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Manila ( Tagalog: ᜋᜌ᜔ᜈᜒᜎ) ( mə-NIH-lə; Filipino: Maynilà, pronounced ), officially the City of Manila ( Filipino: Lungsod ng Maynilà [luŋˈsod nɐŋ majˈnilaʔ]), is the capital of the Philippines and a highly urbanized city. It is the most densely populated city proper in the world as of 2019. It was the first chartered city by virtue of the Philippine Commission Act 183 on July 31, 1901 and gained autonomy with the passage of Republic Act No. 409 or the "Revised Charter of the City of Manila" on June 18, 1949. Manila, alongside Mexico City and Madrid, was considered the world's original set of global cities due to its commercial networks being the first to traverse the Pacific Ocean, thus connecting Asia with the Spanish Americas, marking the first time in world history when an uninterrupted chain of trade routes circled the planet. Manila is also the second most natural disaster-afflicted capital city in the world next to Tokyo, yet it is simultaneously among the most populous and fastest growing cities in Southeast Asia.

The Spanish city of Manila was founded on June 24, 1571, by Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. The date is regarded as the city's official founding date; however, a Tagalog fortified polity called Maynilà had already existed on the site, dating back as far as 1258, from which the Spanish and English name of Manila was derived. A Spanish fortified city called Intramuros was built directly on top of the site of old Maynilà, following the defeat of the polity's last indigenous Rajah, Sulayman III, in the Battle of Bangkusay. Manila was the seat of power for most of the country's colonial rulers. It is home to many historic sites, some of which were built during the 16th century. Manila has many of the Philippines' firsts, including the first university (1590), light station (1642), lighthouse tower (1846), water system (1878), hotel (1889), electricity (1895), oceanarium (1913), stock exchange (1927), flyover (1930s), zoo (1959), pedestrian underpass (1960), science high school (1963), city-run university (1965), city-run hospital (1969), and rapid transit system (1984; also considered as the first rapid transit system in Southeast Asia).

The term "Manila" is commonly used to refer to the whole metropolitan area, the greater metropolitan area or the city proper. The officially defined metropolitan area called Metro Manila, the capital region of the Philippines, includes the much larger Quezon City and the Makati Central Business District. It is the most populous region of the country and one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The city proper is home to 1,780,148 people in 2015,  and is the historic core of a built-up area that extends well beyond its administrative limits. With 71,263 people per square kilometer, Manila is also the most densely populated city proper in the world.

The city is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay. The Pasig River flows through the middle of the city, dividing it into the north and south sections. Manila is made up of 16 administrative districts: Binondo, Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Port Area, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Andres, San Miguel, San Nicolas, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, Santa Mesa and Tondo, while it is divided into six districts for its representation in Congress and the election of the city council members.

Maynilà, the Filipino name for the city, comes from the phrase may-nilà, which translates to "where indigo is found". Nilà is derived from the Sanskrit word nīla () which refers to indigo, and, by extension, to several plant species from which this natural dye can be extracted. The Maynilà name is more likely in reference to the presence of indigo-yielding plants growing in the area surrounding the settlement, rather than Maynilà being known as a settlement that trades in indigo dye. This is because the settlement was founded several hundred years before indigo dye extraction became an important economic activity in the area in the 18th century. The native Tagalog name for the indigo plant, tayum (or variations thereof) actually finds use in another toponym within the Manila area - Tayuman ("where the indigo [plant] is") - and elsewhere in the Philippines (e.g., Tayum, Abra; Tagum, Davao del Norte).

Maynilà was eventually adopted into Spanish as Manila.

An antiquarian and inaccurate etymology asserts the origin of the city's name as may-nilad ("where nilad is found"). Here, nilad is taken to be the name for one of two littoral plant species:

From a linguistic perspective it is unlikely for native Tagalog speakers to completely drop the final consonant /d/ in nilad to arrive at the present form Maynilà. As an example, nearby Bacoor still retains the final consonant of the old Tagalog word bakoód ("elevated piece of land"), even in old Spanish renderings of the placename (e.g., Vacol, Bacor). Historians Ambeth Ocampo and Joseph Baumgartner have also found that in all early documents, the place had always been written without the final /d/, thereby making the may-nilad etymology spurious.

The misidentification of nilad as the source of the toponym appears to originate from an 1887 essay written by Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, in which he wrote nila as both referring to Indigofera tinctoria (true indigo) and to Ixora manila (actually, nilád in Tagalog). Early 20th century writings, such as those of Julio Nakpil and of Blair and Robertson then repeated the claim. Today, this erroneous etymology continues to be perpetuated through casual repetition in both literature and popular use, such as in Maynilad Water Services and the name of the underpass close to Manila City Hall, Lagusnilad ("Nilad Pass").

Manila was an active trade partner with the Song and Yuan dynasties. The polity of Tondo flourished during the latter half of the Ming dynasty as a result of direct trade relations with China. The Tondo district was the traditional capital of the empire, and its rulers were sovereign kings, not mere chieftains. Tondo was christened under the traditional Chinese characters in the Hokkien reading, Chinese: 東都; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ; 'Eastern Capital', due to its chief position located southeast of China. The kings of Tondo were addressed variously as panginoón in Tagalog ("lords") or panginuan in Maranao; anák banwa ("son of heaven"); or ("lord of the palace"). The Emperor of China considered the Lakans -the rulers of ancient Manila-"王", or kings.

In the 13th century, Manila consisted of a fortified settlement and trading quarter on the shore of the Pasig River. It was then settled by the Indianized empire of Majapahit, as recorded in the epic eulogy poem " Nagarakretagama", which described the area's conquest by Maharaja Hayam Wuruk. Selurong (षेलुरोङ्), a historical name for Manila, is listed in Canto 14 alongside Sulot, which is now Sulu, and Kalka. Selurong (Manila) together with Sulot (Sulu) was able to regain independence afterwards and Sulu even attacked and looted the Majapahit province of Po-ni (Brunei) in retribution.

During the reign of the Arab Emir, Sharif Ali's descendant, Sultan Bolkiah, from 1485 to 1521, the Sultanate of Brunei which had seceded from Hindu Majapahit and became a Muslim, had invaded the area. The Bruneians wanted to take advantage of Tondo's strategic position in trade with China and Indonesia and thus attacked its environs and established the Muslim Rajahnate of Maynilà (كوتا سلودوڠ; Kota Seludong). The rajahnate was ruled under and gave yearly tribute to the Sultanate of Brunei as a satellite state. It created a new dynasty under the local leader, who accepted Islam and became Rajah Salalila or Sulaiman I. He established a trading challenge to the already rich House of Lakan Dula in Tondo. Islam was further strengthened by the arrival of Muslim traders from the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

On June 24, 1571, the conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in Manila and declared it a territory of New Spain (Mexico), establishing a city council in what is now the district of Intramuros. He took advantage of a Tondo vs Manila territorial conflict to justify expelling or converting Bruneian Muslim colonists who supported their Manila vassals while his Mexican grandson Juan de Salcedo had a romance with a princess of Tondo, Kandarapa. López de Legazpi had the local royalty executed or exiled after the failure of the Conspiracy of the Maharlikas, a plot wherein an alliance between datus, rajahs, Japanese merchants and the Sultanate of Brunei would band together to execute the Spaniards, along with their Latin American recruits and Visayan allies. The victorious Spaniards made Manila, the capital of the Spanish East Indies and of the Philippines, which their empire would control for the next three centuries. In 1574, Manila was temporarily besieged by the Chinese pirate Lim Hong, who was ultimately thwarted by the local inhabitants. Upon Spanish settlement, Manila was immediately made, by papal decree, a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mexico. Then, by royal decree of Philip II of Spain, the city of Manila was put under the spiritual patronage of Saint Pudentiana and Our Lady of Guidance (Spurred by a locally found sacred image i.e. a Black Madonna of unknown origin; one theory is that it is from Portuguese-Macau, another is that, it is a Tantric goddess and this was worshiped by the natives in a Pagan-Hindu manner and had survived Islamic iconoclasm by the Sultanate of Brunei. This image was interpreted to be of Marian nature, and it was found during the Miguel de Legazpi expedition and eventually a Mexican hermit built a chapel around that image).

Manila became famous for its role in the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade, which lasted for more than two centuries and brought goods from Europe, Africa and Hispanic America across the Pacific Islands to Southeast Asia (which was already an entrepôt for goods coming from India, Indonesia and China), and vice versa. Silver that was mined in Mexico and Peru was exchanged for Chinese silk, Indian gems and the spices of Indonesia and Malaysia. Likewise, wines and olives grown in Europe and North Africa were shipped via Mexico to Manila. In 1606, upon the Spanish conquest of the Sultanate of Ternate, one of monopolizers of the growing of spice, the Spanish deported the Sultan of Ternate along with his clan and his entire entourage to Manila were they were initially enslaved and eventually converted to Christianity. About 200 families of mixed Mexican-Filipino-Spanish and Papuan-Indonesian-Portuguese descent from Ternate and Tidor followed him there at a later date. The city attained great wealth due to it being at the confluence of three great commercial exchanges: the Silk Road, the Spice Route and the Silver Flow. In 1762, the city was captured by Great Britain as part of the Seven Years' War, which Spain had recently become involved in. The city was then occupied by the British for twenty months from 1762 to 1764 in their attempt to capture the Spanish East Indies, but they proved to be unable to extend their occupation past Manila proper. Frustrated by their inability to take the rest of the archipelago, the British eventually withdrew in accordance with the Treaty of Paris signed in 1763, which brought an end to the war. An unknown number of Indian soldiers known as sepoys, who came with the British, deserted and settled in nearby Cainta, Rizal, which explains the uniquely Indian features of generations of Cainta residents.

The Chinese minority were then punished for supporting the British, and the fortress city of Intramuros, initially populated by 1,200 Spanish families and garrisoned by 400 Spanish troops, kept its cannons pointed at Binondo, the world's oldest Chinatown. The Mexican population was concentrated at the south part of Manila, and also at Cavite, where ships from Spain's American colonies docked, and at Ermita, an area so named because of a Mexican hermit that lived there. The Philippines hosts the only Latin American-established districts in Asia. When the Spanish evacuated Ternate, they settled the Papuan refugees in Ternate, Cavite which was named after their former homeland.

The rise of Spanish Manila marked the first time in world history where all hemispheres and continents were interconnected in a worldwide trade network. Thus, making Manila, alongside Mexico and Madrid, the world's original set of Global Cities, predating the ascent of modern Alpha++ class world cities like New York or London as global financial centers, by hundreds of years. A Spanish Jesuit Priest commented that due to the confluence of many foreign languages gathering in Manila, he said that the confessional in Manila is "the most difficult in the world". Another Spanish missionary in the 1600s by the name of Fray Juan de Cobo was so astonished by the manifold commerce, cultural complexity and ethnic diversity in Manila he thus wrote the following to his brethren in Mexico:

"The diversity here is immense such that I could go on forever trying to differentiate lands and peoples. There are Castilians from all provinces. There are Portuguese and Italians; Dutch, Greeks and Canary Islanders, and Mexican Indians. There are slaves from Africa brought by the Spaniards [Through America], and others brought by the Portuguese [Through India]. There is an African Moor with his turban here. There are Javanese from Java, Japanese and Bengalese from Bengal. Among all these people are the Chinese whose numbers here are untold and who outnumber everyone else. From China there are peoples so different from each other, and from provinces as distant, as Italy is from Spain. Finally, of the mestizos, the mixed-race people here, I cannot even write because in Manila there is no limit to combinations of peoples with peoples. This is in the city where all the buzz is." (Remesal, 1629: 680-1)

After Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, the Spanish crown began to govern Manila directly. Under direct Spanish rule, banking, industry and education flourished more than they had in the previous two centuries. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 facilitated direct trade and communications with Spain. The city's growing wealth and education attracted indigenous peoples, Negritos, Malays, Africans, Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Europeans, Latinos and Papuans from the surrounding provinces and facilitated the rise of an class that espoused liberal ideas: the ideological foundations of the Philippine Revolution, which sought independence from Spain. A revolt by Andres Novales was inspired by the Latin American wars of independence. Following the Cavite Mutiny and the Propaganda Movement, the Philippine revolution eventually erupted, Manila was among the first eight provinces to rebel and thus their role was immortalized in the Philippine Flag where Manila was marked as one of the eight rays of the symbolic sun.

After the 1898 Battle of Manila, Spain ceded Manila to the United States. The First Philippine Republic, based in nearby Bulacan, fought against the Americans for control of the city. The Americans defeated the First Philippine Republic captured President Emilio Aguinaldo, who declared allegiance to the United States on April 1, 1901.

Upon drafting a new charter for Manila in June 1901, the Americans made official what had long been tacit: that the city of Manila consisted not of Intramuros alone but also of the surrounding areas. The new charter proclaimed that Manila was composed of eleven municipal districts: presumably Binondo, Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Sampaloc, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz and Tondo. In addition, the Catholic Church recognized five parishes-Gagalangin, Trozo, Balic-Balic, Santa Mesa and Singalong-as part of Manila. Later, two more would be added: Balut and San Andres.

Under American control, a new, civilian-oriented Insular Government headed by Governor-General William Howard Taft invited city planner Daniel Burnham to adapt Manila to modern needs. The Burnham Plan included the development of a road system, the use of waterways for transportation, and the beautification of Manila with waterfront improvements and construction of parks, parkways and buildings. The planned buildings included a government center occupying all of Wallace Field, which extends from Rizal Park to the present Taft Avenue. The Philippine Capitol was to rise at the Taft Avenue end of the field, facing toward the sea. Along with buildings for various government bureaus and departments, it would form a quadrangle with a lagoon in the center and a monument to José Rizal at the other end of the field. Of Burnham's proposed government center, only three units-the Legislative Building and the buildings of the Finance and Agricultural Departments-were completed when World War II erupted.

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, American soldiers were ordered to withdraw from Manila, and all military installations were removed on December 24, 1941. Two days later, General Douglas MacArthur declared Manila an open city to prevent further death and destruction, but Japanese warplanes continued to bomb it. Manila was occupied by Japanese forces on January 2, 1942.

From February 3 to March 3, 1945, Manila was the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific theater of World War II. Some 100,000 civilians were killed in February. At the end of the battle, Manila was recaptured by joint American and Philippine troops. The Manila Massacre occurs on the same date.

It was after the many times when Manila was once again destroyed by war, when the city earned the moniker "The City of Our Affections". This nickname was given by National Artist and writer Nick Joaquin, in reference to the spirit of resilience the city has had in the face of the constant wars that have razed it and also in repeatedly surviving and rebuilding despite being the second-most natural disaster prone city in the world. This is reflected in the noble spirit of Manileños and Filipinos who, despite having the second-most disaster prone capital city in the world and also the second-most war devastated capital city in recent history, are the most generous nationality in Southeast Asia and the 17th most generous nationality worldwide. Manila (and the Philippines in general) is also among the top sources of missionaries worldwide. This is explained by the fact that the Philippines is one of the most fervently Christian countries in the world and is ranked as the 5th most religious country, globally.

Post-war years and the martial law era (1945-1986)

After the war, reconstruction was made. Buildings like the Manila City hall, Legislative Building(now the National Museum of Fine Arts) and Manila Post Office. The roads and other infrastructures are also rebuilt. In 1948, President Elpidio Quirino moved the seat of government of the Philippines to Quezon City, a new capital in the suburbs and fields northeast of Manila, created in 1939 during the administration of President Manuel L. Quezon. The move ended any implementation of the Burnham Plan's intent for the government centre to be at Luneta.

With the Visayan-born Arsenio Lacson as its first elected mayor in 1952 (all mayors were appointed before this), Manila underwent The Golden Age, once again earning its status as the "Pearl of the Orient", a moniker it earned before the Second World War. After Lacson's term in the 1950s, Manila was led by Antonio Villegas for most of the 1960s. Ramon Bagatsing (an Indian-Filipino) was mayor for nearly the entire 1970s until the 1986 People Power Revolution. Mayors Lacson, Villegas, and Bagatsing are collectively known as the "Big Three of Manila" for their contribution to the development of the city and their lasting legacy in improving the quality of life and welfare of the people of Manila.

During the administration of Ferdinand Marcos, the region of Metro Manila was created as an integrated unit with the enactment of Presidential Decree No. 824 on November 7, 1975. The area encompassed four cities and thirteen adjoining towns, as a separate regional unit of government. On the 405th anniversary of the city's foundation on June 24, 1976, Manila was reinstated by President Marcos as the capital of the Philippines for its historical significance as the seat of government since the Spanish Period. Presidential Decree No. 940 states that Manila has always been to the Filipino people and in the eyes of the world, the premier city of the Philippines being the center of trade, commerce, education and culture. Concurrent with the reinstatement of Manila as the capital, Ferdinand Marcos designated his wife, Imelda Marcos, as the first governor of Metro Manila. She started the rejuvenation of the city as she re-branded Manila as the " City of Man".

Contemporary period (1986-present)

From 1986 to 1992, Mel Lopez was mayor of Manila. During his early years, his administration was faced with 700 million pesos worth of debt and inherited an empty treasury. In the first eleven months, however, the debt was reduced to 365 million pesos and the city's income rose by around 70% eventually leaving the city with positive income until the end of his term. Lopez closed down numerous illegal gambling joints and jueteng. In January 1990, Lopez padlocked two Manila casinos operated by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), saying the billions it gained cannot make up for the negative effects gambling inflicts upon the people, particularly the youth. He also revived the Boys' Town Haven (now referred to as "Boys Town"), rehabilitating its facilities to accommodate underprivileged children and provide them with livelihood and education.

In 1992, Alfredo Lim was elected mayor, the first Chinese-Filipino to hold the office. He was known for his anti-crime crusades. Lim was succeeded by Lito Atienza, who served as his vice mayor. Atienza was known for his campaign (and city slogan) " Buhayin ang Maynila" ( Revive Manila), which saw the establishment of several parks and the repair and rehabilitation of the city's deteriorating facilities. He was the city's mayor for 3 terms (9 years) before being termed out of office. Lim once again ran for mayor and defeated Atienza's son Ali in the 2007 city election and immediately reversed all of Atienza's projects claiming Atienza's projects made little contribution to the improvements of the city. The relationship of both parties turned bitter, with the two pitting again during the 2010 city elections in which Lim won against Atienza. Lim was sued by councilor Dennis Alcoreza on 2008 over human rights, charged with graft over the rehabilitation of public schools, and was heavily criticized for his haphazard resolution of the Rizal Park hostage taking incident, one of the deadliest hostage crisis in the Philippines. Later on, Vice Mayor Isko Moreno and 28 city councilors filed another case against Lim in 2012, stating that Lim's statement in a meeting were "life-threatening" to them.

In 2012, DMCI Homes began constructing Torre de Manila, which became controversial for ruining the sight line of Rizal Park. The tower is infamously known as "Terror de Manila" or the "national photobomber". The Torre de Manila controversy is regarded as one of the most sensationalized heritage issues of the country. In 2017, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines erected a 'comfort woman' statue along Roxas Boulevard, which made Japan express regret that such statue was erected in the city despite the healthy relationship between Japan and the Philippines.

In the 2013 elections, former President Joseph Estrada defeated Lim in the mayoral race. During his term, Estrada allegedly paid ₱5 billion in city debts and increased the city's revenues. In 2015, in line with President Noynoy Aquino's administration progress, the city became the most competitive city in the Philippines, making the city the best place for doing business and for living in. In the 2016 elections, Estrada narrowly won over Lim in their electoral rematch. Throughout Estrada's term, numerous Filipino heritage sites were demolished, gutted out, or approved for demolition. Among such sites are the post-war Santa Cruz Building, Capitol Theater, El Hogar, old Magnolia Ice Cream Plant, and Rizal Memorial Stadium, among many others Some of these sites were saved upon the intervention of various cultural agencies of government and heritage advocate groups against Estrada's orders. In May 2019, Estrada claimed that Manila was debt-free, however, two months later, the Commission on Audit verified that Manila has a total of 4.4 billion pesos in debt.

Estrada, who was seeking for reelection for his third and final term, lost to Isko Moreno in the 2019 local elections. Moreno has served as the Vice Mayor under both the Lim and Estrada administrations. Estrada's defeat was seen as the end of their reign as a political clan, whose other family members run for various national and local positions. After assuming office, Moreno initiated a city-wide cleanup against illegal vendors, signed an executive order promoting open governance, and vowed to stop bribery and corruption in the city. Under his administration, several ordinances were signed, giving additional perks and privileges to Manila's senior citizens, and monthly allowances for Grade 12 Manileño students in all public schools in the city, including students of Universidad de Manila and the University of the City of Manila. The city government also undertook infrastructure projects such as the restoration of Jones Bridge to its near-original architecture, sprucing up the city's parks and plazas, and clearing the public roads of obstructions.

On March 12, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the city and the entire region of Metro Manila under a community quarantine starting March 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A Luzon-wide "enhanced community quarantine" order was issued on March 16. The enhanced community quarantine lasted until May 31, 2020, after which a general community quarantine began to be implemented.

The City of Manila is situated on the eastern shore of Manila Bay, on the western edge of Luzon, 1,300 km (810 mi) from mainland Asia. One of Manila's greatest natural resources is the protected harbor upon which it sits, regarded as the finest in all of Asia. The Pasig River flows through the middle of city, dividing it into the north and south. The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas, is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise.

Almost all of Manila sits on top of centuries of prehistoric alluvial deposits built by the waters of the Pasig River and on some land reclaimed from Manila Bay. Manila's land has been altered substantially by human intervention, with considerable land reclamation along the waterfronts since the American colonial times. Some of the city's natural variations in topography have been evened out. As of 2013, Manila had a total area of 42.88 square kilometers.

In 2017, the City Government approved five reclamation projects: the New Manila Bay-City of Pearl (New Manila Bay International Community) (407.43 hectares), Solar City (148 hectares), the Manila Harbour Center expansion (50 hectares), Manila Waterfront City (318 hectares) and Horizon Manila (419 hectares). Out of the five planned reclamation, only Horizon Manila was approved by the Philippine Reclamation Authority in December 2019 and was slated for construction in 2021. Another reclamation project is possible and when built, it will contain the in-city housing relocation projects. Reclamation projects have been criticized by environmental activists and the Philippine Catholic Church, claiming that these are not sustainable and would put communities at risk of flooding. In line of the upcoming reclamation projects, the Philippines and the Netherlands forged a cooperation to craft the ₱250 million Manila Bay Sustainable Development Master Plan to guide future decisions on programs and projects on Manila Bay.

Under the Köppen climate classification system, Manila has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen Aw), bordering closely on a tropical monsoon climate ( Köppen Am). Together with the rest of the Philippines, Manila lies entirely within the tropics. Its proximity to the equator means that temperatures are hot year-round especially during the daytime, rarely going below 19 °C (66.2 °F) or above 39 °C (102.2 °F). Temperature extremes have ranged from 14.5 °C (58.1 °F) on January 11, 1914, to 38.6 °C (101.5 °F) on May 7, 1915.

Humidity levels are usually very high all year round, making the temperature feel hotter than it is. Manila has a distinct dry season from late December through early April, and a relatively lengthy wet season that covers the remaining period with slightly cooler temperatures during the daytime. In the wet season, it rarely rains all day, but rainfall is very heavy during short periods. Typhoons usually occur from June to September.

Swiss Re ranked Manila as the second riskiest capital city to live in, citing its exposure to natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, floods and landslides. The seismically active Marikina Valley Fault System poses a threat of a large-scale earthquake with an estimated magnitude between 6-7 and as high as 7.6 to Metro Manila and nearby provinces. Manila has endured several deadly earthquakes, notably in 1645 and in 1677 which destroyed the stone and brick medieval city. The Earthquake Baroque style was used by architects during the Spanish colonial period in order to adapt to the frequent earthquakes.

Manila is hit with five to seven typhoons yearly. In 2009, Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) struck the Philippines. It led to one of the worst floodings in Metro Manila and several provinces in Luzon with an estimated damages worth ₱11 billion ($237 million). The floodings caused 448 deaths in Metro Manila alone. Following the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana, the city began to dredge its rivers and improve its drainage network.

Due to industrial waste and automobiles, Manila suffers from air pollution, affecting 98% of the population. Air pollution alone causes more than 4,000 deaths yearly. In a 1995 report, Ermita is regarded as Manila's most air polluted district due to open dump sites and industrial waste. According to a report in 2003, the Pasig River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world with 150 tons of domestic waste and 75 tons of industrial waste dumped daily. The city is the second biggest waste producer in the country with 1,151.79 tons (7,500.07 cubic meters) per day, after Quezon City which yields 1,386.84 tons or 12,730.59 cubic meters per day. Both cities were cited as having poor management in garbage collection and disposal.

The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission is in charge of cleaning up the Pasig River and tributaries for transportation, recreation and tourism purposes. Rehabilitation efforts have resulted in the creation of parks along the riverside, along with stricter pollution controls. In 2019, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has launched a rehabilitation program for Manila Bay that will be administered by different government agencies.

Manila is a planned city. In 1905, American Architect and Urban Planner Daniel Burnham was commissioned to design the new capital. His design for the city was based on the City Beautiful movement, which features broad streets and avenues radiating out from rectangles. The city is made up of fourteen city districts, according to Republic Act No. 409-the Revised Charter of the City of Manila-the basis of which officially sets the present-day boundary of the city. Two districts were later created, which are Santa Mesa (partitioned off from Sampaloc) and San Andres (partitioned off from Santa Ana).

Manila's mix of architectural styles reflects the turbulent history of the city and country. During the Second World War, Manila was razed to the ground by the Japanese forces and the shelling of American forces. After the liberation, rebuilding began and most of the historical buildings were thoroughly reconstructed. However, some of the historic buildings from the 19th century that had been preserved in reasonably reconstructible form were nonetheless eradicated or otherwise left to deteriorate. Manila's current urban landscape is one of modern and contemporary architecture.

Manila is known for its eclectic mix of architecture that shows a wide range of styles spanning different historical and cultural periods. Architectural styles reflect American, Spanish, Chinese, and Malay influences. Prominent Filipino architects such as Antonio Toledo, Felipe Roxas, Juan M. Arellano and Tomás Mapúa have designed significant buildings in Manila such as churches, government offices, theaters, mansions, schools and universities.

Manila is also famed for its Art Deco theaters. Some of these were designed by National Artists for Architecture such as Juan Nakpil and Pablo Antonio. Unfortunately most of these theaters were neglected, and some of it have been demolished. The historic Escolta Street in Binondo features many buildings of Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts architectural style, many of which were designed by prominent Filipino architects during the American Rule in the 1920s to the late 1930s. Many architects, artists, historians and heritage advocacy groups are pushing for the rehabilitation of Escolta Street, which was once the premier street of the Philippines.

Almost all of Manila's prewar and Spanish colonial architecture were destroyed during its battle for liberation by the intensive bombardment of the United States Air Force during World War II. Reconstruction took place afterwards, replacing the destroyed historic Spanish-era buildings with modern ones, erasing much of the city's character. Some buildings destroyed by the war have been reconstructed, such as the Old Legislative Building (now the National Museum of Fine Arts), Ayuntamiento de Manila (now the Bureau of the Treasury) and the under construction San Ignacio Church and Convent (as the Museo de Intramuros). There are plans to rehabilitate and/or restore several neglected historic buildings and places such as Plaza Del Carmen, San Sebastian Church and the Manila Metropolitan Theater. Spanish-era shops and houses in the districts of Binondo, Quiapo, and San Nicolas are also planned to be restored, as a part of a movement to restore the city to its former glory and its beautiful prewar state.

Since Manila is prone to earthquakes, the Spanish colonial architects invented the style called Earthquake Baroque which the churches and government buildings during the Spanish colonial period adopted. As a result, succeeding earthquakes of the 18th and 19th centuries barely affected Manila, although it did periodically level the surrounding area. Modern buildings in and around Manila are designed or have been retrofitted to withstand an 8.2 magnitude quake in accordance to the country's building code.

According to the 2015 census, the population of the city was 1,780,148, making it the second most populous city in the Philippines.  Manila is the most densely populated city in the world, with 41,515 inhabitants per km ² in 2015. District 6 is listed as being the most dense with 68,266 inhabitants per km ², followed by District 1 with 64,936 and District 2 with 64,710. District 5 is the least densely populated area with 19,235.

Manila's population density dwarfs that of Kolkata (24,252 inhabitants per km ²), Mumbai (20,482 inhabitants per km ²), Paris (20,164 inhabitants per km ²), Dhaka (29,069 inhabitants per km ²), Shanghai (16,364 inhabitants per km ², with its most dense district, Nanshi, having a density of 56,785 inhabitants per km ²), and Tokyo (10,087 inhabitants per km ²).

Manila has been presumed to be the Philippines' largest city since the establishment of a permanent Spanish settlement with the city eventually becoming the political, commercial and ecclesiastical capital of the country. Its population increased dramatically since the 1903 census as the population tended to move from rural areas to towns and cities. In the 1960 census, Manila became the first Philippine city to breach the one million mark (more than 5 times of its 1903 population). The city continued to grow until the population somehow "stabilized" at 1.6 million and experienced alternating increase and decrease starting the 1990 census year. This phenomenon may be attributed to the higher growth experience by suburbs and the already very high population density of city. As such, Manila exhibited a decreasing percentage share to the metropolitan population from as high as 63% in the 1950s to 27.5% in 1980 and then to 13.8% in 2015. The much larger Quezon City marginally surpassed the population of Manila in 1990 and by the 2015 census already has 1.1 million people more. Nationally, the population of Manila is expected to be overtaken by cities with larger territories such as Caloocan and Davao City by 2020.

The vernacular language is Filipino, based mostly on the Tagalog language of surrounding areas, and this Manila form of spoken Tagalog has essentially become the lingua franca of the Philippines, having spread throughout the archipelago through mass media and entertainment. English is the language most widely used in education, business, and heavily in everyday usage throughout Metro Manila and the Philippines itself.

A scant number of residents can speak Spanish, and many children of Japanese, Indian, and other origins also speak their parents' languages at home,( such as German, Greek, French and Korean) aside from English and/or Filipino for everyday use. A variant of Southern Min, Hokkien (locally known as Lan'nang-oe) is mainly spoken by the city's Chinese-Filipino community. According to data provided by the Bureau of Immigration, a total of 3.12 million Chinese citizens arrived in the Philippines from January 2016 to May 2018.

From 2010 to 2015, the city had the second highest index crime rates in the Philippines, with 54,689 cases or an average of about 9,100 cases per year. By October 2017, the Manila Police District (MPD) reported a 38.7% decrease in index crimes, from 5,474 cases in 2016 to only 3,393 in 2017. MPD's crime solution efficiency also improved, wherein six to seven out of 10 crimes have been solved by the city police force. MPD was cited was the Best Police District in Metro Manila in 2017 for registering the highest crime solution efficiency.

Christianity

As a result of Spanish cultural influence, Manila is a predominantly Christian city. As of 2010, Roman Catholics were 93.5% of the population, followed by adherents of the Iglesia ni Cristo (1.9%); various Protestant churches (1.8%); and Buddhists (1.1%). Members of Islam and other religions make up the remaining 1.4% of its population.

Manila is the seat of prominent Catholic churches and institutions. There are 113 Catholic churches within the city limits; 63 are considered as major shrines, basilicas, or a cathedral. The Manila Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila and the oldest established church in the country. Aside from the Manila Cathedral, there are also three other basilicas in the city: Quiapo Church, Binondo Church, and the Minor Basilica of San Sebastián. The San Agustín Church in Intramuros is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the two fully air-conditioned Catholic churches in the city. Manila also has other parishes located throughout the city, with some of them dating back to the Spanish Colonial Period when the city serves as the base for numerous Catholic missions both within the Philippines and to Asia beyond.

Several Mainline Protestant denominations are headquartered in the city. St. Stephen's Parish pro-cathedral in the Santa Cruz district is the see of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines' Diocese of Central Philippines, while align Taft Avenue are the main cathedral and central offices of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (also called the Aglipayan Church, a national church that was a product of the Philippine Revolution). Other faiths like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormons) has several churches in the city.

The indigenous Iglesia ni Cristo has several locales (akin to parishes) in the city, including its very first chapel (now a museum) in Punta, Santa Ana. Evangelical, Pentecostal and Seventh-day Adventist denominations also thrive within the city. The headquarters of the Philippine Bible Society is in Manila. Also, the main campus of the Cathedral of Praise is located along Taft Avenue. Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide also has several branches and campuses in Manila, and celebrates its anniversary yearly at the Burnham Green and Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park.

Other faiths

There are many Taoist and Buddhist temples like Seng Guan Temple and Ocean Sky Chan Monastery in the city serving the spiritual needs of Chinese Filipino community. Quiapo is home to a sizable Muslim population which worships at Masjid Al-Dahab. Members of the Indian expatriate population have the option of worshiping at the large Hindu temple in the city, or at the Sikh gurdwara along United Nations Avenue. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baháʼís of the Philippines, the governing body for followers of the Baháʼí Faith in the Philippines, is headquartered near Manila's eastern border with Makati.

Manila is a major center for commerce, banking and finance, retailing, transportation, tourism, real estate, new media as well as traditional media, advertising, legal services, accounting, insurance, theater, fashion, and the arts in the Philippines. Around 60,000 establishments operate in the city.

The National Competitiveness Council of the Philippines which annually publishes the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), ranks the cities, municipalities and provinces of the country according to their economic dynamism, government efficiency and infrastructure. According to the 2016 CMCI, Manila was the second most competitive city in the Philippines. Manila placed third in the Highly Urbanized City (HUC) category. Manila held the title country's most competitive city in 2015, and since then has been making it to the top 3, assuring that the city is consistently one of the best place to live in and do business. Lars Wittig, the country manager of Regus Philippines, hailed Manila as the third best city in the country to launch a start-up business.

The Port of Manila is the largest seaport in the Philippines, making it the premier international shipping gateway to the country. The Philippine Ports Authority is the government agency responsible to oversee the operation and management of the ports. The International Container Terminal Services Inc. cited by the Asian Development Bank as one of the top five major maritime terminal operators in the world has its headquarters and main operations on the ports of Manila. Another port operator, the Asian Terminal Incorporated, has its corporate office and main operations in the Manila South Harbor and its container depository located in Santa Mesa.

Binondo, the oldest and one of the largest Chinatowns in the world, was the center of commerce and business activities in the city. Numerous residential and office skyscrapers are found within its medieval streets. Plans to make the Chinatown area into a business process outsourcing (BPO) hub progresses and is aggressively pursued by the city government of Manila. 30 buildings are already identified to be converted into BPO offices. These buildings are mostly located along the Escolta Street of Binondo, which are all unoccupied and can be converted into offices.

Diverse manufacturers within the city produce industrial-related products such as chemicals, textiles, clothing, and electronic goods. Food and beverages and tobacco products also produced. Local entrepreneurs continue to process primary commodities for export, including rope, plywood, refined sugar, copra, and coconut oil. The food-processing industry is one of the most stable major manufacturing sector in the city.

The Pandacan Oil Depot houses the storage facilities and distribution terminals of the three major players in the country's petroleum industry, namely Caltex Philippines, Pilipinas Shell and Petron Corporation. The oil depot has been a subject of various concerns, including its environmental and health impact to the residents of Manila. The Supreme Court has ordered that the oil depot to be relocated outside the city by July 2015, but it failed to meet this deadline. Most of the oil depot facility inside the 33 hectare compound have been demolished, and plans are put into place to transform it into a transport hub or even a food park.

Manila is a major publishing center in the Philippines. Manila Bulletin, the Philippines' largest broadsheet newspaper by circulation, is headquartered in Intramuros. Other major publishing companies in the country like The Manila Times, The Philippine Star and Manila Standard Today are headquartered in the Port Area. The Chinese Commercial News, the Philippines' oldest existing Chinese-language newspaper, and the country's third-oldest existing newspaper is headquartered in Binondo. DWRK used to have its studio at the FEMS Tower 1 along South Superhighway in Malate before transferring to the MBC Building at the CCP Complex in 2008.

Manila serves as the headquarters of the Central Bank of the Philippines which is located along Roxas Boulevard. Some universal banks in the Philippines that has its headquarters in the city are the Landbank of the Philippines and Philippine Trust Company. Unilever Philippines used to have its corporate office along United Nations Avenue in Paco before transferring to Bonifacio Global City in 2016. Toyota, a company listed in the Forbes Global 2000, also has its regional office along UN Avenue.

Manila welcomes over 1 million tourists each year. Major tourist destinations include the historic Walled City of Intramuros, the Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, Manila Ocean Park, Binondo (Chinatown), Ermita, Malate, Manila Zoo, the National Museum Complex and Rizal Park. Both the historic Walled City of Intramuros and Rizal Park were designated as flagship destinations and as a tourism enterprise zones in the Tourism Act of 2009.

Rizal Park, also known as Luneta Park, is the national park and the largest urban park in Asia with an area of 58 hectares (140 acres), The park was constructed as an honor and dedication to the country's national hero José Rizal, who was executed by the Spaniards on charges of subversion. The flagpole west of the Rizal Monument is the Kilometer Zero marker for distances to the rest of the country. The park was managed by the National Parks and Development Committee.

The 0.67 square kilometers (0.26 sq mi) Walled City of Intramuros is the historic center of Manila. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism. It contains the famed Manila Cathedral and the 18th Century San Agustin Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kalesa is a popular mode of transportation for tourists in Intramuros and nearby places including Binondo, Ermita and Rizal Park. Known as the oldest chinatown in the world, Binondo was established on 1521 and it was already a hub of Chinese commerce even before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines. Its main attractions are Binondo Church, Filipino-Chinese Friendship Arch, Seng Guan Buddhist temple and authentic Chinese restaurants.

Manila is designated as the country's pioneer of medical tourism, expecting it to generate $1 billion in revenue annually. However, lack of progressive health system, inadequate infrastructure and the unstable political environment are seen as hindrances for its growth.

Manila is regarded as one of the best shopping destinations in Asia. Major shopping malls, department stores, markets, supermarkets and bazaars thrive within the city.

One of the city's famous shopping destinations is Divisoria, home to numerous shopping malls in the city, including the famed Tutuban Center and the Lucky Chinatown. It is also dubbed as the shopping mecca of the Philippines where everything is sold at bargain price. There are almost 1 million shoppers in Divisoria according to the Manila Police District. Binondo, the oldest Chinatown in the world, is the city's center of commerce and trade for all types of businesses run by Filipino-Chinese merchants with a wide variety of Chinese and Filipino shops and restaurants. Quiapo is referred to as the "Old Downtown", where tiangges, markets, boutique shops, music and electronics stores are common. Many department stores are on Recto Avenue.

Robinsons Place Manila is the largest shopping mall in the city. The mall was the second and the largest Robinsons Malls built. SM Supermalls operates two shopping malls in the city which are the SM City Manila and SM City San Lazaro. SM City Manila is located on the former grounds of YMCA Manila beside the Manila City Hall in Ermita, while SM City San Lazaro is built on the site of the former San Lazaro Hippodrome in Santa Cruz. The building of the former Manila Royal Hotel in Quiapo, which is famed for its revolving restaurant atop, is now the SM Clearance Center that was established in 1972. The site of the first SM Store is located at Carlos Palanca Sr. (formerly Echague) Street in San Miguel.

As the cultural center of the Philippines, Manila is the home to a number of museums. The National Museum Complex of the National Museum of the Philippines, located in Rizal Park, is composed of the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Anthropology, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Planetarium. The famous painting of Juan Luna, the Spoliarium, can be found in the complex. The city also hosts the repository of the country's printed and recorded cultural heritage and other literary and information resources, the National Library. Museums established or run by educational institutions are the Mabini Shrine, the DLS-CSB Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, and the UP Museum of a History of Ideas.

Bahay Tsinoy, one of Manila's most prominent museums, documents the Chinese lives and contributions in the history of the Philippines. The Intramuros Light and Sound Museum chronicles the Filipinos desire for freedom during the revolution under Rizal's leadership and other revolutionary leaders. The Metropolitan Museum of Manila is a museum of modern and contemporary visual arts exhibits the Filipino arts and culture.

Other museums in the city are the Museum of Manila, the city-owned museum that exhibits the city's culture and history, Museo Pambata, a children's museum and a place of hands-on discovery and fun learning, and Plaza San Luis which is an outdoor heritage public museum that contains a collection of nine Spanish Bahay na Bató houses. Ecclesiastical museums in the located in the city are the Parish of the Our Lady of the Abandoned in Santa Ana, the San Agustin Church Museum and the Museo de Intramuros which houses the ecclesiastical art collection of the Intramuros Administration in the reconstructed San Ignacio Church and Convent.

Sports in Manila have a long and distinguished history. The city's, and in general the country's main sport is basketball, and most barangays have a basketball court or at least a makeshift basketball court, with court markings drawn on the streets. Larger barangays have covered courts where inter-barangay leagues are held every summer (April to May). Manila has many sports venues, such as the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and San Andres Gym, the home of the now defunct Manila Metrostars. The Rizal Memorial Sports Complex houses the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium, the Baseball Stadium, Tennis Courts, the Rizal Memorial Coliseum and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium (the latter two are indoor arenas). The Rizal complex had hosted several multi-sport events, such as the 1954 Asian Games and the 1934 Far Eastern Games. Whenever the country hosts the Southeast Asian Games, most of the events are held at the complex, but in the 2005 Games, most events were held elsewhere. The 1960 ABC Championship and the 1973 ABC Championship, forerunners of the FIBA Asia Championship, was hosted by the memorial coliseum, with the national basketball team winning on both tournaments. The 1978 FIBA World Championship was held at the coliseum although the latter stages were held in the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Southeast Asia's largest indoor arena at that time.

Manila also hosts several well-known sports facilities such as the Enrique M. Razon Sports Center and the University of Santo Tomas Sports Complex, both of which are private venues owned by a university; collegiate sports are also held, with the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball games held at Rizal Memorial Coliseum and Ninoy Aquino Stadium, although basketball events had transferred to San Juan's Filoil Flying V Arena and the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. Other collegiate sports are still held at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. Professional basketball also used to play at the city, but the Philippine Basketball Association now holds their games at Araneta Coliseum and Cuneta Astrodome at Pasay; the now defunct Philippine Basketball League played some of their games at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The Manila Storm are the city's rugby league team training at Rizal Park (Luneta Park) and playing their matches at Southern Plains Field, Calamba, Laguna. Previously a widely played sport in the city, Manila is now the home of the only sizable baseball stadium in the country, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium. The stadium hosts games of Baseball Philippines; Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth were the first players to score a home run at the stadium at their tour of the country on December 2, 1934. Another popular sport in the city are cue sports, and billiard halls are a feature in most barangays. The 2010 World Cup of Pool was held at Robinsons Place Manila.

The Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium hosted the first FIFA World Cup qualifier in decades when the Philippines hosted Sri Lanka in July 2011. The stadium, which was previously unfit for international matches, had undergone a major renovation program before the match. The stadium also hosted its first rugby test when it hosted the 2012 Asian Five Nations Division I tournaments.

Manila celebrates civic and national holidays. Since most of the city's citizens are Roman Catholics as a result of the Spanish colonization, most of the festivities are religious in nature. Manila Day, which celebrates the city's founding on June 24, 1571 by Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi, was first proclaimed by Herminio A. Astorga (then Vice Mayor of Manila) on June 24, 1962. It has been annually commemorated under the patronage of John the Baptist, and has always been declared by the national government as a special non-working holiday through Presidential Proclamations. Each of the city's 896 barangays also have their own festivities guided by their own patron saint.

The city is also the host to the Procession of the Feast of the Black Nazarene ( Traslacíon), held every January 9, which draws millions of Catholic devotees. Other religious festivities held in Manila are the Feast of Santo Niño in Tondo and Pandacan held on the third Sunday of January, the Feast of the Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados de Manila (Our Lady of the Abandoned), the patron saint of Santa Ana which was held every May 12, and the Flores de Mayo. Non-religious holidays include the New Year's Day, National Heroes' Day, Bonifacio Day and Rizal Day.

Manila-officially known as the City of Manila-is the national capital of the Philippines and is classified as a Special City (according to its income) and a Highly Urbanized City (HUC). The mayor is the chief executive, and is assisted by the vice mayor, and the 38-member City Council. The members of the City Council are elected as representatives of the six councilor districts within the city, and the municipal presidents of the Liga ng mga Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan.

The city, however, has no control over Intramuros and the Manila North Harbor. The historic Walled City is administered by the Intramuros Administration, while the Manila North Harbor is managed by the Philippine Ports Authority. Both are national government agencies. The barangays that have jurisdictions over these places only oversee the welfare of the city's constituents and cannot exercise their executive powers. Manila has a total of 12,971 personnel complement by the end of 2018. Under the proposed form of federalism in the Philippines, Manila may no longer be the capital or Metro Manila may no longer be the seat of government. The committee has not yet decided on the federal capital and states that they are open to other proposals.

The mayor is Francisco " Isko Moreno" Domagoso, who previously served as the city's vice mayor. The vice mayor is Dr. Maria Shielah "Honey" Lacuna-Pangan, daughter of former Manila Vice Mayor Danny Lacuna. The mayor and the vice mayor are term-limited by up to 3 terms, with each term lasting for 3 years. The city has an ordinance penalizing cat-calling since 2018, and is the second city in the Philippines to do so after Quezon City passed a similar ordinance in 2016. Recently, the City Government is planning to revise existing curfew ordinance since the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in August 2017. Out of the three cities reviewed by the Supreme Court, namely: the City of Manila, Navotas and Quezon City; only the curfew ordinance of Quezon City was approved.

Manila, being the seat of political power of the Philippines, has several national government offices headquartered at the city. Planning for the development for being the center of government started during the early years of American colonization when they envisioned a well-designed city outside the walls of Intramuros. The strategic location chosen was Bagumbayan, a former town which is now the Rizal Park to become the center of government and a design commission was given to Daniel Burnham to create a master plan for the city patterned after Washington, D.C. These improvements were eventually abandoned under the Commonwealth Government of Manuel L. Quezon. A new government center was to be built on the hills northeast of Manila, or what is now Quezon City. Several government agencies have set up their headquarters in Quezon City but several key government offices still reside in Manila. However, many of the plans were substantially altered after the devastation of Manila during World War II and by subsequent administrations.

The city, as the capital, still hosts the Office of the President, as well as the president's official residence. Aside from these, important government agencies and institutions such as the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Departments of Budget and Management, Finance, Health, Justice, Labor and Employment and Public Works and Highways still call the city home. Manila also hosts important national institutions such as the National Library, National Archives, National Museum and the Philippine General Hospital.

Congress previously held office at the Old Congress Building. In 1972, due to declaration of martial law, Congress was dissolved; its successor, the unicameral Batasang Pambansa, held office at the new Batasang Pambansa Complex. When a new constitution restored the bicameral Congress, the House of Representatives stayed at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, while the Senate remained at the Old Congress Building. In May 1997, the Senate transferred to a new building it shares with the Government Service Insurance System at reclaimed land at Pasay. The Supreme Court will also transfer to its new campus at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig in 2019.

In Congress, Manila is represented by its six representatives, one each from its six congressional districts, while in the Senate, that body is elected nationally.

In the 2019 Annual Audit Report published by the Commission on Audit, the total revenue of the City of Manila amounted to ₱16.534 billion. It is one of the cities with the highest tax collection and internal revenue allotment. For the 2019 fiscal year, the total tax revenue collected by the city amounted to ₱8.4 billion. The city's total Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), coming from the National Treasury, is at ₱2.94 billion. Meanwhile, its total assets was worth ₱63.4 billion in 2019. The City of Manila has the highest budget allocation to healthcare among all the cities and municipalities in the Philippines, which maintains the six district hospitals, 59 health centers and lying-in clinic, and healthcare programs.

Manila is made up of 897 barangays, which are grouped into 100 Zones for statistical convenience. Manila has the most number of barangays in the Philippines. Attempts at reducing its number have not prospered despite local legislation-Ordinance 7907, passed on April 23, 1996-reducing the number from 896 to 150 by merging existing barangays, because of the failure to hold a plebiscite.

(2015 population: 415,906) covers the western part of Tondo and is made up of 136 barangays. It is the most densely populated Congressional District and was also known as Tondo I. The district is the home to one of the biggest urban poor communities. The Smokey Mountain in Balut Island is once known as the largest landfill where thousands of impoverished people lives in the slums. After the closure of the landfill in 1995, mid-rise housing buildings were built in place. This district also contains the Manila North Harbour Centre, the Manila North Harbor, and the Manila International Container Terminal of the Port of Manila.

District II (2015 population: 215,457) covers the eastern part of Tondo which contains 122 barangays. It is also referred to as Tondo II. It contains Gagalangin, a prominent place in Tondo, and Divisoria, a popular shopping place in the Philippines and the site of the Main Terminal Station of the Philippine National Railways.

District III (2015 population: 221,780) covers Binondo, Quiapo, San Nicolas and Santa Cruz. It contains 123 barangays and encompasses the so-called "Downtown Manila" or the historic business district of the city and the oldest Chinatown in the world.

District IV (2015 population: 265,046) covers Sampaloc and some parts of Santa Mesa. It contains 192 barangays and has numerous colleges and universities, which were located along the city's "University Belt", a de facto sub-district. The University of Santo Tomas is located here, the oldest existing university in Asia which was established in 1611.

(2015 population: 366,714) covers Ermita, Malate, Port Area, Intramuros, San Andres Bukid, and a portion of Paco. It is made up of 184 barangays. The historic Walled City is located here, along with Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

District VI (2007 population: 295,245) covers Pandacan, San Miguel, Santa Ana, Santa Mesa and a portion of Paco. It contains 139 barangays. Santa Ana district is known for its 18th Century Santa Ana Church and historic ancestral houses.

Development of public housing in the city began in the 1930s when the United States rule over the Philippines. Americans have to deal with the problem of sanitation and concentration of settlers around business areas. Business codes and sanitation laws were implemented in the 1930s. During this period until the 1950s, new communities were opened for relocation. Among these were Projects 1-8 in Diliman, Quezon City and the Vitas tenement houses in Tondo. The government implemented the Public Housing Policy in 1947 that established the People's Homesite and Housing Corporation (PHHC). A few years later, it put up the Slum Clearance Committee which, with the help of the PHHC, relocated thousands of families from Tondo and Quezon City to Sapang Palay in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan in the 1960s.

In 2016, the national government completed several medium-rise houses for 300 Manila residents whose slum community was destroyed by a fire in 2011. Meanwhile, the city government plans to retrofit dilapidated tenements within the city, and will construct new housing buildings for the city's informal settlers such as the 14-storey Tondominium 1 and Tondomium 2 buildings, containing 42-square meter, two-bedroom units. The construction of these new in-city vertical housing projects was funded by a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines. A multitude of other vertical housing projects are in development.

One of the more famous modes of transportation in Manila is the jeepney. Patterned after U.S. Army jeeps, these have been in use since the years immediately following World War II. The Tamaraw FX, the third generation Toyota Kijang, which competed directly with jeepneys and followed fixed routes for a set price, once plied the streets of Manila. They were replaced by the UV Express. All types of public road transport plying Manila are privately owned and operated under government franchise.

On a for-hire basis, the city is served by numerous taxicabs, "tricycles" (motorcycles with sidecars, the Philippine version of the auto rickshaw), and " trisikads" or " sikads", which are also known as " kuligligs" (bicycles with a sidecars, the Philippine version of pedicabs). In some areas, especially in Divisoria, motorized pedicabs are popular. Spanish-era horse-drawn calesas are still a popular tourist attraction and mode of transportation in the streets of Binondo and Intramuros. Manila will phase out all gasoline-run tricycles and pedicabs and replace them with electric tricycles (e-trikes), and plans to distribute 10,000 e-trikes to qualified tricycle drivers from the city. As of January 2018, the city has already distributed e-trikes to a number of drivers and operators in Binondo, Ermita, Malate and Santa Cruz.

The city is serviced by Line 1 and Line 2, which form the Manila Light Rail Transit System, as well as the Manila Metro Rail Transit System, made up of one line ( Line 3) with several more in development. Development of the railway system began in the 1970s under the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos, when Line 1 was built, making it the first light rail transport in Southeast Asia, though despite the name "light rail", Line 1 operates as a Light Metro running on dedicated right-of-way. Line 2 on the other hand, operates as a full-metro heavy-rail system. These systems are undergoing a multibillion-dollar expansion. Line 1 runs along the length of Taft Avenue (N170/R-2) and Rizal Avenue (N150/R-9), and Line 2 runs along Claro M. Recto Avenue (N145/C-1) and Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard (N180/R-6) from Santa Cruz, through Quezon City, up to Masinag in Antipolo, Rizal. Line 3 runs from Taft Avenue, where it intersects with the EDSA station on Line 1, northward through the eastern part of the city, eventually meeting with Line 2 at Araneta Center-Cubao Station before eventually terminating in the north of the city at North Avenue Station, with plans to extend the line to link up with Roosevelt Station at the northern terminus of Line 1.

The main terminal of the Philippine National Railways lies within the city. One commuter railway within Metro Manila is in operation. The line runs in a general north-south direction from Tutuban (Tondo) toward the province of Laguna. The Port of Manila, located at the western section of the city at the vicinity of Manila Bay, is the chief seaport of the Philippines. The Pasig River Ferry Service which runs on the Pasig River is another form of transportation. The city is also served by the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport.

In 2006, magazine ranked Manila the world's most congested city. According to Waze's 2015 "Global Driver Satisfaction Index", Manila is the town with the worst traffic worldwide. Manila is notorious for its frequent traffic jams and high densities. The government has undertaken several projects to alleviate the traffic in the city. Some of the projects include: the proposed construction of a new viaduct or underpass at the intersection of España Boulevard and Lacson Avenue, the construction of the Metro Manila Skyway Stage 3, the proposed Line 2 West Extension Project from Recto Avenue to Pier 4 of the Manila North Harbor, the proposed construction of the PNR east-west line, which will run through España Boulevard up to Quezon City, and the expansion and widening of several national and local roads. However, such projects have yet to make any meaningful impact, and the traffic jams and congestion continue unabated.

The Metro Manila Dream Plan seeks to address these urban transport problems. It consists of a list of short term priority projects and medium to long term infrastructure projects that will last up to 2030.

Water services used to be provided by the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, which served 30% of the city with most other sewage being directly dumped into storm drains, septic tanks, or open canals. MWSS was privatized in 1997, which split the water concession into the east and west zones. The Maynilad Water Services took over the west zone of which Manila is a part. It now provides the supply and delivery of potable water and sewerage system in Manila, but it does not provide service to the southeastern part of the city which belongs to the east zone that is served by Manila Water. Electric services are provided by Meralco, the sole electric power distributor in Metro Manila.

The Manila Health Department is responsible for the planning and implementation of the health care programs provided by the city government. It operates 59 health centers and six city-run hospitals, which are free of charge for the city's constituents. The six public city-run hospitals are the Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, Ospital ng Sampaloc, Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center, Ospital ng Tondo, Santa Ana Hospital, and Justice Jose Abad Santos General Hospital. Manila is also the site of the Philippine General Hospital, the tertiary state-owned hospital administered and operated by the University of the Philippines Manila. The city is also planning to put up an education, research and hospital facility for cleft-palate patients, as well as establishing the first children's surgical hospital in Southeast Asia.

Manila's healthcare is also provided by private corporations. Private hospitals that operates in the city are the Manila Doctors Hospital, Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center, Dr. José R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Metropolitan Medical Center, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, and the University of Santo Tomas Hospital.

The Department of Health (DOH) has its main office in Manila. The national health department operates the San Lazaro Hospital, a special referral tertiary hospital. DOH also operates the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center and the Tondo Medical Center. Manila is the home to the headquarters of the World Health Organization's Regional Office for the Western Pacific and Country Office for the Philippines.

The city has free immunization programs for children, specifically targeted against hepatitis B, Hemophilus influenza B pneumonia, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps and rubella. As of 2016, a total of 31,115 children age one and below has been "fully immunized". The Manila Dialysis Center that provides free services for the poor has been cited by the United Nations Committee on Innovation, Competitiveness and Public-Private Partnerships as a model for public-private partnership (PPP) projects. The dialysis facility was named as the Flora V. Valisno de Siojo Dialysis Center in 2019, and was inaugurated as the largest free dialysis facility in the Philippines. It has 91 dialysis machines, which can be expanded up to 100, matching the capabilities of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI).

The center of education since the colonial period, Manila - particularly Intramuros - is home to several Philippine universities and colleges as well as its oldest ones. It served as the home of the University of Santo Tomas (1611), Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1620), Ateneo de Manila University (1859), Far Eastern University, Lyceum of the Philippines University and the Mapua Institute of Technology. Only Colegio de San Juan de Letran (1620) remains at Intramuros; the University of Santo Tomas transferred to a new campus at Sampaloc in 1927, and Ateneo left Intramuros for Loyola Heights, Quezon City (while still retaining "de Manila" in its name) in 1952.

The University of the City of Manila (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila) located at Intramuros, and Universidad de Manila located just outside the walled city, are both owned and operated by the Manila city government.

The University of the Philippines (1908), the premier state university, was established in Ermita, Manila. It moved its central administrative offices from Manila to Diliman in 1949 and eventually made the original campus the University of the Philippines Manila - the oldest of the constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System and the center of health sciences education in the country. The city is also the site of the main campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, the largest university in the country in terms of student population.

The University Belt refers to the area where there is a high concentration or a cluster of colleges and universities in the city and it is commonly understood as the one where the San Miguel, Quiapo and Sampaloc districts meet. Generally, it includes the western end of España Boulevard, Nicanor Reyes St. (formerly Morayta St.), the eastern end of Claro M. Recto Avenue (formerly Azcarraga), Legarda Avenue, Mendiola Street, and the different side streets. Each of the colleges and universities found here are at a short walking distance of each other. Another cluster of colleges lies along the southern bank of the Pasig River, mostly at the Intramuros and Ermita districts, and still a smaller cluster is found at the southernmost part of Malate near the city limits such as the private co-educational institution of De La Salle University, the largest of all De La Salle University System of schools.

The Division of the City Schools of Manila, a branch of the Department of Education, refers to the city's three-tier public education system. It governs the 71 public elementary schools, 32 public high schools. The city also contains the Manila Science High School, the pilot science high school of the Philippines.

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Manila ( Tagalog: ᜋᜌ᜔ᜈᜒᜎ) ( mə-NIH-lə ; Filipino: Maynilà, pronounced ), officially the City of Manila ( Filipino: Lungsod ng Maynilà [luŋˈsod nɐŋ majˈnilaʔ]), is the capital of the Philippines and a highly urbanized city. It is the most densely populated city proper in the world as of 2019.

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Hong Kong Food: 20 Famous Dishes You Should Try

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Hong Kong Food: 20 Famous Dishes You Should Try

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Hong Kong Food: 20 Famous Dishes and Snacks You Should Try

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If you are a foodie, then Hong Kong is your paradise. Click to see what the top famous food and dishes you should try in Hong Kong.

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(( Chiang Mai (, from Thai: เชียงใหม่ [tɕʰīəŋ màj] listen ), Northern Thai: ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦ ᩲᩉ᩠ᨾ᩵ [t͡ɕīəŋ.màj] listen )), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand and the capital of Chiang Mai Province. It is 700 km (435 mi) north of Bangkok.

Chiang Mai (meaning "New City" in Thai) was founded in 1296 as the new capital of Lan Na, succeeding the former capital, Chiang Rai. The city's strategic location on the Ping River (a major tributary of the Chao Phraya River) and its proximity to major trading routes contributed to its historic importance.

Although the city ( thesaban nakhon, "city municipality") of Chiang Mai only officially covers most parts of the Mueang Chiang Mai District, with a population of 127,000, the city's sprawl extends into several neighboring districts. The Chiang Mai metropolitan area has a population of nearly one million people, which is more than half of the total population of Chiang Mai Province.

The city is subdivided into four ( electoral wards): Nakhon Ping, Srivijaya, Mengrai, and Kawila. The first three are on the west bank of the Ping River, and Kawila is on the east bank. Nakhon Ping District includes the northern part of the city. Srivijaya, Mengrai, and Kawila consist of the western, southern, and eastern parts, respectively. The city center-within the city walls-is mostly within Srivijaya ward.

Mangrai founded Chiang Mai in 1294 or 1296 on the site of an older city of the Lawa people called Wiang Nopburi. Gordon Young, in his 1962 book The Hill tribes of Northern Thailand, mentions how a Wa chieftain in British Burma told him that the Wa, a people who are closely related to the Lawa, once lived in the Chiang Mai valley in "sizeable cities".

Chiang Mai succeeded Chiang Rai as the capital of Lan Na. Pha Yu enlarged and fortified the city, and built Wat Phra Singh in honor of his father Kham Fu. The ruler was known as the chao. The city was surrounded by a moat and a defensive wall since nearby Taungoo Dynasty of the Bamar people was a constant threat, as were the armies of the Mongol Empire, which only decades earlier had conquered most of Yunnan, China, and in 1292 overran the bordering Dai kingdom of Chiang Hung.

With the decline of Lan Na, the city lost importance and was occupied by the Taungoo in 1556. Chiang Mai formally became part of the Thonburi Kingdom in 1775 by an agreement with Chao Kavila, after the Thonburi king Taksin helped drive out the Taungoo Bamar. Subsequent Taungoo counterattack led to Chiang Mai's abandonment between 1776 and 1791. Lampang then served as the capital of what remained of Lan Na. Chiang Mai then slowly grew in cultural, trading, and economic importance to its current status as the unofficial capital of Northern Thailand, second in importance only to Bangkok.

The modern municipality dates to a sanitary district (sukhaphiban) that was created in 1915. It was upgraded to a city municipality (thesaban nakhon) on 29 March 1935. First covering just 17.5 km ² (7 sq mi), the city was enlarged to 40.2 km ² (16 sq mi) on 5 April 1983.

In May 2006 Chiang Mai was the site of the Chiang Mai Initiative, concluded between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the "ASEAN+3" countries, ( China, Japan, and South Korea). Chiang Mai was one of three Thai cities contending for Thailand's bid to host the World Expo 2020. Ayutthaya was ultimately chosen by the Thai Parliament to register for the international competition.

In early December 2017, Chiang Mai was awarded the UNESCO title of Creative City. In 2015, Chiang Mai was on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage inscription. Chiang Mai was one of two tourist destinations in Thailand on TripAdvisor's 2014 list of "25 Best Destinations in the World", where it stands at number 24.

"...Chiang Mai represents the prime diamond on the crown of Thailand, the crown cannot be sparkle and beauteous without the diamond..."

-  King Rama V, 12 August 1883

The city emblem shows the stupa at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in its center. Below it are clouds representing the moderate climate in the mountains of northern Thailand. There is a nāga, the mythical snake said to be the source of the Ping River, and rice stalks, which refer to the fertility of the land.

Chiang Mai has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen Aw), tempered by the low latitude and moderate elevation, with warm to hot weather year-round, though nighttime conditions during the dry season can be cool and much lower than daytime highs. The maximum temperature ever recorded was 42.4 °C (108.3 °F) in May 2005. Cold and hot weather effects occur immediately but cold effects last longer than hot effects and contribute to higher cold related mortality risk among old people aged more than 85 years.

A continuing environmental issue in Chiang Mai is the incidence of air pollution that primarily occurs every year between December and April. In 1996, speaking at the Fourth International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement conference-held in Chiang Mai that year-the Governor Virachai Naewboonien invited guest speaker Dr. Jakapan Wongburanawatt, Dean of the Social Science Faculty of Chiang Mai University, to discuss air pollution efforts in the region. Dr. Wongburanawatt stated that, in 1994, an increasing number of city residents attended hospitals suffering from respiratory problems associated with the city's air pollution.

During the December-April period, air quality in Chiang Mai often remains below recommended standards, with fine-particle dust levels reaching twice the standard limits. It has been said that smoke pollution has made March "the worst month to visit Chiang Mai".

According to the Bangkok Post, corporations in the agricultural sector, not farmers, are the biggest contributors to smoke pollution. The main source of the fires is forested area being cleared to make room for new crops. The new crops to be planted after the smoke clears are not rice and vegetables to feed locals. A single crop is responsible: corn.

The northern centre of the Meteorological Department has reported that low-pressure areas from China trap forest fire smoke in the mountains along the Thai- Myanmar border. Research conducted between 2005 and 2009 showed that average PM10 rates in Chiang Mai during February and March were considerably above the country's safety level of 120 μg/m ³, peaking at 383 μg/m ³ on 14 March 2007.[citation needed ] PM2.5 rates (fine particles 75% smaller than PM10) reached 183 μg/m ³ in Chiang Mai in 2018. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the acceptable level of PM10 is 50 μg/m ³ and PM2.5 is 25 μg/m ³.

Chiang Mai city has 24 Buddhist temples (" wat" in Thai). These include:

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the city's most famous temple, stands on Doi Suthep, a mountain to the north-west of the city, at an elevation of 1,073 meters. The temple dates from 1383.

Wat Chiang Man, the oldest temple in Chiang Mai, dating from the 13th century. King Mengrai lived here during the construction of the city. This temple houses two important and venerated Buddha figures, the marble Phra Sila and the crystal Phra Satang Man.

Wat Phra Singh is within the city walls, dates from 1345, and offers an example of classic Northern Thai-style architecture. It houses the Phra Singh Buddha, a highly venerated figure brought here many years ago from Chiang Rai.

Wat Chedi Luang was founded in 1401 and is dominated by a large Lanna style chedi, which took many years to finish. An earthquake damaged the chedi in the 16th century and only two-thirds of it remains.

Wat Ku Tao in the city's Chang Phuak District dates from (at least) the 13th century and is distinguished by an unusual alms-bowl-shaped stupa thought to contain the ashes of King Nawrahta Minsaw, Chiang Mai's first Bamar ruler.

Wat Chet Yot is on the outskirts of the city. Built in 1455, the temple hosted the Eighth World Buddhist Council in 1977.

Wiang Kum Kam is at the site of an old city on the southern outskirts of Chiang Mai. King Mangrai lived there for ten years before the founding of Chiang Mai. The site includes many ruined temples.

Wat Umong is a forest and cave wat in the foothills west of the city, near Chiang Mai University. Wat U-Mong is known for its "fasting Buddha", representing the Buddha at the end of his long and fruitless fast prior to gaining enlightenment.

Wat RamPoeng (Tapotaram), near Wat U-Mong, is known for its meditation center (Northern Insight Meditation Center). The temple teaches the traditional vipassanā technique and students stay from 10 days to more than a month as they try to meditate at least 10 hours a day. Wat RamPoeng houses the largest collection of Tipitaka, the complete Theravada canon, in several Northern dialects.

Wat Suan Dok is a 14th-century temple just west of the old city wall. It was built by the king for a revered monk visiting from Sukhothai for a rainy season retreat. The temple is also the site of Mahachulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya Buddhist University, where monks pursue their studies.

Other religious traditions:

The Administration of Chiang Mai Municipality is responsible for an area that covers approximately 40.216 square kilometers and consists of 4 Municipal Districts, 14 sub-districts, 94 municipal communities, and 89,656 households.

According to Municipal Act B.E. 2496 (1953, reviewed in 2003), the duties of the Municipality cover a lot of areas which include clean water supply, waste and sewage disposal, communicable disease control, public training and education, public hospitals and electricity, etc.

The mayor, or the highest executive, is directly elected by the eligible voters in the municipal area. The mayor serves a four-year term and is assisted by no more than four deputy mayors appointed directly by the mayor. The mayor will thus be permitted to appoint deputies, secretaries and advisors including the mayor himself or herself totally no more than 10. The current Mayor is Tussanai Burabupakorn, as of June 2018.

The Municipal Council is the legislative body of the municipality. It has the power to issue ordinances by laws that do not contradict with the laws of the country. The municipal council applies to all people living in the municipal area. The Chiang Mai City Municipal Council is composed of 24 elected members from 4 municipal districts who each serves a 4-year term.

Chiang Mai hosts many Thai festivals, including:

Loi Krathong (known locally as Yi Peng), held on the full moon of the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar, being the full moon of the second month of the old Lanna calendar. In the Western calendar this usually falls in November. Every year thousands of people assemble floating banana-leaf containers (krathong) decorated with flowers and candles and deposit them on the waterways of the city in worship of the Goddess of Water. Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom fai or kom loi), which are hot-air balloons made of paper, are launched into the air. These sky lanterns are believed to help rid the locals of troubles and are also used to decorate houses and streets.

Songkran is held in mid-April to celebrate the traditional Thai New Year. Chiang Mai has become one of the most popular locations to visit during this festival. A variety of religious and fun-related activities (notably the indiscriminate citywide water fight) take place each year, along with parades and Miss Songkran beauty competition.

Chiang Mai Flower Festival is a three-day festival held during the first weekend in February each year; this event occurs when Chiang Mai's temperate and tropical flowers are in full bloom.

Tam Bun Khan Dok, the Inthakhin (City Pillar) Festival, starts on the day of the waning moon of the sixth lunar month and lasts 6-8 days.

The inhabitants speak Northern Thai, also known as Lanna or Kham Mueang. The script used to write this language, called the Tai Tham alphabet, is studied only by scholars, and the language is commonly written with the standard Thai alphabet. English, Chinese, and Japanese are used in hotels and travel-related businesses.

Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Center

Chiang Mai National Museum, which highlights the history of the region and the Kingdom of Lan Na.

Highland People Discovery Museum, a showcase on the history of the local mountain tribes.

Mint Bureau of Chiang Mai or Sala Thanarak, Treasury Department, Ministry of Finance, Rajdamnern Road (one block from AUA Language Center). Has an old coin museum open to the public during business hours. The Lan Na Kingdom used leaf (or line) money made of brass and silver bubbles, also called "pig-mouth" money. The exact original technique of making pig-mouth money is still disputed, and because the silver is very thin and breakable, good pieces are now very rare.

Bank of Thailand Museum

MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, a museum of contemporary art which opened in 2016. It is one of only two museums of contemporary art in Thailand, with the other museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Bangkok, considered somewhat more conservative in tastes than MAIIAM.

Khan tok is a century-old Lan Na Thai tradition in Chiang Mai. It is an elaborate dinner or lunch offered by a host to guests at various ceremonies or parties, such as weddings, housewarmings, celebrations, novice ordinations, or funerals. It can also be held in connection with celebrations for specific buildings in a Thai temple and during Buddhist festivals such as Khao Pansa, Og Pansa, Loi Krathong, and Thai New Year ( Songkran).

Khao Soi is a Northern Thai noodle curry dish found mostly in Chiang Mai. Khao Soi is usually presented in a simple bowl, with fresh lime wedge, shallots, and pickled cabbage.[citation needed ]

Chiang Mai has several universities, including Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna, Payap University, Far Eastern University, and Maejo University, as well as numerous technical and teacher colleges. Chiang Mai University was the first government university established outside of Bangkok. Payap University was the first private institution in Thailand to be granted university status.

International primary and secondary schools for foreign students include:

Nearby national parks include Doi Inthanon National Park, which includes Doi Inthanon, the highest mountain in Thailand

Doi Suthep-Pui National Park begins on the western edge of the city. Wat Doi Suthep Buddhist temple, located near the summit of Doi Suthep, can be seen from much of the city and its environs.

Pha Daeng National Park, or more commonly Chiang Dao National Park, which includes Doi Chiang Dao and Pha Deang mountain near the border with Myanmar.

Hill tribe tourism and trekking: Many tour companies offer organized treks among the local hills and forests on foot and on elephant back. Most also involve visits to various local hill tribes, including the Akha, Hmong, Karen, and Lisu.

Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden

Buatong waterfall (also called Sticky Waterfalls) - The formation of calcium lets you easily climb barefoot.

Chiang Mai Zoo, the oldest zoo in northern Thailand.

Shopping: Chiang Mai has a large and famous night bazaar for local arts and handicrafts. The night markets extend across several city blocks along footpaths, inside buildings and temple grounds, and in open squares. A handicraft and food market opens every Sunday afternoon until late at night on Rachadamnoen Road, the main street in the historical centre, which is then closed to motorised traffic. Every Saturday evening a handicraft market is held along Wua Lai Road, Chiang Mai's silver street on the south side of the city beyond Chiang Mai Gate, which is then also closed to motorised traffic.

Thai massage: The back streets and main thoroughfares of Chiang Mai have many massage parlours which offer anything from quick, simple, face and foot massages, to month-long courses in the art of Thai massage.

Thai cookery: A number of Thai cooking schools have their home in Chiang Mai.

For IT shopping, Pantip Plaza just south of Night Bazaar, as well as Computer Plaza, Computer City, and Icon Square near the northwestern moat corner, and IT City department store in Kad Suan Kaew Mall are available.

Horse racing: Every Saturday starting at 12:30 there are races at Kawila Race Track. Betting is legal.

Chiang Mai is also to be the place where new idol group CGM48 founded.

Buak Hard Public Park: Located in the south west corner of the Old City.

The largest hospital in Chiang Mai City is Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, run by the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University. The Ministry of Public Health does not operate any hospitals in Chiang Mai City, with the closest one Nakornping Hospital, a regional hospital in Mae Rim District and is the MOPH's largest hospital in the province.

A number of bus stations link the city to central, southeast, and northern Thailand. The central Chang Puak Terminal (north of Chiang Puak Gate) provides local services within Chiang Mai Province. The Chiang Mai Arcade bus terminal northeast of the city centre (which can be reached with a songthaew or tuk-tuk ride) provides services to over 20 other destinations in Thailand including Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, and Phuket. There are several services a day from Chiang Mai Arcade terminal to Mo Chit Station in Bangkok (a 10- to 12-hour journey).

The state railway operates 10 trains a day to Chiang Mai Station from Bangkok. Most journeys run overnight and take approximately 12-15 hours. Most trains offer first-class (private cabins) and second-class (seats fold out to make sleeping berths) service. Chiang Mai is the northern terminus of the Thai railway system.

Chiang Mai International Airport receives up to 28 flights a day from Bangkok (flight time about 1 hour 10 minutes) and also serves as a local hub for services to other northern cities such as Chiang Rai, Phrae, and Mae Hong Son. International services also connect Chiang Mai with other regional centers, including cities in other Asian countries.

The locally preferred form of transport is personal motorbike and, increasingly, private car. Local public transport is via tuk-tuk, songthaew, bus, or rickshaw. New electric tuks-tuks were introduced into the city in June 2017.

As population density continues to grow, greater pressure is placed upon the city's transportation system. During peak hours, the road traffic is often badly congested. The city officials as well as researchers and experts have been trying to find feasible solutions to tackle the city's traffic problems. Most of them agree that factors such as lack of public transport, increasing number of motor vehicles, inefficient land use plan and urban sprawl, have led to these problems.

The latest development is that Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) has approved a draft decree on the light railway transit system project in Chiang Mai. If the draft is approved by the Thai cabinet, the construction could begin in 2020 and be completed by 2027. It is believed that such a system would mitigate Chiang Mai's traffic problems to a large degree.

"Smart City" initiative

In February 2017, the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) (under Thailand's Digital Economy and Society Ministry) announced that 36.5 million baht would be invested into developing Chiang Mai into an innovation-driven "smart city". Chiang Mai was the second city in Thailand, after Phuket and along with Khon Kaen, to be developed using the "smart city" model. The model aims to capture and populate multiple levels of information (including building, social, environmental, governmental, and economic data) from sources like sensors, real-time traffic information, and social forums for access by managers, governments, and citizens using mobile apps, tablets, and dashboards. The "Smart City" outlook (integrating Information and Communications Technology (ICT) with the Internet of Things (IOT)), is viewed to be critical both for secondary cities with burgeoning urban population like Chiang Mai, as well as part of Thailand's move to be digital hub of ASEAN.

The role of private sector investment, together with public sector partnership, is key to promote digital entrepreneurship. Prosoft Comtech, a Thai software company, has spent 300 million baht to build its own "Oon IT Valley" on a 90 rai plot of land as a community for tech start-ups, Internet of Things technology, software programmers and business process outsourcing services. It is aimed to both increase the size of Chiang Mai's digital workforce, as well as attract foreign digital talent to Chiang Mai.

In January 2018, it was announced that Chiang Mai would be launching "Mobike In", a bike-sharing app that would see the introduction of some 500 smart bikes on the streets. The smart bikes would be available for use for both locals and tourists. It is reported that as a start, the bikes would be placed at convenient locations including the Three Kings monument, Tha Pae Gate and Suan Buak Haad Park, as well as in the old town. The "Mobike In" project is sponsored by Advanced Info Service (Thailand's largest mobile phone operator), in collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (Chiang Mai Office), together with local universities, public and private sectors. The project aims to promote non-motorised transportation and support eco-tourism. Speaking at the launch at the Lanna Folklife Museum, Deputy Governor Puttipong Sirimart stated that the introduction of such "smart transportation" was a positive move in Chiang Mai's transformation into a "Smart City" (part of the "Thailand 4.0" vision).

Phongsak Ariyajitphaisal, DEPA's Chiang Mai branch manager, stated that one of the areas its smart city initiative would be promoting was "smart agriculture". Eighty percent of Chiang Mai Province's population are farmers, mostly small-scale, and increasing productivity through use of ICT has the potential to improve the local economy and living standards.[citation needed ] DEPA has also provided funding to Chiang Mai's Maejo University, to develop wireless sensor systems for better farmland irrigation techniques, to reduce use of water sprinklers and increase productivity. The university is also developing agricultural drones that can spray fertilizers and pesticides on crops which, if successful, will result in lower costs. The drones may also detect and monitor fires and smoke pollution.

Under the 2011 IBM "Smarter Cities Challenge", IBM experts recommended smarter food initiatives focused on creating agricultural data for farmers, including price modelling, farmer-focused weather forecasting tools, an e-portal to help farmers align crop production with demand, as well as branding of Chiang Mai produce. Longer-term recommendations included implementing traceability, enabling the tracking of produce from farm to consumer, smarter irrigation as well as flood control and early warning systems.

As part of the smart city project supported by IBM, Chiang Mai is also looking to use technology to boost its presence as a medical tourism hub. In 2011, IBM launched its Smarter Cities Challenge, a three-year, 100 city, 1.6 billion baht (US$50 million) program where teams of experts study and make detailed recommendations to address local important urban issues. Chiang Mai won a grant of about US$400,000 in 2011. The IBM team focused on smarter healthcare initiatives, aimed at making Chiang Mai and the University Medical Clinic a medical hub, as well as improving efficiency of hospitals for improved service delivery. For example, healthcare providers could use real-time location tracking of patients and hospital assets to increase efficiency and build an internationally recognised service identity. Electronic medical record technology can also be adopted to standardise information exchanges to link all medical service providers, even including traditional medicine and spas. Similar ideas include linking patient databases and healthcare asset information. In partnership with the Faculty of Medicine at Chiang Mai University, the team of experts aim to enhance the quality of medical care available to the community, both urban and rural, as well as develop Chiang Mai into a centre for medical tourism with the infrastructure for supporting international visitors seeking long-term medical care.

As the largest city in northern Thailand, Chiang Mai already receives some long stay healthcare visitors, largely Japanese. Its main advantage over Bangkok is lower costs of living. Quality services at low prices are a major selling point in mainstream healthcare, dental and ophthalmologic care as well as Thai traditional medicine. Its local university is also developing specializations in robotic surgery and geriatric medicine to accommodate a future aging population.

DEPA also reported that it has developed a mobile app that uses augmented reality technology to showcase various historical attractions in Chiang Mai, in line with the government's policy to promote Chiang Mai as a world heritage city.

According to Thailand's Tourist Authority, in 2013 Chiang Mai had 14.1 million visitors: 4.6 million foreigners and 9.5 million Thais. In 2016, tourist arrivals were expected to grow by approximately 10 percent to 9.1 million, with Chinese tourists increasing by seven percent to 750,000 and international arrivals by 10 percent to 2.6 million. Tourism in Chiang Mai has been growing annually by 15 percent per year since 2011, mostly due to Chinese tourists who account for 30 percent of international arrivals. In 2015, 7.4 million tourists visited Chiang Mai. Out of these, 35 percent were foreign tourists. The number of tourists has increased with an average rate of 13.6 percent annually between 2009 and 2015. The major reasons that have made Chiang Mai a tourist attraction are its topography, climate, and cultural history.

Chiang Mai is estimated to have 32,000-40,000 hotel rooms and Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) is Thailand's fourth largest airport, after Suvarnabhumi (BKK), Don Mueang (DMK), and Phuket (HKT). Planning is underway for a second airport with a capacity to serve 10 million annual passengers.

Tourism has also brought benefits for the local community of Chiang Mai. For example, tourism has played a tremendous role in promoting arts and crafts market in Chiang Mai. Tourists have increased demand for traditional crafts and art forms that has resulted in the incentives for the local artists to enhance their work thus adding to the prosperity of the sector. Moreover, there are great opportunities for agritourism in Chiang Mai. The factor analysis illustrates three types of agri needs, activities and shopping, facilities, services and location and the last one attractions and environment. Agritoursim is a type of business that a farmer conducts for additional farm income. Farmers, through the promotions of agricultural products, provide enjoyment and educate public about farming and agriculture.

1. ^ Cœdès, George (1968). Walter F. Vella (ed.). The Indianized States of south-east Asia. trans.Susan Brown Cowing. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-0368-1.

2. See also the chronicle of Chiang Mai, ^ Zinme Yazawin, in Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, Ancient Chiang Mai Volume 4. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. ASIN: B006J541LE

3. ^ "พระราชบัญญัติ จัดตั้งเทศบาลนครเชียงใหม่ พุทธศักราช ๒๔๗๘" [Royal Decree Establishing Chiang Mai city municipality, Buddhist Era 2478 (1935)] (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette. 52: 2136-2141. 29 March 1935, Area 17.5 sq.km.

4. ^ "พระราชกฤษฎีกา เปลี่ยนแปลงเขตเทศบาลนครเชียงใหม่ จังหวัดเชียงใหม่ พ.ศ. ๒๕๒๖" [Royal Decree Enlargement of Chiang Mai city municipality, Chiang Mai province, B.E.2526 (1983)] (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette. 100 (53): 4-10. 5 April 1983, 40.2 sq.km.

5. ^ Yuming Guo, Kornwipa Punnasiri and Shilu Tongly (9 July 2012). "Effects of temperature on mortality in Chiang Mai city, Thailand: A time series study". Environmental Health. 11: 36. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-11-36. PMC . PMID 22613086.

6. ^ "ปริมาณการใช้น้ำของพืชอ้างอิงโดยวิธีของ Penman Monteith (Reference Crop Evapotranspiration by Penman Monteith)" (PDF) (in Thai). Office of Water Management and Hydrology, Royal Irrigation Department. p. 14.

7. ^ "Chiang Mai's Environmental Challenges", Fourth International Conference of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement

8. ^ http://www.siamandbeyond.com/smoke-pollution-makes-march-the-worst-month-to-visit-chiang-mai-northern-thailand/

9. ^ "WHO Air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, Global Update 2005" (PDF). WHO. 2006.

10. ^ "Muslim Chiangmai" (bi-lingual Thai-English) (in Thai). Muslim Chiangmai. September 21, 2011. Samsudin Bin Abrahim is the Imam of Chang Klan Mosque in Chiang Mai and a vibrant personality within Chiang Mai's 20,000 Muslim community

11. Chiang Mai: Adeline Chia checks out the city's grassroots art scene

12. "^ The Chiang Mai Centre, Thailand." École française d'Extrême-Orient. Retrieved on 8 September 2018.

13. ^ Peraphan, Jittrapirom; Hermann, Knoflacher; Markus, Mailer (2017-01-01). "Understanding decision makers' perceptions of Chiang Mai city's transport problems an application of Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) methodology". Transportation Research Procedia. World Conference on Transport Research - WCTR 2016 Shanghai. 10-15 July 2016. 25 (Supplement C): 4438-4453. doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2017.05.350.

14. "Internal Tourism in Chiang Mai" (PDF). Thailand Department of Tourism. Department of Tourism. 2014-08-20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-10-29.

15. ^ Michael Romanos & Christopher Auffrey (May 15, 2002). Managing Intermediate Size Cities: Sustainable Development in a Growth Region of Thailand. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht The GeoJournal Library Volume 69, 2002, Pages 127-151.

16. ^ Natthawut Srikatanyoo &Kom Campiranon (11 March 2010). "Agritourist Needs and Motivations: The Chiang Mai Case". Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 27:2, 166-178, DOI: 10.1080/10548400903579795.

17. ^ Corfield, Justin (2013). "Sister Cities". Historical Dictionary of Pyongyang. London: Anthem Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-85728-234-7.

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(( Chiang Mai (, from Thai: เชียงใหม่ [tɕʰīəŋ màj] listen ), Northern Thai: ᨩ᩠ᨿᨦ ᩲᩉ᩠ᨾ᩵ [t͡ɕīəŋ.màj] listen )), sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand and the capital of Chiang Mai Province. It is 700 km (435 mi) north of Bangkok.

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It's hard to say how old Chinese culture actually is, but it's one of the oldest that still has a presence in the modern world. Legends claim that the earliest rulers in China were the Xia Dynasty, from 2100 to 1600 B.C., with Yu as the first emperor, but there is little proof that the dynasty actually existed. Below is a timeline of one of the great cradles of civilization.

Shang Dynasty, Confucius

* 1600-1050 B.C.: Shang Dynasty -The earliest ruling dynasty of China to be established in recorded history, the Shang was headed by a tribal chief named Tan. The Shang era is marked by intellectual advances in astronomy and math.

* 551-479 B.C.: Confucius -The teacher, politician and philosopher was raised in poverty by his mother. He entered politics in 501 B.C. as a town governor after gaining attention as a teacher, but in 498 B.C. lived in exile to escape political enemies.

Returning to China around 483 B.C., Confucius devoted most of his time to teaching disciples his ideas (including, "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart," and "It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.") His ideas would become central to Chinese culture over time and endorsed by the government.

* 221-206 B.C.: Qin Dynasty -The Qin Dynasty, from which China derives its name (Qin is pronounced "Chin"), was the first official empire in its history. The Qins standardized regional written scripts into a single national one, establishing an imperial academy to oversee the translated texts.

The Qin Dynasty created the first Asian superhighway, the 500-mile Straight Road, along the Ziwu Mountain range, and began work on the Great Wall by expanding the northern border wall.

Qin Emperor Ying Zheng created an elaborate underground complex at the foot of the Lishan Mountain, famously featuring 13,000 terracotta statues of warriors and horses.

The Silk Road, Paper and Guns

* 125 B.C.: The Silk Road -Following capture and escape during a mission for Emperor Wu, Zhang Qian returned after 13 years with a map of the ground he had covered. Reaching as far as Afghanistan, his maps were accurate and led to the international trade route the Silk Road.

* 105 A.D.: Paper and books -Cai Lun developed paper by pounding together ingredients like bamboo, hemp, bark and others and spreading the pulp flat.

Paper use spread quickly across the empire, with the first Chinese dictionary, compiled by Xu Shen, and the first book of Chinese history, written by Sima Qian soon appearing.

* 850 A.D.: Gunpowder -Alchemists working with saltpeter for medicinal purposes mixed it with charcoal and sulfur. The explosive properties that resulted were used in warfare to propel arrows by the Tang Dynasty, as well as fireworks.

* 868 A.D.: Printing press -The earliest known printed book, The Diamond Sutra, was created during the Tang Dynasty. It was soon followed by calendars and educational material.

* 1260 A.D.: Kublai Khan -The grandson of Genghis conquered the Song Dynasty and established the Yuan Dynasty, unifying China and bringing Mongolia, Siberia and parts of the Middle East and even Europe into the Chinese Empire.

Kublai Khan introduced paper money, met with Marco Polo, brought the first Muslims to the country and attempted to conquer Japan.

* 1557: World trade -The Ming Dynasty expanded China's maritime trade to export silk and porcelain wares. A European presence was allowed within the empire and Chinese merchants emigrated to locations outside the realm for the first time.

* 1683: Taiwan -This Dutch-controlled island was seized by Ming Dynasty General Koxinga in 1662, and annexed by the Qing Dynasty 21 years later.

The Opium Wars

* 1840-1842: The First Opium War -Great Britain flooded the country with opium, causing an addiction crisis. The Qing Dynasty banned the drug, and a military confrontation resulted. British forces shut down Chinese ports, and Hong Kong was handed over to them.

* 1851-1864: The Taiping Rebellion -Self-proclaimed prophet Hong Xiuquan revolted against the Qing Dynasty with his Christian cult the God Worshipping Society. Spurred on by visions, Hong rampaged across China, taking Nanjing in 1852, which he governed for 12 years. Hong was found poisoned in 1864. The conflict claimed at least 20 million lives.

* 1856-1860: The Second Opium War - Britain and France demanded that China legalize opium, invading Guangzhou and advancing into Beijing. Desperate to end the conflict, China signed a treaty giving the west more business power and the control of ports.

* 18 94-1894: The First Sino Japanese War -The Qing Dynasty clashed with Japan over Korea. China's regional dominance plummeted after losing and influenced a series of internal clashes over the next 16 years. As part of the defeat agreement, Taiwan was handed over to Japan.

* 1899: The Boxer Rebellion -Under the rule of Empress Dowager Cixi, the secret society the Harmonious Fist began slaughtering foreigners. Known as the Boxers, they won Empress Dowager's support when eight European countries sent troops. China lost the conflict, and the West imposed sanctions that permanently weakened Qing rule.

* 1912: The Republic of China -Fueled by western-educated revolutionary Sun Yat-Sen, the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 culminated in the Wuchang Uprising, and 15 provinces declared their independence from the Qing Dynasty. Sun took control in 1912, announcing the republic.

* 1921: The Communist Party of China -With its roots in the May Fourth Movement protesting the Chinese government response to the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, the CPC officially formed.

* 1927: Shanghai Massacre -Millions of executions take place when Nationalist Party leader Chiang Kai-shek orders the massacre of Communists, which inadvertently causes the creation of the opposing Communist Red Army.

* 1928: Reunification -Elevated to head of the government, Chiang succeeded in reunifying China by seizing areas under the control of warlords.

* 1931: Civil War -Fighting between the Red Army and the Nationalist Party escalates into an 18-year-long conflict.

* 1937-1945: The Second Sino-Japanese War -Tensions started with the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria but exploded in 1937. After the Japanese captured Shanghai and Nanjing, a stalemate ensued until World War II and American support reframed the conflict into a theater in the larger war.

* 1945: Taiwan returns to China -Following Japanese surrender in World War II, Taiwan returned to Chinese control. Tensions mounted between Chinese soldiers and Taiwanese citizens, erupting in violence in 1947, and ending with Chiang sending further troops.

* 1949: People's Republic of China -After a violent end stage to the civil war, the Communist Party declared the People's Republic of China. Two months later, two million soldiers followed Chiang Kai-shek into exile to Taiwan where he set up a provisional government claiming to be the legitimate ruling body of China. Communist party chairman Mao Zedong became China's new leader.

* 1958-1962: The Great Leap Forward -This campaign by Chairman Mao to transform the agricultural base of China's society into an industrial one imposed a commune system that organized peasants and forbade private farming. The plan failed to produce the necessary yield, and famine followed, leading to 56 million deaths, including 3 million by suicide.

* 1966: The Cultural Revolution -This campaign was initiated by Chairman Mao to erase Capitalist and traditional Chinese influences of the People's Republic and introduce the philosophy of Maoism to fill the ideological gaps. Schools were closed and Chinese youth directed to take the lead in change, resulting in youth gangs known as the Red Guards attacking undesirable citizens. Chaos led to martial law, Communist Party purges, and 1.5 million deaths.

* 1972: Richard Nixon visits China -The first American president to visit China while serving in office and the first diplomatic meeting between the countries since 1949, Nixon met with Mao and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, discussing multiple topics, including trade and a U.S. troop withdrawal from Taiwan.

* April 5, 1975: Chiang Kai-shek dies -After 26 years steering Taiwan to legitimacy and attempting to take back mainland China, Chiang succumbs to a heart attack.

* September 9, 1976: Mao dies -Mao's death after several heart attacks effectively ends the Cultural Revolution and brought Deng Xiaoping to power for the next two decades, pushing out Mao's inner circle known as the Gang of Four. By the end of his reign, Mao would oversee the slaughter of some 40 million people.

* 1989: Tiananmen Square protests -These student-led protests grew from the '89 Democracy Movement demanding freedom of speech, freedom of the press and more. They gained worldwide attention when the government violently cracked down on the protesters and images of tanks rolling into students inspired universal condemnation. At least 300 died in the protests.

* 1993: Three Gorges Project -The construction of the world's largest hydroelectric dam began. Proposed as early as 1920, the project required flooding 1,500 cities and villages, displacing as many as 1.9 million people and destroying 1,200 archaeological and historical sites. The dam begins operation in 2015.

* July 1, 1997: Hong Kong returns to China -In a midnight ceremony with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in attendance, Hong Kong was given back to China after 156 years. China agreed to preserve the island's capitalist economy as part of the handover agreement.

* 2010: Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement -China and Taiwan begin officially speaking to each other for the first time, but following the 2016 election of Tsai Ing-wen as Taiwanese president, China rescinds these new ties.
SOURCES:
Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Patricia Buckley Ebrey.
The Dynasties of China. Bamber Gascoigne.
China Condensed: 5000 Years of History and Culture. Ong Siew Chey.
What's behind the China-Taiwan divide? BBC.
The Story of China. PBS.

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It's hard to say how old Chinese culture actually is, but it's one of the oldest that still has a presence in the modern world. Legends claim that the earliest rulers in China were the Xia Dynasty, from 2100 to 1600 B.C., with Yu as the first emperor, but there is little proof that the dynasty actually existed.

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The Cambodian approach to Buddhism is the same as their approach to most things: relaxed.

Theravada Buddhism is Cambodia's state religion and has been since the 13th century, except during the Khmer Rouge period. During that time, all monks were disrobed or killed and most religious scholars were murdered or fled into exile. Today the country is about 95 percent Buddhist. There are also two Muslim communities, the Cham and the Malay, making up 3 percent of the population. Just under 3 percent are Christians, plus there is a substantial population of Western missionaries trying to raise that figure. In the northeast of the country, many of the ethnic minority groups practice tribal religions.

Before Cambodia embraced Buddhism, there was Hinduism. Back in the day, Hinduism was one of the Khmer Empire's official religions. In fact, Angkor Wat is the largest Hindu temple in the world, and one of the only dedicated to Brahma. And while Hinduism is no longer directly practiced in Cambodia, it influences Khmer Buddhist practices, such as weddings, funerals, and the use of astrology to find auspicious dates for important events.

The Cambodian approach to Buddhism is the same as their approach to most things: relaxed. Most Cambodians visit the pagodas for the major Buddhist holidays, such as (Ancestor's Day), and this is often the extent of their religious observances. Few Cambodians abstain from all of the Five Precepts of Buddhist belief, which prohibit killing, stealing, fornication, lying, and drinking. While they may not follow all of the rules, Cambodians still believe in reincarnation and the idea that one's position in life is derived from past actions. (This may explain why, as a rule, they treat their dogs so poorly.)

Most Cambodians identify as Buddhist, but their version of Buddhism includes forms of ancestor worship, shamanism, and animism that predate Buddhism. In almost all Cambodian homes (and even at the temples), you'll find spirit houses, small shrines to appease bad spirits and keep them away from the homes' residents. Most Cambodians, particularly in the provinces, believe in ghosts and spirits. There are myriad folk tales about sorcery and ghosts that many Khmers accept as fact. One such is the story of a half-ghost, half-girl who slips through the windows of houses after pulling out her internal organs and leaving her corpse outside. Khmers call this spirit arb, or arb thmob. Shamans are often consulted for illnesses which are believed to have been caused by evil spirits.

Unlike in most Christian religions, Buddhists who take vows to become a monk do not commit to this calling for life. It is common for Cambodian men to become monks for a short period of their life - usually a few weeks or a few months - to bring merit to their parents and to become closer to their Buddhist faith. This is usually done earlier in life, starting at age 13. The most common reason, though, that low-income Cambodians choose to become monks is to gain access to education that they might not be able to get otherwise. And for poor families in the provinces, having one less mouth to feed is a tempting proposition (long-term monkhood is much more common among Khmer youth from the countryside). Today less than 5 percent of men become monks, compared to 50 percent in the pre-Khmer Rouge days and close to 100 percent a century ago.

Older women, particularly widows, often choose to live at the pagodas as helpers so as not to be a burden on their families. Called mae chi, they shave their heads and eyebrows, clean and prepare the altars for ceremonies, and follow ten precepts (compared to the 235 that nuns used to keep).

There are also many Western religions and churches represented in Cambodia. See our Religious organizations and worship section for more details.

This is an excerpt from Move to Cambodia: A guide to living and working in the Kingdom of Wonder. To learn more about 100+ topics that pertain to Cambodia expats, please consider buying the book.

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The Cambodian approach to Buddhism is the same as their approach to most things: relaxed. Theravada Buddhism is Cambodia's state religion and has been since the 13th century, except during the Khmer Rouge period. During that time, all monks were disrobed or killed and most religious scholars were murdered or fled into exile.

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30 Cambodian foods every visitor needs to try

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30 Cambodian foods every visitor needs to try

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(CNN) - Cambodian cuisine has a long history and a diverse range of influences, yet it's only now becoming known beyond the country's borders. In fact, the only place you can experience all it has to offer is in the country itself. Here are 30 of the best dishes to try.

While amok is sometimes called the country's national dish, and might be the one most familiar to tourists, samlor korkor has a better claim to being the true national dish of Cambodia. It has been eaten for hundreds of years and today can be found in restaurants, roadside stands and family homes alike.

The ingredients list for this nourishing soup is versatile and easily adapted to whatever is seasonal and abundant; it often includes more than a dozen vegetables. It can be made with almost any type of meat, but most commonly it's a hearty soup made from catfish and pork belly. The soup always includes two quintessential Cambodian ingredients -- prahok, a type of fermented fish, and kroeung, a fragrant curry paste -- and is then thickened with toasted ground rice.

Nom banh chok is a beloved Cambodian dish, so much so that in English it's sometimes called simply "Khmer noodles." It's a typical breakfast food, and every morning you'll find it being sold by women carrying baskets of fresh rice noodles hanging from a pole balanced on their shoulders.

The dish consists of fresh noodles laboriously pounded out of rice, topped with a fish-based green curry gravy made from lemongrass, fingerroot ginger, turmeric, and garlic. Fresh cucumbers, banana flower, long beans, edible flowers, and wild leaves are heaped on top. In Siem Reap, it is served with a sweet sauce called tuk paem made from palm sugar and peanuts.

Amok is one of the best-known Cambodian dishes, but you'll find similar meals in neighboring countries. The addition of slok ngor, a local herb that imparts a subtly bitter flavor, separates the Cambodian version from the rest of the pack.

The curry is made with fresh coconut milk and kroeung. Traditionally the dish was made with either fish or snails, but now you can find chicken and even vegetarian versions. At upscale restaurants amok is steamed with egg in a banana leaf for a mousse-like texture, while more homestyle places serve a boiled version that is more like a soupy fish curry.

Served early mornings on street corners all over Cambodia, bai sach chrouk, or pork and rice, is one of the simplest and most delicious dishes the country has to offer. Thinly sliced pork is marinated in palm sugar and fish sauce, then slow-grilled over warm coals to impart a smoky sweetness.

It's served over a hearty portion of white rice, with a helping of freshly pickled cucumbers and daikon radish with plenty of ginger. This classic Cambodia breakfast often comes with a bowl of chicken broth topped with scallions and fried onions.

Less spicy than the curries of neighboring Thailand, Cambodian red curry is made using large local red chilies that are remarkably mild, making for a rich but mellow dish. The curry contains chicken, white radish, sweet potatoes, fresh coconut milk, and kroeung. This delicious dish is usually served at weddings and other ceremonies and special occasions, and can be accompanied with fresh rice noodles, sliced baguette, or white rice.

Bok, which translates as "smashed," refers to a style of food preparation that involves pounding ingredients in a large wooden mortar. Trop pgnon are small, bitter pea eggplants, which grow wild in Cambodia.

Here, they are grilled and pounded with garlic, shallots, chilies and just enough sugar to take the edge off their bitterness. The dish usually contains some form of fish, either smoked fish or prahok, although it can be made without it. The eggplant dip is served alongside local fresh or steamed vegetable crudités.

Bok trop pgnon was traditionally prepared for workers harvesting rice, because it was easy to pack up to take to the fields.

Cambodian farmers claim going organic will boost productivity and profit.

The word kha refers to a style of cooking in Cambodia in which palm sugar is caramelized into a sticky syrup, then used as the base of the dish. The beef version tastes marvelously complex - it contains multitudes - although the recipe itself is not very complicated. Every family has its own recipe, but most start with the kha base and include galangal, chilies, garlic, black pepper, and star anise.

Some versions include cloves, or make the broth with coconut water; others add tomatoes, tamarind, or soybean sauce. Kha sach ko is served with sliced baguette - in a nod to French imperialism - or noodles, and garnished with herbs, onion slices, and fried garlic.

After rice, the most important ingredient in Cambodian cuisine is prahok, a mash of salty fermented fish. It's added in small quantities to bring an umami kick to many dishes, but in prahok ktis it has the starring role.

Cooked with fresh coconut cream, palm sugar, and minced pork, the pungent prahok becomes mild enough for even trepidatious visitors to enjoy. Another version of the dish, prahok kroeung ktis, adds a fragrant paste of root spices. Both are served with crunchy fresh vegetables.

Soups are a crucial element in Cambodian cuisine, and no meal is complete without one. The soups known as sngors are simple and extremely versatile. They're designed to showcase the main ingredient, in this case, fish from the Tonle Sap, Cambodia's great freshwater lake.

The fish is cooked in a light lemongrass broth that's seasoned with lime juice and fried garlic, making for a wholesome soup served with local herbs, including Asian basil and sawleaf coriander. Other additions, such as straw mushrooms or shredded green mango, are optional.

The Cham people are a Muslim ethnic minority in Cambodia. Their cuisine eschews pork, which is widely found in Cambodian cooking, and instead features beef. In fact, the most respected beef sellers at the local markets in Siem Reap are Cham women.

Beef saraman curry is the most popular Cham-inspired dish, and little wonder, because it's sensational. This rich coconut curry is one of Cambodia's most complicated dishes, and is redolent with spices, with star anise and cassia bark most prominent. The curry is braised with whole peanuts and is most often served with sliced baguette.

Cambodian salads often use unripe or sour fruits in place of vegetables. In this delicious and refreshing example, giant pomelo is paired with pork belly, toasted coconut, and small dried shrimp and garnished with mint and fried shallots.

More exacting chefs pride themselves on peeling each segment of the pomelo and separating the tiny juice vesicles inside, laborious work that pays off in a delicate, beautifully balanced salad.

One of Cambodia's best-loved foods, tuek kroeung is a thin but pungent dipping sauce made from fresh river fish and fermented fish, served with an array of fresh seasonal vegetables and herbs.

The name can be a bit confusing - the word kroeung is most often used for one of the delicate curry pastes that are a hallmark of Cambodian cooking, but which aren't used in tuek kroeung. In fact kroeung just means "what's inside" or "ingredients."

Take a 60-second video vacation to Cambodia's ancient temple sites in the Siem Reap Province of Cambodia. Filmed by Alexander Rosen and Wesley Bruer.

Trei roh, or striped snakehead fish, is one of the few fish able to walk on land and in Cambodian markets they can often be seen jumping out of vendors' baskets and trying to hustle away down the pavement. They rarely succeed, and when they don't, becoming a plate of kha trei is often their fate.

First, thick steaks are placed in a pot of bubbling, caramelized palm sugar, garlic, and fish sauce, plus plenty of locally grown ground black pepper. Quartered red tomatoes are often added.

To avoid breaking up the fish the dish is not stirred -- instead, the pot is lightly shaken to distribute the caramel syrup evenly. The fish is then served topped with grated green mango and Asian basil.

Served at roadside barbecues all over Cambodia, stuffed frogs can be an intimidating sight for timid visitors, but any fearfulness disappears at the first taste.

Frogs are stuffed with minced pork, roasted peanuts, red chilies, frog meat and fresh kroeung made from lemongrass, garlic, galangal, turmeric and the zest of makrut limes. Grilled inside split pieces of bamboo over hot coals, the resulting snack is like a frog sausage, rich with root spices and slightly sweetened by palm sugar.

The Kola are an ethnic minority in Cambodia, originally from Yunnan, China, and the Mon and Shan states of Myanmar, who settled in northeastern Cambodia in the 19th century.

These days, there are more street food stands and restaurants serving the noodle dish named for them than there are Kola people in Cambodia. Rice noodles are garnished with dried shrimp, hard-boiled egg slices, cucumbers, peanuts, and fresh herbs and mixed with a tangy lime-garlic-shallot dressing.

Pork is optional but often included, and you'll usually be served a tangy mix of fresh cucumber and green papaya pickle on the side.

The name of this soup refers to the cooking technique: Rather than preparing it in a pot over a flame, like most Cambodian soups, for chrok krao chhnang the cook assembles the ingredients in a large bowl, then pours boiling water over them to create a broth.

The main ingredients are smoked or dried freshwater fish, hard-boiled eggs, shallots, and green tomatoes. The soup gets additional flavor from fresh herbs (such as sawleaf coriander and Asian basil), sugar, and a squeeze of lime juice. Served with rice, the soup offers a mix of salty, sweet, and sour flavors and a perfectly balanced meal.

Khmer beef salad features thinly sliced beef that is either quickly seared or "cooked" ceviche-style by marinating it in lime juice. Dressed with lemongrass, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, Asian basil, mint, green beans, and green pepper, this sweet and salty dish also packs a punch in the heul (spicy) department with copious amounts of fresh red chilies. More beef than salad, plea sach ko is a party dish that is served at festive occasions such as weddings, or alongside beer during a night out on the town.

This simple dish is one of Cambodia's most accessible, and it's easy to make at home, too! Eggplant is grilled over an open flame or hot coals, then topped with minced pork fried in garlic and oyster sauce. Herbs are sprinkled over the top, sometimes Asian basil or spring onions or coriander.

More upscale versions may be enriched with egg or served in the hollowed-out charred eggplant skin. Although it has only a few ingredients, when it's done well it's heavenly.

Local crab is a specialty of the Cambodian seaside town of Kep. Its lively crab market is known for fried crab prepared with green, locally grown Kampot pepper.

Aromatic Cambodian pepper is famous among gourmands worldwide, and although it is available in its dried form internationally, you'll only be able to sample the distinctively flavored immature green peppercorns in Cambodia. It's worth a visit to Kep for that alone, and for a related dish, chaa kdam kroeung, fried crab with curry sauce.

This delicious soup is the perfect antidote to a hangover, a cold, or a rainy tropical day. It comes in two styles: plain or ktis, with coconut milk. The soup's base is prahok and a kroeung made of sliced lemongrass stalks, galangal, makrut lime, turmeric, and garlic. When coconut milk is omitted, fresh curry leaves that have been brushed over hot coals are used.

The creamy version pairs coconut milk with ripe tamarind, to impart tangy sourness, and holy basil or sawleaf coriander round off a simple but richly restorative soup. Often water spinach or ambarella leaves are added, and sometimes even eggplant.

More adventurous eaters will enjoy maam chao, a dish made with a type of raw, fermented fish known as maam. Roasted rice, galangal, and sugar are added to freshwater fish and left to ferment for at least a month.

Compared to prahok, maam is delicately flavored (as far as fermented fish goes), its salty pungency balanced by the sweetness of the palm sugar. Maam chao is most often served as a dip mixed with pineapple, alongside boiled pork and crunchy raw vegetables.

This aromatic vegetable soup is a Cambodian village staple and one of the country's most popular. The soup's base is a lemongrass paste made with fingerroot ginger, and it can be made with any number of vegetables, usually home grown or foraged.

Pumpkin, taro, and luffa gourd are common ingredients, and lemon basil is such an important part of the dish, that in Cambodia its name translates as "the herb for somlor proher." The soup usually contains fish, fermented, dried, and fresh, but it can also easily be made "mhob bouh," "as the monks eat" -- an expression meaning vegetarian, even though Cambodian monks don't necessarily avoid meat.

In Cambodian seaside towns you'll find seafood sellers carrying small charcoal-burning ovens on their shoulders, cooking the squid as they walk along the shore.

The squid are brushed with either lime juice or fish sauce and then barbecued on wooden skewers and served with a spicy chili sauce originally from the seaside province of Koh Kong, made from garlic, fresh chilies, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar.

The main ingredient in a Cambodian salad, or nhoam, may vary, be it ambarella, banana blossom, cucumber, or lotus root, but the chi, or herbs, remain the same. Traditionally, four herbs are used: Asian basil, mint, Cambodian mint, and fish-cheek herb, a heart-shaped leaf grown in Southeast Asia whose flavor is reminiscent of the sea.

Cambodian salads are often made with unripe fruit and usually contain smoked fish and small dried shrimp. Green mango salad is a classic whose flavors of sour fruit, salty smoked fish, and sweet palm sugar form a beautifully harmonious whole.

This unexpected combination of dried fish and fresh fruit perfectly encapsulates the delicious simplicity of Cambodian cuisine. Trei ngeat is the term for salt-cured fish that has been dried in the sun, one of the myriad ways Cambodians preserve food using the same techniques they've relied on for centuries.

In this dish, snakehead fish, abundant in the country's waterways, are salted and dried, then grilled over charcoal and served with thick chunks of sweet ripe watermelon, for a perfect sweet-and-umami contrast.

You'll find all sorts of insects on the menu in Cambodia, but the dish most appealing to foreign palates is stir-fried red tree ants with beef and holy basil.

The tree-dwelling red weaver ant, some barely visible and others almost an inch long, are stir-fried with ginger, lemongrass, garlic, shallots, and thinly sliced beef. Lots of chilies complete the aromatic dish, without overpowering the delicate sour flavor that the ants impart to the beef. This meal is served with rice, and if you're lucky you'll also get a portion of ant larvae in your bowl.

Every country in Southeast Asia has its own version of noodle soup, and kuy teav is Cambodia's, a flavorful pork-bone-and-squid broth most often served with pork or beef, fish balls and fried garlic.

The name derives from the Hoikken Chinese word for a type of rice noodle, and theories about the origins of kuy teav include the possibility that it was invented by Chinese traders in Cambodia or originated in Kampuchea Krom, an area in southern Vietnam that was once part of the Khmer Empire. Whatever its roots, kuy teav is is one of the country's most popular breakfasts and afternoon snacks.

Pickled limes give this chicken soup a unique flavor evocative of Moroccan cooking. Limes are packed in salt and left to dry in the sun, or boiled briefly and soaked in salt water for several weeks or months.

The flavor is intensely citrusy and salty, but not bitter. Traditionally this soup is made with little more than pickled limes and free-range chicken, both of which are so flavorful that the dish needs nothing else, although garlic and spring onions are commonly added.

These sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves are so emblematic of Cambodia that in 2015 the government made a giant num ansom weighing 8,900 pounds and displayed it in front of Angkor Wat to earn a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The cakes can be sweet or savory, filled with bananas and coconut or pork and mung beans. For major celebrations, such as Pchum Ben (Ancestor's Day), women spend days making hundreds of num ansom to share with family and friends and give to monks at the pagoda.

"Fried fish in the lake" is a party dish, often eaten at restaurants in a special fish-shaped dish. A whole fish is deep-fried and then finished on a hotplate at the table in a coconut curry made from yellow kroeung and chilies.

Vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage are cooked in the curry, which is served with rice or rice noodles. Its name literally means "fish in the water mimosa lake," which refers to the green Cambodian vegetable that serves as the base of the dish.

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30 cambodian foods every visitor needs to try - cnn

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30 Cambodian foods every visitor needs to try

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Cambodian cuisine has a long history and a diverse range of influences, yet it's only now becoming known beyond the country's borders. In fact, the only place you can experience all it has to offer is in the country itself. Here are 30 of the best dishes to try.

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Food and Drink in Cambodia

Cambodian food should not be overshadowed by its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam; it is equally as delicious and fresh! Khmer food is simple, traditional and satisfying, making use of local produce and typically tossing together a mixture of contrasting flavours. Much like the rest of Asia, rice is a staple and part of most meals. It is eaten in many forms throughout the day such as rice cakes, rice noodle soup, rice porridge or sweet rice for desserts. Street food is popular among tourists visiting Cambodia and it is a great way to sample lots of delicious dishes!

Vegetarian and Vegan in Cambodia

While it's best to stay clear of the grilled spiders, Cambodia is a great destination for vegetarians and vegans. The larger cities, such as Phnom Penh and Siem Reap have vegetarian only restaurants which always have vegan options too. In other areas, you may be limited to rice dishes, fried vegetables, noodles and vegetable coconut curries. Just always make sure to ask for no fish sauce to be added. For vegetarians, a popular dish is fried vegetables and noodles with a fried egg on top. Cambodia offers various fresh fruit which is perfect to pick up as a snack too!

Food Culture in Cambodia

Like most other countries in Southeast Asia, food culture in Cambodia is important and a time where family and friends come together to enjoy a meal. Chopsticks are normally used to eat most meals, even soups, and anything liquid is then "slurped"! Don't worry about getting messy or eating with your hands, eating in Cambodia is very much a relaxed affair with the focus being on bringing people together.

Tarantula

We cannot talk about Cambodian food without mentioning the tarantula, which has become the face of "unusual street food in Asia"! Grilled tarantula can be found in food markets all over the country and even in restaurants, where they might even showcase the live spiders beforehand. It is said that tarantulas became a staple in the diet during the Khmer rouge, where people caught and ate anything they could to survive. It just so happened tarantulas existed in abundance. While it can be a complete tourist rouse, locals do in fact eat them regularly as well as other insects such as grasshoppers and scorpions.

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Home >> Food and Drink in Cambodia Cambodian food should not be overshadowed by its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam; it is equally as delicious and fresh! Khmer food is simple, traditional and satisfying, making use of local produce and typically tossing together a mixture of contrasting flavours.

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Crash Course: Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners

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Crash Course: Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners

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Comparing an Italian explorer who sailed for Spain, a Portuguese explorer, and a Chinese explorer.

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Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Zheng He - 15th Century Mariners: Crash Course World History #21

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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 70 million, it spans 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi). Thailand is bordered to the northwest by Myanmar, to the northeast by Laos, to the southeast by Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the southwest by the Andaman Sea; it also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast, and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the nation's capital and largest city.

Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 6th to 11th century. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na and Ayutthaya, which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, which became a regional power by the end of the 15th century. Ayutthaya reached its peak during the 18th century, until it was destroyed in the Burmese-Siamese War. Taksin quickly reunified the fragmented territory and established the short-lived Thonburi Kingdom. He was succeeded in 1782 by Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, the first monarch of the current Chakri dynasty. Throughout the era of Western imperialism in Asia, Siam remained the only nation in the region to avoid colonization by foreign powers, although it was often forced to make territorial, trade and legal concessions in unequal treaties. The Siamese system of government was centralised and transformed into a modern unitary absolute monarchy in the reign of Chulalongkorn. In World War I, Siam sided with the Allies, a political decision made in order to amend the unequal treaties. Following a bloodless revolution in 1932, it became a constitutional monarchy and changed its official name to Thailand, becoming an ally of Japan in World War II. In the late 1950s, a military coup under Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat revived the monarchy's historically influential role in politics. Thailand became a major ally of the United States, and played an anti-communist role in the region as a member of the failed SEATO, but from 1975 sought to improve relations with Communist China and Thailand's neighbours.

Apart from a brief period of parliamentary democracy in the mid-1970s, Thailand has periodically alternated between democracy and military rule. Since the 2000s, the country has been caught in continual bitter political conflict between supporters and opponents of Thaksin Shinawatra, which resulted in two coups (in 2006 and 2014), along with the establishment of its current constitution, a nominally democratic government after the 2019 Thai general election, and large pro-democracy protests in 2020-2021 which included unprecedented demands to reform the monarchy. Since 2019, it has been nominally a parliamentary constitutional monarchy; in practice, however, structural advantages in the constitution have ensured the military's continued influence in politics.

Thailand is a middle power in global affairs and a founding member of ASEAN, and ranks very high in the Human Development Index. It has the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia and the 24th-largest in the world by PPP and ranks 85th by nominal GDP per capita. Thailand is classified as a newly industrialised economy, with manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism as leading sectors.

Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, was known by outsiders prior to 1939 as Siam. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai ( ไทย) means 'free man' in the Thai language, "differentiating the Thai from the natives encompassed in Thai society as serfs". According to Chit Phumisak, Thai () simply means 'people' or 'human being', his investigation shows that some rural areas used the word "Thai" instead of the usual Thai word khon ( คน) for people. According to Michel Ferlus, the ethnonyms Thai-Tai (or Thay-Tay) would have evolved from the etymon *k(ə)ri: 'human being'.

Thais often refer to their country using the polite form prathet Thai ( Thai: ประเทศไทย). They also use the more colloquial term mueang Thai ( Thai: เมืองไทย) or simply Thai; the word , archaically referring to a city-state, is commonly used to refer to a city or town as the centre of a region. Ratcha Anachak Thai ( Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย) means 'kingdom of Thailand' or 'kingdom of Thai'. Etymologically, its components are: ratcha ( Sanskrit: राजन्, , 'king, royal, realm'), ana- ( Pali āṇā 'authority, command, power', itself from the Sanskrit , ājñā, of the same meaning), and -chak (from Sanskrit cakra- 'wheel', a symbol of power and rule). The Thai National Anthem ( Thai: เพลงชาติ), written by Luang Saranupraphan during the patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as prathet Thai ( Thai: ประเทศไทย). The first line of the national anthem is: prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai ( Thai: ประเทศไทยรวมเลือดเนื้อชาติเชื้อไทย), 'Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh and blood'.

The former name Siam may have originated from Sanskrit श्याम ( śyāma, 'dark') or Mon ရာမည ( rhmañña, 'stranger'), probably the same root as and . The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned and artificial distortion. Another theory is the name derives from the Chinese calling this region 'Xian' A further possibility is that Mon-speaking peoples migrating south called themselves syem as do the autochthonous Mon-Khmer-speaking inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula.

SPPM Mongkut Rex Siamensium, King Mongkut's signature

The signature of King Mongkut (r. 1851-1868) reads SPPM ( Somdet Phra Poramenthra Maha) Mongkut Rex Siamensium (Mongkut, King of the Siamese). This usage of the name in the country's first international treaty gave the name Siam official status, until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to "Thailand". Thailand was briefly renamed Siam from 1946 to 1948, after which it again reverted to "Thailand".

Prehistory

Map showing geographic distribution of Kra-Dai linguistic family. Arrows represent general pattern of the migration of Tai-speaking tribes along the rivers and over the lower passes.[24]: 27

There is evidence of continuous human habitation in present-day Thailand from 20,000 years ago to the present day. The earliest evidence of rice growing is dated at 2,000 BCE. Areas comprising what is now Thailand participated in the Maritime Jade Road, as ascertained by archeological research. The trading network existed for 3,000 years, between 2000 BCE to 1000 CE. Bronze appeared c. 1,250-1,000 BCE. The site of Ban Chiang in northeast Thailand currently ranks as the earliest known centre of copper and bronze production in Southeast Asia. Iron appeared around 500 BCE. The Kingdom of Funan was the first and most powerful Southeast Asian kingdom at the time (2nd century BCE). The Mon people established the principalities of Dvaravati and Kingdom of Hariphunchai in the 6th century. The Khmer people established the Khmer empire, centred in Angkor, in the 9th century. Tambralinga, a Malay state controlling trade through the Malacca Strait, rose in the 10th century. The Indochina peninsula was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India from the time of the Kingdom of Funan to that of the Khmer Empire.

The Thai people are of the Tai ethnic group, characterised by common linguistic roots. Chinese chronicles first mention the Tai peoples in the 6th century BCE. While there are many assumptions regarding the origin of Tai peoples, David K. Wyatt, a historian of Thailand, argued that their ancestors which at the present inhabit Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, India, and China came from the Điện Biên Phủ area between the 5th and the 8th century. Thai people began migrating into present-day Thailand gradually from the 6th to 11th century, which Mon and Khmer people occupied at the time. Thus Thai culture was influenced by Indian, Mon, and Khmer cultures.

According to French historian George Cœdès, "The Thai first enter history of Farther India in the eleventh century with the mention of Syam slaves or prisoners of war in Champa epigraphy", and "in the twelfth century, the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat" where "a group of warriors" are described as Syam,: 190-191, 194-195  though Cham accounts do not indicate the origins of Syam or what ethnic group they belonged to. The origins and ethnicity of the Syam remain unclear, with some literature suggesting that Syam refers to the Shan people, the Bru people, or the Brau people. However, mainland Southeast Asian sources from before the fourteenth century primarily used the word Syam as an ethnonym, referring to those who belonged to a separate cultural category different from the Khmer, Cham, Bagan, or Mon. This contrasts with the Chinese sources, where Xian was used as a toponym.

Early states and Sukhothai Kingdom

After the decline of the Khmer Empire and Kingdom of Pagan in the early-13th century, various states thrived in their place. The domains of Tai people existed from the northeast of present-day India to the north of present-day Laos and to the Malay peninsula. During the 13th century, Tai people had already settled in the core land of Dvaravati and Lavo Kingdom to Nakhon Si Thammarat in the south. There are, however, no records detailing the arrival of the Tais.

Around 1240, Pho Khun Bang Klang Hao, a local Tai ruler, rallied the people to rebel against the Khmer. He later crowned himself the first king of Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238. Mainstream Thai historians count Sukhothai as the first kingdom of Thai people. Sukhothai expanded furthest during the reign of Ram Khamhaeng (r. 1279-1298). However, it was mostly a network of local lords who swore fealty to Sukhothai, not directly controlled by it. He is believed have invented Thai script and Thai ceramics were an important export in his era. Sukhothai embraced Theravada Buddhism in the reign of Maha Thammaracha I (1347-1368).

To the north, Mangrai, who descended from a local ruler lineage of Ngoenyang, founded the kingdom of Lan Na in 1292, centered in Chiang Mai. He unified the surrounding area and his dynasty would rule the kingdom continuously for the next two centuries. He also created a network of states through political alliances to the east and north of the Mekong. While in the port in Lower Chao Phraya Basin, a federation around Phetchaburi, Suphan Buri, Lopburi, and the Ayutthaya area was created in the 11th century.

Ayutthaya Kingdom

According to the most widely accepted version of its origin, the Ayutthaya Kingdom rose from the earlier, nearby Lavo Kingdom and Suvarnabhumi with Uthong as its first king. Ayutthaya was a patchwork of self-governing principalities and tributary provinces owing allegiance to the King of Ayutthaya under the mandala system. Its initial expansion was through conquest and political marriage. Before the end of the 15th century, Ayutthaya invaded the Khmer Empire three times and sacked its capital Angkor. Ayutthaya then became a regional power in place of the Khmer. Constant interference of Sukhothai effectively made it a vassal state of Ayutthaya and it was finally incorporated into the kingdom. Borommatrailokkanat brought about bureaucratic reforms which lasted into the 20th century and created a system of social hierarchy called , where male commoners were conscripted as corvée labourers for six months a year. Ayutthaya was interested in the Malay peninsula, but failed to conquer the Malacca Sultanate which was supported by the Chinese Ming dynasty.

European contact and trade started in the early-16th century, with the envoy of Portuguese duke Afonso de Albuquerque in 1511. Portugal became an ally and ceded some soldiers to King Rama Thibodi II. The Portuguese were followed in the 17th century by the French, Dutch, and English. Rivalry for supremacy over Chiang Mai and the Mon people pitted Ayutthaya against the Burmese Kingdom. Several wars with its ruling Taungoo dynasty starting in the 1540s in the reign of Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung were ultimately ended with the capture of the capital in 1570. Then was a brief period of vassalage to Burma until Naresuan proclaimed independence in 1584.

Ayutthaya then sought to improve relations with European powers for many successive reigns. The kingdom especially prospered during cosmopolitan Narai's reign (1656-1688) when some European travelers regarded Ayutthaya as an Asian great power, alongside China and India. However, growing French influence later in his reign was met with nationalist sentiment and led eventually to the Siamese revolution of 1688. However, overall relations remained stable, with French missionaries still active in preaching Christianity.

After a bloody period of dynastic struggle, Ayutthaya entered into what has been called the Siamese " golden age", a relatively peaceful episode in the second quarter of the 18th century when art, literature, and learning flourished. There were seldom foreign wars, apart from conflict with the Nguyễn lords for control of Cambodia starting around 1715. The last fifty years of the kingdom witnessed bloody succession crises, where there were purges of court officials and able generals for many consecutive reigns. In 1765, a combined 40,000-strong force of Burmese armies invaded it from the north and west. The Burmese under the new Alaungpaya dynasty quickly rose to become a new local power by 1759. After a 14-month siege, the capital city's walls fell and the city was burned in April 1767.

Thonburi Kingdom

The capital and many of its territories lay in chaos after the war. The former capital was occupied by the Burmese garrison army and five local leaders declared themselves overlords, including the lords of Sakwangburi, Phitsanulok, Pimai, Chanthaburi, and Nakhon Si Thammarat. Chao Tak, a capable military leader, proceeded to make himself a lord by right of conquest, beginning with the legendary sack of Chanthaburi. Based at Chanthaburi, Chao Tak raised troops and resources, and sent a fleet up the Chao Phraya to take the fort of Thonburi. In the same year, Chao Tak was able to retake Ayutthaya from the Burmese only seven months after the fall of the city.

Chao Tak then crowned himself as Taksin and proclaimed Thonburi as temporary capital in the same year. He also quickly subdued the other warlords. His forces engaged in wars with Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, which successfully drove the Burmese out of Lan Na in 1775, captured Vientiane in 1778 and tried to install a pro-Thai king in Cambodia in the 1770s. In his final years there was a coup, caused supposedly by his "insanity", and eventually Taksin and his sons were executed by his longtime companion General Chao Phraya Chakri (the future Rama I). He was the first king of the ruling Chakri dynasty and founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom on 6 April 1782.

Modernisation and centralisation

Under Rama I (1782-1809), Rattanakosin successfully defended against Burmese attacks and put an end to Burmese incursions. He also created suzerainty over large portions of Laos and Cambodia. In 1821, Briton John Crawfurd was sent to negotiate a new trade agreement with Siam - the first sign of an issue which was to dominate 19th century Siamese politics. Bangkok signed the Burney Treaty in 1826, after the British victory in the First Anglo-Burmese War. Anouvong of Vientiane, who mistakenly held the belief that Britain was about to launch an invasion of Bangkok, started the Lao rebellion in 1826 which was suppressed. Vientiane was destroyed and a large number of Lao people were relocated to Khorat Plateau as a result. Bangkok also waged several wars with Vietnam, where Siam successfully regained hegemony over Cambodia.

From the late-19th century, Siam tried to rule the ethnic groups in the realm as colonies. In the reign of Mongkut (1851-1868), who recognised the potential threat Western powers posed to Siam, his court contacted the British government directly to defuse tensions. A British mission led by Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong, led to the signing of the Bowring Treaty, the first of many unequal treaties with Western countries. This, however, brought trade and economic development to Siam. The unexpected death of Mongkut from malaria led to the reign of underage Prince Chulalongkorn, with Somdet Chaophraya Sri Suriwongse (Chuang Bunnag) acting as regent.

Chulalongkorn (r. 1868-1910) initiated centralisation, set up a privy council, and abolished slavery and the corvée system. The Front Palace crisis of 1874 stalled attempts at further reforms. In the 1870s and 1880s, he incorporated the protectorates up north into the kingdom proper, which later expanded to the protectorates in the northeast and the south. He established twelve krom in 1888, which were equivalent to present-day ministries. The crisis of 1893 erupted, caused by French demands for Laotian territory east of Mekong. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation never to have been colonised by a Western power, in part because Britain and France agreed in 1896 to make the Chao Phraya valley a buffer state. Not until the 20th century could Siam renegotiate every unequal treaty dating from the Bowring Treaty, including extraterritoriality. The advent of the monthon system marked the creation of the modern Thai nation-state. In 1905, there were unsuccessful rebellions in the ancient Patani area, Ubon Ratchathani, and Phrae in opposition to an attempt to blunt the power of local lords.

The Palace Revolt of 1912 was a failed attempt by Western-educated military officers to overthrow the Siamese monarchy. Vajiravudh (r. 1910-1925) responded by propaganda for the entirety of his reign, which promoted the idea of the Thai nation. In 1917, Siam joined the First World War on the side of the Allies. In the aftermath Siam had a seat at the Paris Peace Conference, and gained freedom of taxation and the revocation of extraterritoriality.

Constitutional monarchy, World War II and Cold War

A bloodless revolution took place in 1932, in which Prajadhipok was forced to grant the country's first constitution, thereby ending centuries of feudal and absolute monarchy. The combined results of economic hardships brought on by the Great Depression, sharply falling rice prices, and a significant reduction in public spending caused discontent among aristocrats. In 1933, a counter-revolutionary rebellion occurred which aimed to reinstate absolute monarchy, but failed. Prajadhipok's conflict with the government eventually led to abdication. The government selected Ananda Mahidol, who was studying in Switzerland, to be the new king.

Later that decade, the army wing of Khana Ratsadon came to dominate Siamese politics. Plaek Phibunsongkhram who became premier in 1938, started political oppression and took an openly anti-royalist stance. His government adopted nationalism and Westernisation, anti-Chinese and anti-French policies.

In 1939, there was a decree changing the name of the country from "Siam" to "Thailand". In 1941, Thailand was in a brief conflict with Vichy France resulting in Thailand gaining some Lao and Cambodian territories.

On 8 December 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an invasion of Thailand, and fighting broke out shortly before Phibun ordered an armistice. Japan was granted free passage, and on 21 December Thailand and Japan signed a military alliance with a secret protocol, wherein the Japanese government agreed to help Thailand regain lost territories. The Thai government declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom. The Free Thai Movement was launched both in Thailand and abroad to oppose the government and Japanese occupation. After the war ended in 1945, Thailand signed formal agreements to end the state of war with the Allies. The main Allied powers had ignored Thailand's declaration of war.

In June 1946, young King Ananda was found dead under mysterious circumstances. His younger brother Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended to the throne. Thailand joined the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) to become an active ally of the United States in 1954. Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat launched a coup in 1957, which removed Khana Ratsadon from politics. His rule (premiership 1959-1963) was autocratic; he built his legitimacy around the god-like status of the monarch and by channelling the government's loyalty to the king. His government improved the country's infrastructure and education. After the United States joined the Vietnam War in 1961, there was a secret agreement wherein the U.S. promised to protect Thailand.

The period brought about increasing modernisation and Westernisation of Thai society. Rapid urbanisation occurred when the rural populace sought work in growing cities. Rural farmers gained class consciousness and were sympathetic to the Communist Party of Thailand. Economic development and education enabled the rise of a middle class in Bangkok and other cities. In October 1971, there was a large demonstration against the dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn (premiership 1963-1973), which led to civilian casualties. Bhumibol installed Sanya Dharmasakti (premiership 1973-1975) to replace him, marking the first time that the king had intervened in Thai politics directly since 1932. The aftermath of the event marked a short-lived parliamentary democracy, often called the "era when democracy blossomed" (ยุคประชาธิปไตยเบ่งบาน).

Contemporary history

Constant unrest and instability, as well as fear of a communist takeover after the fall of Saigon, made some ultra-right groups brand leftist students as communists. This culminated in the Thammasat University massacre in October 1976. A coup d'état on that day brought Thailand a new ultra-right government, which cracked down on media outlets, officials, and intellectuals, and fuelled the communist insurgency. Another coup the following year installed a more moderate government, which offered amnesty to communist fighters in 1978.

Fuelled by Indochina refugee crisis, Vietnamese border raids and economic hardships, Prem Tinsulanonda became the Prime Minister from 1980 to 1988. The communists abandoned the insurgency by 1983. Prem's premiership was dubbed "semi-democracy" because the Parliament was composed of all elected House and all appointed Senate. The 1980s also saw increasing intervention in politics by the monarch, who rendered two coups in 1981 and 1985 attempts against Prem failed. Thailand had its first elected prime minister in 1988.

Suchinda Kraprayoon, who was the coup leader in 1991 and said he would not seek to become prime minister, was nominated as one by the majority coalition government after the 1992 general election. This caused a popular demonstration in Bangkok, which ended with a bloody military crackdown. Bhumibol intervened in the event and signed an amnesty law, Suchinda then resigned.

The 1997 Asian financial crisis originated in Thailand and ended the country's 40 years of uninterrupted economic growth. Chuan Leekpai's government took an IMF loan with unpopular provisions. The populist Thai Rak Thai party, led by prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, governed from 2001 until 2006. His policies were successful in reducing rural poverty and initiated universal healthcare in the country. A South Thailand insurgency escalated starting from 2004. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit the country, mostly in the south. Massive protests against Thaksin led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) started in his second term as prime minister and his tenure ended with a coup d'état in 2006. The junta installed a military government which lasted a year.

In 2007, a civilian government led by the Thaksin-allied People's Power Party (PPP) was elected. Another protest led by PAD ended with the dissolution of PPP, and the Democrat Party led a coalition government in its place. The pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) protested both in 2009 and in 2010, the latter of which ended with a violent military crackdown causing more than 70 civilian deaths.

After the general election of 2011, the populist Pheu Thai Party won a majority and Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin's younger sister, became prime minister. The People's Democratic Reform Committee organised another anti-Shinawatra protest after the ruling party proposed an amnesty bill which would benefit Thaksin. Yingluck dissolved parliament and a general election was scheduled, but was invalidated by the Constitutional Court. The crisis ended with another coup d'état in 2014.

The ensuing National Council for Peace and Order, a military junta led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, led the country until 2019. Civil and political rights were restricted, and the country saw a surge in lèse-majesté cases. Political opponents and dissenters were sent to "attitude adjustment" camps; this was described by academics as showing the rise of fascism. Bhumibol, the longest-reigning Thai king, died in 2016, and his son Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne. The referendum and adoption of Thailand's current constitution happened under the junta's rule. The junta also bound future governments to a 20-year national strategy 'road map' it laid down, effectively locking the country into military-guided democracy. In 2019, the junta agreed to schedule a general election in March. Prayut continued his premiership with the support of Palang Pracharath Party-coalition in the House and junta-appointed Senate, amid allegations of election fraud. The 2020-21 pro-democracy protests were triggered by increasing royal prerogative, democratic and economic regression from the Royal Thai Armed Forces supported by the Thai monarchy in the wake of the 2014 Thai coup d'état, dissolution of the pro-democracy Future Forward Party, distrust in the 2019 general election and the current political system, forced disappearance and deaths of political activists including Wanchalearm Satsaksit, and political corruption scandals, which brought forward unprecedented demands to reform the monarchy and the highest sense of republicanism in the country.

In May 2023, Thailand's reformist opposition,the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) and the populist Pheu Thai Party, won the general election, meaning the royalist-military parties that supported Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha lost power. On 22 August 2023, Srettha Thavisin of the populist Pheu Thai party, became Thailand's new prime minister, while the Pheu Thai party's billionaire figurehead Thaksin Shinawatra returned to Thailand after years in self-imposed exile.

Thailand comprises several distinct geographic regions, partly corresponding to the provincial groups. The north of the country is the mountainous area of the Thai highlands, with the highest point being Doi Inthanon in the Thanon Thong Chai Range at 2,565 metres (8,415 ft) above sea level. The northeast, Isan, consists of the Khorat Plateau, bordered to the east by the Mekong River. The centre of the country is dominated by the predominantly flat Chao Phraya river valley, which runs into the Gulf of Thailand.

Southern Thailand consists of the narrow Kra Isthmus that widens into the Malay Peninsula. Politically, there are six geographical regions which differ from the others in population, basic resources, natural features, and level of social and economic development. The diversity of the regions is the most pronounced attribute of Thailand's physical setting.

The Chao Phraya and the Mekong River are the indispensable water courses of rural Thailand. Industrial scale production of crops use both rivers and their tributaries. The Gulf of Thailand covers 320,000 square kilometres (124,000 sq mi) and is fed by the Chao Phraya, Mae Klong, Bang Pakong, and Tapi Rivers. It contributes to the tourism sector owing to its clear shallow waters along the coasts in the southern region and the Kra Isthmus. The eastern shore of the Gulf of Thailand is an industrial centre of Thailand with the kingdom's premier deepwater port in Sattahip and its busiest commercial port, Laem Chabang.

The Andaman Sea is a precious natural resource as it hosts popular and luxurious resorts. Phuket, Krabi, Ranong, Phang Nga and Trang, and their islands, all lay along the coasts of the Andaman Sea and, despite the 2004 tsunami, they remain a tourist magnet.

Thailand map of Köppen climate classification.

Thailand's climate is influenced by monsoon winds that have a seasonal character (the southwest and northeast monsoon). Most of the country is classified as Köppen's tropical savanna climate. The majority of the south as well as the eastern tip of the east have a tropical monsoon climate. Parts of the south also have a tropical rainforest climate.

A year in Thailand is divided into three seasons. The first is the rainy or southwest monsoon season (mid-May to mid-October), which is caused by southwestern wind from the Indian Ocean. Rainfall is also contributed by Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and tropical cyclones, with August and September being the wettest period of the year. The country receives a mean annual rainfall of 1,200 to 1,600 mm (47 to 63 in). Winter or the northeast monsoon occurs from mid-October until mid-February. Most of Thailand experiences dry weather with mild temperatures. Summer or the pre-monsoon season runs from mid-February until mid-May. Due to their inland position and latitude, the north, northeast, central and eastern parts of Thailand experience a long period of warm weather, where temperatures can reach up to 40 °C (104 °F) during March to May, in contrast to close to or below 0 °C (32 °F) in some areas in winter. Southern Thailand is characterised by mild weather year-round with less diurnal and seasonal variations in temperatures due to maritime influences. It receives abundant rainfall, particularly during October to November.

Thailand is among the world's ten countries that are most exposed to climate change. In particular, it is highly vulnerable to rising sea levels and extreme weather events.

Biodiversity and conservation

The population of Asian elephants in Thailand's wild has dropped to an estimated 2,000-3,000.[76]

National parks in Thailand are defined as an area that contains natural resources of ecological importance or unique beauty, or flora and fauna of special importance. Thailand's protected areas include 156 national parks, 58 wildlife sanctuaries, 67 non-hunting areas, and 120 forest parks. They cover almost 31 per cent of the kingdom's territory.

The parks are administered by the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department (DNP), of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE).

Thailand has a mediocre but improving performance in the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with an overall ranking of 91 out of 180 countries in 2016. The environmental areas where Thailand performs worst (i.e., highest-ranking) are air quality (167), environmental effects of the agricultural industry (106), and the climate and energy sector (93), the later mainly because of a high CO₂ emission per kWh produced. Thailand performs best (i.e., lowest-ranking) in water resource management (66), with some major improvements expected for the future, and sanitation (68). The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.00/10, ranking it 88th globally out of 172 countries.

The population of elephants, the country's national symbol, has fallen from 100,000 in 1850 to an estimated 2,000. Poachers have long hunted elephants for ivory and hides, and now increasingly for meat. Young elephants are often captured for use in tourist attractions or as work animals, where there have been claims of mistreatment. However, their use has declined since the government banned logging in 1989.

Poaching of protected species remains a major problem. Tigers, leopards, and other large cats are hunted for their pelts. Many are farmed or hunted for their meat, which supposedly has medicinal properties. Although such trade is illegal, the well-known Bangkok market Chatuchak is still known for the sale of endangered species. The practice of keeping wild animals as pets affects species such as Asiatic black bear, Malayan sun bear, white-handed lar, pileated gibbon, and binturong.

Politics and government

Prior to 1932, Thai kings were feudal or absolute monarchs. During Sukhothai Kingdom, the king was seen as a Dharmaraja or 'king who rules in accordance with Dharma'. The system of government was a network of tributaries ruled by local lords. Modern absolute monarchy and statehood was established by Chulalongkorn when he transformed the decentralized protectorate system into a unitary state. On 24 June 1932, Khana Ratsadon (People's Party) carried out a bloodless revolution which marked the beginning of constitutional monarchy.

Thailand has had 20 constitutions and charters since 1932, including the latest and current 2017 Constitution. All constitutions state that the politics is conducted within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, but the de facto form of government has ranged from military dictatorship to electoral democracy. Thailand has had the fourth-most coups in the world. "Uniformed or ex-military men have led Thailand for 55 of the 83 years" between 1932 and 2009. Most recently, the military junta self-titled as the National Council for Peace and Order ruled the country between 2014 and 2019. Since the 2019 Thai general election, Thailand's nominally democratic government has been led by Prayut Chan-o-cha, a royalist who was the former commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army that initiated the 2014 Thai coup d'état. Prayut's premiership was temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court between 24 August and 30 September 2022 while the court determined whether or not he has reached his 8-year term limit; during that time, Prawit Wongsuwan assumed the role of acting Prime Minister. On 22 August 2023, after three months since the 2023 Thai general election, Srettha Thavisin one of the prime ministerial candidates of the Pheu Thai Party and the former real estate developer was elected by Parliament to become the 30th Prime Minister of Thailand

A hereditary monarch serves as Thailand's head of state. The current King of Thailand is Vajiralongkorn (or Rama X), who has reigned since October 2016. The powers of the king are limited by the constitution and he is primarily a symbolic figurehead. However, the monarch still occasionally intervenes in Thai politics, as all constitutions pave the way for customary royal rulings. Some academics outside Thailand, including Duncan McCargo and Federico Ferrara, noted extraconstitutional role of the monarch through a " network monarchy" behind the political scenes. The monarchy is protected by the severe lèse majesté law, even though the people's attitude towards the institution varies from one reign to another.

Government is separated into three branches:

The legislative branch: the National Assembly is composed of the Senate, the 250-member fully appointed upper house, and House of Representatives, the elected 500-member lower house. The current constitution gives senators power to elect prime ministers along with the representatives until 2024. Its most recent election is the 2023 general election. The coalition led by Pheu Thai Party currently holds the majority.

The executive branch consisting of the Prime Minister of Thailand who was elected by the National Assembly and other cabinet members of up to 35 people. The cabinet was appointed by the king on the advice of the prime minister. The prime minister is the head of government.

The judiciary is supposed to be independent of the executive and the legislative branches, although judicial rulings are suspected of being based on political considerations rather than on existing law.

Military and bureaucratic aristocrats fully controlled political parties between 1946 and the 1980s. Most parties in Thailand are short-lived. Between 1992 and 2006, Thailand had a two-party system. Since 2000, two political parties dominated Thai general elections: one was the Pheu Thai Party (which was a successor of People's Power Party and the Thai Rak Thai Party), and the other was the Democrat Party. The political parties which support Thaksin Shinawatra won the most representatives every general election since 2001. Later constitutions created a multi-party system where a single party cannot gain a majority in the house.

The kings are protected by lèse-majesté laws which allow critics to be jailed for three to fifteen years. After the 2014 Thai coup d'état, Thailand had the highest number of lèse-majesté prisoners in the nation's history. Human rights in Thailand has been rated on the Freedom House Index since 2014.

Administrative divisions

Thailand is a unitary state; the administrative services of the executive branch are divided into three levels by National Government Organisation Act, BE 2534 (1991): central, provincial and local. Thailand is composed of 76 provinces (, changwat), which are first-level administrative divisions. There are also two specially governed districts: the capital Bangkok and Pattaya. Bangkok is at provincial level and thus often counted as a province. Each province is divided into districts (, amphoe) and the districts are further divided into sub-districts (, tambons). The name of each province's capital city (, mueang) is the same as that of the province. For example, the capital of Chiang Mai Province ( Changwat Chiang Mai) is Mueang Chiang Mai or Chiang Mai. All provincial governors and district chiefs, which are administrators of provinces and districts respectively, are appointed by the central government. Thailand's provinces are sometimes grouped into four to six regions, depending on the source.
A clickable map of Thailand exhibiting its provinces

A clickable map of Thailand exhibiting its provinces

Foreign relations

Siam's and Thailand's way of conducting foreign relations has long been described as "bamboo bending with the wind", which means adaptable and pragmatic. In order to secure independence, it sought to pit one great power against the others so that it would be dominated by none.

In the 2000s, Thailand had taken an active role on the international stage and participated fully in international and regional organisations. It is a major non-NATO ally and Priority Watch List Special 301 Report of the United States. When East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, Thailand contributed troops to the international peacekeeping effort. As part of its effort to increase international ties, Thailand had reached out to such regional organisations as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

During Thaksin Shinawatra's premiership, negotiations for several free trade agreements with China, Australia, Bahrain, India, and the US were initiated. Thaksin sought to position Thailand as a regional leader, initiating various development projects in poorer neighbouring countries. More controversially, he established close, friendly ties with the Burmese dictatorship. Thailand joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, sending a humanitarian contingent until September 2004. Thailand also had contributed troops to reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

In April 2009, the Cambodian-Thai border dispute brought troops on territory immediately adjacent to the 900-year-old ruins of Cambodia's Preah Vihear Hindu temple near the border.

After the 2014 coup, Thailand leaned more towards China. Growing Chinese influence and capital inflow caused some members of parliament to raise the concern about "economic colony" under China after many concessions.

During the Israel-Hamas military conflict in 2023, at first Thailand's prime minister stated that his government strongly condemns the attack against Israel and extends its deepest condolences to the government and the people of Israel but the government later changed its position and announced that Thailand adopted a neutral stance in this conflict. 28 Thai nationals were killed in this conflict.

Armed forces

The HTMS Chakri Naruebet, an aircraft carrier of the Royal Thai Navy

The Royal Thai Armed Forces (กองทัพไทย; Kong Thap Thai ) constitute the military of the Kingdom of Thailand. It consists of the Royal Thai Army (กองทัพบกไทย), the Royal Thai Navy (กองทัพเรือไทย), and the Royal Thai Air Force (กองทัพอากาศไทย). It also incorporates various paramilitary forces.

The Thai Armed Forces have a combined manpower of 306,000 active duty personnel and another 245,000 active reserve personnel. The head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย, Chom Thap Thai) is the king, although this position is only nominal. The armed forces are managed by the Ministry of Defence of Thailand, which is headed by the Minister of Defence (a member of the cabinet of Thailand) and commanded by the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, which in turn is headed by the Chief of Defence Forces of Thailand. Thai annual defense budget almost tripled from 78 billion baht in 2005 to 207 billion baht in 2016, accounting for approximately 1.5% of 2019 Thai GDP. Thailand ranked 16th worldwide in the Military Strength Index based on the Credit Suisse report in September 2015.

The military is also tasked with humanitarian missions, such as escorting Rohingya to Malaysia or Indonesia, ensuring security and welfare for refugees during Indochina refugee crisis.

According to the constitution, serving in the armed forces is a duty of all Thai citizens. Thailand still use active draft system for males over the age of 21. They are subjected to varying lengths of active service depending on the duration of reserve training as Territorial Defence Student and their level of education. Those who have completed three years or more of reserve training will be exempted entirely. The practice has long been criticized, as some media question its efficacy and value. It is alleged that conscripts end up as servants to senior officers or clerks in military cooperative shops. In a report issued in March 2020, Amnesty International charged that Thai military conscripts face institutionalised abuse systematically hushed up by military authorities.

Critics observed that Thai military's main objective is to deal with internal rather than external threats. Internal Security Operations Command is called the political arm of the Thai military, which has overlapping social and political functions with civilian bureaucracy. It also has anti-democracy mission. The military is also notorious for numerous corruption incidents, such as accusation of human trafficking, and nepotism in promotion of high-ranking officers. The military is deeply entrenched in politics. Most recently, the appointed senators include more than 100 active and retired military.

In 2017, Thailand signed and ratified the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

The economy of Thailand is heavily export-dependent, with exports accounting for more than two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP). Thailand exports over US$105 billion worth of goods and services annually. Major exports include cars, computers, electrical appliances, rice, textiles and footwear, fishery products, rubber, and jewellery.

Thailand is an emerging economy and is considered a newly industrialised country. Thailand had a 2017 GDP of US$1.236 trillion (on a purchasing power parity basis). Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Thailand ranks midway in the wealth spread in Southeast Asia as it is the fourth richest nation according to GDP per capita, after Singapore, Brunei, and Malaysia.

Thailand functions as an anchor economy for the neighbouring developing economies of Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. In the third quarter of 2014, the unemployment rate in Thailand stood at 0.84% according to Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).

In 2017, the Thai economy grew an inflation-adjusted 3.9%, up from 3.3% in 2016, marking its fastest expansion since 2012. High public spending, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, prompted the authorities to raise Thailand's public debt ceiling from 60% to 70% of GDP.

Income and wealth disparities

Development of real GDP per capita, 1890 to 2018

Thais have median wealth per one adult person of $1,469 in 2016, increasing from $605 in 2010. In 2016, Thailand was ranked 87th in Human Development Index, and 70th in the inequality-adjusted HDI.

In 2017, Thailand's median household income was ฿26,946 per month. Top quintile households had a 45.0% share of all income, while bottom quintile households had 7.1%. There were 26.9 million persons who had the bottom 40% of income earning less than ฿5,344 per person per month. During the 2013-2014 Thai political crisis, a survey found that anti-government PDRC mostly (32%) had a monthly income of more than ฿50,000, while pro-government UDD mostly (27%) had between ฿10,000 and ฿20,000.

In 2014, Credit Suisse reported that Thailand was the world's third most unequal country, behind Russia and India. The top 10% richest held 79% of the country's assets. The top 1% held 58% of the assets. The 50 richest Thai families had a total net worth accounting to 30% of GDP. Bank of Thailand reported that during 2006-16, Thailand's top 5% largest companies had 85% of all corporate revenue in the nation, and only 6% of the country's companies were in export industries, which made up 60% of the country's GDP.

In 2016, 5.81 million people lived in poverty, or 11.6 million people (17.2% of population) if "near poor" is included. The proportion of the poor relative to total population in each region was 12.96% in the Northeast, 12.35% in the South, and 9.83% in the North. In 2017, there were 14 million people who applied for social welfare (yearly income of less than ฿100,000 was required). In the first quarter of 2023, Thai household debts totaled 14.6 trillion baht or 89.2% of GDP; the average debt per household was approximately 500,000 baht. In 2016, there were estimated 30,000 homeless persons in the country.

Exports and manufacturing

The economy of Thailand is heavily export-dependent, with exports accounting for more than two-thirds of gross domestic product (GDP). Thailand exports over US$105 billion worth of goods and services annually. Major exports include cars, computers, electrical appliances, rice, textiles and footwear, fishery products, rubber, and jewellery.

Substantial industries include electric appliances, components, computer components, and vehicles. Thailand's recovery from the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis depended mainly on exports, among various other factors. As of 2012, the Thai automotive industry was the largest in Southeast Asia and the 9th largest in the world. The Thailand industry has an annual output of near 1.5 million vehicles, mostly commercial vehicles.

Most of the vehicles built in Thailand are developed and licensed by foreign producers, mainly Japanese and American. The Thai car industry takes advantage of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) to find a market for many of its products. Eight manufacturers, five Japanese, two US, and Tata of India, produce pick-up trucks in Thailand. As of 2012, due to its favorable taxation for 2-door pick-ups at only 3-12% against 17-50% for passenger cars, Thailand was the second largest consumer of pick-up trucks in the world, after the US. In 2014, pick-ups accounted for 42% of all new vehicle sales in Thailand.

Tourism makes up about 6% of the country's economy. Prior to the pandemic, Thailand was world's eighth most visited country as per World Tourism rankings compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. In 2019, Thailand received 39.8 million international tourists, ahead of United Kingdom and Germany and received fourth highest international tourism earning at 60.5 billion US dollar.

Thailand was the most visited country in Southeast Asia in 2013, according to the World Tourism Organisation. Estimates of tourism receipts directly contributing to the Thai GDP of 12 trillion baht range from 9 per cent (1 trillion baht) (2013) to 16 per cent. When including the indirect effects of tourism, it is said to account for 20.2 per cent (2.4 trillion baht) of Thailand's GDP.

Thailand ranks fifth biggest medical tourism destination of inbound medical tourism spending, according to World Travel and Tourism Council, attracting over 2.5 million visitors in 2018. The country is also Asia's number one. The country is popular for the growing practice of sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and cosmetic surgery. In 2010-2012, more than 90% of medical tourists travelled to Thailand for SRS.

Prostitution in Thailand and sex tourism also form a de facto part of the economy. Campaigns promote Thailand as exotic to attract tourists. One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$4.3 billion per year or about 3% of the Thai economy. It is believed that at least 10% of tourist dollars are spent on the sex trade.

Agriculture and natural resources

Thailand has long been one of the largest rice exporters in the world. Forty-nine per cent of Thailand's labour force is employed in agriculture.[166]

Forty-nine per cent of Thailand's labour force is employed in agriculture. This is down from 70% in 1980. Rice is the most important crop in the country and Thailand had long been the world's leading exporter of rice, until recently falling behind both India and Vietnam. Thailand has the highest percentage of arable land, 27.25%, of any nation in the Greater Mekong Subregion. About 55% of the arable land area is used for rice production.

Agriculture has been experiencing a transition from labour-intensive and transitional methods to a more industrialised and competitive sector. Between 1962 and 1983, the agricultural sector grew by 4.1% per year on average and continued to grow at 2.2% between 1983 and 2007. The relative contribution of agriculture to GDP has declined while exports of goods and services have increased.

Furthermore, access to biocapacity in Thailand is lower than world average. In 2016, Thailand had 1.2 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, a little less than world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In contrast, in 2016, they used 2.5 global hectares of biocapacity - their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use about twice as much biocapacity as Thailand contains, resulting in a deficit.

Informal economy

Thailand has a diverse and robust informal labour sector-in 2012, it was estimated that informal workers comprised 62.6% of the Thai workforce. The Ministry of Labour defines informal workers to be individuals who work in informal economies and do not have employee status under a given country's Labour Protection Act (LPA). The informal sector in Thailand has grown significantly over the past 60 years over the course of Thailand's gradual transition from an agriculture-based economy to becoming more industrialised and service-oriented. Between 1993 and 1995, ten per cent of the Thai labour force moved from the agricultural sector to urban and industrial jobs, especially in the manufacturing sector. It is estimated that between 1988 and 1995, the number of factory workers in the country doubled from two to four million, as Thailand's GDP tripled. While the Asian Financial Crisis that followed in 1997 hit the Thai economy hard, the industrial sector continued to expand under widespread deregulation, as Thailand was mandated to adopt a range of structural adjustment reforms upon receiving funding from the IMF and World Bank. These reforms implemented an agenda of increased privatisation and trade liberalisation in the country, and decreased federal subsidisation of public goods and utilities, agricultural price supports, and regulations on fair wages and labour conditions. These changes put further pressure on the agricultural sector, and prompted continued migration from the rural countryside to the growing cities. Many migrant farmers found work in Thailand's growing manufacturing industry, and took jobs in sweatshops and factories with few labour regulations and often exploitative conditions.

Those that could not find formal factory work, including illegal migrants and the families of rural Thai migrants that followed their relatives to the urban centres, turned to the informal sector to provide the extra support needed for survival-under the widespread regulation imposed by the structural adjustment programs, one family member working in a factory or sweatshop made very little. Scholars argue that the economic consequences and social costs of Thailand's labour reforms in the wake of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis fell on individuals and families rather than the state: as the country's labour market became increasingly deregulated, the burden and responsibility of providing an adequate livelihood shifted from employers and the state to the workers themselves, whose families had to find jobs in the informal sector to make up for the losses and subsidise the wages being made by their relatives in the formal sector. The weight of these economic changes hit migrants and the urban poor especially hard, and the informal sector expanded rapidly as a result.

Today, informal labour in Thailand is typically broken down into three main groups: subcontracted/self employed/home-based workers, service workers (including those that are employed in restaurants, as street vendors, masseuses, taxi drivers, and as domestic workers), and agricultural workers. Not included in these categories are those that work in entertainment, nightlife, and the sex industry. Individuals employed in these facets of the informal labour sector face additional vulnerabilities, including recruitment into circles of sexual exploitation and human trafficking. A 2012 study found that 64% of informal workers had not completed education beyond primary school. Many informal workers are also migrants, only some of which have legal status in the country. Because the informal labour sector is not recognised under the Labour Protection Act (LPA), informal workers are much more vulnerable to exploitation and unsafe working conditions. While some Thai labour laws provide minimal protections to domestic and agricultural workers, they are often weak and difficult to enforce. Furthermore, Thai social security policies fail to protect against the risks many informal workers face, including workplace accidents and compensation as well as unemployment and retirement insurance. Many informal workers are not legally contracted for their employment, and many do not make a living wage. Tens of thousands of migrants from neighboring countries face exploitation in a few industries, especially in fishing where slave-like conditions have been reported.

Science and technology

Thailand ranked 43rd in the Global Innovation Index in 2023. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation and its agencies oversees the development of science, technology, and research in Thailand. According to the National Research Council of Thailand, the country devoted 1.1% of its GDP to the research and development of science in 2019, with over 166,788 research and development personnel in full-time equivalent that year.

Infrastructure

Transportation

There were two failed project Lavalin Skytrain and Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System , before Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan in Bangkok Metropolitan Region endorsed by the cabinet on 27 September 1994 and to be implemented from 1995 to 2011.

The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) operates all of Thailand's national rail lines. Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal and Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) are the main termini of intercity routes. Phahonyothin and ICD Lat Krabang are the main freight terminals. As of 2017 SRT had 4,507 km (2,801 mi) of track, all of it meter gauge. Nearly all is single-track (4,097 km), although some important sections around Bangkok are double (303 km or 188 mi) or triple-tracked (107 km or 66 mi) and there are plans to extend this. Rail transport in Bangkok includes long-distance services, and some daily commuter trains running from and to the outskirts of the city during the rush hour, but passenger numbers have remained low. There are also four rapid transit rail systems in the capital: the BTS Skytrain, MRT, SRT Red Lines and the Airport Rail Link.

Thailand has 390,000 kilometres (240,000 miles) of highways. As of 2017, Thailand has over 462,133 roads and 37 million registered vehicles, 20 million of them motorbikes. A number of undivided two-lane highways have been converted into divided four-lane highways. Within the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, there are a number of controlled-access highways. There are 4,125 public vans operating on 114 routes from Bangkok alone. Other forms of road transport includes tuk-tuks, taxis-with over 80,647 registered taxis nationwide as of 2018-vans ( minibus), motorbike taxis and songthaews.

As of 2012, Thailand has 103 airports with 63 paved runways, in addition to 6 heliports. The busiest airport in the country is Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

75% of Thailand's electrical generation is powered by natural gas in 2014. Coal-fired power plants produce an additional 20% of electricity, with the remainder coming from biomass, hydro, and biogas.

Thailand produces roughly one-third of the oil it consumes. It is the second largest importer of oil in SE Asia. Thailand is a large producer of natural gas, with reserves of at least 10 trillion cubic feet. After Indonesia, it is the largest coal producer in SE Asia, but must import additional coal to meet domestic demand.

Demographics

Thailand had a population of 69,799,978 as of 2020, Thailand's first census in 1909 found the population to be 8.2 million. Thailand's population is largely rural, concentrated in the rice-growing areas of the central, northeastern and northern regions. About 45.7% of Thailand's population lived in urban areas as of 2010, concentrated mostly in and around the Bangkok Metropolitan Area.

Thailand's government-sponsored family planning program resulted in a dramatic decline in population growth from 3.1% in 1960 to around 0.4% today. In 1970, an average of 5.7 people lived in a Thai household. At the time of the 2010 census, the average Thai household size was 3.2 people.

Ethnic groups

Hill tribes girls in the Northeast of Thailand

Thai nationals make up the majority of Thailand's population, 95.9% in 2010. The remaining 4.1% of the population are Burmese (2.0%), others 1.3%, and unspecified 0.9%.

According to the Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice, 62 ethnic communities are officially recognised in Thailand. Twenty million Central Thai (together with approximately 650,000 Khorat Thai) make up approximately 20,650,000 (34.1 per cent) of the nation's population of 60,544,937 at the time of completion of the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data (1997).

The 2011 Thailand Country Report provides population numbers for mountain peoples ('hill tribes') and ethnic communities in the Northeast and is explicit about its main reliance on the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data. Thus, though over 3.288 million people in the Northeast alone could not be categorised, the population and percentages of other ethnic communities c. 1997 are known for all of Thailand and constitute minimum populations. In descending order, the largest (equal to or greater than 400,000) are a) 15,080,000 Lao (24.9 per cent) consisting of the Thai Lao (14 million) and other smaller Lao groups, namely the Thai Loei (400-500,000), Lao Lom (350,000), Lao Wiang/Klang (200,000), Lao Khrang (90,000), Lao Ngaew (30,000), and Lao Ti (10,000); b) six million Khon Muang (9.9 per cent, also called Northern Thais); c) 4.5 million Pak Tai (7.5 per cent, also called Southern Thais); d) 1.4 million Khmer Leu (2.3 per cent, also called Northern Khmer); e) 900,000 Malay (1.5%); f) 500,000 Nyaw (0.8 per cent); g) 470,000 Phu Thai (0.8 per cent); h) 400,000 Kuy/Kuay (also known as Suay) (0.7 per cent), and i) 350,000 Karen (0.6 per cent). Thai Chinese, those of significant Chinese heritage, are 14% of the population, while Thais with partial Chinese ancestry comprise up to 40% of the population. Thai Malays represent 3% of the population, with the remainder consisting of Mons, Khmers and various " hill tribes".

Increasing numbers of migrants from neighbouring Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, as well as from Nepal and India, have pushed the total number of non-national residents to around 3.5 million as of 2009, up from an estimated 2 million in 2008. Some 41,000 Britons and 20,000 Australians live in Thailand.

Population centres

The official language of Thailand is Thai, a Kra-Dai language closely related to Lao, Shan in Myanmar, and numerous smaller languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Yunnan south to the Chinese border. It is the principal language of education and government and spoken throughout the country. The standard is based on the dialect of the central Thai people, and it is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida script that evolved from the Khmer alphabet. Sixty-two languages were recognised by the Royal Thai Government. For the purposes of the national census, four dialects of Thai exist; these partly coincide with regional designations, such as Southern Thai and Northern Thai.

The largest of Thailand's minority languages is the Lao dialect of Isan spoken in the northeastern provinces. In the far south, Kelantan-Pattani Malay is the primary language of Malay Muslims. Varieties of Chinese are also spoken by the large Thai Chinese population, with the Teochew dialect best-represented. Numerous tribal languages are also spoken, including many Austroasiatic languages such as Mon, Khmer, Viet, Mlabri and Aslian; Austronesian languages such as Cham, Moken and Urak Lawoi'; Sino-Tibetan languages like Lawa, Akha, and Karen; and other Tai languages such as Tai Yo, Phu Thai, and Saek. Hmong is a member of the Hmong-Mien languages, which is now regarded as a language family of its own.

Samanera of Theravada Buddhism, the most practised religion in Thailand.

Muslims constitute the second largest religious group in Thailand, comprising 5.4% of the population in 2018. Islam is concentrated mostly in the country's southernmost provinces: Pattani, Yala, Satun, Narathiwat, and part of Songkhla Chumphon, which are predominantly Malay, most of whom are Sunni Muslims. Christians represented 1.13% (2018) of the population in 2018, with the remaining population consisting of Hindus and Sikhs, who live mostly in the country's cities. There is also a small but historically significant Jewish community in Thailand dating back to the 17th century.

The constitution does not name an official state religion, and provides for freedom of religion. There have been no widespread reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious belief or practice. Thai law officially recognizes five religious groups: Buddhists, Muslims, Brahmin-Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians. However, some laws are inspired from Buddhist practices, such as banning alcohol sales on religious holidays.

In 1995, as minister of education, Sukavich Rangsitpollaid out his plans for educational reform in Thailand. The goal of education reform is to realize the potential of Thai people to develop themselves for the better quality of life and to develop the nation for peaceful co-existence in the world community. The reform was considered a landmark movement after nearly 100 years of education under the previous system.

Thailand's youth literacy rate was 98.1% in 2015. Education is provided by a well-organised school system of kindergartens, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools, numerous vocational colleges, and universities. Education is compulsory up to and including age 14, while the government is mandated to provide free education through to age 17. The establishment of reliable and coherent curricula for its primary and secondary schools is subject to rapid changes. Issues concerning university entrance has been in constant upheaval for a number of years. The country is also one of the few that still mandates uniform up to the university years, which is still a subject of ongoing debate. The quality of education in the country is often questioned.

In 2013, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology announced that 27,231 schools would receive classroom-level access to high-speed internet. However, the country's educational infrastructure was still underprepared for online teaching, as smaller and more remote schools were particularly hindered by COVID-19 restrictions.

The number of higher education institutions in Thailand has grown over the past decades to 156 officially. The two top-ranking universities in Thailand are Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University. Thai universities' research output is still relatively low, even though the country's journal publications increased by 20% between 2011 and 2016. Recent initiatives, such as the National Research University and Graduate research intensive university: VISTEC, are designed to strengthen Thailand's national research universities.

The private sector of education is well developed and significantly contributes to the overall provision of education. Thailand has the second highest number of English-medium private international schools in Southeast Asian Nations. Cram schools are especially popular for university entrance exams.

Students in ethnic minority areas score consistently lower in standardised national and international tests. This is likely due to unequal allocation of educational resources, weak teacher training, poverty, and low Thai language skill, the language of the tests. As of 2020, Thailand was ranked 89th out of 100 countries globally for English proficiency.

Thailand is the third most popular study destination in ASEAN. The number of international degree students in Thailand increased by 9.7 times between 1999 and 2012, from 1,882 to 20,309 students. Most of international students come from neighbor countries like China, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Thailand ranks world's sixth, and Asia's first in the 2019 Global Health Security Index of global health security capabilities in 195 countries, making it the only developing country on the world's top ten. Thailand had 62 hospitals accredited by Joint Commission International. In 2002, Bumrungrad became the first hospital in Asia to meet the standard.

Health and medical care is overseen by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), with total national expenditures on health amounting to 4.3 per cent of GDP in 2009. Non-communicable diseases form the major burden of morbidity and mortality, while infectious diseases including malaria and tuberculosis, as well as traffic accidents, are also important public health issues.

Thai culture and traditions incorporate influences from India, China, Cambodia, and the rest of Southeast Asia. Thailand's national religion, Theravada Buddhism, is central to modern Thai identity. Thai Buddhism has evolved over time to include many regional beliefs originating from Hinduism, animism, as well as ancestor worship. The official calendar in Thailand is based on the Eastern version of the Buddhist Era (BE). Thai identity today is a social construct of the Phibun regime in the 1940s.

Respect for elderly and superiors (by age, position, monks, or certain professions) is Thai mores. As with other Asian cultures, respect towards ancestors is an essential part of Thai spiritual practice. Thais have a strong sense of social hierarchy, reflecting in many classes of honorifics. Elders have by tradition ruled in family decisions or ceremonies. is a traditional Thai greeting, and is generally offered first by a person who is younger or lower in social status and position. Older siblings have duties to younger ones. Thais have a strong sense of hospitality and generosity.

Taboos in Thai culture include touching someone's head or pointing with the feet, as the head is considered the most sacred and the foot the lowest part of the body.

The origins of Thai art were very much influenced by Buddhist art and by scenes from the Indian epics. Traditional Thai sculpture almost exclusively depicts images of the Buddha, being very similar with the other styles from Southeast Asia. Traditional Thai paintings usually consist of book illustrations, and painted ornamentation of buildings such as palaces and temples. Thai art was influenced by indigenous civilisations of the Mon and other civilisations. By the Sukothai and Ayutthaya period, Thai had developed into its own unique style and was later further influenced by the other Asian styles, mostly by Sri Lankan and Chinese. Thai sculpture and painting, and the royal courts provided patronage, erecting temples and other religious shrines as acts of merit or to commemorate important events.

Traditional Thai paintings showed subjects in two dimensions without perspective. The size of each element in the picture reflected its degree of importance. The primary technique of composition is that of apportioning areas: the main elements are isolated from each other by space transformers. This eliminated the intermediate ground, which would otherwise imply perspective. Perspective was introduced only as a result of Western influence in the mid-19th century. Monk artist Khrua In Khong is well known as the first artist to introduce linear perspective to Thai traditional art.

The most frequent narrative subjects for paintings were or are: the Jataka stories, episodes from the life of the Buddha, the Buddhist heavens and hells, themes derived from the Thai versions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and scenes of daily life. Some of the scenes are influenced by Thai folklore instead of following strict Buddhist iconography.

Architecture

Architecture is the preeminent medium of the country's cultural legacy and reflects both the challenges of living in Thailand's sometimes extreme climate as well as, historically, the importance of architecture to the Thai people's sense of community and religious beliefs. Influenced by the architectural traditions of many of Thailand's neighbours, it has also developed significant regional variation within its vernacular and religious buildings.

The Ayutthaya Kingdom movement was one of the most fruitful and creative periods in Thai architecture. Architecture in the Ayutthaya period is designed to display might and riches so it has great size and appearance. The temples in Ayutthaya seldom built eaves stretching from the masterhead. The dominant feature of this style is sunlight shining into buildings. During the latter part of the Ayutthaya period, architecture was regarded as a peak achievement that responded to the requirements of people and expressed the gracefulness of Thainess.

Buddhist temples in Thailand are known as " wats", from the Pāḷi vāṭa, meaning an enclosure: a temple has an enclosing wall that divides it from the secular world. Wat architecture demonstrates many differences in layout and style, but they all adhere to the same principles.

Literature

Thai literature has had a long history. Even before the establishment of the Sukhothai Kingdom there existed oral and written works.

During the Sukhothai Kingdom, most literary works were written in simple prose with certain alliteration schemes. Major works include King Ram Khamhaeng Inscription describing life at the time, which is considered the first literary work in Thai script, but some historians questioned its authenticity. Trai Phum Phra Ruang, written in 1345 by King Maha Thammaracha I, expounds Buddhist philosophy based on a profound and extensive study with reference to over 30 sacred texts and could be considered the nation's first piece of research dissertation.

Sculptures of Phra Aphai Mani and the Mermaid from the epic poem Phra Aphai Mani, a work of Sunthorn Phu.

During the Ayutthaya Kingdom, new poetic forms were created, with different rhyme schemes and metres. It is common to find a combination of different poetic forms in one poetic work. Lilit Yuan Phai is a narrative poem describing the war between King Borommatrailokkanat of Ayutthaya and Prince Tilokkarat of Lan Na. One of the most beautiful literary works is Kap He Ruea composed by Prince Thammathibet in the tradition. Traditionally, the verse is sung during the colourful royal barge procession and has been the model for subsequent poets to emulate. The same prince also composed the greatly admired Kap Ho Khlong on the Visit to Than Thongdaeng and Kap Ho Khlong Nirat Phrabat. The Thon Buri Period produced , a verse drama contributed by King Taksin the Great. The era marked the revival of literature after the fall of Ayutthaya.

During the 18th century Rattanakosin period, which still fought with the Burmese, many of the early Rattanakosin works deal with war and military strategy. Some examples are Nirat Rop Phama Thi Tha Din Daeng, Phleng Yao Rop Phama Thi Nakhon Si Thammarat. In the performing arts, perhaps the most important dramatic achievement is the complete work of Ramakian by King Rama I. In addition, There were also verse recitals with musical accompaniment, such as Mahori telling the story of , Sepha relating the story of Khun Chang Khun Phaen. Other recitals include Sri Thanonchai. The most important Thai poet in this period was Sunthorn Phu (สุนทรภู่), known as "the bard of Rattanakosin" ( Thai: กวีเอกแห่งกรุงรัตนโกสินทร์). Sunthorn Phu is best known for his epic poem Phra Aphai Mani, a versified fantasy-adventure novel, a genre of Siamese literature known as nithan kham klon ( Thai: นิทานคำกลอน).

Some of the most well-known modern Thai writers include Kukrit Pramoj, Kulap Saipradit, (penname Siburapha), Suweeriya Sirisingh (penname Botan), Chart Korbjitti, Prabda Yoon and Duanwad Pimwana.

Music and dance

Aside from folk and regional dances (southern Thailand's Menora (dance) and Ramwong, for example), the two major forms of Thai classical dance drama are Khon and Lakhon nai. In the beginning, both were exclusively court entertainments and it was not until much later that a popular style of dance theatre, likay, evolved as a diversion for common folk.

Folk dance forms include dance theater forms like likay, numerous regional dances ( ram), the ritual dance ram muay, and homage to the teacher, wai khru. Both ram muay and wai khru take place before all traditional muay Thai matches. The wai is also an annual ceremony performed by Thai classical dance groups to honor their artistic ancestors.

Thai classical music is synonymous with those stylized court ensembles and repertoires that emerged in their present form within the royal centers of Central Thailand some 800 years ago. These ensembles, while being influenced by older practices are today uniquely Thai expressions. While the three primary classical ensembles, the Piphat, Khrueang sai and Mahori differ in significant ways, they all share a basic instrumentation and theoretical approach. Each employs small ching hand cymbals and krap wooden sticks to mark the primary beat reference. Thai classical music has had a wide influence on the musical traditions of neighboring countries.

Entertainment

Thai films are exported and exhibited in Southeast Asia. Thai cinema has developed its own unique identity and is now being internationally recognized. Films such as Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003) and Tom-Yum-Goong (2005), starring Tony Jaa, feature distinctive aspects of Thai martial arts " Muay Thai".

Thai horror has always had a significant cult following. (2004) was one of the best-known Thai horror movies and was recognized worldwide. The Thai heist thriller film (2017) was one of the most internationally successful Thai films; it broke Thai film earning records in several Asian countries, Bad Genius won in 12 categories at the 27th Suphannahong National Film Awards, and also won the Jury Award at the 16th New York Asian Film Festival with a worldwide collection of more than $42 million.

Thailand television dramas, known as Lakorn, have become popular in Thailand and regionally. Many dramas tend to have a romantic focus, such as Khluen Chiwit, , Ugly Duckling, The Crown Princess and teen dramas television series, such as 2gether: The Series, , Girl From Nowhere, Hormones: The Series.

The entertainment industries are estimated to have directly contributed $2.1 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) to the Thai economy in 2011. They also directly supported 86,600 jobs. Amongst several Dance-pop artists who have made internationally successful can be mentioned "Lisa" Lalisa Manoban and Tata Young.

Thai cuisine is one of the most popular in the world. Thai food blends five fundamental tastes: sweet, spicy, sour, bitter, and salty. Common ingredients include garlic, lemongrass, kaffir lime, galangal, turmeric, coriander, and coconut milk. Each region of Thailand has its specialities: kaeng khiao wan ( green curry) in the central region, som tam ( green papaya salad) in the northeast, in the north, and massaman curry in the south.

In 2017, seven Thai dishes appeared on a list of the "World's 50 Best Foods"- an online worldwide poll by . Thailand had more dishes on the list than any other country. They were: tom yam goong (4th), (5th), som tam (6th), massaman curry (10th), green curry (19th), Thai fried rice (24th) and (36th). Two desserts were also listed in CNN's 50 Best Desserts Around The World: mango sticky rice and tub tim krob.

The staple food in Thailand is rice, particularly jasmine rice, which forms part of almost every meal. Thailand is a leading exporter of rice, and Thais consume over 100 kg of milled rice per person per year. Thailand is also the world leader in edible insect industry and well-known for its street food; Bangkok is sometimes called the street food capital of the world.

Units of measurement

Thailand generally uses the metric system, but traditional units of measurement for land area are used, and imperial units of measurement are occasionally used for building materials. Years are numbered as B.E. ( Buddhist Era) in educational settings, civil service, government, contracts, and newspaper datelines. However, in banking, and increasingly in industry and commerce, standard Western year (Christian or Common Era) counting is the standard practice.

Muay Thai (lit. "Thai boxing") is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the late-20th to 21st century. Famous practitioners include Buakaw Banchamek, Samart Payakaroon, Dieselnoi Chor Thanasukarn and Apidej Sit-Hirun. Buakaw Banchamek has probably brought more international interest in Muay Thai than any other fighter.

Association football has overtaken Muay Thai as the most widely followed sport in Thailand. The Thailand national football team has played the AFC Asian Cup six times and reached the semifinals in 1972. The country has hosted the Asian Cup twice, in 1972 and in 2007. The 2007 edition was co-hosted together with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Another widely enjoyed pastime, and once a competitive sport, is kite flying.

Volleyball is rapidly growing as one of the most popular sports. The women's team has often participated in the World Championship, World Cup, and World Grand Prix Asian Championship. They have won the Asian Championship twice and Asian Cup once. By the success of the women's team, the men's team has been growing as well.

Takraw (Thai: ตะกร้อ) is a sport native to Thailand, in which the players hit a rattan ball and are only allowed to use their feet, knees, chest, and head to touch the ball. Sepak takraw is a form of this sport which is similar to volleyball. A rather similar game but played only with the feet is buka ball.

Snooker has enjoyed increasing popularity in Thailand in recent years, with interest in the game being stimulated by the success of Thai snooker player James Wattana in the 1990s. Other notable Thai players include Ratchayothin Yotharuck, Noppon Saengkham and Dechawat Poomjaeng.

Rugby is also a growing sport in Thailand with the Thailand national rugby union team rising to be ranked 61st in the world. Thailand became the first country in the world to host an international 80 welterweight rugby tournament in 2005. The national domestic Thailand Rugby Union (TRU) competition includes several universities as well as local sports clubs like the British Club of Bangkok, the Southerners Sports Club (Bangkok) and the Royal Bangkok Sports Club.

Thailand has been called the golf capital of Asia. The country attracts a large number of golfers from Japan, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, and Western countries. The growing popularity of golf, especially among the middle classes and immigrants, is evident as there are more than 200 world-class golf courses nationwide, and some of them are chosen to host PGA and LPGA tournaments, such as Amata Spring Country Club, Alpine Golf and Sports Club, Thai Country Club, and Black Mountain Golf Club.

Basketball is a growing sport in Thailand, especially on the professional sports club level. The Chang Thailand Slammers won the 2011 ASEAN Basketball League Championship. The Thailand national basketball team had its most successful year at the 1966 Asian Games where it won the silver medal.

Other sports in Thailand are slowly growing as the country develops its sporting infrastructure. The success in sports like weightlifting and taekwondo at the last two summer Olympic Games has demonstrated that boxing is no longer the only medal option for Thailand.

The well-known Lumpinee Boxing Stadium originally sited at Rama IV Road near Lumphini Park hosted its final Muay Thai boxing matches on 8 February 2014 after the venue first opened in December 1956. From 11 February 2014, the stadium will relocate to Ram Intra Road, due to the new venue's capacity. Thammasat Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Bangkok, currently used mostly for football matches. It was built for the 1998 Asian Games. Rajamangala National Stadium is the biggest sporting arena in Thailand, with a capacity of 65,000. The stadium was built in 1998 for the 1998 Asian Games and is the home stadium of the Thailand national football team.

References

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35.1 0.800 · Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 70 million, it spans 513,120 square kilometres (198,120 sq mi).

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Head Of Government:

Prime Minister: Hun Manet

...(Show more)

Population:

(2023 est.) 16,493,000

...(Show more)

Form Of Government:

constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses (Senate [621]; National Assembly [125])

...(Show more)

Relief

Cambodia's landscape is characterized by a low-lying central alluvial plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level. To the north the Cambodian plain abuts a sandstone escarpment, which forms a southward-facing cliff stretching more than 200 miles (320 km) from west to east and rising abruptly above the plain to heights of 600 to 1,800 feet (180 to 550 metres). This escarpment marks the southern limit of the Dangrek (Khmer: Dângrêk) Mountains. Flowing south through the country's eastern regions is the Mekong River. East of the Mekong the transitional plains gradually merge with the eastern highlands, a region of forested mountains and high plateaus that extend into Laos and Vietnam. In southwestern Cambodia two distinct upland blocks, the Krâvanh (Cardamom) Mountains and the Dâmrei (Elephant) Mountains, form another highland region that covers much of the land area between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand. In this remote and largely uninhabited area, Mount Aôral, Cambodia's highest peak, rises to an elevation of 5,949 feet (1,813 metres). The southern coastal region adjoining the Gulf of Thailand is a narrow lowland strip, heavily wooded and sparsely populated, which is isolated from the central plain by the southwestern highlands.

Drainage

The two dominant hydrological features of Cambodia are the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap. Rising in the Plateau of Tibet and emptying into the South China Sea, the Mekong enters Cambodia from Laos at the Khone Falls and flows generally southward to the border with Vietnam, a distance within Cambodia of approximately 315 miles (510 km). The Mekong is connected to the Tonle Sap by the Sab River. During the rainy season (mid-May to early October), the Mekong's enormous volume of water backs up into the Sab and flows up into the Tonle Sap 65 miles (105 km) to the northwest, expanding the lake's surface area from a dry-season minimum of 1,200 square miles (3,100 square km) to a rainy-season maximum of more than 3,000 square miles (7,800 square km). As the water level of the Mekong falls during the dry season, the process is reversed: water drains from the Tonle Sap back down into the Mekong, switching the direction of its flow. As a result of this annual phenomenon, the Tonle Sap is one of the world's richest sources of freshwater fish.

Soils

Most of Cambodia's soils are sandy and poor in nutrients. The so-called red-soil areas in the eastern part of the country, however, are suitable for commercial crops such as rubber and cotton. The annual flooding of the Mekong during the rainy season deposits a rich alluvial sediment that accounts for the fertility of the central plain and provides natural irrigation for rice cultivation.

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Cambodia | History, Map, Flag, Capital, Population, Language, & Facts

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Cambodia, country of the Indochinese mainland of Southeast Asia, bordered to the west and northwest by Thailand, to the northeast by Laos, to the east and southeast by Vietnam, and to the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand. The capital city is Phnom Penh.

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By blending subtle flavors and spices, Khmer cuisine sets itself apart from the many other styles of food in Southeast Asia. It is similar to Thai cuisine, but is distinctive in creating full flavor without the use of chili. (Khmer cuisine was established before the introduction of chili.) The Khmer culture has mastered the use of herbs and spices to create flavor without the use of fats and meats as well. The hallmark of Khmer cuisine is prahok, a fermented paste made from a small fish called trey riel (Henicorhynchus siamensis). The grey or brown color, strong odor, and intense flavor can intimidate the uninitiated, but prahok is the cornerstone of Khmer cuisine: even the national currency is named after the trey riel. It is so desirable that farmers from outlying provinces will travel great distances to trade rice for it. Prahok is used both as a condiment and as a main element in a variety of Khmer dishes, and it accounts for a large portion of protein in the Khmer diet.

Traditionally, the production of prahok is a community affair. Surrounded with hundreds of pounds of tiny fish, men and women remove the heads, guts, and scales, while children use their feet to crush the bodies of the small fish. The fish can also be processed by a machine, rather than crushed underfoot, but machines fail to remove the bad fish and tend to not process all the fat, which is crucial to prahok flavor. Once processed, the fish pulp is set out to dry in the sun for a day; then it is packed in plastic bags or jars to ferment over weeks or months to produce the signature pungent punch. The result is a spicy mash-like paste of which a little goes a long way. The best quality prahok may be fermented for as long as three years.

The history of the Khmer is written in their food. Many dishes and sauces are similar to those of their neighbors in Thailand. Stir-frying from the Chinese culture and curry dishes from India have all added to the taste of Cambodian cuisine throughout the centuries. There are also traces of French cuisine from the time when Cambodia was part of French Indochina. (The baguette, or the long French bread, is a part of the cuisine and has come to be Cambodia's national bread.) A typical meal consists of at least three or four separate dishes. Each meal usually includes a sweet, sour, salty, and bitter sauce, to satisfy each taste bud. Rice is a staple eaten at most meals. When prahok is not used as either a paste or dipping sauce, it is most likely to be replaced with kapi, a fermented shrimp paste.

Khmer culture suffered a crippling blow during the purges of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. Nearly two million Khmer people were killed, tortured, or worked to death in labor camps, leaving little possibility for economic growth. During those brutal years, prahok was scarce, along with most other food, and many people starved. The Khmer Rouge regime affected the entire culture of the Khmer people. A significant amount of information was lost, and even the Khmer cuisine was affected by policies that did not allow traditions to be passed on. The social and economic effects of that period lasted decades.

After a long slump, Cambodia's economy took off in 2006, climbing nearly 10 percent in the past three years, compared to the previous annual average of 2 percent. Stimulated by tourism and industrial expansion, the rapid growth created overnight millionaires, leading to a large wealth gap and increased food prices. Today there are nearly 2.5 million people struggling to survive on less than one U.S. dollar a day, unable to afford one of the most important components of their diet. The price of prahok has increased so rapidly that farmers in the countryside and even city dwellers cannot obtain the nutrients that prahok provides.

Prahok also struggles to survive the effects of global warming. After record catches in 2006 and 2007, the numbers of trey riel have plummeted because of rising water temperatures. With the drop off in the numbers of prahok fish, prices for the paste have more than tripled, rising to nearly 50 cents a kilogram from around 12 cents, putting a basic commodity out of reach for many.

The future of prahok in the diet of the Khmer people is unknown, as the true impact of global warming and rising wealth gaps is still unfolding, but the Khmer people have faced severe hardships before, and their culture has always survived.

Kayla Starr is a journalism student at Suffolk College and an intern at Cultural Survival.

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By blending subtle flavors and spices, Khmer cuisine sets itself apart from the many other styles of food in Southeast Asia. It is similar to Thai cuisine, but is distinctive in creating full flavor without the use of chili. (Khmer cuisine was established before the introduction of chili.)

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The Philippines,[f] officially the Republic of the Philippines,[g] is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. In the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which are broadly categorized in three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. It is the world’s twelfth-most-populous country, with diverse ethnicities and cultures. Manila is the country’s capital, and its most populated city is Quezon City. Both are within Metro Manila.

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Cambodian History, Language, and Culture

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Cambodian History, Language, and Culture

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History of Cambodia

Little is known of the early history of Cambodia, although there is evidence of habitation in parts of the country dating as far back as 4000 BC. It is also known that Chinese and Indian traders exchanged goods with people living on the coasts of present-day Cambodia and Vietnam as early as the AD 1st century.

According to Chinese chroniclers, a Hindu kingdom known as Funan flourished between AD 300-550, but the power of this trading empire declined for reasons unknown and their territories were claimed by the Chenla dynasty, which was divided into two parts - Land Chenla and Water Chenla - in the 8th century. During this period Cambodian power spread westwards into parts of Thailand.

Cambodia's golden era came with the arrival of the Khmer dynasty, which ruled from the 9th to the 15th centuries and made the kingdom of Kambuja (from where modern-day Cambodia gets its name) one of the most powerful in Asia. The Khmer established their most famous capital at Angkor, founded as a Hindu spiritual centre but later converted to Buddhist worship.

A long period of decline followed, before the country fell under French colonial control in the 1800s. Independence was finally achieved in 1953, coinciding with the French being driven from Vietnam, after which Norodom Sihanouk was appointed king. His first reign lasted until the 1970s, when a coup d'etat by the prime minister led to Cambodia being caught up in the Vietnam War. American air raids on Cambodia played a direct role in the rise of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, who seized control after a brutal insurgency in 1975.

During the four years of Khmer Rouge rule, tens of thousands of people were executed in a systematic campaign of genocide, targeting academics, the wealthy, the educated, city dwellers and even people who wore glasses. In 1979 the Vietnamese army captured Phnom Penh and occupied Cambodia, which was renamed the People's Republic of Kampuchea.

Following UN intervention, Sihanouk returned to the throne in 1993, before abdicating in 2004 in favour of his son, Norodom Sihamoni.In the subsequent elections, the left-wing Cambodian People's Party came to wield most of the power, led by prime minister Hun Sen. The most important ongoing issue facing Cambodia is the clearance of land mines and unexploded ordnance left behind from American bombing and the civil war, which continue to kill hundreds of people every year.

Did you know?
* The Cambodian flag is the only national flag to feature a building - Angkor Wat.
* There are an estimated four million unexploded landmines still scattered around the Cambodian countryside
* Cambodia is one of the only countries in the world that has never had a McDonalds restaurant.

Cambodia Culture

Religion in Cambodia

95% of the population are classified Buddhist (Theravada), the remainder are Muslim and Christian. Buddhism was reinstated as the national religion in 1989 after a ban on religious activity in 1975.

Social Conventions in Cambodia

Sensitivity to politically-related subjects in conversation is advisable. Avoid pointing your foot at a person or touching someone on the head, as it's considered insulting. Women should keep their shoulders covered and should not wear shorts when visiting pagodas.

Photography: Permitted, with certain restrictions such as the photography of military installations, airports and railway stations. It is considered polite to ask permission before photographing Cambodian people, especially monks.

Language in Cambodia

Khmer is the official language and spoken by 95% of the population. Chinese and Vietnamese are also spoken. French was widely spoken until the arrival of the Pol Pot regime and is still taught in schools. English is commonly spoken in Cambodia. It's estimated that over 50% of the population are conversational in English, but travellers in rural areas may find in hard to communicate in smaller villages. Learning a few basic Khmer words will get you far, and earn you respects from the locals.

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Discover the captivating history, language and culture of Cambodia

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It might be one of Southeast Asia's smallest countries, but Cambodia can compete with the big boys when it comes to must-see sights. Once the preserve of trailblazing backpackers, this formerly war-torn nation is now firmly established on the Asia travel circuit.

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Red bean ice is a drink commonly found in Hong Kong. It is usually served in restaurants like cha chaan teng . It is a popular dessert in the summer. The standard ingredients include adzuki beans, light rock sugar syrup, and evaporated milk.

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All thanks to Hong Kong's unique blend of Eastern and Western culinary influences, a traveller can enjoy a range of exotic drinks, be it cocktails or herbal teas. Here's more:
readmore

Ah! The fizz and chilled feel of a local beer of Hong Kong can be a big treat for many travellers. Tsingtao is a popular Chinese beer that is also sold in Hong Kong. Some other Chinese beers that are popular in the markets of Hong Kong are Yanjing and Hong Kong Beer. Try San Miguel Beer from Philippines. There's Blue Girl Beer from South Korea and the popular Sonderberg Beer, which is light and enjoyed with great cheer in Hong Kong.
Disclaimer: This article has been produced on behalf of Hong Kong Tourism by Times Internet.
readmore

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All thanks to Hong Kong's unique blend of Eastern and Western culinary influences, a traveller can enjoy a range of exotic drinks, be it cocktails or herbal teas. Here's more: readmore Ah! The fizz and chilled feel of a local beer of Hong Kong can be a big treat for many travellers.

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No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, as studies of its prehistory are undeveloped. A carbon-l4 dating from a cave in northwestern Cambodia suggests that people using stone tools lived in the cave as early as 4000 bc, and rice has been grown on Cambodian soil since well before the 1st century ad. The first Cambodians likely arrived long before either of these dates. They probably migrated from the north, although nothing is known about their language or their way of life.

By the beginning of the 1st century ad, Chinese traders began to report the existence of inland and coastal kingdoms in Cambodia. These kingdoms already owed much to Indian culture, which provided alphabets, art forms, architectural styles, religions (Hinduism and Buddhism), and a stratified class system. Local beliefs that stressed the importance of ancestral spirits coexisted with the Indian religions and remain powerful today.

Cambodia's modem-day culture has its roots in the 1st to 6th centuries in a state referred to as Funan, known as the oldest Indianized state in Southeast Asia. It is from this period that evolved Cambodia's language, part of the Mon-Khmer family, which contains elements of Sanskrit, its ancient religion of Hinduism and Buddhism. Historians have noted, for example, that Cambodians can be distinguished from their neighbors by their clothing - checkered scarves known as Kramas are worn instead of straw hats.

Funan gave way to the Angkor Empire with the rise to power of King Jayavarman II in 802. The following 600 years saw powerful Khmer kings dominate much of present day Southeast Asia, from the borders of Myanmar east to the South China Sea and north to Laos. It was during this period that Khmer kings built the most extensive concentration of religious temples in the world - the Angkor temple complex. The most successful of Angkor's kings, Jayavarman II, Indravarman I, Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII, also devised a masterpiece of ancient engineering: a sophisticated irrigation system that includes barays (gigantic man-made lakes) and canals that ensured as many as three rice crops a year. Part of this system is still in use today.

The Khmer Kingdom (Funan)

Early Chinese writers referred to a kingdom in Cambodia that they called Funan. Modern-day archaeological findings provide evidence of a commercial society centered on the Mekong Delta that flourished from the 1st century to the 6th century. Among these findings are excavations of a port city from the 1st century, located in the region of Oc-Eo in what is now southern Vietnam. Served by a network of canals, the city was an important trade link between India and China. Ongoing excavations in southern Cambodia have revealed the existence of another important city near the present-day village of Angkor Borei.

A group of inland kingdoms, known collectively to the Chinese as Zhenla, flourished in the 6th and 7th centuries from southern Cambodia to southern Laos. The first stone inscriptions in the Khmer language and the first brick and stone Hindu temples in Cambodia date from the Zhenla period.

Angkor Era

Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom The giant faces carved on the Bayon temple at the Angkor Thum complex in northwestern Cambodia represent both the Buddha and King Jayavarman VII (ruled about 1130-1219). Although a Buddhist temple, Angkor Thum was modeled after the great Hindu temple complex of Angkor Wat.

In the early 9th century a Khmer (ethnic Cambodian) prince returned to Cambodia from abroad. He probably arrived from nearby Java or Sumatra, where he may have been held hostage by island kings who had asserted control over portions of the Southeast Asian mainland.

In a series of ceremonies at different sites, the prince declared himself ruler of a new independent kingdom, which unified several local principalities. His kingdom eventually came to be centered near present-day Siemreab in northwestern Cambodia. The prince, known to his successors as Jayavarman II, inaugurated a cult honoring the Hindu god Shiva as a devaraja (Sanskrit term meaning "god-king"). The cult, which legitimized the king's rule by linking him with Shiva, persisted at the Cambodian court for more than two hundred years.

Between the early 9th century and the early 15th century, 26 monarchs ruled successively over the Khmer kingdom (known as Angkor, the modern name for its capital city).

King Jayavarman VII
The successors of Jayavarman II built the great temples for which Angkor is famous.

Historians have dated more than a thousand temple sites and over a thousand stone inscriptions (most of them on temple walls) to this era.

Notable among the Khmer builder-kings were Suyavarman II, who built the temple known as Angkor Wat in the mid-12th century, and Jayavarman VII, who built the Bayon temple at Angkor Thum and several other large Buddhist temples half a century later. Jayavarman VII, a fervent Buddhist, also built hospitals and rest houses along the roads that crisscrossed the kingdom. Most of the monarchs, however, seem to have been more concerned with displaying and increasing their power than with the welfare of their subjects.

Ancient City of Angkor This map shows the layout of the ancient city of Angkor, capital of the Cambodian Khmer kingdom from the 9th century to the 15th century. The city's huge stone temples were both civic centers and religious symbols of the Hindu cosmos. Historians believe that Angkor's network of canals and barays (reservoirs) were used for irrigation.

At its greatest extent, in the 12th century, the Khmer kingdom encompassed (in addition to present-day Cambodia) parts of present-day Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar (formerly Burma), and the Malay Peninsula. Thailand and Laos still contain Khmer ruins and inscriptions. The kings at Angkor received tribute from smaller kingdoms to the north, east, and west, and conducted trade with China. The capital city was the center of an impressive network of reservoirs and canals, which historians theorize supplied water for irrigation. Many historians believe that the abundant harvests made possible by irrigation supported a large population whose labor could be drawn on to construct the kings' temples and to fight their wars. The massive temples, extensive roads and waterworks, and confident inscriptions give an illusion of stability that is undermined by the fact that many Khmer kings gained the throne by conquering their predecessors. Inscriptions indicate that the kingdom frequently suffered from rebellions and foreign invasions.

Historians have not been able to fully explain the decline of the Khmer kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries. However, it was probably associated with the rise of powerful Thai kingdoms that had once paid tribute to Angkor, and to population losses following a series of wars with these kingdoms. Another factor may have been the introduction of Theravada Buddhism, which taught that anyone could achieve enlightenment through meritorious conduct and meditation. These egalitarian ideas undermined the hierarchical structure of Cambodian society and the power of prominent Hindu families. After a Thai invasion in 1431, what remained of the Cambodian elite shifted southeastward to the vicinity of Phnom Penh.

Cambodia Dark Age

This map of Southeast Asia in the mid-16th century shows the major centers of power in the region prior to the arrival of Europeans. During this period, these kingdoms were constantly at war. Eventually the Kingdom of Ayutthaya (modern Thailand) expanded to the north and east, absorbing much of Lan Na and Lan Xang (modern Laos). Dai Viet (modern Vietnam) expanded to the south, taking over the remaining territory of the Kingdom of Champa and the southern tip of the Kingdom of Lovek (modern Cambodia). Toungoo evolved into modern Myanmar.

The four centuries of Cambodian history following the abandonment of Angkor are poorly recorded, and therefore historians know little about them beyond the bare outlines. Cambodia retained its language and its cultural identity despite frequent invasions by the powerful Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya and incursions by Vietnamese forces. Indeed, for much of this period, Cambodia was a relatively prosperous trading kingdom with its capital at Lovek, near present-day Phnom Penh. European visitors wrote of the Buddhist piety of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Lovek. During this period, Cambodians composed the country's most important work of literature, the Reamker (based on the Indian myth of the Ramayana).

In the late 18th century, a civil war in Vietnam and disorder following a Burmese invasion of Ayutthaya spilled over into Cambodia and devastated the area. In the early 19th century, newly established dynasties in Vietnam and Thailand competed for control over the Cambodian court. The warfare that ensued, beginning in the l830s, came close to destroying Cambodia.

French Rule

Phnom Penh, as planned by the French, came to resemble a town in provincial France. By the second half of the 19th century, France had begun to expand its colonial penetration of Indochina (the peninsula between India and China). In 1863 France accepted the Cambodian king's invitation to impose a protectorate over his severely weakened kingdom, halting the country's dismemberment by Thailand and Vietnam. For the next 90 years, France ruled Cambodia. In theory, French administration was indirect, but in practice the word of French officials was final on all major subjects-including the selection of Cambodia's kings. The French left Cambodian institutions, including the monarchy, in place, and gradually developed a Cambodian civil service, organized along French lines. The French administration neglected education but built roads, port facilities, and other public works. Phnom Penh, as planned by the French, came to resemble a town in provincial France.

King Norodom Sihanouk
The French invested relatively little in Cambodia's economy compared to that of Vietnam, which was also under French control. However, they developed rubber plantations in eastern Cambodia, and the kingdom exported sizable amounts of rice under their rule. The French also restored the Angkor temple complex and deciphered Angkorean inscriptions, which gave Cambodians a clear idea of their medieval heritage and kindled their pride in Cambodia's past. Because France left the monarchy, Buddhism, and the rhythms of rural life undisturbed, anti-French feeling was slow to develop.

King Sihanouk, through skillful maneuvering, managed to gain Cambodia's independence peacefully in 1953. During World War II (1939-1945), Japanese forces entered French Indochina but left the compliant French administration in place.

On the verge of defeat in 1945, the Japanese removed their French collaborators and installed a nominally independent Cambodian government under the recently crowned young king, Norodom Sihanouk. France reimposed its protectorate in early 1946 but allowed the Cambodians to draft a constitution and to form political parties.

Soon afterward, fighting erupted throughout Indochina as nationalist groups, some with Communist ideologies, struggled to win independence from France. Most of the fighting took place in Vietnam, in a conflict known as the First Indochina War (1946-1954). In Cambodia, Communist guerrilla forces allied with Vietnamese Communists gained control of much of the country. However, King Sihanouk, through skillful maneuvering, managed to gain Cambodia's independence peacefully in 1953, a few months earlier than Vietnam. The Geneva Accords of 1954, which marked the end of the First Indochina War, acknowledged Sihanouk's government as the sole legitimate authority in Cambodia.

Modern State

Sihanouk's campaign for independence sharpened his political skills and increased his ambitions. In 1955 he abdicated the throne in favor of his father to pursue a full-time political career, free of the constitutional constraints of the monarchy. In a move aimed at dismantling Cambodia's fledgling political parties, Sihanouk inaugurated a national political movement known as the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (People's Socialist Community), whose members were not permitted to belong to any other political group. The Sangkum won all the seats in the national elections of 1955, benefiting from Sihanouk's popularity and from police brutality at many polling stations. Sihanouk served as prime minister of Cambodia until 1960, when his father died and he was named head of state. Sihanouk remained widely popular among the people but was brutal to his opponents.

In the late 1950s the Cold War (period of tension between the United States and its allies and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR, and its allies) intensified in Asia. In this climate, foreign powers, including the United States, the USSR, and China, courted Sihanouk. Cambodia's importance to these countries stemmed from events in neighboring Vietnam, where tension had begun to mount between a Communist regime in the north and a pro-Western regime in the south. The USSR supported the Vietnamese Communists, while the United States opposed them, and China wanted to contain Vietnam for security reasons. Each of the foreign powers hoped that Cambodian support would bolster its position in the region. Sihanouk pursued a policy of neutrality that drew substantial economic aid from the competing countries.

In 1965, however, Sihanouk broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. At the same time, he allowed North Vietnamese Communists, then fighting the Vietnam War against the United States and the South Vietnamese in southern Vietnam, to set up bases on Cambodian soil. As warfare intensified in Vietnam, domestic opposition to Sihanouk from both radical and conservative elements increased. The Cambodian Communist organization, known as the Workers Party of Kampuchea (later renamed the Communist Party of Kampuchea, or CPK), had gone underground after failing to win any concessions at the Geneva Accords, but now they took up arms once again. As the economy became unstable, Cambodia became difficult to govern single-handedly. In need of economic and military aid, Sihanouk renewed diplomatic relations with the United States. Shortly thereafter, in 1969, U.S. president Richard Nixon authorized a bombing campaign against Cambodia in an effort to destroy Vietnamese Communist sanctuaries there.

Khmer Republic

In March 1970 Cambodia's legislature, the National Assembly, deposed Sihanouk while he was abroad. The conservative forces behind the coup were pro-Western and anti-Vietnamese. General Lon Nol, the country's prime minister, assumed power and sent his poorly equipped army to fight the North Vietnamese Communist forces encamped in border areas. Lon Nol hoped that U.S. aid would allow him to defeat his enemies, but American support was always geared to events in Vietnam. In April U.S. and South Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia, searching for North Vietnamese, who moved deeper into Cambodia. Over the next year, North Vietnamese troops destroyed the offensive capacity of Lon Nol's army.

In October 1970 Lon Nol inaugurated the Khmer Republic. Sihanouk, who had sought asylum in China, was condemned to death despite his absence. By that time, Chinese and North Vietnamese leaders had persuaded the prince to establish a government in exile, allied with North Vietnam and dominated by the CPK, whom Sihanouk referred to as the Khmer Rouge (French for "Red Khmers").

In 1975, despite massive infusions of U.S. aid, the Khmer Republic collapsed, and Khmer Rouge forces occupied Phnom Penh.

The United States continued bombing Cambodia until the Congress of the United States halted the campaign in 1973. By that time, Lon Nol's forces were fighting not only the Vietnamese but also the Khmer Rouge. The general lost control over most of the Cambodian countryside, which had been devastated by U.S. bombing. The fighting severely damaged the nation's infrastructure and caused high numbers of casualties. Hundreds of thousands of refugees flooded into the cities. In 1975, despite massive infusions of U.S. aid, the Khmer Republic collapsed, and Khmer Rouge forces occupied Phnom Penh. Three weeks later, North Vietnamese forces achieved victory in South Vietnam.

Democratic Kampuchea

Pol Pot Pol Pot is a pseudonym for the Cambodian guerrilla commander Saloth Sar, who organized the Communist guerrilla force known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge ousted General Lon Nol in 1975, establishing a brutal Communist regime that ruled until 1979.

Immediately after occupying Cambodia's towns, the Khmer Rouge ordered all city dwellers into the countryside to take up agricultural tasks. The move reflected both the Khmer Rouge's contempt for urban dwellers, whom they saw as enemies, and their utopian vision of Cambodia as a nation of busy, productive peasants. The leader of the regime, who remained concealed from the public, was Saloth Sar, who used the pseudonym Pol Pot. The government, which called itself Democratic Kampuchea (DK), claimed to be seeking total independence from foreign powers but accepted economic and military aid from its major allies, China and North Korea.

Khmer Rouge Carnage The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, killed close to 1.7 million people in the mid- to late 1970s. In this photo, human bones and skulls fill a museum in Cambodia that had been used as a prison and torture center during Pol Pot's reign, Sygma.

Without identifying themselves as Communists, the Khmer Rouge quickly introduced a series of far-reaching and often painful socialist programs. The people given the most power in the new government were the largely illiterate rural Cambodians who had fought alongside the Khmer Rouge in the civil war. DK leaders severely restricted freedom of speech, movement, and association, and forbade all religious practices. The regime controlled all communications along with access to food and information. Former city dwellers, now called "new people," were particularly badly treated. The Khmer Rouge killed intellectuals, merchants, bureaucrats, members of religious groups, and any people suspected of disagreeing with the party. Millions of other Cambodians were forcibly relocated, deprived of food, tortured, or sent into forced labor.

While in power, the Khmer Rouge murdered, worked to death, or killed by starvation close to 1.7 million Cambodians.

The Khmer Rouge also attacked neighboring countries in an attempt to reclaim territories lost by Cambodia many centuries before. After fighting broke out with Vietnam (then united under the Communists) in 1977, DK's ideology became openly racist. Ethnic minorities in Cambodia, including ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese, were hunted down and expelled or massacred. Purges of party members accused of treason became widespread. People in eastern Cambodia, suspected of cooperating with Vietnam, suffered severely, and hundreds of thousands of them were killed. While in power, the Khmer Rouge murdered, worked to death, or killed by starvation close to 1.7 million Cambodians-more than one-fifth of the country's population.

Recent Development

In October 1991 Cambodia's warring factions, the UN, and a number of interested foreign nations signed an agreement in Paris intended to end the conflict in Cambodia. The agreement provided for a temporary power-sharing arrangement between a United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and a Supreme National Council (SNC) made up of delegates from the various Cambodian factions. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the former king and prime minister of Cambodia, served as president of the SNC.

The Paris accords and the UN protectorate pushed Cambodia out of its isolation and introduced competitive politics, dormant since the early 1950s. UNTAC sponsored elections for a national assembly in May 1993, and for the first time in Cambodian history a majority of voters rejected an armed, incumbent regime. A royalist party, known by its French acronym FUNCINPEC, won the most seats in the election, followed by the CPP, led by Hun Sen. Reluctant to give up power, Hun Sen threatened to upset the election results. Under a compromise arrangement, a three-party coalition formed a government headed by two prime ministers; FUNCINPEC's Prince Norodom Ranariddh, one of Sihanouk's sons, became first prime minister, while Hun Sen became second prime minister.

In September 1993 the government ratified a new constitution restoring the monarchy and establishing the Kingdom of Cambodia. Sihanouk became king for the second time. After the 1993 elections, no foreign countries continued to recognize the DK as Cambodia's legal government. The DK lost its UN seat as well as most of its sources of international aid.

The unrealistic power-sharing relationship between Ranariddh and Hun Sen worked surprisingly well for the next three years, but relations between the parties were never smooth. The CPP's control over the army and the police gave the party effective control of the country, and it dominated the coalition government. In July 1997 Hun Sen staged a violent coup against FUNCINPEC and replaced Prince Ranariddh, who was overseas at the time, with Ung Huot, a more pliable FUNCINPEC figure. Hun Sen's action shocked foreign nations and delayed Cambodia's entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). By the end of 1997, Cambodia was the only nation in the region that was not a member.

Despite the coup, elections scheduled for July 1998 proceeded as planned. Hundreds of foreign observers who monitored the elections affirmed that voting was relatively free and fair; however, the CPP harassed opposition candidates and party workers before and after the elections, when dozens were imprisoned and several were killed. The election gave the CPP a plurality of votes, but results, especially in towns, where voting could not be dictated by local authorities, indicated that the party did not enjoy widespread popular support. Prince Ranariddh and another opposition candidate, Sam Rainsy, took refuge abroad and contested the outcome of the election. In November the CPP and FUNCINPEC reached an agreement whereby Hun Sen became sole prime minister and Ranariddh became president of the National Assembly. The parties formed a coalition government, dividing control over the various cabinet ministries. In early 1999 the constitution was amended to create a Senate, called for in the 1998 agreement. These signs that Cambodia's political situation was stabilizing encouraged ASEAN to admit Cambodia to its membership a short time later.

Pol Pot died in 1998, and by early 1999 most of the remaining Khmer Rouge troops and leaders had surrendered. Rebel troops were integrated into the Cambodian army. In 1999 two Khmer Rouge leaders were arrested and charged with genocide for their part in the atrocities.

Since the Paris Accords of 1991, Cambodia's economic growth has depended on millions of dollars of foreign aid. Foreign interest in Cambodia has decreased, however, and the country has received diminishing economic assistance. This development, along with the continued lack of openness in Cambodian politics, has made Cambodia's prospects for democratization dim, as well as its chances for sustained economic growth.

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Cambodian History - About Cambodia | Tourism Cambodia

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No one knows for certain how long people have lived in what is now Cambodia, as studies of its prehistory are undeveloped. A carbon-l4 dating from a cave in northwestern Cambodia suggests that people using stone tools lived in the cave as early as 4000 bc, and rice has been grown on Cambodian soil since well before the 1st century ad.

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What's the most popular food in Afghanistan? 10 most famous traditional Afghan dishes and local products, with authentic recipes and the best authentic restaurants with Asian. Must-try food, the ultimate bucket list for your food travel to Afghanistan.

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Afghanistan War, international conflict in Afghanistan beginning in 2001 that was triggered by the September 11 attacks and consisted of three phases. The first phase-toppling the Taliban (the ultraconservative political and religious faction that ruled Afghanistan and provided sanctuary for al-Qaeda, perpetrators of the September 11 attacks)-was brief, lasting just two months. The second phase, from 2002 until 2008, was marked by a U.S. strategy of defeating the Taliban militarily and rebuilding core institutions of the Afghan state. The third phase, a turn to classic counterinsurgency doctrine, began in 2008 and accelerated with U.S. Pres. Barack Obama's 2009 decision to temporarily increase the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. The larger force was used to implement a strategy of protecting the population from Taliban attacks and supporting efforts to reintegrate insurgents into Afghan society. The strategy came coupled with a timetable for the withdrawal of the foreign forces from Afghanistan; beginning in 2011, security responsibilities would be gradually handed over to the Afghan military and police. The new approach largely failed to achieve its aims. Insurgent attacks and civilian casualties remained stubbornly high, while many of the Afghan military and police units taking over security duties appeared to be ill-prepared to hold off the Taliban. By the time the U.S. and NATO combat mission formally ended in December 2014, the 13-year Afghanistan War had become the longest war ever fought by the United States. American military casualties included some 2,400 service members killed and some 20,700 others wounded.

Prelude to the September 11 attacks

The joint U.S. and British invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 was preceded by over two decades of war in Afghanistan ( see Afghan War). On December 24, 1979, Soviet tanks rumbled across the Amu Darya River and into Afghanistan, ostensibly to restore stability following a coup that brought to power a pair of Marxist-Leninist political groups-the People's (Khalq) Party and the Banner (Parcham) Party. But the Soviet presence touched off a nationwide rebellion by fighters-known as the mujahideen-who drew upon Islam as a uniting source of inspiration. These fighters won extensive covert backing from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States and were joined in their fight by foreign volunteers (who soon formed a network, known as al-Qaeda, to coordinate their efforts). The guerrilla war against the Soviet forces led to their departure in 1989. In the Soviets' absence, the mujahideen ousted Afghanistan's Soviet-backed government and established a transitional government.

The mujahideen were politically fragmented, however, and in 1994 armed conflict escalated. The Taliban emerged and in 1996 seized Kabul. It instituted a severe interpretation of Islamic law that, for example, forbade female education and prescribed the severing of hands, or even execution, as punishment for petty crimes. That same year, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was welcomed to Afghanistan (having been expelled from Sudan) and established his organization's headquarters there. With al-Qaeda's help, the Taliban won control of over 90 percent of Afghan territory by the summer of 2001. On September 9 of that year, al-Qaeda hit men carried out the assassination of famed mujahideen leader Ahmad Shah Masoud, who at the time was leading the Northern Alliance (a loose coalition of mujahideen militias that maintained control of a small section of northern Afghanistan) as it battled the Taliban and who had unsuccessfully sought greater U.S. backing for his efforts.

The September 11 attacks and the U.S.-British invasion

The hijacking and crashing of four U.S. jetliners on September 11, 2001, brought instant attention to Afghanistan. The plot had been hatched by al-Qaeda, and some of the 19 hijackers had trained in Afghanistan. In the aftermath of the attacks, the administration of U.S. Pres. George W. Bush coalesced around a strategy of first ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan and dismantling al-Qaeda, though others contemplated actions in Iraq, including long-standing plans for toppling Pres. Saddam Hussein. Bush demanded that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar "deliver to [the] United States authorities all the leaders of al-Qaeda who hide in your land," and when Omar refused, U.S. officials began implementing a plan for war.

The campaign in Afghanistan started covertly on September 26, with a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) team known as Jawbreaker arriving in the country and, working with anti-Taliban allies, initiating a strategy for overthrowing the regime. U.S. officials hoped that by partnering with the Afghans they could avoid deploying a large force to Afghanistan. Pentagon officials were especially concerned that the United States not be drawn into a protracted occupation of Afghanistan, as had occurred with the Soviets more than two decades prior. The United States relied primarily on the Northern Alliance, which had just lost Massoud but had regrouped under other commanders, including Tajik leader Mohammed Fahim and Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek. The Americans also teamed with anti-Taliban Pashtuns in southern Afghanistan, including a little-known tribal leader named Hamid Karzai.

The CIA team was soon joined by U.S. and British special forces contingents, and together they provided arms, equipment, and advice to the Afghans. They also helped coordinate targeting for the air campaign, which began on October 7, 2001, with U.S. and British war planes pounding Taliban targets, thus marking the public start of Operation Enduring Freedom. In late October, Northern Alliance forces began to overtake a series of towns formerly held by the Taliban. The forces worked with U.S. assistance, but they defied U.S. wishes when, on November 13, they marched into Kabul as the Taliban retreated without a fight.

Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan and the Taliban's spiritual home, fell on December 6, marking the end of Taliban power. It had been besieged by a force led by Karzai that moved in from the north and one commanded by Gul Agha Sherzai that advanced from the south; both operated with heavy assistance from the United States. As the Taliban leadership retreated into Afghanistan's rural areas and across the border to Pakistan, anti-Taliban figures convened at a United Nations (UN)-sponsored conference in Bonn, Germany. With behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the United States, Karzai was selected to lead the country on an interim basis.

An intensive manhunt for Omar, bin Laden, and al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was undertaken. Prior to the killing of bin Laden by U.S. forces in 2011 ( see below), the Americans were believed to have come closest to bin Laden in the December 2001 battle of Tora Bora (bin Laden's mountain stronghold). But bin Laden was thought to have managed to have slipped into Pakistan with the help of Afghan and Pakistani forces that were supposedly helping the Americans. Critics later questioned why the U.S. military had allowed Afghan forces to lead the assault on the cave complex at Tora Bora rather than doing it themselves. (Indeed, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry made this criticism repeatedly during the 2004 general election campaign.) Al-Qaeda subsequently reestablished its base of operations in the tribal areas that form Pakistan's northwest border with Afghanistan. Omar and his top Taliban lieutenants settled in and around the Pakistani city of Quetta, in the remote southwestern province of Balochistān. One of the final major battles of the first phase of the war came in March 2002 with Operation Anaconda in the eastern province of Paktia, which involved U.S. and Afghan forces fighting some 800 al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. The operation also marked the entrance of other countries' troops into the war: special operations forces from Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, and Norway participated.

Iraq takes centre stage

With the ouster of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, the international focus shifted to reconstruction and nation-building efforts in Afghanistan. In April 2002 Bush announced a " Marshall Plan" for Afghanistan in a speech at the Virginia Military Institute, promising substantial financial assistance. But from the start, development efforts in Afghanistan were inadequately funded, as attention had turned among U.S. officials to the looming confrontation in Iraq. Between 2001 and 2009, just over $38 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan was appropriated by the U.S. Congress. More than half the money went to training and equipping Afghan security forces, and the remainder represented a fraction of the amount that experts said would be required to develop a country that had consistently ranked near the bottom of global human development indices. The aid program was also bedeviled by waste and by confusion over whether civilian or military authorities had responsibility for leading education, health, agriculture, and other development projects.

Despite military commitments from dozens of U.S. allies, the United States initially argued against allowing the other foreign forces-operating as the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)-to deploy beyond the Kabul area. That choice was directed by the Pentagon, which insisted on a "light footprint" out of concern that Afghanistan would become a drag on U.S. resources as attention shifted to Iraq ( see Iraq War). When ISAF did begin to venture beyond Kabul, its efforts were hampered by the "caveats" of its component countries-restrictions that kept all but a handful of the militaries from actively engaging in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The force, overseen by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the organization's first mission outside Europe, was also hamstrung by a lack of troops as international commitments to Afghanistan flagged.

The United States consistently represented the largest foreign force in Afghanistan, and it bore the heaviest losses. By spring 2010 more than 1,000 U.S. troops had been killed in Afghanistan, while the British troops suffered some 300 deaths and the Canadians some 150. Both Britain and Canada stationed their troops in Afghanistan's south, where fighting had been most intense. More than 20 other countries also lost troops during the war, though many-such as Germany and Italy-chose to focus their forces in the north and the west, where the insurgency was less potent. As the fighting dragged on and casualties escalated, the war lost popularity in many Western countries, creating domestic political pressure to keep troops out of harm's way or to pull them out altogether.

Initially, the war appeared to have been won with relative ease. On May 1, 2003, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced an end to "major combat" in Afghanistan. On the same day, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, President Bush announced that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." At that time, there were 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The first democratic Afghan elections since the fall of the Taliban were held on October 9, 2004, with approximately 80 percent of registered voters turning out to give Karzai a full five-year term as president. Parliamentary elections were staged a year later, with dozens of women claiming seats set aside for them to ensure gender diversity. The 2004 constitution provided Afghanistan with a powerful central government and weak regional and local authorities-a structure that was in opposition to the country's long-standing traditions.

Despite vast powers under the constitution, Karzai was widely regarded as a weak leader who grew increasingly isolated as the war progressed. He survived several assassination attempts-including a September 2004 rocket attack that nearly struck a helicopter he was riding in-and security concerns kept him largely confined to the presidential palace in Kabul. Karzai's government was beset by corruption, and efforts to build a national army and a police force were troubled from the start by inadequate international support and ethnic differences between Afghans.

Beginning in 2005, violence climbed as the Taliban reasserted its presence with new tactics modeled on those being used by insurgents in Iraq. Whereas early in the war the Taliban had focused on battling U.S. and NATO forces in open combat-a strategy that largely failed to inflict significant damage-their adoption of the use of suicide bombings and buried bombs, known as IEDs ( improvised explosive devices), began to cause heavy casualties. Between January 2005 and August 2006, Afghanistan endured 64 suicide attacks-a tactic that had been virtually unknown in the country's history before then. At first the attacks caused relatively few casualties, but as training and the availability of high-powered explosives increased, the death toll began to climb: in one particularly vicious attack in November 2007, at least 70 people-many of them children-were killed as a parliamentary delegation visited the northern town of Baghlan. Less than a year later, a bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul killed more than 50; the Afghan government accused elements of Pakistan's intelligence service of complicity in the attack, a charge Pakistan denied.

The Taliban's resurgence corresponded with a rise in anti-American and anti-Western sentiment among Afghans. Those feelings were nurtured by the sluggish pace of reconstruction, allegations of prisoner abuse at U.S. detention facilities, widespread corruption in the Afghan government, and civilian casualties caused by U.S. and NATO bombings. In May 2006 a U.S. military vehicle crashed and killed several Afghans, an event that sparked violent anti-American riots in Kabul-the worst since the war began. Later that year NATO took command of the war across the country; American officials said that the United States would play a lesser role and that the face of the war would become increasingly international. This shift reflected the greater need for U.S. troops and resources in Iraq, where sectarian warfare was reaching alarming levels. By contrast, the war in Afghanistan was still regarded in Washington as a relative success.

For commanders on the ground in Afghanistan, however, it was apparent that the Taliban intended to escalate its campaign, launching more frequent attacks and intensifying its fund-raising from wealthy individuals and groups in the Persian Gulf. Another source of money was Afghanistan's resurgent opium industry. International pressure had forced the Taliban to curb poppy cultivation during their final year in power, but after their removal in 2001 the opium industry made a comeback, with revenues in some areas of the country benefiting the insurgency. Western-backed campaigns to eliminate poppy cultivation or to encourage farmers to grow other crops had little discernible impact; Afghanistan soon became the supplier of over 90 percent of the world's opium.

The United States, meanwhile, had had only limited success in killing or capturing Taliban commanders. In early 2007, Mullah Obaidullah Akhund-the Taliban's number three leader-was captured in Pakistan, and months later Mullah Dadullah-the Taliban's top military commander-was killed in fighting with U.S. forces. But those were the exceptions. Top insurgent leaders remained at large, many of them in the tribal regions of Pakistan that adjoin Afghanistan. This reality prompted the United States to begin targeting insurgent leaders who lived in Pakistan with missiles fired from remotely piloted drones. The CIA program of targeted killings was publicly denied by U.S. officials but was widely acknowledged in private. Pakistani officials in turn denounced the strikes in public but privately approved of them as long as civilian casualties were limited. The United States repeatedly threatened to expand its drone strikes beyond Pakistan's tribal areas and into regions such as Balochistān if Pakistan did not demonstrate greater cooperation in battling the Taliban, a group it had long fostered.

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Afghanistan War | History, Combatants, Facts, & Timeline

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Afghanistan War, international conflict beginning in 2001 that was triggered by the September 11 attacks. U.S. forces quickly toppled the Taliban (the faction that ruled Afghanistan and provided sanctuary for al-Qaeda) in the first months of the war, only to face years of insurgency led by a reconstituted Taliban.

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is the capital and most populous city of Thailand.

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Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population of 10.539 million as of 2020, 15.3 per cent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 per cent) lived within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region at the 2010 census, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in both size and importance to the national economy.

The Asian investment boom in the 1980s and 1990s led many multinational corporations to locate their regional headquarters in Bangkok. The city is now a regional force in finance, business and pop culture. It is an international hub for transport and health care, and has emerged as a centre for the arts, fashion, and entertainment. The city is known for its street life and cultural landmarks, as well as its red-light districts. The Grand Palace and Buddhist temples including Wat Arun and Wat Pho stand in contrast with other tourist attractions such as the nightlife scenes of Khaosan Road and Patpong. Bangkok is among the world's top tourist destinations, and has been named the world's most visited city consistently in several international rankings.

Map of 17th-century Bangkok, from Simon de la Loubère's Du Royaume de Siam

The history of Bangkok dates at least back to the early 15th century, to when it was a village on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, under the rule of Ayutthaya. Because of its strategic location near the mouth of the river, the town gradually increased in importance. Bangkok initially served as a customs outpost with forts on both sides of the river, and was the site of a siege in 1688 in which the French were expelled from Siam. After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese in 1767, the newly crowned King Taksin established his capital at the town, which became the base of the Thonburi Kingdom. In 1782, King Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I) succeeded Taksin, moved the capital to the eastern bank's Rattanakosin Island, thus founding the Rattanakosin Kingdom. The City Pillar was erected on 21 April 1782, which is regarded as the date of foundation of Bangkok as the capital.

Bangkok's economy gradually expanded through international trade, first with China, then with Western merchants returning in the early-to-mid 19th century. As the capital, Bangkok was the centre of Siam's modernization as it faced pressure from Western powers in the late-19th century. The reigns of Kings Mongkut (Rama IV, r. 1851-68) and Chulalongkorn (Rama V, r. 1868-1910) saw the introduction of the steam engine, printing press, rail transport and utilities infrastructure in the city, as well as formal education and healthcare. Bangkok became the centre stage for power struggles between the military and political elite as the country abolished absolute monarchy in 1932.

As Thailand allied with Japan in World War II, Bangkok was subjected to Allied bombing, but rapidly grew in the post-war period as a result of US aid and government-sponsored investment. Bangkok's role as a US military R&R destination boosted its tourism industry as well as firmly establishing it as a sex tourism destination. Disproportionate urban development led to increasing income inequalities and migration from rural areas into Bangkok; its population surged from 1.8 million to 3 million in the 1960s.

Following the US withdrawal from Vietnam in 1973, Japanese businesses took over as leaders in investment, and the expansion of export-oriented manufacturing led to growth of the financial market in Bangkok. Rapid growth of the city continued through the 1980s and early 1990s, until it was stalled by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. By then, many public and social issues had emerged, among them the strain on infrastructure reflected in the city's notorious traffic jams. Bangkok's role as the nation's political stage continues to be seen in strings of popular protests, from the student uprisings in 1973 and 1976, anti-military demonstrations in 1992, and frequent street protests since 2006, including those by groups opposing and supporting former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from 2006 to 2013, and a renewed student-led movement in 2020.

Administration of the city was first formalized by King Chulalongkorn in 1906, with the establishment of Monthon Krung Thep Phra Maha Nakhon (มณฑลกรุงเทพพระมหานคร ) as a national subdivision. In 1915, the monthon was split into several provinces, the administrative boundaries of which have since further changed. The city in its current form was created in 1972 with the formation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), following the merger of Phra Nakhon province on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya and Thonburi province on the west during the previous year.

The origin of the name Bangkok (, pronounced in Thai as ) is unclear. Bang is a Thai word meaning 'a village on a stream', and the name might have been derived from Bang Ko (), ko meaning 'island', stemming from the city's watery landscape. Another theory suggests that it is shortened from Bang Makok (), makok being the name of Elaeocarpus hygrophilus, a plant bearing olive-like fruit. This is supported by the former name of Wat Arun, a historic temple in the area, that used to be called Wat Makok.

Officially, the town was known as Thonburi Si Mahasamut (ธนบุรีศรีมหาสมุทร , from Pali and Sanskrit, literally 'city of treasures gracing the ocean') or Thonburi, according to the Ayutthaya Chronicles. Bangkok was likely a colloquial name, albeit one widely adopted by foreign visitors, who continued to use it to refer to the city even after the new capital's establishment.

When King Rama I established his new capital on the river's eastern bank, the city inherited Ayutthaya's ceremonial name, of which there were many variants, including Krung Thep Thawarawadi Si Ayutthaya (กรุงเทพทวารวดีศรีอยุธยา ) and Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (กรุงเทพมหานครศรีอยุธยา ). Edmund Roberts, visiting the city as envoy of the United States in 1833, noted that the city, since becoming capital, was known as Sia-Yut'hia, and this is the name used in international treaties of the period.

Today, the city is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร ) or simply Krung Thep (), a shortening of the ceremonial name which came into use during the reign of King Mongkut. The full name reads as follows:

Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit
กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยา มหาดิลกภพ นพรัตนราชธานีบูรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์

The name, composed of Pali and Sanskrit root words, translates as:

City of angels, great city of immortals, magnificent city of the nine gems, seat of the king, city of royal palaces, home of gods incarnate, erected by Vishvakarman at Indra's behest.

The name is listed in Guinness World Records as the world's longest place name, at 168 letters. Many Thais who recall the full name do so because of its use in the 1989 song "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon" by Thai rock band Asanee-Wasan, the lyrics of which consist entirely of the city's full name, repeated throughout the song.

The city is now officially known in Thai by a shortened form of the full ceremonial name, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, which is colloquially further shortened to Krung Thep (city of gods). Krung, is a Thai word of Mon-Khmer origin, meaning 'capital, king',[verification needed ] while thep, is from Pali/Sanskrit, meaning 'deity' or 'god' and corresponding to .

Government

The city of Bangkok is locally governed by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). Although its boundaries are at the provincial () level, unlike the other 76 provinces Bangkok is a special administrative area whose governor is directly elected to serve a four-year term. The governor, together with four appointed deputies, form the executive body, who implement policies through the BMA civil service headed by the Permanent Secretary for the BMA. In separate elections, each district elects one or more city councillors, who form the Bangkok Metropolitan Council. The council is the BMA's legislative body, and has power over municipal ordinances and the city's budget. The latest gubernatorial election took place on 22 May 2022 after an extended lapse following the 2014 Thai coup d'état, and was won by Chadchart Sittipunt.

Bangkok is divided into fifty districts ( khet, equivalent to in the other provinces), which are further subdivided into 180 sub-districts ( khwaeng, equivalent to ). Each district is managed by a district director appointed by the governor. District councils, elected to four-year terms, serve as advisory bodies to their respective district directors.

The BMA is divided into sixteen departments, each overseeing different aspects of the administration's responsibilities. Most of these responsibilities concern the city's infrastructure, and include city planning, building control, transportation, drainage, waste management and city beautification, as well as education, medical and rescue services. Many of these services are provided jointly with other agencies. The BMA has the authority to implement local ordinances, although civil law enforcement falls under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.

The seal of the city shows Hindu god Indra riding in the clouds on Airavata, a divine white elephant known in Thai as Erawan. In his hand Indra holds his weapon, the . The seal is based on a painting done by Prince Naris. The tree symbol of Bangkok is Ficus benjamina. The official city slogan, adopted in 2012, reads:

As built by deities, the administrative centre, dazzling palaces and temples, the capital of Thailand
กรุงเทพฯ ดุจเทพสร้าง เมืองศูนย์กลางการปกครอง วัดวังงามเรืองรอง เมืองหลวงของประเทศไทย

As the capital of Thailand, Bangkok is the seat of all branches of the national government. The Government House, Parliament House and Supreme, Administrative and Constitutional Courts are all in the city. Bangkok is the site of the Grand Palace and Dusit Palace, respectively the official and de facto residence of the king. Most government ministries also have headquarters and offices in the capital.

The city of Bangkok is highlighted in this satellite image of the lower Chao Phraya delta. The built-up urban area extends northward and southward into Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan provinces.

Bangkok covers an area of 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi), ranking 69th among the other 76 provinces of Thailand. Of this, about 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi) form the built-up urban area. It is ranked 73rd in the world in terms of land area. The city's urban sprawl reaches into parts of the six other provinces that it borders, namely, in clockwise order from northwest: Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Chachoengsao, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, and Nakhon Pathom. With the exception of Chachoengsao, these provinces, together with Bangkok, form the greater Bangkok Metropolitan Region.

Bangkok is situated in the Chao Phraya River delta in Thailand's central plain. The river meanders through the city in a southerly direction, emptying into the Gulf of Thailand approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of city centre. The area is flat and low-lying, with an average elevation of 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) above sea level. Most of the area was originally swampland, which was gradually drained and irrigated for agriculture by the construction of canals () which took place from the 16th to 19th centuries. The course of the river as it flows through Bangkok has been modified by the construction of several shortcut canals.

Bangkok's major canals are shown in this map, detailing the original course of the river and its shortcut canals.

The city's waterway network served as the primary means of transport until the late 19th century, when modern roads began to be built. Up until then, most people lived near or on the water, leading the city to be known during the 19th century as the " Venice of the East". Many of these canals have since been filled in or paved over, but others still criss-cross the city, serving as major drainage channels and transport routes. Most canals are now badly polluted, although the BMA has committed to the treatment and cleaning up of several canals.

The geology of the Bangkok area is characterized by a top layer of soft marine clay, known as "Bangkok clay", averaging 15 metres (49 ft) in thickness, which overlies an aquifer system consisting of eight known units. This feature has contributed to the effects of subsidence caused by extensive groundwater pumping. First recognized in the 1970s, subsidence soon became a critical issue, reaching a rate of 120 millimetres (4.7 in) per year in 1981. Ground water management and mitigation measures have since lessened the severity of the situation, and the rate of subsidence decreased to 10 to 30 millimetres (0.39 to 1.18 in) per year in the early 2000s, though parts of the city are now 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) below sea level.

Subsidence has resulted in increased flood risk, as Bangkok is already prone to flooding due to its low elevation and an inadequate drainage infrastructure, often compounded by blockage from rubbish pollution (especially plastic waste). The city now relies on flood barriers and augmenting drainage from canals by pumping and building drain tunnels, but parts of Bangkok and its suburbs are still regularly inundated. Heavy downpours resulting in urban runoff overwhelming drainage systems, and runoff discharge from upstream areas, are major triggering factors. Severe flooding affecting much of the city occurred in 1995 and 2011. In 2011, most of Bangkok's northern, eastern and western districts were flooded, in some places for over two months.

Bangkok's coastal location makes it particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels due to global warming and climate change. A study by the OECD has estimated that 5.138 million people in Bangkok may be exposed to coastal flooding by 2070, the seventh highest figure among the world's port cities. There are fears that the city may be submerged by 2030. A study published in October 2019 in Nature Communications corrected earlier models of coastal elevations and concluded that up to 12 million Thais-mostly in the greater Bangkok metropolitan area-face the prospect of annual flooding events. This is compounded by coastal erosion, which is an issue in the gulf coastal area, a small length of which lies within Bangkok's Bang Khun Thian District. Tidal flat ecosystems existed on the coast; however, many have been reclaimed for agriculture, aquaculture, and salt works.

There are no mountains in Bangkok. The closest mountain range is the Khao Khiao Massif, about 40 km (25 mi) southeast of the city. Phu Khao Thong, the only hill in the metropolitan area, originated with a very large chedi that King Rama III (1787-1851) built at Wat Saket. The chedi collapsed during construction because the soft soil could not support its weight. Over the next few decades, the abandoned mud-and-brick structure acquired the shape of a natural hill and became overgrown with weeds. The locals called it phu khao (), as if it were a natural feature. In the 1940s, enclosing concrete walls were added to stop the hill from eroding.

Like most of Thailand, Bangkok has a tropical savanna climate (Aw) under the Köppen climate classification and is under the influence of the Asian monsoon system. The city experiences three seasons: hot, rainy, and cool, although temperatures are fairly hot year-round, ranging from an average low of 22.0 °C (71.6 °F) in December to an average high of 35.4 °C (95.7 °F) in April. The rainy season begins with the arrival of the southwest monsoon around mid-May. September is the wettest month, with an average rainfall of 334.3 millimetres (13.16 in). The rainy season lasts until October, when the dry and cool northeast monsoon takes over until February. The hot season is generally dry, but also sees occasional summer storms. The surface magnitude of Bangkok's urban heat island has been measured at 2.5 °C (4.5 °F) during the day and 8.0 °C (14 °F) at night. The highest recorded temperature of Bangkok metropolis was 41.0 °C (105.8 °F) in May 2023, and the lowest recorded temperature was 9.9 °C (49.8 °F) in January 1955.

The Climate Impact Group at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies projected severe weather impacts on Bangkok caused by climate change. It found that Bangkok in 1960 had 193 days at or above 32 °C. In 2018, Bangkok can expect 276 days at or above 32 °C. The group forecasts a rise by 2100 to, on average, 297 to 344 days at or above 32 °C.

Bangkok's districts often do not accurately represent the functional divisions of its neighbourhoods or land usage. Although urban planning policies date back to the commission of the "Litchfield Plan" in 1960, which set out strategies for land use, transportation and general infrastructure improvements, zoning regulations were not fully implemented until 1992. As a result, the city grew organically throughout the period of its rapid expansion, both horizontally as ribbon developments extended along newly built roads, and vertically, with increasing numbers of high rises and skyscrapers being built in commercial areas.

The city has grown from its original centre along the river into a sprawling metropolis surrounded by swaths of suburban residential development extending north and south into neighbouring provinces. The highly populated and growing cities of Nonthaburi, Pak Kret, Rangsit and Samut Prakan are effectively now suburbs of Bangkok. Nevertheless, large agricultural areas remain within the city proper at its eastern and western fringes, and a small number of forest area is found within the city limits: 3,887 rai (6.2 km ²; 2.4 sq mi), amounting to 0.4 per cent of city area. Land use in the city consists of 23 per cent residential use, 24 per cent agriculture, and 30 per cent used for commerce, industry, and government. The BMA's City Planning Department (CPD) is responsible for planning and shaping further development. It published master plan updates in 1999 and 2006, and a third revision is undergoing public hearings in 2012.

Bangkok's historic centre remains the Rattanakosin Island in Phra Nakhon District. It is the site of the Grand Palace and the City Pillar Shrine, primary symbols of the city's founding, as well as important Buddhist temples. Phra Nakhon, along with the neighbouring Pom Prap Sattru Phai and Samphanthawong Districts, formed what was the city proper in the late 19th century. Many traditional neighbourhoods and markets are found here, including the Chinese settlement of Sampheng. The city was expanded toward Dusit District in the early 19th century, following King Chulalongkorn's relocation of the royal household to the new Dusit Palace. The buildings of the palace, including the neoclassical Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, as well as the Royal Plaza and Ratchadamnoen Avenue which leads to it from the Grand Palace, reflect the heavy influence of European architecture at the time. Major government offices line the avenue, as does the Democracy Monument. The area is the site of the country's seat of power as well as the city's most popular tourist landmarks.

In contrast with the low-rise historic areas, the business district on Si Lom and Sathon Roads in Bang Rak and Sathon Districts teems with skyscrapers. It is the site of many of the country's major corporate headquarters, but also of some of the city's red-light districts. The Siam and Ratchaprasong areas in Pathum Wan are home to some of the largest shopping malls in Southeast Asia. Numerous retail outlets and hotels also stretch along Sukhumvit Road leading southeast through Watthana and Khlong Toei Districts. More office towers line the streets branching off Sukhumvit, especially Asok Montri, while upmarket housing is found in many of its sois ('alley' or 'lane').

Bangkok lacks a single distinct central business district. Instead, the areas of Siam and Ratchaprasong serve as a "central shopping district" containing many of the bigger malls and commercial areas in the city, as well as Siam Station, the only transfer point between the city's two elevated train lines. The Victory Monument in Ratchathewi District is among its most important road junctions, serving over 100 bus lines as well as an elevated train station. From the monument, Phahonyothin and Ratchawithi / Din Daeng Roads respectively run north and east linking to major residential areas. Most of the high-density development areas are within the 113-square-kilometre (44 sq mi) area encircled by the Ratchadaphisek inner ring road. Ratchadaphisek is lined with businesses and retail outlets, and office buildings also cluster around Ratchayothin Intersection in Chatuchak District to the north. Farther from the city centre, most areas are primarily mid- or low-density residential. The Thonburi side of the city is less developed, with fewer high rises. With the exception of a few secondary urban centres, Thonburi, in the same manner as the outlying eastern districts, consists mostly of residential and rural areas.

While most of Bangkok's streets are fronted by vernacular shophouses, the largely unrestricted building euphoria of the 1980s has transformed the city into an urban area of skyscrapers and high rises of contrasting and clashing styles. There are 581 skyscrapers over 90 metres (300 feet) tall in the city. Bangkok was ranked as the world's eighth tallest city in 2016. As a result of persistent economic disparity, many slums have emerged in the city. In 2000 there were over one million people living in about 800 informal settlements. Some settlements are squatted such as the large slums in Khlong Toei District. In total there were 125 squatted areas.

Bangkok has several parks, although these amount to a per capita total park area of only 1.82 square metres (19.6 sq ft) in the city proper. Total green space for the entire city is moderate, at 11.8 square metres (127 sq ft) per person. In the more densely built-up areas of the city these numbers are as low as 1.73 and 0.72 square metres (18.6 and 7.8 sq ft) per person. More recent numbers claim that there is 3.3 square metres (36 sq ft) of green space per person, compared to an average of 39 square metres (420 sq ft) in other cities across Asia. In Europe, London has 33.4 m ² of green space per head. Bangkokians thus have 10 times less green space than is standard in the region's urban areas. Green belt areas include about 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi) of rice paddies and orchards on the eastern and western edges of the city, although their primary purpose is to serve as flood detention basins rather than to limit urban expansion. Bang Kachao, a 20-square-kilometre (7.7 sq mi) conservation area on an oxbow of the Chao Phraya, lies just across the southern riverbank districts, in Samut Prakan province. A master development plan has been proposed to increase total park area to 4 square metres (43 sq ft) per person.

Bangkok's largest parks include the centrally located Lumphini Park near the Silom-Sathon business district with an area of 57.6 hectares (142 acres), the 80-hectare (200-acre) Suanluang Rama IX in the east of the city, and the Chatuchak- Queen Sirikit- Wachirabenchathat park complex in northern Bangkok, which has a combined area of 92 hectares (230 acres). More parks are expected to be created through the Green Bangkok 2030 project, which aims to leave the city with 10 square metres (110 sq ft) of green space per person, including 30% of the city having tree cover.

Demography

Bangkok population pyramid, based on 2021 population registry

The city of Bangkok has a population of 8,305,218 according to the 2010 census, or 12.6 per cent of the national population, while 2020 estimates place the figure at 10.539 million (15.3 per cent). Roughly half are internal migrants from other Thai provinces; population registry statistics recorded 5,676,648 residents belonging to 2,959,524 households in 2018. Much of Bangkok's daytime population commutes from surrounding provinces in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the total population of which is 14,626,225 (2010 census). Bangkok is a cosmopolitan city; the census showed that it is home to 567,120 expatriates from Asian countries (including 71,024 Chinese and 63,069 Japanese nationals), 88,177 from Europe, 32,241 from the Americas, 5,856 from Oceania and 5,758 from Africa. Migrants from neighbouring countries include 216,528 Burmese, 72,934 Cambodians and 52,498 Lao. In 2018, numbers show that there are 370,000 international migrants registered with the Department of Employment, more than half of them migrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

Following its establishment as capital city in 1782, Bangkok grew only slightly throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. British diplomat John Crawfurd, visiting in 1822, estimated its population at no more than 50,000. As a result of Western medicine brought by missionaries as well as increased immigration from both within Siam and overseas, Bangkok's population gradually increased as the city modernized in the late 19th century. This growth became even more pronounced in the 1930s, following the discovery of antibiotics. Although family planning and birth control were introduced in the 1960s, the lowered birth rate was more than offset by increased migration from the provinces as economic expansion accelerated. Only in the 1990s have Bangkok's population growth rates decreased, following the national rate. Thailand had long since become highly centralized around the capital. In 1980, Bangkok's population was fifty-one times that of Hat Yai and Songkhla, the second-largest urban centre at the time, making it the world's most prominent primate city.

The majority of Bangkok's population identify as Thai, although details on the city's ethnic make-up are unavailable, as the national census does not document race. Bangkok's cultural pluralism dates back to the early days of its founding: several ethnic communities were formed by immigrants and forced settlers including the Khmer, northern Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, Mon and Malay. Most prominent were the Chinese, who played major roles in the city's trade and became the majority of Bangkok's population-estimates include up to three-fourths in 1828 and almost half in the 1950s. Chinese immigration was restricted from the 1930s and effectively ceased after the Chinese Revolution in 1949. Their prominence subsequently declined as younger generations of Thai Chinese integrated and adopted a Thai identity. Bangkok is still nevertheless home to a large Chinese community, with the greatest concentration in Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown.

The majority (93 per cent) of the city's population is Buddhist, according to the 2010 census. Other religions include Islam (4.6 per cent), Christianity (1.9 per cent), Hinduism (0.3 per cent), Sikhism (0.1 per cent) and Confucianism (0.1 per cent).

Apart from Yaowarat, Bangkok also has several other distinct ethnic neighbourhoods. The Indian community is centred in Phahurat, where the Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, founded in 1933, is located. Ban Khrua on Saen Saep Canal is home to descendants of the Cham who settled in the late 18th century. Although the Portuguese who settled during the Thonburi period have ceased to exist as a distinct community, their past is reflected in Santa Cruz Church, on the west bank of the river. Likewise, Assumption Cathedral on Charoen Krung Road is among many European-style buildings in the Old Farang Quarter, where European diplomats and merchants lived in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Nearby, the Haroon Mosque is the centre of a Muslim community. Newer expatriate communities exist along Sukhumvit Road, including the Japanese community near Soi Phrom Phong and Soi Thong Lo, and the Arab and North African neighbourhood along Soi Nana. Sukhumvit Plaza, a mall on Soi Sukhumvit 12, is popularly known as Korea Town.

Bangkok is the economic centre of Thailand, and the heart of the country's investment and development. In 2018, the city had an economic output of 5.384 trillion baht (US$174 billion). This amounted to a per-capita GDP value of 604,421 baht ($19,500), more than twice the national average. The Bangkok Metropolitan Region had a combined output of 7.667 trillion baht ($247 billion).

Wholesale and retail trade is the largest sector in the city's economy, contributing 24 per cent of Bangkok's gross provincial product. It is followed by manufacturing (14.3 per cent); real estate, renting and business activities (12.4 per cent); transport and communications (11.6 per cent); and financial intermediation (11.1 per cent). Bangkok alone accounts for 48.4 per cent of Thailand's service sector, which in turn constitutes 49 per cent of GDP. When the Bangkok Metropolitan Region is considered, manufacturing is the most significant contributor at 28.2 per cent of the gross regional product, reflecting the density of industry in the Bangkok's neighbouring provinces. The automotive industry based around Greater Bangkok is the largest production hub in Southeast Asia. Tourism is also a significant contributor to Bangkok's economy, generating 427.5 billion baht ($13.38 billion) in revenue in 2010.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) is on Ratchadaphisek Road in inner Bangkok. The SET, together with the Market for Alternative Investment (MAI) has 648 listed companies as of the end of 2011, with a combined market capitalization of 8.485 trillion baht ($267.64 billion). Due to the large amount of foreign representation, Thailand has for several years been a mainstay of the Southeast Asian economy and a centre of Asian business. The Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranks Bangkok as an "Alpha -" world city, and it is ranked 59th in Z/Yen's Global Financial Centres Index 11.

Bangkok is home to the headquarters of all of Thailand's major commercial banks and financial institutions, as well as the country's largest companies. Many multinational corporations base their regional headquarters in Bangkok due to the lower cost of labour and operations relative to other major Asian business centres. Seventeen Thai companies are listed on the Forbes 2000, all of which are based in the capital, including PTT, the only Fortune Global 500 company in Thailand.

Income inequality is a major issue in Bangkok, especially between relatively unskilled lower-income immigrants from rural provinces and neighbouring countries, and middle-class professionals and business elites. Although absolute poverty rates are low-only 0.64 per cent of Bangkok's registered residents were living under the poverty line in 2010, compared to a national average of 7.75 per cent-economic disparity is still substantial. The city has a Gini coefficient of 0.48, indicating a high level of inequality.

Bangkok is one of the world's top tourist destinations. Of 162 cities worldwide, MasterCard ranked Bangkok as the top destination city by international visitor arrivals in its Global Destination Cities Index 2018, ahead of London, with just over 20 million overnight visitors in 2017. This was a repeat of its 2017 ranking (for 2016). Euromonitor International ranked Bangkok fourth in its Top City Destinations Ranking for 2016. Bangkok was also named "World's Best City" by Travel + Leisure magazine's survey of its readers for four consecutive years, from 2010 to 2013. As the main gateway through which visitors arrive in Thailand, Bangkok is visited by the majority of international tourists to the country. Domestic tourism is also prominent. The Department of Tourism recorded 26,861,095 Thai and 11,361,808 foreign visitors to Bangkok in 2010. Lodgings were made by 15,031,244 guests, who occupied 49.9 per cent of the city's 86,687 hotel rooms. Bangkok also topped the list as the world's most popular tourist destinations in 2017 rankings.

Bangkok's multi-faceted sights, attractions and city life appeal to diverse groups of tourists. Royal palaces and temples as well as several museums constitute its major historical and cultural tourist attractions. Shopping and dining experiences offer a wide range of choices and prices. The city is also famous for its dynamic nightlife. Although Bangkok's sex tourism scene is well known to foreigners, it is usually not openly acknowledged by locals or the government.

Among Bangkok's well-known sights are the Grand Palace and major Buddhist temples, including Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun. The Giant Swing and Erawan Shrine demonstrate Hinduism's deep-rooted influence in Thai culture. Vimanmek Mansion in Dusit Palace is famous as the world's largest teak building, while the Jim Thompson House provides an example of traditional Thai architecture. Other major museums include the Bangkok National Museum and the Royal Barge National Museum. Cruises and boat trips on the Chao Phraya and the canals of Thonburi offer views of some of the city's traditional architecture and ways of life on the waterfront.

Bangkok has a reputation overseas as a major destination in the sex industry. Although prostitution is technically illegal and is rarely openly discussed in Thailand, it commonly takes place among massage parlours, saunas and hourly hotels, serving foreign tourists as well as locals. Bangkok has acquired the nickname "Sin City of Asia" for its level of sex tourism.

In 2015, however, the BMA, with support from the National Council for Peace and Order (Thailand's ruling military junta), began cracking down on street vendors in a bid to reclaim public space. Many famous market neighbourhoods were affected, including Khlong Thom, Saphan Lek, and the flower market at Pak Khlong Talat. Nearly 15,000 vendors were evicted from 39 public areas in 2016. While some applauded the efforts to focus on pedestrian rights, others have expressed concern that gentrification would lead to the loss of the city's character and adverse changes to people's way of life.

Sanam Luang is the site of the Thai Kite, Sport and Music Festival, usually held in March, and the Royal Ploughing Ceremony which takes place in May. The Red Cross Fair at the beginning of April is held at Suan Amporn and the Royal Plaza, and features numerous booths offering goods, games and exhibits. The Chinese New Year (January-February) and Vegetarian Festival (September-October) are celebrated widely by the Chinese community, especially in Yaowarat.

Bangkok was designated as the World Book Capital for the year 2013 by UNESCO.

Bangkok's first Thai International Gay Pride Festival took place on October 31, 1999. Pride Parades have also been held in Bangkok, with the first official parade held in 2022 under the name "Bangkok Naruemit Pride Parade". Pride Parades were announced to be a part of Bangkok's "12 monthly festivals" in 2022.

Bangkok is the centre of Thailand's media industry. All national newspapers, broadcast media and major publishers are based in the capital. Its 21 national newspapers had a combined daily circulation of about two million in 2002. These include the mass-oriented , and , the first of which currently prints a million copies per day, as well as the less sensational and Krungthep Thurakij. The Bangkok Post and are the two national English language dailies. Foreign publications including The Asian Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Straits Times and the Yomiuri Shimbun also have operations in Bangkok. The large majority of Thailand's more than 200 magazines are published in the capital, and include news magazines as well as lifestyle, entertainment, gossip and fashion-related publications.

Bangkok is also the hub of Thailand's broadcast television. All six national terrestrial channels, Channels 3, 5 and 7, Modernine, NBT and Thai PBS, have headquarters and main studios in the capital. GMM Grammy is Thailand's largest mass-media conglomerate is also headquartered in Bangkok as well. With the exception of local news segments broadcast by the NBT, all programming is done in Bangkok and repeated throughout the provinces. However, this centralised model is weakening with the rise of cable television, which has many local providers. There are numerous cable and satellite channels based in Bangkok. TrueVisions is the major subscription television provider in Bangkok and Thailand, and it also carries international programming. Bangkok was home to 40 of Thailand's 311 FM radio stations and 38 of its 212 AM stations in 2002. Broadcast media reform stipulated by the 1997 constitution has been progressing slowly, although many community radio stations have emerged in the city.

Likewise, Bangkok has dominated the Thai film industry since its inception. Although film settings normally feature locations throughout the country, the city is home to all major film studios in Thailand such as GDH 559 (GMM Grammy's film production subsidiary), Sahamongkol Film International and Five Star Production. Bangkok has dozens of cinemas and multiplexes, and the city hosts two major film festivals annually, the Bangkok International Film Festival and the World Film Festival of Bangkok.

Traditional Thai art, long developed within religious and royal contexts, continues to be sponsored by various government agencies in Bangkok, including the Department of Fine Arts' Office of Traditional Arts. The SUPPORT Foundation in Chitralada Palace sponsors traditional and folk handicrafts. Various communities throughout the city still practice their traditional crafts, including the production of masks, alms bowls, and classical musical instruments. The National Gallery hosts permanent collection of traditional and modern art, with temporary contemporary exhibits. Bangkok's contemporary art scene has slowly grown from relative obscurity into the public sphere over the past two decades. Private galleries gradually emerged to provide exposure for new artists, including the Patravadi Theatre and H Gallery. The centrally located Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, opened in 2008 following a fifteen-year lobbying campaign, is now the largest public exhibition space in the city. There are also many other art galleries and museums, including the privately owned Museum of Contemporary Art.

The city's performing arts scene features traditional theatre and dance as well as Western-style plays. Khon and other traditional dances are regularly performed at the National Theatre and Salachalermkrung Royal Theatre, while the Thailand Cultural Centre is a newer multi-purpose venue which also hosts musicals, orchestras and other events. Numerous venues regularly feature a variety of performances throughout the city.

Rajamangala Stadium was built for the 1998 Asian Games and Thailand national football team home stadium.

As is the national trend, association football and Muay Thai dominate Bangkok's spectator sport scene. Muangthong United, Bangkok United, BG Pathum United, Port and Police Tero are major Thai League clubs based in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, while the Rajadamnern and Lumpini stadiums are the main kickboxing venues.

There are many public sporting facilities located throughout Bangkok. The two main centres are the National Stadium complex, which dates to 1938, and the newer Hua Mak Sports Complex, which was built for the 1998 Asian Games. Bangkok had also hosted the games in 1966, 1970 and 1978; the most of any city. The city was the host of the inaugural Southeast Asian Games in 1959, the 2007 Summer Universiade and the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup.

Streetlamps and headlights illuminate the Makkasan Interchange of the expressway. The system sees a traffic of over 1.5 million vehicles per day.[122]

Although Bangkok's canals historically served as a major mode of transport, they have long since been surpassed in importance by land traffic. Charoen Krung Road, the first to be built by Western techniques, was completed in 1864. Since then, the road network has vastly expanded to accommodate the sprawling city. A complex elevated expressway network and Don Mueang Tollway helps bring traffic into and out of the city centre, but Bangkok's rapid growth has put a large strain on infrastructure, and traffic jams have plagued the city since the 1990s. Although rail transport was introduced in 1893 and trams served the city from 1888 to 1968, it was only in 1999 that Bangkok's first rapid transit system began operation. Older public transport systems include an extensive bus network and boat services which still operate on the Chao Phraya and two canals. Taxis appear in the form of cars, motorcycles, and "" auto rickshaws.

The BMA is largely responsible for overseeing the construction and maintenance of the road network and transport systems through its Public Works Department and Traffic and Transportation Department. However, many separate government agencies are also in charge of the individual systems, and much of transport-related policy planning and funding is contributed to by the national government.

Road-based transport is the primary mode of travel in Bangkok. Due to the city's organic development, its streets do not follow an organized grid structure. Forty-eight major roads link the different areas of the city, branching into smaller streets and lanes () which serve local neighbourhoods. Eleven bridges over the Chao Phraya link the two sides of the city, while several expressway and motorway routes bring traffic into and out of the city centre and link with nearby provinces. The first expressway in Bangkok is Chaloem Maha Nakhon Expressway, which opened 1981.

Bangkok's rapid growth in the 1980s resulted in sharp increases in vehicle ownership and traffic demand, which have since continued-in 2006 there were 3,943,211 in-use vehicles in Bangkok, of which 37.6 per cent were private cars and 32.9 per cent were motorcycles. These increases, in the face of limited carrying capacity, caused severe traffic congestion evident by the early 1990s. The extent of the problem is such that the Thai Traffic Police has a unit of officers trained in basic midwifery in order to assist deliveries which do not reach hospital in time. While Bangkok's limited road surface area (8 per cent, compared to 20-30 per cent in most Western cities) is often cited as a major cause of its traffic jams, other factors, including high vehicle ownership rate relative to income level, inadequate public transport systems, and lack of transportation demand management, also play a role. Efforts to alleviate the problem have included the construction of intersection bypasses and an extensive system of elevated highways, as well as the creation of several new rapid transit systems. The city's overall traffic conditions, however, remain poor.

Traffic has been the main source of air pollution in Bangkok, which reached serious levels in the 1990s. But efforts to improve air quality by improving fuel quality and enforcing emission standards, among others, had visibly ameliorated the problem by the 2000s. Atmospheric particulate matter levels dropped from 81 micrograms per cubic metre in 1997 to 43 in 2007. However, increasing vehicle numbers and a lack of continued pollution-control efforts threatens a reversal of the past success. In January-February 2018, weather conditions caused bouts of haze to cover the city, with particulate matter under 2.5 micrometres (PM 2.5) rising to unhealthy levels for several days on end.

Although the BMA has created thirty signed bicycle routes along several roads totalling 230 kilometres (140 mi), cycling is still largely impractical, especially in the city centre. Most of these bicycle lanes share the pavement with pedestrians. Poor surface maintenance, encroachment by hawkers and street vendors, and a hostile environment for cyclists and pedestrians, make cycling and walking unpopular methods of getting around in Bangkok.

Buses and taxis

Bangkok has an extensive bus network providing local transit services within the Greater Bangkok area. The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) operates a monopoly on bus services, with substantial concessions granted to private operators. Buses, minibus vans, and song thaeo operate on a total of 470 routes throughout the region. A separate bus rapid transit system owned by the BMA has been in operation since 2010. Known simply as the BRT, the system currently consists of a single line running from the business district at Sathon to Ratchaphruek on the western side of the city. The Transport Co., Ltd. is the BMTA's long-distance counterpart, with services to all provinces operating out of Bangkok.

Taxis are ubiquitous in Bangkok, and are a popular form of transport. As of August 2012, there are 106,050 cars, 58,276 motorcycles and 8,996 tuk-tuk motorized tricycles cumulatively registered for use as taxis. Meters have been required for car taxis since 1992, while tuk-tuk fares are usually negotiated. Motorcycle taxis operate from regulated ranks, with either fixed or negotiable fares, and are usually employed for relatively short journeys.

Despite their popularity, taxis have gained a bad reputation for often refusing passengers when the requested route is not to the driver's convenience. Motorcycle taxis were previously unregulated, and subject to extortion by organized crime gangs. Since 2003, registration has been required for motorcycle taxi ranks, and drivers now wear distinctive numbered vests designating their district of registration and where they are allowed to accept passengers.

Several ride hailing super-apps operate within the city, including Grab (offering car and motorbike options), and AirAsia in 2022. The Estonian company Bolt launched airport transfer and ride hailing services in 2020. Ride sharing startup MuvMi launched in 2018, and operates an electric tuk-tuk service in 9 areas across the city.

Bangkok is the location of Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, the new main terminus of the national rail network operated by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). The older terminus, Bangkok (Hua Lamphong) Railway Station, which was the main station for Bangkok for over a century, remains in use. The SRT operates long-distance intercity services from Krung Thep Aphiwat, while commuter trains running to and from the outskirts of the city during the rush hour continue to operate at Bangkok (Hua Lamphong).

Bangkok is served by four rapid transit systems: the BTS Skytrain, the MRT, the SRT Red Lines, and the elevated Airport Rail Link. Although proposals for the development of rapid transit in Bangkok had been made since 1975, it was only in 1999 that the BTS finally began operation.

The BTS consists of two lines, Sukhumvit and Silom, with 59 stations along 68.25 kilometres (42.41 mi). The MRT opened for use in July 2004, and currently consists of two lines, the Blue Line and Purple Line with 53 stations along 70.6 kilometres (43.9 mi). The Airport Rail Link, opened in August 2010, connects the city centre to Suvarnabhumi Airport to the east. Its eight stations span a distance of 28.6 kilometres (17.8 mi). The SRT Red Lines (Commuter) opened in 2021, and consists of two lines, The SRT Dark Red Line and SRT Light Red Line with currently 14 stations along 41 kilometres (25 mi).

Although initial passenger numbers were low and their service area was limited to the inner city until the 2016 opening of the Purple Line, which serves the Nonthaburi area, these systems have become indispensable to many commuters. The BTS reported an average of 600,000 daily trips in 2012, while the MRT had 240,000 passenger trips per day.

As of September 2020, construction work is ongoing to extend the city-wide transit system's reach, including the construction of the Light Red grade-separated commuter rail line. The entire Mass Rapid Transit Master Plan in Bangkok Metropolitan Region consists of eight main lines and four feeder lines totaling 508 kilometres (316 mi) to be completed by 2029. In addition to rapid transit and heavy rail lines, there have been proposals for several monorail systems.

A Chao Phraya Express Boat on the Chao Phraya near Wat Arun

Although much diminished from its past prominence, water-based transport still plays an important role in Bangkok and the immediate upstream and downstream provinces. Several water buses serve commuters daily. The Chao Phraya Express Boat serves thirty-four stops along the river, carrying an average of 35,586 passengers per day in 2010, while the smaller Khlong Saen Saep boat service serves twenty-seven stops on Saen Saep Canal with 57,557 daily passengers. Khlong Phasi Charoen boat service serves twenty stops on the Phasi Charoen Canal. Long-tail boats operate on fifteen regular routes on the Chao Phraya, and passenger ferries at thirty-two river crossings served an average of 136,927 daily passengers in 2010.

Bangkok Port, popularly known by its location as Khlong Toei Port, was Thailand's main international port from its opening in 1947 until it was superseded by the deep-sea Laem Chabang Port in 1991. It is primarily a cargo port, though its inland location limits access to ships of 12,000 deadweight tonnes or less. The port handled 11,936,855 tonnes (13,158,130 tons) of cargo in the first eight months of the 2010 fiscal year, about 22 per cent the total of the country's international ports.

Bangkok is one of Asia's busiest air transport hubs. Two commercial airports serve the city, the older Don Mueang International Airport and the newer Suvarnabhumi Airport. Suvarnabhumi, which replaced Don Mueang as Bangkok's main airport after its opening in 2006, served 52,808,013 passengers in 2015, making it the world's 20th busiest airport by passenger volume. This volume exceeded its designed capacity of 45 million passengers. Don Mueang reopened for domestic flights in 2007, and resumed international service focusing on low-cost carriers in October 2012. Suvarnabhumi is undergoing expansion to increase its capacity to 60 million passengers by 2019 and 90 million by 2021.

Bangkok has long been the centre of modern education in Thailand. The first schools in the country were established here in the later 19th century, and there are now 1,351 schools in the city. The city is home to the country's five oldest universities, Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, Kasetsart, Mahidol and Silpakorn, founded between 1917 and 1943. The city has since continued its dominance, especially in higher education; the majority of the country's universities, both public and private, are located in Bangkok or the Metropolitan Region. Chulalongkorn and Mahidol are the only Thai universities to appear in the top 500 of the QS World University Rankings. King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, also located in Bangkok, is the only Thai university in the top 400 of the 2012-13 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Much of Thailand's medical resources are disproportionately concentrated in the capital. In 2000, Bangkok had 39.6 per cent of the country's doctors and a physician-to-population ratio of 1:794, compared to a median of 1:5,667 among all provinces. The city is home to 42 public hospitals, five of which are university hospitals, as well as 98 private hospitals and 4,063 registered clinics. The BMA operates nine public hospitals through its Medical Service Department, and its Health Department provides primary care through sixty-eight community health centres. Thailand's universal healthcare system is implemented through public hospitals and health centres as well as participating private providers.

Research-oriented medical school affiliates such as Siriraj, King Chulalongkorn Memorial and Ramathibodi Hospitals are among the largest in the country, and act as tertiary care centres, receiving referrals from distant parts of the country. Lately, especially in the private sector, there has been much growth in medical tourism, with hospitals such as Bumrungrad and Bangkok Hospital, among others, providing services specifically catering to foreigners. An estimated 200,000 medical tourists visited Thailand in 2011, making Bangkok the most popular global destination for medical tourism.

Bangkok has a relatively moderate crime rate when compared to urban counterparts around the world. Traffic accidents are a major hazard while natural disasters are rare. Intermittent episodes of political unrest and occasional terrorist attacks have resulted in losses of life.

Although the crime threat in Bangkok is relatively low, non-confrontational crimes of opportunity such as pick-pocketing, purse-snatching, and credit card fraud occur with frequency. Bangkok's growth since the 1960s has been followed by increasing crime rates partly driven by urbanisation, migration, unemployment and poverty. By the late 1980s, Bangkok's crime rates were about four times that of the rest of the country. The police have long been preoccupied with street crimes ranging from housebreaking to assault and murder. The 1990s saw the emergence of vehicle theft and organized crime, particularly by foreign gangs. Drug trafficking, especially that of methamphetamine pills, is also chronic.

According to police statistics, the most common complaint received by the Metropolitan Police Bureau in 2010 was housebreaking, with 12,347 cases. This was followed by 5,504 cases of motorcycle thefts, 3,694 cases of assault and 2,836 cases of embezzlement. Serious offences included 183 murders, 81 gang robberies, 265 robberies, 1 kidnapping and 9 arson cases. Offences against the state were by far more common, and included 54,068 drug-related cases, 17,239 cases involving prostitution and 8,634 related to gambling. The Thailand Crime Victim Survey conducted by the Office of Justice Affairs of the Ministry of Justice found that 2.7 per cent of surveyed households reported a member being victim of a crime in 2007. Of these, 96.1 per cent were crimes against property, 2.6 per cent were crimes against life and body, and 1.4 per cent were information-related crimes.

Traffic accidents are a major hazard in Bangkok. There were 37,985 accidents in the city in 2010, resulting in 16,602 injuries and 456 deaths as well as 426.42 million baht in damages. However, the rate of fatal accidents is much lower than in the rest of Thailand. While accidents in Bangkok amounted to 50.9 per cent of the entire country, only 6.2 per cent of fatalities occurred in the city. Another serious public health hazard comes from Bangkok's stray dogs. Up to 300,000 strays are estimated to roam the city's streets, and dog bites are among the most common injuries treated in the emergency departments of the city's hospitals. Rabies is prevalent among the dog population, and treatment for bites pose a heavy public burden.

Bangkok is faced with multiple problems-including congestion, and especially subsidence and flooding-which have raised the issue of moving the nation's capital elsewhere. The idea is not new: during World War II Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram planned unsuccessfully to relocate the capital to Phetchabun. In the 2000s, the Thaksin Shinawatra administration assigned the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) to formulate a plan to move the capital to Nakhon Nayok province. The 2011 floods revived the idea of moving government functions from Bangkok. In 2017, the military government assigned NESDC to study the possibility of moving government offices from Bangkok to Chachoengsao province in the east.

Protesters in front of the United Nations Building during the 2009 Bangkok Climate Change Conference. Bangkok is home to several UN offices.

Bangkok is a member of several international organizations and regional city government networks, including the Asian Network of Major Cities 21, the Japan-led Asian-Pacific City Summit, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, the ESCAP-sponsored Regional Network of Local Authorities for Management of Human Settlements in Asia and Pacific (CITYNET), Japan's Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, the World Association of the Major Metropolises and Local Governments for Sustainability, among others.

With its location at the heart of mainland Southeast Asia and as one of Asia's hubs of transportation, Bangkok is home to many international and regional organizations. Among others, Bangkok is the seat of the Secretariat of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ( ESCAP), as well as the Asia-Pacific regional offices of the Food and Agricultural Organization ( FAO), the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO), the International Labour Organization ( ILO), the International Organization for Migration ( IOM), the International Telecommunication Union ( ITU), the UN High Commission for Refugees ( UNHCR), and the UN Children's Fund ( UNICEF).

City partnerships

Bangkok has made sister city or friendship agreements with:

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Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population of 10.539 million as of 2020, 15.3 per cent of the country's population.

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Nina Evason,

Islam is the official religion of Afghanistan and the majority of the population is Muslim (approximately 99.7%). ¹ There are some very small residual communities of other faiths, including Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and Baha'i. However, the numbers of minority Muslim and non-Muslim groups have significantly declined over the past decades as people have fled sectarian tensions and conflict.

The Afghan government is established as a Sunni Islamic Republic. Therefore, there is a strong societal pressure to adhere to Sunni Islamic traditions. The moral code of the Islamic doctrine tends to govern the political, economic and legal aspects of an Afghan's life. Not all Afghans are strictly observant Muslims. For example, many people do not pray on a regular basis. Nevertheless, everyone tends to engage with Islam on some level as Islamic customs form the basis of many general cultural norms in Afghanistan.

Islam in Afghanistan

The cultural and national identity of Afghanistan is deeply shaped by Islam. Faith in the religion is noticeable in dress, dietary codes, regular prayers and language. For example, reverence to Allah (God) is evident in the way many people speak; it is common to slip praise into casual conversation. Although the vast majority of Afghans believe in God and the holy Qur'an, not all may be formally educated in the religion. ² Low literacy in Afghanistan means that some people may have never read passages of the Qur'an and rely on others who have memorised the holy text to pass on the word of God.

There are two main variations of Islam ( Sunni and Shi'a) followed in Afghanistan that differ primarily in the way they have interpreted the succession of leadership in the religion. An Afghan's ethnicity is generally presumed to determine which denomination of Islam they belong to. Most Pashtuns, Tajiks and Uzbeks are Sunni, while Hazaras constitute the largest Shi'a population of Afghanistan. There are some exceptions, such as the Pashtun Turi tribe and the Badakshan Tajiks who are Shi'a. ³

The statistical estimations of each Muslim denomination's size in Afghanistan are unclear. Shi'a leaders report that approximately 20-25% of the population is Shi'a, while Sunni leaders state the Shi'a constitute 10%. Most Afghan Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi Islamic school of law. It is estimated approximately 90% of the Shi'a population belong to the Twelver sect (following the Jafari school), although some are Ismali Shi'ites. ⁴

Afghanistan has struggled with sectarian tensions between its Sunni and Shi'a populations. Sunni-dominated governments have histories of discrimination against minority Shi'ites. The Taliban, a radicalised Sunni terrorist insurgency group, continue to target and kill members of minority religious communities over their beliefs. They often attack Shi'a places of worship or religious ceremonies. Civilian casualties resulting from attacks deliberately targeting Shi'a mullahs and places of worship have increased markedly since 2016. ⁵ The Hazara Shi'a population is generally the most common victim of ethno-religious terrorism.

Freedom of Religion

There are many restrictions on people's religious practice in Afghanistan. Local Muslim religious leaders make efforts to limit social activities they consider inconsistent with Islamic doctrine. ⁶ For example, women of several different faiths report continued harassment from local Muslim religious leaders over their attire. As a result, almost all women (both local and foreign) wear some form of head covering.

It is important to consider that there may be opposing views regarding the role of religion in Afghanistan. Spirituality holds relevance and importance in almost every Afghan's life. However, some may view the institution of religion negatively, seeing it as a tool of oppression due to their experience of persecution and conflict.

An Afghan that feels discontent with their religion may not make their thoughts and beliefs known to their family or community. Showing contempt, offense or a lack of reverence towards Islam can be considered blasphemous. Anyone accused of blasphemy or apostasy is likely to face strong societal discrimination and can be sentenced to severe punishments, such as death. ⁷ Such laws and penalties surrounding blasphemy and apostasy from Islam have been used to harass religious minorities especially. ⁸ Journalists can be targeted for publishing stories that could be perceived as conflicting with the principles of Islam. Threats of kidnapping and death directed at journalists, employees of NGOs and others are serious and common.
1 Central Intelligence Agency, 2018 2 South Eastern Region Migrant Resource Centre, 2009 3 Minority Rights Group International, 2018 4 U.S. Department of State, 2017 5 Minority Rights Group International, 2018 6 U.S. Department of State, 2017 7 U.S. Department of State, 2017 8 Minority Rights Group International, 2018

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Learn about the religious make-up of society and how religion influences daily life and culture

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Japan's birthrate has dropped to a historic level, the lowest since data gathering began in 1899.

That's what The Japan Times has reported, citing government figures released Friday.

For years, Japan has seen a decline in its population, leading experts and lawmakers to consider the economic and social repercussions.

And on Friday, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare estimated that 921,000 babies will be born by the end of 2018 - 25,000 fewer than in the previous year.

Birth and death statistics show that the pace of Japan's population collapse is speeding up, The Japan Times reported.

About 127 million people live in Japan. The population could drop below the 100 million mark by 2049, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.

Not only is Japan expected to enter a long period of population decline, but also its inhabitants are aging out of the workforce. By 2036, one in three people will be elderly, researchers project.

"To help ensure Japan stays on a path of sustained economic growth, we know we must address the birthrate and aging population issues," Communications and Cultural Affairs Minister Takehiro Shimada told NPR by email.

Shimada said the government launched a new economic policy package in 2017 to address the dilemma. "The plan is designed to promote both supply system innovation," such as robots, "and human resources development revolution," a social security system for "not only the elderly and the youth, but also Japan's working-age generation so they are provided with support for child-rearing and nursing care."

Amid a shrinking workforce, Japan has already turned to robots for some of its daily needs. They are used in restaurants, stores and banks. The International Monetary Fund stated last year that because of the aging population, robots will be found in "schools, hospitals ... and even temples."

Lawmakers also passed a measure in December that will allow more foreign workers to enter the country, for longer periods of time and, in some cases, with a path toward attaining Japanese citizenship.

Birthrates aren't just falling in Japan. South Korea has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. Around the globe, the fertility rate fell more than 50 percent, from 4.99 in 1960 to 2.44 by 2016, according to the World Bank.

Japanese researchers found that among unmarried people between the ages of 18 and 34, nearly 70 percent of men and 60 percent of women were not in a relationship, reported The Japan Times.

But that isn't necessarily why the country is producing fewer babies. A major factor may be a dearth of stable jobs for young people. Since the 1990s, labor laws changed, leading to more part-time and contract work, according to The Atlantic. That could have affected people's trajectory, building "a class of men who don't marry and have children because they - and their potential partners - know they can't afford to."

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New figures from the government show that the estimated count of babies born in 2018 has dropped to a historic low. "We know we must address the birthrate," a Japanese official says.

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How Hong Kong-style milk tea became part of local culture

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How Hong Kong-style milk tea became part of local culture

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Steeped in history: how Hong Kong-style milk tea became a staple

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Super strong, drawn through a silk stocking four times, served with a splash of evaporated milk, the traditional drink with colonial roots has been energising Hongkongers of all types since the second world war

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Hong Kong has a lot going for it. It is one of the commercial capitals of the Orient, the architecture is amazing and the food is out of this world. But, the one thing that Hong Kong lacks is a way to get a quick cup of good tea. Every time I come to Hong Kong it amazes me how difficult it is as a traveler to find even bad tea. As weird as that is, there is an explanation for it.

The Chinese never drink tea "on-the-go"

As a Westerner, you would think that everyone drinks beverages they love on the go. After all, Americans love to drink coffee, juice and tea on their morning commutes. But, in Hong Kong, people tend to drink tea at home. The overall impression I get from talking to people is that tea is supposed the be enjoyed, not just chugged for the caffeine.

Tea is also enjoyed socially

When tea is served outside of the home in Hong Kong, it is always during social events. People enjoy tea with meals at restaurants, with a group of friends at a teahouse and at local Milk Tea Establishments with a small bite to eat. At these places there is no "to-go" option for tea. The idea of drinking tea out of a carboard cup while on the subway would seem weird to most Chinese.

Tea is served more like wine is in the U.S.

The best analogy for Western Culture I can think of is the way Americans and Europeans drink wine. Wine is sipped, enjoyed and savored. It is never chugged and is often served to groups of friends at either restaurants or bars. Even if it were legal, it would be weird to order a glass of wine to-go to drink while traveling home.

Here is my point

Tea is supposed to be enjoyed, not just drank because we need the jolt of energy - the Chinese have known this for years. There are plenty of ways to get that jolt (soda, coffee, energy drinks) that it doesn't make sense to think of tea in the same terms. Tea is a special beverage, that is to be enjoyed for its wonderful flavor, aroma and sense of well being that it gives you. And, yes, it can be enjoyed in the office or the morning when you are in a rush. But just remember to actually appreciate the beverage when you are drinking it and never ever chug tea just for the caffeine!

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/faikevin/3850659633/

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Hong Kong has a lot going for it. It is one of the commercial capitals of the Orient, the architecture is amazing and the food is out of this world. But, the one thing that Hong Kong lacks is a way to get a quick cup of good tea.

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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHINESE AND CANTONESE FOOD

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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHINESE AND CANTONESE FOOD

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The difference between Chinese and Cantonese food

Your idea about Cantonese food is wrong because it is not famous for hot and spicy food, the hot and spicy one should be Szechuan Cuisine.

China is a big country, people in the north, west and areas around Yellow River mainly consume wheat products, eg. noodles, steamed buns or different kinds of pan fried pancakes in their daily diets, while people in the southern part of China or area near to the Yangtze river mainly consume rice (in different ways such as steamed rice, congee, dumplings made of rice flour) in their daily diets.

Chinese food contains roughly 8 different cuisines, Cantonese is just one of them.

Cantonese cuisine tastes quite mild and emphasizes using fresh ingredients or seasonal ingredients to prepare, the cooking methods are boiling, stir frying, steaming, charcoal grilling (roasting), deep frying, long boiling, double boiling (steaming in a steamer for long hours), braising and finely sliced raw ingredients (eg. raw fresh water fish's skin with ginger and green onion salad or thinly sliced raw fresh water fish fillet or raw fresh water shrimps with dipping sauce), Cantonese chefs prefer to keep the natural flavours of the ingredients and using mild seasonings or marinades so that the finished dish should be well balanced and not greasy. Even the Cantonese chefs using quite a lot of different seasonings, sauces, spices or herbs, they usually use modest amounts of seasonings to avoid overwhelming the flavours of the ingredients.

Cantonese cuisine is from Guangdong province of China, it includes Hakka cuisine, Chaochau cuisine, Shunde cuisine, Guangzhou / Hong Kong cuisine and each cuisine has its significant dishes, for example, Yum Cha Dim sum, Sweet and Sour pork or steamed spare-ribs with pickled plum & soy bean paste, are from Guangzhou & Hong Kong cuisines, while baked salty chicken, steamed minced pork topped on tofu cubes are from Hakka cuisine, cuttle fish balls noodles, double boiled chicken & shark fin's soup, stir fried marinated chicken dices serve with deep fried basil leaves are from Chaochau cuisine.

As Canton (now known as Guangzhou) Guangzhou is very near to the Peal River Delta therefore in the 18th century a lot of Cantonese immagrated to South East Asia & North America, they opened restaurants, laundary shops, etc., they brought their home cooking styles to foreign countries and nowadays most Chinese restaurants in western countries mainly provide Cantonese cuisine and most of the Head chefs of these restaurants are trained in Hong Kong or Singapore.

In my opinion, the best bet is to ask the wait staff for recommendations because different restaurants have different significant dishes.

Articles

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The difference between Chinese and Cantonese food

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Your idea about Cantonese food is wrong because it is not famous for hot and spicy food, the hot and spicy one should be Szechuan Cuisine. China is a big country, people in the north, west and areas around Yellow River mainly consume wheat products, eg.

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Essential food in Hong Kong includes the traditional dim sum, delicious sea food, and Chinese barbeque. If you have time, wander into any old-fashioned tea house and enjoy a "milky tea" or a cup of Yuanyang.

If you eventually get tired of local food in Hong Kong, there are plenty of other options: you can try every type of Cantonese dish, and indulge in food from other cuisines such as India, Vietnam or the Philippines.

Food in Hong Kong: Cantonese Cuisine

The local food in Hong Kong cannot be missed. To find out more about Hong Kong's culinary tradition and legends connected with certain dishes, check out the food section of the Tourism Board website.

The most important thing to remember when enjoying Cantonese food in Hong Kong is that it is very, very spicy. If it specifically says on the menu that a dish is spicy, you'd better believe that it is extremely hot!

Cantonese food in Hong Kong is usually eaten with four main staple dishes: noodles, rice, rice noodles, or congee - a sort of porridge, also made from rice. One of these side-dishes is always served with your meal, even if it is not explicitly mentioned on the menu.

Themost popular food in Hong Kong is dim sum. In most restaurants, waiters roll around trolleys full of different dim sum, such as dumplings filled with meat or seafood, shrimps, chicken feet, or buns with various fillings. In other places, you order the dim sum treats off a menu. Usually, it all comes with a main dish such as fried rice, noodles or vegetables.

You should also sample the sea food in Hong Kong: its freshness is guaranteed! Enjoy the fish and shrimps at one of the prime locations right down by the waterfront - Sai Kung, Lei Yue Mun, Lamma Island, or Cheung Chau Island.

Finally, step into one of the siu mei shops you can find all over the city. In Cantonese cuisine, siu mei, or - as often referred to in English - "Chinese BBQ", is the generic name for meat roasted over an open fire or in a wood-burning rotisserie oven and complemented with traditional sauces.

Food in Hong Kong: International Cuisine

Food in Hong Kong is varied, and there are hundreds of restaurants offering international plates. Expect to enjoy Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Filipino cuisine, alongside plenty of Italian, French and American restaurants. Inevitably, you can also find branches of McDonalds & co on every corner.

Food in Hong Kong: Restaurants

On a stroll through one of Hong Kong's dining districts, you will probably find more than just one appealing option. You can choose between enjoying traditional food in Hong Kong's traditional street eateries, and paying for an expensive, fancy upscale restaurant.

These will certainly be clean, have English menus and staff that speak good English. However, most will add 10% to the bill as a service charge. Often, you will automatically be served tea and some snacks, which you also have to pay for. Make sure to check with the waiter before being seated.

Otherwise, walk into a smaller family restaurant. These often have a menu at the door for you to check beforehand. Prices are usually moderate, and service charges are listed on the menu. No tip is expected.

To sample food in Hong Kong like the locals, try one of the small street-side restaurants. Prices here are generally very low, and there is no service charge. On the downside, there are probably neither English menus nor English-speaking staff, and if you need a fork, you will have to bring one with you. Hygienic conditions may also not be up to scratch, so you might want to exercise extra caution if you know you have a weak stomach.

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Essential food in Hong Kong includes the traditional dim sum, delicious sea food, and Chinese barbeque. If you have time, wander into any old-fashioned tea house and enjoy a "milky tea" or a cup of Yuanyang.

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As the saying goes, an army marches on its stomach, relying on good and plentiful food to fuel its ability to fight.

For contemporary U.S. armed forces in combat, that usually means Meals, Ready-to-Eat, or MREs. U.S. armed forces switched to MREs in the early 1980s, replacing the much-derided canned rations that had sustained troops from WWII through most of the Vietnam war. In September 2018, specially engineered pizza that can last three years was added to 24 available MRE options, as part of a larger strategy to improve morale (and avoid something called "menu fatigue").

Throughout history, feeding troops has been a challenge for all of the greatest fighting forces, from the Roman legions to the hordes of Genghis Khan to Napoleon's chasseurs. Here's how they did it:

The Roman Legions

Roman armies hunted everything that was available, archaeological remains of wild animals show, says Thomas R. Martin, a professor in Classics at College of the Holy Cross. From the limited evidence of what the administration in Rome provided the soldiers, he adds, the most important source of calories were carbohydrates: barley or wheat. One source says soldiers were given one pound of meat daily. "For an army you have to kill 120 sheep a day just for the meat ration. Or 60 hogs," says Martin.

Whatever the exact amount, it would not be enough to sustain a Roman soldier, who was "a mule more than anything else," says Martin. They carried very heavy gear, on bad roads, and that's when they were not expending calories fighting. With their food they were given wine-a diluted version of what we're used to-or something closer to vinegar that would help reduce bacteria in their drinking water. For their supply of fat, Roman troops, unsurprisingly, looked to olive oil.
READ MORE: 8 Reasons Why Rome Fell
Crusaders

During the Crusades, the average Christian soldier in a siege would have some dried meat and grain to make things like porridge. But this was food they would have brought with them, supplemented with fruits and vegetables or cheese purchased locally. During the First Crusade, soldiers would have provided their own food stores, which they would have mortgaged their property or sold possessions to buy. Later, during crusades like those in the 14th century, called by Pope Innocent III, deals were made with the Venetian fleet and merchants to keep soldiers supplied.

During battles, "if crusaders got to the Muslim camp they would stop fighting and start eating. And it would cost them the battle. It happened twice at the siege of Acre," says John Hosler, associate professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, a medievalist military expert and author of The Siege of Acre, 1189-1191. At one point in the Third Crusade, an observer noted several kitchens in the sultan Saladin's camp, with up to nine cauldrons each. Those cauldrons were substantial-Hosler points out you could fit four cows' heads in each. The Christian invaders had nothing comparable.
READ MORE: Why Muslims See the Crusades So Differently from Christians
Genghis Khan's Mongol Warriors

The Mongol diet "was not gourmet," says Morris Rossabi, a historian and author of The Mongols and Global History. In the early 13th century, when Genghis Khan was conquering swaths of Asia (mostly in the territory we'd now call China), his horde wasn't able to carry much. Warriors were supplied by their own households, and as territories were conquered, the Mongols came in contact with foodstuffs like wine. (Their homegrown brand of liquor was fermented mare's milk called airag, or kumis.)

The Mongolian lands were not particularly arable, nor did the Mongols stay in one place for a long time, so fruits and vegetables weren't staples. The Mongols brought their herds of cows and sheep with them on campaigns. When herds were unavailable, the horsemen would hunt (dogs, marmots and rabbits) or subsist on dried milk curd, cured meat and both fresh and fermented mare's milk.
READ MORE: 10 Things You May Not Know About Genghis Khan
The Ottoman Empire: The Janissaries

At the height of its power, in the late 17th century, the Ottoman Empire was a massive horseshoe around the Mediterranean, including huge swaths of North Africa, the Middle East, modern-day Turkey and Eastern Europe. The Janissaries, elite foot soldiers and bodyguards to the empire's sultan, are considered Europe's first modern standing army.

Janissaries ate well, according to research by Virginia H. Aksan, professor emeritus of McMaster University and a leading scholar of the Ottoman Empire. The soldiers were fueled, she writes, with "fresh baked bread, biscuit when bread was unavailable; a daily meat ration (lamb and mutton) of approximately 200 grams; honey, coffee, rice, bulgur and barley for the horses."

Above all, the biscuit appears to have held primacy in sustaining the soldiers. One observer noted 105 ovens in Istanbul that were solely dedicated to biscuit-baking for the military. Another wrote angrily about biscuit bakers hoarding excess flour for profit and replacing it with dirt, resulting in the death of many soldiers.

Continental Troops in the American Revolution

George Washington -along with his quartermaster and commissary general-had major problems feeding the Continental army. Congress lacked taxing authority and thereby lacked the funds to purchase supplies. It was a problem compounded by transportation and other supply issues. The result, according to Joseph Glatthaar, a professor of history at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was that soldiers would often go days without a ration. "You'd get a little flour and maybe some meat and often the meat is pretty bad," he says.

In 1775, Congress determined a uniform ration that included one pound of beef (or three-quarters of a pound of pork or one pound of salted fish), and one pound of flour or bread per day; three pounds of peas or beans per week, one pint of milk per day, one pint of rice per week, one quart of spruce beer or cider per day, and a little molasses. (Later vinegar was added.) Because army leaders were rarely able to deliver, soldiers would beg from civilians and supplement with whatever animals they could find. Congress pressured Washington to seize food-paid for with low value paper currency (effectively an IOU)-but General Washington worried the practice would alienate the colonials.
CHECK OUT: An Interactive Map of George Washington's Key Battles
Napoleon's Army

"On campaign, Napoleon 's soldiers spent most of their time desperately hungry," says Charles Esdaile, professor of history at University of Liverpool. When all was going to plan, French rations included 24 ounces of bread, a half-pound of meat, an ounce of rice or two ounces of dried beans or peas or lentils, a quart of wine, a gill (roughly a quarter pint) of brandy and a half gill of vinegar. (French measurements are slightly different, so these amounts are approximate.) When bread was unavailable, rough little doughboys would be made from flour, salt and water, baked in the fire, or mixed with stew.

What helped sustain French troops was that European agriculture had switched toward things like the potatoes and corn, which one can eat almost right out of the ground. "French loaves come in long sticks; baguettes," says Esdaile. "The story is that the baguette was developed so that French soldiers could carry their bread in the legs of their trousers."
READ MORE: Why Napoleon's Invasion of Russia Was the Beginning of the End
The Civil War: Union Troops

The Union Army in the American Civil War had a standard ration: roughly three-quarters of a pound of meat, a pound of flour or cornmeal, some kind of vegetable and vinegar and molasses. "If you received the standard ration, it would be substantial," says Glatthaar. "Over time that did not become practical; they began issuing hardtack biscuits called salt cakes, as well as salted meat and dehydrated vegetables." These were made with flour and water and then dried so they'd last longer.

During campaigns, especially as the Union soldiers moved South, seasonal fruits and vegetables, like apples and sweet potatoes, could be pillaged from orchards and farms. Additionally, soldiers would receive care packages from home, as the Union postal system was fairly reliable throughout the war. As for water, both the Union and Confederate armies could easily rely on lakes and streams, as water sources were rarely contaminated.
READ MORE: Desecrated Vegetables: The Hardships of Civil War Eating
World War II: The G.I.

For U.S. Troops, there were two major types of rations during the World War II: the C-Ration (for combat troops) and the K-Ration (less bulky and initially developed for airborne regiments and messengers). "A version of the C-Ration had six containers in one crate, and what's in a C-ration is going to vary," says Glatthaar. "You're going to have a main course-like franks and beans-some cigarettes, some canned fruit, some chewing gum, chocolate bars, some instant coffee, some toilet paper. There's some processed cheese and some biscuits, but really they're crackers. And you also get a matchbook."

Rations, designed to provide three meals-and approximately 3,600 calories-each, were almost universally unpopular. Later, soldiers would get powdered drinks like lemonade and buillion, and eventually sweetened cocoa. K-Rations would have three "meals": a breakfast, lunch and dinner with four ounces of meat and/or eggs, cheese spread, "biscuits," candy, gum, salt tablets and a sugary drink. There were also cigarettes, a wooden spoon and toilet paper.
READ MORE: How Hershey's Chocolate Helped Power Allied Troops During WWII
Vietnam: From MCI to MRE

From 1958 to 1981, U.S. rations known as the Meal, Combat, Individual or MCI, were eventually replaced with Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE). In Vietnam, these were distributed to combat soldiers in a cardboard box, which contained 1,200 calories through a can of meat (like ham and lima beans, or turkey loaf), a can of "bread" which could be crackers or hardtack or cookies, and a can of dessert, like applesauce, sliced peaches or pound cake.

A full ration could be bulky, so troops often disassembled it, taking what they needed on patrol by placing the cans into socks which they could tie to their packs. In his book, Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy 1945-1975, Max Hastings explains how meals were cooked by punching holes in a ration tin and using a C4 explosive to heat it. Hastings also writes about the pills that troops consumed daily, including a malaria tablet, salt pills that could be sucked on, as well as Lomotil tablets, taken four times per day to control diarrhea brought on by the Halazone troops used to purify their water.
READ MORE: GIs' Drug Use Soared in Vietnam-With Their Commanders' Help Watch full episodes of Eating History online now and tune in for all-new episodes Wednesdays at 10/9c.

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Soldiers' Rations Through History: From Live Hogs to Indestructible MREs

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As the saying goes, an army marches on its stomach, relying on good and plentiful food to fuel its ability to fight. For contemporary U.S. armed forces in combat, that usually means Meals, Ready-to-Eat, or MREs. U.S. armed forces switched to MREs in the early 1980s, replacing the much-derided canned rations that had sustained troops from WWII through most of the Vietnam war.

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Hong Kong cuisine is mainly influenced by Cantonese cuisine, European cuisines (especially British cuisine) and non-Cantonese Chinese cuisines (especially Hakka, Teochew, Hokkien and Shanghainese), as well as Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisines, due to Hong Kong's past as a British colony and a long history of being an international port of commerce. From the roadside stalls to the most upscale restaurants, Hong Kong provides an unlimited variety of food and dining in every class. Complex combinations and international gourmet expertise have given Hong Kong the reputable labels of "Gourmet Paradise" and "World's Fair of Food".

Modern Hong Kong has a predominantly service-based economy, and restaurant businesses serve as a main economic contributor. With the fourth-densest population per square metre in the world and serving a population of 7 million, Hong Kong is host to a restaurant industry with intense competition. Due to its small geographical size, Hong Kong contains a high number of restaurants per unit area.

With Cantonese ethnicity making up 94% of the resident population, Cantonese cuisine is naturally served at home. A majority of Chinese in Hong Kong are Cantonese in addition to sizable numbers of Hakka, Teochew and Shanghainese peoples, and home dishes are Cantonese with occasional mixes of the other three types of cuisines. Rice is predominantly the main staple for home meals. Home ingredients are picked up from local grocery stores and independent produce shops, although supermarkets have become progressively more popular.

Hong Kong homes and kitchens tend to be small due to a high population density, and traditional Chinese cuisine often requires the freshest possible ingredients, so food shopping is undertaken frequently and in smaller quantities than is now usual in the West. Take-out and dining out is also very common, since people are often too busy to cook with an average 47-hour work week.

The cuisine of Hong Kong traces its origins to its founding as a British colonial outpost in 1841. Soon after the colony was founded, many British and other Western merchants along with Chinese from nearby Guangzhou flocked there to conduct business. Initially, much of Hong Kong society was segregated into expatriate Westerners, a majority of working class Chinese coolies, Chinese farmers and fishermen, and Chinese merchants. The simple peasant cuisine was rudimentary compared to the cuisine of 19th century Canton (now commonly known as Guangzhou).

As the colony developed, there arose a need for meals to entertain businessmen. Some Chinese restaurants were founded in the late 19th century and early 20th century as branches of renowned restaurants in Canton and offered elaborate meals consisting of traditional Chinese "eight main courses and eight entrees" (八大八小) types of banquets for 2 taels of silver, at the time equal to a clerk's monthly wage. Before 1935 when prostitution was still legal in Hong Kong, female escorts often accompanied diners to restaurant meals, especially those of a business entertainment nature. Until World War II, opium was also offered. For the majority of Chinese who were not part of the merchant class, dining out in restaurants was non-existent and consisted of simple Cantonese country fares. Meat only appeared in festive occasions and celebrations such as birthdays were often done by catering services who prepared the meals at the celebrant's home. The restaurant scene for Europeans in Hong Kong was segregated from Chinese dining. Elaborate colonial dining existed at the likes of Hongkong Hotel and subsequently Gloucester Hotel.

Hong Kong's dining lagged behind the then-leader of Chinese cuisine, Canton, for a long time and many Hong Kong chefs spent their formative years in Canton. Canton was renowned for its food, and there was a traditional saying of " The food is in Canton" (食在廣州). Cantonese cuisine in Canton reached its peak during the 1920s and was renowned in the care in preparation even for peasant fares such as char siu or boat congee. Dasanyuan was renowned for its braised shark fin dish that charged 60 silver yuan, equivalent to 6 months' wage for a working-class family. The Guandong cooking style eventually trickled down to the culinary scene in Hong Kong.

The victory of Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 created a wave of refugees into Hong Kong. A sizeable number of refugees were from non-Cantonese speaking parts of China, including the Yangtze River Delta, and introduced Shanghai cuisine to Hong Kong. On the other hand, most renowned chefs of Canton, now known as Guangzhou in pinyin romanisation, settled in Hong Kong to escape from Communist rule in mainland China.

Prostitution and opium had by then long faded from the restaurant scene, and to survive, many restaurants started to tap into winning business from families by offering yum cha and wedding banquets, while on the other hand, the end of strict colonial segregation by the British colonial government and expatriate Westerners after the Second World War opened up Western fare to the Chinese.

Egg tarts and Hong Kong-style milk tea soon became part of Hong Kong's food culture. It could be argued that the seeds of Hong Kong society as understood today were not sown until 1949, and the cuisine of Hong Kong has its direct roots in this period.

1960s-80s: prosperity

By the 1960s, Hong Kong was past the worst of the economic depression, and there was a long and continuous period of relative calm and openness compared to the Communist rule in Mao Zedong-era China and martial law isolation in Taiwan. The Cantonese cuisine in Hong Kong had by then surpassed that of Guangzhou, which had witnessed a long period of decline after the Communists came to power. The rising prosperity from the mid-1960s had given birth to increasing demand for quality dining. Many of the chefs, who spent their formative years in pre-Communist Guangzhou and Shanghai, started to bring out the best of fine dining specialties from pre-1949 Guangzhou and Shanghai. Families had largely abandoned catering services and resorted to restaurants for celebratory meals. Seafood started to become specialised delicacies in the 1960s, followed by game in the 1970s.

This wave of prosperity also propelled Hong Kong Chinese's awareness of foreign food trends, and many were willing to try foreign ingredients such as asparagus and crayfish from Australia. Foreign food styles such as Japanese and Southeast Asian cuisine started to influence local food, and the pace of change accelerated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. This gave birth to nouvelle Cantonese cuisine ( Chinese: 新派粵菜; Cantonese Yale: Sānpaai Yuhtchoi ) that incorporated foreign dishes such as sashimi into Cantonese banquets. For the first time, many Hong Kong Chinese started to have the economic means to visit many Western restaurants of the domain of mainly wealthy expatriate Westerners such as Gaddi's of the Peninsula Hotel. During these years, there was great wealth growth from stock market investments, and one visible manifestation of the resultant nouveau riche mentality in 1970s Hong Kong were sayings such as "mixing shark's fin soup with rice" ( Chinese: 魚翅撈飯; Cantonese Yale: Yùhchi Lōufaahn ).

China initiated economic reforms when Deng Xiaoping came to power after Mao Zedong died. The opening up of the country gave chefs from Hong Kong chances to reestablish links with chefs from mainland China severed in 1949 and opportunities to gain awareness of various regional Chinese cuisines. Many of these cuisines also contributed to nouvelle Cantonese cuisines in Hong Kong. The lift of martial law in Taiwan in 1987 jump-started Taiwanese links with mainland China and has caused a proliferation of eateries specialising in Taiwanese cuisine in Hong Kong as Taiwanese tourists and businessmen used Hong Kong as a midpoint for visits to mainland China. From 1978 until 1997 there was no dispute Hong Kong was the epicenter of Chinese, not merely Cantonese, cuisine worldwide, with Chinese restaurants in mainland China and Taiwan, and among overseas Chinese communities, racing to employ chefs trained or worked in Hong Kong and emulating dishes improved upon or invented in Hong Kong. Hong Kong-style Cantonese cuisine ( Cantonese Yale: Góngsīk Yuhtchoi ) became a coinword for innovative Chinese cuisine during this period. It was even unofficially rumoured the Chinese government had secretly consulted the head chef for the Peking Garden Restaurant of Hong Kong, part of the Maxim's restaurant and catering conglomerate, to teach chefs back at the renowned Quanjude restaurant in Beijing how to make good Peking duck, Quanjude's signature dish, in the early 1980s as the skills to produce the dish were largely lost during the Cultural Revolution.

After Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, the Asian financial crisis and SARS epidemic led to a decade-long depression. The boom in Hong Kong culinary scene came to a halt and many restaurants were shuttered, including a number of renowned eateries such as Sun Tung Lok. It is argued that the catch up in prosperity among populations from coastal regions of China, particularly the nouveau riche (derogatory Chinese: daai foon 大款) and corrupted officials (derogatory Chinese: daai ye 大爺), has driven up the demand of many delicacies such as abalone and grouper, and many celebratory dishes have become outrageously expensive that they are beyond the reach of even many upper-middle class Hong Kong families. At the same time, Hong Kong people's tastes have become cosmopolitan when compared with one generation ago. Many are now able to appreciate specific European cuisines rather than one generic " Western cuisine", and appreciation of other Asian cuisines, especially Japanese cuisine and Thai cuisine has been ever increasing. These have produced a proliferation of many specialist ethnic cuisine restaurants geared towards young middle class couples on one hand, and a consolidation of fine-dining Cantonese restaurants on the other.

As of the early 21st century Hong Kong, notwithstanding the partial recovery of Hong Kong's economy from the slump in 2003 due to the SARS epidemic, many pundits argue that contemporary Hong Kong's economy is heavily skewed towards real estate development and financial services. This provides prosperity to only a select few minority and an uncertain long-term economic fortune vis-a-vis more diversified mega-rich cities in China such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, and the territory therefore no longer possesses the economic base to support mass-level super fine-dining that is required to sustain an active dining culture. A common perception of Hong Kong's current culinary culture is one being in decline and resting on past laurels. For example, culinary magazines such as Eat and Travel Weekly report fewer fundamentally new dishes being invented in Hong Kong post-2000 than the 1980s heyday, and many restaurants tend to resort to popularise haute dishes invented in the 1980s. Modern Hong Kong's labour market has also disrupted the traditional ways of grooming Chinese chefs, which henceforth been trained in a very long and drawn one-to-one practical apprenticeships. Very few chefs are willing to sacrifice their time and effort to produce traditional cooking that discourages cutting corners, and emphasises techniques over ingredients' net economic worth. On the other hand, a minority of optimistic pundits argue Hong Kong may well develop a foodie culture similar to other developed economies and preserve the best of traditional cooking.

Historically, Hong Kong's food source came from a combination of mini stores instead of supermarkets. Some of the stores included: rice dealers ( Chinese: 米舖; Cantonese Yale: ), serving as mini rice storage warehouses; wine shops ( Chinese: 辦館; Cantonese Yale: ), which offered beverages; convenient stores ( Chinese: 士多; Cantonese Yale: , Cantonese rendering of "store"), which were single convenient stores, most notable for serving fresh baked bread. The main component was wet markets ( Chinese: 街市; Cantonese Yale: ) - one of the first market gatherings in Hong Kong was Central Market that began in the 1840s.

The idea of a single facility or supermarket that provided all food ingredients did not take place until the early 1970s when , a local grocery chain, changed its format into a supermarket. Air-conditioned supermarkets did not become standardised until the 1980s. The early 21st century Western environmentalism- or sustainability-inspired food trends, such as natural food, organic food, non-genetically modified food, local food, and farmer's markets, have been ignored by a majority of Hong Kong's populations. The Western farmer's market share some similarities with the traditional Chinese wet markets, however support of wet markets is largely based on traditional Chinese cultural preference rather than sustainability, and wet markets contain many features that are condemned by modern Western environmentalists on the grounds of "animal cruelty" (live animals sold for food) and "high food miles" (fruits and seafood from another continent).

Most restaurant serving sizes are considerably small by international standards, especially in comparison to most Western nations like the United States and Canada. The main course is usually accompanied by a generous portion of carbohydrates such as rice or mein (noodles). People generally eat 5 times a day. Dinner is often accompanied with desserts. Snack time also fits anywhere in between meals.

As Hong Kong is Cantonese in origin and most Hong Kong Chinese are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Cantonese-speaking regions of China, the food is a variant of Cantonese cuisine - almost all home-cooking and much of the dine-out fares, from restaurant to bakery, are Cantonese or heavily Cantonese-influenced. Most of the celebrated food in Hong Kong such as the wife cake, roast duck, dim sum, herbal tea, shark's fin and abalone cooking, poached chicken, and the mooncake, and others, originated in nearby Guangzhou, and dai pai dong was an institution adopted from the southern Chinese city. As in the parent cuisine, the Hong Kong Cantonese cuisine accepts a wide variety of ingredients, a lighted seasoned taste. Unlike Guangzhou, the uninterrupted contacts Hong Kong has with the West has made it more susceptible to Western influences, and has produced favourites such as egg tarts and Hong Kong-style milk tea.

In addition, other foreign styles of cuisines are also popular in the territory, although almost all offer one of generic Western (authentic, international, or Hong Kong-style), Italian, French, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean cuisines.

Most East Asian cuisines, with the exception of fusion and Thai, are consumed exclusively with chopsticks; to ensure good hygiene, customers are to have two pairs of chopsticks, one to pick up food to put on their plate, and one to eat with. The more Western style cuisines favour cutlery. Some meals are more suited for the use of hands. One notable trend in restaurants is the limited number of napkins provided during a meal. Most mid to low-tier restaurants operate under the assumption that customers bring their own napkins or tissue packs when dining. In all cases, there is no ice water, instead preferring hot water; this is because of the belief that water that is cold to begin with is not sanitary to drink.

Similar to Cantonese cuisine elsewhere, Hong Kong's cooking uses a wide variety of ingredients and the common ones include:

Non-service-based items are food that do not require cooking or any chef services. They are usually imported, cultivated or produced. It is identical if served outside of Hong Kong.

These are basically streetside food stalls, operated by usually one or two people pushing a cart. The carts are usually very mobile, allowing the business freedom to sell snacks in whichever area is most populated at a particular point in time. While they have been popular in the 1970s and 1980s, tight health regulations and other forms of lease versus licensed hawker restrictions have put a burden on this mobile food culture. The term Jau Gwei became associated with the hawkers trying to avoid restrictions.

Includes:

Specialty stores are usually dedicated to selling a certain type of snack or dried goods. If the focus is on beef jerky for example, the store will offer 10 to 20 different types of the highest grade and quality. During holiday times, speciality stores are sometimes the premiere place for purchasing food gift items. Sun-dried goods and Chinese candy are also common merchandise found.

Includes:

Hong Kong-style fast food is either served in fast-casual restaurants such as Café de Coral, Maxim's and Fairwood or in food courts typically attached to malls or supermarkets such as CitySuper. The food offered is a mix of Canto-Western cuisine (see Hong Kong-style Western cuisine below), Cantonese fares, and increasingly Asian food from outside China.

Includes:

Hong Kong-style Chinese pastry offers a plethora of choices for the discerning taster. Depending on location, some shops may carry a wider selection than others, and some may bake goods on the premise while others have it delivered from an off-site bakery. Most bakeries carry standard fare such as pineapple buns and egg tarts. During the Mid-Autumn Festival, moon cakes are one of the hottest sellers. Pastries are baked fresh daily (and sometimes throughout the day), and it is said that Hong Kong people have taste buds so sophisticated that they can tell the difference between something baked one hour versus five hours ago.

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As the most predominant cultural group in Hong Kong, Cantonese food forms the backbone of homecooking and dine-out scenes. Many early celebrated Cantonese restaurants, including Tai San Yuan, Luk Yu Tea House, were originally Hong Kong branches of the famed Guangzhou-based restaurants, and most chefs in Hong Kong until the 1970s had spent their formative years working in the restaurant industry in Guangzhou. Most of the celebrated dishes in Hong Kong were introduced into the territory through Guangzhou, often refined with awareness of international tastes. Cantonese food prices perhaps cover the widest range, from the small businesses lou mei to the most expensive abalone delicacies, which involve abalone.

One well developed dish in Cantonese cuisine is dim sum. Waiters cart around stacks of steamer baskets or small plates of food for customers to choose. Dim sum includes dishes based on meat, seafood, vegetables, as well as desserts and fruit. The term yum cha (literally "drink tea") is synonymous with eating dim sum for Hong Kong people. It is customary for families to eat dim sum on weekends.

Includes:

This cuisine is essentially vegetarian specialties using tofu, wheat gluten, mushroom and other non-animal sourced ingredients. Despite the name, the cuisine is enjoyed by many non-Buddhists. Hong Kong's vegetarian dishes, as part of the Cantonese branch of Chinese vegetarian cuisine, puts emphasis on meat analogue substitutes to the point where it can taste and look identical to real meat, often by using deep-fried gluten and tofu to recreate meat-like textures, and heavy-flavoured sauces are prepared for the dishes. Even committed meat-eaters enjoy the cuisine regularly. Unlike western countries, vegetarian diet in Hong Kong is not considered a commitment. This cuisine is also served in some temples and monasteries like the Po Lin Monastery. The vegetarian cuisine served in some Taoist temples or monasteries, such as the Yuen Yuen Institute, can also be classified under this category.

Includes:

Non-Cantonese Chinese vegetarian cuisine is extremely rare in Hong Kong, although there are some isolated temples and restaurants offering Shanghaiese-style vegetarian cuisine. Compared with Cantonese-style vegetarian cuisine, dishes are less oily and some food items favoured by non-Cantonese Chinese, such as bamboo shoot, picked vegetables, are often used. Meat analogues are prominently featured, albeit expressed in differently manners from Cantonese vegetarian cuisine.

This form of cooking style from the Hakka people originally came from Guangdong and Fujian in southeastern China. The style uses dried and preserved ingredients. Pork is by far the most common meat in the style.

Includes:

This cuisine has one of the longest histories in terms of style development. The variety and complexity provide a glimpse of what imperial Chinese Emperors might have eaten at one time. Exotic dishes in this category often require a considerable wait time before it is served.

Includes:

Sushi is the most common association made to Japanese cuisine in Hong Kong. From small café shops to conveyor belt sushi restaurants to restaurants specialising in teppanyaki, Japanese-style cooking is fairly popular. Depending on the locale, many sushi-centric restaurants are designed to mirror close to those in Japan.

Includes:

Hong Kong has a sizeable South Asian community. Unlike in the Indian subcontinent, where food may separate into regional variants, the Chinese population in Hong Kong overwhelmingly identifies Indian cuisine with curry spices. Because meat is always expected, it can also be said that South Asian cuisine in Hong Kong leans toward Northern Indian and Pakistani styles.

Includes:

This hot pot cuisine, known as daa bin lou ( Chinese: 打邊爐; Jyutping: ; pinyin: ) in Cantonese, is unique in the sense that everyone is a chef. A boiling pot of water (soup-based, and customers can choose their preferred soup taste), is placed in the center of the table, and essentially everyone boils their own ingredients in that pot. This is highly popular and is usually accompanied with a bottle of cold beer or soda. This style is common during frigid winter times, since people are essentially huddled around a fire. This format is also considered entertaining.

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Non-alcoholic beverages are served at restaurants of all classes, but most notably at Cha chaan teng, a unique kind of restaurants in Hong Kong. Since drink recipes are not franchise based, most drinks can vary depending on the restaurant. Rock sugar and syrup are commonly used to add sweetness.

Some beverages that was originated in the tea culture of Taiwan, such as bubble tea and honey green tea, had been brought to Hong Kong and become part of Hong Kong's beverage culture.

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A large wide variety of tea leaves and combinations are used for Chinese tea. In the 1950s and 1960s, citizens would go to tea houses accompanied by their pet birds locked in a bird cage. Noon tea was an essential break in the middle of the day. Tea nowadays goes along with any meal.

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Dishes derived from cuisines of the Western world, but not classified into a particular country, belong in this category. Outside Hong Kong, it is termed Hong Kong-style Western cuisine or Canto-Western cuisine. Small restaurants that offer Sai Chaan are usually cha chaan teng at the popular end or "Sai Chaan Restaurants" at the more upscale range. Restaurants that have come to expect tourists will likely offer both east and west menus. Most dishes are localised with Chinese tastes and contain Chinese and specifically Cantonese influences, such as steak marinated in soy sauce, served in a soy sauce dominated gravy, and with fried rice as on the side, or pasta.

Includes:

Western style fast food are essentially replicas of US or European franchised fast food restaurant models. McDonald's is likely the most common. Others include KFC, Hardee's (formerly), Pizza Hut and many more.

Includes:

The general association made is that western pastries are much sweeter and richer in flavour than typical Chinese pastry. Some eastern-style pastries are similar to their western counterpart, while others are modified by reducing the amount of cheese, cream and other western ingredients. Chinese bakery shops often sell both eastern and western goods. Maxim's is one of the most popular franchises, found in nearly every MTR subway stations. Délifrance is another outlet offering western-style sandwiches.

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These are standard meals taken from the US, except with a significant reduction in usage of butter. For example, an order of mashed potato in Hong Kong will seem relatively plain and light compared to its US counterpart. Popcorn in Hong Kong is heavily sweetened, more resembling caramelised pre-packaged popcorn, such as Cracker Jacks. Steak can be classified as Sai Chaan (Western cuisine) or American food.

Includes:

This cuisine is usually considered up-scale, following a three-course antipasto, primo and secondo format. Italian food in Hong Kong is generally considered more Modern Italian, instead of being authentic Traditional Italian (though if one wanted to find a restaurant serving a specific style, such as Venetian, it is possible). Drinks and desserts are often mixed with Chinese options. The main course itself will lean closer to American-Italian. "Fat Angelos" is an example of a Hong Kong-style Italian restaurant.

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Common French dishes can be found in Hong Kong along with delicacies. Many of the French desserts like crème brûlée have been modified into some form of pudding (Chinese: 布甸, bou din) to be served with Chinese dishes. So aside from being a standalone style, influence of French cuisine in Asian dishes is apparent.

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Beverages from the West have been deeply integrated into the food culture. The line between Eastern and Western drinks are blurred to the point where many Westernised drinks can be found in Chinese style restaurants. Especially in cha chaan teng, they have essentially become just another item on the menu. British malt drinks have become closely associated with breakfast in Hong Kong.

Western drinks include milk, smoothies, berry filled-drinks and so on.

Franchises coffee chains have become more popular in recent years, with the arrival of Pacific Coffee and Starbucks. UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. and Pokka Cafe are among the first to introduce siphon coffee to Hong Kong. This brewing method has only become more familiar to the public after the establishment of Xen Coffee, a siphon speciality coffee shop. While independent coffee shops do exist, franchise stores are often situated in favourable locations that cater to foreign workers.

Oyster and wine bars have been blooming in recent years. Most of these shops are located in Happy Valley and Tsim Sha Tsui. In Kowloon Peninsula, famous bar districts are located in Tsim Sha Tsui, such as Cameron Street, Peking Street and the Knutsford Terrace. In Hong Kong Island, famous bar districts are located in Wan Chai, such as Fenwick Street, Lockhart Road, Tonnochy Road and Jeffe Road. These areas were recreational spots and resting areas for sailors and foreign navy parking around the 1960s, which contributed to the development of the Wan Chai Bar District.

The history of bars in Hong Kong can be traced back to the 1960s. Around the 1970s, bars in Hong Kong already served a variety of cocktails, beers and also spirits such as gins, whiskeys, brandies and rums, sherries and port wines. In 1978, there were approximately 1757 restaurants with liquor license, only 241 of them were considered as licensed bars. During the 1980s, bars had long opening hours as it was one of the most glorious moments of the bar industry in Hong Kong. The view of neon light signs and slogans used are some of the unique features found in bars from the past.

A noticeable feature of bars in Hong Kong is that 10% service charges have been included in the bill. Applying and keeping a liquor license for a bar costs around 1000 HKD per annual, while liquor licenses for restaurants are at 500 HKD per annual and nightclubs are at 250 HKD per annual.

Major food districts are Causeway Bay, Kowloon City, Lan Kwai Fong, Tsim Sha Tsui and Soho. Stanley, with its expatriate population, has many seaside pubs and European restaurants. Sai Kung District (mostly in Sai Kung Town), Lamma Island, Lau Fau Shan and Lei Yue Mun serve seafood. Old fishing towns such as Cheung Chau and Tai O also have many original restaurants.

Most pubs and bars are at Lan Kwai Fong, Lockhart Road and Jaffe Road of Wan Chai; Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East; and around Prince Edward MTR station in Mong Kok. Since 1991, Oktoberfest has been held annually on Canton Road.

1. ^ Sterling, Richard. Chong, Elizabeth. Qin, Lushan Charles [2001] (2001). World Food Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Lonely Planet Publishing. ISBN 1-86450-288-6.

2. Hong Kong census. "^ Census labour data pdf Archived 9 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine." Labor. Retrieved on 14 March 2007.

3. HK Census. "^ HK Census Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine." Statistical Table of population. Retrieved on 16 March 2007.

4. HK Census. "^ HK Census Archived 8 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine." Statistical Table. Retrieved on 8 March 2007.

5. ^ Steers, Richard. [1999] (1999). Made in Korea: Chung Ju Yung and the Rise of Hyundai. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92050-7

6. Mau, Stephen D. [2006] (2006). Hong Kong Legal Principles: Important Topics for Students and Professionals. Hong Kong University Press. ^ ISBN 962-209-778-2

7. Brown, Jules. Gardner, Dinah. The Rough Guide to Hong Kong and Macau. ^ ISBN 1-85828-872-X

8. ^ pg 149, World Food Hong Kong, Richard Sterling and Elizabeth Chong, Lonely Planet, Melbourne, 2002

9. ,^ Kong Kai-ming(1986).Landmarks of Hong Kong: Further Artistic Impression, p.93

10. ^ Urban Council. Food Hygiene Select Committee,Liquor Licensing.(1978, March 19).

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Hong Kong cuisine is mainly influenced by Cantonese cuisine, European cuisines (especially British cuisine) and non-Cantonese Chinese cuisines (especially Hakka, Teochew, Hokkien and Shanghainese), as well as Japanese, Korean and Southeast Asian cuisines, due to Hong Kong's past as a British colony and a long history of being an international port of commerce.

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Hong Kong – a food paradise? It’s time for a reality check

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Hong Kong – a food paradise? It’s time for a reality check

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Why overrated, overpriced Hong Kong is no food paradise

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With restaurant patrons paying through their noses for mediocre quality food - blame it on sky-high rents - Hong Kong is struggling to live up to the hype

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The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional . Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, perpetual peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture, colloquially referred to as Oedo.

The period derives its name from Edo (now Tokyo), where on March 24, 1603, the shogunate was officially established by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War, which restored imperial rule to Japan.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, first shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate

The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's regional .

A revolution took place from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tennō's court, to the Tokugawa, when the became the unchallenged rulers in what historian Edwin O. Reischauer called a "centralized feudal" form of shogunate. Instrumental in the rise of the new bakufu was Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main beneficiary of the achievements of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Already a powerful (feudal lord), Ieyasu profited by his transfer to the rich Kantō area. He maintained two million of land, a new headquarters at Edo, a strategically situated castle town (the future Tokyo), and also had an additional two million koku of land and thirty-eight vassals under his control. After Hideyoshi's death, Ieyasu moved quickly to seize control from the Toyotomi clan.

Ieyasu's victory over the western daimyo at the Battle of Sekigahara (October 21, 1600, or in the Japanese calendar on the 15th day of the ninth month of the fifth year of the Keichō era) gave him control of all Japan. He rapidly abolished numerous enemy daimyo houses, reduced others, such as that of the Toyotomi, and redistributed the spoils of war to his family and allies. Ieyasu still failed to achieve complete control of the western daimyo, but his assumption of the title of helped consolidate the alliance system. After further strengthening his power base, Ieyasu installed his son Hidetada (1579-1632) as shōgun and himself as retired shōgun in 1605. The Toyotomi were still a significant threat, and Ieyasu devoted the next decade to their eradication. In 1615, the Tokugawa army destroyed the Toyotomi stronghold at Osaka.

The Tokugawa (or Edo) period brought 250 years of stability to Japan. The political system evolved into what historians call bakuhan, a combination of the terms bakufu and (domains) to describe the government and society of the period. In the bakuhan, the shōgun had national authority and the daimyo had regional authority. This represented a new unity in the feudal structure, which featured an increasingly large bureaucracy to administer the mixture of centralized and decentralized authorities. The Tokugawa became more powerful during their first century of rule: land redistribution gave them nearly seven million koku, control of the most important cities, and a land assessment system reaping great revenues.

The feudal hierarchy was completed by the various classes of daimyo. Closest to the Tokugawa house were the , or "related houses". They were twenty-three daimyo on the borders of Tokugawa lands, all directly related to Ieyasu. The shinpan held mostly honorary titles and advisory posts in the bakufu. The second class of the hierarchy were the , or "house daimyo", rewarded with lands close to the Tokugawa holdings for their faithful service. By the 18th century, 145 fudai controlled much smaller han, the greatest assessed at 250,000 koku.

Members of the fudai class staffed most of the major bakufu offices. Ninety-seven han formed the third group, the (outside vassals), former opponents or new allies. The tozama were located mostly on the peripheries of the archipelago and collectively controlled nearly ten million koku of productive land. Because the tozama were least trusted of the daimyo, they were the most cautiously managed and generously treated, although they were excluded from central government positions.

The Tokugawa shogunate not only consolidated their control over a reunified Japan, they also had unprecedented power over the emperor, the court, all daimyo and the religious orders. The emperor was held up as the ultimate source of political sanction for the shōgun, who ostensibly was the vassal of the imperial family. The Tokugawa helped the imperial family recapture its old glory by rebuilding its palaces and granting it new lands. To ensure a close tie between the imperial clan and the Tokugawa family, Ieyasu's granddaughter was made an imperial consort in 1619.

A code of laws was established to regulate the daimyo houses. The code encompassed private conduct, marriage, dress, types of weapons and numbers of troops allowed; required feudal lords to reside in Edo every other year (the sankin-kōtai system); prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships; proscribed Christianity; restricted castles to one per domain ( han) and stipulated that bakufu regulations were the national law. Although the daimyo were not taxed per se, they were regularly levied for contributions for military and logistical support and for such public works projects as castles, roads, bridges and palaces.

The various regulations and levies not only strengthened the Tokugawa but also depleted the wealth of the daimyo, thus weakening their threat to the central administration. The han, once military-centered domains, became mere local administrative units. The daimyo did have full administrative control over their territory and their complex systems of retainers, bureaucrats and commoners. Loyalty was exacted from religious foundations, already greatly weakened by Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, through a variety of control mechanisms.

The San Juan Bautista is represented in Claude Deruet's painting of Hasekura Tsunenaga in Rome in 1617, as a galleon with Hasekura's flag (red manji on orange background) on the top mast.

Like Hideyoshi, Ieyasu encouraged foreign trade but also was suspicious of outsiders. He wanted to make Edo a major port, but once he learned that the Europeans favoured ports in Kyūshū and that China had rejected his plans for official trade, he moved to control existing trade and allowed only certain ports to handle specific kinds of commodities.

The beginning of the Edo period coincides with the last decades of the Nanban trade period during which intense interaction with European powers, on the economic and religious plane, took place. It is at the beginning of the Edo period that Japan built its first ocean-going warships, such as the San Juan Bautista, a 500- ton galleon-type ship that transported a Japanese embassy headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga to the Americas and then to Europe. Also during that period, the bakufu commissioned around 720 Red Seal Ships, three-masted and armed trade ships, for intra-Asian commerce. Japanese adventurers, such as Yamada Nagamasa, used those ships throughout Asia.

Itinerary and dates of the travels of Hasekura Tsunenaga. Prior to Panama Canal, caravans carried goods across central America.

The "Christian problem" was, in effect, a problem of controlling both the Christian daimyo in Kyūshū and their trade with the Europeans. By 1612, the shōgun's retainers and residents of Tokugawa lands had been ordered to forswear Christianity. More restrictions came in 1616 (the restriction of foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado, an island northwest of Kyūshū), 1622 (the execution of 120 missionaries and converts), 1624 (the expulsion of the Spanish), and 1629 (the execution of thousands of Christians).

Finally, the Closed Country Edict of 1635 prohibited any Japanese from travelling outside Japan or, if someone left, from ever returning. In 1636, the Dutch were restricted to Dejima, a small artificial island -and thus, not true Japanese soil-in Nagasaki's harbor.

The shogunate perceived Christianity to be an extremely destabilizing factor, and so decided to target it. The Shimabara Rebellion of 1637-1638, in which discontented Catholic samurai and peasants rebelled against the bakufu-and Edo called in Dutch ships to bombard the rebel stronghold-marked the end of the Christian movement. During the Shimabara Rebellion an estimated 37,000 people (mostly Christians) were massacred. In 50 years, the Tokugawa shoguns reduced the amount of Christians to near zero in Japan.

Some Christians survived by going underground, the so-called Kakure Kirishitan. Soon thereafter, the Portuguese were permanently expelled. Members of the Portuguese diplomatic mission were executed. All Japanese subjects were ordered to register at a Buddhist or Shinto temple. The Dutch and Chinese were restricted, respectively, to Dejima and to a special quarter in Nagasaki. Besides small trade of some outer daimyo with Korea and the Ryukyu Islands, to the southwest of Japan's main islands, by 1641, foreign contacts were limited by the policy of to Nagasaki.

The last Jesuit was either killed or reconverted by 1644. By the 1660s, Christianity was almost completely eradicated. Its external political, economic, and religious influence on Japan became quite limited. Only China, the Dutch East India Company, and for a short period, the English, enjoyed the right to visit Japan during this period, for commercial purposes only, and they were restricted to the Dejima port in Nagasaki. Other Europeans who landed on Japanese shores were put to death without trial.

The house of the merchant (Fukagawa Edo Museum Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine)

During the Tokugawa period, the social order, based on inherited position rather than personal merits, was rigid and highly formalized. At the top were the emperor and court nobles (), together with the shōgun and daimyo. Below them the population was divided into four classes in a system known as mibunsei (身分制): the samurai on top (about 5% of the population) and the peasants (more than 80% of the population) on the second level. Below the peasants were the craftsmen, and even below them, on the fourth level, were the merchants.

Only the peasants lived in rural areas. Samurai, craftsmen and merchants lived in the cities that were built around daimyo castles, each restricted to their own quarter. Edo society had an elaborate social structure, in which every family knew its place and level of prestige.

At the top were the Emperor and the court nobility, invincible in prestige but weak in power. Next came the shōgun, daimyo and layers of feudal lords whose rank was indicated by their closeness to the Tokugawa. They had power. The daimyo comprised about 250 local lords of local "han" with annual outputs of 50,000 or more bushels of rice. The upper strata was much given to elaborate and expensive rituals, including elegant architecture, landscaped gardens, Noh drama, patronage of the arts, and the tea ceremony.

Then came the 400,000 warriors, called "samurai", in numerous grades and degrees. A few upper samurai were eligible for high office; most were foot soldiers. Since there was very little fighting, they became civil servants paid by the daimyo, with minor duties. The samurai were affiliated with senior lords in a well-established chain of command. The shogun had 17,000 samurai retainers; the daimyo each had hundreds. Most lived in modest homes near their lord's headquarters, and lived off of hereditary rights and stipends. Together these high status groups comprised Japan's ruling class making up about 6% of the total population.

After a long period of inner conflict, the first goal of the newly established Tokugawa government was to pacify the country. It created a balance of power that remained (fairly) stable for the next 250 years, influenced by Confucian principles of social order. Most samurai lost their direct possession of the land: the daimyo took over their land. The samurai had a choice: give up their sword and become peasants, or move to the city of their feudal lord and become a paid retainer. Only a few land samurai remained in the border provinces of the north, or as direct vassals of the shōgun, the 5,000 so-called hatamoto. The daimyo were put under tight control of the shogunate. Their families had to reside in Edo; the daimyo themselves had to reside in Edo for one year and in their province ( han) for the next. This system was called sankin-kōtai.

Lower orders divided into two main segments-the peasants-80% of the population-whose high prestige as producers was undercut by their burden as the chief source of taxes. They were illiterate and lived in villages controlled by appointed officials who kept the peace and collected taxes. The family was the smallest legal entity, and the maintenance of family status and privileges was of great importance at all levels of society. The individual had no separate legal rights. The 1711 Gotōke reijō was compiled from over 600 statutes promulgated between 1597 and 1696.

Outside the four classes were the so-called and , those whose professions broke the taboos of Buddhism. Eta were butchers, tanners and undertakers. Hinin served as town guards, street cleaners, and executioners. Other outsiders included the beggars, entertainers, and prostitutes. The word eta literally translates to "filthy" and hinin to "non-humans", a thorough reflection of the attitude held by other classes that the eta and hinin were not even people.

Hinin were only allowed inside a special quarter of the city. Other persecution of the hinin included disallowing them from wearing robes longer than knee-length and the wearing of hats. Sometimes eta villages were not even printed on official maps. A sub-class of hinin who were born into their social class had no option of mobility to a different social class whereas the other class of hinin who had lost their previous class status could be reinstated in Japanese society.

In the 19th century the umbrella term was coined to name the eta and hinin because both classes were forced to live in separate village neighborhoods. The eta, hinin and burakumin classes were officially abolished in 1871. However, their cultural and societal impact, including some forms of discrimination, continues into modern times.

A scaled pocket plan of Edo

The Edo period passed on a vital commercial sector to be in flourishing urban centers, a relatively well-educated elite, a sophisticated government bureaucracy, productive agriculture, a closely unified nation with highly developed financial and marketing systems, and a national infrastructure of roads. Economic development during the Tokugawa period included urbanization, increased shipping of commodities, a significant expansion of domestic and, initially, foreign commerce, and a diffusion of trade and handicraft industries. The construction trades flourished, along with banking facilities and merchant associations. Increasingly, han authorities oversaw the rising agricultural production and the spread of rural handicrafts.

A set of three ukiyo-e prints depicting Osaka's bustling shipping industry. By Gansuitei Yoshitoyo. 1854-1859.

By the mid-18th century, Edo had a population of more than one million, likely the biggest city in the world at the time. Osaka and Kyoto each had more than 400,000 inhabitants. Many other castle towns grew as well. Osaka and Kyoto became busy trading and handicraft production centers, while Edo was the center for the supply of food and essential urban consumer goods. Around the year 1700, Japan was perhaps the most urbanized country in the world, at a rate of around 10-12%. Half of that figure would be samurai, while the other half, consisting of merchants and artisans, would be known as chōnin.

In the first part of the Edo period, Japan experienced rapid demographic growth, before leveling off at around 30 million. Between the 1720s and 1820s, Japan had almost zero population growth, often attributed to lower birth rates in response to widespread famine ( Great Tenmei famine 1782-1788), but some historians have presented different theories, such as a high rate of infanticide artificially controlling population.

At around 1721, the population of Japan was close to 30 million and the figure was only around 32 million around the Meiji Restoration around 150 years later. From 1721, there were regular national surveys of the population until the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In addition, regional surveys, as well as religious records initially compiled to eradicate Christianity, also provide valuable demographic data.

The Tokugawa era brought peace, and that brought prosperity to a nation of 31 million, 80% of them rice farmers. Rice production increased steadily, but population remained stable. Rice paddies grew from 1.6 million chō in 1600 to 3 million by 1720. Improved technology helped farmers control the all-important flow of water to their paddies. The daimyos operated several hundred castle towns, which became loci of domestic trade.

The system of sankin kōtai meant that daimyos and their families often resided in Edo or travelled back to their domains, giving demand to an enormous consumer market in Edo and trade throughout the country. Samurai and daimyos, after prolonged peace, are accustomed to more elaborate lifestyles. To keep up with growing expenditures, the bakufu and daimyos often encouraged commercial crops and artifacts within their domains, from textiles to tea. The concentration of wealth also led to the development of financial markets.

As the shogunate only allowed daimyos to sell surplus rice in Edo and Osaka, large-scale rice markets developed there. Each daimyo also had a capital city, located near the one castle they were allowed to maintain. Daimyos would have agents in various commercial centers, selling rice and cash crops, often exchanged for paper credit to be redeemed elsewhere. Merchants invented credit instruments to transfer money, and currency came into common use. In the cities and towns, guilds of merchants and artisans met the growing demand for goods and services.

Tokugawa coinage: Ōban, Koban, Ichibuban (1601-1695).

The merchants benefited enormously, especially those with official patronage. However, the Neo-Confucian ideology of the shogunate focused the virtues of frugality and hard work; it had a rigid class system, which emphasized agriculture and despised commerce and merchants. A century after the Shogunate's establishment, problems began to emerge. The samurai, forbidden to engage in farming or business but allowed to borrow money, borrowed too much, some taking up side jobs as bodyguards for merchants, debt collectors, or artisans.

The bakufu and daimyos raised taxes on farmers, but did not tax business, so they too fell into debt, with some merchants specializing in loaning to daimyos. Yet it was inconceivable to systematically tax commerce, as it would make money off "parasitic" activities, raise the prestige of merchants, and lower the status of government. As they paid no regular taxes, the forced financial contributions to the daimyos were seen by some merchants as a cost of doing business. The wealth of merchants gave them a degree of prestige and even power over the daimyos.

By 1750, rising taxes incited peasant unrest and even revolt. The nation had to deal somehow with samurai impoverishment and treasury deficits. The financial troubles of the samurai undermined their loyalties to the system, and the empty treasury threatened the whole system of government. One solution was reactionary-cutting samurai salaries and prohibiting spending for luxuries. Other solutions were modernizing, with the goal of increasing agrarian productivity.

The eighth Tokugawa shogun, Yoshimune (in office 1716-1745) had considerable success, though much of his work had to be done again between 1787 and 1793 by the shogun's chief councilor Matsudaira Sadanobu (1759-1829). Other shoguns debased the coinage to pay debts, which caused inflation. Overall, while commerce (domestic and international) was vibrant and sophisticated financial services had developed in the Edo period, the shogunate remained ideologically focused on honest agricultural work as the basis of society and never sought to develop a mercantile or capitalistic country.

By 1800, the commercialization of the economy grew rapidly, bringing more and more remote villages into the national economy. Rich farmers appeared who switched from rice to high-profit commercial crops and engaged in local money-lending, trade, and small-scale manufacturing. Wealthy merchants were often forced to "lend" money to the shogunate or daimyos (often never returned). They often had to hide their wealth, and some sought higher social status by using money to marry into the samurai class. There is some evidence that as merchants gained greater political influence in the late Edo period, the rigid class division between samurai and merchants began to break down.

A few domains, notably Chōshū and Satsuma, used innovative methods to restore their finances, but most sunk further into debt. The financial crisis provoked a reactionary solution near the end of the "Tempo era" (1830-1843) promulgated by the chief counselor Mizuno Tadakuni. He raised taxes, denounced luxuries and tried to impede the growth of business; he failed and it appeared to many that the continued existence of the entire Tokugawa system was in jeopardy.

Agriculture

Rice was the base of the economy. About 80% of the people were rice farmers. Rice production increased steadily, but population remained stable, so prosperity increased. Rice paddies grew from 1.6 million chō in 1600 to 3 million by 1720. Improved technology helped farmers control the all-important flow of irrigation to their paddies. The daimyo operated several hundred castle towns, which became loci of domestic trade.

Large-scale rice markets developed, centered on Edo and Ōsaka. In the cities and towns, guilds of merchants and artisans met the growing demand for goods and services. The merchants, while low in status, prospered, especially those with official patronage. Merchants invented credit instruments to transfer money, currency came into common use, and the strengthening credit market encouraged entrepreneurship. The daimyo collected the taxes from the peasants in the form of rice. Taxes were high, often at around 40%-50% of the harvest. The rice was sold at the market in Edo. To raise money, the daimyo used forward contracts to sell rice that was not even harvested yet. These contracts were similar to modern futures trading.

It was during the Edo period that Japan developed an advanced forest management policy. Increased demand for timber resources for construction, shipbuilding and fuel had led to widespread deforestation, which resulted in forest fires, floods and soil erosion. In response the shōgun, beginning around 1666, instituted a policy to reduce logging and increase the planting of trees. The policy mandated that only the shōgun and daimyo could authorize the use of wood. By the 18th century, Japan had developed detailed scientific knowledge about silviculture and plantation forestry.

The first shogun Ieyasu set up Confucian academies in his domains and other daimyos followed suit in their own domains, establishing what's known as han schools (藩校, hankō). Within a generation, almost all samurai were literate, as their careers often required knowledge of literary arts. These academies were staffed mostly with other samurai, along with some buddhist and shinto clergymen who were also learned in Neo-Confucianism and the works of Zhu Xi. Beyond kanji (Chinese characters), the Confucian classics, calligraphy, basic arithmetics, and etiquette, the samurai also learned various martial arts and military skills in schools.

The (urban merchants and artisans) patronized neighborhood schools called (寺子屋, "temple schools"). Despite being located in temples, the terakoya curriculum consisted of basic literacy and arithmetic, instead of literary arts or philosophy. High rates of urban literacy in Edo contributed to the prevalence of novels and other literary forms. In urban areas, children were often taught by masterless samurai, while in rural areas priests from Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines often did the teaching. Unlike in the cities, in rural Japan, only children of prominent farmers would receive education.

In Edo, the shogunate set up several schools under its direct patronage, the most important being the neo-Confucian acting as a de facto elite school for its bureaucracy but also creating a network of alumni from the whole country. Besides Shoheikō, other important directly-run schools at the end of the shogunate included the Wagakukōdansho (, "Institute of Lectures of Japanese classics"), specialized in Japanese domestic history and literature, influencing the rise of kokugaku, and the (, "Institute of medicine"), focusing on Chinese medicine.

One estimate of literacy in Edo suggest that up to a third of males could read, along with a sixth of women. Another estimate states that 40% of men and 10% of women by the end of the Edo period were literate. According to another estimate, around 1800, almost 100% of the samurai class and about 50% to 60% of the (craftsmen and merchants) class and nōmin (peasants) class were literate. Some historians partially credited Japan's relatively high literacy rates for its fast development after the Meiji Restoration.

As the literacy rate was so high that many ordinary people could read books, books in various genres such as cooking, gardening, travel guides, art books, scripts of (puppet theatre), (satirical novels), (books on urban culture), (comical books), (romance novel), and were published. There were 600 to 800 rental bookstores in Edo, and people borrowed or bought these woodblock print books. The best-selling books in this period were Kōshoku Ichidai Otoko ( Life of an Amorous Man) by Ihara Saikaku, Nansō Satomi Hakkenden by Takizawa Bakin and Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige by Jippensha Ikku and these books were reprinted many times.

The flourishing of Neo-Confucianism was the major intellectual development of the Tokugawa period. Confucian studies had long been kept active in Japan by Buddhist clerics, but during the Tokugawa period, Confucianism emerged from Buddhist religious control. This system of thought increased attention to a secular view of man and society. The ethical humanism, rationalism, and historical perspective of neo-Confucian doctrine appealed to the official class. By the mid-17th century, neo-Confucianism was Japan's dominant legal philosophy and contributed directly to the development of the (national learning) school of thought.

A Karakuri puppet Moji-kaki doll made by Tanaka Hisashige. Using mechanical power, a puppet dips a brush into ink and writes a character on paper. 19th century

Advanced studies and growing applications of neo-Confucianism contributed to the transition of the social and political order from feudal norms to class- and large-group-oriented practices. The rule of the people or Confucian man was gradually replaced by the rule of law. New laws were developed, and new administrative devices were instituted. A new theory of government and a new vision of society emerged as a means of justifying more comprehensive governance by the bakufu.

Each person had a distinct place in society and was expected to work to fulfill his or her mission in life. The people were to be ruled with benevolence by those whose assigned duty it was to rule. Government was all-powerful but responsible and humane. Although the class system was influenced by neo-Confucianism, it was not identical to it. Whereas soldiers and clergy were at the bottom of the hierarchy in the Chinese model, in Japan, some members of these classes constituted the ruling elite.

Members of the samurai class adhered to bushi traditions with a renewed interest in Japanese history and cultivation of the ways of Confucian scholar-administrators. A distinct culture known as ("the way of the townspeople") emerged in cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo. It encouraged aspiration to bushido qualities-diligence, honesty, honor, loyalty, and frugality-while blending Shinto, neo-Confucian, and Buddhist beliefs. Study of mathematics, astronomy, cartography, engineering, and medicine were also encouraged. Emphasis was placed on quality of workmanship, especially in the arts.

Kaitai Shinsho, Japan's first treatise on Western anatomy, published in 1774

Buddhism and Shinto were both still important in Tokugawa Japan. Buddhism, together with neo-Confucianism, provided standards of social behavior. Although Buddhism was not as politically powerful as it had been in the past, Buddhism continued to be espoused by the upper classes. Proscriptions against Christianity benefited Buddhism in 1640 when the bakufu ordered everyone to register at a temple. The rigid separation of Tokugawa society into han, villages, wards, and households helped reaffirm local Shinto attachments. Shinto provided spiritual support to the political order and was an important tie between the individual and the community. Shinto also helped preserve a sense of national identity.

Shinto eventually assumed an intellectual form as shaped by neo-Confucian rationalism and materialism. The kokugaku movement emerged from the interactions of these two belief systems. Kokugaku contributed to the emperor-centered nationalism of modern Japan and the revival of Shinto as a national creed in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, and Man'yōshū were all studied anew in the search for the Japanese spirit. Some purists in the kokugaku movement, such as Motoori Norinaga, even criticized the Confucian and Buddhist influences - in effect, foreign influences - for contaminating Japan's ancient ways. According to them, Japan was the land of the kami and, as such, had a special destiny.

During the period, Japan studied Western sciences and techniques (called , "Dutch studies") through the information and books received through the Dutch traders in Dejima. The main areas that were studied included geography, medicine, natural sciences, astronomy, art, languages, physical sciences such as the study of electrical phenomena, and mechanical sciences as exemplified by the development of Japanese clockwatches, or wadokei, inspired by Western techniques. Among those who studied mechanical science at that time, Tanaka Hisashige, the founder of Toshiba, is worthy of special mention. Because of the technical originality and sophistication of his Myriad year clock and karakuri puppet, they are difficult to restore even today, and are considered to be a highly mechanical heritage prior to Japan's modernization.

Art, culture and entertainment

Red and White Plum Blossoms by Ogata Kōrin, 1712-1716

In the field of art, the Rinpa school became popular. The paintings and crafts of the Rinpa school are characterized by highly decorative and showy designs using gold and silver leaves, bold compositions with simplified objects to be drawn, repeated patterns, and a playful spirit. Important figures in the Rinpa school include Hon'ami Kōetsu, Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Ogata Kōrin, Sakai Hōitsu and Suzuki Kiitsu. Other than the Rinpa school, Maruyama Ōkyo and Itō Jakuchū are famous for their realistic painting techniques. They produced their works under the patronage of wealthy merchants newly emerging from the economic development of this period. Following the Azuchi-Momoyama period, the painters of the Kano school drew pictures on the walls and fusumas of castles and temples with the support of powerful people.

Mounting for wakizashi decorated with lacquer of maki-e technique. 18th century

Due to the end of the period of civil war and the development of the economy, many crafts with high artistic value were produced. Among the samurai class, arms came to be treated like works of art, and Japanese sword mountings and Japanese armour beautifully decorated with lacquer of technique and metal carvings became popular. Each ( daimyo domain) encouraged the production of crafts to improve their finances, and crafts such as furnishings and beautifully decorated with lacquer, metal or ivory became popular among rich people. The Kaga Domain, which was ruled by the Maeda clan, was especially enthusiastic about promoting crafts, and the area still boasts a reputation that surpasses Kyoto in crafts even today.

For the first time, urban populations had the means and leisure time to support a new mass culture. Their search for enjoyment became known as (the floating world), an ideal world of fashion, popular entertainment, and the discovery of aesthetic qualities in objects and actions of everyday life. This increasing interest in pursuing recreational activities helped to develop an array of new industries, many of which could be found in an area known as Yoshiwara. The district was known for being the center of Edo's developing sense of elegance and refinement. Established in 1617 as the city's shogunate-sanctioned prostitution district, it kept this designation about 250 years. Yoshiwara was home to mostly women who, due to unfortunate circumstances, found themselves working in this secluded environment.

Professional female entertainers (), music, popular stories, (theater) and (puppet theater), poetry, a rich literature, and art, exemplified by beautiful woodblock prints (known as ), were all part of this flowering of culture. Literature also flourished with the talented examples of the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) and the poet, essayist, and travel writer Matsuo Bashō (1644-1694).

The Great Wave off Kanagawa, full-colour ukiyo-e woodblock print, Hokusai, c. 1829-1832

Ukiyo-e is a genre of painting and printmaking that developed in the late 17th century, at first depicting the entertainments of the pleasure districts of Edo, such as courtesans and kabuki actors. Harunobu produced the first full-colour prints in 1765, a form that has become synonymous to most with ukiyo-e. The genre reached a peak in technique towards the end of the century with the works of such artists as Kiyonaga and Utamaro. As the Edo period came to an end a great diversity of genres proliferated: warriors, nature, folklore, and the landscapes of Hokusai and Hiroshige. The genre declined throughout the rest of the century in the face of modernization that saw ukiyo-e as both old-fashioned and laborious to produce compared to Western technologies. Ukiyo-e was a primary part of the wave of Japonisme that swept Western art in the late 19th century.

The Edo period was characterized by an unprecedented series of economic developments (despite termination of contact with the outside world) and cultural maturation, especially in terms of theater, music, and other entertainment. For example, a poetic meter for music called kinsei kouta-chō was invented during this time and is still used today in folk songs. Music and theater were influenced by the social gap between the noble and commoner classes, and different arts became more defined as this gap widened.

Several different types of kabuki emerged. Some, such as shibaraku, were only available at a certain time of year, while some companies only performed for nobles. Fashion trends, satirization of local news stories, and advertisements were often part of kabuki theater, as well. Along with kabuki, storytelling entertainments were popular among the common people, and people enjoyed rakugo, a comical story, and kōdan, a historical story, in a dedicated theater called yose. The most popular sport was sumo.

Eating out became popular due to urbanization. Particularly popular among ordinary people were stalls serving fast food such as soba, sushi, tempura, and unagi, tofu restaurants, teahouses and izakaya (Japanese-style pubs). A number of ryotei also opened to serve high-class food. People enjoyed eating at restaurants by buying books that listed restaurant ratings that imitated sumo rankings.

Gardening was a popular pastime. Especially in Edo, residences of daimyo (feudal lords) of each domain were gathered, and many gardeners existed to manage these gardens, which led to the development of horticultural techniques. Among people, cherry blossoms, morning glories, Japanese irises and chrysanthemums were especially popular, and bonsai using deep pots became popular. Not only did people buy plants and appreciate flowers, but they were also enthusiastic about improving the varieties of flowers, so specialized books were published one after another. For example, Matsudaira Sadatomo produced 300 varieties of iris and published a technical book.

Traveling became popular among people because of the improvement of roads and post towns. The main destinations were famous temples and Shinto shrines around the country, and eating and drinking at the inns and prostitution were one of the main attractions. What people admired most was the visit to Ise Grand Shrine and the summit of Mount Fuji, which are considered the most sacred places in Japan. The Ise Grand Shrine in particular has been visited by an enormous number of visitors.

Historical documents record that 3.62 million people visited the shrine in 50 days in 1625. 1.18 million people visited it in three days in 1829 when the grand festival held every 20 years ( Shikinen Sengu) was held. It was a once-in-a-lifetime event for people living in remote areas, so they set up a joint fund for each village, saved their travel expenses, and went on a group trip. Local residents of Ise Grand Shrine and Mount Fuji used to send specialized advertising personnel to various parts of Japan to solicit trips to local areas to make money from tourism.

Reading stand with Mt. Yoshino, decorated with lacquer of maki-e technique. 18th century

Ukiyo-e based on kabuki actors became popular. Ichikawa Danjūrō V in the popular kabuki play Shibaraku, by Utagawa Kunimasa, 1796

Ukiyo-e depicting Sushi, by Hiroshige

A boarding place for a ferry on the Miya River, which is crowded with people visiting Ise Grand Shrine. By Hiroshige

Outer kimono for a young woman (uchikake), 1840-1870, Khalili Collection of Kimono

Clothing acquired a wide variety of designs and decorative techniques, especially for kimono worn by women. The main consumers of kimono were the samurai who used lavish clothing and other material luxuries to signal their place at the top of the social order. Driven by this demand, the textile industry grew and used increasingly sophisticated methods of weaving, dyeing, and embroidery. Over this period, women adopted brighter colours and bolder designs, whereas women's and men's kimono had been very similar. The rise of a merchant class fuelled more demand for elaborate costumes. While ordinary kimono would usually be created by women at home, luxurious silk kimono were designed and created by specialist artists who were usually men.

A kind of kimono specific to the military elite is the goshodoki or "palace court style", which would be worn in the residence of a military leader (a shōgun or daimyo). These would have landscape scenes, among which there are other motifs usually referencing classic literature. Samurai men would dress with a more understated design with geometrical designs concentrated around the waist. The yogi, or sleeping kimono, is a thickly wadded form of wearable bedding, usually with simple designs.

A style called tsuma moyō had rich decoration from the waist down only, and family emblems on the neck and shoulders. These would be worn by women of the merchant class. The kimono of merchant-class women were more subdued than those of the samurai, but still with bold colours and designs representing nature.

Red was a popular colour for wealthy women, partly because of its cultural association with youth and passion, and partly because the dye - derived from safflower - was very expensive, so a bright red garment was an ostentatious display of wealth. Indian fabrics, brought to Japan by Dutch importers, were received with enthusiasm and found many uses. Japanese designers started printing designs that were influenced by the Indian patterns. Some garments used fabric imported from Britain or France. Ownership of these exotic textiles signified wealth and taste, but they were worn as undergarments where the designs would not be seen.

Inro and netsuke became popular as accessories among men. Originally, inro was a portable case to put a seal or medicine, and netsuke was a fastener attached to the case, and both were practical tools. However, from the middle of the Edo period, products with high artistic value appeared and became popular as male accessories. Especially samurai and wealthy merchants competed to buy inro of high artistic value. At the end of the Edo period, the artistic value of inro further increased and it came to be regarded as an art collection.

Dai-Roku Daiba (第六台場) or "No. 6 Battery", one of the original Edo-era battery islands

The end of this period is specifically called the late Tokugawa shogunate. The cause for the end of this period is controversial but is recounted as the forcing of Japan's opening to the world by Commodore Matthew Perry of the US Navy, whose armada (known by the Japanese as " the black ships") fired weapons from Edo Bay. Several artificial land masses were created to block the range of the armada, and this land remains in what is presently called the Odaiba district.

The Tokugawa did not eventually collapse simply because of intrinsic failures. Foreign intrusions helped to precipitate a complex political struggle between the and a coalition of its critics. The continuity of the anti- bakufu movement in the mid-19th century would finally bring down the Tokugawa. Historians consider that a major contributing factor to the decline of the Tokugawa was "poor management of the central government by the shōgun, which caused the social classes in Japan to fall apart". From the outset, the Tokugawa attempted to restrict families' accumulation of wealth and fostered a "back to the soil" policy, in which the farmer, the ultimate producer, was the ideal person in society.

The standard of living for urban and rural dwellers alike grew significantly during the Tokugawa period. Better means of crop production, transport, housing, food, and entertainment were all available, as was more leisure time, at least for urban dwellers. The literacy rate was high for a preindustrial society (by some estimates the literacy rate in the city of Edo was 80 percent), and cultural values were redefined and widely imparted throughout the samurai and chōnin classes.

Despite the reappearance of guilds, economic activities went well beyond the restrictive nature of the guilds, and commerce spread and a money economy developed. Although government heavily restricted the merchants and viewed them as unproductive and usurious members of society, the samurai, who gradually became separated from their rural ties, depended greatly on the merchants and artisans for consumer goods, artistic interests, and loans. In this way, a subtle subversion of the warrior class by the chōnin took place.

A struggle arose in the face of political limitations that the shōgun imposed on the entrepreneurial class. The government ideal of an agrarian society failed to square with the reality of commercial distribution. A huge government bureaucracy had evolved, which now stagnated because of its discrepancy with a new and evolving social order. Compounding the situation, the population increased significantly during the first half of the Tokugawa period. Although the magnitude and growth rates are uncertain, there were at least 26 million commoners and about four million members of samurai families and their attendants when the first nationwide census was taken in 1721. Drought, followed by crop shortages and starvation, resulted in twenty great famines between 1675 and 1837. During the Tokugawa period, there were 154 famines, of which 21 were widespread and serious.

The Great Tenmei famine (1782 until 1788) was the worst famine in the Edo period. Many crops were damaged due to bad weather, serious cold and the 1783 eruption of Mount Asama. A worsening factor of the Great Tenmei famine was a drop in global temperatures due to the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Laki in 1783. The spread of the famine was largely due to mismanagement of the Shogunate and the clan.

Peasant unrest grew, and by the late 18th century, mass protests over taxes and food shortages had become commonplace. Newly landless families became tenant farmers, while the displaced rural poor moved into the cities. As the fortunes of previously well-to-do families declined, others moved in to accumulate land, and a new, wealthy farming class emerged. Those people who benefited were able to diversify production and to hire laborers, while others were left discontented. Many samurai fell on hard times and were forced into handicraft production and wage jobs for merchants.

Although Japan was able to acquire and refine a wide variety of scientific knowledge, the rapid industrialization of the West during the 18th century created a material gap in terms of technologies and armament between Japan and the West, forcing it to abandon its policy of seclusion, which contributed to the end of the Tokugawa regime.

Western intrusions were on the increase in the early 19th century. Russian warships and traders encroached on Karafuto (called Sakhalin under Russian and Soviet control) and on the Kuril Islands, the southernmost of which are considered by the Japanese as the northern islands of Hokkaidō. A British warship entered Nagasaki harbour searching for enemy Dutch ships in 1808, and other warships and whalers were seen in Japanese waters with increasing frequency in the 1810s and 1820s. Whalers and trading ships from the United States also arrived on Japan's shores. Although the Japanese made some minor concessions and allowed some landings, they largely attempted to keep all foreigners out, sometimes using force. became crucial not only in understanding the foreign " barbarians" but also in using the knowledge gained from the West to fend them off.

By the 1830s, there was a general sense of crisis. Famines and natural disasters hit hard, and unrest led to a peasant uprising against officials and merchants in Osaka in 1837. Although it lasted only a day, the uprising made a dramatic impression. Remedies came in the form of traditional solutions that sought to reform moral decay rather than address institutional problems. The shōgun's advisers pushed for a return to the martial spirit, more restrictions on foreign trade and contacts, suppression of rangaku, censorship of literature, and elimination of "luxury" in the government and samurai class.

Others sought the overthrow of the Tokugawa and espoused the political doctrine of (revere the emperor, expel the barbarians), which called for unity under imperial rule and opposed foreign intrusions. The bakufu persevered for the time being amidst growing concerns over Western successes in establishing colonial enclaves in China following the First Opium War of 1839-1842. More reforms were ordered, especially in the economic sector, to strengthen Japan against the Western threat.

Japan turned down a demand from the United States, which was greatly expanding its own presence in the Asia-Pacific region, to establish diplomatic relations when Commodore James Biddle appeared in Edo Bay with two warships in July 1846.

Landing of Commodore Perry, Officers and Men of the Squadron To meet the Imperial Commissioners at Kurihama Yokosuka March 8th, 1854

When Commodore Matthew C. Perry's four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay in July 1853, the bakufu was thrown into turmoil. The chairman of the senior councillors, Abe Masahiro (1819-1857), was responsible for dealing with the Americans. Having no precedent to manage this threat to national security, Abe tried to balance the desires of the senior councillors to compromise with the foreigners, of the emperor who wanted to keep the foreigners out, and of the daimyo who wanted to go to war. Lacking consensus, Abe decided to compromise by accepting Perry's demands for opening Japan to foreign trade while also making military preparations. In March 1854, the Treaty of Peace and Amity (or Treaty of Kanagawa) opened two ports to American ships seeking provisions, guaranteed good treatment to shipwrecked American sailors, and allowed a United States consul to take up residence in Shimoda, a seaport on the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Edo. The Treaty of Amity and Commerce Between the U.S. and Japan ( Harris Treaty), opening still more areas to American trade, was forced on the bakufu five years later.

The resulting damage to the bakufu was significant. The devalued price for gold in Japan was one immediate, enormous effect. The European and American traders purchased gold for its original price on the world market and then sold it to the Japanese for triple the price. Along with this, cheap goods from these developed nations, like finished cotton, flooded the market forcing many Japanese out of business. Debate over government policy was unusual and had engendered public criticism of the bakufu. In the hope of enlisting the support of new allies, Abe, to the consternation of the fudai, had consulted with the shinpan and tozama daimyo, further undermining the already weakened bakufu. In the Ansei Reform (1854-1856), Abe then tried to strengthen the regime by ordering Dutch warships and armaments from the Netherlands and building new port defenses. In 1855, a naval training school with Dutch instructors was set up at Nagasaki, and a Western-style military school was established at Edo; by the next year, the government was translating Western books. Opposition to Abe increased within circles, which opposed opening bakufu councils to tozama daimyo, and he was replaced in 1855 as chairman of the senior councilors by Hotta Masayoshi (1810-1864).

At the head of the dissident faction was Tokugawa Nariaki, who had long embraced a militant loyalty to the emperor along with anti-foreign sentiments, and who had been put in charge of national defense in 1854. The Mito school-based on neo-Confucian and Shinto principles-had as its goal the restoration of the imperial institution, the turning back of the West, and the founding of a world empire under the divine Yamato dynasty.

In the final years of the Tokugawas, foreign contacts increased as more concessions were granted. The new treaty with the United States in 1859 allowed more ports to be opened to diplomatic representatives, unsupervised trade at four additional ports, and foreign residences in Osaka and Edo. It also embodied the concept of extraterritoriality (foreigners were subject to the laws of their own countries but not to Japanese law). Hotta lost the support of key daimyo, and when Tokugawa Nariaki opposed the new treaty, Hotta sought imperial sanction. The court officials, perceiving the weakness of the bakufu, rejected Hotta's request and thus suddenly embroiled Kyoto and the emperor in Japan's internal politics for the first time in many centuries. When the shōgun died without an heir, Nariaki appealed to the court for support of his own son, Tokugawa Yoshinobu (or Keiki), for shōgun, a candidate favored by the and tozama daimyo. The fudai won the power struggle, however, installing Tokugawa Yoshitomi, arresting Nariaki and Keiki, executing Yoshida Shōin (1830-1859), a leading sonnō-jōi intellectual who had opposed the American treaty and plotted a revolution against the bakufu, and signing treaties with the United States and five other nations, thus ending more than 200 years of exclusion.

Recently some scholars have suggested that there were more events that spurred this opening of Japan. Yoshimune, eighth Tokugawa shōgun from 1716 to 1745, started the first Kyōhō reforms in an attempt to gain more revenue for the government. In 1767, to 1786 Tanuma Okitsugu also initiated some unorthodox economic reforms to expand government income. This led his conservative opponents to attack him and take his position as he was forced from government in disgrace. Similarly, Matsudaira Sadanobu launched the Kansei Reforms in 1787-1793 to stabilize rice prices, cut government costs, and increase revenues. The final economic reform of the Tenpō era of 1841-1843 had similar objectives. Most were ineffective and only worked in some areas. These economic failings would also have been a force in the opening of Japan, as Japanese businessmen desired larger markets. Some scholars also point to internal activism for political change. The Mito school had long been an active force in demanding political changes, such as restoring the powers of the Emperor. This anger can also be seen in the poetry of Matsuo Taseko (a woman who farmed silkworms in the Ina Valley) from Hirata Atsutane's School of National Learning:

"It is disgusting
the agitation over thread
In today's world
Ever since the ships
from foreign countries
came for the jeweled
silkworm cocoons
to the land of the gods and the Emperor
Peoples hearts
awesome though they are,
are being pulled apart
and consumed by rage."

-  Matsuo Taseko, Gordon 2008, p. 52

This inspired many anti-Tokugawa activists as they blamed the bakufu for impoverishing the people and dishonoring the emperor.

During the last years of the , or , the bakufu took strong measures to try to reassert its dominance, although its involvement with modernization and foreign powers was to make it a target of anti-Western sentiment throughout the country.

The army and the navy were modernized. A naval training school was established in Nagasaki in 1855. Naval students were sent to study in Western naval schools for several years, starting a tradition of foreign-educated future leaders, such as Admiral Enomoto. French naval engineers were hired to build naval arsenals, such as Yokosuka and Nagasaki. By the end of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1867, the Japanese navy of the shōgun already possessed eight Western-style steam warships around the flagship Kaiyō Maru, which were used against pro-imperial forces during the Boshin War under the command of Admiral Enomoto. A French military mission was established to help modernize the armies of the bakufu.

Kanrin Maru, Japan's first screw-driven steam warship, 1855

Samurai in western clothing of the Tokugawa Shogunate Army (1866)

Revering the emperor as a symbol of unity, extremists wrought violence and death against the Bakufu and Han authorities and foreigners. Foreign naval retaliation in the Anglo-Satsuma War led to still another concessionary commercial treaty in 1865, but Yoshitomi was unable to enforce the Western treaties. A bakufu army was defeated when it was sent to crush dissent in the Satsuma and Chōshū Domains in 1866. Finally, in 1867, Emperor Kōmei died and was succeeded by his underaged son Emperor Meiji.

Tokugawa Yoshinobu reluctantly became head of the Tokugawa house and shōgun. He tried to reorganize the government under the emperor while preserving the shōgun's leadership role. Fearing the growing power of the Satsuma and Chōshū daimyo, other daimyo called for returning the shōgun's political power to the emperor and a council of daimyo chaired by the former Tokugawa shōgun. Yoshinobu accepted the plan in late 1867 and resigned, announcing an "imperial restoration". The Satsuma, Chōshū, and other han leaders and radical courtiers, however, rebelled, seized the imperial palace, and announced their own restoration on January 3, 1868.

Following the Boshin War (1868-1869), the bakufu was abolished, and Yoshinobu was reduced to the ranks of the common daimyo. Resistance continued in the North throughout 1868, and the bakufu naval forces under Admiral Enomoto Takeaki continued to hold out for another six months in Hokkaidō, where they founded the short-lived Republic of Ezo.

1600: Battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu defeats a coalition of daimyo and establishes hegemony over most of Japan.

1603: The emperor appoints Tokugawa Ieyasu as shōgun, who moves his government to Edo (Tokyo) and founds the Tokugawa dynasty of shōguns.

1605: Tokugawa Ieyasu resigns as shōgun and is succeeded by his son Tokugawa Hidetada.

1607: Korean Joseon dynasty sends an embassy to Tokugawa shogunate.

1611: Ryūkyū Islands become a vassal state of Satsuma Domain.

1614: Tokugawa Ieyasu bans Christianity from Japan.

1615: Battle of Osaka. Tokugawa Ieyasu besieges Osaka Castle, all opposition from forces loyal to the Toyotomi family. Tokugawa authority becomes paramount throughout Japan.

1616: Tokugawa Ieyasu dies.

1620: After Ieyasu dies the peasants and chōnins increase in population

1623: Tokugawa Iemitsu becomes the third shōgun.

1633: Iemitsu forbids travelling abroad and reading foreign books.

1635: Iemitsu formalizes the system of mandatory alternative residence (sankin-kōtai) in Edo.

1637: Shimabara Rebellion (1637-38) mounted by overtaxed peasants.

1638: Iemitsu forbids ship building.

1639: Edicts establishing National Seclusion (Sakoku Rei) are completed. All Westerners except the Dutch are prohibited from entering Japan.

1641: Iemitsu bans all foreigners, except Chinese, Koreans, and Dutch from Japan.

1657: The Great Fire of Meireki destroys most of the city of Edo.

1707: Mount Fuji erupts.

1774: The anatomical text Kaitai Shinsho, the first complete Japanese translation of a Western medical work, is published by Sugita Genpaku and Maeno Ryotaku.

1787: Matsudaira Sadanobu becomes senior shogunal councillor and institutes the Kansei Reforms.

1792: Russian envoy Adam Laxman arrives at Nemuro in eastern Ezo (now Hokkaidō).

1804: Russian envoy Nikolai Rezanov reaches Nagasaki and unsuccessfully seeks the establishment of trade relations with Japan.

1837: Rebellion of Ōshio Heihachirō.

1841: Tenpō Reforms.

1853: US Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry's four-ship squadron appeared in Edo Bay (Tokyo Bay).

1854: The US forces Japan to sign a trade agreement ("Treaty of Kanagawa") which reopens Japan to foreigners after two centuries.

1855: Russia and Japan establish diplomatic relations.

1860: Sakuradamon Incident.

1864: British, French, Dutch and American warships bombard Shimonoseki and open more Japanese ports for foreigners.

1868: Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigns, the Tokugawa dynasty ends, and the emperor (or "mikado") Meiji is restored, but with capital in Edo/Tokyo and divine attributes.

The imperial eras proclaimed during the Edo period were:

The Edo period is the setting of many works of popular culture. These include novels, comics, stageplays, films, television shows, animated works, and manga.

There is a cultural theme park called Edo Wonderland Nikko Edomura in the Kinugawa Onsen area of Nikkō, Tochigi, north of Tokyo.

Birmingham Museum of Art (2010), Birmingham Museum of Art: guide to the collection, Birmingham, Alabama: Birmingham Museum of Art, ISBN 978-1-904832-77-5

Beasley, William G. (1972), The Meiji Restoration, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, ISBN 0-8047-0815-0

Diamond, Jared (2005), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-303655-6

Frédéric, Louis (2002), Japan Encyclopedia, Harvard University Press Reference Library, Belknap, ISBN 9780674017535

Gordon, Andrew (2008), A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to Present (Second ed.), New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-533922-2, archived from the original on February 6, 2010

Hall, J.W.; McClain, J.L. (1991), The Cambridge History of Japan, The Cambridge History of Japan, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521223553

Iwao, Nagasaki (2015). "Clad in the aesthetics of tradition: from kosode to kimono". In Jackson, Anna (ed.). Kimono: the art and evolution of Japanese fashion. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 8-11. ISBN 9780500518021. OCLC 990574229.

Jackson, Anna (2015). "Dress in the Edo period: the evolution of fashion". In Jackson, Anna (ed.). Kimono: the art and evolution of Japanese fashion. London: Thames & Hudson. pp. 20-103. ISBN 9780500518021. OCLC 990574229.

Jansen, Marius B. (2002), The Making of Modern Japan (Paperback ed.), Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-00991-6

Lewis, James Bryant (2003), Frontier Contact Between Choson Korea and Tokugawa Japan, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-7007-1301-8

Longstreet, Stephen; Longstreet, Ethel (1989), Yoshiwara: the pleasure quarters of old Tokyo, Yenbooks, Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, ISBN 0-8048-1599-2

Seigle, Cecilia Segawa (1993), Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan, Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 0-8248-1488-6

Totman, Conrad (2000), A history of Japan (2nd ed.), Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 9780631214472

Attribution

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division. Japan

Guth, Christine (1996), Art of Edo Japan: the artist and the city 1615-1868, H.N. Abrams, ISBN 9780300164138

Haga, Tōru (2021), Pax Tokugawana: The Cultural Flowering of Japan, 1603-1853 (First English ed.), Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture, ISBN 978-4-86658-148-4, archived from the original on 2021-11-10

Jansen, Marius B. (1986), Japan in transition, from Tokugawa to Meiji, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-05459-2

Roberts, Luke S. (2012), Performing the Great Peace: Political Space and Open Secrets in Tokugawa Japan, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824835132

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The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional .

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Located in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, the Republic of the Philippines consists of around 7,640 islands - about 2,000 of which are inhabited - that form an archipelago. The country can be divided into three main areas: Luzon (the largest, northernmost island, which includes Manila); a group of islands called the Visayas (including the major islands Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, and Masbate); and Mindanao, the second-largest island in the Philippines, found at the southern end of the archipelago.

From bustling cities to stunning beaches and mountains, the Philippines has a lot to offer adventurous explorers. Here are a few tips, tricks, and resources for travelers looking to find fun in the Philippines.

CITIES TO VISIT

Manila, known as the "Pearl of the Orient", is the nation's capital city. This bustling historic city is full of things to see and do - including museums, parks, theaters, shopping malls and a plethora of restaurants to choose from. The Philippines is quickly becoming a destination for foodies, and Manila is well known for its varied cuisine and street food markets, like the Legazpi Sunday Market, Quiapo Market, and the country's very own Chinatown, Binondo.

Sustainable travel tip:
Many street vendors sell fresh fruit drinks great for cooling down on hot days, so bring your own metal straw and reusable bottle to prevent unnecessary plastic waste.

Since the Philippines has thousands of islands, visitors are never far from a beach. You might want to try one of these under-the-radar locations that are emerging as popular beach destinations that go above and beyond the Philippines' most well-known beach, Boracay.

Panglao houses some of Bohol's premium accommodation establishments offering 5-star amenities and services. The island also serves as the jumping point for other water-based adventures, such as dolphin and whale watching at Pamilacan Island, and diving at Balicasag Island.

WILDLIFE AND NATURAL BEAUTY

Calauit Island
Calauit Island, known for the crystal-clear waters off its shores, offers eco-tourists the chance to swim with dugongs. These animals, which are related to manatees, are believed to have inspired legends about mermaids. Locals on Calauit Island lead conservation-minded tours and teach tourists about dugongs and how they can help ensure their continued survival.

Chocolate Hills
On the island of Bohol, the famous Chocolate Hills look like something from another world as they seem to tumble out, one after another, for as far as the eye can see. The beautiful landscape is actually a natural formation that slowly took shape over eons. In the summer, when the 1,200+ peaked and rounded mounds aren't covered in green vegetation, they're said to look like - you guessed it - chocolate. The majestic Chocolate Hills has been designated as a National Geological Monument by the Philippines.

Ifugao Rice Terraces
The Ifugao Rice Terraces are another example of the beautiful landscapes that can be found throughout the Philippines. The mountains of the Ifugao province have been cultivated for thousands of years with terraced fields where rice is farmed. Not only are the rice terraces beautiful to behold, but they're also an example of industry working in harmony with nature.

NATIONAL PARKS

The Philippines is home to more than 30 national parks, including these top-rated ones: Calauit Safari Park, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Aurora Memorial National Park, Biak-na-Bato National Park, Caramoan Peninsula National Park, Libmanan Caves National Park, Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park Fuyot Springs National Park and Minalungao National Park. The parks offer activities like zip lining, boating, camping, hiking, river cruising, wildlife spotting, snorkeling, and kayaking.

Sustainable travel tip:
There are dedicated companies that specialize in eco-tourism, and resources, such as Simply Philippines, to help make sustainable adventure more accessible.

BEFORE YOU GO

Getting around
Most people traveling to the Philippines from the U.S. will probably fly into Manila's NAIA airport or the more recently opened Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which was named the Asia-Pacific Medium Airport of the Year in the CAPA 2018 Asia Aviation Awards for Excellence.

If you want to go to multiple islands, you can find flights that connect to smaller airports throughout the Philippines. Traveling by boat is also an option when getting to many of the islands in the region. If you're in one of the major cities, "jeepneys" - small and colorful buses - are a popular way to get around.

The dominant religion in the Philippines is Catholicism, and churches abound throughout the country. The older generations in the Philippines tend to be quite religious.

DOS AND DON'TS

You might want to purchase travel insurance before heading out on your Filipino adventure. Check with the U.S. Department of State for the latest information on any current travel advisories. As with travel to any foreign region, make sure to remain mindful of personal safety at all times.

It's considered polite to use respectful terms like "Sir" or "Ma'am." Familial words like Tito/Tita (Uncle/Aunt) for elders, Lolo/Lola (grandfather/grandmother), and Kuya/Ate (older brother/sister) can be used; the words "Po" and "Opo" are terms of respect. Don't refer to older people by their first names.

Always be friendly and wave back at anyone who waves to you. Tipping is not mandatory but is appreciated. Don't lose your temper or be confrontational; do not refuse food or hospitality when it's offered to you. Don't walk alone, particularly at night, and keep your belongings close to you at all times. Never insult the Philippines or Filipino people.

This content is brought to you by our partner. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic or its editorial staff.

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Located in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, the Republic of the Philippines consists of around 7,640 islands - about 2,000 of which are inhabited - that form an archipelago.

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Our Best Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Planning Articles

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Our Best Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Planning Articles

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Hong Kong Disneyland is a wonderful park that's home to one of the best Disney attractions in any Disney Theme Park ( Mystic Manor) and where the original Paint the Night parade made its debut. The park also offers one of my all-time favourite stage shows - Mickey and the Wonderous Book.

Now, I'll admit we don't have as many articles on Hong Kong Disneyland. What we do have is in-depth and gives you a ton of information to begin your trip planning, such as our Ultimate Trip Planning Guide to Hong Kong Disneyland.

Hong Kong Disneyland isn't as intensive in terms of planning as Tokyo Disney Resort (or even Shanghai Disneyland). The park is manageable with only a bit of planning. But, chances are you're here because you are a planner (just like myself), so this is where my best articles come into play, to make your trip planning that much easier. Bookmark this page as I'll update this with new articles.

As a bonus, I've included select podcast episodes and trip reports on Hong Kong Disneyland! Once you're ready to begin booking, visit our Travel Resources page for discount Hong Kong Disneyland Park tickets, hotels, and our choice for SIM Cards and Wi-Fi Devices.

The Basics

Get yourself up to speed on Hong Kong Disneyland.
A number of these links point to specific sections of our Ultimate Trip Planning Guide to Hong Kong Disneyland.
Eat

Hong Kong Disneyland offers a variety of western, halal, vegetarian, and Chinese cuisine in the Park and in their Hotels.

Play

You'll be happy to know that this is the easiest park to navigate in terms of FastPass, attractions, and shows.

Trip Reports

One of the best ways to research your trip is to read about others experiences. Our trip reports for Hong Kong Disneyland happen throughout the year, to give you different experiences.

Watch

Check out some of our best YouTube videos.

Podcast

If you prefer podcasts, here are our best podcast episodes on the TDR Now Podcast about Hong Kong Disneyland. Subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM, and Google Play Music.

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Our Best Hong Kong Disneyland Trip Planning Articles

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Hong Kong Disneyland is a wonderful park that's home to one of the best Disney attractions in any Disney Theme Park ( Mystic Manor) and where the original Paint the Night parade made its debut. The park also offers one of my all-time favourite stage shows - Mickey and the Wonderous Book.

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For almost 11 days in May 1969, American troops waged a deadly battle for control of a 3,000-foot-tall hill in a remote valley in South Vietnam. Famously known as "Hamburger Hill," the battle launched the first phase of Operation Apache Snow, a coordinated attack by the U.S. ...read more

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Capital:

Hanoi

(Show more)

Relief

Vietnam's principal physiographic features are the Annamese Cordillera (French: Chaîne Annamitique; Vietnamese: Nui Truong Son), extending generally from northwest to southeast in central Vietnam and dominating the interior, and two extensive alluvial deltas formed by the Red (Hong) River in the north and the Mekong (Cuu Long) River in the south. Between these two deltas is a long, relatively narrow coastal plain.

From north to south the uplands of northern Vietnam can be divided into two distinct regions-the area north of the Red River and the massif that extends south of the Red River into neighbouring Laos. The Red River forms a deep, relatively wide valley that runs in a straight northwest-southeast direction for much of its course from the Chinese border to the edge of its delta. North of the Red River the relief is moderate, with the highest elevations occurring between the Red and Lo (Clear) rivers; there is a marked depression from Cao Bang to the sea. In the Red River delta and in the valleys of the region's other major rivers are found wide limestone terraces, extensive alluvial plains, and low hills. The northeast coast is dotted with hundreds of islands composed mostly of limestone.

Compared with the area north of the Red River, the vast massif extending southwest across Laos to the Mekong River is of considerably higher elevation. Among its outstanding topographic features is Fan Si Peak, which at 10,312 feet (3,143 metres) is the highest point in Vietnam. South of the Black (Da) River are the Ta P'ing, Son La, and Moc Chau plateaus, which are separated by deep valleys.

In central Vietnam the Annamese Cordillera runs parallel to the coast, with several peaks rising to elevations above 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). Several spurs jut into the South China Sea, forming sections of the coast isolated from one another. Communication across the central ranges is difficult. The southern portion of the Annamese Cordillera has two identifiable regions. One consists of plateaus of approximately 1,700 feet (520 metres) in elevation that have experienced little erosion, as in the Dac Lac Plateau near Buon Me Thuot. The second region is characterized by heavily eroded plateaus: in the vicinity of Pleiku, the Kontum Plateau is about 2,500 feet (760 metres) above sea level; and in the Da Lat area, the Di Linh Plateau is about 4,900 feet (1,500 metres).

Drainage

Roughly triangular in shape, with its northeast and southwest sides bounded by the northern uplands, the Red River delta extends inland some 150 miles (240 km) and runs some 75 miles (120 km) along the Gulf of Tonkin. The delta can be divided into four subregions. The northwestern section has the highest and most broken terrain, and its extensive natural levees invite settlement despite frequent flooding. The low-lying eastern portion is less than seven feet (two metres) above sea level in the vicinity of Bac Ninh. Rivers there form small valleys only slightly lower than the general surface level, and they are subject to flooding by the area's unusually high tides. The third and fourth subregions consist, respectively, of the poorly drained lowlands in the west and the coastal area, which is marked by the remains of former beach ridges left as the delta expanded.

The Annamese Cordillera forms a drainage divide, with rivers to the east flowing to the South China Sea and those to the west to the Mekong River. South of the mountain range there is an identifiable terrace region that gives way to the Mekong delta. The terrace region includes the alluvial plains along the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers. The lowlands of southern Vietnam are dominated by alluvial plains, the most extensive of which is the Mekong delta, covering an area of 15,400 square miles (39,900 square km) in Vietnam. Smaller deltaic plains also occur along the south-central coast facing the South China Sea.

Soils

In northern Vietnam the heavy monsoonal rains wash away rich humus from the highlands, leaving slow-dissolving alumina and iron oxides that give the soil its characteristic reddish colour. The soils of the Red River delta vary: some are fertile and suitable for intense cultivation, while others lack soluble bases. Nonetheless, the delta soils are easily worked. The diking of the Red River to prevent flooding has deprived the delta's rice fields of enriching silts they once received, and it has been necessary to apply chemical fertilizers.

There are some two dozen soil associations, but certain soil types predominate. Among these are red and yellow podzolic soils (i.e., soils that are heavily leached in their upper layers, with a resulting accumulation of materials in the lower layers), which occupy nearly half of the land area, and lateritic soils (reddish brown, leached tropical soils), which constitute another one-tenth more. These soil types dominate the central highlands.

Alluvial soils account for about one-fourth of the land in the south and are concentrated in the Mekong delta, as are peat and muck soils. Gray podzolic soils are found in parts of the central highlands and in old terraces along the Mekong, while regurs (rich black loams) and lateritic soils occur in both the central highlands and the terrace zone. Along the coast of central Vietnam are regosols (soft, undeveloped soils) and noncalcic brown soils.

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Vietnam | History, Population, Map, Flag, Government, & Facts

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Vietnam, country occupying the eastern portion of mainland Southeast Asia. It has a long coastline, much of which fronts on the South China Sea to the east and south. The country is bordered by the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, Cambodia and Laos to the west, and China to the north.

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The history of Vietnam can be traced back to around 4000 years ago. Archaeological findings from 1965, still under research, show the remains of two hominins closely related to Sinanthropus, dating as far back as the Middle Pleistocene era, roughly half a million years ago. Pre-historic Vietnam was home to some of the world's earliest civilizations and societies-making them one of the world's first people who practiced agriculture. The Red River valley formed a natural geographic and economic unit, bounded to the north and west by mountains and jungles, to the east by the sea and to the south by the Red River Delta. The need to have a single authority to prevent floods of the Red River, to cooperate in constructing hydraulic systems, trade exchange, and to fight invaders, led to the creation of the first mythology Vietnamese states approximately 2879 BC. However, archaeologists suggested the Đông Sơn culture found in Northern Vietnam, Guangxi and Laos was around 700 BC.

Vietnam's peculiar geography made it a difficult country to attack, which is why Vietnam under the Hùng kings was for so long an independent and self-contained state. Once Vietnam did succumb to foreign rule, however, it proved unable to escape from it, and for 1,000 years, Vietnam was successively governed by a series of Chinese dynasties: the Western Han, Xin, Eastern Han, Eastern Wu, Western Jin, Eastern Jin, Liu Song, Southern Qi, Liang, Sui, Tang, Wu Zhou, and Southern Han. During these 1,000 years there were many uprisings against Chinese domination, and at certain periods Vietnam was independently governed under the Triệus, Trưng Sisters, Early Lýs, Khúcs and Dương Đình Nghệ -although their triumphs and reigns were temporary.

During the Chinese domination of northern Vietnam, several civilizations flourished in what is today central and south Vietnam, particularly the Funanese and Cham. The founders and rulers of these governments, however, were not native to Vietnam. From the 10th century onwards, the Vietnamese, emerging in their heartland of the Red River Delta, began to conquer these civilizations.

When Ngô Quyền (King of Vietnam, 938-944) restored sovereign power in the country with the victory at the battle of Bach Dang River, the next millennium was advanced by the accomplishments of successive local dynasties: Ngôs, Đinhs, Early Lês, Lýs, Trầns, Hồs, Later Trầns, Later Lês, Mạcs, Trịnhs, Nguyễns, Tây Sơns and again Nguyễns. At various points during the imperial dynasties, Vietnam was ravaged and divided by civil wars and witnessed interventions by the Song, Yuan, Cham, Ming, Siamese, Qing, French, and Imperial Japan.

The Ming Empire conquered the Red River valley for a while before native Vietnamese regained control and the French Empire reduced Vietnam to a French dependency for nearly a century, followed by an occupation by the Japanese Empire. Political upheaval and Communist insurrection put an end to the monarchy after World War II, and the country was proclaimed a republic.

Ethnic origins

The various people arrived on territory, that constitutes the modern state of Vietnam in many stages, often separated by thousands of years. Australo-Melanesians were the first to settle in numbers during the Paleolithic and by around 30,000 years ago are present in all regions of Southeast Asia. In most lands they were eventually displaced from the coastal lowlands and pushed to the uplands and hinterlands by later immigrants. The territories of modern central and southern Vietnam, originally not belonging to the Vietnamese kingdom were only conquered between the 14th and 18th centuries. The indigenous peoples of those lands had developed a distinct culture from the ancient Vietnamese in the Red River Delta region. The ancient Sa Huỳnh culture of present-day central Vietnam is known for the quantities of iron objects and decorative items made from glass, semi-precious and precious stones such as agate, carnelian, rock crystal, amethyst, and nephrite. The Sa Huỳnh, who maintained an extensive trade network were most likely the predecessors of the Cham people.

The Cham people, who for over one thousand years settled in, controlled and civilized central and southern coastal Vietnam from around the 2nd century AD are of Austronesian origin. The southernmost sector of modern Vietnam, the Mekong Delta and its surroundings was until the 18th century an integral part, yet of shifting significance of the Austroasiatic Proto-Khmer - and Khmer principalities, like Funan, Chenla, the Khmer Empire and the Khmer kingdom.

The classic core population, the Lạc Việt of the rice-farming Phung Nguyen culture and future nation builders, who had found themselves in the Red River basin are predominantly descendants of agricultural communities of the Yangzi and Yellow River valleys in southern and central China, who have arrived in Indochina around 2000 years BC.

Cultural evolution

Fishing and hunting supplemented the main rice crop. Arrowheads and spears were dipped in poison to kill larger animals such as elephants. Betel nuts were widely chewed and the lower classes rarely wore clothing more substantial than a loincloth. Every spring, a fertility festival was held which featured huge parties and sexual abandon. Since around 2000 BC, stone hand tools and weapons improved extraordinarily in both quantity and variety. Pottery reached a higher level of technique and decoration style. The Vietnamese people were mainly agriculturists, growing the wet rice Oryza, which became the main staple of their diet. During the later stage of the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, the first appearance of bronze tools took place despite these tools still being rare. By about 1000 BC, bronze replaced stone for about 40 percent of edged tools and weapons, rising to about 60 percent. Here, there were not only bronze weapons, axes, and personal ornaments, but also sickles and other agriculture tools. Toward the closure of the Bronze Age, bronze accounts for more than 90 percent of tools and weapons, and there are exceptionally extravagant graves - the burial places of powerful chieftains - containing some hundreds of ritual and personal bronze artifacts such as musical instruments, bucket-shaped ladles, and ornament daggers. After 1000 BC, the ancient Vietnamese people became skilled agriculturalists as they grew rice and kept buffaloes and pigs. They were also skilled fishermen and bold sailors, whose long dug-out canoes traversed the eastern sea.

According to a legend which first appeared in the 14th century book Lĩnh nam chích quái, the tribal chief Lộc Tục (c. 2919 - 2794 BC) proclaimed himself as Kinh Dương Vương and founded the state of Xích Quỷ in 2879 BC, that markes the beginning of the Hồng Bàng dynastic period. However, modern Vietnamese historians assume, that statehood was only developed in the Red River Delta by the second half of 1st millennium BC. Kinh Dương Vương was succeeded by Sùng Lãm (c. 2825 BC - ?). The next royal dynasty produced 18 monarchs, known as the Hùng Kings, who renamed their country Văn Lang. The administrative system includes offices like Lạc tướng, Lạc hầu and Bố chính. Great numbers of metal weapons and tools excavated at various Phung Nguyen culture sites in northern Indochina are associated with the beginning of the Copper Age in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, the beginning of the Bronze Age has been verified for around 500 B.C. at Đông Sơn. The local Lạc Việt community had developed a highly sophisticated industry of quality bronze production, processing and the manufacturing of tools, weapons and exquisite Bronze drums. Certainly of symbolic value they were intended to be used for religious or ceremonial purposes. The craftsmen of these objects required refined skills in melting techniques, in the Lost-wax casting technique and acquired master skills of composition and execution for the elaborate engravings.

Sources of prehistory and early history are mostly legends, which are passed on orally and, as time progresses, often mix with historical facts. The first historical mention about Hùng kings was in a Northern Wei dynasty's historiography book Commentary on the Water Classic in 5th century, where Hùng kings were known as Lạc king (雒王). It written:

[Ancient] when Jiaozhi wasn't incorporated to China, it had Lạc fields (雒田), rice cultivating based on the river tides, people depended on these fields, so called Lạc people (雒民). Ruler was Lạc king (雒王), chief advisor were Lạc hầu (雒侯), watch and control their land. Many areas, there were Lạc tướng (雒將) had bronze seals and green robes.

Another ancient Chinese informative book proves the existence of Hùng kings and the Lạc Việt before 200 BC is Extensive Records of the Taiping Era which was published in 978. It said:

[Ancient] Jiaozhi was the fertilized land. Many tribes lived there. And they know to plant crops. Its soils are black, its climate is moderate hard. So its fields were called Hùng land (雄田) and its people were Hùng people (雄民). Their leader was Hùng king (雄王), and his chief advisors were hùng hầu (雄侯), distributed lands for Hùng tướng (雄將).

The Legend of Thánh Gióng tells of a youth, who leads the Văn Lang kingdom to victory against the Chinese invaders, saves the country and goes straight to heaven. He wears iron armor, rides an armored horse and wields an iron sword. The image implies a society of a certain sophistication in metallurgy as well as An Dương Vương's Legend of the Magic Crossbow, a weapon, that can fire thousands of bolts simultaneously, seems to hint at the extensive use of archery in warfare. The about 1,000 traditional craft villages of the Red River Delta near and around Hanoi represented throughout more than 2,000 years of Vietnamese history the national industrial and economic backbone. Countless, mostly small family run manufacturers have over the centuries preserved their ethic ideas by producing highly sophisticated goods, built temples and dedicated ceremonies and festivals in an unbroken culture of veneration for these legendary popular spirits.

However, according to researcher Lê Minh Khải, despite all the evidence about the Hồng Bàng period and the Văn Lang kingdom, they are not real and were created by sinicized Confucianist scholars around 1400 AD to make Vietnamese distinct from the Chinese. After the new wave of nationalism revolutions in the 20th century, these folk tales and stories had been solidified in modern Vietnamese history.

By the 3rd century BC, another Viet group, the Âu Việt, emigrated from present-day southern China to the Red River delta and mixed with the indigenous Văn Lang population. In 257 BC, a new kingdom, Âu Lạc, emerged as the union of the Âu Việt and the Lạc Việt, with Thục Phán proclaiming himself " An Dương Vương" ("King An Dương"). Some modern Vietnamese believe that Thục Phán came upon the Âu Việt territory (modern-day northernmost Vietnam, western Guangdong, and southern Guangxi province, with its capital in what is today Cao Bằng Province).

After assembling an army, he defeated and overthrew the eighteenth dynasty of the Hùng kings, around 258 BC. He then renamed his newly acquired state from Văn Lang to Âu Lạc and established the new capital at Phong Khê in the present-day Phú Thọ town in northern Vietnam, where he tried to build the Cổ Loa Citadel (Cổ Loa Thành), the spiral fortress approximately ten miles north of that new capital. However, records showed that espionage resulted in the downfall of An Dương Vương. At his capital, Cổ Loa, he built many concentric walls around the city for defensive purposes. These walls, together with skilled Âu Lạc archers, kept the capital safe from invaders.

In 207 BC, Chinese Qin warlord Triệu Đà ( pinyin: Zhao Tuo) established an independent kingdom in the present-day Guangdong/ Guangxi area of China's southern coast. He proclaimed his new kingdom as Nam Việt ( pinyin: Nanyue), to be ruled by the Triệu dynasty. Triệu Đà later appointed himself a commandant of central Guangdong, closing the borders and conquering neighboring districts and titled himself "King of Nam Viet". In 179 BC, he defeated King An Dương Vương and annexed Âu Lạc.

The period has been given controversial conclusions by Vietnamese historians, as some consider Triệu's rule as the starting point of the Chinese domination, since Triệu Đà was a former Qin general; whereas others consider it still an era of Vietnamese independence as the Triệu family in Nam Việt were assimilated into local culture. They ruled independently of what then constituted the Han Empire. At one point, Triệu Đà even declared himself Emperor, equal to the Han Emperor in the north.

In 111 BC, Han China invaded Nam Việt and established new territories, dividing Vietnam into Giao Chỉ ( pinyin: Jiaozhi), now the Red River delta; Cửu Chân from modern-day Thanh Hóa to Hà Tĩnh; and Nhật Nam ( pinyin: Rinan), from modern-day Quảng Bình to Huế. While governors and top officials were Chinese, the original Vietnamese nobles (Lạc Hầu, Lạc Tướng) from the Hồng Bàng period still managed in some of the highlands. During this period, Buddhism was introduced into Vietnam from India via the Maritime Silk Road, while Taoism and Confucianism spread to Vietnam through the Chinese rules.

In 40 AD, the Trưng Sisters led a successful revolt against Han Governor Su Dung ( Vietnamese: Tô Định) and recaptured 65 states (including modern Guangxi). Trưng Trắc became the Queen ( Trưng Nữ Vương). In 43 AD, Emperor Guangwu of Han sent his famous general Ma Yuan ( Vietnamese: Mã Viện) with a large army to quell the revolt. After a long, difficult campaign, Ma Yuan suppressed the uprising and the Trung Sisters committed suicide to avoid capture. To this day, the Trưng Sisters are revered in Vietnam as the national symbol of Vietnamese women.

Learning a lesson from the Trưng revolt, the Han and other successful Chinese dynasties took measures to eliminate the power of the Vietnamese nobles. The Vietnamese elites were educated in Chinese culture and politics. A Giao Chỉ prefect, Shi Xie, ruled Vietnam as an autonomous warlord for forty years and was posthumously deified by later Vietnamese monarchs. Shi Xie pledged loyalty to Eastern Wu of the Three Kingdoms era of China. The Eastern Wu was a formative period in Vietnamese history. According to Stephen O'Harrow, Shi Xie was essentially "the first Vietnamese." Nearly 200 years passed before the Vietnamese attempted another revolt. In 248 a Yue woman, Triệu Thị Trinh with her brother Triệu Quốc Đạt, popularly known as Lady Triệu (Bà Triệu), led a revolt against the Wu dynasty. Once again, the uprising failed. Eastern Wu sent Lu Yin and 8,000 elite soldiers to suppress the rebels. He managed to pacify the rebels with a combination of threats and persuasion. According to the Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư (Complete Annals of Đại Việt), Lady Triệu had long breasts that reached her shoulders and rode into battle on an elephant. After several months of warfare she was defeated and committed suicide.

At the same time, in present-day Central Vietnam, there was a successful revolt of Cham nations in 192. Chinese dynasties called it Lin-Yi (Lin village; Vietnamese: Lâm Ấp). It later became a powerful kingdom, Champa, stretching from Quảng Bình to Phan Thiết ( Bình Thuận).

In the period between the beginning of the Chinese Age of Fragmentation and the end of the Tang dynasty, several revolts against Chinese rule took place, such as those of Lý Bôn and his general and heir Triệu Quang Phục. All of them ultimately failed, yet most notable were those led by Lý Bôn and Triệu Quang Phục, whose ruled the shortly independent Van Xuan kingdom for almost half a century, from 544 to 602, before Sui China reconquered the kingdom.

During the Tang dynasty, Vietnam was called Annam until 866 AD. With its capital around modern Bắc Ninh, Annam became a flourishing trading outpost, receiving goods from the southern seas. The Book of the Later Han recorded that in 166 the first envoy from the Roman Empire to China arrived by this route, and merchants were soon to follow. The 3rd-century Tales of Wei () mentioned a "water route" (the Red River) from Annam into what is now southern Yunnan. From there, goods were taken over land to the rest of China via the regions of modern Kunming and Chengdu. The capital of Annam, Tống Bình or Songping (today Hanoi) was a major urbanized settlement in the southwest region of Tang Empire. In 863, Nanzhao army from Yunnan laid siege of Songping and massacred 150,000 people in the country. In 866, Chinese jiedushi Gao Pian recaptured the city and drove out the Nanzhao army. He renamed the city to Daluocheng (大羅城, Đại La thành). Đại La at the time with approximate 250,000 residents included small foreign communities and residents of Persians, Arabs, Indian, Cham, Javanese and Nestorian Christians, became an important trading center of the Tang Dynasty due to the ransacking of Guangzhou by Huang Chao rebellion.

In 866, Annam was renamed Tĩnh Hải quân. Early in the 10th century, as China became politically fragmented, successive lords from the Khúc clan, followed by Dương Đình Nghệ, ruled Tĩnh Hải quân autonomously under the Tang title of Jiedushi ( Vietnamese: Tiết Độ Sứ), (governor), but stopped short of proclaiming themselves kings.

During this period, some native Vietnamese beliefs and Vietnamese mythology tended with Buddhism and Taoism about Hùng kings, Sơn Tinh, Tản Viên Sơn Thánh,... had been highly reported by Chinese governors. Also, Vietnamese literature had developed into classic literature and folk literature, with some famous authors and writers like Khương Công Phụ (730 - 805) and Liêu Hữu Phương (772 - ?). Many Vietnamese uprisings against the Chinese Tang Empire, notably rebellions of Mai Thúc Loan (670 - 723) and Phùng Hưng (? - 791), stirred the southern frontier of the Tang Empire many times.

Since 905, Tĩnh Hải circuit had been ruled by local Vietnamese governors like an autonomous state. Tĩnh Hải circuit had to paid tributes for Later Liang dynasty to exchange political protection. In 923, the nearby Southern Han invaded Jinghai but was repelled by Vietnamese leader Dương Đình Nghệ. In 938, the Chinese state Southern Han one again sent a fleet to subdue the Vietnamese. General Ngô Quyền (r. 939-944), Dương Đình Nghệ's son-in-law, defeated the Southern Han fleet at the Battle of Bạch Đằng (938). He then proclaimed himself King Ngô, established a monarchy government in Cổ Loa and effectively began the age of independence for Vietnam.

The basic nature of Vietnamese society changed little during the nearly 1,000 years between independence from China in the 10th century and the French conquest in the 19th century. The king was the ultimate source of political authority, the final dispenser of justice, law, and supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as well as overseer of religious rituals. Administration was carried out by mandarins who were trained exactly like their Chinese counterparts (i.e. by rigorous study of Confucian texts). Overall, Vietnam remained very efficiently and stably governed except in times of war and dynastic breakdown, and its administrative system was probably far more advanced than that of any other Southeast Asian states and was more highly centralized and stable governed among Asian states. No serious challenge to the king's authority ever arose, as titles of nobility were bestowed purely as honors and were not hereditary. Periodic land reforms broke up large estates and ensured that powerful landowners could not emerge. No religious/priestly class ever arose outside of the mandarins either. This stagnant absolutism ensured a stable, well-ordered society, but also resistance to social, cultural, or technological innovations. Reformers looked only to the past for inspiration.

Literacy remained the province of the upper classes. Initially, Chinese was used for writing purposes, but by the 11th century, a set of derivative characters known as Chữ Nôm emerged that allowed native Vietnamese words to be written. However, it remained limited to poetry, literature, and practical texts like medicine while all state and official documents were written in Classical Chinese. Aside from some mining and fishing, agriculture was the primary activity of most Vietnamese, and economic development and trade were not promoted or encouraged by the state.

Ngô Quyền's untimely death after a short reign resulted in a power struggle for the throne, resulting in the country's first major civil war, the upheaval of the Twelve Warlords (Loạn Thập Nhị Sứ Quân). The war lasted from 944 to 968 until the clan led by Đinh Bộ Lĩnh defeated the other warlords, unifying the country. Đinh Bộ Lĩnh founded the Đinh dynasty and proclaimed himself Đinh Tiên Hoàng (Đinh the Majestic Emperor) and renamed the country from Tĩnh Hải quân to Đại Cồ Việt (literally "Great Viet"), with its capital in the city of Hoa Lư (modern-day Ninh Bình Province). The new emperor introduced strict penal codes to prevent chaos from happening again. He then tried to form alliances by granting the title of Queen to five women from the five most influential families. Đại La became the

In 979, Emperor Đinh Tiên Hoàng and his crown prince Đinh Liễn were assassinated, leaving his lone surviving son, the 6-year-old Đinh Toàn, to assume the throne. Taking advantage of the situation, Song China invaded Annam. Facing such a grave threat to national independence, the commander of the armed forces, (Thập Đạo Tướng Quân) Lê Hoàn took the throne, replaced the house of Đinh and established the house of Lê. A capable military tactician, Lê Hoan realized the risks of engaging the mighty Song troops head on; thus he tricked the invading army into Chi Lăng Pass, then ambushed and killed their commander, quickly ending the threat to his young nation in 981. The Song dynasty withdrew their troops and Lê Hoàn was referred to in his realm as Emperor Đại Hành (Đại Hành Hoàng Đế). Emperor Lê Đại Hành was also the first Vietnamese monarch who began the southward expansion process against the kingdom of Champa.

Emperor Lê Đại Hành's death in 1005 resulted in infighting for the throne amongst his sons. The eventual winner, Lê Long Đĩnh, became the most notorious tyrant in Vietnamese history. He devised sadistic punishments of prisoners for his own entertainment and indulged in deviant sexual activities. Toward the end of his short life - he died at the age of 24. Lê Long Đĩnh had become so ill that he had to lie down when meeting with his officials in court.

When the king Lê Long Đĩnh died in 1009, a palace guard commander named Lý Công Uẩn was nominated by the court to take over the throne, and founded the Lý dynasty. This event is regarded as the beginning of another golden era in Vietnamese history, with the following dynasties inheriting the Lý dynasty's prosperity and doing much to maintain and expand it. The way Lý Công Uẩn ascended to the throne was rather uncommon in Vietnamese history. As a high-ranking military commander residing in the capital, he had all opportunities to seize power during the tumultuous years after Emperor Lê Hoàn's death, yet preferring not to do so out of his sense of duty. He was in a way being "elected" by the court after some debate before a consensus was reached.

The Lý monarchs are credited for laying down a concrete foundation for the nation of Vietnam. Leaving Hoa Lư, a natural fortification surrounded by mountains and rivers, Lý Công Uẩn moved his court to the new capital in present-day Hanoi and called it Thăng Long (Ascending Dragon). Lý Công Uẩn thus departed from the militarily defensive mentality of his predecessors and envisioned a strong economy as the key to national survival. The third emperor of the dynasty, Lý Thánh Tông renamed the country "Đại Việt" (大越, Great Viet). Successive Lý emperors continued to accomplish far-reaching feats: building a dike system to protect rice farms; founding the Quốc Tử Giám the first noble university; and establishing court examination systemm to select capable commoners for government positions once every three years; organizing a new system of taxation; establishing humane treatment of prisoners. Women were holding important roles in Lý society as the court ladies were in charge of tax collection. Neighboring Dali kingdom's Vajrayana Buddhism traditions also had influences on Vietnamese beliefs at the time. Lý kings adopted both Buddhism and Taoism as state religions.

The Vietnamese during Lý dynasty had one major war with Song China, and a few invasive campaigns against neighboring Champa in the south. The most notable conflict took place on Chinese territory Guangxi in Late 1075. Upon learning that a Song invasion was imminent, the Vietnamese army under the command of Lý Thường Kiệt, and Tông Đản used amphibious operations to preemptively destroy three Song military installations at Yongzhou, Qinzhou, and Lianzhou in present-day Guangdong and Guangxi, and killed 100,000 Chinese. The Song dynasty took revenge and invaded Đại Việt in 1076, but the Song troops were held back at the Battle of Như Nguyệt River commonly known as the Cầu river, now in Bắc Ninh province about 40 km from the current capital, Hanoi. Neither side was able to force a victory, so the Vietnamese court proposed a truce, which the Song emperor accepted. Champa and the powerful Khmer Empire took advantage of Đại Việt's distraction with the Song to pillage Đại Việt's southern provinces. Together they invaded Đại Việt in 1128 and 1132. Further invasions followed in the subsequent decades.

Toward the declining Lý monarch's power in late 12th century, the Trần clan from Nam Định eventually rise to power. In 1224, powerful court minister Trần Thủ Độ forced the emperor Lý Huệ Tông to become a Buddhist monk and Lý Chiêu Hoàng, Huệ Tông's 8-year-old young daughter, to become ruler of the country. Trần Thủ Độ then arranged the marriage of Chiêu Hoàng to his nephew Trần Cảnh and eventually had the throne transferred to Trần Cảnh, thus begun the Trần dynasty.

Trần Thủ Độ viciously purged members of the Lý nobility; some Lý princes escaped to Korea, including Lý Long Tường. After the purge, the Trần emperors ruled the country in similar manner to the Lý kings. Noted Trần monarch accomplishments include the creation of a system of population records based at the village level, the compilation of a formal 30-volume history of Đại Việt (Đại Việt Sử Ký) by Lê Văn Hưu, and the rising in status of the Nôm script, a system of writing for Vietnamese language. The Trần dynasty also adopted a unique way to train new emperors: when a crown prince reached the age of 18, his predecessor would abdicate and turn the throne over to him, yet holding the title of Retired Emperor (Thái Thượng Hoàng), acting as a mentor to the new Emperor.

During the Trần dynasty, the armies of the Mongol Empire under Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan invaded Annam in 1258, 1285, and 1287-88. Annam repelled all attacks of the Yuan Mongols during the reign of Kublai Khan. Three Mongol armies said to have numbered from 300,000 to 500,000 men were defeated.[disputed ] The key to Annam's successes was to avoid the Mongols' strength in open field battles and city sieges-the Trần court abandoned the capital and the cities. The Mongols were then countered decisively at their weak points, which were battles in swampy areas such as Chương Dương, Hàm Tử, Vạn Kiếp and on rivers such as Vân Đồn and Bạch Đằng. The Mongols also suffered from tropical diseases and loss of supplies to Trần army's raids. The Yuan-Trần war reached its climax when the retreating Yuan fleet was decimated at the Battle of Bạch Đằng (1288). The military architect behind Annam's victories was Commander Trần Quốc Tuấn, more popularly known as Trần Hưng Đạo. In order to avoid further disastrous campaigns, the Tran and Champa acknowledged Mongol supremacy.

In 1288, Venetian explorer Marco Polo visited Champa and Đại Việt.

It was also during this period that the Vietnamese waged war against the southern kingdom of Champa, continuing the Vietnamese long history of southern expansion (known as Nam tiến) that had begun shortly after gaining independence in the 10th century. Often, they encountered strong resistance from the Chams. After the successful alliance with Champa during the Mongol invasion, king Trần Nhân Tông of Đại Việt gained two Champa provinces, located around present-day Huế, through the peaceful means of the political marriage of Princess Huyền Trân to Cham king Jaya Simhavarman III. Not long after the nuptials, the king died, and the princess returned to her northern home in order to avoid a Cham custom that would have required her to join her husband in death. Champa was made a tributary state of Vietnam in 1312, but ten years later they regained independence and eventually waged a 30-years long war against the Vietnamese, in order to regain these lands and encouraged by the decline of Đại Việt in the course of the 14th century. Cham troops led by king Chế Bồng Nga (Cham: Po Binasuor or Che Bonguar, r. 1360 - 1390) killed king Trần Duệ Tông through a battle in Vijaya (1377). Multiple Cham northward invasions from 1371 to 1390 put Vietnamese capital Thăng Long and Vietnamese economy in destruction. However in 1390 the Cham naval offensive against Hanoi was stop by Vietnamese general Trần Khát Chân by cannons.

The wars with Champa and the Mongols left Đại Việt exhausted and bankrupt. The Trần family was in turn overthrown by one of its own court officials, Hồ Quý Ly. Hồ Quý Ly forced the last Trần emperor to abdicate and assumed the throne in 1400. He changed the country name to Đại Ngu and moved the capital to Tây Đô, Western Capital, now Thanh Hóa. Thăng Long was renamed Đông Đô, Eastern Capital. Although widely blamed for causing national disunity and losing the country later to the Ming Empire, Hồ Quý Ly's reign actually introduced a lot of progressive, ambitious reforms, including the addition of mathematics to the national examinations, the open critique of Confucian philosophy, the use of paper currency in place of coins, investment in building large warships and cannons, and land reform. He ceded the throne to his son, Hồ Hán Thương, in 1401 and assumed the title Thái Thượng Hoàng, in similar manner to the Trần kings.

In 1407, under the pretext of helping to restore the Trần monarchs, Chinese Ming troops invaded Đại Ngu and captured Hồ Quý Ly and Hồ Hán Thương. The Hồ family came to an end after only 7 years in power. The Ming occupying force annexed Đại Ngu into the Ming Empire after claiming that there was no heir to Trần throne. Vietnam, weakened by dynastic feuds and the wars with Champa, quickly succumbed. The Ming conquest was harsh. Vietnam was annexed directly as a province of China, the old policy of cultural assimilation again imposed forcibly, and the country was ruthlessly exploited. However, by this time, Vietnamese nationalism had reached a point where attempts to sinicize them could only strengthen further resistance. Almost immediately, Trần loyalists started a resistance war. The resistance, under the leadership of Trần Quý Khoáng at first gained some advances, yet as Trần Quý Khoáng executed two top commanders out of suspicion, a rift widened within his ranks and resulted in his defeat in 1413.

In 1418, Lê Lợi was the son of a wealthy aristocrat in Thanh Hóa, led the Lam Sơn uprising against the Ming from his base of Lam Sơn (Thanh Hóa province). Overcoming many early setbacks and with strategic advice from Nguyễn Trãi, Lê Lợi's movement finally gathered momentum. In September 1426, the Lam Sơn rebellion marched northward, ultimately defeated the Ming army in the Battle of Tốt Động - Chúc Động in south of Hanoi by using cannons. Then Lê Lợi's forces launched a siege at Đông Quan (now Hanoi), the capital of the Ming occupation. The Xuande Emperor of Ming China responded by sent two reinforcement forces of 122,000 men, but Lê Lợi staged an ambush and killed the Ming commander Liu Shan in Chi Lăng. Ming troops at Đông Quan surrendered. The Lam Sơn rebels defeated 200,000 Ming soldiers.

In 1428, Lê Lợi reestablished the independent of Vietnam under his House of Lê. Lê Lợi renamed the country back to Đại Việt and moved the capital back to Thăng Long, renamed it Đông Kinh. In 1429, he introduced the Thuận Thiên code, largely based on the Tang Code, with severe charges for gambling, bribery and corruption. Lê Lợi granted a land reform in 1429 that took lands from people who collaborated with the Chinese and distributed them among landless peasants and soldiers. With his reform, national economy, commerce, trade and private industries were well-revived. Vietnamese merchants were actively in the South China sea maritime trading networks with their bases in Chu Đậu and Vân Đồn. Modern archaeological evidence of 14th-17th century Vietnamese goods in the Southeast Asian countries of Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, even in Japan and Turkey, proven the presences of these trading networks as Vietnam was a regional and international ceramic and silk manufacturer at the time. From 1428, Vietnam entered the Early modern Era.

The Lê emperors carried out land reforms to revitalize the economy after the war. Unlike the Lý and Trần kings, who were more influenced by Buddhism, the Lê emperors leaned toward Confucianism. A comprehensive set of laws, the Hồng Đức code was introduced in 1483 with some strong Confucian elements, yet also included some progressive rules, such as the rights of women. Art and architecture during the Lê dynasty also became more influenced by Chinese styles than during previous Lý and Trần dynasties. The Lê dynasty commissioned the drawing of national maps and had Ngô Sĩ Liên continue the task of writing Đại Việt's history up to the time of Lê Lợi. Emperor Lê Thánh Tông opened hospitals and had officials distribute medicines to areas affected with epidemics.

Overpopulation and land shortages stimulated a Vietnamese expansion south. In 1471, Le troops led by Emperor Lê Thánh Tông invaded Champa and captured its capital Vijaya. This event effectively ended Champa as a powerful kingdom, although some smaller surviving Cham states lasted for a few centuries more. It initiated the dispersal of the Cham people across Southeast Asia. With the kingdom of Champa mostly destroyed and the Cham people exiled or suppressed, Vietnamese colonization of what is now central Vietnam proceeded without substantial resistance. However, despite becoming greatly outnumbered by Vietnamese settlers and the integration of formerly Cham territory into the Vietnamese nation, the majority of Cham people nevertheless remained in Vietnam and they are now considered one of the key minorities in modern Vietnam. Vietnamese armies also raided the Mekong Delta, which the decaying Khmer Empire could no longer defend. The city of Huế, founded in 1600 lies close to where the Champa capital of Indrapura once stood. In 1479, Lê Thánh Tông also campaigned against Laos in the Vietnamese-Lao War and captured its capital Luang Prabang, in which later the city was totally ransacked and destroyed by the Vietnamese. He made further incursions westwards into the Irrawaddy River region in modern-day Burma before withdrawing. After the death of Lê Thánh Tông, Vietnam fell into a swift decline (1497-1527), with 6 rulers in within 30 years of failing economy, natural disasters and rebellions raged through the country. European traders and missionaries also first reached Vietnam in the midst of the Age of Discovery were Portuguese, and started spreading Christianity since 1524.

The Lê dynasty was overthrown by its general named Mạc Đăng Dung in 1527. He killed the Lê emperor and proclaimed himself emperor, starting the Mạc dynasty. After defeating many revolutions for two years, Mạc Đăng Dung adopted the Trần dynasty's practice and ceded the throne to his son, Mạc Đăng Doanh, and he became Thái Thượng Hoàng.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Kim, a former official in the Lê court, revolted against the Mạc and helped king Lê Trang Tông restore the Lê court in the Thanh Hóa area. Thus a civil war began between the Northern Court (Mạc) and the Southern Court (Restored Lê). Nguyễn Kim's side controlled the southern part of Annam (from Thanhhoa to the south), leaving the north (including Đông Kinh-Hanoi) under Mạc control. When Nguyễn Kim was assassinated in 1545, military power fell into the hands of his son-in-law, Trịnh Kiểm. In 1558, Nguyễn Kim's son, Nguyễn Hoàng, suspecting that Trịnh Kiểm might kill him as he had done to his brother to secure power, asked to be governor of the far south provinces around present-day Quảng Bình to Bình Định. Hoàng pretended to be insane, so Kiểm was fooled into thinking that sending Hoàng south was a good move as Hoàng would be quickly killed in the lawless border regions. However, Hoàng governed the south effectively while Trịnh Kiểm, and then his son Trịnh Tùng, carried on the war against the Mạc. Nguyễn Hoàng sent money and soldiers north to help the war but gradually he became more and more independent, transforming their realm's economic fortunes by turning it into an international trading post.

The civil war between the Lê-Trịnh and Mạc dynasties ended in 1592, when the army of Trịnh Tùng conquered Hanoi and executed king Mạc Mậu Hợp. Survivors of the Mạc royal family fled to the northern mountains in the province of Cao Bằng and continued to rule there until 1677 when Trịnh Tạc conquered this last Mạc territory. The Lê monarchs, ever since Nguyễn Kim's restoration, only acted as figureheads. After the fall of the Mạc dynasty, all real power in the north belonged to the Trịnh lords. Meanwhile, the Ming court reluctantly decided on a military intervention into the Vietnamese civil war, but Mạc Đăng Dung offered ritual submission to the Ming Empire, which was accepted. Since late 16th century, trades and contacts between Japan and Vietnam increased as they established relationship in 1591. The Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan and governor Nguyễn Hoàng of Quảng Nam exchanged total 34 letters from 1589 to 1612, and a Japanese town was established in the city of Hội An in 1604.

In the year 1600, Nguyễn Hoàng also declared himself Lord (officially "Vương", popularly "Chúa") and refused to send more money or soldiers to help the Trịnh. He also moved his capital to Phú Xuân, modern-day Huế. Nguyễn Hoàng died in 1613 after having ruled the south for 55 years. He was succeeded by his 6th son, Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, who likewise refused to acknowledge the power of the Trịnh, yet still pledged allegiance to the Lê monarch.

Trịnh Tráng succeeded Trịnh Tùng, his father, upon his death in 1623. Tráng ordered Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên to submit to his authority. The order was refused twice. In 1627, Trịnh Tráng sent 150,000 troops southward in an unsuccessful military campaign. The Trịnh were much stronger, with a larger population, economy and army, but they were unable to vanquish the Nguyễn, who had built two defensive stone walls and invested in Portuguese artillery.

The Trịnh-Nguyễn War lasted from 1627 until 1672. The Trịnh army staged at least seven offensives, all of which failed to capture Phú Xuân. For a time, starting in 1651, the Nguyễn themselves went on the offensive and attacked parts of Trịnh territory. However, the Trịnh, under a new leader, Trịnh Tạc, forced the Nguyễn back by 1655. After one last offensive in 1672, Trịnh Tạc agreed to a truce with the Nguyễn Lord Nguyễn Phúc Tần. The country was effectively divided in two.

The West's exposure to Annam and Annamese exposure to Westerners dated back to 166 AD with the arrival of merchants from the Roman Empire, to 1292 with the visit of Marco Polo, and the early 16th century with the arrival of Portuguese in 1516 and other European traders and missionaries. Alexandre de Rhodes, a French Jesuit priest, improved on earlier work by Portuguese missionaries and developed the Vietnamese romanized alphabet Quốc Ngữ in Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum in 1651. Various European efforts to establish trading posts in Vietnam failed, but missionaries were allowed to operate for some time until the mandarins began concluding that Christianity (which had succeeded in converting up to a tenth of the population by 1700) was a threat to the Confucian social order since it condemned ancestor worship as idolatry. Vietnamese attitudes to Europeans and Christianity hardened as they began to increasingly see it as a way of undermining society.

Between 1627 and 1775, two powerful families had partitioned the country: the Nguyễn lords ruled the South and the Trịnh lords ruled the North. The Trịnh-Nguyễn War gave European traders the opportunities to support each side with weapons and technology: the Portuguese assisted the Nguyễn in the South while the Dutch helped the Trịnh in the North. The Trịnh and the Nguyễn maintained a relative peace for the next hundred years, during which both sides made significant accomplishments. The Trịnh created centralized government offices in charge of state budget and producing currency, unified the weight units into a decimal system, established printing shops to reduce the need to import printed materials from China, opened a military academy, and compiled history books.

Meanwhile, the Nguyễn lords continued the southward expansion by the conquest of the remaining Cham land. Việt settlers also arrived in the sparsely populated area known as "Water Chenla", which was the lower Mekong Delta portion of the former Khmer Empire. Between the mid-17th century to mid-18th century, as the former Khmer Empire was weakened by internal strife and Siamese invasions, the Nguyễn Lords used various means, political marriage, diplomatic pressure, political and military favors, to gain the area around present-day Saigon and the Mekong Delta. The Nguyễn army at times also clashed with the Siamese army to establish influence over the former Khmer Empire.

In 1771, the Tây Sơn revolution broke out in Quy Nhơn, which was under the control of the Nguyễn lord. The leaders of this revolution were three brothers named Nguyễn Nhạc, Nguyễn Lữ, and Nguyễn Huệ, not related to the Nguyễn lord's family. In 1773, Tây Sơn rebels took Quy Nhơn as the capital of the revolution. Tây Sơn brothers' forces attracted many poor peasants, workers, Christians, ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and Cham people who had been oppressed by the Nguyễn Lord for a long time, and also attracted to ethnic Chinese merchant class, who hope the Tây Sơn revolt will spare down the heavy tax policy of the Nguyễn Lord, however their contributions later were limited due to Tây Sơn's nationalist anti-Chinese sentiment. By 1776, the Tây Sơn had occupied all of the Nguyễn Lord's land and killed almost the entire royal family. The surviving prince Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (often called Nguyễn Ánh) fled to Siam, and obtained military support from the Siamese king. Nguyễn Ánh came back with 50,000 Siamese troops to regain power, but was defeated at the Battle of Rạch Gầm-Xoài Mút and almost killed. Nguyễn Ánh fled Vietnam, but he did not give up.

The Tây Sơn army commanded by Nguyễn Huệ marched north in 1786 to fight the Trịnh Lord, Trịnh Khải. The Trịnh army failed and Trịnh Khải committed suicide. The Tây Sơn army captured the capital in less than two months. The last Lê emperor, Lê Chiêu Thống, fled to Qing China and petitioned the Qianlong Emperor in 1788 for help. The Qianlong Emperor supplied Lê Chiêu Thống with a massive army of around 200,000 troops to regain his throne from the usurper. In December 1788, Nguyễn Huệ-the third Tây Sơn brother-proclaimed himself Emperor Quang Trung and defeated the Qing troops with 100,000 men in a surprise 7 day campaign during the lunar new year ( Tết). There was even a rumor saying that Quang Trung had also planned to conquer China, although it was unclear. During his reign, Quang Trung envisioned many reforms but died by unknown reason on the way march south in 1792, at the age of 40. During the reign of Emperor Quang Trung, Đại Việt was in fact divided into three political entities. The Tây Sơn leader, Nguyễn Nhạc, ruled the centre of the country from his capital Qui Nhơn. Emperor Quang Trung ruled the north from the capital Phú Xuân Huế. In the South. He officially funded and trained the Pirates of the South China Coast - one of the most strongest and feared pirate army in the world late 18th century-early 19th century. Nguyễn Ánh, assisted by many talented recruits from the South, captured Gia Định (present-day Saigon) in 1788 and established a strong base for his force.

In 1784, during the conflict between Nguyễn Ánh, the surviving heir of the Nguyễn lords, and the Tây Sơn dynasty, a French Roman Catholic prelate, Pigneaux de Behaine, sailed to France to seek military backing for Nguyễn Ánh. At Louis XVI's court, Pigneaux brokered the Little Treaty of Versailles which promised French military aid in exchange for Vietnamese concessions. However, because of the French Revolution, Pigneaux's plan failed to materialize. He went to the French territory of Pondichéry (India), and secured two ships, a regiment of Indian troops, and a handful of volunteers and returned to Vietnam in 1788. One of Pigneaux's volunteers, Jean-Marie Dayot, reorganized Nguyễn Ánh's navy along European lines and defeated the Tây Sơn at Qui Nhơn in 1792. A few years later, Nguyễn Ánh's forces captured Saigon, where Pigneaux died in 1799. Another volunteer, Victor Olivier de Puymanel would later build the Gia Định fort in central Saigon.

After Quang Trung's death in September 1792, the Tây Sơn court became unstable as the remaining brothers fought against each other and against the people who were loyal to Nguyễn Huệ's young son. Quang Trung's 10-years-old son Nguyễn Quang Toản succeeded the throne, became Cảnh Thịnh Emperor, the third ruler of the Tây Sơn dynasty. In the South, lord Nguyễn Ánh and the Nguyễn royalists were assisted with French, Chinese, Siamese and Christian supports, sailed north in 1799, capturing Tây Sơn's stronghold Qui Nhơn. In 1801, his force took Phú Xuân, the Tây Sơn capital. Nguyễn Ánh finally won the war in 1802, when he sieged Thăng Long (Hanoi) and executed Nguyễn Quang Toản, along with many Tây Sơn royals, generals and officials. Nguyễn Ánh ascended the throne and called himself Emperor Gia Long. Gia is for Gia Định, the old name of Saigon; Long is for Thăng Long, the old name of Hanoi. Hence Gia Long implied the unification of the country. The Nguyễn dynasty lasted until Bảo Đại's abdication in 1945. As China for centuries had referred to Đại Việt as Annam, Gia Long asked the Manchu Qing emperor to rename the country, from Annam to Nam Việt. To prevent any confusion of Gia Long's kingdom with Triệu Đà's ancient kingdom, the Manchu emperor reversed the order of the two words to Việt Nam. The name Vietnam is thus known to be used since Emperor Gia Long's reign. Recently historians have found that this name had existed in older books in which Vietnamese referred to their country as Vietnam.

The Period of Division with its many tragedies and dramatic historical developments inspired many poets and gave rise to some Vietnamese masterpieces in verse, including the epic poem The Tale of Kiều ( Truyện Kiều) by Nguyễn Du, Song of a Soldier's Wife ( Chinh Phụ Ngâm) by Đặng Trần Côn and Đoàn Thị Điểm, and a collection of satirical, erotically charged poems by a female poet, Hồ Xuân Hương.

After Nguyễn Ánh established the Nguyễn dynasty in 1802, he tolerated Catholicism and employed some Europeans in his court as advisors. His successors were more conservative Confucians and resisted Westernization. The next Nguyễn emperors, Minh Mạng, Thiệu Trị, and Tự Đức brutally suppressed Catholicism and pursued a 'closed door' policy, perceiving the Westerners as a threat, following events such as the Lê Văn Khôi revolt when a French missionary, Fr. Joseph Marchand, encouraged local Catholics to revolt in an attempt to install a Catholic emperor. Catholics, both Vietnamese and foreign-born, were persecuted in retaliation. Trade with the West slowed during this period. There were frequent uprisings against the Nguyễns, with hundreds of such events being recorded in the annals. These acts were soon being used as excuses for France to invade Vietnam. The early Nguyễn dynasty had engaged in many of the constructive activities of its predecessors, building roads, digging canals, issuing a legal code, holding examinations, sponsoring care facilities for the sick, compiling maps and history books, and exerting influence over Cambodia and Laos.

Under the orders of Napoleon III of France, Rigault de Genouilly's gunships attacked the port of Đà Nẵng in 1858, causing significant damage, yet failed to gain any foothold, in the process being afflicted by the humidity and tropical diseases. De Genouilly decided to sail south and captured the poorly defended city of Gia Định (present-day Ho Chi Minh City). From 1859 to 1867, French troops expanded their control over all six provinces on the Mekong delta and formed a colony known as Cochinchina.

A few years later, French troops landed in northern Vietnam (which they called Tonkin) and captured Hà Nội twice in 1873 and 1882. The French managed to keep their grip on Tonkin although, twice, their top commanders Francis Garnier and Henri Rivière, were ambushed and killed fighting pirates of the Black Flag Army hired by the mandarins. France assumed control over the whole of Vietnam after the Tonkin Campaign (1883-1886). French Indochina was formed in October 1887 from Annam (Trung Kỳ, central Vietnam), Tonkin (Bắc Kỳ, northern Vietnam), Cochinchina (Nam Kỳ, southern Vietnam, and Cambodia, with Laos added in 1893). Within French Indochina, Cochinchina had the status of a colony, Annam was nominally a protectorate where the Nguyễn dynasty still ruled, and Tonkin had a French governor with local governments run by Vietnamese officials.

After Gia Định fell to French troops, many resistance movements broke out in occupied areas, some led by former court officers, such as Trương Định, some by peasants, such as Nguyễn Trung Trực, who sank the French gunship L'Esperance using guerilla tactics. In the north, most movements were led by former court officers and lasted decades, with Phan Đình Phùng fighting in central Vietnam until 1895. In the northern mountains, former bandit leader Hoàng Hoa Thám fought until 1911. Even the teenage Nguyễn Emperor Hàm Nghi left the Imperial Palace of Huế in 1885 with regent Tôn Thất Thuyết and started the Cần Vương ("Save the King") movement, trying to rally the people to resist the French. He was captured in 1888 and exiled to French Algeria. Guerrillas of the Cần Vương movement murdered around a third of Vietnam's Christian population during the rebellion. Decades later, two more Nguyễn kings, Thành Thái and Duy Tân were also exiled to Africa for having anti-French tendencies. The former was deposed on the pretext of insanity and Duy Tân was caught in a conspiracy with the mandarin Trần Cao Vân trying to start an uprising. However, lack of modern weapons and equipment prevented these resistance movements from being able to engage the French in open combat. The various anti-French started by mandarins were carried out with the primary goal of restoring the old feudal society. However, by 1900 a new generation of Vietnamese were coming of age who had never lived in precolonial Vietnam. These young activists were as eager as their grandparents to see independence restored, but they realized that returning to the feudal order was not feasible and that modern technology and governmental systems were needed. Having been exposed to Western philosophy, they aimed to establish a republic upon independence, departing from the royalist sentiments of the Cần Vương movements. Some of them set up Vietnamese independence societies in Japan, which many viewed as a model society (i.e. an Asian nation that had modernized, but retained its own culture and institutions).

There emerged two parallel movements of modernization. The first was the ("Go East") Movement started in 1905 by Phan Bội Châu. Châu's plan was to send Vietnamese students to Japan to learn modern skills, so that in the future they could lead a successful armed revolt against the French. With Prince Cường Để, he started two organizations in Japan: Duy Tân Hội and Việt Nam Công Hiến Hội. Due to French diplomatic pressure, Japan later deported Châu. Phan Châu Trinh, who favored a peaceful, non-violent struggle to gain independence, led a second movement, ( Modernization), which stressed education for the masses, modernizing the country, fostering understanding and tolerance between the French and the Vietnamese, and peaceful transitions of power. The early part of the 20th century saw the growing in status of the Romanized alphabet for the Vietnamese language. Vietnamese patriots realized the potential of Quốc Ngữ as a useful tool to quickly reduce illiteracy and to educate the masses. The traditional Chinese scripts or the script were seen as too cumbersome and too difficult to learn. The use of prose in literature also became popular with the appearance of many novels; most famous were those from the Tự Lực Văn Đoàn literary circle.

As the French suppressed both movements, and after witnessing revolutionaries in action in China and Russia, Vietnamese revolutionaries began to turn to more radical paths. Phan Bội Châu created the Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội in Guangzhou, planning armed resistance against the French. In 1925, French agents captured him in Shanghai and spirited him to Vietnam. Due to his popularity, Châu was spared from execution and placed under house arrest until his death in 1940. In 1927, the Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (Vietnamese Nationalist Party), modeled after the Kuomintang in China, was founded, and the party launched the armed Yên Bái mutiny in 1930 in Tonkin which resulted in its chairman, Nguyễn Thái Học and many other leaders captured and executed by the guillotine.

Marxism was also introduced into Vietnam with the emergence of three separate Communist parties; the Indochinese Communist Party, Annamese Communist Party and the Indochinese Communist Union, joined later by a Trotskyist movement led by Tạ Thu Thâu. In 1930, the Communist International (Comintern) sent Nguyễn Ái Quốc to Hong Kong to coordinate the unification of the parties into the Vietnamese Communist Party (CPV) with Trần Phú as the first Secretary General. Later the party changed its name to the Indochinese Communist Party as the Comintern, under Stalin, did not favor nationalistic sentiments. Being a leftist revolutionary living in France since 1911, Nguyễn Ái Quốc participated in founding the French Communist Party and in 1924 traveled to the Soviet Union to join the Comintern. Through the late 1920s, he acted as a Comintern agent to help build Communist movements in Southeast Asia. During the 1930s, the CPV was nearly wiped out under French suppression with the execution of top leaders such as Phú, Lê Hồng Phong, and Nguyễn Văn Cừ.

During World War II, Japan invaded Indochina in 1940, keeping the Vichy French colonial administration in place as a puppet. In 1941 Nguyễn Ái Quốc, now known as Hồ Chí Minh, arrived in northern Vietnam to form the Việt Minh Front, and it was supposed to be an umbrella group for all parties fighting for Vietnam's independence, but was dominated by the Communist Party. The Việt Minh had a modest armed force and during the war worked with the American Office of Strategic Services to collect intelligence on the Japanese. A famine broke out in 1944-45. Japan's defeat by World War II Allies created a power vacuum for Vietnamese nationalists of all parties to seize power in August 1945, forcing Emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate and ending the Nguyễn dynasty. Their initial success in staging uprisings and in seizing control of most of the country by September 1945 was partially undone, however, by the return of the French a few months later.

Relations with China

According to a 2018 study in the Journal of Conflict Resolution covering Vietnam-China relations from 1365 to 1841, the relations could be characterized as a "hierarchic tributary system". The study found that "the Vietnamese court explicitly recognized its unequal status in its relations with China through a number of institutions and norms. Vietnamese rulers also displayed very little military attention to their relations with China. Rather, Vietnamese leaders were clearly more concerned with quelling chronic domestic instability and managing relations with kingdoms to their south and west."

In September 1945, Hồ Chí Minh proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and held the position of chairman (Chủ Tịch). Communist rule was cut short, however, by nationalist Chinese and British occupation forces whose presence tended to support the Communist Party's political opponents. In 1946, Vietnam had its first National Assembly election (won by the Viet Minh in central and northern Vietnam), which drafted the first constitution, but the situation was still precarious: the French tried to regain power by force; some Cochinchinese politicians formed a seceding government the Republic of Cochinchina (Cộng hòa Nam Kỳ) while the non-Communist and Communist forces were engaging each other in sporadic battle. Stalinists purged Trotskyists. Religious sects and resistance groups formed their own militias. The Communists eventually suppressed all non-Communist parties but failed to secure a peace deal with France.

Full-scale war broke out between the Việt Minh and France in late 1946 and the First Indochina War officially began. Realizing that colonialism was coming to an end worldwide, France decided to bring former emperor Bảo Đại back to power, as a political alternative to Ho Chi Minh. A Provisional Central Government was formed in 1948, reuniting Annam and Tonkin, but the complete reunification of Vietnam was delayed for a year because of the problems posed by Cochinchina's legal status. In July 1949, the State of Vietnam was officially proclaimed, as a semi-independent country within the French Union, with Bảo Đại as Head of State. France was finally persuaded to relinquish its colonies in Indochina in 1954 when Viet Minh forces defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu. The 1954 Geneva Conference left Vietnam a divided nation, with Hồ Chí Minh's communist DRV government ruling the North from Hanoi and Ngô Đình Diệm's Republic of Vietnam, supported by the United States, ruling the South from Saigon. Between 1953 and 1956, the North Vietnamese government instituted various agrarian reforms, including "rent reduction" and "land reform", which resulted in significant political oppression. During the land reform, testimony from North Vietnamese witnesses suggested a ratio of one execution for every 160 village residents, which extrapolated nationwide would indicate nearly 100,000 executions. Because the campaign was concentrated mainly in the Red River Delta area, a lower estimate of 50,000 executions became widely accepted by scholars at the time. However, declassified documents from the Vietnamese and Hungarian archives indicate that the number of executions was much lower than reported at the time, although likely greater than 13,500. In the South, Diem went about crushing political and religious opposition, imprisoning or killing of thousands.

Along with the split between northern and southern Vietnam in geographical territory came the divergence in their distinctive choices for institutional political structure. Northern Vietnam (Dai Viet) opted for a centralized bureaucratic regime while the southern is based on a patron-client mechanism heavily relied on personalized rule. During this period, due to this structural difference, the north and south revealed different patterns in their economic activities, the long-term effect of which still persist up to today. Citizens that have previously lived in the bureaucratic state are more likely to have higher household consumption and get more engaged in civic activities; the state itself tends to have the stronger fiscal capacity for taxation inherited from the previous institution.

As a result of the Vietnam (Second Indochina) War (1954-75), Viet Cong and regular People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) forces of the DRV unified the country under communist rule. In this conflict, the North and the Viet Cong-with logistical support from the Soviet Union-defeated the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, which sought to maintain South Vietnamese independence with the support of the U.S. military, whose troop strength peaked at 540,000 during the communist-led Tet Offensive in 1968. The North did not abide by the terms of the 1973 Paris Agreement, which officially settled the war by calling for free elections in the South and peaceful reunification. Two years after the withdrawal of the last U.S. forces in 1973, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, fell to the communists, and the South Vietnamese army surrendered in 1975. In 1976, the government of united Vietnam renamed Saigon as Hồ Chí Minh City in honor of Hồ, who died in 1969. The war left Vietnam devastated, with the total death toll standing at between 966,000 and 3.8 million, and many thousands more crippled by weapons and substances such as napalm and Agent Orange. The government of Vietnam says that 4 million of its citizens were exposed to Agent Orange, and as many as 3 million have suffered illnesses because of it; these figures include the children of people who were exposed. The Red Cross of Vietnam estimates that up to 1 million people are disabled or have health problems due to contaminated Agent Orange. The United States government has challenged these figures as being unreliable.

In the post-1975 period, it was immediately apparent that the effectiveness of Communist Party (CPV) policies did not necessarily extend to the party's peacetime nation-building plans. Having unified North and South politically, the CPV still had to integrate them socially and economically. In this task, CPV policy makers were confronted with the South's resistance to communist transformation, as well as traditional animosities arising from cultural and historical differences between North and South. In the aftermath of the war, under Lê Duẩn's administration, there were no mass executions of South Vietnamese who had collaborated with the U.S. or the Saigon government, confounding Western fears. However, up to 300,000 South Vietnamese were sent to re-education camps, where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while being forced to perform hard labor. The New Economic Zones program was implemented by the Vietnamese communist government after the Fall of Saigon. Between 1975 and 1980, more than 1 million northerners migrated to the south and central regions formerly under the Republic of Vietnam. This program, in turn, displaced around 750,000 to over 1 million Southerners from their homes and forcibly relocated them to uninhabited mountainous forested areas.

Compounding economic difficulties were new military challenges. In the late 1970s, Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime started harassing and raiding Vietnamese villages at the common border. To neutralize the threat, PAVN invaded Cambodia in 1978 and overran its capital of Phnom Penh, driving out the incumbent Khmer Rouge regime. In response, as an action to support the pro-Beijing Khmer Rouge regime, China increased its pressure on Vietnam, and sent troops into Northern Vietnam in 1979 to "punish" Vietnam. Relations between the two countries had been deteriorating for some time. Territorial disagreements along the border and in the South China Sea that had remained dormant during the Vietnam War were revived at the war's end, and a postwar campaign engineered by Hanoi against the ethnic Chinese Hoa community elicited a strong protest from Beijing. China was displeased with Vietnam's alliance with the Soviet Union. During its prolonged military occupation of Cambodia in 1979-89, Vietnam's international isolation extended to relations with the United States. The United States, in addition to citing Vietnam's minimal cooperation in accounting for Americans who were missing in action (MIAs) as an obstacle to normal relations, barred normal ties as long as Vietnamese troops occupied Cambodia. Washington also continued to enforce the trade embargo imposed on Hanoi at the conclusion of the war in 1975.

The harsh postwar crackdown on remnants of capitalism in the South led to the collapse of the economy during the 1980s. With the economy in shambles, the communist government altered its course and adopted consensus policies that bridged the divergent views of pragmatists and communist traditionalists. Throughout the 1980s, Vietnam received nearly $3 billion a year in economic and military aid from the Soviet Union and conducted most of its trade with the USSR and other Comecon countries. In 1986, Nguyễn Văn Linh, who was elevated to CPV general secretary the following year, launched a campaign for political and economic renewal ( Đổi Mới). His policies were characterized by political and economic experimentation that was similar to simultaneous reform agenda undertaken in the Soviet Union. Reflecting the spirit of political compromise, Vietnam phased out its re-education effort. The communist government stopped promoting agricultural and industrial cooperatives. Farmers were permitted to till private plots alongside state-owned land, and in 1990 the communist government passed a law encouraging the establishment of private businesses.

After President Bill Clinton visited Vietnam in 2000, it virtually marked the new era of Vietnam. Vietnam has become an increasingly attractive destination of economic development. Throughout that time, Vietnam has played more significant role in the world's stage. Its economic reforms successfully changed Vietnam and making Vietnam more relevant in the ASEAN and international stage. Also, due to Vietnam's importance, many powers turn to be favoring Vietnam for their circumstances.

However, Vietnam also faces disputes, mostly with Cambodia over the border, and especially, China, over the South China Sea. In 2016, President Barack Obama became the 3rd U.S. Head of State to visit Vietnam, helping normalize relations into a higher level, by lifting embargo of lethal weapons, allowing Vietnam to buy lethal weapons and modernize its military.

Vietnam is expected to be a newly industrialized country, and also, a regional power in the future. Vietnam is one of Next Eleven countries.

For the most part of its history, the geographical boundary of present-day Vietnam covered 3 ethnically distinct states: a Vietnamese state, a Cham state, and a part of the Khmer Empire. The Vietnamese nation originated in the Red River Delta in present-day Northern Vietnam and expanded over its history to the current boundary. It went through a lot of name changes, with Văn Lang being used the longest. Below is a summary of names:

Hồng Bàng dynasty

Xích Quỷ 赤鬼

2879-2524 BC

Stretching from Dongting Lake ( Hunan) to the southernmost area now called Quảng Trị, including the Guangxi and Guangdong provinces of China.

Hồng Bàng dynasty

Văn Lang 文郎

2524-258 BC

Territory reduced to modern Northern Vietnam including the three modern provinces of Thanh Hóa, Nghệ An, Hà Tĩnh. The Red River Delta is the home of the Lạc Việt culture.

Thục dynasty

Âu Lạc 甌雒

257-207 BC

Red River Delta and its adjoining north and west mountain regions.

Triệu dynasty

Nam Việt 南越

207-111 BC

North and north-central of Vietnam (southern border expanded down to the Hoành Sơn Range), Guangdong, and Guangxi.

Han Domination

Giao Chỉ (Jiaozhi) 交趾

111 BC - 39 AD

Present-day north and north-central of Vietnam (southern border expanded down to the Ma River and Cả River delta), Guangdong, and Guangxi.

Trưng Sisters

40-43

Present-day north and north-central of Vietnam (southern border expanded down to the Ma River and Cả River delta).

Han to Eastern Wu Domination

Giao Chỉ 交趾

43-229

Present-day north and north-central of Vietnam (southern border expanded down to the Ma River and Cả River delta), Guangdong, and Guangxi.

Tang Domination, Autonomy ( Khúc clan, Dương Đình Nghệ, and Kiều Công Tiễn), Ngô dynasty

Tĩnh Hải quân 静海军

866-967

Same as above

Đại Việt 大越

1054-1400

Southern border expanded down to present-day Huế area.

Ming Domination and Later Trần dynasty

Giao Chỉ 交州

1407-1427

Same as above

Đại Việt

1428-1804 大越

Gradually expanded to the boundary of present-day Vietnam.

Nguyễn dynasty

Việt Nam 越南

1804-1839

Present-day Vietnam plus some occupied territories in Laos and Cambodia.

Nguyễn dynasty and French Protectorate

French Indochina, consisting of Cochinchina (southern Vietnam), Annam (central Vietnam), Tonkin (northern Vietnam)

1887-1945

Present-day Vietnam.

Republican Era

Việt Nam (with variances such as Democratic Republic, State of Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam, Socialist Republic)

Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1945-1976 in North Vietnam),
State of Vietnam (1949-1955),
Republic of Vietnam (1955-1975 in South Vietnam),
Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1976-present)

Present-day Vietnam.

Except the Hồng Bàng and Tây Sơn dynasties, all Vietnamese dynasties are named after the king's family name, unlike the Chinese dynasties, whose names are dictated by the dynasty founders and often used as the country's name. Nguyễn Huệ's "Tây Sơn dynasty" is rather a name created by historians to avoid confusion with Nguyễn Ánh's Nguyễn dynasty.

1. ^ Charles F. W. Higham (2017-05-24). "First Farmers in Mainland Southeast Asia". Journal of Indo-Pacific Archaeology. University of Otago. 41: 13-21. doi:10.7152/jipa.v41i0.15014.

2. ^ Chambers, Geoffrey K. (2013). "Genetics and the Origins of the Polynesians". eLS. American Cancer Society. doi:10.1002/9780470015902.a0020808.pub2. ISBN 978-0-470-01590-2.

3. ^ Simanjuntak, Truman (2017). "The Western Route Migration: A Second Probable Neolithic Diffusion to Indonesia". In Piper, Hirofumi Matsumura and David Bulbeck, Philip J.; Matsumura, Hirofumi; Bulbeck, David (eds.). New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory. terra australis. 45. ANU Press. ISBN 9781760460952.

4. ^ Higham, Charles; Higham, Thomas; Ciarla, Roberto; Douka, Katerina; Kijngam, Amphan; Rispoli, Fiorella (10 December 2011). "The Origins of the Bronze Age of Southeast Asia". Journal of World Prehistory. 24 (4): 227-274. doi:10.1007/s10963-011-9054-6. S2CID 162300712 - via Researchgate.net.

5. ^ Sylvie Fanchette. "THE CRAFT VILLAGES OF THE RED RIVER DELTA (VIETNAM): PERIODIZATION, SPATIALIZATION, SPECIALIZATIONS" (PDF). IRD France.

6. ^ Sylvie Fanchette, Nicholas Stedman. "Discovering Craft Villages in Vietnam, Ten itineraries around Hanoi" (PDF). IRD.

7. ^ Keat Gin Ooi. Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO, Jan 1, 2004; p.933-34

8. ^ de Crespigny, Rafe (2004) [1990]. "Empire in the South". Generals of the South: The Foundation and Early History of the Three Kingdoms State of Wu. Internet. Canberra, ACT: Faculty of Asian Studies, The Australian National University. p. 739. ISBN 0731509013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012.

9. ^ Taylor, Jay (1983), The Birth of the Vietnamese, University of California Press, p. 70

10. ^ "Historical stages of Thang Long- Hanoi - 1000 Years Thang Long (VietNamPlus)". En.hanoi.vietnamplus.vn. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013.

11. ^ Sun Laichen (2003), "Chinese Military Technology and Dai Viet: c.1390-1597," Asia Research Institute Working Paper Series, No.11, September.

12. National Archive of Japan. "朱印船貿易" (in Japanese).

13. Brief History of Vietnam

14. ^ Davidson, Jeremy H. C. S.; H. L. Shorto (1991). Austroasiatic Languages: Essays in Honour of H.L. Shorto. p. 95.

15. (1902-03) ^ "Nachrichten aus den Missionen," Die katholischen Missionen. Illustrierte Monatschrift 31, pp. 2552-57.

16. ^ "Newly released documents on the land reform". Vietnam Studies Group. Archived from the original on 2011-04-20. Vu Tuong: There is no reason to expect, and no evidence that I have seen to demonstrate, that the actual executions were less than planned; in fact the executions perhaps exceeded the plan if we consider two following factors. First, this decree was issued in 1953 for the rent and interest reduction campaign that preceded the far more radical land redistribution and party rectification campaigns (or waves) that followed during 1954-1956. Second, the decree was meant to apply to free areas (under the control of the Viet Minh government), not to the areas under French control that would be liberated in 1954-1955 and that would experience a far more violent struggle. Thus the number of 13,500 executed people seems to be a low-end estimate of the real number. This is corroborated by Edwin Moise in his recent paper "Land Reform in North Vietnam, 1953-1956" presented at the 18th Annual Conference on SE Asian Studies, Center for SE Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley (February 2001). In this paper Moise (79-) modified his earlier estimate in his 1983 book (which was 5,000) and accepted an estimate close to 15,000 executions. Moise made the case based on Hungarian reports provided by Balazs, but the document I cited above offers more direct evidence for his revised estimate. This document also suggests that the total number should be adjusted up some more, taking into consideration the later radical phase of the campaign, the unauthorized killings at the local level, and the suicides following arrest and torture (the central government bore less direct responsibility for these cases, however). cf. cf. Vu, Tuong (2010). Paths to Development in Asia: South Korea, Vietnam, China, and Indonesia. Cambridge University Press. p. 103. ISBN 9781139489010. Clearly Vietnamese socialism followed a moderate path relative to China. ... Yet the Vietnamese 'land reform' campaign ... testified that Vietnamese communists could be as radical and murderous as their comrades elsewhere.

17. ^ Hirschman, Charles; Preston, Samuel; Vu Manh Loi (1995). "Vietnamese Casualties During the American War: A New Estimate" (PDF). Population and Development Review. 21 (4): 783-812. doi:10.2307/2137774. JSTOR 2137774. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 June 2010.

18. ^ Shenon, Philip (23 April 1995). "20 Years After Victory, Vietnamese Communists Ponder How to Celebrate". The New York Times.

19. ^ Obermeyer, Ziad; Murray, Christopher J. L.; Gakidou, Emmanuela (2008). "Fifty years of violent war deaths from Vietnam to Bosnia: analysis of data from the world health survey programme". . 336 (7659): 1482-86. doi:10.1136/bmj.a137. PMC . PMID 18566045. See Table 3.

20. ^ Ben Stocking for AP, published in the Seattle Times May 22, 2010 [seattletimes.com/html/health/2011928849_apasvietnamusagentorange.html Vietnam, US still in conflict over Agent Orange]

21. ^ Sagan, Ginetta; Denney, Stephen (October-November 1982). "Re-education in Unliberated Vietnam: Loneliness, Suffering and Death". The Indochina Newsletter.

22. Desbarats, Jacqueline. "Repression in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Executions and Population Relocation". Indochina report ; no. 11. Executive Publications, Singapore 1987.

23. ^ Cima, Ronald J.; Library Of Congress (1989). Vietnam: a country history (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. pp. xxxvii. LCCN 88600482.

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Kiernan, Ben (2017). Viet Nam: A History from Earliest Times to the Present. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190627300.

Nguyễn, Khắc Viện. 1999. Vietnam - A Long History. Hanoi, Thế Giới Publishers.

Nguyên, Thê Anh, Philippe Papin. 2008. Parcours d'un historien du Viêt Nam: Recueil des articles de Nguyên Thê Anh. Paris. Les Indes savantes. 1026 pp. [Articles are in French or in English]

Thê ́Anh Nguyêñ (2008). Parcours d'un historien du Viêt Nam: recueil des articles. Indes savantes. ISBN 978-2-84654-142-8.

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Văn Giàu Trần; Bạch Đằng Trần (1998). Địa chí văn hóa Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Nhà xuất bản Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh.

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Lê Duẩn. Đề Cương Cách Mạng Miền Nam

Nhat Tien, Duong Phuc, Vu Thanh Thuy. Pirates in the Gulf of Siam

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Table of Contents

1. North vs. South Korea

2. The Korean War and the Cold War

3. 'No Substitute for Victory'

4. The Korean War Reaches a Stalemate

5. Korean War Casualties&nbsp;

The Korean war began on June 25, 1950, when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People's Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea's behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself. After some early back-and-forth across the 38th parallel, the fighting stalled and casualties mounted with nothing to show for them. Meanwhile, American officials worked anxiously to fashion some sort of armistice with the North Koreans. The alternative, they feared, would be a wider war with Russia and China-or even, as some warned, World War III. Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War came to an end. In all, some 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives in what many in the U.S. refer to as "the Forgotten War" for the lack of attention it received compared to more well-known conflicts like World War I and II and the Vietnam War. The Korean peninsula remains divided today.

North vs. South Korea

"If the best minds in the world had set out to find us the worst possible location in the world to fight this damnable war," U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893-1971) once said, "the unanimous choice would have been Korea." The peninsula had landed in America's lap almost by accident. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Korea had been a part of the Japanese empire, and after World War II it fell to the Americans and the Soviets to decide what should be done with their enemy's imperial possessions. In August 1945, two young aides at the State Department divided the Korean peninsula in half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied the area north of the line and the United States occupied the area to its south.

Did you know? Unlike World War II and Vietnam, the Korean War did not get much media attention in the United States. The most famous representation of the war in popular culture is the television series "M*A*S*H," which was set in a field hospital in South Korea. The series ran from 1972 until 1983, and its final episode was the most-watched in television history.

By the end of the decade, two new states had formed on the peninsula. In the south, the anti-communist dictator Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) enjoyed the reluctant support of the American government; in the north, the communist dictator Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) enjoyed the slightly more enthusiastic support of the Soviets. Neither dictator was content to remain on his side of the 38th parallel, however, and border skirmishes were common. Nearly 10,000 North and South Korean soldiers were killed in battle before the war even began.

The Korean War and the Cold War

Even so, the North Korean invasion came as an alarming surprise to American officials. As far as they were concerned, this was not simply a border dispute between two unstable dictatorships on the other side of the globe. Instead, many feared it was the first step in a communist campaign to take over the world. For this reason, nonintervention was not considered an option by many top decision makers. (In fact, in April 1950, a National Security Council report known as NSC-68 had recommended that the United States use military force to "contain" communist expansionism anywhere it seemed to be occurring, "regardless of the intrinsic strategic or economic value of the lands in question.")

"If we let Korea down," President Harry Truman (1884-1972) said, "the Soviet[s] will keep right on going and swallow up one [place] after another." The fight on the Korean peninsula was a symbol of the global struggle between east and west, good and evil, in the Cold War. As the North Korean army pushed into Seoul, the South Korean capital, the United States readied its troops for a war against communism itself.

At first, the war was a defensive one to get the communists out of South Korea, and it went badly for the Allies. The North Korean army was well-disciplined, well-trained and well-equipped; Rhee's forces in the South Korean army, by contrast, were frightened, confused and seemed inclined to flee the battlefield at any provocation. Also, it was one of the hottest and driest summers on record, and desperately thirsty American soldiers were often forced to drink water from rice paddies that had been fertilized with human waste. As a result, dangerous intestinal diseases and other illnesses were a constant threat.

By the end of the summer, President Truman and General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), the commander in charge of the Asian theater, had decided on a new set of war aims. Now, for the Allies, the Korean War was an offensive one: It was a war to "liberate" the North from the communists.

Initially, this new strategy was a success. The Inch'on Landing, an amphibious assault at Inch'on, pushed the North Koreans out of Seoul and back to their side of the 38th parallel. But as American troops crossed the boundary and headed north toward the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and Communist China, the Chinese started to worry about protecting themselves from what they called "armed aggression against Chinese territory." Chinese leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) sent troops to North Korea and warned the United States to keep away from the Yalu boundary unless it wanted full-scale war.

'No Substitute for Victory'

This was something that President Truman and his advisers decidedly did not want: They were sure that such a war would lead to Soviet aggression in Europe, the deployment of atomic weapons and millions of senseless deaths. To General MacArthur, however, anything short of this wider war represented "appeasement," an unacceptable knuckling under to the communists.

As President Truman looked for a way to prevent war with the Chinese, MacArthur did all he could to provoke it. Finally, in March 1951, he sent a letter to Joseph Martin, a House Republican leader who shared MacArthur's support for declaring all-out war on China-and who could be counted upon to leak the letter to the press. "There is," MacArthur wrote, "no substitute for victory" against international communism.

For Truman, this letter was the last straw. On April 11, the president fired the general for insubordination.

The Korean War Reaches a Stalemate

In July 1951, President Truman and his new military commanders started peace talks at Panmunjom. Still, the fighting continued along the 38th parallel as negotiations stalled. Both sides were willing to accept a ceasefire that maintained the 38th parallel boundary, but they could not agree on whether prisoners of war should be forcibly "repatriated." (The Chinese and the North Koreans said yes; the United States said no.)

Finally, after more than two years of negotiations, the adversaries signed an armistice on July 27, 1953. The agreement allowed the POWs to stay where they liked; drew a new boundary near the 38th parallel that gave South Korea an extra 1,500 square miles of territory; and created a 2-mile-wide "demilitarized zone" that still exists today.

Korean War Casualties

The Korean War was relatively short but exceptionally bloody. Nearly 5 million people died. More than half of these-about 10 percent of Korea's prewar population-were civilians. (This rate of civilian casualties was higher than World War II's and the Vietnam War's.) Almost 40,000 Americans died in action in Korea, and more than 100,000 were wounded. Today, they are remembered at the Korean War Veterans Memorial near the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a series of 19 steel statues of servicemen, and the Korean War memorial in Fullerton, California, the first on the West Coast to include the names of the more than 30,000 Americans who died in the war.

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Korean War - Causes, Timeline & Veterans

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On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People's Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. Explore the war's causes, timeline, facts and end.

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HISTORY OF KOREA

Around A.D. 668, several competing kingdoms were unified into a single dominion on the Korean Peninsula. Successive regimes maintained Korean political and cultural independence for more than a thousand years; the last of these ruling kingdoms would be the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910).

After surviving invasions by Japan at the end of the 16th century and the Manchus of East Asia in the early 17th, Korea chose to limit its contact with the outside world. A 250-year-long period of peace followed, with few Koreans traveling outside their isolated country.

This began to change in the late 19th century, when Western powers like Britain, France and the United States made efforts to open trade and diplomatic relations with Korea, with little success.

COLONIAL PERIOD

At the outset of the 20th century, Japan, China and Russia vied for control over the Korean Peninsula. Japan emerged the victor, occupying the peninsula in 1905, at the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War and formally annexing it five years later.

Over 35 years of colonial rule, Korea became an industrialized country, but its people suffered brutal repression at the hands of the Japanese, who tried to wipe out its distinctive language and cultural identity and make Koreans culturally Japanese.

During World War II, many Korean men were compelled to serve in Japan's army or work in wartime factories, while thousands of Korean women were forced into providing sexual services for Japanese soldiers, becoming known as "comfort women."

KOREA DIVIDED

After Japan's defeat in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union divided the peninsula into two zones of influence. By August 1948, the pro-U.S. Republic of Korea (or South Korea) was established in Seoul, led by the strongly anti-communist Syngman Rhee.

In the north, the Soviets installed Kim Il Sung as the first premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), better known as North Korea, with its capital at Pyongyang.

KOREAN WAR

South Korea's declaration of independence in 1950 led North Korea, backed by China and the Soviet Union, to invade its neighbor in an effort to regain control of the entire peninsula.

U.S. and United Nations troops fought alongside South Korean forces in the Korean War, which would cost some 2 million lives before it ended in 1953.

The armistice agreement left the Korean Peninsula divided much as before, with a demilitarized zone (DMZ) running along latitude 38 degrees North, or the 38th parallel.

PARK CHUNG-HEE

Over the decades to come, South Korea maintained a continued close relationship with the United States, which included military, economic and political support.

Though ostensibly a republic, its citizens initially enjoyed limited political freedom, and in 1961 a military coup put General Park Chung-hee into power.

In the 1960s and '70s, under Park's regime, South Korea enjoyed a period of rapid industrial development and economic growth (achieving a per capita income some 17 times that of North Korea).

MILITARY RULE TO DEMOCRACY

Park was assassinated in 1979, and another general, Chun Doo-hwan took power, putting the country under strict military rule. An armed uprising by students and others to restore democratic rule led to many civilian deaths at the army's hands.

Martial law was lifted in 1981, and Chun was (indirectly) elected president under a new constitution, which established the Fifth Republic.

By 1987, popular dissatisfaction with the government and mounting international pressure pushed Chun from office in advance of another revised constitution, which allowed direct election of the president for the first time.

Roh Tae-woo, a former army general who won the country's first free presidential election in 1987, further liberalized the political system and tackled corruption within the government.

SEOUL OLYMPICS

The reforms of the Sixth Republic came just in time for South Korea to host a successful Summer Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988, despite continued student protests and a boycott by North Korea.

The 1980s also saw South Korea increasingly shift its economy toward high-tech and computer industries, and improve its relations with the Soviet Union and China. Continuing the transition away from military rule and toward democracy, South Korea elected Kim Young-sam, its first civilian president in more than 30 years, in 1993.

KIM DAE-JUNG

Kim Young-sam's successor, Kim Dae-jung (who took office in 1998) would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his contributions to democracy in South Korea, as well as his so-called "sunshine" policy of economic and humanitarian aid to North Korea.

That same year, Kim Dae-jung and his northern counterpart, Kim Jong Il, held an historic summit in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea.

Despite that brief period of relatively sunny relations, however, things soon deteriorated between the two countries, largely due to the North's continued development of nuclear weapons.

The rise to power in 2011 of a volatile new North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and his regime's repeated tests of nuclear missiles only exacerbated the problems.

PARK GEUN-HYE

Meanwhile, South Korea elected its first female leader, Park Geun-hye (the daughter of Park Chung-hee), in 2013.

But in late 2016, she was implicated in a scandal involving corruption, bribery and influence peddling, and the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against her that December.

After her impeachment was upheld in March 2017, the center-left candidate Moon Jae-in won a special presidential election in a landslide, pledging to solve the crisis with North Korea using diplomatic means.

SOUTH KOREA TODAY

Today, South Korea is one of East Asia's most affluent countries, with an economy ranking just behind Japan and China. With most of the country covered by mountains, a majority of its population is clustered around the urban centers.

The capital of South Korea, Seoul, is home to more than 25 million people, or about 50 percent of the country's population.

In early 2018, South Korea welcomed athletes from around the world to the Winter Olympic Games.

The month before the games began, North and South Korea agreed to march under the same flag at the Olympics, the latest sign of a partial thaw in relations between the two countries.

Sources

South Korea, CIA World Factbook.
South Korea - Timeline, BBC News.
Korean History and Political Geography, Asia Society - Center for Global Education.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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Around A.D. 668, several competing kingdoms were unified into a single dominion on the Korean Peninsula. Successive regimes maintained Korean political and cultural independence for more than a thousand years; the last of these ruling kingdoms would be the Choson Dynasty (1392-1910).

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Image source, AFP

Whether it's a bluff or a genuine threat of invasion, the increase in Chinese military activity in Taiwan over the last few months has caused global concern.

At the heart of the divide is that the Chinese government sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will, eventually, be part of the country again.

Many Taiwanese people disagree. They feel they in effect have a separate nation - whether or not independence is ever officially declared.

What is the history of this tension?

Going back to the beginning - the first known settlers in Taiwan were Austronesian tribal people, who are thought to have come from modern day southern China.

The island seems to have first appeared in Chinese records in AD239, when an emperor sent an expeditionary force to explore the area - something Beijing uses to back its territorial claim.

After a relatively brief spell as a Dutch colony (1624-1661), Taiwan was administered by China's Qing dynasty from 1683 to 1895.

From the 17th Century, significant numbers of migrants started arriving from China, often fleeing turmoil or hardship. Most were Hoklo Chinese from Fujian (Fukien) province or Hakka Chinese, largely from Guangdong. The descendants of these two migrations are now by far the largest demographic groups on the island.

In 1895, Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War, and the Qing government had to cede Taiwan to Japan. After World War Two, Japan surrendered and relinquished control of territory it had taken from China. The Republic of China - one of the victors in the war - began ruling Taiwan with the consent of its allies, the US and UK.

But in the next few years a civil war broke out in China, and the then-leader Chiang Kai-shek's troops were beaten back by Mao Zedong's Communist armies.

Image source, Central Press

Image caption,
Chiang Kai-shek, once the leader in China, fled with his supporters to Taiwan

Chiang and the remnants of his Kuomintang (KMT) government fled to Taiwan in 1949. This group, referred to as Mainland Chinese and then making up 1.5m people, dominated Taiwan's politics for many years - even though they only account for 14% of the population.

Having inherited an effective dictatorship, facing resistance from local people resentful of authoritarian rule and under pressure from a growing democracy movement, Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, began allowing a process of democratisation.

President Lee Teng-hui, known as Taiwan's "father of democracy", led constitutional changes towards a more democratic political layout, which eventually led to the election of the island's first non-KMT president, Chen Shui-bian, in 2000.

What about recent hostility?

Relations between China and Taiwan started improving in the 1980s. China put forward a formula, known as "one country, two systems", under which Taiwan would be given significant autonomy if it accepted Chinese reunification.

This system was established in Hong Kong to be used as something of a showcase to entice Taiwanese people back to the mainland.

Taiwan rejected the offer, but it did relax rules on visits to and investment in China. In 1991, it also proclaimed the war with the People's Republic of China on the mainland to be over.

There were also limited talks between the two sides' unofficial representatives, though Beijing's insistence that Taiwan's Republic of China (ROC) government is illegitimate meant government-to-government meetings couldn't happen.

Image source, AFP

Image caption,
Chen Shui-bian was a backer of independence for Taiwan from China

And in 2000, when Taiwan elected Chen Shui-bian as president, Beijing was alarmed. Mr Chen had openly backed "independence".

A year after Mr Chen was re-elected in 2004, China passed a so-called anti-secession law, stating China's right to use "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan if it tried to "secede" from China.

Mr Chen was succeeded by Ma Ying-jeou, who, after taking office in 2008, sought to improve relations with China through economic agreements.

Eight years later, in 2016, Taiwan's current president Tsai Ing-wen was elected. She leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which leans towards eventual official independence from China.

Image source, Reuters

Image caption,
Under Ms Tsai, cross-Straits relations soured again

After Donald Trump won the 2016 US election, Ms Tsai spoke to him on the phone - a break with US policy set in 1979, when formal relations were cut.

Despite the lack of formal ties, the US has pledged to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons and has stressed any attack by China would cause "grave concern".

Throughout 2018, China stepped up pressure on international companies, forcing them to list Taiwan as a part of China on their websites and threatening to block them for doing business in China if they failed to comply.

Ms Tsai won a second term in 2020. By that time Hong Kong had seen months of unrest, with protesters demonstrating against the mainland's increasing influence - a development many in Taiwan were watching closely.

Later that year, China's implementation of a national security law in Hong Kong was widely seen as yet another sign that Beijing was becoming more assertive in the region.

At the same time, the US has been intensifying its outreach to Taiwan and reassuring Taipei of its continued support. Last September, Washington sent the highest-level state department official in decades to visit the island.

Beijing strongly criticised the meeting, warning the US "not to send any wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' elements to avoid severe damage to China-US relations". During the controversial visit, China conducted a live-fire military exercise in the waterway that separates the island from the mainland.

This year, President Joe Biden's administration has said its commitment to Taiwan is "rock solid".

In the first few days of Mr Biden's presidency, Taiwan reported a "large incursion" by Chinese warplanes over two days. Then on 12 April, the Taiwanese government said China flew the largest number of military jets into its air defence zone for a year.

In response, US Admiral John Aquilino, head of the Pentagon's Indo-Pacific command, warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan "is much closer to us than most think".

So who recognises Taiwan?

There is disagreement and confusion about what Taiwan is.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which it has vowed to retake, by force if necessary. But Taiwan's leaders say it is clearly much more than a province, arguing that it is a sovereign state.

It has its own constitution, democratically-elected leaders, and about 300,000 active troops in its armed forces.

Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China (ROC) government, which fled the mainland to Taiwan in 1949, at first claimed to represent the whole of China, which it intended to re-occupy. It held China's seat on the United Nations Security Council and was recognised by many Western nations as the only Chinese government.

But in 1971, the UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing and the ROC government was forced out. Since then the number of countries that recognise the ROC government diplomatically has fallen drastically to about 15.

Given the huge divide between these two positions, most other countries seem happy to accept the current ambiguity, whereby Taiwan has virtually all of the characteristics of an independent state, even if its legal status remains unclear.

How much of an issue is independence in Taiwan?

While political progress has been slow, links between the two peoples and economies have grown sharply. Taiwanese companies have invested about $60bn (£40bn) in China, and up to one million Taiwanese people now live there, many running Taiwanese factories.

Some Taiwanese people worry their economy is now dependent on China. Others believe that closer business ties make Chinese military action less likely, because of the cost to China's own economy.

A controversial trade agreement sparked the "Sunflower Movement" in 2014, where students and activists occupied Taiwan's parliament protesting against what they called China's growing influence over Taiwan.

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

Image caption,
Recent polls show many Taiwanese support the government's approach in "safeguarding national sovereignty"

Officially, the ruling DPP still favours eventual formal independence for Taiwan, while the KMT favours eventual re-unification.

A March 2021 opinion poll commissioned by the Taiwanese government shows that currently the majority of Taiwanese support the DPP government's approach in "safeguarding national sovereignty". More and more people also say they feel Taiwanese, rather than Chinese.

In the 2020 election Ms Tsai won a record-breaking 8.2 million votes, that was widely seen as a snub to Beijing.

More on this story

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China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, but many Taiwanese people want a separate nation.

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Government Portal of Republic of China, Taiwan

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Following defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the Qing government signs the Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which it cedes sovereignty over Taiwan to Japan, which rules the island until 1945.

Chinese revolutionaries overthrow the Qing Empire and establish the ROC.

During World War II, ROC leader Chiang Kai-shek meets with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Cairo. After the conclusion of the conference, the Cairo Declaration is released, stating that "...Formosa [Taiwan], and the Pescadores [the Penghu Islands], shall be restored to the Republic of China..."

The ROC, U.K. and U.S. jointly issue the Potsdam Declaration, calling for Japan's unconditional surrender and the carrying-out of the Cairo Declaration.

After World War II, ROC government representatives accept the surrender of Japanese forces in Taiwan. The Chief Executive of Taiwan Province Chen Yi sends a memorandum to the Japanese governor-general of Taiwan, stating that "As the Chief Executive of Taiwan Province of the ROC, ...I restore all legal territory, people, administration, political, economic, and cultural facilities and assets of Taiwan [including the Penghu Islands]."

The ROC Constitution is promulgated Jan. 1 and is scheduled to take effect Dec. 25. In March and the following months, ROC troops dispatched from China suppress a large-scale uprising of Taiwan residents sparked by the February 28 Incident.

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Welcome to the Official Portal Website of the Republic of China, Taiwan. Discover all the government's online information and services here.

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The history of the island of Taiwan dates back tens of thousands of years to the earliest known evidence of human habitation. The sudden appearance of a culture based on agriculture around 3000 BC is believed to reflect the arrival of the ancestors of today's Taiwanese indigenous peoples. The island was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century, followed by an influx of Hoklo people including Hakka immigrants from the Fujian and Guangdong areas of mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait. The Spanish built a settlement in the north for a brief period but were driven out by the Dutch in 1642.

In 1662, Koxinga, a loyalist of the Ming dynasty who had lost control of mainland China in 1644, defeated the Dutch and established a base of operations on the island. His forces were defeated by the Qing dynasty in 1683, and parts of Taiwan became increasingly integrated into the Qing empire. Following the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, the Qing ceded the island, along with Penghu, to the Empire of Japan. Taiwan produced rice and sugar to be exported to the Empire of Japan, and also served as a base for the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia and the Pacific during World War II. Japanese imperial education was implemented in Taiwan and many Taiwanese also fought for Japan during the war.

In 1945, following the end of World War II, the nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC), led by the Kuomintang (KMT), took control of Taiwan. In 1949, after losing control of mainland China in the Chinese Civil War, the ROC government under the KMT withdrew to Taiwan and Chiang Kai-shek declared martial law. The KMT ruled Taiwan (along with the Islands of Kinmen, Wuqiu and the Matsu on the opposite side of the Taiwan Strait) as a single-party state for forty years, until democratic reforms in the 1980s, which led to the first-ever direct presidential election in 1996. During the post-war period, Taiwan experienced rapid industrialization and economic growth known as the " Taiwan Miracle", and was known as one of the " Four Asian Tigers".

In the Late Pleistocene, sea levels were about 140 m lower than in the present day, exposing the floor of the shallow Taiwan Strait as a land bridge that was crossed by mainland fauna. The oldest evidence of human presence on Taiwan consists of three cranial fragments and a molar tooth found at Chouqu and Gangzilin, in Zuojhen District, Tainan. These are estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000 years old. The oldest artefacts are chipped-pebble tools of a Paleolithic culture found in four caves in Changbin, Taitung, dated 15,000 to 5,000 years ago, and similar to contemporary sites in Fujian. The same culture is found at sites at Eluanbi on the southern tip of Taiwan, persisting until 5,000 years ago. At the beginning of the Holocene 10,000 years ago, sea levels rose, forming the Taiwan Strait and cutting off the island from the Asian mainland.

In December 2011, the ~8,000 year old Liangdao Man skeleton was found on Liang Island. In 2014, the mitochondrial DNA of the skeleton was found to belong to Haplogroup E, with two of the four mutations characteristic of the E1 subgroup.

The only Paleolithic burial that has been found on Taiwan was in Xiaoma cave in the southeast of the island, dating from about 4000 BC, of a male similar in type to Negritos found in the Philippines. There are also references in Chinese texts and Taiwanese aboriginal oral traditions to pygmies on the island at some time in the past.

Around 3,000 BC, the Neolithic Dapenkeng culture abruptly appeared and quickly spread around the coast of the island. Their sites are characterised by corded-ware pottery, polished stone adzes and slate points. The inhabitants cultivated rice and millet, but were also heavily reliant on marine shells and fish. Most scholars believe this culture is not derived from the Changbin culture, but was brought across the Strait by the ancestors of today's Taiwanese aborigines, speaking early Austronesian languages. Some of these people later migrated from Taiwan to the islands of Southeast Asia and thence throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Malayo-Polynesian languages are now spoken across a huge area from Madagascar to Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand, but form only one branch of the Austronesian family, the rest of whose branches are found only on Taiwan.

The Dapenkeng culture was succeeded by a variety of cultures throughout the island, including the Tahu and Yingpu cultures. Iron appeared at the beginning of the current era in such cultures as the Niaosung Culture. The earliest metal artifacts were trade goods, but by around 400 AD wrought iron was being produced locally using bloomeries, a technology possibly introduced from the Philippines.

Early Chinese histories refer to visits to eastern islands that some historians identify with Taiwan. Troops of the Three Kingdoms state of Wu are recorded as visiting an island known as Yizhou (夷洲) in the 3rd century. The relates that Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty sent three expeditions to a place called " Liuqiu" early in the 7th century. Later the name Liuqiu (whose characters are read in Japanese as " Ryukyu") referred to the island chain to the northeast of Taiwan, but some scholars believe it may have referred to Taiwan in the Sui period. Okinawa Island was referred to by the Chinese as "Great Liuqiu" and Taiwan as "Lesser Liuqiu".

Portuguese sailors, passing Taiwan in 1544, first jotted in a ship's log the name of the island Ilha Formosa, meaning "Beautiful Island". In 1582, the survivors of a Portuguese shipwreck spent ten weeks battling malaria and aborigines before returning to Macau on a raft.

By the 16th century, increasing numbers of Chinese fishermen, traders and pirates were visiting the southwestern part of the island. When the Dutch arrived in 1623, they found about 1,500 Chinese visitors and residents.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) came to the area in search of an Asian trade and military base. Defeated by the Portuguese at the Battle of Macau in 1622, they attempted to occupy Penghu, but were driven off by the Ming authorities. They then built Fort Zeelandia on the islet of Tayowan off the southwest coast of Taiwan. (The site is now part of the main island, in modern Anping, Tainan.) On the adjacent mainland, they built a smaller brick fort, Fort Provintia. Local aboriginals called the area Pakan and on some old maps the island of Taiwan is named Pakan.

In 1626, the Spanish Empire, viewing the Dutch presence on Taiwan as a threat to their colony in the Philippines, established a settlement at Santísima Trinidad on the northeast coast of Taiwan (modern Keelung), building Fort San Salvador. They also built Fort Santo Domingo in the northwest (modern Tamsui) in 1629, but had abandoned it by 1638. The small colony was plagued by disease and a hostile local population, and received little support from Manila. The Dutch Governor Pieter Nuyts got entangled in a dispute with the Japanese Hamada Yahei.

The Dutch were defeated at the Battle of Liaoluo Bay by the Chinese Zheng Zhilong in 1633.

The Dutch set out to turn Taiwan into a Dutch colony. The first order of business was to punish villages that had violently opposed the Dutch and unite the aborigines in allegiance with the VOC. The first punitive expedition was against the villages of Baccloan and Mattauw, north of Saccam near Tayowan. The Mattauw campaign had been easier than expected and the tribe submitted after having their village razed by fire. The campaign also served as a threat to other villages from Tirossen (modern Chiayi) to Lonkjiaow ( Hengchun). The 1636 punitive attack on Lamay Island in response to the killing of the shipwrecked crews of the Beverwijck and the Golden Lion ended ten years later with the entire aboriginal population of 1100 removed from the island including 327 Lamayans killed in a cave, having been trapped there by the Dutch and suffocated in the fumes and smoke pumped into the cave by the Dutch and their allied aborigines from Saccam, Soulang and Pangsoya. The men were forced into slavery in Batavia ( Java) and the women and children became servants and wives for the Dutch officers. The events on Lamay changed the course of Dutch rule to work closer with allied aborigines, though there remained plans to depopulate the outlying islands.

In 1642, the Dutch ejected the Spanish from the north of the island. They then sought to establish control of the western plains between the new possessions and their base at Tayouan. After a brief but destructive campaign in 1645, Pieter Boon was able to subdue the tribes in this area, including the Kingdom of Middag.

The VOC administered the island and its predominantly aboriginal population until 1662, setting up a tax system, schools to teach romanized script of aboriginal languages and evangelizing Christianity. Although its control was mainly limited to the western plain of the island, the Dutch systems were adopted by succeeding occupiers. The first influx of migrants were the Hakkas and Hokkiens who came during the Dutch period, in which merchants and traders from the mainland Chinese coast sought to purchase hunting licenses from the Dutch or hide out in aboriginal villages to escape the Qing authorities. Most of the immigrants were young single males who were discouraged from staying on the island often referred to by Han as " The Gate of Hell" for its reputation in taking the lives of sailors and explorers.

The Dutch originally sought to use their castle Zeelandia at Tayowan as a trading base between Japan and China, but soon realized the potential of the huge deer populations that roamed in herds of thousands along the alluvial plains of Taiwan's western regions. Deer were in high demand by the Japanese, who were willing to pay exorbitant prices for use of the hides in samurai armor. Other parts of the deer were sold to Han traders for meat and medical use. The Dutch paid aborigines for the deer brought to them and tried to manage the deer stocks to keep up with demand. The Dutch also employed Han to farm sugarcane and rice for export. Some of these rice and sugarcane products reached as far as the markets of Persia. Unfortunately, the deer the aborigines had relied on for their livelihoods began to disappear, forcing the aborigines to adopt new means of survival.

On the mainland, Manchu forces broke through Shanhai Pass in 1644 and rapidly overwhelmed the Ming dynasty. In 1661, a naval fleet led by the Ming loyalist Koxinga arrived in Taiwan to oust the Dutch from Zeelandia and establish a pro-Ming base in Taiwan. Koxinga was born to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant and pirate, and Tagawa Matsu, a Japanese woman, in 1624 in Hirado, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. He was raised there until seven and moved to Quanzhou, in the Fujian province of China. In a family made wealthy from shipping and piracy, Koxinga inherited his father's trade networks, which stretched from Nagasaki to Macao. Following the Manchu advance on Fujian, Koxinga retreated from his stronghold in Amoy ( Xiamen city) and besieged Taiwan in the hope of establishing a strategic base to marshal his troops to retake his base at Amoy. In 1662, following a nine-month siege, Koxinga captured the Dutch fortress Zeelandia and Taiwan became his base (see Kingdom of Tungning).

The Taiwanese Aboriginal tribes who were previously allied with the Dutch against the Chinese during the Guo Huaiyi Rebellion in 1652 turned against the Dutch during the Siege of Fort Zeelandia and defected to Koxinga's Chinese forces. The Aboriginals (Formosans) of Sincan defected to Koxinga after he offered them amnesty. The Sincan Aboriginals then proceeded to work for the Chinese and behead Dutch people in executions. The frontier aboriginals in the mountains and plains also surrendered and defected to the Chinese on 17 May 1661, celebrating their freedom from compulsory education under the Dutch rule by hunting down Dutch people and beheading them and trashing their Christian school textbooks. Koxinga died four months after the siege was over, there were speculations that he died in a sudden fit of madness when his officers refused to carry out his orders to execute his son Zheng Jing. Zheng Jing had an affair with his wet nurse and conceived a child with her. Other accounts are more straightforward, attributing Koxinga's death to a case of malaria.

Following the death of Koxinga, his son Zheng Jing took over the Zheng regime, leading the remaining 7,000 Ming loyalist troops to Taiwan. In response to raids by Zheng Jing and in an effort to starve out the forces in Taiwan, the Qing decreed to relocate all of the southern coastal towns and ports that had been the targets of raids by the Zheng fleet and thus provided supplies for the resistance. This measure largely backfired, and between 1662 and 1664, six major waves of immigration occurred from these coastal towns to Taiwan, spurred by the severe hardships incurred from the Qing relocation policy. In a move to take advantage of this Qing misstep, Zheng Jing promoted immigration to Taiwan by promising free eastern land cultivation and ownership for peasants in exchange for compulsory military service by all males in case the island was in danger of a Qing invasion.

There has been much confusion about Taiwan's association with the rumored "Island of Dogs," "Island of Women," etc., which were thought, by Han literati, to lie beyond the seas. Taiwan was officially regarded by the Kangxi Emperor as "a ball of mud beyond the pale of civilization" and did not appear on any map of the imperial domain until 1683. The act of presenting a map to the emperor was equal to presenting the lands of the empire. It took several more years before the Qing court would recognize Taiwan as part of the Qing realm. Prior to the Qing dynasty, China was conceived as a land bound by mountains, rivers and seas. The idea of an island as a part of China was unfathomable to the Han prior to the Qing frontier expansion effort of the 17th century.

Despite the expense of the military and diplomatic campaign that brought Taiwan into the imperial realm, the general sentiment in Beijing was ambivalent. The point of the campaign had been to destroy the Zheng-family regime, not to conquer the island. The Kangxi Emperor expressed the sentiment that Taiwan was "the size of a pellet; taking it is no gain; not taking it is no loss" (彈丸之地。得之無所加，不得無所損). His ministers counseled that the island was "a ball of mud beyond the sea, adding nothing to the breadth of China" (海外泥丸，不足為中國加廣), and advocated removing all the Chinese to mainland China and abandoning the island. It was only the campaigning of admiral Shi Lang and other supporters that convinced the emperor not to abandon Taiwan. Koxinga's followers were forced to depart from Taiwan to the more unpleasant parts of Qing controlled land. By 1682 there were only 7000 Chinese left on Taiwan as they had intermarried with aboriginal women and had property in Taiwan. The Koxinga reign had continued the tax systems of the Dutch, established schools and religious temples.

The Qing authorities tried to limit immigration to Taiwan and barred families from traveling to Taiwan to ensure the immigrants would return to their families and ancestral graves. Illegal immigration continued, but many of the men had few prospects in war-weary Fujian and thus married locally, resulting in the idiom "has Tangshan father, no Tangshan mother" ( Chinese: 有唐山公，無唐山媽; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ū Tn̂g-soaⁿ kong, bô Tn̂g-soaⁿ má ). The Qing tried to protect aboriginal land claims, but also sought to turn them into tax paying subjects. Chinese and tax paying aborigines were barred from entering the wilderness which covered most of the island for the fear of raising the ire of the non taxpaying, highland aborigines and inciting rebellion. A border was constructed along the western plain, built using pits and mounds of earth, called "earth cows", to discourage squatting.

Given the strategic and commercial value of Taiwan, there were British suggestions in 1840 and 1841 to seize the island. In September 1841, during the First Opium War, the British transport ship became shipwrecked near Keelung Harbour due to a typhoon. The brig Ann also became shipwrecked in March 1842. Most of the crew were Indian lascars. Survivors from both ships were transferred by authorities to the capital Tainan. The Taiwan Qing commanders, Ta-hung-ah and Yao Ying, filed a disingenuous report to the emperor, claiming to have defended against an attack from the Keelung fort. In October 1841, HMS Nimrod sailed to Keelung to search for the Nerbudda survivors, but after Captain Joseph Pearse found out that they were sent south for imprisonment, he ordered the bombardment of the harbour and destroyed 27 sets of cannon before returning to Hong Kong. Most of the survivors-over 130 from the Nerbudda and 54 from the Ann-were executed in Tainan in August 1842.

The Aboriginals often slaughtered the shipwrecked crews of Western ships. In 1867 the entire American crew of the Rover were massacred by aboriginals in the Rover incident. When the Americans launched the punitive Formosa Expedition in retaliation, the aboriginals defeated the Americans and forced them to retreat, killing an American marine while suffering no casualties themselves.

During the Sino-French War, the French attempted an invasion of Taiwan during the Keelung Campaign in 1884. Liu Mingchuan, who was leading the defense of Taiwan, recruited Aboriginals to serve alongside the Chinese soldiers in fighting against the French. The French were defeated at the Battle of Tamsui and the Qing forces pinned the French down at Keelung in an eight-month-long campaign before the French withdrew. Because of these incursions, the Qing government began constructing a series of coastal defenses and in 1885, work commenced to make Taiwan a province, with Liu Mingchuan serving as the first governor. He divided Taiwan into eleven counties and tried to improve relations with the aborigines. He also developed a railway from Taipei to Hsinchu, established a mine in Keelung, and built an arsenal to improve Taiwan's defensive capability against foreigners.

Following a shipwreck of a Ryukyuan vessel on the southeastern tip of Taiwan in winter of 1871, in which the heads of 54 crew members were taken by the aboriginal Taiwanese Paiwan people in the Mudan incident, the Japanese sought to use this incident as a pretext to have the Qing formally acknowledge Japanese sovereignty over the Ryukyu Islands as Japanese territory and to test reactions to potential expansion into Taiwan. According to records from Japanese documents, Mao Changxi and Dong Xun, the Qing ministers at Zongli Yamen who handled the complaints from Japanese envoy Yanagihara Sakimitsu, replied first that they had heard only of a massacre of Ryukyuans, not of Japanese, and quickly noted that Ryukyu was under Chinese suzerainty, and therefore this issue was not Japan's business. In addition, the governor-general of the Qing province Fujian had rescued the survivors of the massacre and returned them safely to Ryukyu. The Qing authorities explained that there were two kinds of aborigines on Taiwan: those governed by the Qing, and those unnaturalized "raw barbarians ... beyond the reach of Qing government and customs." They indirectly hinted that foreigners traveling in those areas settled by indigenous people must exercise caution.

After the Yanagihara-Yamen interview, the Japanese took their explanation to mean that the Qing government had not opposed Japan's claims to sovereignty over the Ryukyu Islands, disclaimed any jurisdiction over Aboriginal Taiwanese, and had indeed consented to Japan's expedition to Taiwan. The Qing dynasty made it clear to the Japanese that Taiwan was definitely within Qing jurisdiction, even though part of that island's aboriginal population was not yet under the influence of Chinese culture. The Qing also pointed to similar cases all over the world where an aboriginal population within a national boundary was not completely subjugated by the dominant culture of that country.

On the eve of the First Sino-Japanese War, about 45 percent of the island was administered under direct Qing administration while the remaining was lightly populated by Aborigines. In a population of around 2.5 million, about 2.3 million were Han Chinese and the remaining two hundred thousand were classified as members of various indigenous tribes.

As part of the settlement for losing the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing empire ceded the islands of Taiwan and Penghu to Japan on April 17, 1895, according to the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The loss of Taiwan would become a rallying point for the Chinese nationalist movement in the years that followed.

Japan had sought to claim sovereignty over Taiwan (known to them as Takasago Koku) since 1592, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi undertook a policy of overseas expansion and extending Japanese influence southward and westward. To the west, Japan invaded Korea in that time period, with the eventual conquest of China contemplated. To the south an initial attempt to invade Taiwan and subsequent sporadic invasion attempts spanning three centuries were unsuccessful due mainly to disease and attacks by aborigines on the island.

In 1609, the Tokugawa shogunate sent Harunobu Arima on an exploratory mission of the island. An attempted invasion in 1616, led by Murayama Tōan, failed when the fleet was dispersed by a typhoon and the only ship to reach the island was repelled.

In the Mudan Incident of 1871, an Okinawan ship was wrecked on the southern tip of Taiwan and 54 crewmen were beheaded by Paiwan aborigines. After the Qing government refused to make compensation, stating that the aboriginals were not under its control, Japan launched a punitive expedition to the area in 1874, withdrawing after the Qing promised to pay an indemnity.

After receiving sovereignty of Taiwan, the Japanese feared military resistance from Taiwanese who followed the establishment by the local elite of the short-lived Republic of Formosa. Taiwan's elite hoped that by declaring themselves a republic the world would not stand by and allow a sovereign state to be invaded by the Japanese, and therefore allied with the Qing. The plan quickly turned to chaos as standard Green troops and ethnic Yue soldiers took to looting and pillaging Taiwan. Given the choice between chaos at the hands of Chinese or submission to the Japanese, the Taipei elite sent Koo Hsien-jung to Keelung to invite the advancing Japanese forces to proceed to Taipei and restore order.

Armed resistance was sporadic, yet at times fierce, but was largely crushed by 1902, although relatively minor rebellions occurred in subsequent years, including the Ta-pa-ni incident of 1915 in Tainan County. Nonviolent means of resistance began to take place of armed rebellions and the most prominent organization was the Taiwanese Cultural Association, founded in 1921. Taiwanese resistance was caused by several different factors (e.g., the Taishō Democracy). Some were goaded by Chinese nationalism, while others contained nascent Taiwanese self-determination. Rebellions were often caused by a combination of the effects of unequal colonial policies on local elites and extant millenarian beliefs of the local Taiwanese and plains Aborigines. Aboriginal resistance to the heavy-handed Japanese policies of acculturation and pacification lasted up until the early 1930s. The last major Aboriginal rebellion, the Musha (Wushe) Uprising in late 1930 by the Atayal people angry over their treatment while laboring in the burdensome job of camphor extraction, launched the last headhunting party, in which over 150 Japanese officials were killed and beheaded during a school's opening ceremonies. The uprising, led by Mona Rudao, was crushed by 2,000-3,000 Japanese troops and Aboriginal auxiliaries with the help of poison gas.

Japanese colonization of the island fell under three stages. It began with an oppressive period of crackdown and paternalistic rule. The second page was a dōka period of aims to treat all people (races) alike proclaimed by Taiwanese Nationalists who were inspired by the Self-Determination of Nations (民族自決) proposed by Woodrow Wilson after World War I. Finally, during World War II, a period of kōminka, a policy which aimed to turn Taiwanese into loyal subjects of the Japanese emperor.

Reaction to Japanese rule among the Taiwanese populace differed. Some felt that the safety of personal life and property was of utmost importance and went along with the Japanese colonial authorities. The second group of Taiwanese were eager to become imperial subjects, believing that such action would lead to equal status with Japanese nationals. The third group was influenced by Taiwan independence and tried to get rid of the Japanese colonials to establish a native Taiwanese rule. The fourth group on the other hand were influenced by Chinese nationalism and fought for the return of Taiwan to Chinese rule. From 1897 onwards, this last group staged many rebellions, the most famous one being led by Luo Fuxing, who was arrested and executed along with two hundred of his comrades in 1913. Luo himself was a member of the Tongmenghui, an organization founded by Sun Yat-sen and was the precursor to the Kuomintang. Several strategies of resistance were undertaken.

Initial infrastructural development took place quickly. The Bank of Taiwan was established in 1899 to encourage Japanese private sectors, including Mitsubishi and the Mitsui Group, to invest in Taiwan. In 1900, the third Governor-General of Taiwan passed a budget which initiated the building of Taiwan's railroad system from Kīrun ( Keelung) to Takao ( Kaohsiung). By 1905 the island had electric power supplied by water power in Nichigetsu Lake ( Sun Moon Lake), and in subsequent years Taiwan was considered the second-most developed region of East Asia (after Japan). By 1905, Taiwan was financially self-sufficient and had been weaned off of subsidies from Japan's central government.

Under the governor Shimpei Goto's rule, many major public works projects were completed. The Taiwan rail system connecting the south and the north and the modernizations of Kīrun and Takao ports were completed to facilitate transport and shipping of raw material and agricultural products. Exports increased by fourfold. 55% of agricultural land was covered by dam-supported irrigation systems. Food production had increased fourfold and sugar cane production had increased 15-fold between 1895 and 1925 and Taiwan became a major foodbasket serving Japan's industrial economy. A health care system was widely established and infectious diseases were almost completely eradicated. The average lifespan for a Taiwanese resident would become 60 years by 1945.

In October 1935, the Governor-General of Taiwan held an " Exposition to Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Beginning of Administration in Taiwan", which served as a showcase for the achievements of Taiwan's modernization process under Japanese rule. This attracted worldwide attention, including the Republic of China's Kuomintang (KMT) regime which sent the Japanese-educated Chen Yi to attend the affair. He expressed his admiration about the efficiency of Japanese government in developing Taiwan, and commented on how lucky the Taiwanese were to live under such effective administration. Somewhat ironically, Chen Yi would later become the ROC's first Chief Executive of Taiwan, who would be infamous for the corruption that occurred under his watch.

The later period of Japanese rule saw a local elite educated and organized. During the 1930s several home rule groups were created at a time when others around the world sought to end colonialism. In 1935, the Taiwanese elected a group of local legislators for the first time. By March 1945, the Japanese legislative branch hastily modified election laws to allow Taiwanese representation in the Japanese Diet.

As Japan embarked on full-scale war in China in 1937, it expanded Taiwan's industrial capacity to manufacture war material. By 1939, industrial production had exceeded agricultural production in Taiwan. At the same time, the "kōminka" imperialization project was put under way to instill the "Japanese Spirit" in Taiwanese residents, and ensure the Taiwanese would remain loyal subjects of the Japanese Emperor ready to make sacrifices during wartime. Measures including Japanese-language education, the option of adopting Japanese names, and the worship of Japanese religion were instituted. In 1943, 94% of the children received 6-year compulsory education. From 1937 to 1945, 126,750 Taiwanese joined and served in the military of the Japanese Empire, while a further 80,433 were conscripted between 1942 and 1945. Of the sum total, 30,304, or 15%, died in Japan's war in Asia.

The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily out of Taiwan. The " South Strike Group" was based out of the Taihoku Imperial University (now National Taiwan University) in Taiwan. Many of the Japanese forces participating in the Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa were based in Taiwan. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centers throughout Taiwan, like Takao (now Kaohsiung), were targets of heavy American bombing.

In 1942, after the United States entered the war against Japan and on the side of China, the Chinese government under the KMT renounced all treaties signed with Japan before that date and made Taiwan's return to China (as with Manchuria, ruled as the Japanese wartime puppet state of " Manchukuo") one of the wartime objectives. In the Cairo Declaration of 1943, the Allied Powers declared the return of Taiwan (including the Pescadores) to the Republic of China as one of several Allied demands. In 1945, Japan unconditionally surrendered with signing of the instrument of surrender and ended its rule in Taiwan as the territory was put under the administrative control of the Republic of China government in 1945 by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of San Francisco Peace Treaty, the Japanese formally renounced the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan and Penghu islands, and the treaty was signed in 1951 and came into force in 1952. At the date when the San Francisco Peace Treaty came into force, the political status of Taiwan and Penghu Islands was still uncertain. The Republic of China and Japan signed the Treaty of Taipei on April 28, 1952 and the treaty came into force on August 5. Writing in the American Journal of International Law, professors Jonathan I. Charney and J. R. V. Prescott argued that "none of the post-World War II peace treaties explicitly ceded sovereignty over the covered territories to any specific state or government."

The Cairo Conference from November 22-26, 1943 in Cairo, Egypt was held to address the Allied position against Japan during World War II, and to make decisions about postwar Asia. One of the three main clauses of the Cairo Declaration was that "all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China". However, many challenged that the document was merely a statement of intent or non-binding declaration, for possible reference used for those who would draft the post-war peace treaty and that as a press release it was without force of law to transfer sovereignty from Taiwan to the Republic of China. Additional rationale to support this claim is that the Act of Surrender, and SCAP General Order no. 1, authorised the surrender of Japanese forces, not Japanese territories.

The Republic of China established Taiwan Provincial Government in September 1945 and proclaimed on October 25, 1945 as "Taiwan Retrocession Day." This is the day in which the Japanese troops surrendered. The validity of the proclamation is subject to some debate, with some supporters of Taiwan independence arguing that it is invalid, and that the date only marks the beginning of military occupation that persists to the present. By 1938 about 309,000 Japanese lived in Taiwan. Between the Japanese surrender of Taiwan in 1945 and April 25, 1946, the Republic of China forces repatriated 90% of the Japanese living in Taiwan to Japan. During the immediate postwar period, the Kuomintang (KMT) administration on Taiwan was repressive and extremely corrupt compared with the previous Japanese rule, leading to local discontent. Anti- mainlander violence flared on February 28, 1947, prompted by an incident in which a cigarette seller was injured and a passerby was indiscriminately shot dead by Nationalist authorities. During the ensuing crackdown by the KMT administration in what became known as the February 28 Incident, tens of thousands of people were killed or arrested, and the incident became a taboo topic of discussion for the entire martial law era.

From the 1930s onward the Chinese Civil War was underway in mainland China between Chiang Kai-shek's ROC government and the Communist Party of China led by Mao Zedong. When the Communists gained complete control of Mainland China in 1949, two million refugees, predominantly from the Nationalist government, military, and business community, fled to Taiwan. On October 1, 1949 the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.) was founded in mainland China by the victorious communists; several months before, Chiang Kai-shek had established a provisional ROC capital in Taipei and moved his government there from Nanjing. Under Nationalist rule, the mainlanders dominated the government and civil services.

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, post-war economic conditions compounded with the then-ongoing Chinese Civil War caused severe inflation across mainland China and in Taiwan, made worse by disastrous currency reforms and corruption. This gave way to the reconstruction process and new reforms.

The KMT took control of Taiwan's monopolies that had been owned by the Japanese prior to World War II. They nationalized approximately 17% of Taiwan's GNP and voided Japanese bond certificates held by Taiwanese investors. These real estate holdings as well as American aid such as the China Aid Act and the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction helped to ensure that Taiwan would recover quickly from war. The Kuomintang government also moved the entire gold reserve from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan, and used this reserve to back the newly issued New Taiwan dollar to stabilize the new currency and put a stop to hyperinflation.

From 1950 to 1965, Taiwan received a total of $1.5 billion in economic aid and $2.4 billion in military aid from the United States. In 1965 all American aid ceased when Taiwan had established a solid financial base. Having accomplished that, ROC president Chiang Ching-kuo (the son of Chiang Kai-shek) started state projects such as the Ten Major Construction Projects that provided the infrastructure for building a strong export-driven economy. Taiwan has developed steadily into a major international trading power with more than $218 billion in two-way trade and one of the highest foreign exchange reserves in the world. Tremendous prosperity on the island was accompanied by economic and social stability. Taiwan's phenomenal economic development earned it a spot as one of the Four Asian Tigers.

The late 1970s and early 1980s were a turbulent time for Chinese people born in Taiwan, as many of the people who had originally been oppressed and left behind by economic changes became members of the Taiwan's new middle class. Free enterprise had allowed native Taiwanese to gain a powerful bargaining chip in their demands for respect for their basic human rights. The Kaohsiung Incident would be a major turning point for democracy in Taiwan.

Taiwan also faced setbacks in the international sphere. In 1971, the ROC government walked out of the United Nations shortly before it recognized the PRC government in Beijing as the legitimate holder of China's seat in the United Nations. The ROC had been offered dual representation, but Chiang Kai-shek demanded to retain a seat on the UN Security Council, which was not acceptable to the PRC. Chiang expressed his decision in his famous " the sky is not big enough for two suns" speech. In October 1971, Resolution 2758 was passed by the UN General Assembly and "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" (and thus the ROC) were expelled from the UN and replaced as "China" by the PRC. In 1979, the United States switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Chiang Kai-shek died in April 1975, and was succeeded to the presidency by Yen Chia-kan while his son Chiang Ching-kuo succeeded to the leadership of the Kuomintang (opting to take the title "Chairman" rather than the elder Chiang's title of "Director-General"). Formerly the head of the feared secret police, Chiang Ching-kuo recognized gaining foreign support to securing the ROC's future security required reform. His administration saw a gradual loosening of political controls, a transition towards democracy, and moves toward Taiwanization of the regime. Opponents of the Nationalists were no longer forbidden to hold meetings or publish papers. Though opposition political parties were still illegal, when the Democratic Progressive Party was established as the first opposition party in 1986, President Chiang decided against dissolving the group or persecuting its leaders. Its candidates officially ran in elections as independents in the Tangwai movement. In the following year, Chiang ended martial law and allowed family visits to mainland China. Chiang selected Lee Teng-hui, a Taiwan born technocrat to be his vice president; the first in the line of succession to the presidency. The move followed other reforms giving more power to native born citizens and calmed anti-KMT sentiments.

After Chiang Ching-kuo died in 1988, his successor, President Lee Teng-hui, continued to democratize the government. Lee transferred more government authority to Taiwanese born citizens, and Taiwan underwent a process of Taiwanization. In this localization process, local culture and history was promoted over a pan-China viewpoint. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank instead of the usual Provincial Bank of Taiwan. He also largely suspended the operation of the Taiwan Provincial Government. In 1991 the Legislative Yuan and National Assembly elected in 1947 were forced to resign. These groups were originally created to represent mainland China constituencies. The restrictions on the use of Taiwanese languages in the broadcast media and in schools were also lifted.

However, Lee failed to crack down on the massive corruption that pervaded the government and many KMT loyalists felt that Lee betrayed the ROC by taking reforms too far, while those in the opposition felt he did not take reforms far enough.

Lee ran as the incumbent in Taiwan's first direct presidential election in 1996 against DPP candidate and former dissident, Peng Min-ming. This election prompted the PRC to conduct a series of missile tests in the Taiwan Strait to intimidate the Taiwanese electorate so that electorates would vote for other pro-unification candidates, Chen Li-an and Lin Yang-kang. The aggressive tactic prompted U.S. President Clinton to invoke the Taiwan Relations Act and dispatch two aircraft carrier battle groups into the region off Taiwan's southern coast to monitor the situation, and PRC's missile tests were forced to end earlier than planned. This incident is known as the 1996 Taiwan Straits Crisis.

One of Lee's final acts as president was to declare on German radio that the ROC and the PRC have a special state to state relationship. Lee's statement was met with the PRC's People's Army conducting military drills in Fujian and a frightening island-wide blackout in Taiwan, causing many to fear an attack or cyberattack.

The 2000 presidential election marked the end of the Kuomintang (KMT) rule. DPP candidate Chen Shui-bian won a three-way race that saw the Pan-Blue vote split by independent James Soong (formerly of the Kuomintang) and Kuomintang candidate Lien Chan. Chen garnered 39% of the vote. After the election, Soong formed the People First Party (PFP).

In 2004, President Chen was re-elected to a second four-year term after an assassination attempt which occurred the day before the election. Two shots were fired, with one bullet grazing the President's belly after penetrating the windshield of a jeep and several layers of clothing and the other bullet penetrated the windshield and hitting the vice president's knee cast. (She was wearing a knee cast due to an earlier injury.) Police investigators have said that the most likely suspect is believed to have been Chen Yi-hsiung, who was later found dead. Their injuries were not life-threatening, but the incident is believed by Pan-Blue to have gained them enough sympathy to influence the result.

That incident might also have given president Chen the ability to declare a state of emergency and martial law, which allegedly prevented the police and military, which were strongly Pan-Blue, from voting. Lien refused to concede, alleging voting irregularities. Kuomintang and PFP supporters held mass protests throughout the following weeks. Subsequently, Kuomintang and PFP took the case to the court. The High Court ordered a recount and found no evidence to support the accusation made by Kuomintang and PFP. The Court decided that the election result was legitimate and valid.

In a move that some saw as a reaction to Chen's re-election, the People's Republic of China enacted a proposed anti-secession law that allows the use of force on Taiwan and the Republic of China government if it formally declares independence. However, this law was met with overwhelming protest from nearly all political parties and public figures of the Republic of China and disapproval from the western countries. Negotiations in January in Macau between the aviation authorities from both the Republic of China and People's Republic of China resulted in direct cross-strait charter flights between mainland China and Taiwan during the Chinese Lunar New Year Period.

In a twist of events, President Chen and PFP Chairman Soong held a summit and the independence-leaning president indicated that eventual reunification with mainland China would be an option. Against the anti-secession law proposed by the People's Republic of China, President Chen held a video conference with the European Parliament in Brussels urging the European Union not to lift the arms embargo on the People's Republic of China.

The constitution was further amended in 2005, creating a two-vote electoral system, with single member plurality seats and proportional representative seats, and abolishing the National Assembly, transferring most of its former powers to the Legislative Yuan, and leaving further amendment voting to public referendums. The issue of formally declaring the independence of Taiwan is also a constant constitutional question. Arms purchases from the United States are still a controversial political question, with the Pan-Green Coalition camp favoring the purchase, and the Pan-Blue Coalition opposing it.

Recent allegations about corruption inside the First Family had led to three recall motions votes in the Legislative Yuan aimed at ousting President Chen Shui-bian. All of them had failed since the Pan-Blue Coalition lacked the two-thirds majority required to complete the process and the political parties voted according to political lines. The First Lady, Wu Shu-chen was prosecuted for corruption, namely illegally using state funds for personal reasons.

The president faced similar accusations as his wife, but was protected from prosecution by presidential immunity. He had promised to resign if his wife was found guilty. However, after his wife fainted in the preparation hearing, she had sought and obtained absence of leave from the Court 16 times citing health concerns before President Chen Shui-bian's term was complete.

In December 2006, municipal and mayoral elections were held in Taipei and Kaohsiung. The KMT retained a clear majority in the capital, while the DPP and the KMT obtained very close results in the southern city of Kaohsiung. Huang Chun-ying lost to Chen Chu by a margin of 0.14 percent; 378,303 votes to 379,417 votes, making Chen Chu the first female mayor of a special municipality in the Republic of China. In 2007, the ROC applied for membership in the United Nations under the name "Taiwan", and was rejected by the General Assembly.

In 2007, President Chen proposed a policy of Four Wants and One Without, which in substance states that Taiwan wants independence; Taiwan wants the rectification of its name; Taiwan wants a new constitution; Taiwan wants development; and Taiwanese politics is without the question of left or right, but only the question of unification or independence. The reception of this proposed policy in Taiwanese general public was unclear. It, however, was met with a cold reception by both the PRC and the United States. The PRC Foreign Minister emphasised that the Anti-Secession Law was not a piece of unenforceable legislation, while the US Department of State spokesman Sean McCormack described Chen's policy as "unhelpful".

The KMT also retained control of the legislature in the Legislative Yuan elections in January 2008. In the presidential election in May 2008, KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou ran on a platform supporting friendlier relations with mainland China and economic reforms, and defeated DPP candidate Frank Hsieh with 58.48% of the vote.

On the same day President Chen left office, losing presidential immunity, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office announced that they were launching an inquiry into corruption charges regarding Chen. Later in 2008, members of his administration, including Chiou I-jen, a former National Security Council secretary-general, and Yeh Sheng-mao, former director-general of the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau, were arrested on corruption charges. Chiou I-jen was found not guilty, while Yeh Sheng-mao was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Ma was re-elected, and the KMT retained its majority in the Legislative Yuan, in combined elections in January 2012.

The elections held on November 24, 2018 resulted in a major setback for the DPP majority and led to President Tsai Ing-wen resignation as leader of the party. The DPP lost a total of nine legislative seats, giving the KMT control of the majority of the 22 seats. KMT mayoral candidates won in New Taipei City, Taichung and Kaohsiung, the latter of which has been a political stronghold for the DPP for 20 years.

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The history of the island of Taiwan dates back tens of thousands of years to the earliest known evidence of human habitation. The sudden appearance of a culture based on agriculture around 3000 BC is believed to reflect the arrival of the ancestors of today's Taiwanese indigenous peoples.

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Give Hong Kong the Autonomy It Was Promised

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Give Hong Kong the Autonomy It Was Promised

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Hong Kong's opposition has proved that it does not lack the ability to rule - only the opportunity.

By

Mr. Law Kwun Chung is an activist.

Agnes Chow, an activist, speaks with the media outside the Tai Po police station in Hong Kong on Sept. 2. Credit... Isaac Lawrence/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images

This is an article from World Review: The State of Democracy, a special section that examines global policy and affairs through the perspectives of thought leaders and commentators, and is published in conjunction with the annual Athens Democracy Forum.
It has been a devastating summer for most young people around the world. Because of the pandemic, concerts have been canceled, beaches closed and human interactions limited.

It's a bit different for the youth in Hong Kong, who face not only loneliness because of a lack of social contact, but also a period of White Terror that started with the imposition of a far-reaching national security law by China. Since June 30, when it was introduced, the legislation has facilitated and accelerated Beijing's political prosecutions in response to ongoing pro-democracy protests in the semiautonomous territory.

The law confers to Beijing and the local authorities reporting to it sweeping powers to prosecute individuals who are accused of committing acts of subversion, secession or collusion with foreign forces. The specific terms used in the text of the legislation, which are vague and left to the interpretation of those in power, leave room for manipulation and abuse, endangering our freedom of expression.

The uproar in Hong Kong began in earnest last summer, sparked by a proposed extradition agreement between the city and mainland China. More than one year on, the movement has evolved into an enduring fight against police brutality and for the genuine autonomy that Beijing promised Hong Kong following the territory's handover from Britain to China in 1997.

Regardless of the cause, the Chinese government has never attempted to listen, let alone resolve the situation by responding to the protesters' legitimate demands. Rather, following its "wolf-like" style of diplomacy on the world stage and heavy-handed domestic policies, the Chinese Communist Party has decided to quash the protests in an extreme manner, taking away rights we have long enjoyed.

On an almost daily basis we read in the news about protesters having their homes raided or facing arrests on absurd charges. The recent arrests of my friend and former colleague Agnes Chow and of Jimmy Lai, the famous pro-democracy media tycoon, have been shocking instances of political retaliation. Earlier this year I fled to London, fearing that the new law would be used to harm me or my family, and I, too, am now allegedly on a wanted list for violating it. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, has called opponents of the national security law "enemies of the people."

A broad range of freedoms, relating to assembly, association, speech, the press, academic research, the electoral process and more, is increasingly under threat in Hong Kong. The headquarters of the most vocal pro-democracy newspaper in town was raided by 200 police officers in early August. Professors self-censor and remove certain topics from their research proposals because the content may be interpreted as breaching the new law. Protesters have been arrested for carrying flags or signs that showed allegedly unacceptable slogans.

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A volunteer distributes copies of the Apple Daily newspaper a day after authorities conducted a search of its headquarters in August. Jimmy Lai, the newspaper's founder, was arrested under the new national security law. Credit... Isaac Lawrence/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images

Most people now refrain from expressing their political views - in person and online - because of the potential repercussions. Beijing continues to disqualify opposition candidates from running for office and invisible self-censorship bubbles beneath the surface.

This oppressive environment has become worse because of government-imposed pandemic restrictions, which ban all gatherings, political or otherwise. Yet Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement is very much alive. It has just adopted more creative and subtle ways to circumvent Beijing's shifting standards in defining breaches of the national security law.

The protesters' motto, "Be Water," reflects a tenacious and flexible strategy that allows them to exert social pressure, even when it's all but impossible to stage in-person demonstrations. One expression of this approach is the "yellow economic circle," a system through which pro-democracy supporters choose to patronize exclusively pro-democracy businesses and to boycott those that support the police and are affiliated with China's Communist Party.

The ultimate goal of our sacrifice is clear: We yearn for a Hong Kong that's genuinely ruled and run by Hong Kongers, free from Chinese intervention. This "high degree of autonomy" was precisely the promise Beijing made in 1984 with the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which set the terms for the 1997 handover.

Given its vibrant civil society, long history of direct elections - even though the legislature isn't itself fully democratic - and cosmopolitanism, Hong Kong is more than capable of self-governance. In fact, many iconic figures in the pro-democracy movement have served as legislators. And their mandate is indisputable: The opposition camp has almost always won a majority of votes for directly elected seats.

The goal of the movement isn't to destroy the city; rather, it's to preserve our traditions and unique way of life in the face of Chinese expansionism. Around the world, those in favor of "law and order" or maintaining the status quo tend to correlate protests and uprisings with destruction and chaos. Contrary to what they believe, however, Hong Kong's movement more than passes the test for good governance and it has, time and again, demonstrated unity, mobility, effectiveness and the ability to make progress.

Like many other protest movements, ours is built on the empathy we have for one another. Those who are in power and obsessed with power can never comprehend that.

The values we uphold - freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law among them - are universal. They have been the cornerstones of Hong Kong's success in the past, enabling its rise to the status of global city. But as the local government's credibility and legitimacy plummet to a low point, nothing short of fundamental and structural reform can save it. The opposition doesn't lack the ability to rule, only an opportunity.

Nathan Law Kwun Chung is a pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong.

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Opinion | Give Hong Kong the Autonomy It Was Promised

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Hong Kong's opposition has proved that it does not lack the ability to rule - only the opportunity. By Mr. Law Kwun Chung is an activist. This is an article from World Review: The State of Democracy , a special section that examines global policy and affairs through the perspectives of thought leaders and commentators, and is published in conjunction with the annual Athens Democracy Forum .

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The South China Morning Post is arguably the world's most important newspaper-for what it tells us about media freedoms as China's power grows.

Chien-Chi Chang / Magnum

On the night of August 31, 2019, police officers rushed into a Hong Kong subway station, swinging their batons and chasing suspected anti-government protesters into the narrow carriageways of a parked train as an emergency warning blared overhead.

Like many pivotal moments of the city's protest movement, the scenes were captured in photographs and live-streams by journalists and bystanders. The most enduring image from the incident shows a small group of people huddled by the subway door. Among them is a man crouching on the floor, holding his hand up toward the police in anguish and fear as he is doused by a thick stream of pepper spray.

Hong Kong's protest movement was nearly three months old by then, and the police action marked a significant turning point. Reporters across the city tried to make sense of what they were seeing, and to properly explain the enormity of the moment: A subway station, once considered a safe space for commuters, had been breached; and the police, who just months earlier had been seen as trusted members of the community, had assaulted civilians despite no clear evidence of a major security threat.

At the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's largest English-language newspaper, the now-familiar breaking news scramble that would last until early the next morning was under way. How the paper handled that story has since become a source of tension among its journalists, sparking a controversy that is emblematic, many of them told me, of the broader conflicts over media freedoms in the territory as it faces an uncertain future. When I asked the paper's executive editor about the episode, and more general questions about its protest coverage, he voraciously defended the outlet. Critics, he said, had tried to intimidate and bully SCMP journalists to "condition" the newspaper's narrative to their own liking. "Should we bend to this kind of pressure?" he asked.

The SCMP is not as well read as the international outlets that it would like to compete with, but because of its unique position-as the main English-language outlet in a strategically important city-its coverage plays an outsize role in shaping international understanding of events not just in Hong Kong but across the border in China, as well.

An early draft of an initial story about the incident, according to a version that was read to me, had an opening that detailed "chaotic and shocking scenes" as officers went after "cowering commuters." That was not the account that was eventually published, though. The SCMP's edited story (which was subsequently updated) instead recounted how "elite Hong Kong police" had chased "radical protesters" wearing "masks" into the subway station.

The incident at the paper, recounted by two people with knowledge of the event, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution, exemplified the type of heavy-handed, slanted editing that became common in the SCMP newsroom as the demonstrations carried on. Journalists who spent hours, sometimes in a haze of tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets, saw their work drastically altered by editors before running in print and online. The police were typically portrayed as heroes, and the protesters as villains, with little explanation or context of each side's motives and grievances. "That was frustrating," one current reporter involved in coverage of the demonstrations told me. (This journalist, like others I spoke to, did not want to be identified, fearing a backlash from the SCMP.) With these stories appearing on the front page of the paper, the reporter said, "they've given an impression that SCMP is anti protesters. As journalists, we should never be pro or against protesters."

(Chien-Chi Chang / Magnum)

Hong Kong has a long legacy of an aggressive and boisterous media, in both the dominant Cantonese language and English. Newspapers are widely read, and they often carry sharp critiques of government and police failures. Those freedoms have been a hallmark of the "one country, two systems" framework that has set the city apart from mainland China, where journalism is heavily censored and far less free.

Yet even before the recent enactment of a far-reaching national-security law in Hong Kong, the city's media were under strain. Numerous mainstream outlets have been bought by China-backed figures or pro-establishment businesses, shrinking the diversity of voices. In recent years, vigilantes have carried out attacks against senior editors and Beijing has harassed officials from Cantonese newspapers. And since protests began last summer, the government in Hong Kong has also sought to curb journalists' freedoms. Dissatisfied with honest accounts of official malfeasance, the authorities have sought to stifle some of the city's most cutting voices. Radio Television Hong Kong, the government-funded broadcaster that operates akin to the BBC, drew an official rebuke when a reporter pressed a World Health Organization adviser over the contentious issue of Taiwan's inclusion in the global body and after its long-running satirical program took aim at the Hong Kong police. That program, Headliner, has since been suspended. Top newsroom executives have stepped down, and the broadcaster is now under government review. Police continue to harass journalists reporting on protests, which have shrunk dramatically in size and frequency due to a combination of the pandemic, new police tactics, and the national security law.
Read: The leader who killed her city
The new law has worsened the climate further. Reporters and editors in Hong Kong have been left wondering what journalistic activity may now constitute a crime, and they have received few assurances from the city's leaders. A number of local newspaper columnists have resigned from their positions, fearing that they may fall afoul of the national-security law. This month, The New York Times announced that it would move a portion of its staff to South Korea, a decision that is likely to be followed by other foreign outlets; at least three major Western news organizations, including the Times and The Wall Street Journal, are facing delays in securing new visas or visa renewals for their staff, according to people familiar with the details who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. "The purpose of the law is precisely to manufacture a climate of fear among all the governed here," Kwai-Chueng Lo, the head of the writing program at Hong Kong Baptist University who has researched Hong Kong's media, told me.

The SCMP sits at the center of many of these tensions. Founded in 1903, when Hong Kong was a British colony, the newspaper has long been the broadsheet of the city's elites, "the paper to be gripped while riding the bus or to be seen on one's doorstep in the morning," the veteran journalist Yuen-ying Chan wrote in an academic article examining Hong Kong's English-language media. Even beyond China, the SCMP has stood apart, operating free from the onerous press restrictions enforced in other Asian countries such as Singapore. Today, it is arguably the city's most important title internationally, a position gained from a combination of both its size and its ownership (it is controlled by Jack Ma's Alibaba Group, one of China's most successful tech companies).

But last year's protests tested the paper, as the global media spotlight shifted to Hong Kong, and the SCMP's reporters found themselves butting up against senior editors who often appeared to be overly deferential to authorities and largely unquestioning of police narratives, even as evidence of misconduct mounted.

Largely due to its association with Hong Kong's establishment, and that establishment's growing reliance on business dealings with mainland China, the SCMP has always been a more staid outlet than its Cantonese counterparts. Through the late 1980s and into the mid-2000s, the paper was owned by the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and then the Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok, and while SCMP veterans often speak of a bygone golden era in which the paper was more critical, there have in fact long been instances that gave rise to questions about its editorial stance and censorship.

When Alibaba purchased the paper in 2015, the company brought an infusion of much-needed cash. The SCMP hired additional staff, moved into new offices (complete with an on-site pub), and expanded editorial offerings, including the tech-focused Abacus and Goldthread, a video-heavy vertical that reports on Chinese culture. The paper-long a must-read for English-language China watchers, its coverage being far more credible than any mainland outlet-expanded its ambitions, courting a global readership hungry for news from China by dropping its paywall and eventually beefing up its team of China-based reporters to around 50. In 2018, it announced a tie-up with Politico that Gary Liu, the SCMP's CEO, said in an internal email was a sign of the newspaper's "growing credibility and authority." (The SCMP has approached The Atlantic about coproducing events in the U.S. and Hong Kong, according to a spokeswoman for The Atlantic, but the partnership has never materialized. In recent years, the SCMP has also spoken to The Washington Post, according to a person familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for the Post did not respond to request for comment.)

Thanks to those factors, as well as drastically increased interest in China, where, of course, the coronavirus pandemic began, the SCMP has seen a sharp rise in readership. Though its daily print circulation is relatively limited, at just over 100,000, it averages more than 50 million monthly active users-a tenfold increase over the past three years-and nearly 200 million pageviews a month. Around a third of that audience is in the United States, Liu said in a podcast interview with Digiday. Yet despite the largesse of its ownership, SCMP remains at the whim of the media market: The newspaper is unprofitable, Liu said during a Recode podcast, and its reliance on advertising has "set off alarm bells." Staff were recently forced to take unpaid leave for three weeks, and management pay was cut. The SCMP is hoping to open up other revenue streams and will soon reintroduce its paywall.
Read: Hong Kong is a colony once more
Over the course of its history, the SCMP has largely fought off English-language challengers, both in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the region. Today, its position atop Hong Kong's English media scene is largely unrivaled, but its ambitious goals-and its new ownership-have brought greater scrutiny, which the paper does not always seem comfortable with. In particular, there are questions about whether the 117-year-old institution could someday resemble the propaganda outlets trumpeting the party line over the border in China. Liu, who joined the paper in 2017 from the tech company Digg, has consistently pushed back against these concerns. "There is an immediate assumption that because Alibaba is a Chinese company that they are going to meddle in editorial," he said in the Digiday podcast. "That has never been the case." Yet Liu has acknowledged how tenuous the paper's editorial independence is. "If the laws of this city and the judiciary that protects those laws change to the point where there is no longer press freedoms in this city, the South China Morning Post will change," he told Digiday. (The owners have spoken about how they think coverage should be driven: "A lot of journalists working with these Western media organisations may not agree with the system of governance in China, and that taints their view of coverage," Joe Tsai, chairman of the SCMP's board of directors and Alibaba's executive vice chairman, said shortly after the sale was completed. "We see things differently, we believe things should be presented as they are.")

Concerns have been raised over the newspaper's ethics, and its willingness to cooperate with Beijing since the sale. In 2018, the SCMP faced backlash when it conducted a government-arranged interview of Gui Minhai-a Hong Kong bookseller and Swedish citizen who disappeared in 2015 and then reappeared in Chinese custody a year later-in a detention facility while guards loomed over him. Liu has stood behind the interview and article, arguing that the SCMP agreed to the interview after discussions with editors, that there were no strings attached, and that the newspaper made a point of highlighting that Gui was accompanied by security personnel. But Angela Gui, the bookseller's daughter, told me she was unhappy with the paper's decision and its continued defense of the interview, which she says Beijing orchestrated to advance its own misleading narrative about her father's situation. "My father was, after years of illegal detention and torture, subjected to public humiliation by the Chinese government, and the SCMP was complicit by disseminating and legitimizing it as a 'news story,'" she said.

(Paul Yeung / Bloomberg / Getty)

When it comes to China, the SCMP's overall coverage remains far from Communist Party mouthpieces such as China Daily or Global Times. Indeed, its website-like that of The Atlantic and other major Western publications, including the Times, the Journal, and others-is blocked on mainland China.

More illustrative has been its coverage of the Hong Kong protests, which proved to be an unexpected test for the paper. Liu told Recode that the newspaper strove to remove emotion from the reporting and editing of stories on the crisis. Those views were welcome on the opinion pages, Liu said, but not in the news section. "That separation for us is sacrament."

However, nine current and former SCMP employees told me that the lines were often far less clear. Nearly all pointed to Yonden Lhatoo, the SCMP's chief news editor-and among those responsible for editing the subway story-as an example. Lhatoo, a former TV journalist who was described by current and former colleagues as an abrasive and mercurial presence prone to angry outbursts and frequent shouting, is part of a trio of senior editors seen as contributing to a sometimes caustic newsroom environment. Lhatoo also writes a regular opinion column and news stories as well. His editing of various articles that recapped days of protest grated on some journalists, particularly those reporting from the street. The tone was not missed by close readers of the newspaper. "There are choices of language and vocabulary that are in themselves a reflection of bias," said Louisa Lim, a former Beijing correspondent for NPR who is now a senior lecturer at the Center for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne, pointing to the use of terms like riot and rampage that often made it into the final versions of stories recounting protests.

Members of the newsroom were particularly unhappy with a story Lhatoo wrote in October that ran in the news section of the paper, pushing a theory popular among pro-Beijing figures that there was a "silent majority" in Hong Kong that was against the protests but had been scared into silence. They were concerned enough to request a meeting with senior editors after the story's publication to discuss their concerns over Lhatoo and editing more broadly. Chow Chung Yan, the executive editor, and Zuraidah Ibrahim, the deputy executive editor, met with disgruntled staff, but "there was no attempt to try and reconcile anybody," one person present at the meeting told me. "It was just, 'This is the situation; if you don't like it, there is the door.'" Over the course of the protests and in the months that followed, a number of journalists central to coverage did leave the newspaper, and at least one other editor is expected to depart shortly, according to people familiar with the matter. More recently, Lhatoo, in a May 16 column, urged Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive, to take a page from Donald Trump's book and strike back at "malicious journalists" by labeling them "fake news" and a "disgrace." One former reporter likened it to "asking for an attack on press freedom itself."
Read: The end of Hong Kong
Liu did not respond to a message seeking comment. The paper's spokesman, Elgen Kua, sent a statement in response to a list of questions this month and suggested a visit to the outlet's newsroom once Hong Kong is past its latest wave of COVID-19 cases. In a follow-up call, Kua said, despite not having seen the comments themselves, that remarks made by current and former SCMP employees to me were "quite libelous" and that Lhatoo had become the target of a "hate campaign," something Lhatoo has addressed in his column. Shortly before this story was due to publish, and weeks after multiple interview requests were submitted, the SCMP made Chow available for an interview. Chow told me he believed The Atlantic was biased against the SCMP and in a combative interview, which lasted nearly 40 minutes, challenged the sourcing of this story, the timeline of when The Atlantic contacted the SCMP for comment, and defended the paper's protest coverage as well as its editorial standards and newsroom culture. "I think actually, from the beginning, you already set your mind about the story angle," he said. "From your line of questioning I have this worry that I don't think the SCMP will get fair coverage and I also think some of your story is maybe based on incomplete information."

"We occupy the middle ground; that means some people are bound to feel like their views are not the dominant views and they feel resentful for that," he said of the paper's position. When asked about the Gui story, Chow compared the editorial decision to ones news organizations make when they are invited on government-organized tours of Xinjiang, where China has carried out a brutal crackdown. Regarding the story recapping the subway incident, he said the article was updated numerous times to reflect the chaotic situation on the ground and the end result was a balanced recount of the events of the day.

Concerns over bias in favor of the authorities, particularly the Hong Kong Police Force, exist in the newsroom: In one case, a reporter who has landed numerous scoops for the newspaper on police actions, and has conducted a series of high-profile interviews, was ousted from a group chat with other journalists over concerns that she was possibly leaking information to the force, according to people familiar with the matter. (It was unclear if this ever occurred.) In another case, a story in June marking the anniversary of the protest movement featured a police officer who was injured by demonstrators when he was covered with unknown chemicals. The piece was similar to a report that ran in a recent issue of OffBeat, the police force's official magazine, featuring the same officer. Another article was an interview with a British police officer serving in Hong Kong that some in the newsroom felt gave him a free pass for police actions during the protests and played down his role in a property scandal unearthed by another outlet. "It's not critical at all," one current reporter told me of the interview. (Chow said that while he believed Hong Kong's police had room for improvement, they had become demonized by the public and the voice of the force was often missing from media coverage of the protests. "If you draw the comparison between the Hong Kong police and the police in the U.S. and U.K. and any other part of the world," he said "I would say they are not particularly bad." Chow added that The Atlantic was "in a sense joining the bullying gang," by singling out the SCMP 's police coverage because of the difficulties faced by reporters who wrote positively about the force.)

Related Stories

On the opinion side, the SCMP has withdrawn five stories purportedly written by Lin Nguyen, a fictitious personality who was part of a network of fake journalists exposed by the Daily Beast that published opinion pieces in various publications around the globe. The retractions came days after Alex Lo, a columnist based in Canada, unequivocally declared that the "US has been exposed for funding last year's Hong Kong protests," in a piece that was based on a Time magazine report and offered scant evidence to back up the claim, a popular narrative pushed by Beijing and Lam's administration. Chow said the paper had committed a "slip of judgment," when it came to the Nguyen stories, and emphasized that Lo's piece ran in the opinion section, adding that the paper could not verify if " Time magazine's story is true or not." Kua said in his statement that the SCMP reviewed and strengthened its verification process for submissions in response to the Daily Beast revelations.

Still, concerns abound. As restrictions grow on international media in Hong Kong and across China, and smaller news organizations in the city are put under greater scrutiny-the founder of Hong Kong Free Press, an English-language outlet, argued in The Guardian that the confusion set out by the national-security law was "a feature, not a bug," and was designed to push journalists to "self-censor"-the SCMP 's importance when it comes to coverage of the country will only grow. How it manages the balance between these new, blurry, red lines and Hong Kong's history of a free and open press will matter far beyond the territory's borders.

Liu, Chow, other senior editors, and some journalists have bristled at criticism of the newspaper, lamenting that its ownership makes it an unfair target. Following a 2018 story in the Times that was critical of the SCMP, Liu sent an email to staff, reviewed by The Atlantic, in which he said the article "disappoints me, it does not surprise me," and that it "misrepresents our mission and mischaracterizes our transformation." (No corrections or clarifications have been made to the Times story.) At the end of his interview with The Atlantic, Chow offered a vague warning about writing critically about the newspaper. "The last thing I want to say is I hope your story can be factual. If it is not, if it is anyway defamatory to SCMP and our colleagues, we will defend ourselves," he said. Asked how he would do this, Chow responded, "I don't need to tell you, Tim. But I can tell you we will defend ourselves."

Timothy McLaughlin is a Hong Kong-based contributing writer at The Atlantic.

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The South China Morning Post is arguably the world's most important newspaper-for what it tells us about media freedoms as China's power grows. On the night of August 31, 2019, police officers rushed into a Hong Kong subway station, swinging their batons and chasing suspected anti-government protesters into the narrow carriageways of a parked train as an emergency warning blared overhead.

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Capital:

Hanoi

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Relief

Vietnam's principal physiographic features are the Annamese Cordillera (French: Chaîne Annamitique; Vietnamese: Nui Truong Son), extending generally from northwest to southeast in central Vietnam and dominating the interior, and two extensive alluvial deltas formed by the Red (Hong) River in the north and the Mekong (Cuu Long) River in the south. Between these two deltas is a long, relatively narrow coastal plain.

From north to south the uplands of northern Vietnam can be divided into two distinct regions-the area north of the Red River and the massif that extends south of the Red River into neighbouring Laos. The Red River forms a deep, relatively wide valley that runs in a straight northwest-southeast direction for much of its course from the Chinese border to the edge of its delta. North of the Red River the relief is moderate, with the highest elevations occurring between the Red and Lo (Clear) rivers; there is a marked depression from Cao Bang to the sea. In the Red River delta and in the valleys of the region's other major rivers are found wide limestone terraces, extensive alluvial plains, and low hills. The northeast coast is dotted with hundreds of islands composed mostly of limestone.

Compared with the area north of the Red River, the vast massif extending southwest across Laos to the Mekong River is of considerably higher elevation. Among its outstanding topographic features is Fan Si Peak, which at 10,312 feet (3,143 metres) is the highest point in Vietnam. South of the Black (Da) River are the Ta P'ing, Son La, and Moc Chau plateaus, which are separated by deep valleys.

In central Vietnam the Annamese Cordillera runs parallel to the coast, with several peaks rising to elevations above 6,000 feet (1,800 metres). Several spurs jut into the South China Sea, forming sections of the coast isolated from one another. Communication across the central ranges is difficult. The southern portion of the Annamese Cordillera has two identifiable regions. One consists of plateaus of approximately 1,700 feet (520 metres) in elevation that have experienced little erosion, as in the Dac Lac Plateau near Buon Me Thuot. The second region is characterized by heavily eroded plateaus: in the vicinity of Pleiku, the Kontum Plateau is about 2,500 feet (760 metres) above sea level; and in the Da Lat area, the Di Linh Plateau is about 4,900 feet (1,500 metres).

Drainage

Roughly triangular in shape, with its northeast and southwest sides bounded by the northern uplands, the Red River delta extends inland some 150 miles (240 km) and runs some 75 miles (120 km) along the Gulf of Tonkin. The delta can be divided into four subregions. The northwestern section has the highest and most broken terrain, and its extensive natural levees invite settlement despite frequent flooding. The low-lying eastern portion is less than seven feet (two metres) above sea level in the vicinity of Bac Ninh. Rivers there form small valleys only slightly lower than the general surface level, and they are subject to flooding by the area's unusually high tides. The third and fourth subregions consist, respectively, of the poorly drained lowlands in the west and the coastal area, which is marked by the remains of former beach ridges left as the delta expanded.

The Annamese Cordillera forms a drainage divide, with rivers to the east flowing to the South China Sea and those to the west to the Mekong River. South of the mountain range there is an identifiable terrace region that gives way to the Mekong delta. The terrace region includes the alluvial plains along the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers. The lowlands of southern Vietnam are dominated by alluvial plains, the most extensive of which is the Mekong delta, covering an area of 15,400 square miles (39,900 square km) in Vietnam. Smaller deltaic plains also occur along the south-central coast facing the South China Sea.

Soils

In northern Vietnam the heavy monsoonal rains wash away rich humus from the highlands, leaving slow-dissolving alumina and iron oxides that give the soil its characteristic reddish colour. The soils of the Red River delta vary: some are fertile and suitable for intense cultivation, while others lack soluble bases. Nonetheless, the delta soils are easily worked. The diking of the Red River to prevent flooding has deprived the delta's rice fields of enriching silts they once received, and it has been necessary to apply chemical fertilizers.

There are some two dozen soil associations, but certain soil types predominate. Among these are red and yellow podzolic soils (i.e., soils that are heavily leached in their upper layers, with a resulting accumulation of materials in the lower layers), which occupy nearly half of the land area, and lateritic soils (reddish brown, leached tropical soils), which constitute another one-tenth more. These soil types dominate the central highlands.

Alluvial soils account for about one-fourth of the land in the south and are concentrated in the Mekong delta, as are peat and muck soils. Gray podzolic soils are found in parts of the central highlands and in old terraces along the Mekong, while regurs (rich black loams) and lateritic soils occur in both the central highlands and the terrace zone. Along the coast of central Vietnam are regosols (soft, undeveloped soils) and noncalcic brown soils.

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Vietnam | History, Population, Map, Flag, Government, & Facts

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Vietnam, country occupying the eastern portion of mainland Southeast Asia. It has a long coastline, much of which fronts on the South China Sea to the east and south. The country is bordered by the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest, Cambodia and Laos to the west, and China to the north.

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Leaders in the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C., were surprised and delighted by Diem's success. American military and economic aid continued to pour into South Vietnam while American military and police advisers helped train and equip Diem's army and security forces. Beneath the outward success of the Diem regime, however, lay fatal problems. Diem was a poor administrator who refused to delegate authority, and he was pathologically suspicious of anyone who was not a member of his family. His brother and close confidant, Ngo Dinh Nhu, controlled an extensive system of extortion, payoffs, and influence peddling through a secret network called the Can Lao, which had clandestine members in all government bureaus and military units as well as schools, newspapers, and businesses. In the countryside, ambitious programs of social and economic reform had been allowed to languish while many local officials and police engaged in extortion, bribery, and theft of government property. That many of these officials were, like Diem himself, northerners and Roman Catholics further alienated them from the local people.

Diem's unexpected offensive against communist political organizers and propagandists in the countryside in 1955 had resulted in the arrest of thousands and in the temporary disorganization of the communists' infrastructure. By 1957, however, the communists, now called the Viet Cong (VC), had begun a program of terrorism and assassination against government officials and functionaries. The Viet Cong's ranks were soon swelled by many noncommunist Vietnamese who had been alienated by the corruption and intimidation of local officials. Beginning in the spring of 1959, armed bands of Viet Cong were occasionally engaging units of the South Vietnamese army in regular firefights. By that time the Central Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party, meeting in Hanoi, had endorsed a resolution calling for the use of armed force to overthrow the Diem government. Southerners specially trained in the North as insurgents were infiltrated back into the South along with arms and equipment. A new war had begun.

Despite its American training and weapons, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, usually called the ARVN, was in many ways ill-adapted to meet the insurgency of the Viet Cong. Higher-ranking officers, appointed on the basis of their family connections and political reliability, were often apathetic, incompetent, or corrupt-and sometimes all three. The higher ranks of the army were also thoroughly penetrated by Viet Cong agents, who held positions varying from drivers, clerks, and radio operators to senior headquarters officers. With its heavy American-style equipment, the ARVN was principally a road-bound force not well configured to pursuing VC units in swamps or jungles. U.S. military advisers responsible for helping to develop and improve the force usually lacked knowledge of the Vietnamese language, and in any case they routinely spent less than 12 months in the country.

At the end of 1960 the communists in the South announced the formation of the National Liberation Front (NLF), which was designed to serve as the political arm of the Viet Cong and also as a broad-based organization for all those who desired an end to the Diem regime. The Front's regular army, usually referred to as the "main force" by the Americans, was much smaller than Diem's army, but it was only one component of the Viet Cong's so-called People's Liberation Armed Forces (PLAF). At the base of the PLAF were village guerrilla units, made up of part-time combatants who lived at home and worked at their regular occupations during the day. Their function was to persuade or intimidate their neighbours into supporting the NLF, to protect its political apparatus, and to harass the government, police, and security forces with booby traps, raids, kidnappings, and murders. The guerrilla forces also served as a recruiting agency and source of manpower for the other echelons of the PLAF. Above the guerrillas were the local or regional forces, full-time soldiers organized in platoon- or company-sized units who operated within the bounds of a province or region. As members of the guerrilla militia gained experience, they might be upgraded to the regional or main forces. These forces were better-equipped and acted as full-time soldiers. Based in remote jungles, swamps, or mountainous areas, they could operate throughout a province (in the case of regional forces) or even the country (in the case of the main force). When necessary, the full-time forces might also reinforce a guerrilla unit or several units for some special operation.

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Vietnam War - Diem Regime, Viet Cong, Conflict

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Vietnam War - Diem Regime, Viet Cong, Conflict: By 1957 the Viet Cong had begun a program of terrorism and assassination against government officials and functionaries.

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A Brief History of Laos | The Slow Road Travel Blog

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Travelling to Laos? Here's a (brief) look into the history and culture of what was one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia.

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Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China

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Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China

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In the Hall of the People in Beijing, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system. Hong Kong-a small peninsula and group of islands jutting out from China's Kwangtung province-was leased by China to Great Britain in 1898 for 99 years.

In 1839, in the First Opium War, Britain invaded China to crush opposition to its interference in the country's economic, social, and political affairs. One of Britain's first acts of war was to occupy Hong Kong, a sparsely inhabited island off the coast of southeast China. In 1841, China ceded the island to the British with the signing of the Convention of Chuenpi, and in 1842 the Treaty of Nanking was signed, formally ending the First Opium War. At the end of the Second Opium War (1856-1860), China was forced to cede the Kowloon Peninsula, adjacent to Hong Kong Island, along with other area islands.
READ MORE: How Hong Kong Came Under 'One Country, Two Systems' Rule
Britain's new colony flourished as an East-West trading center and as the commercial gateway and distribution center for southern China. On July 1, 1898, Britain was granted an additional 99 years of rule over the Hong Kong colony under the Second Convention of Peking. Hong Kong was occupied by the Japanese from 1941 to 1944 during World War II but remained in British hands throughout the various Chinese political upheavals of the 20th century.

On December 19, 1984, after years of negotiations, British and Chinese leaders signed a formal pact approving the 1997 turnover of the colony in exchange for the formulation of a "one country, two systems" policy by China's communist government. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called the agreement "a landmark in the life of the territory, in the course of Anglo-Chinese relations, and in the history of international diplomacy." Hu Yaobang, the Chinese Communist Party's secretary-general, called the signing "a red-letter day, an occasion of great joy" for China's one billion people.

At midnight on July 1, 1997, Hong Kong was peaceably handed over to China in a ceremony attended by numerous international dignitaries, including British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. A few thousand citizens of Hong Kong protested the turnover, which was otherwise celebratory and peaceful. The chief executive of the new Hong Kong government, Tung Chee Hwa, did enact a policy based upon the concept of one country, two systems, thus preserving Hong Kong's role as a principal capitalist center in Asia.

Massive anti-government protests in Hong Kong began in June 2019, when more than 1 million people marched to protest a bill that would allow the extradition of people to mainland China to stand trial. The bill was later dropped, but anti-government unrest remains.

Fact Check

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Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China

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In the Hall of the People in Beijing, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system. Hong Kong-a small peninsula and group of islands jutting out from China's [...]

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Why are there protests in Hong Kong? All the context you need

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Why are there protests in Hong Kong? All the context you need

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The protests began in June 2019 over plans - later put on ice, and finally withdrawn in September - that would have allowed extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China. They then spread to reflect wider demands for democratic reform, and an inquiry into alleged police brutality.

Now, China is proposing to introduce a new national security law, which critics believe could be used to crack down on rights and political activists.

This is not all happening in a vacuum. There's a lot of important context - some of it stretching back decades - that helps explain what is going on.

It's important to remember that Hong Kong is significantly different from other Chinese cities. To understand this, you need to look at its history.

It was a British colony for more than 150 years - part of it, Hong Kong island, was ceded to the UK after a war in 1842. Later, China also leased the rest of Hong Kong - the New Territories - to the British for 99 years.

It became a busy trading port, and its economy took off in the 1950s as it became a manufacturing hub.

The territory was also popular with migrants and dissidents fleeing instability, poverty or persecution in mainland China.

Then, in the early 1980s, as the deadline for the 99-year-lease approached, Britain and China began talks on the future of Hong Kong - with the communist government in China arguing that all of Hong Kong should be returned to Chinese rule.

The two sides signed a treaty in 1984 that would see Hong Kong return to China in 1997, under the principle of "one country, two systems".

This meant that while becoming part of one country with China, Hong Kong would enjoy "a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defence affairs" for 50 years.

As a result, Hong Kong has its own legal system and borders, and rights including freedom of assembly, free speech and freedom of the press are protected.

For example, it is one of the few places in Chinese territory where people can commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, where the military opened fire on unarmed protesters in Beijing.

...but things are changing

Hong Kong still enjoys freedoms not seen in mainland China - but they are widely thought to be on the decline.

Rights groups have accused China of meddling in Hong Kong, citing examples such as legal rulings that have disqualified pro-democracy legislators, and the disappearance of five Hong Kong booksellers, and a tycoon - who all eventually re-emerged in custody in China.

There are also accusations that press and academic freedoms have been deteriorating. In March, China effectively expelled several US journalists - but also prohibited them from working in Hong Kong.

The public broadcaster RTHK has come under pressure from Hong Kong's government, first for broadcasting an interview with the World Health Organization about Taiwan, and then for targeting police in its satirical news show "Headliner".

The local examinations body also came under fire for a world history question about relations between Japan and China, with the government demanding the exam question be invalidated. The government said it was a professional, rather than political, decision, but many academics expressed concern.

Another sticking point has been democratic reform.

Hong Kong's leader, the chief executive, is currently elected by a 1,200-member election committee - a mostly pro-Beijing body chosen by just 6% of eligible voters.

Not all the 70 members of the territory's lawmaking body, the Legislative Council, are directly chosen by Hong Kong's voters. Most seats not directly elected are occupied by pro-Beijing lawmakers.

Some elected members have even been disbarred after Beijing issued a controversial legal ruling that effectively disqualified them.

Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, says that ultimately both the leader, and the Legislative Council, should be elected in a more democratic way - but there's been disagreement over what this should look like.

The Chinese government said in 2014 it would allow voters to choose their leaders from a list approved by a pro-Beijing committee, but critics called this a "sham democracy" and it was voted down in Hong Kong's legislature.

In 28 years' time in 2047, the Basic Law expires - and what happens to Hong Kong's autonomy after that is unclear.

While most people in Hong Kong are ethnic Chinese, and although Hong Kong is part of China, a majority of people there don't identify as Chinese.

The difference is particularly pronounced amongst the young.

"The younger the respondents, the less likely they feel proud of becoming a national citizen of China, and also the more negative they are toward the Central Government's policies on Hong Kong," the university's public opinion programme says.

Hong Kongers have described legal, social and cultural differences - and the fact Hong Kong was a separate colony for 150 years - as reasons why they don't identify with their compatriots in mainland China.

There has also been a rise in anti-mainland Chinese sentiment in Hong Kong in recent years, with people complaining about rude tourists disregarding local norms or driving up the cost of living.

Some young activists have even called for Hong Kong's independence from China, something that alarms the Beijing government.

There's a rich history of dissent in Hong Kong, stretching back further even than the past few years.

In 1966, demonstrations broke out after the Star Ferry Company decided to increase its fares. The protests escalated into riots, a full curfew was declared and hundreds of troops took to the streets.

Protests have continued since 1997, but now the biggest ones tend to be of a political nature - and bring demonstrators into conflict with mainland China's position.

While Hong Kongers have a degree of autonomy, they have little liberty in the polls, meaning protests are one of the few ways they can make their opinions heard.

As a result, many see taking to the streets as their only way of forcing change.

And, in the past, some protests have been successful. In 2003, up to 500,000 people took to the streets to protest against a controversial security bill the Hong Kong government was trying to pass. The local government also backed down over "patriotic education" classes following rallies against the move.

However, the Chinese government has adopted a harder stance in recent years, particularly with any movements it views as a direct challenge to its own authority.

In 2014, demonstrators took to the streets peacefully for several weeks, demanding Hong Kongers be given the right to elect their own leader. But the so-called Umbrella movement eventually fizzled out with no concessions from Beijing.

In June 2019, protesters took to the streets again, demonstrating against plans to allow extraditions to mainland China. This time, clashes between police and activists became increasingly violent.

The bill was halted, and later fully withdrawn, but demonstrations continued for months, with demands for full democracy and an independent inquiry into police actions.

In April this year, Hong Kong police arrested 15 of the city's most high-profile pro-democracy activists for taking part in unauthorised assemblies.

In May, Hong Kong's police watchdog said it found no significant wrongdoing on the police's part during the 2019 protests - in a report that was criticised by many rights groups and external experts.

The street protests have mostly died down during the coronavirus pandemic, although some small demonstrations, including singing protesters in shopping malls, have started again as restrictions are gradually eased.

Now, China is proposing to introduce a new national security law in Hong Kong, which could be similar to the one withdrawn in 2003. It says the legislation is "highly necessary" and would "safeguard national security in Hong Kong".

However, the new proposal is also controversial because it is expected to circumvent Hong Kong's own law-making processes - leading to accusations that Beijing is undermining Hong Kong's autonomy.

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Why are there protests in Hong Kong? All the context you need

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The protests began in June 2019 over plans - later put on ice, and finally withdrawn in September - that would have allowed extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China. They then spread to reflect wider demands for democratic reform, and an inquiry into alleged police brutality.

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Laos, landlocked country of northeast-central mainland Southeast Asia. It consists of an irregularly round portion in the north that narrows into a peninsula-like region stretching to the southeast. Overall, the country extends about 650 miles (1,050 km) from northwest to southeast. The capital is Vientiane (Lao: Viangchan), located on the Mekong River in the northern portion of the country.

The geologically diverse landscape of Laos, with its forested mountains, upland plateaus and lowland plains, supports an equally diverse population that is united largely through agriculture, particularly the cultivation of rice. Interactions-sometimes hostile, sometimes hospitable-with the neighbouring Khmer (Cambodian), Siamese (Thai), and Myanmar (Burmese) kingdoms between the 5th and the mid-19th century indirectly imbued Laos with elements of Indian culture, including Buddhism, the religion now practiced by most of the population. Both Buddhist and Hindu lores have shaped the visual, performing, and literary arts of the country. Many of the indigenous and minority peoples of the remote highland slopes and mountainous regions, however, have maintained their own idiosyncratic ritual and artistic traditions.

Colonization by the French from the late 19th to the mid-20th century infused Laos with a European cultural element, which intensified throughout the country's embroilment in World War II and the Indochina wars, as well as a civil war of its own in the second half of the 20th century. Guided by Marxist-Leninist ideology, Laos emerged from the turmoil in 1975 as a communist country. Economic reforms of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including the development of tourism, have strengthened Laos's economy, gradually shrinking the country's debt and diminishing its dependence on international aid.

Land

Laos is bounded to the north by China, to the northeast and east by Vietnam, to the south by Cambodia, to the west by Thailand, and to the northwest by Myanmar (Burma).

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Relief

Dominating the landscape of Laos are its inhospitable forest-covered mountains, which in the north rise to a maximum elevation of 9,245 feet (2,818 metres) above sea level at Mount Bia and everywhere constitute an impediment to travel. The principal range lies along a northwest-southeast axis and forms part of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne Annamitique), but secondary ranges abound. On the Xiangkhoang Plateau in north-central Laos, the Plain of Jars (Thông Haihin; the name derived from large prehistoric stone jars discovered there) consists of extensive rolling grasslands rather than a true plain and provides a hub of communications. The karst landscapes of the central provinces of Bolikhamxay and Khammouan contain caverns and severely eroded limestone pinnacles. In the south the Bolovens Plateau, at an elevation of about 3,600 feet (1,100 metres), is covered by open woodland and has generally fertile soil. The only extensive lowlands lie along the eastern bank of the Mekong River.

Drainage

The general slope of the land in Laos is downhill from east to west, and all the major rivers-the Tha, Beng, Ou, Ngum, Kading, Bangfai, Banghiang, and Kong-are tributaries of the Mekong (Mènam Khong). The Mekong flows generally southeast and south along and through western Laos and forms its boundary with Myanmar and most of the border with Thailand. The course of the river itself is severely constricted by gorges in northern Laos, but, by the time it reaches Vientiane, its valley broadens and exposes wide areas to flooding when the river breaches its banks, as it did most notably in August 1966. A few rivers in eastern Laos flow eastward through gaps in the Annamese Cordillera to reach the Gulf of Tonkin; the most important of these is the Ma River, which rises in the northeast, just inside the Vietnam border.

Soils

Soils in the floodplains are formed from alluvium deposited by rivers and are either sandy or sandy clay with light colours or sandy with gray or yellow colours; chemically, these are neutral to slightly acidic. Upland soils derived from crystalline, granitic, schistose, or sandstone parent rocks generally are more acidic and much less fertile. Southern Laos contains areas of laterite (leached and iron-bearing) soils, as well as basaltic soils on the Bolovens Plateau.

Climate

Laos has the typical tropical monsoon (wet-dry) climate of the region, though the mountains provide some variations in temperature. During the rainy season (May to October), the winds of the southwest monsoon deposit an average rainfall of 50 to 90 inches (1,300 to 2,300 mm), with totals reaching some 160 inches (4,100 mm) on the Bolovens Plateau. The dry season (November to April) is dominated by the northeast monsoon. Minimum temperatures average between 60 and 70 °F (16 and 21 °C) in the cool months of December through February, increasing to highs of more than 90 °F (32 °C) in March and April, just before the start of the rains. In the wet season the average temperature is 80 °F (27 °C).

Plant and animal life

Laos has tropical rainforests of broad-leaved evergreens in the north and monsoon forests of mixed evergreens and deciduous trees in the south. In the monsoon forest areas the ground is covered with tall, coarse grass called tranh; the trees are mostly secondary growth, with an abundance of bamboo, scrub, and wild banana. Laos is also home to hundreds of species of orchids and palms.

The forests and fields support a wealth of wildlife, including nearly 200 species of mammals, about the same number of reptiles and amphibians, and some 700 varieties of birds. Common mammals include gaurs (wild oxen), deer, bears, and monkeys. Elephants, rhinoceroses, and tigers, as well as several types of wild oxen, monkeys, and gibbons, are among the country's endangered mammals. Geckoes, snakes, skinks, and frogs are abundant; several types of turtles are threatened. The canopy and floor of the forest are inhabited by countless warblers, babblers, woodpeckers, and thrushes, as well as an array of larger raptors. Numerous water birds live in the lowlands. Several dozen species of Laos's birds are threatened, including most hornbills, ibises, and storks.

Official name

Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxôn Lao (Lao People's Democratic Republic)

Form of government

unitary single-party people's republic with one legislative house (National Assembly [149])

Head of state

President: Bounnhang Vorachith.

Head of government

Prime Minister: Thongloun Sisoulith

Capital

Vientiane (Viangchan)

Official language

Lao

Official religion

none

Monetary unit

kip (KN)

Population

(2020 est.) 7,226,000

Population rank

(2019) 104

Population projection 2030

7,375,000

Total area (sq mi)

91,429

Total area (sq km)

236,800

Density: persons per sq mi

(2018) 70.7

Density: persons per sq km

(2018) 27.3

Urban-rural population

Urban: (2018) 35%

Rural: (2018) 65%

Life expectancy at birth

Male: (2017) 64 years

Female: (2017) 67 years

Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate

Male: (2015) 90%

Female: (2015) 79.4%

GNI (U.S.$ '000,000)

(2017) 15,595

GNI per capita (U.S.$)

(2017) 2,270

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Laos | History, Flag, Map, Capital, Population, & Facts

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Laos, landlocked country of northeast-central mainland Southeast Asia. It consists of an irregularly round portion in the north that narrows into a peninsula-like region stretching to the southeast. Overall, the country extends about 650 miles (1,050 km) from northwest to southeast. The capital is Vientiane.

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Source about a Cambodian regime.

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The Khmer Rouge was a brutal regime that ruled Cambodia, under the leadership of Marxist dictator Pol Pot, from 1975 to 1979. Pol Pot's attempts to create a Cambodian "master race" through social engineering ultimately led to the deaths of more than 2 million people in the Southeast Asian country. Those killed were either executed as enemies of the regime, or died from starvation, disease or overwork. Historically, this period-as shown in the film The Killing Fields -has come to be known as the Cambodian Genocide.

Pol Pot

Although Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge didn't come to power until the mid-1970s, the roots of their takeover can be traced to the 1960s, when a communist insurgency first became active in Cambodia, which was then ruled by a monarch.

Throughout the 1960s, the Khmer Rouge operated as the armed wing of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, the name the party used for Cambodia. Operating primarily in remote jungle and mountain areas in the northeast of the country, near its border with Vietnam, which at the time was embroiled in its own civil war, the Khmer Rouge did not have popular support across Cambodia, particularly in the cities, including the capital Phnom Penh.

However, after a 1970 military coup led to the ouster of Cambodia's ruling monarch, Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge decided to join forces with the deposed leader and form a political coalition. As the monarch had been popular among city-dwelling Cambodians, the Khmer Rouge began to glean more and more support.

For the next five years, a civil war between the right-leaning military, which had led the coup, and those supporting the alliance of Prince Norodom and the Khmer Rouge raged in Cambodia. Eventually, the Khmer Rouge side seized the advantage in the conflict, after gaining control of increasing amounts of territory in the Cambodian countryside.

In 1975, Khmer Rouge fighters invaded Phnom Penh and took over the city. With the capital in its grasp, the Khmer Rouge had won the civil war and, thus, ruled the country.

Notably, the Khmer Rouge opted not to restore power to Prince Norodom, but instead handed power to the leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot. Prince Norodom was forced to live in exile.

Kampuchea

As a leader of the Khmer Rouge during its days as an insurgent movement, Pol Pot came to admire the tribes in Cambodia's rural northeast. These tribes were self-sufficient and lived on the goods they produced through subsistence farming.

The tribes, he felt, were like communes in that they worked together, shared in the spoils of their labor and were untainted by the evils of money, wealth and religion, the latter being the Buddhism common in Cambodia's cities.

Once installed as the country's leader by the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and the forces loyal to him quickly set about remaking Cambodia, which they had renamed Kampuchea, in the model of these rural tribes, with the hopes of creating a communist-style, agricultural utopia.

Declaring 1975 "Year Zero" in the country, Pol Pot isolated Kampuchea from the global community. He resettled hundreds of thousands of the country's city-dwellers in rural farming communes and abolished the country's currency. He also outlawed the ownership of private property and the practice of religion in the new nation.

Cambodian Genocide

Workers on the farm collectives established by Pol Pot soon began suffering from the effects of overwork and lack of food. Hundreds of thousands died from disease, starvation or damage to their bodies sustained during back-breaking work or abuse from the ruthless Khmer Rouge guards overseeing the camps.

Pol Pot's regime also executed thousands of people it had deemed as enemies of the state. Those seen as intellectuals, or potential leaders of a revolutionary movement, were also executed. Legend has it, some were executed for merely appearing to be intellectuals, by wearing glasses or being able to speak a foreign language.

As part of this effort, hundreds of thousands of the educated, middle-class Cambodians were tortured and executed in special centers established in the cities, the most infamous of which was Tuol Sleng jail in Phnom Penh, where nearly 17,000 men, women and children were imprisoned during the regime's four years in power.

During what became known as the Cambodian Genocide, an estimated 1.7 to 2.2 million Cambodians died during Pol Pot's time in charge of the country.

The End of Pol Pot

The Vietnamese Army invaded Cambodia in 1979 and removed Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from power, after a series of violent battles on the border between the two countries. Pol Pot had sought to extend his influence into the newly unified Vietnam, but his forces were quickly rebuffed.

After the invasion, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge fighters quickly retreated to remote areas of the country. However, they remained active as an insurgency, albeit with declining influence. Vietnam retained control in the country, with a military presence, for much of the 1980s, over the objections of the United States.

Over the decades since the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia has gradually reestablished ties with the world community, although the country still faces problems, including widespread poverty and illiteracy. Prince Norodom returned to govern Cambodia in 1993, although he now rules under a constitutional monarchy.

Pol Pot himself lived in the rural northeast of the country until 1997, when he was tried by the Khmer Rouge for his crimes against the state. The trial was seen as being mostly for show, however, and the former dictator died while under house arrest in jungle home.

The stories of the suffering of the Cambodian people at the hands of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge have garnered worldwide attention in the years since their rise and fall, including through the 1984 movie The Killing Fields, an account of the atrocities based on the book The Death and Life of Dith Pran by journalist Sydney Schanberg.

Sources

Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime. BBC News.
The Cambodian Genocide. United to End Genocide.
Cambodian Genocide. World Without Genocide.
The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot's Regime. Mount Holyoke College.
Cambodia: The World Factbook. CIA.

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The Khmer Rouge was a brutal regime that ruled Cambodia, under the leadership of Marxist dictator Pol Pot, from 1975 to 1979. Pol Pot's attempts to create a Cambodian "master race" through social engineering ultimately led to the deaths of more than 2 million people in the Southeast Asian country.

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Three most senior surviving Khmer Rouge members, including leader Pol Pot's right-hand man, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, go on trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

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Three most senior surviving Khmer Rouge members, including leader Pol Pot's right-hand man, "Brother Number Two" Nuon Chea, go on trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

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Thai history begins as a story of migrants heading into a frontier land claimed by distant empires for trade, forced labour and patronage. Eventually the country fused a national identity around language, religion and monarchy. The kings resist colonisation from the expansionist Western powers on its border only to cede their absolute grip on the country when challenged from forces within. Since the transition to a constitutional monarchy in 1932, the military predominantly rules the country with a few democratic hiccups in between.

Ancient History

Little evidence remains of the cultures that existed in Thailand before the middle of the 1st millennium AD. Homo erectus fossils in Thailand's northern province of Lampang date back at least 500,000 years, and the country's most important archaeological site is Ban Chiang, outside Udon Thani, which provides evidence of one of the world's oldest agrarian societies. It is believed that the Mekong River Valley and Khorat Plateau were inhabited as far back as 10,000 years ago by farmers and bronze-workers. Cave paintings in Pha Taem National Park near Ubon Ratchathani date back some 3000 years.

Early Empires

Starting around the 10th century, the 'Tai' people, considered to be the ancestors of the contemporary Thais, began migrating from southern China into present-day Southeast Asia. These immigrants spoke Tai-Kadai, said to be the most significant ethno-linguistic group in Southeast Asia. Some settled in the river valleys of modern-day Thailand while others chose parts of modern-day Laos and the Shan state of Myanmar.

They settled in villages as farmers, hunters and traders and organised themselves into administrative units known as meu·ang, under the rule of a lord, that became the building blocks of the Tai state. Over time, the Tai expanded from the northern mountain valleys into the central plains and northeastern plateau, where there existed several important trading centres ruled by various indigenous and 'foreign' empires, including the Mon-Dvaravati, Khmer (Cambodia) and Srivijaya (Malay).

While mainland Thailand was influenced by forces from the north and west, the Malay peninsula was economically and culturally fused to cultures further south. Between the 8th and 13th centuries, the Malay peninsula was under the sway of the confederation of the Srivijaya, which controlled maritime trade between the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. The Srivijaya capital is believed to have been in Palembang on Sumatra.

Of the series of Srivijaya city-states along the Malay peninsula, Tambralinga established its capital near present-day Nakhon Si Thammarat and adopted Buddhism in the 13th century, while the states further south adopted Islam, creating a religious boundary which persists to this day. Remains of Srivijaya culture can be seen around Chaiya and Nakhon Si Thammarat. Many art forms of the Srivijaya kingdom - such as năng đà·lung (shadow theatre) and lá·kon (classical dance-drama) - also persist today.

Emerging Tai Kingdoms

In the 13th century, the regional empires started to decline and prosperous Tai city-states emerged with localised power and military might. The competing city-states were ultimately united into various kingdoms that began to establish a Thai identity. Scholars recognise Lanna, Sukhothai and Ayuthaya as the unifying kingdoms of the period.

During the 13th century, several principalities in the central plains united and wrested control from the dying Khmer empire, making their new capital at Sukhothai (meaning 'Rising of Happiness'). Thais consider Sukhothai the first true Thai kingdom and the period is recognised as an artistic and cultural awakening.

The most revered of the Sukhothai kings was Ramkhamhaeng, who is credited with developing the modern Thai writing system, which is based on Indian, Mon and Khmer scripts. He also established Theravada Buddhism as the official religion.

In its prime, the Sukhothai kingdom extended as far as Nakhon Si Thammarat in the south, to the upper Mekong River Valley in Laos and to Bago (Pegu) in southern Burma. For a short period (1448-86) the Sukhothai capital was moved to Phitsanulok, but by that time another star was rising in Thailand, the kingdom of Ayuthaya.

Ramkamhaeng's Stone Inscription

In the mid-14th century, the Ayuthaya kingdom began to dominate the Mae Nam Chao Phraya basin during the twilight of the Khmer period. It survived for 416 years, defining itself as Siam's most important kingdom with an expansive sphere of influence (including much of the former Khmer empire) and a fundamental role in organising the modern Thai state and social structure.

With a strategic island location formed by encircling rivers, Ayuthaya grew wealthy through international trade during the 17th century's age of commerce and fortified itself with superior Portuguese-supplied firearms and mercenaries. The river system connected to the Gulf of Thailand and to the hinterlands as well.

This is the period when Western traders 'discovered' Southeast Asia, and Ayuthaya hosted many foreign settlements. Accounts by foreign visitors mention Ayuthaya's cosmopolitan markets and court. In 1690 Londoner Engelbert Campfer proclaimed, 'Among the Asian nations, the kingdom of Siam is the greatest'.

Ayuthaya adopted Khmer court customs, honorific language and ideas of kingship. The monarch styled himself as a Khmer devaraja (divine king) rather than Sukhothai's dhammaraja (righteous king); and Ayuthaya continued to pay tribute to the Chinese emperor, who rewarded this ritualistic submission with generous gifts and commercial privileges.

The kingdom functioned according to a strict and complex hierarchy, much of which was defined by King Trailok (r 1448-88). Elaborate lists of official posts with specific titles and ranks were established. Individual social status was measured in numerical units of how much land one possessed. Fines and punishments were proportional to the person's rank. Ayuthaya society consisted of royalty, nobility and commoners. Commoners were further divided into freemen and slaves. Freemen were assigned to a royal or noble overseer. For six months of each year they owed labour to the ruling elite, doing personal errands, public works or military service. Despite the clear social hierarchy, social mobility was possible, depending on personal skills, connections (including marriage) and royal favour. These societal divisions are reflected in the feudal elements that persist in Thai society today.

The glories of Ayuthaya were interrupted by the expansionist Burmese. In 1569 the city had fallen to the great Burmese king, Bayinnaung, but regained independence under the leadership of King Naresuan. Then, in 1765, Burma's ambitious and newly established Kongbaung dynasty pushed eastward to eliminate Ayuthaya as a political and commercial rival. Burmese troops laid siege to the capital for a year before destroying it in 1767. The city was devastated, its buildings and people wiped out. The surrounding areas were deserted. So chilling was this historic sacking and razing of Ayuthaya that the perception of the Burmese as ruthless aggressors still persists in the minds of many Thais to this day.

The International King

The Bangkok Era

With Ayuthaya in ruins, the line of succession of the kings was broken and chaos ensued. A former general, Taksin, claimed his right to rule, defeated potential rivals and established his new capital in Thonburi, a settlement downriver from Ayuthaya with better access to trade. King Taksin, the son of a Chinese father and Thai mother, strongly promoted trade with China. After 15 years, the king was deposed in 1782 by the military.

One of the coup organisers, Chao Phraya Chakri, assumed the throne as King Yot Fa (Rama I) and established the Chakri dynasty, which still rules today. The new monarch moved the capital across Mae Nam Chao Phraya to modern-day Bangkok. The first century of Bangkok rule focused on rebuilding the cultural, political and military might of Ayuthaya. The new rulers extended their influence in every direction. Destroying the capital cities of both Laos and Cambodia, Siam contained Burmese aggression and made a vassal of Chiang Mai. Defeated populations were resettled and played an important role in increasing Siam's production of rice, much of which was exported to China.

Unlike the Ayuthaya rulers who identified with the Hindu god Vishnu, the Chakri kings positioned themselves as defenders of Buddhism. They undertook compilations and Thai translations of essential Buddhist texts and constructed many royal temples.

In the meantime, a new social order and market economy was taking shape in the mid-19th century. Siam turned to the West for modern scientific and technological ideas and reforms in education, infrastructure and legal systems. One of the great modernisers, King Mongkut (Rama IV; r 1851-68) never expected to be king. Before his ascension he had spent 27 years in the monastery, founding the Thammayut sect based on the strict disciplines of the Mon monks.

During his reign, Siam concluded treaties with Western powers that integrated the kingdom into the world market system, ceded royal monopolies and granted extraterritorial rights to British subjects.

Mongkut's son, King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who ruled between 1868 and 1910, was to take much greater steps in replacing the old political order with the model of the nation-state. He abolished slavery and the corvée system (state labour), which had lingered on ineffectively since the Ayuthaya period. Chulalongkorn's reign oversaw the creation of a salaried bureaucracy, a police force and a standing army. His reforms brought uniformity to the legal code, law courts and revenue offices. Siam's agricultural output was improved by advances in irrigation techniques and increasing peasant populations. Schools were established along European lines.

Chulalongkorn relied greatly on foreign advisers, mostly British. Within the royal court, much of the centuries-old protocol was abandoned and replaced by Western forms. The architecture and visual art of state, like the new throne halls, were designed by Italian artists.

Like his father, Chulalongkorn was regarded as a skilful diplomat and is credited for successfully playing European powers off one another to avoid colonisation. In exchange for independence, Thailand ceded territory to French Indochina (Laos in 1893, Cambodia in 1907) and British Burma (three Malayan states in 1909). In 1902, the former Patani kingdom was ceded to the British, who were then in control of Malaysia, but control reverted back to Thailand five years later. Many residents of the Deep South continue to regard Thailand as a colonial power occupying their land.

Defying old traditions, Chulalongkorn followed in his father's footsteps in allowing himself to be seen in public, photographed in peasant garb, and consented to his image being reproduced on coins, stamps and postcards. He was also well travelled and visited Europe, Singapore, Java, Malaya, Burma and India. He collected art and inspiration from these travels and built fanciful palaces as architectural scrapbooks.

Siam was becoming a geographically defined country in a modern sense. By 1902, the country no longer called itself Siam but Prathet Thai (the country of the Thai) or Ratcha-anachak Thai (the kingdom of the Thai). By 1913, all those living within its borders were defined as 'Thai'.

Democracy vs Military

In 1932 a group of young military officers and bureaucrats calling themselves Khana Ratsadon (People's Party) mounted a successful, bloodless coup which marked the end of absolute monarchy and introduced a constitutional monarchy. The leaders of the group were inspired by the democratic ideology they had encountered during their studies in Europe.

In the years after the coup, rival factions (royalists, military, civilians) struggled for the upper hand in the new power regime. Even the People's Party was not unified in its vision of a democratic Thailand, and before general elections were held the military wing of the party seized control of the government. The leader of the civilian wing of the People's Party, Pridi Phanomyong, a French-educated lawyer, was forced into exile in 1933 after introducing a socialist-leaning economic plan that angered the military generals. Thailand's first popular election was held in 1937 for half of the seats in the People's Assembly, the newly instated legislative body. General Phibul Songkhram, one of the military leaders, became prime minister, a position he held from 1938 to 1944 and again from 1948 to 1957.

Phibul's regime coincided with WWII and was characterised by strong nationalistic tendencies of 'nation' and 'Thai-ness'. He collaborated with the Japanese and allowed them to use Thailand as a staging ground for its invasion of other Southeast Asian nations. The Phibul government was hoping the allegiance would restore historical territory lost during France's expansion of Indochina. Thailand intended to declare war on the US and Britain during WWII. But Seni Pramoj, the Thai ambassador in Washington and a member of Seri Thai (the Thai Liberation Movement), refused to deliver the formal declaration of war, thus saving Thailand from bearing the consequences of defeated-nation status. Phibul was forced to resign in 1944 and was tried for war crimes.

For a brief period after the war, democracy flourished: full elections for the People's Assembly were held and the 1946 constitution sought to reduce the role of the military and provide more democratic rights. And it all lasted until the death of King Ananda, the pretext the military used to return to power with Phibul at the helm.

Military Dictatorships

In 1957 Phibul's successor General Sarit Thanarat subjected the country to a true military dictatorship: abolishing the constitution, dissolving the parliament and banning all political parties. In the 1950s, the US partnered with Sarit and subsequent military dictators Thanom Kittikachorn and Praphat Charusathien (who controlled the country from 1964 to 1973), to allow the US military to develop bases in Thailand during the war in Vietnam in exchange for economic incentives.

By 1973, an opposition group of left-wing activists, mainly intellectuals and students, organised political rallies demanding a constitution from the military government. On 14 October that year the military brutally suppressed a large demonstration in Bangkok, killing 77 people and wounding more than 800. The event is commemorated by a monument on Th Ratchadamnoen Klang in Bangkok, near the Democracy Monument. King Bhumibol stepped in and refused to support further bloodshed, forcing Thanom and Praphat to leave Thailand.

In the following years, the left-oriented student movement grew more radical, creating fears among working-class and middle-class Thais of home-grown communism. In 1976 Thanom returned to Thailand (ostensibly to become a monk) and was received warmly by the royal family. In response, protesters organised demonstrations at Thammasat University against the perceived perpetrator of the 14 October massacre. Right-wing, anti-communist civilian groups clashed with the students, resulting in bloody violence. In the aftermath, many students and intellectuals were forced underground, and joined armed communist insurgents - known as the People's Liberation Army of Thailand (PLAT) - based in the jungles of northern and southern Thailand.

Military control of the country continued through the 1980s. The government of the 'political soldier', General Prem Tinsulanonda, enjoyed a period of political and economic stability. Prem dismantled the communist insurgency through military action and amnesty programs. But the country's new economic success presented a challenging rival: prominent business leaders who criticised the military's role in government and their now-dated Cold War mentality. Communists, they maintained, should be business partners, not enemies.

The Business Era

In 1988, Prem was replaced in fair elections by Chatichai Choonhavan, leader of the Chat Thai Party, who created a government dominated by well-connected provincial business people. His government shifted power away from the bureaucrats and set about transforming Thailand into an 'Asian Tiger' economy. But the business of politics was often bought and sold like a commodity and Chatichai was overthrown by the military on grounds of extreme corruption. This coup demarcated an emerging trend in Thai politics: the Bangkok business community and educated classes siding with the military against provincial business-politicians and their money politics.

In 1992, General Suchinda Kraprayoon inserted himself as prime minister. This was met with popular resistance and the ensuing civilian-military clash was dubbed 'Black May'. Led by former Bangkok mayor Chamlong Srimuang, around 200,000 protesters (called the 'mobile phone mob', representing their rising urban affluence) launched a mass demonstration in Bangkok that resulted in three nights of violence with armed soldiers. On the night of 20 May, King Bhumibol called an end to the violence.

After Black May, a new wave of democracy activists advocated for constitutional reforms. For most of the 1990s, the parliament was dominated by the Democrat Party, which represented the urban middle class and business interests. Its major base of support came from the southern Thai population centres, formerly port towns now dominated by tourism and exports (rubber, tin and fishing). On the other side of the spectrum were the former pro-military politicians based in the central plains and the people of the agrarian northeast in new provincial towns who focused on state-budget distributions. These political lines still exist today.

In 1997, the boom years ended and the Asian economic crisis unfolded. The country's economy was plagued by foreign-debt burdens, a real-estate bubble and a devalued currency. Within months of the crisis, the Thai currency plunged from 25B to 56B per US$1. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in to impose financial and legal reforms and economic liberalisation programs in exchange for more than US$17 billion to stabilise the Thai currency.

In the aftermath of the crisis, the Democrats returned to power uncontested, but were viewed as ineffective as the economy worsened.

The Thaksin Era

In 2000, the economic slump began to ease. Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications billionaire and former police officer, and his Thai Rak Thai (TRT or 'Thai Loving Thai') party won a majority in the elections of 2001. Self-styled as a CEO-politician, Thaksin swiftly delivered on his campaign promises for rural development, including agrarian debt relief, village capital funds and cheap health care.

Thanks to the 1997 constitutional reforms designed to strengthen the prime minister's position, his was one of Thailand's most stable elected governments. The surging economy and his bold, if strong-arm, leadership won an outright majority in 2005, introducing one-party rule. His popularity among the working class and rural voters was immense.

In 2006 Thaksin was accused of abusing his powers and of conflicts of interest, most notably in his family's sale of their Shin Corporation to the Singaporean government for 73 billion baht (US$1.88 billion), a tax-free gain thanks to legislation he helped craft. Demonstrations in Bangkok called for his ousting and on 19 September 2006, the military staged a bloodless coup that forced Thaksin into exile. General elections were held shortly thereafter, with Thaksin's political allies forming a government led by Samak Sundaravej.

This was an unsatisfactory outcome to the military and the anti-Thaksin group known as People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), comprised of mainly urban elites nicknamed 'Yellow Shirts' because they wore yellow (the colour associated with the king's birthday). It was popularly believed that Thaksin was consolidating power during his tenure so that he could interrupt royal succession.

In September 2008, Samak Sundaravej was unseated by the Constitutional Court on a technicality: while in office, he hosted a TV cooking show deemed to be a conflict of interest. Concerned that another election would result in a Thaksin win, the Yellow Shirts seized control of Thailand's main airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang, for a week in November 2008, until the military manoeuvred a silent coup and another favourable court ruling that further weakened Thaksin's political proxies. Through last-minute coalition building, Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva was elected in a parliamentary vote, becoming Thailand's 27th prime minister.

Thaksin supporters organised their own counter-movement as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as the 'Red Shirts'. Supporters hail mostly from the north and northeast, and include anti-coup, pro-democracy activists; anti-royalists; and die-hard Thaksin fans. There is a degree of class struggle, with many working-class Red Shirts expressing bombastic animosity towards the aristocrats.

The Red Shirts' most provocative demonstration came in 2010, when Thailand's Supreme Court ordered the seizure of US$46 billion of Thaksin's assets after finding him guilty of abusing his powers as prime minister. The Red Shirts occupied Bangkok's central shopping district for two months and demanded the dissolution of the government and reinstatement of elections. In May 2010 the military used force to evict the protesters, resulting in bloody clashes where 91 people were killed and shopping centres set ablaze (US$1.5 billion of crackdown-related arson damage was estimated).

Democracy Vs Military Again

In 2011, general elections were held and Thaksin's politically allied Puea Thai party won a parliamentary majority, with Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra elected as prime minister. Yingluck Shinawatra became both the first female prime minister of Thailand and the country's youngest-ever premier. But throughout her time in power, Yingluck faced accusations that she was just the proxy for her older brother Thaksin, who fled the country to avoid corruption charges following the 2006 coup. Accounts of his influence over the Yingluck government circulated in Bangkok, with Thaksin said to be joining cabinet meetings by Skype from his homes in London, Dubai and Hong Kong.

Trouble loomed for her administration due to the so-called rice-pledging scheme. Designed to boost the incomes of small farmers, the government would buy their rice at above market rates, stockpile it - forcing global prices up - and then sell it at a handsome profit. But the scheme went disastrously wrong, as India lifted its ban on rice exports and flooded the world market with grains. Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter until 2012, could only watch as prices sank. The damage to the economy was huge, while millions of baht were alleged to have disappeared into the hands of the politicians and officials overseeing the policy. In May 2014, Yingluck was indicted on charges relating to the scheme; she was found guilty in 2017, but fled the country before she could be arrested.

Equally contentious was Yingluck's misguided attempt to introduce an amnesty bill that would have pardoned various politicians, including Thaksin. This was widely seen as the prelude to the return of Thaksin to Thailand. Street demonstrations against the government began in October 2013, led by former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban and his coalition of anti-government groups known as the People's Democratic Reform Committee. The group called for Yingluck and the government to step down and introduced yet another round of protest encampments and confrontations in Bangkok.

With sporadic violence between Yingluck's supporters and opponents breaking out, Yingluck and nine of her ministers were forced to step down by the Constitutional Court on 7 May 2014, followed by a military-led coup, the 13th time since 1932.

Return to Military Dictatorship

On 22 May 2014, the Thai military under General Prayuth Chan-o-cha overthrew the elected government and brought to an end months of political crisis. Prayuth said the coup was necessary to restore stability.

Prayuth's military government is known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). The NCPO set about restoring stability by implementing martial law and silencing critics. All media were under orders to refrain from dissent. Internet providers were ordered to block any content that violated the junta's orders. Even now, some websites, including the Thailand section of the Human Rights Watch website, remain inaccessible inside Thailand. In March 2015 Prayuth told journalists that he would execute those who did not toe the official line - the domestic media now self-censors their stories.

The crackdown extends into the civilian sphere as well. More than 1000 people - opposition politicians, academics, journalists, bloggers and students - have been detained or tried in military courts. In March 2015, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights claimed that the military is using martial law to silence opposition and to call for 'freedom of expression to ensure genuine debate'.

In preparation for the inevitable transfer of the crown, the military also increased prosecution of the country's strict lèse-majesté laws. In August 2015 one man received a 30-year prison sentence for insulting the monarchy on his Facebook page after sharing a news article. BBC Thai was investigated for defamation of the new king after a 2016 profile piece aired online.

While the NCPO was busy silencing critics, it failed to address Thailand's slumping economy. Foreign investment, exports and GDP all contracted after the coup. In 2016 a much-needed infrastructure investment plan was announced to help bolster the downturn. Tourism continues to be the bright spot in the economy.

AN EU for Southeast Asia

By the end of 2015, the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) united the association's 10 Southeast Asian countries in a liberalised marketplace where goods, services, capital and labour are shared across borders with little or no country-specific impediments. In theory, the AEC will make it easier to buy and sell goods, hire non-nationals and invest within the ASEAN region. Implementation of the AEC goals has been slow due to the disparities and political interests of each member nation.

Back to Political Deadlock

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Thai history begins as a story of migrants heading into a frontier land claimed by distant empires for trade, forced labour and patronage. Eventually the country fused a national identity around language, religion and monarchy. The kings resist colonisation from the expansionist Western powers on its border only to cede their absolute grip on the country when challenged from forces within.

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Philippines | History, Map, Flag, Population, Capital, & Facts

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Philippines, island country of Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. It is an archipelago consisting of more than 7,000 islands and islets lying about 500 miles (800 km) off the coast of Vietnam. Manila is the capital, but nearby Quezon City is the country’s most-populous city.

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Thailand, which has about the same land area as Spain or France, consists of two broad geographic areas: a larger main section in the north and a smaller peninsular extension in the south. The main body of the country is surrounded by Myanmar (Burma) to the west, Laos to the north and east, Cambodia to the southeast, and the Gulf of Thailand to the south. Peninsular Thailand stretches southward from the southwestern corner of the country along the eastern edge of the Malay Peninsula; Myanmar extends along the western portion of the peninsula as far as the Isthmus of Kra, after which Thailand occupies the entire peninsula until reaching its southern border with Malaysia at roughly latitude 6° N.

Relief

Thailand's landscapes vary from low mountains to fertile alluvial plains dotted with rice paddies to sandy beaches set amid the equatorial latitudes of the Asian monsoons. The country is divided into five distinct physiographic regions: the folded mountains in the north and west, the Khorat Plateau in the northeast, the Chao Phraya River basin in the centre, the maritime corner of the central region in the southeast, and the long, slender peninsular portion in the southwest.

The northern mountains, the southeastern continuation of the uplift process that formed the Himalayas, extend southward along the Thai-Myanmar border and reach as far south as northern Malaysia. Long granitic ridges were formed when great masses of molten rock forced their way upward through the older sedimentary strata. Peaks average about 5,200 feet (l,600 metres) above sea level. Mount Inthanon, at 8,481 feet (2,585 metres) the highest in the country, is in northwestern Thailand, near the historical city of Chiang Mai. The city is overshadowed by Mount Suthep, site of a famous Buddhist shrine and the royal summer palace. Some of the rugged limestone hills contain caves from which remains of prehistoric humans have been excavated.

The northeast is coterminous with the Khorat Plateau, a vast tableland bounded by the Mekong River on the north and east. It was formed by uplifting along two perpendicularly arranged crustal faults-one trending north-south in the west and the other east-west in the south. As a result, the underlying sedimentary rocks were tilted rather than uniformly uplifted. This tilting created ranges of low hills and mountains along the western and southern edges of the plateau: the Phetchabun and Dangrek (Thai: Dong Rak) mountains, respectively. The escarpments of these uplands overlook the plain of the Chao Phraya basin to the west and the Cambodian plain to the south. Surface elevations on the Khorat Plateau range from about 650 feet (200 metres) in the northwest to some 300 feet (90 metres) in the southeast. The terrain is rolling, and the hilltops generally slope to the southeast in conformity with the tilt of the land.

Situated between the northern and western mountain ranges and the Khorat Plateau is the extensive Chao Phraya River basin, which is the cultural and economic heartland of Thailand. The region, sometimes called the Central Plain, consists of two portions: heavily dissected rolling plains in the north and the flat, low-lying floodplain and delta of the Chao Phraya in the south. It was formed by the outwash of immense quantities of sediment brought down from the mountains by the Chao Phraya's tributaries, which produced vast fan-shaped alluvial deposits.

The generally rolling countryside of the southeast has high hills in the centre and along the eastern boundary with Cambodia. Notable peaks are Mount Khieo, which rises to 2,614 feet (797 metres), and Mount Soi Dao, which attains a height of 5,471 feet (1,668 metres). The hills, reaching nearly to the sea, create a markedly indented coastline fringed with many islands. With their long stretches of sandy beach, such coastal towns as Chon Buri and Rayong and some of the islands have become popular year-round tourist resorts.

The southwestern portion of the country consists of a peninsula with a mountainous spine and a gently sloping sandy coastline. Higher mountains reaching about 4,900 feet (1,500 metres) line the peninsula on the west and contain narrow passes linking Thailand and Myanmar. These ranges separate the Andaman and South China seas as the peninsula narrows near the Malaysian border. Off the rugged and much-indented west coast lie numerous large islands, including tin-rich Phuket Island, which, with other islands such as Samui and Phiphi, have become tourist destinations, surpassing in popularity Hua Hin, the old coastal resort located in the northern part of the peninsula.

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Thailand - Mountains, Rivers, Coastline: Thailand, which has about the same land area as Spain or France, consists of two broad geographic areas: a larger main section in the north and a smaller peninsular extension in the south.

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Culture of Cambodia – Main Values, Religion, Traditions

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Culture of Cambodia – Main Values, Religion, Traditions

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The culture of Cambodia is one so interesting that individuals from the world over travel to the Kingdom's shores for a taste of it all. From the temples, to the historical sites, to the soft smiles on the faces of young monks, there is just so much to see, feel, and experience here in Cambodia.

Historical roots

Ancestors of the Khmer people are thought to have arrived in the Angkor area between 5 and 10 thousand years ago. Good fishing opportunities lead them to the shores of Tonle Sap Lake. The first contact between the Khmers and the Indians is thought to have happened around A.D. 100 while traders were looking for a maritime route through to China for trading purposes. Since then, the introduction of Buddhism, and the adaption of the animistic Khmer culture to it has led to what the culture is today - a fantastically spiritual, and rare way of being in the world.

The main values in Cambodia

Cambodia is a land that is, in some ways, massively different from the ways of the Western world, and in other ways, exactly the same. Family, religion and various traditions are important in both cultures. However, the exemplification of these values is so very different from the traditions and practices of each of the disparate worlds.

Family

Family, and service to that family, is of great importance in the culture. Interestingly, commitments to the surrounding community, and any ties to members outside of the family are also taken very seriously. So seriously in fact, that these responsibilities are on par with one's commitments to their own family.

Time

Cambodia, is by and large, a rural society. Without the time-bounded endless demands that we have become so accustomed to in the Western world, Cambodians' relationship with time has taken on a very different form. Rather than being so time-focused, people are more event-focused. This means that rather than taking your cue for lunch from the time on your watch, lunch will happen in accordance with the proceedings of the day. Sometimes it will be earlier, sometimes it will be later. Things happen more intuitively and organically, simply because there is no need to schedule them.

Relationships

People in Cambodia place great value on interpersonal relationships. One's relationships with others dictate their prioritization of time - which is just such an interesting concept! Rather than our loyalties and priorities lying within ourselves and our needs, the needs of others, and one's relationship with them, supersedes the importance of the self.

Fatalism

Cambodians also live their life with a certain sense of reduced accountability and a rather fatalistic outlook. The power of the self to intervene in the course of life's events, or to enhance one's prospects, is significantly diminished. Individuals are often resigned to whatever lot they face, making peace with what is. While this is a difficult pill to swallow from the standpoint of countries that thrive on entrepreneurship and ambition, whose to say which standpoint is more productive to your well-being?

Traditional roles of men and women

The structure of the nuclear family unit in Cambodia was incontrovertibly altered as a consequence of the horrific Khmer Rouge. Millions of family members were lost in this time, which has left a staggering amount of families without two parents, and without sufficient adult company to run the affairs of the household.

Because so many families lost members in the Khmer Rouge era a household can consist of a wide range relative combinations. Single-parent families led by a widow are relatively common. Member of a household commonly share work, food and resources.

Legally, the husband is the head of the Khmer family. As was the hard rule in days gone by in the Western world, the husband is responsible for providing shelter and food for the family unit - not an easy responsibility to have on your shoulders! Husbands/men are also responsible for physically demanding tasks, like ploughing and harrowing the rice paddies, threshing rice, and caring for cattle. They are also expected to take care of the carpentry needs. Again, not easy. At least they're not expected to deal with IT problems, a failing WiFi connection, and the issues associated with a teenage girl running free in a shopping mall.

There is a distinct double standard, and undeniable level of sexism within the country - especially within more rural parts of the land. Men are usually significantly more educated, with at least 10 years of instruction behind them. Females, on the other hand, are drastically under-educated with as little as 16 percent of girls in the country enrolled in school. While wages may be insufficient nation-wide, it is true that as little as 6 percent of females actually get paid for their work.

As such, the role of the wife/woman rarely stretches beyond the confines of the household. Because of the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, thousands of women have been forced to be exceptionally strong in Cambodia, taking responsibility for things that would usually be shared by a household with more than parent. Women often perform the same sort of labour intensive activities that men do. Above and beyond washing and caring for the house, women will do work in the fields, produce other goods, and involve themselves in trade and exchanges.

The ability of single mothers to do it all is nothing short of a miracle, and is testament to the strength of human character. Women are also the spiritual heads of the household. They guide and educate children around religion and ethics and steer them toward the light.

Religion and traditional beliefs

Religion in Cambodia is believed to have been largely influenced by the oceanic merchants who sailed through the Gulf of Thailand on their way through to China. It is thought that the Indian culture was such introduced to the land, until it's religious beliefs were first assimilated by the then Funan Kingdom.

Buddhism

As such, there is a very large Buddhist following within the country, as there is in the whole of South East Asia. About 90 per cent of the Cambodian population are Theravada Buddhists. It is a tolerant, non-prescriptive religion that doesn't necessitate a belief in a supreme being.

Hindu

Hindu found it's way into Cambodia around the same time that Buddhism did. It was, and still is, one of the official religions of the state. Angkor Wat, is in fact a Hindu temple - the largest in the whole world!

Islam

Islam is another official religion of the Kingdom. The numbers of practicing Muslims were decimated during the Khmer Rouge to the point of unifying the straits of religious sects. Today, there is still a strong portion of the country who make their way to Malaysia to study the Qurán, and also some that make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Christianity

Christianity is an almost non-existent religion in the country. Small missionary centres in Battambang and Siem Riep converted around 2000 people in the early 1960's.

While the country is most prominently Buddhist, the practices, architecture, and the integrity of those practicing alternate religions are well respected in Cambodia. The very tolerant and accepting nature of Buddhism is to be given the credit for this.

Arts & architecture

Throughout Cambodia's eventful, and at point's turbulent history, religious principles have guided and inspired the arts.

The unique Khmer style that can be witnessed at the wats and museums are the result of an amalgamation of the indigenous animistic beliefs and the once Indian religion of Buddhism. The thousands of years since this initial melting pot of cultures has produced truly beautiful art and architecture.

When viewing a sculpture, or art piece, the underlying religious principles are extremely evident. The pieces carry a certain grace and beauty, an acceptance and poise - all of which are so valued by the Cambodian people.

There are many examples of Khmer sculpture throughout the country. The style is entrancing and soothing. You will often see Hindu deities depicted with expert style and ability. Take the time to really take them in!

The houses of ancient Khmers vary very little from the houses that you may find in the villages of modern Cambodia. Houses were very elevated off the ground and built largely from wood. The walls were made from bamboo, and the roof covered with thatched leaves or coconut palms.

Interestingly, as the case in the Western world, architecture and decoration indicates social standing. In today's age, impressive structures are more an indication of wealth than of political or social power. However, the various homes in the rural parts of Cambodia are linked with the social standing of the families. Dignitaries homes were bigger, built of stronger wood, and had tiles on their roofs. Rather than simply being beyond the budget of a laymen, creating homes that resembled those of a class beyond one's own was thought inconceivable by the very nature of its incompatibility with one's own social standing.

Traditional dress

Having traditional attire that is used so frequently really is a special thing. Far from the once a year adornment of the Scottish Kilt for a wedding, the traditional attire of Cambodia is throughout the year. Special, occasion based outfits will be seen several times a year, and will be hard to miss with the bright colours and intricate designs. Much of the traditional wear is made from golden silk, crafted with patterns and designs unique to Cambodia.

Beyond the elegant and colourful traditional outfits, there a are a handful of things that people wear on a day to day basis - some with such usability, you'll be unimpressed with the singular function of your jeans. A karma is a thin towel-sized piece of fabric, more practical than a Leatherman. They are often wrapped around people's heads for protection from the sun, are used as a sarong, and are used to carry things in. They are even utilised as a fashion accessory! Ha! How different things can be.

The Sampot is the national garment of the Kingdom. It is a form of sarong that is worn by men and women who are the envy of every ill-equipped, sweaty and uncomfortable traveller.

Traditional dance

Dance is a revered art form in Cambodia. It is said that Cambodia was created between a king and a heavenly dancer. As you can well imagine, dance is popular in the Kingdom. You will often see dancers plastered onto big posters, you will see it happening in the streets, in plays, and even on the walls of Angor Wat.

There are three kinds of dances in the country. Folk, sacred, and classical. Of the three, classical dance is the most prevalent in the country today. The artform must fight against the pressures of modern forms of entertainment and the decreased level of transmission of the tradition from generation to generation.

Traditional food

Cambodian traditional cuisine is all about noodles, soups, curries, and a host of grilled and fried bits and pieces.

Cambodians are especially good at creating pastes of things. The combination of the fresh ingredients, and some mystical process (fair assumption) leads to the product being so much greater than the sum of its parts.

Among the most popular of ingredients is fish paste, and prawn paste. You'll find that whether you are ordering Fish Amok, or a grilled crab at the seaside, there'll be some in, or some on your table! You'll quickly become very happy about this.

Traditional celebrations

Cambodia has so many, just so many incredible festivals that make a journey to the country for that alone a good idea. Among the most popular is the Khmer New Year. In the early days of April, three days of celebrations fill the streets of the big cities. Peoples homes are incredibly decorated, and there is a look of hope and thankfulness written on each person's face. There is also a good amount of talcum powder on their faces too.

The water festival is another special one. Be sure to be around Phnom Penh in late October for this one. Celebrate the turning of the tide in the Mekong river in the grandest of fashions, and everything that this makes possible for the Cambodian people.

Other important festivals include Independence Day, Pchum Ben, and Royal Ploughing Day.

Conclusion

The culture of the country is incredibly rich and diverse, with so much to see you may not know where to look. A trip to the country will deepen your appreciation for the human condition, it's incredible complexity, and the astounding variety of what is essentially the same thing repeated billions of times. Come to Cambodia, come see it all!

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Culture of Cambodia - Main Values, Religion, Traditions

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The culture of Cambodia is one so interesting that individuals from the world over travel to the Kingdom's shores for a taste of it all. From the temples, to the historical sites, to the soft smiles on the faces of young monks, there is just so much to see, feel, and experience here in Cambodia.

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Ancient Japan has made unique contributions to world culture which include the Shinto religion and its architecture, distinctive art objects such as haniwa figurines, the oldest pottery vessels in the…

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August 2009 Issue
There are an estimated 6 million to 7 million Muslims in America whose unique food practices are guided by religious laws and influenced by cultural differences.1 But when it comes to understanding the real essence of these practices, many dietitians are in the dark, which creates a barrier to reaching out to this segment of the population.

No one cuisine unites Muslim Americans. The Muslim community is diverse; 36% were born in the United States, while the rest are from 80 different countries worldwide.2 Although the three major ethnic groups in this community are South Asians, Arabs, and African Americans, many have Caucasian, Caribbean, and Far Asian roots.

Islamic Dietary Guidelines
By Islamic law, all foods are considered halal, or lawful, except for pork and its by-products, animals improperly slaughtered or dead before slaughtering, animals slaughtered in the name of anyone but Allah (God), carnivorous animals, birds of prey, animals without external ears (some birds and reptiles), blood, alcohol, and foods contaminated with any of these. All seafood is halal.

Muslims are concerned about what is in their food, forcing them to be skillful readers of ingredient lists. Food ingredients that come from multiple sources, such as gelatin, emulsifiers, and enzymes, necessitate the Muslim consumer to do some research to confirm whether they are lawful.

Many Muslims choose to eat halal-certified products only, available in ethnic stores, some ethnic and franchise restaurants, and occasionally in mainstream grocery stores located in Muslim-dense neighborhoods. The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America provides such certification.

Foods mentioned in the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam, are of great spiritual value, and many eating habits are extracted from the practice of the Prophet Mohammad. Olives, honey, yogurt, dates, figs, grapes, pomegranate, and legumes are at the top of the list. Not only do they appeal religiously to Muslims, but their nutrient value is also a plus.

Fasting in Ramadan
Ramadan is the name of the ninth month in the Islamic calendar year, which is based on the lunar cycle and consists of 12 months of 29 or 30 days each. Because the Islamic year is roughly 10 days shorter than the Gregorian one, Ramadan shifts yearly. This year, August 21 marks the first day of Ramadan.

Fasting for Muslims means abstaining from all foods and beverages, including gum and water, as well as medication and smoking, from dawn to sunset. The two main meals of the day are suhur (immediately before dawn) and iftar (immediately after sunset). These mealtimes are also related to two of the five main prayers Muslims perform every day. Muslims may consume other meals or snacks at night. Aside from hunger and thirst, Ramadan bestows spiritual peace to Muslims; during Ramadan, acts of worship are highly intensified.

It is impossible to describe typical suhur or iftar meals, considering the high diversity of the Muslim American community. Suhur can be dinner, or iftar, leftovers, typical breakfast foods, or ethnic foods. Social gatherings, many times buffet style, at iftar are frequent, and traditional dishes are often highlighted. A few dates and a cup of water are usually the first foods to break the fast, while fried pastries, salads, nuts, legumes, and breads are common. Traditional desserts are often unavoidable, especially those made only during Ramadan. Water is usually the beverage of choice, but juice and milk are also consumed. Soft drinks and caffeinated beverages are consumed to a lesser extent.

While weight loss is certainly not the driving power behind fasting, it is not uncommon for some to take advantage of it to shed a few pounds. At the same time, many Muslims see no changes in their weight, while others may gain weight. Excess fried foods and desserts, overeating at buffet-style iftar parties, and reduced physical activity can be attributed to weight gain. Many Muslims aim for nutrient-dense foods to optimize nutrition and see fasting as a way to detox and allow the gut to rest.

Fasting and Medical Issues
Fasting does not pose any medical risks to healthy individuals. In fact, Sarah Amer, MS, RD, CDN, says, "The body has the incredible ability to adapt." She reveals that it takes her only a few days of fasting to get back to her usual activity level.

Exemptions to fasting are travel, menstruation, illness, older age, pregnancy, and breast-feeding. However, many Muslims with medical conditions insist on fasting to satisfy their spiritual needs, and healthcare professionals must work with their patients to reach common ground. Professionals should closely monitor individuals who decide to persist with fasting.

The main chronic diseases of concern are diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, renal disease, and peptic ulcers.3-5 Care plans must be individualized, as many patients with these conditions can fast without adverse events. Compliance with medications may be an issue, especially for those on daily daytime dosages. For patients with diabetes, things to consider are feasibility of adjusting medication and insulin dose, clinical stability, history of hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis, and the presence of other comorbidities.

Tips for the Dietitian
Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the pillars of the religion and a highly valued act of worship. Sandy Burnett, a 37-year-old Muslim, describes Ramadan as a time to "look forward to celebrating every year ... to slow down a bit and focus on all the blessings that we have in life ... to step back from the materialism of this world."

For dietitians to build a bridge of trust with their Muslim patients, they must respect the fasting practice and its spirituality. Dietitians can tailor nutritional care to the lifestyle of the month. The following are strategies to use to support your fasting patients:

* Help compose suhur and iftar meals that promote more satiety.

* Discuss portion control and self-restraint at social events.

* Emphasize adequate hydration and limiting sodium.

* Highlight nutrient-dense foods.

* Help patients manage their weight.

* Address constipation issues and tips to increase fiber intake.

* Suggest alternate cooking methods to reduce the fat and sugar content of some traditional dishes.

* Brainstorm opportunities to incorporate physical activity.

* Manage medical conditions on an individual basis.

* Assess the need for mineral/vitamin or other supplements.

Many Muslims agree that fasting is more mental than physical. Suehyb Alkhatib, a Muslim American from Washington, D.C., believes it is a "lesson in self-restraint and in discipline." Dietitians have the opportunity to channel this strength to restore their patients' confidence in their ability to comply with medical nutrition therapies or make lifestyle changes.

Effective communication is key when working with a Muslim patient, as it is with any other. Because the American Muslim community is diverse, assumptions can be barriers to rapport while individualized treatments produce the best results. Ask your patients what their eating habits look like during Ramadan, as they would love the opportunity to talk and share.
- Nour El-Zibdeh, RD, is a clinical dietitian at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital in Fairfax, Va. She is also a nutrition consultant and a freelance writer. Some Common Ethnic Dishes During Ramadan
South Asian
* Chaat: fried finger food, either sweet or savory (snack or appetizer)
* Falooda: drink made of milk, rose syrup, vermicelli, and tapioca seeds
* Haleem: a stew made of wheat, meat, lentils, and spices
* Idli: savory mini cakes made of black lentils and rice (breakfast or snack)
* Lassi: a frothy drink made of yogurt, salt, pepper, and spices; can be flavored with fruit
* Pakora: a vegetable or chicken dipped in chickpea flour batter and fried (snack or appetizer)
* Papad: thin, crispy wafer (snack, appetizer, or accompanying a meal)
* Paratha: flatbreadlike puff pastry, sometimes stuffed with vegetables
* Roti: traditional flatbreadlike tortilla, made with wheat flour
* Samosa: fried pastry filled with spiced vegetables or meats (snack or appetizer)

Arabic
* Burek: fried puff pastries filled with cheese, vegetables, or meat (snack or appetizer)
* Katayef: pancakelike pastries filled with cheese or nuts, baked or fried, then dipped in syrup
* Khoshaf: a salad of dried fruits and nuts
* Kibbeh: bulgur dough stuffed with ground meat and fried (snack or appetizer)
* Kunafeh: dessert made of a cheese layer, topped with vermicelli-like pastry, baked and drizzled with syrup
* Muhalabyeh: rice pudding
* Qamaruddeen: apricot juice
* Sambusek: egg roll-like pastry filled with meat, cheese, or vegetables (snack or appetizer)
* Tabouleh: salad made of parsley, bulgur, tomatoes, olive oil, and other spices
* Zalabia: fried pastry dipped in sugar syrup or dusted with ground sugar

References
1. Bagby I, Perl PM, Froehle BT.The Mosque in America - A National Portrait: A Report from the Mosque Study Project. Washington, D.C.: Council on American-Islamic Relations; 2001.

2. Pew Research Center. Muslim Americans: Middle class and mostly mainstream. May 22, 2007. Available at: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americans

3. Benaji B, Mounib N, Roky R, et al. Diabetes and Ramadan: Review of the literature. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2006;73(2):117-125.

4. Perk G, Ghanem J, Aamar S, Ben-Ishay D, Bursztyn M. The effect of the fast of Ramadan on ambulatory blood pressure in treated hypertensives. J Hum Hypertens. 2001;15(10):723-725.

5. Bener A, Derbala MF, Al-Kaabi S, et al. Frequency of peptic ulcer disease during and after Ramadan in a United Arab Emirates hospital. East Mediterr Health J. 2006;12(1-2):105-111.

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August 2009 Issue There are an estimated 6 million to 7 million Muslims in America whose unique food practices are guided by religious laws and influenced by cultural differences.1 But when it comes to understanding the real essence of these practices, many dietitians are in the dark, which creates a barrier to reaching out to this segment of the population.

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Chinese Culture: Customs & Traditions of China

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Chinese Culture: Customs & Traditions of China

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Chinese Culture: Customs & Traditions of China

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Chinese culture reflects the customs and traditions of one of the largest countries in the world, with 1.34 billion people.

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If your family has a Netflix subscription, this is an AWESOME series about various Asian countries' street food! Find the country you're interested in in the episode list.

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Food, tradition, hopes and dreams. These aren't just street bites. They're dishes with heart, shaped by human stories. Watch trailers & learn more.

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Khmer Rouge troops capture Phnom Penh and government forces surrender. The war between government troops and the communist insurgents had been raging since March 1970, when Lt. Gen. Lon Nol had ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk in a bloodless coup and proclaimed the establishment of the Khmer Republic.

Between 1970 and 1975, Lon Nol and his army, the Forces Armees Nationale Khmer (FANK), with U.S. support and military aid, battled the communist Khmer Rouge for control of Cambodia. During the five years of bitter fighting, approximately 10 percent of Cambodia's 7 million people died. When the U.S. forces departed South Vietnam in 1973, both the Cambodians and South Vietnamese found themselves fighting the communists alone. Without U.S. support, Lon Nol's forces fought on, but eventually succumbed to the Khmer Rouge. With the surrender, the victorious Khmer Rouge evacuated Phnom Penh and set about reordering Cambodian society. This resulted in a killing spree and the notorious "killing fields." Eventually, hundreds of thousands of Cambodians were murdered or died from exhaustion, hunger and disease.

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Khmer Rouge troops capture Phnom Penh and government forces surrender. The war between government troops and the communist insurgents had been raging since March 1970, when Lt. Gen. Lon Nol had ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk in a bloodless coup and proclaimed the establishment of the Khmer Republic.

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Head Of Government:

Prime Minister: Hun Manet

...(Show more)

Population:

(2023 est.) 16,493,000

...(Show more)

Form Of Government:

constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses (Senate [621]; National Assembly [125])

...(Show more)

Relief

Cambodia's landscape is characterized by a low-lying central alluvial plain that is surrounded by uplands and low mountains and includes the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) and the upper reaches of the Mekong River delta. Extending outward from this central region are transitional plains, thinly forested and rising to elevations of about 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level. To the north the Cambodian plain abuts a sandstone escarpment, which forms a southward-facing cliff stretching more than 200 miles (320 km) from west to east and rising abruptly above the plain to heights of 600 to 1,800 feet (180 to 550 metres). This escarpment marks the southern limit of the Dangrek (Khmer: Dângrêk) Mountains. Flowing south through the country's eastern regions is the Mekong River. East of the Mekong the transitional plains gradually merge with the eastern highlands, a region of forested mountains and high plateaus that extend into Laos and Vietnam. In southwestern Cambodia two distinct upland blocks, the Krâvanh (Cardamom) Mountains and the Dâmrei (Elephant) Mountains, form another highland region that covers much of the land area between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand. In this remote and largely uninhabited area, Mount Aôral, Cambodia's highest peak, rises to an elevation of 5,949 feet (1,813 metres). The southern coastal region adjoining the Gulf of Thailand is a narrow lowland strip, heavily wooded and sparsely populated, which is isolated from the central plain by the southwestern highlands.

Drainage

The two dominant hydrological features of Cambodia are the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap. Rising in the Plateau of Tibet and emptying into the South China Sea, the Mekong enters Cambodia from Laos at the Khone Falls and flows generally southward to the border with Vietnam, a distance within Cambodia of approximately 315 miles (510 km). The Mekong is connected to the Tonle Sap by the Sab River. During the rainy season (mid-May to early October), the Mekong's enormous volume of water backs up into the Sab and flows up into the Tonle Sap 65 miles (105 km) to the northwest, expanding the lake's surface area from a dry-season minimum of 1,200 square miles (3,100 square km) to a rainy-season maximum of more than 3,000 square miles (7,800 square km). As the water level of the Mekong falls during the dry season, the process is reversed: water drains from the Tonle Sap back down into the Mekong, switching the direction of its flow. As a result of this annual phenomenon, the Tonle Sap is one of the world's richest sources of freshwater fish.

Soils

Most of Cambodia's soils are sandy and poor in nutrients. The so-called red-soil areas in the eastern part of the country, however, are suitable for commercial crops such as rubber and cotton. The annual flooding of the Mekong during the rainy season deposits a rich alluvial sediment that accounts for the fertility of the central plain and provides natural irrigation for rice cultivation.

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Cambodia | History, Map, Flag, Capital, Population, Language, & Facts

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Cambodia, country of the Indochinese mainland of Southeast Asia, bordered to the west and northwest by Thailand, to the northeast by Laos, to the east and southeast by Vietnam, and to the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand. The capital city is Phnom Penh.

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Hong Kong profile

Hong Kong is a region on the southeastern coast of China. It juts out into the South China Sea. Hong Kong's deep harbor makes it valuable for shipping.

Hong Kong covers an area of 425 square miles (1,102 square kilometers). It is made up of the main island called Hong Kong, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, and some 200 small islands. Hong Kong also includes a region called the New Territories, to the north of Kowloon Peninsula. Victoria, on Hong Kong Island, is the center of business and government.

Hong Kong has a mixed culture. The people celebrate holidays of both the East and the West, such as the Lunar (Chinese) New Year and Christmas. Many people speak English as well as Chinese.

Hong Kong's economy is based on banking, investment, and international trade. Tourism and fishing are also important to the economy. In addition, Hong Kong is a major producer of motion pictures, including martial-arts movies.

People have been living in the region of Hong Kong for more than 3,000 years. In 1821 British merchants began to use Hong Kong's harbor. Great Britain and China fought several wars in the mid-1800s. Britain won those wars, and it took control of Hong Kong for 99 years.

In 1984 Britain agreed to return Hong Kong to China. The Chinese decided to make Hong Kong a special administrative region of China. This means that Hong Kong does not follow all the policies, or rules, that the rest of China does. Control of Hong Kong went back to China in 1997.

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Hong Kong profile Hong Kong is a region on the southeastern coast of China. It juts out into the South China Sea. Hong Kong's deep harbor makes it valuable for shipping. Hong Kong covers an area of 425 square miles (1,102 square kilometers).

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People in Hong Kong protest proposed law earlier this year. Photo: Studio Incendo.

Many people in Hong Kong are protesting.

The Chinese government is pushing back against the demonstrators, to try and get them to stop protesting and marching in the streets. Some of the protests have halted subway and airport services.

To understand the protests better, it's useful to know some things about Hong Kong and its history. Although Hong Kong is part of China, it has its own money and is very different than most of what is called "mainland China."

For 150 years, Hong Kong was a colony of the United Kingdom. In 1997, it became a "Special Administrative Region" of China.

Hong Kong's culture is different from that of the rest of China. China and Hong Kong agreed to operate as "one country, two systems."

Hong Kong's legal system is similar to Britain's. The city is capitalist rather than communist like China. The official languages of Hong Kong are Cantonese and English; most people in mainland China speak and study in Mandarin.

The protests in Hong Kong began in April and heated up in June, with more than a million people marching in the streets against a proposed law (about how to handle suspected criminals) that they did not agree with.

Although the law was "suspended" (in this case, temporarily halted), the protests grew and now include other things. For instance, the people of Hong Kong want their city to be more like a democracy, with elected officials in some areas (such as the justice system). Some people are also upset about the way Chinese police have reacted to the protests.

Protesters have urged others to participate in the demonstrations; meanwhile, the Chinese government is trying to dampen the protests.

The situation continues to unfold, as the world watches to see what will happen.
CONSIDER AND DISCUSS
1. This situation involves many points-of-view. Make a list of some of the groups involved in the Hong Kong protests (for instance, the Chinese government, business owners in Hong Kong, students, tourists in Hong Kong, journalists, etc.). Think about what issues each group might have, and discuss.

2. What is a "protest"? Thinking about your own life, are there some rules you have to follow that you don't agree with? How would you peacefully protest them? Do you think your protest would be successful in helping you to get what you want?
RESEARCH
There are many aspects to this situation, and to the China-Hong Kong relationship, that are political and too complex to be covered in one news article. This TKN article touches on some of the main points and can be a jumping-off point for further research. Here are some resources for further study about China and Hong Kong.

This article by the BBC gives background on Hong Kong and its development.

This timeline by the BBC outlines some of the facts leading up to the current situation in Hong Kong. (Note: the BBC website offers news for adults; some of its information may not be suitable for all young people.)

BBC timeline: A Brief History of Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Tourism Board website has many facts about Hong Kong.

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Many people in Hong Kong are protesting. The Chinese government is pushing back against the demonstrators, to try and get them to stop protesting and marching in the streets. Some of the protests have halted subway and airport services. To understand the protests better, it's useful to know some things about Hong Kong and its history.

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Do you think you have Thailand all figured out? You might be in for a surprise once you finish reading this list of some of the most interesting facts about Thailand.

Thailand is a land of surprise (and beautiful beach resorts)!

1. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country that was never colonized by an European country. In fact, in the Thai language, the name of the country is Prathet Thai which means "land of the free." Very fitting!

2. Thailand is where you'll find both the smallest and the largest creatures. The smallest mammal in the world, the bumblebee bat, calls Thailand home. You can also find the largest fish, the whale shark, in Thai waters.

3. Males were all Buddhist monks for a while. There was a time when all young men in Thailand (including royalty) were required to become Buddhist monks-even if only for a short period of time-before they turned 20. This practice is not observed as it used to be these days, however.

4. You're lucky that you know Bangkok as "Bangkok." Its real name is one of the longest names of a place in the world, made up of Pali and Sanskrit root words:Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit. What does that name mean? It means "City of Angels, Great City of Immortals, Magnificent City of the Nine Gems, Seat of the King, City of Royal Palaces, Home of Gods Incarnate, Erected by Visvakarman at Indra's Behest."

5. People often marvel at the forests and jungles of Thailand, but there used to be more. What most people don't realize is that over one hundred years ago, nearly all of northern Thailand was covered in hardwood forest. Today, about a quarter of that forest is left. Only Singapore has lost more trees. For this reason, logging is completely banned in Thailand.

6. One-tenth of the entire population of Thailand lives in Bangkok. It is the capital of this great nation, and, of course, the largest city.

7. Thailand loves its King, and shows great respect for the monarchy. The well-known Hollywood movie "The King and I" was never shown in Thai theaters because it was considered to be derogatory to the King. How serious are they about their King? Thailand has the lese majeste rule, meaning that if you commit disrespectful acts toward the King, you could be imprisoned for treason.

8. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States. He is the grandson of King Chulalongkorn or Rama V. The King is highly educated, with an engineering degree from Switzerland. His grandfather was credited with bringing modernism to Thailand.

9. There are about 35,000 temples in Thailand. Thailand is truly a land of temples. Visiting them requires modest clothing, meaning no shorts or sleeveless shirts.

10. Showing respect for another person's head is imperative in Thailand. The head is considered to be the most important part of the body, and so Thai culture forbids touching anyone on the head (even a child). Should you meet someone who is older or more important than you, it is best to lower your head in deference to show proper respect.

11. Thailand is home to many, many animals. About a tenth of all of the animal species on the planet call Thailand home, and a tenth of all bird species. To put that into perspective, Thailand has more birds than Europe and America combined!

12. The national flower of Thailand is the orchid. If you love exotic flowers, you'll be pleased to know that 1,500 orchid species can be found growing wild in Thai forest. There's a reason why it is one of the world's largest orchid exporters.

13. People associate elephants with Thailand. There are more than 5,000 found there (though more than half are domesticated). Over a hundred years ago, though, there used to be about 100,000 with about one fifth of them wild.

14. Thailand has many flags. If you're observant, you'll notice the national flag of Thailand being raised at 8 a.m. each morning, and lowered at 6 p.m. There are also many other flags called the "Royal Flags" which are flown along with the national flag to honor the monarchy. You will only see the Royal Flags in Thailand, but they are a common sight.

15. Like the heat? Bangkok, Thailand was named the world's hottest city! Be sure to come prepared when you visit, and stay hydrated.

16. Thailand has a few big snakes. You can find the reticulated python in Thai jungles, the world's largest snake. The biggest one found was over 33 feet long. It doesn't stop there, though. The longest poisonous snake in the world, the king cobra? Yep. You can find those in Thailand, too.

17. Each year, about 6,000,000 tourists visit Thailand. That number continues to grow by leaps and bounds as the world discovers what a wonderful place it is. Bangkok feels an influx of 11,000,000 non-resident visitors each year.

18. A smile can go a long way, and you'll find more smiles in Thailand than just about anywhere else. In fact, it's sometimes known as the "land of smiles" because the people of Thailand seem to be always ready with a smile. They are a peace-loving culture, desiring harmony over conflict.

19. The most important mineral you'll find in Thailand? It might surprise you, considering all of the beautiful gold jewelry and statues in temples, but it is actually tin. And the most exported crop? Rice, of course! Think of all the tasty Thai dishes that you love. Rice is a staple in Thai cuisine.

20. Thailand used to be known as Siam, and it is the country where Siamese cats originated from. Though there used to be 23 types of Siamese cats originally, there are now only six. Giving a pair of Siamese cats to a bride on her wedding day is considered good luck.

21. Red Bull, the world-famous energy drink, has its roots in Thailand. It is based on Krating Daeng, a drink made popular in Thailand (and eventually across Asia) since 1976. Red Bull was modified to "suit western tastes."

22. That street you're driving on? In the past, it might have actually been water. Bangkok used to be referred to as the "Venice of the East" due to the number of buildings that were built on stilts above the river. Gradually, most of the canals were filled in and became the streets you see today.

23. Thailand is made up of approximately 1,430 islands. Many of the islands have become famous for being featured in Hollywood films. A popular habit of return visitors is to "try out" new islands to find their favorite.

24. Ever heard of the "Bridge Over the River Kwai"? You can find that bridge near the town of Kanchanburi. The bridge is a part of the Burma-Siam railway, and an estimated 80,000 people died in the course of making that railway.

25. Have you ever been to a festival for monkeys? The annual Monkey Buffet is held in front of the Pra Prang Sam Yot temple Lopburi province. The local residents see it as a way of thanking the monkeys for bringing thousands of tourists to the village to see these monkeys that live there. It's no small buffet: two tons of meat, fruit, ice cream, and other treats make up this feast.

Thailand is such a unique country that it is difficult to stop at just 25 facts! Each visitor to Thailand leaves with a better understanding of how special the country is, with many coming back to get married in a place they fell in love with.

When will it be your turn to discover what makes Thailand so interesting?

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25 Interesting Facts About Thailand - Samujana

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Do you think you have Thailand all figured out? You might be in for a surprise once you finish reading this list of some of the most interesting facts about Thailand. Thailand is a land of surprise (and beautiful beach resorts)! 1. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country that was never colonized by an European country.

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Islam - Five Pillars, Nation of Islam & Definition

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Islam is the second largest religion in the world after Christianity, with about 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide. Although its roots go back further, scholars typically date the creation of Islam to the 7th century, making it the youngest of the major world religions.

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China is one of the Four Ancient Civilizations (alongside Babylon, India and Egypt), according to Chinese scholar Liang Qichao (1900). It boasts a vast and varied geographic expanse, 3,600 years of written history, as well as a rich and profound culture. Chinese culture is diverse and unique, yet harmoniously blended - an invaluable asset to the world.

Our China culture guide contains information divided into Traditions, Heritage, Arts, Festivals, Language, and Symbols. Topics include Chinese food, World Heritage sites, China's Spring Festival, Kungfu, and Beijing opera.

China's Heritage

China's national heritage is both tangible and intangible, with natural wonders and historic sites, as well as ethnic songs and festivals included.

As of 2018, 53 noteworthy Chinese sites were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List: 36 Cultural Heritage, 13 Natural Heritage, and 4 Cultural and Natural Heritage.

China's Festivals

China has several traditional festivals that are celebrated all over the country (in different ways). The most important is Chinese New Year, then Mid-Autumn Festival. China, with its "55 Ethnic Minorities", also has many ethnic festivals. From Tibet to Manchuria to China's tropical south, different tribes celebrate their new year, harvest, and other things, in various ways.

Learning Chinese

Chinese is reckoned to be the most difficult language in the world to learn, but that also must make it the most interesting. It's the world's only remaining pictographic language in common use, with thousands of characters making up the written language. Its pronunciation is generally one syllable per character, in one of five tones. China's rich literary culture includes many pithy sayings and beautiful poems.

Symbols of China

Every nation has its symbols, but what should you think of when it comes to China? You might conjure up images of long coiling dragons, the red flag, pandas, the Great Wall... table tennis, the list goes on...

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China boasts a rich and profound culture. Our Chinese culture guide contains information traditions, customes, heritage, arts, festivals, language, food, Kungfu, and symbols.

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6 popular ‘facts’ about Philippine history that are apparently wrong

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6 popular ‘facts’ about Philippine history that are apparently wrong

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Manila (CNN Philippines Life) - You might have heard of the 20th-century Filipino electrician Agapito Flores, who invented the fluorescent lamp and even had his creation's name be derived from his last name to commemorate his efforts. You might have thought, however in passing, that such a fact was a great testament to Filipino ingenuity and our people's ability to make an impact beyond our borders - if only it were indeed fact.

Fluorescence is actually a scientific property of light that has been acknowledged since the 16th century; the term was coined by 19th-century Irish physicist and mathematician George Gabriel Stokes, who wrote about how the mineral fluorspar makes ultraviolet light - which is typically unseen by the naked eye - visible. "Fluorescence" takes its name from fluorspar the same way "opalescence" takes its name from opals.

While the Agapito Flores myth doesn't take away the excellence of Filipinos whose contributions to various fields are as real as can be, it is a common example of various events and ideas popularly known to us as truths when they might not be. Below are six other common, but wrong, beliefs among Filipinos - and the histories and facts surrounding them.
Princess Urduja is a mere legend, and not a historical figure.
According to legend, the Filipino heroine Princess Urduja ruled an island called Tawalisi in the 14th century. She led a group of warrior women called Kinalakihan, or the Amazons, across battlefields, and was known for her kindness and intelligence. She is said to have taken no husband because she would only choose a man who was braver, wiser, and stronger than she was, and nobody had enough guts to try to beat her in battle. However, it's also believed by many that Urduja actually existed - as there were records of her in the accounts of Moroccan traveler and scholar Ibn Battuta. A common theory is that Tawalisi was located in what is now known as Pangasinan, although common guesses for the princess' native home also include Java, Cambodia, and China.
Lapu-Lapu killed Ferdinand Magellan.
Even first-graders know Lapu-Lapu, the ruler of Mactan who is also the first Philippine hero. He led his men to win the battle of Mactan against Portuguese colonizer Ferdinand Magellan (who probably preferred to be called "explorer" and, by the way, obviously did not "discover" the Philippines), and is usually said to have killed Magellan in the fight. The image may inspire nationalism, but the truth is, it's impossible to tell whether Magellan did lose his life directly at the hands of Lapu-Lapu, who may be less young and vital than he is commonly depicted.
Jose Rizal wrote "Sa Aking Mga Kabata" in his childhood.
The poem "Sa Aking Mga Kabata," written in Tagalog about embracing one's native language, is often attributed to Dr. Jose Rizal, who supposedly wrote it when he was seven years old - "proof," according to some, of his precocious nature and love of country. Historians such as Ambeth Ocampo, however, have researched and written in opposition of this, stating that there's no evidence (whether it be a manuscript, a published byline, or an assertion from Rizal himself) supporting Rizal's authorship of the work. In addition to this, Rizal did not have a strong enough command of Tagalog to match the fluency of the poem.
The viral love letter "Liham Para Kay Oryang" was written by Andres Bonifacio.
In 2015, the work of epistolary fiction "Liham Para Kay Oryang," written by playwright Eljay Castro Deldoc as though it were a letter from Andres Bonifacio to his wife Gregoria de Jesus a few nights before he was killed, went viral on social media and reached far enough that people began to believe Bonifacio had actually written it. It was romantic and relayed the urgency of love and loss during wartime - but it was just the writer's interpretation of historical events. On that note, a real poem written by Gregoria de Jesus, titled "Magmula, Giliw, Nang Ikaw ay Pumanaw," was verified by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Talking about her grief over losing Bonifacio, it was copied by hand by her second husband Julio Nakpil, and is now on display in the Bahay-Nakpil museum.
Fernando Poe Sr. served as the model for the Oblation.
Commissioned for the University of the Philippines by then-president Rafael Palma and funded by the enrollees in 1935, the iconic statue known as the Oblation, or simply Oble, was created by Guillermo E. Tolentino and based on Rizal's poem "Mi Ultimo Adios." The symbol and touchstone of any UP campus is often said to have taken its physique from actor-director Fernando Poe, Sr., who was a UP student at the time of its creation; however, records show that Anastacio Caedo, a student assistant of Tolentino's, and Caedo's brother-in-law Virgilio Raymundo served as the models and references. Another fact that might not be all that well known? The original sculpture is located not in front of Quezon Hall along UP Diliman's University Avenue, but instead inside Gonzales Hall.
The yo-yo was invented by ancient Filipinos.
It's too simple to say the yo-yo was invented by a Filipino, and it's almost impossible to determine its true origins: it traces its existence back to ancient Greece and arrived in Europe in the 1800s, long before it was trademarked and sold en masse in America. But in the late 1920s, a Filipino bellboy named Pedro Flores, who had traveled to the United States in hopes of studying law, innovated a stringing method that elevated the yo-yo from being a simple toy to the type we all know and can do tricks with today. He mass-produced his creation and established a yo-yo manufacturing company, but eventually sold the rights.

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6 popular 'facts' about Philippine history that are apparently wrong

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Manila (CNN Philippines Life) - You might have heard of the 20th-century Filipino electrician Agapito Flores, who invented the fluorescent lamp and even had his creation's name be derived from his last name to commemorate his efforts.

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The Russian presidential elections determine who will serve as the President of Russia for the next six (formerly four from 1996 to 2012 and five from 1991 to 1996) years.

Since the establishment of the position of the President of Russia in 1991, the presidential elections have taken place seven times: in 1991, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2018. The next presidential election is scheduled for March 2024.

Russian presidential elections are governed by the Russian Constitution, the Federal law on basic guarantees of electoral rights and the right to participate in referendums of citizens of the Russian Federation and the Federal law on Presidential elections of the Russian Federation. The provisions of the electoral legislation were constantly evolving, but the foundations of the electoral system remained unchanged.

Laws on elections of the President of Russia were adopted 4 times. From 1991 to 2003, before each election a new law was adopted: in 1991, in 1995, in 1999 and in 2003. Currently, there is a Federal law "on Presidential elections of the Russian Federation" #19-FZ from January 10, 2003, in the version from December 5, 2017.

Russian Constitution sets out the following requirements for presidential candidates:

be at least 35 years old;

be a resident in Russia for at least 25 years;

do not have a foreign citizenship or residence permit in a foreign country, either at the time of the election or at any time before.

In addition, the Federal Law "On the elections of the President of the Russian Federation" sets additional requirements, according to which, candidates may not be persons:

recognized incapable by court or kept in places of deprivation of liberty by the sentence of the court;

sentenced to deprivation of liberty for committing grave and (or) particularly grave crimes and having on the day of voting not removed and outstanding previous conviction for the specified crime;

condemned to imprisonment for Commission of the serious crime which criminal record is removed or extinguished - before the expiration of 10 years from the date of removal or repayment of criminal record;

sentenced to imprisonment for committing a particularly serious crime, the conviction of which is withdrawn or repaid - before the expiration of 15 years from the date of removal or repayment of the criminal record;

convicted for committing extremist crimes under the Criminal Code of Russia and having on the day of voting not removed and outstanding previous conviction for the specified crime;

subjected to administrative punishment for Commission of the administrative offenses provided by articles 20.3 (propaganda or public demonstration of Nazi attributes or symbols, or attributes or symbols of extremist organizations, or other attributes or symbols, propaganda or public demonstration of which is prohibited by Federal law) and 20.29 (production and distribution of extremist materials) of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses if vote on the presidential elections takes place before the termination of term during which the person is considered to be subjected to administrative punishment;

concerning which the sentence of court on deprivation of its right to hold the state positions within a certain term came into force;

holding the position of President of the Russian Federation for the second consecutive term on the date of official publication of the decision on appointment of election of the President of the Russian Federation.

From all candidates for President of Russia, only 3 were female candidates. These were Ella Pamfilova in 2000, Irina Hakamada in 2004 and Ksenia Sobchak in 2018. In addition, there were other women who ran for president, but for one reason or another were not registered.

From all candidates, eight candidates participated in the elections more than once (of these, only two each time won the election, Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin). The record for participation in the elections is Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who six times participated in the elections, from the first election in 1991 to 2018 (except 2004 election). Gennady Zyuganov and Vladimir Putin were candidates four times each. Aman Tuleyev and Grigory Yavlinsky - three times, while in 1996 Tuleyev withdrew his candidacy a few days before the election, and Yavlinsky also tried to run in 2012, but was rejected. Boris Yeltsin and Sergey Mironov - twice.

Candidates can be nominated by a political party or run as independents. To officially nominate candidates, a party congress (for party candidates) or an initiative group meeting (for independent candidates) must be held. In any case, regardless of the method of nomination, a candidate must submit to the CEC consent to be nominated by a specific political party or a specific initiative group.

Political party

To be nominated by a political party, a party congress must be held. At least one delegate from at least half of the federal subjects (i.e. at least 46 delegates) is required to nominate a candidate.

A political party can only nominate one candidate. Also, the same candidate can only be nominated by one political party. At the same time, political parties may not nominate candidates at the congress, but may decide to support a candidate nominated by another party or an independent candidate. However, in this case, such party de jure will not participate in the election campaign, it will not be indicated in ballots, information stands and other official documents.

Candidates nominated by political parties with factions in the State Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament) or in legislatures at least one-third of the federal subjects are exempt from collecting signatures and are automatically included in the ballots.

All candidates from other political parties must gather 100,000 signatures.

To nominate an independent candidate, a meeting of the initiative group of voters must be held. The initiative group must consist of at least 500 Russian citizens who have the right to vote. At the same time, unlike political party congresses, initiative groups do not require representation of federal subjects (all members of the group can be residents of the same federal subject).

To participate in the election, an independent candidate must gather 300,000 signatures.

The elections are held on the second Sunday of the month when the previous elections were held. If this day coincides with a day preceding a holiday day, or this Sunday falls on the week including a public holiday or Sunday is duly announced a work day, elections are called for the next Sunday.

The president is elected by direct popular vote in a two-round majoritarian contest: if no candidate receives over 50% of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes advance to a run-off. The second (run-off) round is held exactly three weeks after the first. The second round shall appoint with the written consent of the candidate to participate in the second round. If, prior to the second round, one of the registered candidates to be voted on has withdrawn his candidacy or has left it for other reasons, his / her place shall, by the decision of the Central Election Commission, be transferred to the next registered candidate by the number of votes obtained. A new candidate shall be put to the vote if there is a written Declaration of consent to participate in the second round of elections. Such application must be submitted to them no later than the second day after the departure of the candidate who initially participated in the second round. In this case, the voting shall be held on the first Sunday after 14 days from the date of application. At the end of the second round, the candidate with a simple majority of votes is considered elected. The second round can be held and one candidate, if after the departure of the remaining candidates will be only one. In this case, the voters must vote "for" or "against" the candidate. At the same time, the candidate is considered elected if he has received at least 50 percent of the votes. Otherwise, the election campaign starts again and new election are held.

The typical periods of the presidential election process are as follows, with the dates corresponding to the 2018 election:

Since September 2016 (legislative election) - Public announcement of the intention to participate in the election.

December 2017 - Federation Council appoints the election. This should occur in 90-100 days before election day. If the Federation Council does not appoint an election, the election shall be appointed by the Central Election Commission.

December 2017 to January 2018 - Nominating conventions (including the conventions of the initiative groups for the nomination of independent candidates). Candidates file their Statement of Candidacy with the Central Election Commission.

January to February 2018 - Collection of signatures for candidates from non-parliamentary parties and independent candidates.

December 2017 to February 2018 - Registration of candidates.

February and March, 2018 - Agitation in mass media (including debates).

March 17, 2018 - Day of silence (ban on any agitation).

March 18, 2018 - Election Day.

April 7, 2018 - Day of silence (during the second round).

April 8, 2018 - Second round (if necessary).

May 7, 2018 - Inauguration Day.

In December 2011 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed the Central Election Commission and the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications to ensure the surveillance procedures of voting and counting of votes in the presidential elections. According to the technical task set by the CEC, 91,400 election stations were covered by the video monitoring system. Two cameras were installed on each section. One passed the General plan, the second - directly to a ballot box. A total of 182,800 cameras were installed. Public access to election observation was carried out on a special web site. To view the videos of voting and counting votes, users must select the election stations from which they want to receive broadcasts on the day of voting.

The video surveillance system is used in the 2018 election. So cameras are installed on 80% of election stations. In addition, the chambers were installed for the first time in the territorial election commissions, which carry out the counting of votes at the level of cities and districts.

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The Russian presidential elections determine who will serve as the President of Russia for the next six (formerly four from 1996 to 2012 and five from 1991 to 1996) years. Since the establishment of the position of the President of Russia in 1991, the presidential elections have taken place seven times: in 1991, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2018.

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Scotland, most northerly of the four parts of the United Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the island of Great Britain. The name Scotland derives from the Latin Scotia, land of the Scots, a Celtic people from Ireland who settled on the west coast of Great Britain about the 5th century ce. The name Caledonia has often been applied to Scotland, especially in poetry. It is derived from Caledonii, the Roman name of a tribe in the northern part of what is now Scotland.

An austere land, subject to extremes of weather, Scotland has proved a difficult home for countless generations of its people, who have nonetheless prized it for its beauty and unique culture. "I am a Scotsman," the poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott wrote in the 19th century; "therefore I had to fight my way into the world." Historically one of Europe's poorest countries, Scotland has contributed much to political and practical theories of progress: forged in the Scottish Enlightenment in the hands of such philosophers as Francis Hutcheson, Adam Smith, and David Hume, who viewed humankind as a product of history and the "pursuit of happiness" as an inalienable right, this progressive ideal contributed substantially to the development of modern democracy. Scots have also played a vital role in many of the world's most important scientific and technological innovations, with inventors, engineers, and entrepreneurs such as Alexander Graham Bell, James Watt, Andrew Carnegie, and John McAdam extending Scotland's reach far beyond the small country's borders. Few students of English-language literature are unacquainted with historian Thomas Carlyle, poet Robert Burns, and novelist Muriel Spark.

Scotland's relations with England, with which it was merged in 1707 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain, have long been difficult. Although profoundly influenced by the English, Scotland has long refused to consider itself as anything other than a separate country, and it has bound itself to historical fact and legend alike in an effort to retain national identity, as well as to the distinct dialect of English called Scots; writing defiantly of his country's status, the nationalist poet Hugh MacDiarmid proclaimed: "For we ha'e faith in Scotland's hidden poo'ers, The present's theirs, but a' the past and future's oors." That independent spirit bore fruit in 1996, when the highly symbolic Stone of Scone was returned to Edinburgh, Scotland's capital, from London, and in 1999 a new Scottish Parliament-the first since 1707-was elected and given significant powers over Scottish affairs.

Edinburgh is a handsome city of great historical significance and one of Europe's chief cultural centres. Other significant principal cities include Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Perth, all centres for industry, transportation, and commerce.

Hardworking, practical, and proud of their traditions, the Scots have a reputation for thrift that verges on miserliness. Travelers to the country, however, often remark on the generosity and friendliness of their hosts, as well as on the vibrancy of contemporary Scottish culture. An ancient Gaelic song, a blessing on cattle and the people who keep them, speaks to that hospitality in a sometimes inhospitable landscape:

Pastures smooth, long, and spreading,

Grassy meads aneath your feet,

The friendship of God the Son to bring you home

To the field of the fountains,

Field of the fountains.

Closed be every pit to you,

Smoothed be every knoll to you,

Cosy every exposure to you,

Beside the cold mountains,

Beside the cold mountains.

Land

Scotland is bounded by England to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north, and the North Sea to the east. The west coast is fringed by deep indentations (sea lochs or fjords) and by numerous islands, varying in size from mere rocks to the large landmasses of Lewis and Harris, Skye, and Mull. The island clusters of Orkney and Shetland lie to the north. At its greatest length, measured from Cape Wrath to the Mull of Galloway, the mainland of Scotland extends 274 miles (441 km), while the maximum breadth-measured from Applecross, in the western Highlands, to Buchan Ness, in the eastern Grampian Mountains-is 154 miles (248 km). But, because of the deep penetration of the sea in the sea lochs and firths (estuaries), most places are within 40 to 50 miles (65 to 80 km) of the sea, and only 30 miles (50 km) of land separate the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth, the two great estuarine inlets on the west and east coasts, respectively.

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Scotland | History, Capital, Map, Flag, Population, & Facts

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Scotland is the most northerly of the four parts of the United Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the island of Great Britain. It has a long and complicated history with England, with which it was merged in 1707 to form the United Kingdom. Its capital is Edinburgh.

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The president of the Russian Federation (Russian: Президент Российской Федерации , Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the highest office in Russia.

The modern incarnation of the office emerged from the president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In 1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected president of the RSFSR, becoming the first non-Communist Party member to be elected into a major Soviet political role. He played a crucial role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union which saw the transformation of the RSFSR into the Russian Federation. Following a series of scandals and doubts about his leadership, violence erupted across Moscow in the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis. As a result, a new constitution was implemented and the 1993 Russian Constitution remains in force today. The constitution establishes Russia as a semi-presidential system which separates the president of Russia from the Government of Russia which exercises executive power.

In all cases where the president of the Russian Federation is unable to fulfill their duties, those duties shall be temporarily delegated to the prime minister of Russia, who becomes acting president of Russia.

The powers of the presidency include: execution of federal law, appointing federal ministers, and members of the judiciary, and negotiating treaties with foreign powers. The president also has the power to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn the Federal Assembly under extraordinary circumstances. The president also appoints the prime minister, who directs domestic policy of the Russian Federation alongside the president.

The president is elected directly through a popular vote to a six-year term. Previously, the Constitution established a term limit for the presidency restricting the officeholder to serve no more than two consecutive terms. However, this limitation has since been overhauled in large part due to the constitutional amendments that were ratified in 2020. One of the amendments passed reset the terms of both Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev, allowing either to serve as president for a full two terms regardless of their previous terms. In all, three individuals have served four presidencies spanning six full terms. In May 2012, Vladimir Putin became the fourth president; he was re-elected in March 2018 and in March 2024 for two consecutive six-year terms.

After the fall of monarchy in 1917, the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, elected later that year, planned on establishing a democratic presidential or semi-presidential federal republic, proclaiming the Russian Democratic Federal Republic (RDFR) in January 1918. The president of the RDFR would have been the head of state, elected for a one-year term by a majority vote in parliament involving the deputies of both chambers. Due to the dissolution of the assembly by the Bolsheviks and establishment of their one-party dictatorship, no person was ever elected to this office.

Boris Yeltsin came to power with a wave of high expectations not long before the Soviet Union's collapse. In May 1990, he was elected as chairman of the Supreme Soviet (parliament) of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR) - the highest state office - and thus became the head of state. As a result of the creation of the post of President of the Soviet Union, the Union republics also began to introduce the post of President. To do this, a referendum was held in the Russian SFSR, in which 71% of voters voted for the creation of the post of President, elected in direct elections. On 12 June 1991 Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian SFSR with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president. However, Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after a series of economic and political crises in Russia in the 1990s. The Yeltsin era was marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. By the time he left office, Yeltsin had an approval rating of two percent by some estimates.

Throughout his presidential terms and into his second term as the prime minister, Vladimir Putin has enjoyed high approval ratings amongst the Russian public. During his eight years in office, the Russian economy bounced back from crisis, seeing the country's GDP increase sixfold (72% in PPP), poverty cut more than half and average monthly salaries increase from $80 to $640, or by 150% in real rates. At the same time, his conduct in office has been questioned by domestic dissenters, as well as foreign governments and human rights organizations, for his handling of internal conflicts in Chechnya and Dagestan, his record on internal human rights and freedoms, his relations with former Soviet republics, and his relations with the so-called oligarchs: Russian businessmen with a high degree of power and influence within both the Russian government and economy. This was seen by the Kremlin as a series of anti-Russian propaganda attacks orchestrated by western opponents and exiled .

Medvedev was appointed as first deputy prime minister on 14 November 2005. Formerly Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, he was also the chairman of Gazprom's board of directors, a post he had held, for the second time, since 2000. On 10 December 2007, he was informally endorsed as a candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections by the most prominent Russian political party, United Russia, and officially endorsed on 17 December 2007. Medvedev's candidacy was supported by outgoing president Vladimir Putin and pro-presidential parties. As technocrat and political appointee, Medvedev - Putin's former chief of staff and one-time rival to Sergey Ivanov - had never held elective office before 2009. Medvedev chose Putin as his prime minister; in 2012, Putin ran for the presidency, won, and appointed Medvedev as prime minister.

Selection process

Eligibility

A presidential candidate must be a citizen of the Russian Federation who is at least 35 years old, has permanently resided in Russia for at least 25 years and does not have and has never previously had foreign citizenship or a foreign residence permit. Following constitutional amendments in 2020, the requirement of permanent residence in Russia increased from 10 years to 25 years and a new requirement preventing a presidential candidate from ever having foreign citizenship or a foreign residence permit was introduced.

The Russian constitution limits the number of terms a president can serve to two terms. Previously, the constitution only limited the president to two consecutive terms, allowing a former president to seek re-election after sitting out one complete term. However, following constitutional changes in 2020, this was changed to two terms overall, allowing the incumbent president and former presidents to serve two more terms.

The election of the president is mainly regulated by the Presidential Election Law (PEL) and the Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights (BGL). The Federation Council calls the presidential elections. If it does not call a presidential election that is due, the Central Election Commission will call the presidential election. The election day is the second Sunday of the month and the presidential electoral constituency is the territory of the Russian Federation as a whole. Each faction in the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament has the right to nominate a candidate for the presidential elections. The minimum number of signatures for a presidential candidate fielded by a political party with no parliamentary representation is 100,000, down from 2 million before amendments to the law.[citation needed ]

Terms were extended from four to six years in 2008, during Dmitry Medvedev's administration. The president is elected in a two-round system every six years, with a two consecutive term limitation. If no candidate wins by an absolute majority in the first round, a second election round is held between two candidates with the most votes. The last presidential election was in 2024, and the next is in 2030.

Inauguration

Vladimir Putin takes the presidential oath in 2012

The inauguration of the president of Russia is conducted six years after the previous inauguration (since 2000, on 7 May). If the president is chosen in an early election, they are scheduled to take the oath thirty days after the announcement of the results.

Before executing the powers of the office, a president is constitutionally required to take the presidential oath:

I swear in exercising the powers of the President of the Russian Federation to respect and safeguard the rights and freedoms of man and citizen, to observe and protect the Constitution of the Russian Federation, to protect the sovereignty and independence, security and integrity of the State, to faithfully serve the people.

Vacancy or disability

Vacancies in the office of president may arise under several possible circumstances: death, resignation and removal from office. In all cases when the president is unable to perform their duties, their powers are temporarily transferred to the prime minister until the new president takes office.

After the oath of office has been taken by the elected president, these following insignia are handed over to the president. These devices are used to display the rank of their office and are used on special occasions.

Chain of office

Chain of office

The first insignia that is issued is the chain of office with an emblem. The central emblem is the red cross of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", with arms in equal size, charged with the Russian coat of arms. On the reverse of the cross, the words "Benefit, Honor and Glory" appear in the form of a circle. A golden wreath is used to connect the cross with the rest of the chain. There are 17 "links" in the emblem, with nine consisting of the Russian coat of arms. The other eight consist of a rosette, also bearing the motto "Benefit, Honor and Glory." At the inauguration of Vladimir Putin, the emblem was placed on a red pillow, positioned on the left side of the podium. According to the Presidential website, the emblem is placed inside the Kremlin and is used only on certain occasions.

Standard (flag)

The standard is a square version of the Russian flag, charged in the center with the Russian coat of arms. Golden fringe is added to the standard. Copies of the standard are used inside their office, at the Kremlin, other state agencies, and while the president is traveling in a vehicle inside Russia. A 2:3 ratio version of the flag is used when the President is at sea. This is the most used symbol to denote the presence of the Russian President.

Special copy of the Constitution

The President also has a special copy of the Russian Constitution that is used during the inauguration. This copy has a hard, red cover with gold lettering. An image of the Russian coat of arms appears in silver. The special copy is kept in the Presidential Library.

Legal basis of the insignia

These insignia and the procedure were established by the presidential decree 1138 from 5 August 1996, and modified by decree 832 from 6 May 2000. In the new decree the special copy of the Constitution was removed as the third symbol of the Russian Presidency; the other two symbols remained intact because they were and are regulated by separate decrees. Nonetheless, the special copy of the Constitution still exists and serves for inauguration purposes only without being officially presented as a symbol of the Russian Presidency.

Presidential Fanfare

The Presidential Fanfare.

The Presidential Fanfare is a composition played exclusively for the President of Russia, when they enter a place or an event.

Powers and duties

President Vladimir Putin delivering the 2012 Address to the Federal Assembly

Guarantor of the Constitution

As the guarantor of the Constitution and the entire system of constitutional law, the president ensures that the constitutions, laws and regulations of the constituent territories of the Russian Federation be in full compliance with the country's Constitution and federal laws.

Nominations

The president is highly active in appointing top officials in the country. They nominate candidates for official state positions, who must ultimately be appointed based on parliamentary vote. The president submits nominations to the Federation Council, the upper house of the parliament, for judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, as well as for prosecutor general of Russia. A proposal to relieve the prosecutor general of their duties must also be submitted to the Federation Council. The president submits to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, nominations for appointment to the office of the chairperson of the Central Bank, and likewise submits to the State Duma any proposal to relieve the chairperson of the Central Bank of their duties.

Legislation

Under the procedure stipulated by the Constitution, the president exercises their right to submit draft legislation, as well as the right to sign bills into law or to veto them.

The president has the right to suspend laws and regulations issued by executive bodies of Russia's constituent territories if such laws and regulations contravene the Constitution, federal laws or international obligations of the Russian Federation, or violate human and civil rights and liberties, pending the resolution of the issue in an appropriate court.

The president can issue by-laws by decree, so long as such decrees are not in contradiction with existing laws (both local and federal), Russia's international agreements or the Russian Constitution.

The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn either or both houses of the Federal Assembly under extraordinary circumstances.

Other powers of the president in the sphere of legal activities and in their interaction with the parliament include calling elections to the State Duma, dissolving the State Duma in certain cases, and calling a referendum.

Domestic policy

Under the Constitution, the president is not empowered to determine the full range of short-, middle-, and long-term objectives and targets of domestic policy, but only its basic guidelines. In practice, they determine it with the prime minister and the government of the federation. They are to be implemented both by the president themself and by the Government of Russia within the bounds of their authority. The president's fundamental positions on domestic policy issues are expressed in their written decisions regarding draft federal constitutional laws and draft federal laws, as well as their letters explaining the reasons for rejecting draft federal laws.

Within the bounds of the authority granted to the head of state by the Constitution and other laws, the president also shapes the basic domestic policy guidelines by issuing legal regulations and through organizational and regulatory activity, such as issuing decrees and executive orders. Each year the president is required to make an Address to the Federal Assembly regarding the situation in the country and the internal and foreign policy of the state.

Foreign policy

President Dmitry Medvedev with US president Barack Obama in 2009

The president is invested with extensive rights to implement the state's foreign policy. The president determines Russia's position in international affairs, along with the prime minister and the government of the federation, and represents the state in international relations, conducts negotiations and signs ratification documents. The president appoints and recalls diplomatic representatives of Russia to foreign states and international organizations. These appointments are preceded by consultations with the respective committees or commissions of the two houses of the Federal Assembly. The president signs international treaties.

Commander-in-chief

Insignia of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief

The president of Russia bears ultimate authority over the Russian Armed Forces as "Supreme Commander-in-Chief", a role established by Article 87 of the Constitution. In this capacity, the president issues military directives, makes defence policy and appoints the High Command of the Armed Forces.

Furthermore, several articles of the Defence Statute enable the president to order a general or partial mobilization of the military, announce martial law, oversee the war industry and make regulations.

A 2020 military doctrine governs the use of Russian nuclear arms; it allows the president to launch atomic weapons in response to WMD or ballistic missile strikes, attacks that threaten the integrity of the nuclear arsenal, and attacks that may jeopardise the country as a whole.

Ceremonial duties

An important ceremonial role of the president is awarding state awards. State Awards of the Russian Federation are the highest form of official recognition given to individuals for service to the nation in the fields of defense, state-building, economics, science, culture, art, education, health care, public safety, rights advocacy and charity. The state awards of the Russian Federation include the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation as well as orders, medals, emblems and honorary titles. New state honors and awards can be established by the president, who also presents these honors to the recipients in an official ceremony. A Commission for State Honors, which works on a voluntary basis, helps the president to objectively assess potential recipients.

Residences

Vladimir Putin in the Presidential Cabinet

The Kremlin Senate is the working residence of the President of Russia.

The primary working president's residence is the Senate building (also known as 1st building) in the Moscow Kremlin complex. Also the president can use the Grand Kremlin Palace (used for official ceremonies and meetings). Previously, the president also could use the so-called 14th Administrative Corpus Building (the reserve residence), but in 2016 it was demolished.

Since 2000 the current home residence of the president is Novo-Ogaryovo ( Russian: Ново-Огарёво). It was planned that it would remain at the disposal of Vladimir Putin after his term ended, as Gorki-9 ( Russian: Горки-9) (also called ( Russian: Барвиха), but actually near it) had remained at the disposal of Boris Yeltsin after his retirement.

Also, the president has several vacation residences outside of Moscow.

Rus' State Residence (Zavidovo), Tver Oblast

Congress Palace or Constantine Palace complex (Russian: Дворец конгрессов, Константиновский дворец), Strelna, Saint Petersburg, reconstructed for 300th Saint Petersburg anniversary

Dolgiye Borody (Russian: Долгие Бороды) (also known as Uzhin Russian: Ужи́н) at a distance of 20 km from Valday, Novgorod Oblast

Tantal tourist centre (Russian: Танта́л, lit. Tantalum) on Volga bank, at a distance of 25 km from Saratov

Political affiliation

None of the Russian presidents to date have ever been a member of a political party while in office. In 2012, commenting on stepping down from the post of United Russia party leader, Vladimir Putin said "The constitution doesn't forbid the president to be a member of any party, but in the spirit of how our political life has evolved, a president is first and foremost a consolidating figure for all the political forces of the country, for all citizens".

National transport services for the Russian president and the presidential state car are provided by the Special Purpose Garage (SPG). The SPG is a unit within the Federal Protective Service.

Ilyushin Il-96-300PU - the official Russian presidential aircraft

Air transport services for the president are provided by the airline company Rossiya Airlines.

The presidential aircraft uses the same colour scheme as standard Rossiya aircraft, except for the use of the Russian coat of arms or the presidential standard on the empennage instead of the flag of Russia.

In the spring of 2013 a helipad was constructed in the Moscow Kremlin. According to the chief of the Kremlin Property Agency construction of a helicopter pad for the president cost 200 million rubles (about $6.4 mln). The helipad is located in the Kremlin's Tainitsky Garden close to exterior walls.

Post-presidency

President Vladimir Putin with former president Boris Yeltsin on 12 June 2001

On 16 August 1995, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree "On some social guarantees of persons holding public positions of the Russian Federation and the position of federal public servants." 15 June 1999 went to President Yeltsin's decree on amendments and additions to the previous decree. On 11 November 1999 Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the implementation of the amended decree of 15 June 1999.

On 31 December 1999, the day of the resignation of Boris Yeltsin, the president issued a decree "On guarantees of the Russian Federation President, stop exercising their powers, and their family," and the eponymous federal law was adopted by 25 January 2001.

This law establishes the legal, social and other guarantees of the Russian Federation's president, stops the execution of its powers in connection with the expiration of their term of office or in advance in the event of their resignation or permanent incapacity for health reasons to exercise the powers belonging to them and their family:

President of Russia, ceased to carry out its mandate, regardless of age, is entitled to a monthly lifetime pay of 75% of the monthly remuneration of the President of Russia.

In the case of the President's death their family members are entitled to a monthly allowance in the amount equal to six times the minimum old-age pension, established by the federal law on the day of their death.

President of Russia, ceased to carry out its mandate, has immunity. They can not be held criminally or administratively liable for acts committed by them during the execution of the President's powers, as well as arrested, detained, interrogated and subjected to a personal search, if these actions are carried out in the course of proceedings relating to the execution of their powers as president.

Beginning in 1999, all living former presidents were granted a pension, an office, and a staff. The pension has increased numerous times. Retired presidents receive a pension based on the salary of the government. All former presidents, their spouses, and their children until age 16 are protected by the Federal Protective Service until the president's death. A spouse who remarries or divorced from president is no longer eligible for Federal Protective Service protection.

In 2020, the Constitution was amended to grant the former president immunity (except if they were removed from office by impeachment). This immunity may be lifted in the same manner as the impeachment procedure. Also, in accordance with the amendments, former presidents (except if they were removed from office by impeachment) were granted the right to become senators for life.

Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center, Yekaterinburg

In May 2008, the Federal law №68, "On centers of historical heritage of presidents of the Russian Federation ceased to carry out its powers", was adopted. According to this law, the objectives of the centers are the study and public presentation of historical heritage of presidents of Russia as an integral part of the modern history of Russia, the development of democratic institutions and the rule of law. The centers will be built for each former president of Russia. The first such center dedicated to Boris Yeltsin was opened in 2015 in Yekaterinburg. In the future the creation of presidential centers for Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev is also planned.

List of presidents

List of presidential administrations

References

1. ^ "Transcripts of 'Insight' on CNN". CNN. 7 October 2002. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.

2. ^ GDP of Russia from 1992 to 2007 Archived 7 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine International Monetary Fund Retrieved on 12 May 2008

3. Sergey Morozov, "Putin's Diplomacy: Russian Judo on World Tatami". - Saint Petersburg, publishing house "Krylov", 2008. - 288 pp. ^ ISBN 978-5-9717-0630-4. Chapter "Dracula, Rotten Meat and Dr. Evil", p. 130: "... in the Kremlin they thought that Russia has become a subject of a series of political propaganda attacks orchestrated by the West and exiled oligarchs.", p. 139, Dmitry Peskov: "Things we observe in the British media relate more to a usual human hysteria rather than to journalism... President regards this calmly, understanding at the same time that this has nothing to do with journalism and analytics."

4. ^ Putin sees Medvedev as successor Archived 12 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine BBC News

5. ^ "Constitutional and political change in Russia" (PDF). europarl.europa.eu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 February 2022.

6. Закон РФ о поправке к Конституции РФ от 14.03.2020 N 1-ФКЗ "О совершенствовании регулирования отдельных вопросов организации и функционирования публичной власти" [Law of the Russian Federation on the amendment to the Constitution of the Russian Federation of March 14, 2020 N 1-FKZ "On improving the regulation of certain issues of the organization and functioning of public authorities] (8.3, 8.3.1) (in Russian). 14 March 2020. Archived 3 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine

7. ^ Gueorguieva, Vassia; Simon, Rita James (2009). Voting and Elections the World Over. Global Perspectives on Social Issues Series. Lexington Books. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-7391-3090-2.

8. ^ Sefanov, Mike (22 December 2008). "Russian presidential term extended to 6 years". . Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.

9. The Presidential Residences Archived 28 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine

10. ^ Vladimir Putin Residences Archived 27 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Kommersant, #18(3594), 7 February 2007

11. ^ "Другой "Удачный": гуляем по элитному району, где шикарные коттеджи соседствуют с развалившимися бараками" (in Russian). ngs24.ru. 10 August 2020.

12. ^ "Putin's Kremlin Helipad Cost $6.4 Mln - Official". RIA Novosti. 17 May 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013.

13. ^ Федеральный закон о центрах исторического наследия президентов РФ, прекративших исполнение своих полномочий. Российская газета (in Russian). Archived from the original on 11 October 2017.

14. ^ В России появятся Медведев Центр и Путин Центр. AltaPress (in Russian). 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017.

Attribution note: Material from the powers and duties section of this article was originally published by the website of the Office of the President of Russia.

External links

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The president of the Russian Federation (Russian: Президент Российской Федерации , Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the Federal State Council and the supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the highest office in Russia.

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the unicorn Scotland's national    animal   

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the unicorn Scotland's national    animal   

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

unicorn, mythological animal resembling a horse or a goat with a single horn on its forehead. The unicorn appeared in early Mesopotamian artworks, and it also was referred to in the ancient myths of India and China. The earliest description in Greek literature of a single-horned (Greek monokerōs, Latin unicornis) animal was by the historian Ctesias (c. 400 bce), who related that the Indian wild ass was the size of a horse, with a white body, purple head, and blue eyes, and on its forehead was a cubit-long horn coloured red at the pointed tip, black in the middle, and white at the base. Those who drank from its horn were thought to be protected from stomach trouble, epilepsy, and poison. It was very fleet of foot and difficult to capture. The actual animal behind Ctesias's description was probably the Indian rhinoceros.

Certain poetical passages of the Bible refer to a strong and splendid horned animal called reʾem. This word was translated "unicorn" or "rhinoceros" in many versions of the Bible, but many modern translations prefer "wild ox" ( aurochs), which is the correct meaning of the Hebrew reʾem. As a biblical animal, the unicorn was interpreted allegorically in the early Christian church. One of the earliest such interpretations appears in the ancient Greek bestiary known as the Physiologus, which states that the unicorn is a strong, fierce animal that can be caught only if a virgin maiden is placed before it. The unicorn leaps into the virgin's lap, and she suckles it and leads it to the king's palace. Medieval writers thus likened the unicorn to Christ, who raised up a horn of salvation for mankind and dwelt in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Other legends tell of the unicorn's combat with the elephant, whom it finally spears to death with its horn, and of the unicorn's purifying of poisoned waters with its horn so that other animals may drink.

Cups reputedly made of unicorn horn-but actually made of rhinoceros horn or narwhal tusk-were highly valued by important persons in the Middle Ages as a protection against poisoned drinks. Many fine representations of the hunt of the unicorn survive in medieval art, not only in Europe but also in the Islamic world and in China.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Pat Bauer.

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Unicorn, mythological animal resembling a horse or a goat with a single horn on its forehead. The unicorn appeared in early Mesopotamian artworks, and it was also referred to in the ancient myths of India and China. Those who drank from its horn were thought to be protected from stomach trouble, epilepsy, and poison.

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How Food Plays a Big Part in Everyday Italian Lifestyle

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How Food Plays a Big Part in Everyday Italian Lifestyle

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(posted by anonymous student -- post again under your name to get credit!)

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Italy is home to one of the richest cultures in the world. With a long history preceding the Renaissance period, one of the prominent features of the Italian lifestyle is the food. Italians place a high premium on their food, and much emphasis is placed on what to eat, how to cook it, and when to eat it. It suffices to say that the average Italian family life revolves around food. Besides the amazing architectural designs adorning every part of Italy, the Italian way of life is also enriched by the quality of their Mediterranean cuisine.

In Italy, food is more than a means of supplying the body with the essential nutrients to stay healthy and grow, even though the Mediterranean diet which is rich in olive oil, vegetables, grains, spices, and herbs is a great source of health-enhancing nutrients. Food is far from an ordinary source of nourishment in the life of an Italian. It is something to be proud of, a unique way of celebrating the many festivals and Saint Days dotting the Italian calendar, and a family secret to be guided with the highest level of discretion.

The Italian love of family is one of the reasons why food is important in the Italian everyday life as extended families usually eat together at large gatherings to commemorate the many religious festivals celebrated in Italy, being the seat of the Catholic church, with the Pope living among the faithful. Different holidays have different types of food to celebrate them. For example, Italian doughnuts or Zeppoles are cream-filled golden pastries used to celebrate St Joseph's Day.

In a traditional Italian family, the mum is responsible for the cooking. A typical Italian dish will include ingredients such as olive oil, pasta, cheese, cured meat, beans, sauces, pesto, Italian tomatoes, bruschetta and japenades, and so on. Whether she is cooking chopped caprese salad or cauliflower and pine nut paccheri rigati with anchovies, the momma cooks with traditional ingredients that are have been used for many generations in the family or the region where they reside.

It is common for the Italian family to dine together on a Sunday. The food is usually a three-course meal consisting of a pre-meal treat which may include cheese, cured meat, olive oil, and veggies. Then it is followed by another dish which may be a pasta dish and then a fish or meat dish. They top it off with some local cheese, espresso, and some wine or liquor.

What is striking about Italian food is that it sticks to the root. Everything is traditional-from the ingredients to the recipes, cooking, and the setting. Italians don't just come up with any food. Their dishes always have a rich history that could date back many centuries. Italians are masters at preserving their heritage, and this has not been lost on their love of traditional food, as the Italian everyday life is filled with an amazing collection of delicious and highly nutritious meals that have been a part of the family tradition for many years.

The food is not only delightful to the senses, but it is also authentic and has a unique identity you can't get anywhere else. Italian food is about originality, and tradition and this rings through in everything Italian.

While other people are liberal and whip up different recipes every other day, the Italian cuisine remains the same using the same ingredients and recipes for many generations. At the core of the Italian everyday life that celebrates the family and places a high premium on religion and tradition, every other thing revolves around food and its powerful bonding effects.

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How Food Plays a Big Part in Everyday Italian Lifestyle - Flora Fine Foods

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Italy is home to one of the richest cultures in the world. With a long history preceding the Renaissance period, one of the prominent features of the Italian lifestyle is the food. Italians place a high premium on their food, and much emphasis is placed ... read more

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Hint: To get more specific in your research about Portugal, look up some of these events!

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A dispute breaks out between Afonso Henriques and his mother Theresa. Afonso Henriques triumphs in battle and declares himself Sovereign of the County of Portugal.

05 October 1143: Treaty of Zamora

Considered Portugal's date of independence. Afonso Henriques, otherwise known as Afonso I, is proclaimed the First King of Portugal.

14 August 1385: Battle of Aljubarrota

Fought between Portuguese troops and the Castilian army. The Castilians are defeated, putting an end to the 1383-1385 Portuguese Interregnum.

21 August 1415: Conquest of Ceuta

By King John I's troops

1434: Rounding of Cape Bojador

Gil Eanes opens the route for the great discoveries.

1488: Rounding of the Cape of Good Hope

By Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias. Opens a link between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and a route to India.

07 June 1494: Treaty of Tordesillas

In the Castilian town of Tordesillas, the Portuguese Kingdom and the Castilian Crown sign a treaty dividing the world (of lands "discovered and to be discovered") into two.

1497-1499: Discovery of the Sea Route to India

By Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama. One of the most notable voyages during the Age of Discovery.

22 April 1500: Discovery of Brazil

Pedro Álvares Cabral sets sail from Portugal in March, seeking to reach India. A massive storm forces him to change course and head in a southwesterly direction, after which he arrives in Ilha de Vera Cruz in South America.

01 December 1640: Restoration of Independence

A revolutionary Coup d'Etat led by a group called The Forty Conspirators prevents Castile's Philippine Dynasty from abolishing Portugal's independence.

01 November 1755: Lisbon Earthquake

Destroys the city of Lisbon and affects a vast portion of the coastline of Algarve and Setúbal. The earthquake is followed by a tsunami (with 20m high waves) and multiple fires, leading to the deaths of more than 10,000. Measuring between 8.7 and 9 on the Richter scale, it is one of the most devastating earthquakes in history.

18 October 1807: First Napoleonic Invasion

Napoleon and a French army led by General Juno invades Portugal, forcing the royal family to escape to Brazil (1807-1821). French troops are defeated with support from the English army led by Wellington.

01 February 1908: Regicide

At Terreiro do Paço in Lisbon, King Charles and his son and heir Prince Luís Filipe of Bragança are assassinated.

05 October 1910: Founding of the Republic

A revolution organised by the Portuguese Republican Party abolishes the monarchy and establishes a republican regime in Portugal.

28 May 1926: Military Dictatorship

A nationalist, anti-parliamentary military coup puts an end to the First Portuguese Republic. This leads to the creation of a Military Dictatorship, which installs General Carmona as President of the Republic.

1930 - 1974: Salazarism

António de Oliveira Salazar, a young economist and seminarist, becomes Head of the Government. In 1933, he consolidates his dictatorship by passing a new Constitution and dissolving all political parties. The Estado Novo (New State) is born.

1961 - 1974: Colonial War

A period of clashes between the Portuguese Armed Forces and independence movements in the former overseas provinces of Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique between 1961 and 1974.

25 April 1974: Carnation Revolution

In the early hours of 25 April, military troops occupy the studios of Rádio Clube Português and announce over the radio that they intend to restore democracy to Portugal. They broadcast songs the military disapproves of, such as "Grândola Vila Morena", which is used as the signal for beginning the coup. What starts as a coup d'etat is transformed into a true revolution. A flower vendor begins distributing carnations, first to the soldiers, who place the stems in the muzzles of their rifles, then to civilians, who attach the flowers to their chests. Thus emerges the carnation revolution and the restoration of democracy. One year later, the Portuguese people vote freely for the first time.

12 June 1985: Adhesion to the European Union

Portugal signs a treaty to join the European Economic Community (EEC). At the Monastery of Jerónimos, Prime Minister Mário Soares heads a delegation to formalise the country's entry into the European project.

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A dispute breaks out between Afonso Henriques and his mother Theresa. Afonso Henriques triumphs in battle and declares himself Sovereign of the County of Portugal. Considered Portugal's date of independence. Afonso Henriques, otherwise known as Afonso I, is proclaimed the First King of Portugal. Fought between Portuguese troops and the Castilian army.

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Crash Course: Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners

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Crash Course: Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners

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Comparing an Italian explorer who sailed for Spain, a Portuguese explorer, and a Chinese explorer.

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Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Zheng He - 15th Century Mariners: Crash Course World History #21

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elf, in Germanic folklore, originally, a spirit of any kind, later specialized into a diminutive creature, usually in tiny human form. In the or Younger, Edda, elves were classified as light elves (who were fair) and dark elves (who were darker than pitch); these classifications are roughly equivalent to the Scottish seelie court and unseelie court. The notable characteristics of elves were mischief and volatility. They were believed at various times and in various regions to cause diseases in humans and cattle, to sit upon the breast of a sleeper and give him bad dreams (the German word for nightmare is Alpdrücken, or "elf-pressure"), and to steal human children and substitute changelings (deformed or weak elf or fairy children). In the British Isles, flint implements called elf-bolts, elf-arrows, or elf-shot (which are now known to be prehistoric tools used by the aboriginal Irish and the early Scots) were believed to be the weapons with which elves injured cattle. Elves occasionally also were benevolent and helpful. The second edition of Encyclopædia Britannica, which was published in 1777-84, calls the word elf obsolete but reports that belief in such creatures "still subsists in many parts of our own country. . . In the Highlands of Scotland, new-born children are watched till the christening is over, lest they should be stolen or changed by some of these phantastical existences." In time, elves came to be indistinct from fairies, though both older classics-such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem "Der Erlkönig" ("The Elf King")-and such modern classics as J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (1954-55) still treat elves as a distinct type.

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Elf | Mythology, Origins & Germanic Folklore

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Elf, in Germanic folklore, originally, a spirit of any kind, later specialized into a diminutive creature, usually in tiny human form. In the Prose, or Younger, Edda, elves were classified as light elves (who were fair) and dark elves (who were darker than pitch); these classifications are roughly

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Marco Pontuali - Tour Guide and Tour Operator

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Italian folk music has a deep and complex history. Because national unification came late to the Italian peninsula, the traditional music of its many hundreds of cultures exhibit no homogeneous national character. Rather, each region and community possesses a unique musical tradition that reflects the history, language, and ethnic composition of that particular locale.These traditions reflect Italy's geographic position in southern Europe and in the center of the Mediterranean Sea; Arabic, African, Celtic, Persian, Roma, and Slavic influences, as well as rough geography and the historic dominance of small city states, have all combined to allow diverse musical styles to coexist in close proximity.

Italian folk styles are very diverse, and include monophonic, polyphonic, and responsorial song, choral, instrumental and vocal music, and other styles. Choral singing and polyphonic song forms are primarily found in northern , while south of , solo singing is more common, and groups usually use unison singing in two or three parts carried by a single performer. Northern ballad-singing is syllabic, with a strict tempo and intelligible lyrics, while southern styles use a rubato tempo, and a strained, tense vocal style. Folk musicians use the dialect of their own regional tradition; this rejection of the standard Italian language in folk song is nearly universal. There is little perception of a common Italian folk tradition, and the country's folk music never became a national symbol.

's folk music is sometimes divided into several spheres of geographic influence, a classification system of three regions, southern, central and northern, proposed by Alan Lomax in 1956 and often repeated. Additionally, Curt Sachs proposed the existence of two quite distinct kinds of folk music in Europe: continental and Mediterranean, and others have placed the transition zone from the former to the latter roughly in north-central Italy, approximately between Pesaro and La Spezia The central, northern and southern parts of the peninsula each share certain musical characteristics, and are each distinct from the music of Sardinia

In the Piedmontese valleys and some Ligurian communities of northwestern , the music preserves the strong influence of ancient Occitania. The lyrics of the Occitanic troubadours are some of the oldest preserved samples of vernacular song, and modern bands like Gai Saber and Lou Dalfin preserve and contemporize Occitan music. The Occitanian culture retains characteristics of the ancient Celtic influence, through the use of six or seven hole flutes (fifre) or the bagpipes (piva). The music of , in northeastern , shares much more in common with and including variants of the waltz and the polka. Much of northern shares with areas of further to the north an interest in ballad singing (called canto epico lirico in Italian) and choral singing. Even ballads-usually thought of as a vehicle for a solo voice-may be sung in choirs. In the "folk choirs" are the most common form of music making.

Noticeable musical differences in the southern type include increased use of interval part singing and a greater variety of folk instruments. The Celtic and Slavic influences on the group and open-voice choral works of the north yield to a stronger Arabic, Greek, and African-influenced strident monody of the south. In parts of (Grecìa Salentina, for example) the Griko dialect is commonly used in song. The Apulian city of is a home of the tarantella, a rhythmic dance widely performed in southern . Apulian music in general, and Salentine music in particular, has been well researched and documented by ethnomusicologists and by Aramirè.

The music of the is best known for the polyphonic chanting of the tenores. The sound of the tenores recalls the roots of Gregorian chant, and is similar to but distinctive from the Ligurian trallalero. Typical instruments include the launeddas, a Sardinian triplepipe used in a sophisticated and complex manner. Efisio Melis was a well-known master launeddas player of the 1930s.

Italian folk songs include ballads, lyrical songs, lullabies and children's songs, seasonal songs based around holidays like Christmas, life-cycle songs that celebrate weddings, baptisms and other important events, dance songs, cattle calls and occupational songs, tied to professions such as fishermen, shepherds and soldiers. Ballads (canti epico-lirici) and lyric songs (canti lirico-monostrifici) are two important categories. Ballads are most common in northern , while lyric songs prevail further south. Ballads are closely tied to the English form, with some British ballads existing in exact correspondence with an Italian song. Other Italian ballads are more closely based on French models. Lyric songs are a diverse category that consist of lullabies, serenades and work songs, and are frequently improvised though based on a traditional repertoire.

Other Italian folk song traditions are less common than ballads and lyric songs. Strophic, religious laude, sometimes in Latin, are still occasionally performed, and epic songs are also known, especially those of the maggio celebration. Professional female singers perform dirges similar in style to those elsewhere in . Yodeling exists in northern , though it is most commonly associated with the folk musics of other Alpine nations. The Italian Carnival is associated with several song types, especially the Carnival of Bagolino, . Choirs and brass bands are a part of the mid-Lenten holiday, while the begging song tradition extends through many holidays throughout the year.

Instrumentation is an integral part of all facets of Italian folk music. There are several instruments that retain older forms even while newer models have become widespread elsewhere in . Many Italian instruments are tied to certain rituals or occasions, such as the zampogna bagpipe, typically heard only at Christmas. Italian folk instruments can be divided into string, wind and percussion categories. Common instruments include the organetto an accordion most closely associated with the saltarello; the diatonic button organetto is most common in central Italy, while chromatic accordions prevail in the north. Many municipalities are home to brass bands, which perform with roots revival groups; these ensembles are based around the clarinet accordion, violin and small drums, adorned with bells.

's wind instruments include most prominently a variety of folk flutes. These include duct, globular and transverse flutes, as well as various variations of the pan flute. Double flutes are most common in , and . A ceramic pitcher called the quartara is also used as a wind instrument, by blowing across an opening in the narrow bottle neck; it is found in eastern Sicily and Campania. Single- (ciaramella) and double-reed (piffero) pipes are commonly played in groups of two or three. Several folk bagpipes are well-known, including central 's zampogna; dialect names for the bagpipe vary throughout beghet in , piva in , müsa in , , and , and so forth.

Numerous percussion instruments are a part of Italian folk music, including wood blocks, bells, castanets, drums. Several regions have their own distinct form of rattle, including the raganella cog rattle and the Calabrian conocchie, a spinning or shepherd's staff with permanently attached seed rattles with ritual fertility significance. The Neapolitan rattle is the triccaballacca, made out of several mallets in a wooden frame. Tambourines (tamburini, tamburello) are common, as are various kinds of drums, such as the friction drum putipù. The mouth-harp, scacciapensieri or care-chaser, is a distinctive instrument, found only in northern and .

String instruments vary widely depending on locality, with no nationally prominent representative. Viggiano is home to a harp tradition, which has a historical base in Abruzzi, Lazio and , alone, has 30 traditional musical instruments, some of which have strongly archaic characteristics and are largely extinct elsewhere in . It is home to the four- or five-stringed guitar called the chitarra battente, and a three-stringed, bowed fiddle called the lira, which is also found in similar forms in the music of and Southeastern Europe . A one-stringed, bowed fiddle called the torototela, is common in the northeast of the country. The largely German-speaking Alto Adige/South Tyrol is known for the zither, and the ghironda (hurdy-gurdy) is found in Emilia, and .

Existing, rooted and widespread traditions confirm the production of ephemeral and toy instruments made of bark, reed (arundo donax), leaves, fibers and stems, as it emerges, for example, from Fabio Lombardi's research.

Dance is an integral part of folk traditions in . Some of the dances are ancient and, to a certain extent, persist today. There are magico-ritual dances of propitiation as well as harvest dances, including the "sea-harvest" dances of fishing communities in and the wine harvest dances in . Famous dances include the southern tarantella; perhaps the most iconic of Italian dances, the tarantella is in 6/8 time, and is part of a folk ritual intended to cure the poison caused by tarantula bites. Popular Tuscan dances ritually act out the hunting of the hare, or display blades in weapon dances that simulate or recall the moves of combat, or use the weapons as stylized instruments of the dance itself. For example, in a few villages in northern , swords are replaced by wooden half-hoops embroidered with green, similar to the so-called "garland dances" in northern Europe.There are also dances of love and courting, such as the duru-duru dance in .

Many of these dances are group activities, the group setting up in rows or circles; some-the love and courting dances-involve couples, either a single couple or more. The tammuriata (performed to the sound of the tambourine) is a couple dance performed in southern and accompanied by a lyric song called a strambotto. Other couples dances are collectively referred to as saltarello.]There are, however, also solo dances; most typical of these are the "flag dances" of various regions of , in which the dancer passes a town flag or pennant around the neck, through the legs, behind the back, often tossing it high in the air and catching it. These dances can also be done in groups of solo dancers acting in unison or by coordinating flag passing between dancers. Northern Italy is also home to the monferrina, an accompanied dance that was incorporated in Western art music by the composer Muzio Clementi.

Academic interest in the study of dance from the perspectives of sociology and anthropology has traditionally been neglected in but is currently showing renewed life at the university and post-graduate level.

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malipiero\'s opera la favola del figlio cambiato

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Italian folk music has a deep and complex history. Because national unification came late to the Italian peninsula, the traditional music of its many hundreds of cultures exhibit no homogeneous national character.

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Russianstreet styleis by no means new. In 2012, The New York Times dubbed a new wave ofstreet stylestars the 'Russian FashionPack' and ever since then, theSoviet Unionhas produced countless fashion icons, designers andstreet stylestars to provide us with endless inspiration. So forgetParis,Milanand Copenhagen as theEuropeanfashion capitals of the world.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia, founded in 2000 byAlexander Shumsky, has grown significantly in recent years moving from 18 designers in its inception year to over 170 in 2018.MoscowFashion Weekboasts the likes ofUlyana Sergeenko, Vika Gazinskaya andGosha Rubchinskiy, and has also given way to up-and-comers likeOlgaKarput, founder ofMoscowconcept shop KM20, and Lotta Volkova, right-hand woman to Demna Gvasalia at Vetements and Balenciaga. Although theSovietfashion scene is relatively young, born when theUSSRcollapsed in December 1991 and developed a decade later, it is now gaining international attention.
RELATED: 8 Of The Best Street Style Looks From Russia Fashion Week
TheRussian fashion industryandRussian designersare now at the forefront of globalfashion trends.

Almost thirty years after the fall of theBerlinWall, the rise of 'post-Sovietstyle' emerged. Dictating the new scene wasGosha Rubchinskiyand Demna Gvasalia, whose fashion philosophy feeds on the meshings between digital culture, vintage, '90s streetwear, youth subculture andSoviethistory, giving life to an aesthetic often at the limit of the 'ugly, underground, hyper-realistic and raw'.

Below, killer outfits from the Russian style set:

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Why The 'Russian Fashion Pack' Should Be Your Go-To Style Inspiration

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Russian street style is by no means new. In 2012, The New York Times dubbed a new wave of street style stars the 'Russian Fashion Pack' and ever since then, the Soviet Union has produced countless fashion icons, designers and street style stars to provide us with endless inspiration.

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Cultural heritage meets Hollywood's golden age

Let's start in the 1950s, in the gilded surroundings of Florentine and Roman villas, where the Italian aristocrats are sharing their idea of beauty and function with the recent influx of Hollywood stars. Count Emilio Pucci mixes vibrant colors and geometric patterns to create blouses from a unique anti-wrinkle silk fabric that slips into suitcases and comes out ready to be worn - arrivederci to crumpled clothes - attracting fans including Lauren Bacall and Elizabeth Taylor.

Meanwhile, in Florence's Palazzo Spini Feroni, Salvatore Ferragamo is considered the ' calzolaio dei sogni' (cobbler of dreams) and makes shoes that are sought-after by the stars. Marilyn Monroe is a loyal customer and wears his pumps in that iconic scene in Billy Wilder's 1955 The Seven Year Itch, where her dress billows dramatically as she stands over a subway grate. Ferragamo's shoemaking genius is clear but he is also a pioneer and innovator with many patents, including his much-copied cork-heeled wedge.

In the 1960s, Italy is the country of la dolce vita; the ultimate vacation destination for the new jet set. For every occasion, from Capri to Cortina, a carefully curated look is born. It is also a decade of change with a need for a faster and more democratic sartorial offering, which was made possible through the development of the Italian textile districts in the post-war period, where quality craftsmanship combines with a large workforce. The mills of Biella in northern Italy produce the finest wool yarns, while in lakeside Como they weave silk, and in the Tuscan town of Scandicci they stitch together Italian leather. Thus, Italy launches pret-à-porter, with factories producing quality clothing in standardized sizes for the first time. Even today, the self-sufficient supply chain of 65,000 small and medium companies create 40 percent of the world's luxury goods, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Italy represents a revered location of skill and know-how, born from this manufacturing tradition.

We're moving into a time of counter-culture and rebellion and, as always, Italian fashion is listening to - and influencing - society. "The desire to rethink male and female with no distinction: no longer two genders with different roles, but two attitudes to dress," highlights the fashion critic and curator Maria Luisa Frisa. This is the radical sex revolution of the '70s and is not a simple trend but a step change in the freedom of expression and individuality. From the office to aperitivos, the unstructured suit is the epitome of effortless elegance for men, yet also empowers women for every occasion; one solution for all that is still relevant today.

By the 1980s, Milanese runways are unleashing glorious excess, and the world is paying attention. It's the rise of big personalities, big shows, and big ideas. Franco Moschino embodies irreverence, mixing traditions and playing with symbols. He is opulent and even kitsch; the Italian tricolore corset gown with a giant printed cow is an outrageous salute to Made in Italy.

Versace, meanwhile, is an explosion of creativity and glamour, as the late Gianni Versace's kaleidoscopic prints and iconic chain-mail metal mesh dress - immortalized in fashion history in the 1982 Richard Avedon-lensed campaign - enter fashion folklore. He is a man of extraordinary talent, but he also understands the power of publicity and embraces media attention. To this end, he fills his front row with celebrities, launches high-profile advertising campaigns and essentially invents the supermodel, permanently altering the presentation of fashion forever. Versace clothes celebrate women and its runways continue to be a march of audacious beauty and unfettered joy.

The designers' dialect

Italian style is a sophisticated language: most of the established fashion houses created their signature using a very detailed vocabulary. From Missoni's vibrant knitwear to Etro's exotic paisley print, and Dolce & Gabbana's retro femininity to Bottega Veneta's woven intrecciato leather technique, which has recently been refreshed in supersized proportions by current creative director Daniel Lee.

And, of course, there is Miuccia Prada's intellectual and nonconformist 'ugly chic', which has had an enduring impact and influenced the way an entire generation of designers create clothing. She elevates utilitarian fabrics to create must-have nylon bags, chicly combines chunky heels with '70s curtain patterns and makes socks and sandals cool.

Prada's cultural exploration is often collaborative - she is an artist who has worked with film director Wes Anderson and architect Rem Koolhaas - but perhaps her most compelling joint venture will be her next collection, for which she has invited Raf Simons to join the brand as co-creative director.

Italian fashion, it should be remembered, thrives not only because of the big brands, but because of the thousands of workshops across the country, making Italian fashion global. It is these artisans who proudly create, with care and attention, clothing and accessories that are in harmony with the philosophies of slow fashion and sustainability. Quality over quantity has always been the motto for Italy, the ideal of bello e ben fatto (beautiful and well-made), and now with the increasing awareness of the harmful climate impact of the fashion industry, there is a focus on localized production, waste reduction and engaging with social responsibility. Italian companies are perfectly placed to take the reins on this global change for the industry.

There are the timeless garments of Brunello Cucinelli and Loro Piana, the minimalist bags of Valextra, and the exquisite embroidery of Loretta Caponi. But also, there is a whole new generation of small businesses following in their footsteps, like the Instagrammable Milanese looks of The Attico and F.R.S. For Restless Sleepers' pajama-inspired eveningwear. F.R.S's founder, Francesca Ruffini, explains that her brand is "inextricably linked to Como's silk DNA. The city, its laboratories and printing houses are a perpetual source of inspiration for the research, development and aesthetic of my collections."

Further south, Giuliva Heritage Collection's refined tailoring, handmade in Naples, preserves the local craftsmanship while bringing a feminine touch. "Our style and our way of making things gives our garments the power to endure, passing from generation to generation," says co-founder Margherita Cardelli, who highlights that almost every piece is made entirely by hand. As do the elegant blazers of Blazé Milano: "Made in Italy guarantees values that cannot be replicated, because these values and the rich aesthetic they foster are rooted in the complex past of our country," explains the brand's creative director Corrada Rodriguez d'Acri. "Those who buy one of our garments wear an extraordinary history and culture of know-how."

Pierpaolo Piccioli, Valentino's creative director, never misses an opportunity to thank his workers. For him it is about the collective; while on stage at the Teatro alla Scala to collect the Art of Craftsmanship Award, at the first edition of the Green Carpet (the Oscars of sustainable fashion), he invited his whole haute-couture team to join him on the podium, where tears flowed.

Every Gucci show is profoundly emotive, too. The house's creative director, Alessandro Michele, continues to astonish, not only with his ideas, but with the way he conveys them. Michele's most recent show, which was staged on a carousel, revealed the rituals of backstage and all the people that make it happen. His latest revolution was communicated via Instagram, in his Notes From The Silence. The pandemic has caused him to reflect while looking ahead to the house's future and collection format: "I feel the urgent need to change a lot of things in the way I work. I have always been professionally inclined to change, after all, bringing with me a natural and joyful creative restlessness. But this crisis has somehow amplified such transformative urgency, which can't be deferred anymore," he writes. "Now that we are still apart, my love for fashion burns. Our species, after all, is like that: we love like crazy in the throes of what is missing."

Pressing pause on the whole industry due to the coronavirus pandemic has been challenging, but it has also provided a moment to reassess, and with that an opportunity to change for the better. "We must adapt our creative endeavor to a new present," says Marni creative director Francesco Risso. "To grasp a new essence guided by dreams that last through time." Dreams about identities, of course, but also intangible dreams - setting new goals on a sustainable path, giving support and a voice to all the communities of our planet, defending nature and creating a better world.

"Fashion is a reflection of society, and society is rippling," says Paul Andrew of Salvatore Ferragamo. "So, fashion is in flux too, and it is changing for the better. It can no longer be a monolith concept and will only be relevant if it reflects the diversity of cultures, lifestyles and individuals around the world."

Despite global rhythms and commercial needs, the Italian fashion industry feels that it is time to change. While trusting its heritage, it bets on the future.

SHOP THE ITALIAN COLLECTIVE

Discover the Italian Collective: 11 exclusive capsule collections from some of Italy's most loved designers - plus, 20 percent of the profits* from the sale of products in this list marked 'Exclusive' will go to the Associazione della Croce Rossa Italiana - Organizzazione di Volontariato (Italian Red Cross) to support their work on the front line of the global health emergency

*Italian Red Cross is a registered charity in Rome, Italy (charity number 1157/2016 and VAT number 13669721006). "Profits" means the sale price of the product less operational and landing costs, including transportation fees, customs, duties, taxes, insurance, currency conversion, crating, handling and payment fees. The people featured in this story are not associated with NET-A-PORTER and do not endorse it or the products shown.

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Italian design and creativity is defined by its ability to weave together quality, beauty and function - in infinitely new ways. The rich history of the country is the conditio sine qua non (foundation stone) of Made in Italy, a creative industry that blends elements from the past and present to influence the future.

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Loch Ness monster, large marine creature believed by some people to inhabit Loch Ness, Scotland. However, much of the alleged evidence supporting its existence has been discredited, and it is widely thought that the monster is a myth.

Reports of a monster inhabiting Loch Ness date back to ancient times. Notably, local stone carvings by the Pict depict a mysterious beast with flippers. The first written account appears in a 7th-century biography of St. Columba. According to that work, in 565 ad the monster bit a swimmer and was prepared to attack another man when Columba intervened, ordering the beast to "go back." It obeyed, and over the centuries only occasional sightings were reported. Many of these alleged encounters seemed inspired by Scottish folklore, which abounds with mythical water creatures.

In 1933 the Loch Ness monster's legend began to grow. At the time, a road adjacent to Loch Ness was finished, offering an unobstructed view of the lake. In April a couple saw an enormous animal-which they compared to a "dragon or prehistoric monster"-and after it crossed their car's path, it disappeared into the water. The incident was reported in a Scottish newspaper, and numerous sightings followed. In December 1933 the commissioned Marmaduke Wetherell, a big-game hunter, to locate the sea serpent. Along the lake's shores, he found large footprints that he believed belonged to "a very powerful soft-footed animal about 20 feet [6 metres] long." However, upon closer inspection, zoologists at the Natural History Museum determined that the tracks were identical and made with an umbrella stand or ashtray that had a hippopotamus leg as a base; Wetherell's role in the hoax was unclear.

The news only seemed to spur efforts to prove the monster's existence. In 1934 English physician Robert Kenneth Wilson photographed the alleged creature. The iconic image-known as the "surgeon's photograph"-appeared to show the monster's small head and neck. The Daily Mail printed the photograph, sparking an international sensation. Many speculated that the creature was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that went extinct some 65.5 million years ago.

The Loch Ness area attracted numerous monster hunters. Over the years, several sonar explorations (notably in 1987 and 2003) were undertaken to locate the creature, but none were successful. In addition, numerous photographs allegedly showed the beast, but most were discredited as fakes or as depicting other animals or objects. Notably, in 1994 it was revealed that Wilson's photograph was a hoax spearheaded by a revenge-seeking Wetherell; the "monster" was actually a plastic-and-wooden head attached to a toy submarine. In 2018 researchers conducted a DNA survey of Loch Ness to determine what organisms live in the waters. No signs of a plesiosaur or other such large animal were found, though the results indicated the presence of numerous eels. This finding left open the possibility that the monster is an oversized eel. Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, the Loch Ness monster remained popular-and profitable. In the early 21st century it was thought that it contributed nearly $80 million annually to Scotland's economy.

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Loch Ness monster | History, Sightings, & Facts

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Loch Ness monster, large marine creature believed by some people to inhabit Loch Ness, Scotland. However, much of the alleged evidence supporting its existence has been discredited, and it is widely thought that the monster is a myth. Learn more about the Loch Ness monster.

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Kilt, knee-length skirtlike garment that is worn by men as a major element of the traditional national garb of Scotland. (The other main component of Highland dress, as the traditional male garb of Scotland is called, is the plaid, which is a rectangular length of cloth worn over the left shoulder.) The kilt is a length of woven wool that is permanently pleated except for sections at each end and wrapped around the wearer's waist in such a way that the pleats are massed at the wearer's back and the flat, unpleated ends overlap to form a double layer at his front. Both kilt and plaid are usually made of cloth woven with a cross-checked repeating pattern known as a tartan ( q.v.).

kilt Artifex

The kilt and plaid ensemble developed in 17th-century Scotland from the féile-breacan, a long piece of woolen cloth whose pleated first half was wrapped around the wearer's waist, while the (unpleated) second half was then wrapped around the upper body, with a loose end thrown over the left shoulder. Subsequently in the 17th century two lengths of cloth began to be worn for these purposes, and the kilt and plaid thus came to be separate garments.

The plaid and kilt form the only national costume in the British Isles that is worn for ordinary purposes, rather than merely for special occasions. Highland dress is also the uniform of Scottish regiments in the British army, and kilts have been worn in battle as recently as World War II.

Amy Tikkanen, Corrections Manager.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

Scotland: Daily life and social customs

The form of the kilt, Scotland's national costume, has evolved since the emigration of Scots from Ireland. The modern kilt, with its tartan pattern, became common in the 18th century and served an important role in the formation of a Scottish national identity. Knits from Fair Isle, with their...

Tartan, cross-checkered repeating pattern (or "sett") of different coloured bands, stripes, or lines of definite width and sequence, woven into woolen cloth (sometimes with silk added). Although such patterns have existed for centuries in many cultures, they have come to be regarded as peculiarly Scottish and a quasi-heraldic Scottish family...

Scotland, most northerly of the four parts of the United Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the island of Great Britain. The name Scotland derives from the Latin Scotia, land of the Scots, a Celtic people from Ireland who settled on the west coast of Great Britain about the 5th century CE. The...

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Kilt, knee-length skirtlike garment that is worn by men as a major element of the traditional national garb of Scotland. (The other main component of Highland dress, as the traditional male garb of Scotland is called, is the plaid, which is a rectangular length of cloth worn over the left

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12 Interesting and Fun Facts About Portugal

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12 Interesting and Fun Facts About Portugal

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Italy, a European country with a long Mediterranean coastline, has left a powerful mark on Western culture and cuisine. Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as landmark art and ancient ruins. Other major cities include Florence, with Renaissance masterpieces such as Michelangelo's "David" and Brunelleschi's Duomo; Venice, the city of canals; and Milan, Italy's fashion capital.

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Please click here if you are not redirected within a few seconds. Italy, a European country with a long Mediterranean coastline, has left a powerful mark on Western culture and cuisine. Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as landmark art and ancient ruins.

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From early Mongol invasions to tsarist regimes to ages of enlightenment and industrialization to revolutions and wars, Russia is known not just for its political rises of world power and upheaval, but for its cultural contributions (think ballet, Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, caviar and vodka).

Below is a timeline of notable events in the world's largest country.

Mongol Invasions

862: The first major East Slavic state, Kievan Rus, is founded and led by the Viking Oleg of Novgorod (although some historians dispute this account). Kiev becomes the capital 20 years later.

980-1015: Prince Vladimir the Great, who converts from paganism to Orthodox Christianity, rules the Rurik dynasty while spreading his newfound religion. His son, Yaroslav the Wise, reigns from 1019-1054 as grand prince, establishing a written code of law, and Kiev becomes a center of politics and culture in eastern Europe.

1237-1240: Mongols invade Kievan Rus, destroying cities including Kiev and Moscow. The Khan of the Golden Horde rules Russia until 1480.

1480-1505: Ivan III-known as Ivan the Great-rules, freeing Russia from the Mongols, and consolidating Muscovite rule.

1547-1584: Ivan IV-or Ivan the Terrible-becomes the first czar of Russia. The grandson of Ivan the Great expands the Muscovite territory into Siberia, while instituting a reign of terror against nobility using military rule. He dies of a stroke in 1584.

Romanov Dynasty

1613: After several years of unrest, famine, civil war and invasions, Mikhail Romanov is coronated as czar at age 16, ending a long period of instability. The Romanov dynasty will rule Russia for three centuries.

1689-1725: Peter the Great rules until his death, building a new capital in St. Petersburg, modernizing the military (and founding the Russian navy) and reorganizing the government. With his introduction of Western European culture, Russia becomes a world power.

1762: Russia's longest-ruling female leader, Catherine II, or Catherine the Great, takes power in a bloodless coup and her reign marks Russia's era of enlightenment. A champion of the arts, her 30-plus-year rule also extends Russia's borders.

1853-1856: Stemming from Russian pressure on Turkey and religious tensions, the Ottoman Empire, along with British and French forces, fights Russia and Czar Nicholas I in the Crimean War. Russia is crippled in its defeat.

1861: Czar Alexander II issues his Emancipation Reform, abolishing serfdom and allowing peasants to purchase land. His other notable reforms include universal military service, strengthening Russia's borders and promoting self government. In 1867, he sells Alaska and the Aleutian Islands to the United States, gilding the St. Isaac Cathedral domes in St. Petersburg with the proceeds. He is assassinated in 1881.

1914: Russia enters WWI against Austria-Hungary in defense of Serbia.

Lenin, the Bolsheviks and Rise of the Soviet Union

Nov. 6-7, 1917: The violent Russian Revolution marks the end of the Romanov dynasty and Russian Imperial Rule, as the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, take power and eventually become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Civil War breaks out later that year, with Lenin's Red Army claiming victory and the establishment of the Soviet Union. Lenin rules until his death in 1924.

1929-1953: Joseph Stalin becomes dictator, taking Russia from a peasant society to a military and industrial power. His totalitarian rule includes his Great Purge, beginning in 1934, in which at least 750,000 people were killed to eliminate opposition. He dies in 1953, following a stroke.

1939: World War II begins, and, in accord with a pact between Stalin and Adolf Hitler, Russian invades Poland, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. Germany breaks the agreement in 1941, invading Russia, which then joins the Allies. The Russian army's win at the Battle of Stalingrad serves as a major turning point in ending the war.

March 5, 1946: In a speech, Winston Churchill declares "an Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent" and the Cold War grows as the Soviets promote revolution in China, Asia and the Middle and Near East. In 1949, the Soviets explode a nuclear bomb, hastening the nuclear arms race.

Oct. 4, 1957: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite that orbits the Earth in about 98 minutes and spurs the Space Race. In 1961, Soviet Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to fly in space.

October 1962: The 13-day Cuban Missile Crisis leads Americans to fear nuclear war is at hand with the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev eventually agrees to remove the missiles, while President John F. Kennedy agrees to not invade Cuba and remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.

July-August 1980: The 1980 Summer Olympics are held in Moscow, with several countries, including the United States, boycotting the games in protest of the December 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.

Gorbachev Introduces Reforms

March 11,1985: Mikhail Gorbachev is elected general secretary of the Communist Party, and, thus, effectively Russia's leader. His reform efforts include perestroika (restructuring the Russian economy), glasnost (greater openness) and summit talks with U.S. President Ronald Reagan to end the Cold War. In 1990, he is elected president, the same year he wins the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing the Cold War to a peaceful end.

April 26, 1986: The Chernobyl disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident, takes place at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near Kiev in Ukraine. Resulting in thousands of deaths and 70,000 severe poisoning cases, the 18-mile radius surrounding the plant (and no longer home to nearly 150,000 people), will remain unlivable for some 150 years.

June 12, 1991: Boris Yeltsin wins Russia's first popular presidential election, urging democracy.

Soviet Union Falls

Dec. 25, 1991: Following an unsuccessful Communist Party coup, the Soviet Union is dissolved and Gorbachev resigns. With Ukraine and Belarus, Russia forms the Commonwealth of Independent States, which most former Soviet republics eventually join. Yeltsin begins lifting Communist-imposed price controls and reforms, and, in 1993, signs the START II treaty, pledging nuclear arms cuts. He wins reelection in 1996, but resigns in 1999, naming former KGB agent Vladimir Putin, his prime minister, as acting president.

Dec. 1994: Russian troops enter the breakaway republic of Chechnya to stop an independence movement. Up to 100,000 people are estimated killed in the 20-month war that that ends with a compromise agreement. Chechen rebels continue a campaign for independence, sometimes through terrorist acts in Russia.

March 26, 2000: Vladimir Putin is elected president, and is reelected in a landslide in 2004. Because of term limits, he leaves office in 2008, when his protege Dmitry Medvedev is elected, and serves as his prime minister. Putin is then reelected as president in 2012.

October 23, 2002: About 50 Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater, taking up to 700 people hostage during a sold-out performance of a popular musical. After a 57-hour standoff, most of the rebels and around 120 hostages are killed as Russian forces storm the building.

July 25, 2016: The FBI announces an investigation into possible Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee's computer system. Investigations and reports are also released concerning Russian meddling in the U.S. 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump. Putin wins another election in 2018, and is sworn in for six more years.

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Russia Timeline: From Invasions to Enlightenments to Upheavals

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From early Mongol invasions to tsarist regimes to ages of enlightenment and industrialization to revolutions and wars, Russia is known not just for its political rises of world power and upheaval, but for its cultural contributions (think ballet, Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, caviar and vodka). Below is a timeline of notable events in the world's largest country.

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The Portuguese Empire: A Brief History of Portugal Part 1

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The Portuguese Empire: A Brief History of Portugal Part 1

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Portugal and Spain Tour packages are cost effective, pre-planned itineraries tailored to visitors wishing to see the best Portugal has to offer. Portugal tour packages optimize the cost of multiple services such as transfers, transportation, hotels, entry to events and in some cases include meals. Portugal package tours and itineraries are available for those who prefer to join a group tour or for those who would like to explore on their own with pre-booked hotels and rental car.

Portugal is located on the west side of the Iberian Peninsula, ideally positioned between Spain and the Atlantic ocean. Its geographic location along the Atlantic coastline is the reason why quickly became an ocean-bound country setting the stage for centuries of sea adventure and discoveries.

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The Portuguese Empire: A Brief History of Portugal Part 1 | Portugal.com

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Portugal and Spain Tour packages are cost effective, pre-planned itineraries tailored to visitors wishing to see the best Portugal has to offer. Portugal tour packages optimize the cost of multiple services such as transfers, transportation, hotels, entry to events and in some cases include meals.

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Facts about Spain: food, culture, history and more!

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Facts about Spain: food, culture, history and more!

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Posted By M.Isac Oct 04, 2015

Facts about Spain

The sovereign state of the Kingdom of Spain is situated in the southwestern part of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east of its mainland. The country consists of a long history, a rich culture and a number of attractions for foreign tourists.

In Spanish, the country is known as Espana. Its capital is Madrid. Spain is a well-developed country with a high GDP, ranking as the 13th highest in the world. It is home to around 47 million people according to the population survey of 2012.

The discussion below reveals interesting and informative facts about Spain.

Facts about Spanish Food

Traditional Spanish specialties are mouthwatering. Whether it is time for el desayuno (breakfast) or la cena (dinner), you are in for a tempting and filling delight. Tapas - Spanish appetizers - are a special attraction for tourists. In addition, there are a number of other unique dishes which make up the tasteful traditional Spanish cuisine. Discussed below are the most famous dishes of the region.

Churros

Churros are enjoyed at breakfast or as a snack. They consist of fried pastry filled with fruits or coated with chocolate. The pastry is in the form of a thick stick.

Mantecados, Polvorones and Turron

These are special Christmas treats in Spain. Mantecados and Polvorones are a variety of almond cakes. They are made in different shapes and sizes and may be soft or crumbly. On the other hand, turron is a candy with almonds and honey as the main ingredients.

Tortilla Espanola

Contrary to the conventional Mexican tortillas, Spanish tortillas consist of an egg omelet with potatoes as an extra ingredient. The locals call it tortilla espanola.

Gazpacho

It is a vegetable soup made mostly from tomato. Different variations of gazpacho exist in different parts of Spain. It is usually served with hardboiled egg.

Paella

Regarded as the national dish of the country, Paella is a rice dish enjoyed at La Fallas, the Spanish spring festival. It is made of rice, meat and vegetables. Famous variations of paella consist of sea food or rabbit meat.

Facts about Spanish Culture

Spain is famous for several of its interesting customs, festivals and other components of a colorful culture. The following facts provide information about the most popular customs followed in the country.

Flamenco

It is a popular type of Spanish folk music accompanied by spontaneous dancing. Flamenco consists of guitar as the dominant instrument. The style originated from the southern part of the country in Andalusia.

Bullfighting

The famous bullfighting of Spain is one of the most exciting attractions of the country for tourists. The popular tradition is also termed as tauromachy.

San Sebastian Festival

The festival is celebrated in January in San Sebastian with bonfires and dancing. The remarkable feature of this festival is the popular taborrada drumming.

Fallas de San Jose

It is a spring festival which originated during the Middle Ages. Today, it is celebrated in the country through a nighttime parade and Nit del Foc - Night of the Fire. In the case of the latter, cardboard figures depicting grotesque scenes are burnt.

Sangria

Sangria is the most famous beverage of Spain. It is dark red in color and is made from wine accompanied by a little amount of brandy. In addition, chopped fruits and sweetener add to the flavor of the drink.

Soccer

Futbol, as pronounced by the Spanish locals, soccer is one of the most popular sports in the country along with bullfighting. It is almost regarded as religion and is, therefore, an important part of the country's culture. Being home to two of the world's most popular soccer teams, Spain has gained international fame in the world of sports.

Facts about Spanish History

Spain has a rich history which dates back to the prehistoric age. Archeologists have discovered evidence which shows that the region has been inhabited by hominids over a million years ago. The following facts reveal more about the interesting history of Spain.

The Iberian Peninsula served as an extremely important refuge to the survivors of the last ice age. Therefore, after the ice age ended, a large part of the northern Europe was repopulated from Spain.

In the 3rd century BC, Spain was being contested for by two imperial powers - the Romans and the Carthaginians. The Romans got hold of the eastern peninsula after the second Punic war.

Spain fell from the hands of Romans into the hands of the Visigoths in 5 BC.

The Arabs began their infiltration into the country in 711 which led to a long reign of Muslim power.

The Christians began fighting for the re-conquest of Spain. They completed their conquest in 1492 through the fall of Granada.

After experiencing a series of imperial rule, revolutionary movements and dictatorship, Spain finally became a democratic state in the 1980s.

Facts about Spanish Economy

The following facts about Spain economy are provided by the World Bank and CIA Factbook, 2013.

The currency of Spain is Euro.

Spain's gross domestic product is the thirteenth highest in the world. It amounts to $1.31 trillion.

The GDP per capita is equal to $30,100 and is three times higher than the average GDP per capita of the world.

The GDP of Spain is falling at the rate of 1.6 annually. However, this rate is 4.6% slower than the average rate for the rest of the world.

Owing to a high GDP per capita, the standards of living in the country are high. However, the Spaniards also face 25.1% of unemployment rate which affects the earnings and living conditions of individuals.

Facts about Spanish Tourist Spots

Spain is full of tourist attractions. Discussed below are the most popular tourist spots of the region.

La Concha

La Concha is one of the most popular city beaches in the entire Europe. It is situated in San Sebastian and offers various activities including surfing. Apart from a beautiful view, tourists can enjoy eating at the nearby restaurants.

The Palacio Real of Madrid

Built by Carlos III in the eighteenth century, the famous Palacio Real - Royal Palace - is now home to the King of Spain. The spectacular building is worth a visit.

Ibiza

The island of Ibiza, situated off the coast in Spain, is the ultimate party spot for Europeans in the summers. It offers various restaurants, night clubs as well as beach bars.

Alhambra

A relic of Spain's Muslim dynasty, Alhambra is a must-visit spot. It was built in the 14th century as a fortress as well as palace by the Nasrid Sultans. The building is situated on a plateau which overlooks Granada. It exhibits unique Muslim art.

Aqueduct of Segovia

The wonderfully built Aqueduct of Segovia is a legacy of the Romans. Built in about 50 BC, the aqueduct is still used to supply water from the Frio River to Segovia.

Facts about Sports in Spain

The most popular sports in Spain are bullfighting and soccer. A number of other sports activities, including tennis, gold, Formula One racing, water sports, skiing, basketball, and cycling, are also common.

Have a look at the following interesting facts about sports in Spain.

Bullfighting season begins in March and continues up to October. The sport is termed as corrida de toros in the local language.

Soccer gained rapid popularity in the county in the 20th century and is now the national game of Spain.

Spain is house to the most famous international football teams including Real Madrid and Barcelona. Spanish players have fans all around the globe.

The world's number one tennis player - Rafael Nadal - is from Spain. Tennis players with the seventh and sixteenth rank are also Spanish.

Skiing is a very popular sport in the country owing to the fact that Spain is the world's second most mountainous region. There are thirty-six high-end ski resorts for those who want to indulge in this exciting sport.

Some of the world's finest golf courses are found in Spain. The game can be enjoyed at any time of the year here.

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Facts about Spain - Food, Culture, History, Sport, Economy

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Posted By M.Isac Oct 04, 2015 The sovereign state of the Kingdom of Spain is situated in the southwestern part of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east of its mainland. The country consists of a long history, a rich culture and a number of attractions for foreign tourists.

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This Gaelic saying so neatly sums up the attitude toward food in Scotland: " S mairg a ni tarcuis air biadh," which translates to "he who has contempt for food is a fool." Meaning, there should be a love and enjoyment of Scottish food, both traditional and modern. The country's affinity for their cuisine can easily be seen in these 14 favorite Scottish recipes.

Haggis, porridge, and whiskey are just a few of the foods and drink the Scots have created over the years, making the best use of the offerings nature handed to them from the rugged mountains, lakes, sea lochs, and streams, as well as the fertile valleys and moorlands.

Scottish food is steeped not just in the landscape but also in the history and heritage of the country, which though part of the United Kingdom, still maintains its unique identity which you will find in the following recipes.

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Not Just Haggis-These 14 Scottish Recipes Show the Cuisine's Diversity

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This Gaelic saying so neatly sums up the attitude toward food in Scotland: " S mairg a ni tarcuis air biadh," which translates to "he who has contempt for food is a fool." Meaning, there should be a love and enjoyment of Scottish food, both traditional and modern.

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Catherine II (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 - 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the last reigning Empress Regnant of Russia (from 1762 until 1796) and the country's longest-ruling female leader. She came to power following the overthrow of her husband and second cousin, Peter III. Under her reign, Russia grew larger, its culture was revitalized, and it was recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.

In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Assisted by highly successful generals such as Alexander Suvorov and Pyotr Rumyantsev, and admirals such as Samuel Greig and Fyodor Ushakov, she governed at a time when the Russian Empire was expanding rapidly by conquest and diplomacy. In the south, the Crimean Khanate was crushed following victories over the Bar confederation and Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774. With the support of the United Kingdom, Russia colonised the territories of Novorossiya along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. In the west, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by Catherine's former lover King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In the east, Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America.

Catherine reformed the administration of Russian guberniyas (governorates), and many new cities and towns were founded on her orders, most notably Odessa, Dnipro, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Sevastopol. An admirer of Peter the Great, Catherine continued to modernise Russia along Western European lines. However, military conscription and the economy continued to depend on serfdom, and the increasing demands of the state and of private landowners intensified the exploitation of serf labour. This was one of the chief reasons behind rebellions, including the large-scale Pugachev Rebellion of Cossacks, nomads, peoples of Volga and peasants.

The period of Catherine the Great's rule is also known as the Catherinian Era. The Manifesto on Freedom of the Nobility, issued during the short reign of Peter III and confirmed by Catherine, freed Russian nobles from compulsory military or state service. Construction of many mansions of the nobility, in the classical style endorsed by the empress, changed the face of the country. She enthusiastically supported the ideals of the Enlightenment and is often included in the ranks of the enlightened despots. As a patron of the arts, she presided over the age of the Russian Enlightenment, including the establishment of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, the first state-financed higher education institution for women in Europe.

Catherine was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia (now Szczecin, Poland) as Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. Her mother was Johanna Elizabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Her father, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, belonged to the ruling German family of Anhalt. He failed to become the duke of Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and at the time of his daughter's birth held the rank of a Prussian general in his capacity as governor of the city of Stettin. But because her second cousin Peter III converted to Orthodox Christianity, two of her first cousins became Kings of Sweden: Gustav III and Charles XIII. In accordance with the custom then prevailing in the ruling dynasties of Germany, she received her education chiefly from a French governess and from tutors. According to her memoirs, Sophie was regarded as a tomboy, and trained herself to master a sword.

Sophie's childhood was very uneventful. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: "I see nothing of interest in it." Although Sophie was born a princess, her family had very little money. Her rise to power was supported by her mother Joanna's wealthy relatives, who were both nobles and royal relations. Her mother's brother became the heir to the Swedish throne after her second cousin Peter III converted to Orthodoxy. The more than 300 sovereign entities of the Holy Roman Empire, many of them quite small and powerless, made for a highly competitive political system as the various princely families fought for advantage over each other, often via political marriages. For the smaller German princely families, an advantageous marriage was one of the best means of advancing their interests, and the young Sophie was groomed throughout her childhood to be the wife of some powerful ruler in order to improve the position of the reigning house of Anhalt. Besides her native German, Sophie became fluent in French, the lingua franca of European elites in the 18th century. The young Sophie received the standard education for an 18th-century German princess, with a concentration upon learning the etiquette expected of a lady, French, and Lutheran theology.

Sophie first met her future husband, who would become Peter III of Russia, at the age of 10. Peter was her second cousin. Based on her writings, she found Peter detestable upon meeting him. She disliked his pale complexion and his fondness for alcohol at such a young age. Peter also still played with toy soldiers. She later wrote that she stayed at one end of the castle, and Peter at the other.

Marriage, reign of Peter III, and coup d'état

The choice of Princess Sophie as wife of the future tsar was one result of the Lopukhina Conspiracy in which Count Lestocq and Prussian king Frederick the Great took an active part. The object was to strengthen the friendship between Prussia and Russia, to weaken the influence of Austria, and to ruin the chancellor Aleksey Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin, a known partisan of the Austrian alliance on whom Russian Empress Elizabeth relied. The diplomatic intrigue failed, largely due to the intervention of Sophie's mother, Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Historical accounts portray Johanna as a cold, abusive woman who loved gossip and court intrigues. Her hunger for fame centered on her daughter's prospects of becoming empress of Russia, but she infuriated Empress Elizabeth, who eventually banned her from the country for spying for King Frederick II of Prussia. Empress Elizabeth knew the family well and had intended to marry Princess Johanna's brother Charles Augustus (Karl August von Holstein); however, he died of smallpox in 1727 before the wedding could take place. Despite Johanna's interference, Empress Elizabeth took a strong liking to Sophie, and Sophie and Peter eventually married in 1745.

When Sophie arrived in Russia in 1744, she spared no effort to ingratiate herself not only with Empress Elizabeth but with her husband and with the Russian people as well. She applied herself to learning the Russian language with zeal, rising at night and walking about her bedroom barefoot, repeating her lessons. When she wrote her memoirs, she said she made the decision then to do whatever was necessary and to profess to believe whatever was required of her to become qualified to wear the crown. Although she mastered the language, she retained an accent.

Princess Sophie's father, a devout German Lutheran, opposed his daughter's conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy. Despite his objections, on 28 June 1744, the Russian Orthodox Church received Princess Sophie as a member with the new name Catherine (Yekaterina or Ekaterina) and the (artificial) patronymic Алексеевна (Alekseyevna, daughter of Aleksey), so that she was in all respects the namesake of Catherine I, the mother of Elizabeth and the grandmother of Peter III. On the following day, the formal betrothal of Catherine and Peter took place and the long-planned dynastic marriage finally occurred on 21 August 1745 in Saint Petersburg. Sophie had turned 16. Her father did not travel to Russia for the wedding. The bridegroom, known as Peter von Holstein-Gottorp, had become Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (located in the north-west of present-day Germany near the border with Denmark) in 1739. The newlyweds settled in the palace of Oranienbaum, which remained the residence of the "young court" for many years. From there, they governed the duchy (which occupied less than a third of the current German state of Schleswig-Holstein, even including that part of Schleswig occupied by Denmark) to obtain experience to govern Russia.

Apart from providing that experience, the marriage was unsuccessful-it was not consummated for years due to Peter III's mental immaturity. After Peter took a mistress, Catherine became involved with other prominent court figures. She soon became popular with several powerful political groups that opposed her husband. Bored with her husband, Catherine became an avid reader of books, mostly in French. She disparaged her husband for his devotion to reading on the one hand "Lutheran prayer-books, the other the history of and trial of some highway robbers who had been hanged or broken on the wheel". It was during this period that she first read Voltaire and the other philosophes of the French Enlightenment. As she learned Russian, she became increasingly interested in the literature of her adopted country. Finally, it was the Annals by Tacitus that caused what she called a "revolution" in her teenage mind as Tacitus was the first intellectual she read who understood power politics as they are, not as they should be. She was especially impressed with his argument that people do not act for their professed idealistic reasons, and instead she learned to look for the "hidden and interested motives".

According to Alexander Hertzen, who edited a version of Catherine's memoirs, Catherine had her first sexual relationship with Sergei Saltykov while living at Oranienbaum as her marriage to Peter had not been consummated, as Catherine later claimed. Catherine nonetheless left the final version of her memoirs to Paul I in which she explained why Paul had been Peter's son. Sergei Saltykov was used to make Peter jealous, and relations with Saltykov were platonic. Catherine wanted to become an empress herself and did not want another heir to the throne; however, Empress Elizabeth blackmailed Peter and Catherine to produce this heir. Peter and Catherine had both been involved in a 1749 Russian military plot to crown Peter (together with Catherine) in Elizabeth's stead. As a result of this plot, Elizabeth likely wanted to leave both Catherine and her accomplice Peter without any rights to the Russian throne. Elizabeth therefore allowed Catherine to have sexual lovers only after a new legal heir, Catherine and Peter's son, survived and appeared to be strong.

After this, Catherine carried on sexual liaisons over the years with many men, including Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov (1734-1783), Alexander Vasilchikov, Grigory Potemkin, and others. She became friends with Princess Ekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova, the sister of her husband's official mistress. In Dashkov's opinion, Dashkov introduced Catherine to several powerful political groups that opposed her husband; however, Catherine had been involved in military schemes against Elizabeth with the likely goal of subsequently getting rid of Peter III since at least 1749.

Peter III's temperament became quite unbearable for those who resided in the palace. He would announce trying drills in the morning to male servants, who later joined Catherine in her room to sing and dance until late hours.

In 1759, Catherine became pregnant with her second child, Anna, who only lived to 14 months. Due to various rumours of Catherine's promiscuity, Peter was led to believe he was not the child's biological father and is known to have proclaimed, "Go to the devil!" when Catherine angrily dismissed his accusation. She thus spent much of this time alone in her private boudoir to hide away from Peter's abrasive personality. In the first version of her memoirs, edited and published by Alexander Hertzen, Catherine strongly implied that the real father of her son Paul was not Peter, but rather Saltykov.

Catherine recalled in her memoirs her optimistic and resolute mood before her accession to the throne:

"I used to say to myself that happiness and misery depend on ourselves. If you feel unhappy, raise yourself above unhappiness, and so act that your happiness may be independent of all eventualities."

After the death of the Empress Elizabeth on 5 January 1762 ( OS: 25 December 1761), Peter succeeded to the throne as Emperor Peter III, and Catherine became empress consort. The imperial couple moved into the new Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. The emperor's eccentricities and policies, including a great admiration for the Prussian king Frederick II, alienated the same groups that Catherine had cultivated. Russia and Prussia had fought each other during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), and Russian troops had occupied Berlin in 1761. Peter, however, supported Frederick II, eroding much of his support among the nobility. Peter ceased Russian operations against Prussia, and Frederick suggested the partition of Polish territories with Russia. Peter also intervened in a dispute between his Duchy of Holstein and Denmark over the province of Schleswig (see Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff). As Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Peter planned war against Denmark, Russia's traditional ally against Sweden.

In July 1762, barely six months after becoming emperor, Peter lingered in Oranienbaum with his Holstein-born courtiers and relatives, while his wife lived in another palace nearby. On the night of 8 July (OS: 27 June 1762), Catherine was given the news that one of her co-conspirators had been arrested by her estranged husband and that all they had been planning must take place at once. The next day, she left the palace and departed for the Ismailovsky regiment, where she delivered a speech asking the soldiers to protect her from her husband. Catherine then left with the regiment to go to the Semenovsky Barracks, where the clergy was waiting to ordain her as the sole occupant of the Russian throne. She had her husband arrested, and forced him to sign a document of abdication, leaving no one to dispute her accession to the throne. On 17 July 1762-eight days after the coup that amazed the outside world and just six months after his accession to the throne-Peter III died at Ropsha, possibly at the hands of Alexei Orlov (younger brother to Grigory Orlov, then a court favourite and a participant in the coup). Peter supposedly was assassinated, but it is unknown how he died. The official cause, after an autopsy, was a severe attack of haemorrhoidal colic and an apoplexy stroke.

At the time of Peter III's overthrow, other potential rivals for the throne included Ivan VI (1740-1764), who had been confined at Schlüsselburg in Lake Ladoga from the age of six months and who was thought to be insane. Ivan VI was assassinated during an attempt to free him as part of a failed coup. Like Empress Elizabeth before her, Catherine had given strict instructions that Ivan was to be killed in the event of any such attempt. Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tarakanova (1753-1775) was another potential rival.

Although Catherine did not descend from the Romanov dynasty, her ancestors included members of the Rurik dynasty, which preceded the Romanovs. She succeeded her husband as empress regnant, following the precedent established when Catherine I succeeded her husband Peter the Great in 1725. Historians debate Catherine's technical status, whether as a regent or as a usurper, tolerable only during the minority of her son, Grand Duke Paul.

Reign (1762-1796)

Coronation (1762)

Catherine was crowned at the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow on 22 September 1762. Her coronation marks the creation of one of the main treasures of the Romanov dynasty, the Imperial Crown of Russia, designed by Swiss-French court diamond jeweller Jérémie Pauzié. Inspired by Byzantine Empire design, the crown was constructed of two half spheres, one gold and one silver, representing the eastern and western Roman empires, divided by a foliate garland and fastened with a low hoop. The crown contains 75 pearls and 4,936 Indian diamonds forming laurel and oak leaves, the symbols of power and strength, and is surmounted by a 398.62-carat ruby spinel that previously belonged to the Empress Elizabeth, and a diamond cross. The crown was produced in a record two months and weighed 2.3 kg (5.1 lbs). From 1762, the Great Imperial Crown was the coronation crown of all Romanov emperors until the monarchy's abolition in 1917. It is one of the main treasures of the Romanov dynasty and is now on display in the Moscow Kremlin Armoury Museum.

During her reign, Catherine extended by some 520,000 square kilometres (200,000 sq mi) the borders of the Russian Empire, absorbing New Russia, Crimea, Northern Caucasus, Right-bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Courland at the expense, mainly, of two powers-the Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Catherine's foreign minister, Nikita Panin (in office 1763-1781), exercised considerable influence from the beginning of her reign. A shrewd statesman, Panin dedicated much effort and millions of rubles to setting up a "Northern Accord" between Russia, Prussia, Poland and Sweden, to counter the power of the Bourbon- Habsburg League. When it became apparent that his plan could not succeed, Panin fell out of favour and Catherine had him replaced with Ivan Osterman (in office 1781-1797).

Catherine agreed to a commercial treaty with Great Britain in 1766, but stopped short of a full military alliance. Although she could see the benefits of Britain's friendship, she was wary of Britain's increased power following its complete victory in the Seven Years' War, which threatened the European balance of power.

Peter the Great had succeeded in gaining a toehold in the south, on the edge of the Black Sea, in the Azov campaigns. Catherine completed the conquest of the south, making Russia the dominant power in south-eastern Europe after the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774. Russia inflicted some of the heaviest defeats ever suffered by the Ottoman Empire, including the Battle of Chesma (5-7 July 1770) and the Battle of Kagul (21 July 1770). In 1769, a last major Crimean-Nogai slave raid, which ravaged the Russian held territories in Ukraine, saw the capture of up to 20,000 slaves.

The Russian victories procured access to the Black Sea and allowed Catherine's government to incorporate present-day southern Ukraine, where the Russians founded the new cities of Odessa, Nikolayev, Yekaterinoslav (literally: "the Glory of Catherine"; the future Dnipro), and Kherson. The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca, signed 10 July 1774, gave the Russians territories at Azov, Kerch, Yenikale, Kinburn, and the small strip of Black Sea coast between the rivers Dnieper and Bug. The treaty also removed restrictions on Russian naval or commercial traffic in the Azov Sea, granted to Russia the position of protector of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, and made the Crimea a protectorate of Russia. Russia's State Council in 1770 announced a policy in favour of eventual Crimean independence. Catherine named Sahin Girey, a Crimean Tatar leader, to head the Crimean state and maintain friendly relations with Russia. His period of rule proved disappointing after repeated effort to prop up his regime through military force and monetary aid. Finally Catherine annexed the Crimea in 1783. The palace of the Crimean Khanate passed into the hands of the Russians. In 1787, Catherine conducted a triumphal procession in the Crimea, which helped provoke the next Russo-Turkish War.

In the Treaty of Georgievsk (1783), Russia agreed to protect Georgia against any new invasion and further political aspirations of their Persian suzerains. Catherine waged a new war against Persia in 1796 after they, under the new king Agha Mohammad Khan, had again invaded Georgia and established rule in 1795 and had expelled the newly established Russian garrisons in the Caucasus. The ultimate goal for the Russian government, however, was to topple the anti-Russian shah (king), and to replace him with a half-brother, Morteza Qoli Khan, who had defected to Russia and was therefore pro-Russian.

It was widely expected that a 13,000-strong Russian corps would be led by the seasoned general, Ivan Gudovich, but the empress followed the advice of her lover, Prince Zubov, and entrusted the command to his youthful brother, Count Valerian Zubov. The Russian troops set out from Kizlyar in April 1796 and stormed the key fortress of Derbent on 10 May. The event was glorified by the court poet Derzhavin in his famous ode; he later commented bitterly on Zubov's inglorious return from the expedition in another remarkable poem.

By mid-June 1796, Zubov's troops overran without any resistance most of the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan, including three principal cities- Baku, Shemakha, and Ganja. By November, they were stationed at the confluence of the Araks and Kura Rivers, poised to attack mainland Iran. In this month, the empress of Russia died and her successor Paul, who detested that the Zubovs had other plans for the army, ordered the troops to retreat to Russia. This reversal aroused the frustration and enmity of the powerful Zubovs and other officers who took part in the campaign: many of them would be among the conspirators who arranged Paul's murder five years later.

Catherine longed for recognition as an enlightened sovereign. She refused the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp which had ports on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and refrained from having a Russian army in Germany. Instead she pioneered for Russia the role that Britain later played through most of the 19th and early 20th centuries as an international mediator in disputes that could, or did, lead to war. She acted as mediator in the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778-1779) between the German states of Prussia and Austria. In 1780, she established a League of Armed Neutrality, designed to defend neutral shipping from being searched by the British Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War.

From 1788 to 1790, Russia fought a war against Sweden, a conflict instigated by Catherine's cousin, King Gustav III of Sweden, who expected to overrun the Russian armies still engaged in war against the Ottoman Turks, and hoped to strike Saint Petersburg directly. But Russia's Baltic Fleet checked the Royal Swedish navy in the tied battle of Hogland (July 1788), and the Swedish army failed to advance. Denmark declared war on Sweden in 1788 (the Theatre War). After the decisive defeat of the Russian fleet at the Battle of Svensksund in 1790, the parties signed the Treaty of Värälä (14 August 1790), returning all conquered territories to their respective owners and confirming the Treaty of Åbo. Russia was to stop any involvement in internal affairs of Sweden. Large sums were paid to Gustav III. Peace ensued for 20 years in spite of the assassination of Gustav III in 1792.

Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1764, Catherine placed Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski, her former lover, on the Polish throne. Although the idea of partitioning Poland came from the King Frederick II of Prussia, Catherine took a leading role in carrying it out in the 1790s. In 1768, she formally became the protector of political rights of dissidents and peasants of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which provoked an anti-Russian uprising in Poland, the Confederation of Bar (1768-72), supported by France. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys.

Being afraid of the May Constitution of Poland (1791) that might lead to a resurgence in the power of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the growing democratic movements inside the Commonwealth might become a threat to the European monarchies, Catherine decided to refrain from her planned intervention into France and to intervene in Poland instead. She provided support to a Polish anti-reform group known as the Targowica Confederation. After defeating Polish loyalist forces in the Polish-Russian War of 1792 and in the Kościuszko Uprising (1794), Russia completed the partitioning of Poland, dividing all of the remaining Commonwealth territory with Prussia and Austria (1795).

In the Far East, Russians became active in fur trapping in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. This spurred Russian interest in opening trade with Japan to the south for supplies and food. In 1783, storms drove a Japanese sea captain, Daikokuya Kōdayū, ashore in the Aleutian Islands, at that time Russian territory. Russian local authorities helped his party, and the Russian government decided to use him as a trade envoy. On 28 June 1791, Catherine granted Daikokuya an audience at Tsarskoye Selo. Subsequently, in 1792, the Russian government dispatched a trade mission to Japan, led by Adam Laxman. The Tokugawa shogunate received the mission, but negotiations failed.

The Qianlong emperor of China was committed to an expansionist policy in Central Asia and saw the Russian empire as a potential rival, making for difficult and unfriendly relations between Beijing and Saint Petersburg. In 1762, he unilaterally abrogated the Treaty of Kyakhta, which governed the caravan trade between the two empires. Another source of tension was the wave of Dzungar Mongol fugitives from the Chinese state who took refuge with the Russians. The Dzungar genocide which was committed by the Qing state had led many Dzungars to seek sanctuary in the Russian empire, and it was also one of the reasons for the abrogation of the Treaty of Kyakhta. Catherine perceived that the Qianlong emperor was an unpleasant and arrogant neighbour, once saying: "I shall not die until I have ejected the Turks from Europe, suppressed the pride of China and established trade with India". In a 1790 letter to Baron de Grimm written in French, she called the Qianlong emperor " mon voisin chinois aux petits yeux" ("my Chinese neighbour with small eyes").

Nicholas I, her grandson, evaluated the foreign policy of Catherine the Great as a dishonest one. Catherine failed to reach any of the initial goals she had put forward. Her foreign policy lacked a long-term strategy and from the very start was characterised by a series of mistakes. She lost the large territories of the Russian protectorate of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania and left its territories to Prussia and Austria. The Commonwealth had become the Russian protectorate since the reign of Peter I, but he did not intervene into the problem of political freedoms of dissidents advocating for their religious freedoms only. Catherine did turn Russia into a global great power not only a European one but with quite a different reputation from what she initially had planned as an honest policy. The global trade by Russian natural resources and Russian grain provoked famines, starvation and fear of famines in Russia. Her dynasty lost power because of this and of a war with Austria and Germany, impossible without her foreign policy.

Russian economic development was well below the standards in western Europe. Historian François Cruzet writes that Russia under Catherine:

had neither a free peasantry, nor a significant middle class, nor legal norms hospitable to private enterprise. Still, there was a start of industry, mainly textiles around Moscow and ironworks in the Ural Mountains, with a labor force mainly of serfs, bound to the works.

Catherine imposed a comprehensive system of state regulation of merchants' activities. It was a failure because it narrowed and stifled entrepreneurship and did not reward economic development. She had more success when she strongly encouraged the migration of the Volga Germans, farmers from Germany who settled mostly in the Volga River Valley region. They indeed helped modernise the sector that totally dominated the Russian economy. They introduced numerous innovations regarding wheat production and flour milling, tobacco culture, sheep raising, and small-scale manufacturing.

In 1768, the Assignation Bank was given the task of issuing the first government paper money. It opened in Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 1769. Several bank branches were afterwards established in other towns, called government towns. Paper notes were issued upon payment of similar sums in copper money, which were also refunded upon the presentation of those notes. The emergence of these assignation rubles was necessary due to large government spending on military needs, which led to a shortage of silver in the treasury (transactions, especially in foreign trade, were conducted almost exclusively in silver and gold coins). Assignation rubles circulated on equal footing with the silver ruble; a market exchange rate for these two currencies was ongoing. The use of these notes continued until 1849.

Catherine paid a great deal of attention to financial reform, and relied heavily on the advice of Prince A. A. Viazemski. She found that piecemeal reform worked poorly because there was no overall view of a comprehensive state budget. Money was needed for wars and necessitated the junking the old financial institutions. A key principle was responsibilities defined by function. It was instituted by the Fundamental Law of 7 November 1775. Vaizemski's Office of State Revenue took centralised control and by 1781, the government possessed its first approximation of a state budget.

Catherine made public health a priority. She made use of the social theory ideas of German cameralism and French physiocracy, as well as Russian precedents and experiments such as foundling homes. She launched the Moscow Foundling Home and lying-in hospital, 1764, and Paul's Hospital, 1763. She had the government collect and publish vital statistics. In 1762 called on the army to upgrade its medical services. She established a centralised medical administration charged with initiating vigorous health policies. Catherine decided to have herself inoculated against smallpox by Thomas Dimsdale, a British doctor. While this was considered a controversial method at the time, she succeeded. Her son Pavel later was inoculated as well. Catherine then sought to have inoculations throughout her empire and stated: "My objective was, through my example, to save from death the multitude of my subjects who, not knowing the value of this technique, and frightened of it, were left in danger". By 1800, approximately 2 million inoculations (almost 6% of the population) were administered in the Russian Empire. Historians consider her efforts to be a success.

According to a census taken from 1754 to 1762, Catherine owned 500,000 serfs. A further 2.8 million belonged to the Russian state.

At the time of Catherine's reign, the landowning noble class owned the serfs, who were bound to the land they tilled. Children of serfs were born into serfdom and worked the same land their parents had. The serfs had very limited rights, but they were not exactly slaves before the rule of Catherine. While the state did not technically allow them to own possessions, some serfs were able to accumulate enough wealth to pay for their freedom. The understanding of law in imperial Russia by all sections of society was often weak, confused, or nonexistent, particularly in the provinces where most serfs lived. This is why some serfs were able to do things such as to accumulate wealth. To become serfs, people conceded their freedoms to a landowner in exchange for their protection and support in times of hardship. In addition, they received land to till, but were taxed a certain percentage of their crops to give to their landowners. These were the privileges a serf was entitled to and that nobles were bound to carry out. All of this was true before Catherine's reign, and this is the system she inherited.

Catherine did initiate some changes to serfdom. If a noble did not live up to his side of the deal, the serfs could file complaints against him by following the proper channels of law. Catherine gave them this new right, but in exchange they could no longer appeal directly to her. She did this because she did not want to be bothered by the peasantry, but did not want to give them reason to revolt. In this act, she gave the serfs a legitimate bureaucratic status they had lacked before. Some serfs were able to use their new status to their advantage. For example, serfs could apply to be freed if they were under illegal ownership, and non-nobles were not allowed to own serfs. Some serfs did apply for freedom and were successful. In addition, some governors listened to the complaints of serfs and punished nobles, but this was by no means universal.

Other than these, the rights of a serf were very limited. A landowner could punish his serfs at his discretion, and under Catherine the Great gained the ability to sentence his serfs to hard labour in Siberia, a punishment normally reserved for convicted criminals. The only thing a noble could not do to his serfs was to kill them. The life of a serf belonged to the state. Historically, when the serfs faced problems they could not solve on their own (such as abusive masters), they often appealed to the autocrat, and continued doing so during Catherine's reign, but she signed legislation prohibiting it. Although she did not want to communicate directly with the serfs, she did create some measures to improve their conditions as a class and reduce the size of the institution of serfdom. For example, she took action to limit the number of new serfs; she eliminated many ways for people to become serfs, culminating in the manifesto of 17 March 1775, which prohibited a serf who had once been freed from becoming a serf again.

While the majority of serfs were farmers bound to the land, a noble could have his serfs sent away to learn a trade or be educated at a school as well as employ them at businesses that paid wages. This happened more often during Catherine's reign because of the new schools she established. Only in this way apart from conscription to the army could a serf leave the farm for which he was responsible but this was used for selling serfs to people who could not own them legally because of absence of nobility abroad.

The attitude of the serfs toward their autocrat had historically been a positive one. However, if the tsar's policies were too extreme or too disliked, she was not considered the true tsar. In these cases, it was necessary to replace this "fake" tsar with the "true" tsar, whoever she may be. Because the serfs had no political power, they rioted to convey their message. However, usually, if the serfs did not like the policies of the tsar, they saw the nobles as corrupt and evil, preventing the people of Russia from communicating with the well-intentioned tsar and misinterpreting her decrees. However, they were already suspicious of Catherine upon her accession because she had annulled an act by Peter III that essentially freed the serfs belonging to the Orthodox Church. Naturally, the serfs did not like it when Catherine tried to take away their right to petition her because they felt as though she had severed their connection to the autocrat, and their power to appeal to her. Far away from the capital, they were confused as to the circumstances of her accession to the throne.

The peasants were discontented because of many other factors as well, including crop failure, and epidemics, especially a major epidemic in 1771. The nobles were imposing a stricter rule than ever, reducing the land of each serf and restricting their freedoms further beginning around 1767. Their discontent led to widespread outbreaks of violence and rioting during Pugachev's Rebellion of 1774. The serfs probably followed someone who was pretending to be the true tsar because of their feelings of disconnection to Catherine and her policies empowering the nobles, but this was not the first time they followed a pretender under Catherine's reign. Pugachev had made stories about himself acting as a real tsar should, helping the common people, listening to their problems, praying for them, and generally acting saintly, and this helped rally the peasants and serfs, with their very conservative values, to his cause. With all this discontent in mind, Catherine did rule for 10 years before the anger of the serfs boiled over into a rebellion as extensive as Pugachev's. The rebellion ultimately failed and in fact backfired as Catherine was pushed away from the idea of serf liberation following the violent uprising. Under Catherine's rule, despite her enlightened ideals, the serfs were generally unhappy and discontented.

Catherine was a patron of the arts, literature, and education. The Hermitage Museum, which now occupies the whole Winter Palace, began as Catherine's personal collection. The empress was a great lover of art and books, and ordered the construction of the Hermitage in 1770 to house her expanding collection of paintings, sculpture, and books. By 1790, the Hermitage was home to 38,000 books, 10,000 gems and 10,000 drawings. Two wings were devoted to her collections of "curiosities". She ordered the planting of the first "English garden" at Tsarskoye Selo in May 1770. In a letter to Voltaire in 1772, she wrote: "Right now I adore English gardens, curves, gentle slopes, ponds in the form of lakes, archipelagos on dry land, and I have a profound scorn for straight lines, symmetric avenues. I hate fountains that torture water in order to make it take a course contrary to its nature: Statues are relegated to galleries, vestibules etc.; in a word, Anglomania is the master of my plantomania".

Catherine shared in the general European craze for all things Chinese, and made a point of collecting Chinese art and buying porcelain in the popular Chinoiserie style. Between 1762 and 1766, she had built the "Chinese Palace" at Oranienbaum which reflected the chinoiserie style of architecture and gardening. The Chinese Palace was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi who specialised in the chinoiserie style. In 1779, she hired the British architect Charles Cameron to build the Chinese Village at Tsarskoe Selo (modern Pushkin, Russia). Catherine had at first attempted to hire a Chinese architect to build the Chinese Village, and on finding that was impossible, settled on Cameron, who likewise specialised in the chinoiserie style. She wrote comedies, fiction, and memoirs.

She made a special effort to bring leading intellectuals and scientists to Russia. She worked with Voltaire, Diderot and d'Alembert-all French encyclopedists who later cemented her reputation in their writings. The leading economists of her day, such as Arthur Young and Jacques Necker, became foreign members of the Free Economic Society, established on her suggestion in Saint Petersburg in 1765. She recruited the scientists Leonhard Euler and Peter Simon Pallas from Berlin and Anders Johan Lexell from Sweden to the Russian capital.

Catherine enlisted Voltaire to her cause, and corresponded with him for 15 years, from her accession to his death in 1778. He lauded her accomplishments, calling her "The Star of the North" and the " Semiramis of Russia" (in reference to the legendary Queen of Babylon, a subject on which he published a tragedy in 1768). Although she never met him face to face, she mourned him bitterly when he died. She acquired his collection of books from his heirs, and placed them in the National Library of Russia.

Catherine read three sorts of books, namely those for pleasure, those for information, and those to provide her with a philosophy. In the first category, she read romances and comedies that were popular at the time, many of which were regarded as "inconsequential" by the critics both then and since. She especially liked the work of German comic writers such as Moritz August von Thümmel and Christoph Friedrich Nicolai. In the second category fell the work of Denis Diderot, Jacques Necker, Johann Bernhard Basedow and Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. Catherine expressed some frustration with the economists she read for what she regarded as their impractical theories, writing in the margin of one of Necker's books that if it was possible to solve all of the state's economic problems in one day, she would have done so a long time ago. For information about particular nations that interested her, she read Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville's Memoirs de Chine to learn about the vast and wealthy Chinese empire that bordered her empire; François Baron de Tott's Memoires de les Turcs et les Tartares for information about the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean khanate; the books of Frederick the Great praising himself to learn about Frederick just as much as to learn about Prussia; and the pamphlets of Benjamin Franklin denouncing the British Crown to understand the reasons behind the American Revolution. In the third category fell the work of Voltaire, Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, Ferdinando Galiani, Nicolas Baudeau and Sir William Blackstone. For philosophy, she liked books promoting what has been called "enlightened despotism", which she embraced as her ideal of an autocratic but reformist government that operated according to the rule of law, not the whims of the ruler, hence her interest in Blackstone's legal commentaries.

Within a few months of her accession in 1762, having heard the French government threatened to stop the publication of the famous French Encyclopédie on account of its irreligious spirit, Catherine proposed to Diderot that he should complete his great work in Russia under her protection. Four years later, in 1766, she endeavoured to embody in legislation the principles of Enlightenment she learned from studying the French philosophers. She called together at Moscow a Grand Commission-almost a consultative parliament-composed of 652 members of all classes (officials, nobles, burghers, and peasants) and of various nationalities. The commission had to consider the needs of the Russian Empire and the means of satisfying them. The empress prepared the "Instructions for the Guidance of the Assembly", pillaging (as she frankly admitted) the philosophers of Western Europe, especially Montesquieu and Cesare Beccaria.

As many of the democratic principles frightened her more moderate and experienced advisors, she refrained from immediately putting them into practice. After holding more than 200 sittings, the so-called Commission dissolved without getting beyond the realm of theory.

Catherine began issuing codes to address some of the modernisation trends suggested in her Nakaz. In 1775, the empress decreed a Statute for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire. The statute sought to efficiently govern Russia by increasing population and dividing the country into provinces and districts. By the end of her reign, 50 provinces and nearly 500 districts were created, government officials numbering more than double this were appointed, and spending on local government increased sixfold. In 1785, Catherine conferred on the nobility the Charter to the Nobility, increasing the power of the landed oligarchs. Nobles in each district elected a Marshal of the Nobility, who spoke on their behalf to the monarch on issues of concern to them, mainly economic ones. In the same year, Catherine issued the Charter of the Towns, which distributed all people into six groups as a way to limit the power of nobles and create a middle estate. Catherine also issued the Code of Commercial Navigation and Salt Trade Code of 1781, the Police Ordinance of 1782, and the Statute of National Education of 1786. In 1777, the empress described to Voltaire her legal innovations within a backward Russia as progressing "little by little".

During Catherine's reign, Russians imported and studied the classical and European influences that inspired the Russian Enlightenment. Gavrila Derzhavin, Denis Fonvizin and Ippolit Bogdanovich laid the groundwork for the great writers of the 19th century, especially for Alexander Pushkin. Catherine became a great patron of Russian opera. Alexander Radishchev published his Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1790, shortly after the start of the French Revolution. He warned of uprisings in Russia because of the deplorable social conditions of the serfs. Catherine decided it promoted the dangerous poison of the French Revolution. She had the book burned and the author exiled to Siberia.

Catherine also received Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun at her Tsarskoye Selo residence in St Petersburg, by whom she was painted shortly before her death. Madame Vigée Le Brun vividly describes the empress in her memoirs:

the sight of this famous woman so impressed me that I found it impossible to think of anything: I could only stare at her. Firstly I was very surprised at her small stature; I had imagined her to be very tall, as great as her fame. She was also very fat, but her face was still beautiful, and she wore her white hair up, framing it perfectly. Her genius seemed to rest on her forehead, which was both high and wide. Her eyes were soft and sensitive, her nose quite Greek, her colour high and her features expressive. She addressed me immediately in a voice full of sweetness, if a little throaty: "I am delighted to welcome you here, Madame, your reputation runs before you. I am very fond of the arts, especially painting. I am no connoisseur, but I am a great art lover."

Madame Vigée Le Brun also describes the empress at a gala:

The double doors opened and the Empress appeared. I have said that she was quite small, and yet on the days when she made her public appearances, with her head held high, her eagle-like stare and a countenance accustomed to command, all this gave her such an air of majesty that to me she might have been Queen of the World; she wore the sashes of three orders, and her costume was both simple and regal; it consisted of a muslin tunic embroidered with gold fastened by a diamond belt, and the full sleeves were folded back in the Asiatic style. Over this tunic she wore a red velvet dolman with very short sleeves. The bonnet which held her white hair was not decorated with ribbons, but with the most beautiful diamonds.

Catherine held western European philosophies and culture close to her heart, and she wanted to surround herself with like-minded people within Russia. She believed a 'new kind of person' could be created by inculcating Russian children with European education. Catherine believed education could change the hearts and minds of the Russian people and turn them away from backwardness. This meant developing individuals both intellectually and morally, providing them knowledge and skills, and fostering a sense of civic responsibility. Her goal was to modernise education across Russia.

Catherine appointed Ivan Betskoy as her advisor on educational matters. Through him, she collected information from Russia and other countries about educational institutions. She also established a commission composed of T.N. Teplov, T. von Klingstedt, F.G. Dilthey, and the historian G. Muller. She consulted British education pioneers, particularly the Rev. Daniel Dumaresq and Dr John Brown. In 1764, she sent for Dumaresq to come to Russia and then appointed him to the educational commission. The commission studied the reform projects previously installed by I.I. Shuvalov under Elizabeth and under Peter III. They submitted recommendations for the establishment of a general system of education for all Russian orthodox subjects from the age of 5 to 18, excluding serfs. However, no action was taken on any recommendations put forth by the commission due to the calling of the Legislative Commission. In July 1765, Dumaresq wrote to Dr. John Brown about the commission's problems and received a long reply containing very general and sweeping suggestions for education and social reforms in Russia. Dr. Brown argued, in a democratic country, education ought to be under the state's control and based on an education code. He also placed great emphasis on the "proper and effectual education of the female sex"; two years prior, Catherine had commissioned Ivan Betskoy to draw up the General Programme for the Education of Young People of Both Sexes. This work emphasised the fostering of the creation of a 'new kind of people' raised in isolation from the damaging influence of a backward Russian environment. The Establishment of the Moscow Foundling Home (Moscow Orphanage) was the first attempt at achieving that goal. It was charged with admitting destitute and extramarital children to educate them in any way the state deemed fit. Because the Moscow Foundling Home was not established as a state-funded institution, it represented an opportunity to experiment with new educational theories. However, the Moscow Foundling Home was unsuccessful, mainly due to extremely high mortality rates, which prevented many of the children from living long enough to develop into the enlightened subjects the state desired.

Not long after the Moscow Foundling Home, at the instigation of her factotum, Ivan Betskoy, she wrote a manual for the education of young children, drawing from the ideas of John Locke, and founded the famous Smolny Institute in 1764, first of its kind in Russia. At first, the institute only admitted young girls of the noble elite, but eventually it began to admit girls of the petit-bourgeoisie as well. The girls who attended the Smolny Institute, Smolyanki, were often accused of being ignorant of anything that went on in the world outside the walls of the Smolny buildings, within which they acquired a proficiency in French, music, and dancing, along with a complete awe of the monarch. Central to the institute's philosophy of pedagogy was strict enforcement of discipline. Running and games were forbidden, and the building was kept particularly cold because too much warmth was believed to be harmful to the developing body, as was excessive play.

From 1768 to 1774, no progress was made in setting up a national school system. However, Catherine continued to investigate the pedagogical principles and practice of other countries and made many other educational reforms, including an overhaul of the Cadet Corps in 1766. The Corps then began to take children from a very young age and educate them until the age of 21, with a broadened curriculum that included the sciences, philosophy, ethics, history, and international law. These reforms in the Cadet Corps influenced the curricula of the Naval Cadet Corps and the Engineering and Artillery Schools. Following the war and the defeat of Pugachev, Catherine laid the obligation to establish schools at the guberniya -a provincial subdivision of the Russian empire ruled by a governor-on the Boards of Social Welfare set up with the participation of elected representatives from the three free estates.

By 1782, Catherine arranged another advisory commission to review the information she had gathered on the educational systems of many different countries. One system that particularly stood out was produced by a mathematician, Franz Aepinus. He was strongly in favour of the adoption of the Austrian three-tier model of trivial, real, and normal schools at the village, town, and provincial capital levels.

In addition to the advisory commission, Catherine established a Commission of National Schools under Pyotr Zavadovsky. This commission was charged with organising a national school network, as well as providing teacher training and textbooks. On 5 August 1786, the Russian Statute of National Education was created. The statute established a two-tier network of high schools and primary schools in guberniya capitals that were free of charge, open to all of the free classes (not serfs), and co-educational. It also stipulated in detail the subjects to be taught at every age and the method of teaching. In addition to the textbooks translated by the commission, teachers were provided with the "Guide to Teachers". This work, divided into four parts, dealt with teaching methods, subject matter, teacher conduct, and school administration.

Despite these efforts, later historians of the 19th century were generally critical. Some claimed Catherine failed to supply enough money to support her educational program. Two years after the implementation of Catherine's program, a member of the National Commission inspected the institutions established. Throughout Russia, the inspectors encountered a patchy response. While the nobility provided appreciable amounts of money for these institutions, they preferred to send their own children to private, prestigious institutions. Also, the townspeople tended to turn against the junior schools and their pedagogical[clarification needed ] methods. Yet by the end of Catherine's reign, an estimated 62,000 pupils were being educated in some 549 state institutions. While a significant improvement, it was only a minuscule number, compared to the size of the Russian population.

Catherine's apparent embrace of all things Russian (including Orthodoxy) may have prompted her personal indifference to religion. She nationalised all of the church lands to help pay for her wars, largely emptied the monasteries, and forced most of the remaining clergymen to survive as farmers or from fees for baptisms and other services. Very few members of the nobility entered the church, which became even less important than it had been. She did not allow dissenters to build chapels, and she suppressed religious dissent after the onset of the French Revolution.

However, Catherine promoted Christianity in her anti-Ottoman policy, promoting the protection and fostering of Christians under Turkish rule. She placed strictures on Catholics ( of 23 February 1769), mainly Polish, and attempted to assert and extend state control over them in the wake of the partitions of Poland. Nevertheless, Catherine's Russia provided an asylum and a base for regrouping to the Jesuits following the suppression of the Jesuits in most of Europe in 1773.

Catherine took many different approaches to Islam during her reign. She avoided force and tried persuasion (and money) to integrate Moslem areas into her empire. Between 1762 and 1773, Muslims were prohibited from owning any Orthodox serfs. They were pressured into Orthodoxy through monetary incentives. Catherine promised more serfs of all religions, as well as amnesty for convicts, if Muslims chose to convert to Orthodoxy. However, the Legislative Commission of 1767 offered several seats to people professing the Islamic faith. This commission promised to protect their religious rights, but did not do so. Many Orthodox peasants felt threatened by the sudden change, and burned mosques as a sign of their displeasure. Catherine chose to assimilate Islam into the state rather than eliminate it when public outcry became too disruptive. After the "Toleration of All Faiths" Edict of 1773, Muslims were permitted to build mosques and practise all of their traditions, the most obvious of these being the pilgrimage to Mecca, which previously had been denied. Catherine created the Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly to help regulate Muslim-populated regions as well as regulate the instruction and ideals of mullahs. The positions on the Assembly were appointed and paid for by Catherine and her government as a way of regulating religious affairs.

In 1785, Catherine approved the subsidising of new mosques and new town settlements for Muslims. This was another attempt to organise and passively control the outer fringes of her country. By building new settlements with mosques placed in them, Catherine attempted to ground many of the nomadic people who wandered through southern Russia. In 1786, she assimilated the Islamic schools into the Russian public school system under government regulation. The plan was another attempt to force nomadic people to settle. This allowed the Russian government to control more people, especially those who previously had not fallen under the jurisdiction of Russian law.

Russia often treated Judaism as a separate entity, where Jews were maintained with a separate legal and bureaucratic system. Although the government knew that Judaism existed, Catherine and her advisers had no real definition of what a Jew is because the term meant many things during her reign. Judaism was a small, if not non-existent, religion in Russia until 1772. When Catherine agreed to the First Partition of Poland, the large new Jewish element was treated as a separate people, defined by their religion. Catherine separated the Jews from Orthodox society, restricting them to the Pale of Settlement. She levied additional taxes on the followers of Judaism; if a family converted to the Orthodox faith, that additional tax was lifted. Jewish members of society were required to pay double the tax of their Orthodox neighbours. Converted Jews could gain permission to enter the merchant class and farm as free peasants under Russian rule.

In an attempt to assimilate the Jews into Russia's economy, Catherine included them under the rights and laws of the Charter of the Towns of 1782. Orthodox Russians disliked the inclusion of Judaism, mainly for economic reasons. Catherine tried to keep the Jews away from certain economic spheres, even under the guise of equality; in 1790, she banned Jewish citizens from Moscow's middle class.

In 1785, Catherine declared Jews to be officially foreigners, with foreigners' rights. This re-established the separate identity that Judaism maintained in Russia throughout the Jewish Haskalah. Catherine's decree also denied Jews the rights of an Orthodox or naturalised citizen of Russia. Taxes doubled again for those of Jewish descent in 1794, and Catherine officially declared that Jews bore no relation to Russians.

In many ways, the Orthodox Church fared no better than its foreign counterparts during the reign of Catherine. Under her leadership, she completed what Peter III had started: The church's lands were expropriated, and the budget of both monasteries and bishoprics were controlled by the College of Economy. Endowments from the government replaced income from privately held lands. The endowments were often much less than the original intended amount. She closed 569 of 954 monasteries, of which only 161 received government money. Only 400,000 rubles of church wealth were paid back. While other religions (such as Islam) received invitations to the Legislative Commission, the Orthodox clergy did not receive a single seat. Their place in government was restricted severely during the years of Catherine's reign.

In 1762, to help mend the rift between the Orthodox church and a sect that called themselves the Old Believers, Catherine passed an act that allowed Old Believers to practise their faith openly without interference. While claiming religious tolerance, she intended to recall the believers into the official church. They refused to comply, and in 1764, she deported over 20,000 Old Believers to Siberia on the grounds of their faith. In later years, Catherine amended her thoughts. Old Believers were allowed to hold elected municipal positions after the Urban Charter of 1785, and she promised religious freedom to those who wished to settle in Russia.

Religious education was reviewed strictly. At first, she simply attempted to revise clerical studies, proposing a reform of religious schools. This reform never progressed beyond the planning stages. By 1786, Catherine excluded all religion and clerical studies programs from lay education. By separating the public interests from those of the church, Catherine began a secularisation of the day-to-day workings of Russia. She transformed the clergy from a group that wielded great power over the Russian government and its people to a segregated community forced to depend on the state for compensation.

Catherine, throughout her long reign, took many lovers, often elevating them to high positions for as long as they held her interest and then pensioning them off with gifts of serfs and large estates. The percentage of state money spent on the court increased from 10% in 1767 to 11% in 1781 to 14% in 1795. Catherine gave away 66,000 serfs from 1762 to 1772, 202,000 from 1773 to 1793, and 100,000 in one day: 18 August 1795. Catherine bought the support of the bureaucracy. In 1767, Catherine decreed that after seven years in one rank, civil servants automatically would be promoted regardless of office or merit.

After her affair with her lover and adviser Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin ended in 1776, he allegedly selected a candidate-lover for her who had the physical beauty and mental faculties to hold her interest (such as Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov and Nicholas Alexander Suk). Some of these men loved her in return, and she always showed generosity towards them, even after the affair ended. One of her lovers, Pyotr Zavadovsky, received 50,000 rubles, a pension of 5,000 rubles and 4,000 peasants in Ukraine after she dismissed him in 1777. The last of her lovers, Prince Zubov, was 40 years her junior. Her sexual independence led to many of the legends about her.

Catherine kept her illegitimate son by Grigori Orlov ( Alexis Bobrinsky, later elevated to Count Bobrinsky by Paul I) near Tula, away from her court.

Elite acceptance of a female ruler was more of an issue in Western Europe than in Russia. The British ambassador James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury reported back to London:

Her Majesty has a masculine force of mind, obstinacy in adhering to a plan, and intrepidity in the execution of it; but she wants the more manly virtues of deliberation, forbearance in prosperity and accuracy of judgment, while she possesses in a high degree the weaknesses vulgarly attributed to her sex-love of flattery, and its inseparable companion, vanity; an inattention to unpleasant but salutary advice; and a propensity to voluptuousness which leads to excesses that would debase a female character in any sphere of life.

Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, the British ambassador to Russia, offered Stanislaus Poniatowski a place in the embassy in return for gaining Catherine as an ally. Poniatowski, through his mother's side, came from the Czartoryski family, prominent members of the pro-Russian faction in Poland; Poniatowski and Catherine were eighth cousins, twice removed, by their mutual ancestor King Christian I of Denmark, by virtue of Poniatowski's maternal descent from the Scottish House of Stuart. Catherine, 26 years old and already married to the then-Grand Duke Peter for some 10 years, met the 22-year-old Poniatowski in 1755, therefore well before encountering the Orlov brothers. In 1757, Poniatowski served in the British Army during the Seven Years' War, thus severing close relationships with Catherine. She bore him a daughter named Anna Petrovna in December 1757 (not to be confused with Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, the daughter of Peter I's second marriage).

King Augustus III of Poland died in 1763, so Poland needed to elect a new ruler. Catherine supported Poniatowski as a candidate to become the next king. She sent the Russian army into Poland to avoid possible disputes. Russia invaded Poland on 26 August 1764, threatening to fight, and imposing Poniatowski as king. Poniatowski accepted the throne, and thereby put himself under Catherine's control. News of Catherine's plan spread, and Frederick II (others say the Ottoman sultan) warned her that if she tried to conquer Poland by marrying Poniatowski, all of Europe would oppose her. She had no intention of marrying him, having already given birth to Orlov's child and to the Grand Duke Paul by then.

Prussia (through the agency of Prince Henry), Russia (under Catherine), and Austria (under Maria Theresa) began preparing the ground for the partitions of Poland. In the first partition, 1772, the three powers split 52,000 km ² (20,000 sq mi) among them. Russia got territories east of the line connecting, more or less, Riga- Polotsk- Mogilev. In the second partition, in 1793, Russia received the most land, from west of Minsk almost to Kiev and down the river Dnieper, leaving some spaces of steppe down south in front of Ochakov, on the Black Sea. Later uprisings in Poland led to the third partition in 1795. Poland ceased to exist as an independent nation.

Grigory Orlov, the grandson of a rebel in the Streltsy Uprising (1698) against Peter the Great, distinguished himself in the Battle of Zorndorf (25 August 1758), receiving three wounds. He represented an opposite to Peter's pro-Prussian sentiment, with which Catherine disagreed. By 1759, Catherine and he had become lovers; no one told Catherine's husband, the Grand Duke Peter. Catherine saw Orlov as very useful, and he became instrumental in the 28 June 1762 coup d'état against her husband, but she preferred to remain the dowager empress of Russia rather than marrying anyone.

Grigory Orlov and his other three brothers found themselves rewarded with titles, money, swords, and other gifts, but Catherine did not marry Grigory, who proved inept at politics and useless when asked for advice. He received a palace in Saint Petersburg when Catherine became empress.

Orlov died in 1783. Their son, Aleksey Grygoriovich Bobrinsky (1762-1813), had one daughter, Maria Alexeyeva Bobrinsky (Bobrinskaya) (1798-1835), who married in 1819 the 34-year-old Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Gagarin (London, England, 1784-1842) who took part in the Battle of Borodino (7 September 1812) against Napoleon, and later served as ambassador in Turin, the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Grigory Potemkin was involved in the of 1762. In 1772, Catherine's close friends informed her of Orlov's affairs with other women, and she dismissed him. By the winter of 1773, the Pugachev revolt had started to threaten. Catherine's son Paul had started gaining support; both of these trends threatened her power. She called Potemkin for help-mostly military-and he became devoted to her.

In 1772, Catherine wrote to Potemkin. Days earlier, she had found out about an uprising in the Volga region. She appointed General Aleksandr Bibikov to put down the uprising, but she needed Potemkin's advice on military strategy. Potemkin quickly gained positions and awards. Russian poets wrote about his virtues, the court praised him, foreign ambassadors fought for his favour, and his family moved into the palace. He later became the de facto absolute ruler of New Russia, governing its colonisation.

In 1780, Emperor Joseph II, the son of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, toyed with the idea of determining whether or not to enter an alliance with Russia, and asked to meet Catherine. Potemkin had the task of briefing him and travelling with him to Saint Petersburg. Potemkin also convinced Catherine to expand the universities in Russia to increase the number of scientists.

Catherine worried Potemkin's poor health would delay his important work colonising and developing the south as he had planned. He died at the age of 52 in 1791.

Though Catherine's life and reign included remarkable personal successes, they ended in two failures. Her Swedish cousin (once removed), King Gustav IV Adolph, visited her in September 1796, the empress's intention being that her granddaughter Alexandra should become queen of Sweden by marriage. A ball was given at the imperial court on 11 September when the engagement was supposed to be announced. Gustav Adolph felt pressured to accept that Alexandra would not convert to Lutheranism, and though he was delighted by the young lady, he refused to appear at the ball and left for Stockholm. The frustration affected Catherine's health. She recovered well enough to begin to plan a ceremony which would establish her favourite grandson Alexander as her heir, superseding her difficult son Paul, but she died before the announcement could be made, just over two months after the engagement ball.

On 16 November [ O.S. 5 November] 1796, Catherine rose early in the morning and had her usual morning coffee, soon settling down to work on papers; she told her lady's maid, Maria Perekusikhina, that she had slept better than she had in a long time. Sometime after 9:00 she was found on the floor with her face purplish, her pulse weak, her breathing shallow and laboured. The court physician diagnosed a stroke and despite attempts to revive her she fell into a coma. She was given the last rites and died the following evening around 9:45. An autopsy confirmed a stroke as the cause of death.

Later, several unfounded stories circulated regarding the cause and manner of her death. A popular insult to the empress's legacy at the time is that she died after having sex with her horse. The story claimed that her maids believed that Catherine spent too much unsupervised time with her favourite horse, Dudley. In his 1647 book Beschreibung der muscowitischen und persischen Reise ( Description of the Muscovite and Persian journey), German scholar Adam Olearius claimed that Russians had a fondness for sodomy, especially with horses. Olearius's claims about a supposed Russian tendency towards bestiality with horses was often repeated in anti-Russian literature throughout the 17th and 18th centuries to illustrate the alleged barbarous "Asian" nature of Russia. Given the frequency which this story was repeated together with Catherine's love of her adopted homeland and her hippophilia, it was an easy step to apply this scurrilous story as the cause of her death. Finally, Catherine's lack of shame about expressing her sexuality together with her incongruous position as a female leader in the male-dominated society of Europe made her the object of much malicious gossip, and the story of her supposed death while attempting sex with a stallion was meant to show how unnatural her rule as empress of Russia was.

Catherine's undated will, discovered in early 1792 among her papers by her secretary Alexander Vasilievich Khrapovitsky, gave specific instructions should she die: "Lay out my corpse dressed in white, with a golden crown on my head, and on it inscribe my Christian name. Mourning dress is to be worn for six months, and no longer: the shorter the better." In the end, the empress was laid to rest with a gold crown on her head and clothed in a silver brocade dress. On 25 November, the coffin, richly decorated in gold fabric, was placed atop an elevated platform at the Grand Gallery's chamber of mourning, designed and decorated by Antonio Rinaldi. According to Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun: "The empress's body lay in state for six weeks in a large and magnificently decorated room in the castle, which was kept lit day and night. Catherine was stretched on a ceremonial bed surrounded by the coats of arms of all the towns in Russia. Her face was left uncovered, and her fair hand rested on the bed. All the ladies, some of whom took turn to watch by the body, would go and kiss this hand, or at least appear to." A description of the empress's funeral is written in Madame Vigée Le Brun's memoirs.

Miscarriage

20 December 1752

According to court gossip, this lost pregnancy was attributed to Sergei Saltykov.

Miscarriage

30 June 1753

This second lost pregnancy was also attributed to Saltykov; this time she was very ill for 13 days. Catherine later wrote in her memoirs: "...They suspect that part of the afterbirth has not come away ... on the 13th day it came out by itself".

1 October 1754 -
23 March 1801 (Age: 46)

Born at the Winter Palace, officially he was a son of Peter III but in her memoirs, Catherine implies very strongly that Saltykov was the biological father of the child. He married firstly Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1773 and had no issue. He married secondly, in 1776, Princess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg and had issue, including the future Alexander I of Russia and Nicholas I of Russia. He succeeded as emperor of Russia in 1796 and was murdered at Saint Michael's Castle in 1801.

Anna Petrovna
Grand Duchess of Russia

9 December 1757 -
8 March 1759 (Age: 15 months)

Possibly the offspring of Catherine and Stanislaus Poniatowski, Anna was born at the Winter Palace between 10 and 11 o'clock; she was named by Empress Elizabeth after her deceased sister, against Catherine's wishes. On 17 December 1757, Anna was baptised and received the Great Cross of the Order of Saint Catherine. Elizabeth served as godmother; she held Anna above the baptismal font and brought Catherine, who did not witness any of the celebrations, and Peter a gift of 60,000 rubles. Elizabeth took Anna and raised the baby herself, as she had done with Paul. In her memoirs, Catherine makes no mention of Anna's death on 8 March 1759, though she was inconsolable and entered a state of shock. Anna's funeral took place on 15 March, at Alexander Nevsky Lavra. After the funeral, Catherine never mentioned her dead daughter again.

Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky
Count Bobrinsky

11 April 1762 -
20 June 1813 (Age: 51)

Born at the Winter Palace, he was brought up at Bobriki; his father was Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov. He married Baroness Anna Dorothea von Ungern-Sternberg and had issue. Created Count Bobrinsky in 1796, he died in 1813.

Elizabeth Grigorevna Temkina (alleged daughter)

13 July 1775 -
25 May 1854 (Age: 78)

Born many years after the death of Catherine's husband, brought up in the Samoilov household as Grigory Potemkin's daughter, and never acknowledged by Catherine, it has been suggested that Temkina was the illegitimate child of Catherine and Potemkin, but this is now regarded as unlikely.

The royal families of Britain, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden descend from Catherine the Great, as well as the former royal families of Greece, Romania, Yugoslavia and many others.

Olga Constantinovna of Russia, great-great-granddaughter of Catherine, was the paternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and his descendants which include the main branch of the family such as Charles, Prince of Wales; his son, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge; and William's son, Prince George of Cambridge; the three direct heirs to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.

Also, she was a maternal ancestress of Prince Edward, 2nd Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy and Prince Michael of Kent in three ways through her descendant Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent:

Elena Pavlovna of Russia, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and granddaughter of Catherine, was a maternal great-great-great-great-grandmother of the three people mentioned above.

Elena Pavlovna of Russia, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and granddaughter of Catherine, was a paternal great-great-great-great-grandmother of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and great-great-granddaughter of Catherine, was a paternal great-grandmother of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Furthermore, the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia was also the great-great-great-grandmother of Louise Margaret of Prussia, who was another maternal great-grandmother of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

Olga Constantinovna of Russia, great-great-granddaughter of Catherine, was the maternal great-great-grandmother of King Felipe VI.

Also, Sophia of Prussia, great-great-great-granddaughter of Catherine, was a maternal great-grandmother of King Felipe VI.

Furthermore, Victoria Louise of Prussia, great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Catherine, was a maternal great-grandmother of King Felipe VI.

Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece, is descended from Catherine the Great in seven ways, three from the same route as the Spanish Royal Family, and four from the same route as the Danish Royal Family:

King Michael I of Romania, was descended from Catherine in three ways:

Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, is descended from Catherine in three ways:

The Manifesto of 1763 begins with Catherine's title:

We, Catherine the second, by the Grace of God, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russians at Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsarina of Kasan, Tsarina of Astrachan, Tsarina of Siberia, Lady of Pleskow and Grand Duchess of Smolensko, Duchess of Estonia and Livland, Carelial, Tver, Yugoria, Permia, Viatka and Bulgaria and others; Lady and Grand Duchess of Novgorod in the Netherland of Chernigov, Resan, Rostov, Yaroslav, Beloosrial, Udoria, Obdoria, Condinia, and Ruler of the entire North region and Lady of the Yurish, of the Cartalinian and Grusinian tsars and the Cabardinian land, of the Cherkessian and Gorsian princes and the lady of the manor and sovereign of many others.

Empress Catherine's correspondence with Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, (the father of Catherine's daughter-in-law Maria Feodorovna) written between 1768 and 1795, is preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart (Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart) in Stuttgart, Germany.

Empress Catherine appears as a character in Lord Byron's unfinished mock-heroic poem .

The Empress is parodied in Offenbach's operetta La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (1867).

The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934) is a film starring Elisabeth Bergner and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Lubitsch remade his 1924 silent film as the sound film A Royal Scandal (1945), also known as Czarina.

The British/Canadian/American TV miniseries Young Catherine (1991), starring Julia Ormond as Catherine and Vanessa Redgrave as Empress Elizabeth, is based on Catherine's early life.

The television movie Catherine the Great (1995) stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Catherine and Jeanne Moreau as Empress Elizabeth.

Actress Olga Antonova played the role of the Empress in the 2000 film The Captain's Daughter, based on the novel of the same name by Alexander Pushkin.

Her rise to power and reign are portrayed in the award-winning Russia-1 television series Ekaterina, which has been extended for a second season in 2017 and a third season in 2019.

Catherine (portrayed by Meghan Tonjes) is featured in the web series Epic Rap Battles of History, in the episode "Alexander the Great vs. Ivan the Terrible" (12 July 2016), pitted against the titular characters, as well as Frederick the Great and Pompey the Great.

The television miniseries Catherine the Great (2019) stars Helen Mirren.

She is portrayed by Elle Fanning in the Hulu television series (2020).

Pre-eminent figures in Catherinian Russia include:

Alexander, John (1989). Catherine the Great: Life and Legend. New York: Oxford University Press.

Brechka, Frank (January 1969). "Catherine the Great: The Books She Read". The Journal of Library History. 4 (1): 39-52.

Butterwick, Richard (1998). Poland's Last King and English Culture: Stanisław August Poniatowski, 1732-1798. Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-820701-6.

Fisher, Alan W. (1968). "Enlightened Despotism and Islam under Catherine II". Slavic Review. 27 (4): 542-553. doi:10.2307/2494437. JSTOR 2494437. S2CID 155316413.

Hans, N. (1961). "Dumaresq, Brown and Some Early Educational Projects of Catherine II". Slavonic and East European Review. 40 (94): 229-235. JSTOR 4205333.

Hosking, Geoffrey (1997). Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674781184.

Klier, John D. (1976). "The Ambiguous Legal Status of Russian Jewry in the Reign of Catherine II". Slavic Review. 35 (3): 504-17. doi:10.2307/2495122. JSTOR 2495122.

Kliuchevskii, Vasilii (1997). A course in Russian history: the time of Catherine the Great. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. (Translation of a 19th-century work.)

Kolchin, Peter (1990) [First published 1987]. Unfree Labor: American Slavery and Russian Serfdom. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-92098-9.

Lim, Susanna Soojung (2013). China and Japan in the Russian Imagination, 1685-1922: To the Ends of the Orient. Routledge. ISBN 978-1135071615.

de Madariaga, Isabel (1974). "Catherine II and the Serfs: A Reconsideration of Some Problems". The Slavonic and East European Review. 52 (126): 34-62. ISSN 0037-6795. JSTOR 4206834.

Madariaga, Isabel De (1979). "The Foundation of the Russian Educational System by Catherine II". Slavonic and East European Review: 369-95.

--- (1981). Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great. Yale University Press.

--- (1993). Catherine the Great: A Short History. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-05427-9.

Max (2006). "If these walls....Smolny's Repeated Roles in History". Russian Life. pp. 19-24.

--- (1972b). "Pugachev's Rebellion". In Forster, Robert; Greene, Jack P. (eds.). Preconditions of Revolution in Early Europe. The Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 9780801813771.

Reddaway, W.F (1971) [1931]. Documents of Catherine the Great. The Correspondence with Voltaire and the Instruction of 1767 in the English Text of 1768. England: Cambridge University Press.

Rounding, Virginia (2006). Catherine the Great: Love, Sex and Power. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-09-179992-2.

Wirtschafter, Elise Kimerling (1998). "Legal Identity and the Possession of Serfs in Imperial Russia". Journal of Modern History. 70 (3): 561-587. doi:10.1086/235117. S2CID 154510675.

Bilbasov Vasily A. History of Catherine the Great. Berlin: Publishing Frederick Gottgeyner, 1900. At Runivers.ru in DjVu and PDF formats

Bogdanovich Modest I. Russian army in the age of the Empress Catherine II. Saint Petersburg: Printing office of the Department of inheritance, 1873. At Runivers.ru in DjVu and PDF formats

Brickner Alexander Gustavovich. History of Catherine the Great. Saint Petersburg: Typography of A. Suvorin, 1885. At Runivers.ru in DjVu and PDF formats

Catherine the Great. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great by Markus Cruse and Hilde Hoogenboom (translators). New York: Modern Library, 2005 (hardcover, ISBN 0-679-64299-4); 2006 (paperback, ISBN 0-8129-6987-1)

Cronin, Vincent. Catherine, Empress of All the Russias. London: Collins, 1978 (hardcover, ISBN 0-00-216119-2); 1996 (paperback, ISBN 1-86046-091-7)

Dixon, Simon. Catherine the Great (Profiles in Power). Harlow, UK: Longman, 2001 (paperback, ISBN 0-582-09803-3)

Herman, Eleanor. Sex With the Queen. New York: HarperCollins, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-06-084673-9).

LeDonne, John P. Ruling Russia: Politics & Administration in the Age of Absolutism, 1762-1796 (1984).

Malecka, Anna. "Did Orlov buy the Orlov", Gems and Jewellery, July 2014, pp. 10-12.

Marcum, James W. "Catherine II and the French Revolution: A Reappraisal." Canadian Slavonic Papers 16.2 (1974): 187-201 online.

Nikolaev, Vsevolod, and Albert Parry. The Loves of Catherine the Great (1982).

Ransel, David L. The Politics of Catherinian Russia: The Panin Party (Yale UP, 1975).

Sette, Alessandro. "Catherine II and the Socio-Economic Origins of the Jewish Question in Russia", Annales Universitatis Apulensis - Series Historica, 23#2 (2019): 47-63.

Smith, Douglas, ed. and trans. Love and Conquest: Personal Correspondence of Catherine the Great and Prince Grigory Potemkin. DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois UP, 2004 (hardcover, ISBN 0-87580-324-5); 2005 (paperback ISBN 0-87580-607-4)

Troyat, Henri. Catherine the Great. New York: Dorset Press, 1991 (hardcover, ISBN 0-88029-688-7); London: Orion, 2000 (paperback, ISBN 1-84212-029-8) popular

Troyat, Henri. Terrible Tsarinas. New York: Algora, 2001 (ISBN 1-892941-54-6).

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Catherine II (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 1729 - 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the last reigning Empress Regnant of Russia (from 1762 until 1796) and the country's longest-ruling female leader. She came to power following the overthrow of her husband and second cousin, Peter III.

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Pompeii, a flourishing resort city south of ancient Rome, was nestled along the coast of Italy in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano. Its most famous eruption took place in the year 79 A.D., when it buried the city of Pompeii under a thick carpet of volcanic ash. The dust "poured across the land" like a flood, one witness wrote, and shrouded the city in "a darkness...like the black of closed and unlighted rooms." Two thousand people died, and the city was abandoned for almost as many years. When a group of explorers rediscovered the site in 1748, they were surprised to find that beneath a thick layer of dust and debris, Pompeii was mostly intact. The buildings, artifacts and skeletons left behind in the entombed city have taught us a great deal about everyday life in the ancient world.
WATCH: Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire on HISTORY Vault
Where Is Pompeii?

Located on the west coast of Italy along the shores of the Bay of Naples-south of the modern-day city of Naples- ancient Greek settlers made Pompeii part of the Hellenistic sphere in the 8th century B.C. An independent-minded town, Pompeii fell under the influence of Rome in the 2nd century B.C., and eventually the Bay of Naples became an attraction for wealthy vacationers from Rome who relished the Campania coastline.

By the turn of the first century A.D., the town of Pompeii, located about five miles from Mount Vesuvius, was a flourishing resort for the most distinguished citizens of the Roman Empire. Elegant houses and elaborate villas-many filled with exquisite artworks and sparkling fountains-lined the paved streets.

Much of the city's wealth derived from its rich volcanic soil-the region was a center for olives, grapes and other crops, and wine from Pompeii was enjoyed in some of Rome's most fashionable houses.

Tourists, townspeople and enslaved people bustled in and out of small factories and artisans' shops, taverns, cafes, brothels and bathhouses. People gathered in the 20,000-seat arena and lounged in the open-air squares and marketplaces.

On the eve of the fateful eruption in 79 A.D., scholars estimate that there were about 12,000 people living in Pompeii and almost as many in the surrounding region.

Did you know? Mount Vesuvius has not erupted since 1944, but it is still one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Experts believe that another catastrophic eruption is due any day-an almost unfathomable catastrophe, since almost 3 million people live within 20 miles of the volcano's crater.

Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius did not form overnight, of course. Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc that stretches along the convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates on the Italian peninsula-it been erupting for thousands of years.

Sometime around 1995 B.C., for example, an unusually violent eruption (known today as the " Avellino eruption") shot millions of tons of superheated lava, ash and rocks about 22 miles into the sky. That Bronze Age catastrophe destroyed almost every village, house and farm within 15 miles of the mountain.

Villagers around the volcano had long learned to live with their volatile neighbor. Even after a massive earthquake struck the Campania region in 63 A.D.-a quake that, scientists now understand, offered a warning rumble of the disaster to come-people still flocked to the shores of the Bay of Naples, and Pompeii grew more crowded every year.

Pompeii Eruption

Sixteen years after that telltale earthquake, in either August or October of 79 A.D., a number of small earthquakes rocked the Pompeii region. The people there shrugged off the temblors since they "were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania," according to the writer and eyewitness Pliny the Younger.

Then, shortly after noon on that fateful day, Mount Vesuvius erupted again. The blast sent a plume of ash, rock and scorching-hot volcanic gases so high into the sky that people could see it for hundreds of miles around.

Pliny the Younger, who watched the eruption from across the Bay of Naples, compared this "cloud of unusual size and appearance" to a pine tree that "rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches." (Today, geologists refer to this type of volcanic blast as a "Plinean eruption.")

As it cooled, this tower of debris drifted to earth: first the fine-grained ash, then the lightweight chunks of pumice and other rocks. It was terrifying-"I believed I was perishing with the world," Pliny wrote, "and the world with me"-but it was not yet lethal: Most Pompeiians had plenty of time to flee, and many did.

Herculaneum and Pompeii

For those who stayed behind in Pompeii, Herculaneum and other towns, conditions soon grew much worse. As more and more ash fell, it clogged the air, making it difficult to breathe. Buildings collapsed under overloaded roofs, but still some people remained in the city, now covered under several feet of ash.

Then, on the morning of the following day, a "pyroclastic flow"-a 100-miles-per-hour blast of superheated gas and pulverized rock-poured down the side of the mountain and vaporized everything and everyone in its path.

By the time the Vesuvius eruption sputtered to an end on the second day of the eruption, Pompeii was buried under millions of tons of volcanic ash.

Some people drifted back to town in search of lost relatives or belongings, but there was virtually nothing left to find. Pompeii, along with the neighboring town of Herculaneum and a number of villas in the area, was abandoned for centuries.

Pompeii Bodies

About 2,000 Pompeiians died in the city, but the eruption in total killed up to 16,000 people in Pompeii, Herculaneum and other towns and villages in the region.

Bodies of men, women, children and animals were frozen right where they'd fallen-many of the bodies uncovered later were still clutching valuable household objects they'd hoped to carry safely out of the city. Some bodies were found with their arms poignantly wrapped around children or other loved ones.

Later archaeologists even uncovered jars of preserved fruit and loaves of bread. Most of the city's buildings were intact, and everyday objects and household goods still littered the streets. The powdery volcanic ash that buried Pompeii had proved to be an excellent preservative.

Pompeii Exhibit

Pompeii remained mostly untouched until 1748, when a group of explorers looking for ancient artifacts arrived in Campania and began to dig. They found that the ashes had acted as a marvelous preservative: Underneath all that dust, Pompeii was almost exactly as it had been almost 2,000 years before.

Many scholars cite the excavation of Pompeii as an influence in the neo-Classical revival of the 18th century. Europe's wealthiest and most fashionable families displayed art and reproductions of objects from the ruins, and drawings of Pompeii's buildings helped shape the architectural trends of the era.

For example, wealthy British families often built "Etruscan rooms" that mimicked those in Pompeiian villas. Today, many of the preserved artworks, frescoes and other artifacts are on exhibit at the Pompeii Antiquarium, located among the city's ruins.

The excavation of Pompeii that has been going on for almost three centuries continues today, and the entire site has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Scholars and tourists remain just as fascinated by the city's eerie ruins-and the artifacts and bodies buried on that fateful day over 2,000 years ago-as they were in the 18th century.

"Many disasters have befallen the world," wrote the German philosopher-poet Goethe, after touring Pompeii's ruins in the 1780s, "but few have brought posterity so much joy."
READ MORE: The Deadliest Volcanic Eruption in History
Sources

History of Pompeii. Pompeii Online.
Antiquarium. Pompeiisites.org.
Resurrecting Pompeii. Smithsonian Magazine.
Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata. UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

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Pompeii, a flourishing resort city south of ancient Rome, was nestled along the coast of Italy in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano. Its most famous eruption took place in the year 79 A.D., when it buried the city of Pompeii under a thick carpet of volcanic ash.

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Portuguese cuisine is born from the earth. It is hearty peasant fare full of strong flavours, many charting the culinary history of the country. For instance, the famous dried salt cod or bacalhau changed the course of Portuguese history. When it was discovered that the beautiful white fish caught in the cold Scandinavian waters could be dried and kept for long periods, sailors were able to go on long voyages of discovery to new lands, which then opened up trade routes. So loved is bacalhau now that there are recipe books entirely devoted to it, with a range of recipes from around the country.

Paprika, bay leaves, garlic and wine feature largely in many dishes, olive oil is adored and used to cook both cook food and finish off dishes. Pork is a favourite meat and is used in the famous chourico sausage, which is smoked over wood with heady aromas of garlic and paprika. Spices in general are popular - including piri piri (small fiery chilli peppers), black pepper, cinnamon, vanilla, and saffron. Herbs are also widely used, particularly coriander and parsley.

Also cooked over charcoal is the now familiar Portuguese chicken, which has been a huge hit in Australia - we love the flattened marinated chicken served with chilli spiked piri piri sauce. The recipe was developed in Angola when it was a Portuguese colony. Desserts rely heavily on eggs - think crème caramel, rice pudding and the famous custard tarts or pasteis de nata. A selection of cheeses may also be served, with the most common varieties being made from sheep or goat's milk.
View our Portuguese recipe collection here.

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Fire and passion are the hallmarks of Portuguese cuisine. It's all about cooking over hot coals and branding food with white-hot irons. It is an earthy peasant style of food centered on quite simple dishes, using few ingredients but with strong flavours, as seen in the now-famous Portuguese charcoal chicken.

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Loch Ness, lake, lying in the Highland council area, Scotland. With a depth of 788 feet (240 metres) and a length of about 23 miles (36 km), Loch Ness has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain. It lies in the Glen Mor-or Great Glen, which bisects the Highlands-and forms part of the system of waterways across Scotland that civil engineer Thomas Telford linked by means of the Caledonian Canal (opened 1822).

The watershed of Loch Ness covers more than 700 square miles (1,800 square km) and comprises several rivers, including the Oich and the Enrick. Its outlet is the River Ness, which flows into the Moray Firth at Inverness. Seiches (surface oscillations), caused by differential heating, are common on the loch. The sharp rise and fall of the level of the loch is one reason for the scanty flora of the waters; another reason is the great depths of the loch near the shoreline. The abyssal fauna is also sparse.

Like some other very deep lochs in Scotland and Scandinavia, Loch Ness is said to be inhabited by an aquatic monster. Many sightings of the so-called Loch Ness monster have been reported, and the possibility of its existence-perhaps in the form of a solitary survivor of the long-extinct plesiosaurs-continues to intrigue many.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Adam Augustyn.

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Loch Ness, lake, lying in the Highland council area, Scotland. With a depth of 788 feet (240 metres) and a length of about 23 miles (36 km), Loch Ness has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain.

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James II, also called (1644-85) duke of York and (1660-85) duke of Albany, (born October 14, 1633, London, England-died September 5/6 [September 16/17, New Style], 1701, Saint-Germain, France), king of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1685 to 1688, and the last Stuart monarch in the direct male line. He was deposed in the Glorious Revolution (1688-89) and replaced by William III and Mary II. That revolution, engendered by James's Roman Catholicism, permanently established Parliament as the ruling power of England.

When did James II rule?

What is James II known for?

What were the results of the reign and overthrow of James II?

Who were James II's children?

James II was the second surviving son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria. He was formally created duke of York in January 1644. During the English Civil Wars he lived at Oxford-from October 1642 until the city surrendered in June 1646. He was then removed by order of Parliament to St. James's Palace, from which he escaped to the Netherlands in April 1648. He rejoined his mother in France in early 1649. Joining the French army in April 1652, he served in four campaigns under the great French general the vicomte de Turenne, who commended his courage and ability. When his brother Charles II concluded an alliance with Spain against France in 1656 he reluctantly changed sides, and he commanded the right wing of the Spanish army at the Battle of the Dunes in June 1658.

After the restoration of his brother Charles II to the English throne in 1660, James was created duke of Albany. He became lord high admiral and did much to maintain the efficiency and improve the organization of the navy. He also showed considerable interest in colonial ventures; it was on his initiative that New Amsterdam was seized from the Dutch in 1664 and renamed New York in his honour. He commanded the fleet in the opening campaigns of the Second and Third Dutch wars. This was to be his last taste of active military command until 1688.

In politics he was a strong supporter of the earl of Clarendon, whose daughter Anne he married in September 1660. Both before and after marriage he had the reputation of being as great a libertine as his brother. But in 1668 or 1669 he was admitted to the Roman Catholic Church, though on his brother's insistence he continued to take the Anglican sacraments until 1672, and he attended Anglican services until 1676. Charles II also insisted that James's daughters, Mary and Anne, be raised in the Protestant faith.

James's conversion had little effect on his political views, which were already formed by his reverence for his dead father and his close association with the High Church party. James, in fact, was always more favourable to the Anglican church than was his Protestant brother. He welcomed the prospect of England's reentering the European war on the side of the Dutch; and he consented to the marriage of his elder daughter, Mary, to the Protestant William of Orange in 1677. For most of his life James was the spokesman of the conservative Anglican courtiers, who believed that his views on monarchy and Parliament coincided with theirs, who found his formal and humourless nature more congenial than Charles's slippery geniality, and who respected his frank acknowledgment of his religious beliefs.

In view of the queen's childlessness, however, the conversion of the heir presumptive to the throne roused great alarm in the general public. James resigned all of his offices in 1673 rather than take an anti-Catholic oath imposed by the so-called Test Act and thus made his position known publicly. Later that year, his first wife having died, he gave further offense by marrying a Roman Catholic princess, Mary of Modena. By 1678 James's Roman Catholicism had created a climate of hysteria in which the fabricated tale of a Popish Plot to assassinate Charles and put his brother on the throne was generally believed. From 1679 to 1681 three successive Parliaments strove to exclude James from the succession by statute. During this crisis James spent long periods in exile at Brussels and Edinburgh. But owing largely to his own tenacious defense of his rights, the exclusionists were defeated. In 1682 he returned to England and resumed the leadership of the Anglican Tories, whose power in local government was reestablished and increased by the "remodeling" of the borough corporations and the government of the counties in their favour. By 1684 James's influence on state policy was paramount, and when he finally came to the throne on February 6, 1685, with very little overt opposition or even criticism, it seemed likely that the strong support of the Anglicans would make him one of the most powerful of the 17th-century British kings.

The new royalist Parliament that assembled in May 1685 voted James a large income, and there seemed to be no reason why he should not in time secure adequate toleration for his coreligionists. But unsuccessful rebellions led by the duke of Monmouth in England and the duke of Argyll in Scotland, in the summer of 1685, marked a turning point in his attitude. James's distrust of his subjects, conceived in the turbulent 1670s, was at once sharpened. The rebellions were put down with great ferocity, the army was considerably increased, and the new regiments were granted to Roman Catholic officers who had had military experience abroad and whose loyalty was undoubted. This last act of policy provoked a quarrel between king and Parliament, which was prorogued in November 1685, never to meet again. In 1686 the division between the king and his former allies, the Anglican Tories, deepened. After a number of them had been replaced, the judges of King's Bench in the collusive action Godden v. Hales found in favour of the king's power to excuse individuals from the Test Oath; Roman Catholics were admitted to the Privy Council and subsequently to the high offices of state. A commission for ecclesiastical causes was established to administer James's powers as supreme governor of the Anglican church, and its first act was to suspend Henry Compton, bishop of London, one of the most outspoken critics of royal policy.

In 1687 James intensified his Roman Catholic policy and dismissed his Anglican brothers-in-law the earl of Clarendon and the earl of Rochester. Magdalen College, Oxford, was given over for the use of Roman Catholics, and a papal nuncio was officially accredited to St. James's Palace. In April James issued the so-called Declaration of Indulgence, suspending the laws against Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters alike; in July he dissolved Parliament, and in September he launched an intensive campaign to win over the Protestant dissenters and with their aid secure a new Parliament more amenable to his wishes.

What those wishes were is still not clear: some of his utterances suggest a genuine belief in religious toleration as a matter of principle; others point to the establishment of Roman Catholicism as the dominant if not the exclusive religion of the state. This confusion may well reflect the state of James's own mind, which undoubtedly deteriorated in the years 1687-88, and some of his assertions, accusations, and threats at this time verge on the insane.

The unexpected news that the queen was pregnant (November 1687), establishing the prospect of a Roman Catholic succession, had great effect on most Protestants; while a wholesale "remodeling" of borough corporations, lord lieutenancies, deputy lieutenancies, and magistracies that winter inflamed the majority of the nobility and gentry, whose political and social power suffered by it. Ever since the spring of 1687 many English leaders had been in touch with William of Orange, the husband of the heiress presumptive Mary and the champion of Protestant Europe against Louis XIV of France. The spark was touched off by James himself, when he reissued his Declaration of Indulgence on April 27, 1688, and on May 4 ordered it to be read in the churches. The archbishop of Canterbury and six of his bishops petitioned James to withdraw the order. Their petition was subsequently published, and James made the mistake of prosecuting its authors for seditious libel. Meanwhile, on June 10, in slightly mysterious circumstances, the queen gave birth to a son.

On June 30 the seven bishops were acquitted-a tremendous defeat for the government-and that same day seven leading Englishmen sent a letter inviting William of Orange to lead an army to England and call a free Parliament to arbitrate on the legitimacy of the prince of Wales. By September William's intentions were obvious, but James declined Louis XIV's offer of assistance for fear of the reaction in England; in any case he was confident in the ability of his forces to repel invasion. William sailed under cover of the general war that had by then broken out in Europe, evaded the English fleet, and landed at Brixham on Tor Bay on November 5 (November 15, New Style), 1688. In the subsequent "campaign," James's Protestant officers deserted to the enemy in such large numbers that he dared not commit the army to a pitched battle. This, together with the defection of his daughter Anne, finally shattered his nerve. He attempted to flee to France but was intercepted in Kent; 12 days later, on December 23, he was allowed to escape. On February 12, 1689, the Convention Parliament declared that James had abdicated and the next day offered the crown to William and Mary. The Scots Parliament followed suit in May.

In March 1689 James landed in Ireland, and a Parliament summoned to Dublin acknowledged him as king. But his Irish-French army was defeated by William at the Boyne (July 1 [July 11, New Style], 1690), and he returned to France. William's generals reconquered Ireland the following year. In Ireland James had shown none of his former military ability, and he now aged rapidly, falling increasingly under the influence of his pietistic wife. He became daily more absorbed in his devotions, and his more aggressive supporters soon came to regard him as something of a liability. The Treaty of Rijswijk between England and France (1697) removed his last hopes of restoration.

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James II | Biography, Religion, Accomplishments, & Facts

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James II, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1685 to 1688. He was deposed in the Glorious Revolution (1688-89) and replaced by William III and Mary II. That revolution, engendered by James's Roman Catholicism, permanently established Parliament as the ruling power in England.