belarus (Eŭrapéjskaje Rádyjo dla Biełarúsi)
Reporters Without Borders ranked Belarus 157th out of 178 countries in its 2014 Press Freedom Index. By comparison, the same index ranked neighbor Ukraine, 126th and Russia, 148th.
In the 2011 Freedom House *Freedom of the Press report*, Belarus scored 92 on a scale from 10 (most free) to 99 (least free), because the government allegedly systematically curtails press freedom. This score placed Belarus 9th from the bottom of the 196 countries included in the report and earned the country a \"Not Free\" status.
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Transport in Belarus
|
This article is about **transport in Belarus**.
## Railways
Rail transport in Belarus is operated by Belarusskaya Chyhunka\
*total:* 5,512 km\
*country comparison to the world:* 32\
*broad gauge:* 5,497 km of `{{RailGauge|1520mm}}`{=mediawiki} gauge (874 km electrified) (2006)
- City with underground railway system: Minsk, see Minsk Metro
- For tramway systems: see List of town tramway systems in Belarus
## Highways
The owners of highways may be the Republic of Belarus, its political subdivisions, legal and natural persons, who own roads, as well as legal entities, which roads are fixed on the basis of economic or operational management.
Republican state administration in the field of roads and road activity is the Department Belavtodor under the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Belarus.
In total, in Belarus there are more than 93,000 km of roads and 200 km of departmental thousand (agriculture, industry, forestry, etc.), including 10000 mi in cities and towns. The density of paved roads has been relatively low -- 337 km per 1,000 km^2^ territory -- for comparison, in European countries with well-developed road network, the figure is an average of 906 km.
*total:* 93,055 km\
*paved:* 93,055 km (2003)
## Waterways
(use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003)\
*country comparison to the world:* 37
Belarus\' inland waterways are managed by Dneprobugvodput, Belvodput, and the Dnieper-Berezinsky Enterprise.
## Pipelines
gas 5,250 km; oil 1,528 km; refined products 1,730 km (2008)
## Ports and harbors {#ports_and_harbors}
- Mazyr - on the river Pripyat
## Airports
65 (2008):\
*country comparison to the world:* 76
- Minsk International Airport
- Minsk-1
- Gomel Airport
### Airports - with paved runways {#airports___with_paved_runways}
*total:* 35\
*over 3,047 m:* 2\
*2,438 to:* 22\
*1,524 to:* 4\
*914 to:* 1\
*under 914 m:* 6 (2008)
### Airports - with unpaved runways {#airports___with_unpaved_runways}
*total:* 30\
*2,438 to:* 1\
*1,524 to:* 1\
*914 to:* 2\
*under 914 m:* 26 (2008)
### Heliports
1 (2007)Heliports is where helicopter land.
### National air-carrier {#national_air_carrier}
- Belavia
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3,538 |
Foreign relations of Belarus
|
The Byelorussian SSR was one of only two Soviet republics to be separate members of the United Nations (the other being the Ukrainian SSR). Both republics and the Soviet Union joined the UN when the organization was founded in 1945.
## Prior to 2001 {#prior_to_2001}
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, at which time Belarus gained its independence, Belarus became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), NATO\'s Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The adoption by Supreme Council of the BSSR of the declaration of State Sovereignty of Belarus in 1990 was a turning point on the development of the state. It has also been in a supranational union with Russia since 2 April 1996, although this has had little practical effect. Belarus-Council of Europe relations are based on cooperation and it is not a member (like Russia).
### Belarus--Russia relations {#belarusrussia_relations}
The introduction of free trade between Russia and Belarus in mid-1995 led to a spectacular growth in bilateral trade, which was only temporarily reversed due to the 1998 Russian financial crisis. President Alexander Lukashenko sought to develop a closer relationship with Russia. The framework for the Union of Russia and Belarus was set out in the Treaty on the Formation of a Community of Russia and Belarus (1996), the Treaty on Russia-Belarus Union, the Union Charter (1997), and the Treaty of the Formation of a Union State (1999). The integration treaties contained commitments to monetary union, equal rights, single citizenship, and a common defence and foreign policy.
### Belarus--European Union relations {#belaruseuropean_union_relations}
Following the recognition of Belarus as an independent state in December 1991 by the European Community, EC/EU-Belarus relations initially experienced a steady progress. The signature of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 1995 signaled a commitment to political, economic and trade cooperation. Some assistance was provided to Belarus within the framework of the TACIS programme and also through various aid programs and loans. However, progress in EU-Belarus relations stalled in 1996 after serious setbacks to the development of democracy, and the Drazdy conflict.
The EU did not recognize the 1996 constitution, which replaced the 1994 constitution. The Council of the European Union decided against Belarus in 1997: The PCA was not concluded, nor was its trade-related part; Belarusian membership in the Council of Europe was not supported; bilateral relations at the ministerial level were suspended and EU technical assistance programs were frozen.
Acknowledging the lack of progress in relation to bilateral relations and the internal situation following the position adopted in 1997, the EU adopted a step-by-step approach in 1999, whereby sanctions would be gradually lifted upon fulfillment of the four benchmarks set by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. In 2000, some moderately positive developments toward the implementation of recommendations made by the OSCE AMG were observed but were not sufficient in the realm of access to fair and free elections.
### Belarus--United Kingdom relations {#belarusunited_kingdom_relations}
Belarus established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 27 January 1992.
- Belarus maintains an embassy in London.
- The United Kingdom is accredited to Belarus through its embassy in Minsk.
Both countries share common membership of the OSCE. Bilaterally the two countries have a Double Taxation Agreement, and an Investment Agreement.
### Belarus--United States relations {#belarusunited_states_relations}
The United States has encouraged Belarus to conclude and adhere to agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the program of macroeconomic stabilization and related reform measures, as well as to undertake increased privatization and to create a favorable climate for business and investment. Although there has been some American direct private investment in Belarus, its development has been relatively slow given the uncertain pace of reform. An Overseas Private Investment Corporation agreement was signed in June 1992 but has been suspended since 1995 because Belarus did not fulfill its obligations under the agreement.
Belarus is eligible for Export-Import Bank short-term financing insurance for U.S. investments, but because of the adverse business climate, no projects have been initiated. The IMF granted standby credit in September 1995, but Belarus has fallen off the program and did not receive the second tranche of funding, which had been scheduled for regular intervals throughout 1996.
The United States - along with the European Union - has restricted the travel of President Alexander Lukashenko and members of his inner circle, as well as imposing economic sanctions.
### Belarus--Baltic relations {#belarusbaltic_relations}
, Further information: Belarus-Latvia relations, Further information: Belarus-Lithuania relations
## Present situation (2001 onwards) {#present_situation_2001_onwards}
### Relations with the European Union {#relations_with_the_european_union}
The structure of Belarus trade reflects the low competitiveness and output decline of manufacturing industry in the country over the past decade, leading to the predominance of primary production, work-intensive goods as exports. Belarusian exports to the EU consist mainly of agricultural and textile products, while imports from the EU are primarily machinery.
Belarus is a beneficiary of the EU\'s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The European Commission decided in 2003 to initiate an investigation into violations of freedom of association in Belarus as the first step towards a possible temporary withdrawal of the GSP from Belarus.
In December 2004, the EU adopted a position aimed at imposing travel restrictions on officials from Belarus responsible for the fraudulent parliamentary elections and referendum on 17 October 2004, and for human rights violations during subsequent peaceful political demonstrations in Minsk. The European Parliament released a statement in March 2005 in which it denounced the Belarusian government as a dictatorship. The European parliamentarians were primarily concerned about the suppression of independent media outlets in the country and the fraudulent referendum. A resolution of the European Parliament declared that the personal bank accounts of President Lukashenko and other high-ranking Belarusian officials should be tracked and frozen.
In 2005, Amnesty International reported a *pattern of deliberate obstruction, harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders* in Belarus. Reporters Without Borders accused the Belarusian authorities of hounding and arresting journalists from the country\'s Polish minority. Lukashenko has closed the country\'s main Polish newspaper, printing a bogus paper instead with the same name and size that praises his incumbent government. Several foreign, mainly Polish, journalists have been arrested or expelled from the country. Lukashenko accused Poland of an attempt to overthrow his government by stirring up a peaceful revolution in Belarus comparable to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004.
Later in 2005 the Belarusian riot police seized the headquarters of the Union of Poles in Belarus, an association representing the 400,000 ethnic minority Polish living in western areas the country that were part of Poland until World War II. The dispute between Poland and Belarus escalated further as Poland responded by recalling its ambassador from Belarus for indefinite consultations, and called on the European Union to impose sanctions on the Belarusian leadership in order to curtail the human rights abuses in Belarus. Belarusian papers described this as a \'dirty political game\', and part of a \'cold war\' waged on president Lukashenko. Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld said a clampdown was under way, aimed at destroying *\"all elements of political pluralism and independence\"* in Belarus.
In August 2005 the EU\'s executive commission called for human rights to be respected in Belarus. The commission said it was considering offering support to independent media in the country and had set aside more than eight million euros from its budget to offer support for human rights activities. France expressed her solidarity with Poland on the issue of human rights in Belarus a day after the EU declared it was worried about the situation in that country. Several former Soviet Republics, including neighbouring Ukraine, also expressed their concerns about the development of the situation in Belarus.
In May 2009 Belarus and the EU agree on cooperation in the Eastern Partnership (EaP). However, it is contended by some scholars that the (EaP) is unable to create a workable partnership. This proved to be correct when Belarus withdrew from the Partnership on 30 September 2011.
In August 2012, Belarus expelled all Swedish diplomats, including the Swedish Ambassador to Belarus, Stefan Eriksson, and closed its embassy in Stockholm, after a Swedish public relations firm released teddy bears carrying pro-democracy flyers in parachutes from an airplane over Minsk on 4 July 2012. Lukashenko also fired his air defence chief and the head of the border guards over the incident. Their replacements have been told not to hesitate to use force to stop future intrusions from abroad.
### Relations with Russia {#relations_with_russia}
Russia remains the largest and most important partner for Belarus both in the political and economic fields. After protracted disputes and setbacks, the two countries\' customs duties were unified in March 2001 but the customs controls were soon restored. In terms of trade, almost half of Belarusian export goes to Russia. Due to the structure of Belarusian industry, Belarus relies heavily on Russia both for export markets and for the supply of raw materials and components.
After initial negotiation with the Russian Central Bank on monetary union, the Russian ruble was set to be introduced in Belarus in 2004, but this was postponed first until 2005, then until 2006, and now seems to have been suspended indefinitely.
### Relations with the United States {#relations_with_the_united_states}
Belarus has had an ongoing discussion to relaunch IMF-backed reforms, concluding an arrangement for an IMF Staff-monitored program (SMP) in 2001. However, the authorities did not follow through with reforms as hoped, leaving an uncertain future for IMF-backed cooperation. Belarus authorities have said on several occasions that they find IMF intervention and recommendations in Belarus counter-productive to the economic development of those countries. The relationships with the United States have been further strained, after Congress of the United States unanimously passed the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004.
On 7 March 2008 the government of Belarus ejected US Ambassador Karen B. Stewart from the country, following a row over travel restrictions placed on President Lukashenko and sanctions against state-owned chemical company Belneftekhim. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced at the same time that it was recalling its own ambassador to the US. This was followed by the expulsion of ten other U.S. embassy staff from Minsk in late April. At the same time the government of Belarus ordered the U.S. Embassy in Minsk to cut its staff by half. A White House spokesman described the expulsion as \"deeply disappointing\".
### Relations with other countries {#relations_with_other_countries}
Due to strained relations with the United States and the European Union, as well as occasional high-level disputes with Russia over prices on core imported natural resources such as oil and gas, Belarus aims to develop better relations with countries in other regions, like the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
#### Hong Kong national security law {#hong_kong_national_security_law}
Belarus was one of 53 countries that in June 2020 supported the Hong Kong national security law at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
### Nuclear weapons offer {#nuclear_weapons_offer}
In May 2023, the President of Belarus offered nuclear weapons to other countries who join Belarus and Russia.
## Diplomatic relations {#diplomatic_relations}
List of countries which Belarus maintains diplomatic relations with:
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## Bilateral relations {#bilateral_relations}
### Multilateral
+--------------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| Organization | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
+==============+========================+===================================================+
| | | See Belarus--European Union relations |
+--------------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
| | | See Belarus--NATO relations |
+--------------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+
### Africa
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
+=========+========================+===============================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| | 1995-04-24 | Bilateral relations were established on 24 April 1995. |
| | | |
| | | - Angola is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Russia. |
| | | - Belarus is accredited to Angola from its embassy in South Africa. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1994-05 | Diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in May 1994. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus had an embassy in Addis Ababa, which opened in 2013 and closed in 2018.`{{Update after|2018|10|1|reason=News story in April 2018 stated embassy was due to close on 1 October 2018}}`{=mediawiki} |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993-11-17 | Bilateral relations were established on 17 November 1993 |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Nairobi. |
| | | - Kenya is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | See Belarus--Libya relations. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus operated an embassy in Tripoli between 2000 and 2014, but suspended operations due to escalation of the military conflict. |
| | | - Libya closed its embassy in Belarus in 2015. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2000-02-29 | Bilateral relations were established between Belarus and Mozambique on 29 February 2000. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is represented in Mozambique through its embassy in South Africa. |
| | | - In 2017 the interior ministries of the two countries signed an agreement to work together to fight terrorism. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2000-12-21 | The two countries established bilateral relations on 21 December 2000. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is represented in Namibia through its embassy in South Africa. |
| | | - Namibia is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | March 1993 | - Belarus has an embassy in Pretoria |
| | | - South Africa is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1999-07-15 | See Belarus--Sudan relations |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-04-16 | Bilateral relations were established on 16 April 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus opened an embassy in Harare in July 2022. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
### Americas
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
+=========+========================+========================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| | | - Argentina is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Buenos Aires. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Brasília. |
| | | - Brazil has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-04-15 | Belarus and Canada established diplomatic relations on 15 April 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus had an embassy in Ottawa, which was closed on September 1, 2021, as a result of Canada\'s condemnation of the forced grounding of Ryanair Flight 4978 |
| | | - Canada is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw (Poland). |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-04 | Bilateral relations between Cuba and Belarus began in April 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus opened an embassy in Havana, Cuba, in November 1998, its first in Latin America and the Caribbean. |
| | | - Cuba upgraded its representation in Havana \[Minsk?\], Belarus, to an embassy in May 1997. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2004 | Both countries established diplomatic relations on 9 July 2004. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | - Belarus has an honorary consulate in Santo Domingo, operated though the embassy in Cuba. |
| | | - Dominican Republic has an honorary consulate in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | The governments of Belarus and Ecuador concluded an agreement about mutual visa-free travel. It was signed in Quito on 20 June 2014, ratified by Belarus law on 29 December 2014. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is accredited to Ecuador from its embassy in Caracas, Venezuela. |
| | | - Ecuador is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2000 | Both countries established diplomatic relations on 25 February 2000. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | January 1992 | See Belarus--Mexico relations |
| | | |
| | | Belarus and Mexico established diplomatic relations in January 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Havana, Cuba, and maintains an honorary consulate in Mexico City. |
| | | - Mexico is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia, and maintains an honorary consulate in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1998-10-22 | Both countries established diplomatic relations on 22 October 1998. |
| | | |
| | | - Panama is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1991 | See Belarus--United States relations Diplomatic relations between the United States and Belarus began in 1991 upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union, of which Belarus had been a part. However, the relations have turned sour due to accusations by the United States that Belarus has been undemocratic. Belarus, in turn, has accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and a consulate-general in New York. |
| | | - United States closed its embassy in Minsk in February 2022 for allowing Russian soldiers to use Belarus as a staging for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - Belarus is accredited to Uruguay from its embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and maintains an honorary consulate in Montevideo. |
| | | - Uruguay is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - Belarus has an embassy in Caracas. |
| | | - Venezuela has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
### Asia
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
+=========+========================+===============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| | 1992 | See Armenia--Belarus relations |
| | | |
| | | - Before 1991, both countries were part of the USSR, and before then part of the Russian Empire. |
| | | - Armenia has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Yerevan. |
| | | - There are around 25,000 people of Armenian descent living in Belarus. |
| | | - Armenia and Belarus withdrew their respective Ambassadors to one another in June 2024, with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan saying that no official representative of Armenia would visit Belarus while Alexander Lukashenko remained Belarusian President, following Belarusian support for Azerbaijan in the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | See Azerbaijan--Belarus relations |
| | | |
| | | - Before 1918, they were part of the Russian Empire and before 1991, they were part of the Soviet Union. |
| | | - Azerbaijan has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Baku. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). |
| | | - Azerbaijan is a full member of the Council of Europe, Belarus is a candidate |
| | | - Both Belarus and Azerbaijan are full members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-02-21 | Bilateral relations were established on 21 February 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is primarily represented in Bangladesh through its embassy in India, but also has an honorary consulate in Dhaka. |
| | | - Bangladesh has represented in Belarus by its ambassador in Moscow, Russia since June 2010. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - Belarus has an embassy in Beijing. |
| | | - China has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | See Belarus--Georgia relations |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Tbilisi, which opened on 20 December 2016. |
| | | - Georgia has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - [Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus](https://web.archive.org/web/20120604191247/http://www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?sec_id=345&lang_id=ENG) |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-04-17 | - Belarus has had an embassy in New Delhi since June 1998. It also has an honorary consul in Kolkata. |
| | | - Since 14 May 1992, India has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993-03-18 | See Belarus--Iran relations. Bilateral relations were established on 18 March 1993. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has had an embassy in Tehran since 6 March 1998. |
| | | - Iran opened an embassy in Minsk in February 2001. |
| | | - The two countries have enjoyed good relations in recent years reflected in regular high level meetings and various agreements. In 2008, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov described Iran as an important partner of his country in the region and the world. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - See Israel-Belarus relations |
| | | |
| | | Belarus and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992. During the 1990s, around 130,000 Belarusian citizens immigrated to Israel, forming one of the largest Belarusian expatriate communities in the world. In August 2015, an agreement was signed on visa-free entry, `{{Citation needed span|text=making Israel the first country outside the Former Soviet Union to have visa-free travel with Belarus.|date=September 2018|reason=}}`{=mediawiki} |
| | | |
| | | - Israel and Belarus have signed multiple agreements, including for visa-free travel. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Tel Aviv. |
| | | - Israel has an embassy in Minsk. This was closed for 2 years from 2002 and a decision to close it again in 2016 was reversed after two months. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-01-26 | The two countries established bilateral relations on 26 January 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Tokyo, opened in June 1995. |
| | | - Japan opened an embassy in Minsk in January 1993. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-09-16 | Bilateral relations began on 16 September 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Since 13 July 1997, Belarus has an embassy in Astana, an embassy division in Almaty opened in July 2002. |
| | | - Since 9 January 1993, Kazakhstan has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Eurasian Economic Community, of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and of the Commonwealth of Independent States |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993-07-21 | Belarus and Kyrgyzstan established diplomatic relations on 21 July 1993. Relations were disrupted between August 2012 and October 2015 after Kyrgyzstan recalled their ambassador. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Bishkek. |
| | | - Kyrgyzstan has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Eurasian Economic Community, of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and of the Commonwealth of Independent States. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993-12-06 | Both countries established diplomatic relations on 6 December 1993. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 22 September 2000 | See Belarus-Myanmar relations |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993-07-19 | Belarus and Nepal established diplomatic relations on 19 July 1993. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an honorary consulate in Kathmandu, operated by the embassy in India. |
| | | - Nepal has an honorary consulate general in Minsk. |
| | | - Minsk and Kathmandu have established twin city relations. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | See Foreign relations of North Korea. Relations were established in 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has a consulate in Hamgyong-namdo |
| | | - North Korea operates an embassy in Minsk, opened in 2016, although Belarus recognises this only as a trade mission, with other representation through the embassy in Moscow (Russia). |
| | | - North Korean President Kim Il Sung visited the Belarusian SSR in 1984. During the visit, he visited the Minsk Tractor Works and the Brest Fortress. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | See Pakistan--Belarus relations Diplomatic relations were established on 3 February 1994. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Islamabad. |
| | | - Pakistan maintains an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - Pakistan and Belarus maintain very close relations with each other, Pakistan was one of the first countries to accept Belarus after its independence. President of Belarus and PM of Pak have visited each other\'s countries on state visits. Pakistan and Belarus have a huge trade partnership. Pakistan also provides Belarus with Military expertise. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-02-10 | See Belarus--South Korea relations |
| | | |
| | | The establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Belarus started on 10 February 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarusian embassy in Seoul. |
| | | - South Korean embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - The Belarusian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has visited Seoul on 9 February 2015. |
| | | - Foreign relations of South Korea#Europe. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 2000-11-20 | Bilateral relations were established on 20 November 2000. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an honorary consulate in Colombo and is mainly represented through its embassy in India. |
| | | - Sri Lanka opened an honorary consulate in Belarus in 2004. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - Belarus has an embassy in Damascus. |
| | | - Syria has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | |
| | | See Belarus-Syria relations |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - Belarus has an embassy in Dushanbe. |
| | | - Tajikistan has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-05-25 | See Belarus--Turkey relations |
| | | |
| | | - Turkey was the first country to recognize Belarus on 16 December 1991 after the declaration of its independence on 25 August 1991. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Ankara. |
| | | - Turkey has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - Belarus has an embassy in Ashgabat. |
| | | - Turkmenistan has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - Belarus has an embassy in Tashkent. |
| | | - Uzbekistan is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Eurasian Economic Community, of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and of the Commonwealth of Independent States |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 27 December 1991 | - Since 1997, Belarus has an embassy in Hanoi. |
| | | - Since November 2003, Vietnam has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
### Europe
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
+=========+========================+====================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| | 1992 | - Austria recognised Belarus in December 1991 and both countries established diplomatic relations in February 1992. |
| | | - Austria is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
| | | - Since March 1993, Belarus has an embassy in Vienna. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993-11-22 | Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina established bilateral relations on 22 November 1993. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has been represented in Bosnia and Herzegovina by the ambassador to Hungary since March 2014. |
| | | - Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented in Belarus by the embassy in Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-03-26 | - Bulgaria recognised Belarus on 23 December 1991. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Sofia and an honorary consulate in Burgas. |
| | | - Bulgaria has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-09-25 | See Belarus--Croatia relations |
| | | |
| | | - Croatia is primarily represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia, although an honorary consulate opened in Minsk in 2011. |
| | | - Belarus is represented in Croatia through its embassy in Vienna, Austria, and an honorary consulate in Rijeka, Croatia. |
| | | - Croatian Foreign Minister Tonino Picula on 24 June 2000 attended a summit of the Central European Initiative in Szeged, Hungary, and held bilateral talks with his counterpart from Belarus. |
| | | - At least three bilateral agreements have been signed between the two counties. |
| | | - 2001 Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments |
| | | - 2004 Avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and on capital |
| | | - 2005 International Road Transport |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1991 | - Belarus has an honorary consulate in Nicosia. |
| | | - Cyprus is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Moscow, Russia, and through an honorary consulate in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993 | - Belarus has an embassy in Prague. |
| | | - The Czech Republic has an embassy in Minsk and an honorary consulate in Brest. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | See Belarus--Denmark relations |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is accredited to Denmark from its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. |
| | | - Denmark is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-04-06 | Bilateral relations began on 6 April 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Tallinn. |
| | | - Estonia opened its embassy in Minsk on 20 October 2009. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-02-26 | - Finland recognised the independence of Belarus on 30 December 1991. |
| | | - Finland is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, which also operates a liaison office in Minsk. |
| | | - Belarus opened an embassy in Helsinki on 5 December 2011. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-01 | Belarus and France established diplomatic relations in January 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Paris and honorary consulates in Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille |
| | | - France has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - The late French director Roger Vadim was of partial Belarusian descent. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1923 | - Belarus has an embassy in Berlin. It also has a consulate general in Munich and honorary consulates in Hamburg and Cottbus. The embassy branch office in Bonn closed on 22 December 2013. |
| | | - Germany has an embassy in Minsk. |
| | | - [German Federal Foreign Office about relations with Belarus](http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/Belarus.html) |
| | | - In 2018, for the first time a German head of state visited Belarus. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | See Belarus--Greece relations |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is accredited to Greece from its embassy in Paris, France. |
| | | - Greece is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-02-12 | Bilateral relations were established between Belarus and Hungary on 12 February 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Budapest which opened in January 2000. |
| | | - Hungary has an embassy in Minsk which opened in December 2007. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. |
| | | - Belarus and Hungary have in place a bilateral agreement to prevent double taxation. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-03-27 | Belarus and Ireland established bilateral relations on 27 March 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is represented in Ireland through its embassy in London, United Kingdom, and also has an honorary consulate in Rathdrum, County Wicklow. |
| | | - Ireland is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Lithuania. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-04-13 | Bilateral relations were established on 13 April 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Rome and five honorary consulates (in Cagliari, Florence, Naples, Reggio Emilia and Turin). The embassy was opened as a consulate general in November 1993 and was upgraded to an embassy on 20 March 1996. |
| | | - Italy has an embassy in Minsk, opened in May 1992. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-04-07 | See Belarus--Latvia relations The two countries signed a \"Declaration on the Principles of Good-Neighborly Relations\" on 16 December 1991 and established full bilateral relations on 7 April 1992. Embassies were opened in both countries in 1993 and consulates general the following year. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Riga and a general consulate in Daugavpils. |
| | | - Latvia has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate in Vitebsk. |
| | | - The countries share 161 km of common border. |
| | | - Belarusian and Latvian regions have signed about 60 twin city and partner agreements. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-12-30 | See Belarus--Lithuania relations Both countries recognised each other\'s independence in December 1991, and signed an agreement on diplomatic relations on 30 December 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Vilnius and an honorary consulate in Klaipėda. |
| | | - Lithuania has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate general in Hrodna. |
| | | |
| | | \* Both countries share {{Convert\|679\|km |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993-02-16 | Diplomatic relations were established on 16 February 1993. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is represented in Malta through its embassy in Rome, Italy. |
| | | - Malta is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw, Poland. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-11-19 | Bilateral relations were established on 19 November 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Chisinau, opened in May 1995. |
| | | - Moldova has an embassy in Minsk, opened July 1995. |
| | | - President Alexander Lukashenko has made three state visits to Chisinau (August 1995, September 2014, April 2018) |
| | | - List of Ambassadors of Belarus in Moldova: Vasily Sakovich (1999--2009), Vyacheslav Osipenko (2009--2015), Sergei Chichuk (2015--2020), Anatoly Kalinin( 2020--present) |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1994-03-24 | See Belarus--Netherlands relations Bilateral relations began on 24 March 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in The Hague and honorary consulates in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Hoogeveen. |
| | | - The Netherlands is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Warsaw, Poland, and through an honorary consulate in Minsk. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-03-02 | See Belarus--Poland relations Belarus and Poland established bilateral relations on 2 March 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Poland was one of the first countries to recognise Belarusian independence. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Warsaw, consulates general in Gdańsk and Białystok, and a consulate in Biała Podlaska. |
| | | - Poland has an embassy in Minsk and consulates general in Brest and Grodno. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | - Belarus is accredited to Portugal from its embassy in Paris, France. |
| | | - Portugal is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-02-14 | See Belarus--Romania relations Romania recognised the independence of Belarus on 20 December 1991 and bilateral relations were established on 14 February 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Bucharest. |
| | | - Romania has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-06-25 | See Belarus--Russia relations Belarus and Russia established diplomatic relations on 25 June 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Moscow with departments in Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosbirsk, Rostov-on-Don, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Ufa and Khabarovsk. It also has honorary consuls based in Karsnodar, Moscow, Murmansk and the Republic of Tatarstan. |
| | | - Russia has an embassy in Minsk and a consulate general in Brest. |
| | | - Russia remains the largest and most important partner for Belarus both in the political and economic fields. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1994-11-15 | See Belarus--Serbia relations |
| | | |
| | | - Serbia (then Yugoslavia) recognised Belarus in December 1991 and both countries established diplomatic relations in November 1994 and at the ambassadorial level in 1996. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Belgrade. |
| | | - Serbia has an embassy in Minsk. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1993 | - Belarus has an embassy in Bratislava.{{cite web\|url=<http://www.belembassy.org/slovakia/%7Ctitle=Veľvyslanectvo> Bieloruskej republiky v Slovenskej republike |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-07-23 | Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 23 July 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus is represented in Slovenia through its embassy in Hungary. |
| | | - Slovenia is represented in Belarus through its embassy in Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992-02-13 | See Belarus--Spain relations |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Madrid. |
| | | - Spain is represented in Belarus through it embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1992 | - In August 2012 Belarus announced that their embassy in Stockholm would be shut down. |
| | | - Sweden has an embassy in Minsk, however, no accredited diplomats are stationed there and the embassy has been closed to the public since 30 August 2012. |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | - Switzerland recognised Belarus on 23 December 1991. |
| | | - Since 1992, the Swiss ambassador in Poland has also been accredited in Minsk. Switzerland has a consulate in Minsk. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Bern. |
| | | - [Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs about relations with Belarus](http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/eur/vblr/bilblr.html) |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | See Belarus--Ukraine relations |
| | | |
| | | - The two countries share 891 km of border. |
| | | - Belarus has an embassy in Kyiv and an honorary consulate in Lviv. |
| | | - Ukraine has an embassy in Minsk and a general consulate in Brest. |
| | | - Both countries are members of the Baku Initiative and Central European Initiative. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1991 | See Belarus--United Kingdom relations Belarus established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 27 January 1992. |
| | | |
| | | - Belarus maintains an embassy in London. |
| | | - The United Kingdom is accredited to Belarus through its embassy in Minsk. |
| | | |
| | | Both countries share common membership of the OSCE. Bilaterally the two countries have a Double Taxation Agreement, and an Investment Agreement. |
+---------+------------------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
### Oceania
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
+=========+========================+==============================================================================+
| | 9 January 1992 | - Australia is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
| | | - Belarus is accredited to Australia from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 9 April 1992 | - Belarus is accredited to New Zealand from its embassy in Tokyo, Japan. |
| | | - New Zealand is accredited to Belarus from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,545 |
Telecommunications in Belgium
|
**Communications in Belgium** are extensive and advanced. Belgium possesses the infrastructure for both mobile and land-based telecom, as well as having significant television, radio and internet infrastructure. The country code for Belgium is **BE**.
## Services
### Mail
Mail regulation is a national competency. Postal service in Belgium is in many cases performed by Belgian Post Group, a semi-private public company. Competitors include DHL and UPS.
Postal codes in Belgium consist of four digits which indicate regional areas, e.g. \"9000\" is the postal code for Ghent.
### Telephone
The telephone system itself is highly developed and technologically advanced, with full automation in facilities that handle domestic and international telecom. Domestically speaking, the county has a nationwide cellular telephone system and an extensive network of telephone cables. Telephone regulation is a national competency.
The country code for Belgium is **32** and the international call prefix is **00**.
A telephone number in Belgium is a sequence of nine or ten numbers dialled on a telephone to make a call on the telephone network in Belgium. Belgium is under a closed telephone numbering plan, but retains the trunk code, \"0\", for all national dialling.
#### Fixed telephones {#fixed_telephones}
There were 4.668 million land telephone lines in use in Belgium in 2007, a slight decrease on the 4.769 million in use in 1997.
The majority state-owned public telephone company of Belgium is Proximus. Some other or private operators exist, as Scarlet (Proximus) and Base (Telenet).
#### Mobile telephones {#mobile_telephones}
Mobile telephone ownership has increased by nearly one thousand percent in the period 1997--2007, from 974,494 to 10.23 million.
There are three licensed mobile network operators (MNO) in Belgium, Proximus (Belgacom), Orange Belgium (Orange S.A.) and Telenet/Base and numerous mobile virtual network operators (MVNO).
A fourth license will be auctioned off by the government in January 2010.
### Internet
There were 61 (2003) internet service providers in Belgium, serving 8.113 million internet users in 2009. The country code for Belgian websites is .be.
In September 2009 in Flanders there were 3,048,260 broadband internet customers (DSL and cable), of which 2,520,481 were residential users and 527,779 business users. Only 65,175 dial-up internet access accounts remained in the residential market and 9,580 in the business market.
#### Internet providers {#internet_providers}
##### xDSL Internet Providers {#xdsl_internet_providers}
Belgium has numerous copper cable internet providers:
- Altercom \*End service 2011
- Base
- Proximus
- Destiny
- Digiweb
- EDPnet
- Evonet
- Full Telecom
- Interxion
- iPFix
- LCL
- Mobistar (Orange S.A.) \*End service : 2013
- Numericable (France Numericable)
- Perceval
- Portima
- Proximedia Group
- Scarlet (Belgacom)
- Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)
- Ergatel
Only Belgacom and Numericable currently offers fixed telephony and digital television in a triple play formula. All other companies offer also fixed telephony in a duo play formula.
##### Cable Internet Providers {#cable_internet_providers}
Belgium has three major fiberglass cable internet providers:
- Numéricable for the Brussels region (Ypso Holding)
- Telenet for the Flanders and Brussels regions (Liberty Global)
- VOO for the Walloon and Brussels regions (TECTEO)
- Orange Belgium use Telenet and VOO network combined
These companies all offer fixed telephony and digital television in a triple play formula.
- Interoute Managed Services
- Interxion
- LCL
- Nucleus
- Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)
These companies all offer specialised services.
##### Terrestrial Internet Providers {#terrestrial_internet_providers}
- Clearwire in Brussels, Ghent, Leuven, Aalst, Halle and Vilvoorde (Sprint Nextel)
- Perceval
##### Satellite Internet Providers {#satellite_internet_providers}
- Verizon Business (Verizon Communications)
##### ISP for public services {#isp_for_public_services}
- The Brussels Regional Informatics Center (BRIC, Centre d\'Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise in French) offers Internet access to public administrations in the Brussels-Capital Region, relying directly on the national Belnet network and the IRISnet network.<http://www.irisnet.eu/en?set_language=en> regional
##### Not categorized {#not_categorized}
Other ISP are Chat.be, Connexeon, HostIT, Microsoft Belgium, Netlog, Ulysse, Ven Brussels, Rack66 (EUSIP bvba), WSD Hosting.
### Other
The microwave relay network is, however, more limited. For international communications, Belgium has 5 submarine cables and a number of satellite earth stations, two of which are Intelsat, and one Eutelsat.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,546 |
Transport in Belgium
|
**Transport in Belgium** is facilitated with well-developed road, air, rail and water networks. The rail network has 2950 km of electrified tracks. There are 118414 km of roads, among which there are 1747 km of motorways, 13892 km of main roads and 102775 km of other paved roads. There is also a well-developed urban rail network in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Charleroi. The ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge are two of the biggest seaports in Europe. Brussels Airport is Belgium its biggest airport.
## Railways
`{{see also|High-speed rail in Belgium}}`{=mediawiki}
Rail transport in Belgium was historically managed by the National Railway Company of Belgium, known as SNCB in French and NMBS in Dutch. In 2005, the public company was split into 2 companies: Infrabel, which manages the rail network and SNCB/NMBS itself, which manages the freight and passenger services. There is a total of 3536 km, (2563 km double track (as of 1998)), of which 2950 km are electrified, mainly at 3,000 volts DC but with 351 km at 25 kV 50 Hz AC (2004) and all on standard gauge of `{{RailGauge|sg}}`{=mediawiki}. In 2004 the National Railway Company of Belgium, carried 178.4 million passengers a total of 8,676 million passenger-kilometres. Due to the high population density, operations are relatively profitable, so tickets are cheap and the frequency of services is high. The SNCB/NMBS is continually updating its rolling stock.
The network currently includes four high speed lines, three operating up to 300 km/h, and one up to 260 km/h. HSL 1 runs from just south of Brussels to the French border, where it continues to Lille, and from there to Paris or London. HSL 2 runs from Leuven to Liège. HSL 3 continues this route from Liège to the German border near Aachen. HSL 4 runs from Antwerp to Rotterdam by meeting HSL-Zuid at the border with Netherlands.
Electrification is at 3 kV DC, with the exception of the new high-speed lines, and of two recently electrified lines in the south of the country which are at 25 kV AC. Trains, contrary to tram and road traffic, run on the left.
### Rail links with adjacent countries {#rail_links_with_adjacent_countries}
- France --- voltage change 3 kV DC -- 25 kV AC
- LGV 1 --- voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
- via France to the UK on HSL 1, LGV 1, Channel Tunnel and CTRL (Channel Tunnel Rail Link) --- voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
- Germany --- voltage change 3 kV DC -- 15 kV AC
- HSL 3 --- voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
- Netherlands --- voltage change 3 kV DC -- 1500 V DC
- HSL-Zuid --- voltage remains at 25 kV AC.
- Luxembourg --- no voltage change at the border (the line Hatrival (Libramont)-Luxembourg is at 25 kV AC and the line Gouvy-Luxembourg is at 25 kV AC)
### Urban rail {#urban_rail}
An urban commuter rail network, Brussels RER (*Réseau express régional Bruxellois*, *Gewestelijk ExpresNet*), is operational in the Brussels-Capital Region and surrounding areas.
### Metros and light rail {#metros_and_light_rail}
In Belgium an extensive system of tram-like local railways called *vicinal or buurtspoor* lines crossed the country in the first half of the 20th century, and had a greater route length than the main-line railway system. The only survivors of the vicinal/buurtspoor system are the Kusttram (covering almost the entire coast from France to the Netherlands, being the longest tram line in the world) and some sections of the Charleroi lightrail system. Urban tram networks exist in Antwerp (the Antwerp Pre-metro), Ghent and Brussels (the Brussels trams), and are gradually being extended. The only rapid transit system in Belgium is the Brussels Metro. Some heavy metro infrastructures were built in Brussels, Antwerp and the Charleroi area, but these are currently used by light rail vehicles, and their conversion to full metro is not envisaged at present due to lack of funds.
Regional transport in Belgium is operated by regional companies: De Lijn in Flanders operates the Kusttram and the Antwerp pre-metro and tram, and the tram in Gent, as well as a bus network both urban and interurban, TEC in Wallonia operates the Charleroi lightrail system as well as a bus network and MIVB/STIB in the Brussels Capital-Region operates the Brussels metro as well as the Brussels tram and bus network. Despite this regional organization, some bus and tram routes operated by STIB/MIVB go beyond the regional border, and some bus routes operated by TEC or De Lijn transport passengers from the Flemish or Walloon regions to the capital city or in the other regions.
## Road transport {#road_transport}
### Road network {#road_network}
The road network in Belgium is managed by regional authorities, meaning that a road section in Flanders is managed by the Flemish Government, a road section in Brussels by the Brussels government and a road section in Wallonia by the Walloon Government. This explains that road signs in Flanders are written in Dutch, even when referring to a Walloon region, and conversely, which can be confusing for foreigners who do not know the different translations of Flemish or Walloon cities in the other language. The road network in Belgium is made of highways, national (or regional) roads (the secondary network) and communal roads (or streets). Communal roads are managed at the municipal level. There are also a number of orbital roads in Belgium around major cities.
- *total:* 152,256 km (2006)
- *country comparison to the world:* 35
- *paved:* 119,079 km (including 1,763 km of expressways)
- *unpaved:* 33,177 km
Belgian road numbering evolved during the middle decades of the twentieth century, in a relatively inconsistent way. Road number allocations became less systematic during the surge in road building that took place in the 1960s and 70s. Frequently downgraded and deteriorating older national roads retained two digit numbers while newer major roads were identified with less instantly memorable three digit numbers, if only because the shorter numbers were already taken. 1985 saw a comprehensive renumbering of the \"N\" (National) roads which now followed the scheme described below.
#### Highways
right\|thumb\|upright=2.0\|Motorways in Belgium
The highways (motorways) in Belgium are marked with a letter **A** and a number. Most often however the European numbering system for the international E-road network is used. There is however not always a one-on-one relationship between the two numbering systems along the whole length of the highways.
- A1 (E19): Brussels - Antwerp - Breda
- A2 (E314): Leuven - Lummen - Genk
- A3 (E40): Brussels - Leuven - Liège - Aachen
- A4 (E411): Brussels - Wavre - Namur - Arlon - Luxembourg
- A10 (E40): Brussels - Ghent - Bruges - Ostend
- A12 (Brussels - Boom - Antwerp - *Netherlands* (Bergen op Zoom)\
:*(includes a section not yet fully upgraded to motorway standard)*
- A13 (E313): Antwerp - Beringen - Hasselt - Liège
- A14 (E17): Lille - Kortrijk - Ghent - Antwerp
- A15 (E42): Charleroi - Namur - Huy - Liège
- A17 (E403): Bruges - Kortrijk - Tournai
- A18 (E40): Bruges - Veurne - Dunkerque
#### Ringways
The ringways (or orbital roads) around bigger cities have their own series of numbers. The names start with a **R** then a first digit indicating the (old) province, and sometimes a second digit to further differentiate in between different ringways.
Some major examples are:
- R0 is the outer ringway around Brussels. The R20 and R22 are (parts of) inner ringways around Brussels.
- R1 is the southern half ringway and R2 is the northern half ringway around Antwerp.
- R3 is the outer ringway and R9 is the inner ringway around Charleroi. The inner ring is counterclockwise-only.
- R4 is the outer ringway and R40 is the inner ringway around Ghent.
- R6 is the outer ringway and R12 is the inner ringway around Mechelen.
- R8 is the outer ringway and R36 is the inner ringway around Kortrijk.
- R23 is the ringway around Leuven.
- R30 is the inner ringway around Bruges.
#### National roads {#national_roads}
The national roads were renumbered in 1985 according to a national scheme and are identified with the letter **N** followed by a number.
The principal national roads fan out from Brussels, numbered in clockwise order:
- N1: Brussels - Mechelen - Antwerp
- N2: Brussels - Leuven - Diest - Hasselt - Maastricht
- N3: Brussels - Leuven - Tienen - Sint-Truiden - Liège - Aachen
- N4: Brussels - Wavre - Namur - Marche-en-Famenne - Bastogne - Arlon
- N5: Brussels - Charleroi - Philippeville
- N6: Brussels - Halle - Soignies - Mons
- N7: Halle - Ath - Tournai
- N8: Brussels - Ninove - Oudenaarde - Kortrijk - Ypres - Veurne - Koksijde
- N9: Brussels - Aalst - Ghent - Eeklo - Bruges - Ostend
Secondary national roads intersect these.
National roads have an N plus 1, 2 or 3 digits. National roads numbered with 3 digits are provincial roads, their first number indicating the province in which the road begins:
- N1xx Province of Antwerp
- N2xx Provinces of Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant
- N3xx Province of West Flanders
- N4xx Province of East Flanders
- N5xx Province of Hainaut
- N6xx Province of Liège
- N7xx Province of Limburg
- N8xx Province of Luxembourg
- N9xx Province of Namur
### Cars
#### Changes
Between 1993 and 2012 the average age of the passengers cars registered as running in Belgium increased from just over 6 years and 4 months to 8 years and 17 days. 2012 data for other European countries are not yet available, but in 2010 the average age of car Belgium was 7.9 years against a European Union average of 8.3 years.`{{Fix|text=Out of date}}`{=mediawiki} Government policy provides an important clue as to one reason for the relative newness of the national car parc.`{{clarify|date=February 2025}}`{=mediawiki} Despite recent high-profile plant closures by Ford and Renault, Belgium remains an important centre for automobile component and passenger car production, with important plants operated by Volvo and Audi, and this is reflected in a relatively benign taxation environment whereby company cars are a still a popular and relatively tax efficient element in many remuneration packages.
## Water
### Ports and harbours {#ports_and_harbours}
#### Sea ports {#sea_ports}
- Antwerp - Port of Antwerp [1](http://www.portofantwerp.com/) (one of the world\'s busiest ports)
- Bruges (Zeebrugge) - Port of Bruges-Zeebrugge [2](http://www.zeebruggeport.be/) (one of the busiest in Europe)
- Ghent - Port of Ghent [3](http://www.havengent.be/)
- Ostend - Port of Ostend [4](http://www.portofoostende.be/)
#### Main inland ports {#main_inland_ports}
Brussels - Port of Brussels [5](http://www.havenvanbrussel.irisnet.be/) (also accessible for ocean-going ships)\
Liège - Port of Liège [6](https://web.archive.org/web/20041127031815/http://www.liege.port-autonome.be/) (one of the busiest in Europe)
#### European portuary context`{{clarify|date=February 2025}}`{=mediawiki} {#european_portuary_context}
European Sea Ports Organisation [ESPO](http://www.espo.be/)\
European Federation of Inland Ports [FEPI](http://www.inlandports.be/)\
Inland Navigation Europe [INE](http://www.inlandnavigation.org/)\
2002 ranking of world ports by tonnage and by container volume (in TEU) [Port ranking](http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104779.html)
### Merchant marine {#merchant_marine}
### Waterways
The Belgian waterway network has 2,043 km, 1,532 km of which is in regular commercial use. The main waterways are:
- the Albert Canal connecting Antwerp to Liège,
- the Ghent--Terneuzen Canal through the port of Ghent connecting Ghent with the Westerschelde,
- the Boudewijn Canal through the port of Bruges-Zeebrugge connecting Bruges with the North Sea,
- the Brussels-Charleroi Canal, Brussels--Scheldt Maritime Canal and Scheldt connecting Charleroi to Antwerp,
- the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes Canal and Scheldt connecting the Borinage to Antwerp,
- the connection between the North Sea and Antwerp and the connection between Dunkerque and Liège via the Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes Canal,
- the Canal du Centre, the lower Sambre and the Meuse.
Waterways are managed on a regional level in Belgium. The region of Brussels only managed 14 km of waterways from the Anderlecht lock to the Vilvoorde bridge. In Flanders, the management of waterways is outsourced to four companies: NV De Scheepvaart, Departement Mobiliteit en Openbare Werken, Agentschap voor Maritieme Dienstverlening en Kust and Waterwegen en Zeekanaal NV.
## Air transport {#air_transport}
According to the 2009 CIA World Factbook`{{Fix|text=Out of date}}`{=mediawiki}, there are a total of 43 airports in Belgium, 27 of which have paved runways. Five airports have passenger flights; the largest of these is Brussels Airport. The other four are Ostend-Bruges International Airport, Brussels-South Charleroi Airport, Liège Airport and Antwerp International Airport. Other airports are military airports or small civil airports with no scheduled flights. Well-known military airports include the Melsbroek Air Base and the Beauvechain Air Base.
The Belgian national airline was Sabena from 1923 to 2001, until it went into bankruptcy. A new Belgian airline named SN Brussels Airlines was then founded by businessman Étienne Davignon. The company was then renamed as Brussels Airlines in 2006. In 2016, Air Belgium was founded by Nicky Terzakis, former CEO of TNT Airways, with the goal of connecting Belgium, offering long-haul flights. In 2019, Brussels Airlines became a subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,589 |
Lhop people
|
hazaras }} The **Lhop** or **Doya people (**Dzongkha**: ལྷོབ་ ་ཡང་ན་ དྲོ་ཡ)** are a little-known tribe of southwest Bhutan. The Bhutanese believe them to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the country. The Lhop are found in the low valleys of Dorokha Gewog and near Phuntsholing in the Duars. The dress of the Lhop resembles the Lepcha, but they bear little similarity with the Bhutia in the North and the Toto in the west. The Doya trace their descent matrilineally, marry their cross cousins, and embalm the deceased who are then placed in a foetal position in a circular sarcophagus above the ground. They follow a blend of Tibetan Buddhism mixed with animism.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,604 |
Geography of Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina is located in Southeastern Europe. Situated in the western Balkans, it has a 932 km border with Croatia to the north and southwest, a 357 km border with Serbia to the east, and a 249 km border with Montenegro to the southeast. It borders the Adriatic Sea along its 20 km coastline.
The most striking features of the local terrain are valleys and mountains which measure up to 2386 m in height. The country is mostly mountainous, encompassing the central Dinaric Alps. The northeastern parts reach into the Pannonian basin, while in the south it borders the Adriatic Sea.
The country\'s natural resources include coal, iron ore, bauxite, manganese, nickel, clay, gypsum, salt, sand, timber and hydropower.
## Regions
The country\'s name comes from the two regions Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have a very vaguely defined border between them. Bosnia occupies the northern areas which are roughly four fifths of the entire country, while Herzegovina occupies the rest in the southern part of the country.
The major cities are the capital Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Bihać in the northwest region known as Bosanska Krajina, Tuzla in the northeast, Zenica in the central part of Bosnia and Mostar is the capital of Herzegovina.
The south part of Bosnia has Mediterranean climate and a great deal of agriculture. Central Bosnia is the most mountainous part of Bosnia featuring prominent mountains Vlašić, Čvrsnica, and Prenj. Eastern Bosnia also features mountains like Trebević, Jahorina, Igman, Bjelašnica and Treskavica. It was here that the 1984 Winter Olympics were held.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina forest cover is around 43% of the total land area, equivalent to 2,187,910 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 2,210,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. For the year 2015, 74% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 26% private ownership. Eastern Bosnia is heavily forested along the river Drina and most forest areas are in Central, Eastern and Western parts of Bosnia. Northern Bosnia contains very fertile agricultural land along the river Sava and the corresponding area is heavily farmed. This farmland is a part of the Parapannonian Plain stretching into neighbouring Croatia and Serbia. The river Sava and corresponding Posavina river basin hold the cities of Brčko, Bosanski Šamac, Bosanski Brod and Bosanska Gradiška.
The northwest part of Bosnia is called Bosanska Krajina and holds the cities of Banja Luka, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Jajce, Cazin, Velika Kladuša and Bihać. Kozara National Park and Mrakovica World War II monument is located in this region.
The country has only 20 km of coastline, around the town of Neum in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, although surrounded by Croatian peninsulas it is possible to get to the middle of the Adriatic from Neum. Through the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Bosnia has a right of innocent passage to the outer sea. Neum has many hotels and is an important tourism destination.
## Rivers
There are seven major rivers of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
- The Una in the northwest part of Bosnia flows along the northern and western border of Bosnia and Croatia and through the Bosnian city of Bihać. It is popular for rafting and adventure sports.
- The Sana flows through the city of Sanski Most and Prijedor and is a tributary of the river Una in the north.
- The Vrbas flows through the cities of Gornji Vakuf -- Uskoplje, Bugojno, Jajce, Banja Luka, Srbac and reaches the river Sava in the north. The Vrbas flows through the central part of Bosnia and flows outwards to the North.
- The Bosna is the longest river in Bosnia and is fully contained within the country as it stretches from its source near Sarajevo to the river Sava in the north. It gave its name to the country.
- The Drina flows through the eastern part of Bosnia, at many places in the border between Bosnia and Serbia. The Drina flows through the cities of Foča, Goražde Višegrad and Zvornik.
- The Neretva is the longest river in Herzegovina, flowing from Jablanica south to the Adriatic Sea. The river is famous as it flows through the city of Mostar.
The Sava is the longest river in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, within Bosnia and Herzegovina, it only runs along the border with Croatia. It then flows into Serbia. Towns like Brčko, Bosanski Šamac, and Bosanska Gradiška lie on the river.
## Phytogeography
Phytogeographically, Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region and Adriatic province of the Mediterranean Region. According to the WWF, the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina can be subdivided into three ecoregions: the Pannonian mixed forests, Dinaric Mountains mixed forests and Illyrian deciduous forests.
## Climate
Except for the easternmost provinces, the country experiences a wet Mediterranean climate.
The hills and mountains are drier, colder, windier, and cloudier. `{{Weather box
|width = auto
|location = Sarajevo
|collapsed =
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y
| Jan record high C = 18.2
| Feb record high C = 21.4
| Mar record high C = 26.6
| Apr record high C = 30.2
| May record high C = 33.2
| Jun record high C = 35.9
| Jul record high C = 38.2
| Aug record high C = 40.0
| Sep record high C = 37.7
| Oct record high C = 32.2
| Nov record high C = 24.7
| Dec record high C = 18.0
|year record high C = 40.0
| Jan high C = 3.7
| Feb high C = 6.0
| Mar high C = 10.9
| Apr high C = 15.6
| May high C = 21.4
| Jun high C = 24.5
| Jul high C = 27.0
| Aug high C = 27.2
| Sep high C = 22.0
| Oct high C = 17.0
| Nov high C = 9.7
| Dec high C = 4.2
|year high C = 15.8
| Jan mean C = 0.2
| Feb mean C = 1.8
| Mar mean C = 6.0
| Apr mean C = 10.2
| May mean C = 15.2
| Jun mean C = 18.2
| Jul mean C = 20.3
| Aug mean C = 20.4
| Sep mean C = 16.0
| Oct mean C = 11.7
| Nov mean C = 5.8
| Dec mean C = 1.2
|year mean C = 10.6
| Jan low C = -3.3
| Feb low C = -2.5
| Mar low C = 1.1
| Apr low C = 4.8
| May low C = 9.0
| Jun low C = 11.9
| Jul low C = 13.7
| Aug low C = 13.7
| Sep low C = 10.0
| Oct low C = 6.4
| Nov low C = 1.9
| Dec low C = -1.8
|year low C = 5.4
| Jan record low C = -26.8
| Feb record low C = -23.4
| Mar record low C = -26.4
| Apr record low C = -13.2
| May record low C = -9.0
| Jun record low C = -3.2
| Jul record low C = -2.7
| Aug record low C = -1.0
| Sep record low C = -4.0
| Oct record low C = -10.9
| Nov record low C = -19.3
| Dec record low C = -22.4
|year record low C = -26.8
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation mm = 68
| Feb precipitation mm = 64
| Mar precipitation mm = 70
| Apr precipitation mm = 77
| May precipitation mm = 72
| Jun precipitation mm = 90
| Jul precipitation mm = 72
| Aug precipitation mm = 66
| Sep precipitation mm = 91
| Oct precipitation mm = 86
| Nov precipitation mm = 85
| Dec precipitation mm = 86
|year precipitation mm = 928
| Jan humidity = 79
| Feb humidity = 74
| Mar humidity = 68
| Apr humidity = 67
| May humidity = 68
| Jun humidity = 70
| Jul humidity = 69
| Aug humidity = 69
| Sep humidity = 75
| Oct humidity = 77
| Nov humidity = 76
| Dec humidity = 81
|year humidity = 73
| Jan rain days = 8
| Feb rain days = 10
| Mar rain days = 13
| Apr rain days = 17
| May rain days = 17
| Jun rain days = 16
| Jul rain days = 14
| Aug rain days = 13
| Sep rain days = 15
| Oct rain days = 13
| Nov rain days = 12
| Dec rain days = 11
|year rain days = 159
| Jan snow days = 10
| Feb snow days = 12
| Mar snow days = 9
| Apr snow days = 2
| May snow days = 0.2
| Jun snow days = 0
| Jul snow days = 0
| Aug snow days = 0
| Sep snow days = 0
| Oct snow days = 2
| Nov snow days = 6
| Dec snow days = 12
|year snow days = 53
| Jan sun = 57.1
| Feb sun = 83.8
| Mar sun = 125.6
| Apr sun = 152.3
| May sun = 191.7
| Jun sun = 207.1
| Jul sun = 256.3
| Aug sun = 238.2
| Sep sun = 186.6
| Oct sun = 148.8
| Nov sun = 81.2
| Dec sun = 40.7
|year sun = 1769.4
|source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net<ref name = pogoda>{{cite web
| url = http://www.pogoda.ru.net/climate2/14654.htm
| title = Weather and Climate: The Climate of Sarajevo
| publisher = Weather and Climate (Погода и климат)
| access-date = August 25, 2016
| language = ru
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120516141700/http://pogoda.ru.net/climate2/14654.htm
| archive-date = May 16, 2012
| url-status = dead}}</ref>
|source 2 = [[NOAA]] (sun, 1961–1990)<ref name = NOAA>{{cite web
| url = ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-VI/BH/14654.TXT
| title = Sarajevo Climate Normals 1961–1990
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200728153920/ftp://ftp.atdd.noaa.gov/pub/GCOS/WMO-Normals/RA-VI/BH/14654.TXT
| archive-date = 2020-07-28
| url-status = dead
| access-date = August 25, 2016}}</ref>
|date=August 2016
}}`{=mediawiki}
The north region has a typical continental climate.
### Climate change {#climate_change}
## Mining industry {#mining_industry}
Various archaeological artifacts including relicts of mining activities and tools belonging to similar age groups, provide an indication of the geographical distribution, scale and methods of mining activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Paleolithic to Roman era.
Most important of these is the so-called area of "central Bosnian mountains" located between the rivers Vrbas, Lašva, Neretva, Rama and their tributaries. The second one is the area of western Bosnia, bordered by the Vrbas and Una rivers, with its main orebearing formations found in the river-valleys of Sana and Japra, and their tributaries. The third area is eastern Bosnia, around the river Drina between the towns of Foča and Zvornik, the principal mining activity centered around Srebrenica.
Ores of various metals, including iron, are found in these areas and exploitation has been going on for more than 5000 years -- from the period of prehistoric human settlers, through Illyrian, Roman, Slavic, Turkish and Austrian rulers, into the present.
## Land use {#land_use}
- **Arable land:** 19.73%
- **Permanent crops:** 2.06%
- **Other:** 78.22% (2012 est.)
**Irrigated land:** 30 km2 (2003)
**Total renewable water resources:** 37.5 km3 (2011)
## Environment
**Natural hazards:**
- Destructive earthquakes
**Current issues:**
- Air pollution from metallurgical plants
- Sites for disposing of urban waste are limited
- Widespread casualties, water shortages, and destruction of infrastructure because of the 1992--95 war
- Deforestation
**International agreements:**
- Party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
- Signed, but not ratified: none
## Gallery
<File:NP001> nacionalni park sutjeska perucica.jpg\|Sutjeska National Park <File:NP002> - 14.jpg\|Kozara National Park <File:Štrbački> buk 1.jpg\|Una National Park <File:Drina> Canyon.JPG\|Drina National Park
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,606 |
Politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
The **politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina** are defined by a parliamentary, representative democratic framework, where the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Legislative power is vested in both the Council of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to a proportional representation system. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The system of government established by the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian war in 1995 is an example of consociationalism, as representation is by elites who represent the country\'s three major ethnic groups termed *constituent peoples*, with each having a guaranteed share of power.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided into two *Entities* -- the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, which are politically autonomous to an extent, as well as the Brčko District, which is jointly administered by both. The Entities have their own constitutions. `{{Democracy Index rating|Bosnia and Herzegovina|hybrid regime|2022}}`{=mediawiki}
## Dayton Agreement {#dayton_agreement}
Due to the Dayton Agreement, signed on 14 December 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina forms an undeclared protectorate, where highest power is given to the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, named by the Peace Implementation Council. The intention of the Agreement was to retain Bosnia\'s exterior border, while creating a joint multi-ethnic and democratic government based on proportional representation, and charged with conducting foreign, economic, and fiscal policy.
The Dayton Agreement established the Office of the High Representative (OHR) to oversee the implementation of the civilian aspects of the agreement. About 250 international and 450 local staff members are employed by the OHR.
## High Representative {#high_representative}
The highest political authority in the country is the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the chief executive officer for the international civilian presence in the country. The High Representative has power to remove government officials, including court justices, local government members, members of parliament, etc. From its establishment, the Office of the High Representative has sacked 192 Bosnian officials. The mandate of the High Representatives derives from the Dayton Agreement, as confirmed by the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), a body with a Steering Board composed of representatives of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States, the presidency of the European Union, the European Commission, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Peace Implementation Council has established several criteria for the OHR to be closed, two of which have been completed but must be sustained until all five are completed.
Due to the vast powers of the High Representative over Bosnian politics and essential veto powers, the position has also been compared to that of a viceroy.
## Executive branch {#executive_branch}
The Chair of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina rotates amongst three members (a Bosniak, a Serb, and a Croat) every 8 months within their 4-year term. The three members of the Presidency are elected directly by the people, with Federation voters electing both the Bosniak and the Croat member, and Republika Srpska voters electing the Serb member. The Presidency serves as a collective head of state. The Presidency is mainly responsible for the foreign policy and proposing the budget.
The Prime Minister, formally titled Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is nominated by the Presidency and approved by the House of Representatives. They appoint the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Trade and other ministers as may be appropriate (no more than two thirds of the ministers may be appointed from the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives; also, the chair appoints deputy ministers (who may not be from the same constituent people as their ministers), who assume the office upon the approval by the House of Representatives.
The Council is responsible for carrying out policies and decisions in the fields of diplomacy, economy, inter-entity relations and other matters as agreed by the entities.
The two Entities have Governments that deal with internal matters not dealt with by the Council of Ministers.
## Legislative branch {#legislative_branch}
The Parliamentary Assembly or *Parliamentarna skupština* is the main legislative body in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It consists of two chambers:
- the House of Peoples or *Dom naroda*
- the House of Representatives or *Predstavnički dom/Zastupnički dom*
The Parliamentary Assembly is responsible for:
- enacting legislation as necessary to implement decisions of the Presidency or to carry out the responsibilities of the Assembly under the Constitution.
- deciding upon the sources and amounts of revenues for the operations of the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and international obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- approving the budget for the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- deciding ratify treaties and agreements.
- other matters as are necessary to carry out its duties of as are assigned to it by mutual agreement of the Entities.
Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have a permanent election law until 2001, during which time a draft law specified four-year terms for the state and first-order administrative division entity legislatures. The final election law was passed and publicized on 9 September 2001.
### House of Peoples {#house_of_peoples}
The House of Peoples includes 15 delegates who serve two-year terms. Two-thirds of delegates come from the Federation (5 Croats and 5 Bosniaks) and one-third from the Republika Srpska (5 Serbs). Nine constitutes a quorum in the House of Peoples, provided that at least three delegates from each group are present. Federation representatives are selected by the House of Peoples of the Federation, which has 58 seats (17 Bosniaks, 17 Croats, 17 Serbs, 7 others), and whose members are delegated by cantonal assemblies to serve four-year terms. Republika Srpska representatives are selected by the 28-member Republika Srpska Council of Peoples, which was established in the National Assembly of Republika Srpska; each constituent people has eight delegates, while four delegates are representatives of \"others\".
### House of Representatives {#house_of_representatives}
The House of Representatives comprises 42 members elected under a system of proportional representation (PR) for a four-year term. Two thirds of the members are elected from the Federation (14 Croats; 14 Bosniaks) and one third from the Republika Srpska (14 Serbs).
For the 2010 general election, voters in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina elected twenty-one members in five multi-member constituencies by PR, while the remaining seven seats were allocated by compensatory PR. Voters in the Republika Srpska elected nine members in three multi-member constituencies by PR, while the five other seats were allocated by compensatory PR.
## Political parties and elections {#political_parties_and_elections}
Candidate Party Votes \%
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------- --------------- ---------
Bosniak member
Šefik Džaferović Party of Democratic Action 212,581 36.61
Denis Bećirović Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina 194,688 33.53
Fahrudin Radončić Union for a Better Future of BiH 75,210 12.95
Mirsad Hadžikadić Independent 58,555 10.09
Senad Šepić Independent Bloc 29,922 5.15
Amer Jerlagić Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 9,655 1.66
Croat member
Željko Komšić Democratic Front 225,500 52.64
Dragan Čović Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina 154,819 36.14
Diana Zelenika Croatian Democratic Union 1990 25,890 6.04
Boriša Falatar Our Party 16,036 3.74
Jerko Ivanković Lijanović People\'s Party Work for Prosperity 6,099 1.42
Serb member
Milorad Dodik Alliance of Independent Social Democrats 368,210 53.88
Mladen Ivanić Serb Democratic Party 292,065 42.74
Mirjana Popović Fair Policy Party 12,731 1.86
Gojko Kličković Fair Policy Party 10,355 1.52
Invalid/blank votes 120,259 --
**Total** **1,812,575** **100**
Registered voters/turnout
Source: [CEC](http://www.izbori.ba/Utvrdjeni2014/Finalni/PredsjednistvoBiH/Default.aspx)
### House of Representatives {#house_of_representatives_1}
Party Federation
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- --------- --------
Votes \% Seats Votes
Party of Democratic Action 252,081 25.48 8
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats 4,663 0.47 0
SDS--NDP--NS--SRS -- \|-- --
Social Democratic Party 140,781 14.23 5
HDZ BiH--HSS--HSP-HNS--HKDU--HSP-AS BiH--HDU BiH 145,487 14.71 5
Democratic Front--Civic Alliance 96,180 9.72 3
Social Democratic Party 92,906 9.45 3
PDP--NDP 194 0.02 0
Croatian Democratic Union 1990 40,113 4.08 1
Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party-Sefer Halilović 35,866 3.65 1
Democratic People\'s Alliance -- \|-- --
Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina 25,677 2.61 0
Party of Democratic Activity 22,088 2.25 1
Socialist Party -- \|-- --
SPP--SDU--DNZ 12,885 1.31 0
People\'s Party for Work and Betterment 12,927 1.31 0
Serbian Progressive Party -- \|-- --
Our Party 10,913 1.11 0
Party of Justice and Trust -- \|-- --
Bosnian Party 7,518 0.76 0
Social Democratic Union 5,881 0.6 0
Labour Party 5,731 0.58 0
HSP--DSI 5,475 0.56 0
Communist Party 3,075 0.31 0
HKDU 4,718 0.48 0
Diaspora Party 3,371 0.34 0
New Movement 1,830 0.19 0
Tomo Vukić -- \|-- --
Invalid/blank votes 97,720 -- --
**Total** **1,081,025** **100** **28**
Registered voters/turnout --
Source: [CEC](http://www.izbori.ba/Utvrdjeni2014/Finalni/ParlamentBIH/Default.aspx)
### Election history {#election_history}
National House of Representatives:
- elections held 12--13 September 1998:
- seats by party/coalition -- KCD 17, HDZ-BiH 6, SDP-BiH 6, Sloga 4, SDS 4, SRS-RS 2, DNZ 1, NHI 1, RSRS 1
- elections held 5 October 2002:
- percent of vote by party/coalition - SDA 21.9%, SDS 14.0%, SBiH 10.5%, SDP 10.4%, SNSD 9.8%, HDZ 9.5%, PDP 4.6%, others 19.3%
- seats by party/coalition -- SDA 10, SDS 5, SBiH 6, SDP 4, SNSD 3, HDZ 5, PDP 2, others 7
House of Peoples:
- constituted 4 December 1998
- constituted in fall 2000
- constituted in January 2003
- next to be constituted in 2007
Federal House of Representatives:
- elections held fall 1998:
- seats by party/coalition -- KCD 68, HDZ-BiH 28, SDP-BiH 25, NHI 4, DNZ 3, DSP 2, BPS 2, HSP 2, SPRS 2, BSP 1, KC 1, BOSS 1, HSS 1
- elections held 5 October 2002:
- seats by party/coalition -- SDA 32, HDZ-BiH 16, SDP 15, SBiH 15, other 20
Federal House of Peoples:
- constituted November 1998
- constituted December 2002
Republika Srpska National Assembly:
- elections held fall 1998
- seats by party/coalition -- SDS 19, KCD 15, SNS 12, SRS-RS 11, SPRS 10, SNSD 6, RSRS 3, SKRS 2, SDP 2, KKO 1, HDZ-BiH 1, NHI 1
- elections held fall 2000
- elections held 5 October 2002
- seats by party/coalition -- SDS 26, SNSD 19, PDP 9, SDA 6, SRS 4, SPRS 3, DNZ 3, SBiH 4, SDP 3, others 6
## Judicial branch {#judicial_branch}
### Constitutional Court {#constitutional_court}
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the supreme, final arbiter of constitutional matters. The court is composed of nine members: four selected by the House of Representatives of the Federation, two by the National Assembly of Republika Srpska, and three are foreign citizens appointed by the President of the European Court of Human Rights after courtesy-consultation with the Presidency.
The initial term of appointee is 5 years, unless they resign or are removed by consensus of other judges. Appointed judges are not eligible for reappointment. Judges subsequently appointed will serve until the age of 70, unless they resign sooner or are removed. Appointments made 5 years into the initial appointments may be governed by a different regulation for selection, to be determined by the Parliamentary Assembly.
Proceedings of the Court are public, and decisions are published. Court rules are adopted by a majority in the Court. Court decisions are final and supposedly binding though this is not always the case, as noted.
The Constitutional Court has jurisdiction over deciding in constitutional disputes that arise between the Entities or amongst Bosnia and Herzegovina and an Entity or Entities. Such disputes may be referred only by a member of the Presidency, the Chair of the Council of Ministers, the chair or deputy chair of either of the chambers of the Parliamentary Assembly, or by one-fourth of the legislature of either Entity.
The Court also has appellate jurisdiction within the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
### State Court {#state_court}
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of three divisions -- Administrative, Appellate and Criminal -- having jurisdiction over cases related to the state-level law and executive, as well as appellate jurisdiction over cases initiated in the entities.
A War Crimes Chamber was introduced in January 2005, and has adopted two cases transferred from the ICTY, as well as dozens of war crimes cases originally initiated in cantonal courts.
The State Court also deals with organized crime, and economic crime including corruption cases. For example, the former member of the Presidency Dragan Čović was on trial for alleged involvement in organized crime.
### Human Rights Chamber {#human_rights_chamber}
The Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina (*Dom za ljudska prava za Bosnu i Hercegovinu*) existed between March 1996 and 31 December 2003. It was a judicial body established under the Annex 6 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Agreement).
### Entities
The two Entities have Supreme Courts. Each entity also has a number of lower courts. There are 10 cantonal courts in the Federation, along with a number of municipal courts. The Republika Srpska has seven district (*okrug*) courts.
### High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council {#high_judicial_and_prosecutorial_council}
The High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (JHPC / VSTV) is the self-regulatory body of the judiciary in the country, tasked with guaranteeing its independence. It is based on the continental tradition of self-management of the judiciary. It was formed in 2004.
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Transport in Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Bosnia and Herzegovina has facilities for road, rail and air transport. There are five international road routes and 20 state highways, with bus connections to many countries. Railways total just over 1,000 km with links to Croatia and Serbia. There are 25 airports, seven of them with paved runways. The Sava River is navigable, but its use is limited.
## Roadways
- *total*: 21,846 km
- *paved*: 11,425 km (4,686 km of interurban roads)
- *unpaved*: 10,421 km (2006)
### Roads
#### International
- E65
- E73 (Pan-European corridor Vc), A1 highway
- E661
- E761
- E762
#### State highways {#state_highways}
- M-1.8
- M-2
- M-4
- M-4.2
- M-5
- M-6
- M-6.1
- M-8
- M-11
- M-14
- M-14.1
- M-14.2
- M-15
- M-16
- M-16.1
- M-16.2
- M-16.3
- M-16.4
- M-17
- M-17.2
- M-17.3
- M-18
- M-19
- M-19.2
- M-19.3
- M-20
### National and international bus services {#national_and_international_bus_services}
Bosnia & Herzegovina is well connected to other countries in Europe. The main bus station of Sarajevo has its own website. The main provider of international bus connection in Bosnia & Herzegovina is Eurolines. There are routes to Croatia, Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands, Montenegro, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Serbia. Despite Bosnia & Herzegovina\'s geographical closeness to Serbia, there is only one bus a day, which takes more than 8 hours due to the lack of proper roads.
## Railways
- Total: 1,032 km standard gauge: `{{RailGauge|1435mm}}`{=mediawiki} (2006)
Railway operators in Bosnia and Herzegovina are successors of the Yugoslav Railways within the country boundaries following independence from in March 1992. The two companies operating services (in their respective divisions following the Dayton Agreement) are:
- Railways of Republika Srpska (Željeznice Republike Srpske, ŽRS), which operates in Republika Srpska
- Railways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Željeznice Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine, ŽFBH), which operates in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
ŽFBH and ŽRS have been members of International Union of Railways (UIC) since 1992 and 1998, respectively.
### Rail links with adjacent countries {#rail_links_with_adjacent_countries}
- Same gauge: `{{RailGauge|sg}}`{=mediawiki}
- Croatia --- yes
- Serbia --- yes
- Montenegro --- no
## Waterways
Sava River (northern border) open to shipping but use is limited (2008)
### Ports and harbours {#ports_and_harbours}
Gradiška, Brod, Šamac, and Brčko (all inland waterway ports on the Sava none of which are fully operational), Orašje, Bosnia
## Merchant marine {#merchant_marine}
none (1999 est.)
## Airports
Air transport begin in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia when the flag-carrier Aeroput inaugurated a regular flight linking the national capital Belgrade with Podgorica in 1930, with a stop in Sarajevo. A year later Aeroput inaugurated another regular flight starting in Belgrade and then stopping in Sarajevo and continuing towards Split, Sušak and Zagreb. By mid-1930s Aeroput inaugurated two routes linking Belgrade and Zagreb with Dubrovnik through Sarajevo, and, in 1938, it inaugurated an international route linking Dubrovnik, which was becoming a major holiday destination, through Sarajevo, to Zagreb, Vienna, Brno and Prague. *Main article: List of airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina* 25 (2008)
### Airports - with paved runways {#airports___with_paved_runways}
*total:* 7\
*2,438 to 3,047 m:* 4\
*1,524 to 2,437 m:* 1\
*under 914 m:* 2 (2008)
### Airports - with unpaved runways {#airports___with_unpaved_runways}
*total:* 18\
*1,524 to 2,437 m:* 1\
*914 to 1,523 m:* 7\
*under 914 m:* 10 (2008)
### Heliports
6 (2013)
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Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
The **Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina** (`{{lang-sh-Latn-Cyrl|separator=" / "|Oružane snage Bosne i Hercegovine|Оружане снаге Босне и Херцеговине}}`{=mediawiki} or **OSBiH**) is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The BiH armed forces were officially unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (VFBiH) and the Bosnian Serbs\' Army of Republika Srpska (VRS).
The Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 2004, is in charge of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
## Chain of command {#chain_of_command}
In accordance with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Article 5.5a), Bosnian Law of defense and Bosnian Law of service, the supreme civilian commander of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the collective Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The collective Presidency directs the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Armed Forces. Former Bosnia and Herzegovina ministers of defence include Nikola Radovanović, Selmo Cikotić, Muhamed Ibrahimović, Zekerijah Osmić, Marina Pendeš and Sifet Podžić. `{{As of|2023}}`{=mediawiki}, the minister is Zukan Helez. Former Chiefs of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina include Lieutenant colonel general Sifet Podžić, Lieutenant colonel general Miladin Milojčić, Lieutenant colonel general Anto Jeleč and Colonel general Senad Mašović. The current Chief of Joint Staff is General Gojko Knežević. Conscription was completely abolished in Bosnia and Herzegovina effective 1 January 2006.
## Defence law {#defence_law}
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Defence Law addresses the following areas: the Military of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Government Institutions, Entity Jurisdictions and Structure, Budget and Financing, Composition of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, War Declaration, natural disasters, conflict of interests and professionalism, Oath to Bosnia-Herzegovina, flags, anthem and military insignia, and transitional and end orders.
## History
The AFBiH was formed from three armies of the Bosnian War period: the Bosniak Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska, and the Croat Defence Council.
The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was created on 15 April 1992 during the early days of the Bosnian War. Before the ARBiH was formally created, there existed Territorial Defence, an official military force of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and several paramilitary groups such as the Green Berets, Patriotic League, and civil defence groups, as well as many criminal gangs and collections of police and military professionals. The army was formed under poor circumstances, with a very low number of tanks, APCs and no military aviation assets. The army was divided into Corps, each Corps was stationed in a territory. The first commander was Sefer Halilović.
The Army of Republika Srpska was created on 12 May 1992. Before the VRS was formally created, there were several paramilitary groups such as the Srpska dobrovoljačka garda, Beli Orlovi, as well as some Russian, Greek and other volunteers. The army was equipped with ex-JNA inventory. It had about 200 tanks, mostly T-55s and 85 M-84s, and 150 APCs with several heavy artillery pieces. The Air Defense of VRS shot down several aircraft, like F-16, Mirage 2000, F-18 and one Croatian Air Force MiG-21. The VRS received support from the Yugoslav Army and FR Yugoslavia.
The Croatian Defence Council was the main military formation of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War. It was the first organized military force to control the Croat-populated areas, created on 8 April 1992. They ranged from men armed with shotguns assigned to village defence tasks to organized, uniformed, and well-equipped brigade-sized formations that nevertheless employed part-time soldiers. As time went on, the HVO forces became increasingly better organized and more \"professional\", but it was not until early 1994, that the HVO began to form guards brigades, mobile units manned by full-time professional soldiers.
In 1995--96, a NATO-led international peacekeeping force (IFOR) of 60,000 troops served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, beginning on December 21, 1995, to implement and monitor the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement. IFOR was succeeded by a smaller, NATO-led Stabilization Force or SFOR. The number of SFOR troops was reduced first to 12,000 and then to 7,000. SFOR was in turn succeeded by an even smaller, European Union-led European Union Force, EUFOR Althea. `{{as of|2004}}`{=mediawiki}, EUFOR Althea numbered around 7,000 troops.
### The Bosnian Train and Equip Program {#the_bosnian_train_and_equip_program}
The program to train and equip the Bosnian Federation Army after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 was a key element of the U.S. strategy to bring stable peace to Bosnia. The Train and Equip Program also calmed the concerns of some Congressmen about committing U.S. troops to peacekeeping duty in Bosnia. Creating a stable and functioning Federation Army that could deter Serb aggression had the prospect of allowing NATO and U.S. troops to withdraw from Bosnia within the original 12-month mandate, which the administration assured Congress was all it would take to stabilize the country.
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Funds | Equipment |
+==================================+==============+=========================================================================================================================+
| United Arab Emirates | \$15 million | \$120 million worth of equipment • 36 pieces of M101 howitzer |
| | | |
| | | • 50 AMX-30 tanks and 31 AML-90 armored vehicles |
| | | |
| | | • 8 transport vehicles |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| United States | | \$109 million worth of equipment and services • 45 M60A3 tanks, 80 M113-A2 armored personnel carriers, 240 heavy trucks |
| | | |
| | | • 15 UH-1H helicopters |
| | | |
| | | • 116 155mm field howitzers and 840 AT4 light antitank weapons |
| | | |
| | | • 1,000 M60 machine guns and 46,100 M16 rifles |
| | | |
| | | • JANUS and BBS Command and Staff simulation software |
| | | |
| | | • 2,342 radios, 4,100 tactical telephones, binoculars |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Saudi Arabia | \$50 million | |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Kuwait | \$50 million | |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Brunei | \$27 million | |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Qatar | | \$13 million worth of equipment • 25 armored personnel carriers |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Malaysia | \$10 million | |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Egypt | | \$3.8 million worth of equipment • 16 130mm field guns |
| | | |
| | | • 12 122mm howitzers and 18 23mm antiaircraft guns |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Turkey | | \$2 million worth of equipment • 10 T-55 tanks |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Total Value: \$399.8 million** | | |
+----------------------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
: Train and Equip Program Donated Resources to the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina as of January 1997.
The program conducted an "international program review" in April 1998 to demonstrate to U.S. partners that it had been well managed and successful and to solicit additional contributions. The event was attended by 20 current and potential donor countries and an air of satisfaction prevailed.
The Dayton Peace Agreement left the country with three armies under two commands: the Bosniak and Bosnian Croat armies within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, facing their recent adversaries the Army of the Republika Srpska. These three forces together had around 419,000 personnel in regulars and reserves. This force size and orientation was totally at odds with the international peacemakers\' vision. Slow reductions did take place. By 2004, the two warring factions had reduced their forces to 12,000 regulars and 240,000 reserves but had made virtually no progress in integrating the two into one new force, though the basis of a state defence ministry had been put in place via the Standing Committee on Military Matters (SCMM). Conscription for periods of around four months continued, the costs of which were weighing down both entities.
The restructuring of the three armies into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina represents part of a wider process of \'thickening\' the central state institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. To mitigate some of the potential controversy around restructuring, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) made use of evidence of malpractice in Republika Srpska military institutions. Firstly, from 2002 onwards, OHR utilised a scandal around the provision of parts and assistance to Iraq in breach of a UN embargo (the so-called Orao affair) to support the cause for bringing governance of the armies under the level of central institutions. Following this, in 2004, the process was accelerated, drawing its justification from new evidence of material and other forms of support flowing from Republika Srpska armed forces to ICTY indictee Ratko Mladić. OHR condemned the 'systematic connivance of high-ranking members of the RS military' and noted that measures to tackle such systematic deficiencies were under consideration. This was quickly followed by the expansion of the mandate for a Defence Reform Commission, which ultimately resulted in the consolidation of three armed forces into one, governed at the level of the central state.
As the joint AFBiH began to develop, troops began to be sent abroad. Bosnia and Herzegovina deployed a unit of 37 men to destroy munitions and clear mines, in addition to 6 command personnel as part of the Multinational force in Iraq. The unit was first deployed to Fallujah, then Talil Air Base, and is now located at Camp Echo. In December 2006, the Bosnian government formally extended its mandate through June 2007. Bosnia and Herzegovina planned to send another 49 soldiers from the 6th Infantry Division to Iraq in August 2008, their mission being to protect/guard Camp Victory in Baghdad.`{{Update inline|reason=More than 10 years have passed, so the mentioned missions could have been cancelled have ended.|date=July 2021}}`{=mediawiki}
## Structure
The Military units are commanded by the **Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Joint Staff** in Sarajevo. There are two major commands under the Joint Staff: Operational Command and Support Command.
There are three regiments that are each formed by soldiers from the three ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs and trace their roots to the armies that were created during the war in BiH. These regiments have their distinct ethnic insignias and consist of three active battalions each. Headquarters of regiments have no operational authority. On the basis of the Law on Service in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the regimental headquarters have the following tasks: to manage the regimental museum, monitor financial fund, prepare, investigate and cherish the history of the regiment, the regiment publish newsletters, maintain cultural and historical heritage, give guidance on holding special ceremonies, give guidance on customs, dress and deportment Regiment, conduct officer, NCO and military clubs. Each regiments\' three battalions are divided evenly between the three active brigades of the Army.
### Joint Staff of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina {#joint_staff_of_the_armed_forces_of_bosnia_and_herzegovina}
Name Headquarters Information Chief
------------------------- -------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------
**Operational Command** Sarajevo The main command center of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Gojko Knežević
### Operational Command {#operational_command}
`{{Location map+ | Bosnia
| width = 400
| float = right
| caption = {{center|Brigade locations 2020: [[File:Blue pog.svg|8px]] 4th Infantry Brigade [[File:Red pog.svg|8px]] 5th Infantry Brigade [[File:Yellow pog.svg|8px]] 6th Infantry Brigade}}
| relief = 1
| places =
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|'''Oper. Cmd<br>Tac. Sup. Bde'''}}</small> |lat= 43.866667 |long= 18.396667 |position=left |mark=Green 008000 pog.svg |marksize = 12}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|'''4 Infantry Bde'''}}</small> |lat= 43.111828 |long= 17.705483 |position=left |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize = 10}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|1 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 43.825278 |long= 17.005833 |position=left |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|2 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 42.866667 |long= 18.433333 |position=right |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|3 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 43.666667 |long= 18.983333 |position=right |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|Artillery Bn.}}</small> |lat= 43.333333 |long= 17.8 |position=right |mark=Blue pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|'''5 Infantry Bde'''}}</small> |lat= 44.538056 |long= 18.656111 |position=left |mark=Red pog.svg |marksize = 10}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|1 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.203889 |long= 17.907778 |position=left |mark=Red pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|2 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 43.943056 |long= 18.0775 |position=top |mark=Red pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|3 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.756944 |long= 19.216111 |position=right |mark=Red pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|Artillery Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.433333 |long= 18.033333 |position=left |mark=Red pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|'''6 Infantry Bde'''}}</small> |lat= 44.766667 |long= 17.163333 |position=left |mark=Yellow pog.svg |marksize = 10}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|1 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.766667 |long= 17.203333 |position=right |mark=Yellow pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|2 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.816667 |long= 15.866667 |position=top |mark=Yellow pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|3 Infantry Bn.}}</small> |lat= 45.036111 |long= 18.693333 |position=right |mark=Yellow pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|Artillery Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.731389 |long= 18.084444 |position=right |mark=Yellow pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= |lat= 43.866667 |long= 18.436667 |position=left |mark=Green 008000 pog.svg |marksize = 10}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|Armored Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.538056 |long= 18.696111 |position=right |mark=Pink pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|Engineer Bn.}}</small> |lat= 44.9775 |long= 17.9075 |position=right |mark=Black pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
{{Location map~ | Bosnia | background= white |label= <small>{{nowrap|Signal Bn.}}</small> |lat= 43.811944 |long= 18.571111 |position=right |mark=Turquoise pog.svg |marksize = 8}}
}}`{=mediawiki} `{{Multiple image
|title =
||total_width= 490
|image1 = AFBIHIR16.jpg
|caption1= [[Bosnian Ground Forces]] during Immediate Response 16 exercise.
|image2 = Bell Huey II Bosnian Air Force.jpg
|caption2= A [[Air Force and Anti-Aircraft Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Air Force]] Bell Huey II (TH-1H) at [[Sarajevo International Airport|Rajlovac Air Force Base]].
}}`{=mediawiki}
Overall the brigades are multinational with 45.9% Bosniaks, 33.6% Serbs, 19.8% Croats and about 0.7% of other ethnic groups (as for 2016).
- **Operational Command**, in Sarajevo
- **4th Infantry Brigade**, in Čapljina
- 1st Infantry Battalion, in Livno (Croat troops)
- 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Bileća (Serb troops)
- 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Goražde (Bosniak troops)
- Artillery Battalion, in Mostar
- Reconnaissance Company, in Čapljina
- Signals Platoon, in Čapljina
- Military Police Platoon, in Čapljina
- **5th Infantry Brigade**, in Tuzla
- 1st Infantry Battalion, in Zenica (Bosniak troops)
- 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Kiseljak (Croat troops)
- 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Bijeljina (Serb troops)
- Artillery Battalion, in Žepče
- Reconnaissance Company, in Tuzla
- Signals Platoon, in Tuzla
- Military Police Platoon, in Tuzla
- **6th Infantry Brigade**, in Banja Luka
- 1st Infantry Battalion, in Banja Luka (Serb troops)
- 2nd Infantry Battalion, in Bihać (Bosniak troops)
- 3rd Infantry Battalion, in Orašje (Croat troops)
- Artillery Battalion, in Doboj
- Reconnaissance Company, in Banja Luka
- Signals Platoon, in Banja Luka
- Military Police Platoon, in Banja Luka
- **Tactical Support Brigade**, in Sarajevo
- Armored Battalion, in Tuzla
- Engineer Battalion, in Derventa
- Military Intelligence Battalion, in Sarajevo
- Military Police Battalion, in Sarajevo
- Demining Battalion, in Sarajevo
- Signal Battalion, in Pale
- CBRN Defense Company, in Tuzla
- **Air Force and Air Defense Brigade**, at Sarajevo Air Base and Banja Luka Air Base
- 1st Helicopter Squadron, at Banja Luka Airport
- 2nd Helicopter Squadron, at Sarajevo Airport
- Air Defense Battalion, at Sarajevo Airport
- Surveillance and Early Warning Battalion, at Banja Luka Airport
- Flight Support Battalion, at Sarajevo Airport and Banja Luka Airport
### Brigades under the Support Command control {#brigades_under_the_support_command_control}
+-----------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| Name | Headquarters | Information |
+=======================+==============+=======================================================+
| **Personnel Command** | Banja Luka | - - **Training and Doctrine Command** (Travnik) |
| | | - Combat Training Center (Manjača) |
| | | - Armored Mechanized Battalion |
| | | - Combat Simulation Center (Manjača) |
| | | - Professional Development Center (Hadžići) |
| | | - Officers School |
| | | - NCO School |
| | | - Military Police School |
| | | - Foreign Language Center |
+-----------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| **Logistics Command** | Travnik\ | - Center for Movement Control |
| | Doboj | - Center for Material Management |
| | | - Main Logistics Base (Doboj and Sarajevo) |
| | | - 1st Logistics Support Battalion |
| | | - 2nd Logistics Support Battalion |
| | | - 3rd Logistics Support Battalion |
| | | - 4th Logistics Support Battalion |
| | | - 5th Logistics Support Battalion |
+-----------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| | | |
+-----------------------+--------------+-------------------------------------------------------+
Within the armed forces, there are a number of services. These include a Technical Service, Air Technology service, Military Police service, Communications service, Sanitary service, a Veterans service, Civilian service, Financial service, Information service, Legal service, Religious service, and a Musical service.
## Uniform and insignia {#uniform_and_insignia}
Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were unified in 2005 and at that time they needed a uniform for the newly founded Armed Forces. MARPAT was designated as the future camouflage pattern to be used on combat uniforms of the AFBiH.
Insignia is found on military hats or berets, on the right and left shoulder on the uniform of all soldiers of the Armed Forces. All, except for generals, wear badges on their hats or berets with either the land force badge or air force badge. Generals wear badges with the coat of arms of Bosnia surrounded with branches and two swords. All soldiers of the armed forces have on their right shoulder a flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina. All members of the three regiments wear their regiment insignia on the left shoulder. There are other insignias, brigades or other institution are worn under the regiment insignia. The name of the soldiers is worn on the left part of the chest while the name \"Armed Forces of BiH\" is worn on the right part of the chest. In 2023, members of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina began to wear a new field uniform of high-quality cloth and original camouflage schemes with the characteristics of the Bosnian environment.
## Equipment
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Foreign relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina
|
The implementation of the Dayton Accords of 1995 has focused the efforts of policymakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the international community, on regional stabilization in the countries-successors of the former Yugoslavia. Relations with its neighbors of Croatia and Serbia have been fairly stable since the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995.
## Diplomatic relations {#diplomatic_relations}
List of countries which Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains diplomatic relations with:
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## Bilateral relations {#bilateral_relations}
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Notes |
+=========+=============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| | See Armenia--Bosnia and Herzegovina relations |
| | |
| | - Armenia is accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina from its embassy in Prague, Czech Republic. |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina is accredited to Armenia from its embassy in Moscow, Russia. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Canberra. |
| | - Australia has an Honorary Consulate in Sarajevo, however services such as passports and visas are managed by the Australian Embassy in Vienna. |
| | |
| | Bosnian migration to Australia has occurred in three main waves in the 20th century, with the biggest group coming during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. Many Bosnians arriving as refugees settled in Melbourne where they have established strong community groups and many mosques. |
| | |
| | Business links between the two countries are in their infancy with many in the Bosnian diaspora starting to build connections through groups like the \"*Australian Bosnian and Herzogovinian Chamber of Commerce\"*.[1](https://abhcc.com.au/) In 2023, Australia exported US\$1.34 Million worth of goods to Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily consisting of machinery and electrical equipment. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Vienna. |
| | - Austria has an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina is accredited to Brazil from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States. |
| | - Brazil has an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 January 1992. Since 1996, Bulgaria has an embassy in Sarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Sofia. Both countries are full members of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe. Bulgaria was the first country to recognize Bosnia as an independent country. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Canada relations Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented through the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Ottawa, while Canada is represented by the embassy of Canada in Budapest. Three Canadian organizations operate programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Department of National Defence (DND). Canada strongly supports the signing of the Dayton Agreement hoping it can help bring more stability to the region. Through the Canadian International Development Agency Canada has given more than CA\$ 144 million in development assistance. |
| | |
| | Exports of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Canada are worth about US\$ 5.31 million per year, while exports of Canada to Bosnia and Herzegovina value about US\$5.34 million per year. |
| | |
| | - Embassy of Canada to Bosnia and Herzegovina |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Croatia relations |
| | |
| | Discussions continue with Croatia on several small disputed sections of the boundary related to maritime access that hinder final ratification of the 1999 border agreement. |
| | |
| | Sections of the Una river and villages at the base of Mount Plješevica are in Croatia, while some are in Bosnia, which causes an excessive number of border crossings on a single route and impedes any serious development in the region. The Zagreb-Bihać-Split railway line is still closed for major traffic due to this issue. The road Karlovac-Plitvice Lakes-Knin, which is on the European route E71, is becoming increasingly unused because Croatia built a separate highway to the west of it. |
| | |
| | The border on the Una river between Hrvatska Kostajnica on the northern, Croatian side of the river, and Bosanska Kostajnica on the southern, Bosnian side, is also being discussed. A river island between the two towns is under Croatian control, but is claimed by Bosnia. A shared border crossing point has been built and has been functioning since 2003, and is used without hindrance by either party. |
| | |
| | The Herzegovinian municipality of Neum on the Adriatic coast makes the southernmost part of Croatia an exclave and the two countries are negotiating special transit rules through Neum to compensate for that. Recently Croatia has opted to build a bridge to the Pelješac peninsula to connect the Croatian mainland with the exclave but Bosnia and Herzegovina has protested that the bridge will close its access to international waters (although Croatian territory and territorial waters surround Bosnian-Herzegovinian territory and waters completely) and has suggested that the bridge must be higher than 55 meters for free passage of all types of ships. Negotiations are still being held. |
| | |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Zagreb and consulate-general in Rijeka. |
| | - Croatia has an embassy in Sarajevo and consulates-general in Banja Luka, Livno, Mostar, and Tuzla. |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate and Croatia is an EU member. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Cyprus recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina\'s independence on 7 February 2000, both countries established diplomatic relations on the same date. Bosnia and Herzegovina is represented in Cyprus through its embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel. Cyprus is represented in Bosnia and Herzegovina through its embassy in Budapest, Hungary. Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | The Czech Republic recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina\'s independence on 8 February 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 8 April 1993. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Prague. The Czech Republic has an embassy in Sarajevo. Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina -- Denmark relations |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Finland relations |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | In 2019, Bosnia\'s presidency summoned the French ambassador Guillaume Rousson to protest over President Emmanuel Macron's comment in an interview with British weekly *The Economist* that the country is a "time bomb" due to returning Islamist fighters. |
| | |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Paris. |
| | - France has an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia established diplomatic relations in 1998. They share relations at the non-resident ambassadorial level. The first high-level visit was that paid by the BiH Foreign Minister Igor Crnadak to Tbilisi in August 2016. In January 2018, Georgia issued a protest note to BiH over the breakaway South Ossetian leader Anatoly Bibilov\'s visit to the Republika Srpska. In a response, the BiH Foreign Ministry stated that Georgia and Bosnia had good relations and Bosnia would not interfere into the question of South Ossetia. Crnadak also said Bibilov\'s visit damaged an international standing of the Republika Srpska. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Germany relations |
| | |
| | Germany is one of the most important partners of Bosnia and Herzegovina in foreign affairs. Bilateral relations have developed steadily since diplomatic ties were established in mid-1994. Germany was closely involved in efforts to bring about peace before and after the conclusion of the Dayton Agreement. There is also a long tradition of economic relations between Germany and Bosnia. When the country was still part of the former Yugoslavia, joint ventures and cooperation played a large role here (motor industry, metal processing, textile industry/contract processing work, steel and chemicals). After the war, Germany took on a spearheading role in investments in production in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is undergoing a transitional phase from a centrally planned to a market economy. These investments are concentrated primarily in vehicle assembly and parts supply, the construction industry/cement, raw materials processing/ aluminum and regional dairy farming. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Greece recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina\'s independence in 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 November 1995. Since 1998, Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Athens. Since 1996, Greece has an embassy in Sarajevo. Both countries are full members of the Union for the Mediterranean, of the Southeast European Cooperation Process, of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe. In 2006, Greece provided 80.4% of the funding for the reconstruction of the Greece--Bosnia and Herzegovina Friendship Building. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Holy See--Bosnia and Herzegovina relations |
| | |
| | Holy See recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina\'s independence on 7 April 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 20 August 1992. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Hungary recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina\'s independence on 9 April 1992. Both countries established diplomatic relations on 10 April 1992. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Budapest. Hungary has an embassy in Sarajevo. Both countries are full members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and of the Council of Europe. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--India relations |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Indonesia relations |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Iran relations |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Malaysia relations |
| | |
| | Malaysia, under Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (1981--2003), had been one of the strongest supporters of the Bosnian cause during the war and the only Asian country that accepted Bosnian refugees. Malaysia sent UN Peacekeeping troops to the former Yugoslavia. Malaysia maintains a number of investments in Bosnia-Herzegovina, one of the most significant is the Bosmal Group. Bosmal is a joint venture set up between Malaysian and Bosnian interests. A number of Bosnian students are currently studying at the International Islamic University Malaysia in Gombak. Malaysia maintains an embassy in Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina maintains an embassy in Kuala Lumpur. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States. |
| | - Mexico is accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina from its embassy in Belgrade, Serbia. |
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| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--North Macedonia relations |
| | |
| | The two countries first shared the same 90s objective of pursuing independence from Yugoslavia, and in the 21st century, the common objective of joining the EU. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Pakistan relations |
| | |
| | Pakistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoy close and cordial relations. Pakistan recognised the independence of Bosnia from Yugoslavia in 1992. Pakistan sent in UN Peacekeeping forces to the former Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars. During the war, Pakistan supported Bosnia while providing technical and military support to Bosnia. Pakistan and Bosnia have a free trade agreement. During the War time, Pakistan had hosted thousands of Bosnians as refugees in Pakistan. Pakistan has also provided medium-tech to high Tech weapons to Bosnian Government in the past. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Romania relations |
| | |
| | Romania recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina\'s independence on 1 March 1996, both countries established diplomatic relations on the same day. Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Bucharest. Romania has an embassy in Sarajevo. Relations were described as \"excellent\" by the foreign ministers in 2006, ahead of the opening of the Bosnian embassy in Bucharest. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Russia relations |
| | |
| | Bosnia is one of the countries where Russia has contributed troops for the NATO-led stabilization force. Others were sent to Kosovo and Serbia. |
| | |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Moscow. |
| | - Russia has an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Saudi Arabia relations |
| | |
| | Saudi Arabia has provided enormous financial assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina since its independence in 1992. Saudi interests also funded for the construction of the King Fahd Mosque, which is currently the largest mosque in Sarajevo. Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains an embassy in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia maintains an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Serbia relations |
| | |
| | Bosnia and Herzegovina filed a suit against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (present-day Serbia and Montenegro) before the International Court of Justice for aggression and genocide during the Bosnian War which was dismissed. Serbia was found responsible for failure to prevent genocide in Srebrenica. Sections along the Drina River remain in dispute between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Ljubljana. |
| | - Slovenia has an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--South Korea relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 15 December 1995. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Spain relations |
| | |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Madrid. |
| | - Spain has an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Sweden relations |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Turkey relations |
| | |
| | Turkey provided both political and financial support to Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war. After the war, relations have improved even more, and today Turkey is one of BiH\'s top foreign investors and business partners. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--Ukraine relations |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--United Kingdom relations |
| | |
| | Bosnia and Herzegovina established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 13 April 1992. |
| | |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina maintains an embassy in London. |
| | - The United Kingdom is accredited to Bosnia and Herzegovina through its embassy in Sarajevo. |
| | |
| | Both countries share common membership of the Council of Europe, the International Criminal Court, and the OSCE. Bilaterally the two countries have a Double Taxation Convention, an Investment Agreement, and a Reciprocal Healthcare Agreement. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | See Bosnia and Herzegovina--United States relations |
| | |
| | The 1992--1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was ended with the crucial participation of the United States in brokering the 1995 Dayton Accords. After leading the diplomatic and military effort to secure the Dayton agreement, the United States has continued to lead the effort to ensure its implementation. The United States maintains command of the NATO headquarters in Sarajevo. The United States has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to help with infrastructure, humanitarian aid, economic development, and military reconstruction in Herzegovina and Bosnia. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Support for Eastern European Democracies (SEED) has played a large role in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, including programs in economic development and reform, democratic reform (media & elections), infrastructure development, and training programs for Bosnian professionals, among others. Additionally, there are many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have likewise played significant roles in the reconstruction. |
| | |
| | - Bosnia and Herzegovina has an embassy in Washington, D.C. and consulate-general in Chicago. |
| | - the United States has an embassy in Sarajevo. |
+---------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
## EU accession {#eu_accession}
The accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union is one of the main political objectives of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) is the EU\'s policy framework. Countries participating in the SAP have been offered the possibility to become, once they fulfill the necessary conditions, member states of the EU. Bosnia and Herzegovina is therefore a potential candidate country for EU accession.
## International organizations {#international_organizations}
Bank for International Settlements, Council of Europe, Central European Initiative, EBRD, Energy Community United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, FAO, Group of 77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, International Criminal Court, International Development Association, IFAD, International Finance Corporation, IFRCS, ILO, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organization, Interpol, IOC, International Organization for Migration (observer), ISO, ITU, Non-Aligned Movement (guest), Organization of American States (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, United Nations, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer)
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
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History of Botswana
|
The history of Botswana encompasses the region\'s ancient and tribal history, its colonisation as the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and the present-day Republic of Botswana. The first modern humans to inhabit Botswana were the San people, and agriculture first developed approximately 2,300 years ago. The first Bantu peoples arrived c. 200 AD, and the first Tswana people arrived about 200 years later. The Tswana people split into various tribes over the following thousand years as migrations within the region continued, culminating in the *Difaqane* in the late 18th century. European contact first occurred in 1816, which led to the Christianization of the region.
Facing threats from German South West Africa and the Afrikaners, the most influential Tswana chiefs negotiated the creation of a protectorate under the United Kingdom in 1885. The British divided the territory into tribal reserves for each of the major chiefs to rule, giving the chiefs more power than they had previously, but it otherwise exercised only limited direct control over the protectorate. The British government took a more active role beginning in the 1930s. Botswana supported British involvement in World War II and many fought as part of the African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps.
A power struggle took place in the 1950s between the Ngwato chief Seretse Khama and his regent Tshekedi Khama. Seretse\'s marriage to a white woman, Ruth Williams Khama, led the British to ban him from the protectorate. He returned in 1956 with popular support, and tribes moved toward elected government as an independence movement formed. A national legislature was created in 1961, and political parties were formed. Seretse became the leader of the Bechuanaland Democratic Party, which was endorsed by the British government to lead post-independence, and it saw overwhelming support in the first election in 1965. The Republic of Botswana was granted full independence in 1966.
With a strong mandate, Seretse and his party implemented liberal democracy and began developing infrastructure in what was one of the world\'s poorest nations. Extensive diamond deposits were discovered in 1969, causing a massive reorganisation of Botswana\'s economy. The Debswana mining company was created in 1978, and Botswana became the world\'s fastest growing economy. The HIV/AIDS pandemic became a crisis in Botswana in the 1980s, and the 1990s came with the introduction of political factionalism after the political scandal of the Kgabo Commission. The Botswana Democratic Party remained the dominant party from independence until the Umbrella for Democratic Change won the 2024 general election.
## Pre-colonial history {#pre_colonial_history}
### Prehistory
Present-day Botswana was primarily forest ten million years ago, and the rivers were much larger than they are in the present, flowing into a massive paleolake, Lake Makgadikgadi. *Homo erectus* lived in the region during the Early Stone Age. Stone tools in present-day Botswana, such as Acheulean axes, date back to two million years ago. Hominin migration to the Kalahari Desert is estimated to have happened prior to Marine Isotope Stage 6, 186,000 years ago. Lake Makgadikgadi began to shrink approximately 50,000 years ago.
The ancestors of the Khoe and San peoples---unrelated peoples who are referred to collectively as the *Khoisan* or *Sarwa* peoples---lived in present-day Botswana by approximately 40,000 to 30,000 years ago. They may have been the first humans to enter the Late Stone Age. They established themselves around rivers during drier periods of history but spread throughout the region during wetter periods. They are known to have inhabited the areas around Lake Makgadikgadi, as well as Tsodilo and ≠Gi. Other peoples such as the Nata, Shua, and Xani are believed to have arrived after the Khoe and San. Rock art dates back to approximately 30,000 years ago, Mining of specularite and hematite began around this time to create paints. Virtually all permanent bodies of water were associated with early human populations by 20,000 years ago. More detailed study of southern Africa in the Stone Age has been limited.
The various peoples of the region were hunter-gatherers who remained in small groups and engaged in trade with one another. It is believed that each group was a collection of related families holding a specific territory, led by the eldest man of the group\'s head family. Men hunted large animals, while women gathered plants and caught small animals. The groups intermarried and practiced a dowry system, *xaro*.
### Ancient history {#ancient_history}
Approximately 2,000 years ago, the peoples of the region brought cattle and sheep to present-day Botswana and began making pottery. Agriculture developed during this time and the peoples began settling in villages, which rose and fell as the climate and cattle raids caused livestock access to fluctuate. Among the earliest crops were pearl millet, finger millet, sorghum, Bambara groundnuts, cowpeas, and cucurbits.
The first Bantu people migrated to the region between 2,000 and 1,500 years ago, and it was once believed that they were the ones who had first introduced livestock to the area. The Kalanga people were the first of the Bantu peoples to settle in present-day Botswana, arriving c. 200 CE. The first Tswana people (singular *Motswana*, plural *Batswana*) are estimated to have arrived c. 400 CE. These Bantu peoples brought iron and copper tools to the region and settled along permanent waterways. They built permanent settlements of about 10--15 pole-and-daga houses each, rather than the temporary structures of the more nomadic Khoisan. The Khoisan and the Bantu likely traded and intermarried during this period.
### Post-classical period {#post_classical_period}
A group of Zhizo people, the Taukome people, arrived in present-day Botswana by the 7th century and settled between the Shashe River and the Serorome River. Their possession of glass beads indicates early connection to Indian Ocean trade. The number of livestock kept in present-day Botswana increased significantly between the 8th century and the 10th century. The Tswana people organised themselves into a type of tribal government, called a *morafe* (plural *merafe*), each led by a chief called a *kgosi* (plural *dikgosi*). This system produced a more hierarchical government relative to others in the region. Cattle became a central part of society in the region, and ownership of cattle denoted one\'s status. The early history of the Tswana people remains largely unknown because little archaeological evidence has been left.
Trade routes connected tribes throughout the Kalahari Desert by 900 CE, and a series of routes were created across the entire region over the following century, culminating at the Indian Ocean. Some of the Eiland people migrated from present-day South Africa into present-day Botswana in the mid-10th century. The Toutswe people, another of the Zhizo people, migrated to present-day Botswana during the 11th century and became the strongest group in the region, deriving their wealth from ownership of cattle. Three Toutswe villages were constructed at Bosutswe, Sung, and Toutswemogala, each ruling over smaller villages surrounding them. By the 12th century, the Toutswe had spread to the Kalahari Desert.
The value of products fluctuated as expanding trade with foreign nations and the discovery of gold occurred, reducing interest in specularite and animal products like ivory. One tribe in Tsodilo was particularly influential in the trade of specularite until it fell at the end of the 12th century. The tribes in southeastern Botswana were far removed from these developments and remained largely unaffected.
Neighbouring present-day Botswana during the 11th and 12th centuries were the people of Leopard\'s Kopje to the east. First established in Bambandyanalo, they became major figures in regional trade and moved to Mapungubwe by the late-11th century where they formed the Kingdom of Mapungubwe. They projected influence across the region through the 12th century. The peoples of the Okavango Delta and later the peoples of the Tsodilo Hills were forced to abandon their settlements during this time, which may have been because they were cut off from major trade routes. Only the Khoe people stayed in the area. Mapungubwe fell by the 13th century, and the Toutswe villages, cut off from trade, fell around the same time. The Mambo people lived around present-day Francistown and became influential around this time.
The Kingdom of Zimbabwe emerged and replaced Mapungubwe the regional power in the 13th century when the Gumanye people gained influence in the city of Great Zimbabwe, which was able to control trade more closely with its valuable land and resources and its closer proximity to the coast. Zimbabwe controlled many of the tribes that existed in what is now northeastern Botswana, and the gold trade became a driving factor in the region\'s economy. Zimbabwe was losing influence by the end of the 14th century, and it fell in the mid-15th century. Several other states developed after its fall. The Kingdom of Butua, formed by the Kalanga peoples, was established on the present-day Botswana--Zimbabwe border.
### Early modern period {#early_modern_period}
Tswana peoples migrated internally through present-day Botswana as they were displaced by native and colonial populations from the south, and they had a presence throughout present-day Botswana by 1600. Large migrations of Kalanga and Sotho--Tswana peoples took place in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kalanga peoples controlled the land between the Motloutse River and the Makgadikgadi Pan until the 18th century. The Hurutshe, Kgatla, and Kwena peoples split from the Phofu dynasty in the Transvaal region amid drought and hereditary conflicts, eventually migrating north to present-day Botswana.
Some peoples of the region remained in the Late Stone Age until around the 16th century. According to oral tradition, the pastoralist Herero and Mbanderu peoples split from the Mbunda people in the 17th century as Tswana cattle raids scattered the groups. Oral tradition also holds that the Yeyi people migrated from the upper Chobe River into the Okavango Delta in the 18th century, though contact between the Yeyi and the Khoe may have existed much longer. Different Tswana tribes were able to separate and form independently from one another as the region\'s primary asset, cattle, is easily transported. The western tribes were especially prone to separation because of the large distances between towns and farmlands. They were often the targets of raids by the Griqua people.
The first Tswana state was formed by the Ngwaketse people in the mid-18th century. Subsequent states were formed by the Kwena people, the Ngwato people, and the Tawana people over the following decades. With these came the development of the *mophato* (plural *mephato*), a militia regiment organised by age group, among the eastern Tswana peoples in the 1750s. Two Kgatla peoples, the Kgafela people and the Tlokwa people, joined at this time and seized control over the area surrounding Pilanesberg in present-day South Africa. They subjugated several peoples in the region and twice won conflicts against the Fokeng people. The use of *mephato* spread to the western Tswana peoples by the end of the century. It was never widely adopted in the south.
### The Difaqane {#the_difaqane}
The *Difaqane*, a period of conflict and displacement in southern Africa, took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. During this time, the Tswana people were subject to raids by many groups, including the Ndebele, the Kololo, the Ngoni, the Pedi, and the Voortrekkers. Most Tswana groups opted to retreat instead of fight. This triggered extensive migration across the region, causing the Tswana tribes to more thoroughly spread and establish a stronger presence throughout the territory of present-day Botswana. They settled primarily in the *hardveld* that makes up the eastern region of present-day Botswana. The Kwena and Ngwaketse peoples migrated from Transvaal to the *sandveld*. The first of the Kgatla peoples to settle in present-day Botswana, the Mmanaana people, migrated from South Africa in the early 19th century before settling in Moshupa and Thamaga. Only some of the northwestern Tswana peoples were spared displacement or interruption.
The Kololo people attacked the northwestern Tswana peoples in 1826, forcing the Kwena and Ngwaketse from their respective territories. Sebogo, the regent of the Ngwaketse tribe, raised 4,000 men in their *mephato* and surrounded Dithubaruba where the Kololo were residing. Killing the warriors and the civilians, they permanently expelled the Kololo from the region.
The tribes reestablished their states in the 1840s, founding several towns and villages of varying sizes. Governance was based around the *kgotla*, a deliberative forum in which the chief or a regional leader heard the concerns of most male citizens before making decisions.
### European missionaries {#european_missionaries}
European missionaries first arrived in present-day Botswana in 1816 through the London Missionary Society. This and other missionary groups worked to convert the chiefs to Christianity and to build missionary schools. The missionary Robert Moffat set his mission station on the border of present-day Botswana as a barrier against the Boers so they could not move further inward. Moffat published the first Setswana language text with a uniform orthography when he began translating Christian texts and wrote a Setswana dictionary. Both the Old and New Testaments could be read in Setswana by 1857.
The 19th century Tswana people used several economic ideas that were rare in southern Africa, including credit, service contracts, and the *mafisa* system of the rich loaning cattle to the poor in exchange for labour. They also had a conception of private property by the mid-19th century, and both married men and married women were entitled to land rights. The men typically herded cattle while the women grew crops. Sorghum was the region\'s most commonly grown crop in the 19th century. Land was widely available, but droughts meant that farming was inconsistent.
British traders arrived in the 1830s and engaged in transactions with the chiefs. The influx of European settlers nearby allowed the Tswana tribes to incorporate themselves into the global economy. Chief Sechele I of the Kwena people took advantage of the new trading routes, securing control of British trade for his tribe. The Scottish missionary David Livingstone arrived in Botswana in 1845, where he established the Kolobeng Mission. This was the beginning of heavier European involvement in the Tswana tribes as they established intercontinental trade routes. Westernised fashion was adopted in urban areas through the rest of the century and combined with traditional clothing. In another effort to thwart the Boers, Livingstone provided firearms to the Kwena people. Sechele was the first person who Livingstone converted to Christianity, and the chief subsequently offered to convert his head men using rhinoceros-hide whips.
The Tswana peoples faced conflict from other groups in the region, peaking in the 1850s. Many Batswana, particularly the Kwena and Ngwato tribes, fought against Afrikaners and Zulu tribes in the eastern Kalahari Desert. The Kwena and the Mmanaana fought against Boers from Transvaal in 1852, defending their territory and ending the nation\'s westward expansion. The Batswana saw missionary groups as a means of refuge from invaders, incentivising conversion to Christianity. Sechele requested a British protectorate in 1853 to end regional conflicts, but he was denied.
European visitors became more common in the mid-19th century as hunters, explorers, and traders sought profit and adventure in the region. Many wrote travel books about the area, which were some of the only non-academic publications about present-day Botswana at the time. By the 1860s, migration out of the region increased as Batswana men travelled to work in South African mines. The discovery of the Tati Goldfields triggered the first European gold rush of Southern Africa in 1868. An early mining camp established in the 1870s expanded greatly as it became a major railway hub between Cape Province and Bulawayo, becoming Botswana\'s first major city, Francistown. At this point in Botswana\'s history, the major chiefs were all Christian. A war between the Kwena and the Kgafela in 1875. By the end of the decade, chief Khama III of the Ngwato people seized control of British trade from the Kwena people.
## Bechuanaland Protectorate {#bechuanaland_protectorate}
### Formation of the protectorate {#formation_of_the_protectorate}
The United Kingdom feared increasing German influence in the region, and it agreed to form the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The British wished to preserve its influence over the Tswana tribes, as they provided a connection between southern and central Africa. Tswana chiefs feared encroachment by German South West Africa and the Afrikaners, and they believed that the alternative to British control was settler colonialism by Germany. They also wished to avoid falling under the control of South Africa or mining magnate Cecil Rhodes, though the protectorate still found itself dependent on South Africa economically.
The region was divided into tribal land ruled by the chiefs and crown land controlled by the United Kingdom. Eight tribes were recognised by the British upon the creation of the protectorate. The largest four were given tribal reserves: the Kwena, the Ngwaketse, the Ngwato, and the Tawana. Three smaller ones were also recognised: the Kgatla, the Tlokwa, and the Malete. The eighth, the Tshidi, were given a reserve crossing the border between the protectorate and South Africa. While members of non-Tswana minorities were allowed to participate in Tswana society and governance, they were given no tribal reserves of their own. The introduction of tribal reserves altered the nature of Tswana governance, as tribes had previously been less defined and subject to expansion or shifting. With territories divided into tribal jurisdictions, residents were no longer able to easily leave a tribe. The protectorate initially extended to the Ngwato, reaching from 22 degrees south to the Molopo River, but it was extended to 18 degrees south to reach the Chobe River in 1890. This provided the British more labourers under its jurisdiction and created a larger barrier to limit German colonisation. Other Tswana peoples lived to the south of the protectorate and were later absorbed into South Africa.
The Kgafela people settled in Mochudi in 1887. This Kgatla group quickly became influential in the region and its name became synonymous with Kgatla. British soldiers led by Charles Warren arrived in 1891 to formally establish the protectorate. Its government was defined, and a commissioner was appointed as its head. The commissioner was given broad powers over the protectorate, so long as he respected previously established tribal law. Its capital was the South African city of Vryburg, meaning that the colonial rulers did not reside in the protectorate and had little direct involvement in its affairs. Instead, the high commissioner operated through two assistant commissioners, and a district commissioner facilitated contact with the various tribes. The centralisation of British rule in South Africa meant that the Bechuanaland Protectorate was economically dependent on it.
The British government believed the Bechuanaland Protectorate to be only a temporary entity and expected that it would soon be absorbed by a British colony. In the meantime, it believed that a self-sufficient protectorate would cost less to maintain. For these reasons, the colonial administration imposed very little direct control of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. The chiefs benefited from these affairs and were able to empower and enrich themselves; they retained broad autonomy, but colonial backing meant that they no longer needed the consent of the tribes to maintain rule. Tribal rule became autocratic, which led to human rights abuses and discrimination against women and ethnic minorities.
### Early years of the protectorate {#early_years_of_the_protectorate}
The British planned to eventually incorporate the Bechuanaland Protectorate into the Union of South Africa. In the years after the protectorate\'s creation, the United Kingdom entered talks with Cecil Rhodes to absorb it into the British South Africa Company. In response, three of the most influential chiefs---Khama III of the Ngwato, Sebele I of the Kwena, and Bathoen I of the Ngwaketse---made a diplomatic trip to the United Kingdom in 1895 and convinced the government not to complete the deal. This set a precedent of chiefs interacting with the British as a unified group and enshrined these three figures as early figures in Botswana\'s history as a single nation. Rhodes\'s handling of the failed Jameson Raid discouraged the British and negotiations were postponed indefinitely. The celebration of these chiefs resulted in the publication of *Three Great African Chiefs: Khamé, Sebéle and Bathoeng* by the London Missionary Society the same year. This text introduced a founding myth that their three respective tribes were created by three brothers.
Also in 1895, the capital was moved from Vryburg to another South African city, Mafeking, and the Ancient Ruins Company was registered to dig up prehistoric ruins in Bechuanaland and Rhodesia in search for gold. The protectorate was heavily affected by the 1890s African rinderpest epizootic, losing large portions of its livestock and wild game. The protectorate\'s railroad was built in 1897 as the main north--south transit line.
When the United Kingdom raised the Pioneer Column to go to war with the Ndebele people, Khama III of the Ngwato assisted by sending soldiers. Botswana became a staging ground for the Jameson Raid in 1896. The Kgatla tribe was later part of the Boer War, fighting alongside the British Army.
The early colonial economy of the Bechuanaland Protectorate remained much the same as the pre-colonial economy. The United Kingdom primarily used the protectorate as a supply of labour, offering high wages to Batswana who migrated south to work in mines. Taxes were also imposed, beginning with a hut tax in 1899, which was then replaced by a poll tax in 1909. A native tax was later imposed in 1919. Colonial taxes in the Bechuanaland Protectorate were higher than those in neighbouring colonies, causing mass exodus to the south, and the chiefs allowed more generous power sharing with citizens to incentivise them to stay. The United Kingdom considered integrating the protectorate into South Africa as it unified its southern African colonies, but it ultimately grouped them economically by creating the South African Customs Union, joining in 1910. Membership entitled the protectorate to only 2% of the union\'s revenue.
By 1910, all Tswana tribes had adopted Christianity. Bechuanaland sent several hundred soldiers to assist the British Army during World War I. The London Missionary Society found itself in decline at this time, and it gradually lost influence over the protectorate.
Sebele II became chief of the Kwena in 1918, succeeding his father, Sechele II. Sechele II had conflicted with the dominant London Missionary Society, permitting an Anglican presence and reinstating many traditional practices such as polygyny, rainmaking, and *bogwera*. Sebele II continued his father\'s challenge to the London Missionary Society, to the grievance of the British government.
The dual government of the chiefs and the colonial administration made administration difficult, so the administration created two advisory councils to standardise these authorities. The Native Advisory Council (later the African Advisory Council) was established in 1919. This annual meeting of the chiefs and other influential people in the protectorate allowed the British government to hear from and manage the tribes collectively instead of individually. Khama III of the Ngwato refused to participate, citing weak enforcement of alcohol prohibition in southern tribe. Khama III died in 1923 and was succeeded by Sekgoma II, who served until his own death in 1926. Sekgoma\'s son Seretse Khama was still an infant, so Tshekedi Khama became regent. Tshekedi came to be recognised as a representative for all of the Tswana tribes. As Seretse grew, Tshekedi insisted that he be given a liberal education rather than be sent to a Rhodesian industrial school.
### Development and increased British influence {#development_and_increased_british_influence}
In the 1920s, chief Isang Pilane of the Kgatla people oversaw the Bechuanaland Protectorate\'s first major water development scheme, having sixteen boreholes drilled, seven of which became successful water supplies. These became more common over the following decades as the British government took interest in expanding the protectorate\'s economy. By the 1930s, Isang Pilane and the Native Advisory Council privatised the boreholes, as they were not maintained under collective ownership. A severe drought occurred in the early 1930s, killing over 60% of the protectorate\'s cattle.
The British government took a more active role in the protectorate\'s governance beginning in 1930. That year, it began providing direct funding to the protectorate. Charles Rey was appointed Resident Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and he was responsible for reorganising the economy around cattle exports. An initiative to reform the protectorate toward mining and commercial agricultural development was attempted but saw push back from the chiefs.
Resident Commissioner Rey came into conflict with chief Sebele II, having him exiled in 1931. Sebele II was replaced by his younger brother, Kgari. Further initiatives were attempted by the British government in 1934 to constrain the unchecked power of the chiefs following the overthrow of Sebele II. These initiatives mandated advisory councils that chiefs had to consult and required that the British government be given access to court records. Chief Bathoen II of Ngwaketse and regent Tshekedi Khama of Ngwato issued a legal challenge to these initiatives. Although the British court ruled against the challenge, the new policies were never fully implemented. Other restrictions were adopted through colonial proclamation to limit the ability of the chiefs to levy taxes and seize stray cattle. A new resident commissioner, Charles Arden-Clarke, was appointed in 1936 and worked more closely with the chiefs.
### Early years of World War II {#early_years_of_world_war_ii}
Fears of German attack in Bechuanaland grew in the lead up to World War II due to its strategic position between Britain\'s central and southern colonies in Africa. 11 days before war was declared, the British government warned the protectorate to be on standby, and military forces were organised. Four days after Britain declared war on Germany, Resident Commissioner Arden-Clarke held a meeting with the chiefs where they pledged full support for the war effort. The next day, the high commission issued a proclamation of emergency powers that gave it total control over public activity in the protectorate, but the chiefs were informed that they would be responsible for most enforcement and peacekeeping.
The earliest years of World War II had almost no effect on the people of Bechuanaland, and many only had a vague idea that the war existed. The colonial administration shrank as large numbers of white residents enlisted in the British Army. Those who remained were focused on security planning in case southern Africa became another front in the war. Against the wishes of the chiefs, the colonial administration encouraged Batswana who wished to serve with the British Army to enlist with the South African Native Military Corps. About 700 Batswana men enlisted with the group.
Maintaining the Bechuanaland Protectorate became a low priority for the United Kingdom during the Great Depression and World War II, and the protectorate received no funding from the United Kingdom during the war. The British Empire had relatively little control over Bechuanaland compared to its other territories, and British efforts to control wartime production in the protectorate were unsuccessful. The war drastically altered the protectorate\'s economy as it went on, introducing shortages, rationing, and higher prices. Profiteering and price gouging were common, and the colonial administration, unable to enforce price controls, resorted to gentlemen\'s agreements with traders. Taxes were raised and Colonial Development Fund projects were curtailed at the onset of World War II to establish financial independence from the empire. The Control of Livestock Industry Proclamation No. 1 of 1940 was passed to tax cattle, the protectorate\'s main industry, but it met overwhelming resistance from Batswana and the European Advisory Council. A war fund operated in Bechuanaland, and although the United Kingdom expected that donations be voluntary, chiefs invoked their authority over their tribes to enforce donations. It was replaced by a levy in 1941, but this was less popular and proved difficult to enforce.
### Batswana participation in World War II {#batswana_participation_in_world_war_ii}
Military recruitment began in Bechuanaland in 1941. About 5,500 men were trained and sent to war within the first six months. Another 5,000 Batswana men joined the war in 1942. In total, approximately 11,000 soldiers from Bechuanaland fought alongside the British Army during the war. Over 10,000 of these served in the British Army\'s African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps. The chiefs traditionally had the right to conscript soldiers, and they ignored the colonial government\'s wishes that military service should be entirely voluntary. Regent Tshekedi Khama of Ngwato made himself unpopular by using military conscription as a tool for control, weaponising it to silence critics and political opponents. Men who wished to avoid conscription sometimes fled to South Africa or to remote areas like the Okavango Delta swamps and the Kgalagadi bush. Others used more immediate precautions, such as digging holes when recruiters visited.
The chiefs wished to leverage their participation in the war for additional rights within the British Empire, and they feared that British defeat would make them subjects of Germany or South Africa, a fate they wished to avoid. The war effort was also an opportunity to reclaim Tswana men who had migrated to South Africa for mining jobs; the chiefs wished to end this practice and felt they could do so by offering military jobs. Some military pay was deferred to the families of soldiers, and limitations on exports were lifted during the war, causing an influx of money into Bechuanaland.
Relative to other nations in the British Empire, the people of Bechuanaland approved of the war. Many Batswana held a sense of loyalty to the empire or felt that their interests were aligned. Some chiefs, such as Kgari Sechele II of the Kwena and Molefi Pilane of the Kgatla, personally enlisted. They served as regimental sergeant majors, the highest rank available to Batswana.
Toward the end of World War II, the colonial government allowed Batswana to have business licenses and operate within the protectorate. This had previously been restricted to whites and Indians.
The High Commissions Territories Corps was stationed in the Middle East from 1946 to 1949.
### Independence movement {#independence_movement}
The end of World War II came with drastic social change. The chiefs came to be seen as less essential to social structure, and many gave up their universal claims over tribal cattle. Other public resources, such as land and labour, were privatised and commodified. Access to education created a class of liberal intellectuals who opposed the rule of the chiefs and began forming their own centres of power in workers\' associations and civic groups. By 1946, only 2% of the population had employment outside of agriculture and services. The protectorate saw a major increase in birth rates as part of the mid-20th century baby boom in the years after World War II, accompanied by an increase in life expectancy. The colonial administration began its first development project in the protectorate, a slaughterhouse, in the 1950s. The British, still expecting to merge the protectorate into South Africa, finally scrapped this plan after the beginning of Apartheid. As efforts began to develop a new path for the protectorate\'s future, the protectorate was placed in a state of limbo, and no path forward was clear. One proposal was to incorporate it into the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which the United Kingdom formed under a policy of \"multi-racial partnership\".
When the Ngwato heir Seretse Khama came of age, regent Tshekedi Khama attempted to hold on to power. Seretse married a white woman, Ruth Williams, while studying in the United Kingdom, causing scandal in the Ngwato royal family. Though the public initially opposed the marriage, Tshekedi\'s unpopularity shifted opinion in Seretse\'s favour. The issue was raised in the *kgotla* in 1949, and Tshekedi\'s rule was overwhelmingly rejected by thousands in attendance. Tshekedi and his supporters fled to the Kwena in exile.
The British government was less tolerant of Seretse\'s marriage to a white woman. In an attempt to appease the Apartheid government of South Africa, it banished the couple from the protectorate in 1950. This provoked a burgeoning nationalist movement among Seretse\'s supporters in the protectorate, which fully emerged in 1952. During Seretse\'s absence, the United Kingdom placed the district commissioner in charge for four years before appointing Rasebolai Kgamane, a supporter of Tshekedi, as regent.
The Ngwato tribe rebelled against Seretse\'s banishment. His supporters petitioned for his return, and riots broke out when they were denied. Seretse was eventually allowed to return in 1956. By this time, the stricter racial segregation in Apartheid South Africa dissuaded the United Kingdom from appeasing it. Throughout the ordeal of Seretse\'s banishment, power shifted away from the chiefdomship and toward electoral bodies. Tshekedi and Seretse made peace upon Seretse\'s return, and Seretse became the *de facto* leader of the Ngwato, though the United Kingdom forbade him from being the official chief. With British support, the Ngwato tribe developed a tribal council, of which both Seretse and Tshekedi were members. Other tribes then established similar tribal councils, which served as checks on the power of the chiefs. Some animosity remained between the two men: Tshekedi wished to retain the tribal government and the power of the chiefs, while Seretse envisioned a representative democracy and weaker chiefs. The amount of power invested in the chiefs became the most contentious issue in the burgeoning independence movement, especially among the Ngwato people and the Khama family.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate Federal Party was the first political party formed in the protectorate when it was created by the Ngwato union leader Leetile Disang Raditladi in 1959. Composed primarily of elites and intellectuals, it advocated a unification of the Tswana tribes. The party failed to gain support and was short-lived. The following year, the Bechuanaland People\'s Party (BPP, later the Botswana People\'s Party) was created as a more radical party, objecting to traditional tribal government and gaining appeal among migrant workers. It was led by Motsamai Mpho, Philip Matante, and Kgalemang Morsete. The BPP, created as a Tswana counterpart to the African National Congress party of South Africa, supported immediate independence and the total abolition of chiefdom. Fearing that the BPP would undermine the existing government and ignite tensions with the Apartheid government of South Africa, the chiefs and the British government restricted its ability to meet.
The protectorate\'s tribes collectively formed a legislative council in 1961. The Kwena people found themselves under a regent, Neale Sechele, in 1963, meaning that they had little political influence as the independence movement developed. The *Bechuanaland Protectorate Development Plan 1963/1968* was drafted through a deliberative process in 1963, creating an outline for the nation\'s independence.
As the population was politically inactive overall, the United Kingdom came to be one of the leading forces toward independence. Worrying that the BPP was too radical, the United Kingdom encouraged its preferred leader, Seretse Khama, to form a political party. Though Khama agreed with the BPP\'s antiracist and republican values, he opposed its dogmatic approach to politics and its acceptance of socialism. He agreed to give up his claim over the Ngwato people to serve as a politician, forming the Bechuanaland Democratic Party (BDP, later the Botswana Democratic Party) in 1962. The BDP established itself as the \"party of chiefs\", and it adopted ideas associated with pre-colonial tribal rule. The United Kingdom supported the BDP, understanding that it would maintain the colonial era livestock trade. By 1963, the Kgatla chief Linchwe was the only chief who opposed the BDP and had political influence, but the Kgatla people were in favour of the BDP, so he remained apolitical. A transition process began with BDP expected to rule an independent Botswana, and the colonial government worked with BDP leadership to prepare them for running a nation.
A conference was held in 1963 to oversee the creation of a new constitution. Internal strife within the BPP meant that the BDP had the most influence over the process. Tshekedi Khama had died by this time, so Bathoen II became the leader of the pro-federalisation faction, believing it would keep power in the hands of the chiefs. The United Kingdom and the Batswana politicians endorsed a unitary national government because Botswana was too poor to divide its resources and because a lack of centralisation would make it vulnerable to attacks from other nations. Federalisation proved politically unviable, so a compromise was made that the chiefs would form the House of Chiefs, an advisory body within the Parliament of Botswana. The chiefs still opposed this arrangement, and in a movement led by Bathoen, the House of Chiefs passed a vote of no confidence in the new government, but its lack of political power prevented it from leveraging meaningful reform. The District Council\'s Act was passed as another means of limiting chiefs power by creating councils to preside over each district and town, making these elected bodies the primary local authorities.
Gaborone was built in 1965 and declared the new capital. It was built on British crown land, which provided a neutral location not controlled by any one tribe. The constitution was implemented the same year. With this in effect, the United Kingdom granted the protectorate self-governance. 1965 also saw the passing of the District Councils Act that adapted the colonial role of district commissioner by tying it to newly created district councils, and it saw the establishment of the state-owned National Development Bank.
Mpho split from the BPP to create the Bechuanaland Independence Party (BIP) in 1965. Led by Seretse Khama and Quett Masire, the BDP campaigned in almost every village in the protectorate leading up to the first general election. Unlike other political figures in Bechuanaland, Seretse Khama had appeal across the different tribes. The BDP was subsequently elected to lead the first government. The BPP won only three seats in the legislature, and the BIP failed to win any. After the election, the Botswana National Front (BNF) was created as a unified opposition to the BDP. Founded by Kenneth Koma, the BNF became the BDP\'s largest rival.
The BDP chose Khama as the nation\'s prime minister. Unlike most inaugural political parties in Africa, the BDP was a moderate conservative party instead of a radical anti-colonial party. After its formation, the House of Chiefs delivered a vote of no confidence in the constitution in 1966, leading to a national campaign in support of the constitution that garnered enough support for the chiefs to end their efforts to challenge it. The protectorate was granted independence as the Republic of Botswana in 1966.
## Republic of Botswana {#republic_of_botswana}
### Botswana in 1966 {#botswana_in_1966}
Independence for Botswana meant the implementation of liberal democracy, bringing about elections, human rights protections, and civil service. This allowed for a merit-based system of promotion and the creation of a technocratic bureaucracy. The nation formed a government adapted from the Westminster system, and Prime Minister Seretse Khama became President Seretse Khama. A national identity was crafted, bringing together disparate ethnic groups in a single Tswana label, with a culture based on that of the Tswana tribes.
Botswana retained much of its pre-colonial tribal institutions after independence. This was an effect of both the strong centralised government associated with the Tswana tribes and the relatively limited intervention of the British government in colonial times. The deliberative nature of the nation\'s politics before and after independence was an exception to many other African nations that became authoritarian after independence. Instead of abolishing the chiefdom, the new government incorporated it into the legal system, giving the chiefs judicial powers through the *kgotla*, subject to appellate courts. A tradition of subservience to leadership, once given to the chiefs, shifted to the presidency. The government reinforced its stability by staffing its civil service with foreign experts, as opposed to other new African countries that often expelled foreign experts. This preserved a Western-style bureaucratic government with an emphasis on development.
The United Kingdom continued funding Botswana for the first five years of its existence. Its peaceful, democratic status relative to other African nations meant that it received more aid from Western organisations. At the time of independence, Botswana was an extremely poor nation, more so than most others in Africa. It did not have an educated workforce, with only 40 citizens having university degrees, and there were no known natural resource supplies to support the nation. Botswana was dependent on the Apartheid regime in South Africa for access to the global community, and the majority of Botswana\'s labourers were migrant workers in South Africa. Botswana came into more direct conflict with Rhodesia, which caused military skirmishes until 1978.
Limited British involvement meant that little development had taken place since colonisation. Literacy was at 25%, and only 10 kilometres of paved road existed. Approximately 90% of the population was in abject poverty, and most of the population were cattle farmers or subsistence farmers. As the nation achieved independence, a severe drought eliminated 30--50% of the cattle population. Approximately half of Batswana were dependent on the World Food Programme to avoid starvation. Other nations had low expectations for Botswana, and throughout Africa it was seen as an Apartheid Bantustan. This relationship with Apartheid was also a factor in Botswana\'s success as an independent nation: the Batswana leadership wished to avoid the same fate as South Africa should the nation fail, and the diplomatic connections formed with the West to prevent subsumption by South Africa meant that Botswana was more trusting of Western powers and willing to accept their assistance.
The early leadership of Botswana was dominated by the ruling tribal families as well as a small number of highly educated public servants. Their economic and ideological similarities meant that the government remained stable without political infighting. Though Bathoen left his position as chief to pursue politics, most other chiefs accepted their reduced political power in the new government. Further activity of the chiefs was regulated by the Chieftainship Act of 1966.
A lack of corruption gave the state more legitimacy and won the favour of Western allies. Unlike most newly formed African nations, much of the leadership came from the agricultural community, meaning that their interests aligned with the majority. This encouraged the new government to retain colonial-era policies that benefited cattle farmers. The Botswana Meat Commission was created to regulate the beef industry. The BDP\'s pan-tribal appeal and the mutual interest in establishing independence further incentivised the new government to act in the interest of the majority. Small groups of white settlers remained in the country and objected to its independence. Though they would later be crucial in Botswana\'s development, mineral rights were given low priority upon independence, and the tribes transferred them to the central government in 1967.
### Presidency of Seretse Khama {#presidency_of_seretse_khama}
Khama was widely popular and seen as the natural leader of all the Tswana peoples. His administration implemented policies geared toward the creation of infrastructure and public goods, particularly the paving of roads. He began the construction of schools, slaughterhouses, and boreholes that continued over the following decades. Inhabited land of both the Tswana and the San was used to construct the boreholes. Development came at the expense of commerce and production, which was limited to the funding of livestock. Considerable focus was placed on nourishing cattle and constructing slaughterhouses to stimulate the beef industry amid a draught. Public welfare programs were also established. The discovery of diamonds ensured that these programs received sufficient funding. These investments and a conservative approach to government spending prevented the Dutch disease scenario that crippled other resource-laden African countries. Education was expanded throughout the nation, and the Tswana language was standardised alongside English at the expense of other languages. Khama justified this as a means to achieve unity.
Quett Masire served as Vice-President under Seretse Khama as well as Minister of Finance. He exercised control over the nation\'s budgeting and spending by creating a series of National Development Plans, subject to the approval of the National Assembly and the Economic Committee of the Cabinet. Iterations of these plans remained a central facet of government policy well after Khama and Masire\'s successors took office.
In 1967, diamonds were discovered in Botswana by the South African diamond company De Beers, and operations began shortly after. Copper deposits were found in Selebi-Phikwe that year, further revealing the nation\'s mineral wealth. The government partnered with De Beers in 1969 to carry out larger diamond mining operations, and it was involved with a renegotiation of the Southern African Customs Union the same year to greatly improve its economic leverage in the region. A mine in Morupule began producing coal in 1973, providing the nation with a large share of its power supply. The Orapa diamond mine was opened in Orapa in 1971, and a revenue sharing agreement was finalised between the government and De Beers in 1974. Masire later confirmed that De Beers had funded his private ventures, causing speculation that the company may have received an advantageous deal in the matter.
The Water Act and the Tribal Land Act were enacted in 1968, creating the Water Apportionment Board and twelve land boards, respectively. These oversaw the apportionment of water and land rights by the state rather than through the ownership of each tribe. Through this, they effectively subsumed the traditional powers of the chiefs. The Tribal Grazing Lands Policy was implemented in 1975 to prevent overgrazing, but it proved unsuccessful. In effect, it allowed wealthy citizens to claim large plots of land for cattle at the expense of less wealthy citizens.
The first election after independence took place in 1969. The BDP did slightly worse relative to its 1965 performance, and Vice-President Masire lost his seat to Bathoen, requiring him to take a specially elected seat. The BPP faded in relevance as the politics of Botswana developed.
The state-owned Botswana Development Corporation was founded in 1970, and the Orapa diamond mine opened in 1971. By 1973, diamonds made up 10% of Botswana\'s GDP, and by the end of the 1970s, mining was the largest industry in the country. The government of Botswana renegotiated its mining agreement with De Beers between 1971 and 1975, shifting the majority of earnings to the nation. As the diamond economy developed and investments were made back into the country, Botswana escaped poverty and came to be seen as a success among the other nations in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa. These developments made Botswana the fastest growing economy in the world. The upper and middle classes saw the most benefit, increasing wealth inequality, but it also meant taxes could be lowered, which earned the support of peasants.
Botswana\'s development and its use of foreign civil service was successful enough that the government convinced the United States to send the Peace Corps without traditional limitations on what roles the organisation can perform. With the 1970s came an increase in young locally educated Batswana, who became more influential in government. As these newcomers received similar education and began working in the same administrative culture, there was no major operational difference between the foreigner-led civil service and that run by the Batswana.
The Ministry of Development Planning had briefly existed following a schism in the Ministry of Finance between traditional caretakers who had been associated with the protectorate against Masire\'s supporters who wished to see more aggressive development. The latter took control, and the ministries were reunified as the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning in 1970. Because of the limited number of qualified people to manage the economy, this ministry took almost full control of the government\'s spending and initiated the Shashe Project that called for extensive development exceeding the country\'s GDP. This included the establishment of a copper and nickel mining complex, which became the government\'s highest priority.
In 1973, Seepapitso IV became the first chief to be suspended from his position in the post-colonial era. The BDP was again highly successful in the 1974 election. Minimum wages were introduced the same year.
Botswana began issuing its own currency, the Botswana pula, in 1976. Bank of Botswana governor Quill Hermans pushed for financial disentanglement from South Africa and its South African rand. Despite international concerns that Botswana might not be able to maintain its own currency, Khama felt that his economic advisors were capable and trusted their decision. Within a decade of independence, Botswana was one of the wealthiest nations in the Third World. The economic transformation is referred to as Botswana\'s \"miracle\".
Linchwe II, chief of the Kgatla people, reinstated the *bogwera* initiation rite for his tribe in 1975, aggravating the national government. Khama took a universalist approach in his administration, avoiding ethnic politics and rejecting the influence of tribal leaders in favour of civil servants. He at times asked individuals to resign if one ethnic group became too influential in the civil service. The Tswana peoples feared that dissent from the Kalanga minority could be destabilising. To addresses this, Khama incorporated educated members of the Kalanga tribe into the government, appointing many to high-ranking positions. The decision was controversial, and it spawned conspiracy theories about malevolent influence of the Kalanga. These sometimes centred on the Bakalanga Students Association, which became the Society for the Promotion of Ikalanga Language in 1980.
Fear of neighbouring white-led governments in Namibia, Rhodesia, and South Africa, as well as the danger of the Angolan Civil War, led Botswana to create a national military in 1977. Prior to this, the Botswana Police Service was responsible for national security. The lack of military meant that Botswana was not susceptible to leading causes of instability in other African nations: military coups and corruption through military spending. The military saw combat the following year when Rhodesian militants attacked Leshoma, killing fifteen soldiers.
In its partnership with De Beers, the government of Botswana formed the Debswana mining company in 1978, acquiring significant income for the state. Mining became the predominant industry of the nation\'s economy over the following decades, and Botswana became the world\'s fastest growing economy. Foreign involvement in the economy became a political issue at this time as outsiders collected on the nation\'s growth while domestic jobs developed slowly. Cattle farming, which had already been affected by a major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 1977, lost the significance that it had previously held.
### Presidency of Quett Masire {#presidency_of_quett_masire}
After Seretse Khama\'s death in 1980, Vice-President Quett Masire became the president of Botswana. Despite concerns about Khama\'s succession, Masire maintained the government infrastructure he helped build and preserved faith in the government. To appease Khama\'s Ngwato tribe and the other northern tribes, Masire appointed Khama\'s cousin, Lenyeletse Seretse, as vice-president. Popular opinion among the Ngwato was that Khama\'s son, Ian Khama, was entitled to the presidency. Upon Lenyeletse\'s death in 1983, Masire selected Peter Mmusi to replace him. This time he selected someone from a southern tribe, so as not to set a precedent that the president and vice-president must always be from opposite regions.
Botswana was part of the Southern African Development Coordination Conference established in 1980 to create a southern African market. The nation was affected by the early 1980s recession. The Jwaneng diamond mine began operation 1982, becoming the most lucrative diamond mine in the world. The University of Botswana was created the same year when it split from the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. Legal developments in 1982, the Financial Assistance Policy and the legalisation of commercial activity by civil servants, spurred the nation\'s economy but also loosened regulations that would prevent corruption. As democracy and economic growth proved to be long-term trends, Botswana garnered a reputation as an \"African miracle\".
Strong opposition to the BDP-controlled government first arose in the 1980s. Opposition parties began winning local elections, interest groups began forming, and five major anti-BDP newspapers began publication. Previously dependent on support by specific ethnic groups, the BNF gained support among the working class. By the 1984 general election, it was a competitive opposition party.
A severe drought affected Botswana from 1982 to 1987, necessitating government food assistance for about 65% of rural Batswana. Masire\'s critics associated him with this drought as it coincided with the beginning of his presidency, suggesting that Khama had a divine mandate that Masire did not. Mid-way through the 1980s, the diamond industry reached its peak at 53% of the national GDP. By this time, the nation\'s economy became strong enough that citizens were no longer incentivised to opt for subsistence agriculture or migration for work in South Africa. Entrepreneurship became more widespread, particularly among former government workers who moved from the public sector to the private sector. Free secondary education was established in 1989. Trade unions and other special interest groups developed in the 1980s to influence public policy, although the government was often unwilling to acknowledge them. It responded to the burgeoning labour movement by passing heavy restrictions on unions in 1983. The decade also introduced movements for the recognition of minority ethnicities, rejecting the national Tswana identity.
During the 1980s, South Africa began military incursions into Botswana to seek out South African rebels. In response to the civilian casualties, the government of Botswana increased military spending. It also tasked the military with wildlife protection and anti-poaching enforcement in response to the danger posed by armed poachers.
The first case of HIV/AIDS in Botswana was diagnosed in 1985, and over the following decade the country became the most severely affected in the world. Life expectancy in Botswana would drop from 67 to 50 by 1997. A dramatic shift in Botswana\'s health system followed through the 1980s and 1990s; Western medicine grew more widely respected alongside traditional healing, and private hospitals were established to coexist with the government-run facilities.
The early 1990s recession affected Botswana. A landmark constitutional court case brought by Unity Dow ended with a ruling in 1991 that children could inherit citizenship from their mothers as well as their fathers, which was adopted into law with the Citizenship Act of 1995.
The Kgabo Commission was held in 1991 to investigate governmental land boards, and it found that ethical violations had been committed by Vice-President Peter Mmusi and BDP Secretary General Daniel Kwelagobe, both of whom were also members of the Cabinet of Botswana. Facing outrage within the government and among the public, both resigned. The fallout created two polarised factions within the party, one led by the two former cabinet members (the Big Two), and one led by their opponents (the Big Five): Festus Mogae, Bihiti Temane, Chapson Butale, Gaositwe Chiepe, and their leader Mompati Merafhe. This built on tensions that had grown between the southern leadership of the BLP and the new generation of politicians from the north. Masire chose Mogae as the new vice-president.
Worried about the possibility of normalising corruption, Masire hired the deputy head of the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (Hong Kong) to create a similar organisation in Botswana. The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime was created in 1994, and a land board tribunal was created to hear appeals of land board decisions in 1995.
The BDP\'s position as the dominant party received its first serious challenge in light of the Kgabo Commission. The scandal and the resulting schism in the BDP allowed the BNF to become a more competitive opposition party after the 1994 general election. With the added complication of urbanisation reducing the BDP\'s rural base, opposition parties held a significant minority in the National Assembly. Following Mmusi\'s death, Kwelagobe aligned with Ponatshego Kedikilwe, and they formed the Barata-Phathi faction of the BDP. The Big Five developed into the A-Team faction.
Botswana benefited from the end of the South African Apartheid government in 1994, as the new African-led government did not restrict Botswana\'s growth or engage in military operations across the border. As the region stabilised, economic developments like shopping malls, property speculation, and citizen-owned tourism expanded.
The Ngwaketse tribe came into conflict with the government in April 1994, when minister of local government and lands Patrick Balope accused chief Seepapitso IV of failure to fulfil his duties and ordered the chief\'s suspension---the second suspension of Seepapitso\'s rule. Seepapitso\'s son Leema accepted an appointment to the role, against Seepapitso\'s wishes. The tribe wrestled with the issue of Leema\'s ambiguous legitimacy and the fear that tribal culture would not longer be recognised, and the removal became a national issue. Seepapitso filed a legal challenge, and the court ruled on 22 February 1995 that while Seepapitso\'s removal was legal, Leema\'s appointment was not. With the power of appointment returned to the tribe, they refused to choose a new leader as a form of protest. The government then relented and allowed Seepapitso to be reinstated.
The ritual murder of Segametsi Mogomotsi, a 14-year-old girl from Mochudi, took place in November 1994. Social unrest broke out when the suspects, who were wealthy businessmen and politicians, were released for lack of evidence. Over the following months, student-led protests and riots against the use of occult practices like ritual murder to gain wealth took place.
An outbreak of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia in 1995 caused the deaths of 320,000 cattle. The Agriculture Act of 1995 expanded the process of privatising communal land.
Minority tribes increasingly pushed for recognition beginning in the 1990s. The government began the removal of San people from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in 1995. While it argued that the intention was to help integrate communities that were too remote, and it offered livestock to incentivise cooperation, international organisations accused the government of coercion and forced displacement to make room for mining. The first major legal effort to protect the rights of ethnic minorities came from a 1995 motion in parliament to define the constitution as tribally neutral, but it was tabled. The Kamanakao Association was formed the same year by the academic Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo to protect the rights of the Yeyi people.
A series of governmental and electoral reforms were implemented in the final years of Masire\'s presidency. Election supervision was transferred to an independent body, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, postal voting was implemented, and policies were enacted to protect labour rights and gender equality. Masire wished to create a stable order of succession and to ensure that his chosen successor Vice-President Mogae became president, so he worked with the lawyer Parks Tafa to draft a constitutional amendment. This implemented automatic succession and term limits for the presidency. He then forced the amendment through on his own initiative. Reforming the nation\'s economy, a tentative system of tripartism was implemented to bring together government, the private sector, and labour representatives. When the party was selecting its central committee membership in 1997, the risk of factionalism grew severe enough that Masire cancelled its internal election and had the factions give him lists of names.
### Presidency of Festus Mogae {#presidency_of_festus_mogae}
Masire stepped down as president on 1 April 1998, and he was succeeded by Vice-President Festus Mogae. Mogae made the controversial decision to appoint Ian Khama, commander of the army and the son of Seretse Khama, as the next vice-president, passing his choice through by threatening to dissolve parliament. Although they were officially neutral between the factions of the BDP, Mogae and Khama were both understood to be major figures among the A-Team.
1998 saw one of many splits within the BNF opposition party. It had divided into two factions: the conservatives who held socialist beliefs and the progressives who held social democratic beliefs. Violence at the party\'s congress saw progressives split off into their own party, the Botswana Congress Party (BCP), which became the main opposition party until they lost most of their seats in the 1999 election. This division of the opposition, as well as the civil reforms of the previous years, allowed the BDP to regain some of the seats that it lost in 1994. Several southern members of the BCP\'s leadership returned to the BNF after all of the top positions were taken by northerners.
To raise themselves to the level of the Tswana tribes, the Yeyi people named a paramount chief in 1999, but this went unrecognised by the Chieftainship Act. They brought the issue to the Supreme Court, which struck the relevant provision of the law as discriminatory. Mogae established a commission in 2000 to review minority tribes\' representation in the House of Chiefs, which in turn caused protest from those who felt Mogae sought to undermine the power of the chiefs. The commission determined that the House of Chiefs should be retained, and it was renamed to the Setswana *Ntlo ya Dikgosi*. Other proposed changes were not accepted following pushback from the major Tswana tribes, particularly the Ngwato. The following year, the Kgatla-baga-Mmanaana people saw their chief Gobuamang Gobuamang II formally recognised as a minor *kgosi* within the Kwena territory where they reside.
The Botswana--Namibia border came under dispute in 1999 when both countries claimed a territory in the Caprivi Strip. In the 2000s, Botswana invested heavily in the development of an air force. Botswana Television was established in 2000. The Tsodilo Hills became a World Heritage Site in 2001. The San people issued a legal challenge in 2002 to contest their expulsion from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, but the case was dismissed. Mosadi Seboko of the Lete people became the first female leader of a tribe in 2003. Mogae had one of the government\'s most prominent critics, Kenneth Good, deported in February 2005. The Three Dikgosi Monument was unveiled in 2005.
Mogae considered the nation\'s HIV/AIDS pandemic to be the most important issue during his presidency. To combat it, he made antiretroviral treatments for HIV/AIDS freely available.
### Presidency of Ian Khama {#presidency_of_ian_khama}
Ian Khama succeeded to the presidency at the end of Mogae\'s term on 1 April 2008. His style of leadership was advertised as following the \"four Ds\": democracy, development, dignity, and discipline. After taking office, he restructured the nation\'s executive in a more hierarchical manner, centralising power around the presidency.
Khama placed emphasis on national security in his administration. During his tenure, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security came to be known for politically motivated espionage and arrests against his political opponents. He also appointed several former military figures in his government Botswana was less involved in the African Union during Khama\'s presidency, instead presenting a more Western-orientated foreign policy.
The 2008 financial crisis pressured Botswana\'s economy, which remained dependent on diamond mines despite the government\'s efforts. The diamond industry ended a steady decline when it stabilised at about 39% of the nation\'s GDP in 2009.
Regulation of chiefs was reformed in 2008 with the Bogosi Act. Khama supported devolving power to the chiefs in the name of restoring discipline and traditional morality. He issued a directive that increased the legal drinking age to 21, empowered minor tribal leaders to order floggings, created *mephato* groups to be vigilantes, and reintroduced corporal punishment in schools. Several newly installed chiefs endorsed this policy and implemented stricter punishments for wrongdoers. Among these was Kgafela II, chief of the Kgatla people. To enforce traditional morality among his people, he significantly increased the use of flogging for those who violated the law. Kgafela and others involved were criminally charged for misusing the punishment in 2010, and the court dismissed his claim of immunity, determining that chiefs lack sovereignty and are subject to the constitution.
As the BDP chose its party leadership in 2009, Khama appointed numerous A-Team figures to party sub-committees despite the victory of the Barata-Phathi during the party\'s congress. When the party\'s secretary general Gomolemo Motswaledi consulted with lawyers to question the legality of Khama\'s actions, Khama had him suspended from the committee. After taking the issue to court, it was found that the incumbent president is immune from legal prosecution, and Khama suspended Motswaledi from the BDP entirely. In early 2010, Khama suspended and then expelled several other members of the Barata-Phathi faction from the BDP. This led to the BDP\'s first major split in March when the Barata-Phathi faction left the party to form the Botswana Movement of Democracy.
The Public Service Act took effect in 2010, legalising strikes for civil servants under some circumstances. The following year, the Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) led a two-month strike among the nation\'s civil service to demand a 16% pay, and the government responded by removing thousands of employees from their positions. The removals were overseen by Mokgweetsi Masisi, the Minister for Presidential Affairs. To oppose the government\'s position, BOFEPUSU facilitated a merger of major opposition parties into the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). This new group was led by Duma Boko, who had taken charge of the BNF in 2010 and moderated its rhetoric.
Khama implemented strong conservation reforms during his presidency, especially regarding hunting. While applauded internationally and forming the reputation of Botswana as a \"green miracle\", they were met with frustration domestically because of the unilateral top-down means they were implemented, especially from those living in the designated conservation areas. These policies included an escalation of military anti-poaching practices; anti-poaching units were equipped with automatic firearms to complement a shoot-to-kill policy against suspected poachers.
The BDP retained its majority in the legislature after the following election, but for the first time it did so with only a plurality of the popular vote. Ian Khama then appointed Masisi as his vice-president. The decision was controversial because of Masisi\'s inexperience relative to other possible choices. According to Mogae, Masisi was chosen with the understanding that he would appoint Tshekedi Khama II as vice-president after taking the presidency himself. Botsalo Ntuane was elected Secretary General of the BDP in 2015 on a platform of anti-corruption and electoral reform. This threatened the entrenched nature of the BDP, and Ntuane found a political rival in Masisi. Khama was hostile to the press, especially toward outlets that disagreed with his administration\'s actions. He had two journalists charged with sedition in 2017, but the chargers were later dropped.
### Presidency of Mokgweetsi Masisi {#presidency_of_mokgweetsi_masisi}
Masisi became president at the end of Khama\'s term on 1 April 2018. As the 2019 general election approached, Masisi developed an image to contrast himself from Khama, presenting himself as an anti-corruption figure while supporting the media and BOFEPUSU. His anti-corruption drive resulted in the arrest of Isaac Kgosi, who had led the Directorate of Intelligence and Security in Khama\'s administration.
Masisi proceeded to reverse many of Khama\'s policies. Among these were the repeal of conservation policies, including a controversial hunting ban that targeted the ivory trade. He also oversaw the decriminalisation of homosexuality. As this developed, Masisi and Khama became rivals instead of allies. Khama attempted to recruit Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi as an alternative BDP candidate against Masisi, and when that failed, he founded his own party, the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF).
The BDP reclaimed a majority of the popular vote in 2019, but the election was marred by government pressure and occasional raids against opposition figures. The UDC challenged the results, but they were unsuccessful. Regional trends shifted in 2019 as the BDP lost some of its support in the north while increasing its influence in the south. The election also saw the primary opposition party, the BNF, lose ground to the BCP.
Like most nations, Botswana saw major economic decline during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the country stayed in lockdown for much of 2020 and 2021. The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was discovered in Botswana later in 2021. Anti-Indian sentiment became widespread as the Indian community in Botswana was relatively wealthy.
Khama fled to South Africa in exile in November 2021, and the government of Botswana charged him with illegal ownership of weapons soon after.
### Presidency of Duma Boko {#presidency_of_duma_boko}
The UDC became the first opposition party in Botswana to take power following its victory in the 2024 general election, ending 58 years of rule by the BDP. In his first State of the Nation Address in November 2024, Duma Boko said that his government would push for increased investment into solar energy, medicinal cannabis and industrial hemp. He also announced engagements with Elon Musk to extend affordable internet access nationwide through Starlink. In March 2025, Botswana launched its first satellite, the BOTSAT-1, into space. Boko attended the satellite\'s launch, which took place at SpaceX facilities in the United States.
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Geography of Botswana
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**Botswana** is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa, north of South Africa. Botswana occupies an area of 581730 km2, of which 566730 km2 are land. Botswana has land boundaries of combined length 4347.15 km, of which the constituent boundaries are shared with Namibia, for 1544 km; South Africa 1969 km; Zimbabwe, 834 km and Zambia, 0.15 km. Much of the population of Botswana is concentrated in the eastern part of the country.
Sunshine totals are high all year round although winter is the sunniest period. The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season.
## Area data {#area_data}
Area:
:\* Total: 581,730 km²
:\*\**country rank in the world:* 48th
:\* Land: 566,730 km²
:\* Water: 15,000 km²
Area comparative
:\* Australia comparative: approximately `{{sfrac|5|7}}`{=mediawiki} the size of New South Wales
:\* Canada comparative: approximately `{{sfrac|1|10}}`{=mediawiki} smaller than Saskatchewan
:\* United Kingdom comparative: approximately 2`{{sfrac|2|5}}`{=mediawiki} times the size of the United Kingdom
:\* United States comparative: slightly less than twice the size of Arizona
:\* EU comparative: slightly larger than Metropolitan France
## Geography
The land is predominantly flat to gently undulating tableland, although there is some hilly country, where mining is carried out. The Kalahari Desert is in the central and the southwest. The Okavango Delta, one of the world\'s largest inland deltas, is in the northwest and the Makgadikgadi Pans, a large salt pan lies in the north-central area. The Makgadikgadi has been established as an early habitation area for primitive man; This large seasonal wetland is composed of several large component pans, the largest being Nwetwe Pan, Sua Pan and Nxai Pan. Botswana\'s lowest elevation point is at the junction of the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers, at a height of 513 m. The highest point is Monalanong Hill, at 1494 m. The country is divided into four drainage regions, which are sometimes indistinct due to the arid nature of the climate:
- the Chobe River on the border with the Caprivi Strip of Namibia together with a small adjacent swampy area is part of the Zambezi basin;
- most of the north and central region of the country is part of the Okavango inland drainage basin;
- the easternmost part of the country falls into the Limpopo drainage basin;
- the southern and southwestern regions, which are the driest of all, are drained by the Molopo river along the South African border and the Nossob river through the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, and are technically part of the basin of the Orange River. None of these rivers normally flows as far as the Orange, however. (The last recorded confluence was in the 1880s.)
Except for the Chobe, Okavango, Boteti and Limpopo rivers, most of Botswana\'s rivers cease to flow during the dry and early rainy seasons.
In Botswana forest cover is around 27% of the total land area, equivalent to 15,254,700 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 18,803,700 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 15,254,700 hectares, of the naturally regenerating forest 0% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 11% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 24% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 76% private ownership.
## Climate
Botswana is semi-arid, due to the short rain season. However, the relatively high altitude of the country and its continental situation gives it a subtropical climate. The country is remote from moisture-laden air flows for most of the year. The dry season lasts from April to October in the south and to November in the north where rainfall totals are higher. The south of the country is most exposed to cold winds during the winter period (early May to late August) when average temperatures are around 14 °C. The whole country has hot summers with average temperatures around 26 °C. Sunshine totals are high all year round although winter is the sunniest period. The whole country is windy and dusty during the dry season.
<File:Koppen-Geiger_Map_v2_BWA_1991–2020.svg%7Calt=%7CBotswana> map of Köppen climate classification zones <File:Botswana> sat.png\|alt=\|Satellite image of Botswana <File:Botswana> Topography.png\|alt=\|Elevation map of Botswana
## Natural hazards {#natural_hazards}
Botswana is affected by periodic droughts, and seasonal August winds blow from the west, carrying sand and dust, which can obscure visibility.
## Environment
Current environmental issues in Botswana are overgrazing, desertification and the existence of only limited fresh water resources.
Research from scientists has found that the common practice of overstocking cattle to cope with drought losses actually depletes scarce biomass, making ecosystems more vulnerable. The study of the district predicts that by 2050 the cycle of mild drought is likely to become shorter ---18 months instead of two years---due to climate change.
## International agreements {#international_agreements}
Botswana is a party to the following international agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Organization, Ozone Layer Protection and Wetlands.
## Extreme points {#extreme_points}
This is a list of the extreme points of Botswana, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
- Northernmost point -- the border with Zambia upon the Zambezi River at Chobe District
- Easternmost point -- the tripoint with South Africa and Zimbabwe, Central District
- Southernmost point -- Bokspits, Kgalagadi District
- Westernmost point -- the western section of the border with Namibia\*
- *note: Botswana does not have a westernmost point as the western section is formed by the 22nd meridian of longitude east of Greenwich.*
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Telecommunications in Botswana
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Telecommunications in Botswana include newspapers, radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
In addition to the government-owned newspaper and national radio network, there is an active, independent press (six weekly newspapers). Foreign publications are sold without restriction in Botswana. Two privately owned radio stations began operations in 1999. Botswana\'s first national television station, the government-owned Botswana Television (BTV), was launched in July 2000. It began broadcasting with three hours of programming on weekdays and five on weekends, offering news in Setswana and English, entertainment, and sports, with plans to produce 60% of its programming locally. The cellular phone providers Orange and MTN cover most of the country.
## Radio stations {#radio_stations}
- 2 state-owned national radio stations; 3 privately owned radio stations broadcast locally (2007);
- AM 8, FM 13, shortwave 4 (2001).
## Television stations {#television_stations}
One state-owned and one privately owned; privately owned satellite TV subscription service is available (2007).
**Television sets in use:**
- 101,713 (2001);
- 98,568 (2003).
- 173,327 (2006)
- 297,233 (2008)
- 297,971 (2011)
- 365,650 (2014).
## Telephones
**Main lines in use:**
- 160,500 lines, 134th in the world (2012);
- 136,900 (2006).
**Mobile cellular in use:**
- 3.1 million lines, 129th in the world (2012);
**Telephone system**
- *general assessment*: Botswana is participating in regional development efforts; expanding fully digital system with fiber-optic cables linking the major population centers in the east as well as a system of open-wire lines, microwave radio relays links, and radiotelephone communication stations (2011);
- *domestic*: fixed-line teledensity has declined in recent years and now stands at roughly 7 telephones per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity now pushing 140 telephones per 100 persons (2011);
- *international*: country code - 267; international calls are made via satellite, using international direct dialing; 2 international exchanges; digital microwave radio relay links to Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) (2011).
## ISDB-T {#isdb_t}
**Features:**
- Supports ISDB-T broadcast (13 segments).
- MPEG-2/ MPEG-4 AVC/ H.264 HD/ SD video.
- DiVX Compatible with 480i / 480p / 720p / 1080i/ 1080p video formats. Auto and manually scan all available TV and radio channels.
- Aspect ratio 16:9 and 4:3.
- 1000 channels memory.
- Parental control.
- Teletext / Bit map subtitle.
- Compliant with ETSI.
- Supported 7 days EPG function.
- VBI Teletext support 6 MHz software setting Auto / Manual program search.
- Multi language supported.
## Internet
**Internet top-level domain:** .bw
**Internet users:**
- 241,272 users, 148th in the world; 11.5% of the population, 166th in the world (2012);
- 120,000 users, 154th in the world (2009);
- 80,000 users (2007).
**Internet broadband**:
- 16,407 fixed broadband subscriptions, 134th in the world; 0.8% of the population, 143rd in the world;
- 348,124 wireless broadband subscriptions, 102nd in the world; 16.6% of the population, 76th in the world.
**Internet hosts:**
- 1,806 hosts (2012);
- 6,374 hosts (2008).
**Internet IPv4 addresses**: 100,096 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 47.7 addresses per 1000 people (2012).
**Internet Service Providers:**`{{update after|2014|1|21}}`{=mediawiki}
- 11 ISPs (2001);
- 2 ISPs (1999).
ADSL has been introduced in the following areas: Gaborone, Tlkokweng, Mogoditsane, Phakalane, Francistown, Lobatse, Palapye, Maun, Kasane, Selibe-Phikwe, Letlhakane, Jwaneng, and Orapa.
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Transport in Botswana
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**Transportation in Botswana** is provided by an extensive network of railways, highways, ferry services and air routes that criss-cross the country. The transport sector in Botswana played an important role in economic growth following its independence in 1966. The country discovered natural resources which allowed it to finance the development of infrastructure, and policy ensured that the transport sector grew at an affordable pace commensurate with demands for services.
## Rail transport {#rail_transport}
Rail services are provided by Botswana Railways, with most routes radiating from Gaborone. Botswana has the 93rd longest railway network in the world at 888 km, it is one of the busiest railways in Africa. The track gauge is 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) (cape gauge). Botswana is an associate member of the International Union of Railways (UIC).
### Regional trains (BR Express) {#regional_trains_br_express}
Botswana Railways run 2 nightly passenger trains, one from Lobatse to Francistown, and the other from Francistown to Lobatse, with stops in Gaborone, Mahalapye, Palapye, and Serule. The passenger train is termed the \"BR Express\" (Botswana Railways). Passenger services were suspended from 2009 to 2016, with the exception of an international link to Zimbabwe from Francistown.
### Commuter/suburban trains {#commutersuburban_trains}
In Botswana, the (Botswana Railways) \"BR Express\" has a commuter train between Lobatse and Gaborone. The train departs to Lobatse at 0530hrs and arrives at Gaborone at 0649hrs. This train returns to Lobatse in the evening, departing in Gaborone at 1800hrs. Arrival time at Lobatse is 1934hrs. The train stops at Otse, Ramotswa, and Commerce Park Halt.
### BR Express Sleeping & Dining Department {#br_express_sleeping_dining_department}
From the beginning, the BR decided to operate its own sleeping cars, thus building bigger-sized berths and more comfortable surroundings. Providing and operating their cars allowed better control of the services and revenue. While the food was served to passengers, the profits were never result of serving the food. Those who could afford to travel great distances expected better facilities, and favorable opinions from the overall experience would attract others to Botswana and the BR\'s trains.
### Stations
### Freight trains {#freight_trains}
Over half of BRs freight traffic is in coal, grain and intermodal freight, and it also ships automotive parts and assembled automobiles, sulphur, fertilizers, other chemicals, soda ash, forest products and other types of the commodities.
### Locomotives
**Diesel locomotives**
As of March 2009:
- 8 General Electric UM 22C diesel-electric locomotive, 1982.
- 20 General Motors Model GT22LC-2 diesel-electric locomotive, 1986.
- 10 General Electric UI5C diesel-electric locomotive, 1990.
- 8 new gt142aces were delivered in the end of 2017.
### Network
- total: 888 km (since 2015)
- number of stations: 13
- standard gauge: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) cape gauge.
### Railway links with adjacent countries {#railway_links_with_adjacent_countries}
**Existing**
- South Africa (same gauge)
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
- Zimbabwe (same gauge)
#### Currently under construction {#currently_under_construction}
- Zambia - being built at Kazungula Bridge in Kazungula.
#### Proposed
- Namibia
- Mozambique
## Road transport {#road_transport}
### Vehicle population {#vehicle_population}
- Botswana had 584,000 locally registered vehicles at the end of June 2019 - more than double the number compared to 10 years prior. This equates to around 250 vehicles per 1,000 people in the country.
- 30,583 vehicles were registered in the first 6 months of 2019.
- Secondhand imports from Asia and the UK are a significant source of vehicles in Botswana.
### A-roads {#a_roads}
A-roads are highways and other major roads.
---------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Road** **Connections**
A1 Zimbabwe (A7) - Ramokgwebane (B315) - Tshesebe (B311) - Francistown (A3, B162) - Dikabeya (B151) - Serule (A15) - Palapye (A14, B140) - Mahalapye (B145, B147) - Pilane (B130) - Gaborone (A10, A12) - Ramotswa (A11, B111) - Otse (B105) - Lobatse (A2) - Ramatlabama (B202) - South Africa (R503)
A2 Namibia (B6) - Charleshill (B214) - A3 (south of Ghanzi) - Morwamosu (B102) - Sekoma (A20) - Kanye (A10, B105, B202) - Lobatse (A1) - South Africa (N4)
A3 A2 - Ghanzi - Sehithwa (A35) - Maun (B334) - Matopi (B300) - Nata (A33) - Dukwe (A32) - Sebina (A31) - Francistown (A30, A1)
A10 Gaborone (A1, A12) - Thamaga (B111) - Mosopa - Kanye (A2, B105, B202)
A11 A1 - Ramotswa
A12 Molepolole (B102, B111, B112) - Metsimotlhaba (B122) - Gaborone (A1) - South Africa (R49)
A14 Orapa (A30, B300) - Serowe (B145) - Palapye (A1, B140)
A15 Serule (A1) - Selebi Phikwe (B157, B150)
A20 Sekoma (A2) - Khakhea (B205) - Tshabong (B210, B211)
A30 Orapa (A14, B300) - Francistown (A3)
A31 Tutume - Sebina (A3)
A32 Sowa - Dukwe (A3)
A33 Namibia (B6) - Muchenje - Kasane - Pandamatenga (B333) - Nata (A3)
A35 Namibia - Shakawe - Sehithwa (A3)
---------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
### B-roads {#b_roads}
B-roads are smaller distributor roads.
---------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
**Road** **Connections**
B102 Morwamosu (A2) - Molepolole (A12, B111, B112)
B105 Kanye (A2, A10, B202) - Otse (A1)
B111 Molepolole (A12, B102, B112) - Thamaga (A10) - Ramotswa (A1, A11)
B112 Shoshong (B145) - Molepolole (A12, B102, B111)
B122 Lentsweletau (B123) - Metsimotlhaba (A12)
B123 Lentsweletau (B122) - east
B130 Pilane (A1) - Mochudi - Sikwane (B135) - South Africa
B135 Malolwane - Sikwane (B130)
B140 Palapye (A1, A14) - Sherwood (B141) - South Africa (Grobler\'s Bridge, N11)
B141 Machaneng (B147, B148) - Sherwood (B140)
B145 Serowe (A14) - Shoshong (B112) - Mahalapye (A1, B147)
B147 Mahalapye (A1, B145) - Machaneng (B141, B148)
B148 B140 - Machaneng (B141, B147)
B150 Selebi Phikwe (A15) - Sefophe (B150) - Tsetsebjwe
B151 Dikabeya (A1) - Sefophe (B151) - Bobonong (B155) - Kobojango
B155 Bobonong (B150) - Molalatau
B157 Mmadinare - Selebi Phikwe (A15)
B162 Francistown (A1, A3) - Matsiloje
B202 Kanye (A2, A10, B105) - Ramatlabama (A1)
B205 A2 - Khakhea (A20) - south
B210 Tshabong (A20, B211) - South Africa (R380)
B211 South Africa - Bokspits - Tshabong (A20, B210)
B214 Charleshill (A2) - Ncojane
B300 Matopi (A3) - Rakops - Orapa (A14, A30)
B311 Masunga (B316) - Tshesebe (A1)
B315 Zwenshambe (B316) - Moroka - Ramokgwebane (A1)
B316 Zwenshambe (B315) - Masunga (B311)
B333 A33 - Pandamatenga - Zimbabwe
B334 Shorobe - Maun (A3)
---------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
### Motorways
Motorways in Botswana have a set of restrictions, which prohibit certain traffic from using the road. The following classes of traffic are not allowed on Botswana motorways:
- Learner drivers
- Slow vehicles (i.e., not capable of reaching 60 km/h on a level road)
- Invalid carriages (lightweight three-wheeled vehicles)
- Pedestrians
- Pedal-cycles (bicycles, etc.)
- Vehicles under 50cc (e.g. mopeds)
- Tractors
- Animals
Rules for driving on motorways include the following:
- The keep-left rule applies unless overtaking
- No stopping at any time
- No reversing
- No hitchhiking
- Only vehicles that travel faster than 80 km/h may use the outside lane
- No driving on the hard-shoulder
The general motorway speed limit is 120 km/h.
### Road signs {#road_signs}
Traditionally, road signs in Botswana used blue backgrounds rather than the yellow, white, or orange that the rest of the world uses on traffic warning signs. In the early 2010s, officials announced plans to begin phasing out the distinctive blue signs in favour of more typical signs in order to be more in line with the neighbouring Southern African Development Community member states.
### Interchanges
#### Existing
- **Kenneth Nkhwa Interchange** at the junction of A1 / Blue Jacket Street and A3 in Francistown.
- **Boatle Interchange** in **Boatle**.
#### Under construction {#under_construction}
The Government of Botswana is building three interchanges along **K.T Motsete Drive (*Western Bypass*)** in Gaborone. This project started in August 2019, and deadline date is set 2022.
### Longest bridges {#longest_bridges}
The Kazungula Bridge in Kazungula and the Okavango River Bridge (constructed 2022) in Mohembo are the two longest bridges.
### Roadway links with adjacent countries {#roadway_links_with_adjacent_countries}
#### Existing {#existing_1}
- Namibia by Trans-Kalahari Corridor.
- South Africa by A1 highway (Botswana), A2 highway (Botswana), A11 road (Botswana) and **A12 highway (Botswana)**.
- Zambia by A33 road (Botswana).
- Zimbabwe by A1 highway (Botswana).
## Mass transit by road {#mass_transit_by_road}
### Taxicabs
In most parts of Botswana, there are many taxicabs of various colours and styles. Botswana has no limitation in taxicab design, so each taxicab company adopts its own design.
### Minibus taxis {#minibus_taxis}
Minibus taxis, also known as C*ombi*, are the predominant form of transport for people in urban areas of Botswana. Most of them are found within cities, towns, major villages, and even the least populated areas.
They also have their own minibus station within a particular area; only transporting people within that specific area using different and unique routes. This is due to their availability and affordability to the public.
Most minibus taxis do not have a specific departure time that is allocated by the state and most of them have 15-seaters. The minibuses are owned and operated by many individual minibus owners.
### Coach bus {#coach_bus}
Coach buses are used for longer-distance services within and outside Botswana. These are normally operated by private companies and are the only buses that have departure times allocated by the Ministry of Transport. Coach buses have multiple departures, routes, and stations all over Botswana.
## Water transport {#water_transport}
Further information: List of rivers of Botswana
### Ferries
The Kazungula Ferry was a pontoon ferry that crossed the 400 m Zambezi River between Botswana and Zambia.
### Tour boats {#tour_boats}
## Aviation
Further information: List of airports in Botswana In 2004 there were an estimated 85 airports, 10 of which (as of 2005), were paved. The country\'s main international airport is Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone. The government-owned Air Botswana operates scheduled flights to Francistown, Gaborone, Maun, and Selebi-Phikwe. There is international service to Johannesburg, South Africa; Mbabane, Eswatini; and Harare, Zimbabwe. A new international airport near Gaborone was opened in 1984. Air passengers arriving to and departing from Botswana during 2003 totalled about 183,000.
### International airports {#international_airports}
Botswana has 4 international airports.
- Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone.
- Francistown Airport in Francistown.
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- Kasane Airport in Kasane.
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```
- Maun Airport in Maun.
#### Proposed airports {#proposed_airports}
- \"Mophane International Airport\" is planned in Palapye Sub-District near Moremi village.
## Pedestrian elevated walkways {#pedestrian_elevated_walkways}
Botswana has many pedestrian elevated walkways at different places.
## Water pipelines {#water_pipelines}
`{{Relevance inline|discuss=|date=August 2023|reason=is a pipeline 'Transport'?}}`{=mediawiki}
### Under construction {#under_construction_1}
#### North-South Carrier {#north_south_carrier}
NSC is a pipeline in Botswana that carries raw water, south for a distance of 360 km to the capital city of Gaborone. It was done in phases. However, phase 1 was completed in 2000.
Phase 2 of the NSC, still under construction, will duplicate the pipeline to carry water from the Dikgatlhong Dam, which was completed in 2012.
A proposed extension to deliver water from the Zambezi would add another 500 to to the total pipeline length.
#### Lesotho-Botswana Water Transport {#lesotho_botswana_water_transport}
The Lesotho-Botswana Water Transfer is an ongoing project which is expected to provide two hundred million cubic meters per year to transfer water to the south-eastern parts of Botswana.
The scheme involves the supply of water to Gaborone from Lesotho via a 600 to pipeline.
The project commenced on the 1 August 2018 and is set for completion in June 2020.
### Proposed {#proposed_1}
#### Sea water desalination project {#sea_water_desalination_project}
The Government of Botswana intends to sign the Sea Water Desalination Project from Namibia. The project is at a tendering stage.
## Border posts {#border_posts}
- Bokspits Border Post
- Kazungula Border Post
- Ramatlabama Border Post
- Ramokgwebana Border Post
- Mamuno Border Post
- Pandamatenga Border Post
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,631 |
Geography of Brazil
|
The country of Brazil occupies roughly half of South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil covers a total area of 8514215 km2 which includes 8456510 km2 of land and 55455 km2 of water. The highest point in Brazil is Pico da Neblina at 2994 m. Brazil is bordered by the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, and French Guiana.
Much of the climate is tropical, with the south being relatively temperate. The largest river in Brazil, and the second longest in the world, is the Amazon.
## Size and geographical location {#size_and_geographical_location}
Brazil occupies most of the eastern part of the South American continent and its geographic heartland and various islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The only countries in the world that are larger are Russia, Canada, China and the United States. The national territory extends 4397.53 km from north to south (5°16\'10\" N to 33°45\'03\" S latitude), and 4320.53 km from east to west (34°47\'35\" W to 73°58\'59\" W longitude). It spans four time zones, the westernmost of which is equivalent to Eastern Standard Time in the United States. The time zone of the capital (Brasília) and of the most populated part of Brazil along the east coast (UTC-3) is two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The Atlantic islands are in the easternmost time zone. This continent occupies almost half of the total area. Its coasts are washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean in the east. Brazil borders all South American countries except Chile and Ecuador. It ranks 5th among the countries of the world in terms of area. The territory of Brazil is located on the ancient South American platform. Therefore, the relief consists of lowlands and flat mountains. In the north, a large area is occupied by the Amazonian lowland. To the south of it is the strongly dissected Brazilian lowland. Between the Brazilian lowland and the Atlantic Ocean is a narrow coastal lowland. Brazil has large deposits of oil, iron, bauxite, nickel, uranium, manganese ores, diamonds and other minerals. Due to the fact that most of it is located in the equatorial and subequatorial climatic zones and the influence of the trade winds blowing from the Atlantic Ocean, the climatic conditions are characterized by high humidity and heat. Due to the temperate climate, the hydrographic network in Brazil is very well developed. The longest and most fertile river in the world, the Amazon, flows through the north of the country. The Amazon basin has formed one of the largest and thickest massifs on our planet. In addition to the Amazon, Brazil also has such large rivers as the Paraná, Tocantins, and São Francisco. In general, Brazil is one of the countries best endowed with water, hydroelectric power, and forest resources.
Brazil possesses the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, located 350 km northeast of its \"horn\", and several small islands and atolls in the Atlantic - Abrolhos, Atol das Rocas, Penedos de São Pedro e São Paulo, Trindade, and Martim Vaz. In the early 1970s, Brazil claimed a territorial sea extending 362 km from the country\'s shores, including those of the islands.
On Brazil\'s east coast, the Atlantic coastline extends 7367 km. In the west, in clockwise order from the south, Brazil has 15719 km of borders with Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (overseas department of France). The only South American countries with which Brazil does not share borders are Chile and Ecuador. A few short sections are in question, but there are no true major boundary controversies with any of the neighboring countries. Brazil has the 10th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 3,830,955 km2.
Brazil\'s 49 major ecosystems include the Amazon Basin, Pantanal, Cerrado, Caatinga, Atlantic Forest, and Pampas, each contributing uniquely to the country\'s rich biodiversity and environmental diversity. In Brazil forest cover is around 59% of the total land area, equivalent to 496,619,600 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 588,898,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 485,396,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 11,223,600 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 44% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 30% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 56.% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership and 400% private ownership.
## Geology, geomorphology and drainage {#geology_geomorphology_and_drainage}
In contrast to the Andes, which rose to elevations of nearly 7000 m in a relatively recent epoch and inverted the Amazon\'s direction of flow from westward to eastward, Brazil\'s geological formation is ancient. Precambrian crystalline shields cover 36% of the territory, especially its central area. The dramatic granite sugarloaf mountains in the city of Rio de Janeiro are an example of the terrain of the Brazilian shield regions, where continental basement rock has been sculpted into towering domes and columns by tens of millions of years of erosion, untouched by mountain-building events.
The principal mountain ranges average elevations under 2000 m. The Serra do Mar Range hugs the Atlantic coast, and the Serra do Espinhaço Range, the largest in area, extends through the south-central part of the country. The highest mountains are in the Tumucumaque, Pacaraima, and Imeri ranges, among others, which traverse the northern border with the Guianas and Venezuela.
In addition to mountain ranges (about 0.5% of the country is above 1200 m), Brazil\'s Central Highlands include a vast central plateau (Planalto Central). The plateau\'s uneven terrain has an average elevation of 1000 m. The rest of the territory is made up primarily of sedimentary basins, the largest of which is drained by the Amazon and its tributaries. Of the total territory, 41% averages less than 200 m in elevation. The coastal zone is noted for thousands of kilometers of tropical beaches interspersed with mangroves, lagoons, and dunes, as well as numerous coral reefs. A recent global remote sensing analysis also suggested that there were 5,389 km^2^ of tidal flats in Brazil, making it the 7th ranked country in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.
The Parcel de Manuel Luís Marine State Park off the coast of Maranhão protects the largest coral reef in South America.
Brazil has one of the world\'s most extensive river systems, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Two of these basins---the Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia account for more than half the total drainage area. The largest river system in Brazil is the Amazon, which originates in the Andes and receives tributaries from a basin that covers 45.7% of the country, principally the north and west. The main Amazon river system is the Amazonas-Solimões-Ucayali axis (the 6762 km-long Ucayali is a Peruvian tributary), flowing from west to east. Through the Amazon Basin flows one-fifth of the world\'s fresh water. A total of 3615 km of the Amazon are in Brazilian territory. Over this distance, the waters decline only about 100 m. The major tributaries on the southern side are, from west to east, the Javari, Juruá, Purus (all three of which flow into the western section of the Amazon called the Solimões), Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and Tocantins. On the northern side, the largest tributaries are the Branco, Japurá, Jari, and Rio Negro. The above-mentioned tributaries carry more water than the Mississippi (its discharge is less than one-tenth that of the Amazon). The Amazon and some of its tributaries, called \"white\" rivers, bear rich sediments and hydrobiological elements. The black-white and clear rivers---such as the Negro, Tapajós, and Xingu---have clear (greenish) or dark water with few nutrients and little sediment.
The major river system in the Northeast is the Rio São Francisco, which flows 1609 km northeast from the south-central region. Its basin covers 7.6% of the national territory. Only 277 km of the lower river are navigable for oceangoing ships. The Paraná system covers 14.5% of the country. The Paraná flows south among the Río de la Plata Basin, reaching the Atlantic between Argentina and Uruguay. The headwaters of the Paraguai, the Paraná\'s major eastern tributary, constitute the Pantanal, the largest contiguous wetlands in the world, covering as much as 230000 km2.
Below their descent from the highlands, many of the tributaries of the Amazon are navigable. Upstream, they generally have rapids or waterfalls, and boats and barges also must face sandbars, trees, and other obstacles. Nevertheless, the Amazon is navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as 3885 km upstream, reaching Iquitos in Peru. The Amazon river system was the principal means of access until new roads became more important. Hydroelectric projects are Itaipu, in Paraná, with 12,600 MW; Tucuruí, in Pará, with 7,746 MW; and Paulo Afonso, in Bahia, with 3,986 MW.
### Natural resources {#natural_resources}
Natural resources in Brazil include bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, clay, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, and timber.
## Rivers and lakes {#rivers_and_lakes}
`{{Main articles|List of rivers of Brazil}}`{=mediawiki} According to organs of the Brazilian government there are 12 major hydrographic regions in Brazil. Seven of these are river basins named after their main rivers; the other five are groupings of various river basins in areas which have no dominant river.
- 7 hydrographic regions named after their dominant rivers:
- Amazonas
- Paraguai
- Paraná
- Parnaíba
- São Francisco
- Tocantins
- Uruguay
- 5 coastal Hydrographic Regions based on regional groupings of minor river basins (listed from north to south):
- Atlântico Nordeste Ocidental (Western North-east Atlantic)
- Atlântico Nordeste Oriental (Eastern North-east Atlantic)
- Atlântico Leste (Eastern Atlantic)
- Atlântico Sudeste (South-east Atlantic)
- Atlântico Sul (South Atlantic)
The Amazon River is the widest and second longest river (behind the Nile) in the world. This huge river drains the greater part of the world\'s rainforests. Another major river, the Paraná, has its source in Brazil. It forms the border of Paraguay and Argentina, then winds its way through Argentina and into the Atlantic Ocean, along the southern coast of Uruguay.
## Soil and vegetation {#soil_and_vegetation}
Brazil\'s tropical soils produce almost 210 million tons of grain crops per year, from about 70 million hectares of crops. The country also has the 5th largest arable land area in the world. Burning also is used traditionally to remove tall, dry, and nutrient-poor grass from pasture at the end of the dry season. Until mechanization and the use of chemical and genetic inputs increased during the agricultural intensification period of the 1970s and 1980s, coffee planting and farming, in general, moved constantly onward to new lands in the west and north. This pattern of horizontal or extensive expansion maintained low levels of technology and productivity and placed emphasis on quantity rather than the quality of agricultural production.
The largest areas of fertile soils, called terra roxa (red earth), are found in the states of Paraná and São Paulo. The least fertile areas are in the Amazon, where the dense rainforest is. Soils in the Northeast are often fertile, but they lack water, unless they are irrigated artificially.
In the 1980s, investments made possible the use of irrigation, especially in the Northeast Region and in Rio Grande do Sul State, which had shifted from grazing to soy and rice production in the 1970s. Savanna soils also were made usable for soybean farming through acidity correction, fertilization, plant breeding, and in some cases spray irrigation. As agriculture underwent modernization in the 1970s and 1980s, soil fertility became less important for agricultural production than factors related to capital investment, such as infrastructure, mechanization, use of chemical inputs, breeding, and proximity to markets. Consequently, the vigor of frontier expansion weakened.
The variety of climates, soils, and drainage conditions in Brazil is reflected in the range of its vegetation types. The Amazon Basin and the areas of heavy rainfall along the Atlantic coast have tropical rain forest composed of broadleaf evergreen trees. The rain forest may contain as many as 3,000 species of flora and fauna within a 2.6 km2 area. The Atlantic Forest is reputed to have even greater biological diversity than the Amazon rain forest, which, despite apparent homogeneity, contains many types of vegetation, from high canopy forest to bamboo groves.
In the semiarid Northeast, caatinga, a dry, thick, thorny vegetation, predominates. Most of central Brazil is covered with a woodland savanna, known as the cerrado (sparse scrub trees and drought-resistant grasses), which became an area of agricultural development after the mid-1970s. In the South (Sul), needle-leaved pinewoods (Paraná pine or araucaria) cover the highlands; grassland similar to the Argentine pampa covers the sea-level plains. The Mato Grosso swamplands (Pantanal Mato-grossense) is a Florida-sized plain in the western portion of the Center-West (Centro-Oeste). It is covered with tall grasses, bushes, and widely dispersed trees similar to those of the cerrado and is partly submerged during the rainy season.
Brazil, which is named after reddish dyewood (pau brasil), has long been famous for the wealth of its tropical forests. These are not, however, as important to world markets as those of Asia and Africa, which started to reach depletion only in the 1980s. By 1996 more than 90% of the original Atlantic forest had been cleared, primarily for agriculture, with little use made of the wood, except for araucaria pine in Paraná.
The inverse situation existed with regard to clearing for wood in the Amazon rain forest, of which about 15% had been cleared by 1994, and part of the remainder had been disturbed by selective logging. Because the Amazon forest is highly heterogeneous, with hundreds of woody species per hectare, there is considerable distance between individual trees of economic value, such as mahogany and Pereira. Therefore, this type of forest is not normally cleared for timber extraction but logged through high-grading or selection of the most valuable trees. Because of vines, felling, and transportation, their removal causes destruction of many other trees, and the litter and new growth create a risk of forest fires, which are otherwise rare in rainforests. In favorable locations, such as Paragominas, in the northeastern part of Pará State, a new pattern of timber extraction has emerged: diversification and the production of plywood have led to the economic use of more than 100 tree species.
Starting in the late 1980s, rapid deforestation and extensive burning in Brazil received considerable international and national attention. Satellite images have helped document and quantify deforestation as well as fires, but their use also has generated considerable controversy because of problems of defining original vegetation, cloud cover, and dealing with secondary growth and because fires, as mentioned above, may occur in old pasture rather than signifying new clearing. Public policies intended to promote sustainable management of timber extraction, as well as sustainable use of nontimber forest products (such as rubber, Brazil nuts, fruits, seeds, oils, and vines), were being discussed intensely in the mid-1990s. However, implementing the principles of sustainable development, without irreversible damage to the environment, proved to be more challenging than establishing international agreements about them.
## Climate
Although 74% of the country is within the tropical zone, the climate of Brazil varies considerably from the mostly tropical North (the equator traverses the mouth of the Amazon) to temperate zones below the Tropic of Capricorn (23°27\' S latitude), which crosses the country at the latitude of the city of São Paulo. Brazil has five climatic regions: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, highland tropical, subtropical and oceanic.
Temperatures along the equator are high, averaging above 25 C, but not reaching the summer extremes of up to 40 C in the temperate zones. There is little seasonal variation near the equator, although at times it can get cool enough for wearing a jacket, especially in the rain. At the country\'s other extreme, there are frosts south of the Tropic of Capricorn during the winter (June--August), and there is snow in the mountainous areas, such as Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Temperatures in the cities of São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and Brasília are moderate (usually between 15 and), despite their relatively low latitude, because of their elevation of approximately 1000 m. Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Salvador on the coast have warm climates, with average temperatures ranging from 23 to, but enjoy constant trade winds. The southern cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba have a subtropical climate similar to that in parts of the United States and Europe, and temperatures can fall below freezing in winter.
Precipitation levels vary widely. Most of Brazil has moderate rainfall of between 1000 and a year, with most of the rain falling in the winter (between December and April) south of the Equator. The Amazon region is notoriously humid, with rainfall generally more than 2000 mm per year and reaching as high as 3000 mm in parts of the western Amazon and near Belém. It is less widely known that, despite high annual precipitation, the Amazon rain forest has a three- to five-month dry season, the timing of which varies according to location north or south of the equator.
High and relatively regular levels of precipitation in the Amazon contrast sharply with the dryness of the semiarid Northeast, where rainfall is scarce and there are severe droughts in cycles averaging seven years. The Northeast is the driest part of the country. The region also constitutes the hottest part of Brazil, where during the dry season between May and November, temperatures of more than 38 C have been recorded. However, the sertão, a region of semidesert vegetation used primarily for low-density ranching, turns green when there is rain. Most of the Center-West has 1500 to of rain per year, with a pronounced dry season in the middle of the year, while the South and most of the year without a distinct dry season.
## Geographic regions {#geographic_regions}
Brazil\'s 26 states and the Federal District (Distrito Federal) are divided conventionally into five regions: North (Norte), Northeast (Nordeste), Southeast (Sudeste), South (Sul), and Center-West (Centro-Oeste). In 2015 there were 5,570 municipalities (municípios), which have municipal governments. Many municipalities, which are comparable to United States counties, are in turn divided into districts (distritos), which do not have political or administrative autonomy. In 2015 there were 10,424 districts. All municipal and district seats, regardless of size, are considered officially to be urban. For purely statistical purposes, the municipalities were grouped in 1990 into 558 micro-regions, which in turn constituted 137 meso-regions. This grouping modified the previous micro-regional division established in 1968, a division that was used to present census data for 1970, 1975, 1980, and 1985.
Each of the five major regions has a distinct ecosystem. Administrative boundaries do not necessarily coincide with ecological boundaries, however. In addition to differences in physical environment, patterns of economic activity and population settlement vary widely among the regions. The principal ecological characteristics of each of the five major regions, as well as their principal socioeconomic and demographic features, are summarized below.
### Center-West {#center_west}
The Center-West consists of the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul (separated from Mato Grosso in 1979) and the Federal District, where Brasília is located, the national capital. Until 1988 Goiás State included the area that then became the state of Tocantins in the North.
The Center-West has 1612077 km2 and covers 18.9% of the national territory. Its main biome is the cerrado, the tropical savanna in which natural grassland is partly covered with twisted shrubs and small trees. The cerrado was used for low-density cattle-raising in the past but is now also used for soybean production. There are gallery forests along the rivers and streams and some larger areas of forest, most of which have been cleared for farming and livestock. In the north, the cerrado blends into tropical forest. It also includes the Pantanal wetlands in the west, known for their wildlife, especially aquatic birds and caimans. In the early 1980s, 33.6% of the region had been altered by anthropic activities, with a low of 9.3% in Mato Grosso and a high of 72.9% in Goiás (not including Tocantins). In 1996 the Center-West region had 10.2 million inhabitants, or 6% of Brazil\'s total population. The average density is low, with concentrations in and around the cities of Brasília, Goiânia, Campo Grande, and Cuiabá. Living standards are below the national average. In 1994 they were highest in the Federal District, with per capita income of US\$7,089 (the highest in the nation), and lowest in Mato Grosso, with US\$2,268.
### Northeast
The nine states that make up the Northeast are Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe. The Fernando de Noronha archipelago (formerly the federal territory of Fernando de Noronha, now part of Pernambuco state) is also included in the Northeast.
The Northeast, with 1561178 km2, covers 18.3% of the national terrest concentration of rural population, and its living standards are the lowest in Brazil. In 1994 Piauí had the lowest per capita income in the region and the country, only US\$835, while Sergipe had the highest average income in the region, with US\$1,958.
### North
The equatorial North, also known as the Amazon or Amazônia, includes, from west to east, the states of Rondônia, Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Pará, Amapá, and, as of 1988, Tocantins (created from the northern part of Goiás State, which is situated in the Center-West). Rondônia, previously a federal territory, became a state in 1986. The former federal territories of Roraima and Amapá were raised to statehood in 1988.
With 3869638 km2, the North is the country\'s largest region, covering 45.3% of the national territory. The region\'s principal biome is the humid tropical forest, also known as the rain forest, home to some of the planet\'s richest biological diversity. The North has served as a source of forest products ranging from \"backlands drugs\" (such as sarsaparilla, cocoa, cinnamon, and turtle butter) in the colonial period to rubber and Brazil nuts in more recent times. In the mid-twentieth century, non-forest products from mining, farming, and livestock-raising became more important, and in the 1980s the lumber industry boomed. In 1990, 6.6% of the region\'s territory was considered altered by anthropic (man-made) action, with state levels varying from 0.9% in Amapá to 14.0% in Rondônia.
In 1996 the North had 11.1 million inhabitants, only 7% of the national total. However, its share of Brazil\'s total had grown rapidly in the 1970s and early 1980s as a result of interregional migration, as well as high rates of natural increase. The largest population concentrations are in eastern Pará State and in Rondônia. The major cities are Belém and Santarém in Pará, and Manaus in Amazonas. Living standards are below the national average. The highest per capita income, US\$2,888, in the region in 1994, was in Amazonas, while the lowest, US\$901, was in Tocantins.
### Southeast
The Southeast consists of the four states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. Its total area of 927286 km2 corresponds to 10.9% of the national territory. The region has the largest share of the country\'s population, 63 million in 1991, or 39% of the national total, primarily as a result of internal migration since the mid-19th century until the 1980s. In addition to a dense urban network, it contains the megacities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which in 1991 had 18.7 million and 11.7 million inhabitants in their metropolitan areas, respectively. The region combines the highest living standards in Brazil with pockets of urban poverty. In 1994 São Paulo boasted an average income of US\$4,666, while Minas Gerais reported only US\$2,833.
Originally, the principal biome in the Southeast was the Atlantic Forest, but by 1990 less than 10% of the original forest cover remained as a result of clearing for farming, ranching, and charcoal making. Anthropic activity had altered 79.7% of the region, ranging from 75% in Minas Gerais to 91.1% in Espírito Santo. The region has most of Brazil\'s industrial production. The state of São Paulo alone accounts for half of the country\'s industries. Agriculture, also very strong, has diversified and now uses modern technology.
### South
The three states in the temperate South: Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina---cover 577214 km2, or 6.8% of the national territory. The population of the South in 1991 was 23.1 million, or 14% of the country\'s total. The region is almost as densely settled as the Southeast, but the population is more concentrated along the coast. The major cities are Curitiba and Porto Alegre. The inhabitants of the South enjoy relatively high living standards. Because of its industry and agriculture, Paraná had the highest average income in 1994, US\$3,674, while Santa Catarina, a land of small farmers and small industries, had slightly less, US\$3,405.
In addition to the Atlantic Forest and Araucaria moist forests, much of which were cleared in the post-World War II period, the southernmost portion of Brazil contains the Uruguayan savanna, which extends into Argentina and Uruguay. In 1982, 83.5% of the region had been altered by anthropic activity, with the highest level (89.7%) in Rio Grande do Sul, and the lowest (66.7%) in Santa Catarina. Agriculture---much of which, such as rice production, is carried out by small farmers---has high levels of productivity. There are also some important industries.
## Data
In contrast to the Andes, which rose to elevations of nearly 7000 m in a relatively recent epoch and inverted the Amazon\'s direction of flow from westward to eastward, Brazil\'s geological formation is very old. Precambrian crystalline shields cover 36% of the territory, especially its central area. The dramatic granite sugarloaf mountains in the city of Rio de Janeiro are an example of the terrain of the Brazilian shield regions, where continental basement rock has been sculpted into towering domes and columns by tens of millions of years of erosion, untouched by mountain-building events.
The principal mountain ranges average elevations just under 2000 m. The Serra do Mar Range hugs the Atlantic coast, and the Serra do Espinhaço Range, the largest in area, extends through the south-central part of the country. The highest mountains are in the Tumucumaque, Pacaraima, and Imeri ranges, among others, which traverse the northern border with the Guianas and Venezuela.
In addition to mountain ranges (about 0.5% of the country is above 1200 m), Brazil\'s Central Highlands include a vast central plateau (Planalto Central). The plateau\'s uneven terrain has an average elevation of 1000 m. The rest of the territory is made up primarily of sedimentary basins, the largest of which is drained by the Amazon and its tributaries. Of the total territory, 44% averages less than 200 m in elevation. The coastal zone is noted for thousands of kilometers of tropical beaches interspersed with mangroves, lagoons, and dunes, as well as numerous coral reefs.
The Parcel de Manuel Luís Marine State Park off the coast of Maranhão protects the largest coral reef in South America.
Brazil has one of the world\'s most extensive river systems, with eight major drainage basins, all of which drain into the Atlantic Ocean. Two of these basins---the Amazon and Tocantins-Araguaia account for more than half the total drainage area. The largest river system in Brazil is the Amazon, which originates in the Andes and receives tributaries from a basin that covers 45.7% of the country, principally the north and west. The main Amazon river system is the Amazonas-Solimões-Ucayali axis (the 6762 km-long Ucayali is a Peruvian tributary), flowing from west to east. Through the Amazon Basin flows one-fifth of the world\'s fresh water. A total of 3615 km of the Amazon are in Brazilian territory. Over this distance, the waters decline only about 100 m. The major tributaries on the southern side are, from west to east, the Javari, Juruá, Purus (all three of which flow into the western section of the Amazon called the Solimões), Madeira, Tapajós, Xingu, and Tocantins. On the northern side, the largest tributaries are the Branco, Japurá, Jari, and Rio Negro. The above-mentioned tributaries carry more water than the Mississippi (its discharge is less than one-tenth that of the Amazon). The Amazon and some of its tributaries, called \"white\" rivers, bear rich sediments and hydrobiological elements. The black-white and clear rivers---such as the Negro, Tapajós, and Xingu---have clear (greenish) or dark water with few nutrients and little sediment.
The major river system in the Northeast is the Rio São Francisco, which flows 1609 km northeast from the south-central region. Its basin covers 7.6% of the national territory. Only 277 km of the lower river are navigable for oceangoing ships. The Paraná system covers 14.5% of the country. The Paraná flows south among the Río de la Plata Basin, reaching the Atlantic between Argentina and Uruguay. The headwaters of the Paraguai, the Paraná\'s major eastern tributary, constitute the Pantanal, the largest contiguous wetlands in the world, covering as much as 230000 km2.
Below their descent from the highlands, many of the tributaries of the Amazon are navigable. Upstream, they generally have rapids or waterfalls, and boats and barges also must face sandbars, trees, and other obstacles. Nevertheless, the Amazon is navigable by oceangoing vessels as far as 3885 km upstream, reaching Iquitos in Peru. The Amazon river system was the principal means of access until new roads became more important. Hydroelectric projects are Itaipu, in Paraná, with 12,600 MW; Tucuruí, in Pará, with 7,746 MW; and Paulo Afonso, in Bahia, with 3,986 MW.
## Locations
Brazil occupies most of the eastern part of the South American continent and its geographic heartland, as well as various islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The only countries in the world that are larger are Russia, Canada, China, and the United States. The national territory extends 4395 km from north to south (5°16\'20\" N to 33°44\'32\" S latitude), and 4319 km from east to west (34°47\'30\" W to 73°59\'32\" W longitude). It spans four time zones, the westernmost of which is equivalent to Eastern Standard Time in the United States. The time zone of the capital (Brasília) and of the most populated part of Brazil along the east coast (UTC-3) is two hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. The Atlantic islands are in the easternmost time zone.
Brazil possesses the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, located 350 km northeast of its \"horn\", and several small islands and atolls in the Atlantic - Abrolhos, Atol das Rocas, Penedos de São Pedro e São Paulo, Trindade, and Martim Vaz. In the early 1970s, Brazil claimed a territorial sea extending 362 km from the country\'s shores, including those of the islands.
On Brazil\'s east coast, the Atlantic coastline extends 7367 km. In the west, in clockwise order from the south, Brazil has 15719 km of borders with Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana (overseas department of France). The only South American countries with which Brazil does not share borders are Chile and Ecuador. A few short sections are in question, but there are no true major boundary controversies with any of the neighboring countries. Brazil has the 10th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 3,830,955 km2.
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Telecommunications in Brazil
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**Brazil** has both modern technologies in the center-south portion, counting with LTE, 3G HSPA, DSL ISDB based Digital TV. Other areas of the country, particularly the North and Northeast regions, lack even basic analog PSTN telephone lines. This is a problem that the government is trying to solve by linking the liberation of new technologies such as WiMax and FTTH) only tied with compromises on extension of the service to less populated regions.
## Telephone system {#telephone_system}
### Landline
The Brazilian landline sector is fully open to competition and continues to attract operators. The bulk of the market is divided between three operators: Telefónica, América Móvil, and Oi (controlled by Brazilian investors and Pharol SGPS). Telefónica operates through Telefónica Brasil, which has integrated its landline and mobile services under the brand name Vivo. The América Móvil group in Brazil comprises long distance incumbent Embratel, mobile operator Claro, and cable TV provider Net Serviços. The group has started to integrate its landline and mobile services under the brand name Claro, previously used only for mobile services. Oi offers landline and mobile services under the Oi brand name. GVT was the country\'s most successful alternative network provider, offering landline services only, until it was acquired by Telefónica in 2015 and integrated into Vivo.
*National:* extensive microwave radio relay system and a national satellite system with 64 earth stations.
*International:* country code - 55; landing point for a number of submarine cables, including Atlantis 2, that provide direct links to South and Central America, the Caribbean, the US, Africa, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region east), connected by microwave relay system to Mercosur Brazilsat B3 satellite earth station (2007)
**Statistics**
- Served locations: 37,355
- Installed terminals: 43,626,836
- In service: 33,800,370
- Public terminals: 1,128,350
- Density: 22,798 Phones/100 Hab
### Mobile
The history of mobile telephony in Brazil began on 30 December 1990, when the Cellular Mobile System began operating in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with a capacity for 10,000 terminals. At that time, according to Anatel (the national telecommunications agency), there were 667 devices in the country. The number of devices rose to 6,700 in the next year, to 30,000 in 1992.
In November 2007 3G services were launched, and increased rapidly to almost 90% of the population in 2012 and the agreements signed as part of the auction specify a 3G coverage obligation of 100% of population by 2019.
After the auction that took place in June 2012, LTE tests were undertaken in several cities, tourist locations and international conference venues. The first LTE-compatible devices became available in the local market and LTE services was commercially launched in 2013. Under the 4G licence terms, operators were required to have commercial networks in all twelve state capitals which are acting as host cities for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
5G services were commercially launched in 2020, initially only in a few cities and in DSS mode. In 2021, the regulatory agency Anatel carried out the auction of the 3.5 GHz spectrum, which allowed the operation of 5G in standalone mode (SA). In July 2022, Brasília was the first city to have 5G NR SA made available, with all state capitals being served by the three major carriers by the end of 2022. By July 2023, 753 cities had 5G coverage, which accounts for 46% of the country\'s population.
The mobile market is ruled by 3 companies:
- **Vivo**, belongs to Telefônica Brasil, is the leading mobile and landline carrier in Brazil. In 1Q2023, Vivo served 98 million mobile subscribers.
- **Claro**, controlled by the Mexican América Móvil (owned by Carlos Slim), ranks second in Brazilian mobile market. In 1Q2023, Claro served 82.8 million mobile subscribers.
- **TIM**, controlled by the Italian Telecom Italia is the third largest mobile carrier in Brazil. In 1Q2023, TIM served 61.7 million mobile subscribers.
- **Oi**, which was once Brazil\'s fourth-largest mobile carrier, filed for judicial reorganization in 2016, selling its mobile division (Oi Móvel) in 2020 to a consortium formed by the three largest operators. In 2022, the sale was approved by the regulatory agency Anatel and Oi\'s 36.5 million mobile customers were transferred to TIM (40%), Claro (32%) and Vivo (28%).
- **Algar Telecom** is the largest regional mobile carrier, operating in 4 states. The company\'s customers have national coverage through roaming agreements with the three major telcos. In 1Q2023, Algar Telecom served 4.5 million mobile subscribers.
**Statistics**
- Number of devices: 251.203.715
- Percentage of prepaid lines: 43.62%
- Density: 98.7 phones/100 hab
**Technology distribution**
Technology 2022 (Dec) 2023 (May)
---------------- ----------------- -----------------
Phone Number Month growth
AMPS 11,546 6,240
TDMA 1,153,580 541,802
CDMA 12,732,287 9,527,796
GSM 133,925,736 145,840,175
WCDMA 1,692,436 2,010,740
CDMA 2000 452,816 218,166
Data Terminals 673,002 3,777,456
**Total** **150,641,403** **161,922,375**
## International backbones {#international_backbones}
### Submarine cables {#submarine_cables}
Several submarine cables link Brazil to the world:
- **Americas II** cable entered operations in September 2000, connecting Brazil (Fortaleza) to United States.
- **ATLANTIS-2**, with around 12 thousand kilometers in extension, operating since 2000, it connects Brazil (Rio de Janeiro and Natal) to Europe, Africa and South America. This is the only cable that connects South America to Africa and Europe.
- **EMERGIA -- SAM 1** cable connects all three Americas, surrounding it with a total extension of more than 25 thousand kilometers.
- **GLOBAL CROSSING - SAC** Connects all Americas, surrounding them with a total extension of more than 15 thousand kilometers.
- **GLOBENET/360 NETWORK** Another link from North America to South America.
- **UNISUR** Interconnects Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
All these cables have a bandwidth from 20 Gbit/s to 80 Gbit/s, and some have a projected final capacity of more than 1 Tbit/s.
### Satellite connections {#satellite_connections}
List of business and satellites they operate (Brazilian Geostationary Satellites)
Satellite operator Satellite Bands Orbital positions Operational
-------------------- ------------------ ---------- ------------------- -------------
Hispamar Amazonas 1 C e Ku 61.0° W Yes
Amazonas 2
Loral Skynet Estrela do Sul 1 Ku 63.0° W Yes
Estrela do Sul 2 Ku 63.0° W No
Star One Brasilsat B1 C and X 70.0° W Yes
Brasilsat B2 C and X 65.0° W Yes
Brasilsat B3 C 84.0° W Yes
Brasilsat B4 C 92.0° W Yes
Star One C1 C and Ku 65.0° W Yes
Star One C2 C and Ku 70.0° W Yes
Star One C3 C and Ku 75.0° W No
Star One C4 C, L, S 75.0° W No
Star One C5 C and Ku 68.0° W No
## Television and radio {#television_and_radio}
Under the Brazilian constitution, television and radio are not treated as forms of telecommunication, in order to avoid creating problems with a series of regulations that reduce and control how international businesses and individuals can participate. Brazil has the second largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue, Grupo Globo.
## Internet
The Internet has become quite popular in Brazil, with steadily growing numbers of users as well as increased availability. Brazil holds the 6th spot in number of users worldwide. Many technologies are used to bring broadband Internet to consumers, with DSL and cable being the most common (respectively, about 13 million and 9 million connections), and 3G technologies. 4G technologies were introduced in April 2013 and presently are available in over 90% of the country.
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Economy of the British Virgin Islands
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The **economy of the British Virgin Islands** is one of the most prosperous in the Caribbean. Although tiny in absolute terms, because of the very small population of the British Virgin Islands, in 2010 the Territory had the 19th highest GDP per capita in the world according to the CIA World factbook. In global terms the size of the Territory\'s GDP measured in terms of purchasing power is ranked as 215th out of a total of 229 countries. The economy of the Territory is based upon the \"twin pillars\" of financial services, which generates approximately 60% of government revenues, and tourism, which generates nearly all of the rest.
Historically the British Virgin Islands has normally produced a Government budget surplus, but during the 2008 financial crisis the Territory began to run at a deficit, which continued after the global recession receded. In 2011 the Territory had its largest ever budget deficit, of US\$29 million (approximately 2.6% of GDP). By 2012 public debt had quadrupled from pre-crisis levels to approximately US\$113 million (approximately 10.3% of GDP). Nearly 84% of that public debt was attributable to a new public hospital built in Road Town between 2003 and 2014. *The Economist* argued that deteriorating economic conditions in the British Virgin Islands were caused \"not \[by\] sagging revenues but public-sector profligacy\". By 2014 public debt had been reduced to US\$106 million and the annual deficit reduced to US\$25 million (including budgeted capital expenditure).
By 2016, the Government had returned to a primary budget surplus, but public debt had increased to approximately US\$141 million and debt service accounted for over US\$12 million of the primary surplus. However, because of an ongoing aggressive capital investment programme, and budget overruns on key public projects, the Government ran dangerously low on available cash. Cash in the consolidated fund fell below US\$7 million (with average monthly expenditure at nearly US\$30 million), and Government accrued over US\$13 million in due but unpaid invoices.
## Business environment {#business_environment}
In 2015, British Virgin Islands has been assessed as the 34th in terms of global financial centres. This was the highest ranking of any offshore financial centre, and of any Latin American country. The Territory scored strongly in areas such as local taxation, rule of law, regulatory environment and quality of law for human resources. It scored less highly on infrastructure, access to capital and access to labour. The G-20 considers it a tax haven and its banking system is described as \'opaque\'.
## 2017 government budget {#government_budget}
The most recent national budget to be delivered was the 2017 budget (the Territory\'s fiscal year runs from 1 April to 31 March). That budget presented a picture of declining revenues and increasing costs. It was also delivered prior to the devastating effects of Hurricane Irma later in the year, which is likely to have a deleterious effect on the economy and on Government revenues.
The 2017 budget predicted that 2016 final revenue figures of \$310,470,000 which was a decrease of 6.2% from the year before. It also predicted recurrent expenditure for 2016 at \$288,640,000 which was an increase of 3.6% on the preceding year. That would mean a primary budget surplus of \$21,830,000 which would be a decrease of 56.6% from the preceding year.
In addition there was an estimated \$21,000,000 of capital expenditure in 2016 (down 38.3% from the previous year), and debt service of \$20,200,000 leaving a primary deficit of \$19,370,000. In 2017, after accounting for transfers to reserves, there is budgeted to be a structural deficit of \$31,674,000. This was to be financed by new borrowing and transfers from the consolidated fund.
The Government\'s total borrowings were \$106.5 million, but the Government has also underwritten significant loans made to the BVI Electricity Corporation and the BVI Ports Authority, meaning that the Government\'s total loan exposure is \$178.3 million.
Much of the Government\'s increased expenditure arose from staffing costs. Staffing consumes 37.7% of Government expenditure, and increased in 2016 by 10.2% from the year before. The budget calls for it to increase again, but only by 2.6% in 2017.
The bulk of Government revenues (60%) comes from taxes on goods and services. The next largest segment is payroll taxes, which account for a further 16%. Property taxes account for less than 1% of revenue.
## Tourism
In 2015, a total of 922,372 people visited the islands (of whom 529,354 were cruise ship passengers and 393,018 were overnight visitors), mainly from the United States. The bulk of the tourism income in the British Virgin Islands is generated by the yacht chartering industry. The Territory has relatively few large hotels compared to other tourism centres in the Caribbean. The British Virgin Islands also entertain cruise ships, although these generate relatively little revenue. However, cruise ship passengers are an important source of revenue for taxi drivers, who represent a politically important voice in the Territory.
Between 2007 and 2011, tourist visitors to be the British Virgin Islands declined by approximately 12.4%, largely due to the global recession which particularly affected North America, a key source of visitors for the Territory. However, by November 2013 tourist numbers had begun to recover.
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council:
- In 2013, the *direct* contribution of travel and tourism to the Territory\'s GDP was US\$274 million (accounting for 27.0% of total GDP), and was forecast to rise by 2.8% in 2014, and to rise by 2.7% per annum for the period 2014--2024.
- The *total* contribution of travel and tourism to GDP was US\$780.8 million (76.9% of GDP) in 2013, and is forecast to rise by 3.2% in 2014, and to rise by 2.6% per annum for the period 2014--2024.
- In 2013, travel and tourism *directly* supported 3,300 jobs in the Territory (33.2% of total employment). This was expected to remain unchanged in 2014 and fall by 0.3% per annum to 3,000 jobs (29.6% of total employment) by 2024.
- The *total* contribution to employment in 2013 (which includes jobs indirectly supported by the industry), was 90.1% of total employment (8,850 jobs). This was expected to rise by 1.9% in 2014 to 9,050 jobs, but fall by 0.2% per annum to 9,000 jobs in 2024 (80.9% of total).
- Travel and tourism investment in 2013 was US\$35.8 million, or 14.8% of total investment. This was expected to rise by 10.1% in 2014, and rise by 2.0% per annum over the next ten years to a total of US\$48.2 million in 2024.
However, these statistics include travel as well as tourism, and so non-tourist related travel (i.e. travel relating to domestic consumption and other industries and services) are included and inflate the figures.
## Financial services {#financial_services}
In the mid-1980s, the government began offering offshore registration to companies wishing to incorporate in the islands, and incorporation fees now generate an estimated 51.4% of Government revenues. As of 2019, it costs \$450 to form a company with fewer than 50,000 shares and another \$450 a year to maintain registration.
According to official statistics 447,801 BVI companies were \'active\' (i.e. incorporated and not yet struck-off, liquidated or dissolved) as at 30 June 2012. There are no recent official statistics on total numbers of incorporations (including struck, liquidated and dissolved companies) but these are estimated at 950,000. Many of these companies were originally formed under the International Business Companies Act, 1984, but have now been consolidated into the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004.
In 2000, KPMG were commissioned by the British Government to produce a report on the offshore financial industry generally, and the report indicated that nearly 45% of the offshore companies in the world were formed in the British Virgin Islands. The British Virgin Islands is now one of the world\'s leading offshore financial centres, and boasts one of the highest incomes per capita in the Caribbean.
In addition to basic company incorporations, the British Virgin Islands also forms limited partnerships and trusts (including signature \"VISTA\" trusts) but these have not proved to be as popular as companies.
On 12 April 2007, the *Financial Times* reported that the British Virgin Islands was the second largest source of foreign direct investment in the world (behind Hong Kong) with over US\$123,000,000,000. Almost all of these sums are directly attributable to investment through the Territory\'s offshore finance industry.
In 2017, the total value of assets held in offshore companies in the British Virgin Islands was estimated at \$1.5 trillion and two-fifths of company owners were based in Hong Kong and China, according to a report by Capital Economics and commissioned by BVI Finance.
The British Virgin Islands also promotes a number of regulated financial services products. The most important of these is the formation and regulation of offshore investment funds. The Territory is also the second largest domicile for formation of offshore investment funds (behind the Cayman Islands) with 2,422 licensed open-ended funds as at 30 June 2012 (there is no official statistics for closed-ended funds which are not regulated in the British Virgin Islands).
The British Virgin Islands also operates as a domicile for captive insurance services, but a prolonged period of overzealous Government regulation combined with the Government\'s increasing pressure to hire only locals (\"belongers\") in the insurance industry decimated the industry. Official reports from the Financial Services Commission reflect as of 30 June 2012 only 161 captives remain registered in the jurisdiction.
### History of financial services {#history_of_financial_services}
Former president of the BVI\'s Financial Services Commission, Michael Riegels, recites the anecdote that the offshore finance industry commenced on an unknown date in the 1970s when a lawyer from a firm in New York telephoned him with a proposal to incorporate a company in the British Virgin Islands to take advantage of a double taxation relief treaty with the United States. Within the space of a few years, hundreds of such companies had been incorporated.
This eventually came to the attention of the United States government, who unilaterally revoked the Treaty in 1981.
In 1984, the British Virgin Islands, trying to recapture some of the lost offshore business, enacted a new form of companies legislation, the International Business Companies Act, under which an offshore company which was exempt from local taxes could be formed. The development was only a limited success until 1991, when the United States invaded Panama to oust General Manuel Noriega. At the time Panama was one of the largest providers of offshore financial services in the world, but the business fled subsequent the invasion, and the British Virgin Islands was one of the main beneficiaries. Moreover, in 1988, Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca\'s founder Ramón Fonseca Mora advised his clients to bring their business from Panama to the British Virgin Islands.
## Agriculture
Livestock raising is the most important agricultural activity; poor soils limit the islands\' ability to meet domestic food requirements. Fewer than 0.6% are estimated to work in agriculture. Despite its tiny economic impact, agriculture has its own dedicated Government minister (unlike financial services).
## Dollarisation
Because of traditionally close links with the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands has used the US dollar as its currency since 1959.
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Telecommunications in the British Virgin Islands
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**Country Code: +1284**\
**International Call Prefix: 011** (outside NANP)
Calls from the British Virgin Islands to the US, Canada, and other NANP Caribbean nations, are dialled as 1 + NANP area code + 7-digit number. Calls from the British Virgin Islands to non-NANP countries are dialled as 011 + country code + phone number with local area code.
**Number Format**: nxx-xxxx
**Telephones -- main lines in use:** 11,700 (2002)
**Telephones -- mobile cellular:** 8,000 (2002)
**Telephone system:** worldwide telephone service\
*general assessment:* worldwide telephone service\
*domestic:* NA\
*international:* Connected via submarine cable to Bermuda; the East Caribbean Fibre System (ECFS) submarine cable provides connectivity to 13 other islands in the eastern Caribbean (2007)
**Radio stations:** AM 1, FM 5, shortwave 0 (2004)
- ZBVI 780 Tortola
- ZJKC-FM 90.9 Tortola (repeats WJKC 95.1 Christiansted, USVI)
- ZGLD-FM 91.7 Tortola
- ZCCR-FM 94.1 Todman\'s Peak
- ZWVE-FM 97.3 Tortola
- ZKNG-FM 100.9 Chalwell
- ZROD-FM 103.7 Tortola
- ZVCR-FM 106.9 Chalwell
**Television stations:** 1 (ZBTV), (plus one cable company) (1997)
**Internet service providers (ISPs):** 1 (1999)
**Internet country code:** VG
**Internet hosts:** 465 (2008)
**Internet users:** 4,000 (2002)
: *See also :* British Virgin Islands
## Deregulation of the telephone market {#deregulation_of_the_telephone_market}
In 2006, the British Virgin Islands government undertook a deregulation of the telephone industry. Prior to 2006, in common with many other Caribbean countries, Cable & Wireless (Caribbean) had a statutory monopoly on telephone and other electronic communications services. However, in the 1990s, a local company called CCT Boatphone, which had previously provided radio boatphones to tourists on charter boats, expanded into cellular (mobile) telecommunications for land-based users. Although technically in breach of the statutory monopoly, CCT Boatphone was backed by a powerful collection of local interests known as the BVI Investment Club. Negotiations between Cable & Wireless and CCT Boatphone led to a split of the monopolies, with Cable & Wireless retaining a monopoly over fixed line and internet services, and CCT Boatphone keeping a *de facto* monopoly over cellular telephones.
In 2007 the government abolished the previously existing monopolies under an order made pursuant to the new legislation. The process proved politically fraught, and the government\'s Minister for Communications and Works, Alvin Christopher, ended up leaving the government and joining the opposition party as a result of the furore. The process was also criticised as cumbersome and slow, the initial deregulation having been announced in 2004, and taking no less than three years to come to fruition through delays in legislation and regulation.
Although there have been no new entrants into the fixed line industry, the government issued three licences under the new regime to cellular telephone service providers. The existing provider, CCT Boatphone, obtained one licence. *B*mobile, the cellular arm of Cable & Wireless, obtained a second. The third licence was obtained by BVI Cable TV, a local cable television service. The licence in favour of BVI Cable was controversial, as the Regulator had announced in advance that only three licences in total would be issued, and BVI Cable TV had crumbling cable television infrastructure, and was in no position to offer cellular telephone services (and to date, has not offered any cellular telephone services, or anything other than simple cable television). However, *b*mobile\'s main regional competitor, Digicel, was rejected for a licence. The decision was regarded as highly controversial in the local media.
Digicel then issued court proceedings against the Regulator, arguing that he had acted improperly by imposing an arbitrary limit of three licences (although no complaint was made about the decision to prefer BVI Cable TV\'s improbable licence over Digicel). *B*mobile was joined to the suit as an interested party. High Court Judge Rita Joseph-Olivetti found in favour of Digicel and quashed the original decision. Digicel commenced separate proceedings against Cable and Wireless (as *b*mobile\'s parent company) in the English courts, claiming that Cable & Wireless has unfairly stifled competition in several Caribbean jurisdictions. During the intervening period, *b*mobile has obtained a virtual stranglehold on the cellular telecommunications market in the British Virgin Islands by a combination of low prices and aggressive advertising, as well as significant investment in infrastructure and technology.
Digicel was finally granted a licence on 17 December 2007 and started operations in the BVI on 28 November 2008.
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Transport in the British Virgin Islands
|
The systems of **transport in the British Virgin Islands** include 113 kilometres of highway and a harbour at Road Town.
## Roads
- total: 200 km
- paved: 200 km
- unpaved: 0 km (2007)
Despite using left-hand traffic, most vehicles are left-hand-drive, being imported from the United States.
## Ports and terminals {#ports_and_terminals}
- Road Town
## Airports
- 4 (2008)
### Paved runways {#paved_runways}
- total: 2
- 914 to 1,523 m: 1
- under 914 m: 1 (2008)
### Unpaved runways {#unpaved_runways}
- total: 2
- 914 to 1,523 m: 2 (2008)
## Merchant Marine {#merchant_marine}
- registered in other countries: 1 (Panama) (2008)
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3,658 |
Geography of Brunei
|
**Brunei** is a country in Southeast Asia, bordering the South China Sea and East Malaysia. Its geographical coordinates are 4 30 N 114 40 E. The country is small with a total size of 5765 km2. It is larger in size than Trinidad and Tobago. It is close to vital sea lanes through the South China Sea linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The country has two parts physically separated by Malaysia, making it almost an enclave within Malaysia.
Brunei shares a 266 km border with Malaysia, and has a 161 km coastline. The terrain is a flat coastal plain that rises to mountainous in the east and hilly lowlands in the west. While earthquakes are quite rare, Brunei is located near the Pacific Ring of Fire.
## Climate
A tropical climate with high humidity prevails in Brunei. Typically, the entire nation experiences the same climate. The entire year is hot in the country. The monsoon winds and other wind systems in the area brought on by the distribution of air pressure in Southeast Asia, as well as the location on Borneo\'s northwest coast, which lies in the equatorial tropics, all have an impact on the climate. ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) is the name given to the low pressure trough that occurs around the equator. Areas in the subtropics on both hemispheres, however, experience high pressure, resulting in a pressure difference. This is due to air masses from the southern and northern hemispheres meet in this region, causing major climate shifts, the Intertropical Convergence Zone is crucial.
It\'s vital that the ITCZ\'s position typically oscillates based on the sun\'s zenithal position and is not always fixed. The magnitude of the latitudinal oscillation is reduced to roughly half that of the sun because of the movement\'s two-month delay. There are two distinct seasons in the nation that are separated by two transitional phases as a result of the ITCZ\'s shifting location throughout the year and the associated trade winds. The South China Sea and Borneo are substantially impacted by northeast monsoon winds that recurve via the Inter-Tropical Convergence zone to become northwesterly winds that blow across Indonesia between December and March. The ITCZ\'s typical location is between latitudes 50S and 100S when it migrated south across Brunei and Borneo in late December, a time period known as the Northeast Monsoon.
In Brunei forest cover is around 72% of the total land area, equivalent to 380,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 413,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 374,740 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 5,260 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 69% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 5% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.
The Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, which is positioned east of the Philippines around latitude 150N between June and September, transforms into a monsoon trough to the west. The Southwest Monsoon is created by southeast trade winds that originate in the southern hemisphere and recurve on the equator. The northeast monsoon dominates from December to March whereas the southwest monsoon blows from May to September. Transitional months are recognized as April, October, and November.
The municipality of Bandar Seri Begawan\'s climate is tropical equatorial with two seasons. Dry season is extremely hot (24 to). Wet or rainy season is generally warm and wet (20 to). Most of the country is a flat coastal plain with mountains in the east and hilly lowland in the west. The lowest point is at sea level and the highest is Bukit Pagon (1850 m). The climatic regions of the country is as follows:
- Brunei-Muara District and Bandar Seri Begawan are humid tropical on the coast and lower elevation north and Humid subtropical in central Brunei-Muara District. (20 to)
- Tutong District is tropical, hot in the north and warm in the south. (22 to)
- Belait District is tropical, hot in the north and slightly warm in the south. (25 to)
- Temburong District is humid subtropical in the higher elevation south and humid tropical on the coast and lower elevation north. (18 to)
## Natural disasters {#natural_disasters}
Since the nation lies outside of the typhoon belt and mostly untouched by earthquakes, it is less likely to experience major disasters, making it a relatively safe area to live and work. Foreigners from temperate climes who want to avoid harsh winters are drawn to the country by its milder temperature. Additionally, the weather is suitable for outdoor activities and water sports.
## Statistics
As of 2009, the statistics of Brunei is as follows:**Area:**
- Total: 5765 km2
- Land: 5265 km2
- Water: 500 km2
**Maritime claims:**\
*territorial sea:* 12 nmi\
*exclusive economic zone:* 10,090 km2 and 200 nmi or to median line
**Elevation extremes:**\
*lowest point:* South China Sea 0 m\
*highest point:* Bukit Pagon 1,850 m
**Natural resources:** petroleum, natural gas, timber
**Land use:**\
*arable land:* 0.76%\
*permanent crops:* 1.14%\
*other:* 98.10% (2012)
**Irrigated land:** 10 km2 (2003)
**Total renewable water resources:** 8.5 km3
**Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)**\
*total:* 0.09 km^3^/yr (97%/0%/3%)\
*per capital:* 301.6 m^3^/yr (2009)
**Environment -- current issues:** seasonal smoke/haze resulting from forest fires in Indonesia
**Environment -- international agreements:**\
*party to:* Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
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Politics of Bulgaria
|
The **politics of Bulgaria** take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
After forty-five years of single party system, Bulgaria became an unstable party system in 1989. This system was dominated by democratic parties and opposition to socialists`{{Snd}}`{=mediawiki}the Union of Democratic Forces and several personalistic parties and the post-communist Bulgarian Socialist Party or its creatures, which emerged for a short period of time in the past decade. Personalistic parties could have been seen in the former governing (from 2001 to 2005) Simeon II\'s NDSV party and Boyko Borisov\'s GERB party.
Bulgaria has generally good freedom of speech and human rights records as reported by the US Library of Congress Federal Research Division in 2006, while Freedom House listed it as \"free\" in 2020, giving it scores of 33 for political rights and 45 for civil liberties. However, in 2014, there were some concerns that the proposed new Penal Code would limit freedom of the press and assembly, and as a consequence freedom of speech. `{{Democracy Index rating|Bulgaria|flawed democracy|2022}}`{=mediawiki} Bulgaria was fully admitted to the Schengen area on January 1, 2025.
## Developments since 1990 {#developments_since_1990}
### Parliamentary
After the fall of the communism in 1989, the former communist party was restructured and succeeded by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which won the first post-communist elections for the Constitutional Assembly in 1990 with a small majority. Meanwhile, Zhelyu Zhelev, a communist-era dissident from the new democratic party - Union of Democratic Forces (abbreviated in Bulgarian as SDS), was elected president by the Assembly in 1990. In the first years after the change of regime, Bulgarian politics had to (re)establish the foundations of a democratic society in the country after nearly fifty years of de facto totalitarian communism. The so-called period of transition (from a Soviet socialist model to an economic structure focused on development through economic growth) began in the early 1990s. The politics of Bulgaria was aimed at joining the European Union and the NATO fold, as the alliances were recognised to have political agendas similar to the goals of the new Bulgarian democracy.
In contemporary Bulgaria, the government and its leader - the Prime Minister, have more political influence and significance than the President. Thus, the parliamentary elections set the short-term social and political environment in the country since the cabinet (chosen by the Prime Minister and approved by the parliament) decides how the country is governed while the President can only make suggestions and impose vetoes.
In the first parliamentary elections held under the new constitution of Bulgaria, in October 1991, the Union of Democratic Forces (SDS) party won a plurality of the seats, having won 110 out of the 240 seats, and created a cabinet alone with the support of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms---a liberal party (in Bulgarian abbreviated: DPS) which is widely perceived as a party of the ethnic Turks minority in Bulgaria. Yet, their government collapsed in late 1992, and was succeeded by a technocratic team put forward by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), which served until 1994 when it also collapsed. The President dissolved the government and appointed a provisional one to serve until early parliamentary elections could be held in December.
BSP won convincingly these elections in December 1994 with a majority of 125 seats out of the 240. Due to the severe economic crisis in Bulgaria during their government, BSP\'s cabinet collapsed and in 1997 a caretaker cabinet was appointed by the President, again, to serve until early parliamentary elections could be held in April 1997.
The April 1997 elections resulted in a landslide victory for the SDS, winning a majority of 137 seats in parliament, and allowing them to form the next government. This proved to be the first post-communist government that did not collapse and served its full 4-year term until 2001.
In 2001, the former monarch of Bulgaria Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha returned to power, this time as prime minister with his National Movement Simeon II (in Bulgarian abbreviated: NDSV), having won half (120) of the seats. His party entered a coalition with the DPS and invited two functionaries of the BSP (who sat as independents). In opposition were the two previously governing parties - the Socialist Party and the Union of Democratic Forces. In the four years in opposition the SDS suffered the defection of numerous splinter groups. The ruling party NDSV itself ruptured into a pro-right core and a pro-liberal fringe group. Bulgaria entered NATO in 2004.
In the aftermath, the BSP won the parliamentary elections in 2005 with 82 out of the 240 seats, but as it did not get the majority of the seats, a coalition government was formed by the three biggest parties - BSP, NDSV and DPS. The elections also put in parliament some of the right-wing parties, as well as the extreme-right nationalist coalition led by the party Ataka as an answer to the former coalition government of NDSV with DPS. Bulgarian entered the European Union in 2007.
In the parliamentary elections of 2009, the centre-right party of Boyko Borisov, the mayor of Sofia, GERB, won with 117 seats. The party formed a minority government with the support of the right-wing parties. Once the governing party - the National Movement Simeon II did not amass enough votes to enter the parliament. The austerity measures required in the stagnation of the Great Recession led to massive protests and the resignation of the cabinet in early 2013, months before the end of GERB\'s term.
In the early elections the former opposition party BSP received highest vote from the people. The socialist party chose the non-party former Minister of Finance Plamen Oresharski to form a cabinet. His cabinet was supported by the BSP and the DPS, opposed by GERB, while Ataka was absent.
Only two weeks after its initial formation the Oresharski government came under criticism and had to deal with large-scale protests some with more than 11 000 participants. One of the main reasons for these protests was the controversial appointment of media mogul Delyan Peevski as a chief of the National Security State Agency. The protests continued over the lifetime of the Oresharski government. In all, the government survived 5 votes of no-confidence before voluntarily resigning. Following an agreement from the three largest parties (GERB, BSP and DPS) to hold early parliamentary elections for 25 March 2016, the cabinet agreed to resign, with the resignation of the cabinet becoming a fact on 13 January 2016. The next day parliament voted 180-8 (8 abstained and 44 were absent) to accept the government\'s resignation. Following the vote, President Plevneliev offered the mandate to GERB to try and form government, but it was refused. The next day the BSP returned the mandate as well. On 21 January, the DPS refused the mandate as well. Finally, on 26 January, a caretaker government led by Georgi Bliznashki was sworn into office and the Oresharski government was officially dissolved.
As agreed, parliamentary elections were held on 25 March 2016 to elect the 43rd National Assembly. GERB became the largest party, winning 84 of the 240 seats with around a third of the vote. A total of eight parties won seats, the first time since the beginning of democratic elections in 1990 that more than seven parties entered parliament. After being tasked by President Rosen Plevneliev to form a government, Borisov\'s GERB formed a coalition with the Reformist Bloc, had a partnership agreement for the support of the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival, and also had the outside support of the Patriotic Front. The cabinet of twenty ministers was approved by a majority of 136--97 (with one abstention). With the support of the coalition partner (the Reformist Bloc) members of the parties in the Bloc (Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB), Union of Democratic Forces (SDS), Bulgaria for Citizens Movement (DBG) and Bulgarian Agrarian National Union (BZNS)) were chosen for Minister positions. The vice chairman of the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival party Ivaylo Kalfin was voted for Depute Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Policy.
In May 2017, Boyko Borisov was re-elected as Prime Minister of Bulgaria for the second time. Borisov had resigned and called early elections after his conservative GERB party lost the presidential elections previous year. He formed a coalition government with nationalist VMRO-BND and National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria. The Socialist Party and the Turkish DPS party formed the opposition.
The 2020--2021 Bulgarian protests were triggered on 9 July 2020 when the Presidency of Bulgaria was raided by police and prosecutors as a result of a long-lasting conflict between the prime minister Boyko Borisov and the president Rumen Radev. In April 2021, Borisov\'s party, center-right, pro-European GERB won the parliamentary election. It was again the largest party of the parliament but it did not get the absolute majority, indicating difficult coalition talks. All other parties refused to form a government, and after a brief deadlock, another elections were called for July 2021, with Stefan Yanev serving as an interim prime minister of a caretaker cabinet until then.
In the July 2021 snap election, an anti-elite party called There Is Such a People (ITN) finished first with 24.08 percent and former prime minister Boyko Borisov\'s GERB-led coalition finished second with 23.51 percent of the vote. A coalition government was unable to be formed, and so a third parliamentary election was scheduled for November 2021 to align with the regularly scheduled presidential election. In the 2021 Bulgarian general election, Kiril Petkov\'s PP party emerged as surprise victors over the conservative GERB party, which had dominated Bulgarian politics in the last decade. In December 2021, Bulgaria\'s parliament formally elected Kiril Petkov as the country\'s next prime minister, ending a months-long political crisis. The new centrist-led government was a coalition led by Petkov\'s anti-corruption We Continue The Change party (PP) with three other political groups: the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, the anti-elite There Is Such A People party, and the liberal group Democratic Bulgaria. They together control 134 seats in Bulgaria\'s 240-seat parliament. The cabinet of Kiril Petkov fell after a vote of no confidence of 22 June 2022. President Radev appointed Galab Donev as acting prime minister to lead a caretaker cabinet. Bulgaria\'s fourth parliamentary elections in less than two years will be held on October 2, 2022.
In April 2023, because of the political deadlock, Bulgaria held its fifth parliamentary election since April 2021. GERB was the biggest, winning 69 seats. The bloc led by We Continue the Change won 64 seats in the 240-seat parliament. In June 2023, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov formed a new coalition between We Continue The Change and GERB. According to the coalition agreement, Denkov will lead the government for the first nine months. He will be succeeded by former European Commissioner, Mariya Gabriel, of the GERB party. She will take over as prime minister after nine months.
On 27 October 2024 parliamentary snap elections were held after all three attempts to form a government following the latest June 2024 elections failed. This was the country\'s sixth election since April 2021. This series of snap elections is the result of a political crisis affecting the country.
### Presidential
In 1992, Zhelyu Zhelev won Bulgaria\'s first presidential elections and served as president until 1997. In the second, the winning president was another member of the Union of Democratic Forces, Petar Stoyanov, who served until 2002. In 2001, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Georgi Parvanov defeated Stoyanov. He took office in 2002 and served until 2012, becoming the first president to be reelected, after his successful 2006 campaign. In 2011 GERB candidate Rosen Plevneliev was elected to serve as president from 2012 until January 2017. In 2016 Socialist party candidate, former air force commander Rumen Radev won the presidential election. On 18 January 2017, Rumen Radev was sworn in as the new President of Bulgaria. President Rumen Radev, a vocal critic and rival of prime minister Borisov, announced that he will run for a second five-year term in autumn 2021 presidential elections. In November 2021, President Rumen Radev was easily re-elected in the presidential election with a very low turnout of 34 per cent.
## Executive branch {#executive_branch}
The president of Bulgaria is directly elected for a 5-year term with the right to one re-election. The president serves as the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The President\'s main duties are to schedule elections and referendums, represent Bulgaria abroad, conclude international treaties, and head the Consultative Council for National Security. The President may return legislation to the National Assembly for further debate---a kind of veto---but the legislation can be passed again by an absolute majority vote.
## Legislative branch {#legislative_branch}
The Bulgarian unicameral parliament, the National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie, consists of 240 deputies who are elected for 4-year-terms by popular vote. The votes are for party or coalition lists of candidates for each of the 28 administrative divisions. A party or coalition must garner a minimum of 4% of the vote in order to enter parliament. Parliament is responsible for enactment of laws, approval of the budget, scheduling of presidential elections, selection and dismissal of the prime minister and other ministers, declaration of war, deployment of troops outside of Bulgaria, and ratification of international treaties and agreements.
## Elections
### Parliamentary elections {#parliamentary_elections}
{{#section-h:June 2024 Bulgarian parliamentary election\|Results}}
### Presidential elections {#presidential_elections}
{{#section-h:2021 Bulgarian presidential election\|Results}}
### European elections {#european_elections}
`{{Election results
|party1=[[GERB—SDS]]|votes1=607194|seats1=6|sc1=0
|party2=[[Bulgarian Socialist Party]]|votes2=474160|seats2=5|sc2=+1
|party3=[[Movement for Rights and Freedoms]]|votes3=323510|seats3=3|sc3=–1
|party4=[[IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement]]|votes4=143830|seats4=2|sc4=+1
|party5=[[Democratic Bulgaria]]|votes5=118484|seats5=1|sc5=+1
|party6=[[Volya Movement]]|votes6=70830|seats6=0|sc6=New
|party7=Patriots for Valeri Simeonov ([[National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria|NFSB]]–[[Middle European Class|SEK]])|votes7=22421|seats7=0|sc7=0
|party10=[[National Movement for Stability and Progress|NDSV]]–New Time|votes10=21315|seats10=0|sc10=0
|party11=[[Attack (political party)|Attack]]|votes11=20906|seats11=0|sc11=0
|party12=[[Revival (Bulgarian political party)|Revival]]|votes12=20319|seats12=0|sc12=New
|party13=[[Alternative for Bulgarian Revival|Coalition for Bulgaria]]|votes13=16759|seats13=0|sc13=0
|party14=[[Democrats for Responsibility, Solidarity and Tolerance]]|votes14=7130|seats14=0|sc14=New
|party15=[[People's Voice (Bulgaria)|People's Voice]]|votes15=6136|seats15=0|sc15=0
|party16=Party of Greens|votes16=6051|seats16=0|sc16=0
|party17=[[Movement 21]]|votes17=4141|seats17=0|sc17=New
|party18=[[Reload Bulgaria]]|votes18=3907|seats18=0|sc18=New
|party19=Together Movement|votes19=3731|seats19=0|sc19=New
|party20=[[Volt Bulgaria|VOLT]]|votes20=3500|seats20=0|sc20=New
|party21=Direct Democracy|votes21=2425|seats21=0|sc21=New
|party22=[[Bulgarian National Unification]]|votes22=2370|seats22=0|sc22=New
|party23=Rise ([[Radical Democratic Party (Bulgaria)|RDP]]–[[United People's Party (Bulgaria)|ENP]]–[[Bulgarian National Front|BNF Chicago]]–[[Union of Free Democrats|SSD]]–BDS R)|votes23=1855|seats23=0|sc23=New
|party24=Independents|votes24=73317|seats24=0|sc24=0
|row25=None of the above|votes25=61029
|invalid=80238
|total_sc=0
|electorate=6378694
|source=[https://results.cik.bg/ep2019/rezultati/index.html CIK]
}}`{=mediawiki}
## Judicial branch {#judicial_branch}
The Bulgarian judicial system consists of regional, district and appeal courts, as well as a Supreme Court of Cassation and one Specialized Criminal Court. In addition, there is a Supreme Administrative Court and a system of military courts. The Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court as well as the Prosecutor General are elected by a qualified majority of two-thirds from all the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and are appointed by the President of the Republic. The Supreme Judicial Council is in charge of the self-administration and organisation of the Judiciary.
A qualified majority of two-thirds of the membership of the Supreme Judicial Council elects the Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation and of the Supreme Administrative Court, as well as the Prosecutor General, from among its members; the President of the Republic then appoints those elected.
The Supreme Judicial Council has charge of the self-administration and organization of the Judiciary.
The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria supervises the review of the constitutionality of laws and statutes brought before it, as well as the compliance of these laws with international treaties that the Government has signed. Parliament elects the 12 members of the Constitutional Court by a two-thirds majority. The members serve for a nine-year term.
## Administrative divisions {#administrative_divisions}
The territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is divided into provinces and municipalities. In all Bulgaria has 28 provinces, each headed by a provincial governor appointed by the government. In addition, there are 265 municipalities.
## Other data {#other_data}
**Political pressure groups and leaders:**
- Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria or CITUB
- Confederation of Labour Podkrepa
- numerous regional, ethnic, and national interest groups with various agendas
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Telecommunications in Bulgaria
|
**Telecommunications in Bulgaria** include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
## History
Until the mid-1930s, telephone exchanges were of the \"numberer\" type, i.e. manually operated by telephone operators. The introduction of the first automatic telephone exchanges (ATC) in Bulgaria began with the installation of ATCs by the Siemens-Halske company, first in Stara Zagora (1935 - 600 numbers), then in Varna and Ruse (also 1935, 1000 numbers each). The first ATC in Sofia (\"Levov Most\" - 2000 numbers) was put into operation on June 14, 1936, followed by Gabrovo, Burgas, Veliko Tarnovo. After 1938, Nikola Rashev was the leader on the Bulgarian side. In the years around 1940, there was already a significant number of well-trained personnel in the country and the new equipment was being successfully operated.
The telephone house in Sofia was built according to a design by Stancho Belkovski and Boris Yolov. Its construction began in 1938-1939 and was finally completed only in 1949. It housed the facilities of the Sofia ATC, as well as the relevant administrative premises. This was the first telephone hall building, but later such buildings housing local ATCs were built in other large cities of Bulgaria.
During the bombing of Sofia in 1943-44, telephone communications in the capital were severely affected. On 09.09.1944, the new government found in Sofia only one temporary city manual telephone exchange with about 180 posts and also a temporary intercity exchange for several lines to larger cities. The manual telephone exchange in the center with 8000 numbers, the long-distance and international exchange, the high-frequency systems, the automatic exchange \"Levov Most\" with 3000 numbers, \"Red Cross\" with 2500 numbers and the entire underground and above-ground cable and aerial network were severely damaged and put out of action. For a short time, along with the restoration of the telephone network, the long-distance telephone exchange, the manual telephone exchange, the half-destroyed ATC \"Levov Most\" came into operation. The new \"Red Cross\" exchange was installed, the installation of the \"Lozenets\" ATC and others were completed.
Following the end of World War II and the establishment of the People\'s Republic of Bulgaria the Ministry of Railways, Posts and Telegraphs of Bulgaria was dissolved and divided into two organizations: Ministry of Railways, Roads and Water Communications and Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones which operated the postal system. From 1957 the Ministry of Post was merged back into the Ministry of Transport and Communications with postal administration and telecommunications administration operating under its jurisdiction. In 1981 the postal department and telecommunications department were united to form a state-owned company, the Bulgarian Post and Telecommunications (*Български пощи и далекосъобщения*. In 1992 following the demise of the communist regime and the establishment of modern Bulgaria, the regulatory part was given to the newly created lt=Committee for Post and Telecommunications, and the company itself split into two separate entities: the Bulgarian Posts took over postal activities with the telecommunication section being incorporated as a Bulgarian Telecommunications Company and was later privatized.
## Radio and television {#radio_and_television}
- Radio broadcast stations: AM 31, FM 63, shortwave 2 (2001).
- Radio broadcast hours: 525,511 (2003).
- Television broadcast stations: 39 (2001).
- Television broadcast hours: 498,091 (2003).
## Telephony
- Main lines in use: 1.6 million (2015 est).
- Mobile cellular: 8.98 million lines (2016).
- Telephone system:
- *General assessment:* an extensive but antiquated telecommunications network inherited from the Soviet era; quality has improved; the Bulgaria Telecommunications Company\'s fixed-line monopoly terminated in 2005 when alternative fixed-line operators were given access to its network; a drop in fixed-line connections in recent years has been more than offset by a sharp increase in mobile-cellular telephone use fostered by multiple service providers; the number of cellular telephone subscriptions now exceeds the population
- *Domestic:* a fairly modern digital cable trunk line now connects switching centers in most of the regions; the others are connected by digital microwave radio relay
- *International:* country code -- 359; submarine cable provides connectivity to Ukraine and Russia; a combination submarine cable and land fiber-optic system provides connectivity to Italy, Albania, and North Macedonia; satellite earth stations -- 3 (1 Intersputnik in the Atlantic Ocean region, 2 Intelsat in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions) (2007).
## Internet
- Top-level domains: .bg and .бг (proposed, Cyrillic).
- Internet users:
- 4.1 million users (2016)
- 3.9 million users, 72nd in the world; 55.1% of the population, 74th in the world (2012);
- 3.4 million users, 63rd in the world (2009);
- 1.9 million users (2007).
- Fixed broadband: 1.2 million subscriptions, 52nd in the world; 17.6% of population, 53rd in the world (2012).
- Wireless broadband: 2.8 million, 55th in the world; 40.3% of the population, 41st in the world (2012).
- Internet hosts:
- 976,277 hosts, 47th in the world (2012);
- 513,470 (2008).
- IPv4: 4.2 million addresses allocated, 0.1% of the world total, 589.7 addresses per 1000 people, 51st in the world (2012).
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3,673 |
Transport in Bulgaria
|
**Transport in Bulgaria** is dominated by road transport. As of 2024, the country had 879 kilometers of highways and another 117 km under construction. The total length of the network is almost 40,000 km, divided nearly in half between the national and the municipal road network. In addition, there are 57,000 km of streets. Buses play a significant role in long-distance public transport, coaches are operated by private companies. The capital Sofia has three major national bus terminals, the Central, the Western and the Southern Terminals.
The railway system is well-developed but the average speed is comparatively low; however, upgrading projects are underway. The Bulgarian State Railways (BDŽ) is the national railway company since 1879, but private freight operators are also present. The total length of the network reached 4,029 km, of which 995 km are doubled and 3001 km are electrified. With 74.4% of the railway network electrified, Bulgaria ranks fifth in Europe and among the first in the world. The Sofia Metro has four lines as of 2023.
Air traffic has been growing since the 2000s, which was facilitated by the modernisation of airports, as well as the implementation of new destinations and routes. The flag carrier is Bulgaria Air, but a number of private charter companies also exist, operating domestic and international flights. There are four international airports --- Vasil Levski Sofia Airport, Burgas Airport, Varna Airport and Plovdiv Airport, while the total number of airports is 111.
Ports along the Danube and the Black Sea are the most important concerning Bulgaria\'s water transport system. The two largest ones are the Port of Varna and the Port of Burgas.
## Air transport {#air_transport}
After the second terminal of International Airport Sofia was built the total number of passengers for the country rose and reached 6,595,790 in 2008, and in April 2011 Airport Sofia serviced 282 694 passengers, 13% more than the same period of 2009, when the record was 250,000 passengers. In 2011 passenger traffic at Bulgaria\'s three major airports -- Sofia, Varna and Burgas -- grew up to near 10% on the year to 3.89 million in the first half of 2011, due to rise of customers using international routes and launch of new destinations. In 2014, Bulgarian airports served 7,728,612 passengers and handled 23,101 tons of goods.
In the past aviation compared with road and railroad transport used to be a minor mode of freight movement, and only 860,000 passengers used Bulgarian airlines in 2001. In 2013 Bulgaria had 68 airports, 57 of which had paved runways. Two airports, Vasil Levski Sofia Airport and Burgas Airport, had a runway longer than 3,000 meters, and there were four heliports. The second- and third-largest airports, Varna Airport and Burgas Airport, serve mainly charter flights and have regular domestic links with the capital. In the early 2000s, Sofia Airport received substantial renovation, with aid from a Kuwaiti-led consortium, in anticipation of increased air connections with Europe. A three-phase expansion was scheduled for completion in 2010. The communist-era state airline, Balkan Airlines, was replaced by Bulgaria Air, which was privatised in 2006. In 2004 Bulgaria Air transported 365,465 passengers to international destinations, including all major European cities, while in 2014 this number was at 897,422.
## Railways
In 2005 Bulgaria had some 6,238 kilometers of open access track owned by the state company \"National Company Railway Infrastructure\", including a 125 kilometers long 760 mm narrow gauge railway -- the Septemvri-Dobrinishte narrow gauge line and 4,316 km were considered main lines. Sofia, Plovdiv and Gorna Oryahovitsa are the hubs of the domestic system and of international rail connections.
Bulgaria\'s rail system has not expanded since the 1980s, in 2014 there were 4,023 kilometers of main lines. There are upgrading projects underway. After the completion of the Plovdiv -- Dimitrovgrad high-speed line on July 1, 2012, the top operating speed was raised to 200 km/h and the national top speed record of 197 km/h set between Iskar and Elin Pelin with a leased Siemens Taurus electric locomotive is soon expected to be broken. There are also plans for upgrading for high speed operation and doubling (where needed) of the Plovdiv -- Burgas railway. By the end of 2013, a total of 461 km of high-speed lines were expected to be built.
In the mid-2000s, railways remained a major mode of freight transportation, but with increasing problems with the maintenance of the infrastructure and lowering speeds, highways carried a progressively larger share of freight. The national passenger and freight operator is called Bulgarian State Railways, but there are also a number of private operators including Bulgarian Railway Company and DB Schenker Rail Bulgaria.
In 2014 the Bulgarian railways carried 14,225,000 tons of freight and 21.3 million passengers in 2019.
### Sofia Metro {#sofia_metro}
In 1998 the first six kilometres of an often-interrupted 52 km standard gauge subway project (the Sofia Metro) opened in Sofia. Additional stations were later built, and in 2012 a second line opened. By April 2015 the total length was 36 km with 31 stations and Line 2 serving Sofia Airport. In 2016 the expansion of the network continued, as construction works on the third line commenced, and the system reached a total length of 40 km, with 35 stations along its two lines. In 2021, the metro was expanded to 52 km total length with 47 stations on 4 lines. Further expansions are expected in the period 2021--2027.
## Road transport {#road_transport}
Bulgaria has nearly 40,000 kilometers of roads, of which 19,968 km form the national road network and another 19,500 km are part of the municipal network. 879 kilometers of high-speed highways were in service in 2024. Over 98% of all national roads are paved. Roads have overtaken the railroads as the chief mode of freight transportation.
Long-term plans call for upgrading higher-quality roads and integrating the road system into the European grid. The focus is on improving road connectors with the neighbouring countries and domestic connections linking major cities, such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Varna and Ruse. Bulgaria has delayed building some key highway connections since the 1990s, but European Union membership is a strong incentive for completion. A 114-kilometer link between eastern Bulgaria and the Turkish border is scheduled for completion in 2013. As of 2004, two international highways passed through Bulgaria, and a major highway ran from Sofia to the Black Sea coast. Proposed international corridors would pass from north to south, from Vidin to the border with Greece and from Ruse to the border with Greece, and west to east, from Serbia through Sofia to Burgas, Varna, and Edirne (Turkey). The Vidin-Calafat bridge was completed in 2013, relieving road and railroad traffic to Romania.
### Motorways and expressways {#motorways_and_expressways}
*Main article: Highways in Bulgaria*
- Trakia motorway -- Sofia -- Plovdiv -- Stara Zagora -- Yambol -- Karnobat -- Burgas *(completed)*
- Hemus motorway -- Sofia -- Yablanitsa -- Shumen -- Varna *(Yablanitsa to Shumen remaining)*
- Struma motorway -- Sofia -- Pernik -- Blagoevgrad -- Kulata (Greece) *(under construction)*
- Maritsa motorway -- Chirpan to Kapitan Andreevo (Turkey) *(*completed*)*
- Cherno More motorway -- Varna to Burgas *(planned)*
- Europe motorway -- Sofia -- Kalotina (Serbia) *(under construction)*
- Veliko Tarnovo--Ruse motorway Veliko Tarnovo -- Rousse (Romania) *(planned)*
### Major roads {#major_roads}
- I-1 road
- I-2 road
- I-3 road
- I-4 road
- I-5 road
- I-6 road
- I-7 road
- I-8 road
- I-9 road
- Sofia Ring Road
### Long-distance public transport {#long_distance_public_transport}
Buses are frequently used in Bulgaria for long-distance travel. Long-distance coaches depart from Sofia from the Central, West and South Bus Stations, international routes are served by the Serdika Station. Besides public buses, coaches are also operated by private companies, like Union-Ivkoni, Biomet or Etap-Grup. Tickets can be purchased at the offices of these companies, at stations and from the bus driver. Some companies offer online booking. There are numerous international destinations to a number of European countries, as well as Turkey. Share taxis called *marshrutka* operate in Sofia, and in the countryside between smaller settlements.
## Waterways
- 470 km (2006) along the 2,300 km long Pan-European corridor VII along the Danube River. Other smaller rivers, as Kamchiya and Ropotamo, are navigable only for recreational uses.
## Pipelines
In 2005, Bulgaria had 2,425 kilometers of natural gas pipelines, 339 kilometers of oil pipelines, and 156 kilometers of pipelines for refined products. The pipeline system was scheduled for substantial changes and additions, however. The 279-kilometer Burgas-Alexandroupolis Pipeline, still under negotiation among Bulgaria, Greece, and Russia in 2006, would provide a bypass of the overloaded Bosporus Strait. The line would enable Russian oil arriving at the Bulgarian oil port of Burgas to reach Greece\'s Mediterranean port at Alexandroupolis. A 900-kilometer U.S.- financed alternate route, known as the AMBO pipeline, would bring oil from Burgas across Bulgaria and North Macedonia to the Albanian port of Vlore on the Adriatic Sea, bypassing both the Bosporus and Greece. As of October 2006, approval of both pipelines was expected.`{{Update after|2010|11|13}}`{=mediawiki} With international investment, Bulgaria began constructing a new domestic gas transportation network beginning in 2005. The Russian Gazprom company planned a gas pipeline from Dimitrovgrad in eastern Bulgaria across Serbia, reaching the Adriatic Sea in Croatia. Some 400 kilometers of the planned Nabucco Pipeline, bringing gas from Azerbaijan and Iran to Central Europe, were to cross Bulgaria sometime before 2011.
## Ports and harbours {#ports_and_harbours}
### River ports {#river_ports}
Lom, Nikopol, Oryahovo, Ruse, Silistra, Svishtov, Tutrakan, Vidin are river ports on the Danube river.
### Sea ports {#sea_ports}
**Sea ports**
Ahtopol, Balchik, Burgas, Nesebar, Pomorie, Sozopol, Tsarevo, Varna
**Container terminals**
The major and largest ports with international significance are Varna and Burgas.
**Yacht ports**
Balchik, Burgas, Byala, Golden Sands, Nesebar, Sozopol, Sveti Vlas, Varna
## Merchant marine {#merchant_marine}
- **total**: 31 ships
**ships by type**:
- bulk carrier: 31 ships grouped by volume of 24,000 -- 13,000 DWT, 35,000 -- 25,000 DWT and 43,000 -- 36,000 DWT
## Urban transport {#urban_transport}
While most urban and suburban transport in Bulgaria is composed of buses (using an increasing number of CNG vehicles), around a dozen cities also have trolley bus networks. The capital Sofia also has a tram and an underground network.
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Geography of Burkina Faso
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`{{MapLibrary|Burkina_sat.png|Burkina Faso}}`{=mediawiki}
Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) is a landlocked Sahel country that shares borders with six nations. It lies between the Sahara desert and the Gulf of Guinea, south of the loop of the Niger River, mostly between latitudes 9° and 15°N (a small area is north of 15°), and longitudes 6°W and 3°E. The land is green in the south, with forests and fruit trees, and semi-arid in the north. Most of central Burkina Faso lies on a savanna plateau, 198 - above sea level, with fields, brush, and scattered trees. Burkina Faso\'s game preserves -- the most important of which are Arly, Nazinga, and W National Park---contain lions, elephants, hippopotamus, monkeys, common warthogs, and antelopes. Previously the endangered painted hunting dog, *Lycaon pictus* occurred in Burkina Faso, but, although the last sightings were made in Arli National Park, the species is considered extirpated from Burkina Faso.
## Area
Burkina Faso has a total area of 274,200 sqkm, of which 273,800 sqkm is land and 400 sqkm water. Comparatively, it is slightly larger than New Zealand and Colorado. Its borders total 3,611 km: Benin 386 km, Ivory Coast 545 km, Ghana 602 km, Mali 1,325 km, Niger 622 km, and Togo 131 km. It has no coastline or maritime claims.
### Extreme points {#extreme_points}
This is a list of the extreme points of Burkina Faso, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
- Northernmost point -- unnamed location on the border with Mali, Sahel Region
- Easternmost point -- unnamed location on the border with Benin immediately south of the Burkina Faso-Benin-Niger tripoint, Est Region
- Southernmost point -- unnamed location on the border with Ivory Coast immediately south of the village of Kpuere, Sud-Ouest Region
- Westernmost point -- the tripoint with Mali and Ivory Coast, Cascades Region
## Terrain
It is made up of two major types of countryside. The larger part of the country is covered by a peneplain, which forms a gently undulating landscape with, in some areas, a few isolated hills, the last vestiges of a Precambrian massif. The southwest of the country, on the other hand, forms a sandstone massif, where the highest peak, Ténakourou, is found at an elevation of 749 m. The massif is bordered by sheer cliffs up to 150 m high. The average altitude of Burkina Faso is 400 m and the difference between the highest and lowest terrain is no greater than 600 m. Burkina Faso is therefore a relatively flat country. Its elevation extremes are a lowest point at the Mouhoun (Black Volta) River (200 m) and highest point at Tena Kourou (749 m).
## Administrative divisions {#administrative_divisions}
The country is divided into 13 administrative regions. These regions encompass 45 provinces and 351 departments.
## Hydrography
The country owes its former name of Upper Volta to three rivers which cross it: the Black Volta (or Mouhoun), the White Volta (Nakambé) and the Red Volta (Nazinon). The Black Volta is one of the country\'s only two rivers which flow year-round, the other being the Komoé, which flows to the southwest. The basin of the Niger River also drains 27% of the country\'s surface.
The Niger\'s tributaries -- the Béli, the Gorouol, the Goudébo and the Dargol -- are seasonal streams and flow for only four to six months a year. They still, however, can cause large floods. The country also contains numerous lakes -- the principal ones are Tingrela, Bam and Dem. The country contains large ponds, as well, such as Oursi, Béli, Yomboli and Markoye. Water shortages are often a problem, especially in the north of the country.
## Climate
Burkina Faso has a primarily tropical climate with two very distinct seasons. In the rainy season, the country receives between 600 and 900 millimetres (23.6 and 35.4 in) of rainfall; in the dry season, the harmattan -- a hot dry wind from the Sahara -- blows. The rainy season lasts approximately four months, May/June to September, and is shorter in the north of the country. Three climatic zones can be defined: the Sahel, the Sudan-Sahel, and the Sudan-Guinea. The Sahel in the north typically receives less than 600 mm of rainfall per year and has high temperatures, 5 --.
A relatively dry tropical savanna, the Sahel extends beyond the borders of Burkina Faso, from the Horn of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, and borders the Sahara to its north and the fertile region of the Sudan to the South. Situated between 11°3\' and 13°5\' north latitude, the Sudan-Sahel region is a transitional zone with regards to rainfall and temperature. Further to the south, the Sudan-Guinea zone receives more than 900 mm of rain each year and has cooler average temperatures.
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Demographics of Burkina Faso
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Burkina Faso\'s {{#expr:`{{replace|{{UN_Population|Burkina Faso}}|,||}}`{=mediawiki}/1e6 round 1}} million people belong to two major West African cultural groups: the Gur (Voltaic) and the Mandé. The Voltaic are far more numerous and include the Mossi, who make up about one-half of the population. The Mossi claim descent from warriors who migrated to present-day Burkina Faso and established an empire that lasted more than 800 years. Predominantly farmers, the Mossi are still bound by the traditions of the Mogho Naba, who hold court in Ouagadougou.
Most of Burkina Faso\'s population is concentrated in the south and center of the country, with a population density sometimes exceeding 48 PD/km2. This population density, high for Africa, causes annual migrations of hundreds of thousands of Burkinabé to Ivory Coast and Ghana for seasonal agricultural work. About a third of Burkinabé adhere to traditional African religions. The introduction of Islam to Burkina Faso was initially resisted by the Mossi rulers. Christians, predominantly Roman Catholics, are largely concentrated among the urban elite.
Few Burkinabé have had formal education. Schooling is free but not compulsory, and only about 29% of Burkina\'s primary school-age children receive a basic education. The University of Ouagadougou, founded in 1974, was the country\'s first institution of higher education. The Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso in Bobo-Dioulasso was opened in 1995.
## Population
Burkina Faso has a young age structure -- the result of declining mortality combined with steady high fertility -- and continues to experience rapid population growth, which is putting increasing pressure on the country\'s limited arable land. More than 65% of the population is under the age of 25, and the population is growing at 3% annually. Mortality rates, especially those of infants and children, have decreased because of improved health care, hygiene, and sanitation, but women continue to have an average of almost 6 children. Even if fertility were substantially reduced, today\'s large cohort entering their reproductive years would sustain high population growth for the foreseeable future. Only about a third of the population is literate and unemployment is widespread, dampening the economic prospects of Burkina Faso\'s large working-age population.
According to the United Nations\' Population Division, the population was 20,903,000 in 2020, compared to only 4,284,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2020 was 44.4%, 53.2% of the population was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.4% was 65 years or older.
Total population Population aged 0--14 (%) Population aged 15--64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%)
------ ------------------ --------------------------- ---------------------------- -------------------------
1950 4 284 000 40.7 57.3 2.0
1955 4 517 000 41.0 56.9 2.2
1960 4 829 000 41.3 56.3 2.3
1965 5 175 000 42.2 55.2 2.5
1970 5 625 000 43.3 53.9 2.8
1975 6 155 000 44.2 52.8 3.0
1980 6 823 000 45.6 51.2 3.2
1985 7 728 000 46.7 50.0 3.3
1990 8 811 000 47.3 49.5 3.3
1995 10 090 000 47.1 49.8 3.1
2000 11 608 000 46.8 50.5 2.8
2005 13 422 000 46.5 50.9 2.6
2010 15 605 000 46.2 51.3 2.5
2015 18 111 000 45.6 52.0 2.4
2020 20 903 000 44.4 53.2 2.4
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (1.VII.2021) (Data refer to national projections.):
Age Group Male Female Total \%
----------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ---------
Total 10 393 241 11 116 202 21 509 443 100
0--4 1 971 908 1 860 417 3 832 325 17.82
5--9 1 646 122 1 589 070 3 235 192 15.04
10--14 1 367 531 1 390 910 2 758 441 12.82
15--19 1 122 566 1 204 719 2 327 285 10.82
20--24 908 843 1 033 776 1 942 619 9.03
25--29 730 372 884 547 1 614 919 7.51
30--34 588 794 728 172 1 316 966 6.12
35--39 468 316 586 269 1 054 585 4.90
40--44 372 345 466 984 839 329 3.90
45--49 300 835 370 491 671 326 3.12
50--54 248 194 293 790 541 984 2.52
55--59 194 917 224 363 419 280 1.95
60--64 149 409 164 492 313 901 1.46
65--69 112 992 120 551 233 543 1.09
70--74 83 974 84 008 167 982 0.78
75--79 60 706 51 775 112 481 0.52
80+ 65 417 61 868 127 285 0.59
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0--14 4 985 561 4 840 397 9 825 958 45.68
15--64 5 084 591 5 957 603 11 042 194 51.34
65+ 323 089 318 202 641 291 2.98
## Vital statistics {#vital_statistics}
Registration of vital events is not complete in Burkina Faso. The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.
Mid-year population (thousands) Live births (thousands) Deaths (thousands) Natural change (thousands) Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Total fertility rate (TFR) Infant mortality (per 1000 live births) Life expectancy (in years)
------ --------------------------------- ------------------------- -------------------- ---------------------------- ----------------------------- ----------------------------- --------------------------- ---------------------------- ----------------------------------------- ----------------------------
1950 4 214 184 119 65 43.5 28.2 15.3 5.82 170.1 33.12
1951 4 262 188 119 68 43.9 27.9 16.0 5.87 168.9 33.38
1952 4 313 192 121 71 44.3 27.9 16.4 5.93 167.8 33.55
1953 4 364 195 121 74 44.6 27.8 16.9 5.98 166.6 33.85
1954 4 417 199 123 76 44.9 27.7 17.2 6.01 165.2 34.13
1955 4 473 202 124 79 45.1 27.6 17.6 6.06 163.8 34.45
1956 4 531 206 125 81 45.4 27.5 17.8 6.09 162.3 34.67
1957 4 591 210 126 83 45.5 27.4 18.1 6.13 160.8 34.97
1958 4 652 214 128 86 45.8 27.3 18.5 6.17 159.3 35.26
1959 4 715 218 128 89 46.1 27.2 18.9 6.22 157.7 35.61
1960 4 783 222 130 92 46.3 27.1 19.2 6.25 156.2 35.87
1961 4 853 226 131 95 46.5 26.9 19.6 6.29 154.8 36.24
1962 4 924 231 132 99 46.7 26.7 20.0 6.32 153.5 36.67
1963 4 999 235 133 102 46.9 26.5 20.4 6.36 152.4 36.97
1964 5 076 240 134 106 47.2 26.4 20.8 6.42 151.2 37.25
1965 5 158 245 135 110 47.3 26.1 21.2 6.47 150.1 37.69
1966 5 243 249 137 113 47.5 26.0 21.5 6.53 149.1 37.92
1967 5 331 254 138 117 47.6 25.8 21.8 6.59 148.2 38.29
1968 5 422 260 139 120 47.8 25.6 22.1 6.65 147.3 38.53
1969 5 516 263 140 123 47.6 25.4 22.2 6.66 146.6 38.86
1970 5 612 268 141 126 47.6 25.1 22.4 6.69 145.4 39.24
1971 5 708 272 142 129 47.5 24.9 22.6 6.70 144.4 39.56
1972 5 805 276 142 134 47.5 24.5 23.0 6.72 142.6 40.05
1973 5 908 282 143 139 47.6 24.1 23.5 6.77 140.4 40.55
1974 6 018 288 141 147 47.7 23.4 24.3 6.84 137.3 41.35
1975 6 138 295 140 155 47.9 22.7 25.2 6.91 133.6 42.31
1976 6 270 302 138 164 48.1 22.0 26.1 6.95 129.6 43.25
1977 6 417 312 137 175 48.5 21.4 27.2 7.05 125.7 44.15
1978 6 578 323 137 186 49.0 20.7 28.3 7.15 122.1 45.07
1979 6 750 333 136 196 49.2 20.2 29.0 7.19 119.0 45.90
1980 6 933 341 137 204 49.1 19.8 29.4 7.22 116.3 46.54
1981 7 124 350 139 211 49.1 19.5 29.5 7.26 114.4 46.87
1982 7 322 358 139 219 48.9 19.0 29.9 7.25 112.1 47.60
1983 7 531 367 140 227 48.7 18.6 30.1 7.25 110.3 48.09
1984 7 751 379 141 238 48.8 18.2 30.6 7.25 108.5 48.64
1985 7 979 390 143 247 48.9 17.9 30.9 7.24 106.7 48.95
1986 8 208 398 146 252 48.5 17.8 30.7 7.22 104.8 49.01
1987 8 435 406 149 257 48.0 17.7 30.4 7.17 103.1 49.06
1988 8 664 412 152 260 47.5 17.5 30.0 7.11 101.7 49.13
1989 8 895 419 155 265 47.1 17.3 29.7 7.05 100.8 49.17
1990 9 131 429 156 272 46.8 17.1 29.8 7.01 100.2 49.44
1991 9 365 438 160 279 46.7 17.0 29.7 6.97 100.0 49.45
1992 9 599 447 163 284 46.4 16.9 29.5 6.94 99.8 49.44
1993 9 840 455 167 288 46.2 17.0 29.2 6.89 99.7 49.21
1994 10 091 466 170 296 46.1 16.8 29.3 6.84 99.3 49.31
1995 10 353 478 173 305 46.0 16.7 29.4 6.81 98.7 49.45
1996 10 621 490 175 314 46.0 16.5 29.5 6.78 97.6 49.61
1997 10 897 500 180 319 45.8 16.5 29.3 6.72 96.8 49.40
1998 11 201 510 180 331 45.5 16.0 29.5 6.66 95.0 49.99
1999 11 534 523 181 342 45.3 15.7 29.6 6.59 93.6 50.33
2000 11 883 537 182 355 45.2 15.3 29.9 6.52 92.1 50.85
2001 12 250 549 185 364 44.8 15.1 29.7 6.43 90.4 51.07
2002 12 632 561 187 374 44.5 14.8 29.6 6.34 88.8 51.27
2003 13 031 579 188 391 44.5 14.4 30.0 6.28 86.7 51.79
2004 13 446 595 188 407 44.2 14.0 30.3 6.22 84.1 52.42
2005 13 876 614 187 426 44.2 13.5 30.7 6.18 81.3 53.09
2006 14 316 636 187 448 44.4 13.1 31.3 6.17 78.6 53.74
2007 14 757 652 187 466 44.2 12.6 31.5 6.11 75.8 54.38
2008 15 198 668 183 485 43.9 12.0 31.9 6.05 72.7 55.34
2009 15 650 682 182 500 43.5 11.6 31.9 5.99 70.2 55.96
2010 16 117 697 182 516 43.2 11.3 32.0 5.94 67.8 56.48
2011 16 603 712 180 531 42.8 10.8 32.0 5.87 65.5 57.13
2012 17 114 725 180 545 42.3 10.5 31.8 5.79 63.6 57.62
2013 17 636 736 182 554 41.7 10.3 31.4 5.70 61.8 57.82
2014 18 170 745 181 564 41.0 10.0 31.0 5.60 60.0 58.36
2015 18 718 751 180 570 40.1 9.6 30.5 5.48 58.3 58.85
2016 19 275 751 180 572 39.0 9.3 29.7 5.32 56.7 59.33
2017 19 836 752 181 571 37.9 9.1 28.8 5.16 55.0 59.54
2018 20 393 761 180 581 37.3 8.8 28.5 5.07 53.5 60.05
2019 20 962 720 180 540 34.3 8.6 25.8 4.68 58.7 60.2
2020 21 479 703 179 524 32.7 8.3 24.4 4.44 57.0 60,5
2021 21 995 713 186 527 32.4 8.4 24.0 4.36 55.3 60.0
2022 22 509 721 183 538 32.0 8.1 23.9 4.28 53.8 60.7
2023 23 026 729 183 545 31.6 8.0 23.7 4.28 52.3 61.1
### Demographic and Health Surveys {#demographic_and_health_surveys}
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural)
---------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- -------------
1993 43.0 6.9 (6.0) 39.0 5.0 (3.9) 43.0 7.3 (6.5)
1998--99 45.1 6.8 (6.0) 32.6 4.1 (3.4) 47.0 7.3 (6.5)
2003 42.6 6.2 (5.4) 32.4 3.7 (3.2) 44.5 6.9 (6.0)
2010 41.2 6.0 (5.2) 33.3 3.9 (3.3) 43.3 6.7 (5.9)
2014 38.6 5.5 33.6 4.0 40.2 6.1
2017-18 35.1 5.2 30.9 3.7 36.1 5.6
2021 30.7 4.4 (4.2) 28.4 3.4 (3.3) 31.6 4.9 (4.6)
Fertility data as of 2013 (DHS Program):
Region Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40--49
------------------- ---------------------- -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------
Centre 3.7 6.8 5.3
Boucle du Mouhoun 6.8 10.8 7.1
Cascades 6.0 10.4 7.0
Centre-Est 6.3 8.1 6.6
Centre-Nord 6.7 10.7 7.1
Centre-Ouest 6.4 10.4 7.1
Centre-Sud 5.6 9.4 6.8
Est 7.5 15.0 7.9
Hauts Bassins 5.2 9.3 5.9
Nord 6.2 10.3 7.0
Plateau Central 5.8 9.4 6.8
Sahel 7.5 12.9 7.6
Sud-ouest 6.4 10.8 7.1
### Life expectancy at birth {#life_expectancy_at_birth}
: total population: 63.44 years
: male: 61.63 years
: female: 65.31 years (2022 est.)
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
: Total population: 63.06 years
: Male: 61.28 years
: Female: 64.89 years (2021 est.)
## Ethnic groups {#ethnic_groups}
: Mossi 53.7%, Fulani (Peuhl) 6.8%, Gurunsi 5.9%, Bissa 5.4%, Gurma 5.2%, Bobo 3.4%, Senufo 2.2%, Bissa 1.5%, Lobi 1.5%, Tuareg/Bella 0.1%, other 12.8%, foreign 0.7% (2021 est.)
## Languages
: French(official), native African languages belonging to Sudanic family spoken by 90% of the population
## Religion
: Islam 61.5%, Roman Catholic 23.3%, Traditional/Animist 7.8%, Protestant 6.5%, Other/No Answer 0.2%, None 0.7% (2010 est.)
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Politics of Burkina Faso
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According to the 1991 Constitution of Burkina Faso, the **politics of Burkina Faso** take place in the form of a semi-presidential republic, with powers separated between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The President of Burkina Faso, who has historically established the majority of Burkinabé policy, is the head of state. Also under the executive branch is a prime minister and a cabinet, the Council of Ministers. The president-appointed Prime Minister of Burkina Faso is the head of government under a multi-party system.
The legislative branch includes a unicameral parliament, the National Assembly, which passes laws and monitors government actions. The judicial branch includes at its base Tribunals of First Instance, then Courts of Appeal, and at the top the Supreme Court with four chambers---constitutional, administrative, judicial, and financial. This branch is the weakest and least-independent in Burkina Faso because of inadequate human, budgetary, and logistical resources in addition to the president, as the President of the High Council of the Magistracy, having power over key appointments.
Throughout Burkina Faso\'s history, the military has played an integral role in politics, and the country is currently under Ibrahim Traoré, a military captain. The Burkinabé government has experienced 11 successful military coups d\'état because of weak civilian institutions, insecurity, and widespread frustration with ineffective governance. After coups and during transition periods, the Constitution is largely ignored, giving unchecked authority to the head of state. After an internal coup ousted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the previous military head of state, a new transitional charter was adopted that named Traoré the transitional president. The coup was primarily orchestrated because Damiba ineffectively handled rising jihadist influence and attacks, which have killed thousands and displaced more than two million.
## Burkina Faso under Ibrahim Traoré {#burkina_faso_under_ibrahim_traoré}
As the leader of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), Ibrahim Traoré has proven himself to be a controversial yet serious leader. He has been the interim president of Burkina Faso since September 2022. Similar to previous military leaders, Traoré has maintained popular support by utilizing nationalist rhetoric and by growing Burkina Faso\'s economy; the country\'s GDP has grown from \$18.8 billion to \$22.1 billion under him. Traoré has made steps toward curbing jihadist intrusion by significantly increasing the membership of the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP) by nearly 100,000 members.
Traoré is a strong verbal opponent of neocolonialism and Western domination and has sought economic self-sufficiency in Burkina Faso, prioritizing agricultural and industrial reforms. He has shifted Burkinabé foreign policy. The country no longer receives economic and military support from former colonizer France, who previously sent large amounts of foreign aid and maintained a large military presence in Burkina Faso. Instead, Traoré has furthered an alliance with Russia.
Ibrahim Traoré has received much criticism internationally and from some Burkinabé, largely because of his disregard for the democratic principles outlined in Burkina Faso\'s Constitution. When Traoré became the interim president in September 2022 following the coup of Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, a transition phase was in effect. In July 2024, elections were supposed to be held to form a civilian government, but Traoré announced that his government would extend the transition by 60 months.
Traoré has suppressed speech by media organizations, trade unions, and civil society groups. This has primary been done to individuals and groups critical of his military rule and coups in the Sahel as well as those critical of the Burkinabé army and its abuses against civilians. Burkinabé media organizations---like Radio Oméga, Burkina Faso\'s most important independent radio station---that have platformed these individuals and groups have faced temporary suspensions. Individuals strongly opposed to Traoré have been abducted and conscripted to the state security forces and the VDP. Despite Traoré not upholding Burkina Faso\'s Constitution, he is popular among Burkinabé, especially from youth and nationalists.
## Post-colonial political history {#post_colonial_political_history}
Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) became formally independent from French rule in 1960. Maurice Yaméogo, who was elected president in December 1959, presided over Burkina Faso\'s newly independent government. The country was under a unitary constitution, with power centralized in the national government. Despite Yaméogo being an anti-colonial leader, he did not make significant strides towards alleviating the political, social, and economic legacies of colonialism.
Minimal modifications were made to the state structures that remained from the colonial state. Yaméogo attempted to make Burkina Faso a one-party state under the Voltatic Democratic Union-African Democratic Rally (UDV-RDA), which is what caused his eventual fall from power. After years of austerity and nepotistic political appointments, civilians wanted Yaméogo to be replaced.
While strength in opposition to Yaméogo grew, so did the Burkinabé military: the end to French occupation brought increasing national autonomy, which included military autonomy. The military positioned itself as a neutral force in the midst of political unrest. The army grew as an autonomous unit after Yaméogo rejected French support for it, in turn causing the army to develop as a nationally oriented institution.
Many members of the army were veterans of colonial wars who experienced repression under French rule. By 1966, when protests erupted over austerity and repression, the army, and especially Lieutenant-Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana, refused to suppress demonstrations and supported civilian opposition to Yaméogo. Lamizana arrested Yaméogo in a coup d\'état, declaring himself the head of state in 1966 with widespread support from Burkinabé.
Sangoulé Lamizana was the first of many coup leaders in Burkina Faso to successfully gain power. Because Yaméogo was despised throughout Burkina Faso, Lamizana made the military popular. He played an integral role in establishing military culture in Burkina Faso by promoting it as a stabilizing and unifying force. Lamizana suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly, eventually replacing the constitution and attempting to shift to civilian rule in 1970.
A civilian government was elected, but after a power struggle ensued between Speaker of the Parliament Joseph Ouédraogo and Prime Minister Gérard Kango Ouédraogo, Lamizana re-established military rule. Throughout Lamizana\'s rule, he would temporarily allow limited political activity but eventually suppress this activity when he deemed it to be getting out of hand. His most prominent opponents were French-educated left-wing intellectuals and trade union organizers, but his eventual demise came as a result of another military coup.
As a response to the Lamizana government\'s continued failure to deal with strikes and food shortages, Saye Zerbo, who was a trained military leader, mounted a coup in 1980 that overthrew Lamizana. Zerbo eradicated the constitution enacted by Lamizana and instead ruled through a thirty-one-member Military Committee for Recovering National Progress (CMRPN). The military committee included future presidents Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré, showing how the political leadership of Burkina Faso has historically been influenced by military connections. Similar to previous Burkinabé heads of state, Zerbo\'s administration was corrupt and did not provide social improvements for the people of Burkina Faso. Zerbo was accused of embezzling £28 million (well over US\$100 million in current inflation-adjusted value) from government funds.
A coup orchestrated by the Conseil de Salut du People (CSP), led by Colonel Gabriel Yoryan Somé, overthrew the Saye Zerbo regime and appointed Surgeon Major Jean Baptiste Ouédraogo the head of state. Ouédraogo later appointed Thomas Sankara prime minister in January 1983. Mere months later, in May 1983, President Ouédraogo removed pro-Libyan and anti-French elements from the Burkinabé government and disbanded the CSP. This greatly upset radicals in Burkina Faso, leading to his regime to be overthrown in August by the National Council for the Revolution (CNR). He was replaced by his former prime minister, Thomas Sankara.
Thomas Sankara\'s revolutionary ideas were widely popular in the years leading up to his rule, especially among students and the military. It was under Sankara that the country\'s name changed from \"Upper Volta\" to \"Burkina Faso,\" meaning \"land of the proud and honest people.\" Largely beginning in 1975, Sankara and other officers, including future president and then close ally of Sankara\'s Blaise Compaoré, stayed in close contact with leftist civilians. Sankara, Compaoré, and other important revolutionary figures in Burkinabé politics secretly attended meetings of leftist coalitions, notably including the African Independence Party (PAI), Union of Communist Struggles (ULC), and Voltaic Revolutionary Communist Party.
They appealed to the public, attending these meetings in civilian clothes. A network of revolutionary organizing laid the foundation for the 1983 coup of Ouédraogo. Sankara emphasized breaking from neo-colonial dependencies, especially from France, and rooting out corruption that had plagued the Burkinabé government since its independence. He and the CNR created and orchestrated Revolutionary Popular Tribunals (TPRs), which were broadcast and convicted over 100 members of previous regimes of corruption. In addition, the Sankara government implemented environmental restoration initiatives and catalyzed popular support from Burkina Faso\'s 95% rural population by investing in widespread small development initiatives.
Even though there was much initial enthusiasm surrounding Thomas Sankara\'s presidency, positive sentiments eventually faded after his government participated in political repression. This repression largely came from members of the CNR and not Sankara himself. While many of the CNR\'s initiatives found support from the Burkinabé people, some resentment and outright resistance was expressed. CNR officials responded to this with coercion and excessive repression.
Political repression under his government was also exhibited through the way his Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) operated. While they initially played a large role in mobilizing revolutionary sentiment before and after Sankara was elected, the actions of many CDRs were corrupt and spread violence. Many repeated abuses were carried out by CDR militants, who were often armed. While unmasking corrupt state functionaries, they participated in corruption themselves by embezzling funds and breaking into homes to collect what they called \"taxes\" and \"contributions.\"
However, Sankara did press CDRs to operate in a just and respectable manner and tried leveling out corruption within his own government. This created friction within governmental leadership, especially with Blaise Compaoré. Sankara refused to combine existing Marxist groups into a single ruling party out of fear of creating an elitist government, which was viewed as weak by Compaoré and allies. This set the stage for the 1987 coup in which Sankara was assassinated and former ally Compaoré was appointed president.
In 1990, the Popular Front held its first National Congress, which formed a committee to draft a national constitution. The constitution was approved by referendum in 1991. In 1992, Blaise Compaoré was elected president, running unopposed after the opposition boycotted the election because of Compaoré\'s refusal to accede to demands of the opposition such as a Sovereign National Conference to set modalities. The opposition did participate in the following year\'s legislative elections, in which the ODP/MT won a majority of the seats contested for. The government of the Fourth Republic includes a strong presidency, a prime minister, a Council of Ministers presided over by the president, a National Assembly, and the judiciary. The legislature and judiciary are independent but remain susceptible to outside influence.
In 1995, Burkina held its first multiparty municipal elections since it gained independence. The president\'s ODP/MT won over 1,100 of some 1,700 councilor seats being contested. In February 1996, the ruling ODP/MT merged with several small opposition parties to form the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP). This effectively co-opted much of what little viable opposition to Compaoré existed. The remaining opposition parties regrouped in preparation for 1997 legislative elections and the 1998 presidential election. The 1997 legislative elections, which international observers pronounced to be substantially free, fair, and transparent, resulted in a large CDP majority---101 to 111 seats.
In January 2022 a coup d\'état took place, and the military announced on television that Kaboré had been deposed from his position as president. After the announcement, the military declared that the parliament, government, and constitution had been dissolved. On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution and appointed Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba as interim president. A few months later, On 30 September 2022, Damiba was himself ousted by Ibrahim Traoré, his military colleague. President Damiba resigned and left the country. On 6 October 2022, Captain Ibrahim Traore was officially appointed as president of Burkina Faso.
## Government
### Executive branch {#executive_branch}
\|President \|Ibrahim Traoré \|Military \|30 September 2022 \|- \|Prime Minister \|Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla \|*None* \|21 October 2022 \|}
The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and may serve up to two terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president with the consent of the legislature. The constitution of 2 June 1991, established a semi-presidential government with a parliament (*Assemblée*) which can be dissolved by the President of the Republic, who is elected for a term of 5 years.
The year 2000 saw a constitutional amendment reducing the presidential term from seven to five years, which was enforced during the 2005 elections. Another change according to the amendment would have prevented sitting president Blaise Compaoré from being re-elected. However, notwithstanding a challenge by other presidential candidates, in October 2005, the constitutional council ruled that because Compaoré was already a sitting president in 2000, the amendment would not apply to him until the end of his second term in office, thereby clearing the way for his candidacy in the 2005 election. On 13 November Compaoré was reelected in a landslide due to a divided political opposition.
In 2010, Compaoré was once again re-elected, and the term limit requirement was held to not apply to him. A proposed constitutional amendment in 2014 would have permitted him to run again, but public resistance led to the 2014 Burkinabé uprising, and Compaoré resigned on 31 October 2014. A transitional government headed by President Michel Kafando and Prime Minister Isaac Zida took power for a one-year mandate. Elections were to have been held in October 2015, but members of the Regiment of Presidential Security launched a coup on 16 September 2015, detaining President Kafando and Prime Minister Zida. RSP commander Gilbert Diendéré named himself the head of the new military junta, but popular resistance, backed by army and gendarmerie forces not aligned with the RSP, forced his resignation and the restoration of the transitional government a week later.
#### Council of Ministers {#council_of_ministers}
The Burkinabé Council of Ministers nominated on 5 March 2022 included prime minister Albert Ouédraogo and 25 ministers.
### Legislative branch {#legislative_branch}
According to the constitution, the Parliament votes on the law, consents to taxation, and controls the actions of the government under provisions of the constitution. The Parliament, which is made up of the National Assembly and Senate, meets each year in two ordinary sessions, each of which may not exceed ninety days. The first session opens on the first Wednesday of March and the second the last Wednesday of September. If either of these days lands on a holiday, the session opens the next first working day. Each chamber of Parliament meets in extraordinary session on request of the President, demand of the Prime Minister, or of an absolute majority of half of the Deputies or Senators on a specific agenda and closes at the completion of said agenda.
The National Assembly (*Assemblée Nationale*) has 111 members, named Deputies, and are elected for a five-year term by proportional representation.
The Senate, as described in the Constitution of Burkina Faso, would consist of representatives from local government divisions, customary and religious authorities, workers, employers, Burkinabé abroad and people appointed by the President of Burkina Faso and serve a term of six years. The constitution requires that anyone elected or appointed must be 45 years old by the day of the ballot.
In May 2013, then-President Compaoré announced the establishment of a new Senate with 89 members, 29 of which would be selected by the president themselves, and the rest appointed by local officials. With Senate elections being held in July 2013, government opposition groups warned against a legislative body with a majority of handpicked sympathizers by the president. Compaoré was successful in appointing 1/3rd of the Senate, prompting protesters rallying in the streets of Bobo-Dioulasso and the capital Ouagadougou to protest the establishment of the Senate, which has since been postponed.
The Presidents of both the Senate and National Assembly are elected for the duration of the legislator by an absolute majority of half the chamber in the first round of voting, or a simple majority in the second round. Their functions can be terminated during the course of a legislature at the demand of two-fifths and a vote of the absolute majority of the members of the Assembly. In the case of vacancy of the presidency of either chamber of Parliament by death, resignation, or other reason, said chamber elects a new president by the same method. Each chamber has financial autonomy, with the President of the said chamber managing the credits allocated to them for the functioning of the chamber, but with a vote of the absolute majority, the chamber can dismiss the President for incompetence in managing finances.
Unless discovered *in flagrante delicto*, any member of Parliament can only be prosecuted or arrested in a penal or criminal matter with the authorization of at least one-third members of the chamber which they reside.
## Political parties and elections {#political_parties_and_elections}
- 2020 Burkinabé general election
## Political pressure groups {#political_pressure_groups}
Burkinabé General Confederation of Labor (CGTB); Burkinabé Movement for Human Rights (HBDHP); Group of 14 February; National Confederation of Burkinabé Workers (CNTB); National Organization of Free Unions (ONSL); watchdog/political action groups throughout the country in both organizations and communities
## Administrative divisions {#administrative_divisions}
Burkina Faso is divided into 13 regions and 45 provinces:
Regions:
- Boucle du Mouhoun, Cascades, Centre, Centre-Est, Centre-Nord, Centre-Ouest, Centre-Sud, Est, Hauts-Bassins, Nord, Plateau-Central, Sahel, Sud-Ouest
Provinces:
- Balé, Bam, Banwa, Bazega, Bougouriba, Boulgou, Boulkiemde, Comoé, Ganzourgou, Gnagna, Gourma, Houet, Ioba, Kadiogo, Kenedougou, Komondjari, Kompienga, Kossi, Koulpelogo, Kouritenga, Kourweogo, Leraba, Loroum, Mouhoun, Namentenga, Nahouri, Nayala, Noumbiel, Oubritenga, Oudalan, Passore, Poni, Sanguie, Sanmatenga, Séno, Sissili, Soum, Sourou, Tapoa, Tuy, Yagha, Yatenga, Ziro, Zondoma, Zoundweogo
## International organization participation {#international_organization_participation}
ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECA, ECOWAS, Entente, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ITUC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTOO, WTrO.
## International relationships {#international_relationships}
The ambassador of Burkina Faso to Canada is Juliette Bonkoungou.
The ambassador of Burkina Faso to Mexico is Jonathan Hodgson.
The former ambassador of Burkina Faso to the United States was Tertius Zongo, he left his post when appointed Prime Minister in July 2007; the US Ambassador to Burkina Faso is Andrew Robert Young.
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Telecommunications in Burkina Faso
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**Telecommunications in Burkina Faso** include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, and the Internet.
The telephony market in Burkina Faso is still relatively underdeveloped. Although mobile penetration is just over 100%, it is still below the African average. Fixed-line telephony and internet connections are very low, due in large part to poor network infrastructure. The government has a number of policies intended to improve the levels of investment and usage of networks but the impact of the SARS-Cov2 pandemic has hampered such efforts.
Radio is the country\'s most popular communications medium. Use of telecommunications in Burkina Faso are extremely low, limited due to the low penetration of electricity, even in major cities. There were just 141,400 fixed line phones in use in 2012, in a country with a population of 17.4 million. Use of mobile phones has skyrocketed from 1.0 million lines in 2006 to 10 million in 2012. Internet use is also low, with only 3.7 users per 100 inhabitants in 2012, just over 643,000 users total. The Internet penetration rate in Africa as a whole was 16 users per 100 inhabitants in 2013.
## Regulation and control {#regulation_and_control}
The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice.
All media are under the administrative and technical supervision of the Ministry of Communications, which is responsible for developing and implementing government policy on information and communication. The Superior Council of Communication (SCC), a semiautonomous body under the Office of the President, monitors the content of radio and television programs, newspapers, and Internet Web sites to ensure compliance with professional ethics standards and government policy. The SCC may summon journalists and issue warnings for subsequent violations. Hearings may concern alleged libel, disturbing the peace, inciting violence, or violations of state security.
Journalists occasionally face criminal libel prosecutions and other forms of harassment and intimidation. In addition to the prohibition against insulting the head of state, the law also prohibits the publication of shocking images and lack of respect for the deceased. Although the government does not attempt to impede criticism, some journalists practice self-censorship.
The Burkinabé government, in its telecommunications development strategy, has stated its aim to make telecommunications a universal service accessible to all. A large portion of this strategy is the privatization of the National Telecommunications Office (ONATEL), with an additional focus on a rural telephony promotion project. In 2006 the government sold a 51 percent stake in the national telephone company, ONATEL, and ultimately planned to retain only a 23 percent stake in the company.
## Radio and television {#radio_and_television}
- Radio stations: 2 AM, 26 FM, and 3 shortwave stations; state-owned radio runs a national and regional network; substantial number of privately owned radio stations; transmissions of several international broadcasters available in Ouagadougou (2007).
- Television stations: 14 digital channels, 2 of them are state-owned by the broadcaster Radio Télévision du Burkina (2019).
Radio is the country\'s most popular communications medium. Dozens of private and community radio stations and a handful of private TV channels operate alongside their state-run counterparts. The BBC World Service, Voice of America, and Radio France Internationale are all on the air in the capital, Ouagadougou.
## Telephones
- Calling code: +226
- International call prefix: 00
- Main lines:
- 141,400 lines in use (2012);
- 94,800 lines in use, 144th in the world (2006).
- Mobile cellular:
- 10.0 million lines, 79th in the world (2012);
- 1.0 million lines, 123rd in the world (2006).
- Telephone system: system includes microwave radio relay, open-wire, and radiotelephone communication stations; fixed-line connections stand at less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular usage, fostered by multiple providers, is increasing rapidly from a low base (2011).
- Satellite earth stations: 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2011).
- Communications cables: Burkina Faso is linked to the global submarine cable network and the international Internet backbone through Senegal\'s Sonatel fibre-optic transmission network.
## Early Development of the Mobile Market {#early_development_of_the_mobile_market}
The state-run Office National Des Telecommunications (ONATEL) launched the first mobile network based on CDMA2000 technology in 1998.
Competition was introduced to the mobile telephone segment in 2000 with the introduction of new GSM network operators Celtel, Télécel Faso and ONATEL\'s Telmob. This pushed rates down even as density and coverage area increased.
Use of mobile phones grew quickly in the 2000s, growing from 2,700 subscribers in 1998, to 1.0 million in 2006, to 10.0 million in 2012. and to 21.4 million in 2020.
ARPU remained low, however, as mobile subscribers adopted behaviours such as \"flashing\" to minimize their costs and Burkina Faso\'s ancient oral tradition and talking drum culture harmonized with the introduction of mobile phone technologies. Additionally, mobile phone owners acquired status by being able to lend their phones to others in their communities.
## International Group Involvement {#international_group_involvement}
In 2006, Maroc Telecom(itself part of Etisalat group) took a majority stake in ONATEL, which it increased to 61% in 2018 and from July 1, 2019, Maroc Telecom consolidated Onatel, Mauritel, Gabon Télécom, Sotelma, Casanet, AT Côte d\'Ivoire, Etisalat Benin, AT Togo, AT Niger, AT Centrafrique, and Tigo Tchad in its accounts.
In January 2021, Maroc Telecom rebranded all of its African subsidiaries as Moov Africa.
In 2005, Celtel was acquired by the Kuwaiti Zain Group.
In 2010, Zain Group decided to sell most of the Celtel group to Indian group Bharti Airtel, which rebranded Celtel as Airtel Burkina Faso.
In June 2016, Orange S.A. acquired the network and 4.6M subscribers of Airtel Burkina Faso. Following an ambitious network modernization plan, 9 months later the network rebranded as Orange Burkina Faso boasting a subscriber base of 6.3M.
According to the website of the Communication Regulator of Burkina Faso, at the end of 2020 the Mobile Telecommunications Market (21.4M subscriptions) was shared as follows:
- Orange BF S.A. 9,403,367 subscriptions (43.72%)
- Onatel S.A. 9,086,709 subscriptions (42.24%)
- Télécel Faso S.A 2,946,469 subscriptions (13.70%)
## Internet
- Top-level domain: .bf
- Internet users:
- 643,504 users, 127th in the world; 3.7% of the population, 194th in the world (2012);
- 178,100 users, 144th in the world (2009);
- 80,000, 146th in the world (2006).
- Fixed broadband: 14,166 subscriptions, 139th in the world; 0.1% of population, 169th in the world (2012).
- Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012).
- Internet hosts:
- 1,795, 164th in the world (2012);
- 193 hosts, 178th in the world (2007).
- IPv4: 32,512 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 1.9 addresses per 1000 people (2012).
- Internet Service Providers: 1 ISP (1999).`{{update after|2014|2|11}}`{=mediawiki}
Internet use is low, but the sector began to improve following installation of a 22 Mbit/s fiber optic international link, a vast improvement over the previous 128 kbit/s link. Secondary access nodes began to appear in major cities, and cybercafés were providing Internet access to a broader spectrum of end users.
ONATEL\'s FasoNet is the country\'s leading wired Internet service provider, dominating the broadband market with its ADSL and EV-DO fixed-wireless offerings.
The mobile operators are offering data services using GPRS and EDGE technology, and third generation (3G) mobile broadband technology was not introduced until 2013 by Bharti Airtel.
A March 2013 ITU *Study on international Internet connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa* reports that the Burkina Faso \"Internet market is not sufficiently dynamic and competitive\" and that the high costs for Internet capable mobile phones (more than six times the cost of a basic mobile phone) and mobile Internet subscriptions (up to seven times the cost for basic mobile) limit the number of Internet users.
### Internet censorship and surveillance {#internet_censorship_and_surveillance}
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet; however, the Superior Council of Communication (SCC) monitors Internet Web sites and discussion forums to ensure compliance with existing regulations. For example, in May 2012 the SCC issued a warning to a Web site on which a user had allegedly insulted President Compaore in an Internet forum.
The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. The law prohibits persons from insulting the head of state or using derogatory language with respect to the office; however, individuals criticize the government publicly or privately without reprisal.
The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy, family, home, or correspondence, and the government generally respects these prohibitions in practice. In cases of national security, however, the law permits surveillance, searches, and monitoring of telephones and private correspondence without a warrant.
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Foreign relations of Burkina Faso
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Burkina Faso has good relations with the European Union, African and certain Asian countries.
According to the U.S. State Department, \"U.S. relations with Burkina Faso are good but subject to strains in the past because of the Compaoré government\'s past involvement in arms trading and other sanctions-breaking activity.\" Burkina Faso cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in May 2018 (being the most populous state to do so in the 21st century) and the foreign ministry of China stated it approved of its decision.
Burkina Faso\'s relations with its West African neighbors have improved in recent years. Relations with Ghana, in particular, have warmed. President Compaoré had mediated a political crisis in Togo and helped to resolve the Tuareg conflict in Niger. Burkina maintains cordial relations with Libya, but recalled its in ambassador in 2017 over issues of treatment of migrants trying to reach Europe, and the reemergence of the slave trade there. A territorial dispute with Mali was mediated by Ghana and Nigeria, which has led to lessening of tensions between the two nations.
Nineteen provinces of Burkina Faso are joined with contiguous areas of Mali and Niger under the Liptako--Gourma Authority, a regional economic organization. As of 7/6/24, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have turned away from the West African bloc ECOWAS to pursue their own confederation of junta states, which they claim is to create a \"community of sovereign peoples far from the control of foreign powers. A community of peace, solidarity, prosperity based on our African values.\"
Burkina Faso is also a member of the International Criminal Court with a bilateral immunity agreement of protection for the United States-military (as covered under Article 98).
## Diplomatic relations {#diplomatic_relations}
List of countries which Burkina Faso maintains diplomatic relations with:
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## Bilateral relations {#bilateral_relations}
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
+=========+========================+============================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================+
| | 1970 | - Austria is represented in Burkina Faso by its embassy in Dakar, Senegal |
| | | - Diplomatic relations were established in 1960. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 15 September 1973 | See Burkina Faso--China relations Diplomatic relations were established on 15 September 1973. On February 2, 1994, Burkina Faso signed a communique to resume diplomatic relations with Taiwan. On February 4, the Chinese government announced the suspension of diplomatic relations with Burkina Faso. A communique on the re-establishment of diplomatic relations was signed on 26 May 2018. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 13 June 2001 | See Burkina Faso--Cyprus relations |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1971 | See Burkina Faso--Denmark relations |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 11 April 1968 | Diplomatic relations were established on 11 April 1968 when the first Ethiopian ambassador to Upper Volta, Ato Haile Mechecha, has presented his credentials to President Lamizana |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 4 August 1960 | See Burkina Faso--France relations Diplomatic relations were established on 4 August 1960. |
| | | |
| | | Present day Burkina Faso was formerly part of a French colony called French Upper Volta. France has special forces stationed in Burkina Faso. |
| | | |
| | | - Burkina Faso has an embassy in Paris. |
| | | - France has an embassy in Ouagadougou. |
| | | |
| | | In January 2023, Burkina Faso\'s military junta asked France to recall its ambassador amid a surge of anti-French sentiment as the country moved to develop closer ties to Russia |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 11 November 1965 | Diplomatic relations were established on 11 November 1965. On 29 December 1969 first Ambassador of Gabon to Upper Volta Mr. Marcel Sandoungout has presented his letters of credence. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | See Burkina Faso--Ghana relations Diplomatic relations were established on `{{dts|12 June 1961}}`{=mediawiki} |
| | | |
| | | With the coming to power of Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso in 1983, relations between Ghana and Burkina became both warm and close. Indeed, Rawlings and Sankara began discussions about uniting Ghana and Burkina in the manner of the defunct Ghana-Guinea-Mali Union, which Nkrumah had sought unsuccessfully to promote as a foundation for his dream of unified continental government. Political and economic ties between Ghana and Burkina, a poorer country, were strengthened through joint commissions of cooperation and through border demarcation committee meetings. Frequent high-level consultations and joint military exercises, meant to discourage potential dissidents and to protect young \"revolutions\" in each country, were fairly regular features of Ghana-Burkina relations. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 23 October 2001 | Burkina Faso is represented in Iceland by its embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 23 March 1962 | See Burkina Faso--India relations Both countries established diplomatiuc relations on 23 March 1962 |
| | | |
| | | India and Burkina Faso enjoy warm relations. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1 November 1984 | Diplomatic relations were established on 1 November 1984 |
| | | |
| | | See Burkina Faso--Iran relations |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 5 July 1961 | Both countries established diplomatic relations on 5 July 1961. |
| | | |
| | | Although Burkina Faso operates a consulate in Tel Aviv, Israel has no diplomatic nor consular presence in Burkina Faso. The Israeli ambassador to Côte d\'Ivoire Dr. Eliyahu Ben-Tura is accredited as the non-resident Ambassador to Burkina Faso (as well as Benin and Togo). |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 16 June 1962 | Diplomatic relations were established on 16 June 1962 when Mr. Renzo Luigi Romanelli, the first Italian Ambassador to Upper Volta, has presented his letters of credence to President Maurice Yameogo. |
| | | |
| | | - Burkina Faso has an embassy in Rome and honorary consulates in Florence, Milan, Napoli, and Palermo. |
| | | - Italy has an honorary consulate in Ouagadougou. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 30 December 1966 | Both countries established diplomatic relations on 30 December 1966 |
| | | |
| | | When Thomas Sankara came to power in 1983 relations between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast became hostile as Félix Houphouët-Boigny was threatened by Sankara\'s revolutionary regime. That was one of the main reasons why Blaise Compaore launched his coup in 1987 killing Sankara and making himself president. Under Blaise Compaore Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso reestablished good relations and both countries supported Charles Taylor\'s NPFL in their overthrow of Samuel Doe. They remain allies and are active trading partners. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 6 December 2012 | Burkina Faso recognised the Republic of Kosovo on April 24, 2008. Burkina Faso and Kosovo established diplomatic relations on 6 December 2012. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 12 January 1981 | See Burkina Faso--Libya relations Both countries established diplomatic relations on 12 January 1981. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 30 June 1976 | Diplomatic relations were established on 30 June 1976 |
| | | |
| | | - Burkina Faso is accredited to Mexico from its embassy in Washington, D.C., United States and an honorary consulate in Mexico City. |
| | | - Mexico is accredited to Burkina Faso from its embassy in Abuja, Nigeria. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 29 December 2017 | - Diplomatic relations were established on 29 December 2017 |
| | | - Both countries are Landlocked developing countries. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 14 December 1961 | Diplomatic relations were established on 14 December 1961 |
| | | |
| | | - Burkina Faso is represented in the Netherlands by its embassy in Brussels, Belgium and an honorary consulate in Rotterdam. |
| | | - The Netherlands are represented in Burkina Faso by their embassy in Bamako, Mali. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 19 February 1970 | Diplomatic relations were established on 19 February 1970 when Ambassador of Upper Volta to Nigeria (resident in Accra) Mr. Victor Kabore, presented his credentials. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 11 October 1972 | See Burkina Faso--North Korea relations Diplomatic relations were established on 11 October 1972 |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 7 July 1978 | Diplomatic relations were established on 7 July 1978 when Ambassador of Upper Volta M. Victor Kabore, has presented his credentials to President of Portugal Ramalho Eanes. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 18 February 1967 | See Burkina Faso--Russia relations |
| | | |
| | | Diplomatic relations between Burkina Faso and the Soviet Union were established for the first time on February 18, 1967. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Burkina Faso recognized Russia as the USSR\'s successor. However financial reasons has shut the embassies between the two nations. In 1992, the embassy of the Russian Federation in Ouagadougou was closed, and in 1996, the embassy of Burkina Faso in Moscow was closed. Burkina Faso has since re-opened its embassy in Moscow. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 26 November 1975 | Diplomatic relations were established on 26 November 1975 when Rwanda\'s first Ambassador to Upper Volta (resident in Kinshasa), M. Canisius Mudenge, has presented his credentials to President Lamizana. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 10 October 2021 | Diplomatic relations were established on 10 October 2021 |
| | | |
| | | - Diplomatic relations were established and signed a visa agreement at the 60th Anniversary Additional Commemorative Non-Aligned Meeting. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 11 May 1994 | - Diplomatic relations were established on 11 May 1994 |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the African Union. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 27 November 1964 | See Burkina Faso--Spain relations Diplomatic relations were established on 27 November 1964 |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 1969 | See Burkina Faso--Sweden relations Diplomatic relations were established in `{{dts|1969}}`{=mediawiki} |
| | | |
| | | Sweden is a major contributor of developmental aid to Burkina Faso. The Burkina Faso--Sweden Friendship Association was formed in 1986 to promote exchange between the two countries. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 6 April 1970 | See also Burkina Faso--Turkey relations Diplomatic relations were established on 6 April 1970 |
| | | |
| | | - Burkina Faso has an embassy in Ankara. |
| | | - Turkey has an embassy in Ouagadougou. |
| | | - Trade volume between the two countries was US\$52.2 million in 2019 (Burkina Faso\'s exports/imports: 20.8/31.4 million USD). |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 26 May 1976 | Diplomatic relations were established on 26 May 1976 when Uganda\'s Ambassador to Upper Volta, Lieut.-Col. Mahamudu Omua Azia, presented his credentials to General Lamizana. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | | See Foreign relations of the United Kingdom Burkina Faso established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom on 6 October 1960, then known as Upper Volta. |
| | | |
| | | - Burkina Faso does not maintain an embassy in the United Kingdom. |
| | | - The United Kingdom is not accredited to Burkina Faso through an embassy; the UK develops relations through its high commission in Accra, Ghana. |
| | | |
| | | Both countries share common membership of the World Trade Organization. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 5 August 1960 | See Burkina Faso--United States relations Diplomatic relations were established on 5 August 1960 |
| | | |
| | | Relations are good but subject to strains in the past because of the Compaoré government\'s past involvement in arms trading and other sanctions-breaking activity. In addition to regional peace and stability, U.S. interests in Burkina are to promote continued democratization and greater respect for human rights and to encourage sustainable economic development. Although the Agency for International Development (USAID) closed its office in Ouagadougou in 1995, about \$18 million annually of USAID funding goes to Burkina\'s development through non-governmental and regional organizations. The largest is a Food for Peace school lunch program administered by Catholic Relief Services. Burkina has been the site of several development success stories. U.S. leadership in building food security in the Sahel after the 1968--74 drought has been successful in virtually eliminating famine, despite recurrent drought years. River blindness has been eliminated from the region. In both cases, the U.S. was the main donor to inter-African organizations headquartered in Ouagadougou which through sustained efforts have achieved and consolidated these gains. In 2005, Burkina Faso and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) signed a \$12 million Threshold Country Program to build schools and increase girls\' enrollment rates. In November 2005, the Millennium Challenge Corporation selected Burkina Faso as eligible to submit a proposal for Millennium Challenge Account assistance for fiscal year 2006, making it one of only two countries eligible for threshold as well as compact funding. The Government of Burkina Faso is working closely with MCC staff to finalize its compact submission. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | 16 November 1973 | - Diplomatic relations were established on 16 November 1973 |
| | | - Both countries are full members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. |
+---------+------------------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
## External websites {#external_websites}
- -- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso `{{in lang|fr}}`{=mediawiki}
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3,695 |
Geography of Burundi
|
**Burundi** is located in East Africa, to the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at the coordinates 3 30 S 30 0 E.
## Physical geography {#physical_geography}
Burundi occupies an area equal to 27830 km2 in size, of which 25680 km2 is land. The country has 1140 km of land border: 236 km of which is shared with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 315 km with Rwanda and 589 km with Tanzania. As a landlocked country, Burundi possesses no coastline. It straddles the crest of the Congo--Nile Divide which separates the basins of the Congo and Nile rivers. The farthest headwaters of the Nile, the Ruvyironza River, has its source in Burundi.
### Terrain
The terrain of Burundi is hilly and mountainous, dropping to a plateau in the east. The southern and eastern plains have been categorised by the World Wide Fund for Nature as part of the Central Zambezian miombo woodlands ecoregion.
The lowest point in the country is at Lake Tanganyika, at 772 m, with the highest point being on Mount Heha, at 2684 m. Natural hazards are posed in Burundi by flooding and lands.
### Forests
In Burundi forest cover is around 11% of the total land area, equivalent to 279,640 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 276,480 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 166,670 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 112,970 hectares (ha). Of the naturally regenerating forest 23% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 41% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership.
### Natural resources {#natural_resources}
Burundi possesses reserves of: nickel, uranium, rare earth oxides, peat, cobalt, copper, platinum (not yet exploited), vanadium, niobium, tantalum, gold, tin, tungsten, kaolin, and limestone. There is also arable land and the potential for hydropower. Burundi has 214.3 km2 of land that is irrigated. The table below describes land use in Burundi.
Use Percentage of Area
----------------- --------------------
arable land 42.83
permanent crops 13.63
other 43.54
: Land use
## Climate
The climate of Burundi is equatorial in nature and is marked by high mean annual temperatures, small temperature ranges, and rainfall throughout the year. The temperature and amount of rainfall varies dependent upon altitude. Burundi experiences its dry season between May and August, and its rainy season between February and May. Due to climate change, Burundi is becoming more susceptible to both excess and deficit rainfall, leading alternately to floods and droughts.
## Environment
### Current issues {#current_issues}
In Burundi, soil erosion poses a significant challenge, exacerbated by overgrazing and the expansion of agriculture into marginal lands. This problem is compounded by other environmental issues such as deforestation, driven by the uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel, and habitat loss, which severely threatens wildlife populations. The cumulative effect of these issues not only degrades the environment but also undermines the agricultural productivity that is crucial for the country\'s economy and food security. The \"Adapting to Climate Change in the Lake Victoria Basin\" project, initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and funded by the Adaptation Fund, addresses these interconnected concerns. By promoting nature-based solutions like reforestation and the construction of terraces, the project helps stabilize the soil and improve water retention, which mitigates the impact of soil erosion. Additionally, the introduction of sustainable practices such as the eco-friendly fish-drying kiln helps reduce the dependence on wood for fuel, thereby curbing deforestation. This comprehensive approach not only aims to enhance environmental resilience but also supports sustainable development by preserving natural habitats and promoting the sustainable use of resources, thereby securing the livelihoods of local communities against the backdrop of climate change.
### International agreements {#international_agreements}
Burundi is a party to the following international agreements that relate to the environment: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes and Ozone Layer Protection. The following have been signed but not yet ratified by Burundi: Law of the Sea and Nuclear Test Ban.
## Extreme points {#extreme_points}
This is a list of the extreme points of Burundi, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.
- Northernmost point -- Muyinga Province; unnamed location on the border with Rwanda immediately south of the Rwandan town of Mbuye
- Easternmost point -- Cankuzo Province; unnamed location on the border with Tanzania immediately northwest of Mburi hill
- Southernmost point -- Makamba Province; unnamed location on the border with Tanzania immediately north of the Tanzanian town of Mwenene,
- Westernmost point -- Cibitoke Province; unnamed location on the border the Democratic Republic of the Congo immediately east of the Congolese town of Kamanyola
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,696 |
Demographics of Burundi
|
Demographic features of the population of Burundi include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.
At 206.1 persons per km^2^, Burundi has the second-largest population density in Sub-Saharan Africa. Most people live on farms near areas of fertile volcanic soil. The population is made up of three major ethnic groups -- Hutu (*Bahutu*), Tutsi (*Batutsi* or *Watusi*), and Twa (*Batwa*). Kirundi is the common language. Intermarriage takes place frequently between the Hutus and Tutsis. The terms \"pastoralist\" and \"agriculturist\", often used as ethnic designations for Watusi and Bahutu, respectively, are only occupational titles which vary among individuals and groups. Although Hutus encompass the majority of the population, historically Tutsis have been politically and economically dominant.
## Population
According to `{{UN_Population|source}}`{=mediawiki}, the total population was 11,891,000 in 2020, compared to only 2 309 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2020 was 45.3%, 52.4% were between 15 and 65 years of age, while 2.4% of the population was 65 years or older. .
Total population Population aged 0--14 (%) Population aged 15--64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%)
------ ------------------ --------------------------- ---------------------------- -------------------------
1950 2 309 000 40.9 55.9 3.2
1955 2 537 000 42.4 54.5 3.1
1960 2 798 000 43.8 53.2 2.9
1965 3 094 000 45.3 51.8 3.0
1970 3 479 000 45.5 51.5 3.0
1975 3 701 000 45.4 51.3 3.3
1980 4 157 000 44.7 52.2 3.1
1985 4 751 000 46.2 50.9 3.0
1990 5 439 000 47.9 49.3 2.8
1995 5 987 000 50.3 47.1 2.5
2000 6 379 000 50.1 47.4 2.5
2005 7 365 000 47.0 50.7 2.3
2010 8 676 000 45.1 52.7 2.2
2015 10 160 000 45.5 52.4 2.1
2020 11 891 000 45.3 52.4 2.4
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2015) (Unrevised data.):
Age Group Male Female Total \%
----------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ---------
Total 4 822 838 5 000 990 9 823 828 100
0--4 856 714 855 769 1 712 483 17.43
5--9 679 740 699 260 1 379 000 14.04
10--14 604 457 629 629 1 234 086 12.56
15--19 496 353 525 562 1 021 915 10.40
20--24 467 123 507 522 974 645 9.92
25--29 397 323 446 043 843 366 8.58
30--34 321 348 337 758 659 106 6.71
35--39 236 115 230 446 466 561 4.75
40--44 182 701 183 765 366 466 3.73
45--49 153 796 156 798 310 594 3.16
50--54 134 933 130 247 265 180 2.70
55--59 113 470 111 808 225 278 2.29
60--64 74 556 70 655 145 211 1.48
65--69 44 744 46 041 90 785 0.92
70--74 25 722 28 826 54 548 0.56
75--79 16 056 20 164 36 220 0.37
80+ 17 687 20 697 38 384 0.39
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0--14 2 140 911 2 184 658 4 325 569 44.03
15--64 2 577 718 2 700 604 5 278 322 53.73
65+ 104 209 115 728 219 937 2.24
Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020):
Age Group Male Female Total \%
----------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ---------
Total 6 080 391 6 229 209 12 309 600 100
0--4 874 372 864 599 1 738 971 14.13
5--9 869 861 865 182 1 735 043 14.10
10--14 813 776 816 817 1 630 593 13.25
15--19 635 015 647 234 1 282 249 10.42
20--24 536 485 556 280 1 092 765 8.88
25--29 496 482 527 430 1 023 911 8.32
30--34 443 784 481 580 925 364 7.52
35--39 360 774 378 666 739 439 6.01
40--44 268 219 268 291 536 510 4.36
45--49 190 837 196 746 387 583 3.15
50--54 163 759 171 797 335 555 2.73
55--59 140 489 143 340 283 830 2.31
60--64 118 050 122 024 240 075 1.95
65--69 82 201 86 101 168 302 1.37
70--74 43 526 48 289 91 815 0.75
75--79 24 811 30 186 54 997 0.45
80+ 17 951 24 649 42 600 0.35
Age group Male Female Total Percent
0--14 2 558 009 2 546 598 5 104 607 41.47
15--64 3 353 893 3 871 836 7 225 729 58.70
65+ 168 489 189 225 357 714 2.91
## UN population projections {#un_population_projections}
Numbers are in thousands. UN medium variant projections
- 2020 11,891
- 2025 13,764
- 2030 15,773
- 2035 17,932
- 2040 20,253
- 2045 22,728
- 2050 25,325
## Vital statistics {#vital_statistics}
Registration of vital events is in Burundi not complete. The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th></th>
<th><p>Population<br />
(thousands)</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>Live births<br />
(thousands)</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>Deaths<br />
(thousands)</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>Natural change<br />
(thousands)</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>CBR</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>CDR</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>NC</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>TFR</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>IMR</p></th>
<th style="width:80pt;"><p>Life expectancy<br />
(years)</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1950</p></td>
<td><p>2 254</p></td>
<td><p> 116</p></td>
<td><p> 53</p></td>
<td><p> 63</p></td>
<td><p>51.3</p></td>
<td><p>23.5</p></td>
<td><p>27.8</p></td>
<td><p>6.92</p></td>
<td><p>166.9</p></td>
<td><p>40.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1951</p></td>
<td><p> 2 303</p></td>
<td><p> 117</p></td>
<td><p> 55</p></td>
<td><p> 62</p></td>
<td><p>50.7</p></td>
<td><p>23.9</p></td>
<td><p>26.8</p></td>
<td><p>6.91</p></td>
<td><p>166.0</p></td>
<td><p>40.8</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1952</p></td>
<td><p> 2 352</p></td>
<td><p> 118</p></td>
<td><p> 56</p></td>
<td><p> 62</p></td>
<td><p>49.9</p></td>
<td><p>23.8</p></td>
<td><p>26.1</p></td>
<td><p>6.90</p></td>
<td><p>164.0</p></td>
<td><p>41.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1953</p></td>
<td><p> 2 399</p></td>
<td><p> 119</p></td>
<td><p> 57</p></td>
<td><p> 62</p></td>
<td><p>49.4</p></td>
<td><p>23.6</p></td>
<td><p>25.8</p></td>
<td><p>6.92</p></td>
<td><p>162.0</p></td>
<td><p>41.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1954</p></td>
<td><p> 2 447</p></td>
<td><p> 120</p></td>
<td><p> 57</p></td>
<td><p> 63</p></td>
<td><p>48.9</p></td>
<td><p>23.3</p></td>
<td><p>25.5</p></td>
<td><p>6.92</p></td>
<td><p>160.1</p></td>
<td><p>41.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1955</p></td>
<td><p> 2 495</p></td>
<td><p> 121</p></td>
<td><p> 58</p></td>
<td><p> 63</p></td>
<td><p>48.4</p></td>
<td><p>23.0</p></td>
<td><p>25.4</p></td>
<td><p>6.93</p></td>
<td><p>158.2</p></td>
<td><p>41.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1956</p></td>
<td><p> 2 544</p></td>
<td><p> 122</p></td>
<td><p> 58</p></td>
<td><p> 64</p></td>
<td><p>47.9</p></td>
<td><p>22.8</p></td>
<td><p>25.1</p></td>
<td><p>6.93</p></td>
<td><p>156.4</p></td>
<td><p>42.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1957</p></td>
<td><p> 2 594</p></td>
<td><p> 123</p></td>
<td><p> 58</p></td>
<td><p> 65</p></td>
<td><p>47.4</p></td>
<td><p>22.5</p></td>
<td><p>24.9</p></td>
<td><p>6.93</p></td>
<td><p>154.6</p></td>
<td><p>42.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1958</p></td>
<td><p> 2 643</p></td>
<td><p> 125</p></td>
<td><p> 59</p></td>
<td><p> 66</p></td>
<td><p>47.0</p></td>
<td><p>22.2</p></td>
<td><p>24.8</p></td>
<td><p>6.95</p></td>
<td><p>152.8</p></td>
<td><p>42.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1959</p></td>
<td><p> 2 694</p></td>
<td><p> 126</p></td>
<td><p> 59</p></td>
<td><p> 67</p></td>
<td><p>46.7</p></td>
<td><p>21.9</p></td>
<td><p>24.8</p></td>
<td><p>6.98</p></td>
<td><p>150.9</p></td>
<td><p>42.8</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1960</p></td>
<td><p> 2 747</p></td>
<td><p> 128</p></td>
<td><p> 60</p></td>
<td><p> 68</p></td>
<td><p>46.5</p></td>
<td><p>21.7</p></td>
<td><p>24.8</p></td>
<td><p>7.00</p></td>
<td><p>149.0</p></td>
<td><p>43.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1961</p></td>
<td><p> 2 816</p></td>
<td><p> 130</p></td>
<td><p> 60</p></td>
<td><p> 70</p></td>
<td><p>46.3</p></td>
<td><p>21.4</p></td>
<td><p>24.9</p></td>
<td><p>7.02</p></td>
<td><p>147.2</p></td>
<td><p>43.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1962</p></td>
<td><p> 2 887</p></td>
<td><p> 135</p></td>
<td><p> 61</p></td>
<td><p> 73</p></td>
<td><p>46.5</p></td>
<td><p>21.2</p></td>
<td><p>25.3</p></td>
<td><p>7.04</p></td>
<td><p>145.3</p></td>
<td><p>43.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1963</p></td>
<td><p> 2 948</p></td>
<td><p> 137</p></td>
<td><p> 62</p></td>
<td><p> 75</p></td>
<td><p>46.4</p></td>
<td><p>21.0</p></td>
<td><p>25.4</p></td>
<td><p>7.07</p></td>
<td><p>143.5</p></td>
<td><p>43.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1964</p></td>
<td><p> 3 033</p></td>
<td><p> 140</p></td>
<td><p> 63</p></td>
<td><p> 77</p></td>
<td><p>46.3</p></td>
<td><p>20.7</p></td>
<td><p>25.5</p></td>
<td><p>7.09</p></td>
<td><p>141.7</p></td>
<td><p>44.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1965</p></td>
<td><p> 3 118</p></td>
<td><p> 147</p></td>
<td><p> 69</p></td>
<td><p> 77</p></td>
<td><p>46.9</p></td>
<td><p>22.2</p></td>
<td><p>24.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.11</p></td>
<td><p>146.0</p></td>
<td><p>42.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1966</p></td>
<td><p> 3 193</p></td>
<td><p> 150</p></td>
<td><p> 67</p></td>
<td><p> 82</p></td>
<td><p>46.9</p></td>
<td><p>21.1</p></td>
<td><p>25.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.14</p></td>
<td><p>144.3</p></td>
<td><p>43.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1967</p></td>
<td><p> 3 274</p></td>
<td><p> 155</p></td>
<td><p> 70</p></td>
<td><p> 85</p></td>
<td><p>47.1</p></td>
<td><p>21.3</p></td>
<td><p>25.8</p></td>
<td><p>7.16</p></td>
<td><p>145.5</p></td>
<td><p>43.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1968</p></td>
<td><p> 3 352</p></td>
<td><p> 158</p></td>
<td><p> 72</p></td>
<td><p> 87</p></td>
<td><p>47.2</p></td>
<td><p>21.3</p></td>
<td><p>25.9</p></td>
<td><p>7.18</p></td>
<td><p>146.3</p></td>
<td><p>43.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1969</p></td>
<td><p> 3 424</p></td>
<td><p> 163</p></td>
<td><p> 75</p></td>
<td><p> 88</p></td>
<td><p>47.5</p></td>
<td><p>21.7</p></td>
<td><p>25.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.22</p></td>
<td><p>147.4</p></td>
<td><p>42.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1970</p></td>
<td><p> 3 498</p></td>
<td><p> 166</p></td>
<td><p> 76</p></td>
<td><p> 90</p></td>
<td><p>47.3</p></td>
<td><p>21.6</p></td>
<td><p>25.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.21</p></td>
<td><p>147.9</p></td>
<td><p>43.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1971</p></td>
<td><p> 3 582</p></td>
<td><p> 170</p></td>
<td><p> 78</p></td>
<td><p> 92</p></td>
<td><p>47.5</p></td>
<td><p>21.7</p></td>
<td><p>25.8</p></td>
<td><p>7.21</p></td>
<td><p>148.2</p></td>
<td><p>43.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1972</p></td>
<td><p> 3 579</p></td>
<td><p> 173</p></td>
<td><p> 145</p></td>
<td style="color:red"><p>28</p></td>
<td><p>47.6</p></td>
<td style="color:red"><p>39.9</p></td>
<td style="color:red"><p>7.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.21</p></td>
<td><p>161.2</p></td>
<td><p>25.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1973</p></td>
<td><p> 3 571</p></td>
<td><p> 165</p></td>
<td><p> 93</p></td>
<td><p> 72</p></td>
<td><p>46.3</p></td>
<td><p>26.1</p></td>
<td><p>20.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.22</p></td>
<td><p>151.5</p></td>
<td><p>37.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1974</p></td>
<td><p> 3 660</p></td>
<td><p> 171</p></td>
<td><p> 79</p></td>
<td><p> 92</p></td>
<td><p>46.7</p></td>
<td><p>21.5</p></td>
<td><p>25.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.22</p></td>
<td><p>148.4</p></td>
<td><p>43.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1975</p></td>
<td><p> 3 749</p></td>
<td><p> 178</p></td>
<td><p> 81</p></td>
<td><p> 97</p></td>
<td><p>47.4</p></td>
<td><p>21.6</p></td>
<td><p>25.8</p></td>
<td><p>7.24</p></td>
<td><p>148.2</p></td>
<td><p>43.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1976</p></td>
<td><p> 3 831</p></td>
<td><p> 182</p></td>
<td><p> 82</p></td>
<td><p> 100</p></td>
<td><p>47.5</p></td>
<td><p>21.5</p></td>
<td><p>26.0</p></td>
<td><p>7.25</p></td>
<td><p>147.4</p></td>
<td><p>43.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1977</p></td>
<td><p> 3 927</p></td>
<td><p> 187</p></td>
<td><p> 83</p></td>
<td><p> 104</p></td>
<td><p>47.7</p></td>
<td><p>21.2</p></td>
<td><p>26.5</p></td>
<td><p>7.25</p></td>
<td><p>145.4</p></td>
<td><p>43.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1978</p></td>
<td><p> 4 039</p></td>
<td><p> 194</p></td>
<td><p> 85</p></td>
<td><p> 110</p></td>
<td><p>48.2</p></td>
<td><p>21.0</p></td>
<td><p>27.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.26</p></td>
<td><p>142.3</p></td>
<td><p>43.8</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1979</p></td>
<td><p> 4 137</p></td>
<td><p> 203</p></td>
<td><p> 85</p></td>
<td><p> 118</p></td>
<td><p>48.9</p></td>
<td><p>20.4</p></td>
<td><p>28.5</p></td>
<td><p>7.31</p></td>
<td><p>137.9</p></td>
<td><p>44.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1980</p></td>
<td><p> 4 313</p></td>
<td><p> 207</p></td>
<td><p> 84</p></td>
<td><p> 123</p></td>
<td><p>48.9</p></td>
<td><p>19.8</p></td>
<td><p>29.1</p></td>
<td><p>7.35</p></td>
<td><p>132.5</p></td>
<td><p>45.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1981</p></td>
<td><p> 4 491</p></td>
<td><p> 228</p></td>
<td><p> 86</p></td>
<td><p> 142</p></td>
<td><p>50.5</p></td>
<td><p>19.1</p></td>
<td><p>31.4</p></td>
<td><p>7.33</p></td>
<td><p>126.5</p></td>
<td><p>46.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1982</p></td>
<td><p> 4 602</p></td>
<td><p> 229</p></td>
<td><p> 85</p></td>
<td><p> 144</p></td>
<td><p>49.7</p></td>
<td><p>18.5</p></td>
<td><p>31.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.31</p></td>
<td><p>120.5</p></td>
<td><p>47.3</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1983</p></td>
<td><p> 4 727</p></td>
<td><p> 235</p></td>
<td><p> 85</p></td>
<td><p> 150</p></td>
<td><p>49.5</p></td>
<td><p>17.8</p></td>
<td><p>31.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.30</p></td>
<td><p>115.0</p></td>
<td><p>48.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1984</p></td>
<td><p> 4 842</p></td>
<td><p> 237</p></td>
<td><p> 84</p></td>
<td><p> 152</p></td>
<td><p>48.8</p></td>
<td><p>17.4</p></td>
<td><p>31.4</p></td>
<td><p>7.30</p></td>
<td><p>110.0</p></td>
<td><p>48.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1985</p></td>
<td><p> 4 948</p></td>
<td><p> 241</p></td>
<td><p> 86</p></td>
<td><p> 155</p></td>
<td><p>48.3</p></td>
<td><p>17.2</p></td>
<td><p>31.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.29</p></td>
<td><p>106.2</p></td>
<td><p>48.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1986</p></td>
<td><p> 5 042</p></td>
<td><p> 242</p></td>
<td><p> 88</p></td>
<td><p> 155</p></td>
<td><p>47.8</p></td>
<td><p>17.3</p></td>
<td><p>30.5</p></td>
<td><p>7.32</p></td>
<td><p>103.7</p></td>
<td><p>48.2</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1987</p></td>
<td><p> 5 158</p></td>
<td><p> 245</p></td>
<td><p> 91</p></td>
<td><p> 155</p></td>
<td><p>47.5</p></td>
<td><p>17.6</p></td>
<td><p>29.9</p></td>
<td><p>7.38</p></td>
<td><p>102.3</p></td>
<td><p>47.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1988</p></td>
<td><p> 5 272</p></td>
<td><p> 250</p></td>
<td><p> 109</p></td>
<td><p> 141</p></td>
<td><p>47.2</p></td>
<td><p>20.6</p></td>
<td><p>26.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.38</p></td>
<td><p>105.5</p></td>
<td><p>43.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1989</p></td>
<td><p> 5 374</p></td>
<td><p> 253</p></td>
<td><p> 101</p></td>
<td><p> 153</p></td>
<td><p>46.9</p></td>
<td><p>18.6</p></td>
<td><p>28.3</p></td>
<td style="color:blue"><p>7.39</p></td>
<td><p>102.4</p></td>
<td><p>45.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1990</p></td>
<td><p> 5 484</p></td>
<td><p> 256</p></td>
<td><p> 105</p></td>
<td><p> 151</p></td>
<td><p>46.5</p></td>
<td><p>19.1</p></td>
<td><p>27.5</p></td>
<td><p>7.37</p></td>
<td><p>103.0</p></td>
<td><p>44.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1991</p></td>
<td><p> 5 595</p></td>
<td><p> 259</p></td>
<td><p> 109</p></td>
<td><p> 150</p></td>
<td><p>46.1</p></td>
<td><p>19.4</p></td>
<td><p>26.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.34</p></td>
<td><p>103.7</p></td>
<td><p>44.2</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1992</p></td>
<td><p> 5 743</p></td>
<td><p> 262</p></td>
<td><p> 112</p></td>
<td><p> 150</p></td>
<td><p>45.7</p></td>
<td><p>19.5</p></td>
<td><p>26.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.30</p></td>
<td><p>104.2</p></td>
<td><p>43.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1993</p></td>
<td><p> 5 555</p></td>
<td><p> 272</p></td>
<td><p> style="color:red"|147</p></td>
<td><p> 125</p></td>
<td><p>46.0</p></td>
<td><p>24.9</p></td>
<td><p>21.1</p></td>
<td><p>7.27</p></td>
<td><p>108.6</p></td>
<td><p>37.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1994</p></td>
<td><p> 5 586</p></td>
<td><p> 208</p></td>
<td><p> 101</p></td>
<td><p> 107</p></td>
<td><p>39.1</p></td>
<td><p>18.9</p></td>
<td><p>20.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.23</p></td>
<td><p>104.4</p></td>
<td><p>44.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1995</p></td>
<td><p> 5 933</p></td>
<td><p> 266</p></td>
<td><p> 113</p></td>
<td><p> 154</p></td>
<td><p>44.5</p></td>
<td><p>18.8</p></td>
<td><p>25.7</p></td>
<td><p>7.18</p></td>
<td><p>104.6</p></td>
<td><p>44.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1996</p></td>
<td><p> 5 931</p></td>
<td><p> 265</p></td>
<td><p> 112</p></td>
<td><p> 153</p></td>
<td><p>43.9</p></td>
<td><p>18.6</p></td>
<td><p>25.3</p></td>
<td><p>7.12</p></td>
<td><p>104.2</p></td>
<td><p>44.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1997</p></td>
<td><p> 5 924</p></td>
<td><p> 250</p></td>
<td><p> 105</p></td>
<td><p> 145</p></td>
<td><p>41.9</p></td>
<td><p>17.6</p></td>
<td><p>24.2</p></td>
<td><p>7.04</p></td>
<td><p>102.1</p></td>
<td><p>45.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>1998</p></td>
<td><p> 6 035</p></td>
<td><p> 249</p></td>
<td><p> 100</p></td>
<td><p> 149</p></td>
<td><p>41.3</p></td>
<td><p>16.6</p></td>
<td><p>24.7</p></td>
<td><p>6.96</p></td>
<td><p>99.8</p></td>
<td><p>46.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1999</p></td>
<td><p> 6 180</p></td>
<td><p> 260</p></td>
<td><p> 99</p></td>
<td><p> 161</p></td>
<td><p>42.0</p></td>
<td><p>16.0</p></td>
<td><p>26.0</p></td>
<td><p>6.90</p></td>
<td><p>97.4</p></td>
<td><p>47.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2000</p></td>
<td><p> 6 308</p></td>
<td><p> 269</p></td>
<td><p> 101</p></td>
<td><p> 168</p></td>
<td><p>42.5</p></td>
<td><p>15.9</p></td>
<td><p>26.6</p></td>
<td><p>6.87</p></td>
<td><p>95.3</p></td>
<td><p>47.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2001</p></td>
<td><p> 6 466</p></td>
<td><p> 277</p></td>
<td><p> 99</p></td>
<td><p> 178</p></td>
<td><p>42.9</p></td>
<td><p>15.3</p></td>
<td><p>27.6</p></td>
<td><p>6.85</p></td>
<td><p>92.4</p></td>
<td><p>48.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2002</p></td>
<td><p> 6 649</p></td>
<td><p> 292</p></td>
<td><p> 97</p></td>
<td><p> 195</p></td>
<td><p>43.8</p></td>
<td><p>14.5</p></td>
<td><p>29.3</p></td>
<td><p>6.82</p></td>
<td><p>89.1</p></td>
<td><p>49.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2003</p></td>
<td><p> 6 861</p></td>
<td><p> 305</p></td>
<td><p> 96</p></td>
<td><p> 209</p></td>
<td><p>44.5</p></td>
<td><p>14.0</p></td>
<td><p>30.5</p></td>
<td><p>6.79</p></td>
<td><p>86.0</p></td>
<td><p>50.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2004</p></td>
<td><p> 7 120</p></td>
<td><p> 322</p></td>
<td><p> 95</p></td>
<td><p> 227</p></td>
<td><p>45.3</p></td>
<td><p>13.4</p></td>
<td><p>31.9</p></td>
<td><p>6.75</p></td>
<td><p>82.4</p></td>
<td><p>52.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2005</p></td>
<td><p> 7 389</p></td>
<td><p> 340</p></td>
<td><p> 95</p></td>
<td><p> 245</p></td>
<td><p>46.0</p></td>
<td><p>12.8</p></td>
<td><p>33.2</p></td>
<td><p>6.71</p></td>
<td><p>78.6</p></td>
<td><p>53.0</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2006</p></td>
<td><p> 7 658</p></td>
<td><p> 355</p></td>
<td><p> 95</p></td>
<td><p> 260</p></td>
<td><p>46.4</p></td>
<td><p>12.4</p></td>
<td><p>34.0</p></td>
<td><p>6.66</p></td>
<td><p>74.4</p></td>
<td><p>53.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2007</p></td>
<td><p> 7 945</p></td>
<td><p> 369</p></td>
<td><p> 94</p></td>
<td><p> 275</p></td>
<td><p>46.5</p></td>
<td><p>11.9</p></td>
<td><p>34.7</p></td>
<td><p>6.59</p></td>
<td><p>70.3</p></td>
<td><p>54.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2008</p></td>
<td><p> 8 278</p></td>
<td><p> 384</p></td>
<td><p> 93</p></td>
<td><p> 291</p></td>
<td><p>46.6</p></td>
<td><p>11.3</p></td>
<td><p>35.2</p></td>
<td><p>6.52</p></td>
<td><p>66.4</p></td>
<td><p>55.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2009</p></td>
<td><p> 8 709</p></td>
<td><p> 402</p></td>
<td><p> 94</p></td>
<td><p> 308</p></td>
<td><p>46.7</p></td>
<td><p>10.9</p></td>
<td><p>35.8</p></td>
<td><p>6.41</p></td>
<td><p>62.8</p></td>
<td><p>56.4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2010</p></td>
<td><p> 9 127</p></td>
<td><p> 426</p></td>
<td><p> 96</p></td>
<td><p> 330</p></td>
<td><p>46.7</p></td>
<td><p>10.5</p></td>
<td style="color:blue"><p>36.2</p></td>
<td><p>6.26</p></td>
<td><p>59.4</p></td>
<td><p>57.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2011</p></td>
<td><p> 9 456</p></td>
<td><p> 432</p></td>
<td><p> 96</p></td>
<td><p> 336</p></td>
<td><p>45.6</p></td>
<td><p>10.1</p></td>
<td><p>35.5</p></td>
<td><p>6.11</p></td>
<td><p>56.2</p></td>
<td><p>57.8</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2012</p></td>
<td><p> 9 795</p></td>
<td><p> 435</p></td>
<td><p> 94</p></td>
<td><p> 340</p></td>
<td><p>44.4</p></td>
<td><p>9.6</p></td>
<td><p>34.8</p></td>
<td><p>5.99</p></td>
<td><p>53.3</p></td>
<td><p>58.5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2013</p></td>
<td><p> 10 150</p></td>
<td><p> 441</p></td>
<td><p> 93</p></td>
<td><p> 347</p></td>
<td><p>43.4</p></td>
<td><p>9.2</p></td>
<td><p>34.2</p></td>
<td><p>5.89</p></td>
<td><p>50.6</p></td>
<td><p>59.2</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2014</p></td>
<td><p> 10 495</p></td>
<td><p> 445</p></td>
<td><p> 92</p></td>
<td><p> 352</p></td>
<td><p>42.4</p></td>
<td><p>8.8</p></td>
<td><p>33.6</p></td>
<td><p>5.79</p></td>
<td><p>48.2</p></td>
<td><p>59.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2015</p></td>
<td><p> 10 727</p></td>
<td><p>448</p></td>
<td><p> 93</p></td>
<td><p>355</p></td>
<td><p>41.3</p></td>
<td><p>8.6</p></td>
<td><p>32.8</p></td>
<td><p>5.70</p></td>
<td><p>46.3</p></td>
<td><p>60.2</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2016</p></td>
<td><p> 10 903</p></td>
<td><p>432</p></td>
<td><p> 90</p></td>
<td><p> 343</p></td>
<td><p>39.5</p></td>
<td><p>8.2</p></td>
<td><p>31.3</p></td>
<td><p>5.59</p></td>
<td><p>44.4</p></td>
<td><p>60.8</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2017</p></td>
<td><p> 11 156</p></td>
<td><p> 427</p></td>
<td><p> 87</p></td>
<td><p> 340</p></td>
<td><p>38.1</p></td>
<td><p>7.8</p></td>
<td><p>30.4</p></td>
<td><p>5.48</p></td>
<td><p>42.8</p></td>
<td><p>61.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2018</p></td>
<td><p> 11 493</p></td>
<td><p> 424</p></td>
<td><p> 88</p></td>
<td><p> 336</p></td>
<td><p>37.0</p></td>
<td><p>7.6</p></td>
<td><p>29.4</p></td>
<td><p>5.38</p></td>
<td><p>41.3</p></td>
<td><p>61.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p> 11 875</p></td>
<td><p> 431</p></td>
<td><p> 87</p></td>
<td><p> 344</p></td>
<td><p>36.3</p></td>
<td style="color:blue"><p>7.4</p></td>
<td><p>29.0</p></td>
<td><p>5.27</p></td>
<td><p>39.9</p></td>
<td><p>62.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2020</p></td>
<td><p> 12 441</p></td>
<td><p> 452</p></td>
<td><p> 91</p></td>
<td><p> 362</p></td>
<td><p>35.9</p></td>
<td><p>7.2</p></td>
<td><p>28.7</p></td>
<td><p>5.18</p></td>
<td><p>38.8</p></td>
<td><p>62.6</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p> 12 793</p></td>
<td><p> 455</p></td>
<td><p> 95</p></td>
<td><p> 360</p></td>
<td><p>35.1</p></td>
<td><p>7.3</p></td>
<td><p>27.8</p></td>
<td><p>5.08</p></td>
<td><p>37.6</p></td>
<td><p>62.1</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2022</p></td>
<td><p> 13 138</p></td>
<td><p> 457</p></td>
<td><p> 93</p></td>
<td><p> 364</p></td>
<td><p>34.3</p></td>
<td><p>7.0</p></td>
<td><p>27.3</p></td>
<td><p>4.98</p></td>
<td><p>36.5</p></td>
<td><p>62.9</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td style="color:blue"><p> 13 504</p></td>
<td style="color:blue;"><p>461</p></td>
<td><p> 92</p></td>
<td style="color:blue"><p> 369</p></td>
<td><p>33.7</p></td>
<td><p>6.7</p></td>
<td><p>26.9</p></td>
<td><p>4.88</p></td>
<td><p>35.4</p></td>
<td><p>63.7</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td colspan="11" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:left"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects, 2022
### Demographic and Health Surveys {#demographic_and_health_surveys}
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
Year Total Urban
---------- ------- ----------- -------
CBR TFR CBR TFR
1987 6.6 (5.3)
2010 44.5 6.4 (4.2) 37.3
2016--17 37.9 5.5 (3.6) 33.0
Fertility data as of 2010 (DHS Program): The fertility rate in the Bujumbura Mairie Province fell to 3.7 by 2016--2017; the other regions were not aggregated in the report, for easy reference and comparison to the below chart. Per the 2016-2017 report, the average number of desired children in Burundi, nationwide, by both men and women of 15 to 49 years of age who are either paired up or married, is 4 children or less, and slightly less for men than for women. Per the report, this suggests an excess fecundity (more children than desired) of 1.8 children per couple nationwide; 1.1 in urban areas (where 3.0 children are desired, and the fertility rate is 4.1) and 2.0 in rural areas (where 3.7 children are desired and the fertility rate is 5.7). However, the number of desired children appears to be based on the lowest-desired rate - that of paired but unmarried men (3.7 children) rather than the highest (4.0, desired by married women) or even an overall average.
Region Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40--49
------------------ ---------------------- -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------
Bujumbura Mairie 4.2 7.9% 5.3
Nord 6.7 10.1% 6.4
Centre-Est 6.3 10.5% 6.6
Ouest 7.1 11.7% 7.2
Sud 6.2 10.8% 6.8
## Ethnic groups {#ethnic_groups}
: Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1% Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000
## Languages
: Kirundi (official) only: 29.7%, French (official) only: 0.3%, Kirundi and French: 8.4%, Kurundi, French and English: 2.4%, Swahili only: 0.2%, other language combinations: 2%, unspecified: 56.9% (2008 est.)
: NOTE: Data represents only languages read and written by people 10 years of age or older; spoken Kirundi is nearly universal.
## Religion
: Roman Catholic 62.1%, Protestant 23.9% (includes Adventist 2.3% and other Protestant 21.6%), Islam 2.5%, Other 3.6%, Unspecified 7.9% (2008 est.)
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,697 |
Politics of Burundi
|
The **Politics of Burundi** takes place in a framework of a transitional presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Burundi is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the National Assembly.
## Political landscape after the civil war {#political_landscape_after_the_civil_war}
The political landscape of Burundi has been dominated in recent years by the civil war and a long peace process and move to democracy. Pierre Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader of the Hutu National Council for the Defense of Democracy -- Forces for the Defense of Democracy, was elected to become president in a vote by parliament on 19 August 2005. Nkurunziza, who was the sole candidate, was the first president chosen through democratic means since the start of the civil war in 1993 and was sworn in on 26 August, replacing transitional president Domitien Ndayizeye.
Incumbent president Évariste Ndayishimiye took office on 18 June 2020, ten days after the death of Nkurunziza.
In November 1995, the presidents of Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire (currently Democratic Republic of Congo) announced a regional initiative for a negotiated peace in Burundi facilitated by former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere. In July 1996, former Burundian President Buyoya returned to power in a bloodless coup. He declared himself president of a transitional republic, even as he suspended the National Assembly, banned opposition groups, and imposed a nationwide curfew. Widespread condemnation of the coup ensued, and regional countries imposed economic sanctions pending a return to a constitutional government. Buyoya agreed in 1996 to liberalize political parties. Nonetheless, fighting between the army and Hutu militias continued. In June 1998, Buyoya promulgated a transitional constitution and announced a partnership between the government and the opposition-led National Assembly. After facilitator Julius Nyerere\'s death in October 1999, the regional leaders appointed Nelson Mandela as Facilitator of the Arusha peace process. Under Mandela the peace process has revived and important progress has taken place.
In April 2015 the 2015 Burundian unrest broke out after the ruling party announced President Pierre Nkurunziza would seek a third term in office. Protests in the capital lasted over a week, and while President Nkurunziza was in Tanzania for talks at resolving the situation, Major General Godefroid Niyombare declared a coup, leading to gun battles in the capital for control of key locations.
Elections took place in 2020; despite concerns that these elections would be severely compromised, following the announcement that the President would not seek reelection, the opposition announced that they would be taking part in the election. Evariste Ndayishimiye, a candidate who was hand-picked as Nkurunziza\'s successor by the CNDD-FDD, won the election with 71.45% of the vote. Shortly after, on 9 June 2020, Nkurunziza died of a cardiac arrest, at the age of 55. As per the constitution, Pascal Nyabenda, the president of the national assembly, led the government until Ndayishimiye\'s inauguration on 18 June 2020.
## Executive branch {#executive_branch}
\|President \|Évariste Ndayishimiye \|CNDD-FDD \|18 June 2020 \|- \|Vice-president \|Prosper Bazombanza \|UPRONA \|23 June 2020 \|- \|Prime Minister \|Gervais Ndirakobuca \|CNDD-FDD \|08 September 2022 \|} The president is popularly elected by a two-round system. They nominate a vice-president and a prime minister, who form together with the Council of Ministers the executive branch.
## Legislative branch {#legislative_branch}
The **National Assembly** (*Assemblée nationale*) has 118 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation with a 2% barrier. The **Senate** (*Sénat*) has 49 members, elected for a five-year term by electoral colleges of communal councilors. Extra seats in both chambers can be added to ensure that ethnic and gender quotas are met. Burundi has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful. Parties are usually based on ethnic background.
## Political parties and elections {#political_parties_and_elections}
## Administrative divisions {#administrative_divisions}
Burundi has 18 provinces: Bubanza, Bujumbura Mairie, Bujumbura Rural, Bururi, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Gitega, Karuzi, Kayanza, Kirundo, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Mwaro, Ngozi, Rutana, Rumonge and Ruyigi.
## International relations {#international_relations}
Burundi is member of the AfDB, CEEAC, CEPGL, ECA, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OAU, OPCW, PMAESA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, and WTrO.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,699 |
Communications in Burundi
|
**Communications in Burundi** include radio, television, fixed and mobile telephones, the Internet, and the postal service in Burundi.
## Radio and television {#radio_and_television}
Radio is the main source of information for many Burundians.
- Radio stations:
- La Radiodiffusion et Television Nationale de Burundi (RTNB), the state-controlled broadcaster operates the only national radio network, broadcasting in Kirundi, Swahili, French, and English; roughly 10 privately owned radio stations are operating; transmissions of several international broadcasters are available in the largest city, Bujumbura (2007).
- No AM radio stations, four FM stations, and one shortwave station (2001).
- Two AM stations, two FM stations, and no shortwave stations (1998).
- Radios: 440,000 radios in use (1997).`{{update after|2014|1|25}}`{=mediawiki}
- Television stations:
- La Radiodiffusion et Television Nationale de Burundi (RTNB), the state-controlled national network, broadcasting in Kirundi, Swahili, French, and English (2013); and
- Tele Renaissance, a private station launched in 2008 (2013).
- BeTV, a private television channel launched in 2017.
- Television sets: 25,000 sets in use (1997).`{{update after|2014|1|25}}`{=mediawiki}
The BBC World Service broadcasts on 90.2 FM in the largest city and former capital, Bujumbura, and on 105.6 in Mount Manga; Radio France Internationale and the Voice of America are also available in the capital.
## Telephones
- Calling code: +257
- International call prefix: 00
- Telephone system:
- In 2011, system described as sparse open-wire, radiotelephone communications, and low-capacity microwave radio relays; telephone density one of the lowest in the world; fixed-line connections stand at well less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular usage is increasing but remains at roughly 20 per 100 persons;
- In 2010, system described as "primitive" with "one of the lowest" telephone densities in the world and "increasing ... but meager" use of cell phones; the number of fixed-line telephone connections was far fewer than one per every 100 persons; roughly five cell phones in use per 100 persons; the domestic telephone system consists of open-wire, radiotelephone communications, along with low capacity microwave radio relay.
- Main lines:
- 17,400 lines in use, 193rd in the world (2012);
- 30,400 lines in use, 178th in the world (2008), a decrease from 2006;
- 35,000 lines in use (2006);
- 27,000 lines in use (2005);
- 17,000 lines in use (1995).
- Mobile cellular lines:
- 2.2 million lines, 140th in the world (2012);
- 480,600 lines, 156th in the world (2008), a large increase, almost doubling the figure from 2006;
- 250,000 lines (2006);
- 153,000 lines (2005);
- 343 lines (1995).
- Satellite earth stations: one station, operated by Intelsat in the Indian Ocean region (2008).
## Internet
- Internet top-level domain: .bi
- Internet users:
- 128,799 users, 167th in the world; 1.2% of the population, 208th in the world (2012);
- 65,000 users, 167th in the world (2008);
- 60,000 users (2006).
- Fixed broadband: 422 subscriptions, 189th in the world; less than 0.05% of the population, 191st in the world (2012).
- Wireless broadband: Unknown (2012).
- Internet hosts:
- 229 hosts. 198th in the world (2012);
- 191 hosts, 189th in the world (2009);
- 162 hosts (2008).
- IPv4: 5,376 addresses allocated, less than 0.05% of the world total, 0.5 addresses per 1000 people (2012).
### Internet censorship and surveillance {#internet_censorship_and_surveillance}
There are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitors e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Operating in a turbulent political climate, Burundi\'s media are subject to occasional government censorship and may practice self-censorship.
The constitution and law provide for freedom of speech and press, and the government generally respects these rights. The law prohibits the media from spreading \"hate\" messages or from using abusive or defamatory language against public servants acting in their official role that could damage the dignity of or respect for the public office. Libel laws prohibit the public distribution of information that exposes a person to \"public contempt\" and carry penalties of prison terms and fines. The crime of treason, which includes knowingly demoralizing the military or the nation in a manner that endangers national defense during a time of war, carries a criminal penalty of life imprisonment. It is a crime for anyone knowingly to disseminate or publicize false rumors likely to alarm or excite the public against the government or to promote civil war. It is illegal for anyone to display drawings, posters, photographs, or other items that may disturb the public peace. Penalties range from two months\' to three years\' imprisonment and fines. Some journalists, lawyers, and political party, civil society, and NGO leaders allege the government uses these laws to intimidate and harass them.
The constitution and law provide for the right to privacy, but the government does not always respect this right in practice. Authorities do not always respect the law requiring search warrants.
## Postal Service {#postal_service}
*Régie Nationale des Postes* (RNP, National Postal Administration) is responsible for postal service in Burundi. Operating as an independent state-owned company since 1992, the RNP has reported to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Posts and Tourism since 2010.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,700 |
Transport in Burundi
|
There are a number of systems of **transport in Burundi**, including road and water-based infrastructure, the latter of which makes use of Lake Tanganyika. Furthermore, there are also some airports in Burundi.
Burundi has limited ferry services on Lake Tanganyika, few road connections to neighboring countries, no rail connections, and only one airport with a paved runway. Public transport is extremely limited and private bus companies operate buses on the route to Kigali, Uganda, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo.
## Roads
Roads total 12322 km as of 2004. On paper, there are 90 public buses in the country but few of these are operational. Transport is extremely limited, and private bus companies operate buses on the route to Kigali, Uganda, Tanzania or the Democratic Republic of Congo.
## Waterways
Lake Tanganyika is used for transport, with the major port on the lake being the Port of Bujumbura. Most freight is transported down waterways.
As of May 2015, MV Mwongozo, a passenger and cargo ferry, connects Bujumbura with Kigoma in Tanzania.
## Airports and air services {#airports_and_air_services}
Burundi possesses eight airports, of which one has paved runways, whose length exceeds 3,047m. Bujumbura International Airport is the country\'s primary airport and the country\'s only airport with a paved runway. There are also a number of helicopter landing strips.
As of May 2015, the airlines serving Burundi are: Brussels Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, flydubai, Kenya Airways, and RwandAir. Kigali is the city with the most daily departures.
## Railways
Burundi does not possess any railway infrastructure, although there are proposals to connect Burundi to its neighbours via railway.
At a meeting in August 2006 with members of the Rwanda Patriotic Front, Wu Guanzheng, of the Chinese Communist Party, confirmed the intention of China to fund a study into the feasibility of constructing a railway connecting at Isaka with the existing Tanzanian railway network, and running via Kigali in Rwanda through to Burundi. Tanzanian railways use `{{RailGauge|1000mm|allk=on}}`{=mediawiki}, although TAZARA and other neighbouring countries, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) use the `{{RailGauge|3ft6in|lk=on}}`{=mediawiki} gauge, leading to some potential difficulties.
Another project was launched in the same year, which aims to link Burundi and Rwanda (which also has no railways) to the DRC and Zambia, and therefore to the rest of Southern Africa. At a meeting to inaugurate the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA), the governments of Uganda and Burundi backed the proposed new railway from the Ugandan western railhead at Kasese into the DRC.
Additionally, Burundi has been added to a planned railway project to connect Tanzania and Rwanda. In January 2022, the governments of Burundi and Tanzania announced the planned construction of an electrified standard gauge railway, which will link the two countries. The line is known as the Tanzania--Burundi Standard Gauge Railway.
### 2013
A project started in November 2013 to build a Standard Gauge line from Mombassa, Kenya, to Burundi, via Rwanda and Uganda. The main line from Mombasa will also feature branches in other directions, including Ethiopia and DR Congo.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,701 |
Burundi National Defence Force
|
border \| alt = \| caption = Flag of Burundi \| image2 = \| alt2 = \| caption2 = \| motto = \| founded = \| current_form = \| disbanded = \| branches = `{{ubl|Ground Force|Naval Force|Air Force}}`{=mediawiki} \| headquarters = \| website = `{{URL|fdnb.bi/}}`{=mediawiki} \| commander-in-chief = Évariste Ndayishimiye \| commander-in-chief_title = Commander-in-chief \| chief minister = Gervais Ndirakobuca \| chief minister_title = Prime Minister \| minister = Alain Tribert Mutabazi \| minister_title = Minister of National Defense & War Veterans \| commander = General Prime Niyongabo \| commander_title = Chief of the Defence Staff \| age = \| conscription = \| manpower_data = \| manpower_age = 16--64 \| available = 3,662,688 \| available_f = \| fit = \| fit_f = \| reaching = \| reaching_f = \| active = 30,050 (2024) \| ranked = \| reserve = \| deployed = \| amount = \$US 64 million (2011) \| percent_GDP = 3.7% (2011) \| domestic_suppliers = \| foreign_suppliers = \| imports = \| exports = \| history = `{{tree list}}`{=mediawiki}
- Burundian Civil War
- First Congo War
- Second Congo War
- Somali Civil War
- African Union Mission in Somalia
- Kivu conflict
- M23 campaign (2022--present)
\| ranks = Military ranks of Burundi }}
The **Burundi National Defence Force** (*Force de Défense Nationale du Burundi*; **FDNB**) is the military of Burundi. A general staff commands the armed forces, consisting of a joint staff; a training staff, and a logistics staff. Naval and aviation commands exist, as well as specialised units.
## History
### Independence and early history (1962--1993) {#independence_and_early_history_19621993}
Under Belgian colonial rule, the mandatory status of Ruanda-Urundi established limits on the recruitment of Barundi for military service. Instead, Ruanda-Urundi was garrisoned by a small unit of the Force Publique recruited in the Belgian Congo which combined its military role with the role of gendarmerie. Its members were popularly known as *Bamina* in Burundi, after the large military base at Kamina in the Congo. Amid the Congo\'s independence, the Belgian colonial administration formed the Burundian National Guard (*Garde Nationale Burundaise*) in 1960. It consisted of 650 men, recruited equally from the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups (though the Tutsi mostly consisted of those from the Hima subgroup). When Burundi became independent in 1962 the force was renamed the Burundian National Army (*Armée Nationale Burundaise*) and assumed a purely military function. The gendarmarie function was allocated to a civilian authority called the National Gendarmerie (*Gendarmerie nationale*) after independence in 1962, though this became part of the army on 7 March 1967.
Burundi became independent on 1 July 1962 with the army organised into eight platoons. A coup attempt in October 1965 led by the Hutu-dominated police was carried out but failed. The Tutsi dominated army, then led by Tutsi officer Captain Michel Micombero purged Hutu from their ranks and carried out reprisal attacks which ultimately claimed the lives of up to 5,000 people in a predecessor to Burundian genocides. Micombero then became prime minister.
King Mwambutsa IV, who had fled the country during the October 1965 coup attempt, was deposed by a coup in July 1966 and his teenage son, Crown Prince Charles Ndizeye, claimed the throne as King Ntare V. Later that same year, Prime Minister, then-Colonel, Michel Micombero, carried out another coup in November 1966, this time deposing Ntare, abolishing the monarchy and declaring the nation a republic. His one-party government was effectively a military dictatorship. As president, Micombero became an advocate of African socialism and received support from China. He imposed a staunch regime of law and order and sharply repressed Hutu militarism. After Micombero\'s coup d'etat which deposed the monarchy, he became the first general in Burundian history. He was also commissioned by the National Council of the Revolution (French: Conseil National de la Révolution (CNR)), and made a Lieutenant Général. In his turn, Micombero raised Thomas Ndabemeye to the grade of Major General. They were the sole generals of the First Republic.
In 1972 the Tutsi-dominated Burundi Army and government carried out a series of mass killings, the Ikiza, often characterised as a genocide, primarily against educated and elite Hutus who lived in the country. Conservative estimates place the death toll of the event between 100,000 and 150,000 killed, while some estimates of the death toll go as high as 300,000. This included a purge of all Hutus and some politically unfavorable Tutsis from the military, shrinking it to about 2,300 members. On 30 December 1974 a naval division was created.
In 1981--82 the IISS estimated that the Burundian armed forces were 6,000 strong, with 2 infantry battalions, 1 airborne battalion, 1 commando battalion, and an armoured car company. The same estimate was repeated in the 1988--89 edition except that the strength figure had been dropped to 5,500.
### The Civil War and aftermath {#the_civil_war_and_aftermath}
In 1993, Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye was elected in the 1 June presidential election and was sworn in on 10 July.
On 21 October, a coup was attempted by a Tutsi--dominated National Defence Force faction, led by Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Jean Bikomagu, ex-President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza, and former interior minister François Ngeze. The coup attempt resulted in the assassination of Ndadaye and numerous other casualties. Following the coup, the Committee of Public Salvation (CSP) was created as the ruling junta, and François Ngeze (a prominent Hutu member of UPRONA) was installed as the new president. Ngeze himself condemned the assassination of Ndadaye. Faced with widespread condemnation, the Army leaders urged civilian politicians to resume control. Consequently, Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi (who took refuge in the French embassy with other senior government figures) was installed as Acting President on 27 October.
The [1996 UN inquiry](https://undocs.org/S/1996/682) names three units - para 122-3 indicates that at the time of the October coup, the 2e Commando were the presidential guard and the 1er Parachutiste and 11e Blinde were the units involved in the coup. (Para 115 notes that some officers of the 2e Commando were previously involved in an attempted coup in July, before Ndadaye was sworn in, but presumably by October the unit was thought to be loyal). In addition, U.S. Ambassador Bob Krueger mentions members of the 1st Parachute Battalion being active during the coup in his book.
The coup attempted sparked the Burundian Civil War, which lasted from 1993 to 2005, killing an estimated 300,000 people. The Arusha Accords ended 12 years of war and stopped decades of ethnic killings. The 2005 constitution provided guaranteed representation for both Hutu and Tutsi, and 2005 parliamentary elections that led to Pierre Nkurunziza, from the Hutu FDD, becoming president.
According to a 2004 report by Child Soldiers International, Burundi\'s military used conscripted child soldiers. Children in military service were subject to military courts which fell short of international law standards.
The armed forces have deployed significant numbers of troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia since c. 2007. On February 1, 2007 Burundi committed to the mission, pledging up to 1,000 troops. By March 27, it was confirmed that 1700 Burundian troops would be sent to Somalia. In 2011 the IISS estimated that three Burundian battalions were deployed there.
The army\'s forces in 2011 included, according to IISS estimates, 2 light armoured battalions (squadrons), seven infantry battalions and independent companies; and artillery, engineer, and air defence battalions (SA-7 \'Grail\' man-portable SAMs and 14.5mm, 23mm and 37mm guns were reported). Separately reported were the 22nd commando battalion (Gitega) and 124th commando battalion (Bujumbura). Despite the elapse of another six years, the 2017 listing from the *Military Balance* was essentially unchanged except for an increase in size to some 30,000 and the addition of ten reserve infantry battalions.
In the wake of the Burundian unrest, personnel faced a choice between supporting President Pierre Nkurunziza, with whom some fought when he was a military commander, or opposing him. Interviewed by Reuters on May 14, 2015, an Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft said a coup then reported in progress by Major General Godefroid Niyombare, former director of the intelligence service, \"starkly highlight\[ed\] Nkurunziza's lack of unified support among his military chiefs.\" \"Even if Niyombare's attempt fails, Nkurunziza's political credibility may be damaged irreparably.\"
The *121e Régiment de Parachutistes* were mentioned in French news articles as one of the units that supported the attempted coup in 2015.
In the aftermath of the coup and the later disputed election, armed forces chief of staff Major General Prime Niyongabo survived an assassination attempt on September 11, 2015.
In 2015/16, Laurent Touchard wrote that the BNDF included ten two-battalion infantry brigades. (Touchard 2016)
## Structure
In 2011 the IISS estimated that three Burundian battalions were deployed in Somalia. The army\'s forces in 2011 included, according to IISS estimates, 2 light armoured battalions (squadrons), seven infantry battalions and independent companies; and artillery, engineer, and air defence battalions (SA-7 \'Grail\' man-portable SAMs and 14.5mm, 23mm and 37mm guns were reported).
Separately reported were the 22nd commando battalion (Gitega) and 124th commando battalion (Bujumbura).
Despite the elapse of another six years, the 2017 listing from the Military Balance was essentially unchanged except for an increase in size to some 30,000 and the addition of ten reserve infantry battalions.
As of 2024 the Burundian ground forces consist of two armored battalions, seven infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, one air defense battalion, and one engineer battalion. The navy included several patrol boats.
## Equipment
### Small arms {#small_arms}
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
| Name | Image | Caliber | Type | Origin | Notes |
+=================================+========+============+=============================+========+===================+
| Machine guns and assault rifles | | | | | |
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
| DShK | | 12.7×108mm | Heavy machine gun | | In service |
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
| RPK | | 7.62×39mm | Squad automatic weapon | | In service |
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
| PKM | 150px | 7.62×54mm | General Purpose Machine Gun | | In service |
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
| AK-47 | 150px | 7.62×39mm | Assault rifle | | In service |
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
| PM md. 63 | | 7.62×39mm | Assault rifle | | Standard rifle |
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
| Vektor R4 | 150px | 5.56x45mm | Assault rifle | | In service |
+---------------------------------+--------+------------+-----------------------------+--------+-------------------+
### Anti-tank weapons {#anti_tank_weapons}
+-------------------+--------------+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Name | Image | Type | Origin | Caliber | Notes |
+===================+==============+===========================+=====================================+=========================================+=================+
| RPG-7 | | Rocket-propelled grenade | | 40mm | In service |
+-------------------+--------------+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-----------------+
| M20 Super bazooka | | Rocket-propelled grenade | | 60mm | In service |
+-------------------+--------------+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-----------------+
| RL-83 Blindicide | | Anti-tank rocket launcher | | 83mm | In service |
+-------------------+--------------+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Type 52 | | Recoilless rifle | \ | 75mm | In service |
| | | | `{{Flag|China}}`{=mediawiki} | | |
+-------------------+--------------+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-----------------+
| MILAN | | Anti-tank missile | \ | 103mm (MILAN 1); 115mm (other variants) | In service |
| | | | `{{Flag|West Germany}}`{=mediawiki} | | |
+-------------------+--------------+---------------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-----------------+
### Scout cars {#scout_cars}
+---------+-------------+------------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| Name | Image | Type | Origin | Quantity | Notes |
+=========+=============+==============================+========+==========+================+
| BRDM-2 | | Amphibious armored scout car | | 30 | In service |
+---------+-------------+------------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
### Armored personnel carriers {#armored_personnel_carriers}
+------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| Name | Image | Type | Origin | Quantity | Notes |
+============+=============+===========================+========+==========+================+
| BTR-40 | | Armored personnel carrier | | 29 | In service |
+------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| BTR-80 | | Armored personnel carrier | | 10 | In service |
+------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| Walid | | Armored personnel carrier | | 6 | In service |
+------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| WZ-551 | | Armored personnel carrier | | 15 | In service |
+------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| Panhard M3 | | Armored personnel carrier | | 9 | In service |
+------------+-------------+---------------------------+--------+----------+----------------+
### Reconnaissance
+--------------+-------------+-------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| Name | Image | Type | Origin | Quantity | Notes |
+==============+=============+=============+========+==========+================+
| Panhard AML | | Armored car | | 18 | In service |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | - 12 AML-90 |
| | | | | | - 06 AML-60 |
+--------------+-------------+-------------+--------+----------+----------------+
| Shorland S52 | | Armored car | | 7 | In service |
+--------------+-------------+-------------+--------+----------+----------------+
### Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected {#mine_resistant_ambush_protected}
+-------------+-------------+---------+----------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| Name | Image | Type | Origin | Quantity | Notes |
+=============+=============+=========+==============================================+==========+============+
| RG-31 Nyala | | MRAP | / `{{UK}}`{=mediawiki} `{{USA}}`{=mediawiki} | 12 | In service |
+-------------+-------------+---------+----------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| RG-33L | | MRAP | | 10 | In service |
+-------------+-------------+---------+----------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| Casspir | | MRAP | /`{{FRG}}`{=mediawiki} | 27 | In service |
+-------------+-------------+---------+----------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
| Cougar | | MRAP | | 16 | In service |
+-------------+-------------+---------+----------------------------------------------+----------+------------+
### Artillery
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
| Name | Image | Type | Origin | Quantity | Status |
+==================+=============+==========================+========+==========+============+
| Mortars | | | | | |
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
| BM-37 | | Mortar | | 15 | In service |
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
| MO-120-RT61 | | Mortar | | 75 | In service |
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
| Rocket artillery | | | | | |
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
| BM-21 Grad | | Multiple rocket launcher | | 12 | In service |
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
| Field artillery | | | | | |
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
| D-30 | | Howitzer | | 18 | In service |
+------------------+-------------+--------------------------+--------+----------+------------+
### Air defence systems {#air_defence_systems}
+---------------+-------------+-------------------+------------------------------+----------+------------+
| Name | Image | Type | Origin | Quantity | Status |
+===============+=============+===================+==============================+==========+============+
| Type 55 | | Anti-aircraft gun | \ | 135+ | In service |
| | | | `{{Flag|China}}`{=mediawiki} | | |
+---------------+-------------+-------------------+------------------------------+----------+------------+
| ZU-23-2 | | Autocannon | | | In service |
+---------------+-------------+-------------------+------------------------------+----------+------------+
| ZPU-4 | | SPAAG | | 15 | In service |
+---------------+-------------+-------------------+------------------------------+----------+------------+
| 9K32 Strela-2 | | MANPADS | | Unknown | In service |
+---------------+-------------+-------------------+------------------------------+----------+------------+
### Aircraft inventory {#aircraft_inventory}
The Burundi Army\'s air unit operates 12 helicopters.
Image Aircraft Type Versions In service Notes
------- ----------------------------- -------------------- ---------- ------------ -------
Aérospatiale Alouette III Utility helicopter SA 316 3
Aérospatiale SA 342 Gazelle Utility helicopter SA 342L 6
Mil Mi-24 Hind Attack helicopter Mi-35 3
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,713 |
Bjarne Stroustrup
|
\| thesis_title = Communication and control in distributed computer systems \| influences = \| influenced = \| awards = {{ indented plainlist \|
- Grace Murray Hopper Award (1993)
- ACM Fellow (1994)
- IEEE Fellow (1994)
- NAE Member (2004)
- William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement (2005)
- Dr. Dobb\'s Excellence Award (2008)
- Dahl--Nygaard Prize (2015)
- CHM Fellow (2015)
- IET Faraday Medal (2017)
- Charles Stark Draper Prize (2018)
- Computer Pioneer Award (2018)
- John Scott Medal (2018)
}} \| signature = \| signature_alt = \| website = `{{URL|https://www.stroustrup.com|stroustrup.com}}`{=mediawiki} \| footnotes = }}
**Bjarne Stroustrup** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|j|ɑːr|n|ə|_|ˈ|s|t|r|ɒ|v|s|t|r|ʊ|p|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Bjarne Stroustrup.wav}}`{=mediawiki}; `{{IPA|da|ˈbjɑːnə ˈstʁʌwˀstʁɔp|lang}}`{=mediawiki}; born 30 December 1950) is a Danish computer scientist, known for the development of the C++ programming language. He led the Large-scale Programming Research department at Bell Labs, served as a professor of computer science at Texas A&M University, and spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley while also being a visiting professor at Columbia University. Since 2022 he has been a full professor at Columbia.
## Early life and education {#early_life_and_education}
Stroustrup was born in Aarhus, Denmark. His family was working class, and he attended local schools.
He attended Aarhus University from 1969 to 1975 and graduated with a Candidatus Scientiarum in mathematics with computer science. His interests focused on microprogramming and machine architecture. He learned the fundamentals of object-oriented programming from its inventor, Kristen Nygaard, who frequently visited Aarhus.
In 1979, he received his PhD in computer science from the University of Cambridge, where his research on distributed computing was supervised by David Wheeler.
## Career and research {#career_and_research}
In 1979, Stroustrup began his career as a member of technical staff in the Computer Science Research Center of Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey. There, he began his work on C++ and programming techniques. Stroustrup was the head of AT&T Bell Labs\' Large-scale Programming Research department, from its creation until late 2002. In 1993, he was made a Bell Labs fellow and in 1996, an AT&T Fellow.
From 2002 to 2014, Stroustrup was the College of Engineering Chair Professor in Computer Science at Texas A&M University. From 2011, he was made a University Distinguished Professor.
From January 2014 to April 2022, Stroustrup was a technical fellow and managing director in the technology division of Morgan Stanley in New York City and a visiting professor in computer science at Columbia University.
As of July 2022, Stroustrup is a full professor of computer science at Columbia University.
### C++
Stroustrup is best known for his work on C++. In 1979, he began developing C++ (initially called \"C with Classes\"). In his own words, he \"invented C++, wrote its early definitions, and produced its first implementation \[\...\] chose and formulated the design criteria for C++, designed all its major facilities, and was responsible for the processing of extension proposals in the C++ standards committee.\" C++ was made generally available in 1985. For non-commercial use, the source code of the compiler and the foundation libraries was the cost of shipping (US\$75); this was before Internet access was common. Stroustrup also published a textbook for the language in 1985, *The C++ Programming Language*.
The key language-technical areas of contribution of C++ are:
- A static type system with equal support for built-in types and user-defined types (that requires control of the construction, destruction, copying, and movement of objects; and operator overloading).
- Value and reference semantics.
- Systematic and general resource management (RAII): constructors, destructor, and exceptions relying on them.
- Support for efficient object-oriented programming: based on the Simula model with statically checked interfaces, multiple inheritance, and efficient implementation based on virtual function tables.
- Support for flexible and efficient generic programming: templates with specialization and concepts.
- Support for compile-time programming: template metaprogramming and compile-time evaluated functions (\"constexpr functions\").
- Direct use of machine and operating system resources.
- Concurrency support through libraries (where necessary, implemented using intrinsics).
Stroustrup documented his principles guiding the design of C++ and the evolution of the language in his 1994 book, *The Design and Evolution of C++*, and three papers for ACM\'s History of Programming Languages conferences.
Stroustrup was a founding member of the C++ standards committee (from 1989, it was an ANSI committee and from 1991 an ISO committee) and has remained an active member ever since. For 24 years he chaired the subgroup chartered to handle proposals for language extensions (Evolution Working Group).
### Awards and honors {#awards_and_honors}
Selected honors
- 2018: The Charles Stark Draper Prize from The US National Academy of Engineering for conceptualizing and developing the C++ programming language.
- 2018: The Computer Pioneer Award from The IEEE Computer Society for bringing object-oriented programming and generic programming to the mainstream with his design and implementation of the C++ programming language.
- 2017: The Faraday Medal from the IET (Institute of Engineering Technology) for significant contributions to the history of computing, in particular pioneering the C++ programming language.
- 2010: The University of Aarhus\'s Rigmor og Carl Holst-Knudsens Videnskabspris.
- 2005: The William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement from Sigma Xi (the scientific research society) as the first computer scientist ever.
- 1993: The ACM Grace Murray Hopper award for his early work laying the foundations for the C++ programming language. Based on those foundations and Dr. Stroustrup\'s continuing efforts, C++ has become one of the most influential programming languages in the history of computing.
Fellowships
- Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2004.
- Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in 1994.
- Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1994.
- Fellow of the Computer History Museum for his invention of the C++ programming language in 2015.
- Honorary Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge in 2017.
Honorary doctorates and professorships
- He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University Carlos III, Spain 2019.
- Stroustrup has been a noble doctor at ITMO University since 2013.
- Honorary Professor in Object Oriented Programming Languages, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus. 2010.
### Publications
Stroustrup has written or co-written a number of publications, including the books:
- *A Tour of C++* (1st, 2nd and 3rd edition)
- *Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++*
- *The C++ Programming Language* (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th edition)
- *The Design and Evolution of C++*
- *The Annotated C++ Reference Manual*.
In all, these books have been translated into 21 languages.
More than 100 academic articles, including:
- *Thriving in a crowded and changing world*
- *Evolving a language in and for the real world*
- B Stroustrup: What should we teach software developers? Why? CACM. January 2010. `{{doi|10.1145/1629175.1629192}}`{=mediawiki}
- Gabriel Dos Reis and Bjarne Stroustrup: A Principled, Complete, and Efficient Representation of C++. Journal of Mathematics in Computer Science Volume 5, Issue 3 (2011), Page 335--356 `{{doi|10.1007/s11786-011-0094-1}}`{=mediawiki}. Special issue on Polynomial System Solving, System and Control, and Software Science.
- Gabriel Dos Reis and Bjarne Stroustrup: General Constant Expressions for System Programming Languages. SAC-2010. The 25th ACM Symposium on Applied Computing. March 2010. `{{doi|10.1145/1774088.1774537}}`{=mediawiki}
- Y. Solodkyy, G. Dos Reis, and B. Stroustrup: Open and Efficient Type Switch for C++. Proc. OOPSLA\'12. `{{doi|10.1145/2398857.2384686}}`{=mediawiki}
- Peter Pirkelbauer, Yuriy Solodkyy, Bjarne Stroustrup: Design and Evaluation of C++ Open Multi-Methods. In Science of Computer Programming (2009). Elsevier Journal. June 2009. `{{doi|10.1016/j.scico.2009.06.002}}`{=mediawiki}.
- Gabriel Dos Reis and Bjarne Stroustrup: Specifying C++ Concepts. POPL06. January 2006. `{{doi|10.1145/1111037.1111064}}`{=mediawiki}
- B. Stroustrup: Exception Safety: Concepts and Techniques. In Springer Verlag Lecture Notes in Computer Science, LNCS-2022. ISSN 0302-9743. `{{ISBN|3-540-41952-7}}`{=mediawiki}. April 2001.
- B Stroustrup: Generalizing Overloading for C++2000. Overload, Issue 25. 1 April 1998.
- B. Stroustrup: Why C++ isn\'t just an Object-Oriented Programming Language. Addendum to OOPSLA\'95 Proceedings. OOPS Messenger, vol 6 no 4, pp 1--13. October 1995. `{{doi|10.1145/260094.260207}}`{=mediawiki}
- B. Stroustrup: A History of C++: 1979--1991 Notices. Vol 28 No 3, pp 271--298. March 1993. Also, History of Programming languages (editors T.J. Begin and R.G. Gibson) Addison-Wesley, 1996.
- B. Stroustrup: What is Object-Oriented Programming? (1991 revised version). Proc. 1st European Software Festival. February 1991.
- B. Stroustrup: Data Abstraction in C. Bell Labs Technical Journal. vol 63. no 8 (Part 2), pp 1701--1732. October 1984. `{{doi|10.1002/j.1538-7305.1984.tb00061.x}}`{=mediawiki}
- B. Stroustrup: Classes: An Abstract Data Type Facility for the C Language. Sigplan Notices, January 1982. `{{doi|10.1145/947886.947893}}`{=mediawiki}
More than a hundred technical reports for the C++ standards committee (WG21)
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,728 |
UK bass
|
**UK bass**, also called **bass music**, is club music that emerged in the United Kingdom during the mid-2000s under the influence of diverse genres such as house, grime, dubstep, Future garage, R&B, and UK funky. The term \"UK bass\" came into use as artists began ambiguously blending the sounds of these defined genres while maintaining an emphasis on percussive, bass-led rhythm.
UK bass is sometimes conflated with bassline or post-dubstep. It is not to be confused with the hip hop and electro-based genre Miami bass, which is sometimes called \"bass music\" as well.
## Origins
The breadth of styles that have come to be associated with the term preclude it from being a specific musical genre. *Pitchfork* writer Martin Clark has suggested that \"well-meaning attempts to loosely define the ground we\'re covering here are somewhat futile and almost certainly flawed. This is not one genre. However, given the links, interaction, and free-flowing ideas... you can\'t dismiss all these acts as unrelated.\" Dubstep producer Skream is quoted in an interview with *The Independent* in September 2011 as saying:
> The word dubstep is being used by a lot of people and there were a lot of people being tagged with the dubstep brush. They don\'t want to be tagged with it and shouldn\'t be tagged with it -- that\'s not what they\'re pushing\... When I say \'UK bass\', it\'s what everyone UK is associated with so it would be a lot easier if it was called that.\"
In the United Kingdom, bass music has had major mainstream success since the late 2000s and early 2010s, with artists such as James Blake, Benga, Burial, SBTRKT, Sophie, Rustie, Zomby, and Skream. The term \"post-dubstep\" has been used synonymously to refer to artists, such as Blake and Mount Kimbie whose work draws on UK garage, 2-step, and other forms of underground dance music, as well as ambient music and early R&B. Outside of nightclubs, UK bass has mainly been promoted and played on Internet radio stations such as Sub.FM and Rinse FM.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,729 |
Burning glass
|
A **burning glass** or **burning lens** is a large convex lens that can concentrate the Sun\'s rays onto a small area, heating up the area and thus resulting in ignition of the exposed surface. **Burning mirrors** achieve a similar effect by using reflecting surfaces to focus the light. They were used in 18th-century chemical studies for burning materials in closed glass vessels where the products of combustion could be trapped for analysis. The burning glass was a useful contrivance in the days before electrical ignition was easily achieved.
## History
Burning glass technology has been known since antiquity, as described by Greek and Roman writers who recorded the use of lenses to start fires for various purposes. Pliny the Elder noted the use of glass vases filled with water to concentrate sunlight heat intensely enough to ignite clothing, as well as convex lenses that were used to cauterize wounds. Plutarch refers to a burning mirror made of joined triangular metal mirrors installed at the temple of the Vestal Virgins. Aristophanes mentions the burning lens in his play *The Clouds* (424 BC).
The Hellenistic Greek mathematician Archimedes was said to have used a burning glass as a weapon in 212 BC, when Syracuse was besieged by Marcus Claudius Marcellus of the Roman Republic. The Roman fleet was supposedly incinerated, though eventually the city was taken and Archimedes was slain.
The legend of Archimedes gave rise to a considerable amount of research on burning glasses and lenses until the late 17th century. Various researchers from medieval Christendom to the Islamic world worked with burning glasses, including Anthemius of Tralles (6th century AD), Proclus (6th century; who by this means purportedly destroyed the fleet of Vitalian besieging Constantinople), Ibn Sahl in his *On Burning Mirrors and Lenses* (10th century), Alhazen in his *Book of Optics* (1021), Roger Bacon (13th century), Giambattista della Porta and his friends (16th century), Athanasius Kircher and Gaspar Schott (17th century), and the Comte de Buffon in 1740 in Paris.
While the effects of camera obscura were mentioned by Greek philosopher Aristotle in the 4th century BC, contemporary Chinese Mohists of China\'s Warring States Period who compiled the *Mozi* described their experiments with burning mirrors and the pinhole camera. A few decades after Alhazen described camera obscura in Iraq, the Song dynasty Chinese statesman Shen Kuo was nevertheless the first to clearly describe the relationship of the focal point of a concave mirror, the burning point and the pinhole camera as separate radiation phenomena in his *Dream Pool Essays* (1088). By the late 15th century Leonardo da Vinci would be the first in Europe to make similar observations about the focal point and pinhole.
Burning lenses were used in the 18th century by both Joseph Priestley and Antoine Lavoisier in their experiments to obtain oxides contained in closed vessels under high temperatures. These included carbon dioxide by burning diamond, and mercuric oxide by heating mercury. This type of experiment contributed to the discovery of \"dephlogisticated air\" by Priestley, which became better known as oxygen, following Lavoisier\'s investigations.
Chapter 17 of William Bates\' 1920 book *Perfect Sight Without Glasses*, in which the author argues that observation of the sun is beneficial to those with poor vision, includes a figure of somebody \"Focussing the Rays of the Sun Upon the Eye of a Patient by Means of a Burning Glass.\"
The burning lens of the Grand Duke of Tuscany was used by Sir Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday to burn a diamond in oxygen on 27 March 1814.
## Use
### War: since the legend of Archimedes {#war_since_the_legend_of_archimedes}
The first story akin to that of burning glass is by Archimedes, for the purpose of war, in 212 BC. When Syracuse was besieged by Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the Roman fleet was supposedly incinerated by the use of not glass per se, but a concave mirror made of brass focusing sunlight. Whether or not that actually happened, eventually the city was taken and Archimedes was slain.
In 1796, during the French Revolution and three years after the declaration of war between France and Great Britain, physicist Étienne-Gaspard Robert met with the French government and proposed the use of mirrors to burn the invading ships of the British Royal Navy. They decided not to take up his proposal.
### Domestic use: primitive fire making {#domestic_use_primitive_fire_making}
Burning glasses (often called **fire lenses**) are still used to light fires in outdoor and primitive settings. Large burning lenses sometimes take the form of Fresnel lenses, similar to lighthouse lenses, including those for use in solar furnaces. Solar furnaces are used in industry to produce extremely high temperatures without the need for fuel or large supplies of electricity. They sometimes employ a large parabolic array of mirrors (some facilities are several stories high) to focus light to a high intensity.
### Religion: sacred fire {#religion_sacred_fire}
In various religions settings, a burning glass is used to set off some sort of sacred fire.
From the 7th to the 16th centuries, a burning glass was used by Christians to set off the Easter Fire during the Easter vigil. Thus, Saint Boniface explained to Pope Zachary that he produced the new fire of Holy Saturday by means of a crystal lens concentrating the rays of the sun. This process was also mentioned in liturgical books until the Roman Pontifical of 1561.
In Cambodia, a burning glass has also been used since ancient times for the cremation of kings and most recently for the funeral of King Sihanouk. The crematorium of the king is traditionally prepared by the Bakus brahmin from the Royal Palace on the last day of the week-long funeral. Small pieces of fragrant agarwood are placed beneath the magnifying glass until it ignites. The incandescent wood is used to light candles and pass on the fire to the attendees, who usually take their lit candles home.
### Sports: lighting the Olympic torch {#sports_lighting_the_olympic_torch}
The Olympic torch that is carried around the host country of the Olympic Games is lit by a burning glass, at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece.
### Popular culture: verification attempts {#popular_culture_verification_attempts}
There have been several real-world tests to evaluate the validity of the legend of Archimedes described above `{{crossreference|(see {{slink||War: since the legend of Archimedes}})}}`{=mediawiki} over the centuries, including a test by Comte de Buffon (circa 1747), documented in the paper titled \"Invention De Miroirs Ardens, Pour Brusler a Une Grande Distance\", and an experiment by John Scott, which was documented in an 1867 paper. In 1973, Greek scientist Dr. Ioannis Sakkas, curious about whether Archimedes could really have used a \"burning glass\" to destroy the Roman fleet in 212 BC, lined up nearly 60 Greek sailors, each holding an oblong mirror tipped to catch the sun\'s rays and direct them at a wooden ship 160 feet away. The ship caught fire at once. Sakkas said after the experiment there was no doubt in his mind the great inventor could have used bronze mirrors to scuttle the Romans.
However, accounting for battle conditions makes such a weapon impractical, with modern tests refuting such claims. An experiment was carried out by a group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005. It concluded that although the theory was sound for stationary objects, the mirrors would not likely have been able to concentrate sufficient solar energy to set a ship on fire under battle conditions. Similar experiments were conducted on the popular science-based TV show *MythBusters* in 2004, 2006, and 2010, arriving at similar results based on the premise of the controversial myth.
However, an episode of *Richard Hammond\'s Engineering Connections* relating to the Keck Observatory (whose reflector glass is based on the Archimedes\' Mirror) did successfully use a much smaller curved mirror to burn a wooden model, although the scaled-down model was not made of the same quality of materials as in the *MythBusters* effort.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,741 |
Benny Andersson
|
**Göran Bror** **Benny** **Andersson** (`{{IPA|sv|ˈbɛ̌nːʏ ˈânːdɛˌʂɔn|lang|sv-Benny Andersson.ogg}}`{=mediawiki}; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer and producer best known as a member of the pop group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals *Chess*, *Kristina från Duvemåla*, and *Mamma Mia!* For the 2008 film version of *Mamma Mia!* and its 2018 sequel, *Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again*, he worked also as an executive producer. Since 2001, he has been active with his own band Benny Anderssons orkester.
## Early life {#early_life}
Göran Bror Benny Andersson was born 16 December 1946 in the Vasastan district of Stockholm to civil engineer Gösta Andersson (1912--1973) and his wife Laila (1920--1971). His sister Eva-Lis Andersson followed in 1948. Andersson\'s musical interest was spurred by his father and grandfather (Efraim), who played the accordion. At the age of six, they bought him one, too, and introduced him to Swedish folk music, traditional music, and schlager. The first records he owned were \"Du Bist Musik\" by Italian schlager singer Caterina Valente and Elvis Presley\'s \"Jailhouse Rock\". He was especially impressed by the flip side, \"Treat Me Nice\", as this featured a piano. This variety of different kinds of music influenced him through the years.
At ten, Andersson got his own piano and taught himself to play. He was influenced by Brian Jones, left school at 15 and began to perform at youth clubs. This is when he met his first girlfriend Christina Grönvall, with whom he had two children: Peter (born 1963) and Heléne (born 1965). In early 1964, Benny and Christina joined \"Elverkets Spelmanslag\" (\"The Electricity Board Folk Music Group\"); the name was a punning reference to their electric instruments. Their repertoire consisted mainly of instrumentals, including \"Baby Elephant Walk\"; he also wrote his first songs.
## Career
### Hep Stars (1964--1969) {#hep_stars_19641969}
In October 1964 he joined the Hep Stars as keyboardist and they made a breakthrough in March 1965 with their hit \"Cadillac\", eventually becoming the most celebrated of the Swedish 1960s pop bands. Andersson secured his place as the band\'s keyboardist and musical driving force as well as a teen idol. The band performed mostly covers of international hits, but Andersson soon started writing his own material, and gave the band the classic hits \"No Response\", \"Sunny Girl\", \"Wedding\", \"Consolation\", \"It\'s Nice To Be Back\" and \"She Will Love You\", among others.
### Before ABBA (1969--1972) {#before_abba_19691972}
Andersson met Björn Ulvaeus in June 1966, and the two men started writing songs together, their first being \"Isn\'t It Easy To Say\", eventually recorded by the Hep Stars. He also had a fruitful songwriting collaboration with Lasse Berghagen, with whom he wrote several songs and submitted \"Hej, Clown\" for the 1969 Melodifestivalen -- the Swedish Eurovision Song Festival finals. The song finished in second place. During this contest, he met vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and they soon became a couple. Around the same time, his songwriting companion Ulvaeus met vocalist Agnetha Fältskog.
The personal relationships and Andersson and Ulvaeus\' songwriting collaboration led quite naturally to the very close cooperation which the four friends had during the following years. Benny and Björn scored their first hits as songwriters in the spring of 1969: \"Ljuva sextital\" (a hit with Brita Borg) and \"Speleman\" (a hit for the Hep Stars). As the two couples began supporting each other during recording sessions, the sound of the women\'s voices convinced the songwriters to model their \'group\' on various MOR acts such as Blue Mink, Middle of the Road and Sweet.
### ABBA (1972--1982) {#abba_19721982}
*Main article: ABBA* The group\'s breakthrough came with winning the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden with \"Waterloo\" on 6 April 1974. During the next eight years, Andersson (together with Ulvaeus) wrote music for and produced eight studio albums with ABBA. The group achieved great success globally and scored a chain of No. 1 hits.
With ABBA, Benny sang lead vocal on only one song -- \"Suzy-Hang-Around\", from the *Waterloo* album.
### After ABBA: *Chess*, *Kristina* and *Mamma Mia!* (1983--present) {#after_abba_chess_kristina_and_mamma_mia_1983present}
After ABBA, Andersson continued writing music with Ulvaeus. Their first project was the stage musical *Chess*, written with Tim Rice. The *Chess* concept album -- with vocals by Elaine Paige, Barbara Dickson, Murray Head and Swedes Tommy Körberg and Björn Skifs -- was released in October 1984, selling two million copies worldwide. The Paige/Dickson duet \"I Know Him So Well\" became a major UK No. 1 hit, and Murray Head\'s \"One Night in Bangkok\" gave Andersson/Ulvaeus a US No. 3 hit.
*Chess* was staged in London\'s West End Prince Edward Theatre in May 1986 and received mixed to positive reviews, running for about three years. A revised staging on Broadway in April 1988 received poor reviews, running for two months.
In 1985, Andersson produced and released an album with brother and sister Anders and Karin Glenmark, featuring new songs by Andersson/Ulvaeus. The duo named themselves Gemini, and a second album with more music by Björn and Benny was released in April 1987, containing the big hit \"Mio My Mio\"; also to be found on the soundtrack to the film *Mio in the Land of Faraway*, for which Andersson co-produced the music.
In 1987, Andersson released his first solo album *Klinga Mina Klockor* (\"Chime, My Bells\"). All the music was written by and performed by himself on accordion, backed by the *Orsa Spelmän* (Orsa Folk Musicians) on fiddles. A second solo album followed: *November 1989*.
In 1990, Andersson scored a Swedish No. 1 hit with \"Lassie\", sung by female cabaret group Ainbusk, for whom he also wrote the Svensktoppen hits \"Älska Mig\" and \"Drömmarnas Golv\". He decided to produce an album with Josefin Nilsson from this quartet, resulting in the 1993 English-language album *Shapes*, featuring ten new Andersson/Ulvaeus compositions.
In 1992, he wrote the introduction melody for the European football championship, which was organised by Sweden that year.
From the late 1980s, Andersson had worked on an idea for an epic Swedish language musical based on his affection for traditional folk music, and in October 1995, *Kristina från Duvemåla* premiered in Sweden. The musical was based on *The Emigrants* novels by Swedish writer Vilhelm Moberg. The musical ran successfully for almost five years, before closing in June 1999. An English-language version, simply titled *Kristina*, was staged in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City for two nights in September 2009, yielding a live recording, and at the Royal Albert Hall for one night in April 2010.
Andersson\'s next project was *Mamma Mia!*, a musical built around 24 of ABBA\'s songs, which has become a worldwide box-office blockbuster, with versions in several languages being played in many countries, including the UK (West End premiere in April 1999), Canada (Toronto premiere in 2000), the USA (Broadway premiere in 2001), and Sweden (Swedish language premiere in 2005).
For the 2004 semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, staged in Istanbul thirty years after ABBA had won the contest in Brighton, Benny appeared briefly in a special comedy video made for the interval act, entitled \"Our Last Video\". Each of the four members of the group appeared briefly in cameo roles, as did others such as Cher and Rik Mayall. The video was not included in the official DVD release of the Eurovision Contest, but was issued as a separate DVD release. It was billed as the first time the four had worked together since the group split; however, Frida\'s appearance was filmed separately.
A film version of *Mamma Mia!* premiered on 18 July 2008. In April/May 2007, Andersson worked on the film soundtrack, re-recording the ABBA songs with musicians from the original ABBA recording sessions. *Mamma Mia! The Movie* has become the most successful film musical of all time, and the biggest-selling DVD ever in the UK.
### Benny Anderssons Orkester (2001--present) {#benny_anderssons_orkester_2001present}
Andersson currently performs with his own band of 16 musicians, Benny Anderssons Orkester (\"Benny Andersson\'s orchestra\", BAO), with fellow Swedes Helen Sjöholm (of *Kristina from Duvemåla*) and Tommy Körberg (of *Chess*), with lyrics to new material sometimes written by Björn Ulvaeus. BAO has released five albums to huge success in Sweden, all containing hit singles.
In 2009 BAO achieved a new record in Sweden on the Svensktoppen chart by staying there for 243 weeks with the song \"*Du är min man*\" (\"You Are My Man\"), sung by Sjöholm.
### New compositions (1984--present) {#new_compositions_1984present}
Andersson composes primarily for his band BAO, with vocalists Sjöholm and Körberg, but he keeps his older material alive by re-visiting it, as in *Mamma Mia!* and the Swedish version of *Chess*.
For a compilation album of the Glenmark duo Gemini, Andersson had Björn Ulvaeus write new Swedish lyrics for the re-recording of two songs from 1984 and 1987.
Andersson and Ulvaeus have continuously been writing new material; most recently the two wrote seven songs for Andersson\'s BAO 2011 album O klang och jubeltid, performed as usual by vocalists Sjöholm, Körberg and Kalle Moraeus. In July 2009, BAO, now named \"The Benny Andersson Band\", released their first international record, the album *The Story of a Heart*. It was a compilation of 14 tracks from Andersson\'s five Swedish-language releases between 1987 and 2007, including five songs now recorded with lyrics by Ulvaeus in English, and the new title song premiered on BBC2\'s *Ken Bruce Show*. A Swedish-language version of the title track, *\"Sommaren Du Fick\"* (\"The Summer You Got\"), was released as a single in Sweden prior to the English version, with vocals by Helen Sjöholm.
In the spring of 2009, Andersson also released a single recorded by the staff at his privately owned Stockholm hotel Hotel Rival, titled \"2nd Best to None\", accompanied by a video showing the staff at work. In 2008, Andersson and Ulvaeus wrote a song for Swedish singer Sissela Kyle, titled \"*Jag vill bli gammal*\" (\"I Wanna Grow Old\"), for her Stockholm stage show \"*Your Days Are Numbered*\", which was never recorded and released but did get a TV performance. Ulvaeus also contributed lyrics to ABBA\'s 1976 instrumental track \"Arrival\" for Sarah Brightman\'s cover version recorded for her 2008 album *A Winter Symphony*. New English lyrics have also been written for Andersson\'s 1999 song \"*Innan Gryningen*\" (then also named \"Millennium Hymn\"), with the new title \"The Silence of the Dawn\" for Barbara Dickson was performed live, but not yet recorded and released. In 2007, they wrote the new song \"*Han som har vunnit allt*\" (\"He Who\'s Won It All\") for actor and singer Anders Ekborg.
Ulvaeus wrote English lyrics for two older songs from Andersson\'s solo albums *I Walk with You Mama* (\"Stockholm by Night\", 1989) and *After the Rain* (\"Efter regnet\", 1987) for opera singer Anne Sofie Von Otter, for her Andersson tribute album *I Let the Music Speak*. Barbara Dickson recorded an Ulvaeus and Andersson song called \"The Day The Wall Came Tumbling Down\"; the song eventually was released by Australian *Mamma Mia!* musical star Anne Wood\'s album of ABBA covers, *Divine Discontent*. As of October 2012, Ulvaeus had mentioned writing new material with Andersson for a BAO Christmas release (also mentioned as a BAO box), and Andersson is busy writing music for a Swedish language obscure musical, *Hjälp Sökes* (\"*Help is Wanted*\") together with Kristina Lugn and Lars Rudolfsson, premiering 8 February 2013. Andersson has also written music for a documentary film about Olof Palme, re-recording the track \"Sorgmarch\" from his last album as a theme throughout the film. The song \"*Saknadens rum and Kärlekens Tid*\", recorded 2004 by Helen Sjöholm with BAO, has also been performed in concert in English (lyrics by Ylva Eggehorn) by opera baritone Bryn Terfel. On 15 April 2013, it was officially announced by the EBU and the SVT that Andersson, along with Ulvaeus and the late Stockholm based DJ and record producer Avicii, had composed the anthem for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. The song was performed for the first time in the Final on 18 May.
A new album of Andersson compositions presented in a choral style was released on 18 September 2015. \"*Kärlekens Tid*\" was produced in Andersson\'s Mono Music studio, under the direction of choirmaster Gustaf Sjökvist, who died before the album\'s release. Gustaf Sjökvists Choir, conducted by Cecilia Rydinger Alin, performed two concerts at Skeppsholmen on 20 September, featuring Benny Andersson on piano. The album includes songs in Swedish and English from a range of Andersson\'s projects, such as *Chess*, *Kristina* and BAO.
In November 2018, Deutsche Grammophon released *Piano*, a collection of ABBA tunes, tunes from Chess and original compositions all played by Andersson on solo piano.
Andersson reunited with ABBA in 2018. On 2 September 2021, via YouTube livestream, ABBA announced their upcoming virtual concert residency \"ABBA Voyage\", as well as the imminent release of an eponymous album, recorded between 2017 and 2021. The new record, their first studio album in 40 years, features ten tracks, including \"I Still Have Faith In You\" and \"Don\'t Shut Me Down\", which also were first shown in the aforementioned livestream event and released as a double A-side single. On 5 November 2021, the *Voyage* album was released worldwide. On 27 May 2022, ABBA Voyage opened in a purpose-built venue named the ABBA Arena at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
### Film music {#film_music}
Andersson has written music to several films for screen and television; the first attempt in the early 1970s for the Swedish erotica movie *The Seduction of Inga*; the film was not a success, but the \'Björn & Benny\' single \"She\'s My Kind of Girl\" surprised the composers by being released in Japan and becoming a Top 10 hit (the song renamed in Japan as \"The Little Girl of the Cold Wind\").
In 1987, Andersson wrote music and co-produced the soundtrack with Anders Eljas for the film *Mio in the Land of Faraway*, based on Swedish author Astrid Lindgrens *Mio, My Son*. The title song became a huge hit in Sweden for Gemini.
In 2000, he wrote the music for fellow Swede (no relation) Roy Andersson\'s film *Songs from the Second Floor* (the music later re-recorded, featuring new lyrics, with BAO! with vocals by Helen Sjöholm). He also wrote the theme for Roy Andersson\'s next film, *You, the Living*, from 2007.
Andersson worked on the film adaptation of *Mamma Mia!*. He also wrote the film score for the 2012 documentary *Palme* about Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. He later won a Guldbagge Award for Best Original Score, for that film at the 48th Guldbagge Awards.
## Awards
- `{{flag|Sweden}}`{=mediawiki}: Royal Order of Vasa, Commander First Class (21 March 2024)
Together with Ulvaeus, Andersson was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in a category \"Outstanding Music\" (for the musical *Chess*), and for a Tony Award in a category \"Best Orchestrations\" (for musical *Mamma Mia!*). Original cast recordings of both musicals were nominated for a Grammy Award. Andersson/Ulvaeus also won a Touring Broadway Award for the musical \"Mamma Mia\" (best score).
During his post-ABBA career Andersson won four Swedish Grammis awards, and together with Ulvaeus received the \"Special International\" Ivor Novello award from \'The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters\', twice \"The Music Export Prize\" from the Swedish Ministry of Industry and Trade (2008), as well as the \"Lifetime Achievement\" award from the Swedish Music Publishers Association (SMFF). In 2002, Andersson was given an honorary professorship by the Swedish Government for his \"ability to create high-class music reaching people around the world\". thumb\|upright=.8\|Anderson at Stockholm University in 2008 In 2007, he was elected a member of Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and in 2008 received an Honorary Doctorate from the Stockholm University Faculty of Humanities for contributing importantly both to the preservation and the growth of the Swedish folk music tradition.
On 15 March 2010, Andersson appeared on stage in New York with former wife Anni-Frid Lyngstad to accept ABBA\'s award of induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. During his acceptance speech he reflected on the important influence of traditional European music and the melancholy of the Swedish soul on ABBA\'s brand of pop music. \"If you live in a country like Sweden, with five, six months of snow, and the sun disappears totally for like two months, that would be reflected in the work of artists,\" he said. \"It\'s definitely in the Swedish folk music, you can hear it in the Russian folk songs, you can hear in the music from Jean Sibelius or Edvard Grieg from Norway, you can see it in the eyes of Greta Garbo and you can hear it in the voice of Jussi Björling. And you can hear in the sound of Frida and Agnetha on some of our songs too.\"
In 2012, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from the Luleå Tekniska Universitet Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Andersson won the Swedish \"Guldbaggen\" award in 2012 as composer of the music for the film \"Palme\".
For his album *Piano* he received the Opus Klassik award in 2018.
On 21 March 2024, shortly before the 50th anniversary of their win at the Eurovision Song Contest, all four members of ABBA were appointed *Commander, First Class, of the Royal Order of Vasa* by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. This was the first time in almost 50 years that the Swedish Royal Orders of Knighthood was bestowed on Swedes. ABBA shared the honour with nine other persons.
## Personal life {#personal_life}
Andersson was engaged to Christina Grönvall. They have two children. The couple split in 1966 and Christina kept custody of the children as Andersson was then at the peak of his Hep Stars\' success. In the 1990s, their son Peter Grönvall formed One More Time, a group that enjoyed European success with the ABBA-like \"Highland\" and, later, as Sweden\'s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1996.
Andersson was in a relationship with Anni-Frid Lyngstad of ABBA for about 11 years, from 1969 till 1980. They married on 6 October 1978, but separated on 26 November 1980 and divorced in 1981.
He married Swedish TV presenter Mona Nörklit in 1981 and had a son, Ludvig. Ludvig is also one of the producers of the concert residency ABBA Voyage.
Andersson was an alcoholic through much of his adult life. He has remained a teetotaler since 2001. Andersson did not disclose the extent of his substance abuse problems until a 2011 interview, at which point he had maintained nearly a decade of sobriety.
## Discography
## Also appears on {#also_appears_on}
- *Beginner\'s Guide to Scandinavia* (3CD, Nascente 2011)
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Battle of Bosworth Field
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The **Battle of Bosworth** or **Bosworth Field** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɒ|z|w|ər|θ}}`{=mediawiki} `{{respell|BOZ|wərth}}`{=mediawiki}) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by an alliance of Lancastrians and disaffected Yorkists. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty by his victory and subsequent marriage to a Yorkist princess. His opponent Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed during the battle, the last English monarch to fall in battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, making it one of the defining moments of English history.
Richard\'s reign began in 1483 when he ascended the throne after his twelve-year-old nephew, Edward V, was declared illegitimate. The boy and his younger brother Richard soon disappeared, and their fate remains a mystery. Across the English Channel Henry Tudor, a descendant of the greatly diminished House of Lancaster, seized on Richard\'s difficulties and laid claim to the throne. Henry\'s first attempt to invade England in 1483 foundered in a storm, but his second arrived unopposed on 7 August 1485 on the south-west coast of Wales. Marching inland, Henry gathered support as he made for London. Richard hurriedly mustered his troops and intercepted Henry\'s army near Ambion Hill, south of the town of Market Bosworth in Leicestershire. Lord Stanley and Sir William Stanley also brought a force to the battlefield, but held back while they decided which side it would be most advantageous to support, initially lending only four knights to Henry\'s cause; these were: Sir Robert Tunstall, Sir John Savage (nephew of Lord Stanley), Sir Hugh Persall and Sir Humphrey Stanley. Sir John Savage was placed in command of the left flank of Henry\'s army.
Richard divided his army, which outnumbered Henry\'s, into three groups (or \"battles\"). One was assigned to the Duke of Norfolk and another to the Earl of Northumberland. Henry kept most of his force together and placed it under the command of the experienced Earl of Oxford. Richard\'s vanguard, commanded by Norfolk, attacked but struggled against Oxford\'s men, and some of Norfolk\'s troops fled the field. Northumberland took no action when signalled to assist his king, so Richard gambled everything on a charge across the battlefield to kill Henry and end the fight. Seeing the king\'s knights separated from his army, the Stanleys intervened; Sir William led his men to Henry\'s aid, surrounding and killing Richard. After the battle, Henry was crowned king.
Henry hired chroniclers to portray his reign favourably; the Battle of Bosworth Field was popularised to represent his Tudor dynasty as the start of a new age, marking the end of the Middle Ages for England. From the 15th to the 18th centuries the battle was glamourised as a victory of good over evil, and features as the climax of William Shakespeare\'s play *Richard III*. The exact site of the battle is disputed because of the lack of conclusive data, and memorials have been erected at different locations. The Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was built in 1974, on a site that has since been challenged by several scholars and historians. In October 2009, a team of researchers who had performed geological surveys and archaeological digs in the area since 2003 suggested a location 2 mi south-west of Ambion Hill.
## Background
During the 15th century civil war raged across England as the Houses of York and Lancaster fought each other for the English throne. In 1471 the Yorkists defeated their rivals in the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. The Lancastrian King Henry VI and his only son, Edward of Westminster, died in the aftermath of the Battle of Tewkesbury. Their deaths left the House of Lancaster with no direct claimants to the throne. The Yorkist king, Edward IV, was in complete control of England. He attainted those who refused to submit to his rule, such as Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry, naming them traitors and confiscating their lands. The Tudors tried to flee to France but strong winds forced them to land in Brittany, which was a semi-independent duchy, where they were taken into the custody of Duke Francis II. Henry\'s mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, uncle of King Richard II and father of King Henry IV. The Beauforts were originally bastards, but Richard II legitimised them through an Act of Parliament, a decision quickly modified by a royal decree of Henry IV ordering that their descendants were not eligible to inherit the throne. Henry Tudor, the only remaining Lancastrian noble with a trace of the royal bloodline, had a weak claim to the throne, and Edward regarded him as \"a nobody\". The Duke of Brittany, however, viewed Henry as a valuable tool to bargain for England\'s aid in conflicts with France, and kept the Tudors under his protection.
Edward IV died 12 years after Tewkesbury in April 1483. His 12-year-old elder son succeeded him as King Edward V; the younger son, nine-year-old Richard of Shrewsbury, was next in line to the throne. Edward V was too young to rule and a Royal Council was established to rule the country until the king\'s coming of age. Some among the council were worried when it became apparent that the relatives of Edward V\'s mother, Elizabeth Woodville, were plotting to use their control of the young king to dominate the council. Having offended many in their quest for wealth and power, the Woodville family was not popular. To frustrate the Woodvilles\' ambitions, Lord Hastings and other members of the council turned to the new king\'s uncle---Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother of Edward IV. The courtiers urged Gloucester to assume the role of Protector quickly, as had been previously requested by his now dead brother. On 29 April Gloucester, accompanied by a contingent of guards and Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, took Edward V into custody and arrested several prominent members of the Woodville family. After bringing the young king to London, Gloucester had the Queen\'s brother Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, and her son by her first marriage Richard Grey executed, without trial, on charges of treason.
On 13 June, Gloucester accused Hastings of plotting with the Woodvilles and had him beheaded. Nine days later the Three Estates of the Realm, an informal Parliament declared the marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth illegal, rendering their children illegitimate and disqualifying them from the throne. With his brother\'s children out of the way, he was next in the line of succession and was proclaimed King Richard III on 26 June. The timing and extrajudicial nature of the deeds done to obtain the throne for Richard won him no popularity, and rumours that spoke ill of the new king spread throughout England. After they were declared bastards, the two princes were confined in the Tower of London and never seen in public again.
In October 1483, a conspiracy emerged to displace him from the throne. The rebels were mostly loyalists to Edward IV, who saw Richard as a usurper. Their plans were coordinated by a Lancastrian, Henry\'s mother Lady Margaret, who was promoting her son as a candidate for the throne. The highest-ranking conspirator was Buckingham. No chronicles tell of the duke\'s motive in joining the plot, although historian Charles Ross proposes that Buckingham was trying to distance himself from a king who was becoming increasingly unpopular with the people. Michael Jones and Malcolm Underwood suggest that Margaret deceived Buckingham into thinking the rebels supported him to be king.
The plan was to stage uprisings within a short time in southern and western England, overwhelming Richard\'s forces. Buckingham would support the rebels by invading from Wales, while Henry came in by sea. Bad timing and weather wrecked the plot. An uprising in Kent started 10 days prematurely, alerting Richard to muster the royal army and take steps to put down the insurrections. Richard\'s spies informed him of Buckingham\'s activities, and the king\'s men captured and destroyed the bridges across the River Severn. When Buckingham and his army reached the river, they found it swollen and impossible to cross because of a violent storm that broke on 15 October. Buckingham was trapped and had no safe place to retreat; his Welsh enemies seized his home castle after he had set forth with his army. The duke abandoned his plans and fled to Wem, where he was betrayed by his servant and arrested by Richard\'s men. On 2 November he was executed. Henry had attempted a landing on 10 October (or 19 October), but his fleet was scattered by a storm. He reached the coast of England (at either Plymouth or Poole) and a group of soldiers hailed him to come ashore. They were, in fact, Richard\'s men, prepared to capture Henry once he set foot on English soil. Henry was not deceived and returned to Brittany, abandoning the invasion. Without Buckingham or Henry, the rebellion was easily crushed by Richard.
The survivors of the failed uprisings fled to Brittany, where they openly supported Henry\'s claim to the throne. At Christmas, Henry Tudor swore an oath in Rennes Cathedral to marry Edward IV\'s daughter, Elizabeth of York, to unite the warring houses of York and Lancaster. Henry\'s rising prominence made him a great threat to Richard, and the Yorkist king made several overtures to the Duke of Brittany to surrender the young Lancastrian. Francis refused, holding out for the possibility of better terms from Richard. In mid-1484 Francis was incapacitated by illness and while recuperating, his treasurer Pierre Landais took over the reins of government. Landais reached an agreement with Richard to send back Henry and his uncle in exchange for military and financial aid. John Morton, a bishop of Flanders, learned of the scheme and warned the Tudors, who fled to France. The French court allowed them to stay; the Tudors were useful pawns to ensure that Richard\'s England did not interfere with French plans to annex Brittany. On 16 March 1485 Richard\'s queen, Anne Neville, died, and rumours spread across the country that she was murdered to pave the way for Richard to marry his niece, Elizabeth. Later findings though, showed that Richard had entered into negotiations to marry Joanna of Portugal and to marry off Elizabeth to Manuel, Duke of Beja. The gossip must have upset Henry across the English Channel. The loss of Elizabeth\'s hand in marriage could unravel the alliance between Henry\'s supporters who were Lancastrians and those who were loyalists to Edward IV. Anxious to secure his bride, Henry recruited mercenaries formerly in French service to supplement his following of exiles and set sail from France on 1 August.
## Factions
By the 15th century, English chivalric ideas of selfless service to the king had been corrupted. Armed forces were raised mostly through musters in individual estates; every able-bodied man had to respond to his lord\'s call to arms, and each noble had authority over his militia. Although a king could raise personal militia from his lands, he could muster a large army only through the support of his nobles. Richard, like his predecessors, had to win over these men by granting gifts and maintaining cordial relationships. Powerful nobles could demand greater incentives to remain on the liege\'s side or else they might turn against him. Three groups, each with its own agenda, stood on Bosworth Field: Richard III and his Yorkist army; his challenger, Henry Tudor, who championed the Lancastrian cause; and the fence-sitting Stanleys.
### Yorkist
Small and slender, Richard III did not have the robust physique associated with many of his Plantagenet predecessors. However, he enjoyed very rough sports and activities that were considered manly. His performances on the battlefield impressed his brother greatly, and he became Edward\'s right-hand man. During the 1480s Richard defended the northern borders of England. In 1482, Edward charged him to lead an army into Scotland with the aim of replacing King James III with the Duke of Albany. Richard\'s army broke through the Scottish defences and occupied the capital, Edinburgh, but Albany decided to give up his claim to the throne in return for the post of Lieutenant General of Scotland. As well as obtaining a guarantee that the Scottish government would concede territories and diplomatic benefits to the English crown, Richard\'s campaign retook the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which the Scots had conquered in 1460. Edward was not satisfied by these gains, which, according to Ross, could have been greater if Richard had been resolute enough to capitalise on the situation while in control of Edinburgh. In her analysis of Richard\'s character, Christine Carpenter sees him as a soldier who was more used to taking orders than giving them. However, he was not averse to displaying his militaristic streak; on ascending the throne he made known his desire to lead a crusade against \"not only the Turks, but all \[his\] foes\".
Richard\'s most loyal subject was John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk. The duke had served Richard\'s brother for many years and had been one of Edward IV\'s closer confidants. He was a military veteran, having fought in the Battle of Towton in 1461 and served as Hastings\' deputy at Calais in 1471. Ross speculates that he bore a grudge against Edward for depriving him of a fortune. Norfolk was due to inherit a share of the wealthy Mowbray estate on the death of eight-year-old Anne de Mowbray, the last of her family. However, Edward convinced Parliament to circumvent the law of inheritance and transfer the estate to his younger son, who was married to Anne. Consequently, Howard supported Richard III in deposing Edward\'s sons, for which he received the dukedom of Norfolk and his original share of the Mowbray estate.
Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, also supported Richard\'s ascension to the throne of England. The Percys were loyal Lancastrians, but Edward IV eventually won the earl\'s allegiance. Northumberland had been captured and imprisoned by the Yorkists in 1461, losing his titles and estates; however, Edward released him eight years later and restored his earldom. From that time Northumberland served the Yorkist crown, helping to defend northern England and maintain its peace. Initially the earl had issues with Richard III as Edward groomed his brother to be the leading power of the north. Northumberland was mollified when he was promised he would be the Warden of the East March, a position that was formerly hereditary for the Percys. He served under Richard during the 1482 invasion of Scotland, and the allure of being in a position to dominate the north of England if Richard went south to assume the crown was his likely motivation for supporting Richard\'s bid for kingship. However, after becoming king, Richard began moulding his nephew, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, to manage the north, passing over Northumberland for the position. According to Carpenter, although the earl was amply compensated, he despaired of any possibility of advancement under Richard.
### Lancastrians
Henry Tudor was unfamiliar with the arts of war and was a stranger to the land he was trying to conquer. He spent the first fourteen years of his life in Wales and the next fourteen in Brittany and France. Slender but strong and decisive, Henry lacked a penchant for battle and was not much of a warrior; chroniclers such as Polydore Vergil and ambassadors like Pedro de Ayala found him more interested in commerce and finance. Having not fought in any battles, Henry recruited several experienced veterans to command his armies. John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, was Henry\'s principal military commander. He was adept in the arts of war. At the Battle of Barnet, he commanded the Lancastrian right wing and routed the division opposing him. However, as a result of confusion over identities, Oxford\'s group came under friendly fire from the Lancastrian main force and retreated from the field. The earl fled abroad and continued his fight against the Yorkists, raiding shipping and eventually capturing the island fort of St Michael\'s Mount in 1473. He surrendered after receiving no aid or reinforcement, but in 1484 escaped from prison and joined Henry\'s court in France, bringing along his erstwhile gaoler Sir James Blount. Oxford\'s presence raised morale in Henry\'s camp and troubled Richard III.
### Stanleys
In the early stages of the Wars of the Roses, the Stanleys of Cheshire had been predominantly Lancastrians. Sir William Stanley, however, was a staunch Yorkist supporter, fighting in the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459 and helping Hastings to put down uprisings against Edward IV in 1471. When Richard took the crown, Sir William showed no inclination to turn against the new king, refraining from joining Buckingham\'s rebellion, for which he was amply rewarded. Sir William\'s elder brother, Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley, was not as steadfast. By 1485, he had served three kings, namely Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III. Lord Stanley\'s skilled political manoeuvrings---vacillating between opposing sides until it was clear who would be the winner---gained him high positions; he was Henry\'s chamberlain and Edward\'s steward. His non-committal stance, until the crucial point of a battle, earned him the loyalty of his men, who felt he would not needlessly send them to their deaths.
Lord Stanley\'s relations with the king\'s brother, the eventual Richard III, were not cordial. The two had conflicts that erupted into violence around March 1470. Furthermore, having taken Lady Margaret as his second wife in June 1472, Stanley was Henry Tudor\'s stepfather, a relationship which did nothing to win him Richard\'s favour. Despite these differences, Stanley did not join Buckingham\'s revolt in 1483. When Richard executed those conspirators who had been unable to flee England, he spared Lady Margaret. However, he declared her titles forfeit and transferred her estates to Stanley\'s name, to be held in trust for the Yorkist crown. Richard\'s act of mercy was calculated to reconcile him with Stanley, but it may have been to no avail---Carpenter has identified a further cause of friction in Richard\'s intention to reopen an old land dispute that involved Thomas Stanley and the Harrington family. Edward IV had ruled the case in favour of Stanley in 1473, but Richard planned to overturn his brother\'s ruling and give the wealthy estate to the Harringtons. Immediately before the Battle of Bosworth, being wary of Stanley, Richard took his son, Lord Strange, as hostage to discourage him from joining Henry.
## Crossing the English Channel and through Wales {#crossing_the_english_channel_and_through_wales}
Henry\'s initial force consisted of the English and Welsh exiles who had gathered around Henry, combined with a contingent of mercenaries put at his disposal by Charles VIII of France. The history of Scottish author John Major (published in 1521) claims that Charles had granted Henry 5,000 men, of whom 1,000 were Scots, headed by Sir Alexander Bruce. No mention of Scottish soldiers was made by subsequent English historians.
Henry\'s crossing of the English Channel in 1485 was without incident. Thirty ships sailed from Harfleur on 1 August and, with fair winds behind them, landed in his native Wales, at Mill Bay (near Dale) on the north side of Milford Haven on 7 August, easily capturing nearby Dale Castle. Henry received a muted response from the local population. No joyous welcome awaited him on shore, and at first few individual Welshmen joined his army as it marched inland. Historian Geoffrey Elton suggests only Henry\'s ardent supporters felt pride over his Welsh blood. His arrival had been hailed by contemporary Welsh bards such as Dafydd Ddu and Gruffydd ap Dafydd as the true prince and \"the youth of Brittany defeating the Saxons\" in order to bring their country back to glory. When Henry moved to Haverfordwest, the county town of Pembrokeshire, Richard\'s lieutenant in South Wales, Sir Walter Herbert, failed to move against Henry, and two of his officers, Richard Griffith and Evan Morgan, deserted to Henry with their men.
The most important defector to Henry in this early stage of the campaign was probably Rhys ap Thomas, who was the leading figure in West Wales. Richard had appointed Rhys Lieutenant in West Wales for his refusal to join Buckingham\'s rebellion, asking that he surrender his son Gruffydd ap Rhys ap Thomas as surety, although by some accounts Rhys had managed to evade this condition. However, Henry successfully courted Rhys, offering the lieutenancy of all Wales in exchange for his fealty. Henry marched via Aberystwyth while Rhys followed a more southerly route, recruiting a force of Welshmen en route, variously estimated at 500 or 2,000 men, to swell Henry\'s army when they reunited at Cefn Digoll, Welshpool. By 15 or 16 August, Henry and his men had crossed the English border, making for the town of Shrewsbury.
## Shrewsbury: the gateway to England {#shrewsbury_the_gateway_to_england}
thumb\|upright=2.3\|March through Wales, to Bosworth Field. Since 22 June Richard had been aware of Henry\'s impending invasion, and had ordered his lords to maintain a high level of readiness. News of Henry\'s landing reached Richard on 11 August, but it took three to four days for his messengers to notify his lords of their king\'s mobilisation. On 16 August, the Yorkist army started to gather; Norfolk set off for Leicester, the assembly point, that night. The city of York, a historical stronghold of Richard\'s family, asked the king for instructions, and receiving a reply three days later sent 80 men to join the king. Simultaneously Northumberland, whose northern territory was the most distant from the capital, had gathered his men and ridden to Leicester.
Although London was his goal, Henry did not move directly towards the city. After resting in Shrewsbury, his forces went eastwards and picked up Sir Gilbert Talbot and other English allies, including deserters from Richard\'s forces. Although its size had increased substantially since the landing, Henry\'s army was still considerably outnumbered by Richard\'s forces. Henry\'s pace through Staffordshire was slow, delaying the confrontation with Richard so that he could gather more recruits to his cause. Henry had been communicating on friendly terms with the Stanleys for some time before setting foot in England, and the Stanleys had mobilised their forces on hearing of Henry\'s landing. They ranged themselves ahead of Henry\'s march through the English countryside, meeting twice in secret with Henry as he moved through Staffordshire. At the second of these, at Atherstone in Warwickshire, they conferred \"in what sort to arraign battle with King Richard, whom they heard to be not far off\". On 21 August, the Stanleys were making camp on the slopes of a hill north of Dadlington, while Henry encamped his army at White Moors to the north-west of their camp.
thumb\|upright=1.15 \|alt=Battlefield map. Three white boxes are across the top; arrows extend downward from the left two, labelled \"Norfolk\" and \"Richard III\", but not from the right one, \"Northumberland\". Two red boxes are at mid-left: the smaller is \"Henry\", and the larger, \"Oxford\" has an arrow going right and then reversing up. Two stationary blue boxes near the bottom are labelled \"Lord Stanley\" and \"William Stanley\".\|Early battle (a scenario based on historical interpretations): elements of Richard\'s army charged down Ambion Hill to engage Henry\'s forces on the plain. The Stanleys stood at the south, observing the situation.
On 20 August, Richard rode from Nottingham to Leicester, joining Norfolk. He spent the night at the Blue Boar inn (demolished 1836). Northumberland arrived the following day. The royal army proceeded westwards to intercept Henry\'s march on London. Passing Sutton Cheney, Richard moved his army towards Ambion Hill---which he thought would be of tactical value---and made camp on it. Richard\'s sleep was not peaceful and, according to the *Croyland Chronicle*, in the morning his face was \"more livid and ghastly than usual\".
## Engagement
thumb\|upright=1.15 \|alt=Battlefield map. Red, white and blue boxes converge to the centre of the map. Richard charges into Henry. William Stanley advances to Henry\'s rescue. Richard fights to his death. Northumberland and Lord Stanley remain stationary. \|Late battle (a scenario based on historical interpretations): Richard led a small group of men around the main battle and charged Henry, who was moving towards the Stanleys. William Stanley rode to Henry\'s rescue.
The Yorkist army, variously estimated at between 7,500 and 12,000 men, deployed on the hilltop along the ridgeline from west to east. Norfolk\'s force (or \"battle\" in the parlance of the time) of spearmen stood on the right flank, protecting the cannon and about 1,200 archers. Richard\'s group, comprising 3,000 infantry, formed the centre. Northumberland\'s men guarded the left flank; he had approximately 4,000 men, many of them mounted. Standing on the hilltop, Richard had a wide, unobstructed view of the area. He could see the Stanleys and their 4,000--6,000 men holding positions on and around Dadlington Hill, while to the south-west was Henry\'s army.
Henry\'s force has been variously estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 men, his original landing force of exiles and mercenaries having been augmented by the recruits gathered in Wales and the English border counties (in the latter area probably mustered chiefly by the Talbot interest), and by deserters from Richard\'s army. Historian John Mackie believes that 1,800 French mercenaries, led by Philibert de Chandée, formed the core of Henry\'s army. John Mair, writing thirty-five years after the battle, claimed that this force contained a significant Scottish component, and this claim is accepted by some modern writers, but Mackie argues that the French would not have released their elite Scottish knights and archers, and concludes that there were probably few Scottish troops in the army, although he accepts the presence of captains like Bernard Stewart, Lord of Aubigny.
In their interpretations of the vague mentions of the battle in the old text, historians placed areas near the foot of Ambion Hill as likely regions where the two armies clashed, and thought up possible scenarios of the engagement. In their recreations of the battle, Henry started by moving his army towards Ambion Hill where Richard and his men stood. As Henry\'s army advanced past the marsh at the south-western foot of the hill, Richard sent a message to Stanley, threatening to execute his son, Lord Strange, if Stanley did not join the attack on Henry immediately. Stanley replied that he had other sons. Incensed, Richard gave the order to behead Strange but his officers temporised, saying that battle was imminent, and it would be more convenient to carry out the execution afterwards. Henry had also sent messengers to Stanley asking him to declare his allegiance. The reply was evasive---the Stanleys would \"naturally\" come, after Henry had given orders to his army and arranged them for battle. Henry had no choice but to confront Richard\'s forces alone.
Well aware of his own military inexperience, Henry handed command of his army to Oxford and retired to the rear with his bodyguards. Oxford, seeing the vast line of Richard\'s army strung along the ridgeline, decided to keep his men together instead of splitting them into the traditional three battles: vanguard, centre, and rearguard. He ordered the troops to stray no further than 10 ft from their banners, fearing that they would become enveloped. Individual groups clumped together, forming a single large mass flanked by horsemen on the wings.
The Lancastrians were harassed by Richard\'s cannon as they manoeuvred around the marsh, seeking firmer ground. Once Oxford and his men were clear of the marsh, Norfolk\'s battle and several contingents of Richard\'s group, under the command of Sir Robert Brackenbury, started to advance. Hails of arrows showered both sides as they closed. Oxford\'s men proved the steadier in the ensuing hand-to-hand combat; they held their ground and several of Norfolk\'s men fled the field. Norfolk lost one of his senior officers, Walter Devereux, in this early clash.
Recognising that his force was at a disadvantage, Richard signalled for Northumberland to assist but Northumberland\'s group showed no signs of movement. Historians, such as Horrox and Pugh, believe Northumberland chose not to aid his king for personal reasons. Ross doubts the aspersions cast on Northumberland\'s loyalty, suggesting instead that Ambion Hill\'s narrow ridge hindered him from joining the battle. The earl would have had to either go through his allies or execute a wide flanking move---near impossible to perform given the standard of drill at the time---to engage Oxford\'s men.
At this juncture Richard saw Henry at some distance behind his main force. Seeing this, Richard decided to end the fight quickly by killing the enemy commander. He led a charge of mounted men around the melee and tore into Henry\'s group; several accounts state that Richard\'s force numbered 800--1000 knights, but Ross says it was more likely that Richard was accompanied only by his household men and closest friends. Richard killed Henry\'s standard-bearer Sir William Brandon in the initial charge and unhorsed burly John Cheyne, Edward IV\'s former standard-bearer, with a blow to the head from his broken lance. French mercenaries in Henry\'s retinue related how the attack had caught them off guard and that Henry sought protection by dismounting and concealing himself among them to present less of a target. Henry made no attempt to engage in combat himself.
Oxford had left a small reserve of pike-equipped men with Henry. They slowed the pace of Richard\'s mounted charge, and bought Tudor some critical time. The remainder of Henry\'s bodyguards surrounded their master, and succeeded in keeping him away from the Yorkist king. Meanwhile, seeing Richard embroiled with Henry\'s men and separated from his main force, William Stanley made his move and rode to the aid of Henry. Now outnumbered, Richard\'s group was surrounded and gradually pressed back. Richard\'s force was driven several hundred yards away from Tudor, near to the edge of a marsh, into which the king\'s horse toppled. Richard, now unhorsed, gathered himself and rallied his dwindling followers, supposedly refusing to retreat: \"God forbid that I retreat one step. I will either win the battle as a king, or die as one.\" In the fighting Richard\'s banner man---Sir Percival Thirlwall---lost his legs, but held the Yorkist banner aloft until he was killed. It is likely that James Harrington also died in the charge. The king\'s trusted advisor Richard Ratcliffe was also slain.
Polydore Vergil, Henry Tudor\'s official historian, recorded that \"King Richard, alone, was killed fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies\". Richard had come within a sword\'s length of Henry Tudor before being surrounded by William Stanley\'s men and killed. The Burgundian chronicler Jean Molinet says that a Welshman struck the death-blow with a halberd while Richard\'s horse was stuck in the marshy ground. It was said that the blows were so violent that the king\'s helmet was driven into his skull. The contemporary Welsh poet Guto\'r Glyn implies the leading Welsh Lancastrian Rhys ap Thomas, or one of his men, killed the king, writing that he *\"Lladd y baedd, eilliodd ei ben\"* (\"Killed the boar, shaved his head\"). Analysis of King Richard\'s skeletal remains found 11 wounds, nine of them to the head; a blade consistent with a halberd had sliced off part of the rear of Richard\'s skull, suggesting he had lost his helmet.
Richard\'s forces disintegrated as news of his death spread. Northumberland and his men fled north on seeing the king\'s fate, and Norfolk was killed by the knight Sir John Savage in single combat according to the Ballad of Lady Bessy.
## After the battle {#after_the_battle}
thumb\|upright=1.4\|right\|alt=Against a background of cheering men, an armoured man on the left hands a crown to a mounted armoured man on the right.\|Finding Richard\'s circlet after the battle, Lord Stanley hands it to Henry. Although he claimed fourth-generation maternal Lancastrian descendancy, Henry seized the crown by right of conquest. After the battle, Richard\'s circlet is said to have been found and brought to Henry, who was proclaimed king at the top of Crown Hill, near the village of Stoke Golding. According to Vergil, Henry\'s official historian, Lord Stanley found the circlet. Historians Stanley Chrimes and Sydney Anglo dismiss the legend of the circlet\'s finding in a hawthorn bush; none of the contemporary sources reported such an event. Ross, however, does not ignore the legend. He argues that the hawthorn bush would not be part of Henry\'s coat of arms if it did not have a strong relationship to his ascendance. Baldwin points out that a hawthorn bush motif was already used by the House of Lancaster, and Henry merely added the crown.
In Vergil\'s chronicle, 100 of Henry\'s men, compared to 1,000 of Richard\'s, died in this battle---a ratio Chrimes believes to be an exaggeration. The bodies of the fallen were brought to St James Church at Dadlington for burial. However, Henry denied any immediate rest for Richard; instead the last Yorkist king\'s corpse was stripped naked and strapped across a horse. His body was brought to Leicester and openly exhibited to prove that he was dead. Early accounts suggest that this was in the major Lancastrian collegiate foundation, the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke. After two days, the corpse was interred in a plain tomb, within the church of the Greyfriars. The church was demolished following the friary\'s dissolution in 1538, and the location of Richard\'s tomb was long uncertain.
thumb\|upright=1.4\|right\|Richard III\'s corpse found on the battlefield. Image by Charles Rochussen On 12 September 2012, archaeologists announced the discovery of a buried skeleton with spinal abnormalities and head injuries under a car park in Leicester, and their suspicions that it was Richard III. On 4 February 2013, it was announced that DNA testing had convinced Leicester University scientists and researchers \"beyond reasonable doubt\" that the remains were those of King Richard. On 26 March 2015, these remains were ceremonially buried in Leicester Cathedral. Richard\'s tomb was unveiled on the following day.
Henry dismissed the mercenaries in his force, retaining only a small core of local soldiers to form a \"Yeomen of his Garde\", and proceeded to establish his rule of England. Parliament reversed his attainder and recorded Richard\'s kingship as illegal, although the Yorkist king\'s reign remained officially in the annals of England history. The proclamation of Edward IV\'s children as illegitimate was also reversed, restoring Elizabeth\'s status to a royal princess. The marriage of Elizabeth, the heiress to the House of York, to Henry, the master of the House of Lancaster, marked the end of the feud between the two houses and the start of the Tudor dynasty. The royal matrimony, however, was delayed until Henry was crowned king and had established his claim on the throne firmly enough to preclude that of Elizabeth and her kin. Henry further convinced Parliament to backdate his reign to the day before the battle, enabling him retrospectively to declare as traitors those who had fought against him at Bosworth Field. Northumberland, who had remained inactive during the battle, was imprisoned but later released and reinstated to pacify the north in Henry\'s name. Henry proved prepared to accept those who submitted to him regardless of their former allegiances.
Of his supporters, Henry rewarded the Stanleys the most generously. Aside from making William his chamberlain, he bestowed the earldom of Derby upon Lord Stanley along with grants and offices in other estates. Henry rewarded Oxford by restoring to him the lands and titles confiscated by the Yorkists and appointing him as Constable of the Tower and admiral of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine. For his kin, Henry created Jasper Tudor the Duke of Bedford. He returned to his mother the lands and grants stripped from her by Richard, and proved to be a filial son, granting her a place of honour in the palace and faithfully attending to her throughout his reign. Parliament\'s declaration of Margaret as *femme sole* effectively empowered her; she no longer needed to manage her estates through Stanley. Elton points out that despite his initial largesse, Henry\'s supporters at Bosworth would enjoy his special favour for only the short term; in later years, he would instead promote those who best served his interests.
Like the kings before him, Henry faced dissenters. The first open revolt occurred two years after Bosworth Field; Lambert Simnel claimed to be Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, who was Edward IV\'s nephew. The Earl of Lincoln backed him for the throne and led rebel forces in the name of the House of York. The rebel army fended off several attacks by Northumberland\'s forces, before engaging Henry\'s army at the Battle of Stoke Field on 16 June 1487. Oxford and Bedford led Henry\'s men, including several former supporters of Richard III. Henry won this battle easily, but other malcontents and conspiracies would follow. A rebellion in 1489 started with Northumberland\'s murder; military historian Michael C. C. Adams says that the author of a note, which was left next to Northumberland\'s body, blamed the earl for Richard\'s death.
## Legacy and historical significance {#legacy_and_historical_significance}
Contemporary accounts of the Battle of Bosworth can be found in four main sources, one of which is the English *Croyland Chronicle*, written by a senior Yorkist chronicler who relied on second-hand information from nobles and soldiers. The other accounts were written by foreigners---Vergil, Jean Molinet, and Diego de Valera. Whereas Molinet was sympathetic to Richard, Vergil was in Henry\'s service and drew information from the king and his subjects to portray them in a good light. Diego de Valera, whose information Ross regards as unreliable, compiled his work from letters of Spanish merchants. However, other historians have used Valera\'s work to deduce possibly valuable insights not readily evident in other sources. Ross finds the poem, *The Ballad of Bosworth Field*, a useful source to ascertain certain details of the battle. The multitude of different accounts, mostly based on second- or third-hand information, has proved an obstacle to historians as they try to reconstruct the battle. Their common complaint is that, except for its outcome, very few details of the battle are found in the chronicles. According to historian Michael Hicks, the Battle of Bosworth is one of the worst-recorded clashes of the Wars of the Roses.
### Historical depictions and interpretations {#historical_depictions_and_interpretations}
Henry tried to present his victory as a new beginning for the country; he hired chroniclers to portray his reign as a \"modern age\" with its dawn in 1485. Hicks states that the works of Vergil and the blind historian Bernard André, promoted by subsequent Tudor administrations, became the authoritative sources for writers for the next four hundred years. As such, Tudor literature paints a flattering picture of Henry\'s reign, depicting the Battle of Bosworth as the final clash of the civil war and downplaying the subsequent uprisings. For England the Middle Ages ended in 1485, and English Heritage claims that other than William the Conqueror\'s successful invasion of 1066, no other year holds more significance in English history. By portraying Richard as a hunchbacked tyrant who usurped the throne by killing his nephews, the Tudor historians attached a sense of myth to the battle: it became an epic clash between good and evil with a satisfying moral outcome. According to Reader Colin Burrow, André was so overwhelmed by the historic significance of the battle that he represented it with a blank page in his *Henry VII* (1502). For Professor Peter Saccio, the battle was indeed a unique clash in the annals of English history, because \"the victory was determined, not by those who fought, but by those who delayed fighting until they were sure of being on the winning side.\"
Historians such as Adams and Horrox believe that Richard lost the battle not for any mythic reasons, but because of morale and loyalty problems in his army. Most of the common soldiers found it difficult to fight for a liege whom they distrusted, and some lords believed that their situation might improve if Richard were dethroned. According to Adams, against such duplicities Richard\'s desperate charge was the only knightly behaviour on the field. As fellow historian Michael Bennet puts it, the attack was \"the swan-song of \[mediaeval\] English chivalry\". Adams believes this view was shared at the time by the printer William Caxton, who enjoyed sponsorship from Edward IV and Richard III. Nine days after the battle, Caxton published Thomas Malory\'s story about chivalry and death by betrayal---*Le Morte d\'Arthur*---seemingly as a response to the circumstances of Richard\'s death.
Elton does not believe Bosworth Field has any true significance, pointing out that the 20th-century English public largely ignored the battle until its quincentennial celebration. In his view, the dearth of specific information about the battle---no-one even knows exactly where it took place---demonstrates its insignificance to English society. Elton considers the battle as just one part of Henry\'s struggles to establish his reign, underscoring his point by noting that the young king had to spend ten more years pacifying factions and rebellions to secure his throne.
Mackie asserts that, in hindsight, Bosworth Field is notable as the decisive battle that established a dynasty which would rule unchallenged over England for more than a hundred years. Mackie notes that contemporary historians of that time, wary of the three royal successions during the long Wars of the Roses, considered Bosworth Field just another in a lengthy series of such battles. It was through the works and efforts of Francis Bacon and his successors that the public started to believe the battle had decided their futures by bringing about \"the fall of a tyrant\".
### Shakespearean dramatisation {#shakespearean_dramatisation}
William Shakespeare gives prominence to the Battle of Bosworth in his play, *Richard III*. It is the \"one big battle\"; no other fighting scene distracts the audience from this action, represented by a one-on-one sword fight between Henry Tudor and Richard III. Shakespeare uses their duel to bring a climactic end to the play and the Wars of the Roses; he also uses it to champion morality, portraying the \"unequivocal triumph of good over evil\". Richard, the villainous lead character, has been built up in the battles of Shakespeare\'s earlier play, *Henry VI, Part 3*, as a \"formidable swordsman and a courageous military leader\"---in contrast to the dastardly means by which he becomes king in *Richard III*. Although the Battle of Bosworth has only five sentences to direct it, three scenes and more than four hundred lines precede the action, developing the background and motivations for the characters in anticipation of the battle.
Shakespeare\'s account of the battle was mostly based on chroniclers Edward Hall\'s and Raphael Holinshed\'s dramatic versions of history, which were sourced from Vergil\'s chronicle. However, Shakespeare\'s attitude towards Richard was shaped by scholar Thomas More, whose writings displayed extreme bias against the Yorkist king. The result of these influences is a script that vilifies the king, and Shakespeare had few qualms about departing from history to incite drama. Margaret of Anjou died in 1482, but Shakespeare had her speak to Richard\'s mother before the battle to foreshadow Richard\'s fate and fulfill the prophecy she had given in *Henry VI*. Shakespeare exaggerated the cause of Richard\'s restless night before the battle, imagining it as a haunting by the ghosts of those whom the king had murdered, including Buckingham. Richard is portrayed as suffering a pang of conscience, but as he speaks he regains his confidence and asserts that he will be evil, if such needed to retain his crown.
The fight between the two armies is simulated by rowdy noises made off-stage (*alarums* or alarms) while actors walk on-stage, deliver their lines, and exit. To build anticipation for the duel, Shakespeare requests more *alarums* after Richard\'s councillor, William Catesby, announces that the king is \"\[enacting\] more wonders than a man\". Richard punctuates his entrance with the classic line, \"A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!\" He refuses to withdraw, continuing to seek to slay Henry\'s doubles until he has killed his nemesis. There is no documentary evidence that Henry had five decoys at Bosworth Field; the idea was Shakespeare\'s invention. He drew inspiration from Henry IV\'s use of them at the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403) to amplify the perception of Richard\'s courage on the battlefield. Similarly, the single combat between Henry and Richard is Shakespeare\'s creation. *The True Tragedy of Richard III*, by an unknown playwright, earlier than Shakespeare\'s, has no signs of staging such an encounter: its stage directions give no hint of visible combat.
Despite the dramatic licences taken, Shakespeare\'s version of the Battle of Bosworth was the model of the event for English textbooks for many years during the 18th and 19th centuries. This glamorised version of history, promulgated in books and paintings and played out on stages across the country, perturbed humorist Gilbert Abbott à Beckett. He voiced his criticism in the form of a poem, equating the romantic view of the battle to watching a \"fifth-rate production of *Richard III*\": shabbily costumed actors fight the Battle of Bosworth on-stage while those with lesser roles lounge at the back, showing no interest in the proceedings.
In Laurence Olivier\'s 1955 film adaptation of *Richard III*, the Battle of Bosworth is represented not by a single duel but a general melee that became the film\'s most recognised scene and a regular screening at Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre. The film depicts the clash between the Yorkist and Lancastrian armies on an open field, focusing on individual characters amidst the savagery of hand-to-hand fighting, and received accolades for the realism portrayed. One reviewer for *The Manchester Guardian* newspaper, however, was not impressed, finding the number of combatants too sparse for the wide plains and a lack of subtlety in Richard\'s death scene. The means by which Richard is shown to prepare his army for the battle also earned acclaim. As Richard speaks to his men and draws his plans in the sand using his sword, his units appear on-screen, arraying themselves according to the lines that Richard had drawn. Intimately woven together, the combination of pictorial and narrative elements effectively turns Richard into a storyteller, who acts out the plot he has constructed. Shakespearian critic Herbert Coursen extends that imagery: Richard sets himself up as a creator of men, but dies amongst the savagery of his creations. Coursen finds the depiction a contrast to that of Henry V and his \"band of brothers\".
The adaptation of the setting for *Richard III* to a 1930s fascist England in Ian McKellen\'s 1995 film, however, did not sit well with historians. Adams posits that the original Shakespearian setting for Richard\'s fate at Bosworth teaches the moral of facing one\'s fate, no matter how unjust it is, \"nobly and with dignity\". By overshadowing the dramatic teaching with special effects, McKellen\'s film reduces its version of the battle to a pyrotechnic spectacle about the death of a one-dimensional villain. Coursen agrees that, in this version, the battle and Richard\'s end are trite and underwhelming.
## Battlefield location {#battlefield_location}
The site of the battle is deemed by Leicestershire County Council to be in the vicinity of the town of Market Bosworth. The council engaged historian Daniel Williams to research the battle, and in 1974 his findings were used to build the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and the presentation it houses. Williams\'s interpretation, however, has since been questioned. Sparked by the battle\'s quincentenary celebration in 1985, a dispute among historians has led many to doubt the accuracy of Williams\'s theory. In particular, geological surveys conducted from 2003 to 2009 by the Battlefields Trust, a charitable organisation that protects and studies old English battlefields, show that the southern and eastern flanks of Ambion Hill were solid ground in the 15th century, contrary to Williams\'s claim that it was a large area of marshland. Landscape archaeologist Glenn Foard, leader of the survey, said the collected soil samples and finds of medieval military equipment suggest that the battle took place 2 mi south-west of Ambion Hill (52°34′41″N 1°26′02″W), contrary to the popular belief that it was fought near the foot of the hill.
### Historians\' theories {#historians_theories}
English Heritage argues that the battle was named after Market Bosworth because the town was then the nearest significant settlement to the battlefield. As explored by Professor Philip Morgan, a battle might initially not be named specifically at all. As time passes, writers of administrative and historical records find it necessary to identify a notable battle, ascribing it a name that is usually toponymical in nature and sourced from combatants or observers. This name then becomes accepted by society and without question. Early records associated the Battle of Bosworth with \"Brownehethe\", \"*bellum Miravallenses*\", \"Sandeford\" and \"Dadlyngton field\". The earliest record, a municipal memorandum of 23 August 1485 from York, locates the battle \"on the field of Redemore\". This is corroborated by a 1485--86 letter that mentions \"Redesmore\" as its site. According to the historian, Peter Foss, records did not associate the battle with \"Bosworth\" until 1510.
Foss is named by English Heritage as the principal advocate for \"Redemore\" as the battle site. He suggests the name is derived from \"*Hreod Mor*\", an Anglo-Saxon phrase that means \"reedy marshland\". Basing his opinion on 13th- and 16th-century church records, he believes \"Redemore\" was an area of wetland that lay between Ambion Hill and the village of Dadlington, and was close to the Fenn Lanes, a Roman road running east to west across the region. Foard believes this road to be the most probable route that both armies took to reach the battlefield. Williams dismisses the notion of \"Redmore\" as a specific location, saying that the term refers to a large area of reddish soil; Foss argues that Williams\'s sources are local stories and flawed interpretations of records. Moreover, he proposes that Williams was influenced by William Hutton\'s 1788 *The Battle of Bosworth-Field*, which Foss blames for introducing the notion that the battle was fought west of Ambion Hill on the north side of the River Sence. Hutton, as Foss suggests, misinterpreted a passage from his source, Raphael Holinshed\'s 1577 *Chronicle*. Holinshed wrote, \"King Richard pitched his field on a hill called Anne Beame, refreshed his soldiers and took his rest.\" Foss believes that Hutton mistook \"field\" to mean \"field of battle\", thus creating the idea that the fight took place on Anne Beame (Ambion) Hill. To \"\[pitch\] his field\", as Foss clarifies, was a period expression for setting up a camp.
thumb\|alt=Side view of a building, which has a small tower on the left side: tombstones lie in rows on plots in front.\|upright=1.5\|St James the Greater, Dadlington: the dead of Bosworth Field were buried here.
Foss brings further evidence for his \"Redemore\" theory by quoting Edward Hall\'s 1550 *Chronicle*. Hall stated that Richard\'s army stepped onto a plain after breaking camp the next day. Furthermore, historian William Burton, author of *Description of Leicestershire* (1622), wrote that the battle was \"fought in a large, flat, plaine, and spacious ground, 3 mi distant from \[Bosworth\], between the Towne of Shenton, Sutton \[Cheney\], Dadlington and Stoke \[Golding\]\". In Foss\'s opinion both sources are describing an area of flat ground north of Dadlington.
### Physical site {#physical_site}
English Heritage, responsible for managing England\'s historic sites, used both theories to designate the site for Bosworth Field. Without preference for either theory, they constructed a single continuous battlefield boundary that encompasses the locations proposed by both Williams and Foss. The region has experienced extensive changes over the years, starting after the battle. Holinshed stated in his chronicle that he found firm ground where he expected the marsh to be, and Burton confirmed that by the end of the 16th century, areas of the battlefield were enclosed and had been improved to make them agriculturally productive. Trees were planted on the south side of Ambion Hill, forming Ambion Wood. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ashby Canal carved through the land west and south-west of Ambion Hill. Winding alongside the canal at a distance, the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway crossed the area on an embankment. The changes to the landscape were so extensive that when Hutton revisited the region in 1807 after an earlier 1788 visit, he could not readily find his way around.
Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre was built on Ambion Hill, near Richard\'s Well. According to legend, Richard III drank from one of the several springs in the region on the day of the battle. In 1788, a local pointed out one of the springs to Hutton as the one mentioned in the legend. A stone structure was later built over the location. The inscription on the well reads:
North-west of Ambion Hill, just across the northern tributary of the `{{Not a typo|Sence}}`{=mediawiki}, a flag and memorial stone mark Richard\'s Field. Erected in 1973, the site was selected on the basis of Williams\'s theory. St James\'s Church at Dadlington is the only structure in the area that is reliably associated with the Battle of Bosworth; the bodies of those killed in the battle were buried there.
### Rediscovered battlefield and possible battle scenario {#rediscovered_battlefield_and_possible_battle_scenario}
The very extensive survey carried out (2005--2009) by the Battlefields Trust headed by Glenn Foard led eventually to the discovery of the real location of the core battlefield. This lies about a kilometre further west of the location suggested by Peter Foss. It is in what was at the time of the battle an area of marginal land at the meeting of several township boundaries. There was a cluster of field names suggesting the presence of marshland and heath. Thirty four lead round shot were discovered as a result of systematic metal detecting (more than the total found previously on all other C15th European battlefields), as well as other significant finds, including a small silver gilt badge depicting a boar. Experts believe that the boar badge could indicate the actual site of Richard III\'s death, since this high-status badge depicting his personal emblem was probably worn by a member of his close retinue.
A new interpretation of the battle now integrates the historic accounts with the battlefield finds and landscape history. The new site lies either side of the Fenn Lanes Roman road, close to Fenn Lane Farm and is some three kilometres to the south-west of Ambion Hill.
Based on the round shot scatter, the likely size of Richard III\'s army, and the topography, Glenn Foard and Anne Curry think that Richard may have lined up his forces on a slight ridge which lies just east of Fox Covert Lane and behind a postulated medieval marsh. Richard\'s vanguard commanded by the Duke of Norfolk was on the right (north) side of Richard\'s battle line, with the Earl of Northumberland on Richard\'s left (south) side.
Tudor\'s forces approached along the line of the Roman road and lined up to the west of the present day Fenn Lane Farm, having marched from the vicinity of Merevale in Warwickshire.
Historic England have re-defined the boundaries of the registered Bosworth Battlefield to incorporate the newly identified site. There are hopes that public access to the site will be possible in the future.
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Baseball statistics
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**Baseball statistics** include a variety of metrics used to evaluate player and team performance in the sport of baseball.
Because the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and player activity is characteristically distinguishable individually, the sport lends itself to easy record-keeping and compiling statistics. Baseball \"stats\" have been recorded since the game\'s earliest beginnings as a distinct sport in the middle of the nineteenth century, and as such are extensively available through the historical records of leagues such as the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players and the Negro leagues, although the consistency, standards, and calculations are often incomplete or questionable.
Since the National League (NL) was founded in 1876, statistics in the most elite levels of professional baseball have been kept at some level, with efforts to standardize the stats and their compilation improving during the early 20th century. Such efforts have evolved in tandem with advances in available technology ever since. The NL was joined by the American League (AL) in 1903; together the two constitute contemporary Major League Baseball. Several statistics are defined in the *Official Baseball Rules*, which task the official scorer with providing a report after each game.
New advances in both statistical analysis and technology made possible by the \"PC revolution\" of the 1980s and 1990s have driven teams and fans to evaluate players by an ever-increasing set of new statistics, which hold them to ever-evolving standards. With the advent of many of these methods, players can conditionally be compared across different time eras and run scoring environments.
## Development
The practice of keeping records of player achievements was started in the 19th century by English-American sportswriter Henry Chadwick. Based on his experience with the sport of cricket, Chadwick devised the predecessors to modern-day statistics including batting average, runs scored, and runs allowed.
Traditionally, statistics such as batting average (the number of hits divided by the number of at bats) and earned run average (the average number of runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings, less errors and other events out of the pitcher\'s control) have dominated attention in the statistical world of baseball. However, the recent advent of sabermetrics has created statistics drawing from a greater breadth of player performance measures and playing field variables. Sabermetrics and comparative statistics attempt to provide an improved measure of a player\'s performance and contributions to his team from year to year, frequently against a statistical performance average.
Comprehensive, historical baseball statistics were difficult for the average fan to access until 1951, when researcher Hy Turkin published *The Complete Encyclopedia of Baseball*. In 1969, Macmillan Publishing printed its first *Baseball Encyclopedia*, using a computer to compile statistics for the first time. Known as \"Big Mac\", the encyclopedia became the standard baseball reference until 1988, when *Total Baseball* was released by Warner Books using more sophisticated technology. The publication of *Total Baseball* led to the discovery of several \"phantom ballplayers\", such as Lou Proctor, who did not belong in official record books and were removed.
## Use
Throughout modern baseball, a few core statistics have been traditionally referenced -- batting average, RBI, and home runs. To this day, a player who leads the league in all of these three statistics earns the \"Triple Crown\". For pitchers, wins, ERA, and strikeouts are the most often-cited statistics, and a pitcher leading his league in these statistics may also be referred to as a \"triple crown\" winner. General managers and baseball scouts have long used the major statistics, among other factors and opinions, to understand player value. Managers, catchers and pitchers use the statistics of batters of opposing teams to develop pitching strategies and set defensive positioning on the field. Managers and batters study opposing pitcher performance and motions in attempting to improve hitting. Scouts use stats when they are looking at a player who they may end up drafting or signing to a contract.
Some sabermetric statistics have entered the mainstream baseball world that measure a batter\'s overall performance including on-base plus slugging, commonly referred to as OPS. OPS adds the hitter\'s on-base percentage (number of times reached base by any means divided by total plate appearances) to their slugging percentage (total bases divided by at-bats). Some argue that the OPS formula is flawed and that more weight should be shifted towards OBP (on-base percentage). The statistic wOBA (weighted on-base average) attempts to correct for this.
OPS is also useful when determining a pitcher\'s level of success. \"Opponent on-base plus slugging\" (OOPS) is becoming a popular tool to evaluate a pitcher\'s actual performance. When analyzing a pitcher\'s statistics, some useful categories include K/9IP (strikeouts per nine innings), K/BB (strikeouts per walk), HR/9 (home runs per nine innings), WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched), and OOPS (opponent on-base plus slugging).
However, since 2001, more emphasis has been placed on defense-independent pitching statistics, including defense-independent ERA (dERA), in an attempt to evaluate a pitcher\'s performance regardless of the strength of the defensive players behind them.
All of the above statistics may be used in certain game situations. For example, a certain hitter\'s ability to hit left-handed pitchers might incline a manager to increase their opportunities to face left-handed pitchers. Other hitters may have a history of success against a given pitcher (or vice versa), and the manager may use this information to create a favorable match-up. This is often referred to as \"playing the percentages\".
## Contemporary statistics {#contemporary_statistics}
The following listings include abbreviations and/or acronyms for both historic baseball statistics and those based on modern mathematical formulas known popularly as \"metrics\".
The explanations below are for quick reference and do not fully or completely define the statistic; for the strict definition, see the linked article for each statistic.
### Batting statistics {#batting_statistics}
- 1B -- Single: hits on which the batter reaches first base safely without the contribution of a fielding error
- 2B -- Double: hits on which the batter reaches second base safely without the contribution of a fielding error
- 3B -- Triple: hits on which the batter reaches third base safely without the contribution of a fielding error
- AB -- At bat: plate appearances, not including bases on balls, being hit by pitch, sacrifices, interference, or obstruction
- AB/HR -- At bats per home run: at bats divided by home runs
- BA -- Batting average (also abbreviated *AVG*): hits divided by at bats (H/AB)
- BB -- Base on balls (also called a \"walk\"): hitter not swinging at four pitches called out of the strike zone and awarded first base.
- BABIP -- Batting average on balls in play: frequency at which a batter reaches a base after putting the ball in the field of play. Also a pitching category.
- BB/K -- Walk-to-strikeout ratio: number of bases on balls divided by number of strikeouts
- BsR -- Base runs: Another run estimator, like *runs created*
- EQA -- Equivalent average: a player\'s batting average absent park and league factors
- FC -- Fielder\'s choice: times reaching base safely because a fielder chose to try for an out on another runner
- GO/AO -- Ground ball fly ball ratio: number of ground ball outs divided by number of fly ball outs
- GDP or GIDP -- Ground into double play: number of ground balls hit that became double plays
- GPA -- Gross production average: 1.8 times on-base percentage plus slugging percentage, divided by four
- GS -- Grand slam: a home run with the bases loaded, resulting in four runs scoring, and four RBIs credited to the batter
- H -- Hit: reaching base because of a batted, fair ball without error by the defense
- HBP -- Hit by pitch: times touched by a pitch and awarded first base as a result
- HR -- Home runs: hits on which the batter successfully touched all four bases, without the contribution of a fielding error
- HR/H -- Home runs per hit: home runs divided by total hits
- ITPHR -- Inside-the-park home run: hits on which the batter successfully touched all four bases, without the contribution of a fielding error or the ball going outside the ball park.
- IBB -- Intentional base on balls: times awarded first base on balls (see *BB* above) deliberately thrown by the pitcher. Also known as *IW* (intentional walk).
- ISO -- Isolated power: a hitter\'s ability to hit for extra bases, calculated by subtracting batting average from slugging percentage
- K -- Strike out (also abbreviated *SO*): number of times that a third strike is taken or swung at and missed, or bunted foul. Catcher must catch the third strike or batter may attempt to run to first base.
- LOB -- Left on base: number of runners neither out nor scored at the end of an inning
- OBP -- On-base percentage: times reached base (H + BB + HBP) divided by at bats plus walks plus hit by pitch plus sacrifice flies (AB + BB + HBP + SF)
- OPS -- On-base plus slugging: on-base percentage plus slugging average
- PA -- Plate appearance: number of completed batting appearances
- PA/SO -- Plate appearances per strikeout: number of times a batter strikes out to their plate appearance
- R -- Runs scored: number of times a player crosses home plate
- RC -- Runs created: an attempt to measure how many runs a player has contributed to their team
- RP -- Runs produced: an attempt to measure how many runs a player has contributed
- RBI -- Run batted in: number of runners who score due to a batter\'s action, except when the batter grounded into a double play or reached on an error
- RISP -- Runner in scoring position: a breakdown of a batter\'s batting average with runners in scoring position, which includes runners at second or third base
- SF -- Sacrifice fly: fly balls hit to the outfield which, although caught for an out, allow a baserunner to advance
- SH -- Sacrifice hit: number of sacrifice bunts which allow runners to advance on the basepaths
- SLG -- Slugging percentage: total bases achieved on hits divided by at-bats (TB/AB)
- TA -- Total average: total bases, plus walks, plus hit by pitch, plus steals, minus caught stealing divided by at bats, minus hits, plus caught stealing, plus grounded into double plays \[(TB + BB + HBP + SB -- CS)/(AB -- H + CS + GIDP)\]
- TB -- Total bases: one for each single, two for each double, three for each triple, and four for each home run \[H + 2B + (2 × 3B) + (3 × HR)\] or \[1B + (2 × 2B) + (3 × 3B) + (4 × HR)\]
- TOB -- Times on base: times reaching base as a result of hits, walks, and hit-by-pitches (H + BB + HBP)
- XBH -- Extra base hits: total hits greater than singles (2B + 3B + HR)
### Baserunning statistics {#baserunning_statistics}
- SB -- Stolen base: number of bases advanced by the runner while the ball is in the possession of the defense
- CS -- Caught stealing: times tagged out while attempting to steal a base
- SBA or ATT -- Stolen base attempts: total number of times the player has attempted to steal a base (SB+CS)
- SB% -- Stolen base percentage: the percentage of bases stolen successfully. (SB) divided by (SBA) (stolen bases attempted).
- DI -- Defensive Indifference: if the catcher does not attempt to throw out a runner (usually because the base would be insignificant), the runner is not awarded a steal. Scored as a fielder\'s choice.
- R -- Runs scored: times reached home plate legally and safely
- UBR -- Ultimate base running: a metric that assigns linear weights to every individual baserunning event in order to measure the impact of a player\'s baserunning skill
### Pitching statistics {#pitching_statistics}
- BB -- Base on balls (also called a \"walk\"): times pitching four balls, allowing the batter to take first base
- BB/9 -- Bases on balls per 9 innings pitched: base on balls multiplied by nine, divided by innings pitched
- BF -- Total batters faced: opponent team\'s total plate appearances
- BK -- Balk: number of times pitcher commits an illegal pitching action while in contact with the pitching rubber as judged by umpire, resulting in baserunners advancing one base
- BS -- Blown save: number of times entering the game in a save situation, and being charged the run (earned or not) which eliminates his team\'s lead
- CERA -- Component ERA: an estimate of a pitcher\'s ERA based upon the individual components of his statistical line (K, H, 2B, 3B, HR, BB, HBP)
- CG -- Complete game: number of games where player was the only pitcher for their team
- DICE -- Defense-Independent Component ERA: an estimate of a pitcher\'s ERA based upon the defense-independent components of his statistical line (K, HR, BB, HBP) but which also uses number of outs (IP), which is not defense independent.
- ER -- Earned run: number of runs that did not occur as a result of errors or passed balls
- ERA -- Earned run average: total number of earned runs (see \"ER\" above), multiplied by 9, divided by innings pitched
- ERA+ -- Adjusted ERA+: earned run average adjusted for the ballpark and the league average
- FIP -- Fielding independent pitching: a metric, scaled to resemble an ERA, that focuses on events within the pitcher\'s control -- home runs, walks, and strikeouts -- but also uses in its denominator the number of outs the team gets (see IP), which is not entirely within the pitcher\'s control.
- xFIP: This variant substitutes a pitcher\'s own home run percentage with the league average
- G -- Games (AKA \"appearances\"): number of times a pitcher pitches in a season
- GF -- Games finished: number of games pitched where player was the final pitcher for their team as a relief pitcher
- GIDP -- Double plays induced: number of double play groundouts induced
- GIDPO -- Double play opportunities: number of groundout induced double play opportunities
- GIR -- Games in relief: games as a non starting pitcher
- GO/AO or G/F -- Ground Out to Air Out ratio, aka Ground ball fly ball ratio: ground balls allowed divided by fly balls allowed
- GS -- Starts: number of games pitched where player was the first pitcher for their team
- H (or HA) -- Hits allowed: total hits allowed
- H/9 (or HA/9) -- Hits allowed per 9 innings pitched: hits allowed times nine divided by innings pitched (also known as H/9IP)
- HB -- Hit batsman: times hit a batter with pitch, allowing runner to advance to first base
- HLD (or H) -- Hold: number of games entered in a save situation, recorded at least one out, did not surrender the lead, and did not complete the game
- HR (or HRA) -- Home runs allowed: total home runs allowed
- HR/9 (or HRA/9) -- Home runs per nine innings: home runs allowed times nine divided by innings pitched (also known as HR/9IP)
- IBB -- Intentional base on balls allowed
- IP -- Innings pitched: the number of outs a team gets while a pitcher is pitching divided by 3
- IP/GS -- Average number of innings pitched per game started
- IR -- Inherited runners: number of runners on base when the pitcher enters the game
- IRA -- Inherited runs allowed: number of inherited runners allowed to score
- K (or SO) -- Strikeout: number of batters who received strike three
- K/9 (or SO/9) -- Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched: strikeouts times nine divided by innings pitched
- K/BB (or SO/BB) -- Strikeout-to-walk ratio: number of strikeouts divided by number of base on balls
- L -- Loss: number of games where pitcher was pitching while the opposing team took the lead, never lost the lead, and went on to win
- LOB% -- Left-on-base percentage: LOB% represents the percentage of baserunners a pitcher does not allow to score. LOB% tends to regress toward 70--72% over time, so unusually high or low percentages could indicate that pitcher\'s ERA could be expected to rise or lower in the future. An occasional exception to this logic is a pitcher with a very high strikeout rate.
- OBA (or just AVG) -- Opponents batting average: hits allowed divided by at-bats faced
- PC-ST -- An individual pitcher\'s total game pitches \[Pitch Count\] and \[ST\] his no. of strikes thrown within that PC.
- PIT (or NP) -- Pitches thrown (Pitch count)
- PFR -- Power finesse ratio: The sum of strikeouts and walks divided by innings pitched.
- pNERD -- Pitcher\'s NERD: expected aesthetic pleasure of watching an individual pitcher
- QOP -- Quality of pitch: comprehensive pitch evaluation statistic which combines speed, location and movement (rise, total break, vertical break and horizontal break) into a single numeric value
- QS -- Quality start: a game in which a starting pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs
- RA -- Run average: number of runs allowed times nine divided by innings pitched
- SHO -- Shutout: number of complete games pitched with no runs allowed
- SIERA -- Skill-Interactive Earned Run Average: another advanced stat that measures pitching. SIERA builds on FIP and xFIP by taking a deeper look at what makes pitchers better.
- SV -- Save: number of games where the pitcher enters a game led by the pitcher\'s team, finishes the game without surrendering the lead, is not the winning pitcher, and either (a) the lead was three runs or fewer when the pitcher entered the game; (b) the potential tying run was on base, at bat, or on deck; or (c) the pitcher pitched three or more innings
- SVO -- Save opportunity: When a pitcher 1) enters the game with a lead of three or fewer runs and pitches at least one inning, 2) enters the game with the potential tying run on base, at bat, or on deck, or 3) pitches three or more innings with a lead and is credited with a save by the official scorer
- W -- Win: number of games where pitcher was pitching while their team took the lead and went on to win, also the starter needs to pitch at least 5 innings of work (also related: winning percentage)
- W + S -- Wins in relief + saves.
- whiff rate: a term, usually used in reference to pitchers, that divides the number of pitches swung at and missed by the total number of swings in a given sample. If a pitcher throws 100 pitches at which batters swing, and the batters fail to make contact on 26 of them, the pitcher\'s whiff rate is 26%.
- WHIP -- Walks and hits per inning pitched: average number of walks and hits allowed by the pitcher per inning
- WP -- Wild pitches: charged when a pitch is too high, low, or wide of home plate for the catcher to field, thereby allowing one or more runners to advance or score
### Fielding statistics {#fielding_statistics}
- A -- Assists: number of outs recorded on a play where a fielder touched the ball, except if such touching is the putout
- CI -- Catcher\'s Interference (e.g., catcher makes contact with bat)
- DP -- Double plays: one for each double play during which the fielder recorded a putout or an assist.
- E -- Errors: number of times a fielder fails to make a play he should have made with common effort, and the offense benefits as a result
- FP -- Fielding percentage: total plays (chances minus errors) divided by the number of total chances
- INN -- Innings: number of innings that a player is at one certain position
- PB -- Passed ball: charged to the catcher when the ball is dropped and one or more runners advance
- PO -- Putout: number of times the fielder tags, forces, or appeals a runner and he is called out as a result
- RF -- Range factor: 9\*(putouts + assists)/innings played. Used to determine the amount of field that the player can cover
- TC -- Total chances: assists plus putouts plus errors
- TP -- Triple play: one for each triple play during which the fielder recorded a putout or an assist
- UZR -- Ultimate zone rating: the ability of a player to defend an assigned \"zone\" of the field compared to an average defensive player at his position
### Overall player value {#overall_player_value}
- VORP -- Value over replacement player: a statistic that calculates a player\'s overall value in comparison to a \"replacement-level\" player. There are separate formulas for position players and pitchers
- Win shares: a complex metric that gauges a player\'s overall contribution to his team\'s wins
- WAR -- Wins above replacement: a non-standard formula to calculate the number of wins a player contributes to his team over a \"replacement-level player\"
- PWA -- Player Win Average: performance of players is shown by how much they increase or decrease their team\'s chances of winning a specific game
- PGP -- Player Game Percentage: defined as, \"the sum of changes in the probability of winning the game for each play in which the player has participated\"
### General statistics {#general_statistics}
- G -- Games played: number of games where the player played, in whole or in part
- GS -- Games started: number of games a player starts
- GB -- Games behind: number of games a team is behind the division leader
- Pythagorean expectation: estimates a team\'s expected winning percentage based on runs scored and runs allowed
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At bat
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In baseball, an **at bat** (**AB**) or **time at bat** is a batter\'s turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, but a batter is charged with an at bat only if that plate appearance does not have one of the results enumerated below. While at bats are used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average and slugging percentage, players can qualify for the season-ending rankings in these categories only if they accumulate 502 plate appearances during the season.
Batters will not be charged an at bat if their plate appearances end under the following circumstances:
- Receiving a base on balls (BB).
- Being hit by a pitch (HBP).
- Hitting a sacrifice fly or a sacrifice bunt (also known as sacrifice hit).
- Being awarded first base due to catcher\'s interference or fielder\'s obstruction.
- Being replaced by another hitter before their at bat is completed, in which case the plate appearance and any related statistics go to the pinch hitter (unless they are replaced with two strikes and their replacement completes a strikeout, in which case the at bat and strikeout are charged to the first batter).
In addition, if the inning ends during an at bat (due to the third out being made by a runner caught stealing, for example), no at bat or plate appearance will result because neither were completed.
An at bat is a specific type of plate appearance in which the batter stands at the plate intending to put the ball in play and get on base. This is why at bats, and not plate appearances, are used to calculate batting average, as plate appearances in general can result in many outcomes that do not necessarily involve putting the ball in play, and batting average specifically measures a batter\'s contact hitting.
Rule 9.02(a)(1) of the official rules of Major League Baseball defines an at bat as: \"Number of times batted, except that no time at bat shall be charged when a player: (A) hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly; (B) is awarded first base on four called balls; (C) is hit by a pitched ball; or (D) is awarded first base because of interference or obstruction\[.\]\"
## Examples
An at bat is counted when:
- The batter reaches first base on a hit
- The batter reaches first base on an error
- The batter strikes out, including a strikeout after which the batter reaches base safely because of a wild pitch or passed ball
- The batter is called out for any reason other than a sacrifice
- There is a fielder\'s choice
## Records
Pete Rose had 14,053 career at bats, the all-time major league and National League record. The American League record is held by Carl Yastrzemski, whose 11,988 career at bats were all in the AL.
The single season record is held by Jimmy Rollins, who had 716 at bats in 2007. Willie Wilson, Ichiro Suzuki and Juan Samuel also had more than 700 at bats in a season. 14 players share the single game record of 11 at bats in a single game, all of which were extra inning games. In games of 9 innings or fewer, the record is 7 at bats and has occurred more than 200 times.
The team record for most at bats in a single season is 5,781 by the 1997 Boston Red Sox.
## At bat as a phrase {#at_bat_as_a_phrase}
\"At bat\", \"up\", \"up at bat\", and \"at the plate\" are all phrases describing a batter who is facing the pitcher. Just because a player is described as being \"at bat\" in this sense, he will not necessarily be given an at bat in his statistics; the phrase actually signifies a plate appearance (assuming it is eventually completed). This ambiguous terminology is usually clarified by context. To refer explicitly to a statistical \"at bat\", the term \"official at bat\" is sometimes used.
### \"Time at bat\" in the rulebook {#time_at_bat_in_the_rulebook}
Official Baseball Rule 5.06(c) provides that \"\[a\] batter has legally completed his *time at bat* when he is put out or becomes a runner\" (emphasis added). The \"time at bat\" defined in this rule is more commonly referred to as a plate appearance, and the playing rules (Rules 1 through 8) uses the phrase \"time at bat\" in this sense. In contrast, the scoring rules use the phrase \"time at bat\" to refer to the statistic **at bat**, defined in Rule 9.02(a)(1), but sometimes uses the phrase \"official time at bat\" or refers back to Rule 9.02(a)(1) when mentioning the statistic. The phrase \"plate appearance\" is used in Rules 9.22 and 9.23 dealing with batting titles and hitting streaks, and in Rule 5.10(g) comment regarding the Three-Batter Minimum: \"\[t\]o qualify as one of three consecutive batters, the batter must complete his plate appearance, which ends only when the batter is put out or becomes a runner.\" The term is not elsewhere defined in the rulebook.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,801 |
Earned run
|
In baseball, an **earned run** is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team\'s production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an **unearned run** is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an error or a passed ball committed by the defense; it is \"unearned\" in that it was, in a sense, \"given away\" by the defensive team.
Earned and unearned runs count equally toward the game score; the difference is purely statistical. Both total runs and earned runs are tabulated as part of a pitcher\'s statistics, but earned runs are specially denoted because of their use in calculating a pitcher\'s earned run average (ERA), the number of earned runs allowed by the pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e., averaged over a regulation game). Thus, in effect, the pitcher is held personally accountable for earned runs, while the responsibility for unearned runs is shared with the rest of the team.
To determine whether a run is earned, the official scorer must reconstruct the inning as it would have occurred without errors or passed balls.
## Details
If no errors and no passed balls occur during the inning, all runs scored are automatically earned (assigned responsible to the pitcher(s) who allowed each runner to reach base). Also, in some cases, an error can be rendered harmless as the inning progresses. For example, a runner on first base advances to second on a passed ball and the next batter walks. Since the runner would now have been at second anyway, the passed ball no longer has any effect on the earned/unearned calculation. On the other hand, a batter/runner may make his entire circuit around the bases without the aid of an error, yet the run would be counted as unearned if an error prevented the third out from being made before he crossed the plate to score.
An error made by the pitcher in fielding at his position is counted the same as an error by any other player.
A run is counted as unearned when:
- A batter reaches base on an error (including catcher\'s interference) that would have retired the batter except for the error, and later scores a run in that inning by any means.
- A batter hits a foul fly ball that is dropped by a fielder for an error, extending the at-bat, and later scores. In this case, the manner in which the batter reached base becomes irrelevant.
- A baserunner remains on base or advances to the next base as the result of an error on a fielder\'s choice play that would put the baserunner out except for the error, and later scores.
- A batter reaches first base on a passed ball (but not a wild pitch) and later scores.
- A baserunner scores by any means after the third out would have been made except for an error other than catcher\'s interference.
- A batter or runner advances one or more bases on an error or passed ball (but not a wild pitch) and scores on a play that would otherwise not have provided the opportunity to score.
- Under either form of a WBSC tiebreaker in which each half-inning starts with the last one or two batters from the previous inning being placed on either second base (and if two runners, first base) to begin the inning, a run scored by these runners are unearned. If the runners are erased on a fielder\'s choice which places a batter on base, and the new batter-runner later scores, this would also be an unearned run. This rule was first implemented in WBSC competitions in 2008 and in the World Baseball Classic in 2013, with Major League Baseball adding it in 2020.
While the inning is still being played, the second and the second-last scenario can cause a temporary situation where a run has already scored, but its earned/unearned status is not yet certain. Under the last circumstance, for example, with two outs, a runner on third base scores on a passed ball. For the time being, the run is unearned since the runner *should* still be at third. If the batter strikes out to end the inning, it will stay that way. If the batter gets a base hit, which would have scored the runner anyway, the run now becomes earned.
Under the second circumstance, if there are runners on base and a batter hits a foul fly ball that is dropped, and then bats in the runners on base through a base hit (including a home run), the runs are unearned for the time being, as the runners should not have advanced. If the results of the remaining at-bats in the inning would not have scored the runners, the runs remain unearned. However, if results of subsequent at-bats would have scored the runs anyway, the runs would count as earned, unless they only would have scored as a result of a subsequent error or passed ball.
A baserunner who reaches on catcher\'s interference and subsequently scores with two outs scores an unearned run, but baserunners who subsequently score after the runner who has reached on catcher\'s interference exclusively on clean plays score earned runs; the baserunner cannot be assumed to have been put out except for the error. (2019 MLB Rule 9.16(a)(4)).
If a run is scored by a pinch-runner who replaces a baserunner who represents an unearned run, or by a pinch-hitter who continues the turn at bat of a batter who would be out except for an error, the run remains unearned, regardless of the substitution.
### Pitching changes {#pitching_changes}
When pitchers are changed in the middle of an inning, and one or more errors have already occurred, it is possible to have a run charged as earned against a specific pitcher, but unearned to the team. The simplest example is when the defensive team records two outs and makes an error on a play that would have been the third out. A new pitcher comes into the game, and the next batter hits a home run. The runner who reached on the error comes around to score, and his run is unearned to both the prior pitcher and the team. However, the run scored by the batter is counted as earned against the relief pitcher, but unearned to the team (since there should have already been three outs). Had the team not switched pitchers, neither run would be counted as an earned run because that pitcher should have already been out of that inning.
A pitcher who is relieved mid-inning may be charged with earned runs equal to the number of batters who reached base while he was pitching, even if the specific batters he faced do not score. The batters he put on base may be erased by fielder\'s choice plays after he has been relieved by another pitcher, but if earned runs are scored in the inning the original pitcher is liable for as many earned runs as the number of batters he put on base. Example:
: On April 15, 2017, Detroit\'s Justin Verlander allowed the first two Cleveland batters in the 5th inning to reach base on base hits; Verlander was then relieved by Shane Greene. Greene walked the next batter to load the bases. The next batter hit a grounder and Miguel Cabrera threw home to force out the runner on third in a fielder\'s choice, so the bases remained loaded with one out. Greene struck out the next batter for the second out. Carlos Santana then hit a single that scored the runners from second and third (only one of whom was put on base by Verlander), and the runner from first was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. Since Verlander allowed two batters to reach base, he was charged with two earned runs, even though only one of the two specific batters he faced actually scored.
When a pitching change occurs, the new pitcher is said to \"inherit\" any runners that are on base at the time, and if they later score, those runs are charged (earned or unearned) to the prior pitcher. Most box scores now list inherited runners, and the number that scored, as a statistic for the relief pitcher.
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3,802 |
Base on balls
|
A **base on balls** (**BB**), better known as a **walk**, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls *balls*, and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball\'s Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08(a). Despite being known as a \"walk\", it is considered a faux pas for a professional player to actually walk to first base; the batter-runner and any advancing runners normally jog on such a play.
The term \"base on balls\" distinguishes a walk from the other manners in which a batter can be awarded first base without liability to be put out (e.g., hit by pitch (HBP), catcher\'s interference). Though a base on balls, catcher\'s interference, or a batter hit by a pitched ball all result in the batter (and possibly runners on base) being awarded a base, the term \"walk\" usually refers only to a base on balls, and not the other methods of reaching base without the bat touching the ball. An important difference is that for a hit batter or catcher\'s interference, the ball is dead and no one may advance unless forced; the ball is live after a walk (see below for details).
A batter who draws a base on balls is commonly said to have been \"walked\" by the pitcher. When the batter is walked, runners advance one base without liability to be put out only if forced to vacate their base to allow the batter to take first base. If a batter draws a walk with the bases loaded, all preceding runners are forced to advance, including the runner on third base who is forced to home plate to score a run; when a run is forced on a walk, the batter is credited with a run batted in per rule 9.04.
Receiving a base on balls does not count as a hit or an at bat for a batter but does count as a time on base and a plate appearance. Therefore, a base on balls does not affect a player\'s batting average, but it can increase his on-base percentage.
A hit by pitch is not counted statistically as a walk, though the effect is mostly the same, with the batter receiving a free pass to first base. One exception is that on hit-by-pitch, the ball is dead, and any runners attempting to steal on the play must return to their original base unless forced to the next base anyway. When a walk occurs, the ball is still live: any runner not forced to advance may nevertheless attempt to advance at his own risk, which might occur on a steal play, passed ball, or wild pitch. Also, because a ball is live when a base on balls occurs, runners on base forced to advance one base may attempt to advance beyond one base, at their own risk. The batter-runner himself may attempt to advance beyond first base, at his own risk. Rule 6.08 addresses this matter as well. An attempt to advance an additional base beyond the base awarded might occur when ball four is a passed ball or a wild pitch.
## History
In early baseball, there was no concept of a \"ball\". It was created by the NABBP in 1863, originally as a sort of unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty: \"Should the pitcher repeatedly fail to deliver to the striker fair balls, for the apparent purpose of delaying the game, or for any other cause, the umpire, after warning him, shall call one ball, and if the pitcher persists in such action, two and three balls; when three balls shall have been called, the striker shall be entitled to the first base; and should any base be occupied at that time, each player occupying them shall be entitled to one base without being put out.\" Note that this rule in effect gave the pitcher 9 balls, since each penalty ball could only be called on a third offense. In 1869 the rule was modified so that only those baserunners forced to advance could advance. From 1871 through 1886, the batter was entitled to call \"high\" or \"low\", i.e. above or below the waist; a pitch which failed to conform was \"unfair\". Certain pitches were defined as automatic balls in 1872: any ball delivered over the batter\'s head, that hit the ground in front of home plate, was delivered to the opposite side from the batter, or came within one foot of him. In 1880, the National League changed the rules so that eight \"unfair balls\" instead of nine were required for a walk. In 1884, the National League changed the rules so that six balls were required for a walk. In 1886, the American Association changed the rules so that six balls instead of seven were required for a walk; however, the National League changed the rules so that seven balls were required for a walk instead of six. In 1887, the National League and American Association agreed to abide by some uniform rule changes, including, for the first time, a strike zone which defined balls and strikes by rule rather than the umpire\'s discretion, and decreased the number of balls required for a walk to five. In 1889, the National League and the American Association decreased the number of balls required for a walk to four.
In 2017, Major League Baseball approved a rule change allowing for a batter to be walked intentionally by having the defending bench signal to the umpire. The move was met with some controversy.
## Intentional base on balls {#intentional_base_on_balls}
A subset of the base on balls, an intentional base on balls (IBB), or intentional walk, is when the defensive team intentionally issues a walk to the batter. In Major League Baseball and many amateur leagues, an intentional base on balls is signaled to the home plate umpire by the defensive team\'s manager holding up four fingers, at which point the batter is awarded first base without any further pitches being thrown. In some leagues and in Major League Baseball prior to 2017, an intentional base on balls is issued when the pitcher deliberately pitches the ball away from the batter four times (or as many times as needed to get to ball four if the decision to issue the intentional walk is made with one or more balls already on the count). As with any other walk, an intentional walk entitles the batter to first base without liability to be put out, and entitles any runners to advance if forced.
Intentional walks are a strategic defensive maneuver, commonly done to bypass one hitter for one the defensive team believes is less likely to initiate a run-scoring play (e.g., a home run, sacrifice fly, or RBI base hit). Teams also commonly use intentional walks to set up a double play or force out situation for the next batter.
## Major League Baseball leaders {#major_league_baseball_leaders}
### Career
### Single-season {#single_season}
\* Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
---- ----------------------------------------------
Rank Player Year Base on balls
------ -------------------------------------------------------------- ------ ---------------
1 Barry Bonds 2004 232
2 2002 198
3 2001 177
4 Babe Ruth\* 1923 170
5 Mark McGwire 1998 162
style=\"background:#ffffbb\"; rowspan=\"3\"\| Ted Williams\* 1947
1949
8 1946 156
9 Barry Bonds 1996 151
Eddie Yost 1956
: style=\"text-align: center;\" \| Most by Batters
Rank Player Year Base on balls
------ --------------- ------ ---------------
1 Amos Rusie\* 289
2 Mark Baldwin 274
3 Amos Rusie\* 270
4 262
5 Mark Baldwin 249
6 Jack Stivetts 232
7 Mark Baldwin 227
8 Phil Knell 226
9 Bob Barr 219
10 Amos Rusie\* 218
: style=\"text-align: center;\" \| Most by Pitchers
### Game
Jimmie Foxx, Andre Thornton, Jeff Bagwell and Bryce Harper have each been walked six times during a major league regular season game. Among pitchers, Tommy Byrne and Bruno Haas both gave up 16 bases on balls in a game. On September 17, 1920, the Boston Red Sox drew 20 walks in a 12-inning game against the Detroit Tigers. `{{Asof|September 2024}}`{=mediawiki}, this is the most walks drawn or allowed by a team in a single game in Major League history according to available data.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,808 |
On-base percentage
|
In baseball statistics, **on-base percentage** (**OBP**) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as **on-base average** (**OBA**), as it is rarely presented as a true percentage.
Generally defined as \"how frequently a batter reaches base per plate appearance\", OBP is specifically calculated as the ratio of a batter\'s times on base (the sum of hits, bases on balls, and times hit by pitch) to the sum of at bats, bases on balls, hit by pitch, and sacrifice flies. OBP does not credit the batter for reaching base on fielding errors, fielder\'s choice, uncaught third strikes, fielder\'s obstruction, or catcher\'s interference, and deducts from plate appearances a batter intentionally giving himself up in a sacrifice bunt.
OBP is added to slugging average (SLG) to determine on-base plus slugging (OPS).
The OBP of all batters faced by one pitcher or team is referred to as \"on-base against\".
On-base percentage is calculable for professional teams dating back to the first year of National Association of Professional Base Ball Players competition in 1871, because the component values of its formula have been recorded in box scores ever since.
## History
The statistic was invented in the late 1940s by Brooklyn Dodgers statistician Allan Roth with then-Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey. In 1954, Rickey, who was then the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was featured in a Life Magazine graphic in which the formula for on-base percentage was shown as the first component of an all-encompassing \"offense\" equation. However, it was not named as on-base percentage, and there is little evidence that Roth\'s statistic was taken seriously at the time by the baseball community at large.
On-base percentage became an official MLB statistic in 1984. Its perceived importance jumped after the influential 2003 book *Moneyball* highlighted Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane\'s focus on the statistic. Many baseball observers, particularly those influenced by the field of sabermetrics, now consider on-base percentage superior to the statistic traditionally used to measure offensive skill, batting average, which accounts for hits but ignores other ways a batter can reach base.
## Overview
Traditionally, players with the best on-base percentages bat as leadoff hitter, unless they are power hitters, who traditionally bat slightly lower in the batting order. The league average for on-base percentage in Major League Baseball has varied considerably over time; at its peak in the late 1990s, it was around .340, whereas it was typically .300 during the dead-ball era. On-base percentage can also vary quite considerably from player to player. The highest career OBP of a batter with more than 3,000 plate appearances is .482 by Ted Williams. The lowest is by Bill Bergen, who had an OBP of .194.
On-base percentage is calculated using this formula:
$$OBP = \frac{H+BB+HBP}{AB+BB+HBP+SF}$$
where
- *H* = Hits
- *BB* = Bases on Balls (Walks)
- *HBP* = Hit By Pitch
- *AB* = At bat
- *SF* = Sacrifice fly
In certain unofficial calculations, the denominator is simplified and replaced by Plate Appearance (PA); however, the calculation PAs includes certain infrequent events that will slightly lower the calculated OBP (i.e. catcher\'s interference, and sacrifice bunts). Sacrifice bunts are excluded from consideration on the basis that they are usually imposed by the manager with the expectation that the batter will not reach base, and thus do not accurately reflect the batter\'s ability to reach base when attempting to do so. This is in contrast with the sacrifice fly, which is generally unintentional; the batter was trying for a hit.
### All-time leaders {#all_time_leaders}
-------- ---------------- --------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------
**\#** **Player** **OBP** **Team(s)** **Year(s)**
1 Ted Williams .4817 Boston Red Sox 1939--1942, 1946--1960
2 Babe Ruth .4740 Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Boston Braves 1914--1935
3 John McGraw .4657 Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants 1891--1906
4 Billy Hamilton .4552 Kansas City Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Beaneaters 1888--1901
5 Lou Gehrig .4474 New York Yankees 1923--1939
6 Barry Bonds .4443 Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants 1986--2007
7 Bill Joyce .4349 Brooklyn Ward\'s Wonders, Boston Reds, Brooklyn Grooms, Washington Senators, New York Giants 1890--1898
8 Rogers Hornsby .4337 St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Browns 1915--1937
9 Ty Cobb .4330 Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Athletics 1905--1928
10 Jimmie Foxx .4283 Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies 1925--1942, 1944--1945
11 Tris Speaker .4279 Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Philadelphia Athletics 1907--1928
12 Eddie Collins .4244 Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox 1906--1930
-------- ---------------- --------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------
### Single-season leaders {#single_season_leaders}
-------- ---------------- --------- ----------------------- ----------
**\#** **Player** **OBP** **Team** **Year**
1 Barry Bonds .6094 San Francisco Giants 2004
2 Barry Bonds .5817 San Francisco Giants 2002
3 Ted Williams .5528 Boston Red Sox 1941
4 John McGraw .5475 Baltimore Orioles 1899
5 Babe Ruth .5445 New York Yankees 1923
6 Babe Ruth .5319 New York Yankees 1920
7 Barry Bonds .5291 San Francisco Giants 2003
8 Ted Williams .5256 Boston Red Sox 1957
9 Billy Hamilton .5209 Philadelphia Phillies 1894
10 Babe Ruth .5156 New York Yankees 1926
-------- ---------------- --------- ----------------------- ----------
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3,809 |
Sacrifice fly
|
In baseball, a **sacrifice fly** (sometimes abbreviated to **sac fly**) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): \"Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair or foul territory that
1. is caught, and a run scores after the catch, or
2. is dropped, and a runner scores, if in the scorer\'s judgment the runner could have scored after the catch had the fly ball been caught.\"
They are so named because the batter allows a teammate to score a run, while \"sacrificing\" their ability to do so. They are traditionally recorded in box scores with the designation \"SF\".
## Rules
As addressed within Rule 9.02(a)(1) of the Official Baseball Rules a sacrifice fly is not counted as a time at bat for the batter, though the batter is credited with a run batted in. The same is true with a bases-loaded walk or hit by pitch.
The purpose of not counting a sacrifice fly as an at-bat is to avoid penalizing hitters for a successful action. The sacrifice fly is one of two instances in baseball where a batter is not charged with a time at bat after putting a ball in play; the other is the sacrifice hit (also known as a sacrifice bunt). But, while a sacrifice fly does not affect a player\'s batting average, it counts as a plate appearance and lowers the on-base percentage. A player on a hitting streak will have it end with no official at-bats but a sacrifice fly.
Unlike a sacrifice bunt, which may be scored if a runner advances from any base to any base, a sacrifice fly is credited only if a runner scores on the play. Therefore, when a runner on first or second base tags on a fly ball and advances no further than third base, no sacrifice is given, and the batter is charged with an at-bat. Also, if a runner tags and advances from second base (or, theoretically, from first base) all the way to home and scores (without an intervening error), the batter is credited with a sacrifice fly, as well as with a second RBI if a runner on third also scores. At the professional level this will typically occur only in unusual circumstances that prevent the defense from making an immediate throw back to the infield, such as an outfielder colliding with the wall while making a catch on the warning track or a fly ball caught at the deepest part of the yard. It can also happen if two very fast baserunners occupy 2nd and 3rd base, such as when Willie McGee and Ozzie Smith scored on Tom Herr\'s sacrifice fly in the 1982 World Series.
The sacrifice fly is credited even if another runner is put out, so long as the run scores. The sacrifice fly is credited on a dropped ball even if another runner is forced out by reason of the batter becoming a runner.
## Records
The most sacrifice flies by a team in one game in Major League Baseball (MLB) is five; the record was established by the Seattle Mariners in 1988, tied by the Colorado Rockies in 2006, and tied again by the Mariners in 2008.
Five MLB teams have collected three sacrifice flies in an inning: the Chicago White Sox (fifth inning, July 1, 1962, against the Cleveland Indians); the New York Yankees twice (fourth inning, June 29, 2000, against the Detroit Tigers and third inning, August 19, 2000, against the Anaheim Angels); the New York Mets (second inning, June 24, 2005, against the Yankees); and the Houston Astros (seventh inning, June 26, 2005, against the Texas Rangers). In these cases one or more of the flies did not result in a putout due to an error.
Since the rule was reinstated in its present form in MLB in 1954, Gil Hodges of the Dodgers holds the record for most sacrifice flies in one season with 19, in 1954; Eddie Murray holds the MLB record for most sacrifice flies in a career with 128.
MLB season, the ten players with the most career sacrifice flies are:
1. Eddie Murray (128)
2. Cal Ripken Jr. (127)
3. Robin Yount (123)
Albert Pujols (123)
Hank Aaron (121)
Frank Thomas (121)
George Brett (120)
Rubén Sierra (120)
Rafael Palmeiro (119)
Rusty Staub (119)
Only once has the World Series been won on a sac fly. In 1912, Larry Gardner of the Boston Red Sox hit a fly ball off New York Giants\' pitcher Christy Mathewson. Steve Yerkes tagged up and scored from third base to win game 8 in the 10th inning and take the series for the Red Sox.
## History
Batters have not been charged with a time at-bat for a sacrifice hit since 1893, but baseball has changed the sacrifice fly rule multiple times. The sacrifice fly as a statistical category was instituted in 1908, only to be discontinued in 1931. The rule was again adopted in 1939, only to be eliminated again in 1940, before being adopted for the last time in 1954. For some baseball fans, it is significant that the sacrifice-fly rule was eliminated in 1940 because, in 1941, Ted Williams was hitting .39955 on the last day of the season and needed one hit in a doubleheader against the Philadelphia A\'s to become the first hitter since Bill Terry in 1930 to hit .400. He got six hits, finishing with an official .406 average, the last player in over 80 years to bat .400 or more in the American or National League. In his book *Baseball and Other Matters in 1941* author Robert Creamer, citing estimates, points out that if Williams\' 14 at-bats on sacrifice flies that year were deducted from the 456 official at-bats he was charged with, his final average in 1941 would have been .419.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,812 |
Plate appearance
|
In baseball, a player is credited with a **plate appearance** (denoted by **PA**) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This happens when he strikes out or is declared out before reaching first base; or when he reaches first base safely or is awarded first base (by a base on balls, hit by pitch, catcher\'s interference, or obstruction); or when he hits a fair ball which causes a preceding runner to be put out for the third out before he himself is put out or reaches first base safely (*see also* left on base, fielder\'s choice, force play). A very similar baseball statistic, at bats, counts a subset of plate appearances that end under certain circumstances.
## Use as batting record qualifier {#use_as_batting_record_qualifier}
At bats - rather than plate appearances - are used to calculate batting averages, slugging percentages. However, starting in 1957, at season\'s end a player must have accumulated a minimum number of plate appearances during a season to be ranked as a league-leader in certain statistical categories. For batting championships in MLB, this number is 3.1 plate appearances multiplied by the number of scheduled games in a season, rounded up or down to the nearest whole number. As of 2024, with a 162-game regular season, this means 502 plate appearances are required to qualify. A lesser criterion applies in the minor leagues, with 2.7 plate appearances per game required to qualify.
For example, Player A gets 100 hits in 400 at bats over 510 plate appearances, which works out to a .250 batting average (equivalent to one hit in every four at-bats). Alternatively, Player B gets 110 hits in 400 at bats over 490 plate appearances during the same season, finishing with a .275 batting average. Player B, even though he had the same amount of at bats as Player A and even though his batting average is higher, will not be eligible for certain percentage-based season-ending rankings because he did not accumulate the required 502 plate appearances, while Player A did and therefore will be eligible. There is, however, an exception:
### Exception for batting titles {#exception_for_batting_titles}
Rule 9.22(a) of the Official Baseball Rules make a single allowance to the minimum requirement of 502 plate appearances for the purposes of determining the batting, slugging or on-base percentage title. If a player:
- leads the league in one of the statistics;
- does not have the required 502 plate appearances; and
- would still lead the league in that statistic if as many at bats (without hits or reaching base) were added to his records as necessary to meet the requirement,
he will win that title, but with his original statistic (before the extra at bats were added).
In the example above, Player B is 12 plate appearances short of the required 502, but were he be charged with 12 additional unproductive at bats, he would go 110-for-412 for a batting average of .267. If no one else has a batting average (similarly modified if appropriate) higher than .267, player B will be awarded the batting title (with his original batting average of .275) despite the lack of 502 plate appearances.
In a real-life example, in 2012, Melky Cabrera, then of the San Francisco Giants, finished the season with a league-high .346 batting average, but he had only 501 plate appearances, one short of the required 502. Per the rule, he would have won the batting title because after an extra at bat is added and his batting average recalculated, he still would have led the league in batting average. Cabrera\'s case, however, turned out differently. The reason Cabrera finished the season with only 501 plate appearances was because he was suspended in mid-August when he tested positive for illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Cabrera was still eligible for that extra at bat, but he requested that the extra at bat not be added to his total, and that he not be considered for the batting crown, because he admitted that his use of performance-enhancing drugs had given him an unfair advantage over other players. As a result, Cabrera\'s name is nowhere to be found on the list of 2012 National League batting leaders.
## Scoring
A batter is not credited with a plate appearance if, while batting, a preceding runner is put out on the basepaths for the third out in a way other than by the batter putting the ball into play (i.e., picked off, caught stealing). In this case, the same batter continues his turn batting in the next inning with no balls or strikes against him.
A batter is not credited with a plate appearance if, while batting, the game ends as the winning run scores from third base on a balk, stolen base, wild pitch or passed ball.
A batter may or may not be credited with a plate appearance (and possibly at bat) in the rare instance when he is replaced by a pinch hitter after having already started his turn at bat. Under Rule 9.15(b), the pinch hitter would receive the plate appearance (and potential of an at-bat) unless the original batter is replaced when having 2 strikes against him and the pinch hitter subsequently completes the strikeout, in which case the plate appearance and at-bat are charged to the first batter.
## Relation to at bat {#relation_to_at_bat}
Under Official Baseball Rule 9.02(a)(1), an at bat results from a completed plate appearance, unless the batter:
- hits a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly; or
- is awarded first base on four called balls; or
- is hit by a pitched ball; or
- is awarded first base because of interference or obstruction.
In common parlance, the term \"at bat\" is sometimes used to mean \"plate appearance\" (for example, \"he fouled off the ball to keep the *at bat* alive\"). The intent is usually clear from the context, although the term \"official at bat\" is sometimes used to explicitly refer to an *at bat* as distinguished from a *plate appearance*. However, terms such as *turn at bat* or *time at bat* are synonymous with *plate appearance*.
### \"Time at bat\" in the rulebook {#time_at_bat_in_the_rulebook}
Official Baseball Rule 5.06(c) provides that \"\[a\] batter has legally completed his *time at bat* when he is put out or becomes a runner\" (emphasis added). The \"time at bat\" defined in this rule is more commonly referred to as a plate appearance, and the playing rules (Rules 1 through 8) uses the phrase \"time at bat\" in this sense (e.g. Rule 5.04(a)(3), which states that \"\[t\]he first batter in each inning after the first inning shall be the player whose name follows that of the last player who legally completed his *time at bat* in the preceding inning\" (emphasis added)). In contrast, the scoring rules uses the phrase \"time at bat\" to refer to the statistic at bat, defined in Rule 9.02(a)(1), but sometimes uses the phrase \"official time at bat\" or refers back to Rule 9.02(a)(1) when mentioning the statistic. The phrase \"plate appearance\" is used in Rules 9.22 and 9.23 dealing with batting titles and hitting streaks, and in Rule 5.10(g) Comment in relation to the Three-Batter Minimum: \"\[t\]o qualify as one of three consecutive batters, the batter must complete his *plate appearance*, which ends only when the batter is put out or becomes a runner.\" (emphasis added) The term is not elsewhere defined in the rulebook.
## In on-base percentage {#in_on_base_percentage}
Plate appearances are a primary component in calculating on-base percentage (OBP), an alternative measurement of a player\'s offensive performance, but are not the only one in determining its denominator.
By rule, certain plate appearances, such as times reached base via either catcher\'s interference or fielder\'s obstruction or sacrifice bunts, are excluded from it, leaving the denominator determined instead as the sum of at-bats, walks, hit-by-pitches, and sacrifice flies. And the numerator represented by a batter\'s times on base (composed of the sum of hits, base on balls, and times hit by pitch).
## Other uses {#other_uses}
Plate appearances are used by scorers for \"proving\" a box score. Under Rule 9.03(c), the following two items should be equal for each team, because each is equal to the team\'s total number of plate appearances:
- The sum of the team\'s at bats, walks, hit by pitches, sacrifices (both bunts and flies), and times awarded first base on interference or obstruction.
- The sum of the team\'s runs, runners left on base, and men put out.
## Major League Baseball leaders {#major_league_baseball_leaders}
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3,814 |
Games played
|
**Games played** (**GP**) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.
## Association football {#association_football}
In association football, a game played is counted if a player is in the starting 11, or if a reserve player enters the game before full-time.
## Baseball
In baseball, the statistic applies to players, who prior to a game, are included on a starting lineup card or are announced as an *ex ante* substitute, whether or not they play. For pitchers only, the statistic games pitched is used.
A notable example of the application of the above rule is pitcher Larry Yount, who suffered an injury while throwing warmup pitches after being summoned as a reliever in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game on September 15, 1971. He did not face a batter, but was credited with an appearance because he had been announced as a substitute. Yount never appeared in (or actually played in) any other MLB game.
## Basketball
Robert Parish has the NBA record for most regular season games played, with 1,611. A. C. Green has the NBA record for most consecutive games played, with 1,192.
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3,817 |
Boogie Down Productions
|
**Boogie Down Productions** (**BDP**) was an American hip-hop group formed in the Bronx, New York City, in 1986. It originally consisted of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the release of BDP\'s debut album, *Criminal Minded*. The name of the group, Boogie Down, derives from a nickname for the South Bronx.
The group pioneered the fusion of dancehall reggae and hip-hop music, and their debut LP *Criminal Minded* contains frank descriptions of life in the South Bronx during the late 1980s.
## Members
BDP\'s membership changed throughout its existence, the only constant being KRS-One. The group was founded by KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock, with producer Lee Smith, who was essential in the production of the songs on *Criminal Minded*, being added as a member shortly after.
From those beginnings, BDP members and collaborators included Ced Gee of Ultramagnetic MC\'s, Lee Smith, Scott La Rock, D-Nice, Henry Wilkerson PoppyDa, Kenny Parker (KRS-One\'s younger brother), Just-Ice, ICU, McBoo, Ms. Melodie, Heather B., Scottie Morris, Tony Rahsan, Willie D., RoboCop, Harmony, DJ Red Alert, Jay Kramer, D-Square, Rebekah Foster, Scott Whitehill, Scott King, Chris Tait and Sidney Mills.
BDP as a group essentially ended because KRS-One began recording and performing under his own name rather than the group name. Lee Smith, who has co-producer credit on the original 12\" \"South Bronx\" single, was the first to be jettisoned by KRS-One and the future new label after Scott\'s death.
In the liner notes on BDP\'s 1992 album *Sex and Violence*, KRS-One writes: \"BDP in 1992 is KRS-One, Willie D, and Kenny Parker! BDP is not D-Nice, Jamal-Ski, Harmony, Ms. Melodie, and Scottie Morris. They are not down with BDP so stop frontin\'.\" Steve \"Flash\" Juon of RapReviews.com claimed that this initiated the ultimate breakup of the group.
## Cultural influences and impact {#cultural_influences_and_impact}
### \"The Bridge Wars\" {#the_bridge_wars}
A conflict arose in the late 1980s concerning the origins of hip-hop, and BDP made conscious efforts in its early work to establish its interpretation of the issue. The origins of hip-hop to many, including BDP, are believed to be from the Bronx. A rival hip-hop collective, known as the Juice Crew\'s lyrics, were misunderstood to contain a claim in the song \"The Bridge\" that hip hop was directly a result of artists originating from Queensbridge. Boogie Down and KRS retorted angrily with songs such as \"The Bridge is Over\" and \"South Bronx,\" which started one of the first notable hip hop wars as MC Shan, Marley Marl, Roxanne Shanté and Blaq Poet all released songs featuring verses personally attacking KRS and Scott La Rock. But the Bridge Wars were short-lived, and after Scott La Rock\'s death, KRS began to concentrate on socially conscious music.
While *Criminal Minded* contained vivid descriptions of South Bronx street life, BDP changed after Scott\'s death. Lee Smith was dropped and KRS-One adopted the Teacha moniker and made a deliberate attempt at creating politically and socially conscious hip-hop. BDP was influential in provoking political and social consciousness in hip-hop, for example in \"Stop The Violence\" on 1988\'s *By All Means Necessary*.
### Jamaican inspirations {#jamaican_inspirations}
The Jamaican influence in *Criminal Minded* is well illustrated by the use of the \"Mad Mad\" or \"Diseases\" riddim started in 1981 with reggae star Yellowman\'s song \"Zunguzunguzeng.\" BDP used this riff in the song \"Remix for P is Free,\" and it was later resampled by artists such as Black Star and dead prez. As an album regarded by many as the start of the gangsta rap movement, *Criminal Minded* played an important role in reaffirming the social acceptance of having Jamaican roots. BDP referenced reggae in a way that helped to solidify Jamaica\'s place in modern hip-hop culture.
## Political and social activism {#political_and_social_activism}
From its start, BDP affected the development of hip-hop and gave a sincere voice to the reality of life in the South Bronx, a section of New York City clouded with poverty and crime. With *Criminal Minded*, the group combined the sounds of LaRock\'s harsh, spare, reggae-influenced beats and KRS-One\'s long-winded rhyme style on underground classics such as \"9mm Goes Bang\" and \"South Bronx,\" the album\'s gritty portrait of life on the streets (as well as the firearms that adorned its cover) influenced the gangsta rap movement that began in earnest two years later.
BDP\'s influence in the creation and development of gangsta rap highlights the cultural significance and impact of the type of music BDP and other early hip-hop artists like it created. This subgenre of hip-hop is most closely associated with hard-core hip-hop and is widely misinterpreted as promoting violence and gang activity. This misinterpretation or stigma is closely related to Boogie Down Productions and the general purpose behind their underlying themes of violence. For instance, the cover art of *Criminal Minded* displays the two artists in the group brandishing drawn guns and displaying other firearms. This is not an encouragement of the violence described in BDP\'s music, but a portrayal of the violence in the South Bronx as a means of expression, escape, and even condemnation. This album art is not meant to advocate violence but to challenge the conception of a criminal, to assert that those who are really criminally minded are those who hold power.
BDP\'s music became significantly more politically astute after Scott La Rock\'s death. KRS-One published four more albums under the title Boogie Down Productions, and each was increasingly innovative and expanded from the thuggish imagery of *Criminal Minded,* exploring themes like black-on-black crime and black radicalism, using a riff on the words of Malcolm X, \"by any means necessary\", which became the title of the second BDP album, and remains one of the most political hip-hop albums to date. It was in this album that KRS defined himself as the \"teacha\" or \"teacher\", symbolizing his emphasis on educating his audience members and fans about relevant social issues surrounding the African-American experience.
During his time in association with Boogie Down Productions, KRS-One joined other rappers to create the Stop the Violence Movement, which addressed many of the issues brought up in BDP\'s music and is the most conscious effort displayed by KRS-One and BDP of political activism and engagement. The movement created the single \"Self-Destruction\" in 1989 through the collaboration of BDP (KRS-One, D-Nice & Ms. Melodie), Stetsasonic (Delite, Daddy-O, Wise, and Frukwan), Kool Moe Dee, MC Lyte, Doug E. Fresh, Just-Ice, Heavy D, Biz Markie, and Public Enemy (Chuck D & Flavor Flav), with the aim of spreading awareness about violence in African-American and hip-hop communities. All proceeds from this effort went to the National Urban League.
## Discography
### Studio albums {#studio_albums}
- *Criminal Minded* (1987)
- *By All Means Necessary* (1988)
- *Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip Hop* (1989)
- *Edutainment* (1990)
- *Sex and Violence* (1992)
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3,827 |
Bilge Qaghan
|
**Bilge Qaghan** (*Bilgä Qaɣan*; `{{zh|c=毗伽可汗||p=píjiā kěhàn}}`{=mediawiki}; 683 -- 25 November 734) was the fourth Qaghan of the Second Turkic Khaganate. His accomplishments were described in the Orkhon inscriptions.
## Names
As was the custom, his personal name and the name after assuming the title Qaghan were different. His personal name was recorded in Chinese characters as *阿史那默棘連* (`{{zh|p=Ashǐnà Mòjílián|c=|s=|t=}}`{=mediawiki}). His name after assuming the title was *Bilgä Qaγan*. `{{zh|c=毗伽可汗||p=píjiā kěhàn}}`{=mediawiki}).
## Early years {#early_years}
He was born in 683, in the early years of the khaganate. He campaigned alongside his father from early childhood. He was created as Tardush shad and given command over the western wing of the empire in 697 by Qapaghan. He managed to annihilate Wei Yuanzhong\'s army in 701 with his brother. He also reconquered Basmyl tribes in 703. He also subdued Yenisei Kyrgyz forces in 709, after their disobedience had to reconquer and kill their Qaghan in 710. He killed Türgesh khagan Suoge at Battle of Bolchu.
In later years of Qapaghan, he had to fight four battles in a year starting from 714, resubduing tribes and nearly was killed in an ambush from Uyghur forces in 716.
## Reign
In 716, Qapaghan Qaghan, the second Qaghan, was killed in his campaign against the Toquz Oghuz alliance and his severed head was sent to Chang\'an. Although his son Inel Khagan succeeded him, Bilgä\'s brother Kul Tigin and Tonyukuk carried out a coup d\'état against Inel Qaghan. They killed him and made him *Bilgä* *Qaghan*. His name literally means \"wise king\".
He appointed his brother Kul Tigin to be Left Wise Prince, which made second most powerful person in realm. He re-subdued Huige in 716. He also appointed his father-in-law Tonyukuk to be Master Strategist.
New reforms and stabilization of the regime, caused tribes that fled Tujue to come back. Tang chancellor Wang Jun, believing that the Göktürks who surrendered would try to flee back to the Göktürk state, suggested that they be forcibly moved into the heart of the empire to prevent them from doing so. Before Wang\'s suggestion could be acted upon, however, there was an uprising by the Göktürks who surrendered, under the leadership of Xiedie Sitai (𨁂跌思泰) and Axilan (阿悉爛). Xue and Wang tried to intercept them and dealt them defeats, but they were able to flee back to the Göktürk state anyway. This defeat led to Xue Ne\'s retirement.
## Religious policy {#religious_policy}
At some point in his life, he thought about converting to Buddhism and settling in cities. However, Tonyukuk discouraged him from this, citing the Turks\' few numbers and vulnerability to Chinese attacks. While the Turks\' power rested on their mobility, conversion to Buddhism would bring pacifism among the population. Therefore, sticking to Tengrism was necessary for survival.
## Later reign {#later_reign}
In 720, Wang believed that the Pugu (僕固) and Xiedie tribes of the region were planning to defect to Eastern Tujue and attack with Eastern Tujue troops. He thus held a feast and invited the chieftains, and, at the feast, massacred them. He then attacked the Pugu and Xiedie tribes in the area, nearly wiping them out. He then proposed a plan to attack Qaghan along with the Baximi, Xi, and Khitan. Emperor Xuanzong also recruited Qapaghan Khagan\'s sons Bilgä Tigin and Mo Tigin, Yenisei Kyrgyz Qaghan Kutluk Bilgä Qaghan and Huoba Guiren to fight against Tujue. Tonyukuk cunningly launched first attack on Baximi in 721 autumn, completely crushing them. Meanwhile, Bilgä raided Gansu, taking much of the livestock. Later that year Khitans, next year Xi were also crushed.
In 726, his father-in-law and chancellor Tonyukuk died.
In 727, he sent Buyruk Chor (`{{zh|c=梅錄啜/梅录啜|p=Méilù Chuò}}`{=mediawiki}) as an emissary to Xuanzong with 30 horses as a gift. He also warned him of Me Agtsom\'s proposal of an anti-Tang alliance. This alarm proved to be true when Tibetan general We Tadra Khonglo invaded Tang China in 727, sacked Guazhou (瓜州, in modern Gansu), Changle (常樂, in south of modern Guazhou County), Changmenjun (長門軍, in north of modern Yumen) and Anxi (安西, modern Lintan).
On 27 February 731, Kul Tigin died, for which Qaghan mourned and ordered a great funeral ceremony.
In 733, he defeated rebellious Khitan tribes.
## Death
Just after sending an emissary to Xuanzong to gain heqin alliance, he was poisoned by Buyruk Chor. He did not die immediately and he had time to punish the family of Buyruk Chor with death. He died on 25 November 734, his burial ceremony took place on 22 June 735.
## Family
He was married to El Etmish Bilge Khatun, Tonyukuk\'s daughter. He had several children:
- Ashina Yiran (阿史那伊然)
- Ashina Kutluk (阿史那骨咄)
- 2 unnamed sons who both became puppet Qaghans under Kutluk Yabgu Khagan
- A daughter who was married to Suluk
- Po Beg - submitted to Tang after 744.
## Legacy
After his death from poisoning, several steles were erected in the capital area by the Orkhon River. These Orkhon inscriptions are the first known texts in the Old Turkic language.
## In popular culture {#in_popular_culture}
- Bilge Qaghan is portrayed by Kang Jae-ik in the 2006-2007 KBS TV series *Dae Jo-yeong*.
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3,836 |
Barb Wire (character)
|
Barb Wire}} `{{Infobox comics character
| image = Barb Wire Comic.jpg
| imagesize=200
| caption=Cover to ''Barb Wire'' #1 (2015) by [[Adam Hughes]]
| character_name = Barb Wire
| real_name = Barbara Kopetski
| publisher = [[Dark Horse Comics]]
| debut = ''Comics Greatest World: Steel Harbor - Week 1'' (1993)
| creators = [[Chris Warner (comics)|Chris Warner]]<br/>[[Team CGW]]
| alliances = Machine, Wolf Gang
| powers = Knowledge of law enforcement and military tactics, expertise in many firearms, highly skilled hand-to-hand fighter, expert motorcyclist, expert driver
}}`{=mediawiki}
**Barb Wire** is a fictional character appearing in Comics Greatest World, an imprint of Dark Horse Comics. Created by Chris Warner and Team CGW, the character first appeared in *Comics\' Greatest World: Steel Harbor* in 1993. The original *Barb Wire* series published nine issues between 1994 and 1995 and was followed by a four-issue miniseries in 1996. A reboot was published in 2015 and lasted eight issues. In 1996, the character was adapted into a film starring Pamela Anderson. Unlike the comics, the film takes place in a possible future rather than an alternate version of present-day Earth.
## Creators
Regular series
- 1: John Arcudi, writer/ Lee Moder, pencils/Ande Parks, inks
- 2--3: Arcudi, writer/ Dan Lawlis, pencils/Parks, inks
- 4--5: Arcudi, writer/Lawlis, pencils/Ian Akin, inks
- 6--7: Arcudi, writer/Mike Manley, pencils/Parks, inks
- 8: Arcudi, writer/ Andrew Robinson, pencils/ Jim Royal, inks
- 9: Anina Bennett & Paul Guinan, writers/ Robert Walker, pencils/Jim Royal, inks
*Ace of Spades* miniseries
1--4: Chris Warner, script and pencils/Tim Bradstreet, inks
## Fictional character biography {#fictional_character_biography}
Barb Wire\'s stories take place on an alternate version of present-day Earth with superhumans and more advanced technology. In this Earth\'s history, an alien entity called the Vortex arrived in 1931 and began conducting secret experiments. In 1947, an atom bomb test detonated in a desert nearby the alien\'s experiments. The result was the creation of a trans-dimensional wormhole referred to as \"the Vortex\" or \"the Maelstrom\", which released energy that gave different people across Earth superpowers for years to come.
Decades later, Barbara Kopetski grows up in Steel Harbor when it is still a thriving steel industry city. Barbara and her brother Charlie live with their grandmother and parents, their mother being a police officer while their father is a former marine who became a steelworker. Officer Kopetski later dies, after which her husband becomes so ill he is confined to a bed for years, developing Alzheimer\'s disease as well before passing away. Following the death of her father, Barbara leaves Steel Harbour for a time as the city\'s economy starts to spiral and crime begins rising. Soon, much of the city is controlled by warring gangs rather than local government. Years later, Barbara returns to Steel Harbor, now an experienced bounty hunter operating under the name Barb Wire. Reuniting with Charlie, she decides to stay in her hometown, becoming the owner of the Hammerhead bar. To help bring in money, she continues moonlighting as a bounty hunter, working with the police directly or bail bondsman Thomas Crashell.
As time goes on, Steel Harbor becomes more dangerous, described as \"a city under siege from drugs, crime, pollution and gang warfare\". In 1993, a second American Civil War begins when Golden City announces its secession from the Union. The announcement leads to protests and riots in several cities. The Steel Harbor Riots leave some neighborhoods in literal ruin, with hundreds of buildings destroyed or abandoned in the area known as \"Metal City\". Many are forced to leave the city or take to the streets, and the gangs (all of whom have superhuman members) start moving to take more control. To help contain the chaos and keep her home from descending further, Barb Wire now acts at times as a vigilante, intervening when the police can\'t or won\'t. Fighting alongside the Wolf Gang, she defies criminal Mace Blitzkrieg\'s attempts to bring all gangs under his leadership and control the city.
Growing up with a police officer mother and marine father, as well as her life experiences traveling outside of the city, Barb Wire is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, skilled in various firearms, and an expert driver and motorcycle rider. Her bar has been considered neutral meeting ground by the Steel Harbor gangs. Aiding her bounty hunter activities is her brother Charlie, acting as her mechanic and engineer, and others such as Avram Roman Jr., a cyborg sometimes known simply as \"the Machine\". Though she has loyal allies, including Charlie, Barb Wire is a harsh, guarded person who looks at the world with suspicion and cynicism, considering herself a loner at heart.
### Other characters {#other_characters}
#### Supporting characters {#supporting_characters}
- **Charlie Kopetski**, Barb\'s brother, a blind mechanic, and engineering genius. He invents and maintains most of her weapons and superhuman restraining devices. He openly complains about how often he must fix the equipment she continuously breaks during her adventures.
#### Allies
- **The Machine**, real name: Avram Roman Jr. A man whose body is inhabited by a self-repairing machine colony, making him an advanced cyborg. Along with a reinforced skeleton, superhuman strength and enhanced durability, he is capable of rebuilding parts of his body. Over time, he becomes more machine-like in nature, no longer requiring food.
- **Motörhead**, real name: Frank Fletcher. A drifter with psychic powers who is bonded to an ancient, powerful artifact known as the Motor.
- **Wolf Gang**, a group that believe gangs shouldn\'t go too far in their activities and victimize the city, and prefer independence and a balance of power rather than uniting all gangs under one leader. The Wolf Gang is formidable and its members are known for discipline and loyalty. The gang includes five superhumans: Burner (fire abilities); Bomber (creates energy bombs); Breaker (superhuman strength); Cutter (energy blades); and their leader Wolf Ferrell, also known as Hunter (enhanced senses).
- **Ghost**, real name: Elisa Cameron. A popular Dark Horse Comics character with ghost-like abilities who has a brief crossover story with Barb Wire.
#### Enemies
- **The Prime Movers**, a collective of street gang leaders who agree to serve under the leadership of superhumanly strong criminal Mace Blitzkrieg. The gang leaders include Airborne, Blackbelt, Deadlight, Hurricane Max, Ignition, and Killerwatt.
- **Death Card** (appearing in the first *Barb Wire* regular series).
- **Death Card II** (appearing in the *Ace of Spades* mini-series) - an assassin.
- **Ignition II** - Maureen Skach. Girlfriend of Boyd Mack, the original Ignition, a gang leader with pyrokinetic powers. Believing Mack was having an affair with Barb Wire, Skach kills him, then assumes the Ignition name and leadership of his gang.
- **The Mask**
## Film adaptation {#film_adaptation}
A film adaptation was released in 1996 starring Pamela Anderson as Barb Wire. The story\'s premise was that Barb Wire lives in the near future rather than an alternate version of the present day, a world where superhumans and Dark Horse superheroes do not exist. In this version of the story, Steel Harbor is the last neutral \"free city\" during the Second American Civil War, and Barbara Kopetski is a resistance fighter who leaves behind the war after her heart is broken and she loses faith in the cause. Like the comic, she returns home to become a bounty hunter and owner of the Hammerhead.
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3,851 |
Baseball positions
|
In the sport of baseball, each of the nine players on a team is assigned a particular **fielding position** when it is their turn to play defense. Each position conventionally has an associated number, for use in scorekeeping by the official scorer: 1 (pitcher), 2 (catcher), 3 (first baseman), 4 (second baseman), 5 (third baseman), 6 (shortstop), 7 (left fielder), 8 (center fielder), and 9 (right fielder). Collectively, these positions are usually grouped into three groups: the outfield (left field, center field, and right field), the infield (first base, second base, third base, and shortstop), and the battery (pitcher and catcher). Traditionally, players within each group will often be more able to exchange positions easily (that is, a second baseman can usually play shortstop well, and a center fielder can also be expected to play right field); however, the pitcher and catcher are highly specialized positions and rarely will play at other positions.
## Fielding
Fielders must be able to catch the ball well, as catching batted balls before they bounce is one way they can put the batter out, as well as create opportunities to prevent the advance of, and put out other runners. Additionally, they must be able to throw the ball well, with many plays in the game depending on one fielder collecting the hit ball and then throwing it to another fielder who, while holding the ball in their hand/glove, touches either a runner or the base the runner is forced to run to in order to record an out. Fielders often have to run, dive, and slide a great deal in the act of reaching, stopping, and retrieving a hit ball, and then setting themselves up to transfer the ball, all with the end goal of getting the ball as quickly as possible to another fielder. They also run the risk of colliding with incoming runners during a tag attempt at a base.
Fielders may have different responsibilities depending on the game situation. For example, when an outfielder is attempting to throw the ball from near the fence to one of the bases, an infielder may need to \"cut off\" the throw and then act as a relay thrower to help the ball cover its remaining distance to the target destination.
As a group, the outfielders are responsible for preventing home runs by reaching over the fence (and potentially doing a wall climb) for fly balls that are catchable. The infielders are the ones who generally handle plays that involve tagging a base or runner, and also need quick reflexes in order to catch a batted ball before it leaves the infield. The pitcher and catcher have special responsibilities to prevent base stealing, as they are the ones who handle the ball whenever it has not been hit. The catcher will also sometimes attempt to block the plate in order to prevent a run being scored.
## Other roles {#other_roles}
- Designated hitter
- Pinch hitter
- Pinch runner
- Utility infielder
- Utility players
- Starting pitcher
- Relief pitcher
- Left-handed specialist
- Long reliever
- Middle reliever
- Setup pitcher (setup man)
- Closer
## Other team personnel {#other_team_personnel}
- Manager
- Coaches
- Athletic trainer
- Equipment manager
- General manager
- Batboy
- Ball boy/girl
- Team physician
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3,860 |
National League Championship Series
|
The **National League Championship Series** (**NLCS**) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball\'s (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two National League (NL) Division Series. The winner of the NLCS wins the NL pennant and advances to the World Series, MLB\'s championship series, to play the winner of the American League\'s (AL) Championship Series. The NLCS began in 1969 as a best-of-five playoff and used this format until 1985, when it changed to a best-of-seven format.
## History
Before 1969, the National League champion (the \"pennant winner\") was determined by the best win--loss record at the end of the regular season. There were four *ad hoc* three-game playoff series due to ties under this formulation (in 1946, 1951, 1959, and 1962).
A structured postseason series began in 1969, when both the National and American Leagues were reorganized into two divisions each, East and West. The two division winners within each league played each other in a best-of-five series to determine who would advance to the World Series. In 1985, the format changed to best-of-seven.
The NLCS and ALCS, since the expansion to seven games, are always played in a 2--3--2 format: games 1, 2, 6, and 7 are played in the stadium of the team that has home field advantage, and games 3, 4, and 5 are played in the stadium of the team that does not. Home field advantage is given to the team that has the better record, except a division champion would always get home advantage over a Wild Card team. From 1969 to 1993, home field advantage was alternated between divisions each year regardless of regular season record and from 1995 to 1997 home field advantage was predetermined before the season.
In 1981, a one-off division series was held due to a split season caused by a players\' strike.
In 1994, the league was restructured into three divisions, with the three division winners and a wild card team advancing to a best-of-five postseason round, the now-permanent National League Division Series (NLDS). The winners of that round advance to the best-of-seven NLCS; however, due to the player\'s strike later that season, no postseason was played and the new format did not formally begin until 1995. The playoffs were expanded in 2012 to include a second Wild Card team and in 2022 to include a third Wild Card team.
Seven managers have led a team to the NLCS in three consecutive seasons; however, the most consecutive NLCS appearances by one manager is held by Bobby Cox, who led the Atlanta Braves to eight straight from 1991 to 1999. The Braves (1991--1999) are also the only team in the National League to have made more than three consecutive National League Championship Series appearances. Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland are the only managers to lead their teams to three consecutive League Championship Series appearances in both leagues.
The Milwaukee Brewers, an American League team between 1969 and 1997, and the Houston Astros, a National League team between 1962 and 2012, are the only franchises to play in both the ALCS and NLCS. The Astros are the only team to have won both an NLCS (2005) and an ALCS (2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022). The Astros made four NLCS appearances before moving to the AL in 2013. Every current National League franchise has appeared in the NLCS and all teams except the Brewers have won an NL pennant via the NLCS.
For the first time in history, two wild card teams played in the 2022 National League Championship Series.
## Championship Trophy {#championship_trophy}
The Warren C. Giles Trophy is awarded to the NLCS winner. Warren Giles served as president of the National League from 1951 to 1969.
## Most Valuable Player Award {#most_valuable_player_award}
: *See: League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award#National League winners*
A Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is given to the outstanding player in the NLCS. No MVP award is given for Division Series play.
The MVP award has been given to a player on the losing team twice, in 1986 to Mike Scott of the Houston Astros and in 1987 to Jeffrey Leonard of the San Francisco Giants.
Although the National League began its LCS MVP award in 1977, the American League did not begin its LCS MVP award until 1980. The winners are listed in several locations:
- in the below NLCS results table, in the \"Series MVP\" column
- in the article League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award
- on the MLB website
## Results
Wild card
-- -----------------------------------
MVP did not play for winning team
: Key
Year Winning team Manager Games Losing team Manager Series MVP
------ ------------------------------------------------------- --------- ------- ------------------------------------------------------- --------- ---------------------------------------------
1969 New York Mets 3--0 Atlanta Braves
1970 Cincinnati Reds 3--0 Pittsburgh Pirates
1971 Pittsburgh Pirates 3--1 San Francisco Giants
1972 Cincinnati Reds 3--2 Pittsburgh Pirates
1973 New York Mets 3--2 Cincinnati Reds
1974 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--1 Pittsburgh Pirates
1975 Cincinnati Reds 3--0 Pittsburgh Pirates
1976 Cincinnati Reds 3--0 Philadelphia Phillies
1977 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--1 Philadelphia Phillies Dusty Baker, Los Angeles
1978 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--1 Philadelphia Phillies Steve Garvey, Los Angeles
1979 Pittsburgh Pirates 3--0 Cincinnati Reds Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh
1980 Philadelphia Phillies 3--2 Houston Astros Manny Trillo, Philadelphia
1981 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--2 Montreal Expos Burt Hooton, Los Angeles
1982 St. Louis Cardinals 3--0 Atlanta Braves Darrell Porter, St. Louis
1983 Philadelphia Phillies 3--1 Los Angeles Dodgers Gary Matthews, Philadelphia
1984 San Diego Padres 3--2 Chicago Cubs Steve Garvey, San Diego
1985 St. Louis Cardinals 4--2 Los Angeles Dodgers Ozzie Smith, St. Louis
1986 New York Mets 4--2 Houston Astros Mike Scott, Houston\*
1987 St. Louis Cardinals 4--3 San Francisco Giants Jeffrey Leonard, San Francisco\*
1988 Los Angeles Dodgers 4--3 New York Mets Orel Hershiser, Los Angeles
1989 San Francisco Giants 4--1 Chicago Cubs Will Clark, San Francisco
1990 Cincinnati Reds 4--2 Pittsburgh Pirates Rob Dibble and Randy Myers, Cincinnati
1991 Atlanta Braves 4--3 Pittsburgh Pirates Steve Avery, Atlanta
1992 Atlanta Braves 4--3 Pittsburgh Pirates John Smoltz, Atlanta
1993 Philadelphia Phillies 4--2 Atlanta Braves Curt Schilling, Philadelphia
1994 No Series due to a players\' strike.
1995 Atlanta Braves 4--0 Cincinnati Reds Mike Devereaux, Atlanta
1996 Atlanta Braves 4--3 St. Louis Cardinals Javy López, Atlanta
1997 Florida Marlins`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--2 Atlanta Braves Liván Hernández, Florida
1998 San Diego Padres 4--2 Atlanta Braves Sterling Hitchcock, San Diego
1999 Atlanta Braves 4--2 New York Mets`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Eddie Pérez, Atlanta
2000 New York Mets`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--1 St. Louis Cardinals Mike Hampton, New York
2001 Arizona Diamondbacks 4--1 Atlanta Braves Craig Counsell, Arizona
2002 San Francisco Giants`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--1 St. Louis Cardinals Benito Santiago, San Francisco
2003 Florida Marlins`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--3 Chicago Cubs Iván Rodríguez, Florida
2004 St. Louis Cardinals 4--3 Houston Astros`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2005 Houston Astros`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--2 St. Louis Cardinals Roy Oswalt, Houston
2006 St. Louis Cardinals 4--3 New York Mets Jeff Suppan, St. Louis
2007 Colorado Rockies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--0 Arizona Diamondbacks Matt Holliday, Colorado
2008 Philadelphia Phillies 4--1 Los Angeles Dodgers Cole Hamels, Philadelphia
2009 Philadelphia Phillies 4--1 Los Angeles Dodgers Ryan Howard, Philadelphia
2010 San Francisco Giants 4--2 Philadelphia Phillies Cody Ross, San Francisco
2011 St. Louis Cardinals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--2 Milwaukee Brewers David Freese, St. Louis
2012 San Francisco Giants 4--3 St. Louis Cardinals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Marco Scutaro, San Francisco
2013 St. Louis Cardinals 4--2 Los Angeles Dodgers Michael Wacha, St. Louis
2014 San Francisco Giants`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--1 St. Louis Cardinals Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco
2015 New York Mets 4--0 Chicago Cubs`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Daniel Murphy, New York
2016 Chicago Cubs 4--2 Los Angeles Dodgers Javier Báez and Jon Lester, Chicago
2017 Los Angeles Dodgers 4--1 Chicago Cubs Chris Taylor and Justin Turner, Los Angeles
2018 Los Angeles Dodgers 4--3 Milwaukee Brewers Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles
2019 Washington Nationals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--0 St. Louis Cardinals Howie Kendrick, Washington
2020 Los Angeles Dodgers 4--3 Atlanta Braves Corey Seager, Los Angeles
2021 Atlanta Braves 4--2 Los Angeles Dodgers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Eddie Rosario, Atlanta
2022 Philadelphia Phillies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--1 San Diego Padres`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Bryce Harper, Philadelphia
2023 Arizona Diamondbacks`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 4--3 Philadelphia Phillies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Ketel Marte, Arizona
2024 Los Angeles Dodgers 4--2 New York Mets`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} Tommy Edman, Los Angeles
### Appearances by team {#appearances_by_team}
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th><p>Apps</p></th>
<th><p>Team</p></th>
<th><p>Wins</p></th>
<th><p>Losses</p></th>
<th><p>Win %</p></th>
<th><p>Most recent<br />
win</p></th>
<th><p>Most recent<br />
appearance</p></th>
<th><p>Games<br />
won</p></th>
<th><p>Games<br />
lost</p></th>
<th><p>Game<br />
win %</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>16</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Los Angeles Dodgers</p></td>
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>43</p></td>
<td><p>44</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>14</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>St. Louis Cardinals</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2013</p></td>
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p>38</p></td>
<td><p>43</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>13</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Atlanta Braves</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>34</p></td>
<td><p>39</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>11</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Philadelphia Phillies</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2022</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>29</p></td>
<td><p>25</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Pittsburgh Pirates</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>1979</p></td>
<td><p>1992</p></td>
<td><p>17</p></td>
<td><p>25</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Cincinnati Reds</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>1990</p></td>
<td><p>1995</p></td>
<td><p>18</p></td>
<td><p>14</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>New York Mets</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2015</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>28</p></td>
<td><p>21</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>San Francisco Giants</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2014</p></td>
<td><p>2014</p></td>
<td><p>24</p></td>
<td><p>15</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Chicago Cubs</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2016</p></td>
<td><p>2017</p></td>
<td><p>11</p></td>
<td><p>21</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Houston Astros</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2005</p></td>
<td><p>2005</p></td>
<td><p>11</p></td>
<td><p>13</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Arizona Diamondbacks</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>San Diego Padres</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>1998</p></td>
<td><p>2022</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Miami Marlins</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2003</p></td>
<td><p>2003</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Washington Nationals</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Milwaukee Brewers</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>Never</p></td>
<td><p>2018</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Colorado Rockies</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2007</p></td>
<td><p>2007</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
### Years of appearance {#years_of_appearance}
In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the \"Season(s)\" column, **bold years** indicate winning appearances.
Team Wins Losses Win % Season(s)
---- ----------------------- ------ -------- ------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 Los Angeles Dodgers 9 7 **1974**, **1977**, **1978**, **1981**, 1983, 1985, **1988**, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, **2017**, **2018**, **2020,** 2021, **2024**
14 St. Louis Cardinals 7 7 **1982**, **1985**, **1987**, 1996, 2000, 2002, **2004**, 2005, **2006**, **2011**, 2012, **2013**, 2014, 2019
13 Atlanta Braves 6 7 1969, 1982, **1991**, **1992**, 1993, **1995**, **1996**, 1997, 1998, **1999**, 2001, 2020, **2021**
11 Philadelphia Phillies 6 5 1976, 1977, 1978, **1980**, **1983**, **1993**, **2008**, **2009**, 2010, **2022**, 2023
9 New York Mets 5 4 **1969**, **1973**, **1986**, 1988, 1999, **2000**, 2006, **2015**, 2024
8 Cincinnati Reds 5 3 **1970**, **1972**, 1973, **1975**, **1976**, 1979, **1990**, 1995
7 San Francisco Giants 5 2 1971, 1987, **1989**, **2002**, **2010**, **2012**, **2014**
9 Pittsburgh Pirates 2 7 1970, **1971**, 1972, 1974, 1975, **1979**, 1990, 1991, 1992
3 San Diego Padres 2 1 **1984**, **1998**, 2022
3 Arizona Diamondbacks 2 1 **2001**, 2007, **2023**
2 Miami Marlins 2 0 **1997**, **2003**
6 Chicago Cubs 1 5 1984, 1989, 2003, 2015, **2016**, 2017
4 Houston Astros 1 3 1980, 1986, 2004, **2005**
2 Washington Nationals 1 1 1981, **2019**
1 Colorado Rockies 1 0 **2007**
2 Milwaukee Brewers 0 2 2011, 2018
### Frequent matchups {#frequent_matchups}
Count Matchup Record Years
------- ----------------------------------------------- ----------------- ------------------------------
5 Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Reds, 4--1 1970, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1990
5 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies Phillies, 3--2 1977, 1978, 1983, 2008, 2009
4 San Francisco Giants vs. St. Louis Cardinals Giants, 3--1 1987, 2002, 2012, 2014
2 Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets Tied, 1--1 1969, 1999
2 Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals Tied, 1--1 1982, 1996
2 Atlanta Braves vs. Pittsburgh Pirates Braves, 2--0 1991, 1992
2 Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Tied, 1--1 2020, 2021
2 Houston Astros vs. St. Louis Cardinals Tied, 1--1 2004, 2005
2 New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals Tied, 1--1 2000, 2006
2 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals Cardinals, 2--0 1985, 2013
2 Chicago Cubs vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Tied, 1--1 2016, 2017
2 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York Mets Dodgers, 2--0 1988, 2024
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,862 |
American League Division Series
|
In Major League Baseball, the **American League Division Series** (**ALDS**) determines which two teams from the American League will advance to the American League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring each of the two division winners with the best records and the winners of the wild-card play-off.
## History
The Division Series was implemented in 1981 as a one-off tournament because of a midseason strike, with the first place teams before the strike taking on the teams in first place after the strike. In 1981, a split-season format forced the first ever divisional playoff series, in which the New York Yankees won the Eastern Division series over the Milwaukee Brewers (who were in the American League until 1998) in five games while in the Western Division, the Oakland Athletics swept the Kansas City Royals (the only team with an overall losing record to ever make the postseason).
In 1994, it was returned permanently when Major League Baseball (MLB) restructured each league into three divisions, but with a different format than in 1981. Each of the division winners, along with one wild card team, qualify for the Division Series. Despite being planned for the 1994 season, the postseason was cancelled that year due to the 1994--95 Major League Baseball strike. In 1995, the first season to feature a division series, the Western Division champion Seattle Mariners defeated the wild card New York Yankees three games to two, while the Central Division champion Cleveland Indians defeated the Eastern Division champion Boston Red Sox in a three-game sweep.
From 1994 to 2011, the wild card was given to the team in the American League with the best overall record that was *not* a division champion. Beginning with the 2012 season, a second wild card team was added, and the two wild card teams play a single-game playoff to determine which team would play in the ALDS. For the 2020 Major League Baseball season only, there was an expanded playoff format, owing to an abbreviated 60-game regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight teams qualified from the American League: the top two teams in each division plus the next two best records among the remaining teams. These eight teams played a best-of-three-game series to determine placement in the ALDS. The regular format returned for the 2021 season.
As of 2022, the Yankees have played in and won the most division series, with thirteen wins in twenty-two appearances. In 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros were the final American League teams to make their first appearances in the ALDS. The Astros had been in the National League through 2012, and had played in the National League Division Series (NLDS) seven times. The Astros are the only team to win the ALDS in six consecutive seasons. The Yankees record of four consecutive victories was broken by the Astros with their victory in the 2021 ALDS against the Chicago White Sox.
### Determining the matchups {#determining_the_matchups}
The ALDS is a best-of-five series where the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season hosts the winner of the Wild Card Series between the top two wild card teams in one matchup, and the divisional winner with the second best winning percentage hosts the winner of the series between the lowest-seeded divisional winner and the lowest-seeded wild card team. (From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team was assigned to play the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season in one series, and the other two division winners met in the other series. From 1998 to 2011, if the wild-card team and the division winner with the best record were from the same division, the wild-card team played the division winner with the second-best record, and the remaining two division leaders played each other.) The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven ALCS. According to Nate Silver, the advent of this playoff series, and especially of the wild card, has caused teams to focus more on \"getting to the playoffs\" rather than \"winning the pennant\" as the primary goal of the regular season.
From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team that advances to the Division Series was to face the number 1 seed, regardless whether or not they are in the same division. The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven ALCS. Beginning with the 2022 season, the winner between the lowest-ranked division winner and lowest-ranked wild card team faces the number 2 seed division winner in the Division Series, while the 4 v. 5 wild card winner still faces the number 1 seed, as there is no reseeding even if the 6-seeded wild card advances. Home-field advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record (or head-to-head record if there is a tie between two or more teams), except for the wild-card team, which never receives the home field advantage.
Beginning in 2003, MLB has implemented a new rule to give the team from the league that wins the All-Star Game with the best regular season record a slightly greater advantage. In order to spread out the Division Series games for broadcast purposes, the two ALDS series follow one of two off-day schedules. Starting in 2007, after consulting the MLBPA, MLB has decided to allow the team with the best record in the league that wins the All-Star Game to choose whether to use the seven-day schedule (1-2-off-3-4-off-5) or the eight-day schedule (1-off-2-off-3-4-off-5). The team only gets to choose the schedule; the opponent is still determined by win--loss records.
Initially, the best-of-5 series played in a 2--3 format, with the first two games set at home for the lower seed team and the last three for the higher seed. Since 1998, the series has followed a 2--2--1 format, where the higher seed team plays at home in Games 1 and 2, the lower seed plays at home in Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary), and if a Game 5 is needed, the teams return to the higher seed\'s field. When MLB added a second wild card team in 2012, the Division Series re-adopted the 2--3 format due to scheduling conflicts. However, it reverted to the 2--2--1 format starting the next season, 2013.
## Results
Wild card
-- -----------
: Key
Year Winning team Manager Games Losing team Manager
------ ---------------------------------------------------- --------- ------- ---------------------------------------------------- ---------
1981 New York Yankees 3--2 Milwaukee Brewers
Oakland Athletics 3--0 Kansas City Royals
1994 No Series due to a players\' strike.
1995 Cleveland Indians 3--0 Boston Red Sox
Seattle Mariners 3--2 New York Yankees`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
1996 New York Yankees 3--1 Texas Rangers
Baltimore Orioles`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Cleveland Indians
1997 Baltimore Orioles 3--1 Seattle Mariners
Cleveland Indians 3--2 New York Yankees`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
1998 New York Yankees 3--0 Texas Rangers
Cleveland Indians 3--1 Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
1999 New York Yankees 3--0 Texas Rangers
Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Cleveland Indians
2000 Seattle Mariners`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Chicago White Sox
New York Yankees 3--2 Oakland Athletics
2001 New York Yankees 3--2 Oakland Athletics`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
Seattle Mariners 3--2 Cleveland Indians
2002 Minnesota Twins 3--2 Oakland Athletics
Anaheim Angels`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 New York Yankees
2003 New York Yankees 3--1 Minnesota Twins
Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Oakland Athletics
2004 New York Yankees 3--1 Minnesota Twins
Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Anaheim Angels
2005 Chicago White Sox 3--0 Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3--2 New York Yankees
2006 Detroit Tigers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 New York Yankees
Oakland Athletics 3--0 Minnesota Twins
2007 Boston Red Sox 3--0 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Cleveland Indians 3--1 New York Yankees`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2008 Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Tampa Bay Rays 3--1 Chicago White Sox
2009 New York Yankees 3--0 Minnesota Twins
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 3--0 Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2010 Texas Rangers 3--2 Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Minnesota Twins
2011 Texas Rangers 3--1 Tampa Bay Rays`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
Detroit Tigers 3--2 New York Yankees
2012 Detroit Tigers 3--2 Oakland Athletics
New York Yankees 3--2 Baltimore Orioles`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2013 Detroit Tigers 3--2 Oakland Athletics
Boston Red Sox 3--1 Tampa Bay Rays`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2014 Baltimore Orioles 3--0 Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2015 Toronto Blue Jays 3--2 Texas Rangers
Kansas City Royals 3--2 Houston Astros`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2016 Cleveland Indians 3--0 Boston Red Sox
Toronto Blue Jays`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Texas Rangers
2017 Houston Astros 3--1 Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Cleveland Indians
2018 Houston Astros 3--0 Cleveland Indians
Boston Red Sox 3--1 New York Yankees`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2019 New York Yankees 3--0 Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros 3--2 Tampa Bay Rays`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2020 Tampa Bay Rays 3--2 New York Yankees
Houston Astros 3--1 Oakland Athletics
2021 Boston Red Sox`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Tampa Bay Rays
Houston Astros 3--1 Chicago White Sox
2022 Houston Astros 3--0 Seattle Mariners`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
New York Yankees 3--2 Cleveland Guardians
2023 Texas Rangers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Baltimore Orioles
Houston Astros 3--1 Minnesota Twins
2024 New York Yankees 3--1 Kansas City Royals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
Cleveland Guardians 3--2 Detroit Tigers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
### Appearances by team {#appearances_by_team}
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th><p>Apps</p></th>
<th><p>Team</p></th>
<th><p>Wins</p></th>
<th><p>Losses</p></th>
<th><p>Win %</p></th>
<th><p>Most recent<br />
win</p></th>
<th><p>Most recent<br />
appearance</p></th>
<th><p>Games<br />
won</p></th>
<th><p>Games<br />
lost</p></th>
<th><p>Game<br />
win %</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>24</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>New York Yankees</p></td>
<td><p>15</p></td>
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>59</p></td>
<td><p>43</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>14</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Boston Red Sox</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>26</p></td>
<td><p>26</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>12</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Cleveland Guardians</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>27</p></td>
<td><p>24</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Athletics</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2006</p></td>
<td><p>2020</p></td>
<td><p>19</p></td>
<td><p>21</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Houston Astros</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>23</p></td>
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Texas Rangers</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>12</p></td>
<td><p>18</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Minnesota Twins</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2002</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p>23</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Los Angeles Angels</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2009</p></td>
<td><p>2014</p></td>
<td><p>10</p></td>
<td><p>15</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Tampa Bay Rays</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2020</p></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>13</p></td>
<td><p>18</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Detroit Tigers</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2013</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>14</p></td>
<td><p>13</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Seattle Mariners</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2001</p></td>
<td><p>2022</p></td>
<td><p>10</p></td>
<td><p>10</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Baltimore Orioles</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2014</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>11</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Chicago White Sox</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2005</p></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Kansas City Royals</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2015</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Toronto Blue Jays</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2016</p></td>
<td><p>2016</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Milwaukee Brewers</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>Never</p></td>
<td><p>1981</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
### Years of appearance {#years_of_appearance}
In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the \"Season(s)\" column, **bold years** indicate winning appearances.
Team Wins Losses Win % Season(s)
---- --------------------- ------ -------- ------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
24 New York Yankees 15 9 **1981**, 1995, **1996**, 1997, **1998**, **1999**, **2000**, **2001**, 2002, **2003**, **2004**, 2005, 2006, 2007, **2009**, **2010**, 2011, **2012**, **2017**, 2018, **2019**, 2020, **2022**, **2024**
14 Boston Red Sox 8 6 1995, 1998, **1999**, **2003**, **2004**, 2005, **2007**, **2008**, 2009, **2013**, 2016, 2017, **2018**, **2021**
8 Houston Astros 7 1 2015, **2017**, **2018**, **2019**, **2020**, **2021**, **2022**, **2023**
12 Cleveland Guardians 6 6 **1995**, 1996, **1997**, **1998**, 1999, 2001, **2007**, **2016**, 2017, 2018, 2022, **2024**
6 Detroit Tigers 4 2 **2006**, **2011**, **2012**, **2013**, 2014, 2024
8 Texas Rangers 3 5 1996, 1998, 1999, **2010**, **2011**, 2015, 2016, **2023**
7 Los Angeles Angels 3 4 **2002**, 2004, **2005**, 2007, 2008, **2009**, 2014
5 Seattle Mariners 3 2 **1995**, 1997, **2000**, **2001**, 2022
5 Baltimore Orioles 3 2 **1996**, **1997**, 2012, **2014**, 2023
9 Athletics 2 7 **1981**, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, **2006**, 2012, 2013, 2020
7 Tampa Bay Rays 2 5 **2008**, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2019, **2020**, 2021
4 Kansas City Royals 2 2 1981, **2014**, **2015**, 2024
2 Toronto Blue Jays 2 0 **2015**, **2016**
8 Minnesota Twins 1 7 **2002**, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2019, 2023
4 Chicago White Sox 1 3 2000, **2005**, 2008, 2021
1 Milwaukee Brewers 0 1 1981
### Frequent matchups {#frequent_matchups}
Count Matchup Record Years
------- ------------------------------------------ ----------------- ------------------------------
5 New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins Yankees, 5--0 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2019
4 Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels Red Sox, 3--1 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009
4 Cleveland Guardians vs. Boston Red Sox Guardians, 3--1 1995, 1998, 1999, 2016
4 Cleveland Guardians vs. New York Yankees Tied, 2--2 1997, 2007, 2017, 2022
3 Texas Rangers vs. New York Yankees Yankees, 3--0 1996, 1998, 1999
2 New York Yankees vs. Athletics Yankees, 2--0 2000, 2001
2 New York Yankees vs. Anaheim-LA Angels Angels, 2--0 2002, 2005
2 Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays Rangers, 2--0 2010, 2011
2 Athletics vs. Minnesota Twins Tied, 1--1 2002, 2006
2 Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees Tigers, 2--0 2006, 2011
2 Detroit Tigers vs. Athletics Tigers, 2--0 2012, 2013
2 Texas Rangers vs. Toronto Blue Jays Blue Jays, 2--0 2015, 2016
2 Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays Red Sox, 2--0 2013, 2021
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,863 |
National League Division Series
|
In Major League Baseball, the **National League Division Series** (**NLDS**) determines which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. The Division Series consists of two best-of-five series, featuring each of the two division winners with the best records and the winners of the wild-card playoffs.
## History
The Division Series was implemented in 1981 as a one-off tournament because of a midseason strike, with the first place teams before the strike taking on the teams in first place after the strike. In 1981, a split-season format forced the first ever divisional playoff series, in which the Montreal Expos won the Eastern Division series over the Philadelphia Phillies in five games while in the Western Division, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros, also in five games (the Astros were members of the National League until 2012).
In 1994, it was returned permanently when Major League Baseball (MLB) restructured each league into three divisions, but with a different format than in 1981. Each of the division winners, along with one wild card team, qualify for the Division Series. Despite being planned for the 1994 season, the post-season was cancelled that year due to the 1994--95 Major League Baseball strike. In 1995, the first season to feature a division series, the Eastern Division champion Atlanta Braves defeated the wild card Colorado Rockies three games to one, while the Central Division champion Cincinnati Reds defeated the Western Division champion Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game sweep.
From 1994 to 2011, the wild card was given to the team in the National League with the best overall record that was *not* a division champion. Beginning with the 2012 season, a second wild card team was added, and the two wild card teams play a single-game playoff to determine which team would play in the NLDS. For the 2020 Major League Baseball season only, there was an expanded playoff format, owing to an abbreviated 60-game regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight teams qualified from the National League: the top two teams in each division plus the next two best records among the remaining teams. These eight teams played a best-of-three-game series to determine placement in the NLDS. The regular format returned for the 2021 season.
As of 2021, the Atlanta Braves have currently played in the most NL division series with seventeen appearances. The St. Louis Cardinals have currently won the most NL division series, winning eleven of the fourteen series in which they have played. The Pittsburgh Pirates (who finished with a losing record from 1993 to 2012) were the last team to make their first appearance in the NL division series, making their debut in 2013 after winning the 2013 National League Wild Card Game. In 2008, the Milwaukee Brewers became the first team to play in division series in both leagues when they won the National League wild card, their first postseason berth since winning the American League East Division title in 1982 before switching leagues in 1998. Milwaukee had competed in an American League Division Series in the strike-shortened 1981 season.
### Format
The NLDS is a best-of-five series where the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season hosts the winner of the Wild Card Series between the top two wild card teams in one matchup, and the divisional winner with the second best winning percentage hosts the winner of the other Wild Card Series between the lowest-seeded divisional winner and the lowest-seeded wild card team. (From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team was assigned to play the divisional winner with the best winning percentage in the regular season in one series, and the other two division winners met in the other series. From 1998 to 2011, if the wild-card team and the division winner with the best record were from the same division, the wild-card team played the division winner with the second-best record, and the remaining two division leaders played each other.) The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven NLCS. According to Nate Silver, the advent of this playoff series, and especially of the wild card, has caused teams to focus more on \"getting to the playoffs\" rather than \"winning the pennant\" as the primary goal of the regular season.
From 2012 to 2021, the wild card team that advances to the Division Series was to face the number 1 seed, regardless whether or not they are in the same division. The two series winners move on to the best-of-seven NLCS. Beginning with the 2022 season, the winner between the lowest-ranked division winner and lowest-ranked wild card team faces the #2 seed division winner in the Division Series, while the 4 v. 5 wild card winner faces the #1 seed, as there is no reseeding even if the 6 seed wild card advances. Home-field advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record (or head-to-head record if there is a tie between two or more teams), except for the wild-card team, which never receives the home-field advantage.
Beginning in 2003, MLB has implemented a new rule to give the team with the best regular season record from the league that wins the All-Star Game a slightly greater advantage. In order to spread out the Division Series games for broadcast purposes, the two NLDS series follow one of two off-day schedules. Starting in 2007, after consulting the MLBPA, MLB has decided to allow the team with the best record in the league that wins the All-Star Game to choose whether to use the seven-day schedule (1-2-off-3-4-off-5) or the eight-day schedule (1-off-2-off-3-4-off-5). The team only gets to choose the schedule; the opponent is still determined by win--loss records.
Initially, the best-of-5 series played in a 2--3 format, with the first two games set at home for the lower seed team and the last three for the higher seed. Since 1998, the series has followed a 2--2--1 format, where the higher seed team plays at home in Games 1 and 2, the lower seed plays at home in Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary), and if a Game 5 is needed, the teams return to the higher seed\'s field. When MLB added a second wild card team in 2012, the Division Series re-adopted the 2--3 format due to scheduling conflicts. However, it reverted to the 2--2--1 format starting the next season, 2013.
## Results
Wild card
-- -----------
: Key
Year Winning team Manager Games Losing team Manager
------ ------------------------------------------------------- --------- ------- ------------------------------------------------------ ---------
1981 Montreal Expos 3--2 Philadelphia Phillies
Los Angeles Dodgers 3--2 Houston Astros
1994 No Series due to a players\' strike.
1995 Atlanta Braves 3--1 Colorado Rockies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
Cincinnati Reds 3--0 Los Angeles Dodgers
1996 Atlanta Braves 3--0 Los Angeles Dodgers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
St. Louis Cardinals 3--0 San Diego Padres
1997 Atlanta Braves 3--0 Houston Astros
Florida Marlins`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 San Francisco Giants
1998 Atlanta Braves 3--0 Chicago Cubs`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
San Diego Padres 3--1 Houston Astros
1999 Atlanta Braves 3--1 Houston Astros
New York Mets`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Arizona Diamondbacks
2000 St. Louis Cardinals 3--0 Atlanta Braves
New York Mets`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 San Francisco Giants
2001 Atlanta Braves 3--0 Houston Astros
Arizona Diamondbacks 3--2 St. Louis Cardinals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2002 St. Louis Cardinals 3--0 Arizona Diamondbacks
San Francisco Giants`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Atlanta Braves
2003 Chicago Cubs 3--2 Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 San Francisco Giants
2004 St. Louis Cardinals 3--1 Los Angeles Dodgers
Houston Astros`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Atlanta Braves
2005 St. Louis Cardinals 3--0 San Diego Padres
Houston Astros`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Atlanta Braves
2006 New York Mets 3--0 Los Angeles Dodgers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
St. Louis Cardinals 3--1 San Diego Padres
2007 Colorado Rockies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Philadelphia Phillies
Arizona Diamondbacks 3--0 Chicago Cubs
2008 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--0 Chicago Cubs
Philadelphia Phillies 3--1 Milwaukee Brewers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2009 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--0 St. Louis Cardinals
Philadelphia Phillies 3--1 Colorado Rockies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2010 Philadelphia Phillies 3--0 Cincinnati Reds
San Francisco Giants 3--1 Atlanta Braves`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2011 St. Louis Cardinals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Philadelphia Phillies
Milwaukee Brewers 3--2 Arizona Diamondbacks
2012 San Francisco Giants 3--2 Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Washington Nationals
2013 St. Louis Cardinals 3--2 Pittsburgh Pirates`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
Los Angeles Dodgers 3--1 Atlanta Braves
2014 St. Louis Cardinals 3--1 Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Washington Nationals
2015 New York Mets 3--2 Los Angeles Dodgers
Chicago Cubs`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 St. Louis Cardinals
2016 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--2 Washington Nationals
Chicago Cubs 3--1 San Francisco Giants`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2017 Chicago Cubs 3--2 Washington Nationals
Los Angeles Dodgers 3--0 Arizona Diamondbacks`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
2018 Milwaukee Brewers 3--0 Colorado Rockies `{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
Los Angeles Dodgers 3--1 Atlanta Braves
2019 Washington Nationals `{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 Los Angeles Dodgers
St. Louis Cardinals 3--2 Atlanta Braves
2020 Atlanta Braves 3--0 Miami Marlins
Los Angeles Dodgers 3--0 San Diego Padres
2021 Atlanta Braves 3--1 Milwaukee Brewers
Los Angeles Dodgers`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--2 San Francisco Giants
2022 San Diego Padres`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Los Angeles Dodgers
Philadelphia Phillies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Atlanta Braves
2023 Philadelphia Phillies`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Atlanta Braves
Arizona Diamondbacks`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--0 Los Angeles Dodgers
2024 Los Angeles Dodgers 3--2 San Diego Padres`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki}
New York Mets`{{sup|{{dagger}}}}`{=mediawiki} 3--1 Philadelphia Phillies
### Appearances by team {#appearances_by_team}
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th><p>Apps</p></th>
<th><p>Team</p></th>
<th><p>Wins</p></th>
<th><p>Losses</p></th>
<th><p>Win %</p></th>
<th><p>Most recent<br />
win</p></th>
<th><p>Most recent<br />
appearance</p></th>
<th><p>Games<br />
won</p></th>
<th><p>Games<br />
lost</p></th>
<th><p>Game<br />
win %</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>19</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Atlanta Braves</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td><p>11</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>38</p></td>
<td><p>36</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>19</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Los Angeles Dodgers</p></td>
<td><p>10</p></td>
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>37</p></td>
<td><p>37</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>14</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>St. Louis Cardinals</p></td>
<td><p>11</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p>36</p></td>
<td><p>20</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>San Francisco Giants</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2014</p></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>17</p></td>
<td><p>21</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Philadelphia Phillies</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>20</p></td>
<td><p>16</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Houston Astros</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2005</p></td>
<td><p>2005</p></td>
<td><p>10</p></td>
<td><p>18</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Chicago Cubs</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2017</p></td>
<td><p>2017</p></td>
<td><p>12</p></td>
<td><p>15</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Arizona Diamondbacks</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>2023</p></td>
<td><p>12</p></td>
<td><p>14</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>7</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>San Diego Padres</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2022</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td><p>17</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Washington Nationals</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p>2019</p></td>
<td><p>13</p></td>
<td><p>16</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>New York Mets</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>2024</p></td>
<td><p>15</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Colorado Rockies</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2007</p></td>
<td><p>2018</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>9</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Milwaukee Brewers</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2018</p></td>
<td><p>2021</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td><p>8</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Cincinnati Reds</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>1995</p></td>
<td><p>2012</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Miami Marlins</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>2003</p></td>
<td><p>2020</p></td>
<td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td style="text-align:left;"><p>Pittsburgh Pirates</p></td>
<td><p>0</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td></td>
<td><p>Never</p></td>
<td><p>2013</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
### Years of appearance {#years_of_appearance}
In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of wins, then by number of appearances, and finally by year of first appearance. In the \"Season(s)\" column, **bold years** indicate winning appearances.
Team Wins Losses Win % Season(s)
---- ----------------------- ------ -------- ------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 St. Louis Cardinals 11 3 **1996**, **2000**, 2001, **2002**, **2004**, **2005**, **2006**, 2009, **2011**, **2012**, **2013**, **2014**, 2015, **2019**
19 Los Angeles Dodgers 10 9 **1981**, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006, **2008**, **2009**, **2013**, 2014, 2015, **2016**, **2017**, **2018**, 2019, **2020**, **2021**, 2022, 2023, **2024**
19 Atlanta Braves 8 11 **1995**, **1996**, **1997**, **1998**, **1999**, 2000, **2001**, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2018, 2019, **2020**, **2021**, 2022, 2023
9 Philadelphia Phillies 5 4 1981, 2007, **2008**, **2009**, **2010**, 2011, **2022**, **2023**, 2024
5 New York Mets 5 0 **1999**, **2000**, **2006**, **2015**, **2024**
9 San Francisco Giants 4 5 1997, 2000, **2002**, 2003, **2010**, **2012**, **2014**, 2016, 2021
7 Chicago Cubs 4 3 1998, **2003**, 2007, 2008, **2015**, **2016**, **2017**
7 Arizona Diamondbacks 3 4 1999, **2001**, 2002, **2007**, 2011, 2017, **2023**
7 Houston Astros 2 5 1981, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, **2004**, **2005**
7 San Diego Padres 2 5 1996, **1998**, 2005, 2006, 2020, **2022**, 2024
6 Washington Nationals 2 4 **1981**, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, **2019**
4 Milwaukee Brewers 2 2 2008, **2011**, **2018**, 2021
3 Miami Marlins 2 1 **1997**, **2003**, 2020
4 Colorado Rockies 1 3 1995, **2007**, 2009, 2018
3 Cincinnati Reds 1 2 **1995**, 2010, 2012
1 Pittsburgh Pirates 0 1 2013
### Frequent matchups {#frequent_matchups}
Count Matchup Record Years
------- ---------------------------------------------- ----------------- ------------------------------
5 Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros Braves, 3--2 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005
3 San Diego Padres vs. St. Louis Cardinals Cardinals, 3--0 1996, 2005, 2006
3 St. Louis Cardinals vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Cardinals, 2--1 2004, 2009, 2014
3 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves Dodgers, 2--1 1996, 2013, 2018
3 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres Dodgers, 2--1 2020, 2022, 2024
2 St. Louis Cardinals vs. Arizona Diamondbacks Tied, 1--1 2001, 2002
2 Florida Marlins vs. San Francisco Giants Marlins, 2--0 1997, 2003
2 Chicago Cubs vs. Atlanta Braves Tied, 1--1 1998, 2003
2 Philadelphia Phillies vs. Colorado Rockies Tied, 1--1 2007, 2009
2 San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves Giants, 2--0 2002, 2010
2 New York Mets vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Mets, 2--0 2006, 2015
2 St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves Cardinals, 2--0 2000, 2019
2 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals Tied, 1--1 2016, 2019
2 Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks Tied, 1--1 2017, 2023
2 Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies Phillies, 2--0 2022, 2023
NOTE: With the Houston Astros move to the American League at the conclusion of the 2012 season, the Braves vs. Astros series is not currently possible.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,865 |
1903 World Series
|
The **1903 World Series** was the first modern World Series to be played in Major League Baseball. It matched the American League (AL) champion Boston Americans against the National League (NL) champion Pittsburgh Pirates`{{NoteTag|In the early 20th century and earlier, the [[name of Pittsburgh]] was spelled with and without the 'h'.}}`{=mediawiki} in a best-of-nine series, with Boston prevailing five games to three, winning the last four. The first three games were played in Boston, the next four in Allegheny (home of the Pirates), and the eighth (last) game in Boston.
Pittsburgh pitcher Sam Leever injured his shoulder while trap shooting, so his teammate Deacon Phillippe pitched five complete games. Phillippe won three of his games, but it was not enough to overcome the club from the new American League. Boston pitchers Bill Dinneen and Cy Young led Boston to victory. In Game 1, Phillippe struck out ten Boston batters. The next day, Dinneen bettered that mark, striking out 11 Pittsburgh batters in Game 2.
Honus Wagner, bothered by injuries, batted only 6-for-27 (.222) in the Series and committed six errors. The shortstop was deeply distraught by his performance. The following spring, Wagner (who in 1903 led the National League in batting average) refused to send his portrait to a \"Hall of Fame\" for batting champions. \"I was too bum last year\", he wrote. \"I was a joke in that Boston-Pittsburgh Series. What does it profit a man to hammer along and make a few hits when they are not needed only to fall down when it comes to a pinch? I would be ashamed to have my picture up now.\"
Due to overflow crowds at the Exposition Park games in Allegheny City,`{{NoteTag|From 1882 to 1906, the team played in [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania]], which was annexed by [[Pittsburgh]] as the [[North Side (Pittsburgh)|North Side]] in 1907.}}`{=mediawiki} if a batted ball rolled under a rope in the outfield that held spectators back, a \"ground-rule triple\" would be scored. 17 ground-rule triples were hit in the four games played at the stadium.
In the series, Boston came back from a three games to one deficit, winning the final four games to capture the title. Such a large comeback would not happen again until the Pirates came back to defeat the Washington Senators in the 1925 World Series, and has happened only 11 times in baseball history. (The Pirates themselves repeated this feat in `{{wsy|1979}}`{=mediawiki} against the Baltimore Orioles.) Much was made of the influence of Boston\'s \"Royal Rooters\", who traveled to Exposition Park and sang their theme song \"Tessie\" to distract the opposing players (especially Wagner). Boston wound up winning three out of four games in Allegheny City.
Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss added his share of the gate receipts to the players\' share, so the losing team\'s players actually finished with a larger individual share than the winning team\'s.
The Series brought the new American League prestige and proved its best could beat the best of the National League, thus strengthening the demand for future World Series competitions.
## Background
### A new league {#a_new_league}
In 1901, Ban Johnson, president of the Western League, a minor league organization, formed the American League to take advantage of the National League\'s 1900 contraction from twelve teams to eight. Johnson and fellow owners raided the National League and signed away many star players, including Cy Young and Jimmy Collins. Johnson had a list of 46 National Leaguers he targeted for the American League; by 1902, all but one had made the jump. The constant raiding, however, nixed the idea of a championship between the two leagues. Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss, whose team ran away with the 1902 National League pennant, was open to a postseason contest and even said he would allow the American League champion to stock its roster with all-stars. However, Johnson had spoken of putting a team in Pittsburgh and even attempted to raid the Pirates\' roster in August 1902, which soured Dreyfuss. At the end of the season, however, the Pirates played a group of American League All-Stars in a four-game exhibition series, winning two games to one, with one tie.
The leagues finally called a truce in the winter of 1902--03 and formed the National Commission to preside over organized baseball. The following season, the Boston Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates had secured their respective championship pennants by September. That August, Dreyfuss challenged the American League to an 11-game championship series. Encouraged by Johnson and National League President Harry Pulliam, Americans owner Henry J. Killilea met with Dreyfuss in Pittsburgh in September and instead agreed to a best-of-nine championship, with the first three games played in Boston, the next four in Allegheny City, and the remaining two (if necessary) in Boston.
One significant point about this agreement was that it was an arrangement primarily between the two clubs rather than a formal arrangement between the leagues. In short, it was a voluntary event, a fact which would result in no Series at all for `{{wsy|1904}}`{=mediawiki}. The formal establishment of the Series as a compulsory event started in `{{wsy|1905}}`{=mediawiki}.
## The teams {#the_teams}
`{{CSS crop
|Location=right
|Description=[[Image:Black pog.svg|10px]] 1903 World Series Teams
|bSize=480
|cWidth=280
|cHeight=150
|oLeft=180
|oTop=80
|Content=
{{Location map+ | USA Northeast
| width = 510
| caption =
| places =
{{Location map~ | USA Northeast
| lat_deg = 42.34
| lon_deg = -71.09
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 80
| position = left
| label = '''[[Boston Americans|Americans]]'''}}
{{Location map~ | USA Northeast
| lat_deg = 40.45
| lon_deg = -80.01
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 80
| position = right
| label = '''[[Pittsburgh Pirates|Pirates]]'''}}
}}
}}`{=mediawiki}
The Pirates won their third straight pennant in 1903 thanks to a powerful lineup that included legendary shortstop Honus Wagner, who hit .355 and drove in 101 runs, player-manager Fred Clarke, who hit .351, and Ginger Beaumont, who hit .341 and led the league in hits and runs. The Pirates\' pitching was weaker than it had been in previous years but boasted 24-game winner Deacon Phillippe and 25-game winner Sam Leever.
The Americans had a strong pitching staff, led by Cy Young, who went 28--9 in 1903 and became the all-time wins leader that year. Bill Dinneen and Long Tom Hughes, right-handers like Young, had won 21 games and 20 games each. The Boston outfield, featuring Chick Stahl (.274), Buck Freeman (.287, 104 RBI) and Patsy Dougherty (.331, 101 runs scored) was considered excellent.
Although the Pirates had dominated their league for the previous three years, they went into the series riddled with injuries and plagued by bizarre misfortunes. Otto Krueger, the team\'s only utility player, was beaned on September 19 and never fully played in the series. 16-game winner Ed Doheny left the team three days later, exhibiting signs of paranoia; he was committed to an insane asylum the following month. Leever had been battling an injury to his pitching arm (which he made worse by entering a trapshooting competition). Worst of all, Wagner, who had a sore thumb throughout the season, injured his right leg in September and was never 100 percent for the postseason.
Some sources say Boston were heavy underdogs. Boston bookies actually gave even odds to the teams (and only because Dreyfuss and other \"sports\" were alleged to have bet on Pittsburgh to bring down the odds). The teams were generally thought to be evenly matched, with the Americans credited with stronger pitching and the Pirates with superior offense and fielding. The outcome, many believed, hinged on Wagner\'s health. \"If Wagner does not play, bet your money at two to one on Boston\", said the *Sporting News*, \"but if he does play, place your money at two to one on Pittsburg.\"
## Summary
## Matchups
### Game 1 {#game_1}
thumb\|right\|upright=.8\|Jimmy Sebring hit the first home run in World Series history, an inside-the-park home run in Game 1. `{{Linescore
|Date=Thursday, October 1, 1903,
|Location=[[Huntington Avenue Grounds|Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds]] in [[Boston|Boston, Massachusetts]]
|Road='''Pittsburgh'''|RoadAbr=PIT
|R1=4|R2=0|R3=1|R4=1|R5=0|R6=0|R7=1|R8=0|R9=0|RR=7|RH=12|RE=2
|Home=Boston|HomeAbr=BOS
|H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=2|H8=0|H9=1|HR=3|HH=6|HE=4
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Deacon Phillippe]] (1–0)|LP=[[Cy Young]] (0–1)|SV=
|RoadHR=[[Jimmy Sebring]] (1)|HomeHR=
|BoxURL=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1903/B10010BOS1903.htm
}}`{=mediawiki} The Pirates started Game 1 strong, scoring six runs in the first four innings, and held on to win the first World Series game in modern baseball history. They extended their lead to 7--0 on an inside-the-park home run by Jimmy Sebring in the seventh, the first home run in World Series history. Boston scored a few runs in the last three innings, but it was too little, too late; they ended up losing 7--3 in the first ever World Series game. Both Phillippe and Young threw complete games, with Phillippe striking out ten and Young fanning five, but Young also gave up twice as many hits and allowed three earned runs to Phillippe\'s two.
### Game 2 {#game_2}
thumb\|right\|upright=.8\|In Game 2, Patsy Dougherty hit the first over-the-fence home run in World Series history. `{{Linescore
|Date=Friday, October 2, 1903,
|Location=Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts
|Road=Pittsburgh|RoadAbr=PIT
|R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR=0|RH=3|RE=2
|Home='''Boston'''|HomeAbr=BOS
|H1=2|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=1|H7=0|H8=0|H9=X|HR=3|HH=8|HE=0
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Bill Dinneen]] (1–0)|LP=[[Sam Leever]] (0–1)|SV=
|RoadHR=|HomeHR=[[Patsy Dougherty]] 2 (2)
|BoxURL=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1903/B10020BOS1903.htm
}}`{=mediawiki} After starting out strong in Game 1, the Pirates simply shut down offensively, eking out a mere three hits, all singles. Pittsburgh starter Sam Leever went 1 inning and gave up three hits and two runs, before his ailing arm forced him to leave in favor of Bucky Veil, who finished the game. Bill Dinneen struck out 11 and pitched a complete game for the Americans, while Patsy Dougherty hit home runs in the first and sixth innings for two of the Boston\'s three runs. The Americans\' Patsy Dougherty led off the Boston scoring with an inside-the-park home run, the first time a lead-off batter did just that until Alcides Escobar of the Kansas City Royals duplicated the feat in the 2015 World Series, 112 years later. Dougherty\'s second home run was the first in World Series history to actually sail over the fence, an incredibly rare feat at the time.
### Game 3 {#game_3}
`{{Linescore
|Date=Saturday, October 3, 1903,
|Location=Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts
|Road='''Pittsburgh'''|RoadAbr=PIT
|R1=0|R2=1|R3=2|R4=0|R5=0|R6=0|R7=0|R8=1|R9=0|RR=4|RH=7|RE=1
|Home=Boston|HomeAbr=BOS
|H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=1|H9=0|HR=2|HH=4|HE=2
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Deacon Phillippe]] (2–0)|LP=[[Long Tom Hughes|Tom Hughes]] (0–1)|SV=
|RoadHR=|HomeHR=
|BoxURL=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1903/B10030BOS1903.htm
}}`{=mediawiki} Phillippe, pitching after only a single day of rest, started Game 3 for the Pirates and didn\'t let them down, hurling his second complete-game victory of the Series to put Pittsburgh up two games to one.
### Game 4 {#game_4}
`{{Linescore
|Date=Tuesday, October 6, 1903,
|Location=[[Exposition Park (Pittsburgh)|Exposition Park (III)]] in [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania]]
|Road=Boston|RoadAbr=BOS
|R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=1|R6=0|R7=0|R8=0|R9=3|RR=4|RH=9|RE=1
|Home='''Pittsburgh'''|HomeAbr=PIT
|H1=1|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=1|H6=0|H7=3|H8=0|H9=X|HR=5|HH=12|HE=1
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Deacon Phillippe]] (3–0)|LP=[[Bill Dinneen]] (1–1)|SV=
|RoadHR=|HomeHR=
|BoxURL=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1903/B10060PIT1903.htm
}}`{=mediawiki} After two days of rest, Phillippe was ready to pitch a second straight game. He threw his third complete-game victory of the series against Bill Dinneen, who was making his second start of the series. But Phillippe\'s second straight win was almost not to be, as the Americans, down 5--1 in the top of the ninth, rallied to narrow the deficit to one run. The comeback attempt failed, as Phillippe managed to put an end to it and give the Pirates a commanding 3--1 series lead.
### Game 5 {#game_5}
thumb\|right\|upright=.8\|Game 5 winning pitcher Cy Young `{{Linescore
|Date=Wednesday, October 7, 1903,
|Location=Exposition Park (III) in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
|Road='''Boston'''|RoadAbr=BOS
|R1=0|R2=0|R3=0|R4=0|R5=0|R6=6|R7=4|R8=1|R9=0|RR=11|RH=13|RE=2
|Home=Pittsburgh|HomeAbr=PIT
|H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=2|H9=0|HR=2|HH=6|HE=4
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Cy Young]] (1–1)|LP=[[Brickyard Kennedy]] (0–1)|SV=
|RoadHR=|HomeHR=
|BoxURL=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1903/B10070PIT1903.htm
}}`{=mediawiki} Game 5 was a pitcher\'s duel for the first five innings, with Boston\'s Cy Young and Pittsburgh\'s Brickyard Kennedy giving up no runs. That changed in the top of the sixth, however, when the Americans scored a then-record six runs before being retired. Young, on the other hand, managed to keep his shutout intact before finally giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. He went the distance and struck out four for his first World Series win.
### Game 6 {#game_6}
thumb\|right\|upright=.8\|Game 6 winning pitcher Bill Dinneen `{{Linescore
|Date=Thursday, October 8, 1903,
|Location=Exposition Park (III) in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
|Road='''Boston'''|RoadAbr=BOS
|R1=0|R2=0|R3=3|R4=0|R5=2|R6=0|R7=1|R8=0|R9=0|RR=6|RH=10|RE=1
|Home=Pittsburgh|HomeAbr=PIT
|H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=3|H8=0|H9=0|HR=3|HH=10|HE=3
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Bill Dinneen]] (2–1)|LP=[[Sam Leever]] (0–2)|SV=
|RoadHR=|HomeHR=
|BoxURL=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1903/B10080PIT1903.htm
}}`{=mediawiki} Game 6 was a rematch between the starters of Game 2, Boston\'s Dinneen and Pittsburgh\'s Leever. Leever pitched a complete game this time but so did Dinneen, who outmatched him to earn his second complete-game victory of the series. After losing three of the first four games of the World Series, the underdog Americans had tied the series at three games apiece.
### Game 7 {#game_7}
`{{Linescore
|Date=Saturday, October 10, 1903,
|Location=Exposition Park (III) in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
|Road='''Boston'''|RoadAbr=BOS
|R1=2|R2=0|R3=0|R4=2|R5=0|R6=2|R7=0|R8=1|R9=0|RR=7|RH=11|RE=4
|Home=Pittsburgh|HomeAbr=PIT
|H1=0|H2=0|H3=0|H4=1|H5=0|H6=1|H7=0|H8=0|H9=1|HR=3|HH=10|HE=3
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Cy Young]] (2–1)|LP=[[Deacon Phillippe]] (3–1)|SV=
|RoadHR=|HomeHR=
|BoxURL=https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1903/B10100PIT1903.htm
}}`{=mediawiki} The fourth and final game in Allegheny saw Phillippe start his fourth game of the Series for the Pirates. This time, however, he did not fare as well as he did in his first three starts. Cy Young, in his third start of the Series, held the Pirates to three runs and put the Americans ahead for the first time as the Series moved back to Boston.
### Game 8 {#game_8}
The final game of this inaugural World Series started out as an intense pitcher\'s duel, scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Hobe Ferris hit a two-run single. Phillippe started his fifth and final game of the series and Dinneen his fourth. As he did in Game 2, Dinneen threw a complete-game shutout, striking out seven and leading his Americans to victory, while Phillippe pitched respectably but could not match Dinneen because his arm had been worn out with five starts in the eight games, giving up three runs to give the first 20th-century World Championship to the Boston Americans, Honus Wagner striking out to end the Series.
## Composite line score {#composite_line_score}
1903 World Series **(5--3): Boston Americans (A.L.)** over Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) `{{Linescore|
|Road='''[[Boston Americans]]'''
|R1=4|R2=0|R3=3|R4=5|R5=3|R6=10|R7=7|R8=3|R9=4|RR=39|RH=69|RE=14
|Home='''[[Pittsburgh Pirates]]'''
|H1=5|H2=1|H3=3|H4=2|H5=1|H6=1|H7=7|H8=3|H9=1|HR=24|HH=64|HE=19
|TotalAttendance=100,429 |AveAttendance=12,554
|WinPlayerShare = $1,182 |LosePlayerShare = $1,316<ref name="wsshares">{{cite web|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/wsshares.shtml|title=World Series Gate Receipts and Player Shares|access-date=June 14, 2009|work=Baseball Almanac}}</ref>
}}`{=mediawiki}
## Series Statistics {#series_statistics}
### Boston Americans {#boston_americans}
#### Batting
*Note: GP=Games Played; AB=At Bats; R=Runs; H=Hits; 2B=Doubles; 3B=Triples; HR=Home Runs; RBI=Runs Batted In; BB=Walks; AVG=Batting Average; OBP=On Base Percentage; SLG=Slugging Percentage*
| Player | GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG | Reference |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--|-----------------------------------------------------|--|--|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--|-----------------------------------------------------|--|--|--|
| Jimmy Collins | 8 | 36 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | .270 | .389 | |
| Lou Criger | 8 | 26 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | .231 | .286 | .231 | |
| Bill Dinneen | 4 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .167 | .231 | .167 | |
| Patsy Dougherty | 8 | 34 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | .235 | .297 | .529 | |
| Duke Farrell | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Hobe Ferris | 8 | 31 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .290 | .313 | .355 | |
| Buck Freeman | 8 | 32 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 2 | .281 | .324 | .469 | |
| Long Tom Hughes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Candy LaChance | 8 | 27 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | .222 | .300 | .370 | |
| Jack O\'Brien | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Freddy Parent | 8 | 32 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | .281 | .324 | .469 | |
| Chick Stahl | 8 | 33 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | .303 | .324 | .515 | |
| Cy Young | 4 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .067 | .067 | .200 | |
#### Pitching
*Note: G=Games Played; GS=Games Started; ERA=Earned Run Average; W=Wins; L=Losses; SV=Saves; IP=Innings Pitched; H=Hits; R=Runs; ER= Earned Runs; BB=Walks; SO= Strikeouts*
| Player | G | GS | ERA | W | L | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | Reference |
|-----------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|--|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|--|
| Bill Dinneen | 4 | 4 | 2.06 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 35.0 | 29 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 28 | |
| Tom Hughes | 1 | 1 | 9.00 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Cy Young | 4 | 3 | 1.85 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 34.0 | 31 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 17 | |
### Pittsburgh Pirates {#pittsburgh_pirates}
#### Batting {#batting_1}
*Note: GP=Games Played; AB=At Bats; R=Runs; H=Hits; 2B=Doubles; 3B=Triples; HR=Home Runs; RBI=Runs Batted In; BB=Walks; AVG=Batting Average; OBP=On Base Percentage; SLG=Slugging Percentage*
| Player | GP | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | AVG | OBP | SLG | Reference |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--|-----------------------------------------------------|--|--|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--|-----------------------------------------------------|--|--|--|
| Ginger Beaumont | 8 | 34 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .265 | .306 | .324 | |
| Kitty Bransfield | 8 | 29 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .207 | .233 | .345 | |
| Fred Clarke | 8 | 34 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .265 | .286 | .382 | |
| Brickyard Kennedy | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 | |
| Tommy Leach | 8 | 33 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | .273 | .294 | .515 | |
| Sam Leever | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Ed Phelps | 8 | 26 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .231 | .259 | .308 | |
| Deacon Phillippe | 5 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .222 | .222 | .222 | |
| Claude Ritchey | 8 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .148 | .258 | .185 | |
| Jimmy Sebring | 8 | 30 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | .333 | .355 | .500 | |
| Harry Smith | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Gus Thompson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Bucky Veil | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Honus Wagner | 8 | 27 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | .222 | .323 | .259 | |
#### Pitching {#pitching_1}
*Note: G=Games Played; GS=Games Started; ERA=Earned Run Average; W=Wins; L=Losses; SV=Saves; IP=Innings Pitched; H=Hits; R=Runs; ER= Earned Runs; BB=Walks; SO= Strikeouts*
| Player | G | GS | ERA | W | L | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | Reference |
|-----------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|--|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|--|
| Brickyard Kennedy | 1 | 1 | 5.14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | |
| Sam Leever | 2 | 2 | 5.40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10.0 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | |
| Deacon Phillippe | 5 | 5 | 3.07 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 44.0 | 38 | 19 | 15 | 3 | 22 | |
| Gus Thompson | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Bucky Veil | 1 | 0 | 1.29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,866 |
Bluetongue disease
|
**Bluetongue (BT) disease** is a noncontagious, arthropod-borne viral disease affecting ruminants, primarily sheep and other domestic or wild ruminants, including cattle, yaks, goats, buffalo, deer, dromedaries, and antelope. It is caused by Bluetongue virus (**BTV**), a non-enveloped, double-stranded RNA virus belongs to the genus *Orbivirus* within the family *Sedoreoviridae*. The virus is mainly transmitted by biting midges, specifically *Culicoides* species (e.g. *Culicoides imicola*, *Culicoides oxystoma,* and *Culicoides variipennis*). BTV has a widespread geographical distribution, encompassing numerous continents and regions, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and various tropical and subtropical regions. At present, there are more than 28 recognized serotypes of BTV. Bluetongue outbreaks have had a significant economic impact, with estimated global losses reaching approximately US\$3 billion.
## Clinical signs {#clinical_signs}
In sheep, BTV causes an acute disease with high morbidity and mortality. BTV also infects goats, cattle, and other domestic animals, as well as wild ruminants (for example, blesbuck, white-tailed deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope). The clinical signs are summarized under the term FFF (fever, face, feet).
Major signs are high fever, excessive salivation, swelling of the face and tongue, and cyanosis (in severe conditions) of the tongue. Swelling of the lips and tongue gives the tongue its typical blue appearance, though this sign is confined to a minority of the animals. Nasal signs may be prominent, with nasal discharge and stertorous respiration.
Some animals also develop foot lesions, beginning with coronitis, with consequent lameness. In sheep, this can lead to knee-walking. In cattle, constant changing of position of the feet gives bluetongue the nickname **the dancing disease**. Torsion of the neck (opisthotonos or torticollis) is observed in severely affected animals.
Not all animals develop signs, but all those that do lose condition rapidly, and the sickest die within a week. For affected animals that do not die, recovery is very slow, lasting several months.
The incubation period is 5--20 days, and all signs usually develop within a month. The mortality rate is normally low, but it is high in susceptible breeds of sheep. In Africa, local breeds of sheep may have no mortality, but in imported breeds, it may be up to 90%.
The manifestation of clinical signs in cattle is contingent upon the strain of virus. BTV-8 has been documented to cause a severe disease state and mortality in cattle. The current circulation of BTV-3 in Northern Europe is epidemiologically noteworthy due to the presentation of clinical signs in cattle and a higher sheep mortality rate than that observed with BTV-8. Other ruminants, such as goats, typically exhibit minimal or no clinical signs despite high virus levels in blood. Therefore, they could serve as potential virus reservoirs of BTV. Red deer are an exception, and in them the disease may be as acute as in sheep.
Lamb infected in utero can develop congenital hydranencephaly. This abnormality is a condition in which the brain\'s cerebral hemispheres are like Swiss cheese, or absent, and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Ewes infected with bluetongue virus while pregnant can have lambs with this defect, as well as giving birth to lambs who are small, weak, deformed or blind. These affected lambs die within a few days of birth, or are born dead.
## Microbiology
Bluetongue is caused by the pathogenic vector-borne RNA virus, Bluetongue virus (BTV), of the genus *Orbivirus* within the *Sedoreoviridae* family. The virus particle consists of 10 strands of double-stranded RNA surrounded by two protein shells. Unlike other arboviruses, BTV lacks a lipid envelope. The virus exhibits icosahedral symmetry, with a diameter of approximately 80--90 nm. The structure of the 70 nm core was determined in 1998 and was at the time the largest atomic structure to be solved.
The 10 viral genome segments have been found to encode 7 structural (VP1--VP7) and 5 non-structural (NS1, NS2, NS3/NS3A, NS4 and NS5) proteins. There are currently more than 28 known serotypes of BTV. The sequence of genome Seg-2 and its translated protein VP2, as well as that of Seg-6 and its translated protein VP5, exhibit variations that determine the serotypes.
The two outer capsid proteins, VP2 and VP5, mediate attachment and penetration of BTV into the target cell. VP2 and VP5 are the primary antigenic targets for antibody targeting by the host immune system. The virus makes initial contact with the cell with VP2, triggering receptor-mediated endocytosis of the virus. The low pH within the endosome then triggers BTV\'s membrane penetration protein VP5 to undergo a conformational change that disrupts the endosomal membrane. Uncoating yields a transcriptionally active 470S core particle which is composed of two major proteins VP7 and VP3, and the three minor proteins VP1, VP4 and VP6 in addition to the dsRNA genome. There is no evidence that any trace of the outer capsid remains associated with these cores, as has been described for reovirus. The cores may be further uncoated to form 390S subcore particles that lack VP7, also in contrast to reovirus. Subviral particles are probably akin to cores derived *in vitro* from virions by physical or proteolytic treatments that remove the outer capsid and causes activation of the BTV transcriptase. In addition to the seven structural proteins, three non-structural (NS) proteins, NS1, NS2, NS3 (and a related NS3A) are synthesised in BTV-infected cells. Of these, NS3/NS3A is involved in the egress of the progeny virus. The two remaining non-structural proteins, NS1 and NS2, are produced at high levels in the cytoplasm and are believed to be involved in virus replication, assembly and morphogenesis.
## Evolution
The viral genome is replicated via structural protein VP1, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. The lack of proof-reading abilities results in high levels of transcription errors, resulting in single nucleotide mutations. Despite this, the BTV genome is quite stable, exhibiting a low rate of variants arising in populations. Evidence suggests this is due to purifying selection across the genome as the virus is transmitted alternately through its insect and animal hosts. However, individual gene segments undergo different selective pressures and some, particularly segments 4 and 5, are subject to positive selection.
The BTV genome exhibits rapid evolution through genetic drift, reassortment of genome segments (genetic shift), and intragenic recombination. This evolutionary process, in conjunction with the random fixation of quasispecies variants during transmission between susceptible animals and vectors, is postulated to be the primary driver of the genetic diversity observed in BTV field strains. Reassortment can lead to a rapid shift in phenotypes independent of the slow rate of mutation. During this process, gene segments are not randomly reassorted. Rather, there appears to be a mechanism for selecting for or against certain segments from the parental serotypes present. However, this selective mechanism is still poorly understood.
To date, BTV serotypes 25 and above have been identified as the causative agents of infection in small ruminants. The infection is subclinical, which likely explains why these serotypes, which are less or non-virulent, have not been identified earlier through laboratory diagnosis studies. It is noteworthy that BTV serotypes 25 and higher are transmitted without midges, indicating that direct contact between sheep or goats may be a potential vector.
## Epidemiology
The presence of the insect vectors determines the bluetongue disease\'s global distribution, with regions in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and other tropical/subtropical area being most affected.
The virus persists in areas where climatic conditions support the survival of *Culicoides* midges during winter. This adaptability allows the disease to establish itself in new regions when conditions become favorable.
An outline of the transmission cycle of BTV is illustrated in article Parasitic flies of domestic animals.
Its occurrence is seasonal in the affected Mediterranean countries, subsiding when temperatures drop and hard frosts kill the adult midge vectors. Viral survival and vector longevity is seen during milder winters. A significant contribution to the northward spread of bluetongue disease has been the ability of *C. obsoletus* and *C.pulicaris* to acquire and transmit the pathogen, both of which are spread widely throughout Europe. This is in contrast to the original *C.imicola* vector, which is limited to North Africa and the Mediterranean. The relatively recent novel vector has facilitated a far more rapid spread than the simple expansion of habitats north through global warming.
In August 2006, cases of bluetongue were found in the Netherlands, then Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg. In 2007, the first case of bluetongue in the Czech Republic was detected in one bull near Cheb at the Czech-German border. In September 2007, the UK reported its first ever suspected case of the disease, in a Highland cow on a rare-breeds farm near Ipswich, Suffolk. Since then, the virus has spread from cattle to sheep in Britain. By October 2007, bluetongue had become a serious threat in Scandinavia and Switzerland and the first outbreak in Denmark was reported. In autumn 2008, several cases were reported in the southern Swedish provinces of Småland, Halland, and Skåne, as well as in areas of the Netherlands bordering Germany, prompting veterinary authorities in Germany to intensify controls. Norway had its first finding in February 2009, when cows at two farms in Vest-Agder in the south of Norway showed an immune response to bluetongue. A number of countries, including Norway and Finland, were certified as free of the disease in 2011 and 2021, respectively.
In 2023, Europe witnessed a series of notable epizootic occurrences at higher latitudes, partially attributable to the emergence of a novel serotype, BTV-3. The serotype was first identified in the Netherlands in September 2023 and has since been documented in numerous European countries, including Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, the UK, Norway, and Sweden.
Although the disease is not a threat to humans, the most vulnerable common domestic ruminants are cattle, goats, and especially, sheep.
### Overwintering
A puzzling aspect of BTV is its survival between midge seasons in temperate regions. Adults of *Culicoides* are killed by cold winter temperatures, and BTV infections typically do not last for more than 60 days, which is not long enough for BTV to survive until the next spring. It is believed that the virus somehow survives in overwintering midges or animals. Multiple mechanisms have been proposed. A few adult *Culicoides* midges infected with BTV may survive the mild winters of the temperate zone. Some midges may even move indoors to avoid the cold temperature of the winter. Additionally, BTV could cause a chronic or latent infection in some animals, providing another means for BTV to survive the winter. BTV can also be transmitted from mother to fetus. The outcome is abortion or stillbirth if fetal infection occurs early in gestation and survival if infection occurs late. However infection at an intermediate stage, before the fetal immune system is fully developed, may result in a chronic infection that lingers until the first months after birth of the lamb. Midges then spread the pathogen from the calves to other animals, starting a new season of infection.
### Climate change {#climate_change}
The spread of bluetongue to Southern, Central, and Northern Europe provides an illustrative example of the complex interactions between climate change, vector habitat suitability, animal population density, distribution, and movement, which collectively influence the patterns of disease emergence and transmission.`{{Excerpt|Culicoides imicola#Role of climate change}}`{=mediawiki}
## Treatment and prevention {#treatment_and_prevention}
There are currently no antiviral medications that have been approved for the treatment of bluetongue disease. The standard of care involves the administration of anti-inflammatory drugs and supportive nursing care to alleviate the clinical signs and symptoms. Prevention is effected via quarantine, vaccination, and control of the midges vector, including inspection of aircraft. The recurrent emergence of novel strains and the occurrence of new outbreaks with significant socio-economic impacts highlight the urgent need for effective antiviral strategies. The current vaccines for bluetongue virus (BTV) are serotype-specific, which limits their utility and has led to interest in host-targeted antiviral strategies that offer broader activity against multiple serotypes and a reduced risk of resistance development.
### Livestock management and insect control {#livestock_management_and_insect_control}
Some available key measures include vector control, such as the use of insecticides, insect-proof nets, and improved housing to reduce exposure to biting midges. Additionally, the removal of infected animals helps prevent further transmission by reducing the number of viremic hosts, while movement restrictions---including quarantines and health certifications---prevent the introduction of the virus to uninfected regions.
### Vaccines
Vaccination still represents an effective strategy for protecting ruminants against bluetongue. However, this is only possible with a vaccine that is effective against the relevant serotype. The most prevalent vaccines are live attenuated vaccines and killed or inactivated vaccines. Other potential vaccines include subunit vaccines, virus-like particles, DNA vaccines, disabled unfectious single animal vaccines (DISA), and disabled infectious single-cycle vaccines (DISC).
Protection by live attenuated vaccines (LAVs) are serotype specific. Multiserotype LAV cocktails can induce neutralizing antibodies against unincluded serotypes, and subsequent vaccinations with three different pentavalent LAV cocktails induce broad protection. These pentavalent cocktails contain 15 different serotypes in total: serotypes 1 through 14, as well as 19.
Immunization with any of the available vaccines, though, precludes later serological monitoring of affected cattle populations, a problem that could be resolved using next-generation subunit vaccines.
In January 2015, the vaccine Raksha Blu was launched in India. It is designed to protect livestock against five strains of the bluetongue virus.
The vaccine Syvazul BTV was authorized for veterinary use in the European Union in January 2019.
In January 2025, the Committee for Veterinary Medicinal Products (CVMP) of the European Medicines Agency adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the veterinary medicinal product Bluevac-3, suspension for injection, intended for cattle and sheep. The applicant for this veterinary medicinal product is CZ Vaccines S.A.U. Bluevac-3 is a vaccine containing inactivated bluetongue virus, serotype 3, BTV-3/NET2023 as active substance. The vaccine is intended to stimulate the active immunity of sheep and cattle against bluetongue virus serotype 3. The CVMP also adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorization for the veterinary medicinal product Syvazul BTV 3, suspension for injection, intended for sheep. The applicant for this veterinary medicinal product is Laboratorios Syva S.A. Syvazul BTV 3 is a vaccine containing Bluetongue virus, serotype 3, BTV-3/NET2023, inactivated as active substance. It is intended for the active immunization of sheep against bluetongue virus serotype 3.
## History
In the early stages of its identification, BT was referred to by a number of different names, including \"epizootic catarrh,\" \"fever,\" \"malarial catarrhal fever of sheep,\" and \"epizootic malignant catarrhal fever of sheep.\" This was due to the prevailing belief at the time that BT was caused by an intraerythrocytic parasite. The English translation \"Bluetongue\" was initially proposed by Spreull and derived from the Afrikaans term \"bloutong,\" which refers to the condition of cyanosis of the tongue in clinically affected sheep. Although bluetongue disease was already recognized in South Africa in the early 19th century, a comprehensive description of the disease was not published until the first decade of the 20th century. In 1906, Arnold Theiler showed that bluetongue was caused by a filterable agent. He also created the first bluetongue vaccine, which was developed from an attenuated BT V strain. For many decades, bluetongue was thought to be confined to Africa. The first confirmed outbreak outside of Africa occurred in Cyprus in 1943. In 2021, a vessel owned by Khalifeh Livestock Trading and managed by Talia Shipping Line, both based in Lebanon, has been denied right to dock in Spain, as it has about 895 male calves suspected to be infected by bluetongue disease.
## Related diseases {#related_diseases}
African horse sickness is related to bluetongue and is spread by the same midges (*Culicoides* species). It can kill the horses it infects and mortality may go as high as 90% of the infected horses during an epidemic.
Epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus is closely related and crossreacts with Bluetongue virus on many blood tests.
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Bruce Perens
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**Bruce Perens** (born around 1958) is an American computer programmer and advocate in the free software movement. He created *The Open Source Definition* and published the first formal announcement and manifesto of open source. He co-founded the Open Source Initiative (OSI) with Eric S. Raymond.
In 2005, Perens represented Open Source at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, at the invitation of the United Nations Development Programme. He has appeared before national legislatures and is often quoted in the press, advocating for open source and the reform of national and international technology policy.
Perens is also an amateur radio operator, with call sign K6BP. He promotes open radio communications standards and open-source hardware.
In 2016 Perens, along with Boalt Hall (Berkeley Law) professor Lothar Determann, co-authored \"Open Cars\" which appeared in the Berkeley Technology Law Journal.
In 2018 Perens founded the Open Research Institute (ORI), a non-profit research and development organization to address technologies involving Open Source, Open Hardware, Open Standards, Open Content, and Open Access to Research. In April 2022 he divorced himself from the organization and reported he was starting a new charity, HamOpen.org, to redirect his focus, and align with the ARRL organization for their liability insurance benefit. HamOpen has been most visible supporting the convention exhibitions of projects Perens supports, including M17 and FreeDV.
## Companies
Perens operates two companies: Algoram is a start-up which is creating a web-based control system for radio transmitters and other devices. Legal Engineering is a legal-technical consultancy which specializes in resolving copyright infringement in relation to open source software.
## Early life {#early_life}
Perens grew up in Long Island, New York. He was born with cerebral palsy, which caused him to have slurred speech as a child, a condition that led to a misdiagnosis of him as developmentally disabled in school and led the school to fail to teach him to read. He developed an interest in technology at an early age: besides his interest in amateur radio, he ran a pirate radio station in the town of Lido Beach and briefly engaged in phone phreaking.
## Career
### Computer graphics {#computer_graphics}
Perens worked for seven years at the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab. After that, he worked at Pixar for 12 years, from 1987 to 1999. He is credited as a studio tools engineer on the Pixar films *A Bug\'s Life* (1998) and *Toy Story 2* (1999).
### No-Code International {#no_code_international}
Perens founded No-Code International in 1998 with the goal of ending the Morse Code test then required for an amateur radio license. His rationale was that amateur radio should be a tool for young people to learn advanced technology and networking, rather than something that preserved antiquity and required new hams to master outmoded technology before they were allowed on the air.
Perens lobbied intensively on the Internet, at amateur radio events in the United States, and during visits to other nations. One of his visits was to Iceland, where he had half of that nation\'s radio amateurs in the room, and their vote in the International Amateur Radio Union was equivalent to that of the entire United States.
### Debian Social Contract {#debian_social_contract}
In 1997, Perens was carbon-copied on an email conversation between Donnie Barnes of Red Hat and Ean Schuessler, who was then working on Debian. Schuessler bemoaned that Red Hat had never stated its social contract with the developer community. Perens took this as inspiration to create a formal social contract for Debian. In a blog posting, Perens claims not to have made use of the Three Freedoms (later the Four Freedoms) published by the Free Software Foundation in composing his document. Perens proposed a draft of the Debian Social Contract to the Debian developers on the debian-private mailing list early in June 1997. Debian developers contributed discussion and changes for the rest of the month while Perens edited, and the completed document was then announced as Debian project policy. Part of the Debian Social Contract was the Debian Free Software Guidelines, a set of 10 guidelines for determining whether a set of software can be described as \"free software\", and thus whether it could be included in Debian.
### Open Source Definition and The Open Source Initiative {#open_source_definition_and_the_open_source_initiative}
On February 3, 1998, a group of people (not including Perens) met at VA Linux Systems to discuss the promotion of Free Software to business in pragmatic terms, rather than the moral terms preferred by Richard Stallman. Christine Petersen of the nanotechnology organization Foresight Institute, who was present because Foresight took an early interest in Free Software, suggested the term \"Open Source\". The next day, Eric S. Raymond recruited Perens to work with him on the formation of Open Source. Perens modified the Debian Free Software Guidelines into the Open Source Definition by removing Debian references and replacing them with \"Open Source\".
The original announcement of The Open Source Definition was made on February 9, 1998, on Slashdot and elsewhere; the definition was given in Linux Gazette on February 10, 1998.
Concurrently, Perens and Raymond established the Open Source Initiative, an organization intended to promote open source software.
Perens left OSI in 1999, a year after co-founding it. In February 1999 in an email to the Debian developers mailing list he explained his decision and stated that, though \"most hackers know that Free Software and Open Source are just two words for the same thing\", the success of \"open source\" as a marketing term had \"de-emphasized the importance of the freedoms involved in Free Software\"; he added, \"It\'s time for us to fix that.\" He stated his regret that OSI co-founder Eric Raymond \"seems to be losing his free software focus.\" But in the following 2000s he spoke about Open source again. Perens presently volunteers as the Open Source Initiative\'s representative to the European Technical Standards Institute (\"ETSI\"), and is a frequent participant in review of license texts submitted to OSI for certification as Open Source licenses.
### Linux Capital Group {#linux_capital_group}
In 1999, Perens left Pixar and became the president of Linux Capital Group, a business incubator and venture capital firm focusing on Linux-based businesses. Their major investment was in Progeny Linux Systems, a company headed by Debian founder Ian Murdock. In 2000, as a result of the economic downturn, Perens shut down Linux Capital Group. (Progeny Linux Systems would end operations in 2007.)
### Hewlett-Packard {#hewlett_packard}
From December 2000 to September 2002, Perens served as \"Senior Global Strategist for Linux and Open Source\" at Hewlett-Packard, internally evangelizing for the use of Linux and other open-source software. He was fired as a result of his anti-Microsoft statements, which especially became an issue after HP acquired Compaq, a major manufacturer of Microsoft Windows-based PCs, in 2002.
### UserLinux
In 2003 Perens created UserLinux, a Debian-based distribution whose stated goal was, \"Provide businesses with freely available, high quality Linux operating systems accompanied by certifications, service, and support options designed to encourage productivity and security while reducing overall costs.\" UserLinux was eventually overtaken in popularity by Ubuntu, another Debian-based distribution, which was started in 2004, and UserLinux became unmaintained in 2006.
### SourceLabs
Perens was an employee of SourceLabs, a Seattle-based open source software and services company, from June 2005 until December 2007. He produced a video commercial, *Impending Security Breach*, for SourceLabs in 2007. (SourceLabs was acquired by EMC in 2009.)
### University faculty {#university_faculty}
Between 1981 and 1986, Perens was on the staff of the New York Institute of Technology Computer Graphics Lab as a Unix kernel programmer.
In 2002, Perens was a remote Senior Scientist for Open Source with the Cyber Security Policy Laboratory of George Washington University under the direction of Tony Stanco. Stanco was director of the laboratory for a year, while its regular director was on sabbatical.
Between 2006 and 2007, Perens was a visiting lecturer and researcher for the University of Agder under a three-year grant from the Competence Fund of Southern Norway. During this time he consulted the Norwegian Government and other entities on government policy issues related to computers and software. After this time Perens worked remotely on Agder programs, mainly concerning the European Internet Accessibility Observatory.
### Other activities {#other_activities}
In 2007, some of Perens\'s government advisory roles included a meeting with the President of the Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of parliament) in Italy and testimony to the Culture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies; a keynote speech at the foundation of Norway\'s Open Source Center, following Norway\'s Minister of Governmental Reform (Perens is on the advisory board of the center); he provided input on the revision of the European Interoperability Framework; and he was keynote speaker at a European Commission conference on *Digital Business Ecosystems at the Centre Borschette, Brussels, on November 7*.
In 2009, Perens acted as an expert witness on open source in the Jacobsen v. Katzer U.S. Federal lawsuit. His report, which was made publicly available by Jacobsen, presented the culture and impact of open-source software development to the federal courts.
Perens delivered one of the keynote addresses at the 2012 linux.conf.au conference in Ballarat, Australia. He discussed the need for open source software to market itself better to non-technical users. He also discussed some of the latest developments in open-source hardware, such as Papilio and Bus Pirate.
In 2013, Perens spoke in South America, as the closing keynote at Latinoware 2013. He was the keynote of CISL -- Conferencia Internacional de Software Libre, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and keynoted a special event along with the Minister of software and innovation of Chubut Province, in Puerto Madrin, Patagonia, Argentina. He keynoted the Festival de Software Libre 2013, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
In 2014--2015, Perens took a break from Open Source conferences, having spoken at them often since 1996. In 2016, he returned to the conference circuit, keynoting the Open Source Insight conference in Seoul, sponsored by the Copyright Commission of South Korea. Perens web site presently advertises his availability to keynote conferences as long as travel and lodging expenses are compensated.
In 2020, Perens delivered the talk, \"What Comes After Open Source?\" for DebConf 2020. He discussed the future of open source licensing and the need to develop alternative licensing structures so that open source developers could get paid for their work.
## Views
Perens poses \"Open Source\" as a means of marketing the free and open-source software idea to business people and mainstream who might be more interested in the practical benefits of an open source development model and ecosystem than abstract ethics. He states that open source and free software are only two ways of talking about the same phenomenon, a point of view not shared by Stallman and his free software movement. Perens postulated in 2004 an economic theory for business use of Open Source in his paper *The Emerging Economic Paradigm of Open Source* and his speech *Innovation Goes Public*. This differs from Raymond\'s theory in *The Cathedral and the Bazaar*, which having been written before there was much business involvement in open source, explains open source as a consequence of programmer motivation and leisure.
In February 2008, for the 10th anniversary of the phrase \"open source\", Perens published a message to the community called \"State of Open Source Message: A New Decade For Open Source\". Around the same time the ezine RegDeveloper published an interview with Perens where he spoke of the successes of open source, but also warned of dangers, including a proliferation of OSI-approved licenses which had not undergone legal scrutiny. He advocated the use of the GPLv3 license, especially noting Linus Torvalds\' refusal to switch away from GPLv2 for the Linux kernel.
Bruce Perens supported Bernie Sanders for President and he claims that his experience with the open source movement influenced that decision. On July 13, 2016, following Sanders\'s endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president, Perens endorsed Clinton.
In January 2013, Perens advocated for abolishment of the Second Amendment to the U.S. constitution, stating that he does \"not believe in private ownership of firearms\" and that he would \"take away guns currently held by individuals, without compensation for their value.\" He reiterated this view in a June 2014 interview in Slashdot, and in November 2017 on his Twitter account.
## Amateur radio and other activities {#amateur_radio_and_other_activities}
Perens is an avid amateur radio enthusiast (call sign K6BP) and maintained technocrat.net, which he closed in late 2008, because its revenues did not cover its costs.
## Media appearances {#media_appearances}
Perens is featured in the 2001 documentary film *Revolution OS* and the 2006 BBC television documentary *The Code-Breakers*.
From 2002 to 2006, Prentice Hall PTR published the Bruce Perens\' Open Source Series, a set of 24 books covering various open source software tools, for which Perens served as the series editor. It was the first book series to be published under an open license.
## Personal life {#personal_life}
Perens lives in Berkeley, California with his wife, Valerie, and son, Stanley, born in 2000.
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Bundle theory
|
**Bundle theory**, originated by the 18th century Scottish philosopher David Hume, is the ontological theory about objecthood in which an object consists only of a collection (*bundle*) of properties, relations or tropes.
According to bundle theory, an object consists of its properties and nothing more; thus, there cannot be an object without properties and one cannot *conceive* of such an object. For example, when we think of an apple, we think of its properties: redness, roundness, being a type of fruit, *etc*. There is nothing above and beyond these properties; the apple is nothing more than the collection of its properties. In particular, there is no *substance* in which the properties are *inherent*.
Bundle theory has been contrasted with the *ego theory* of the self, which views the egoic self as a soul-like substance existing in the same manner as the corporeal self.
## Arguments in favor {#arguments_in_favor}
The difficulty in conceiving and or describing an object without also conceiving and or describing its properties is a common justification for bundle theory, especially among current philosophers in the Anglo-American tradition.
The inability to comprehend any aspect of the thing other than its properties implies, this argument maintains, that one cannot conceive of a *bare particular* (a *substance* without properties), an implication that directly opposes substance theory. The conceptual difficulty of *bare particulars* was illustrated by John Locke when he described a *substance* by itself, apart from its properties as \"something, I know not what. \[\...\] The idea then we have, to which we give the general name substance, being nothing but the supposed, but unknown, support of those qualities we find existing, which we imagine cannot subsist sine re substante, without something to support them, we call that support substantia; which, according to the true import of the word, is, in plain English, standing under or upholding.\"
Whether a *relation* of an object is one of its properties may complicate such an argument. However, the argument concludes that the conceptual challenge of *bare particulars* leaves a bundle of properties and nothing more as the only possible conception of an object, thus justifying bundle theory.
## Objections
Bundle theory maintains that properties are *bundled* together in a collection without describing how they are tied together. For example, bundle theory regards an apple as red, 4 in wide, and juicy but lacking an underlying *substance*. The apple is said to be a *bundle of properties* including redness, being 4 in wide, and juiciness. Hume used the term \"bundle\" in this sense, also referring to the personal identity, in his main work: \"I may venture to affirm of the rest of mankind, that they are nothing but a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed each other with inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement\".
Critics question how bundle theory accounts for the properties\' *compresence* (the *togetherness* relation between those properties) without an underlying *substance*. Critics also question how any two given properties are determined to be properties of the same object if there is no *substance* in which they both *inhere*. This argument is done away with if one considers spatio-temporal location to be a property as well.
Traditional bundle theory explains the *compresence* of properties by defining an object as a collection of properties *bound* together. Thus, different combinations of properties and relations produce different objects. Redness and juiciness, for example, may be found together on top of the table because they are part of a bundle of properties located on the table, one of which is the \"looks like an apple\" property.
By contrast, substance theory explains the *compresence* of properties by asserting that the properties are found together because it is the *substance* that has those properties. In substance theory, a *substance* is the thing in which properties *inhere*. For example, redness and juiciness are found on top of the table because redness and juiciness *inhere* in an apple, making the apple red and juicy.
The *bundle theory of substance* explains *compresence*. Specifically, it maintains that properties\' compresence itself engenders a *substance*. Thus, it determines *substancehood* empirically by the *togetherness* of properties rather than by a *bare particular* or by any other non-empirical underlying strata. The *bundle theory of substance* thus rejects the substance theories of Aristotle, Descartes, Leibniz, and more recently, J. P. Moreland, Jia Hou, Joseph Bridgman, Quentin Smith, and others.
## Buddhism
The Indian Madhyamaka philosopher, Chandrakirti, used the aggregate nature of objects to demonstrate the lack of essence in what is known as the sevenfold reasoning. In his work, *Guide to the Middle Way* (Sanskrit: *Madhyamakāvatāra*), he says:
He goes on to explain what is meant by each of these seven assertions, but briefly in a subsequent commentary he explains that the conventions of the world do not exist essentially when closely analyzed, but exist only through being taken for granted, without being subject to scrutiny that searches for an essence within them.
Another view of the Buddhist theory of the self, especially in early Buddhism, is that the Buddhist theory is essentially an eliminativist theory. According to this understanding, the self can not be reduced to a bundle because there is nothing that answers to the concept of a self. Consequently, the idea of a self must be eliminated.
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Binomial distribution
|
` | kurtosis = `$\frac{1-6pq}{npq}$\
` | entropy = `$\frac{1}{2} \log_2 (2\pi enpq) + O \left( \frac{1}{n} \right)$\
` in ``shannons``. For ``nats``, use the natural log in the log.`\
` | mgf = `$(q + pe^t)^n$\
` | char = `$(q + pe^{it})^n$\
` | pgf = `$G(z) = [q + pz]^n$\
` | fisher = `$g_n(p) = \frac{n}{pq}$\
`(for fixed `$n$`)`
}} `{{Probability fundamentals}}`{=mediawiki}
In probability theory and statistics, the **binomial distribution** with parameters `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki} is the discrete probability distribution of the number of successes in a sequence of `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} independent experiments, each asking a yes--no question, and each with its own Boolean-valued outcome: *success* (with probability `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki}) or *failure* (with probability `{{math|''q'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} 1 − *p*}}). A single success/failure experiment is also called a Bernoulli trial or Bernoulli experiment, and a sequence of outcomes is called a Bernoulli process; for a single trial, i.e., `{{math|''n'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} 1}}, the binomial distribution is a Bernoulli distribution. The binomial distribution is the basis for the binomial test of statistical significance.
The binomial distribution is frequently used to model the number of successes in a sample of size `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} drawn with replacement from a population of size `{{mvar|N}}`{=mediawiki}. If the sampling is carried out without replacement, the draws are not independent and so the resulting distribution is a hypergeometric distribution, not a binomial one. However, for `{{mvar|N}}`{=mediawiki} much larger than `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki}, the binomial distribution remains a good approximation, and is widely used.
## Definitions
### Probability mass function {#probability_mass_function}
If the random variable `{{mvar|X}}`{=mediawiki} follows the binomial distribution with parameters `{{math|''n'' ∈ [[natural number|<math>\mathbb{N}</math>]]}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''p'' ∈ {{closed-closed|0, 1}}}}`{=mediawiki}, we write `{{math|''X'' ~ ''B''(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}. The probability of getting exactly `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} successes in `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} independent Bernoulli trials (with the same rate `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki}) is given by the probability mass function:
: $f(k,n,p) = \Pr(X = k) = \binom{n}{k}p^k(1-p)^{n-k}$
for `{{math|''k'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} 0, 1, 2, \..., *n*}}, where
: $\binom{n}{k} =\frac{n!}{k!(n-k)!}$
is the binomial coefficient. The formula can be understood as follows: `{{math|''p''{{sup|''k''}} ''q''{{sup|''n''−''k''}}}}`{=mediawiki} is the probability of obtaining the sequence of `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} independent Bernoulli trials in which `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} trials are \"successes\" and the remaining `{{math|''n'' − ''k''}}`{=mediawiki} trials result in \"failure\". Since the trials are independent with probabilities remaining constant between them, any sequence of `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} trials with `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} successes (and `{{math|''n'' − ''k''}}`{=mediawiki} failures) has the same probability of being achieved (regardless of positions of successes within the sequence). There are $\binom{n}{k}$ such sequences, since the binomial coefficient $\binom{n}{k}$ counts the number of ways to choose the positions of the `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} successes among the `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} trials. The binomial distribution is concerned with the probability of obtaining *any* of these sequences, meaning the probability of obtaining one of them (`{{math|''p''{{sup|''k''}} ''q''{{sup|''n''−''k''}}}}`{=mediawiki}) must be added $\binom{n}{k}$ times, hence $\Pr(X = k) = \binom{n}{k} p^k (1-p)^{n-k}$.
In creating reference tables for binomial distribution probability, usually, the table is filled in up to `{{math|''n''/2}}`{=mediawiki} values. This is because for `{{math|''k'' > ''n''/2}}`{=mediawiki}, the probability can be calculated by its complement as
: $f(k,n,p)=f(n-k,n,1-p).$
Looking at the expression `{{math|''f''(''k'', ''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} as a function of `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki}, there is a `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} value that maximizes it. This `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} value can be found by calculating
: $\frac{f(k+1,n,p)}{f(k,n,p)}=\frac{(n-k)p}{(k+1)(1-p)}$
and comparing it to 1. There is always an integer `{{mvar|M}}`{=mediawiki} that satisfies
: $(n+1)p-1 \leq M < (n+1)p.$
is monotone increasing for `{{math|''k'' < ''M''}}`{=mediawiki} and monotone decreasing for `{{math|''k'' > ''M''}}`{=mediawiki}, with the exception of the case where `{{math|(''n'' + 1)''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is an integer. In this case, there are two values for which `{{mvar|f}}`{=mediawiki} is maximal: `{{math|(''n'' + 1) ''p''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|(''n'' + 1) ''p'' − 1}}`{=mediawiki}. `{{mvar|M}}`{=mediawiki} is the *most probable* outcome (that is, the most likely, although this can still be unlikely overall) of the Bernoulli trials and is called the mode.
Equivalently, `{{math|''M'' − ''p'' < ''np'' ≤ ''M'' + 1 − ''p''}}`{=mediawiki}. Taking the floor function, we obtain `{{math|''M'' {{=}}`{=mediawiki} floor(*np*)}}.`{{NoteTag|Except the trivial case {{math|''p'' {{=}} 0}}`{=mediawiki}, which must be checked separately.}}
### Example
Suppose a biased coin comes up heads with probability 0.3 when tossed. The probability of seeing exactly 4 heads in 6 tosses is
: $f(4,6,0.3) = \binom{6}{4}0.3^4 (1-0.3)^{6-4}= 0.059535.$
### Cumulative distribution function {#cumulative_distribution_function}
The cumulative distribution function can be expressed as:
: $F(k;n,p) = \Pr(X \le k) = \sum_{i=0}^{\lfloor k \rfloor} {n\choose i}p^i(1-p)^{n-i},$
where $\lfloor k\rfloor$ is the \"floor\" under `{{math|''k''}}`{=mediawiki}, i.e. the greatest integer less than or equal to `{{math|''k''}}`{=mediawiki}.
It can also be represented in terms of the regularized incomplete beta function, as follows:
: \\begin{align}
F(k;n,p) & = \\Pr(X \\le k) \\\\ &= I\_{1-p}(n-k, k+1) \\\\ & = (n-k) {n \\choose k} \\int_0\^{1-p} t\^{n-k-1} (1-t)\^k \\, dt , \\end{align} which is equivalent to the cumulative distribution functions of the beta distribution and of the `{{mvar|F}}`{=mediawiki}-distribution:
: $F(k;n,p) = F_{\text{beta-distribution}}\left(x=1-p;\alpha=n-k,\beta=k+1\right)$
: $F(k;n,p) = F_{F\text{-distribution}}\left(x=\frac{1-p}{p}\frac{k+1}{n-k};d_1=2(n-k),d_2=2(k+1)\right).$
Some closed-form bounds for the cumulative distribution function are given below.
## Properties
### Expected value and variance {#expected_value_and_variance}
If `{{math|''X'' ~ ''B''(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}, that is, `{{math|''X''}}`{=mediawiki} is a binomially distributed random variable, `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} being the total number of experiments and *p* the probability of each experiment yielding a successful result, then the expected value of `{{math|''X''}}`{=mediawiki} is:
: $\operatorname{E}[X] = np.$
This follows from the linearity of the expected value along with the fact that `{{mvar|X}}`{=mediawiki} is the sum of `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} identical Bernoulli random variables, each with expected value `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki}. In other words, if $X_1, \ldots, X_n$ are identical (and independent) Bernoulli random variables with parameter `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki}, then `{{math|1=''X'' = ''X''<sub>1</sub> + ... + ''X''<sub>''n''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} and
: $\operatorname{E}[X] = \operatorname{E}[X_1 + \cdots + X_n] = \operatorname{E}[X_1] + \cdots + \operatorname{E}[X_n] = p + \cdots + p = np.$
The variance is:
: $\operatorname{Var}(X) = npq = np(1 - p).$
This similarly follows from the fact that the variance of a sum of independent random variables is the sum of the variances.
### Higher moments {#higher_moments}
The first 6 central moments, defined as $\mu _{c}=\operatorname {E} \left[(X-\operatorname {E} [X])^{c}\right]$, are given by
: \\begin{align}
\\mu_1 &= 0, \\\\ \\mu_2 &= np(1-p),\\\\ \\mu_3 &= np(1-p)(1-2p),\\\\ \\mu_4 &= np(1-p)(1+(3n-6)p(1-p)),\\\\ \\mu_5 &= np(1-p)(1-2p)(1+(10n-12)p(1-p)),\\\\ \\mu_6 &= np(1-p)(1-30p(1-p)(1-4p(1-p))+5np(1-p)(5-26p(1-p))+15n\^2 p\^2 (1-p)\^2). \\end{align}
The non-central moments satisfy
: \\begin{align}
\\operatorname {E}\[X\] &= np, \\\\ \\operatorname {E}\[X\^2\] &= np(1-p)+n\^2p\^2, \\end{align} and in general
:
\\operatorname {E}\[X\^c\] = \\sum\_{k=0}\^c \\left\\{ {c \\atop k} \\right\\} n\^{\\underline{k}} p\^k, where $\textstyle \left\{{c\atop k}\right\}$ are the Stirling numbers of the second kind, and $n^{\underline{k}} = n(n-1)\cdots(n-k+1)$ is the $k$th falling power of $n$. A simple bound follows by bounding the Binomial moments via the higher Poisson moments:
:
\\operatorname {E}\[X\^c\] \\le \\left(\\frac{c}{\\ln(c/(np)+1)}\\right)\^c \\le (np)\^c \\exp\\left(\\frac{c\^2}{2np}\\right). This shows that if $c=O(\sqrt{np})$, then $\operatorname {E}[X^c]$ is at most a constant factor away from $\operatorname {E}[X]^c$
### Mode
Usually the mode of a binomial `{{math|''B''(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} distribution is equal to $\lfloor (n+1)p\rfloor$, where $\lfloor\cdot\rfloor$ is the floor function. However, when `{{math|(''n'' + 1)''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is an integer and `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is neither 0 nor 1, then the distribution has two modes: `{{math|(''n'' + 1)''p''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|(''n'' + 1)''p'' − 1}}`{=mediawiki}. When `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is equal to 0 or 1, the mode will be 0 and `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} correspondingly. These cases can be summarized as follows:
: \\text{mode} =
` \begin{cases}`\
` \lfloor (n+1)\,p\rfloor & \text{if }(n+1)p\text{ is 0 or a noninteger}, \\`\
` (n+1)\,p\ \text{ and }\ (n+1)\,p - 1 &\text{if }(n+1)p\in\{1,\dots,n\}, \\`\
` n & \text{if }(n+1)p = n + 1.`\
` \end{cases}`
**Proof:** Let
: $f(k)=\binom nk p^k q^{n-k}.$
For $p=0$ only $f(0)$ has a nonzero value with $f(0)=1$. For $p=1$ we find $f(n)=1$ and $f(k)=0$ for $k\neq n$. This proves that the mode is 0 for $p=0$ and $n$ for $p=1$.
Let $0 < p < 1$. We find
$$\frac{f(k+1)}{f(k)} = \frac{(n-k)p}{(k+1)(1-p)}$$.
From this follows
: \\begin{align}
k \> (n+1)p-1 \\Rightarrow f(k+1) \< f(k) \\\\ k = (n+1)p-1 \\Rightarrow f(k+1) = f(k) \\\\ k \< (n+1)p-1 \\Rightarrow f(k+1) \> f(k) \\end{align}
So when $(n+1)p-1$ is an integer, then $(n+1)p-1$ and $(n+1)p$ is a mode. In the case that $(n+1)p-1\notin \Z$, then only $\lfloor (n+1)p-1\rfloor+1=\lfloor (n+1)p\rfloor$ is a mode.
### Median
In general, there is no single formula to find the median for a binomial distribution, and it may even be non-unique. However, several special results have been established:
- If `{{math|''np''}}`{=mediawiki} is an integer, then the mean, median, and mode coincide and equal `{{math|''np''}}`{=mediawiki}.
- Any median `{{math|''m''}}`{=mediawiki} must lie within the interval $\lfloor np \rfloor\leq m \leq \lceil np \rceil$.
- A median `{{math|''m''}}`{=mediawiki} cannot lie too far away from the mean$$|m-np|\leq \min\{{\ln2}, \max\{p,1-p\}\}$$ .
```{=html}
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- The median is unique and equal to `{{math|1=''m'' = [[Rounding|round]](''np'')}}`{=mediawiki} when `{{math|1={{abs|''m'' − ''np''}} ≤ min{{brace|''p'', 1 − ''p''}}}}`{=mediawiki} (except for the case when `{{math|1=''p'' = 1/2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is odd).
- When `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is a rational number (with the exception of `{{math|1=''p'' = 1/2}}`{=mediawiki}\\ and `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} odd) the median is unique.
```{=html}
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```
- When $p= \frac{1}{2}$ and `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is odd, any number `{{math|''m''}}`{=mediawiki} in the interval $\frac{1}{2} \bigl(n-1\bigr)\leq m \leq \frac{1}{2} \bigl(n+1\bigr)$ is a median of the binomial distribution. If $p= \frac{1}{2}$ and `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is even, then $m= \frac{n}{2}$ is the unique median.
### Tail bounds {#tail_bounds}
For `{{math|''k'' ≤ ''np''}}`{=mediawiki}, upper bounds can be derived for the lower tail of the cumulative distribution function $F(k;n,p) = \Pr(X \le k)$, the probability that there are at most `{{math|''k''}}`{=mediawiki} successes. Since $\Pr(X \ge k) = F(n-k;n,1-p)$, these bounds can also be seen as bounds for the upper tail of the cumulative distribution function for `{{math|''k'' ≥ ''np''}}`{=mediawiki}.
Hoeffding\'s inequality yields the simple bound
: $F(k;n,p) \leq \exp\left(-2 n\left(p-\frac{k}{n}\right)^2\right), \!$
which is however not very tight. In particular, for `{{math|1=''p'' = 1}}`{=mediawiki}, we have that `{{math|1=''F''(''k''; ''n'', ''p'') = 0}}`{=mediawiki} (for fixed `{{math|''k''}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} with `{{math|''k'' < ''n''}}`{=mediawiki}), but Hoeffding\'s bound evaluates to a positive constant.
A sharper bound can be obtained from the Chernoff bound:
: $F(k;n,p) \leq \exp\left(-nD\left(\frac{k}{n}\parallel p\right)\right)$
where `{{math|''D''(''a'' ∥ ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} is the relative entropy (or Kullback-Leibler divergence) between an `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki}-coin and a `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki}-coin (i.e. between the `{{math|Bernoulli(''a'')}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|Bernoulli(''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} distribution):
: $D(a\parallel p)=(a)\ln\frac{a}{p}+(1-a)\ln\frac{1-a}{1-p}. \!$
Asymptotically, this bound is reasonably tight; see for details.
One can also obtain *lower* bounds on the tail `{{math|''F''(''k''; ''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}, known as anti-concentration bounds. By approximating the binomial coefficient with Stirling\'s formula it can be shown that
: $F(k;n,p) \geq \frac{1}{\sqrt{8n\tfrac{k}{n}(1-\tfrac{k}{n})}} \exp\left(-nD\left(\frac{k}{n}\parallel p\right)\right),$
which implies the simpler but looser bound
: $F(k;n,p) \geq \frac1{\sqrt{2n}} \exp\left(-nD\left(\frac{k}{n}\parallel p\right)\right).$
For `{{math|1=''p'' = 1/2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''k'' ≥ 3''n''/8}}`{=mediawiki} for even `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}, it is possible to make the denominator constant:
: $F(k;n,\tfrac{1}{2}) \geq \frac{1}{15} \exp\left(- 16n \left(\frac{1}{2} -\frac{k}{n}\right)^2\right). \!$
## Statistical inference {#statistical_inference}
### Estimation of parameters {#estimation_of_parameters}
When `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is known, the parameter `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} can be estimated using the proportion of successes:
: $\widehat{p} = \frac{x}{n}.$
This estimator is found using maximum likelihood estimator and also the method of moments. This estimator is unbiased and uniformly with minimum variance, proven using Lehmann--Scheffé theorem, since it is based on a minimal sufficient and complete statistic (i.e.: `{{math|''x''}}`{=mediawiki}). It is also consistent both in probability and in MSE. This statistic is asymptotically normal thanks to the central limit theorem, because it is the same as taking the mean over Bernoulli samples. It has a variance of $var(\widehat{p}) = \frac{p(1-p)}{n}$, a property which is used in various ways, such as in Wald\'s confidence intervals.
A closed form Bayes estimator for `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} also exists when using the Beta distribution as a conjugate prior distribution. When using a general $\operatorname{Beta}(\alpha, \beta)$ as a prior, the posterior mean estimator is:
: $\widehat{p}_b = \frac{x+\alpha}{n+\alpha+\beta}.$
The Bayes estimator is asymptotically efficient and as the sample size approaches infinity (`{{math|''n'' → ∞}}`{=mediawiki}), it approaches the MLE solution. The Bayes estimator is biased (how much depends on the priors), admissible and consistent in probability. Using the Bayesian estimator with the Beta distribution can be used with Thompson sampling.
For the special case of using the standard uniform distribution as a non-informative prior, $\operatorname{Beta}(\alpha=1, \beta=1) = U(0,1)$, the posterior mean estimator becomes:
$$\widehat{p}_b = \frac{x+1}{n+2}.$$ (A posterior mode should just lead to the standard estimator.) This method is called the rule of succession, which was introduced in the 18th century by Pierre-Simon Laplace.
When relying on Jeffreys prior, the prior is $\operatorname{Beta}(\alpha=\frac{1}{2}, \beta=\frac{1}{2})$, which leads to the estimator:
: $\widehat{p}_{Jeffreys} = \frac{x+\frac{1}{2}}{n+1}.$
When estimating `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} with very rare events and a small `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} (e.g.: if `{{math|1=''x'' = 0}}`{=mediawiki}), then using the standard estimator leads to $\widehat{p} = 0,$ which sometimes is unrealistic and undesirable. In such cases there are various alternative estimators. One way is to use the Bayes estimator $\widehat{p}_b$, leading to:
: $\widehat{p}_b = \frac{1}{n+2}.$
Another method is to use the upper bound of the confidence interval obtained using the rule of three:
: $\widehat{p}_{\text{rule of 3}} = \frac{3}{n}.$
### Confidence intervals for the parameter p {#confidence_intervals_for_the_parameter_p}
Even for quite large values of *n*, the actual distribution of the mean is significantly nonnormal. Because of this problem several methods to estimate confidence intervals have been proposed.
In the equations for confidence intervals below, the variables have the following meaning:
- *n*~1~ is the number of successes out of *n*, the total number of trials
- $\widehat{p\,} = \frac{n_1}{n}$ is the proportion of successes
- $z$ is the $1 - \tfrac{1}{2}\alpha$ quantile of a standard normal distribution (i.e., probit) corresponding to the target error rate $\alpha$. For example, for a 95% confidence level the error $\alpha$ = 0.05, so $1 - \tfrac{1}{2}\alpha$ = 0.975 and $z$ = 1.96.
#### Wald method {#wald_method}
: $\widehat{p\,} \pm z \sqrt{ \frac{ \widehat{p\,} ( 1 -\widehat{p\,} )}{ n } } .$
A continuity correction of `{{math|0.5/''n''}}`{=mediawiki} may be added.`{{clarify|date=July 2012}}`{=mediawiki}
#### Agresti--Coull method {#agresticoull_method}
: $\tilde{p} \pm z \sqrt{ \frac{ \tilde{p} ( 1 - \tilde{p} )}{ n + z^2 } }$
Here the estimate of `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is modified to
: $\tilde{p}= \frac{ n_1 + \frac{1}{2} z^2}{ n + z^2 }$
This method works well for `{{math|''n'' > 10}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''n''<sub>1</sub> ≠ 0, ''n''}}`{=mediawiki}. See here for $n\leq 10$. For `{{math|1=''n''<sub>1</sub> = 0, ''n''}}`{=mediawiki} use the Wilson (score) method below.
#### Arcsine method {#arcsine_method}
: $\sin^2 \left(\arcsin \left(\sqrt{\widehat{p\,}}\right) \pm \frac{z}{2\sqrt{n}} \right).$
#### Wilson (score) method {#wilson_score_method}
The notation in the formula below differs from the previous formulas in two respects:
- Firstly, `{{math|''z''<sub>''x''</sub>}}`{=mediawiki} has a slightly different interpretation in the formula below: it has its ordinary meaning of \'the `{{math|''x''}}`{=mediawiki}th quantile of the standard normal distribution\', rather than being a shorthand for \'the `{{math|(1 − ''x'')}}`{=mediawiki}th quantile\'.
- Secondly, this formula does not use a plus-minus to define the two bounds. Instead, one may use $z = z_{\alpha / 2}$ to get the lower bound, or use $z = z_{1 - \alpha/2}$ to get the upper bound. For example: for a 95% confidence level the error $\alpha$ = 0.05, so one gets the lower bound by using $z = z_{\alpha/2} = z_{0.025} = - 1.96$, and one gets the upper bound by using $z = z_{1 - \alpha/2} = z_{0.975} = 1.96$.
: \\frac{
` \widehat{p\,} + \frac{z^2}{2n} + z`\
` \sqrt{`\
` \frac{\widehat{p\,}(1 - \widehat{p\,})}{n} +`\
` \frac{z^2}{4 n^2}`\
` }`
}{
` 1 + \frac{z^2}{n}`
}
#### Comparison
The so-called \"exact\" (Clopper--Pearson) method is the most conservative. (*Exact* does not mean perfectly accurate; rather, it indicates that the estimates will not be less conservative than the true value.)
The Wald method, although commonly recommended in textbooks, is the most biased.`{{clarify|reason=what sense of bias is this|date=July 2012}}`{=mediawiki}
## Related distributions {#related_distributions}
### Sums of binomials {#sums_of_binomials}
If `{{math|''X'' ~ B(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''Y'' ~ B(''m'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} are independent binomial variables with the same probability `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki}, then `{{math|''X'' + ''Y''}}`{=mediawiki} is again a binomial variable; its distribution is `{{math|1=''Z'' = ''X'' + ''Y'' ~ B(''n'' + ''m'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}:
: \\begin{align}
` \operatorname P(Z=k) &= \sum_{i=0}^k\left[\binom{n}i p^i (1-p)^{n-i}\right]\left[\binom{m}{k-i} p^{k-i} (1-p)^{m-k+i}\right]\\`\
` &= \binom{n+m}k p^k (1-p)^{n+m-k}`
\\end{align}
A Binomial distributed random variable `{{math|''X'' ~ B(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} can be considered as the sum of `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} Bernoulli distributed random variables. So the sum of two Binomial distributed random variables `{{math|''X'' ~ B(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''Y'' ~ B(''m'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} is equivalent to the sum of `{{math|''n'' + ''m''}}`{=mediawiki} Bernoulli distributed random variables, which means `{{math|1=''Z'' = ''X'' + ''Y'' ~ B(''n'' + ''m'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}. This can also be proven directly using the addition rule.
However, if `{{math|''X''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''Y''}}`{=mediawiki} do not have the same probability `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki}, then the variance of the sum will be smaller than the variance of a binomial variable distributed as `{{math|B(''n'' + ''m'', {{overline|''p''}})}}`{=mediawiki}.
### Poisson binomial distribution {#poisson_binomial_distribution}
The binomial distribution is a special case of the Poisson binomial distribution, which is the distribution of a sum of `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} independent non-identical Bernoulli trials `{{math|B(''p''<sub>''i''</sub>)}}`{=mediawiki}.
### Ratio of two binomial distributions {#ratio_of_two_binomial_distributions}
This result was first derived by Katz and coauthors in 1978.
Let `{{nowrap|''X'' ~ B(''n'', ''p''<sub>1</sub>)}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{nowrap|''Y'' ~ B(''m'', ''p''<sub>2</sub>)}}`{=mediawiki} be independent. Let `{{nowrap|1=''T'' = (''X''/''n'') / (''Y''/''m'')}}`{=mediawiki}.
Then log(*T*) is approximately normally distributed with mean log(*p*~1~/*p*~2~) and variance `{{nowrap|((1/''p''<sub>1</sub>) − 1)/''n'' + ((1/''p''<sub>2</sub>) − 1)/''m''}}`{=mediawiki}.
### Conditional binomials {#conditional_binomials}
If *X* \~ B(*n*, *p*) and *Y* \| *X* \~ B(*X*, *q*) (the conditional distribution of *Y*, given *X*), then *Y* is a simple binomial random variable with distribution *Y* \~ B(*n*, *pq*).
For example, imagine throwing *n* balls to a basket *U~X~* and taking the balls that hit and throwing them to another basket *U~Y~*. If *p* is the probability to hit *U~X~* then *X* \~ B(*n*, *p*) is the number of balls that hit *U~X~*. If *q* is the probability to hit *U~Y~* then the number of balls that hit *U~Y~* is *Y* \~ B(*X*, *q*) and therefore *Y* \~ B(*n*, *pq*).
Since $X \sim B(n, p)$ and $Y \sim B(X, q)$, by the law of total probability,
: \\begin{align}
` \Pr[Y = m] &= \sum_{k = m}^{n} \Pr[Y = m \mid X = k] \Pr[X = k] \\[2pt]`\
` &= \sum_{k=m}^n \binom{n}{k} \binom{k}{m} p^k q^m (1-p)^{n-k} (1-q)^{k-m}`\
`\end{align}`
Since $\tbinom{n}{k} \tbinom{k}{m} = \tbinom{n}{m} \tbinom{n-m}{k-m},$ the equation above can be expressed as
: $\Pr[Y = m] = \sum_{k=m}^{n} \binom{n}{m} \binom{n-m}{k-m} p^k q^m (1-p)^{n-k} (1-q)^{k-m}$
Factoring $p^k = p^m p^{k-m}$ and pulling all the terms that don\'t depend on $k$ out of the sum now yields
: \\begin{align}
` \Pr[Y = m] &= \binom{n}{m} p^m q^m \left( \sum_{k=m}^n \binom{n-m}{k-m} p^{k-m} (1-p)^{n-k} (1-q)^{k-m} \right) \\[2pt]`\
` &= \binom{n}{m} (pq)^m \left( \sum_{k=m}^n \binom{n-m}{k-m} \left(p(1-q)\right)^{k-m} (1-p)^{n-k} \right)`\
`\end{align}`
After substituting $i = k - m$ in the expression above, we get
: $\Pr[Y = m] = \binom{n}{m} (pq)^m \left( \sum_{i=0}^{n-m} \binom{n-m}{i} (p - pq)^i (1-p)^{n-m - i} \right)$
Notice that the sum (in the parentheses) above equals $(p - pq + 1 - p)^{n-m}$ by the binomial theorem. Substituting this in finally yields
: \\begin{align}
` \Pr[Y=m] &= \binom{n}{m} (pq)^m (p - pq + 1 - p)^{n-m}\\[4pt]`\
` &= \binom{n}{m} (pq)^m (1-pq)^{n-m}`\
`\end{align}`
and thus $Y \sim B(n, pq)$ as desired. `{{hidden end}}`{=mediawiki}
### Bernoulli distribution {#bernoulli_distribution}
The Bernoulli distribution is a special case of the binomial distribution, where `{{math|1=''n'' = 1}}`{=mediawiki}. Symbolically, `{{math|''X'' ~ B(1, ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} has the same meaning as `{{math|''X'' ~ Bernoulli(''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}. Conversely, any binomial distribution, `{{math|B(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}, is the distribution of the sum of `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} independent Bernoulli trials, `{{math|Bernoulli(''p'')}}`{=mediawiki}, each with the same probability `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki}.
### Normal approximation {#normal_approximation}
If `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is large enough, then the skew of the distribution is not too great. In this case a reasonable approximation to `{{math|B(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} is given by the normal distribution
: $\mathcal{N}(np,\,np(1-p)),$
and this basic approximation can be improved in a simple way by using a suitable continuity correction. The basic approximation generally improves as `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} increases (at least 20) and is better when `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is not near to 0 or 1. Various rules of thumb may be used to decide whether `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is large enough, and `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is far enough from the extremes of zero or one:
- One rule is that for `{{math|''n'' > 5}}`{=mediawiki} the normal approximation is adequate if the absolute value of the skewness is strictly less than 0.3; that is, if
: $\frac{|1-2p|}{\sqrt{np(1-p)}}=\frac1{\sqrt{n}}\left|\sqrt{\frac{1-p}p}-\sqrt{\frac{p}{1-p}}\,\right|<0.3.$
This can be made precise using the Berry--Esseen theorem.
- A stronger rule states that the normal approximation is appropriate only if everything within 3 standard deviations of its mean is within the range of possible values; that is, only if
: $\mu\pm3\sigma=np\pm3\sqrt{np(1-p)}\in(0,n).$
: This 3-standard-deviation rule is equivalent to the following conditions, which also imply the first rule above.
: $n>9 \left(\frac{1-p}{p} \right)\quad\text{and}\quad n>9\left(\frac{p}{1-p}\right).$
The rule $np\pm3\sqrt{np(1-p)}\in(0,n)$ is totally equivalent to request that
: $np-3\sqrt{np(1-p)}>0\quad\text{and}\quad np+3\sqrt{np(1-p)}<n.$
Moving terms around yields:
: $np>3\sqrt{np(1-p)}\quad\text{and}\quad n(1-p)>3\sqrt{np(1-p)}.$
Since $0<p<1$, we can apply the square power and divide by the respective factors $np^2$ and $n(1-p)^2$, to obtain the desired conditions:
: $n>9 \left(\frac{1-p}p\right) \quad\text{and}\quad n>9 \left(\frac{p}{1-p}\right).$
Notice that these conditions automatically imply that $n>9$. On the other hand, apply again the square root and divide by 3,
: $\frac{\sqrt{n}}3>\sqrt{\frac{1-p}p}>0 \quad \text{and} \quad \frac{\sqrt{n}}3 > \sqrt{\frac{p}{1-p}}>0.$
Subtracting the second set of inequalities from the first one yields:
: $\frac{\sqrt{n}}3>\sqrt{\frac{1-p}p}-\sqrt{\frac{p}{1-p}}>-\frac{\sqrt{n}}3;$
and so, the desired first rule is satisfied,
: $\left|\sqrt{\frac{1-p}p}-\sqrt{\frac{p}{1-p}}\,\right|<\frac{\sqrt{n}}3.$
- Another commonly used rule is that both values `{{math|''np''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''n''(1 − ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} must be greater than or equal to 5. However, the specific number varies from source to source, and depends on how good an approximation one wants. In particular, if one uses 9 instead of 5, the rule implies the results stated in the previous paragraphs.
Assume that both values $np$ and $n(1-p)$ are greater than 9. Since $0< p<1$, we easily have that
: $np\geq9>9(1-p)\quad\text{and}\quad n(1-p)\geq9>9p.$
We only have to divide now by the respective factors $p$ and $1-p$, to deduce the alternative form of the 3-standard-deviation rule:
: $n>9 \left(\frac{1-p}p\right) \quad\text{and}\quad n>9 \left(\frac{p}{1-p}\right).$
The following is an example of applying a continuity correction. Suppose one wishes to calculate `{{math|Pr(''X'' ≤ 8)}}`{=mediawiki} for a binomial random variable `{{math|''X''}}`{=mediawiki}. If `{{math|''Y''}}`{=mediawiki} has a distribution given by the normal approximation, then `{{math|Pr(''X'' ≤ 8)}}`{=mediawiki} is approximated by `{{math|Pr(''Y'' ≤ 8.5)}}`{=mediawiki}. The addition of 0.5 is the continuity correction; the uncorrected normal approximation gives considerably less accurate results.
This approximation, known as de Moivre--Laplace theorem, is a huge time-saver when undertaking calculations by hand (exact calculations with large `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} are very onerous); historically, it was the first use of the normal distribution, introduced in Abraham de Moivre\'s book *The Doctrine of Chances* in 1738. Nowadays, it can be seen as a consequence of the central limit theorem since `{{math|B(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} is a sum of `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} independent, identically distributed Bernoulli variables with parameter `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki}. This fact is the basis of a hypothesis test, a \"proportion z-test\", for the value of `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} using `{{math|''x''/''n''}}`{=mediawiki}, the sample proportion and estimator of `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki}, in a common test statistic.
For example, suppose one randomly samples `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} people out of a large population and ask them whether they agree with a certain statement. The proportion of people who agree will of course depend on the sample. If groups of *n* people were sampled repeatedly and truly randomly, the proportions would follow an approximate normal distribution with mean equal to the true proportion *p* of agreement in the population and with standard deviation
: $\sigma = \sqrt{\frac{p(1-p)}{n}}$
### Poisson approximation {#poisson_approximation}
The binomial distribution converges towards the Poisson distribution as the number of trials goes to infinity while the product `{{math|''np''}}`{=mediawiki} converges to a finite limit. Therefore, the Poisson distribution with parameter `{{math|1=''λ'' = ''np''}}`{=mediawiki} can be used as an approximation to `{{math|B(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} of the binomial distribution if `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is sufficiently large and `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is sufficiently small. According to rules of thumb, this approximation is good if `{{math|''n'' ≥ 20}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''p'' ≤ 0.05}}`{=mediawiki} such that `{{math|''np'' ≤ 1}}`{=mediawiki}, or if `{{math|''n'' > 50}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''p'' < 0.1}}`{=mediawiki} such that `{{math|''np'' < 5}}`{=mediawiki}, or if `{{math|''n'' ≥ 100}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''np'' ≤ 10}}`{=mediawiki}.
Concerning the accuracy of Poisson approximation, see Novak, ch. 4, and references therein.
### Limiting distributions {#limiting_distributions}
- *Poisson limit theorem*: As `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} approaches `{{math|∞}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} approaches 0 with the product `{{math|''np''}}`{=mediawiki} held fixed, the `{{math|Binomial(''n'', ''p'')}}`{=mediawiki} distribution approaches the Poisson distribution with expected value `{{math|1=''λ'' = ''np''}}`{=mediawiki}.
- *de Moivre--Laplace theorem*: As `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} approaches `{{math|∞}}`{=mediawiki} while `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} remains fixed, the distribution of
: $\frac{X-np}{\sqrt{np(1-p)}}$
: approaches the normal distribution with expected value 0 and variance 1. This result is sometimes loosely stated by saying that the distribution of `{{math|''X''}}`{=mediawiki} is asymptotically normal with expected value 0 and variance 1. This result is a specific case of the central limit theorem.
### Beta distribution {#beta_distribution}
The binomial distribution and beta distribution are different views of the same model of repeated Bernoulli trials. The binomial distribution is the PMF of `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} successes given `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} independent events each with a probability `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki} of success. Mathematically, when `{{math|1=''α'' = ''k'' + 1}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=''β'' = ''n'' − ''k'' + 1}}`{=mediawiki}, the beta distribution and the binomial distribution are related by`{{clarification needed|date=March 2023|
reason=Is the left hand side referring to a probability density, and the right hand side to a probability mass function? Clearly a beta distributed random variable can not be a scalar multiple of a binomial random variable given that the former is continuous and the latter discrete. In any case, it would seem to be more correct to say that this relationship means that the PDF of one is related to the PMF of the other, rather than appearing to say that the _distributions_ (often interchangeable with their CDFs) are directly related to one another.
}}`{=mediawiki} a factor of `{{math|''n'' + 1}}`{=mediawiki}:
: $\operatorname{Beta}(p;\alpha;\beta) = (n+1)B(k;n;p)$
Beta distributions also provide a family of prior probability distributions for binomial distributions in Bayesian inference:
: $P(p;\alpha,\beta) = \frac{p^{\alpha-1}(1-p)^{\beta-1}}{\operatorname{Beta}(\alpha,\beta)}.$
Given a uniform prior, the posterior distribution for the probability of success `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki} given `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki} independent events with `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} observed successes is a beta distribution.
## Computational methods {#computational_methods}
### Random number generation {#random_number_generation}
Methods for random number generation where the marginal distribution is a binomial distribution are well-established. One way to generate random variates samples from a binomial distribution is to use an inversion algorithm. To do so, one must calculate the probability that `{{math|1=Pr(''X'' = ''k'')}}`{=mediawiki} for all values `{{mvar|k}}`{=mediawiki} from `{{math|0}}`{=mediawiki} through `{{mvar|n}}`{=mediawiki}. (These probabilities should sum to a value close to one, in order to encompass the entire sample space.) Then by using a pseudorandom number generator to generate samples uniformly between 0 and 1, one can transform the calculated samples into discrete numbers by using the probabilities calculated in the first step.
## History
This distribution was derived by Jacob Bernoulli. He considered the case where `{{math|1=''p'' = ''r''/(''r'' + ''s'')}}`{=mediawiki} where `{{math|''p''}}`{=mediawiki} is the probability of success and `{{math|''r''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''s''}}`{=mediawiki} are positive integers. Blaise Pascal had earlier considered the case where `{{math|1=''p'' = 1/2}}`{=mediawiki}, tabulating the corresponding binomial coefficients in what is now recognized as Pascal\'s triangle.
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Biostatistics
|
**Biostatistics** (also known as **biometry**) is a branch of statistics that applies statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experiments and the interpretation of the results.
## History
### Biostatistics and genetics {#biostatistics_and_genetics}
Biostatistical modeling forms an important part of numerous modern biological theories. Genetics studies, since its beginning, used statistical concepts to understand observed experimental results. Some genetics scientists even contributed with statistical advances with the development of methods and tools. Gregor Mendel started the genetics studies investigating genetics segregation patterns in families of peas and used statistics to explain the collected data. In the early 1900s, after the rediscovery of Mendel\'s Mendelian inheritance work, there were gaps in understanding between genetics and evolutionary Darwinism. Francis Galton tried to expand Mendel\'s discoveries with human data and proposed a different model with fractions of the heredity coming from each ancestral composing an infinite series. He called this the theory of \"Law of Ancestral Heredity\". His ideas were strongly disagreed by William Bateson, who followed Mendel\'s conclusions, that genetic inheritance were exclusively from the parents, half from each of them. This led to a vigorous debate between the biometricians, who supported Galton\'s ideas, as Raphael Weldon, Arthur Dukinfield Darbishire and Karl Pearson, and Mendelians, who supported Bateson\'s (and Mendel\'s) ideas, such as Charles Davenport and Wilhelm Johannsen. Later, biometricians could not reproduce Galton conclusions in different experiments, and Mendel\'s ideas prevailed. By the 1930s, models built on statistical reasoning had helped to resolve these differences and to produce the neo-Darwinian modern evolutionary synthesis.
Solving these differences also allowed to define the concept of population genetics and brought together genetics and evolution. The three leading figures in the establishment of population genetics and this synthesis all relied on statistics and developed its use in biology.
- Ronald Fisher worked alongside statistician Betty Allan developing several basic statistical methods in support of his work studying the crop experiments at Rothamsted Research, published in Fisher\'s books Statistical Methods for Research Workers (1925) and The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection (1930), as well as Allan\'s scientific papers. Fisher went on to give many contributions to genetics and statistics. Some of them include the ANOVA, p-value concepts, Fisher\'s exact test and Fisher\'s equation for population dynamics. He is credited for the sentence \"Natural selection is a mechanism for generating an exceedingly high degree of improbability\".
- Sewall G. Wright developed *F*-statistics and methods of computing them and defined inbreeding coefficient.
- J. B. S. Haldane\'s book, *The Causes of Evolution*, reestablished natural selection as the premier mechanism of evolution by explaining it in terms of the mathematical consequences of Mendelian genetics. He also developed the theory of primordial soup.
These and other biostatisticians, mathematical biologists, and statistically inclined geneticists helped bring together evolutionary biology and genetics into a consistent, coherent whole that could begin to be quantitatively modeled.
In parallel to this overall development, the pioneering work of D\'Arcy Thompson in *On Growth and Form* also helped to add quantitative discipline to biological study.
Despite the fundamental importance and frequent necessity of statistical reasoning, there may nonetheless have been a tendency among biologists to distrust or deprecate results which are not qualitatively apparent. One anecdote describes Thomas Hunt Morgan banning the Friden calculator from his department at Caltech, saying \"Well, I am like a guy who is prospecting for gold along the banks of the Sacramento River in 1849. With a little intelligence, I can reach down and pick up big nuggets of gold. And as long as I can do that, I\'m not going to let any people in my department waste scarce resources in placer mining.\"
## Research planning {#research_planning}
Any research in life sciences is proposed to answer a scientific question we might have. To answer this question with a high certainty, we need accurate results. The correct definition of the main hypothesis and the research plan will reduce errors while taking a decision in understanding a phenomenon. The research plan might include the research question, the hypothesis to be tested, the experimental design, data collection methods, data analysis perspectives and costs involved. It is essential to carry the study based on the three basic principles of experimental statistics: randomization, replication, and local control.
### Research question {#research_question}
The research question will define the objective of a study. The research will be headed by the question, so it needs to be concise, at the same time it is focused on interesting and novel topics that may improve science and knowledge and that field. To define the way to ask the scientific question, an exhaustive literature review might be necessary. So the research can be useful to add value to the scientific community.
### Hypothesis definition {#hypothesis_definition}
Once the aim of the study is defined, the possible answers to the research question can be proposed, transforming this question into a hypothesis. The main propose is called null hypothesis (H~0~) and is usually based on a permanent knowledge about the topic or an obvious occurrence of the phenomena, sustained by a deep literature review. We can say it is the standard expected answer for the data under the situation in test. In general, H~O~ assumes no association between treatments. On the other hand, the alternative hypothesis is the denial of H~O~. It assumes some degree of association between the treatment and the outcome. Although, the hypothesis is sustained by question research and its expected and unexpected answers.
As an example, consider groups of similar animals (mice, for example) under two different diet systems. The research question would be: what is the best diet? In this case, H~0~ would be that there is no difference between the two diets in mice metabolism (H~0~: μ~1~ = μ~2~) and the alternative hypothesis would be that the diets have different effects over animals metabolism (H~1~: μ~1~ ≠ μ~2~).
The hypothesis is defined by the researcher, according to his/her interests in answering the main question. Besides that, the alternative hypothesis can be more than one hypothesis. It can assume not only differences across observed parameters, but their degree of differences (*i.e.* higher or shorter).
### Sampling
Usually, a study aims to understand an effect of a phenomenon over a population. In biology, a population is defined as all the individuals of a given species, in a specific area at a given time. In biostatistics, this concept is extended to a variety of collections possible of study. Although, in biostatistics, a population is not only the individuals, but the total of one specific component of their organisms, as the whole genome, or all the sperm cells, for animals, or the total leaf area, for a plant, for example.
It is not possible to take the measures from all the elements of a population. Because of that, the sampling process is very important for statistical inference. Sampling is defined as to randomly get a representative part of the entire population, to make posterior inferences about the population. So, the sample might catch the most variability across a population. The sample size is determined by several things, since the scope of the research to the resources available. In clinical research, the trial type, as inferiority, equivalence, and superiority is a key in determining sample size.
### Experimental design {#experimental_design}
Experimental designs sustain those basic principles of experimental statistics. There are three basic experimental designs to randomly allocate treatments in all plots of the experiment. They are completely randomized design, randomized block design, and factorial designs. Treatments can be arranged in many ways inside the experiment. In agriculture, the correct experimental design is the root of a good study and the arrangement of treatments within the study is essential because environment largely affects the plots (plants, livestock, microorganisms). These main arrangements can be found in the literature under the names of \"lattices\", \"incomplete blocks\", \"split plot\", \"augmented blocks\", and many others. All of the designs might include control plots, determined by the researcher, to provide an error estimation during inference.
In clinical studies, the samples are usually smaller than in other biological studies, and in most cases, the environment effect can be controlled or measured. It is common to use randomized controlled clinical trials, where results are usually compared with observational study designs such as case--control or cohort.
### Data collection {#data_collection}
Data collection methods must be considered in research planning, because it highly influences the sample size and experimental design.
Data collection varies according to the type of data. For qualitative data, collection can be done with structured questionnaires or by observation, considering presence or intensity of disease, using score criterion to categorize levels of occurrence. For quantitative data, collection is done by measuring numerical information using instruments.
In agriculture and biology studies, yield data and its components can be obtained by metric measures. However, pest and disease injuries in plants are obtained by observation, considering score scales for levels of damage. Especially, in genetic studies, modern methods for data collection in field and laboratory should be considered, as high-throughput platforms for phenotyping and genotyping. These tools allow bigger experiments, while turn possible evaluate many plots in lower time than a human-based only method for data collection. Finally, all data collected of interest must be stored in an organized data frame for further analysis.
## Analysis and data interpretation {#analysis_and_data_interpretation}
### Descriptive tools {#descriptive_tools}
Data can be represented through tables or graphical representation, such as line charts, bar charts, histograms, scatter plot. Also, measures of central tendency and variability can be very useful to describe an overview of the data. Follow some examples:
#### Frequency tables {#frequency_tables}
One type of table is the frequency table, which consists of data arranged in rows and columns, where the frequency is the number of occurrences or repetitions of data. Frequency can be:
**Absolute**: represents the number of times that a determined value appear;
$N = f_1 + f_2 + f_3 + ... + f_n$
**Relative**: obtained by the division of the absolute frequency by the total number;
$n_i = \frac{f_i}{N}$
In the next example, we have the number of genes in ten operons of the same organism.
:
Genes number Absolute frequency Relative frequency
-------------- -------------------- --------------------
1 0 0
2 1 0.1
3 6 0.6
4 2 0.2
5 1 0.1
#### Line graph {#line_graph}
Line graphs represent the variation of a value over another metric, such as time. In general, values are represented in the vertical axis, while the time variation is represented in the horizontal axis.
#### Bar chart {#bar_chart}
A bar chart is a graph that shows categorical data as bars presenting heights (vertical bar) or widths (horizontal bar) proportional to represent values. Bar charts provide an image that could also be represented in a tabular format.
In the bar chart example, we have the birth rate in Brazil for the December months from 2010 to 2016. The sharp fall in December 2016 reflects the outbreak of Zika virus in the birth rate in Brazil.
#### Histograms
The histogram (or frequency distribution) is a graphical representation of a dataset tabulated and divided into uniform or non-uniform classes. It was first introduced by Karl Pearson.
#### Scatter plot {#scatter_plot}
A scatter plot is a mathematical diagram that uses Cartesian coordinates to display values of a dataset. A scatter plot shows the data as a set of points, each one presenting the value of one variable determining the position on the horizontal axis and another variable on the vertical axis. They are also called **scatter graph**, **scatter chart**, **scattergram**, or **scatter diagram**.
#### Mean
The arithmetic mean is the sum of a collection of values (${x_1+x_2+x_3+\cdots +x_n}$) divided by the number of items of this collection (${n}$).
: $\bar{x} = \frac{1}{n}\left (\sum_{i=1}^n{x_i}\right ) = \frac{x_1+x_2+\cdots +x_n}{n}$
#### Median
The median is the value in the middle of a dataset.
#### Mode
The mode is the value of a set of data that appears most often.
Type Example Result
-------- -------------------------------------------- --------
Mean ( 2 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 11 ) / 9 **4**
Median 2, 3, 3, 3, **3**, 3, 4, 4, 11 **3**
Mode 2, **3, 3, 3, 3, 3**, 4, 4, 11 **3**
: \|Comparison among mean, median and mode\
Values = { 2,3,3,3,3,3,4,4,11 }
#### Box plot {#box_plot}
Box plot is a method for graphically depicting groups of numerical data. The maximum and minimum values are represented by the lines, and the interquartile range (IQR) represent 25--75% of the data. Outliers may be plotted as circles.
#### Correlation coefficients {#correlation_coefficients}
Although correlations between two different kinds of data could be inferred by graphs, such as scatter plot, it is necessary validate this though numerical information. For this reason, correlation coefficients are required. They provide a numerical value that reflects the strength of an association.
#### Pearson correlation coefficient {#pearson_correlation_coefficient}
Pearson correlation coefficient is a measure of association between two variables, X and Y. This coefficient, usually represented by *ρ* (rho) for the population and *r* for the sample, assumes values between −1 and 1, where *ρ* = 1 represents a perfect positive correlation, *ρ* = −1 represents a perfect negative correlation, and *ρ* = 0 is no linear correlation.
### Inferential statistics {#inferential_statistics}
It is used to make inferences about an unknown population, by estimation and/or hypothesis testing. In other words, it is desirable to obtain parameters to describe the population of interest, but since the data is limited, it is necessary to make use of a representative sample in order to estimate them. With that, it is possible to test previously defined hypotheses and apply the conclusions to the entire population. The standard error of the mean is a measure of variability that is crucial to do inferences.
- Hypothesis testing
Hypothesis testing is essential to make inferences about populations aiming to answer research questions, as settled in \"Research planning\" section. Authors defined four steps to be set:
1. *The hypothesis to be tested*: as stated earlier, we have to work with the definition of a null hypothesis (H~0~), that is going to be tested, and an alternative hypothesis. But they must be defined before the experiment implementation.
2. *Significance level and decision rule*: A decision rule depends on the level of significance, or in other words, the acceptable error rate (α). It is easier to think that we define a *critical value* that determines the statistical significance when a test statistic is compared with it. So, α also has to be predefined before the experiment.
3. *Experiment and statistical analysis*: This is when the experiment is really implemented following the appropriate experimental design, data is collected and the more suitable statistical tests are evaluated.
4. *Inference*: Is made when the null hypothesis is rejected or not rejected, based on the evidence that the comparison of p-values and α brings. It is pointed that the failure to reject H~0~ just means that there is not enough evidence to support its rejection, but not that this hypothesis is true.
- Confidence intervals
A confidence interval is a range of values that can contain the true real parameter value in given a certain level of confidence. The first step is to estimate the best-unbiased estimate of the population parameter. The upper value of the interval is obtained by the sum of this estimate with the multiplication between the standard error of the mean and the confidence level. The calculation of lower value is similar, but instead of a sum, a subtraction must be applied.
## Statistical considerations {#statistical_considerations}
### Power and statistical error {#power_and_statistical_error}
When testing a hypothesis, there are two types of statistic errors possible: Type I error and Type II error.
- The type I error or false positive is the incorrect rejection of a true null hypothesis
- The type II error or false negative is the failure to reject a false null hypothesis.
The significance level denoted by α is the type I error rate and should be chosen before performing the test. The type II error rate is denoted by β and statistical power of the test is 1 − β.
### p-value {#p_value}
The p-value is the probability of obtaining results as extreme as or more extreme than those observed, assuming the null hypothesis (H~0~) is true. It is also called the calculated probability. It is common to confuse the p-value with the significance level (α), but, the α is a predefined threshold for calling significant results. If p is less than α, the null hypothesis (H~0~) is rejected.
### Multiple testing {#multiple_testing}
In multiple tests of the same hypothesis, the probability of the occurrence of false positives (familywise error rate) increase and a strategy is needed to account for this occurrence. This is commonly achieved by using a more stringent threshold to reject null hypotheses. The Bonferroni correction defines an acceptable global significance level, denoted by α\* and each test is individually compared with a value of α = α\*/m. This ensures that the familywise error rate in all m tests, is less than or equal to α\*. When m is large, the Bonferroni correction may be overly conservative. An alternative to the Bonferroni correction is to control the false discovery rate (FDR). The FDR controls the expected proportion of the rejected null hypotheses (the so-called discoveries) that are false (incorrect rejections). This procedure ensures that, for independent tests, the false discovery rate is at most q\*. Thus, the FDR is less conservative than the Bonferroni correction and have more power, at the cost of more false positives.
### Mis-specification and robustness checks {#mis_specification_and_robustness_checks}
The main hypothesis being tested (e.g., no association between treatments and outcomes) is often accompanied by other technical assumptions (e.g., about the form of the probability distribution of the outcomes) that are also part of the null hypothesis. When the technical assumptions are violated in practice, then the null may be frequently rejected even if the main hypothesis is true. Such rejections are said to be due to model mis-specification. Verifying whether the outcome of a statistical test does not change when the technical assumptions are slightly altered (so-called robustness checks) is the main way of combating mis-specification.
### Model selection criteria {#model_selection_criteria}
Model criteria selection will select or model that more approximate true model. The Akaike\'s Information Criterion (AIC) and The Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) are examples of asymptotically efficient criteria.
## Developments and big data {#developments_and_big_data}
Recent developments have made a large impact on biostatistics. Two important changes have been the ability to collect data on a high-throughput scale, and the ability to perform much more complex analysis using computational techniques. This comes from the development in areas as sequencing technologies, Bioinformatics and Machine learning (Machine learning in bioinformatics).
### Use in high-throughput data {#use_in_high_throughput_data}
New biomedical technologies like microarrays, next-generation sequencers (for genomics) and mass spectrometry (for proteomics) generate enormous amounts of data, allowing many tests to be performed simultaneously. Careful analysis with biostatistical methods is required to separate the signal from the noise. For example, a microarray could be used to measure many thousands of genes simultaneously, determining which of them have different expression in diseased cells compared to normal cells. However, only a fraction of genes will be differentially expressed.
Multicollinearity often occurs in high-throughput biostatistical settings. Due to high intercorrelation between the predictors (such as gene expression levels), the information of one predictor might be contained in another one. It could be that only 5% of the predictors are responsible for 90% of the variability of the response. In such a case, one could apply the biostatistical technique of dimension reduction (for example via principal component analysis). Classical statistical techniques like linear or logistic regression and linear discriminant analysis do not work well for high dimensional data (i.e. when the number of observations n is smaller than the number of features or predictors p: n \< p). As a matter of fact, one can get quite high R^2^-values despite very low predictive power of the statistical model. These classical statistical techniques (esp. least squares linear regression) were developed for low dimensional data (i.e. where the number of observations n is much larger than the number of predictors p: n \>\> p). In cases of high dimensionality, one should always consider an independent validation test set and the corresponding residual sum of squares (RSS) and R^2^ of the validation test set, not those of the training set.
Often, it is useful to pool information from multiple predictors together. For example, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) considers the perturbation of whole (functionally related) gene sets rather than of single genes. These gene sets might be known biochemical pathways or otherwise functionally related genes. The advantage of this approach is that it is more robust: It is more likely that a single gene is found to be falsely perturbed than it is that a whole pathway is falsely perturbed. Furthermore, one can integrate the accumulated knowledge about biochemical pathways (like the JAK-STAT signaling pathway) using this approach.
### Bioinformatics advances in databases, data mining, and biological interpretation {#bioinformatics_advances_in_databases_data_mining_and_biological_interpretation}
The development of biological databases enables storage and management of biological data with the possibility of ensuring access for users around the world. They are useful for researchers depositing data, retrieve information and files (raw or processed) originated from other experiments or indexing scientific articles, as PubMed. Another possibility is search for the desired term (a gene, a protein, a disease, an organism, and so on) and check all results related to this search. There are databases dedicated to SNPs (dbSNP), the knowledge on genes characterization and their pathways (KEGG) and the description of gene function classifying it by cellular component, molecular function and biological process (Gene Ontology). In addition to databases that contain specific molecular information, there are others that are ample in the sense that they store information about an organism or group of organisms. As an example of a database directed towards just one organism, but that contains much data about it, is the *Arabidopsis thaliana* genetic and molecular database -- TAIR. Phytozome, in turn, stores the assemblies and annotation files of dozen of plant genomes, also containing visualization and analysis tools. Moreover, there is an interconnection between some databases in the information exchange/sharing and a major initiative was the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC) which relates data from DDBJ, EMBL-EBI, and NCBI.
Nowadays, increase in size and complexity of molecular datasets leads to use of powerful statistical methods provided by computer science algorithms which are developed by machine learning area. Therefore, data mining and machine learning allow detection of patterns in data with a complex structure, as biological ones, by using methods of supervised and unsupervised learning, regression, detection of clusters and association rule mining, among others. To indicate some of them, self-organizing maps and *k*-means are examples of cluster algorithms; neural networks implementation and support vector machines models are examples of common machine learning algorithms.
Collaborative work among molecular biologists, bioinformaticians, statisticians and computer scientists is important to perform an experiment correctly, going from planning, passing through data generation and analysis, and ending with biological interpretation of the results.
### Use of computationally intensive methods {#use_of_computationally_intensive_methods}
On the other hand, the advent of modern computer technology and relatively cheap computing resources have enabled computer-intensive biostatistical methods like bootstrapping and re-sampling methods.
In recent times, random forests have gained popularity as a method for performing statistical classification. Random forest techniques generate a panel of decision trees. Decision trees have the advantage that you can draw them and interpret them (even with a basic understanding of mathematics and statistics). Random Forests have thus been used for clinical decision support systems.
## Applications
### Public health {#public_health}
Public health, including epidemiology, health services research, nutrition, environmental health and health care policy & management. In these medicine contents, it\'s important to consider the design and analysis of the clinical trials. As one example, there is the assessment of severity state of a patient with a prognosis of an outcome of a disease.
With new technologies and genetics knowledge, biostatistics are now also used for Systems medicine, which consists in a more personalized medicine. For this, is made an integration of data from different sources, including conventional patient data, clinico-pathological parameters, molecular and genetic data as well as data generated by additional new-omics technologies.
### Quantitative genetics {#quantitative_genetics}
The study of population genetics and statistical genetics in order to link variation in genotype with a variation in phenotype. In other words, it is desirable to discover the genetic basis of a measurable trait, a quantitative trait, that is under polygenic control. A genome region that is responsible for a continuous trait is called a quantitative trait locus (QTL). The study of QTLs become feasible by using molecular markers and measuring traits in populations, but their mapping needs the obtaining of a population from an experimental crossing, like an F2 or recombinant inbred strains/lines (RILs). To scan for QTLs regions in a genome, a gene map based on linkage have to be built. Some of the best-known QTL mapping algorithms are Interval Mapping, Composite Interval Mapping, and Multiple Interval Mapping.
However, QTL mapping resolution is impaired by the amount of recombination assayed, a problem for species in which it is difficult to obtain large offspring. Furthermore, allele diversity is restricted to individuals originated from contrasting parents, which limit studies of allele diversity when we have a panel of individuals representing a natural population. For this reason, the genome-wide association study was proposed in order to identify QTLs based on linkage disequilibrium, that is the non-random association between traits and molecular markers. It was leveraged by the development of high-throughput SNP genotyping.
In animal and plant breeding, the use of markers in selection aiming for breeding, mainly the molecular ones, collaborated to the development of marker-assisted selection. While QTL mapping is limited due resolution, GWAS does not have enough power when rare variants of small effect that are also influenced by environment. So, the concept of Genomic Selection (GS) arises in order to use all molecular markers in the selection and allow the prediction of the performance of candidates in this selection. The proposal is to genotype and phenotype a training population, develop a model that can obtain the genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) of individuals belonging to a genotype and but not phenotype population, called testing population. This kind of study could also include a validation population, thinking in the concept of cross-validation, in which the real phenotype results measured in this population are compared with the phenotype results based on the prediction, what used to check the accuracy of the model.
As a summary, some points about the application of quantitative genetics are:
- This has been used in agriculture to improve crops (Plant breeding) and livestock (Animal breeding).
- In biomedical research, this work can assist in finding candidates gene alleles that can cause or influence predisposition to diseases in human genetics
### Expression data {#expression_data}
Studies for differential expression of genes from RNA-Seq data, as for RT-qPCR and microarrays, demands comparison of conditions. The goal is to identify genes which have a significant change in abundance between different conditions. Then, experiments are designed appropriately, with replicates for each condition/treatment, randomization and blocking, when necessary. In RNA-Seq, the quantification of expression uses the information of mapped reads that are summarized in some genetic unit, as exons that are part of a gene sequence. As microarray results can be approximated by a normal distribution, RNA-Seq counts data are better explained by other distributions. The first used distribution was the Poisson one, but it underestimate the sample error, leading to false positives. Currently, biological variation is considered by methods that estimate a dispersion parameter of a negative binomial distribution. Generalized linear models are used to perform the tests for statistical significance and as the number of genes is high, multiple tests correction have to be considered. Some examples of other analysis on genomics data comes from microarray or proteomics experiments. Often concerning diseases or disease stages.
### Other studies {#other_studies}
- Ecology, ecological forecasting
- Biological sequence analysis
- Systems biology for gene network inference or pathways analysis.
- Clinical research and pharmaceutical development
- Population dynamics, especially in regards to fisheries science.
- Phylogenetics and evolution
- Pharmacodynamics
- Pharmacokinetics
- Neuroimaging
## Tools
There are a lot of tools that can be used to do statistical analysis in biological data. Most of them are useful in other areas of knowledge, covering a large number of applications (alphabetical). Here are brief descriptions of some of them:
- ASReml: Another software developed by VSNi that can be used also in R environment as a package. It is developed to estimate variance components under a general linear mixed model using restricted maximum likelihood (REML). Models with fixed effects and random effects and nested or crossed ones are allowed. Gives the possibility to investigate different variance-covariance matrix structures.
- CycDesigN: A computer package developed by VSNi that helps the researchers create experimental designs and analyze data coming from a design present in one of three classes handled by CycDesigN. These classes are resolvable, non-resolvable, partially replicated and crossover designs. It includes less used designs the Latinized ones, as t-Latinized design.
- Orange: A programming interface for high-level data processing, data mining and data visualization. Include tools for gene expression and genomics.
- R: An open source environment and programming language dedicated to statistical computing and graphics. It is an implementation of S language maintained by CRAN. In addition to its functions to read data tables, take descriptive statistics, develop and evaluate models, its repository contains packages developed by researchers around the world. This allows the development of functions written to deal with the statistical analysis of data that comes from specific applications. In the case of Bioinformatics, for example, there are packages located in the main repository (CRAN) and in others, as Bioconductor. It is also possible to use packages under development that are shared in hosting-services as GitHub.
- SAS: A data analysis software widely used, going through universities, services and industry. Developed by a company with the same name (SAS Institute), it uses SAS language for programming.
- PLA 3.0: Is a biostatistical analysis software for regulated environments (e.g. drug testing) which supports Quantitative Response Assays (Parallel-Line, Parallel-Logistics, Slope-Ratio) and Dichotomous Assays (Quantal Response, Binary Assays). It also supports weighting methods for combination calculations and the automatic data aggregation of independent assay data.
- Weka: A Java software for machine learning and data mining, including tools and methods for visualization, clustering, regression, association rule, and classification. There are tools for cross-validation, bootstrapping and a module of algorithm comparison. Weka also can be run in other programming languages as Perl or R.
- Python (programming language) image analysis, deep-learning, machine-learning
- SQL databases
- NoSQL
- NumPy numerical python
- SciPy
- SageMath
- LAPACK linear algebra
- MATLAB
- Apache Hadoop
- Apache Spark
- Amazon Web Services
## Scope and training programs {#scope_and_training_programs}
Almost all educational programmes in biostatistics are at postgraduate level. They are most often found in schools of public health, affiliated with schools of medicine, forestry, or agriculture, or as a focus of application in departments of statistics.
In the United States, where several universities have dedicated biostatistics departments, many other top-tier universities integrate biostatistics faculty into statistics or other departments, such as epidemiology. Thus, departments carrying the name \"biostatistics\" may exist under quite different structures. For instance, relatively new biostatistics departments have been founded with a focus on bioinformatics and computational biology, whereas older departments, typically affiliated with schools of public health, will have more traditional lines of research involving epidemiological studies and clinical trials as well as bioinformatics. In larger universities around the world, where both a statistics and a biostatistics department exist, the degree of integration between the two departments may range from the bare minimum to very close collaboration. In general, the difference between a statistics program and a biostatistics program is twofold: (i) statistics departments will often host theoretical/methodological research which are less common in biostatistics programs and (ii) statistics departments have lines of research that may include biomedical applications but also other areas such as industry (quality control), business and economics and biological areas other than medicine.
## Specialized journals {#specialized_journals}
- Biostatistics
- International Journal of Biostatistics
- Journal of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Biostatistics and Public Health
- Biometrics
- Biometrika
- Biometrical Journal
- Communications in Biometry and Crop Science
- Statistical Applications in Genetics and Molecular Biology
- Statistical Methods in Medical Research
- Pharmaceutical Statistics
- Statistics in Medicine
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,912 |
List of major biblical figures
|
The Bible is a collection of canonical sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity. Different religious groups include different books within their canons, in different orders, and sometimes divide or combine books, or incorporate additional material into canonical books. Christian Bibles range from the sixty-six books of the Protestant canon to the eighty-one books of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church canon.
## Hebrew Bible {#hebrew_bible}
- Tubal-cain
### Prophets
- Samuel
- Enoch
### Kings
- David
- Solomon
### Priests
- Aaron
- Eleazar
- Eli
- Phinehas
### Tribes of Israel {#tribes_of_israel}
According to the Book of Genesis, the Israelites were descendants of the sons of Jacob, who was renamed Israel after wrestling with an angel. His twelve male children become the ancestors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
- Asher
- Benjamin
- Dan
- Gad
- Issachar
- Joseph, which was split into two tribes descended from his sons:
- Tribe of Ephraim
- Tribe of Manasseh
- Judah
- Levi
- Naphtali
- Reuben
- Simeon
- Zebulun
## Deuterocanon
### Maccabees
- Eleazar Avaran
- John Gaddi
- John Hyrcanus
- Jonathan Apphus
- Judas Maccabeus
- Mattathias
- Simon Thassi
### Greek rulers {#greek_rulers}
- Alexander the Great
- Antiochus III the Great
- Antiochus IV Epiphanes
- Philip II of Macedon
### Persian rulers {#persian_rulers}
- Astyages
- Darius III
### Others
- Baruch
- Tobit
- Judith
- Susanna
## New Testament {#new_testament}
### Jesus and his relatives {#jesus_and_his_relatives}
- Jesus Christ
- Mary, mother of Jesus
- Joseph
- Brothers of Jesus
- James (often identified with James, son of Alphaeus)
- Joseph (Joses)
- Judas (Jude) (often identified with Thaddeus)
- Simon
- Mary of Clopas
- Cleopas (often identified with Alphaeus and Clopas)
### Apostles of Jesus {#apostles_of_jesus}
The Thirteen:
- Peter (a.k.a. Simon or Cephas)
- Andrew (Simon Peter\'s brother)
- James, son of Zebedee
- John, son of Zebedee
- Philip
- Bartholomew also known as \"Nathanael\"
- Thomas also known as \"Doubting Thomas\"
- Matthew also known as \"Levi\"
- James, son of Alphaeus
- Judas, son of James (a.k.a. Thaddeus or Lebbaeus)
- Simon the Zealot
- Judas Iscariot (the traitor)
- Matthias
Others:
- Paul
- Barnabas
- Mary Magdalene (the one who discovered Jesus\' empty tomb)
### Priests {#priests_1}
- Caiaphas, high priest
- Annas, first high priest of Roman Judea
- Zechariah, father of John the Baptist
### Prophets {#prophets_1}
- Agabus
- Anna
- Simeon
- John the Baptist
### Other believers {#other_believers}
- Apollos
- Aquila
- Dionysius the Areopagite
- Epaphras, fellow prisoner of Paul, fellow worker
- John Mark (often identified with Mark)
- Joseph of Arimathea
- Lazarus
- Luke
- Mark
- Martha
- Mary Magdalene
- Mary, sister of Martha
- Nicodemus
- Onesimus
- Philemon
- Priscilla
- Silas
- Sopater
- Stephen, first martyr
- Timothy
- Titus
### Secular rulers {#secular_rulers}
Herod}}
- Herod Agrippa I, called \"King Herod\" or \"Herod\" in Acts 12
- Felix governor of Judea who was present at the trial of Paul, and his wife Drusilla in Acts 24:24
- Herod Agrippa II, king over several territories, before whom Paul made his defense in Acts 26.
- Herod Antipas, called \"Herod the Tetrarch\" or \"Herod\" in the Gospels and in Acts 4:27
- Herodias
- Herod the Great
- Philip the Tetrarch
- Pontius Pilate
- Salome, the daughter of Herodias
- Quirinius
#### Roman Emperors {#roman_emperors}
- Augustus
- Tiberius
- Claudius
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
3,921 |
Basketball
|
**Basketball** is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately 9.4 in in diameter) through the defender\'s hoop (a basket 18 in in diameter mounted 10 ft high to a backboard at each end of the court), while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own hoop. A field goal is worth two points, unless made from behind the three-point line, when it is worth three. After a foul, timed play stops and the player fouled or designated to shoot a technical foul is given one, two or three one-point free throws. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but if regulation play expires with the score tied, an additional period of play (overtime) is mandated.
Players advance the ball by bouncing it while walking or running (dribbling) or by passing it to a teammate, both of which require considerable skill. On offense, players may use a variety of shots`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}the layup, the jump shot, or a dunk; on defense, they may steal the ball from a dribbler, intercept passes, or block shots; either offense or defense may collect a rebound, that is, a missed shot that bounces from rim or backboard. It is a violation to lift or drag one\'s pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling.
The five players on each side fall into five playing positions. The tallest player is usually the center, the second-tallest and strongest is the power forward, a slightly shorter but more agile player is the small forward, and the shortest players or the best ball handlers are the shooting guard and the point guard, who implement the coach\'s game plan by managing the execution of offensive and defensive plays (player positioning). Informally, players may play three-on-three, two-on-two, and one-on-one.
Invented in 1891 by Canadian-American gym teacher James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the United States, basketball has evolved to become one of the world\'s most popular and widely viewed sports. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the most significant professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition (drawing most of its talent from U.S. college basketball). Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the EuroLeague and the Basketball Champions League Americas. The FIBA Basketball World Cup and Men\'s Olympic Basketball Tournament are the major international events of the sport and attract top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for national teams, like EuroBasket and FIBA AmeriCup.
The FIBA Women\'s Basketball World Cup and women\'s Olympic basketball tournament feature top national teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA (NCAA Women\'s Division I Basketball Championship is also popular), whereas the strongest European clubs participate in the EuroLeague Women.
## History
### Early history {#early_history}
A game similar to basketball is mentioned in a 1591 book published in Frankfurt am Main that reports on the lifestyles and customs of coastal North American residents, *Wahrhafftige Abconterfaytung der Wilden* (German; translates as *Truthful Depictions of the Savages*: \"Among other things, a game of skill is described in which balls must be thrown against a target woven from twigs, mounted high on a pole. There\'s a small reward for the player if the target is being hit.\"
### Creation
In December 1891, James Naismith, a Canadian-American professor of physical education and instructor at the International Young Men\'s Christian Association Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts, was trying to keep his gym class active on a rainy day. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied and at proper levels of fitness during the long New England winters. After rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he invented a new game in which players would pass a ball to teammates and try to score points by tossing the ball into a basket mounted on a wall.
Naismith wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto an elevated track. Naismith initially set up the peach basket with its bottom intact, which meant that the ball had to be retrieved manually after each \"basket\" or point scored. This quickly proved tedious, so Naismith removed the bottom of the basket to allow the balls to be poked out with a long dowel after each scored basket.
Shortly after, Senda Berenson, instructor of physical culture at the nearby Smith College, went to Naismith to learn more about the game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she started to organize games with her pupils, following adjusted rules. The first official women\'s interinstitutional game was played barely 11 months later, between the University of California and Miss Head\'s School. In 1899, a committee was established at the Conference of Physical Training in Springfield to draw up general rules for women\'s basketball. Thus, the sport quickly spread throughout America\'s schools, colleges and universities with uniform rules for both sexes.
Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball. These round balls from \"association football\" were made, at the time, with a set of laces to close off the hole needed for inserting the inflatable bladder after the other sewn-together segments of the ball\'s cover had been flipped outside-in. These laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith (whereas in American football, the lace construction proved to be advantageous for gripping and remains to this day). The first balls made specifically for basketball were brown, and it was only in the late 1950s that Tony Hinkle, searching for a ball that would be more visible to players and spectators alike, introduced the orange ball that is now in common use. Dribbling was not part of the original game except for the \"bounce pass\" to teammates. Passing the ball was the primary means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the asymmetric shape of early balls.`{{dubious|date=January 2019}}`{=mediawiki} Dribbling was common by 1896, with a rule against the double dribble by 1898.
The peach baskets were used until 1906 when they were finally replaced by metal hoops with backboards. A further change was soon made, so the ball merely passed through. Whenever a person got the ball in the basket, their team would gain a point. Whichever team got the most points won the game. The baskets were originally nailed to the mezzanine balcony of the playing court, but this proved impractical when spectators in the balcony began to interfere with shots. The backboard was introduced to prevent this interference; it had the additional effect of allowing rebound shots. Naismith\'s handwritten diaries, discovered by his granddaughter in early 2006, indicate that he was nervous about the new game he had invented, which incorporated rules from a children\'s game called duck on a rock, as many had failed before it.
Frank Mahan, one of the players from the original first game, approached Naismith after the Christmas break, in early 1892, asking him what he intended to call his new game. Naismith replied that he had not thought of it because he had been focused on just getting the game started. Mahan suggested that it be called \"Naismith ball\", at which he laughed, saying that a name like that would kill any game. Mahan then said, \"Why not call it basketball?\" Naismith replied, \"We have a basket and a ball, and it seems to me that would be a good name for it.\" The first official game was played in the YMCA gymnasium in Albany, New York, on January 20, 1892, with nine players. The game ended at 1--0; the shot was made from 25 ft, on a court just half the size of a present-day Streetball or National Basketball Association (NBA) court.
At the time, soccer was being played with 10 to a team (which was increased to 11). When winter weather got too icy to play soccer, teams were taken indoors, and it was convenient to have them split in half and play basketball with five on each side. By 1897--98, teams of five became standard.
### College basketball {#college_basketball}
Basketball\'s early adherents were dispatched to YMCAs throughout the United States, and it quickly spread through the United States and Canada. By 1895, it was well established at several women\'s high schools. While YMCA was responsible for initially developing and spreading the game, within a decade it discouraged the new sport, as rough play and rowdy crowds began to detract from YMCA\'s primary mission. However, other amateur sports clubs, colleges, and professional clubs quickly filled the void. In the years before World War I, the Amateur Athletic Union and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (forerunner of the NCAA) vied for control over the rules for the game. The first pro league, the National Basketball League, was formed in 1898 to protect players from exploitation and to promote a less rough game. This league only lasted five years.
James Naismith was instrumental in establishing college basketball. His colleague C. O. Beamis fielded the first college basketball team just a year after the Springfield YMCA game at the suburban Pittsburgh Geneva College. Naismith himself later coached at the University of Kansas for six years, before handing the reins to renowned coach Forrest \"Phog\" Allen. Naismith\'s disciple Amos Alonzo Stagg brought basketball to the University of Chicago, while Adolph Rupp, a student of Naismith\'s at Kansas, enjoyed great success as coach at the University of Kentucky. On February 9, 1895, the first intercollegiate 5-on-5 game was played at Hamline University between Hamline and the School of Agriculture, which was affiliated with the University of Minnesota. The School of Agriculture won in a 9--3 game.
In 1901, colleges, including the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, the University of Minnesota, the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Colorado and Yale University began sponsoring men\'s games. In 1905, frequent injuries on the football field prompted President Theodore Roosevelt to suggest that colleges form a governing body, resulting in the creation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). In 1910, that body changed its name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The first Canadian interuniversity basketball game was played at YMCA in Kingston, Ontario on February 6, 1904, when McGill University`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}Naismith\'s alma mater`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki}visited Queen\'s University. McGill won 9--7 in overtime; the score was 7--7 at the end of regulation play, and a ten-minute overtime period settled the outcome. A good turnout of spectators watched the game.
The first men\'s national championship tournament, the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball tournament, which still exists as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tournament, was organized in 1937. The first national championship for NCAA teams, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in New York, was organized in 1938; the NCAA national tournament began one year later. College basketball was rocked by gambling scandals from 1948 to 1951, when dozens of players from top teams were implicated in game-fixing and point shaving. Partially spurred by an association with cheating, the NIT lost support to the NCAA tournament.
### High school basketball {#high_school_basketball}
Before widespread school district consolidation, most American high schools were far smaller than their present-day counterparts. During the first decades of the 20th century, basketball quickly became the ideal interscholastic sport due to its modest equipment and personnel requirements. In the days before widespread television coverage of professional and college sports, the popularity of high school basketball was unrivaled in many parts of America. Perhaps the most legendary of high school teams was Indiana\'s Franklin Wonder Five, which took the nation by storm during the 1920s, dominating Indiana basketball and earning national recognition.
Today virtually every high school in the United States fields a basketball team in varsity competition. Basketball\'s popularity remains high, both in rural areas where they carry the identification of the entire community, as well as at some larger schools known for their basketball teams where many players go on to participate at higher levels of competition after graduation. In the 2016--17 season, 980,673 boys and girls represented their schools in interscholastic basketball competition, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. The states of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky are particularly well known for their residents\' devotion to high school basketball, commonly called Hoosier Hysteria in Indiana; the critically acclaimed film *Hoosiers* shows high school basketball\'s depth of meaning to these communities.
There is currently no tournament to determine a national high school champion. The most serious effort was the National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament at the University of Chicago from 1917 to 1930. The event was organized by Amos Alonzo Stagg and sent invitations to state champion teams. The tournament started out as a mostly Midwest affair but grew. In 1929 it had 29 state champions. Faced with opposition from the National Federation of State High School Associations and North Central Association of Colleges and Schools that bore a threat of the schools losing their accreditation the last tournament was in 1930. The organizations said they were concerned that the tournament was being used to recruit professional players from the prep ranks. The tournament did not invite minority schools or private/parochial schools.
The National Catholic Interscholastic Basketball Tournament ran from 1924 to 1941 at Loyola University. The National Catholic Invitational Basketball Tournament from 1954 to 1978 played at a series of venues, including Catholic University, Georgetown and George Mason. The National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament for Black High Schools was held from 1929 to 1942 at Hampton Institute. The National Invitational Interscholastic Basketball Tournament was held from 1941 to 1967 starting out at Tuskegee Institute. Following a pause during World War II it resumed at Tennessee State College in Nashville. The basis for the champion dwindled after 1954 when *Brown v. Board of Education* began an integration of schools. The last tournaments were held at Alabama State College from 1964 to 1967.
### Professional basketball {#professional_basketball}
Teams abounded throughout the 1920s. There were hundreds of men\'s professional basketball teams in towns and cities all over the United States, and little organization of the professional game. Players jumped from team to team and teams played in armories and smoky dance halls. Leagues came and went. Barnstorming squads such as the Original Celtics and two all-African American teams, the New York Renaissance Five (\"Rens\") and the (still existing) Harlem Globetrotters played up to two hundred games a year on their national tours.
In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. The first game was played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between the Toronto Huskies and New York Knickerbockers on November 1, 1946. Three seasons later, in 1949, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). By the 1950s, basketball had become a major college sport, thus paving the way for a growth of interest in professional basketball. In 1959, a basketball hall of fame was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts, site of the first game. Its rosters include the names of great players, coaches, referees and people who have contributed significantly to the development of the game. The hall of fame has people who have accomplished many goals in their career in basketball. An upstart organization, the American Basketball Association, emerged in 1967 and briefly threatened the NBA\'s dominance until the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Today the NBA is the top professional basketball league in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent, and level of competition.
The NBA has featured many famous players, including George Mikan, the first dominating \"big man\"; ball-handling wizard Bob Cousy and defensive genius Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics; charismatic center Wilt Chamberlain, who originally played for the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters; all-around stars Oscar Robertson and Jerry West; more recent big men Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O\'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone; playmakers John Stockton, Isiah Thomas and Steve Nash; crowd-pleasing forwards Julius Erving and Charles Barkley; European stars Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Nikola Jokić and Tony Parker; Latin American stars Manu Ginobili, more recent superstars, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, etc.; and the three players who many credit with ushering the professional game to its highest level of popularity during the 1980s and 1990s: Larry Bird, Earvin \"Magic\" Johnson, and Michael Jordan.
In 2001, the NBA formed a developmental league, the National Basketball Development League (later known as the NBA D-League and then the NBA G League after a branding deal with Gatorade). As of the 2023--24 season, the G League has 31 teams.
### International basketball {#international_basketball}
FIBA (International Basketball Federation) was formed in 1932 by eight founding nations: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Switzerland. At this time, the organization only oversaw amateur players. Its acronym, derived from the French *Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball Amateur*, was thus \"FIBA\". Men\'s basketball was first included at the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics, although a demonstration tournament was held in 1904. The United States defeated Canada in the first final, played outdoors. This competition has usually been dominated by the United States, whose team has won all but three titles. The first of these came in a controversial final game in Munich in 1972 against the Soviet Union, in which the ending of the game was replayed three times until the Soviet Union finally came out on top. In 1950 the first FIBA World Championship for men, now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, was held in Argentina. Three years later, the first FIBA World Championship for women, now known as the FIBA Women\'s Basketball World Cup, was held in Chile. Women\'s basketball was added to the Olympics in 1976, which were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with teams such as the Soviet Union, Brazil and Australia rivaling the American squads.
In 1989, FIBA allowed professional NBA players to participate in the Olympics for the first time. Prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics, only European and South American teams were allowed to field professionals in the Olympics. The United States\' dominance continued with the introduction of the original Dream Team. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, the United States suffered its first Olympic loss while using professional players, falling to Puerto Rico (in a 19-point loss) and Lithuania in group games, and being eliminated in the semifinals by Argentina. It eventually won the bronze medal defeating Lithuania, finishing behind Argentina and Italy. The Redeem Team, won gold at the 2008 Olympics, and the B-Team, won gold at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey despite featuring no players from the 2008 squad. The United States continued its dominance as they won gold at the 2012 Olympics, 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Worldwide, basketball tournaments are held for boys and girls of all age levels. The global popularity of the sport is reflected in the nationalities represented in the NBA. Players from all six inhabited continents currently play in the NBA. Top international players began coming into the NBA in the mid-1990s, including Croatians Dražen Petrović and Toni Kukoč, Serbian Vlade Divac, Lithuanians Arvydas Sabonis and Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Dutchman Rik Smits and German Detlef Schrempf.
In the Philippines, the Philippine Basketball Association\'s first game was played on April 9, 1975, at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines. It was founded as a \"rebellion\" of several teams from the now-defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association, which was tightly controlled by the Basketball Association of the Philippines (now defunct), the then-FIBA recognized national association. Nine teams from the MICAA participated in the league\'s first season that opened on April 9, 1975. The NBL is Australia\'s pre-eminent men\'s professional basketball league. The league commenced in 1979, playing a winter season (April--September) and did so until the completion of the 20th season in 1998. The 1998--99 season, which commenced only months later, was the first season after the shift to the current summer season format (October--April). This shift was an attempt to avoid competing directly against Australia\'s various football codes. It features 8 teams from around Australia and one in New Zealand. A few players including Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Chris Anstey and Andrew Bogut made it big internationally, becoming poster figures for the sport in Australia. The Women\'s National Basketball League began in 1981.
### Women\'s basketball {#womens_basketball}
upright=1.8\|thumb\|The Australian women\'s basketball team on winning the 2006 FIBA World Championship for Women
Women began to play basketball in the fall of 1892 at Smith College through Senda Berenson, substitute director of the newly opened gymnasium and physical education teacher, after having modified the rules for women. Shortly after Berenson was hired at Smith, she visited Naismith to learn more about the game. Fascinated by the new sport and the values it could teach, she instantly introduced the game as a class exercise and soon after teams were organized. The first women\'s collegiate basketball game was played on March 21, 1893, when her Smith freshmen and sophomores played against one another. The first official women\'s interinstitutional game was played later that year between the University of California and the Miss Head\'s School. In 1899, a committee was established at the Conference of Physical Training in Springfield to draw up general rules for women\'s basketball. These rules, designed by Berenson, were published in 1899. In 1902 Berenson became the editor of A. G. Spalding\'s first Women\'s Basketball Guide. The same year women of Mount Holyoke and Sophie Newcomb College (coached by Clara Gregory Baer), began playing basketball. By 1895, the game had spread to colleges across the country, including Wellesley, Vassar, and Bryn Mawr. The first intercollegiate women\'s game was on April 4, 1896. Stanford women played Berkeley, 9-on-9, ending in a 2--1 Stanford victory.
Women\'s basketball development was more structured than that for men in the early years. In 1905, the executive committee on Basket Ball Rules (National Women\'s Basketball Committee) was created by the American Physical Education Association. These rules called for six to nine players per team and 11 officials. The International Women\'s Sports Federation (1924) included a women\'s basketball competition. 37 women\'s high school varsity basketball or state tournaments were held by 1925. And in 1926, the Amateur Athletic Union backed the first national women\'s basketball championship, complete with men\'s rules. The Edmonton Grads, a touring Canadian women\'s team based in Edmonton, Alberta, operated between 1915 and 1940. The Grads toured all over North America, and were exceptionally successful. They posted a record of 522 wins and only 20 losses over that span, as they met any team that wanted to challenge them, funding their tours from gate receipts. The Grads also shone on several exhibition trips to Europe, and won four consecutive exhibition Olympics tournaments, in 1924, 1928, 1932, and 1936; however, women\'s basketball was not an official Olympic sport until 1976. The Grads\' players were unpaid, and had to remain single. The Grads\' style focused on team play, without overly emphasizing skills of individual players. The first women\'s AAU All-America team was chosen in 1929. Women\'s industrial leagues sprang up throughout the United States, producing famous athletes, including Babe Didrikson of the Golden Cyclones, and the All American Red Heads Team, which competed against men\'s teams, using men\'s rules. By 1938, the women\'s national championship changed from a three-court game to two-court game with six players per team. The NBA-backed Women\'s National Basketball Association (WNBA) began in 1997. Though it had shaky attendance figures, several marquee players (Lisa Leslie, Diana Taurasi, and Candace Parker among others) have helped the league\'s popularity and level of competition. Other professional women\'s basketball leagues in the United States, such as the American Basketball League (1996--98), have folded in part because of the popularity of the WNBA. The WNBA has been looked at by many as a niche league. However, the league has recently taken steps forward. In June 2007, the WNBA signed a contract extension with ESPN. The new television deal ran from 2009 to 2016. Along with this deal, came the first-ever rights fees to be paid to a women\'s professional sports league. Over the eight years of the contract, \"millions and millions of dollars\" were \"dispersed to the league\'s teams.\" In a March 12, 2009, article, NBA commissioner David Stern said that in the bad economy, \"the NBA is far less profitable than the WNBA. We\'re losing a lot of money among a large number of teams. We\'re budgeting the WNBA to break even this year.\"
## Rules and regulations {#rules_and_regulations}
*Main article: Rules of basketball*
Measurements and time limits discussed in this section often vary among tournaments and organizations; international and NBA rules are used in this section.
The object of the game is to outscore one\'s opponents by throwing the ball through the opponents\' basket from above while preventing the opponents from doing so on their own. An attempt to score in this way is called a shot. A successful shot is worth two points, or three points if it is taken from beyond the three-point arc 6.75 m from the basket in international games and 23 ft in NBA games. A one-point shot can be earned when shooting from the foul line after a foul is made. After a team has scored from a field goal or free throw, play is resumed with a **throw-in** awarded to the non-scoring team taken from a point beyond the endline of the court where the points were scored.
### Playing regulations {#playing_regulations}
Games are played in four quarters of 10 (FIBA) or 12 minutes (NBA). College men\'s games use two 20-minute halves, college women\'s games use 10-minute quarters, and most United States high school varsity games use 8-minute quarters; however, this varies from state to state. 15 minutes are allowed for a half-time break under FIBA, NBA, and NCAA rules and 10 minutes in United States high schools. Overtime periods are five minutes in length except for high school, which is four minutes in length. Teams exchange baskets for the second half. The time allowed is actual playing time; the clock is stopped while the play is not active. Therefore, games generally take much longer to complete than the allotted game time, typically about two hours.
Five players from each team may be on the court at one time. Substitutions are unlimited but can only be done when play is stopped. Teams also have a coach, who oversees the development and strategies of the team, and other team personnel such as assistant coaches, managers, statisticians, doctors and trainers.
For both men\'s and women\'s teams, a standard uniform consists of a pair of shorts and a jersey with a clearly visible number, unique within the team, printed on both the front and back. Players wear high-top sneakers that provide extra ankle support. Typically, team names, players\' names and, outside of North America, sponsors are printed on the uniforms.
A limited number of time-outs, clock stoppages requested by a coach (or sometimes mandated in the NBA) for a short meeting with the players, are allowed. They generally last no longer than one minute (100 seconds in the NBA) unless, for televised games, a commercial break is needed.
The game is controlled by the officials consisting of the referee (referred to as crew chief in the NBA), one or two umpires (referred to as referees in the NBA) and the table officials. For college, the NBA, and many high schools, there are a total of three referees on the court. The table officials are responsible for keeping track of each team\'s scoring, timekeeping, individual and team fouls, player substitutions, team possession arrow, and the shot clock.
### Equipment
The only essential equipment in a basketball game is the ball and the court: a flat, rectangular surface with baskets at opposite ends. Competitive levels require the use of more equipment such as clocks, score sheets, scoreboards, alternating possession arrows, and whistle-operated stop-clock systems.
A regulation basketball court in international games is 28 m long and 15 m wide. In the NBA and NCAA the court is 94 by. Most courts have wood flooring, usually constructed from maple planks running in the same direction as the longer court dimension. The name and logo of the home team is usually painted on or around the center circle.
The basket is a steel rim 18 in diameter with an attached net affixed to a backboard that measures 6 by and one basket is at each end of the court. The white outlined box on the backboard is 18 in high and 2 ft wide. At almost all levels of competition, the top of the rim is exactly 10 ft above the court and 4 ft inside the baseline. While variation is possible in the dimensions of the court and backboard, it is considered important for the basket to be of the correct height -- a rim that is off by just a few inches can have an adverse effect on shooting. The net must \"check the ball momentarily as it passes through the basket\" to aid the visual confirmation that the ball went through. The act of checking the ball has the further advantage of slowing down the ball so the rebound does not go as far.
The size of the basketball is also regulated. For men, the official ball is 29.5 in in circumference (size 7, or a \"295 ball\") and weighs 22 oz. If women are playing, the official basketball size is 28.5 in in circumference (size 6, or a \"285 ball\") with a weight of 20 oz. In 3x3, a formalized version of the halfcourt 3-on-3 game, a dedicated ball with the circumference of a size 6 ball but the weight of a size 7 ball is used in all competitions (men\'s, women\'s, and mixed teams).
### Violations
The ball may be advanced toward the basket by being shot, passed between players, thrown, tapped, rolled or dribbled (bouncing the ball while running).
The ball must stay within the court; the last team to touch the ball before it travels out of bounds forfeits possession. The ball is out of bounds if it touches a boundary line, or touches any player or object that is out of bounds.
There are limits placed on the steps a player may take without dribbling, which commonly results in an infraction known as traveling. Nor may a player stop their dribble and then resume dribbling. A dribble that touches both hands is considered stopping the dribble, giving this infraction the name double dribble. Within a dribble, the player cannot carry the ball by placing their hand on the bottom of the ball; doing so is known as carrying the ball. A team, once having established ball control in the front half of their court, may not return the ball to the backcourt and be the first to touch it. A violation of these rules results in loss of possession.
The ball may not be kicked, nor be struck with the fist. For the offense, a violation of these rules results in loss of possession; for the defense, most leagues reset the shot clock and the offensive team is given possession of the ball out of bounds.
There are limits imposed on the time taken before progressing the ball past halfway (8 seconds in FIBA and the NBA; 10 seconds in NCAA and high school for both sexes), before attempting a shot (24 seconds in FIBA, the NBA, and U Sports (Canadian universities) play for both sexes, and 30 seconds in NCAA play for both sexes), holding the ball while closely guarded (5 seconds), and remaining in the restricted area known as the free-throw lane, (or the \"key\") (3 seconds). These rules are designed to promote more offense.
There are also limits on how players may block an opponent\'s field goal attempt or help a teammate\'s field goal attempt. Goaltending is a defender\'s touching of a ball that is on a downward flight toward the basket, while the related violation of basket interference is the touching of a ball that is on the rim or above the basket, or by a player reaching through the basket from below. Goaltending and basket interference committed by a defender result in awarding the basket to the offense, while basket interference committed by an offensive player results in cancelling the basket if one is scored. The defense gains possession in all cases of goaltending or basket interference.
### Fouls
*Main article: Personal foul (basketball), Technical foul* An attempt to unfairly disadvantage an opponent through certain types of physical contact is illegal and is called a personal foul. These are most commonly committed by defensive players; however, they can be committed by offensive players as well. Players who are fouled either receive the ball to pass inbounds again, or receive one or more free throws if they are fouled in the act of shooting, depending on whether the shot was successful. One point is awarded for making a free throw, which is attempted from a line 15 ft from the basket.
The referee is responsible for judging whether contact is illegal, sometimes resulting in controversy. The calling of fouls can vary between games, leagues and referees.
There is a second category of fouls called technical fouls, which may be charged for various rules violations including failure to properly record a player in the scorebook, or for unsportsmanlike conduct. These infractions result in one or two free throws, which may be taken by any of the five players on the court at the time. Repeated incidents can result in disqualification. A blatant foul involving physical contact that is either excessive or unnecessary is called an intentional foul (flagrant foul in the NBA). In FIBA and NCAA women\'s basketball, a foul resulting in ejection is called a disqualifying foul, while in leagues other than the NBA, such a foul is referred to as flagrant.
If a team exceeds a certain limit of team fouls in a given period (quarter or half) -- four for NBA, NCAA women\'s, and international games -- the opposing team is awarded one or two free throws on all subsequent non-shooting fouls for that period, the number depending on the league. In the US college men\'s game and high school games for both sexes, if a team reaches 7 fouls in a half, the opposing team is awarded one free throw, along with a second shot if the first is made. This is called shooting \"one-and-one\". If a team exceeds 10 fouls in the half, the opposing team is awarded two free throws on all subsequent fouls for the half.
When a team shoots foul shots, the opponents may not interfere with the shooter, nor may they try to regain possession until the last or potentially last free throw is in the air.
After a team has committed a specified number of fouls, the other team is said to be \"in the bonus\". On scoreboards, this is usually signified with an indicator light reading \"Bonus\" or \"Penalty\" with an illuminated directional arrow or dot indicating that team is to receive free throws when fouled by the opposing team. (Some scoreboards also indicate the number of fouls committed.)
If a team misses the first shot of a two-shot situation, the opposing team must wait for the completion of the second shot before attempting to reclaim possession of the ball and continuing play.
If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is unsuccessful, the player is awarded a number of free throws equal to the value of the attempted shot. A player fouled while attempting a regular two-point shot thus receives two shots, and a player fouled while attempting a three-point shot receives three shots.
If a player is fouled while attempting a shot and the shot is successful, typically the player will be awarded one additional free throw for one point. In combination with a regular shot, this is called a \"three-point play\" or \"four-point play\" (or more colloquially, an \"and one\") because of the basket made at the time of the foul (2 or 3 points) and the additional free throw (1 point).
## Common techniques and practices {#common_techniques_and_practices}
### Positions
thumb\|upright=1.15\|Basketball positions in the offensive zone Although the rules do not specify any positions whatsoever, they have evolved as part of basketball. During the early years of basketball\'s evolution, two guards, two forwards, and one center were used. In more recent times specific positions evolved, but the current trend, advocated by many top coaches including Mike Krzyzewski, is towards positionless basketball, where big players are free to shoot from outside and dribble if their skill allows it. Popular descriptions of positions include:
Point guard (often called the \"**1**\") : usually the fastest player on the team, organizes the team\'s offense by controlling the ball and making sure that it gets to the right player at the right time.
Shooting guard (the \"**2**\") : creates a high volume of shots on offense, mainly long-ranged; and guards the opponent\'s best perimeter player on defense.
Small forward (the \"**3**\") : often primarily responsible for scoring points via cuts to the basket and dribble penetration; on defense seeks rebounds and steals, but sometimes plays more actively.
Power forward (the \"**4**\"): plays offensively often with their back to the basket; on defense, plays under the basket (in a zone defense) or against the opposing power forward (in man-to-man defense).
Center (the \"**5**\"): uses height and size to score (on offense), to protect the basket closely (on defense), or to rebound.
The above descriptions are flexible. For most teams today, the shooting guard and small forward have very similar responsibilities and are often called **the wings**, as do the power forward and center, who are often called **post players.** While most teams describe two players as guards, two as forwards, and one as a center, on some occasions teams choose to call them by different designations.
### Strategy
There are two main defensive strategies: *zone defense* and *man-to-man defense*. In a zone defense, each player is assigned to guard a specific area of the court. Zone defenses often allow the defense to double team the ball, a manoeuver known as a **trap**. In a man-to-man defense, each defensive player guards a specific opponent.
Offensive plays are more varied, normally involving planned passes and movement by players without the ball. A quick movement by an offensive player without the ball to gain an advantageous position is known as a *cut*. A legal attempt by an offensive player to stop an opponent from guarding a teammate, by standing in the defender\'s way such that the teammate cuts next to him, is a *screen* or *pick*. The two plays are combined in the *pick and roll*, in which a player sets a pick and then \"rolls\" away from the pick towards the basket. Screens and cuts are very important in offensive plays; these allow the quick passes and teamwork, which can lead to a successful basket. Teams almost always have several offensive plays planned to ensure their movement is not predictable. On court, the point guard is usually responsible for indicating which play will occur.
### Shooting
Shooting is the act of attempting to score points by throwing the ball through the basket, methods varying with players and situations.
Typically, a player faces the basket with both feet facing the basket. A player will rest the ball on the fingertips of the dominant hand (the shooting arm) slightly above the head, with the other hand supporting the side of the ball. The ball is usually shot by jumping (though not always) and extending the shooting arm. The shooting arm, fully extended with the wrist fully bent, is held stationary for a moment following the release of the ball, known as a *follow-through*. Players often try to put a steady backspin on the ball to absorb its impact with the rim. The ideal trajectory of the shot is somewhat controversial, but generally a proper arc is recommended. Players may shoot directly into the basket or may use the backboard to redirect the ball into the basket.
The two most common shots that use the above described setup are the *set shot* and the *jump shot*. Both are preceded by a crouching action which preloads the muscles and increases the power of the shot. In a set shot, the shooter straightens up and throws from a standing position with neither foot leaving the floor; this is typically used for free throws. For a jump shot, the throw is taken in mid-air with the ball being released near the top of the jump. This provides much greater power and range, and it also allows the player to elevate over the defender. Failure to release the ball before the feet return to the floor is considered a traveling violation.
Another common shot is called the *layup*. This shot requires the player to be in motion toward the basket, and to \"lay\" the ball \"up\" and into the basket, typically off the backboard (the backboard-free, underhand version is called a *finger roll*). The most crowd-pleasing and typically highest-percentage accuracy shot is the *slam dunk*, in which the player jumps very high and throws the ball downward, through the basket while touching it.
Another shot that is less common than the layup, is the \"circus shot\". The circus shot is a low-percentage shot that is flipped, heaved, scooped, or flung toward the hoop while the shooter is off-balance, airborne, falling down or facing away from the basket. A back-shot is a shot taken when the player is facing away from the basket, and may be shot with the dominant hand, or both; but there is a very low chance that the shot will be successful.
A shot that misses both the rim and the backboard completely is referred to as an *air ball*. A particularly bad shot, or one that only hits the backboard, is jocularly called a brick. The *hang time* is the length of time a player stays in the air after jumping, either to make a slam dunk, layup or jump shot.
### Rebounding
The objective of rebounding is to successfully gain possession of the basketball after a missed field goal or free throw, as it rebounds from the hoop or backboard. This plays a major role in the game, as most possessions end when a team misses a shot. There are two categories of rebounds: offensive rebounds, in which the ball is recovered by the offensive side and does not change possession, and defensive rebounds, in which the defending team gains possession of the loose ball. The majority of rebounds are defensive, as the team on defense tends to be in better position to recover missed shots; for example, about 75% of rebounds in the NBA are defensive.
### Passing
A pass is a method of moving the ball between players. Most passes are accompanied by a step forward to increase power and are followed through with the hands to ensure accuracy.
A staple pass is the *chest pass*. The ball is passed directly from the passer\'s chest to the receiver\'s chest. A proper chest pass involves an outward snap of the thumbs to add velocity and leaves the defence little time to react.
Another type of pass is the *bounce pass*. Here, the passer bounces the ball crisply about two-thirds of the way from his own chest to the receiver. The ball strikes the court and bounces up toward the receiver. The bounce pass takes longer to complete than the chest pass, but it is also harder for the opposing team to intercept (kicking the ball deliberately is a violation). Thus, players often use the bounce pass in crowded moments, or to pass around a defender.
The *overhead pass* is used to pass the ball over a defender. The ball is released while over the passer\'s head.
The *outlet pass* occurs after a team gets a defensive rebound. The next pass after the rebound is the *outlet pass*.
The crucial aspect of any good pass is it being difficult to intercept. Good passers can pass the ball with great accuracy and they know exactly where each of their other teammates prefers to receive the ball. A special way of doing this is passing the ball without looking at the receiving teammate. This is called a *no-look pass*.
Another advanced style of passing is the *behind-the-back pass*, which, as the description implies, involves throwing the ball behind the passer\'s back to a teammate. Although some players can perform such a pass effectively, many coaches discourage no-look or behind-the-back passes, believing them to be difficult to control and more likely to result in turnovers or violations.
### Dribbling
thumb\|right\|upright=1.45\|A demonstration of the basic types of dribbling in basketball *Main article: Dribble* Dribbling is the act of bouncing the ball continuously with one hand and is a requirement for a player to take steps with the ball. To dribble, a player pushes the ball down towards the ground with the fingertips rather than patting it; this ensures greater control.
When dribbling past an opponent, the dribbler should dribble with the hand farthest from the opponent, making it more difficult for the defensive player to get to the ball. It is therefore important for a player to be able to dribble competently with both hands.
Good dribblers (or \"ball handlers\") tend to keep their dribbling hand low to the ground, reducing the distance of travel of the ball from the floor to the hand, making it more difficult for the defender to \"steal\" the ball. Good ball handlers frequently dribble behind their backs, between their legs, and switch directions suddenly, making a less predictable dribbling pattern that is more difficult to defend against. This is called a crossover, which is the most effective way to move past defenders while dribbling.
A skilled player can dribble without watching the ball, using the dribbling motion or peripheral vision to keep track of the ball\'s location. By not having to focus on the ball, a player can look for teammates or scoring opportunities, as well as avoid the danger of having someone steal the ball away from him/her.
### Blocking
A block is performed when, after a shot is attempted, a defender succeeds in altering the shot by touching the ball. In almost all variants of play, it is illegal to touch the ball after it is in the downward path of its arc; this is known as *goaltending*. It is also illegal under NBA and Men\'s NCAA basketball to block a shot after it has touched the backboard, or when any part of the ball is directly above the rim. Under international rules it is illegal to block a shot that is in the downward path of its arc or one that has touched the backboard until the ball has hit the rim. After the ball hits the rim, it is again legal to touch it even though it is no longer considered as a block performed.
To block a shot, a player has to be able to reach a point higher than where the shot is released. Thus, height can be an advantage in blocking. Players who are taller and playing the power forward or center positions generally record more blocks than players who are shorter and playing the guard positions. However, with good timing and a sufficiently high vertical leap, even shorter players can be effective shot blockers.
## Height
At the professional level, most male players are above 6 ft and most women above 5 ft. Guards, for whom physical coordination and ball-handling skills are crucial, tend to be the smallest players. Almost all forwards in the top men\'s pro leagues are 6 ft or taller. Most centers are over 6 ft tall. According to a survey given to all NBA teams,`{{when|date=July 2015}}`{=mediawiki} the average height of all NBA players is just under 6 ft, with the average weight being close to 222 lb. The tallest players ever in the NBA were Manute Bol and Gheorghe Mureșan, who were both 7 ft tall. At 7 ft, Margo Dydek was the tallest player in the history of the WNBA.
The shortest player ever to play in the NBA is Muggsy Bogues at 5 ft. Other average-height or relatively short players have thrived at the pro level, including Anthony \"Spud\" Webb, who was 5 ft tall, but had a 42 in vertical leap, giving him significant height when jumping, and Temeka Johnson, who won the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award and a championship with the Phoenix Mercury while standing only 5 ft. While shorter players are often at a disadvantage in certain aspects of the game, their ability to navigate quickly through crowded areas of the court and steal the ball by reaching low are strengths.
Players regularly inflate their height in high school or college. Many prospects exaggerate their height while in high school or college to make themselves more appealing to coaches and scouts, who prefer taller players. Charles Barkley stated; \"I\'ve been measured at 6--5, 6-`{{frac|4|3|4}}`{=mediawiki}. But I started in college at 6--6.\" Sam Smith, a former writer from the *Chicago Tribune*, said: \"We sort of know the heights, because after camp, the sheet comes out. But you use that height, and the player gets mad. And then you hear from his agent. Or you file your story with the right height, and the copy desk changes it because they have the \'official\' N.B.A. media guide, which is wrong. So you sort of go along with the joke.\"
Since the 2019--20 NBA season heights of NBA players are recorded definitively by measuring players with their shoes off.
## Variations and similar games {#variations_and_similar_games}
Variations of basketball are activities based on the game of basketball, using common basketball skills and equipment (primarily the ball and basket). Some variations only have superficial rule changes, while others are distinct games with varying degrees of influence from basketball. Other variations include children\'s games, contests or activities meant to help players reinforce skills.
An earlier version of basketball, played primarily by women and girls, was six-on-six basketball. Horseball is a game played on horseback where a ball is handled and points are scored by shooting it through a high net (approximately 1.5m×1.5m). The sport is like a combination of polo, rugby, and basketball. There is even a form played on donkeys known as Donkey basketball, which has attracted criticism from animal rights groups.
### Half-court {#half_court}
Perhaps the single most common variation of basketball is the half-court game, played in informal settings without referees or strict rules. Only one basket is used, and the ball must be \"taken back\" or \"cleared\" -- passed or dribbled outside the three-point line each time possession of the ball changes from one team to the other. Half-court games require less cardiovascular stamina, since players need not run back and forth a full court. Half-court raises the number of players that can use a court or, conversely, can be played if there is an insufficient number to form full 5-on-5 teams.
Half-court basketball is usually played 1-on-1, 2-on-2 or 3-on-3. The last of these variations is gradually gaining official recognition as 3x3, originally known as FIBA 33. It was first tested at the 2007 Asian Indoor Games in Macau and the first official tournaments were held at the 2009 Asian Youth Games and the 2010 Youth Olympics, both in Singapore. The first FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championships were held in Rimini, Italy in 2011, with the first FIBA 3x3 World Championships for senior teams following a year later in Athens. The sport is highly tipped to become an Olympic sport as early as 2016. In the summer of 2017, the BIG3 basketball league, a professional 3x3 half court basketball league that features former NBA players, began. The BIG3 features several rule variants including a four-point field goal.
### Other variations {#other_variations}
Variations of basketball with their own page or subsection include:
- **21** (also known as **American**, **cutthroat** and **roughhouse**)
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
- **42**
- **Around the World**
- **Bounce**
- **Firing Squad**
- **Fives**
- **H-O-R-S-E**
- **Hotshot**
- **Knockout**
- **One-shot conquer**
- **Steal The Bacon**
- **Tip-it**
- **Tips**
- **\"The One\"**
- **Basketball War**
- **Water basketball**
- **Beach basketball**
- **Streetball**
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
- **One-on-one** is a variation in which two players will use only a small section of the court (often no more than a half of a court) and compete to play the ball into a single hoop. Such games tend to emphasize individual dribbling and ball stealing skills over shooting and team play.
- **Dunk Hoops** is a variation played on basketball hoops with lowered (under basketball regulation 10 feet) rims. It originated when the popularity of the slam dunk grew and was developed to create better chances for dunks with lowered rims and using altered goaltending rules.
- **Unicycle basketball** is played using a regulation basketball on a regular basketball court with the same rules, for example, one must dribble the ball while riding. There are a number of rules that are particular to unicycle basketball as well, for example, a player must have at least one foot on a pedal when in-bounding the ball. Unicycle basketball is usually played using 24\" or smaller unicycles, and using plastic pedals, both to preserve the court and the players\' shins. Popular unicycle basketball games are organized in North America.
Spin-offs from basketball that are now separate sports include:
- **Ringball**, a traditional South African sport that stems from basketball, has been played since 1907. The sport is now promoted in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, India, and Mauritius to establish Ringball as an international sport.
- **Korfball** (Dutch: Korfbal, *korf* meaning \'basket\') started in the Netherlands and is now played worldwide as a mixed-gender team ball game, similar to mixed netball and basketball.
- **Netball** is a limited-contact team sport in which two teams of seven try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a high hoop. Australia New Zealand champions (so called ANZ Championship) is very famous in Australia and New Zealand as the premier netball league. Formerly played exclusively by women, netball today features mixed-gender competitions.
- **Slamball**, invented by television writer Mason Gordon, is a full-contact sport featuring trampolines. The main difference from basketball is the court; below the padded rim and backboard are four trampolines set into the floor, which serve to propel players to great heights for slam dunks. The rules also permit some physical contact between the members of the four-player teams. Professional games of Slamball aired on Spike TV in 2002, and the sport has since expanded to China and other countries.
<File:Dan> Hadani collection (990044347560205171).jpg\|A basketball player in Israel, 1969 <File:Girls> play basketball in Dharmsala, India.jpg\|Schoolgirls shooting hoops among the Himalayas in Dharamsala, India. <File:Sân> trường THPT Phan Đình Phùng, Hà Nội.JPG\|A basketball training course at the Phan Đình Phùng High School, Hanoi, Vietnam <File:MECVOLLEYBALL> GROUND.JPG\|A basketball court in Tamil Nadu, India <File:Kevyen> liikenteen väylä Baana - G8537 - hkm.HKMS000005-km0000n5j4.jpg\|A basketball court on Baana - Helsinki, Finland.
## Social forms of basketball {#social_forms_of_basketball}
Basketball as a social and communal sport features environments, rules and demographics different from those seen in professional and televised basketball.
### Recreational basketball {#recreational_basketball}
Basketball is played widely as an extracurricular, intramural or amateur sport in schools and colleges. Notable institutions of recreational basketball include:
- **Basketball schools and academies**, where students are trained in developing basketball fundamentals, undergo fitness and endurance exercises and learn various basketball skills. Basketball students learn proper ways of passing, ball handling, dribbling, shooting from various distances, rebounding, offensive moves, defense, layups, screens, basketball rules and basketball ethics. Also popular are the basketball camps organized for various occasions, often to get prepared for basketball events, and basketball clinics for improving skills.
- **College and university basketball** played in educational institutions of higher learning. This includes National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) intercollegiate basketball.
### Disabled basketball {#disabled_basketball}
- **Deaf basketball**: One of several deaf sports, deaf basketball relies on signing for communication. Any deaf sporting event that happens, its purpose is to serve as a catalyst for the socialization of a low-incidence and geographically dispersed population.
- **Wheelchair basketball**: A sport based on basketball but designed for disabled people in wheelchairs and considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. There is a functional classification system that is used to help determine if the wheelchair basketball player classification system reflects the existing differences in the performance of elite female players. This system gives an analysis of the players\' functional resources through field-testing and game observation. During this system\'s process, players are assigned a score of 1 to 4.5.
### Other forms {#other_forms}
- **Biddy basketball** played by minors, sometimes in formal tournaments, around the globe.
- **Midnight basketball**, an initiative to curb inner-city crime in the United States and elsewhere by engaging youth in urban areas with sports as an alternative to drugs and crime.
- **Rezball**, short for reservation ball, is the avid Native American following of basketball, particularly a style of play particular to Native American teams of some areas.
## Fantasy basketball {#fantasy_basketball}
**Fantasy basketball** was popularized during the 1990s by ESPN Fantasy Sports, NBA.com, and Yahoo! Fantasy Sports. On the model of fantasy baseball and football, players create fictional teams, select professional basketball players to \"play\" on these teams through a mock draft or trades, then calculate points based on the players\' real-world performance.
### Basics of fantasy basketball {#basics_of_fantasy_basketball}
1. **League Setup**:
- You can join public leagues or create private leagues with friends.
- Popular platforms include ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Sleeper, and Fantrax.
2. **Draft**:
- A draft (snake or auction) is held at the beginning of the season.
- Participants select NBA players to form their teams.
3. **Scoring Formats**:
- **Points League**: Players earn points based on specific stats (e.g., 2 points per rebound, 1.5 points per assist).
- **Categories League**: Teams compete in specific categories (e.g., best in assists, steals).
- **Rotisserie (Roto)**: Teams rank in each category, and rankings are combined to determine the overall score.
4. **Roster Management**:
- Teams set lineups daily or weekly, determining which players\' stats will count.
- You can trade players, pick up free agents, or drop underperforming players.
5. **Playoffs**:
- At the end of the regular NBA season, fantasy leagues often have playoffs to determine the champion.
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3,940 |
Blowfish (cipher)
|
**Blowfish** is a symmetric-key block cipher, designed in 1993 by Bruce Schneier and included in many cipher suites and encryption products. Blowfish provides a good encryption rate in software, and no effective cryptanalysis of it has been found to date for smaller files. It is recommended Blowfish should not be used to encrypt files larger than 4GB in size, Twofish should be used instead.
Blowfish has a 64-bit block size and therefore it could be vulnerable to Sweet32 birthday attacks.
Schneier designed Blowfish as a general-purpose algorithm, intended as an alternative to the aging DES and free of the problems and constraints associated with other algorithms. At the time Blowfish was released, many other designs were proprietary, encumbered by patents, or were commercial or government secrets. Schneier has stated that \"Blowfish is unpatented, and will remain so in all countries. The algorithm is hereby placed in the public domain, and can be freely used by anyone.\"
Notable features of the design include key-dependent S-boxes and a highly complex key schedule.
## The algorithm {#the_algorithm}
Blowfish has a 64-bit block size and a variable key length from 32 bits up to 448 bits. It is a 16-round Feistel cipher and uses large key-dependent S-boxes. In structure it resembles CAST-128, which uses fixed S-boxes. The adjacent diagram shows Blowfish\'s encryption routine. Each line represents 32 bits. There are five subkey-arrays: one 18-entry P-array (denoted as K in the diagram, to avoid confusion with the Plaintext) and four 256-entry S-boxes (S0, S1, S2 and S3).
Every round *r* consists of 4 actions:
-------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
**Action 1** XOR the left half (L) of the data with the *r* th P-array entry
**Action 2** Use the XORed data as input for Blowfish\'s F-function
**Action 3** XOR the F-function\'s output with the right half (R) of the data
**Action 4** Swap L and R
-------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------
The F-function splits the 32-bit input into four 8-bit quarters and uses the quarters as input to the S-boxes. The S-boxes accept 8-bit input and produce 32-bit output. The outputs are added modulo 2^32^ and XORed to produce the final 32-bit output (see image in the upper right corner).
After the 16th round, undo the last swap, and XOR L with K18 and R with K17 (output whitening).
Decryption is exactly the same as encryption, except that P1, P2, \..., P18 are used in the reverse order. This is not so obvious because xor is commutative and associative. A common misconception is to use inverse order of encryption as decryption algorithm (i.e. first XORing P17 and P18 to the ciphertext block, then using the P-entries in reverse order).
Blowfish\'s key schedule starts by initializing the P-array and S-boxes with values derived from the hexadecimal digits of pi, which contain no obvious pattern (see nothing up my sleeve number). The secret key is then, byte by byte, cycling the key if necessary, XORed with all the P-entries in order. A 64-bit all-zero block is then encrypted with the algorithm as it stands. The resultant ciphertext replaces P~1~ and P~2~. The same ciphertext is then encrypted again with the new subkeys, and the new ciphertext replaces P~3~ and P~4~. This continues, replacing the entire P-array and all the S-box entries. In all, the Blowfish encryption algorithm will run 521 times to generate all the subkeys`{{snd}}`{=mediawiki} about 4 KB of data is processed.
Because the P-array is 576 bits long, and the key bytes are XORed through all these 576 bits during the initialization, many implementations support key sizes up to 576 bits. The reason for that is a discrepancy between the original Blowfish description, which uses 448-bit keys, and its reference implementation, which uses 576-bit keys. The test vectors for verifying third-party implementations were also produced with 576-bit keys. When asked which Blowfish version is the correct one, Bruce Schneier answered: \"The test vectors should be used to determine the one true Blowfish\".
Another opinion is that the 448 bits limit is present to ensure that every bit of every subkey depends on every bit of the key, as the last four values of the P-array don\'t affect every bit of the ciphertext. This point should be taken in consideration for implementations with a different number of rounds, as even though it increases security against an exhaustive attack, it weakens the security guaranteed by the algorithm. And given the slow initialization of the cipher with each change of key, it is granted a natural protection against brute-force attacks, which doesn\'t really justify key sizes longer than 448 bits.
## Blowfish in pseudocode {#blowfish_in_pseudocode}
`P[18] // `*`P-array of 18 elements`*\
`S[4][256] // `*`S-boxes: 4 arrays of 256 elements`*\
\
**`function`**` f(x):`\
` // `*`Calculates a function f on a 32-bit input x, using S-boxes and bit manipulation`*\
` high_byte := (x `**`shifted right by`**` 24 `**`bits`**`)`\
` second_byte := (x `**`shifted right by`**` 16 `**`bits`**`) `**`AND`**` 0xff`\
` third_byte := (x `**`shifted right by`**` 8 `**`bits`**`) `**`AND`**` 0xff`\
` low_byte := x `**`AND`**` 0xff`\
\
` h := S[0][high_byte] + S[1][second_byte]`\
` `**`return`**` (h `**`XOR`**` S[2][third_byte]) + S[3][low_byte]`\
\
**`procedure`**` blowfish_encrypt(L, R):`\
` // `*`Encrypts two 32-bit halves L and R using the P-array and function f over 16 rounds`*\
` `**`for`**` round := 0 `**`to`**` 15:`\
` L := L `**`XOR`**` P[round]`\
` R := f(L) `**`XOR`**` R`\
` `**`swap values of L and R`**\
` `**`swap values of L and R`**\
` R := R `**`XOR`**` P[16]`\
` L := L `**`XOR`**` P[17]`\
\
**`procedure`**` blowfish_decrypt(L, R):`\
` // `*`Decrypts two 32-bit halves L and R using the P-array and function f over 16 rounds in reverse`*\
` `**`for`**` round := 17 `**`down to`**` 2:`\
` L := L `**`XOR`**` P[round]`\
` R := f(L) `**`XOR`**` R`\
` `**`swap values of L and R`**\
` `**`swap values of L and R`**\
` R := R `**`XOR`**` P[1]`\
` L := L `**`XOR`**` P[0]`\
` `\
`// `*`Initializes the P-array and S-boxes using the provided key, followed by key expansion`*\
`//`*`Initialize P-array with the key values`*\
`key_position := 0`\
**`for`**` i := 0 `**`to`**` 17:`\
` k := 0`\
` `**`for`**` j := 0 `**`to`**` 3:`\
` k := (k `**`shifted left by`**` 8 `**`bits`**`) `**`OR`**` key[key_position]`\
` key_position := (key_position + 1) `**`mod`**` key_length`\
` P[i] := P[i] `**`XOR`**` k`\
\
`//`*`Blowfish key expansion (521 iterations)`*\
`L := 0, R := 0`\
**`for`**` i := 0 `**`to`**` 17 `**`by`**` 2:`\
` blowfish_encrypt(L, R)`\
` P[i] := L`\
` P[i + 1] := R`\
\
`//`*`Fill S-boxes by encrypting L and R`*\
**`for`**` i := 0 `**`to`**` 3:`\
` `**`for`**` j := 0 `**`to`**` 255 `**`by`**` 2:`\
` blowfish_encrypt(L, R)`\
` S[i][j] := L`\
` S[i][j + 1] := R`
## Blowfish in practice {#blowfish_in_practice}
Blowfish is a fast block cipher, except when changing keys. Each new key requires the pre-processing equivalent of encrypting about 4 kilobytes of text, which is very slow compared to other block ciphers. This prevents its use in certain applications, but is not a problem in others.
Blowfish must be initialized with a key. It is good practice to have this key hashed with a hash function before use.
In one application Blowfish\'s slow key changing is actually a benefit: the password-hashing method (crypt \$2, i.e. bcrypt) used in OpenBSD uses an algorithm derived from Blowfish that makes use of the slow key schedule; the idea is that the extra computational effort required gives protection against dictionary attacks. *See* key stretching.
Blowfish has a memory footprint of just over 4 kilobytes of RAM. This constraint is not a problem even for older desktop and laptop computers, though it does prevent use in the smallest embedded systems such as early smartcards.
Blowfish was one of the first secure block ciphers not subject to any patents and therefore freely available for anyone to use. This benefit has contributed to its popularity in cryptographic software.
bcrypt is a password hashing function which, combined with a variable number of iterations (work \"cost\"), exploits the expensive key setup phase of Blowfish to increase the workload and duration of hash calculations, further reducing threats from brute force attacks.
bcrypt is also the name of a cross-platform file encryption utility developed in 2002 that implements Blowfish.
## Weakness and successors {#weakness_and_successors}
Blowfish\'s use of a 64-bit block size (as opposed to e.g. AES\'s 128-bit block size) makes it vulnerable to birthday attacks, particularly in contexts like HTTPS. In 2016, the SWEET32 attack demonstrated how to leverage birthday attacks to perform plaintext recovery (i.e. decrypting ciphertext) against ciphers with a 64-bit block size. The GnuPG project recommends that Blowfish not be used to encrypt files larger than 4 GB due to its small block size.
A reduced-round variant of Blowfish is known to be susceptible to known-plaintext attacks on reflectively weak keys. Blowfish implementations use 16 rounds of encryption, and are not susceptible to this attack.
Bruce Schneier has recommended migrating to his Blowfish successor, Twofish.
was released in 2005, developed by Alexander Pukall. It has exactly the same design but has twice as many S tables and uses 64-bit integers instead of 32-bit integers. It no longer works on 64-bit blocks but on 128-bit blocks like AES. Blowfish2 is used for example, in FreePascal.
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Bijection
|
`{{Functions}}`{=mediawiki}
In mathematics, a **bijection**, **bijective function**, or **one-to-one correspondence** is a function between two sets such that each element of the second set (the codomain) is the image of exactly one element of the first set (the domain). Equivalently, a bijection is a relation between two sets such that each element of either set is paired with exactly one element of the other set.
A function is bijective if it is invertible; that is, a function $f:X\to Y$ is bijective if and only if there is a function $g:Y\to X,$ the *inverse* of `{{mvar|f}}`{=mediawiki}, such that each of the two ways for composing the two functions produces an identity function: $g(f(x)) = x$ for each $x$ in $X$ and $f(g(y)) = y$ for each $y$ in $Y.$
For example, the *multiplication by two* defines a bijection from the integers to the even numbers, which has the *division by two* as its inverse function.
A function is bijective if and only if it is both injective (or *one-to-one*)---meaning that each element in the codomain is mapped from at most one element of the domain---and surjective (or *onto*)---meaning that each element of the codomain is mapped from at least one element of the domain. The term *one-to-one correspondence* must not be confused with *one-to-one function*, which means injective but not necessarily surjective.
The elementary operation of counting establishes a bijection from some finite set to the first natural numbers `{{math|(1, 2, 3, ...)}}`{=mediawiki}, up to the number of elements in the counted set. It results that two finite sets have the same number of elements if and only if there exists a bijection between them. More generally, two sets are said to have the same cardinal number if there exists a bijection between them.
A bijective function from a set to itself is also called a permutation, and the set of all permutations of a set forms its symmetric group.
Some bijections with further properties have received specific names, which include automorphisms, isomorphisms, homeomorphisms, diffeomorphisms, permutation groups, and most geometric transformations. Galois correspondences are bijections between sets of mathematical objects of apparently very different nature.
## Definition
For a binary relation pairing elements of set *X* with elements of set *Y* to be a bijection, four properties must hold:
1. each element of *X* must be paired with at least one element of *Y*,
2. no element of *X* may be paired with more than one element of *Y*,
3. each element of *Y* must be paired with at least one element of *X*, and
4. no element of *Y* may be paired with more than one element of *X*.
Satisfying properties (1) and (2) means that a pairing is a function with domain *X*. It is more common to see properties (1) and (2) written as a single statement: Every element of *X* is paired with exactly one element of *Y*. Functions which satisfy property (3) are said to be \"onto *Y* \" and are called surjections (or *surjective functions*). Functions which satisfy property (4) are said to be \"one-to-one functions\" and are called injections (or *injective functions*). With this terminology, a bijection is a function which is both a surjection and an injection, or using other words, a bijection is a function which is both \"one-to-one\" and \"onto\".
## Examples
### Batting line-up of a baseball or cricket team {#batting_line_up_of_a_baseball_or_cricket_team}
Consider the batting line-up of a baseball or cricket team (or any list of all the players of any sports team where every player holds a specific spot in a line-up). The set *X* will be the players on the team (of size nine in the case of baseball) and the set *Y* will be the positions in the batting order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) The \"pairing\" is given by which player is in what position in this order. Property (1) is satisfied since each player is somewhere in the list. Property (2) is satisfied since no player bats in two (or more) positions in the order. Property (3) says that for each position in the order, there is some player batting in that position and property (4) states that two or more players are never batting in the same position in the list.
### Seats and students of a classroom {#seats_and_students_of_a_classroom}
In a classroom there are a certain number of seats. A group of students enter the room and the instructor asks them to be seated. After a quick look around the room, the instructor declares that there is a bijection between the set of students and the set of seats, where each student is paired with the seat they are sitting in. What the instructor observed in order to reach this conclusion was that:
1. Every student was in a seat (there was no one standing),
2. No student was in more than one seat,
3. Every seat had someone sitting there (there were no empty seats), and
4. No seat had more than one student in it.
The instructor was able to conclude that there were just as many seats as there were students, without having to count either set.
## More mathematical examples {#more_mathematical_examples}
- For any set *X*, the identity function **1**~*X*~: *X* → *X*, **1**~*X*~(*x*) = *x* is bijective.
- The function *f*: **R** → **R**, *f*(*x*) = 2*x* + 1 is bijective, since for each *y* there is a unique *x* = (*y* − 1)/2 such that *f*(*x*) = *y*. More generally, any linear function over the reals, *f*: **R** → **R**, *f*(*x*) = *ax* + *b* (where *a* is non-zero) is a bijection. Each real number *y* is obtained from (or paired with) the real number *x* = (*y* − *b*)/*a*.
- The function *f*: **R** → (−π/2, π/2), given by *f*(*x*) = arctan(*x*) is bijective, since each real number *x* is paired with exactly one angle *y* in the interval (−π/2, π/2) so that tan(*y*) = *x* (that is, *y* = arctan(*x*)). If the codomain (−π/2, π/2) was made larger to include an integer multiple of π/2, then this function would no longer be onto (surjective), since there is no real number which could be paired with the multiple of π/2 by this arctan function.
- The exponential function, *g*: **R** → **R**, *g*(*x*) = e^*x*^, is not bijective: for instance, there is no *x* in **R** such that *g*(*x*) = −1, showing that *g* is not onto (surjective). However, if the codomain is restricted to the positive real numbers $\R^+ \equiv \left(0, \infty\right)$, then *g* would be bijective; its inverse (see below) is the natural logarithm function ln.
- The function *h*: **R** → **R**^+^, *h*(*x*) = *x*^2^ is not bijective: for instance, *h*(−1) = *h*(1) = 1, showing that *h* is not one-to-one (injective). However, if the domain is restricted to $\R^+_0 \equiv \left[0, \infty\right)$, then *h* would be bijective; its inverse is the positive square root function.
- By Schröder--Bernstein theorem, given any two sets *X* and *Y*, and two injective functions *f*: *X → Y* and *g*: *Y → X*, there exists a bijective function *h*: *X → Y*.
## Inverses
A bijection *f* with domain *X* (indicated by *f*: *X → Y* in functional notation) also defines a converse relation starting in *Y* and going to *X* (by turning the arrows around). The process of \"turning the arrows around\" for an arbitrary function does not, *in general*, yield a function, but properties (3) and (4) of a bijection say that this inverse relation is a function with domain *Y*. Moreover, properties (1) and (2) then say that this inverse *function* is a surjection and an injection, that is, the inverse function exists and is also a bijection. Functions that have inverse functions are said to be invertible. A function is invertible if and only if it is a bijection.
Stated in concise mathematical notation, a function *f*: *X → Y* is bijective if and only if it satisfies the condition
: for every *y* in *Y* there is a unique *x* in *X* with *y* = *f*(*x*).
Continuing with the baseball batting line-up example, the function that is being defined takes as input the name of one of the players and outputs the position of that player in the batting order. Since this function is a bijection, it has an inverse function which takes as input a position in the batting order and outputs the player who will be batting in that position.
## Composition
The composition $g \,\circ\, f$ of two bijections *f*: *X → Y* and *g*: *Y → Z* is a bijection, whose inverse is given by $g \,\circ\, f$ is $(g \,\circ\, f)^{-1} \;=\; (f^{-1}) \,\circ\, (g^{-1})$.
Conversely, if the composition $g \, \circ\, f$ of two functions is bijective, it only follows that *f* is injective and *g* is surjective.
## Cardinality
If *X* and *Y* are finite sets, then there exists a bijection between the two sets *X* and *Y* if and only if *X* and *Y* have the same number of elements. Indeed, in axiomatic set theory, this is taken as the definition of \"same number of elements\" (equinumerosity), and generalising this definition to infinite sets leads to the concept of cardinal number, a way to distinguish the various sizes of infinite sets.
## Properties
- A function *f*: **R** → **R** is bijective if and only if its graph meets every horizontal and vertical line exactly once.
- If *X* is a set, then the bijective functions from *X* to itself, together with the operation of functional composition ($\circ$), form a group, the symmetric group of *X*, which is denoted variously by S(*X*), *S~X~*, or *X*! (*X* factorial).
- Bijections preserve cardinalities of sets: for a subset *A* of the domain with cardinality \|*A*\| and subset *B* of the codomain with cardinality \|*B*\|, one has the following equalities:
: \|*f*(*A*)\| = \|*A*\| and \|*f*^−1^(*B*)\| = \|*B*\|.
- If *X* and *Y* are finite sets with the same cardinality, and *f*: *X → Y*, then the following are equivalent:
1. *f* is a bijection.
2. *f* is a surjection.
3. *f* is an injection.
- For a finite set *S*, there is a bijection between the set of possible total orderings of the elements and the set of bijections from *S* to *S*. That is to say, the number of permutations of elements of *S* is the same as the number of total orderings of that set---namely, *n*!.
## Category theory {#category_theory}
Bijections are precisely the isomorphisms in the category *Set* of sets and set functions. However, the bijections are not always the isomorphisms for more complex categories. For example, in the category *Grp* of groups, the morphisms must be homomorphisms since they must preserve the group structure, so the isomorphisms are *group isomorphisms* which are bijective homomorphisms.
## Generalization to partial functions {#generalization_to_partial_functions}
The notion of one-to-one correspondence generalizes to partial functions, where they are called *partial bijections*, although partial bijections are only required to be injective. The reason for this relaxation is that a (proper) partial function is already undefined for a portion of its domain; thus there is no compelling reason to constrain its inverse to be a total function, i.e. defined everywhere on its domain. The set of all partial bijections on a given base set is called the symmetric inverse semigroup.
Another way of defining the same notion is to say that a partial bijection from *A* to *B* is any relation *R* (which turns out to be a partial function) with the property that *R* is the graph of a bijection *f*:*`{{prime|A}}`{=mediawiki}*→*`{{prime|B}}`{=mediawiki}*, where *`{{prime|A}}`{=mediawiki}* is a subset of *A* and *`{{prime|B}}`{=mediawiki}* is a subset of *B*.
When the partial bijection is on the same set, it is sometimes called a *one-to-one partial transformation*. An example is the Möbius transformation simply defined on the complex plane, rather than its completion to the extended complex plane.
## Gallery
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Binary function
|
In mathematics, a **binary function** (also called **bivariate function**, or **function of two variables**) is a function that takes two inputs.
Precisely stated, a function $f$ is binary if there exists sets $X, Y, Z$ such that
$$\,f \colon X \times Y \rightarrow Z$$ where $X \times Y$ is the Cartesian product of $X$ and $Y.$
## Alternative definitions {#alternative_definitions}
Set-theoretically, a binary function can be represented as a subset of the Cartesian product $X \times Y \times Z$, where $(x,y,z)$ belongs to the subset if and only if $f(x,y) = z$. Conversely, a subset $R$ defines a binary function if and only if for any $x \in X$ and $y \in Y$, there exists a unique $z \in Z$ such that $(x,y,z)$ belongs to $R$. $f(x,y)$ is then defined to be this $z$.
Alternatively, a binary function may be interpreted as simply a function from $X \times Y$ to $Z$. Even when thought of this way, however, one generally writes $f(x,y)$ instead of $f((x,y))$. (That is, the same pair of parentheses is used to indicate both function application and the formation of an ordered pair.)
## Examples
Division of whole numbers can be thought of as a function. If $\Z$ is the set of integers, $\N^+$ is the set of natural numbers (except for zero), and $\Q$ is the set of rational numbers, then division is a binary function $f:\Z \times \N^+ \to \Q$.
In a vector space *V* over a field *F*, scalar multiplication is a binary function. A scalar *a* ∈ *F* is combined with a vector *v* ∈ *V* to produce a new vector *av* ∈ *V*.
Another example is that of inner products, or more generally functions of the form $(x,y)\mapsto x^\mathrm{T}My$, where `{{mvar|x}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{mvar|y}}`{=mediawiki} are real-valued vectors of appropriate size and `{{mvar|M}}`{=mediawiki} is a matrix. If `{{mvar|M}}`{=mediawiki} is a positive definite matrix, this yields an inner product.
## Functions of two real variables {#functions_of_two_real_variables}
Functions whose domain is a subset of $\mathbb{R}^2$ are often also called functions of two variables even if their domain does not form a rectangle and thus the cartesian product of two sets.
## Restrictions to ordinary functions {#restrictions_to_ordinary_functions}
In turn, one can also derive ordinary functions of one variable from a binary function. Given any element $x \in X$, there is a function $f^x$, or $f(x,\cdot)$, from $Y$ to $Z$, given by $f^x(y) = f(x,y)$. Similarly, given any element $y \in Y$, there is a function $f_y$, or $f(\cdot,y)$, from $X$ to $Z$, given by $f_y(x) = f(x,y)$. In computer science, this identification between a function from $X \times Y$ to $Z$ and a function from $X$ to $Z^Y$, where $Z^Y$ is the set of all functions from $Y$ to $Z$, is called *currying*.
## Generalisations
The various concepts relating to functions can also be generalised to binary functions. For example, the division example above is *surjective* (or *onto*) because every rational number may be expressed as a quotient of an integer and a natural number. This example is *injective* in each input separately, because the functions *f* ^*x*^ and *f* ~*y*~ are always injective. However, it\'s not injective in both variables simultaneously, because (for example) *f* (2,4) = *f* (1,2).
One can also consider *partial* binary functions, which may be defined only for certain values of the inputs. For example, the division example above may also be interpreted as a partial binary function from **Z** and **N** to **Q**, where **N** is the set of all natural numbers, including zero. But this function is undefined when the second input is zero.
A binary operation is a binary function where the sets *X*, *Y*, and *Z* are all equal; binary operations are often used to define algebraic structures.
In linear algebra, a bilinear transformation is a binary function where the sets *X*, *Y*, and *Z* are all vector spaces and the derived functions *f* ^*x*^ and *f*~*y*~ are all linear transformations. A bilinear transformation, like any binary function, can be interpreted as a function from *X* × *Y* to *Z*, but this function in general won\'t be linear. However, the bilinear transformation can also be interpreted as a single linear transformation from the tensor product $X \otimes Y$ to *Z*.
## Generalisations to ternary and other functions {#generalisations_to_ternary_and_other_functions}
The concept of binary function generalises to *ternary* (or *3-ary*) *function*, *quaternary* (or *4-ary*) *function*, or more generally to *n-ary function* for any natural number *n*. A *0-ary function* to *Z* is simply given by an element of *Z*. One can also define an *A-ary function* where *A* is any set; there is one input for each element of *A*.
## Category theory {#category_theory}
In category theory, *n*-ary functions generalise to *n*-ary morphisms in a multicategory. The interpretation of an *n*-ary morphism as an ordinary morphisms whose domain is some sort of product of the domains of the original *n*-ary morphism will work in a monoidal category. The construction of the derived morphisms of one variable will work in a closed monoidal category. The category of sets is closed monoidal, but so is the category of vector spaces, giving the notion of bilinear transformation above.
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Binary operation
|
In mathematics, a **binary operation** or **dyadic operation** is a rule for combining two elements (called operands) to produce another element. More formally, a binary operation is an operation of arity two.
More specifically, a **binary operation** on a set is a binary function that maps every pair of elements of the set to an element of the set. Examples include the familiar arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, set operations like union, complement, intersection. Other examples are readily found in different areas of mathematics, such as vector addition, matrix multiplication, and conjugation in groups.
A binary function that involves several sets is sometimes also called a *binary operation*. For example, scalar multiplication of vector spaces takes a scalar and a vector to produce a vector, and scalar product takes two vectors to produce a scalar.
Binary operations are the keystone of most structures that are studied in algebra, in particular in semigroups, monoids, groups, rings, fields, and vector spaces.
## Terminology
More precisely, a binary operation on a set $S$ is a mapping of the elements of the Cartesian product $S \times S$ to $S$:
$$\,f \colon S \times S \rightarrow S.$$
If $f$ is not a function but a partial function, then $f$ is called a **partial binary operation**. For instance, division is a partial binary operation on the set of all real numbers, because one cannot divide by zero: $\frac{a}{0}$ is undefined for every real number $a$. In both model theory and classical universal algebra, binary operations are required to be defined on all elements of $S \times S$. However, partial algebras generalize universal algebras to allow partial operations.
Sometimes, especially in computer science, the term binary operation is used for any binary function.
## Properties and examples {#properties_and_examples}
Typical examples of binary operations are the addition ($+$) and multiplication ($\times$) of numbers and matrices as well as composition of functions on a single set. For instance,
- On the set of real numbers $\mathbb R$, $f(a,b)=a+b$ is a binary operation since the sum of two real numbers is a real number.
- On the set of natural numbers $\mathbb N$, $f(a,b)=a+b$ is a binary operation since the sum of two natural numbers is a natural number. This is a different binary operation than the previous one since the sets are different.
- On the set $M(2,\mathbb R)$ of $2 \times 2$ matrices with real entries, $f(A,B)=A+B$ is a binary operation since the sum of two such matrices is a $2 \times 2$ matrix.
- On the set $M(2,\mathbb R)$ of $2 \times 2$ matrices with real entries, $f(A,B)=AB$ is a binary operation since the product of two such matrices is a $2 \times 2$ matrix.
- For a given set $C$, let $S$ be the set of all functions $h \colon C \rightarrow C$. Define $f \colon S \times S \rightarrow S$ by $f(h_1,h_2)(c)=(h_1 \circ h_2)(c)=h_1(h_2(c))$ for all $c \in C$, the composition of the two functions $h_1$ and $h_2$ in $S$. Then $f$ is a binary operation since the composition of the two functions is again a function on the set $C$ (that is, a member of $S$).
Many binary operations of interest in both algebra and formal logic are commutative, satisfying $f(a,b)=f(b,a)$ for all elements $a$ and $b$ in $S$, or associative, satisfying $f(f(a,b),c)=f(a,f(b,c))$ for all $a$, $b$, and $c$ in $S$. Many also have identity elements and inverse elements.
The first three examples above are commutative and all of the above examples are associative.
On the set of real numbers $\mathbb R$, subtraction, that is, $f(a,b)=a-b$, is a binary operation which is not commutative since, in general, $a-b \neq b-a$. It is also not associative, since, in general, $a-(b-c) \neq (a-b)-c$; for instance, $1-(2-3)=2$ but $(1-2)-3=-4$.
On the set of natural numbers $\mathbb N$, the binary operation exponentiation, $f(a,b)=a^b$, is not commutative since, $a^b \neq b^a$ (cf. Equation x^y^ = y^x^), and is also not associative since $f(f(a,b),c) \neq f(a,f(b,c))$. For instance, with $a=2$, $b=3$, and $c=2$, $f(2^3,2)=f(8,2)=8^2=64$, but $f(2,3^2)=f(2,9)=2^9=512$. By changing the set $\mathbb N$ to the set of integers $\mathbb Z$, this binary operation becomes a partial binary operation since it is now undefined when $a=0$ and $b$ is any negative integer. For either set, this operation has a *right identity* (which is $1$) since $f(a,1)=a$ for all $a$ in the set, which is not an *identity* (two sided identity) since $f(1,b) \neq b$ in general.
Division ($\div$), a partial binary operation on the set of real or rational numbers, is not commutative or associative. Tetration ($\uparrow\uparrow$), as a binary operation on the natural numbers, is not commutative or associative and has no identity element.
## Notation
Binary operations are often written using infix notation such as $a \ast b$, $a+b$, $a \cdot b$ or (by juxtaposition with no symbol) $ab$ rather than by functional notation of the form $f(a, b)$. Powers are usually also written without operator, but with the second argument as superscript.
Binary operations are sometimes written using prefix or (more frequently) postfix notation, both of which dispense with parentheses. They are also called, respectively, Polish notation $\ast a b$ and reverse Polish notation $a b \ast$.
## Binary operations as ternary relations {#binary_operations_as_ternary_relations}
A binary operation $f$ on a set $S$ may be viewed as a ternary relation on $S$, that is, the set of triples $(a, b, f(a,b))$ in $S \times S \times S$ for all $a$ and $b$ in $S$.
## Other binary operations {#other_binary_operations}
For example, scalar multiplication in linear algebra. Here $K$ is a field and $S$ is a vector space over that field.
Also the dot product of two vectors maps $S \times S$ to $K$, where $K$ is a field and $S$ is a vector space over $K$. It depends on authors whether it is considered as a binary operation.
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Bedrock Records
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**Bedrock Records** is an English record label for trance, progressive house and techno started by John Digweed. Its name comes from a long running and successful club night held in Hastings and also at Heaven nightclub, London -- both also called Bedrock. Bedrock Records has released many singles from artists such as Astro & Glyde, Brancaccio & Aisher, Steve Lawler, Shmuel Flash, Steve Porter, Sahar Z, Guy J, Henry Saiz, Stelios Vassiloudis, Electric Rescue, The Japanese Popstars and Jerry Bonham. Bedrock is also the name that Digweed and Muir use as their production moniker.
Bedrock has had different imprints: Bedrock Breaks, B_Rock and Black (Bedrock). Currently it has Bedrock Digital and one called Lost & Found belonging to Guy J.
The first Bedrock album compiled and mixed by John Digweed was released in 1999, containing several tracks signed to the Bedrock label.
In 2018, Digweed marked the 20th anniversary of the label with the release of *Bedrock XX*.
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Boolean algebra (structure)
|
In abstract algebra, a **Boolean algebra** or **Boolean lattice** is a complemented distributive lattice. This type of algebraic structure captures essential properties of both set operations and logic operations. A Boolean algebra can be seen as a generalization of a power set algebra or a field of sets, or its elements can be viewed as generalized truth values. It is also a special case of a De Morgan algebra and a Kleene algebra (with involution).
Every Boolean algebra gives rise to a Boolean ring, and vice versa, with ring multiplication corresponding to conjunction or meet ∧, and ring addition to exclusive disjunction or symmetric difference (not disjunction ∨). However, the theory of Boolean rings has an inherent asymmetry between the two operators, while the axioms and theorems of Boolean algebra express the symmetry of the theory described by the duality principle. \_\_TOC\_\_
## History
The term \"Boolean algebra\" honors George Boole (1815--1864), a self-educated English mathematician. He introduced the algebraic system initially in a small pamphlet, *The Mathematical Analysis of Logic*, published in 1847 in response to an ongoing public controversy between Augustus De Morgan and William Hamilton, and later as a more substantial book, *The Laws of Thought*, published in 1854. Boole\'s formulation differs from that described above in some important respects. For example, conjunction and disjunction in Boole were not a dual pair of operations. Boolean algebra emerged in the 1860s, in papers written by William Jevons and Charles Sanders Peirce. The first systematic presentation of Boolean algebra and distributive lattices is owed to the 1890 *Vorlesungen* of Ernst Schröder. The first extensive treatment of Boolean algebra in English is A. N. Whitehead\'s 1898 *Universal Algebra*. Boolean algebra as an axiomatic algebraic structure in the modern axiomatic sense begins with a 1904 paper by Edward V. Huntington. Boolean algebra came of age as serious mathematics with the work of Marshall Stone in the 1930s, and with Garrett Birkhoff\'s 1940 *Lattice Theory*. In the 1960s, Paul Cohen, Dana Scott, and others found deep new results in mathematical logic and axiomatic set theory using offshoots of Boolean algebra, namely forcing and Boolean-valued models.
## Definition
A **Boolean algebra** is a set `{{math|1=''A''}}`{=mediawiki}, equipped with two binary operations `{{math|1=∧}}`{=mediawiki} (called \"meet\" or \"and\"), `{{math|1=∨}}`{=mediawiki} (called \"join\" or \"or\"), a unary operation `{{math|1=¬}}`{=mediawiki} (called \"complement\" or \"not\") and two elements `{{math|1=0}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=1}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{math|1=''A''}}`{=mediawiki} (called \"bottom\" and \"top\", or \"least\" and \"greatest\" element, also denoted by the symbols `{{math|1=⊥}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=⊤}}`{=mediawiki}, respectively), such that for all elements `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{math|''b''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''c''}}`{=mediawiki} of `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}, the following axioms hold:
:
: {\| cellpadding=5
\|`{{math|1=''a'' ∨ (''b'' ∨ ''c'') = (''a'' ∨ ''b'') ∨ ''c''}}`{=mediawiki} \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∧ (''b'' ∧ ''c'') = (''a'' ∧ ''b'') ∧ ''c''}}`{=mediawiki} \| associativity \|- \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∨ ''b'' = ''b'' ∨ ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∧ ''b'' = ''b'' ∧ ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} \| commutativity \|- \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∨ (''a'' ∧ ''b'') = ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∧ (''a'' ∨ ''b'') = ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} \| absorption \|- \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∨ 0 = ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∧ 1 = ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} \| identity \|- \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∨ (''b'' ∧ ''c'') = (''a'' ∨ ''b'') ∧ (''a'' ∨ ''c'') }}`{=mediawiki} \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∧ (''b'' ∨ ''c'') = (''a'' ∧ ''b'') ∨ (''a'' ∧ ''c'') }}`{=mediawiki} \| distributivity \|- \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∨ ¬''a'' = 1}}`{=mediawiki} \|`{{math|1=''a'' ∧ ¬''a'' = 0}}`{=mediawiki} \| complements \|} Note, however, that the absorption law and even the associativity law can be excluded from the set of axioms as they can be derived from the other axioms (see Proven properties).
A Boolean algebra with only one element is called a **trivial Boolean algebra** or a **degenerate Boolean algebra**. (In older works, some authors required `{{math|0}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1}}`{=mediawiki} to be *distinct* elements in order to exclude this case.)
It follows from the last three pairs of axioms above (identity, distributivity and complements), or from the absorption axiom, that
: if and only if `{{math|1=''a'' ∨ ''b'' = ''b''}}`{=mediawiki}.
The relation `{{math|≤}}`{=mediawiki} defined by `{{math|''a'' ≤ ''b''}}`{=mediawiki} if these equivalent conditions hold, is a partial order with least element 0 and greatest element 1. The meet `{{math|1=''a'' ∧ ''b''}}`{=mediawiki} and the join `{{math|1=''a'' ∨ ''b''}}`{=mediawiki} of two elements coincide with their infimum and supremum, respectively, with respect to ≤.
The first four pairs of axioms constitute a definition of a bounded lattice.
It follows from the first five pairs of axioms that any complement is unique.
The set of axioms is self-dual in the sense that if one exchanges `{{math|1=∨}}`{=mediawiki} with `{{math|1=∧}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|0}}`{=mediawiki} with `{{math|1}}`{=mediawiki} in an axiom, the result is again an axiom. Therefore, by applying this operation to a Boolean algebra (or Boolean lattice), one obtains another Boolean algebra with the same elements; it is called its **dual**.
## Examples
- The simplest non-trivial Boolean algebra, the two-element Boolean algebra, has only two elements, `{{math|0}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1}}`{=mediawiki}, and is defined by the rules:
+---+------------+---+---+------------+---+---+------------+
| | -- -- -- | | | -- -- -- | | | -- -- -- |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | -- -- -- |
| | -- -- -- | | | -- -- -- | | | |
+---+------------+---+---+------------+---+---+------------+
:\* It has applications in logic, interpreting `{{math|0}}`{=mediawiki} as *false*, `{{math|1}}`{=mediawiki} as *true*, `{{math|1=∧}}`{=mediawiki} as *and*, `{{math|1=∨}}`{=mediawiki} as *or*, and `{{math|¬}}`{=mediawiki} as *not*. Expressions involving variables and the Boolean operations represent statement forms, and two such expressions can be shown to be equal using the above axioms if and only if the corresponding statement forms are logically equivalent.
:\* The two-element Boolean algebra is also used for circuit design in electrical engineering;`{{refn|group=note|Strictly, electrical engineers tend to use additional states to represent other circuit conditions such as high impedance - see [[IEEE 1164]] or [[IEEE 1364]].}}`{=mediawiki} here 0 and 1 represent the two different states of one bit in a digital circuit, typically high and low voltage. Circuits are described by expressions containing variables, and two such expressions are equal for all values of the variables if and only if the corresponding circuits have the same input--output behavior. Furthermore, every possible input--output behavior can be modeled by a suitable Boolean expression.
:\* The two-element Boolean algebra is also important in the general theory of Boolean algebras, because an equation involving several variables is generally true in all Boolean algebras if and only if it is true in the two-element Boolean algebra (which can be checked by a trivial brute force algorithm for small numbers of variables). This can for example be used to show that the following laws (*Consensus theorems*) are generally valid in all Boolean algebras:
:\*\* `{{math|1=(''a'' ∨ ''b'') ∧ (¬''a'' ∨ ''c'') ∧ (''b'' ∨ ''c'') ≡ (''a'' ∨ ''b'') ∧ (¬''a'' ∨ ''c'')}}`{=mediawiki}
:\*\* `{{math|1=(''a'' ∧ ''b'') ∨ (¬''a'' ∧ ''c'') ∨ (''b'' ∧ ''c'') ≡ (''a'' ∧ ''b'') ∨ (¬''a'' ∧ ''c'')}}`{=mediawiki}
- The power set (set of all subsets) of any given nonempty set `{{math|''S''}}`{=mediawiki} forms a Boolean algebra, an algebra of sets, with the two operations `{{math|1=∨ := ∪}}`{=mediawiki} (union) and `{{math|1=∧ := ∩}}`{=mediawiki} (intersection). The smallest element 0 is the empty set and the largest element `{{math|1}}`{=mediawiki} is the set `{{math|''S''}}`{=mediawiki} itself.
:\* After the two-element Boolean algebra, the simplest Boolean algebra is that defined by the power set of two atoms:
+---+------------------+---+---+------------------+---+---+------------------+
| | -- -- -- -- -- | | | -- -- -- -- -- | | | -- -- -- -- -- |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | -- -- -- -- -- |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | -- -- -- -- -- | | | -- -- -- -- -- | | | |
+---+------------------+---+---+------------------+---+---+------------------+
- The set `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} of all subsets of `{{mvar|S}}`{=mediawiki} that are either finite or cofinite is a Boolean algebra and an algebra of sets called the finite--cofinite algebra. If `{{mvar|S}}`{=mediawiki} is infinite then the set of all cofinite subsets of `{{mvar|S}}`{=mediawiki}, which is called the Fréchet filter, is a free ultrafilter on `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki}. However, the Fréchet filter is not an ultrafilter on the power set of `{{mvar|S}}`{=mediawiki}.
- Starting with the propositional calculus with `{{math|κ}}`{=mediawiki} sentence symbols, form the Lindenbaum algebra (that is, the set of sentences in the propositional calculus modulo logical equivalence). This construction yields a Boolean algebra. It is in fact the free Boolean algebra on `{{math|κ}}`{=mediawiki} generators. A truth assignment in propositional calculus is then a Boolean algebra homomorphism from this algebra to the two-element Boolean algebra.
- Given any linearly ordered set `{{math|''L''}}`{=mediawiki} with a least element, the interval algebra is the smallest Boolean algebra of subsets of `{{math|''L''}}`{=mediawiki} containing all of the half-open intervals `{{math|[''a'', ''b'')}}`{=mediawiki} such that `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki} is in `{{math|''L''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''b''}}`{=mediawiki} is either in `{{math|''L''}}`{=mediawiki} or equal to `{{math|∞}}`{=mediawiki}. Interval algebras are useful in the study of Lindenbaum--Tarski algebras; every countable Boolean algebra is isomorphic to an interval algebra.
```{=html}
<!-- -->
```
- For any natural number `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}, the set of all positive divisors of `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}, defining `{{math|''a'' ≤ ''b''}}`{=mediawiki} if `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki} divides `{{math|''b''}}`{=mediawiki}, forms a distributive lattice. This lattice is a Boolean algebra if and only if `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki} is square-free. The bottom and the top elements of this Boolean algebra are the natural numbers `{{math|1}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''n''}}`{=mediawiki}, respectively. The complement of `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki} is given by `{{math|''n''/''a''}}`{=mediawiki}. The meet and the join of `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''b''}}`{=mediawiki} are given by the greatest common divisor (`{{math|gcd}}`{=mediawiki}) and the least common multiple (`{{math|lcm}}`{=mediawiki}) of `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''b''}}`{=mediawiki}, respectively. The ring addition `{{math|''a'' + ''b''}}`{=mediawiki} is given by `{{math|lcm(''a'', ''b'') / gcd(''a'', ''b'')}}`{=mediawiki}. The picture shows an example for `{{math|1=''n'' = 30}}`{=mediawiki}. As a counter-example, considering the non-square-free `{{math|1=''n'' = 60}}`{=mediawiki}, the greatest common divisor of 30 and its complement 2 would be 2, while it should be the bottom element 1.
- Other examples of Boolean algebras arise from topological spaces: if `{{math|''X''}}`{=mediawiki} is a topological space, then the collection of all subsets of `{{math|''X''}}`{=mediawiki} that are both open and closed forms a Boolean algebra with the operations `{{math|1=∨ := ∪}}`{=mediawiki} (union) and `{{math|1=∧ := ∩}}`{=mediawiki} (intersection).
- If `{{mvar|R}}`{=mediawiki} is an arbitrary ring then its set of *central idempotents*, which is the set
$A = \left\{e \in R : e^2 = e \text{ and } ex = xe \; \text{ for all } \; x \in R\right\},$ becomes a Boolean algebra when its operations are defined by `{{math|1=''e'' ∨ ''f'' := ''e'' + ''f'' − ''ef''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=''e'' ∧ ''f'' := ''ef''}}`{=mediawiki}.
## Homomorphisms and isomorphisms {#homomorphisms_and_isomorphisms}
A *homomorphism* between two Boolean algebras `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''B''}}`{=mediawiki} is a function `{{math|''f'' : ''A'' → ''B''}}`{=mediawiki} such that for all `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{math|''b''}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}:
: ,
: ,
: ,
: .
It then follows that `{{math|1=''f''(¬''a'') = ¬''f''(''a'')}}`{=mediawiki} for all `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}. The class of all Boolean algebras, together with this notion of morphism, forms a full subcategory of the category of lattices.
An *isomorphism* between two Boolean algebras `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|''B''}}`{=mediawiki} is a homomorphism `{{math|''f'' : ''A'' → ''B''}}`{=mediawiki} with an inverse homomorphism, that is, a homomorphism `{{math|''g'' : ''B'' → ''A''}}`{=mediawiki} such that the composition `{{math|''g'' ∘ ''f'' : ''A'' → ''A''}}`{=mediawiki} is the identity function on `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}, and the composition `{{math|''f'' ∘ ''g'' : ''B'' → ''B''}}`{=mediawiki} is the identity function on `{{math|''B''}}`{=mediawiki}. A homomorphism of Boolean algebras is an isomorphism if and only if it is bijective.
## Boolean rings {#boolean_rings}
Every Boolean algebra `{{math|1=(''A'', ∧, ∨)}}`{=mediawiki} gives rise to a ring `{{math|(''A'', +, ·)}}`{=mediawiki} by defining `{{math|1=''a'' + ''b'' := (''a'' ∧ ¬''b'') ∨ (''b'' ∧ ¬''a'') = (''a'' ∨ ''b'') ∧ ¬(''a'' ∧ ''b'')}}`{=mediawiki} (this operation is called symmetric difference in the case of sets and XOR in the case of logic) and `{{math|1=''a'' · ''b'' := ''a'' ∧ ''b''}}`{=mediawiki}. The zero element of this ring coincides with the 0 of the Boolean algebra; the multiplicative identity element of the ring is the `{{math|1}}`{=mediawiki} of the Boolean algebra. This ring has the property that `{{math|1=''a'' · ''a'' = ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} for all `{{math|''a''}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki}; rings with this property are called Boolean rings.
Conversely, if a Boolean ring `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} is given, we can turn it into a Boolean algebra by defining `{{math|1=''x'' ∨ ''y'' := ''x'' + ''y'' + (''x'' · ''y'')}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=''x'' ∧ ''y'' := ''x'' · ''y''}}`{=mediawiki}. Since these two constructions are inverses of each other, we can say that every Boolean ring arises from a Boolean algebra, and vice versa. Furthermore, a map `{{math|''f'' : ''A'' → ''B''}}`{=mediawiki} is a homomorphism of Boolean algebras if and only if it is a homomorphism of Boolean rings. The categories of Boolean rings and Boolean algebras are equivalent; in fact the categories are isomorphic.
Hsiang (1985) gave a rule-based algorithm to check whether two arbitrary expressions denote the same value in every Boolean ring. More generally, Boudet, Jouannaud, and Schmidt-Schauß (1989) gave an algorithm to solve equations between arbitrary Boolean-ring expressions. Employing the similarity of Boolean rings and Boolean algebras, both algorithms have applications in automated theorem proving.
## Ideals and filters {#ideals_and_filters}
An *ideal* of the Boolean algebra `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} is a nonempty subset `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} such that for all `{{mvar|x}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{mvar|y}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} we have `{{math|{{var|x}} ∨ {{var|y}}}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} and for all `{{mvar|a}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} we have `{{math|{{var|a}} ∧ {{var|x}}}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki}. This notion of ideal coincides with the notion of ring ideal in the Boolean ring `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki}. An ideal `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} of `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} is called *prime* if `{{math|{{var|I}} ≠ {{var|A}}}}`{=mediawiki} and if `{{math|{{var|a}} ∧ {{var|b}}}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} always implies `{{mvar|a}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} or `{{mvar|b}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki}. Furthermore, for every `{{math|{{var|a}} ∈ {{var|A}}}}`{=mediawiki} we have that `{{math|{{var|a}} ∧ −{{var|a}} {{=}}`{=mediawiki} 0 ∈ `{{var|I}}`{=mediawiki}}}, and then if `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} is prime we have `{{math|{{var|a}} ∈ {{var|I}}}}`{=mediawiki} or `{{math|−{{var|a}} ∈ {{var|I}}}}`{=mediawiki} for every `{{math|{{var|a}} ∈ {{var|A}}}}`{=mediawiki}. An ideal `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} of `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} is called *maximal* if `{{math|{{var|I}} ≠ {{var|A}}}}`{=mediawiki} and if the only ideal properly containing `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} is `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} itself. For an ideal `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki}, if `{{math|{{var|a}} ∉ {{var|I}}}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|−{{var|a}} ∉ {{var|I}}}}`{=mediawiki}, then `{{math|{{var|I}} ∪ {{mset|{{var|a}}}}}}`{=mediawiki} or `{{math|{{var|I}} ∪ {{mset|−{{var|a}}}}}}`{=mediawiki} is contained in another proper ideal `{{mvar|J}}`{=mediawiki}. Hence, such an `{{mvar|I}}`{=mediawiki} is not maximal, and therefore the notions of prime ideal and maximal ideal are equivalent in Boolean algebras. Moreover, these notions coincide with ring theoretic ones of prime ideal and maximal ideal in the Boolean ring `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki}.
The dual of an *ideal* is a *filter*. A *filter* of the Boolean algebra `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} is a nonempty subset `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki} such that for all `{{mvar|x}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{mvar|y}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki} we have `{{math|{{var|x}} ∧ {{var|y}}}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki} and for all `{{mvar|a}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} we have `{{math|{{var|a}} ∨ {{var|x}}}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{mvar|p}}`{=mediawiki}. The dual of a *maximal* (or *prime*) *ideal* in a Boolean algebra is *ultrafilter*. Ultrafilters can alternatively be described as 2-valued morphisms from `{{mvar|A}}`{=mediawiki} to the two-element Boolean algebra. The statement *every filter in a Boolean algebra can be extended to an ultrafilter* is called the *ultrafilter lemma* and cannot be proven in Zermelo--Fraenkel set theory (ZF), if ZF is consistent. Within ZF, the ultrafilter lemma is strictly weaker than the axiom of choice. The ultrafilter lemma has many equivalent formulations: *every Boolean algebra has an ultrafilter*, *every ideal in a Boolean algebra can be extended to a prime ideal*, etc.
## Representations
It can be shown that every *finite* Boolean algebra is isomorphic to the Boolean algebra of all subsets of a finite set. Therefore, the number of elements of every finite Boolean algebra is a power of two.
Stone\'s celebrated *representation theorem for Boolean algebras* states that *every* Boolean algebra `{{math|''A''}}`{=mediawiki} is isomorphic to the Boolean algebra of all clopen sets in some (compact totally disconnected Hausdorff) topological space.
## Axiomatics
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Proven properties** |
+=====================================================================================================+
| **UId~1~** If *x* ∨ *o* = *x* for all *x*, then *o* = 0 |
| ------------ --- ---------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: If *x* ∨ *o* = *x*, then |
| 0 |
| = 0 ∨ *o* |
| = *o* ∨ 0 |
| = *o* |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Idm~1~** *x* ∨ *x* = *x* |
| ------------ --- ---------------------------- |
| Proof: *x* ∨ *x* |
| = (*x* ∨ *x*) ∧ 1 |
| = (*x* ∨ *x*) ∧ (*x* ∨ ¬*x*) |
| = *x* ∨ (*x* ∧ ¬*x*) |
| = *x* ∨ 0 |
| = *x* |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Bnd~1~** *x* ∨ 1 = 1 |
| ------------ --- -------------------------- |
| Proof: *x* ∨ 1 |
| = (*x* ∨ 1) ∧ 1 |
| = 1 ∧ (*x* ∨ 1) |
| = (*x* ∨ ¬*x*) ∧ (*x* ∨ 1) |
| = *x* ∨ (¬*x* ∧ 1) |
| = *x* ∨ ¬*x* |
| = 1 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Abs~1~** *x* ∨ (*x* ∧ *y*) = *x* |
| ------------ --- ------------------------- |
| Proof: *x* ∨ (*x* ∧ *y*) |
| = (*x* ∧ 1) ∨ (*x* ∧ *y*) |
| = *x* ∧ (1 ∨ *y*) |
| = *x* ∧ (*y* ∨ 1) |
| = *x* ∧ 1 |
| = *x* |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **UNg** If *x* ∨ *x*~n~ = 1 and *x* ∧ *x*~n~ = 0, then *x*~n~ = ¬*x* |
| --------- --- -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: If *x* ∨ *x*~n~ = 1 and *x* ∧ *x*~n~ = 0, then |
| *x*~n~ |
| = *x*~n~ ∧ 1 |
| = *x*~n~ ∧ (*x* ∨ ¬*x*) |
| = (*x*~n~ ∧ *x*) ∨ (*x*~n~ ∧ ¬*x*) |
| = (*x* ∧ *x*~n~) ∨ (¬*x* ∧ *x*~n~) |
| = 0 ∨ (¬*x* ∧ *x*~n~) |
| = (*x* ∧ ¬*x*) ∨ (¬*x* ∧ *x*~n~) |
| = (¬*x* ∧ *x*) ∨ (¬*x* ∧ *x*~n~) |
| = ¬*x* ∧ (*x* ∨ *x*~n~) |
| = ¬*x* ∧ 1 |
| = ¬*x* |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **DNg** ¬¬*x* = *x* |
| --------- ------- ----------------------------- |
| Proof: ¬*x* ∨ *x* = *x* ∨ ¬*x* = 1 |
| and ¬*x* ∧ *x* = *x* ∧ ¬*x* = 0 |
| hence *x* = ¬¬*x* |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **A~1~** *x* ∨ (¬*x* ∨ *y*) = 1 |
| ---------- --- ------------------------------------- |
| Proof: *x* ∨ (¬*x* ∨ *y*) |
| = (*x* ∨ (¬*x* ∨ *y*)) ∧ 1 |
| = 1 ∧ (*x* ∨ (¬*x* ∨ *y*)) |
| = (*x* ∨ ¬*x*) ∧ (*x* ∨ (¬*x* ∨ *y*)) |
| = *x* ∨ (¬*x* ∧ (¬*x* ∨ *y*)) |
| = *x* ∨ ¬*x* |
| = 1 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **B~1~** (*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) = 1 |
| ---------- --- ------------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: (*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) |
| = ((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ ¬*x*) ∧ ((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ ¬*y*) |
| = (¬*x* ∨ (*x* ∨ *y*)) ∧ (¬*y* ∨ (*y* ∨ *x*)) |
| = (¬*x* ∨ (¬¬*x* ∨ *y*)) ∧ (¬*y* ∨ (¬¬*y* ∨ *x*)) |
| = 1 ∧ 1 |
| = 1 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **C~1~** (*x* ∨ *y*) ∧ (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) = 0 |
| ---------- --- ----------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: (*x* ∨ *y*) ∧ (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) |
| = (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ (*x* ∨ *y*) |
| = ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ *x*) ∨ ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ *y*) |
| = (*x* ∧ (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*)) ∨ (*y* ∧ (¬*y* ∧ ¬*x*)) |
| = 0 ∨ 0 |
| = 0 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **DMg~1~** ¬(*x* ∨ *y*) = ¬*x* ∧ ¬*y* |
| ------------ -- ------------------------------------ |
| Proof: by **B~1~**, **C~1~**, and **UNg** |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **D~1~** (*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬*x* = 1 |
| ---------- --- ------------------------------ |
| Proof: (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) ∨ ¬*x* |
| = ¬*x* ∨ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) |
| = ¬*x* ∨ (¬¬*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) |
| = 1 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **E~1~** *y* ∧ (*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) = *y* |
| ---------- --- ----------------------------------- |
| Proof: *y* ∧ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) |
| = (*y* ∧ *x*) ∨ (*y* ∧ (*y* ∨ *z*)) |
| = (*y* ∧ *x*) ∨ *y* |
| = *y* ∨ (*y* ∧ *x*) |
| = *y* |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **F~1~** (*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬*y* = 1 |
| ---------- --- --------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) ∨ ¬*y* |
| = ¬*y* ∨ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) |
| = (¬*y* ∨ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*))) ∧ 1 |
| = 1 ∧ (¬*y* ∨ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*))) |
| = (*y* ∨ ¬*y*) ∧ (¬*y* ∨ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*))) |
| = (¬*y* ∨ *y*) ∧ (¬*y* ∨ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*))) |
| = ¬*y* ∨ (*y* ∧ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*))) |
| = ¬*y* ∨ *y* |
| = *y* ∨ ¬*y* |
| = 1 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **G~1~** (*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬*z* = 1 |
| ---------- --- ---------------------------- |
| Proof: (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) ∨ ¬*z* |
| = (*x* ∨ (*z* ∨ *y*)) ∨ ¬*z* |
| = 1 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **H~1~** ¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ *x* = 0 |
| ---------- --- ----------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: ¬((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z*) ∧ *x* |
| = (¬(*x* ∨ *y*) ∧ ¬*z*) ∧ *x* |
| = ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ ¬*z*) ∧ *x* |
| = *x* ∧ ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ ¬*z*) |
| = (*x* ∧ ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ ¬*z*)) ∨ 0 |
| = 0 ∨ (*x* ∧ ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ ¬*z*)) |
| = (*x* ∧ ¬*x*) ∨ (*x* ∧ ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ ¬*z*)) |
| = *x* ∧ (¬*x* ∨ ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ ¬*z*)) |
| = *x* ∧ (¬*x* ∨ (¬*z* ∧ (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*))) |
| = *x* ∧ ¬*x* |
| = 0 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **I~1~** ¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ *y* = 0 |
| ---------- --- ---------------------------- |
| Proof: ¬((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z*) ∧ *y* |
| = ¬((*y* ∨ *x*) ∨ *z*) ∧ *y* |
| = 0 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **J~1~** ¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ *z* = 0 |
| ---------- --- ------------------------------ |
| Proof: ¬((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z*) ∧ *z* |
| = (¬(*x* ∨ *y*) ∧ ¬*z*) ∧ *z* |
| = *z* ∧ (¬(*x* ∨ *y*) ∧ ¬*z*) |
| = *z* ∧ ( ¬*z* ∧ ¬(*x* ∨ *y*)) |
| = 0 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **K~1~** (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) ∨ ¬((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z*) = 1 |
| ---------- --- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: (*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z*) |
| = (*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ (¬(*x* ∨ *y*) ∧ ¬*z*) |
| = (*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ((¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*) ∧ ¬*z*) |
| = ((*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ (¬*x* ∧ ¬*y*)) ∧ ((*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬*z*) |
| = (((*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬*x*) ∧ ((*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬*y*)) ∧ ((*x*∨(*y*∨*z*)) ∨ ¬*z*) |
| = (1 ∧ 1) ∧ 1 |
| = 1 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **L~1~** (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) ∧ ¬((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z*) = 0 |
| ---------- --- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Proof: (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) ∧ ¬((*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z*) |
| = ¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ (*x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*)) |
| = (¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ *x*) ∨ (¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ (*y* ∨ *z*)) |
| = (¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ *x*) ∨ ((¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ *y*) ∨ (¬((*x*∨*y*)∨*z*) ∧ *z*)) |
| = 0 ∨ (0 ∨ 0) |
| = 0 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Ass~1~** *x* ∨ (*y* ∨ *z*) = (*x* ∨ *y*) ∨ *z* |
| ------------ -- ----------------------------------------- |
| Proof: by **K~1~**, **L~1~**, **UNg**, **DNg** |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Abbreviations |
| --------------- |
| **UId** |
| **Idm** |
| **Bnd** |
| **Abs** |
| **UNg** |
| **DNg** |
| **DMg** |
| **Ass** |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+--------------------------------------------+
| **Huntington 1904 Boolean algebra axioms** |
+============================================+
| **Idn~1~** |
+--------------------------------------------+
| **Cmm~1~** |
+--------------------------------------------+
| **Dst~1~** |
+--------------------------------------------+
| **Cpl~1~** |
+--------------------------------------------+
| Abbreviations |
| --------------- |
| **Idn** |
| **Cmm** |
| **Dst** |
| **Cpl** |
+--------------------------------------------+
The first axiomatization of Boolean lattices/algebras in general was given by the English philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead in 1898. It included the above axioms and additionally `{{math|1=''x'' ∨ 1 = 1}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=''x'' ∧ 0 = 0}}`{=mediawiki}. In 1904, the American mathematician Edward V. Huntington (1874--1952) gave probably the most parsimonious axiomatization based on `{{math|1=∧}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{math|1=∨}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{math|1=¬}}`{=mediawiki}, even proving the associativity laws (see box). He also proved that these axioms are independent of each other. In 1933, Huntington set out the following elegant axiomatization for Boolean algebra. It requires just one binary operation `{{math|1=+}}`{=mediawiki} and a unary functional symbol `{{math|1=''n''}}`{=mediawiki}, to be read as \'complement\', which satisfy the following laws: `{{olist
|1= ''Commutativity'': {{math|1=''x'' + ''y'' = ''y'' + ''x''}}.
|2= ''Associativity'': {{math|1=(''x'' + ''y'') + ''z'' = ''x'' + (''y'' + ''z'')}}.
|3= ''Huntington equation'': {{math|1=''n''(''n''(''x'') + ''y'') + ''n''(''n''(''x'') + ''n''(''y'')) = ''x''}}.
}}`{=mediawiki} Herbert Robbins immediately asked: If the Huntington equation is replaced with its dual, to wit: `{{olist|start=4
|1= ''Robbins Equation'': {{math|1=''n''(''n''(''x'' + ''y'') + ''n''(''x'' + ''n''(''y''))) = ''x''}},
}}`{=mediawiki} do (1), (2), and (4) form a basis for Boolean algebra? Calling (1), (2), and (4) a *Robbins algebra*, the question then becomes: Is every Robbins algebra a Boolean algebra? This question (which came to be known as the Robbins conjecture) remained open for decades, and became a favorite question of Alfred Tarski and his students. In 1996, William McCune at Argonne National Laboratory, building on earlier work by Larry Wos, Steve Winker, and Bob Veroff, answered Robbins\'s question in the affirmative: Every Robbins algebra is a Boolean algebra. Crucial to McCune\'s proof was the computer program EQP he designed. For a simplification of McCune\'s proof, see Dahn (1998).
Further work has been done for reducing the number of axioms; see Minimal axioms for Boolean algebra.
## Generalizations
Removing the requirement of existence of a unit from the axioms of Boolean algebra yields \"generalized Boolean algebras\". Formally, a distributive lattice `{{math|1=''B''}}`{=mediawiki} is a generalized Boolean lattice, if it has a smallest element `{{math|1=0}}`{=mediawiki} and for any elements `{{math|1=''a''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=''b''}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{math|1=''B''}}`{=mediawiki} such that `{{math|1=''a'' ≤ ''b''}}`{=mediawiki}, there exists an element `{{math|1=''x''}}`{=mediawiki} such that `{{math|1=''a'' ∧ ''x'' = 0}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=''a'' ∨ ''x'' = ''b''}}`{=mediawiki}. Defining `{{math|1=''a'' \ ''b''}}`{=mediawiki} as the unique `{{math|1=''x''}}`{=mediawiki} such that `{{math|1=(''a'' ∧ ''b'') ∨ ''x'' = ''a''}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{math|1=(''a'' ∧ ''b'') ∧ ''x'' = 0}}`{=mediawiki}, we say that the structure `{{math|(''B'', ∧, ∨, \, 0)}}`{=mediawiki} is a *generalized Boolean algebra*, while `{{math|(''B'', ∨, 0)}}`{=mediawiki} is a *generalized Boolean semilattice*. Generalized Boolean lattices are exactly the ideals of Boolean lattices.
A structure that satisfies all axioms for Boolean algebras except the two distributivity axioms is called an orthocomplemented lattice. Orthocomplemented lattices arise naturally in quantum logic as lattices of closed linear subspaces for separable Hilbert spaces.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
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Beachcomber (pen name)
|
**Beachcomber** is a *nom de plume* that has been used by several journalists writing a long-running humorous column in the *Daily Express*. It was originated in 1917 by Major John Bernard Arbuthnot MVO as his signature on the column, titled \'By the Way\'. The name Beachcomber was then passed to D. B. Wyndham Lewis in 1919 and, in turn, to J. B. Morton, who wrote the column till 1975. It was later revived by William Hartston, current author of the column.
## \"By the Way\" column {#by_the_way_column}
\"By the Way\" was originally a column in *The Globe*, consisting of unsigned humorous pieces; P. G. Wodehouse was assistant editor of the column from August 1903 and editor from August 1904 to May 1909, during which time he was assisted by Herbert Westbrook. After the *Globe*\'s closure, it was re-established as a society news column in the *Daily Express* from 1917, initially written by social correspondent Major John Arbuthnot, who invented the name \"Beachcomber\".
After Arbuthnot was promoted to deputy editor, it was taken over sometime in 1919 by Wyndham-Lewis, who reinvented it as an outlet for his wit and humour. It was then passed to Morton during 1924, though it is likely there was a period when they overlapped. Morton wrote the column until 1975; it was revived in January 1996 and continues today, written by William Hartston. The column is unsigned except by \"Beachcomber\" and it was not publicly known that Morton or Wyndham-Lewis wrote it until the 1930s. The name is mainly associated with Morton, who has been credited as an influence by Spike Milligan amongst others. Morton introduced the recurring characters and serial stories that were a major feature of the column during his 51-year run.
The format of the column was a random assortment of small paragraphs which were otherwise unconnected. These could be anything, such as:
- court reports, often involving Twelve Red-Bearded Dwarfs before Mr Justice Cocklecarrot.
- angry exchanges of letters between characters such as Florence McGurgle and her dissatisfied boarders.
- interruptions from \"Prodnose\", representing the public, who would then be roundly cursed by the author and kicked out.
- instalments of serials that could stop, restart from earlier, be abandoned altogether or change direction abruptly without warning.
- parodies of poetry or drama, particularly of the extremely \"literary\" type such as Ibsen.
- unlikely headlines, such as \"SIXTY HORSES WEDGED IN A CHIMNEY\", for which the copy in its entirety was \"The story to fit this sensational headline has not turned up yet.\"
- news reports from around the country.
- or just anything that the author thought funny at the time.
Morton\'s other interest, France, was occasionally represented by epic tales of his rambling walks through the French countryside. These were not intended as humour.
\"By the Way\" was popular with the readership, and of course, this is one of the reasons it lasted so long. Its style and randomness could be off-putting and it is safe to say the humour could be something of an acquired taste. Oddly, one of the column\'s greatest opponents was the *Express* newspaper\'s owner, Lord Beaverbrook, who had to keep being assured the column was indeed funny. A prominent critic was George Orwell, who frequently referred to him in his essays and diaries as \"A Catholic Apologist\" and accused him of being \"silly-clever\", in line with his criticisms of G. K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, Ronald Knox and Wyndham-Lewis.
*By the Way* was one of the few features kept continuously running in the often seriously reduced *Daily Express* throughout World War II, when Morton\'s lampooning of Hitler, including the British invention of bracerot to make the Nazis\' trousers fall down at inopportune moments, was regarded as valuable for morale. The column appeared daily until 1965 when it was changed to weekly. It was cancelled in 1975 and revived as a daily piece in January 1996. It continues to the present day in much the same format but is now entitled \"Beachcomber\", not \"By the Way\".
## Recurrent characters {#recurrent_characters}
- Mr. Justice Cocklecarrot: well-meaning but ineffectual High Court judge, plagued by litigation involving the twelve red-bearded dwarfs. Often appears in *Private Eye*.
- Mrs. Justice Cocklecarrot: Mr. Cocklecarrot\'s wife. Very silent, until she observes that \"Wivens has fallen down a manhole\". An enquiry from the judge as to which Wivens that would be elicits the response \"E. D. Wivens\". After a worrying interval she reveals that E. D. Wivens is a cat. His Lordship observes that cats do not have initials, to which she replies, \"This one does\".
- Tinklebury Snapdriver and Honeygander Gooseboote: two counsel. The elbow of one has a mysterious tendency to become jammed in the jaws of the other.
- Twelve red-bearded dwarfs, with a penchant for farcical litigation. Their names \"appear to be\" Scorpion de Rooftrouser, Cleveland Zackhouse, Frums Gillygottle, Edeledel Edel, Churm Rincewind, Sophus Barkayo-Tong, Amaninter Axling, Guttergorm Guttergormpton, Badly Oronparser, Listenis Youghaupt, Molonay Tubilderborst and Farjole Merrybody. They admit that these are not genuine names, one of them stating that his real name is \"Bogus\". (Further red-bearded dwarfs, to the number of forty-one, appear in other litigation.)
- Captain Foulenough: archetypal cad and gatecrasher who impersonates the upper class in order to wreck their social events. Educated at **Narkover**, a school specializing in card-playing, horse-racing and bribery. His title of \"Captain\" is probably spurious; but even if it had been a genuine military title, his use of it in civilian life, when at that time only officers who had achieved the rank of Major and above were allowed to do so, gives a subtle hint as to his nature.
- Mountfalcon Foulenough: the Captain\'s priggish nephew, who brings havoc to Narkover and \"makes virtue seem even more horrifying than usual\".
- Vita Brevis: debutante frequently plagued by, but with a certain reluctant admiration for, Captain Foulenough.
- Dr. Smart-Allick: genteel, but ludicrous and criminal, headmaster of Narkover.
- Miss Topsy Turvey: neighbouring headmistress, courted by Smart-Allick.
- Dr. Strabismus (whom God preserve) of Utrecht: eccentric scientist and inventor.
- The announcement of the annual list of Huntingdonshire Cabmen, with an enthusiastic endorsement of an arbitrary page.
- Lord Shortcake: absent-minded peer obsessed by his enormous collection of goldfish.
- Mrs. McGurgle: seaside landlady. Fearsomely British, until she decides to reinvent her house as \"Hôtel McGurgle et de l\'Univers\" to attract the tourists.
- Ministry of Bubbleblowing: possible ancestor of Monty Python\'s Ministry of Silly Walks.
- Charlie Suet: disastrous civil servant.
- Mimsie Slopcorner: Charlie\'s on-off girlfriend, an ill-informed and irritating social activist.
- The Filthistan Trio: Ashura, Kazbulah and Rizamughan, three Persians from \"Thurralibad\", two of whom play seesaw on a plank laid across the third. They have a series of contretemps with British bureaucracy and the artistic establishment, in which the trio generally represents the voice of reason.
- Dingi-Poos: the Tibetan Venus. She obtains desirable commercial contracts by using her charms to hoodwink visiting British envoys, principally Colonel Egham and Duncan Mince.
- Big White Carstairs: Buchanesque empire builder, with a tendency to mislay his dress trousers.
- O. Thake: naive, accident-prone Old Etonian and man-about-town.
- Lady Cabstanleigh: Society hostess.
- Stultitia: Cabstanleigh\'s niece, a playwright.
- Boubou Flaring: glamorous but vacuous actress.
- Emilia Rustiguzzi: voluminous (both in bulk and in decibels) opera singer.
- Tumbelova, Serge Trouserin, Chuckusafiva: ballet dancers.
- Colin Velvette: ballet impresario.
- \"Thunderbolt\" Footle: handsome, socially celebrated boxer, who can do everything except actually fight.
- The M\'Babwa of M\'Gonkawiwi: African chief, who occasions great administrative problems in connection with his invitation to the coronation of King George VI.
- The Clam of Chowdah: oriental potentate
- Mrs. Wretch: formerly the glamorous circus performer Miss Whackaway, now wife to Colonel Wretch and \"horrible welfare worker\".
- Roland Milk: insipid poet (possible ancestor of *Private Eye*{{\'}}s \"E. J. Thribb\").
- Prodnose: humourless, reasonable oaf who interrupts Beachcomber\'s flights of fancy. (The name is journalistic slang for a sub-editor; the broadcaster Danny Baker has appropriated it as his Twitter name.)
## Other media {#other_media}
The Will Hay film *Boys Will Be Boys* (1935) was set at Morton\'s Narkover school.
According to Spike Milligan, the columns were an influence on the comedic style of his radio series, *The Goon Show*.
In 1969, Milligan based a BBC television series named *The World of Beachcomber* on the columns. A small selection was issued on a 1971 LP and a 2-cassette set of the series\' soundtrack was made available in the late 1990s.
In 1989, BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first of three series based on Morton\'s work. This featured Richard Ingrams as Beachcomber, John Wells as Prodnose, Patricia Routledge and John Sessions. The compilations prepared by Mike Barfield. Series 1 was also made available as a 2-cassette set.
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3,965 |
Bill Joy
|
vi{{•}}csh{{•}}chroot{{•}}TCP/IP driver{{•}}co-founder of Sun Microsystems{{•}}Java{{•}}SPARC{{•}}Solaris{{•}}NFS{{•}}*Why The Future Doesn\'t Need Us* \| author_abbrev_bot = \| author_abbrev_zoo = \| influences = \| influenced = \| spouse = \| children = 2 \| awards = \*ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award (1986)
- Elected to National Academy of Engineering (1999)
- Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999)
- Fellow of the Computer History Museum (2011)
\| education = University of Michigan (BS)\
University of California, Berkeley (MS) }}
**William Nelson Joy** (born November 8, 1954) is an American computer engineer and venture capitalist. He co-founded Sun Microsystems in 1982 along with Scott McNealy, Vinod Khosla, and Andy Bechtolsheim, and served as Chief Scientist and CTO at the company until 2003.
He played an integral role in the early development of BSD UNIX while being a graduate student at Berkeley, and he is the original author of the vi text editor. He also wrote the 2000 essay \"Why The Future Doesn\'t Need Us\", in which he expressed deep concerns over the development of modern technologies.
Joy was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (1999) for contributions to operating systems and networking software.
## Early career {#early_career}
Joy was born in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills, Michigan, to William Joy, a school vice-principal and counselor, and Ruth Joy. He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and a Master of Science in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979.
While a graduate student at Berkeley, he worked for Fabry\'s Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) version of the Unix operating system. He initially worked on a Pascal compiler left at Berkeley by Ken Thompson, who had been visiting the university when Joy had just started his graduate work.
He later moved on to improving the Unix kernel, and also handled BSD distributions. Some of his most notable contributions were the ex and vi editors and the C shell. Joy\'s prowess as a computer programmer is legendary, with an oft-told anecdote that he wrote the vi editor in a weekend. Joy denies this assertion. A few of his other accomplishments have also been sometimes exaggerated; Eric Schmidt, CEO of Novell at the time, inaccurately reported during an interview in PBS\'s documentary *Nerds 2.0.1* that Joy had personally rewritten the BSD kernel in a weekend. In 1980, he also wrote `cat -v`, about which Rob Pike and Brian W. Kernighan wrote that it went against Unix philosophy.
According to a *Salon* article, during the early 1980s, DARPA had contracted the company Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) to add TCP/IP to Berkeley UNIX. Joy had been instructed to plug BBN\'s stack into Berkeley Unix, but he refused to do so, as he had a low opinion of BBN\'s TCP/IP. So, Joy wrote his own high-performance TCP/IP stack. According to John Gage:
Rob Gurwitz, who was working at BBN at the time, disputes this version of events.
## Sun Microsystems {#sun_microsystems}
In 1982, after the firm had been going for six months, Joy, Sun\'s sixteenth employee, was brought in with full co-founder status at Sun Microsystems. At Sun, Joy was an inspiration for the development of NFS, the SPARC microprocessors, the Java programming language, Jini/JavaSpaces, and JXTA.
In 1986, Joy was awarded a Grace Murray Hopper Award by the ACM for his work on the Berkeley UNIX Operating System.
On September 9, 2003, Sun announced Joy was leaving the company and that he \"is taking time to consider his next move and has no definite plans\".
## Post-Sun activities {#post_sun_activities}
In 1999, Joy co-founded a venture capital firm, HighBAR Ventures, with two Sun colleagues, Andy Bechtolsheim and Roy Thiele-Sardiña. In January 2005 he was named a partner in venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. There, Joy has made several investments in green energy industries, even though he does not have any credentials in the field. He once said, \"My method is to look at something that seems like a good idea and assume it\'s true\".
In 2011, he was inducted as a Fellow of the Computer History Museum for his work on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Unix system and the co-founding of Sun Microsystems.
## Technology concerns {#technology_concerns}
In 2000, Joy gained notoriety with the publication of his article in *Wired* magazine, \"Why The Future Doesn\'t Need Us\", in which he declared, in what some have described as a \"neo-Luddite\" position, that he was convinced that growing advances in genetic engineering and nanotechnology would bring risks to humanity. He argued that intelligent robots would replace humanity, at the very least in intellectual and social dominance, in the relatively near future. He supports and promotes the idea of abandonment of GNR (genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics) technologies, instead of going into an arms race between negative uses of the technology and defense against those negative uses (good nano-machines patrolling and defending against Grey goo \"bad\" nano-machines). This stance of broad relinquishment was criticized by technologists such as technological-singularity thinker Ray Kurzweil, who instead advocates fine-grained relinquishment and ethical guidelines. Joy was also criticized by *The American Spectator*, which characterized Joy\'s essay as a (possibly unwitting) rationale for statism.
A bar-room discussion of these technologies with Ray Kurzweil started to set Joy\'s thinking along this path. He states in his essay that during the conversation, he became surprised that other serious scientists were considering such possibilities likely, and even more astounded at what he felt was a lack of consideration of the contingencies. After bringing the subject up with a few more acquaintances, he states that he was further alarmed by what he felt was that although many people considered these futures possible or probable, that very few of them shared as serious a concern for the dangers as he seemed to. This concern led to his in-depth examination of the issue and the positions of others in the scientific community on it, and eventually, to his current activities regarding it.
Despite this, he is a venture capitalist, investing in `{{Abbr|GNR|genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics}}`{=mediawiki} technology companies. He has also raised a specialty venture fund to address the dangers of pandemic diseases, such as the H5N1 avian influenza and biological weapons.
## Joy\'s law {#joys_law}
### Of management {#of_management}
In his 2013 book *Makers*, author Chris Anderson credited Joy with establishing \"Joy\'s law\" based on a quip: \"No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else \[other than you\].\" His argument was that companies use an inefficient process by not hiring the best employees, only those they are able to hire. His \"law\" was a continuation of Friedrich Hayek\'s \"The Use of Knowledge in Society\" and warned that the competition outside of a company would always have the potential to be greater than the company itself.
### Of computing {#of_computing}
Joy devised a formula in 1983, also called *Joy\'s law*, stating that the peak computer speed doubles each year and thus is given by a simple function of time. Specifically,
$$S = 2^{Y-1984},$$ in which `{{mvar|S}}`{=mediawiki} is the peak computer speed attained during year `{{mvar|Y}}`{=mediawiki}, expressed in MIPS.
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Bandwidth (signal processing)
|
**Bandwidth** is the difference between the upper and lower frequencies in a continuous band of frequencies. It is typically measured in unit of hertz (symbol Hz).
It may refer more specifically to two subcategories: *Passband bandwidth* is the difference between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies of, for example, a band-pass filter, a communication channel, or a signal spectrum. *Baseband bandwidth* is equal to the upper cutoff frequency of a low-pass filter or baseband signal, which includes a zero frequency.
Bandwidth in hertz is a central concept in many fields, including electronics, information theory, digital communications, radio communications, signal processing, and spectroscopy and is one of the determinants of the capacity of a given communication channel.
A key characteristic of bandwidth is that any band of a given width can carry the same amount of information, regardless of where that band is located in the frequency spectrum. For example, a 3 kHz band can carry a telephone conversation whether that band is at baseband (as in a POTS telephone line) or modulated to some higher frequency. However, wide bandwidths are easier to obtain and process at higher frequencies because the `{{section link|#Fractional bandwidth}}`{=mediawiki} is smaller.
## Overview
Bandwidth is a key concept in many telecommunications applications. In radio communications, for example, bandwidth is the frequency range occupied by a modulated carrier signal. An FM radio receiver\'s tuner spans a limited range of frequencies. A government agency (such as the Federal Communications Commission in the United States) may apportion the regionally available bandwidth to broadcast license holders so that their signals do not mutually interfere. In this context, bandwidth is also known as channel spacing.
For other applications, there are other definitions. One definition of bandwidth, for a system, could be the range of frequencies over which the system produces a specified level of performance. A less strict and more practically useful definition will refer to the frequencies beyond which performance is degraded. In the case of frequency response, degradation could, for example, mean more than 3 dB below the maximum value or it could mean below a certain absolute value. As with any definition of the *width* of a function, many definitions are suitable for different purposes.
In the context of, for example, the sampling theorem and Nyquist sampling rate, bandwidth typically refers to baseband bandwidth. In the context of Nyquist symbol rate or Shannon-Hartley channel capacity for communication systems it refers to passband bandwidth.
The **`{{vanchor|Rayleigh bandwidth}}`{=mediawiki}** of a simple radar pulse is defined as the inverse of its duration. For example, a one-microsecond pulse has a Rayleigh bandwidth of one megahertz.
The **`{{vanchor|essential bandwidth}}`{=mediawiki}** is defined as the portion of a signal spectrum in the frequency domain which contains most of the energy of the signal.
## *x* dB bandwidth {#x_db_bandwidth}
In some contexts, the signal bandwidth in hertz refers to the frequency range in which the signal\'s spectral density (in W/Hz or V^2^/Hz) is nonzero or above a small threshold value. The threshold value is often defined relative to the maximum value, and is most commonly the `{{no wrap|[[3 dB point]]}}`{=mediawiki}, that is the point where the spectral density is half its maximum value (or the spectral amplitude, in $\mathrm{V}$ or $\mathrm{V/\sqrt{Hz}}$, is 70.7% of its maximum). This figure, with a lower threshold value, can be used in calculations of the lowest sampling rate that will satisfy the sampling theorem.
The bandwidth is also used to denote **system bandwidth**, for example in filter or communication channel systems. To say that a system has a certain bandwidth means that the system can process signals with that range of frequencies, or that the system reduces the bandwidth of a white noise input to that bandwidth.
The 3 dB bandwidth of an electronic filter or communication channel is the part of the system\'s frequency response that lies within 3 dB of the response at its peak, which, in the passband filter case, is typically at or near its center frequency, and in the low-pass filter is at or near its cutoff frequency. If the maximum gain is 0 dB, the 3 dB bandwidth is the frequency range where attenuation is less than 3 dB. 3 dB attenuation is also where power is half its maximum. This same *half-power gain* convention is also used in spectral width, and more generally for the extent of functions as full width at half maximum (FWHM).
In electronic filter design, a filter specification may require that within the filter passband, the gain is nominally 0 dB with a small variation, for example within the ±1 dB interval. In the stopband(s), the required attenuation in decibels is above a certain level, for example \>100 dB. In a transition band the gain is not specified. In this case, the filter bandwidth corresponds to the passband width, which in this example is the 1 dB-bandwidth. If the filter shows amplitude ripple within the passband, the *x* dB point refers to the point where the gain is *x* dB below the nominal passband gain rather than *x* dB below the maximum gain.
In signal processing and control theory the bandwidth is the frequency at which the closed-loop system gain drops 3 dB below peak.
In communication systems, in calculations of the Shannon--Hartley channel capacity, bandwidth refers to the 3 dB-bandwidth. In calculations of the maximum symbol rate, the Nyquist sampling rate, and maximum bit rate according to the Hartley\'s law, the bandwidth refers to the frequency range within which the gain is non-zero.
The fact that in equivalent baseband models of communication systems, the signal spectrum consists of both negative and positive frequencies, can lead to confusion about bandwidth since they are sometimes referred to only by the positive half, and one will occasionally see expressions such as $B = 2W$, where $B$ is the total bandwidth (i.e. the maximum passband bandwidth of the carrier-modulated RF signal and the minimum passband bandwidth of the physical passband channel), and $W$ is the positive bandwidth (the baseband bandwidth of the equivalent channel model). For instance, the baseband model of the signal would require a low-pass filter with cutoff frequency of at least $W$ to stay intact, and the physical passband channel would require a passband filter of at least $B$ to stay intact.
## Relative bandwidth {#relative_bandwidth}
The absolute bandwidth is not always the most appropriate or useful measure of bandwidth. For instance, in the field of antennas the difficulty of constructing an antenna to meet a specified absolute bandwidth is easier at a higher frequency than at a lower frequency. For this reason, bandwidth is often quoted relative to the frequency of operation which gives a better indication of the structure and sophistication needed for the circuit or device under consideration.
There are two different measures of relative bandwidth in common use: *fractional bandwidth* ($B_\mathrm F$) and *ratio bandwidth* ($B_\mathrm R$). In the following, the absolute bandwidth is defined as follows, $B = \Delta f = f_\mathrm H - f_\mathrm L$ where $f_\mathrm H$ and $f_\mathrm L$ are the upper and lower frequency limits respectively of the band in question.
### Fractional bandwidth {#fractional_bandwidth}
Fractional bandwidth is defined as the absolute bandwidth divided by the center frequency ($f_\mathrm C$), $B_\mathrm F = \frac {\Delta f}{f_\mathrm C} \, .$
The center frequency is usually defined as the arithmetic mean of the upper and lower frequencies so that, $f_\mathrm C = \frac {f_\mathrm H + f_\mathrm L}{2} \$ and $B_\mathrm F = \frac {2 (f_\mathrm H - f_\mathrm L)}{f_\mathrm H + f_\mathrm L} \, .$
However, the center frequency is sometimes defined as the geometric mean of the upper and lower frequencies, $f_\mathrm C = \sqrt {f_\mathrm H f_\mathrm L}$ and $B_\mathrm F = \frac {f_\mathrm H - f_\mathrm L}{\sqrt {f_\mathrm H f_\mathrm L}} \, .$
While the geometric mean is more rarely used than the arithmetic mean (and the latter can be assumed if not stated explicitly) the former is considered more mathematically rigorous. It more properly reflects the logarithmic relationship of fractional bandwidth with increasing frequency. For narrowband applications, there is only marginal difference between the two definitions. The geometric mean version is inconsequentially larger. For wideband applications they diverge substantially with the arithmetic mean version approaching 2 in the limit and the geometric mean version approaching infinity.
Fractional bandwidth is sometimes expressed as a percentage of the center frequency (**percent bandwidth**, $\%B$), $\%B_\mathrm F = 100 \frac {\Delta f}{f_\mathrm C} \, .$
### Ratio bandwidth {#ratio_bandwidth}
Ratio bandwidth is defined as the ratio of the upper and lower limits of the band, $B_\mathrm R= \frac {f_\mathrm H}{f_\mathrm L} \, .$
Ratio bandwidth may be notated as $B_\mathrm R:1$. The relationship between ratio bandwidth and fractional bandwidth is given by, $B_\mathrm F = 2 \frac {B_\mathrm R - 1}{B_\mathrm R + 1}$ and $B_\mathrm R = \frac {2 + B_\mathrm F}{2 - B_\mathrm F} \, .$
Percent bandwidth is a less meaningful measure in wideband applications. A percent bandwidth of 100% corresponds to a ratio bandwidth of 3:1. All higher ratios up to infinity are compressed into the range 100--200%.
Ratio bandwidth is often expressed in octaves (i.e., as a frequency level) for wideband applications. An octave is a frequency ratio of 2:1 leading to this expression for the number of octaves, $\log_2 \left(B_\mathrm R\right) .$
## Noise equivalent bandwidth {#noise_equivalent_bandwidth}
Further information: Spectral leakage#Noise bandwidth
The **noise equivalent bandwidth** (or **equivalent noise bandwidth (enbw)**) of a system of frequency response $H(f)$ is the bandwidth of an ideal filter with rectangular frequency response centered on the system\'s central frequency that produces the same average power outgoing $H(f)$ when both systems are excited with a white noise source. The value of the noise equivalent bandwidth depends on the ideal filter reference gain used. Typically, this gain equals $|H(f)|$ at its center frequency, but it can also equal the peak value of $|H(f)|$.
The noise equivalent bandwidth $B_n$ can be calculated in the frequency domain using $H(f)$ or in the time domain by exploiting the Parseval\'s theorem with the system impulse response $h(t)$. If $H(f)$ is a lowpass system with zero central frequency and the filter reference gain is referred to this frequency, then:
$B_n = \frac{\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} |H(f)|^2 df}{2|H(0)|^2} = \frac{\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} |h(t)|^2 dt}{2\left|\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} h(t)dt\right|^2} \, .$
The same expression can be applied to bandpass systems by substituting the equivalent baseband frequency response for $H(f)$.
The noise equivalent bandwidth is widely used to simplify the analysis of telecommunication systems in the presence of noise.
## Photonics
In photonics, the term *bandwidth* carries a variety of meanings:
- the bandwidth of the output of some light source, e.g., an ASE source or a laser; the bandwidth of ultrashort optical pulses can be particularly large
- the width of the frequency range that can be transmitted by some element, e.g. an optical fiber
- the gain bandwidth of an optical amplifier
- the width of the range of some other phenomenon, e.g., a reflection, the phase matching of a nonlinear process, or some resonance
- the maximum modulation frequency (or range of modulation frequencies) of an optical modulator
- the range of frequencies in which some measurement apparatus (e.g., a power meter) can operate
- the data rate (e.g., in Gbit/s) achieved in an optical communication system; see bandwidth (computing).
A related concept is the spectral linewidth of the radiation emitted by excited atoms.
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Bernie Federko
|
**Bernard Allan Federko** (born May 12, 1956) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League from 1976 through 1990.
## Playing career {#playing_career}
Federko began playing hockey at a young age in his home town of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan. He was captain of the 1971 Bantam provincial champions. He also played Senior hockey with the local Foam Lake Flyers of the Fishing Lake Hockey League, winning the league scoring title as a bantam-aged player. Federko continued his career with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL where he set and still holds the team record for assists. He played three seasons with the Blades, and in his final year with the club he led the league in assists and points in both the regular season *and* playoffs. Federko was drafted 7th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. He started the next season with the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League and was leading the league in points when he was called up mid-season to play 31 games with St. Louis. He scored three hat tricks in those 31 games. In the 1978--79 NHL season, Federko developed into a bona fide star, as he scored 95 points.
Federko scored 100 points in a season four times, and was a consistent and underrated performer for the Blues. Federko scored at least 90 points in seven of the eight seasons between 1978 and 1986, and became the first player in NHL history to record at least 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons. However, in an era when Wayne Gretzky was scoring 200 points a season, Federko never got the attention many felt he deserved. In 1986, in a poll conducted by GOAL magazine, he was named the most overlooked talent in hockey. His General Manager Ron Caron said he was \"A great playmaker. He makes the average or above average player look like a star at times. He\'s such an unselfish player.\"
On March 19, 1988, Federko became the 22nd NHL player to record 1000 career points. After he had a poor season as a captain in 1988--89, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings with Tony McKegney for future Blues star Adam Oates, and Paul MacLean. In Detroit, Federko re-united with former Blues head coach Jacques Demers, but he had to play behind Steve Yzerman and did not get his desired ice time. After his lowest point output since his rookie season, Federko decided to retire after the 1989--90 season, having played exactly 1,000 NHL games with his final game on April 1, 1990.
## Post-NHL career {#post_nhl_career}
Less than a year after retiring as a player, the Blues retired number **24** in his honour on March 16, 1991. Federko was eventually inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002, the first Hall of Famer to earn his credentials primarily as a Blue.
Currently, Federko is a television colour commentator and studio analyst for Bally Sports Midwest during Blues broadcasts. He was the head coach/general manager of the St. Louis Vipers roller hockey team of the Roller Hockey International for the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
## Career statistics {#career_statistics}
### Regular season and playoffs {#regular_season_and_playoffs}
Regular season
------------ ------------------- -------- ------- ----------------
Season Team League GP G
1973--74 Saskatoon Blades WCHL 68 22
1974--75 Saskatoon Blades WCHL 66 39
1975--76 Saskatoon Blades WCHL 72 72
1976--77 Kansas City Blues CHL 42 30
1976--77 St. Louis Blues NHL 31 14
1977--78 St. Louis Blues NHL 72 17
1978--79 St. Louis Blues NHL 74 31
1979--80 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 38
1980--81 St. Louis Blues NHL 78 31
1981--82 St. Louis Blues NHL 74 30
1982--83 St. Louis Blues NHL 75 24
1983--84 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 41
1984--85 St. Louis Blues NHL 76 30
1985--86 St. Louis Blues NHL 80 34
1986--87 St. Louis Blues NHL 64 20
1987--88 St. Louis Blues NHL 79 20
1988--89 St. Louis Blues NHL 66 22
1989--90 Detroit Red Wings NHL 73 17
NHL totals 1,000 369
## Awards
- Bob Brownridge Memorial Trophy (WCHL leading scorer) - 1976
- Named to the WCHL First All-Star Team (1976)
- Named WCHL MVP (1976)
- Named to the CHL Second All-Star Team (1977)
- Won Ken McKenzie Trophy as CHL Rookie of the Year (1977)
- Played in the NHL All-Star Game (1980, 1981)
- Named NHL Player of the Week (For week ending December 3, 1984)
## Records
- St. Louis Blues team record for career games played (927)
- St. Louis Blues team record for career assists (721)
- St. Louis Blues team record for career points (1073)
- Shares St. Louis Blues team record for assists in one game (5 on February 27, 1988)
- St. Louis Blues team record for career playoff assists (66)
- First NHL player to get 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons.
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3,995 |
Contract bridge
|
*Pandoc failed*: ```
Error at (line 83, column 2):
unexpected '+'
|+ {{center|'''Example auction'''}}
^
```
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,012 |
Basel Convention
|
The **Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal**, usually known as the **Basel Convention**, is an international treaty that was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations, and specifically to restrict the transfer of hazardous waste from developed to less developed countries. It does not address the movement of radioactive waste, controlled by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Basel Convention is also intended to minimize the rate and toxicity of wastes generated, to ensure their environmentally sound management as closely as possible to the source of generation, and to assist developing countries in environmentally sound management of the hazardous and other wastes they generate.
The convention was opened for signature on 21 March 1989, and entered into force on 5 May 1992. As of June 2024, there are 191 parties to the convention. In addition, Haiti and the United States have signed the convention but did not ratify it.
Following a petition urging action on the issue signed by more than a million people around the world, most of the world\'s countries, but not the United States, agreed in May 2019 to an amendment of the Basel Convention to include plastic waste as regulated material. Although the United States is not a party to the treaty, export shipments of plastic waste from the United States are now \"criminal traffic as soon as the ships get on the high seas,\" according to the Basel Action Network (BAN), and carriers of such shipments may face liability, because the transportation of plastic waste is prohibited in just about every other country.
## History
With the tightening of environmental laws (for example, RCRA) in developed nations in the 1970s, disposal costs for hazardous waste rose dramatically. At the same time, the globalization of shipping made cross-border movement of waste easier, and many less developed countries were desperate for foreign currency. Consequently, the trade in hazardous waste, particularly to poorer countries, grew rapidly. In 1990, OECD countries exported around 1.8 million tons of hazardous waste. Although most of this waste was shipped to other developed countries, a number of high-profile incidents of hazardous waste-dumping led to calls for regulation.
One of the incidents which led to the creation of the Basel Convention was the *Khian Sea* waste disposal incident, in which a ship carrying incinerator ash from the city of Philadelphia in the United States dumped half of its load on a beach in Haiti before being forced away. It sailed for many months, changing its name several times. Unable to unload the cargo in any port, the crew was believed to have dumped much of it at sea.
Another incident was a 1988 case in which five ships transported 8,000 barrels of hazardous waste from Italy to the small Nigerian town of Koko in exchange for \$100 monthly rent which was paid to a Nigerian for the use of his farmland.
At its meeting that took place from 27 November to 1 December 2006, the parties of the Basel Agreement focused on issues of electronic waste and the dismantling of ships.
Increased trade in recyclable materials has led to an increase in a market for used products such as computers. This market is valued in billions of dollars. At issue is the distinction when used computers stop being a \"commodity\" and become a \"waste\".
As of June 2023, there are 191 parties to the treaty, which includes 188 UN member states, the Cook Islands, the European Union, and the State of Palestine. The five UN member states that are not party to the treaty are East Timor, Fiji, Haiti, South Sudan, and United States.
## Definition of *hazardous waste* {#definition_of_hazardous_waste}
Waste falls under the scope of the convention if it is within the category of wastes listed in Annex I of the convention and it exhibits one of the hazardous characteristics contained in Annex III. In other words, it must both be listed and possess a characteristic such as being explosive, flammable, toxic, or corrosive. The other way that a waste may fall under the scope of the convention is if it is defined as or considered to be a hazardous waste under the laws of either the exporting country, the importing country, or any of the countries of transit.
The definition of the term disposal is made in Article 2 al 4 and just refers to annex IV, which gives a list of operations which are understood as disposal or recovery. Examples of disposal are broad, including recovery and recycling.
Alternatively, to fall under the scope of the convention, it is sufficient for waste to be included in Annex II, which lists other wastes, such as household wastes and residue that comes from incinerating household waste.
Radioactive waste that is covered under other international control systems and wastes from the normal operation of ships are not covered.
Annex IX attempts to define wastes which are not considered hazardous wastes and which would be excluded from the scope of the Basel Convention. If these wastes however are contaminated with hazardous materials to an extent causing them to exhibit an Annex III characteristic, they are not excluded.
## Obligations
In addition to conditions on the import and export of the above wastes, there are stringent requirements for notice, consent and tracking for movement of wastes across national boundaries. The convention places a general prohibition on the exportation or importation of wastes between parties and non-parties. The exception to this rule is where the waste is subject to another treaty that does not take away from the Basel Convention. The United States is a notable non-party to the convention and has a number of such agreements for allowing the shipping of hazardous wastes to Basel Party countries.
The OECD Council also has its own control system that governs the transboundary movement of hazardous materials between OECD member countries. This allows, among other things, the OECD countries to continue trading in wastes with countries like the United States that have not ratified the Basel Convention.
Parties to the convention must honor import bans of other parties.
Article 4 of the Basel Convention calls for an overall reduction of waste generation. By encouraging countries to keep wastes within their boundaries and as close as possible to its source of generation, the internal pressures should provide incentives for waste reduction and pollution prevention. Parties are generally prohibited from exporting covered wastes to, or importing covered waste from, non-parties to the convention.
The convention states that illegal hazardous waste traffic is criminal but contains no enforcement provisions.
According to Article 12, parties are directed to adopt a protocol that establishes liability rules and procedures that are appropriate for damage that comes from the movement of hazardous waste across borders.
The current consensus is that as space is not classed as a \"country\" under the specific definition, export of e-waste to non-terrestrial locations would not be covered.
## Basel Ban Amendment {#basel_ban_amendment}
After the initial adoption of the convention, some least developed countries and environmental organizations argued that it did not go far enough. Many nations and NGOs argued for a total ban on shipment of all hazardous waste to developing countries. In particular, the original convention did not prohibit waste exports to any location except Antarctica but merely required a notification and consent system known as \"prior informed consent\" or PIC. Further, many waste traders sought to exploit the good name of recycling and begin to justify all exports as moving to recycling destinations. Many believed a full ban was needed including exports for recycling. These concerns led to several regional waste trade bans, including the Bamako Convention.
Lobbying at 1995 Basel conference by developing countries, Greenpeace and several European countries such as Denmark, led to the adoption of an amendment to the convention in 1995 termed the Basel Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention. The amendment has been accepted by 86 countries and the European Union, but has not entered into force (as that requires ratification by three-fourths of the member states to the convention). On 6 September 2019, Croatia became the 97th country to ratify the amendment which will enter into force after 90 days on 5 December 2019. The amendment prohibits the export of hazardous waste from a list of developed (mostly OECD) countries to developing countries. The Basel Ban applies to export for any reason, including recycling. An area of special concern for advocates of the amendment was the sale of ships for salvage, shipbreaking. The Ban Amendment was strenuously opposed by a number of industry groups as well as nations including Australia and Canada. The number of ratification for the entry-into force of the Ban Amendment is under debate: Amendments to the convention enter into force after ratification of \"three-fourths of the Parties who accepted them\" \[Art. 17.5\]; so far, the parties of the Basel Convention could not yet agree whether this would be three-fourths of the parties that were party to the Basel Convention when the ban was adopted, or three-fourths of the current parties of the convention \[see Report of COP 9 of the Basel Convention\]. The status of the amendment ratifications can be found on the Basel Secretariat\'s web page. The European Union fully implemented the Basel Ban in its Waste Shipment Regulation (EWSR), making it legally binding in all EU member states. Norway and Switzerland have similarly fully implemented the Basel Ban in their legislation.
In the light of the blockage concerning the entry into force of the Ban Amendment, Switzerland and Indonesia have launched a \"Country-led Initiative\" (CLI) to discuss in an informal manner a way forward to ensure that the trans boundary movements of hazardous wastes, especially to developing countries and countries with economies in the transition, do not lead to an unsound management of hazardous wastes. This discussion aims at identifying and finding solutions to the reasons why hazardous wastes are still brought to countries that are not able to treat them in a safe manner. It is hoped that the CLI will contribute to the realization of the objectives of the Ban Amendment. The Basel Convention\'s website informs about the progress of this initiative.
## Regulation of plastic waste {#regulation_of_plastic_waste}
In the wake of popular outcry, in May 2019 most of the world\'s countries, but not the United States, agreed to amend the Basel Convention to include plastic waste as a regulated material. The world\'s oceans are estimated to contain 100 million metric tons of plastic, with up to 90% of this quantity originating in land-based sources. The United States, which produces an annual 42 million metric tons of plastic waste, more than any other country in the world, opposed the amendment, but since it is not a party to the treaty it did not have an opportunity to vote on it to try to block it. Information about, and visual images of, wildlife, such as seabirds, ingesting plastic, and scientific findings that nanoparticles do penetrate through the blood--brain barrier were reported to have fueled public sentiment for coordinated international legally binding action. Over a million people worldwide signed a petition demanding official action. Although the United States is not a party to the treaty, export shipments of plastic waste from the United States are now \"criminal traffic as soon as the ships get on the high seas,\" according to the Basel Action Network (BAN), and carriers of such shipments may face liability, because the Basel Convention as amended in May 2019 prohibits the transportation of plastic waste to just about every other country.
The Basel Convention contains three main entries on plastic wastes in Annex II, VIII and IX of the convention. The Plastic Waste Amendments of the convention are now binding on 186 States. In addition to ensuring the trade in plastic waste is more transparent and better regulated, under the Basel Convention governments must take steps not only to ensure the environmentally sound management of plastic waste, but also to tackle plastic waste at its source.
## Basel watchdog {#basel_watchdog}
The Basel Action Network (BAN) is a charitable civil society non-governmental organization that works as a consumer watchdog for implementation of the Basel Convention. BAN\'s principal aims is fighting exportation of toxic waste, including plastic waste, from industrialized societies to developing countries. BAN is based in Seattle, Washington, United States, with a partner office in the Philippines. BAN works to curb trans-border trade in hazardous electronic waste, land dumping, incineration, and the use of prison labor.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,013 |
Bar Kokhba (album)
|
***Bar Kokhba*** is a double album by John Zorn, recorded between 1994 and 1996. It features music from Zorn\'s *Masada* project, rearranged for small ensembles. It also features the original soundtrack from *[The Art of Remembrance -- Simon Wiesenthal](http://riverlightspictures.com/taor/index.html)*, a film by [Hannah Heer](http://hannahheer.com) and Werner Schmiedel (1994--95).
## Reception
The AllMusic review by Marc Gilman noted: \"While some compositions retain their original structure and sound, some are expanded and probed by Zorn\'s arrangements, and resemble avant-garde classical music more than jazz. But this is the beauty of the album; the ensembles provide a forum for Zorn to expand his compositions. The album consistently impresses.\" `{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="Allmusic" />
|rev2 = ''[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings]]''
|rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref name="Penguin">{{cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Richard |authorlink1=Richard Cook (journalist) |last2=Morton |first2=Brian |authorlink2=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |title=[[The Penguin Guide to Jazz|The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings]] |year=2008 |edition=9th |publisher=[[Penguin Books|Penguin]] |isbn=978-0-141-03401-0 |page=1544}}</ref>
}}`{=mediawiki}
## Track listing {#track_listing}
*All compositions by John Zorn*
Disc One
1. \"Gevurah\" -- 6:55
2. \"Nezikin\" -- 1:51
3. \"Mahshav\" -- 4:33
4. \"Rokhev\" -- 3:10
5. \"Abidan\" -- 5:19
6. \"Sheloshim\" -- 5:03
7. \"Hath-Arob\" -- 2:25
8. \"Paran\" -- 4:48
9. \"Mahlah\" -- 7:48
10. \"Socoh\" -- 4:07
11. \"Yechida\" -- 8:24
12. \"Bikkurim\" -- 3:25
13. \"Idalah-Abal\" -- 5:04
Disc Two
1. \"Tannaim\" -- 4:38
2. \"Nefesh\" -- 3:33
3. \"Abidan\" -- 3:13
4. \"Mo\'ed\" -- 4:59
5. \"Maskil\" -- 4:41
6. \"Mishpatim\" -- 6:46
7. \"Sansanah\" -- 6:56
8. \"Shear-Jashub\" -- 2:06
9. \"Mahshav\" -- 4:50
10. \"Sheloshim\" -- 6:45
11. \"Mochin\" -- 13:11
12. \"Karaim\" -- 3:39
## Personnel
- John Zorn -- Producer
- Mark Feldman (2,4,6,10,12,14,16,20,21,25) -- violin
- Erik Friedlander (2,4,6,10,12,14,16,21,25) -- cello
- Greg Cohen (2,4,6,9,10,12,14,16,18,21,25) -- bass
- Marc Ribot (9,18,24) -- guitar
- Anthony Coleman (1,3,11,17,19) -- piano
- David Krakauer (3,8) -- clarinets
- John Medeski (5,7,8,13,15,17,20,22,23) -- organ, piano
- Mark Dresser (1,15,19) -- bass
- Kenny Wollesen (1,2,15,19,23) -- drums
- Chris Speed (5,13,20,23) -- clarinet
- Dave Douglas (23) -- trumpet
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,051 |
Brian Kernighan
|
\| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada \| residence = \| citizenship = Canada \| nationality = Canadian \| field = Computer science \| work_institution = Princeton University \| alma_mater = University of Toronto (BASc)\
Princeton University (PhD) \| thesis_title = Some Graph Partitioning Problems Related to Program Segmentation \| thesis_url = <http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39166855> \| thesis_year = 1969 \| doctoral_advisor = Peter Weiner \| doctoral_students = \| known_for = `{{Plainlist|
* [[Unix]]
* [[AWK]]
* [[AMPL|A Mathematical Programming Language (AMPL)]]
* [[Kernighan–Lin algorithm]]
* [[Lin–Kernighan heuristic]]
* ''[[The C Programming Language]]'' (book)<ref name=numberphile>{{YouTube|id=de2Hsvxaf8M|title="C" Programming Language: Brian Kernighan - Computerphile}}</ref>}}`{=mediawiki} \| prizes = \| website = `{{URL|https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~bwk/}}`{=mediawiki} }}
**Brian Wilson Kernighan** (`{{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɜːr|n|ɪ|h|æ|n}}`{=mediawiki}; born January 30, 1942) is a Canadian computer scientist. He worked at Bell Labs and contributed to the development of Unix alongside Unix creators Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie. Kernighan\'s name became widely known through co-authorship of the first book on the C programming language (*The C Programming Language*) with Dennis Ritchie. Kernighan affirmed that he had no part in the design of the C language (\"it\'s entirely Dennis Ritchie\'s work\").
Kernighan authored many Unix programs, including ditroff. He is coauthor of the AWK and AMPL programming languages. The \"K\" of K&R C and of AWK both stand for \"Kernighan\".
In collaboration with Shen Lin he devised well-known heuristics for two NP-complete optimization problems: graph partitioning and the travelling salesman problem. In a display of authorial equity, the former is usually called the Kernighan--Lin algorithm, while the latter is known as the Lin--Kernighan heuristic.
Kernighan has been a professor of computer science at Princeton University since 2000 and is the director of undergraduate studies in the department of computer science. In 2015, he co-authored the book *The Go Programming Language*.
## Early life and education {#early_life_and_education}
Kernighan was born in Toronto. He attended the University of Toronto between 1960 and 1964, earning his bachelor\'s degree in engineering physics. He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton University in 1969, completing a doctoral dissertation titled \"Some graph partitioning problems related to program segmentation\" under the supervision of Peter G. Weiner.
## Career and research {#career_and_research}
Kernighan has held a professorship in the department of computer science at Princeton since 2000. Each fall he teaches a course called \"Computers in Our World\", which introduces the fundamentals of computing to non-majors.
Kernighan was the software editor for Prentice Hall International. His \"Software Tools\" series spread the essence of \"C/Unix thinking\" with makeovers for BASIC, FORTRAN, and Pascal, and most notably his \"Ratfor\" (rational FORTRAN) was put in the public domain.
He has said that if stranded on an island with only one programming language it would have to be C.
Kernighan coined the term \"Unix\" and helped popularize Thompson\'s Unix philosophy. Kernighan is also known for coining the expression \"What You See Is All You Get\" (WYSIAYG), which is a sarcastic variant of the original \"What You See Is What You Get\" (WYSIWYG). Kernighan\'s term is used to indicate that WYSIWYG systems might throw away information in a document that could be useful in other contexts.
In 1972, Kernighan described memory management in strings using \"hello\" and \"world\", in the B programming language, which became the iconic example we know today. Kernighan\'s original 1978 implementation of `{{not_typo|[["Hello, World!" program|hello, world!]]}}`{=mediawiki} was sold at The Algorithm Auction, the world\'s first auction of computer algorithms.
In 1996, Kernighan taught CS50 which is the Harvard University introductory course in computer science. Kernighan was an influence on David J. Malan who subsequently taught the course and scaled it up to run at multiple universities and in multiple digital formats.
Kernighan was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2002 for contributions to software and to programming languages. He was also elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2019.
In 2022, Kernighan stated that he was actively working on improvements to the AWK programming language, which he took part in creating in 1977.
### Books and reports {#books_and_reports}
- *The Elements of Programming Style*, with P. J. Plauger
- *Software Tools*, a book and set of tools for Ratfor, co-created in part with P. J. Plauger
- *Software Tools in Pascal*, a book and set of tools for Pascal, with P. J. Plauger
- *The C Programming Language*, with C creator Dennis Ritchie, the first book on C
- *The Practice of Programming*, with Rob Pike
- *The Unix Programming Environment*, a tutorial book, with Rob Pike
- [\"Why Pascal is Not My Favorite Programming Language\"](http://wiki.c2.com/?WhyPascalIsNotMyFavoriteProgrammingLanguage), a popular criticism of Niklaus Wirth\'s Pascal. Some parts of the criticism are obsolete due to ISO 7185 (Programming Languages - Pascal); the criticism was written before ISO 7185 was created. (AT&T Computing Science Technical Report #100)
- *UNIX: A History and a Memoir*, a historical account of the development of Unix from the perspective of his role at Bell Labs
### Programs
- 1972: The first documented \"Hello, world!\" program, in Kernighan\'s [\"A Tutorial Introduction to the Language B\"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150611114644/https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/btut.pdf)
- 1973: ditroff, or \"device independent troff\", which allowed troff to be used with any device
- 1974: The eqn typesetting language for troff, with Lorinda Cherry
- 1976: Ratfor
- 1977: The m4 macro processing language, with Dennis Ritchie
- 1977: The AWK programming language, with Alfred Aho and Peter J. Weinberger, and its book *The AWK Programming Language*
- 1985: The AMPL programming language
- 1988: The pic typesetting language for troff
## Publications
- *The Elements of Programming Style* (1974, 1978) with P. J. Plauger
- *Software Tools* (1976) with P. J. Plauger
- *The C Programming Language* (1978, 1988) with Dennis M. Ritchie
- *Software Tools in Pascal* (1981) with P. J. Plauger
- *The Unix Programming Environment* (1984) with Rob Pike
- *The AWK Programming Language* (1988, 2023) with Alfred Aho and Peter J. Weinberger
- *The Practice of Programming* (1999) with Rob Pike
- *AMPL: A Modeling Language for Mathematical Programming, 2nd ed.* (2003) with Robert Fourer and David Gay
- *D is for Digital: What a well-informed person should know about computers and communications* (2011)
- *The Go Programming Language* (2015) with Alan Donovan
- *Understanding the Digital World: What You Need to Know about Computers, the Internet, Privacy, and Security* (2017)
- *Millions, Billions, Zillions: Defending Yourself in a World of Too Many Numbers* (2018)
- *UNIX: A History and a Memoir* (2019)
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,055 |
Bifröst
|
In Norse mythology, **Bifröst** (modern Icelandic: **Bifröst** `{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɪ|v|r|ɒ|s|t|audio=Bifrost.ogg}}`{=mediawiki}; from Old Norse: *Bifrǫst* /ˈbiv.rɔst/), also called **Bilröst** and often anglicized as **Bifrost**, is a burning rainbow bridge that reaches between Midgard (Earth) and Asgard, the realm of the gods. The bridge is attested as *Bilröst* in the *Poetic Edda*, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources; as *Bifröst* in the *Prose Edda*, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson; and in the poetry of skalds. Both the *Poetic Edda* and the *Prose Edda* also refer to the bridge as **Ásbrú** (Old Norse \"Æsir\'s bridge\").
According to the *Prose Edda*, the bridge ends in heaven at Himinbjörg, the residence of the god Heimdall, who guards it from the jötnar. The bridge\'s destruction during Ragnarök by the forces of Muspell is foretold. Scholars have proposed that the bridge may have originally represented the Milky Way and have noted parallels between the bridge and another bridge in Norse mythology, Gjallarbrú.
## Etymology
Scholar Andy Orchard suggests that *Bifröst* may mean \"shimmering path\". He notes that the first element of *Bilröst*---*bil* (meaning \"a moment\")---\"suggests the fleeting nature of the rainbow\", which he connects to the first element of *Bifröst*---the Old Norse verb *bifa* (meaning \"to shimmer\" or \"to shake\")---noting that the element evokes notions of the \"lustrous sheen\" of the bridge. Austrian Germanist Rudolf Simek says that *Bifröst* either means \"the swaying road to heaven\" (also citing *bifa*) or, if *Bilröst* is the original form of the two (which Simek says is likely), \"the fleetingly glimpsed rainbow\" (possibly connected to *bil\]\]*, perhaps meaning \"moment, weak point\").
## Attestations
Two poems in the *Poetic Edda* and two books in the *Prose Edda* provide information about the bridge:
### *Poetic Edda* {#poetic_edda}
In the *Poetic Edda*, the bridge is mentioned in the poems *Grímnismál* and *Fáfnismál*, where it is referred to as *Bilröst*. In one of two stanzas in the poem *Grímnismál* that mentions the bridge, Grímnir (the god Odin in disguise) provides the young Agnarr with cosmological knowledge, including that Bilröst is the best of bridges. Later in *Grímnismál*, Grímnir notes that Asbrú \"burns all with flames\" and that, every day, the god Thor wades through the waters of Körmt and Örmt and the two Kerlaugar:
In *Fáfnismál*, the dying wyrm Fafnir tells the hero Sigurd that, during the events of Ragnarök, bearing spears, gods will meet at Óskópnir. From there, the gods will cross Bilröst, which will break apart as they cross over it, causing their horses to dredge through an immense river.
### *Prose Edda* {#prose_edda}
The bridge is mentioned in the *Prose Edda* books *Gylfaginning* and *Skáldskaparmál*, where it is referred to as *Bifröst*. In chapter 13 of *Gylfaginning*, Gangleri (King Gylfi in disguise) asks the enthroned figure of High what way exists between heaven and earth. Laughing, High replies that the question is not an intelligent one, and goes on to explain that the gods built a bridge from heaven and earth. He incredulously asks Gangleri if he has not heard the story before. High says that Gangleri must have seen it, and notes that Gangleri may call it a rainbow. High says that the bridge consists of three colors, has great strength, \"and is built with art and skill to a greater extent than other constructions.\"
High notes that, although the bridge is strong, it will break when \"Muspell\'s lads\" attempt to cross it, and their horses will have to make do with swimming over \"great rivers\". Gangleri says that it does not seem that the gods \"built the bridge in good faith if it is liable to break, considering that they can do as they please.\" High responds that the gods do not deserve blame for the breaking of the bridge, for \"there is nothing in this world that will be secure when Muspell\'s sons attack.\"
In chapter 15 of *Gylfaginning*, Just-As-High says that Bifröst is also called *Asbrú*, and that every day the gods ride their horses across it (with the exception of Thor, who instead wades through the boiling waters of the rivers Körmt and Örmt) to reach Urðarbrunnr, a holy well where the gods have their court. As a reference, Just-As-High quotes the second of the two stanzas in *Grímnismál* that mention the bridge (see above). Gangleri asks if fire burns over Bifröst. High says that the red in the bridge is burning fire, and, without it, the frost jotnar and mountain jotnar would \"go up into heaven\" if anyone who wanted could cross Bifröst. High adds that, in heaven, \"there are many beautiful places\" and that \"everywhere there has divine protection around it.\"
In chapter 17, High tells Gangleri that the location of Himinbjörg \"stands at the edge of heaven where Bifrost reaches heaven.\" While describing the god Heimdallr in chapter 27, High says that Heimdallr lives in Himinbjörg by Bifröst, and guards the bridge from mountain jotnar while sitting at the edge of heaven. In chapter 34, High quotes the first of the two *Grímnismál* stanzas that mention the bridge. In chapter 51, High foretells the events of Ragnarök. High says that, during Ragnarök, the sky will split open, and from the split will ride forth the \"sons of Muspell\". When the \"sons of Muspell\" ride over Bifröst it will break, \"as was said above\".
In the *Prose Edda* book *Skáldskaparmál*, the bridge receives a single mention. In chapter 16, a work by the 10th century skald Úlfr Uggason is provided, where Bifröst is referred to as \"the powers\' way\".
## Theories
In his translation of the *Poetic Edda*, Henry Adams Bellows comments that the *Grímnismál* stanza mentioning Thor and the bridge stanza may mean that \"Thor has to go on foot in the last days of the destruction, when the bridge is burning. Another interpretation, however, is that when Thor leaves the heavens (i.e., when a thunder-storm is over) the rainbow-bridge becomes hot in the sun.\"
John Lindow points to a parallel between Bifröst, which he notes is \"a bridge between earth and heaven, or earth and the world of the gods\", and the bridge Gjallarbrú, \"a bridge between earth and the underworld, or earth and the world of the dead.\" Several scholars have proposed that Bifröst may represent the Milky Way.
## Adaptations
In the final scene of Richard Wagner\'s 1869 opera *Das Rheingold*, the god Froh summons a rainbow bridge, over which the gods cross to enter Valhalla. In J. R. R. Tolkien\'s legendarium, the \"level bridge\" of \"The Fall of Númenor\", an early version of the *Akallabêth*, recalls Bifröst. It departs from the earth at a tangent, allowing immortal Elves but not mortal Men to travel the Old Straight Road to the lost earthly paradise of Valinor after the world has been remade (from a flat plane to a sphere).
Bifröst appears in comic books associated with the Marvel Comics character Thor and in subsequent adaptations of those comic books. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe film *Thor*, Jane Foster describes the Bifröst as an Einstein--Rosen bridge, which functions as a means of transportation across space in a short period of time.
| 2025-06-20T00:00:00 |
4,057 |
Battlecruiser
|
upright=1.5\|thumb\|right\|`{{HMS|Hood}}`{=mediawiki}, the largest battlecruiser ever built, in Australia on 17 March 1924
The **battlecruiser** (also written as **battle cruiser** or **battle-cruiser**) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attributes. Battlecruisers typically had thinner armour (to a varying degree) and a somewhat lighter main gun battery than contemporary battleships, installed on a longer hull with much higher engine power in order to attain greater speeds. The first battlecruisers were designed in the United Kingdom as a successor to the armoured cruiser, at the same time as the dreadnought succeeded the pre-dreadnought battleship. The goal of the battlecruiser concept was to outrun any ship with similar armament, and chase down any ship with lesser armament; they were intended to hunt down slower, older armoured cruisers and destroy them with heavy gunfire while avoiding combat with the more powerful but slower battleships. However, as more and more battlecruisers were built, they were increasingly used alongside the better-protected battleships.
Battlecruisers served in the navies of the United Kingdom, Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Australia and Japan during World War I, most notably at the Battle of the Falkland Islands and in the several raids and skirmishes in the North Sea which culminated in a pitched fleet battle, the Battle of Jutland. British battlecruisers in particular suffered heavy losses at Jutland, where poor fire safety and ammunition handling practices left them vulnerable to catastrophic magazine explosions following hits to their main turrets from large-calibre shells. This dismal showing led to a persistent general belief that battlecruisers were too thinly armoured to function successfully. By the end of the war, capital ship design had developed, with battleships becoming faster and battlecruisers becoming more heavily armoured, blurring the distinction between a battlecruiser and a fast battleship. The Washington Naval Treaty, which limited capital ship construction from 1922 onwards, treated battleships and battlecruisers identically, and the new generation of battlecruisers planned by the United States, Great Britain and Japan were scrapped or converted into aircraft carriers under the terms of the treaty.
Improvements in armour design and propulsion created the 1930s \"fast battleship\" with the speed of a battlecruiser and armour of a battleship, making the battlecruiser in the traditional sense effectively an obsolete concept. Thus from the 1930s on, only the Royal Navy continued to use \"battlecruiser\" as a classification for the World War I--era capital ships that remained in the fleet; while Japan\'s battlecruisers remained in service, they had been significantly reconstructed and were re-rated as full-fledged fast battleships. Some new vessels built during that decade, the German `{{sclass|Scharnhorst|battleship|1}}`{=mediawiki}s and `{{sclass|Deutschland|cruiser|1}}`{=mediawiki}s and the French `{{sclass|Dunkerque|battleship|1}}`{=mediawiki}s are all sometimes referred to as battlecruisers, although the owning navies referred to them as \"battleships\" (*Schlachtschiffe*), \"armoured ships\" (*Panzerschiffe*) and \"battleships\" (*Bâtiments de ligne*) respectively.`{{Refn|The German {{sclass|Scharnhorst|battleship|1}}s and {{sclass|Deutschland|cruiser|1}}s and the French {{sclass|Dunkerque|battleship|1}}s are all sometimes referred to as battlecruisers, although the owning navies referred to them as "battleships" ({{langx|de|Schlachtschiffe}}), "armoured ships" ({{langx|de|Panzerschiffe}}) and "battleships" ({{langx|fr|Bâtiments de ligne}}) respectively. Since neither their operators nor a significant number of naval historians classify them as such, they are not discussed in this article.<ref>Gröner, pp. 31, 60; Gille, p. 139; Koop & Schmolke, p. 4</ref><ref name="Gardiner & Chesneau, p. 259">Chesneau, p. 259</ref><ref>Bidlingmaier, pp. 73–74</ref>|group=Note}}`{=mediawiki}
Battlecruisers were put into action again during World War II, and only one survived to the end, `{{HMS|Renown|1916|2}}`{=mediawiki}. There was also renewed interest in large \"cruiser-killer\" type warships whose design was scaled-up from a heavy cruiser rather than a lighter/faster battleship derivative, but few were ever begun and only two members of the `{{sclass|Alaska|cruiser|0}}`{=mediawiki} were commissioned in time to see war service. Construction of large cruisers as well as fast battleships were curtailed in favor of more-needed aircraft carriers, convoy escorts, and cargo ships.
During (and after) the Cold War, the Soviet `{{sclass|Kirov|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki} of large guided missile cruisers have been the only ships termed \"battlecruisers\"; the class is also the only example of a nuclear-powered battlecruiser. As of 2024, Russia operates two units: the *Pyotr Velikiy* has remained in active service since its 1998 commissioning, while the *Admiral Nakhimov* has been inactive (in storage or refitting) since 1999.
## Background
The battlecruiser was developed by the Royal Navy in the first years of the 20th century as an evolution of the armoured cruiser. The first armoured cruisers had been built in the 1870s, as an attempt to give armour protection to ships fulfilling the typical cruiser roles of patrol, trade protection and power projection. However, the results were rarely satisfactory, as the weight of armour required for any meaningful protection usually meant that the ship became almost as slow as a battleship. As a result, navies preferred to build protected cruisers with an armoured deck protecting their engines, or simply no armour at all.
In the 1890s, new Krupp steel armour meant that it was now possible to give a cruiser side armour which would protect it against the quick-firing guns of enemy battleships and cruisers alike. In 1896--97 France and Russia, who were regarded as likely allies in the event of war, started to build large, fast armoured cruisers taking advantage of this. In the event of a war between Britain and France or Russia, or both, these cruisers threatened to cause serious difficulties for the British Empire\'s worldwide trade.
Britain, which had concluded in 1892 that it needed twice as many cruisers as any potential enemy to adequately protect its empire\'s sea lanes, responded to the perceived threat by laying down its own large armoured cruisers. Between 1899 and 1905, it completed or laid down seven classes of this type, a total of 35 ships. This building program, in turn, prompted the French and Russians to increase their own construction. The Imperial German Navy began to build large armoured cruisers for use on their overseas stations, laying down eight between 1897 and 1906. In the period 1889--1896, the Royal Navy spent £7.3 million on new large cruisers. From 1897 to 1904, it spent £26.9 million. Many armoured cruisers of the new kind were just as large and expensive as the equivalent battleship.
The increasing size and power of the armoured cruiser led to suggestions in British naval circles that cruisers should displace battleships entirely. The battleship\'s main advantage was its 12-inch heavy guns, and heavier armour designed to protect from shells of similar size. However, for a few years after 1900 it seemed that those advantages were of little practical value. The torpedo now had a range of 2,000 yards, and it seemed unlikely that a battleship would engage within torpedo range. However, at ranges of more than 2,000 yards it became increasingly unlikely that the heavy guns of a battleship would score any hits, as the heavy guns relied on primitive aiming techniques. The secondary batteries of 6-inch quick-firing guns, firing more plentiful shells, were more likely to hit the enemy. As naval expert Fred T. Jane wrote in June 1902,
> Is there anything outside of 2,000 yards that the big gun in its hundreds of tons of medieval castle can affect, that its weight in 6-inch guns without the castle could not affect equally well? And inside 2,000, what, in these days of gyros, is there that the torpedo cannot effect with far more certainty?
In 1904, Admiral John \"Jacky\" Fisher became First Sea Lord, the senior officer of the Royal Navy. He had for some time thought about the development of a new fast armoured ship. He was very fond of the \"second-class battleship\" `{{HMS|Renown|1895|2}}`{=mediawiki}, a faster, more lightly armoured battleship. As early as 1901, there is confusion in Fisher\'s writing about whether he saw the battleship or the cruiser as the model for future developments. This did not stop him from commissioning designs from naval architect W. H. Gard for an armoured cruiser with the heaviest possible armament for use with the fleet. The design Gard submitted was for a ship between 14000 -, capable of 25 kn, armed with four 9.2-inch and twelve 7.5 in guns in twin gun turrets and protected with six inches of armour along her belt and 9.2-inch turrets, 4 in on her 7.5-inch turrets, 10 inches on her conning tower and up to 2.5 in on her decks. However, mainstream British naval thinking between 1902 and 1904 was clearly in favour of heavily armoured battleships, rather than the fast ships that Fisher favoured.
The Battle of Tsushima proved the effectiveness of heavy guns over intermediate ones and the need for a uniform main caliber on a ship for fire control. Even before this, the Royal Navy had begun to consider a shift away from the mixed-calibre armament of the 1890s pre-dreadnought to an \"all-big-gun\" design, and preliminary designs circulated for battleships with all 12-inch or all 10-inch guns and armoured cruisers with all 9.2-inch guns. In late 1904, not long after the Royal Navy had decided to use 12-inch guns for its next generation of battleships because of their superior performance at long range, Fisher began to argue that big-gun cruisers could replace battleships altogether. The continuing improvement of the torpedo meant that submarines and destroyers would be able to destroy battleships; this in Fisher\'s view heralded the end of the battleship or at least compromised the validity of heavy armour protection. Nevertheless, armoured cruisers would remain vital for commerce protection.
Fisher\'s views were very controversial within the Royal Navy, and even given his position as First Sea Lord, he was not in a position to insist on his own approach. Thus he assembled a \"Committee on Designs\", consisting of a mixture of civilian and naval experts, to determine the approach to both battleship and armoured cruiser construction in the future. While the stated purpose of the committee was to investigate and report on future requirements of ships, Fisher and his associates had already made key decisions. The terms of reference for the committee were for a battleship capable of 21 kn with 12-inch guns and no intermediate calibres, capable of docking in existing drydocks; and a cruiser capable of 25.5 kn, also with 12-inch guns and no intermediate armament, armoured like `{{HMS|Minotaur|1906|2}}`{=mediawiki}, the most recent armoured cruiser, and also capable of using existing docks.
## First battlecruisers {#first_battlecruisers}
Under the Selborne plan of 1903,`{{Ambiguous|date=April 2025}}`{=mediawiki} the Royal Navy intended to start three new battleships and four armoured cruisers each year. However, in late 1904 it became clear that the 1905--1906 programme would have to be considerably smaller, because of lower than expected tax revenue and the need to buy out two Chilean battleships under construction in British yards, lest they be purchased by the Russians for use against the Japanese, Britain\'s ally. These economic realities meant that the 1905--1906 programme consisted only of one battleship, but three armoured cruisers. The battleship became the revolutionary battleship `{{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|2}}`{=mediawiki}, and the cruisers became the three ships of the `{{sclass|Invincible|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}. Fisher later claimed, however, that he had argued during the committee for the cancellation of the remaining battleship.
The construction of the new class was begun in 1906 and completed in 1908, delayed perhaps to allow their designers to learn from any problems with *Dreadnought*. The ships fulfilled the design requirement quite closely. On a displacement similar to *Dreadnought*, the *Invincible*s were 40 ft longer to accommodate additional boilers and more powerful turbines to propel them at 25 kn. Moreover, the new ships could maintain this speed for days, whereas pre-dreadnought battleships could not generally do so for more than an hour. Armed with eight 12-inch Mk X guns, compared to ten on *Dreadnought*, they had 6 - of armour protecting the hull and the gun turrets. (*Dreadnought*{{\'}}s armour, by comparison, was 11 - at its thickest.) The class had a very marked increase in speed, displacement and firepower compared to the most recent armoured cruisers but no more armour.
While the *Invincible*s were to fill the same role as the armoured cruisers they succeeded, they were expected to do so more effectively. Specifically their roles were:
- **Heavy reconnaissance.** Because of their power, the *Invincible*s could sweep away the screen of enemy cruisers to close with and observe an enemy battlefleet before using their superior speed to retire.
- **Close support for the battle fleet.** They could be stationed at the ends of the battle line to stop enemy cruisers harassing the battleships, and to harass the enemy\'s battleships if they were busy fighting battleships. Also, the *Invincible*s could operate as the fast wing of the battlefleet and try to outmanoeuvre the enemy.
- **Pursuit.** If an enemy fleet ran, then the *Invincible*s would use their speed to pursue, and their guns to damage or slow enemy ships.
- **Commerce protection.** The new ships would hunt down enemy cruisers and commerce raiders.
Confusion about how to refer to these new battleship-size armoured cruisers set in almost immediately. Even in late 1905, before work was begun on the *Invincible*s, a Royal Navy memorandum refers to \"large armoured ships\" meaning both battleships and large cruisers. In October 1906, the Admiralty began to classify all post-Dreadnought battleships and armoured cruisers as \"capital ships\", while Fisher used the term \"dreadnought\" to refer either to his new battleships or the battleships and armoured cruisers together. At the same time, the *Invincible* class themselves were referred to as \"cruiser-battleships\", \"dreadnought cruisers\"; the term \"battlecruiser\" was first used by Fisher in 1908. Finally, on 24 November 1911, Admiralty Weekly Order No. 351 laid down that \"All cruisers of the \"Invincible\" and later types are for the future to be described and classified as \"battle cruisers\" to distinguish them from the armoured cruisers of earlier date.\"
Along with questions over the new ships\' nomenclature came uncertainty about their actual role due to their lack of protection. If they were primarily to act as scouts for the battle fleet and hunter-killers of enemy cruisers and commerce raiders, then the seven inches of belt armour with which they had been equipped would be adequate. If, on the other hand, they were expected to reinforce a battle line of dreadnoughts with their own heavy guns, they were too thin-skinned to be safe from an enemy\'s heavy guns. The *Invincible*s were essentially extremely large, heavily armed, fast armoured cruisers. However, the viability of the armoured cruiser was already in doubt. A cruiser that could have worked with the Fleet might have been a more viable option for taking over that role.
Because of the *Invincible*s{{\'}} size and armament, naval authorities considered them capital ships almost from their inception---an assumption that might have been inevitable. Complicating matters further was that many naval authorities, including Lord Fisher, had made overoptimistic assessments from the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 about the armoured cruiser\'s ability to survive in a battle line against enemy capital ships due to their superior speed. These assumptions had been made without taking into account the Russian Baltic Fleet\'s inefficiency and tactical ineptitude. By the time the term \"battlecruiser\" had been given to the *Invincible*s, the idea of their parity with battleships had been fixed in many people\'s minds.
Not everyone was so convinced. *Brassey{{\'}}s Naval Annual*, for instance, stated that with vessels as large and expensive as the *Invincible*s, an admiral \"will be certain to put them in the line of battle where their comparatively light protection will be a disadvantage and their high speed of no value.\" Those in favor of the battlecruiser countered with two points---first, since all capital ships were vulnerable to new weapons such as the torpedo, armour had lost some of its validity; and second, because of its greater speed, the battlecruiser could control the range at which it engaged an enemy.
## Battlecruisers in the dreadnought arms race {#battlecruisers_in_the_dreadnought_arms_race}
Between the launching of the *Invincible*s to just after the outbreak of the First World War, the battlecruiser played a junior role in the developing dreadnought arms race, as it was never wholeheartedly adopted as the key weapon in British imperial defence, as Fisher had presumably desired. The biggest factor for this lack of acceptance was the marked change in Britain\'s strategic circumstances between their conception and the commissioning of the first ships. The prospective enemy for Britain had shifted from a Franco-Russian alliance with many armoured cruisers to a resurgent and increasingly belligerent Germany. Diplomatically, Britain had entered the Entente cordiale in 1904 and the Anglo-Russian Entente. Neither France nor Russia posed a particular naval threat; the Russian navy had largely been sunk or captured in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904--1905, while the French were in no hurry to adopt the new dreadnought-type design. Britain also boasted very cordial relations with two of the significant new naval powers: Japan (bolstered by the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, signed in 1902 and renewed in 1905), and the US. These changed strategic circumstances, and the great success of the *Dreadnought* ensured that she rather than the *Invincible* became the new model capital ship. Nevertheless, battlecruiser construction played a part in the renewed naval arms race sparked by the *Dreadnought*.
For their first few years of service, the *Invincible*s entirely fulfilled Fisher\'s vision of being able to sink any ship fast enough to catch them, and run from any ship capable of sinking them. An *Invincible* would also, in many circumstances, be able to take on an enemy pre-dreadnought battleship. Naval circles concurred that the armoured cruiser in its current form had come to the logical end of its development and the *Invincible*s were so far ahead of any enemy armoured cruiser in firepower and speed that it proved difficult to justify building more or bigger cruisers. This lead was extended by the surprise both *Dreadnought* and *Invincible* produced by having been built in secret; this prompted most other navies to delay their building programmes and radically revise their designs. This was particularly true for cruisers, because the details of the *Invincible* class were kept secret for longer; this meant that the last German armoured cruiser, `{{SMS|Blücher||2}}`{=mediawiki}, was armed with only 21 cm guns, and was no match for the new battlecruisers.
The Royal Navy\'s early superiority in capital ships led to the rejection of a 1905--1906 design that would, essentially, have fused the battlecruiser and battleship concepts into what would eventually become the fast battleship. The \'X4\' design combined the full armour and armament of *Dreadnought* with the 25-knot speed of *Invincible*. The additional cost could not be justified given the existing British lead and the new Liberal government\'s need for economy; the slower and cheaper `{{HMS|Bellerophon|1907|2}}`{=mediawiki}, a relatively close copy of *Dreadnought*, was adopted instead. The X4 concept would eventually be fulfilled in the `{{sclass|Queen Elizabeth|battleship|4}}`{=mediawiki} and later by other navies.
The next British battlecruisers were the three `{{sclass|Indefatigable|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}, slightly improved *Invincible*s built to fundamentally the same specification, partly due to political pressure to limit costs and partly due to the secrecy surrounding German battlecruiser construction, particularly about the heavy armour of `{{SMS|Von der Tann}}`{=mediawiki}. This class came to be widely seen as a mistake and the next generation of British battlecruisers were markedly more powerful. By 1909--1910 a sense of national crisis about rivalry with Germany outweighed cost-cutting, and a naval panic resulted in the approval of a total of eight capital ships in 1909--1910. Fisher pressed for all eight to be battlecruisers, but was unable to have his way; he had to settle for six battleships and two battlecruisers of the `{{sclass|Lion|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}. The *Lion*s carried eight 13.5-inch guns, the now-standard caliber of the British \"super-dreadnought\" battleships. Speed increased to 27 kn and armour protection, while not as good as in German designs, was better than in previous British battlecruisers, with 9 in armour belt and barbettes. The two *Lion*s were followed by the very similar `{{HMS|Queen Mary||2}}`{=mediawiki}.
By 1911 Germany had built battlecruisers of her own, and the superiority of the British ships could no longer be assured. Moreover, the German Navy did not share Fisher\'s view of the battlecruiser. In contrast to the British focus on increasing speed and firepower, Germany progressively improved the armour and staying power of their ships to better the British battlecruisers. *Von der Tann*, begun in 1908 and completed in 1910, carried eight 11.1-inch guns, but with 11.1-inch (283 mm) armour she was far better protected than the *Invincible*s. The two `{{sclass|Moltke|battlecruiser|5}}`{=mediawiki}s were quite similar but carried ten 11.1-inch guns of an improved design. `{{SMS|Seydlitz||2}}`{=mediawiki}, designed in 1909 and finished in 1913, was a modified *Moltke*; speed increased by one knot to 26.5 kn, while her armour had a maximum thickness of 12 inches, equivalent to the `{{sclass|Helgoland|battleship|2}}`{=mediawiki}s of a few years earlier. *Seydlitz* was Germany\'s last battlecruiser completed before World War I.
The next step in battlecruiser design came from Japan. The Imperial Japanese Navy had been planning the `{{sclass|Kongō|battlecruiser|0}}`{=mediawiki} ships from 1909, and was determined that, since the Japanese economy could support relatively few ships, each would be more powerful than its likely competitors. Initially the class was planned with the *Invincible*s as the benchmark. On learning of the British plans for *Lion*, and the likelihood that new U.S. Navy battleships would be armed with 14 in guns, the Japanese decided to radically revise their plans and go one better. A new plan was drawn up, carrying eight 14-inch guns, and capable of 27.5 kn, thus marginally having the edge over the *Lion*s in speed and firepower. The heavy guns were also better-positioned, being superfiring both fore and aft with no turret amidships. The armour scheme was also marginally improved over the *Lion*s, with nine inches of armour on the turrets and 8 in on the barbettes. The first ship in the class was built in Britain, and a further three constructed in Japan. The Japanese also re-classified their powerful armoured cruisers of the *Tsukuba* and *Ibuki* classes, carrying four 12-inch guns, as battlecruisers; nonetheless, their armament was weaker and they were slower than any battlecruiser.
The next British battlecruiser, `{{HMS|Tiger|1913|2}}`{=mediawiki}, was intended initially as the fourth ship in the *Lion* class, but was substantially redesigned. She retained the eight 13.5-inch guns of her predecessors, but they were positioned like those of *Kongō* for better fields of fire. She was faster (making 29 kn on sea trials), and carried a heavier secondary armament. *Tiger* was also more heavily armoured on the whole; while the maximum thickness of armour was the same at nine inches, the height of the main armour belt was increased. Not all the desired improvements for this ship were approved, however. Her designer, Sir Eustace Tennyson d\'Eyncourt, had wanted small-bore water-tube boilers and geared turbines to give her a speed of 32 kn, but he received no support from the authorities and the engine makers refused his request.
1912 saw work begin on three more German battlecruisers of the `{{sclass|Derfflinger|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}, the first German battlecruisers to mount 12-inch guns. These ships, like *Tiger* and the *Kongō*s, had their guns arranged in superfiring turrets for greater efficiency. Their armour and speed was similar to the previous *Seydlitz* class. In 1913, the Russian Empire also began the construction of the four-ship `{{sclass|Borodino|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}, which were designed for service in the Baltic Sea. These ships were designed to carry twelve 14-inch guns, with armour up to 12 inches thick, and a speed of 26.6 kn. The heavy armour and relatively slow speed of these ships made them more similar to German designs than to British ships; construction of the *Borodino*s was halted by the First World War and all were scrapped after the end of the Russian Civil War.
## World War I {#world_war_i}
### Construction
For most of the combatants, capital ship construction was very limited during the war. Germany finished the *Derfflinger* class and began work on the `{{sclass|Mackensen|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}. The *Mackensen*s were a development of the *Derfflinger* class, with 13.8-inch guns and a broadly similar armour scheme, designed for 28 kn.
In Britain, Jackie Fisher returned to the office of First Sea Lord in October 1914. His enthusiasm for big, fast ships was unabated, and he set designers to producing a design for a battlecruiser with 15-inch guns. Because Fisher expected the next German battlecruiser to steam at 28 knots, he required the new British design to be capable of 32 knots. He planned to reorder two `{{sclass|Revenge|battleship}}`{=mediawiki}s, which had been approved but not yet laid down, to a new design. Fisher finally received approval for this project on 28 December 1914 and they became the `{{sclass|Renown|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}. With six 15-inch guns but only 6-inch armour they were a further step forward from *Tiger* in firepower and speed, but returned to the level of protection of the first British battlecruisers.
At the same time, Fisher resorted to subterfuge to obtain another three fast, lightly armoured ships that could use several spare 15 in gun turrets left over from battleship construction. These ships were essentially light battlecruisers, and Fisher occasionally referred to them as such, but officially they were classified as *large light cruisers*. This unusual designation was required because construction of new capital ships had been placed on hold, while there were no limits on light cruiser construction. They became `{{HMS|Courageous|50|2}}`{=mediawiki} and her sisters `{{HMS|Glorious||2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{HMS|Furious|47|2}}`{=mediawiki}, and there was a bizarre imbalance between their main guns of 15 inches (or 18 in in *Furious*) and their armour, which at 3 in thickness was on the scale of a light cruiser. The design was generally regarded as a failure (nicknamed in the Fleet *Outrageous*, *Uproarious* and *Spurious*), though the later conversion of the ships to aircraft carriers was very successful. Fisher also speculated about a new mammoth, but lightly built battlecruiser, that would carry 20 in guns, which he termed `{{HMS|Incomparable}}`{=mediawiki}; this never got beyond the concept stage.
It is often held that the *Renown* and *Courageous* classes were designed for Fisher\'s plan to land troops (possibly Russian) on the German Baltic coast. Specifically, they were designed with a reduced draught, which might be important in the shallow Baltic. This is not clear-cut evidence that the ships were designed for the Baltic: it was considered that earlier ships had too much draught and not enough freeboard under operational conditions. Roberts argues that the focus on the Baltic was probably unimportant at the time the ships were designed, but was inflated later, after the disastrous Dardanelles Campaign.
The final British battlecruiser design of the war was the `{{sclass2|Admiral|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}, which was born from a requirement for an improved version of the *Queen Elizabeth* battleship. The project began at the end of 1915, after Fisher\'s final departure from the Admiralty. While initially envisaged as a battleship, senior sea officers felt that Britain had enough battleships, but that new battlecruisers might be required to combat German ships being built (the British overestimated German progress on the *Mackensen* class as well as their likely capabilities). A battlecruiser design with eight 15-inch guns, 8 inches of armour and capable of 32 knots was decided on. The experience of battlecruisers at the Battle of Jutland meant that the design was radically revised and transformed again into a fast battleship with armour up to 12 inches thick, but still capable of 31.5 kn. The first ship in the class, `{{HMS|Hood|51|2}}`{=mediawiki}, was built according to this design to counter the possible completion of any of the Mackensen-class ship. The plans for her three sisters, on which little work had been done, were revised once more later in 1916 and in 1917 to improve protection.
The Admiral class would have been the only British ships capable of taking on the German *Mackensen* class; nevertheless, German shipbuilding was drastically slowed by the war, and while two *Mackensen*s were launched, none were ever completed. The Germans also worked briefly on a further three ships, of the `{{sclass|Ersatz Yorck|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}, which were modified versions of the *Mackensen*s with 15-inch guns. Work on the three additional Admirals was suspended in March 1917 to enable more escorts and merchant ships to be built to deal with the new threat from U-boats to trade. They were finally cancelled in February 1919.
### Battlecruisers in action {#battlecruisers_in_action}
The first combat involving battlecruisers during World War I was the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914. A force of British light cruisers and destroyers entered the Heligoland Bight (the part of the North Sea closest to Hamburg) to attack German destroyer patrols. When they met opposition from light cruisers, Vice Admiral David Beatty took his squadron of five battlecruisers into the Bight and turned the tide of the battle, ultimately sinking three German light cruisers and killing their commander, Rear Admiral Leberecht Maass.
The German battlecruiser `{{SMS|Goeben||2}}`{=mediawiki} perhaps made the most impact early in the war. Stationed in the Mediterranean, she and the escorting light cruiser `{{SMS|Breslau}}`{=mediawiki} evaded British and French ships on the outbreak of war, and steamed to Constantinople (Istanbul) with two British battlecruisers in hot pursuit. The two German ships were handed over to the Ottoman Navy, and this was instrumental in bringing the Ottoman Empire into the war as one of the Central Powers. *Goeben* herself, renamed *Yavuz Sultan Selim*, fought engagements against the Imperial Russian Navy in the Black Sea before being knocked out of the action for the remainder of the war after the Battle of Imbros against British forces in the Aegean Sea in January 1918.
The original battlecruiser concept proved successful in December 1914 at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. The British battlecruisers `{{HMS|Inflexible|1907|2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{HMS|Invincible|1907|2}}`{=mediawiki} did precisely the job for which they were intended when they chased down and annihilated the German East Asia Squadron, centered on the armoured cruisers `{{SMS|Scharnhorst||2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{SMS|Gneisenau||2}}`{=mediawiki}, along with three light cruisers, commanded by Admiral Maximilian Graf Von Spee, in the South Atlantic Ocean. Prior to the battle, the Australian battlecruiser `{{HMAS|Australia|1911|2}}`{=mediawiki} had unsuccessfully searched for the German ships in the Pacific.
During the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915, the aftermost barbette of the German flagship *Seydlitz* was struck by a British 13.5-inch shell from HMS *Lion*. The shell did not penetrate the barbette, but it dislodged a piece of the barbette armour that allowed the flame from the shell\'s detonation to enter the barbette. The propellant charges being hoisted upwards were ignited, and the fireball flashed up into the turret and down into the magazine, setting fire to charges removed from their brass cartridge cases. The gun crew tried to escape into the next turret, which allowed the flash to spread into that turret as well, killing the crews of both turrets. *Seydlitz* was saved from near-certain destruction only by emergency flooding of her after magazines, which had been effected by Wilhelm Heidkamp. This near-disaster was due to the way that ammunition handling was arranged and was common to both German and British battleships and battlecruisers, but the lighter protection on the latter made them more vulnerable to the turret or barbette being penetrated. The Germans learned from investigating the damaged *Seydlitz* and instituted measures to ensure that ammunition handling minimised any possible exposure to flash.
Apart from the cordite handling, the battle was mostly inconclusive, though both the British flagship *Lion* and *Seydlitz* were severely damaged. *Lion* lost speed, causing her to fall behind the rest of the battleline, and Beatty was unable to effectively command his ships for the remainder of the engagement. A British signalling error allowed the German battlecruisers to withdraw, as most of Beatty\'s squadron mistakenly concentrated on the crippled armoured cruiser *Blücher*, sinking her with great loss of life. The British blamed their failure to win a decisive victory on their poor gunnery and attempted to increase their rate of fire by stockpiling unprotected cordite charges in their ammunition hoists and barbettes.
At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, both British and German battlecruisers were employed as fleet units. The British battlecruisers became engaged with both their German counterparts, the battlecruisers, and then German battleships before the arrival of the battleships of the British Grand Fleet. The result was a disaster for the Royal Navy\'s battlecruiser squadrons: *Invincible*, *Queen Mary*, and `{{HMS|Indefatigable|1909|2}}`{=mediawiki} exploded with the loss of all but a handful of their crews. The exact reason why the ships\' magazines detonated is not known, but the abundance of exposed cordite charges stored in their turrets, ammunition hoists and working chambers in the quest to increase their rate of fire undoubtedly contributed to their loss. Beatty\'s flagship *Lion* herself was almost lost in a similar manner, save for the heroic actions of Major Francis Harvey.
The better-armoured German battlecruisers fared better, in part due to the poor performance of British fuzes (the British shells tended to explode or break up on impact with the German armour). `{{SMS|Lützow||2}}`{=mediawiki}---the only German battlecruiser lost at Jutland---had only 128 killed, for instance, despite receiving more than thirty hits. The other German battlecruisers, `{{SMS|Moltke||2}}`{=mediawiki}, *Von der Tann*, *Seydlitz*, and `{{SMS|Derfflinger||2}}`{=mediawiki}, were all heavily damaged and required extensive repairs after the battle, *Seydlitz* barely making it home, for they had been the focus of British fire for much of the battle.
## Interwar period {#interwar_period}
In the years immediately after World War I, Britain, Japan and the US all began design work on a new generation of ever more powerful battleships and battlecruisers. The new burst of shipbuilding that each nation\'s navy desired was politically controversial and potentially economically crippling. This nascent arms race was prevented by the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, where the major naval powers agreed to limits on capital ship numbers. The German navy was not represented at the talks; under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was not allowed any modern capital ships at all.
Through the 1920s and 1930s only Britain and Japan retained battlecruisers, often modified and rebuilt from their original designs. The line between the battlecruiser and the modern fast battleship became blurred; indeed, the Japanese *Kongō*s were formally redesignated as battleships after their very comprehensive reconstruction in the 1930s.
### Plans in the aftermath of World War I {#plans_in_the_aftermath_of_world_war_i}
*Hood*, launched in 1918, was the last World War I battlecruiser to be completed. Owing to lessons from Jutland, the ship was modified during construction; the thickness of her belt armour was increased by an average of 50 percent and extended substantially, she was given heavier deck armour, and the protection of her magazines was improved to guard against the ignition of ammunition. This was hoped to be capable of resisting her own weapons---the classic measure of a \"balanced\" battleship. *Hood* was the largest ship in the Royal Navy when completed; because of her great displacement, in theory she combined the firepower and armour of a battleship with the speed of a battlecruiser, causing some to refer to her as a fast battleship. However, her protection was markedly less than that of the British battleships built immediately after World War I, the `{{sclass|Nelson|battleship|4}}`{=mediawiki}.
The navies of Japan and the United States, not being affected immediately by the war, had time to develop new heavy 16 in guns for their latest designs and to refine their battlecruiser designs in light of combat experience in Europe. The Imperial Japanese Navy began four `{{sclass|Amagi|battlecruiser|2}}`{=mediawiki}s. These vessels would have been of unprecedented size and power, as fast and well armoured as *Hood* whilst carrying a main battery of ten 16-inch guns, the most powerful armament ever proposed for a battlecruiser. They were, for all intents and purposes, fast battleships---the only differences between them and the `{{sclass|Tosa|battleship|2}}`{=mediawiki}s which were to precede them were 1 in less side armour and a .25 kn increase in speed. The United States Navy, which had worked on its battlecruiser designs since 1913 and watched the latest developments in this class with great care, responded with the `{{sclass|Lexington|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}. If completed as planned, they would have been exceptionally fast and well armed with eight 16-inch guns, but carried armour little better than the *Invincible*s---this after an 8000 LT increase in protection following Jutland. The final stage in the post-war battlecruiser race came with the British response to the *Amagi* and *Lexington* types: four 48000 LT G3 battlecruisers. Royal Navy documents of the period often described any battleship with a speed of over about 24 kn as a battlecruiser, regardless of the amount of protective armour, although the G3 was considered by most to be a well-balanced fast battleship.
The Washington Naval Treaty meant that none of these designs came to fruition. Ships that had been started were either broken up on the slipway or converted to aircraft carriers. In Japan, *Amagi* and `{{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi||2}}`{=mediawiki} were selected for conversion. *Amagi* was damaged beyond repair by the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake and was broken up for scrap; the hull of one of the proposed *Tosa*-class battleships, `{{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Kaga||2}}`{=mediawiki}, was converted in her stead. The United States Navy also converted two battlecruiser hulls into aircraft carriers in the wake of the Washington Treaty: `{{USS|Lexington|CV-2|6}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|6}}`{=mediawiki}, although this was only considered marginally preferable to scrapping the hulls outright (the remaining four: *Constellation*, *Ranger*, *Constitution* and *United States* were scrapped). In Britain, Fisher\'s \"large light cruisers,\" were converted to carriers. *Furious* had already been partially converted during the war and *Glorious* and *Courageous* were similarly converted.
### Rebuilding programmes {#rebuilding_programmes}
In total, nine battlecruisers survived the Washington Naval Treaty, although HMS *Tiger* later became a victim of the London Naval Conference 1930 and was scrapped. Because their high speed made them valuable surface units in spite of their weaknesses, most of these ships were significantly updated before World War II. `{{HMS|Renown|1916|2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{HMS|Repulse|1916|2}}`{=mediawiki} were modernized significantly in the 1920s and 1930s. Between 1934 and 1936, *Repulse* was partially modernized and had her bridge modified, an aircraft hangar, catapult and new gunnery equipment added and her anti-aircraft armament increased. *Renown* underwent a more thorough reconstruction between 1937 and 1939. Her deck armour was increased, new turbines and boilers were fitted, an aircraft hangar and catapult added and she was completely rearmed aside from the main guns which had their elevation increased to +30 degrees. The bridge structure was also removed and a large bridge similar to that used in the `{{sclass|King George V|battleship (1939)|0}}`{=mediawiki} battleships installed in its place. While conversions of this kind generally added weight to the vessel, *Renown*{{\'}}s tonnage actually decreased due to a substantially lighter power plant. Similar thorough rebuildings planned for *Repulse* and *Hood* were cancelled due to the advent of World War II.
Unable to build new ships, the Imperial Japanese Navy also chose to improve its existing battlecruisers of the *Kongō* class (initially the `{{ship|Japanese battleship|Haruna||2}}`{=mediawiki}, `{{ship|Japanese battleship|Kirishima||2}}`{=mediawiki}, and `{{ship|Japanese battleship|Kongō||2}}`{=mediawiki}---the `{{ship|Japanese battleship|Hiei||2}}`{=mediawiki} only later as it had been disarmed under the terms of the Washington treaty) in two substantial reconstructions (one for *Hiei*). During the first of these, elevation of their main guns was increased to +40 degrees, anti-torpedo bulges and 3800 LT of horizontal armour added, and a \"pagoda\" mast with additional command positions built up. This reduced the ships\' speed to 25.9 kn. The second reconstruction focused on speed as they had been selected as fast escorts for aircraft carrier task forces. Completely new main engines, a reduced number of boilers and an increase in hull length by 26 ft allowed them to reach up to 30 knots once again. They were reclassified as \"fast battleships,\" although their armour and guns still fell short compared to surviving World War I--era battleships in the American or the British navies, with dire consequences during the Pacific War, when *Hiei* and *Kirishima* were easily crippled by US gunfire during actions off Guadalcanal, forcing their scuttling shortly afterwards. Perhaps most tellingly, *Hiei* was crippled by medium-caliber gunfire from heavy and light cruisers in a close-range night engagement.
There were two exceptions: Turkey\'s *Yavuz Sultan Selim* and the Royal Navy\'s *Hood*. The Turkish Navy made only minor improvements to the ship in the interwar period, which primarily focused on repairing wartime damage and the installation of new fire control systems and anti-aircraft batteries. *Hood* was in constant service with the fleet and could not be withdrawn for an extended reconstruction. She received minor improvements over the course of the 1930s, including modern fire control systems, increased numbers of anti-aircraft guns, and in March 1941, radar.
### Naval rearmament {#naval_rearmament}
In the late 1930s navies began to build capital ships again, and during this period a number of large commerce raiders and small, fast battleships were built that are sometimes referred to as battlecruisers, such as the `{{sclass|Scharnhorst|battleship|1}}`{=mediawiki}s and `{{sclass|Deutschland|cruiser|1}}`{=mediawiki}s and the French `{{sclass|Dunkerque|battleship|1}}`{=mediawiki}s.`{{refn|The German {{sclass|Scharnhorst|battleship|1}}s and {{sclass|Deutschland|cruiser|1}}s and the French {{sclass|Dunkerque|battleship|1}}s are all sometimes referred to as battlecruisers, although the owning navies referred to them as "battleships" ({{langx|de|Schlachtschiffe}}), "armoured ships" ({{langx|de|Panzerschiffe}}) and "battleships" ({{langx|fr|Bâtiments de ligne}}) respectively. Since neither their operators nor a significant number of naval historians classify them as such, they are not discussed in this article.<ref>Gröner, pp. 31, 60; Gille, p. 139; Koop & Schmolke, p. 4</ref><ref name="Gardiner & Chesneau, p. 259">Chesneau, p. 259</ref><ref>Bidlingmaier, pp. 73–74</ref>|group=Note}}`{=mediawiki} Germany and Russia designed new battlecruisers during this period, though only the latter laid down two of the 35,000-ton `{{sclass|Kronshtadt|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki}. They were still on the slipways when the Germans invaded in 1941 and construction was suspended. Both ships were scrapped after the war. The Germans planned three battlecruisers of the `{{sclass2|O|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki} as part of the expansion of the Kriegsmarine (Plan Z). With six 15-inch guns, high speed, excellent range, but very thin armour, they were intended as commerce raiders. Only one was ordered shortly before World War II; no work was ever done on it. No names were assigned, and they were known by their contract names: \'O\', \'P\', and \'Q\'. The new class was not universally welcomed in the Kriegsmarine. Their abnormally-light protection gained it the derogatory nickname *Ohne Panzer Quatsch* (without armour nonsense) within certain circles of the Navy.
## World War II {#world_war_ii}
The Royal Navy deployed some of its battlecruisers during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940. The `{{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}}`{=mediawiki} and the `{{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}}`{=mediawiki} were engaged during the action off Lofoten by *Renown* in very bad weather and disengaged after *Gneisenau* was damaged. One of *Renown*{{\'}}s 15-inch shells passed through *Gneisenau*{{\'}}s director-control tower without exploding, severing electrical and communication cables as it went and destroyed the rangefinders for the forward 150 mm (5.9 in) turrets. Main-battery fire control had to be shifted aft due to the loss of electrical power. Another shell from *Renown* knocked out *Gneisenau*{{\'}}s aft turret. The British ship was struck twice by German shells that failed to inflict any significant damage. She was the only pre-war battlecruiser to survive the war.
In the early years of the war various German ships had a measure of success hunting merchant ships in the Atlantic. Allied battlecruisers such as *Renown*, *Repulse*, and the fast battleships *Dunkerque* and `{{ship|French battleship|Strasbourg||2}}`{=mediawiki} were employed on operations to hunt down the commerce-raiding German ships. The one stand-up fight occurred when the battleship `{{ship|German battleship|Bismarck||2}}`{=mediawiki} and the heavy cruiser `{{ship|German cruiser|Prinz Eugen||2}}`{=mediawiki} sortied into the North Atlantic to attack British shipping and were intercepted by *Hood* and the battleship `{{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|2}}`{=mediawiki} in May 1941 in the Battle of the Denmark Strait. *Hood* was destroyed when the *Bismarck*{{\'}}s 15-inch shells caused a magazine explosion. Only three men survived.
The first battlecruiser to see action in the Pacific War was *Repulse* when she was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers north of Singapore on 10 December 1941 whilst in company with *Prince of Wales*. She was lightly damaged by a single 250 kg bomb and near-missed by two others in the first Japanese attack. Her speed and agility enabled her to avoid the other attacks by level bombers and dodge 33 torpedoes. The last group of torpedo bombers attacked from multiple directions and *Repulse* was struck by five torpedoes. She quickly capsized with the loss of 27 officers and 486 crewmen; 42 officers and 754 enlisted men were rescued by the escorting destroyers. The loss of *Repulse* and *Prince of Wales* conclusively proved the vulnerability of capital ships to aircraft without air cover of their own.
The Japanese *Kongō*-class battlecruisers were extensively used as carrier escorts for most of their wartime career due to their high speed. Although classified as fast battleships by the Japanese, their World War I--era armament was weaker and their upgraded armour was still thin compared to contemporary battleships. On 13 November 1942, during the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, *Hiei* stumbled across American cruisers and destroyers at point-blank range. The ship was badly damaged in the encounter and had to be towed by her sister ship *Kirishima*. Both were spotted by American aircraft the following morning and *Kirishima* was forced to cast off her tow because of repeated aerial attacks. *Hiei*{{\'}}s captain ordered her crew to abandon ship after further damage and scuttled *Hiei* in the early evening of 14 November. On the night of 14/15 November during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, *Kirishima* returned to Ironbottom Sound, but encountered the American battleships `{{USS|South Dakota|BB-57|2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{USS|Washington|BB-56|2}}`{=mediawiki}. While failing to detect *Washington*, *Kirishima* engaged *South Dakota* with some effect. *Washington* opened fire a few minutes later at short range and badly damaged *Kirishima*, knocking out her aft turrets, jamming her rudder, and hitting the ship below the waterline. The flooding proved to be uncontrollable and *Kirishima* capsized three and a half hours later.
Returning to Japan after the Battle of Leyte Gulf, *Kongō* was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine `{{USS|Sealion II|SS-315|2}}`{=mediawiki} on 21 November 1944. *Haruna* was moored at Kure, Japan when the naval base was attacked by American carrier aircraft on 24 and 28 July 1945. The ship was only lightly damaged by a single bomb hit on 24 July, but was hit a dozen more times on 28 July and sank at her pier. She was refloated after the war and scrapped in early 1946.
### Large cruisers or \"cruiser killers\" {#large_cruisers_or_cruiser_killers}
A late renaissance in popularity of ships between battleships and cruisers in size occurred on the eve of World War II. Described by some as battlecruisers, but never classified as capital ships, they were variously described as \"super cruisers\", \"large cruisers\" or even \"unrestricted cruisers\". The Dutch, American, and Japanese navies all planned these new classes specifically to counter the heavy cruisers, or their counterparts, being built by their naval rivals.
The first such battlecruisers were the Dutch Design 1047, designed to protect their colonies in the East Indies in the face of Japanese aggression. Never officially assigned names, these ships were designed with German and Italian assistance. While they broadly resembled the German *Scharnhorst* class and had the same main battery, they would have been more lightly armoured and only protected against eight-inch gunfire. Although the design was mostly completed, work on the vessels never commenced as the Germans overran the Netherlands in May 1940. The first ship would have been laid down in June of that year.
The only class of these late battlecruisers actually built were the United States Navy\'s `{{sclass|Alaska|cruiser|0}}`{=mediawiki} \"large cruisers\". Two of them were completed, `{{USS|Alaska|CB-1|2}}`{=mediawiki} and `{{USS|Guam|CB-2|2}}`{=mediawiki}; a third, `{{USS|Hawaii|CB-3|2}}`{=mediawiki}, was cancelled while under construction and three others, to be named *Philippines*, *Puerto Rico* and *Samoa*, were cancelled before they were laid down. The USN classified them \"large cruisers\" instead of battlecruisers. These ships were named after territories or protectorates, while battleships were named after states and cruisers after cities. With a displacement of 27000 LT and a main armament of nine 12-inch guns in three triple turrets, they were twice the size of `{{sclass|Baltimore|cruiser|2}}`{=mediawiki}s and had guns some 50% larger in diameter. The *Alaska*s design was a scaled-up cruiser rather than a lighter/faster battleship derivative, as they lacked the thick armoured belt and intricate torpedo defence system of contemporary battleships. However, unlike World War I-era battlecruisers, the *Alaska*s were considered a balanced design according to cruiser standards as their protection could withstand fire from their own caliber of gun, albeit only in a very narrow range band. They were designed to hunt down Japanese heavy cruisers, though by the time they entered service most Japanese cruisers had been sunk by American aircraft or submarines. Like the contemporary `{{sclass|Iowa|battleship|0}}`{=mediawiki} fast battleships, their speed ultimately made them more useful as carrier escorts and bombardment ships than as the surface combatants they were developed to be.
The Japanese started designing the B64 class, which was similar to the *Alaska* but with 310 mm guns. News of the *Alaska*s led them to upgrade the design, creating Design B-65. Armed with 356 mm guns, the B65s would have been the best armed of the new breed of battlecruisers, but they still would have had only sufficient protection to keep out eight-inch shells. Much like the Dutch, the Japanese got as far as completing the design for the B65s, but never laid them down. By the time the designs were ready the Japanese Navy recognized that they had little use for the vessels and that their priority for construction should lie with aircraft carriers. Like the *Alaska*s, the Japanese did not call these ships battlecruisers, referring to them instead as super-heavy cruisers.
## Cold War--era designs {#cold_warera_designs}
In spite of the fact that most navies abandoned the battleship and battlecruiser concepts after World War II, Joseph Stalin\'s fondness for big-gun-armed warships caused the Soviet Union to plan a large cruiser class in the late 1940s. In the Soviet Navy, they were termed \"heavy cruisers\" (*tyazhelny kreyser*). The fruits of this program were the Project 82 (*Stalingrad*) cruisers, of 36500 t standard load, nine 305 mm guns and a speed of 35 kn. Three ships were laid down in 1951--1952, but they were cancelled in April 1953 after Stalin\'s death. Only the central armoured hull section of the first ship, *Stalingrad*, was launched in 1954 and then used as a target.
The Soviet `{{sclass|Kirov|battlecruiser|4}}`{=mediawiki} is sometimes referred to as a battlecruiser. This description arises from their over 24000 t displacement, which is roughly equal to that of a First World War battleship and more than twice the displacement of contemporary cruisers; upon entry into service, *Kirov* was the largest surface combatant to be built since World War II. The *Kirov* class lacks the armour that distinguishes battlecruisers from ordinary cruisers and they are classified as heavy nuclear-powered missile cruisers (*Тяжелый Атомный Ракетный Крейсер* (ТАРКР)) by Russia, with their primary surface armament consisting of twenty P-700 Granit surface to surface missiles. Four members of the class were completed during the 1980s and 1990s, but due to budget constraints only the `{{ship|Russian battlecruiser|Pyotr Velikiy||2}}`{=mediawiki} is operational with the Russian Navy, though plans were announced in 2010 to return the other three ships to service. As of 2021, `{{ship|Russian battlecruiser|Admiral Nakhimov||2}}`{=mediawiki} was being refitted, but the other two ships are reportedly beyond economical repair.
## Operators
- operates one `{{sclass|Kirov|battlecruiser|2}}`{=mediawiki} with one more being overhauled.
### Former operators {#former_operators}
- five surviving battlecruisers were all scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919.
- decommissioned its only battlecruiser HMAS *Australia* in 1921.
- whose `{{sclass|Kongo|battlecruiser|2}}`{=mediawiki}s (upgraded and reclassified as fast battleships in the 1930s) all served in and were sunk in World War II, the last in 1945.
- last battlecruiser, HMS *Renown* was decommissioned in 1945, following World War II.
- two *Alaska*-class large cruisers were both decommissioned in 1947.
- decommissioned its only battlecruiser TCG *Yavuz* in 1950.
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Bob Hawke
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\| relatives = Bert Hawke (uncle) \| education = `{{ublist|[[University of Western Australia]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])|[[University College, Oxford]] ([[Bachelor of Letters|BLitt]]) |[[Australian National University]] (PhD, not completed)}}`{=mediawiki} \| website = `{{URL|www.library.unisa.edu.au/about-the-library/campus-libraries/bob-hawke-prime-ministerial-library/|<!-- Bob Hawke --> Prime Ministerial Library}}`{=mediawiki} \| signature = Sir Bob Hawke signature.svg \| module = `{{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Voice of Bob Hawke.ogg|title=Bob Hawke's voice|type=speech|description=Hawke speaking after a meeting with U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]]<br>23 June 1988}}`{=mediawiki} }} `{{Bob Hawke sidebar}}`{=mediawiki} **Robert James Lee Hawke** (9 December 1929 -- 16 May 2019) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the 23rd prime minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions from 1969 to 1980 and president of the Labor Party national executive from 1973 to 1978.
Hawke was born in Border Town, South Australia. He attended the University of Western Australia and went on to study at University College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1956, Hawke joined the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) as a research officer. Having risen to become responsible for national wage case arbitration, he was elected as president of the ACTU in 1969, where he achieved a high public profile. In 1973, he was appointed as president of the Labor Party.
In 1980, Hawke stood down from his roles as ACTU and Labor Party president to announce his intention to enter parliamentary politics, and was subsequently elected to the Australian House of Representatives as a member of parliament (MP) for the division of Wills at the 1980 federal election. Three years later, he was elected unopposed to replace Bill Hayden as leader of the Australian Labor Party, and within five weeks led Labor to a landslide victory at the 1983 election, and was sworn in as prime minister. He led Labor to victory a further three times, with successful outcomes in 1984, 1987 and 1990 elections, making him the most electorally successful prime minister in the history of the Labor Party.
The Hawke government implemented a significant number of reforms, including major economic reforms, the establishment of Landcare, the introduction of the universal healthcare scheme Medicare, brokering the Prices and Incomes Accord, creating APEC, floating the Australian dollar, deregulating the financial sector, introducing the Family Assistance Scheme, enacting the Sex Discrimination Act to prevent discrimination in the workplace, declaring \"Advance Australia Fair\" as the country\'s national anthem, initiating superannuation pension schemes for all workers, negotiating a ban on mining in Antarctica and overseeing passage of the Australia Act that removed all remaining jurisdiction by the United Kingdom from Australia.
In June 1991, Hawke faced a leadership challenge by the Treasurer, Paul Keating, but Hawke managed to retain power; however, Keating mounted a second challenge six months later, and won narrowly, replacing Hawke as prime minister. Hawke subsequently retired from parliament, pursuing both a business career and a number of charitable causes, until his death in 2019, aged 89. Hawke remains his party\'s longest-serving Prime Minister, and Australia\'s third-longest-serving prime minister behind Robert Menzies and John Howard. He is also the only prime minister to be born in South Australia and the only one raised and educated in Western Australia. Hawke holds the highest-ever approval rating for an Australian prime minister, reaching 75% approval in 1984. Hawke is frequently ranked within the upper tier of Australian prime ministers by historians.
## Early life and family {#early_life_and_family}
Bob Hawke was born on 9 December 1929 in Border Town, South Australia, the second child of Arthur \"Clem\" Hawke (1898--1989), a Congregationalist minister, and his wife Edith Emily (Lee) (1897--1979) (known as Ellie), a schoolteacher. His uncle, Bert, was the Labor premier of Western Australia between 1953 and 1959.
Hawke\'s brother Neil, who was seven years his senior, died at the age of seventeen after contracting meningitis, for which there was no cure at the time. Ellie Hawke subsequently developed an almost messianic belief in her son\'s destiny, and this contributed to Hawke\'s supreme self-confidence throughout his career. At the age of fifteen, he presciently boasted to friends that he would one day become the prime minister of Australia.
At the age of seventeen, Hawke had a serious crash while riding his Panther motorcycle that left him in a critical condition for several days. This near-death experience acted as his catalyst, driving him to make the most of his talents and not let his abilities go to waste. He joined the Labor Party in 1947 at the age of eighteen.
## Education and early career {#education_and_early_career}
Hawke was educated at West Leederville State School, Perth Modern School and the University of Western Australia, graduating in 1952 with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees. He was also president of the university\'s guild during the same year. The following year, Hawke won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend University College, Oxford, where he began a Bachelor of Arts course in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE). He soon found he was covering much the same ground as he had in his education at the University of Western Australia, and transferred to a Bachelor of Letters course. He wrote his thesis on wage-fixing in Australia and successfully presented it in January 1956.
In 1956, Hawke accepted a scholarship to undertake doctoral studies in the area of arbitration law in the law department at the Australian National University in Canberra. Soon after his arrival at ANU, he became the students\' representative on the University Council. A year later, he was recommended to the President of the ACTU to become a research officer, replacing Harold Souter who had become ACTU Secretary. The recommendation was made by Hawke\'s mentor at ANU, H. P. Brown, who for a number of years had assisted the ACTU in national wage cases. Hawke decided to abandon his doctoral studies and accept the offer, moving to Melbourne with his wife Hazel.
### World record beer skol (scull) {#world_record_beer_skol_scull}
Hawke is well known for a \"world record\" allegedly achieved at Oxford University for a beer skol (scull) of a yard of ale in 11 seconds. The record is widely regarded as having been important to his career and ocker chic image. A 2023 article in the *Journal of Australian Studies* by C. J. Coventry concluded that Hawke\'s achievement was \"possibly fabricated\" and \"cultural propaganda\" designed to make Hawke appealing to unionised workers and nationalistic middle-class voters. The article contends that \"its location and time remain uncertain; there are no known witnesses; the field of competition was exclusive and with no scientific accountability; the record was first published in a beer pamphlet; and Hawke\'s recollections were unreliable.\"
## Australian Council of Trade Unions {#australian_council_of_trade_unions}
Not long after Hawke began work at the ACTU, he became responsible for the presentation of its annual case for higher wages to the national wages tribunal, the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He was first appointed as an ACTU advocate in 1959. The 1958 case, under previous advocate R.L. Eggleston, had yielded only a five-shilling increase. The 1959 case found for a fifteen-shilling increase, and was regarded as a personal triumph for Hawke. He went on to attain such success and prominence in his role as an ACTU advocate that, in 1969, he was encouraged to run for the position of ACTU President, despite the fact that he had never held elected office in a trade union.
He was elected ACTU President in 1969 on a modernising platform by the narrow margin of 399 to 350, with the support of the left of the union movement, including some associated with the Communist Party of Australia. He later credited Ray Gietzelt, General Secretary of the FMWU, as the single most significant union figure in helping him achieve this outcome. Questioned after his election on his political stance, Hawke stated that \"socialist is not a word I would use to describe myself\", saying instead his approach to politics was pragmatic. His commitment to the cause of Jewish Refuseniks purportedly led to a planned assassination attempt on Hawke by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and its Australian operative Munif Mohammed Abou Rish.
In 1971, Hawke along with other members of the ACTU requested that South Africa send a non-racially biased team for the rugby union tour, with the intention of unions agreeing not to serve the team in Australia. Prior to arrival, the Western Australian branch of the Transport Workers\' Union, and the Barmaids\' and Barmens\' Union, announced that they would serve the team, which allowed the Springboks to land in Perth. The tour commenced on 26 June and riots occurred as anti-apartheid protesters disrupted games. Hawke and his family started to receive malicious mail and phone calls from people who thought that sport and politics should not mix. Hawke remained committed to the ban on apartheid teams and later that year, the South African cricket team was successfully denied and no apartheid team was to ever come to Australia again. It was this ongoing dedication to racial equality in South Africa that would later earn Hawke the respect and friendship of Nelson Mandela.
In industrial matters, Hawke continued to demonstrate a preference for, and considerable skill at, negotiation, and was generally liked and respected by employers as well as the unions he advocated for. As early as 1972, speculation began that he would seek to enter the Parliament of Australia and eventually run to become the Leader of the Australian Labor Party. But while his professional career continued successfully, his heavy drinking and womanising placed considerable strains on his family life.
In June 1973, Hawke was elected as the Federal President of the Labor Party. Two years later, when the Whitlam government was controversially dismissed by the Governor-General, Hawke showed an initial keenness to enter Parliament at the ensuing election. Harry Jenkins, the MP for Scullin, came under pressure to step down to allow Hawke to stand in his place, but he strongly resisted this push. Hawke eventually decided not to attempt to enter Parliament at that time, a decision he soon regretted. After Labor was defeated at the election, Whitlam initially offered the leadership to Hawke, although it was not within Whitlam\'s power to decide who would succeed him. Despite not taking on the offer, Hawke remained influential, playing a key role in averting national strike action.
During the 1977 federal election, he emerged as a strident opponent of accepting Vietnamese boat people as refugees into Australia, stating that they should be subject to normal immigration requirements and should otherwise be deported. He further stated only refugees selected off-shore should be accepted.
Hawke resigned as President of the Labor Party in August 1978. Neil Batt was elected in his place. The strain of this period took its toll on Hawke and in 1979 he suffered a physical collapse. This shock led Hawke to publicly announce his alcoholism in a television interview, and that he would make a concerted---and ultimately successful---effort to overcome it. He was helped through this period by the relationship that he had established with writer Blanche d\'Alpuget, who, in 1982, published a biography of Hawke. His popularity with the public was, if anything, enhanced by this period of rehabilitation, and opinion polling suggested that he was a more popular public figure than either Labor Leader Bill Hayden or Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.
### Informer for the United States {#informer_for_the_united_states}
During the period of 1973 to 1979, Hawke acted as an informant for the United States government. According to Coventry, Hawke as concurrent leader of the ACTU and ALP informed the US of details surrounding labour disputes, especially those relating to American companies and individuals, such as union disputes with Ford Motor Company and the black ban of Frank Sinatra. The major industrial action taken against Sinatra came about because Sinatra had made sexist comments against female journalists. The dispute was the subject of the 2003 film *The Night We Called It a Day*.
Hawke was described by US diplomats as \"a bulwark against anti-American sentiment and resurgent communism during the economic turmoil of the 1970s\", and often disputed with the Whitlam government over issues of foreign policy and industrial relations. US diplomats played a major role in shaping Hawke\'s consensus politics and economics. Although Hawke was the most prolific Australian informer for the United States in the 1970s, there were other prominent people at that time who secretly gave information. Biographer Troy Bramston rejects the view that Hawke\'s prolonged, discreet involvement with known members of the Central Intelligence Agency within the US Embassy amounted to Hawke being a CIA \"spy\".
## Member of Parliament {#member_of_parliament}
Hawke\'s first attempt to enter Parliament came during the 1963 federal election. He stood in the seat of Corio in Geelong and managed to achieve a 3.1% swing against the national trend, although he fell short of ousting longtime Liberal incumbent Hubert Opperman. Hawke rejected several opportunities to enter Parliament throughout the 1970s, something he later wrote that he \"regretted\". He eventually stood for election to the House of Representatives at the 1980 election for the safe Melbourne seat of Wills, winning it comfortably. Immediately upon his election to Parliament, Hawke was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet by Labor Leader Bill Hayden as Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations.
Hayden, after having led the Labor Party to narrowly lose the 1980 election, was increasingly subject to criticism from Labor MPs over his leadership style. To quell speculation over his position, Hayden called a leadership spill on 16 July 1982, believing that if he won he would be guaranteed to lead Labor through to the next election. Hawke decided to challenge Hayden in the spill, but Hayden defeated him by five votes; the margin of victory, however, was too slim to dispel doubts that he could lead the Labor Party to victory at an election. Despite his defeat, Hawke began to agitate more seriously behind the scenes for a change in leadership, with opinion polls continuing to show that Hawke was a far more popular public figure than both Hayden and Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Hayden was further weakened after Labor\'s unexpectedly poor performance at a by-election in December 1982 for the Victorian seat of Flinders, following the resignation of the sitting member, former deputy Liberal leader Phillip Lynch. Labor needed a swing of 5.5% to win the seat and had been predicted by the media to win, but could only achieve 3%.
Labor Party power-brokers, such as Graham Richardson and Barrie Unsworth, now openly switched their allegiance from Hayden to Hawke. More significantly, Hayden\'s staunch friend and political ally, Labor\'s Senate Leader John Button, had become convinced that Hawke\'s chances of victory at an election were greater than Hayden\'s. Initially, Hayden believed that he could remain in his job, but Button\'s defection proved to be the final straw in convincing Hayden that he would have to resign as Labor Leader. Less than two months after the Flinders by-election result, Hayden announced his resignation as Leader of the Labor Party on 3 February 1983. Hawke was subsequently elected as Leader unopposed on 8 February, and became Leader of the Opposition in the process. Having learned that morning about the possible leadership change, on the same that Hawke assumed the leadership of the Labor Party, Malcolm Fraser called a snap election for 5 March 1983, unsuccessfully attempting to prevent Labor from making the leadership change. However, he was unable to have the Governor-General confirm the election before Labor announced the change.
At the 1983 election, Hawke led Labor to a landslide victory, achieving a 24-seat swing and ending seven years of Liberal Party rule.
With the election called at the same time that Hawke became Labor leader this meant that Hawke never sat in Parliament as Leader of the Opposition having spent the entirety of his short Opposition leadership in the election campaign which he won.
## Prime Minister of Australia (1983--1991) {#prime_minister_of_australia_19831991}
### Leadership style {#leadership_style}
After Labor\'s landslide victory, Hawke was sworn in as the Prime Minister by the Governor-General Ninian Stephen on 11 March 1983. The style of the Hawke government was deliberately distinct from the Whitlam government, the Labor government that preceded it. Rather than immediately initiating multiple extensive reform programs as Whitlam had, Hawke announced that Malcolm Fraser\'s pre-election concealment of the budget deficit meant that many of Labor\'s election commitments would have to be deferred. As part of his internal reforms package, Hawke divided the government into two tiers, with only the most senior ministers sitting in the Cabinet of Australia. The Labor caucus was still given the authority to determine who would make up the Ministry, but this move gave Hawke unprecedented powers to empower individual ministers.
After Australia won the America\'s Cup in 1983 Hawke said \"any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum\", effectively declaring an impromptu national public holiday.
In particular, the political partnership that developed between Hawke and his Treasurer, Paul Keating, proved to be essential to Labor\'s success in government, with multiple Labor figures in years since citing the partnership as the party\'s greatest ever. The two men proved a study in contrasts: Hawke was a Rhodes Scholar; Keating left high school early. Hawke\'s enthusiasms were cigars, betting and most forms of sport; Keating preferred classical architecture, Mahler symphonies and collecting British Regency and French Empire antiques. Despite not knowing one another before Hawke assumed the leadership in 1983, the two formed a personal as well as political relationship which enabled the Government to pursue a significant number of reforms, although there were occasional points of tension between the two.
The Labor Caucus under Hawke also developed a more formalised system of parliamentary factions, which significantly altered the dynamics of caucus operations. Unlike many of his predecessor leaders, Hawke\'s authority within the Labor Party was absolute. This enabled him to persuade MPs to support a substantial set of policy changes which had not been considered achievable by Labor governments in the past. Individual accounts from ministers indicate that while Hawke was not often the driving force behind individual reforms, outside of broader economic changes, he took on the role of providing political guidance on what was electorally feasible and how best to sell it to the public, tasks at which he proved highly successful. Hawke took on a very public role as Prime Minister, campaigning frequently even outside of election periods, and for much of his time in office proved to be incredibly popular with the Australian electorate; to this date he still holds the highest ever AC Nielsen approval rating of 75%.
### Economic policy {#economic_policy}
The Hawke government oversaw significant economic reforms, and is often cited by economic historians as being a \"turning point\" from a protectionist, agricultural model to a more globalised and services-oriented economy. According to the journalist Paul Kelly, \"the most influential economic decisions of the 1980s were the floating of the Australian dollar and the deregulation of the financial system\". Although the Fraser government had played a part in the process of financial deregulation by commissioning the 1981 Campbell Report, opposition from Fraser himself had stalled this process. Shortly after its election in 1983, the Hawke government took the opportunity to implement a comprehensive program of economic reform, in the process \"transform(ing) economics and politics in Australia\".
Hawke and Keating together led the process for overseeing the economic changes by launching a \"National Economic Summit\" one month after their election in 1983, which brought together business and industrial leaders together with politicians and trade union leaders; the three-day summit led to a unanimous adoption of a national economic strategy, generating sufficient political capital for widespread reform to follow. Among other reforms, the Hawke government floated the Australian dollar, repealed rules that prohibited foreign-owned banks to operate in Australia, dismantled the protectionist tariff system, privatised several state sector industries, ended the subsidisation of loss-making industries, and sold off part of the state-owned Commonwealth Bank.
The taxation system was also significantly reformed, with income tax rates reduced and the introduction of a fringe benefits tax and a capital gains tax; the latter two reforms were strongly opposed by the Liberal Party at the time, but were never reversed by them when they eventually returned to office in 1996. Partially offsetting these imposts upon the business community---the \"main loser\" from the 1985 Tax Summit according to Paul Kelly---was the introduction of full dividend imputation, a reform insisted upon by Keating. Funding for schools was also considerably increased as part of this package, while financial assistance was provided for students to enable them to stay at school longer; the number of Australian children completing school rose from 3 in 10 at the beginning of the Hawke government to 7 in 10 by its conclusion in 1991. Considerable progress was also made in directing assistance \"to the most disadvantaged recipients over the whole range of welfare benefits.\"
### Social and environmental policy {#social_and_environmental_policy}
Although criticisms were leveled against the Hawke government that it did not achieve all it said it would do on social policy, it nevertheless enacted a series of reforms which remain in place to the present day. From 1983 to 1989, the Government oversaw the permanent establishment of universal health care in Australia with the creation of Medicare, doubled the number of subsidised childcare places, began the introduction of occupational superannuation, oversaw a significant increase in school retention rates, created subsidised homecare services, oversaw the elimination of poverty traps in the welfare system, increased the real value of the old-age pension, reintroduced the six-monthly indexation of single-person unemployment benefits, and established a wide-ranging programme for paid family support, known as the Family Income Supplement.
A number of other new social security benefits were introduced under the Hawke-Keating Government. In 1984, for instance, a remote area allowance was introduced for pensioners and beneficiaries residing in special areas of Tax Zone A, and in 1985 a special addition to family allowances was made payable (as noted by one study) "to certain families with multiple births (three children or more) until the children reach six years of age." The following year, rent assistance was extended to unemployment beneficiaries, together with a young homeless allowance for sickness and unemployment beneficiaries under the age of 18 who were homeless and didn\'t have parental or custodial support. However, the payment of family allowances for student children reaching the age of 18 was discontinued except in the case of certain families on low incomes.
During the 1980s, the proportion of total government outlays allocated to families, the sick, single parents, widows, the handicapped, and veterans was significantly higher than under the previous Fraser and Whitlam governments.
In 1984, the Hawke government enacted the landmark Sex Discrimination Act 1984, which eliminated discrimination on the grounds of sex within the workplace. In 1989, Hawke oversaw the gradual re-introduction of some tuition fees for university study, setting up the Higher Education Contributions Scheme (HECS). Under the original HECS, a fee of `{{AUD|1,800|link=yes}}`{=mediawiki}, equivalent to `{{AUD|{{Inflation|AU|1800|1989|r=0}}}}`{=mediawiki} in `{{Inflation/year|AU}}`{=mediawiki}, was charged to all university students, and the Commonwealth paid the balance. A student could defer payment of this HECS amount and repay the debt through the tax system, when the student\'s income exceeds a threshold level. As part of the reforms, Colleges of Advanced Education entered the university sector by various means. By doing so, university places were able to be expanded. Further notable policy decisions taken during the Government\'s time in office included the public health campaign regarding HIV/AIDS, and Indigenous land rights reform, with an investigation of the idea of a treaty between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Government being launched, although the latter would be overtaken by events, notably the Mabo court decision.
The Hawke government also drew attention for a series of notable environmental decisions, particularly in its second and third terms. In 1983, Hawke personally vetoed the construction of the Franklin Dam in Tasmania, responding to a groundswell of protest around the issue. Hawke also secured the nomination of the Wet Tropics of Queensland as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, preventing the forests there from being logged. Hawke would later appoint Graham Richardson as Environment Minister, tasking him with winning the second-preference support from environmental parties, something which Richardson later claimed was the major factor in the government\'s narrow re-election at the 1990 election. In the Government\'s fourth term, Hawke personally led the Australian delegation to secure changes to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, ultimately winning a guarantee that drilling for minerals within Antarctica would be totally prohibited until 2048 at the earliest. Hawke later claimed that the Antarctic drilling ban was his \"proudest achievement\".
### Industrial relations policy {#industrial_relations_policy}
As a former ACTU President, Hawke was well-placed to engage in reform of the industrial relations system in Australia, taking a lead on this policy area as in few others. Working closely with ministerial colleagues and the ACTU Secretary, Bill Kelty, Hawke negotiated with trade unions to establish the Prices and Incomes Accord in 1983, an agreement whereby unions agreed to restrict their demands for wage increases, and in turn the Government guaranteed to both minimise inflation and promote an increased social wage, including by establishing new social programmes such as Medicare.
Inflation had been a significant issue for the previous decade prior to the election of the Hawke government, regularly running into double-digits. The process of the Accord, by which the Government and trade unions would arbitrate and agree upon wage increases in many sectors, led to a decrease in both inflation and unemployment through to 1990. Criticisms of the Accord would come from both the right and the left of politics. Left-wing critics claimed that it kept real wages stagnant, and that the Accord was a policy of class collaboration and corporatism. By contrast, right-wing critics claimed that the Accord reduced the flexibility of the wages system. Supporters of the Accord, however, pointed to the improvements in the social security system that occurred, including the introduction of rental assistance for social security recipients, the creation of labour market schemes such as NewStart, and the introduction of the Family Income Supplement. In 1986, the Hawke government passed a bill to de-register the Builders Labourers Federation federally due to the union not following the Accord agreements.
Despite a percentage fall in real money wages from 1983 to 1991, the social wage of Australian workers was argued by the Government to have improved drastically as a result of these reforms, and the ensuing decline in inflation. The Accord was revisited six further times during the Hawke government, each time in response to new economic developments. The seventh and final revisiting would ultimately lead to the establishment of the enterprise bargaining system, although this would be finalised shortly after Hawke left office in 1991.
### Foreign policy {#foreign_policy}
Arguably the most significant foreign policy achievement of the Government took place in 1989, after Hawke proposed a south-east Asian region-wide forum for leaders and economic ministers to discuss issues of common concern. After winning the support of key countries in the region, this led to the creation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The first APEC meeting duly took place in Canberra in November 1989; the economic ministers of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States all attended. APEC would subsequently grow to become one of the most pre-eminent high-level international forums in the world, particularly after the later inclusions of China and Russia, and the Keating government\'s later establishment of the APEC Leaders\' Forum.
Elsewhere in Asia, the Hawke government played a significant role in the build-up to the United Nations peace process for Cambodia, culminating in the Transitional Authority; Hawke\'s Foreign Minister Gareth Evans was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiations. Hawke also took a major public stand after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre; despite having spent years trying to get closer relations with China, Hawke gave a tearful address on national television describing the massacre in graphic detail, and unilaterally offered asylum to over 42,000 Chinese students who were living in Australia at the time, many of whom had publicly supported the Tiananmen protesters. Hawke did so without even consulting his Cabinet, stating later that he felt he simply had to act.
The Hawke government pursued a close relationship with the United States, assisted by Hawke\'s close friendship with US Secretary of State George Shultz; this led to a degree of controversy when the Government supported the US\'s plans to test ballistic missiles off the coast of Tasmania in 1985, as well as seeking to overturn Australia\'s long-standing ban on uranium exports. Although the US ultimately withdrew the plans to test the missiles, the furore led to a fall in Hawke\'s approval ratings. Shortly after the 1990 election, Hawke would lead Australia into its first overseas military campaign since the Vietnam War, forming a close alliance with US President George H. W. Bush to join the coalition in the Gulf War. The Royal Australian Navy contributed several destroyers and frigates to the war effort, which successfully concluded in February 1991, with the expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The success of the campaign, and the lack of any Australian casualties, led to a brief increase in the popularity of the Government.
Through his role on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Hawke played a leading role in ensuring the Commonwealth initiated an international boycott on foreign investment into South Africa, building on work undertaken by his predecessor Malcolm Fraser, and in the process clashing publicly with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher, who initially favoured a more cautious approach. The resulting boycott, led by the Commonwealth, was widely credited with helping bring about the collapse of apartheid, and resulted in a high-profile visit by Nelson Mandela in October 1990, months after the latter\'s release from a 27-year stint in prison. During the visit, Mandela publicly thanked the Hawke government for the role it played in the boycott.
### Election wins and leadership challenges {#election_wins_and_leadership_challenges}
Hawke benefited greatly from the disarray into which the Liberal Party fell after the resignation of Fraser following the 1983 election. The Liberals were torn between supporters of the more conservative John Howard and the more liberal Andrew Peacock, with the pair frequently contesting the leadership. Hawke and Keating were also able to use the concealment of the size of the budget deficit by Fraser before the 1983 election to great effect, damaging the Liberal Party\'s economic credibility as a result.
However, Hawke\'s time as Prime Minister also saw friction develop between himself and the grassroots of the Labor Party, many of whom were unhappy at what they viewed as Hawke\'s iconoclasm and willingness to cooperate with business interests. Hawke regularly and publicly expressed his willingness to cull Labor\'s \"sacred cows\". The Labor Left faction, as well as prominent Labor backbencher Barry Jones, offered repeated criticisms of a number of government decisions. Hawke was also subject to challenges from some former colleagues in the trade union movement over his \"confrontationalist style\" in siding with the airline companies in the 1989 Australian pilots\' strike.
Nevertheless, Hawke was able to comfortably maintain a lead as preferred prime minister in the vast majority of opinion polls carried out throughout his time in office. He recorded the highest popularity rating ever measured by an Australian opinion poll, reaching 75% approval in 1984. After leading Labor to a comfortable victory in the snap 1984 election, called to bring the mandate of the House of Representatives back in line with the Senate, Hawke was able to secure an unprecedented third consecutive term for Labor with a comfortable victory in the double dissolution election of 1987. Hawke was subsequently able to lead the nation in the bicentennial celebrations of 1988, culminating with him welcoming Queen Elizabeth II to open the newly constructed Parliament House.
The late-1980s recession, and the accompanying high interest rates, saw the Government fall in opinion polls, with many doubting that Hawke could win a fourth election. Keating, who had long understood that he would eventually succeed Hawke as prime minister, began to plan a leadership change; at the end of 1988, Keating put pressure on Hawke to retire in the new year. Hawke rejected this suggestion but reached a secret agreement with Keating, the so-called \"Kirribilli Agreement\", stating that he would step down in Keating\'s favour at some point after the 1990 election. Hawke subsequently won that election, in the process leading Labor to a record fourth consecutive electoral victory, albeit by a slim margin. Hawke appointed Keating as deputy prime minister to replace the retiring Lionel Bowen.
By the end of 1990, frustrated by the lack of any indication from Hawke as to when he might retire, Keating made a provocative speech to the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery. Hawke considered the speech disloyal, and told Keating he would renege on the Kirribilli Agreement as a result. After attempting to force a resolution privately, Keating finally resigned from the Government in June 1991 to challenge Hawke for the leadership. His resignation came soon after Hawke vetoed in Cabinet a proposal backed by Keating and other ministers for mining to take place at Coronation Hill in Kakadu National Park. Hawke won the leadership spill, and in a press conference after the result, Keating declared that he had fired his \"one shot\" on the leadership. Hawke appointed John Kerin to replace Keating as Treasurer.
Despite his victory in the June spill, Hawke quickly began to be regarded by many of his colleagues as a \"wounded\" leader; he had now lost his long-term political partner, his ratings in opinion polls were beginning to fall significantly, and after nearly nine years as Prime Minister, there was speculation that it would soon be time for a new leader. Hawke\'s leadership was ultimately irrevocably damaged at the end of 1991; after Liberal Leader John Hewson released \'Fightback!\', a detailed proposal for sweeping economic change, including the introduction of a goods and services tax, Hawke was forced to sack Kerin as Treasurer after the latter made a public gaffe attempting to attack the policy. Keating duly challenged for the leadership a second time on 19 December, arguing that he would be better placed to defeat Hewson; this time, Keating succeeded, narrowly defeating Hawke by 56 votes to 51.
In a speech to the House of Representatives following the vote, Hawke declared that his nine years as prime minister had left Australia a better and wealthier country, and he was given a standing ovation by those present. He subsequently tendered his resignation to the Governor-General and pledged support to his successor. Hawke briefly returned to the backbench, before resigning from Parliament on 20 February 1992, sparking a by-election which was won by the independent candidate Phil Cleary from among a record field of 22 candidates. Keating would go on to lead Labor to a fifth victory at the 1993 election, although he was defeated by the Liberal Party at the 1996 election.
Hawke wrote that he had very few regrets over his time in office, although stated he wished he had been able to advance the cause of Indigenous land rights further. His bitterness towards Keating over the leadership challenges surfaced in his earlier memoirs, although by the 2000s Hawke stated he and Keating had buried their differences, and that they regularly dined together and considered each other friends. The publication of the book *Hawke: The Prime Minister*, by Hawke\'s second wife, Blanche d\'Alpuget, in 2010, reignited conflict between the two, with Keating accusing Hawke and d\'Alpuget of spreading falsehoods about his role in the Hawke government. Despite this, the two campaigned together for Labor several times, including at the 2019 election, where they released their first joint article for nearly three decades; Craig Emerson, who worked for both men, said they had reconciled in later years after Hawke grew ill.
## Retirement and later life {#retirement_and_later_life}
After leaving Parliament, Hawke entered the business world, taking on a number of directorships and consultancy positions which enabled him to achieve considerable financial success. He avoided public involvement with the Labor Party during Keating\'s tenure as prime minister, not wanting to be seen as attempting to overshadow his successor. After Keating\'s defeat and the election of the Howard government at the 1996 election, he returned to public campaigning with Labor and regularly appearing at election launches. Despite his personal affection for Queen Elizabeth II, boasting that he had been her \"favourite Prime Minister\", Hawke was an enthusiastic republican and joined the campaign for a Yes vote in the 1999 republic referendum.
In 2002, Hawke was named to South Australia\'s Economic Development Board during the Rann government. In the lead up to the 2007 election, Hawke made a considerable personal effort to support Kevin Rudd, making speeches at a large number of campaign office openings across Australia, and appearing in multiple campaign advertisements. As well as campaigning against WorkChoices, Hawke also attacked John Howard\'s record as Treasurer, stating \"it was the judgement of every economist and international financial institution that it was the restructuring reforms undertaken by my government, with the full cooperation of the trade union movement, which created the strength of the Australian economy today\". In February 2008, after Rudd\'s victory, Hawke joined former Prime Ministers Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser and Paul Keating in Parliament House to witness the long anticipated apology to the Stolen Generations.
In 2009, Hawke helped establish the Centre for Muslim and Non-Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia. Interfaith dialogue was an important issue for Hawke, who told *The Adelaide Review* that he was \"convinced that one of the great potential dangers confronting the world is the lack of understanding in regard to the Muslim world. Fanatics have misrepresented what Islam is. They give a false impression of the essential nature of Islam.\"
In 2016, after taking part in Andrew Denton\'s Better Off Dead podcast, Hawke added his voice to calls for voluntary euthanasia to be legalised. Hawke labelled as \'absurd\' the lack of political will to fix the problem. He revealed that he had such an arrangement with his wife Blanche should such a devastating medical situation occur. He also publicly advocated for nuclear power and the importation of international spent nuclear fuel to Australia for storage and disposal, stating that this could lead to considerable economic benefits for Australia.
In late December 2018, Hawke revealed that he was in \"terrible health\". While predicting a Labor win in the upcoming 2019 federal election, Hawke said he \"may not witness the party\'s success\". In May 2019, the month of the election, he issued a joint statement with Paul Keating endorsing Labor\'s economic plan and condemning the Liberal Party for \"completely \[giving\] up the economic reform agenda\". They stated that \"Shorten\'s Labor is the only party of government focused on the need to modernise the economy to deal with the major challenge of our time: human induced climate change\". It was the first joint press statement released by the two since 1991.
In March 2022, Troy Bramston, a journalist for *The Australian* and a political historian, wrote an unauthorised biography of Hawke titled *Bob Hawke: Demons and Destiny*. Hawke gave Bramston full access to his previously unavailable personal papers and granted a series of interviews for the book. Bramston was the last person to interview Hawke before his death. The book, drawing on extensive Australian and international archives, and interviews with more than 100 people, is regarded as \"definitive\" and was shortlisted for the Australian Political Book of the Year Award.
On 16 May 2019, two days before the election, Hawke died at his home in Northbridge at the age of 89, following a short illness. His family held a private cremation on 27 May at Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium where he was subsequently interred. A state memorial was held at the Sydney Opera House on 14 June; speakers included Craig Emerson as master of ceremonies and Kim Beazley reading the eulogy, as well as Paul Keating, Julia Gillard, Bill Kelty, Ross Garnaut, and incumbent Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.
## Personal life {#personal_life}
Hawke married Hazel Masterson in 1956 at Perth Trinity Church. They had three children: Susan (born 1957), Stephen (born 1959) and Roslyn (born 1961). Their fourth child, Robert Jr, died in early infancy in 1963. Hawke was named Victorian Father of the Year in 1971, an honour which his wife disputed due to his heavy drinking and womanising. The couple divorced in 1994, after he left her for the writer Blanche d\'Alpuget, and the two lived together in Northbridge, a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney. The divorce estranged Hawke from some of his family for a period, although they had reconciled by the 2010s. Hawke was a supporter of National Rugby League club the Canberra Raiders.
### Alcoholism and abstinence {#alcoholism_and_abstinence}
Throughout his life before politics, Hawke was a heavy drinker. Hawke eventually suffered from alcohol poisoning following the death of his and Hazel\'s infant son in 1963. He publicly announced in 1980 that he would abstain from alcohol to seek election to Parliament, in a move which garnered significant public attention and support. It is popularly stated that Hawke began to drink again following his retirement from politics, although to a more manageable extent; on several occasions, in his later years, videos of Hawke downing beer at cricket matches would frequently go viral. There is evidence that Hawke did drink alcohol while in office, provided by then vice-president of the United States of America, George H. W. Bush, who later recalled shared drunken behaviour during Hawke\'s 1983 first official visit to the United States.
### Religious views {#religious_views}
On the subject of religion, Hawke wrote, while attending the 1952 World Christian Youth Conference in India, that \"there were all these poverty stricken kids at the gate of this palatial place where we were feeding our face and I just (was) struck by this enormous sense of irrelevance of religion to the needs of people\". He subsequently abandoned his Christian beliefs. By the time he entered politics he was a self-described agnostic. Hawke told Andrew Denton in 2008 that his father\'s Christian faith had continued to influence his outlook, saying \"My father said if you believe in the fatherhood of God you must necessarily believe in the brotherhood of man, it follows necessarily, and even though I left the church and was not religious, that truth remained with me.\"
## Legacy
A biographical television film, *Hawke*, premiered on the Ten Network in Australia on 18 July 2010, with Richard Roxburgh playing the title character. Rachael Blake and Felix Williamson portrayed Hazel Hawke and Paul Keating, respectively. Roxburgh reprised his role as Hawke in the 2020 episode \"Terra Nullius\" of the Netflix series *The Crown*.
The Bob Hawke Gallery in Bordertown, which contains memorabilia from his life, was opened by Hawke in 2002. Hawke House, the house in Bordertown where Hawke spent his early childhood, was purchased by the Australian Government in 2021 and opened as an accommodation and function space in May 2024. A bronze bust of Hawke is located at the town\'s civic centre.
In December 2020, the Western Australian Government announced that it had purchased Hawke\'s childhood home in West Leederville and would maintain it as a state asset. The property will also be assessed for entry onto the State Register of Heritage Places.
The Australian Government pledged \$5 million in July 2019 to establish a new annual scholarship---the Bob Hawke John Monash Scholarship---through the General Sir John Monash Foundation. Bob Hawke College, a high school in Subiaco, Western Australia named after Hawke, was opened in February 2020.
In March 2020, the Australian Electoral Commission announced that it would create a new Australian electoral division in the House of Representatives named in honour of Hawke. The Division of Hawke was first contested at the 2022 federal election, and is located in the state of Victoria, near the seat of Wills, which Hawke represented from 1980 to 1992.
## Honours
**Orders**
- **1979**: Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), \"For services to trade unionism and industrial relations\"
**Foreign honours**
- **1989**: Knight Grand Cordon of the Order of the White Elephant
- **1999**: Freedom of the City of London
- **2008** Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu
- **2012** Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun
### Awards
- **August 1978**: Rostrum Award of Merit, for \"excellence in the art of public speaking over a considerable period and his demonstration of an effective contribution to society through the spoken word\"
- **August 2009**: Australian Labor Party Life membership, Bob Hawke became only the third person to be awarded life membership of the Australian Labor Party, after Gough and Margaret Whitlam. During the conferring, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd referred to Hawke as \"the heart and soul of the Labor Party\".
- **March 2014**: University of Western Australia Student Guild Life membership
**Fellowships**
- University College, Oxford
**Honorary degrees**
- Nanjing University, Honorary doctorate
- University of Oxford, Honorary Doctor of Civil Law
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Honorary doctorate
- Rikkyo University, Honorary Doctor of Humanities
- Macquarie University, Honorary Doctor of Letters
- University of New South Wales, Honorary doctorate
- University of South Australia, Honorary doctorate
- University of Western Australia, Honorary Doctor of Letters
- University of Sydney, Honorary Doctor of Letters
### Other
- University of South Australia, the Hawke Centre and the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Library
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Baldr
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**Baldr** (Old Norse also **Balder**, **Baldur**) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, he is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was known in Old English as ***Bældæġ***, and in Old High German as ***Balder***, all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym *\*\'\'\'Balðraz\'\'\'* (\'hero\' or \'prince\').
During the 12th century, Danish accounts by Saxo Grammaticus and other Danish Latin chroniclers recorded a euhemerized account of his story. Compiled in Iceland during the 13th century, but based on older Old Norse poetry, the *Poetic Edda* and the *Prose Edda* contain numerous references to the death of Baldr as both a great tragedy to the Æsir and a harbinger of Ragnarök.
According to *Gylfaginning*, a book of Snorri Sturluson\'s Prose Edda, Baldr\'s wife is Nanna and their son is Forseti. Baldr had the greatest ship ever built, *Hringhorni*, and there is no place more beautiful than his hall, Breidablik.
## Name
The Old Norse theonym *Baldr* (\'brave, defiant\'; also \'lord, prince\') and its various Germanic cognates -- including Old English *Bældæg* and Old High German *Balder* (or *Palter*) -- probably stems from Proto-Germanic *\*Balðraz* (\'Hero, Prince\'; cf. Old Norse *mann-baldr* \'great man\', Old English *bealdor* \'prince, hero\'), itself a derivative of *\*balþaz*, meaning \'brave\' (cf. Old Norse *ballr* \'hard, stubborn\', Gothic *balþa\** \'bold, frank\', Old English *beald* \'bold, brave, confident\', Old Saxon *bald* \'valiant, bold\', Old High German *bald* \'brave, courageous\').
This etymology was originally proposed by Jacob Grimm (1835), who also speculated on a comparison with the Lithuanian *báltas* (\'white\', also the name of a light-god) based on the semantic development from \'white\' to \'shining\' then \'strong\'. According to linguist Vladimir Orel, this could be linguistically tenable. Philologist Rudolf Simek also argues that the Old English *Bældæg* should be interpreted as meaning \'shining day\', from a Proto-Germanic root \**bēl*- (cf. Old English *bæl*, Old Norse *bál* \'fire\') attached to *dæg* (\'day\').
Old Norse also shows the usage of the word as an honorific in a few cases, as in *baldur î brynju* (Sæm. 272b) and *herbaldr* (Sæm. 218b), in general epithets of heroes. In continental Saxon and Anglo-Saxon tradition, the son of Woden is called not *Bealdor* but *Baldag* (Saxon) and *Bældæg, Beldeg* (Anglo-Saxon), which shows association with \"day\", possibly with Day personified as a deity. This, as Grimm points out, would agree with the meaning \"shining one, white one, a god\" derived from the meaning of Baltic *baltas*, further adducing Slavic *Belobog* and German *Berhta*.
## Attestations
### Merseburg Incantation {#merseburg_incantation}
One of the two Merseburg Incantations names *Balder* (in the genitive singular *Balderes*), but also mentions a figure named *Phol*, considered to be a byname for Baldr (as in Scandinavian *Falr*, *Fjalarr*; (in Saxo) *Balderus* : *Fjallerus*). The incantation relates of *Phol ende Wotan* riding to the woods, where the foot of Baldr\'s foal is sprained. Sinthgunt (the sister of the sun), Frigg and Odin sing to the foot in order for it to heal. The identification with Balder is not conclusive. Modern scholarship suggests that the god Freyr might be meant.
### *Poetic Edda* {#poetic_edda}
Unlike the Prose Edda, in the Poetic Edda the tale of Baldr\'s death is referred to rather than recounted at length. Baldr is mentioned in *Völuspá*, in *Lokasenna*, and is the subject of the Eddic poem *Baldr\'s Dreams*.
Among the visions which the Völva sees and describes in Völuspá is Baldr\'s death. In stanza 32, the Völva says she saw the fate of Baldr \"the bleeding god\":
the bleeding god, The son of Othin, {{!}} his destiny set: Famous and fair {{!}} in the lofty fields, Full grown in strength {{!}} the mistletoe stood.}}
In the next two stanzas, the Völva refers to Baldr\'s killing, describes the birth of Váli for the slaying of Höðr and the weeping of Frigg: `{{poemquote|''Stanza 33:''
From the branch which seemed {{!}}`{=mediawiki} so slender and fair Came a harmful shaft {{!}} that Hoth should hurl; But the brother of Baldr {{!}} was born ere long, And one night old {{!}} fought Othin\'s son.
*Stanza 34:* His hands he washed not, {{!}} his hair he combed not, Till he bore to the bale-blaze {{!}} Baldr\'s foe. But in Fensalir {{!}} did Frigg weep sore For Valhall\'s need: {{!}} would you know yet more?}}
In stanza 62 of Völuspá, looking far into the future, the Völva says that Höðr and Baldr will come back, with the union, according to Bellows, being a symbol of the new age of peace:
bear ripened fruit, All ills grow better, {{!}} and Baldr comes back; Baldr and Hoth dwell {{!}} in Hropt\'s battle-hall, And the mighty gods: {{!}} would you know yet more?}}
Baldr is mentioned in two stanzas of Lokasenna, a poem which describes a flyting between the gods and the god Loki. In the first of the two stanzas, Frigg, Baldr\'s mother, tells Loki that if she had a son like Baldr, Loki would be killed:
In the next stanza, Loki responds to Frigg, and says that he is the reason Baldr \"will never ride home again\":
thumb\|right\|upright=1.36\|\"Odin rides to Hel\" (1908) by W. G. Collingwood
The Eddic poem *Baldr\'s Dreams* opens with the gods holding a council discussing why Baldr had had bad dreams: `{{poemquote|''Henry Adams Bellows translation:''
Once were the gods {{!}}`{=mediawiki} together met, And the goddesses came {{!}} and council held, And the far-famed ones {{!}} the truth would find, Why baleful dreams {{!}} to Baldr had come.}}
Odin then rides to Hel to a Völva\'s grave and awakens her using magic. The Völva asks Odin, who she does not recognize, who he is, and Odin answers that he is Vegtam (\"Wanderer\"). Odin asks the Völva for whom are the benches covered in rings and the floor covered in gold. The Völva tells him that in their location mead is brewed for Baldr, and that she spoke unwillingly, so she will speak no more:
the mead is brewed, The shining drink, {{!}} and a shield lies o\'er it; But their hope is gone {{!}} from the mighty gods. Unwilling I spake, {{!}} and now would be still.}}
Odin asks the Völva to not be silent and asks her who will kill Baldr. The Völva replies and says that Höðr will kill Baldr, and again says that she spoke unwillingly, and that she will speak no more:
the far-famed branch, He shall the bane {{!}} of Baldr become, And steal the life {{!}} from Othin\'s son. Unwilling I spake, {{!}} and now would be still.}}
Odin again asks the Völva to not be silent and asks her who will avenge Baldr\'s death. The Völva replies that Váli will, when he will be one night old. Once again, she says that she will speak no more:
in Vestrsalir, And one night old {{!}} fights Othin\'s son; His hands he shall wash not, {{!}} his hair he shall comb not, Till the slayer of Baldr {{!}} he brings to the flames. Unwilling I spake, {{!}} and now would be still.}}
Odin again asks the Völva to not be silent and says that he seeks to know who the women that will then weep be. The Völva realizes that Vegtam is Odin in disguise. Odin says that the Völva is not a Völva, and that she is the mother of three giants. The Völva tells Odin to ride back home proud, because she will speak to no more men until Loki escapes his bounds.
### *Prose Edda* {#prose_edda}
In *Gylfaginning*, Baldr is described as follows:
Apart from this description, Baldr is known primarily for the story of his death, which is seen as the first in a chain of events that will ultimately lead to the destruction of the gods at Ragnarök.
Baldr had a dream of his own death and his mother, Frigg, had the same dream. Since dreams were usually prophetic, this depressed him, and so Frigg made every object on earth vow never to hurt Baldr. All objects made this vow, save for the mistletoe---a detail which has traditionally been explained with the idea that it was too unimportant and nonthreatening to bother asking it to make the vow, but which Merrill Kaplan has instead argued echoes the fact that young people were not eligible to swear legal oaths, which could make them a threat later in life.
When Loki, the mischief-maker, heard of this, he made a magical spear from this plant (in some later versions, an arrow). He hurried to the place where the gods were indulging in their new pastime of hurling objects at Baldr, which would bounce off without harming him. Loki gave the spear to Baldr\'s brother, the blind god Höðr, who then inadvertently killed his brother with it (other versions suggest that Loki guided the arrow himself). For this act, Odin and the *ásynja* Rindr gave birth to Váli, who grew to adulthood within a day and slew Höðr.
Baldr was ceremonially burnt upon his ship Hringhorni, the largest of all ships. On the pyre he was given the magical ring Draupnir. At first the gods were not able to push the ship out onto sea, and so they sent for Hyrrokin, a giantess, who came riding on a wolf and gave the ship such a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the earth shook.
As he was carried to the ship, Odin whispered something in his ear. The import of this speech was held to be unknowable, and the question of what was said was thus used as an unanswerable riddle by Odin in other sources, namely against the giant Vafthrudnir in the Eddic poem *Vafthrudnismal* and in the riddles of Gestumblindi in *Hervarar saga*.
Upon seeing the corpse being carried to the ship, Nanna, his wife, died of grief. She was then placed on the funeral fire (perhaps a toned-down instance of Sati, also attested in the Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan\'s account of a funeral among the Rus\'), after which it was set on fire. Baldr\'s horse with all its trappings was also laid on the pyre.
As the pyre was set on fire, Thor blessed it with his hammer Mjǫllnir. As he did a small dwarf named Litr came running before his feet. Thor then kicked him into the pyre.
Upon Frigg\'s entreaties, delivered through the messenger Hermod, Hel promised to release Baldr from the underworld if all objects alive and dead would weep for him. All did, except a giantess, Þökk (often presumed to be the god Loki in disguise), who refused to mourn the slain god. Thus Baldr had to remain in the underworld, not to emerge until after Ragnarök, when he and his brother Höðr would be reconciled and rule the new earth together with Thor\'s sons.
Besides these descriptions of Baldr, the Prose Edda also explicitly links him to the Anglo-Saxon *Beldeg* in its prologue.
### *Gesta Danorum* {#gesta_danorum}
Writing during the end of the 12th century, the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus tells the story of Baldr (recorded as *Balderus*) in a form that professes to be historical. According to him, Balderus and Høtherus were rival suitors for the hand of Nanna, daughter of Gewar, King of Norway. Balderus was a demigod and common steel could not wound his sacred body. The two rivals encountered each other in a terrific battle. Though Odin and Thor and the other gods fought for Balderus, he was defeated and fled away, and Høtherus married the princess.
Nevertheless, Balderus took heart of grace and again met Høtherus in a stricken field. But he fared even worse than before. Høtherus dealt him a deadly wound with a magic sword which he had received from Mimir, the satyr of the woods; after lingering three days in pain Balderus died of his injury and was buried with royal honours in a barrow.
### Utrecht Inscription {#utrecht_inscription}
A Latin votive inscription from Utrecht, from the 3rd or 4th century C.E., has been theorized as containing the dative form *Baldruo*, pointing to a Latin nominative singular \**Baldruus*, which some have identified with the Norse/Germanic god, although both the reading and this interpretation have been questioned.
### *Anglo-Saxon Chronicle* {#anglo_saxon_chronicle}
In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Baldr is named as the ancestor of the monarchy of Kent, Bernicia, Deira, and Wessex through his supposed son Brond.
### Toponyms
There are a few old place names in Scandinavia that contain the name *Baldr*. The most certain and notable one is the (former) parish name Balleshol in Hedmark county, Norway: \"a Balldrshole\" 1356 (where the last element is *hóll* m \"mound; small hill\"). Others may be (in Norse forms) *Baldrsberg* in Vestfold county, *Baldrsheimr* in Hordaland county *Baldrsnes* in Sør-Trøndelag county---and (very uncertain) the Balsfjorden fjord and Balsfjord Municipality in Troms county.
In Copenhagen, there is also a Baldersgade, or \"Balder\'s Street\". A street in downtown Reykjavík is called Baldursgata (Baldur\'s Street).
In Sweden there is a Baldersgatan (Balder\'s Street) in Stockholm. There is also Baldersnäs (Balder\'s isthmus), Baldersvik (Balder\'s bay), Balders udde (Balder\'s headland) and Baldersberg (Balder\'s mountain) at various places.
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Breidablik
|
`{{About|the location in Nordic mythology|other uses|Breiðablik (disambiguation){{!}}`{=mediawiki}Breiðablik}} **Breiðablik** (sometimes anglicised as **Breithablik** or **Breidablik**) is the home of Baldr in Nordic mythology.
## Meaning
The word *Breiðablik* has been variously translated as \'broad sheen\', \'Broad gleam\', \'Broad-gleaming\' or \'the far-shining one\',
## Attestations
### Grímismál
The Eddic poem Grímnismál describes Breiðablik as the fair home of Baldr:
+----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
| Old Norse text | Bellows translation |
+================+=================================================+
| : | : The seventh is Breithablik; Baldr has there |
| | : For himself a dwelling set, |
| : | : In the land I know that lies so fair, |
| | : And from evil fate is free. |
| : | |
+----------------+-------------------------------------------------+
### Gylfaginning
In Snorri Sturluson\'s Gylfaginning, Breiðablik is described in a list of places in heaven, identified by some scholars as Asgard:
+----------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Old Norse text | Brodeur translation |
+================+=============================================================================================================+
| | Then there is also in that place the abode called Breidablik, and there is not in heaven a fairer dwelling. |
+----------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Later in the work, when Snorri describes Baldr, he gives another description, citing *Grímnismál*, though he does not name the poem:
+----------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Old Norse text | Brodeur translation |
+================+======================================================================================================================+
| | : He \[Baldr\] dwells in the place called Breidablik, which is in heaven; in that place may nothing unclean be\... |
+----------------+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
## Interpretation and discussion {#interpretation_and_discussion}
The name of Breiðablik has been noted to link with Baldr\'s attributes of light and beauty.
Similarities have been drawn between the description of Breiðablik in Grímnismál and Heorot in Beowulf, which are both free of \'baleful runes\' (*feicnstafi* and *fācenstafas* respectively). In Beowulf, the lack of *fācenstafas* refers to the absence of crimes being committed, and therefore both halls have been proposed to be sanctuaries.
## In popular culture {#in_popular_culture}
- Breidablik is a sacred weapon in *Fire Emblem Heroes* that the Summoner uses to summon Heroes coming from different *Fire Emblem* games.
- In the PlayStation game *Xenogears*, Bledavik is the name of the capital city of the desert kingdom of Aveh on the Ignas continent.
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