Glasgow
Glasgow (/ˈɡlɑːzɡoʊ, ˈɡlæz-/;[4] Scots: Glesca; Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu) is the largest city in Scotland, and the third largest in the United Kingdom. HP Pavilion dm4-1000 Keyboard
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At the 2011 census, it had a population density of 3,395 people per square kilometre, the highest of any Scottish city.[5] It is situated on the River Clyde in the country's West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians.
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Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become one of the largest seaports in Britain. Expanding from the medieval bishopric and royal burgh, and the later establishment of the University of Glasgow in the 15th century, HP Pavilion dm4-1060ea Keyboard
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HP Pavilion dm4t-1000 CTO Keyboardit became a major centre of the Scottish Enlightenment in the 18th century. From the 18th century the city also grew as one of Great Britain's main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America and the West Indies.
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With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, the population and economy of Glasgow and the surrounding region expanded rapidly to become one of the world's pre-eminent centres of chemicals, HP Pavilion dm4-1100 Keyboard
HP Pavilion dm4-2100 keyboard textiles and engineering; most notably in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry, which produced many innovative and famous vessels. Glasgow was the "Second City of the British Empire" for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period although many cities argue the title was theirs.[6][ HP Pavilion dm4-1100eg Keyboard
HP Pavilion dm4-2101sa keyboard7][8][9] Today it is one of Europe's top ten financial centres[10][11] and is home to many of Scotland's leading businesses.[12] Glasgow is also ranked as the 57th most liveable city in the world.[13]
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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, eventually reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939.[ sony PCG-7112M keyboard
sony SVF14N1B4E keyboard14] In the 1960s, comprehensive urban renewal projects resulting in large-scale relocation of people to new towns and peripheral suburbs, followed by successive boundary changes, have reduced the current population of the City of Glasgow council area to 592,000,[3] with 1,199,629[HP Pavilion dm4-1100sa Keyboard
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HP Pavilion dm4-3000 keyboard15] people living in the Greater Glasgow urban area. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, 41% of Scotland's population.[16] Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games. In other sports, Glasgow is also well known for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. HP Pavilion dm4-1140sa Keyboard
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The seal or signet of Jocelin, Bishop of Glasgow, founder of the burgh of Glasgow.
The present site of Glasgow has been used since prehistoric times for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, HP Pavilion dm4-1150ca Keyboard
HP Pavilion dm4-3000sa keyboard at the point of its confluence with the Molendinar Burn. After the Romans left Caledonia the settlement was part of the extensive Kingdom of Strathclyde, with its capital at Dumbarton 15 mi (24 km) sony PCG-7122M keyboard
downstream, which merged in the 9th century with other regions to create the united Kingdom of Scotland.[1HP Pavilion dm4-1150ea Keyboard
HP Pavilion dm4-3002sa keyboard7] The origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotland's second largest bishopric. sony PCG-7121M keyboard
sony SVF14N1A4E keyboardGlasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, Bishop of Glasgow. HP Pavilion dm4-1300ea Keyboard
There had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth and status to the town. HP Pavilion dm4t-1000 Keyboard
HP Pavilion dm4-3002ea keyboardBetween 1175 and 1178 this position was strengthened even further when Bishop Jocelin obtained for the episcopal settlement the status of Burgh from King William I of Scotland,
Sony PCG-61813M keyboardallowing the settlement to expand with the benefits of trading monopolies and other legal guarantees. Sony VPCSA2Z9E Keyboard
Sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives to this day as the Glasgow Fair.
Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. Sony VPCSA3N9E Battery
Sony VPCSB3N9E KeyboardThe founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 served to increase the town's religious and educational status, and landed wealth. sony PCG-7134M keyboard
Sony PCG-61714M keyboard Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe and the Mediterranean.[17Sony VPCSA3S9E Keyboard
Following the Reformation and with the encouragement of the Convention of Royal Burghs the 14 Incorporated Trade Crafts federated as the Trades House in 1605 to match the power and influence in the Town Council of the earlier Merchants Guilds who established their Merchants House in the same year.[ Sony VPCSA3Z9E Keyboard
Sony VPCSB1Z9R Keyboard17] Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. Glasgow's substantial fortunes came from international trade, manufacturing and invention starting in the 17th century with sugar, followed by tobacco, and then cotton and linen.
Daniel Defoe visited the city in the early 18th century and famously opined in his book A tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain, that Glasgow was "the cleanest and beautifullest, and best built city in Britain, Sony VPCSB Keyboard
Sony VPCSB1X9E Keyboard London excepted." At that time, the city's population numbered about 12000, and was yet to undergo the massive expansionary changes to the city's economy and Sony PCG-61712M keyboard
Sony PCG-61713M keyboardurban fabric, brought about by the influences of the Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution.
Trading port[edit]
After the Acts of Union in 1707, Scotland gained further access to the vast markets of the new British Empire, and Glasgow became prominent as a hub of international trade to and from the Americas, especially in sugar, tobacco, cotton, and manufactured goods. The city's Tobacco Lords created a deep water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde, Sony VPCSB1A9E Keyboard
Sony VPCSB1V9E Keyboard as the river within the city itself was then too shallow.[18] By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgow's River Clyde, with over 47,000,000 lb (21,000 t) Sony VPCSB1B7E Keyboard
Sony VPCSB1S1E Keyboard of tobacco being imported each year at its peak.[19] At the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton.[20]
Industrialisation[edit]
Shipping on the Clyde, Atkinson Grimshaw, 1881. sony SVF14N1C4E keyboard
The opening of the Monkland Canal and basin linking to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Port Dundas in 1795, facilitated access to the extensive iron-ore and coal mines in Lanarkshire. After extensive river engineering projects to dredge and deepen the River Clyde as far as Glasgow, Sony VPCSB1C7E Keyboard
Sony VPCSB1D7E Keyboardshipbuilding became a major industry on the upper stretches of the river, pioneered by industrialists such as Robert Napier, John Elder, George Thomson, Sir William Pearce and Sir Alfred Yarrow.
The River Clyde also became an important source of inspiration for artists, such as John Atkinson Grimshaw, John Knox, James Kay, Sir Muirhead Bone, Robert Eadie, Stanley Spencer and L.S. Lowry, willing to depict the new industrial era and the modern world.
Glasgow's population had surpassed that of Edinburgh by 1821. The development of civic institutions included the City of Glasgow Police in 1800, one of the first municipal police forces in the world. Despite the crisis caused by the City of Glasgow Bank's collapse in 1878, Sony VPCCA1S1E Keyboard
growth continued and by the end of the 19th century it was one of the cities known as the "Second City of the Empire" and was producing more than half Britain's tonnage of shipping[21] and a quarter of all locomotives in the world.[2Sony VPCCA2 Keyboard
sony PCG-4121DM keyboard2] In addition to its pre-eminence in shipbuilding, engineering, industrial machinery, bridge building, chemicals, explosives, coal and oil industries it developed as a major centre in textiles, garment-making, Sony VPCCA2S0E Keyboard
carpet manufacturing, leather processing, furniture-making, pottery, food, drink and cigarette making; printing and publishing. Shipping, banking, insurance and professional services expanded at the same time.[23] Sony VPCCA2Z0E Keyboard
Glasgow became one of the first cities in Europe to reach a population of one million. The city's new trades and sciences attracted new residents from across the Lowlands and the Highlands of Scotland, from other parts of Britain and Ireland and from Continental Europe.[17]
During this period, the construction of many of the city's greatest architectural masterpieces and most ambitious civil engineering projects, such as the Loch Katrine aqueduct, Subway, Tramway system, City Chambers, Mitchell Library and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum were being Sony VPCCA3S1E Keyboard
funded by its wealth. The city also held a series of International Exhibitions at Kelvingrove Park, in 1888, 1901 and 1911, sony SVF14N1D4E keyboard
sony SVF15A1C5E keyboard with Britain's last major International Exhibition, the Empire Exhibition, being subsequently held in 1938 at Bellahouston Park, which drew 13 million visitors.[24]
sony PCG-41214M keyboardGlasgow George Square in 1966.
The 20th century witnessed both decline and renewal in the city. After World War I, the city suffered from the impact of the Post–World War I recession and from the later Great Depression, this also led to a rise of radical socialism and the "Red Clydeside" movement. Sony VPCCB2 Keyboard
sony PCG-41213M keyboardThe city had recovered by the outbreak of World War II and grew through the post-war boom that lasted through the 1950s. By the 1960s, sony SVF14N1J2E keyboard
sony SVF15A1B4E keyboard Britain's lack of investment and innovation led to growing overseas competition from countries like Japan and West Germany which weakened the once pre-eminent position of many of the city's industries.
As a result of this, Glasgow entered a lengthy period of relative economic decline and rapid de-industrialisation, leading to high unemployment, sony SVF14N2B4E keyboard
sony SVF15A1A4E keyboardurban decay, population decline, welfare dependency and poor health for the city's inhabitants. There were active attempts at regeneration of the city, Sony VPCCB3 Keyboard
sony PCG-41211M keyboardwhen the Glasgow Corporation published its controversial Bruce Report, which set out a comprehensive series of initiatives aimed at turning round the decline of the city. The report led to a huge and radical programme of rebuilding and regeneration efforts which Sony VPCCB3PQE Keyboard
sony SVT131B11M keyboardstarted in the mid-1950s and lasted into the late 1970s, which saw the mass demolition of the city's infamous slums and their replacement with large suburban housing estates and tower blocks.[25] Sony VPCCB4X1E Keyboard
The city invested heavily in its roads infrastructure, with an extensive system of arterial roads and motorways which bisected the central area. sony SVF14N2C5E keyboard
sony SVF15A1Z2E keyboard There are also accusations that the Scottish Office had deliberately attempted to undermine Glasgow's economic and political influence in post-war Scotland by diverting inward investment in new industries to other regions during the Silicon sony VPCCB3M1E keyboard
sony SVT1313S1ES keyboardGlen boom and creating the new towns of Cumbernauld, Glenrothes, Irvine, Livingston and East Kilbride, dispersed across the Scottish Lowlands, in order to halve the city's population base.[25]
By the late 1980s, there had been a significant resurgence in Glasgow's economic fortunes. The "Glasgow's miles better" campaign, launched in 1983, sony SVF14N2N2E keyboard
sony SVF15A1S2E keyboardand opening of the Burrell Collection in 1983 and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in 1985 facilitated Glasgow's new role as a European centre for business services and finance and promoted an increase in tourism and inward investment.[2sony VPCCB3S8E keyboard
sony SVT1312M1ES keyboard6] The latter continues to be bolstered by the legacy of the city's Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988, its status as European City of Culture in 1990, and concerted attempts to diversify the city's economy.[ sony VPCCB3Z8E keyboard
sony SVT1311W1E keyboard27] Wider economic revival has persisted and the ongoing regeneration of inner-city areas, including the large-scale Clyde Waterfront Regeneration, has led to more affluent people moving back to live in the centre of Glasgow, fuelling allegations of gentrification.[2sony SVF14NA1UM keyboard
sony SVF15A1M2E keyboard8] The city is now considered by Lonely Planet to be one of the world's top 10 tourist cities.[29] sony VPCCB4M1E keyboard
Despite Glasgow's economic renaissance, the East End of the city remains the focus of social deprivation.[30] sony SVS151A11M keyboard
sony SVS131E1EM keyboardA Glasgow Economic Audit report published in 2007 stated that the gap between prosperous and deprived areas of the city is widening.[31] In 2006, 47% of Glasgow's population lived in the most deprived 15% of areas in Scotland,[3sony VPCCB4Q1E keyboard
sony SVT1311M1ES keyboard1] while the Centre for Social Justice reported 29.4% of the city's working-age residents to be "economically inactive".[30] Although marginally behind the UK average, Glasgow still has a higher employment rate than Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.[31] sony PCG-71614M keyboard
In 2008 the city was ranked at 43 for Personal Safety in the Mercer index of top 50 safest cities in the world.[32sony VPCCB2M1E keyboard
sony SVT1311C4E keyboard] The Mercer report was specifically looking at Quality of Living, yet by 2011 within Glasgow, certain areas were (still) "failing to meet the Scottish Air Quality Objective levels for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10)."[33]
Toponymy[edit]
It is common to derive the name Glasgow from the older Cumbric glas cau or a Middle Gaelic cognate, which would have meant green basin or green valley. The settlement probably had an earlier Cumbric name, Cathures; sony VPCCB2S1R keyboard
sony SVT1311A4E keyboardthe modern name appears for the first time in the Gaelic period (1116), as Glasgu. It is also recorded that the King of Strathclyde, Rhydderch Hael, welcomed Saint Kentigern (also known as Saint Mungo), sony VPCCB2S8E keyboard
sony VPCCB2Z8E keyboardand procured his consecration as bishop about 540. For some thirteen years Kentigern laboured in the region, building his church at the Molendinar Burn, and making many converts. A large community developed around him and became known as Glasgu (often glossed as "the dear Green" or "dear green place").Sony SVE1511A1EW Keyboard
Heraldry[edit]
The coat of arms of the City of Glasgow
Glasgow Coat of Arms.png
Details
Adopted 1866
Crest Saint Mungo
Supporters Two salmon, bearing rings
Motto Let Glasgow Flourish by the preaching of Your word, and the praising of Your name. sony SVS151A12M keyboard
The coat of arms of the City of Glasgow was granted to the royal burgh by the Lord Lyon on 25 October 1866.[34] It incorporates a number of symbols and emblems associated with the life of Glasgow's patron saint, Mungo, Sony SVE1511F1E Keyboard
Sony SVE14A3C5E Keyboardwhich had been used on official seals prior to that date. The emblems represent miracles supposed to have been performed by Mungo and are listed in the traditional rhyme:
St Mungo is also said to have preached a sermon containing the words Lord, Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the word and the praising of thy name. This was abbreviated to "Let Glasgow Flourish" and adopted as the city's motto.
In 1450, John Stewart, the first Lord Provost of Glasgow, left an endowment so that a "St Mungo's Bell" could be made and tolled throughout the city so that the citizens would pray for his soul. A new bell was purchased by the magistrates in 1641 and that bell is still on display in the People's Palace Museum, near Glasgow Green.
The supporters are two salmon bearing rings, and the crest is a half length figure of Saint Mungo. He wears a bishop's mitre and liturgical vestments and has his hand raised in "the act of benediction". The original 1866 grant placed the crest atop a helm, but this was removed in subsequent grants. The current version (1996) Sony SVE1511M1E Keyboard
has a gold mural crown between the shield and the crest. This form of coronet, resembling an embattled city wall, was allowed to the four area councils with city status.
The arms were re-matriculated by the City of Glasgow District Council on 6 February 1975, and by the present area council on 25 March 1996. The only change made on each occasion was in the type of coronet over the arms.[35][36]
Government[edit]
See also: Politics of Glasgow
Glasgow City Chambers, located on George Square, is the headquarters of Glasgow City Council and the seat of Local Government in the city.
Although the Glasgow Corporation had been a pioneer in the municipal socialist movement from the late 19th century, since the Representation of the People Act 1918, Sony SVE1511V1E Keyboard
Glasgow increasingly supported Left-wing ideas and politics at a national level. The city council has been controlled by the Labour Party for over 30 years, since the decline of the Progressives.
In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and German Revolution of 1918–1919, the city's frequent strikes and militant organisations caused serious alarm at Westminster, with one uprising in January 1919 prompting the Prime Minister, David Lloyd George to deploy 10,000 troops and tanks onto the city's streets. Sony SVE1511W1E Keyboard
Sony SVE14A1S1EB KeyboardA huge demonstration in the city's George Square on 31 January ended in violence after the Riot Act was read.
Since 2007 when local government elections in Scotland began to use the single transferable vote rather than first-past-the-post system, the dominance of the Labour party within the city has declined (though it remains one of only two local authorities - along with North Lanarkshire, where Labour maintains an outright majority over the other parties)
Industrial action at the shipyards gave rise to the "Red Clydeside" epithet. During the 1930s, Glasgow was the main base of the Independent Labour Party. Towards the end of the 20th century it became a centre of the struggle against the poll tax, and then the main base of the Scottish Socialist Party, Sony SVE1512J1E Keyboard
Sony SVE1713C5E Keyboarda left-wing party in Scotland. The city has not had a Conservative MP since the 1982 Hillhead by-election, when the SDP took the seat, which was in Glasgow's wealthiest area. The resultant general political bias against the Conservative party continued and currently Sony SVE1512M1E Keyboard
Sony SVE1712Z1E Keyboardthey have only 1 of the 79 councillors on Glasgow City Council, despite having been the controlling party (as the Progressives) from 1969-1972 when Sir Donald Liddle was the last non-Labour Lord Provost.
Scottish Parliament region[edit]
See also: Glasgow Scottish Parliament region
The Glasgow electoral region of the Scottish Parliament covers the Glasgow City council area, the Rutherglen area of the South Lanarkshire and a small eastern portion of Renfrewshire. It elects Sony SVE1513C5E Keyboard
Sony SVE1712Q1E Keyboardnine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituency members and seven of the 56 additional members. Both kinds of member are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The system of election is designed to produce a form of proportional representation. Sony SVE1513D1E Keyboard
The first past the post seats were created in 1999 with the names and boundaries of then existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies. In 2005, the number of Westminster Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Scotland was cut to 59, Sony SVE1513E9E Keyboard
Sony SVE1513Q1E Keyboardwith new constituencies being formed, while the existing number of MSPs was retained at Holyrood. In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the boundaries of the Glasgow region were redrawn.
Currently, the nine Scottish Parliament constituencies in the Glasgow electoral region are:
United Kingdom Parliament constituencies[edit]
See also: United Kingdom constituencies sony SVS151C1GM keyboard
Following reform of constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) in 2005, which reduced the number of Scottish Members of Parliament (MPs), the current Westminster constituencies representing Glasgow are: Sony SVE1511A1E Keyboard
Glasgow is located on the banks of the River Clyde, in West Central Scotland. Its second most sony SVS151A11M keyboard
sony SVS131C24M keyboardimportant river is the Kelvin whose name was used for creating the title of Baron Kelvin and thereby ended up as the scientific unit of temperature. On older maps Glasgow will be found within the area of the pre-1975 county of Lanarkshire, Sony SVE1512X9E Keyboard
from 1975 to 1996 it will appear within Strathclyde Region; current maps will generally show Glasgow as one of 32 Council Areas in Scotland.
Despite its northerly latitude, close to the same line as Moscow, Glasgow's climate is classified as oceanic (Köppen Cfb). Sony SVE1513B4E Keyboard
Sony VPCF11M4E Keyboard Data is available online for 3 official weather stations in the Glasgow area: Paisley, Abbotsinch and Bishopton. All are located to the West of the city centre. Owing to its westerly position and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, sony SVS131B11M keyboard
sony SVS131C1DM keyboard Glasgow is one of Scotland's milder areas. Temperatures are usually higher than most places of equal latitude away from the UK, due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream. Sony SVE1713Z1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF11K4E Keyboard this results in less distinct seasons as compared to much of Western Europe. At Paisley, the annual precipitation averages 1,245 millimetres (49.0 in)
Winters are cool and overcast, with a January mean of 5.0 °C (41.0 °F), though lows sometimes fall below freezing. Since 2000 Glasgow has experienced few very cold, snowy and harsh winters where temperatures have fallen much below freezing. Sony SVE1713Z1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF11J4E KeyboardThe most extreme instances have however seen temperatures around −12 °C (10 °F) in the area. Snowfall resulting in snow lying on the ground is an infrequent occurrence and generally short-lived. sony SVS131B12M keyboard
The spring months (March to May) are usually mild and often quite pleasant. Many of Glasgow's trees and plants begin to flower at this time of the year and parks and gardens are filled with spring colours.
During the summer months (June to August) the weather can vary considerably from day to day ranging from relatively cool and wet to quite warm with the odd sunny day. Long dry spells of warm weather are generally very scarce. sony SVF15A1C5ER keyboard
sony SVF15NB1YL keyboardOvercast and humid conditions without rain are frequent. Generally the weather pattern is quite unsettled and erratic during these months, with only occasional heatwaves. Sony VPCF13B4E Keyboard
Sony VPCF11H4E KeyboardHowever,
Sony VPCF11J04E/H Keyboard The warmest month is usually July, with average highs above 20 °C (68 °F). Autumns are generally cool to mild with increasing precipitation. During early autumn there can be some settled periods of weather and it can feel pleasant with mild temperatures and some sunny days.
Temperature extremes have ranged from −19.9 °C (−4 °F) to 31.2 °C (88 °F), sony SVF152C29M keyboard
sony SVF15NB1GM keyboardat Abbotsinch,[37][38] and −14.8 °C (5 °F) to 31.0 °C (88 °F) at Paisley.[39][40] The coldest temperature to have occurred in recent years was −12.5 °C (9.5 °F) at Bishopton during December 2010.[41] Sony VPCF13C4E Keyboard
Panorama over Glasgow's South Side and West End from Queen's Park, looking North West. Left of centre can be seen the Clyde Arc bridge at Finnieston, while beyond is the tower of the University of Glasgow, with the Campsie Fells in the distance on the right. Sony VPCF13C5E Keyboard
The 1950s saw the population of the City of Glasgow area peak at 1,089,000. During this period, Glasgow was one of the most densely populated cities in the world. After the 1960s, clearings of poverty-stricken inner city areas like the Gorbals and relocation to "new towns" such as East Kilbride and Cumbernauld led to population decline. In addition, the boundaries of the city were changed twice during the late 20th century, Sony VPCF13E1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF11B4E Keyboard making direct comparisons difficult. The city continues to expand beyond the official city council boundaries into surrounding suburban areas, encompassing around 400 square miles (1,000 km2) of all adjoining suburbs, if commuter towns and villages are included.
There are two distinct definitions for the population of Glasgow: the Glasgow City Council Area (which lost the districts of Rutherglen and Cambuslang to South Lanarkshire in 1996) and the Greater Glasgow Urban Area (which includes the conurbation around the city).
Influx attracted by physical and economic growth, and the city`s own population growth, resulted in the following demographic percentages in the 1881 Census calculated by birthplaces - born in Scotland 83%, Ireland 13%, England 3% and Elsewhere 1%. Sony VPCF13H4E Keyboard
Sony VPCF12E4E KeyboardBy 1911 the population was no longer gaining by migration.The demographic percentages in the 1951 Census were - born in Scotland 93%, Ireland 3%, England 3% and Elsewhere 1%.[23] Sony VPCF13G4E Keyboard
In the early 20th century, many Lithuanian refugees began to settle in Glasgow and at its height in the 1950s there were around 10,000 in the Glasgow area.[44] sony SVF153B1YM keyboard
sony SVF15NB1GM keyboard Many Italian Scots also settled in Glasgow, originating from provinces like Frosinone between Rome and Naples and Lucca in north-west Tuscany at this time, many originally working as "Hokey Pokey" men.[4Sony VPCF13J8E Keyboard
In the 1960s and 1970s, many Asian-Scots also settled in Glasgow, mainly in the Pollokshields area. These number 30,000 Pakistanis, 15,000 Indians and 3,000 Bangladeshis as well as Chinese immigrants, many of whom settled in the Garnethill area of the city. Sony VPCF13K4E Keyboard
Sony VPCF22C5E Keyboard [citation needed] Since 2000, the UK government has pursued a policy of dispersal of asylum seekers to ease pressure on social housing in the London area.
15.4% of the city is of a minority ethnic group[47] including 47,758 (8.1%) Asian, 14,246 (2.4%) Black / African / Caribbean, and 3,801 (0.64%) from other ethnic groups including Arab. The city is also home to some 8,406 (1.42%) Polish people.[4Sony VPCF13L0E Keyboard
Glasgow city centre panorama from Lighthouse tower
Location Population Area Density
Glasgow City Council[49] 592,820 67.76 sq mi (175.5 km2) 8,541.8 /sq mi (3,298.0 /km2)
Greater Glasgow Urban Area[50] 1,199,629 142.27 sq mi (368.5 km2) 8,212.9 /sq mi (3,171.0 /km2) Sony VPCF13S8E Keyboard
Source: Scotland's Census Results Online[51]
Since the 2001 census the population decline has stabilised. The population of the city council area was 593,245 in 2011[52] and around 2,300,000 people live in the Glasgow travel to work area.[16] This area is defined as consisting of over 10 per cent of residents travelling into Glasgow to work and is without fixed boundaries.[53] sony PCG-7V2M keyboard
The population density of London following the 2011 census was recorded as 5,200 people per square kilometre, while 3,395 people per square kilometre were registered in Glasgow.[5][54] In 1931 the population density was 16,166 /sq mi (6,242 /km2), highlighting the "clearances" into the suburbs and new towns that were built to reduce the size of one of Europe's most densely populated cities.[55]
Glasgow has the lowest life expectancy of any UK city at 72.9 years.[56] Much was made of this during the 2008 Glasgow East by-election.[57] sony SVF154B1EM keyboard
In 2008, a World Health Organization report about health inequalities, revealing that male life expectancy varied from 54 in Calton to 82 in nearby Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire.[58][59]
Districts and suburbs[edit]
Areas of Glasgow. Click to enlarge.
City centre[edit]
The city centre is bounded by the High Street to the east, the River Clyde to the south and the M8 motorway to the west and north which was built through the Townhead, Charing Cross, Cowcaddens and Anderston areas in the 1960s.
Retail and theatre district[edit]
Looking down Buchanan Street towards St Enoch subway station.
The city centre is based on a grid system of streets on the north bank of the River Clyde. The heart of the city is George Square, site of many of Glasgow's public statues and the elaborate Victorian Glasgow City Chambers, sony PCG-8X1M keyboard
sony PCG-7H2M keyboardheadquarters of Glasgow City Council. To the south and west are the shopping precincts of Argyle Street, Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Street, the last featuring more upmarket retailers and winner of the Academy of Urbanism "Great Street Award" 2008.[60]
The main shopping centres are Buchanan Galleries and the St. Enoch Centre, with the up-market Princes Square and the Italian Centre specialising in designer labels. sony SVF153A1YM keyboard
sony SVF15NB1GL keyboardThe London-based department store Selfridges purchased a site in the city some years ago as part of its plans to expand stores, plans which have now been shelved according to the company. sony PCG-8Y2M keyboard
sony PCG-7N1M keyboard Glasgow's retail portfolio forms the UK's second largest and most economically important retail sector after Central London.[61][62]
The city centre is home to most of Glasgow's main cultural venues: the Theatre Royal (performing home of Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet), the Pavilion Theatre, the King's Theatre, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow Film Theatre, sony PCG-8Y3M keyboard
sony PCG-8Z2M keyboard Tron Theatre, Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Mitchell Library and Theatre, the Centre for Contemporary Arts, McLellan Galleries and the Lighthouse Museum of Architecture. The world's tallest cinema, the eighteen-screen Cineworld is situated on Renfrew Street. The city centre is also home to four of Glasgow's higher education institutions: the University of Strathclyde, HP ENVY 14-1000 keyboard
the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow School of Art and Glasgow Caledonian University.
Merchant City[edit]
The Tolbooth Steeple dominates Glasgow Cross and marks the east side of the Merchant City.
To the east is the commercial and residential district of Merchant City. sony SVF15AA1QM keyboard
sony SVF15NA1YM keyboard The Merchant City was formerly the residential district of the wealthy city merchants in the 18th and early 19th centuries, particularly the Tobacco Lords from whom many of the streets take their name. HP ENVY 14-1100 keyboard
HP ENVY 17-1190EA keyboardAs the Industrial Revolution and the wealth it brought to the city resulted in the expansion of Glasgow's central area westward, the original medieval centre was left behind. Glasgow Cross, situated at the junction of High Street, HP ENVY 14-1195EA keyboard
HP ENVY 17-1050EA keyboardGallowgate, Trongate and Saltmarket was the original centre of the city, symbolised by its Mercat cross. Glasgow Cross encompasses the Tolbooth Clock Tower; all that remains of the original City Chambers, which was destroyed by fire in 1926. Moving northward up High Street towards Rottenrow and HP ENVY 14-2002EA keyboard
HP ENVY 17-3002EA keyboard Townhead lies the 15th century Glasgow Cathedral and the Provand's Lordship. Due to growing industrial pollution levels in the mid-to-late 19th century, the area fell out of favour with residents.[63]
From the late 1980s onwards, the Merchant City has been rejuvenated with luxury city centre flats and warehouse conversions. This regeneration has supported an increasing number of cafés and restaurants.[64HP ENVY 14-2000 keyboard
HP ENVY 17-2101EA keyboard] The area is also home to a number of high end boutique style shops and some of Glasgow's most upmarket stores.[65]
The Merchant City is the centre of Glasgow's growing "cultural quarter", based on King Street, the Saltmarket and Trongate, and at the heart of the annual Merchant City Festival. HP ENVY 14-1201EA keyboard
HP ENVY M6-1205SA keyboardThe area has supported a huge growth in art galleries, the origins of which can be found in the late 1980s when it attracted artist-led organisations that could afford the cheap rents required to operate in vacant manufacturing or retail spaces.[6HP ENVY 14T-1200 keyboard
6] The artistic and cultural potential of the Merchant City as a "cultural quarter" was harnessed by independent arts organisations and Glasgow City Council,[66HP ENVY M6-1102EA keyboard
HP ENVY M6-1178SA keyboard] and the recent development of Trongate 103, which houses galleries, workshops, artist studios and production spaces, is considered a major outcome of the continued partnership between both.[67] The area also contains a number of theatres and concert venues, including the Tron Theatre, the Old Fruitmarket, HP ENVY M6-1104EA keyboard
HP ENVY M6-1178EA keyboard the Trades Hall, St. Andrew's in the Square, Merchant Square, and the City Halls.[68]
Financial district[edit]
Clyde Arc, also known as "Squinty Bridge".
Also see Glasgow's International Financial Services District
To the western edge of the city centre, occupying the areas of Blythswood Hill and Anderston, lies Glasgow's financial district, known officially as the International Financial Services District (IFSD), although often irreverently nicknamed by the contemporary press as the "square kilometre" or "Wall Street on Clyde".[6HP ENVY M6-1150SA keyboard
HP ENVY M6-1157SA keyboard9] Since the late 1980s the construction of many modern office blocks and high rise developments have paved the way for the IFSD to become one of the UK's largest financial quarters. With a reputation as an established financial services centre, coupled with comprehensive support services, Glasgow continues to attract and grow new business.
Of the 10 largest general insurance companies in the UK, 8 have a base or head office in Glasgow — including Direct Line, Esure, AXA and Norwich Union. Key banking sector companies have also moved some of their services to commercial property in Glasgow HP ENVY M6-1151SA keyboard
HP ENVY M6-1154EA keyboard— Resolution, JPMorgan Chase, sony SVF15AC1QL keyboard
sony SVF15NA1GM keyboardAbbey, HBOS, Barclays Wealth, Tesco Personal Finance, Morgan Stanley, Lloyds TSB, Clydesdale Bank, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Santander and the Royal Bank of Scotland. The Ministry of Defence have several departments and Clydeport, the Glasgow Stock Exchange, Sony SVE1513A1ES Keyboard
Sony SVE1511Z1E Keyboard Student Loans Company, Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department, BT Group, Scottish Friendly. Scottish Qualifications Authority and Scottish Enterprise also have their headquarters based in the district. Sony SVE1513B1EW Keyboard
Royal Dutch Shell also have one of their six world-wide Shared Business Centres located in the IFSD. Hilton Worldwide have corporate office base in Cadogan Street.
West End[edit] Sony SVE1513C1EW Keyboard
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is Glasgow's premier museum and art gallery, housing one of Europe's best civic art collections. sony SVF15NA1GL keyboard
Glasgow's West End is a bohemian district of cafés, tea rooms, bars, boutiques, upmarket hotels, clubs and restaurants in the hinterland of Kelvingrove Park, the University of Glasgow, Sony SVE1513G1EB Keyboard
Sony SVE1512W1EB Keyboard Glasgow Botanic Gardens and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, focused especially on the area's main thoroughfare, Byres Road. The area is popular with tourists, and contains many hotels, including the prestigious One Devonshire Gardens, which has accommodated a number of celebrity guests on visits to the city.
The West End includes residential areas of Hillhead, Dowanhill, Kelvingrove, Kelvinside, Hyndland, Broomhill, and, to an increasing extent, Partick. The name is also increasingly being used to refer to any area to the west of Charing Cross. This includes areas such as Scotstoun, Jordanhill, Kelvindale and Anniesland.
The West End is bisected by the River Kelvin which flows from the Campsie Fells in the north and confluences with the River Clyde at Yorkhill Quay.
The spire of Sir George Gilbert Scott's Glasgow University main building (the second largest Gothic Revival building in Britain) is a major landmark, and can be seen from miles around, sitting atop Gilmorehill. The university itself is the fourth oldest in the English-speaking world. Much of the city's student population is based in the West End, adding to its cultural vibrancy.
The area is also home to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena and the Henry Wood Hall (home of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra although they generally perform at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall). Adjacent to the Kelvin Hall was the Museum of Transport, Sony SVE1513J1EB Keyboard
which reopened in 2010 after moving to a new location on a former dockland site at Glasgow Harbour where the River Kelvin flows into the Clyde. The new building is built to a design by Zaha Hadid. The West End Festival, one of Glasgow's largest festivals, is held annually in June.
Glasgow is the home of the SECC, the United Kingdom's largest exhibition and conference centre.[70][71][72] On 30 September 2013, a major expansion of the SECC facilities at the former Queen's Dock by Foster and Partners officially opened - the 13,000 seat Hydro arena.
East End[edit]
People's Palace museum on Glasgow Green.
The East End extends from Glasgow Cross in the City Centre to the boundary with North and South Lanarkshire. It is home to the famous Glasgow Barrowland Market, popularly known as "The Barras",[73] Sony SVE1513P1EW Keyboard
Sony SVE1512I1ES KeyboardBarrowland Ballroom, Glasgow Green, and Celtic Park, home of Celtic FC. Many of the original sandstone tenements remain in this district. The East End was once a major industrial centre, Sony SVE1513Q1ES Keyboard
Sony SVE1512H6EW Keyboardhome to Sir William Arrol & Co., James Templeton & Co and William Beardmore and Company. A notable local employer continues to be the Wellpark Brewery, home of Tennent's Lager.
The Glasgow Necropolis Cemetery was created by the Merchants House on a hill above the cathedral in 1831. Routes curve through the landscape uphill to the 62-metre (203 ft) high statue of John Knox at the summit. Sony SVE1513U1ES Keyboard
Sony SVE1513Z1EB Keyboard There are two late 18th century tenements in Gallowgate. Dating from 1771 and 1780, both have been well restored. The construction of Charlotte Street was financed by David Dale, whose former pretensions can be gauged by the one remaining house, now run by the National Trust for Scotland. Sony SVE1513U1ESI Keyboard
Sony SVE1513Y1ESI Keyboard Further along Charlotte Street there stands a modern Gillespie, Kidd & Coia building of some note. Once a school, it has been converted into offices. Surrounding these buildings are a series of innovative housing developments conceived as "Homes for the Future", part of a project during the city's year as UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999.[74]
East of Glasgow Cross is St Andrew's in the Square, the oldest post-Reformation church in Scotland, built in 1739–1757 and displaying a Presbyterian grandeur befitting the church of the city's wealthy tobacco merchants. Sony SVE1512C6EB Keyboard
Also close by is the more modest Episcopalian St Andrew's-by-the-Green, the oldest Episcopal church in Scotland. The Episcopalian St Andrew's was also known as the "Whistlin' Kirk" due to it being the first church after the Reformation to own an organ.
The Doulton Fountain in Glasgow Green
Overlooking Glasgow Green is the façade of Templeton On The Green, featuring vibrant polychromatic brickwork intended to evoke the Doge's Palace in Venice.[75]
The extensive Tollcross Park was originally developed from the estate of James Dunlop, the owner of a local steelworks. His large baronial mansion was built in 1848 by David Bryce, which later housed the city's Children's Museum until the 1980s. Today, the mansion is a sheltered housing complex.
The new Scottish National Indoor Sports Arena, a modern replacement for the Kelvin Hall, is planned for Dalmarnock. The area will also be the site of the Athletes' Village for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, located adjacent to the new indoor sports arena.
To the north of the East End lie the two massive gasometers of Provan Gas Works, which stand overlooking Alexandra Park and a major interchange between the M8 and M80 motorways. Often used for displaying large city advertising slogans, the towers have become an unofficial portal into the city for road users arriving from the north and east.
The East End Healthy Living Centre (EEHLC) was established in mid-2005 at Crownpoint Road with Lottery Funding and City grants to serve community needs in the area. The centre provides service such as sports facilities, health advice, stress management, leisure and vocational classes.[76] Sony SVE1511X1E Keyboard
South Side[edit]
Glasgow's South Side sprawls out south of the Clyde, covering areas including the Gorbals, Toryglen, Govan, Ibrox, Shawlands, Simshill, Strathbungo, Cardonald, Mount Florida, Pollokshaws, Nitshill, Pollokshields, Battlefield, Langside, Govanhill, Crosshill, Cessnock, Mosspark, Kinning Park, Mansewood, Arden, Carnwadric, Kennishead, Sony SVE1511X1EB Keyboard
Darnley, Newlands, Deaconsbank, Pollok, Croftfoot, Castlemilk, King's Park, Cathcart, Muirend and Barrhead, Busby, Clarkston,Eaglesham, Giffnock, Thornliebank, Netherlee, and Newton Mearns in the East Renfrewshire council area, as well as Cambuslang, East Kilbride, and Rutherglen in the South Lanarkshire council area.
Although predominantly residential, the area does have several notable public buildings including, Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Scotland Street School Museum and House for an Art Lover; the world famous Burrell Collection in Pollok Country Park; Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's Holmwood House villa; Sony SVE1713G1EW Keyboard
Sony SVE1712Q1EW Keyboard the National Football Stadium Hampden Park in Mount Florida, (home of Queens Park FC) and Ibrox Stadium, (home of Rangers FC).
The former docklands site at Pacific Quay on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the SECC, is the site of the Glasgow Science Centre and the new headquarters for BBC Scotland and STV Group (owner of STV) which have relocated there to a new purpose built digital media campus.
In addition, several new bridges spanning the River Clyde have been built or are currently planned, including the Clyde Arc known by locals as the Squinty Bridge at Pacific Quay and others at Tradeston and Springfield Quay.
The South Side also includes many great parks, including Linn Park, Queen's Park, Bellahouston Park and Rouken Glen Park, and several golf clubs, including the championship course at Haggs Castle. The South Side is also home to Pollok Country Park, which was awarded the accolade of Europe's Best Park 2008.[7Sony SVE1713H1EB Keyboard
Sony SVE1712H1EWKeyboard7] Pollok Park is Glasgow’s largest park and the only country park within the city boundaries. It is also home to Poloc Cricket Club. The name was taken from one of the early spellings of the area, to differentiate it from Pollok F.C.
Govan is a district and former burgh in the south-western part of the city. It is situated on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite Partick. It was an administratively independent Police Burgh from 1864 until it was incorporated into the expanding city of Glasgow in 1912. Sony SVE1713H1EW Keyboard
Govan has a legacy as an engineering and shipbuilding centre of international repute and is home to one of two BAE Systems Surface Ships shipyards on the River Clyde and the precision engineering firm, Sony SVE1713L1EB Keyboard
Sony SVE1712F1EW KeyboardThales Optronics. It is also home to the Southern General Hospital, one of the largest teaching hospitals in the country, and the maintenance depot for the Glasgow Subway system.
North Glasgow[edit]
Ruchill Church, seen from the Forth and Clyde Canal.
North Glasgow extends out from the north of the city centre towards the affluent suburbs of Bearsden, Milngavie and Bishopbriggs in East Dunbartonshire and Clydebank in West Dunbartonshire. Sony SVE1713S1EW Keyboard
Sony SVE1713Z1EB Keyboard The area also contains some of the city's poorest residential areas. Possilpark is one such area, where levels of unemployment and drug abuse continue to be above the national average. Much of the housing in areas such as Possilpark and Hamiltonhill had fallen into a state of disrepair in recent years. Sony SVE1713V1EB Keyboard
This has led to large scale redevelopment of much of the poorer housing stock in north Glasgow, and the wider regeneration of many areas, such as Ruchill, which have been transformed; many run-down tenements have now been refurbished or replaced by modern housing estates. Sony SVE1711L1E Keyboard
Sony SVE151E11M Keyboard Much of the housing stock in north Glasgow is rented social housing, with a high proportion of high-rise tower blocks, managed by the North Glasgow Housing Association trading as NG Homes and Glasgow Housing Association.
Maryhill consists of well maintained traditional sandstone tenements. Although historically a working class area, its borders with the upmarket West End of the city mean that it is relatively wealthy compared to the rest of the north of the city, containing affluent areas such as Maryhill Park and North Kelvinside. Sony SVE1711Q1E Keyboard
Sony SVE171C11M KeyboardMaryhill is also home to Firhill Stadium, home of Partick Thistle F.C. since 1909, and the professional Rugby Union team, Glasgow Warriors. The junior team, Maryhill F.C. are also located in this part of north Glasgow.
The Forth and Clyde Canal passes through this part of the city, and at one stage formed a vital part of the local economy. It was for many years polluted and largely unused after the decline of heavy industry, but recent efforts to regenerate and re-open the canal to navigation have seen it rejuvenated.
Sighthill is home to Scotland’s largest asylum seeker community.
A huge part of the economic life of Glasgow was once located in Springburn, where the Saracen Foundry, engineering works of firms like Charles Tennant and locomotive workshops employed many Glaswegians. Sony SVE1711V1EB Keyboard
Sony SVE151J13M KeyboardIndeed, Glasgow dominated this type of manufacturing, with 25% of all the world’s locomotives being built in the area at one stage. It was home to the headquarters of the North British Locomotive Company. Today part of the St. Rollox railway works continues in use as a railway maintenance facility, all that is left of the industry in Springburn.
Culture[edit]
See also: Culture in Glasgow
Established by wealthy tobacco merchant Stephen Mitchell, the Mitchell Library is now one of the largest public reference libraries in Europe. Sony SVE1712C1EB Keyboard
The city has many amenities for a wide range of cultural activities, from curling to opera and ballet and from football to art appreciation; it also has a large selection of museums that include those devoted to transport, religion, and modern art. Many of the city's cultural sites were celebrated in 1990 when Glasgow was designated European City of Culture.[78]
The city's principal library, the Mitchell Library, has grown into one of the largest public reference libraries in Europe, currently housing some 1.3 million books, an extensive collection of newspapers and thousands of photographs and maps.[79]
Most of Scotland's national arts organisations are based in Glasgow, including Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, National Theatre of Scotland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Scottish Youth Theatre.
Glasgow has its own "Poet Laureate", a post created in 1999 for Edwin Morgan[80] and as of 2007 occupied by Liz Lochhead.
In 2013, PETA declared Glasgow to be the most vegan-friendly city in the UK.[81]
Recreation[edit]
See also: Glasgow Festivals
Glasgow is home to a variety of theatres including the King's Theatre, the Theatre Royal and the Citizens Theatre and is home to many municipal museums and art galleries, the most famous being the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) and the Burrell Collection. Most of the museums in Glasgow are publicly owned and free to enter.
The city has hosted many exhibitions over the years, including being the UK City of Architecture 1999, European Capital of Culture 1990, National City of Sport 1995–1999 and European Capital of Sport 2003. Glasgow has also hosted the National Mod no less than twelve times since 1895.[82]
In addition, unlike the older and larger Edinburgh Festival (where all Edinburgh's main festivals occur in the last three weeks of August), Glasgow's festivals fill the calendar. Festivals include the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Sony SVE151D11M Keyboard
Sony SVE171G11M Keyboard Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, Glasgow International Jazz Festival, Celtic Connections, Glasgow Fair, Glasgow Film Festival, West End Festival, Merchant City Festival, Glasgay, and the World Pipe Band Championships. HP DV7-6B51EA keyboard
Music scene[edit]
Main article: List of bands from Glasgow
View of the entrance to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow has many live music venues, pubs, and clubs. Some of the city's more well-known venues include the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, HP DV7-6C01EA keyboard
sony PCG-71713M keyboardThe Hydro, the SECC, Glasgow Cathouse, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut (where Oasis were spotted and signed by Glaswegian record mogul Alan McGee), the Queen Margaret Union (who have Kurt Cobain's footprint locked in a safe), the Barrowland, a ballroom converted into a live music venue as well as The Garage which is the largest nightclub in Scotland. More recent mid-sized venues include ABC and the O2 Academy, HP DV7-6C52EA keyboard
sony PCG-71711M keyboard which play host to a similar range of acts. There are also a large number of smaller venues and bars which host many local and touring musicians, including Stereo, 13th Note and Nice N Sleazy. Most recent recipient of the SLTN Music Pub of the Year award was Bar Bloc, awarded in November 2011.[83HP DV7-6154EA keyboard
sony PCG-71317M keyboard] In 2010, Glasgow was named the UK's fourth "most musical" city by PRS for Music.[84][84]
In recent years[when?], the success of bands such as The Blue Nile, Gun, Simple Minds, Del Amitri, Texas, Hipsway, Love & Money, Idlewild, Deacon Blue, Orange Juice, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Belle and Sebastian, Camera Obscura, HP DV7-6051EA keyboard
sony PCG-71314M keyboard Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai, Travis, and Primal Scream has significantly boosted the profile of the Glasgow music scene, prompting Time Magazine to liken Glasgow to Detroit during its 1960s Motown heyday.[85HP DV7-6C55EA keyboard
sony PCG-71218M keyboard] More recent[when?] successes include The Fratellis, Biffy Clyro, Chvrches, Rustie and Glasvegas. The city of Glasgow was appointed a UNESCO City of Music on 20 August 2008 as part of the Creative Cities Network.
Glasgow's contemporary dance music scene has been spearheaded by Slam, and their record label Soma Quality Recordings,[86] with their Pressure club nights at The Arches attracting DJs and clubbers from around the world.
The MOBO Awards were held at the SECC on 30 September 2009, making Glasgow the first out-of-London city to host the event since its launch in 1995. Glasgow was also appointed as host for the 2014 MTV Europe Awards.
Media[edit]
Main article: Media in Glasgow
BBC Scotland HQ, Pacific Quay, Glasgow
Both BBC Scotland and STV have their headquarters in Glasgow. Television programs which are or were filmed in Glasgow include Rab C Nesbitt, Taggart, High Times, River City, City Lights, Chewin' the Fat and Still Game. Most recently the long running series Question Time and the early evening quiz programme Eggheads moved its production base to the city and Mrs. Brown's Boys is also filmed at BBC Scotland. HP DV7-7063EA keyboard
The Scottish press publishes various newspapers in the city such as the Evening Times, The Herald, The Sunday Herald, the Sunday Mail and the Daily Record. Scottish editions of Trinity Mirror and News International titles are printed in the city. STV Group is a Glasgow-based media
sony PCG-3F2M keyboardconglomerate with interests in television, and publishing advertising. STV Group owns and operates both Scottish ITV franchises (Central Scotland and Grampian), both branded STV. HP DV7-7102EA keyboard
Various radio stations are also located in Glasgow. Bauer Radio owns the principal commercial radio stations in Glasgow; Clyde 1 and Clyde 2, which can reach over 2.3 million listeners.[87] In 2004, STV Group plc (then known as SMG plc) sold its 27.8% stake in Scottish Radio Holdings to the broadcasting group EMAP for £90.5 million. HP DV7-7332EA keyboard
HP DV7-6000EA keyboard Other stations broadcasting from Glasgow include 105.2 Smooth Radio, Real Radio and 96.3 Rock Radio, which are all owned by GMG Radio. Global Radio's Central Scotland radio station Capital FM Scotland also broadcast from studios in Glasgow. HP DV7-7050EA keyboard
The city has a strong community radio sector, including Celtic Music Radio, Subcity Radio, Radio Magnetic, Sunny Govan Radio, AWAZ FM and Insight Radio. Sony VPCS13L9E/B Keyboard
Religion[edit]
See also: Sectarianism in Glasgow
Glasgow Cathedral marks the site where Saint Mungo built his church and established Glasgow.
Glasgow is a city of significant religious diversity. The Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church are the two largest Christian denominations in the city. There are 147 congregations in the Church of Scotland's Presbytery of Glasgow [Sony VPCS13X9E/B Keyboard
Sony VPCS11V9E Keyboard1] (of which 104 are within the city boundaries, the other 43 being in adjacent areas such as Giffnock).[88] The city has four Christian cathedrals: Glasgow Cathedral, of the Church of Scotland; St Andrew's Cathedral, of the Roman Catholic Church; St Mary's Cathedral, of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and St Luke's Cathedral, of the Greek Orthodox Church. Sony VPCS12V9E/B Keyboard
Biblical unitarians are represented by three Christadelphian ecclesias, referred to geographically, as "South",[89] "Central"[90] and "Kelvin".[91]
The Sikh community is served by 4 Gurdwaras. Two are situated in the West End (Central Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Finnieston and Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Kelvinbridge) and two in the Southside area of Pollokshields (Guru Granth Sahib Gurdwara and Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara). Sony VPCS12L9E/B Keyboard
Sony VPCS13V9E/B KeyboardIn 2013, Scotland's first purpose-built Gurdwara opened in a massive opening ceremony. Built at a cost of £3.8m it can hold 1500 worshippers.[92] Central Gurdwara is currently constructing a new building in the city. There are almost 10,000 Sikhs in Scotland and the majority live in Glasgow.[93Sony VPCS11B7E Keyboard
Sony VPCS13S9E Keyboard] Glasgow Central Mosque in the Gorbals district is the largest mosque in Scotland and, along with twelve other mosques in the city, caters for the city's Muslim population, estimated to number 33,000.[94] Glasgow also has a Hindu Mandir,
Glasgow has seven synagogues with the seventh largest Jewish population in the United Kingdom after London, Manchester, Leeds, Gateshead, Brighton and Bournemouth, but once had a Jewish population second only to London, estimated at 20,000 in the Gorbals alone.[95]
In 1993, the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art opened in Glasgow. It is believed to be the only public museum to examine all the world's major religious faiths.[96][97]
Language[edit]
See also: Glasgow patter
Glaswegian, otherwise known as the Glasgow patter, is a local variety of Scots.
Glaswegian is a dialect, more than an alternative pronunciation; words also change their meaning as all over in Scotland, e.g. "away" can mean "leaving" as in A'm away, an instruction to stop being a nuisance as in away wi ye, or "drunk" or "demented" as in he's away wi it. Ginger is a term for any carbonated soft drink, Sony VPCS11F7E Keyboard
Sony VPCS12D7E Keyboardhistorically referring to ginger beer (A bottle o ginger, IPA: [ə ˈboʔl ə ˈdʒɪndʒər]). Then there are words whose meaning has no obvious relationship to that in standard English: coupon means "face", via "to punch a ticket coupon". Sony VPCS11J7E Keyboard
Sony VPCS12C5E KeyboardA headbutt is known in many parts of the British Isles as a "Glasgow kiss", although this term is rarely used by Glaswegians, who say "Malkie", e.g., "ah'll Malkie ye" or "stick the heid/nut on ye".
A speaker of Glaswegian might refer to those originating from the Scottish Highlands and the Western Isles as teuchters, while they would reciprocate by referring to Glaswegians as keelies and those from the East of Scotland refer to Glaswegians as Weegies (or Weedgies).
The long-running TV drama Taggart and the comedies Empty, Chewin' the Fat, Rab C. Nesbitt, Still Game and Dear Green Place depict the Glaswegian patois, while Kevin Bridges, Frankie Boyle, Craig Ferguson and Billy Connolly have made Glaswegian humour known to the rest of the world.
Glasgow is Scotland's main locus of Gaelic language use outside the Highlands and Islands. In 2011, 5,878 residents of the city over age 3 spoke Gaelic, amounting to 1.0% of the population. Of Scotland's 25 largest cities, only Inverness, the unofficial capital of the Highlands, has a larger percentage of Gaelic speakers.[9Sony VPCS11M9R/B Keyboard
Sony VPCS11V9E/B Keyboard8] In the Greater Glasgow area there were 8,899 Gaelic-speakers or 0.8% of the population.[99] Both the Gaelic language television station BBC Alba and the Gaelic language radio station Radio nan Gàidheal have studios in Glasgow, their only locations outside the Highlands and Islands.[100] Dell Inspiron 1521 Keyboard
Architecture[edit]
Main article: Architecture in Glasgow
Lord Foster's Clyde Auditorium, colloquially known as 'the Armadillo'.
Very little of medieval Glasgow remains; the two main landmarks from this period being the 15th century Provand's Lordship and 13th century St. Mungo's Cathedral, although the original medieval street plan (along with many of the street names) on the eastern side of the city centre has largely survived intact. Dell Inspiron 1526 Keyboard
Dell XPS M1730 Keyboard The vast majority of the city as seen today dates from the 19th century. As a result, Glasgow has an impressive heritage of Victorian architecture: the Glasgow City Chambers; the main building of the University of Glasgow, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott; and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, designed by Sir John W. Simpson, are notable examples.
The city is notable for architecture designed by the Glasgow School, the most notable exponent of that style being Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Mackintosh was an architect and designer in the Arts and Crafts Movement and the main exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom, designing numerous noted Glasgow buildings such as the Glasgow School of Art, Dell Inspiron 1764 Keyboard
Dell XPS M1720 Keyboard Willow Tearooms and the Scotland Street School Museum. A hidden gem of Glasgow, also designed by Mackintosh, is the Queen's Cross Church, the only church by the renowned artist to be built.[101]
Another architect who has had an enduring impact on the city's appearance was Alexander Thomson, with notable examples including the Holmwood House villa, and likewise Sir John James Burnet who was awarded the R.I.B.A's Royal Gold Medal for his lifetime's service to Dell Inspiron N4010 Keyboard
Dell Precision M2400 Keyboard architecture. The buildings reflect the wealth and self-confidence of the residents of the "Second City of the Empire". Glasgow generated immense wealth from trade and the industries that developed from the Industrial Revolution. The shipyards, marine engineering, steel making, and heavy industry all contributed to the growth of the city.
Many of the city's most impressive buildings were built with red or blond sandstone, but during the industrial era those colours disappeared under a pervasive black layer of soot and pollutants from the furnaces, until the Clean Air Act was introduced in 1956. Dell Inspiron N5030 Keyboard
Dell Precision M6400 Keyboard In recent years many of these buildings have been cleaned and restored to their original appearance.[citation needed] There are over 1,800 listed buildings in the city, of architectural and historical importance, and 23 Conservation Areas extending over 1,471 hectares. Dell Inspiron N7110 Keyboard
Dell Precision M4400 Keyboard Such areas include the Central Area, Dennistoun, the West End, Pollokshields - the first major planned garden suburb in Britain - Newlands and Carmunnock Village.[102]
New office builds in the city centre of Glasgow
Modern buildings in Glasgow include the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and along the banks of the Clyde are the Glasgow Science Centre, Dell Latitude E4300 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E5400 Keyboard The Hydro and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, whose Clyde Auditorium was designed by Sir Norman Foster, and is affectionately known as the "Armadillo". Dell Latitude E5410 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E5500 Keyboard In 2006 Zaha Hadid won a competition to design the new Museum of Transport.[103] Hadid's museum opened on the waterfront in 2011 and has been renamed the Riverside Museum to reflect the change in location and to celebrate Glasgow's rich industrial heritage stemming from the Clyde.[104] Dell Latitude E5510 Keyboard
Glasgow's impressive historical and modern architectural traditions were celebrated in 1999 when the city was designated UK City of Architecture and Design,[105] winning the accolade over Liverpool and Edinburgh.[106]
Economy[edit]
HMS Daring was built by BAE Systems Maritime - Naval Ships in Glasgow and launched in 2006. Although diminished from its early 20th century heights, Glasgow remains the hub of the UK's Shipbuilding industry. Dell Latitude E4310 Keyboard
Glasgow has the largest economy in Scotland and is at the hub of the metropolitan area of West Central Scotland. Glasgow also has the third highest GDP Per capita of any city in the UK (after London and Edinburgh).[1Dell Latitude E4320 Keyboard
Dell Precision M6500 Keyboard 07] The city itself sustains more than 410,000 jobs in over 12,000 companies. Over 153,000 jobs were created in the city between 2000 and 2005 — a growth rate of 32%.[108] Glasgow's annual economic growth rate of 4.4% is now second only to that of London. In 2005, over 17,000 new jobs were created, and 2006 saw private-sector investment in the city reaching £4.2 billion, an increase of 22% in a single year.[1Dell Latitude E4300 Keyboard
Dell Precision M6400 Keyboard 09] 55% of the residents in the Greater Glasgow area commute to the city every day. Once dominant export orientated manufacturing industries such as shipbuilding and other heavy engineering have been gradually replaced in importance by more diversified forms of economic activity, Dell Latitude E5410 Keyboard
Dell Precision M4500 Keyboard although major manufacturing firms continue to be headquartered in the city, such as Aggreko, Weir Group, Clyde Blowers, Howden, Linn Products, Firebrand Games, William Grant & Sons, Whyte and Mackay, The Edrington Group, British Polar Engines and Albion Motors.[110]
Glasgow was once one of the most significant cities in the UK for manufacturing, which generated a great deal of the city's wealth; the most prominent industry being shipbuilding based on the River Clyde.[11Dell Latitude E5510 Keyboard
Dell Precision M4600 Keyboard 1] Although Glasgow owed much of its economic growth to the shipbuilding industry, which still continues today in the form of BAE Systems Maritime - Naval Ships' two shipyards, the city has its roots in the tobacco trade and is noted to have "risen from its medieval slumber" from trade in tobacco, pioneered by figures such as John Glassford.[11Dell Latitude E5520 Keyboard
2] The city was also noted for its locomotive construction industry — led by firms such as the North British Locomotive Company — which grew during the 19th century before entering a decline in the 1960s. Dell Latitude E6420 Keyboard
Glasgow Tower, Scotland's tallest tower, and the IMAX Cinema at the Glasgow Science Centre symbolise the increase in the importance of tourism to the city's economy. Dell Latitude E5530 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6410-ATG Keyboard
Whilst manufacturing has declined, Glasgow's economy has seen significant relative growth of tertiary sector industries such as financial and business services, communications, biosciences, creative industries, healthcare, higher education, retail and tourism.[citation needed] Glasgow is now the second most popular foreign tourist destination in Scotland (fourth in the UK)[31] and its largest retail centre. Dell Latitude E6230 Keyboard
Between 1998 and 2001, the city's financial services sector grew at a rate of 30%, making considerable gains on Edinburgh, which has historically been the centre of the Scottish financial sector.[113][11Dell Latitude E6330 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6420-ATG Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6400-XFR Keyboard 4] Glasgow is now one of Europe's sixteen largest financial centres,[115] with a growing number of Blue chip financial sector companies establishing significant operations or headquarters in the city.[116]
Dell Latitude E6400-ATG Keyboard
The 1990s and first decade of the 21st century saw substantial growth in the number of call centres based in Glasgow. In 2007 roughly 20,000 people, a third of all call centre employees in Scotland, were employed by Glasgow call centres.[117] Dell Latitude E6430 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6500 Keyboard This growth and its high use of recruitment agencies to hire graduates as temporary workers has led to accusations of exploitative practices such as long hours, poor pay and lack of job security by the TUC and other union bodies.[118] In recent years some call centres have taken steps to rectify this criticism.
Dell Latitude E6430-ATG Keyboard
The city's main manufacturing industries include companies involved in; shipbuilding, engineering, construction, brewing and distilling, printing and publishing, chemicals and textiles as well as newer growth sectors such as optoelectronics, software development and biotechnology.[citation needed] Glasgow forms the western part of the Silicon Glen high tech sector of Scotland.
Glasgow Central station is the northern terminus of the West Coast Main Line.
Glasgow has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT).
The city has many bus services; since bus deregulation almost all are provided by private operators though SPT part-funds some services. The principal bus operators within the city are: First Glasgow, McGill's Buses, Stagecoach West Scotland and Glasgow Citybus. The main bus terminal in the city is Buchanan bus station.
Dell Latitude E6430-XFR Keyboard
Glasgow has the most extensive urban rail network in the UK outside of London with rail services travelling to a large part of the West of Scotland. Most lines were electrified under British Rail. All trains running within Scotland, including the local Glasgow trains, Dell XPS 14 Keyboard
are operated by First ScotRail, who own the franchise as determined by the Scottish Government. Central Station and Queen Street Station are the two main railway terminals. Glasgow Central is the terminus of the 641.6-kilometre (398.7 mi) Dell XPS 14D-L401X Keyboard
Dell Inspiron 14R keyboard long West Coast Main Line[119] from London Euston. All services to and from England use this station. Glasgow Central is also the terminus for suburban services on the south side of Glasgow, Ayrshire and Inverclyde, Dell XPS 15D Keyboard
Dell Inspiron 13R keyboardas well as being served by the cross city link from Dalmuir to Motherwell. Most other services within Scotland — the main line to Edinburgh, plus services to Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and the Western Highlands — operate from Queen Street station.
The city's suburban network is currently divided by the River Clyde, and the Crossrail Glasgow initiative has been proposed to link them; it is currently awaiting funding from the Scottish Government. Dell XPS 15Z Keyboard
The city is linked to Edinburgh by four direct railway links. In addition to the suburban rail network, SPT operates the Glasgow Subway. The Subway is the United Kingdom's only completely underground metro system, Dell Inspiron N4030 keyboard
Dell Inspiron N5010 keyboardand is generally recognised as the world's third underground railway after the London Underground and the Budapest Metro.[120] Both rail and subway stations have a number of park and ride facilities.
As part of the wider regeneration along the banks of the River Clyde a Bus Rapid Transit system called Clyde Fastlink is currently under construction.
View of Glasgow Central station (with the distinctive façade of the Heilanman's Umbrella to the left) from the 5th floor of Radisson SAS hotel May 2009
Shipping[edit]
Ferries used to link opposite sides of the Clyde in Glasgow but they have been rendered near-obsolete, by bridges and tunnels including the Erskine Bridge, Kingston Bridge, and the Clyde Tunnel. The only remaining crossings are the Renfrew Ferry between Renfrew and Yoker, and the Kilcreggan Ferry in Inverclyde, both run by SPT but outwith the city boundary. The PS Waverley, the world's last operational seagoing paddle-steamer,[12Dell Inspiron N7010D keyboard
Dell Inspiron 15R keyboard1] provides services from Glasgow city Centre, mainly catering to the pleasure cruise market. A regular waterbus service links the city Centre with Braehead in Renfrewshire, some 30 minutes downstream. A service by Loch Lomond Seaplanes, connecting the city with destinations in Argyll and Bute started in 2007.[1Dell Inspiron N5110 keyboard
Dell Inspiron 17R keyboard22] The only operational dock left in Glasgow operated by Clydeport is the King George V Dock, near Braehead. Since the advent of Containerisation, most other facilities, such as Hunterston Terminal are located in the deep waters of the Firth of Clyde, Dell Inspiron N5010R keyboard
Dell Inspiron N7010 keyboardwhich together handle some 7.5 million tonnes of cargo each year. Longer distant commercial sea shipping from Glasgow occurs regularly to many European destinations including Mediterranean and Baltic ports via passage through the Sea of the Hebrides.[123]
Roads[edit]
M8 Motorway, the busiest motorway in Scotland
The main M8 motorway passes through the city centre and connects to the M77, M73, and M80 motorways. The A82 connects the city to Argyll and the western Highlands. The M74 runs directly south towards Carlisle; the M74 completion scheme has extended the motorway from Tollcross into the Tradeston area to join the M8.
Other road projects in the city include East End Regeneration Route, which aims to provide easier access to deprived areas of the East End by linking the M8 to the extended M74.
Airports[edit]
The city is served by two international airports and a seaplane terminal: Glasgow International Airport (GLA) (13 km or 8 mi west of the city centre) in Renfrewshire and Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK) which is about 30 miles (50 km) south west of Glasgow in Ayrshire and Glasgow Seaplane Terminal, Dell Inspiron N3010 keyboard
by the Glasgow Science Centre on the River Clyde. There is also a small airfield at Cumbernauld in Lanarkshire (29 km or 18 mi to the north-east) and Glasgow City Heliport located at Stobcross Quay on the banks of the Clyde. A plan to provide a direct rail link to Glasgow International was dropped with the cancelling of the Glasgow Airport Rail Link in 2009. sony SVE1513MCXS keyboard
Housing[edit]
Main article: Housing in Glasgow
Typical red sandstone Glasgow tenement in Hyndland.
Glasgow is known for its tenements - the red (or blonde) sandstone buildings are one of the most recognisable signatures of the city.[12sony SVE15137CXS keyboard
4] These were the most popular form of housing in 19th- and 20th-century Glasgow and remain the most common form of dwelling in Glasgow today. Tenements are commonly bought by a wide range of social types and are favoured for their large rooms, high ceilings and original period features.[12sony SVE15132CXS keyboard
5] The Hyndland area of Glasgow is the only tenement conservation area in the UK[126] and includes some tenement houses with as many as six bedrooms.
The Blythswood Court estate in Anderston, one of many high rise schemes in the city constructed in the 1960s and 70s.
Like many cities in the UK, Glasgow witnessed the construction of high-rise housing in tower blocks in the 1960s, along with large overspill estates on the periphery of the city, in areas like Pollok, Nitshill, Castlemilk, Easterhouse, Milton and Drumchapel.[12sony SVE15124CXS keyboard
sony SVE151290X keyboard7] These were built to replace the decaying inner-city tenement buildings originally built for workers who migrated from the surrounding countryside, the Highlands, and the rest of the United Kingdom, particularly Ireland, in order to feed the local demand for labour.[ sony SVE15125CXS keyboard
sony SVE151390X keyboard128] The massive demand outstripped new building and many, originally fine, tenements often became overcrowded and unsanitary.[129] Many degenerated into the infamous Glasgow slums, such as the Gorbals.
Efforts to improve this housing situation, most successfully with the City Improvement Trust in the late 19th century, cleared the slums of the old town areas such as the Trongate, High Street and Glasgow Cross.[1sony SVE15134CXS keyboard
sony SVE1513HCXS keyboard30] Subsequent urban renewal initiatives, such as those motivated by the Bruce Report, entailed the comprehensive demolition of slum tenement areas, the development of new towns on the periphery of the city, and the construction of tower blocks.
The policy of tenement demolition is now considered to have been short-sighted, wasteful and largely unsuccessful.[131] Many of Glasgow's worst tenements were refurbished into desirable accommodation in the 1970s and 1980s[131] and the policy of demolition is considered to have destroyed many fine examples of a "universally admired architectural" style.[12sony SVE1511AFXS keyboard
sony SVE1513APXS keyboard5] The Glasgow Housing Association took ownership of the housing stock from the city council on 7 March 2003, and has begun a £96 million clearance and demolition programme to clear and demolish many of the high-rise flats.[132]
Healthcare[edit]
The Glasgow Royal Infirmary is the city's oldest and largest hospital.
Medical care is mainly provided by NHS Scotland and is directly administered by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Major hospitals, including those with Accident & Emergency provision, are: the Western Infirmary, Gartnavel General Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in the West End, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Dental Hospital in the city Centre, Stobhill Hospital in the North and the Victoria Infirmary and Southern General Hospital in the South Side.
There is also an emergency telephone service provided by NHS 24 and 24 hour access to General Practitioners through Out of hours centres. Paramedic services are provided by the Scottish Ambulance sony SVE1511DFYS keyboard
sony SVE1511NFXS keyboardService and supported by voluntary bodies like the St. Andrew's Ambulance Association. A strong Teaching tradition is maintained between the city's main hospitals and the University of Glasgow Medical School.
All Pharmacies provide a wide range of services including minor ailment advice, emergency hormonal contraception, public health advice, some provide oxygen and needle exchange.
The Saltire Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University, one the busiest university libraries in the UK.
There are also three further education colleges in the city: City of Glasgow College, Glasgow Clyde College and Glasgow Kelvin College. Higher education colleges in the city include Jordanhill Teacher Training College, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Glasgow School of Art. sony SVE1511KFXW keyboard
In 2011 Glasgow had 53,470 full-time students aged 18–74 resident in the city during term time, more than any other city in Scotland and the fifth-largest in the United Kingdom outside London.[133] The majority of those who live away from home reside in Shawlands, Dennistoun and the West End of the city.[134]
The City Council operates twenty-nine secondary schools, 149 primary schools and three specialist schools — the Dance School of Scotland, Glasgow School of Sport and the Glasgow Gaelic School (Sgoil Ghàidhlig Ghlaschu), Sony PCG-71211L Keyboard
sony PCG-8112L keyboard the only secondary school in Scotland to teach exclusively in Gaelic. Outdoor Education facilities are provided by the city council at the Blairvadach Centre, near Helensburgh. Jordanhill School is operated directly by the Scottish Government. Glasgow also has a number of Independent schools, including Hutchesons' Grammar School founded in 1639 and one of the oldest school institutions in Britain, Sony PCG-71213L Keyboard
sony PCG-8111L keyboard and others such as Craigholme School, Fernhill School, Glasgow Academy, Kelvinside Academy, St. Aloysius' College and The High School of Glasgow, which was founded in 1124 and is the oldest school in Scotland. Sony PCG-71312L Keyboard
Celtic Park in Parkhead is Scotland's biggest football stadium
The world's first international football match was held in 1872 at the West of Scotland Cricket Club's Hamilton Crescent ground in the Partick area of the city. The match, between Scotland and England finished 0–0.
Glasgow is one of only four cities (along with Liverpool in 1985, Madrid in 1986, 2014 and Milan in 1994) to have had two football teams in European finals in the same season: in 1967 Celtic F.C. competed in the European Cup final with rivals Rangers F.C. competing in the Cup Winners' Cup final. Rangers were the first football club from the UK to reach a European final, Sony PCG-71314L Keyboard
sony PCG-8W1L keyboardwhich they achieved in 1961. They have also won more domestic top tier league titles than any other football club in the world. Celtic were the first non-Latin club to win the European Cup, under the management of Jock Stein in 1967, before Manchester United the following year. Sony PCG-71315L Keyboard
Hampden Park, which is Scotland's national football stadium, holds the European record for attendance at a football match: 149,547[135] saw Scotland beat England 3-1 in 1937, in the days before leading British stadia became all-seated. Sony PCG-71316L Keyboard
sony PCG-8V1L keyboardHampden Park has hosted the final of the UEFA Champions League on three occasions, most recently in 2002 and hosted the UEFA Cup Final in 2007. Celtic Park (60,355 seats) is located in the east end of Glasgow, and Ibrox Stadium (50,987 seats) on the south side.
Ibrox Stadium Is Scotland's only UEFA Elite Stadium
Glasgow has three professional football clubs: Celtic, Rangers and Partick Thistle; a fourth club, Queen's Park, are an amateur club which play in the SPFL League 2. sony SVE141C11L keyboard
sony PCG-7Y1L keyboardPrior to this, Glasgow had five other professional clubs: Clyde (a club which has since moved to Cumbernauld), Third Lanark A.C., Cambuslang, Cowlairs and Clydesdale (The last four were liquidated). There are a number of Scottish Junior Football Association clubs within the city as well, such as Pollok, Maryhill, Benburb, Ashfield and Petershill, as well as countless numbers of amateur teams. sony SVE141L11L keyboard
Firhill Stadium, home of Partick Thistle F.C.
The history of football in the city, as well as the status of the Old Firm, attracts many visitors to football matches in the city throughout the season. The Scottish Football Association, the national governing body, sony SVE151E11L keyboard
sony PCG-7V1L keyboardand the Scottish Football Museum are based in Glasgow, as are the Scottish Professional Football League, Scottish Junior Football Association and Scottish Amateur Football Association. sony SVE151G11L keyboard
sony PCG-7R1L keyboardThe Glasgow Cup was a once popular tournament, which was competed for by Rangers, Celtic, Clyde, Partick Thistle and Queen's Park. The competition is now played for by the youth sides of the five teams.
In 2013 the Scotland's football league structure underwent reconstruction, merging the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League into the Scottish Professional Football League for the 2013/14 season.
Glasgow is also home to five women's football teams. Currently, Glasgow City F.C. are the champions of the Scottish Women's Premier League.[136] Other Glasgow teams include Celtic L.F.C., Rangers L.F.C., Partick Thistle Ladies and Queens Park L.F.C.
In the Scottish League, sony SVE151G13L keyboard
sony PCG-7H1L keyboard Glasgow Hawks RFC was formed in 1997 by the merger of two of Glasgow's oldest clubs: Glasgow Academicals and Glasgow High Kelvinside (GHK). Despite the merger, the second division teams of Glasgow Academicals and Glasgow High Kelvinside re-entered the Scottish rugby league in 1998.
In the South Glasgow suburb of Giffnock is based another of Glasgow's most prominent clubs Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians RFC (GHA). GHA was formed in 2002 with the merger of two of Glasgow's leading clubs at the time, Glasgow Southern RFC and Hutchesons' Aloysians RFC. Cartha Queen's Park play at Dumbreck.
Rugby league[edit]
The Easterhouse Panthers based in the East End of Glagow are a rugby league team who play in the Rugby League Conference Scotland Division. Scotstoun Stadium has also hosted many rugby league tournaments/events.
Ice hockey[edit]
The City of Glasgow has a number of ice rinks, and a temporary one is set up in George Square in the Christmas period.
From 1966 to 1986, the Glasgow Dynamos played at Crossmyloof Ice Rink.[137] Since October 2010 a team called the Braehead Clan based in the nearby Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire has played in the professional Elite Ice Hockey League alongside three other Scottish teams, the Fife Flyers, Dundee Stars and the Edinburgh Capitals. This is the first time that a top level ice hockey team has represented Glasgow.
Swimming[edit]
The Arlington Baths Club is the oldest swimming club in the world, founded in 1870. The Club in Arlington Street, in the Woodlands area of the city is still thriving today. It is believed the Club's first Baths Master William Wilson invented water polo at the Club. The Arlington inspired other Swimming Clubs and the Western Baths, sony PCG-61211W keyboard
sony SVE141E11W keyboardwhich opened in 1876, is also still in existence in nearby Hillhead. Most of Glasgow's Victorian and Edwardian Municipal Pools have been closed or demolished, with the city council investing in large new leisure centres such as Tollcross, Springburn, Gorbals, Scotstoun and Bellahouston. A community group is however hoping to re-open Govanhill Baths, on the city's southside.
Basketball[edit]
Glasgow hosts Scotland's only professional basketball team, the Glasgow Rocks, who compete in the British Basketball League. Since moving out of Renfrewshire's Braehead Arena, the Rocks where based at the 1,200 seater Kelvin Hall but as of the 2012/2013 season the Rocks where based at the Emirates Arena.
Other sports[edit]
Emirates Arena in Glasgow, one of the designated stadiums constructed for the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Major international sporting arenas include the Kelvin Hall and Scotstoun Sports Centre. In 2003 the National Academy for Badminton was completed in Scotstoun. In 2003, Glasgow was also given the title of European Capital of Sport.[138]
Glasgow is also host to many cricket clubs including Clydesdale Cricket Club who have been title winners for the Scottish Cup many times. This club also acted as a neutral venue for a One Day International match between India and Pakistan in 2007, but due to bad weather it was called off.
Smaller sporting facilities include an abundance of outdoor playing fields, as well as golf clubs such as Haggs Castle and artificial ski slopes. Between 1998 and 2004, the Scottish Claymores American football team played some or all of their home games each season at Hampden Park and the venue also hosted World Bowl XI.
Glasgow Green and the Gorbals are home to a number of rowing clubs, some with open membership the rest belonging to universities or schools. Historically, rowing races on the River Clyde here attracted huge crowds of spectators to watch regattas in the late 19th century and early 20th century;[139] sony PCG-71211W keyboard
sony SVE141P11W keyboard before football caught the public imagination. Two of Glasgow's rowing clubs separately claim that it was their members who were among the founders of Rangers Football Club.[140]
Motorcycle speedway racing was first introduced to Glasgow in 1928 and is currently staged at Saracen Park in the North of the city. The home club, Glasgow Tigers, compete in the British Premier League, the second tier of motorcycle speedway in Britain.
Glasgow is also one of five places in Scotland which hosts the final of the Scottish Cup of Shinty, better known as the Camanachd Cup. This is usually held at Old Anniesland. Once home to numerous Shinty clubs, there is now only one senior club in Glasgow, Glasgow Mid-Argyll, as well as two university sides from University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow.
Glasgow bid to host the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics but lost to Buenos Aires in the 4 July 2013 vote.[141]
2014 Commonwealth Games[edit]
See also: 2014 Commonwealth Games
On 9 November 2007, sony PCG-81111W keyboard
Glasgow was selected to be the host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The games will be based on a number of existing and newly constructed sporting venues across the city, including a refurbished Hampden Park, Kelvingrove Park, the Kelvin Hall, and the SSE Hydro at the SECC. The opening ceremony was held at Celtic Park. sony SVE151B11W keyboard
sony SVE171C11V keyboard Plans have already been drawn up for a Commonwealth Games campus in the east end of the city, which will include a new indoor arena, the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome and accommodation facilities in Dalmarnock and Parkhead, with an upgraded Aquatics Centre at nearby Tollcross Park. 2014 will be the third time the Games have been held in Scotland.[142][143]
The 4th Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championships will also be held in Glasgow from 8–14 September 2014.
Hard Disk Drive(HDD) and solid-state drive (SSD)
A hard disk drive (HDD)[b] is a data storage device used for storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly rotating disks (platters) coated with magnetic material.[2] An HDD retains its data even when powered off. Data is read in a random-access manner, Sony PCG-61317L Battery
meaning individual blocks of data can be stored or retrieved in any order rather than sequentially. An HDD consists of one or more rigid ("hard") rapidly rotating disks (platters) with magnetic heads arranged on a moving actuator arm to read and write data to the surfaces.
Introduced by IBM in 1956,[3] HDDs became the dominant secondary storage device for general purpose computers by the early 1960s. Continuously improved, HDDs have maintained this position into the modern era of servers and personal computers. sony PCG-3G4L battery
sony PCG-31211L battery More than 200 companies have produced HDD units, though most current units are manufactured by Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital. Worldwide disk storage revenues were US $32 billion in 2013, down 3% from 2012.[4]
The primary characteristics of an HDD are its capacity and performance. Capacity is specified in unit prefixes corresponding to powers of 1000: a 1-terabyte (TB) drive has a capacity of 1,000 gigabytes (GB; where 1 gigabyte = 1 billion bytes). sony PCG-5G3L battery
sony PCG-3E2L batteryTypically, some of an HDD's capacity is unavailable to the user because it is used by the file system and the computer operating system, and possibly inbuilt redundancy for error correction and recovery. sony PCG-61A12L battery
sony PCG-3E1L batteryPerformance is specified by the time to move the heads to a file (Average Access Time) plus the time it takes for the file to move under its head (average latency, a function of the physical rotational speed in revolutions per minute) and the speed at which the file is transmitted (data rate). sony PCG-41111L battery
The two most common form factors for modern HDDs are 3.5-inch in desktop computers and 2.5-inch in laptops. HDDs are connected to systems by standard interface cables such as SATA (Serial ATA), USB or SAS (Serial attached SCSI) cables.
As of 2014, the primary competing technology for secondary storage is flash memory in the form of solid-state drives (SSDs). HDDs are expected to remain the dominant medium for secondary storage due to predicted continuing advantages in recording capacity, price per unit of storage, write latency and product lifetime.[5] sony PCG-61111L battery
sony PCG-71213L battery [6] However, SSDs are replacing HDDs where speed, power consumption and durability are more important considerations.[7][8]
HDDs were introduced in 1956 as data storage for an IBM real-time transaction processing computer and were developed for use with general purpose mainframe and minicomputers. The first IBM drive, the 350 RAMAC, sony PCG-61112L battery
was approximately the size of two refrigerators and stored 5 million 6-bit characters (3.75 megabytes) on a stack of 50 disks.
In 1961 IBM introduced the model 1311 disk drive, which was about the size of a washing machine and stored two million characters on a removable disk pack. Users could buy additional packs and interchange them as needed, sony PCG-61412L battery
sony PCG-61412L battery much like reels of magnetic tape. Later models of removable pack drives, from IBM and others, became the norm in most computer installations and reached capacities of 300 megabytes by the early 1980s. Non-removable HDDs were called "fixed disk" drives. sony PCG-61414L battery
Some high performance HDDs were manufactured with one head per track, e.g., IBM 2305 so that no time was lost physically moving the heads to a track.[14] Known as Fixed-Head or Head-Per-Track disk drives they were very expensive and are no longer in production.[15]
In 1973, IBM introduced a new type of
HDD codenamed "Winchester". Its primary distinguishing feature was
that the disk heads were not withdrawn completely from the stack of disk
platters when the drive was powered down. Sony
PCG-3B1L Battery
Sony
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Instead, the heads were allowed to
"land" on a special area of the disk surface upon spin-down,
"taking off" again when the disk was later powered on. This greatly
reduced the cost of the head actuator mechanism, Sony
PCG-3B2L Battery
Sony PCG-3H3L
Batterybut precluded removing just the disks from the drive as was
done with the disk packs of the day. Instead, the first models of
"Winchester technology" drives featured a removable disk module, Dell
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which included both the disk pack and the
head assembly, leaving the actuator motor in the drive upon removal. Later
"Winchester" drives abandoned the removable media concept and
returned to non-removable platters. Sony
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Sony
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Like the first removable pack drive, the
first "Winchester" drives used platters 14 inches (360 mm) in
diameter. A few years later, designers were exploring the possibility that
physically smaller platters might offer advantages. Sony
PCG-3B4L Battery
Sony
PCG-3C2L Battery
Sony
PCG-3H1L Battery Drives with non-removable eight-inch platters
appeared, and then drives that used a 5 1⁄4 in (130 mm) form factor (a mounting
width equivalent to that used by contemporary floppy disk drives). The latter
were primarily intended for the then-fledgling personal computer (PC) market. Sony
PCG-3C3L Battery
Sony
PCG-3G5L Battery
As the 1980s began, HDDs were a rare and very expensive additional feature on PCs; however by the late 1980s, their cost had been reduced to the point where they were standard on all but the cheapest PC.
Most HDDs in the early 1980s were sold
to PC end users as an external, add-on subsystem. The subsystem was not sold
under the drive manufacturer's name but under the subsystem manufacturer's name
such as Corvus Systems and Tallgrass Technologies, Sony
PCG-3D3L Battery
Sony
PCG-3B1L Batteryor under the PC system manufacturer's name such as
the Apple ProFile. The IBM PC/XT in 1983 included an internal 10 MB HDD, and
soon thereafter internal HDDs proliferated on personal computers. Dell
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External HDDs remained popular for much
longer on the Apple Macintosh. Every Mac made between 1986 and 1998 has a SCSI
port on the back, making external expansion easy; also, "toaster"
Compact Macs did not have easily accessible HDD bays (or, Sony
PCG-3E3L Battery
Sony
PCG-3F1L Battery
Sony
PCG-3F4L Battery in the case of the Mac Plus, any hard drive bay at
all), so on those models, external SCSI disks were the only reasonable option.
The 2011 Thailand floods damaged manufacturing plants, and impacted hard disk drive cost adversely in 2011-2013.[16]
Driven by ever increasing areal density since their invention, HDDs have continuously improved their characteristics; Sony PCG-3F3L Battery
a few highlights are listed in the table above. At the same time, market application expanded from mainframe computers of the late 1950s to most mass storage applications including computers and consumer applications such as storage of entertainment content.
Sony
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Sony
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An HDD records data by magnetizing a thin film
of ferromagnetic material[d] on a disk. Sequential changes in the direction of
magnetization represent binary data bits. The data is read from the disk by
detecting the transitions in magnetization. Sony
PCG-5S3L Battery
Sony
PCG-5T1L Battery
Sony
PCG-81314L Battery User data is encoded using an encoding scheme,
such as run-length limited encoding,[e] which determines how the data is
represented by the magnetic transitions.
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Dell Latitude E6410 ATG Battery
A typical HDD design consists of a spindle
that holds flat circular disks, also called platters, which hold the recorded
data. The platters are made from a non-magnetic material, usually aluminium
alloy, glass, or ceramic, and are coated with a shallow layer of magnetic
material typically 10–20 nm in depth, with an outer layer of carbon for
protection.[18][ Sony
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Sony
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19][20] For reference, a standard piece of copy
paper is 0.07–0.18 millimetres (70,000–180,000 nm).[21]
Diagram labeling the major components of a computer HDD
Recording of single magnetisations of bits
on a 200 MB HDD-platter (recording made visible using CMOS-MagView).[22] Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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Longitudinal recording (standard) & perpendicular recording diagram
The platters in contemporary HDDs are spun
at speeds varying from 4,200 rpm in energy-efficient portable devices, to
15,000 rpm for high-performance servers.[ Sony
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Sony
PCG-81312L Battery23] The first HDDs spun at 1,200 rpm[3] and, for
many years, 3,600 rpm was the norm.[24] As of December 2013, the platters in
most consumer-grade HDDs spin at either 5,400 rpm or 7,200 rpm.
Sony
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Sony
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Information is written to and read from a platter as it rotates past devices called read-and-write heads that operate very close (often tens of nanometers) over the magnetic surface. The read-and-write head is used to detect and modify the magnetization of the material immediately under it.
In modern drives there is one head for each
magnetic platter surface on the spindle, mounted on a common arm. An actuator
arm (or access arm) moves the heads on an arc (roughly radially) across the
platters as they spin, Sony
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Sony
PCG-81214L Batteryallowing each head to access almost the entire
surface of the platter as it spins. The arm is moved using a voice coil
actuator or in some older designs a stepper motor. Early hard disk drives wrote
data at some constant bits per second, Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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data per track but modern drives (since the 1990s) use zone bit
recording—increasing the write speed from inner to outer zone and thereby
storing more data per track in the outer zones.
Sony
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In modern drives, the small size of the
magnetic regions creates the danger that their magnetic state might be lost
because of thermal effects, thermally induced magnetic instability which is
commonly known as the "superparamagnetic limit. Sony
PCG-7172L Battery
Sony
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Sony
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with two parallel magnetic layers, separated by a 3-atom layer of the
non-magnetic element ruthenium, and the two layers are magnetized in opposite
orientation, thus reinforcing each other.[2Sony
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Sony
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Sony
PCG-81111L Battery5] Another technology used to overcome thermal
effects to allow greater recording densities is perpendicular recording, first
shipped in 2005,[26] and as of 2007 the technology was used in many
HDDs.[27][28][29] Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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Components[edit]
HDD with disks and motor hub removed
exposing copper colored stator coils surrounding a bearing in the center of the
spindle motor. Orange stripe along the side of the arm is thin printed-circuit
cable, spindle bearing is in the center and the actuator is in the upper left Sony
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A typical HDD has two electric motors; a
spindle motor that spins the disks and an actuator (motor) that positions the
read/write head assembly across the spinning disks. The disk motor has an
external rotor attached to the disks; Sony
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Sony PCG-51513L
Battery
the
stator windings are fixed in place. Opposite the actuator at the end of the
head support arm is the read-write head; thin printed-circuit cables connect
the read-write heads to amplifier electronics mounted at the pivot of the actuator.
The head support arm is very light, but also stiff; in modern drives,
acceleration at the head reaches 550 g.
Head stack with an actuator coil on the left and read/write heads on the right
The actuator is a permanent magnet and
moving coil motor that swings the heads to the desired position. A metal plate
supports a squat neodymium-iron-boron (NIB) high-flux magnet. Beneath this
plate is the moving coil, Sony
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Sony
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the coil in loudspeakers, which is attached to the actuator hub, and beneath
that is a second NIB magnet, mounted on the bottom plate of the motor (some
drives only have one magnet).
The voice coil itself is shaped rather like
an arrowhead, and made of doubly coated copper magnet wire. The inner layer is
insulation, and the outer is thermoplastic, which bonds the coil together after
it is wound on a form, making it self-supporting. Sony
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Sony
PCG-51312L BatteryThe portions of the coil along the two sides of
the arrowhead (which point to the actuator bearing center) interact with the
magnetic field, developing a tangential force that rotates the actuator.
Current flowing radially outward along one side of the arrowhead and radially
inward on the other produces the tangential force. Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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would generate opposing forces that would cancel each other out. Therefore the
surface of the magnet is half N pole, half S pole, with the radial dividing
line in the middle, Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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magnetic fields and produce forces that add instead of canceling. Currents
along the top and bottom of the coil produce radial forces that do not rotate
the head. Sony
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The HDD's electronics control the
movement of the actuator and the rotation of the disk, and perform reads and
writes on demand from the disk controller. Feedback of the drive electronics is
accomplished by means of special segments of the disk dedicated to servo
feedback. These are either complete concentric circles (in the case of
dedicated servo technology), Sony
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or segments interspersed with real data (in
the case of embedded servo technology). The servo feedback optimizes the signal
to noise ratio of the GMR sensors by adjusting the voice-coil of the actuated
arm. Sony
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The
spinning of the disk also uses a servo motor. Modern disk firmware is capable
of scheduling reads and writes efficiently on the platter surfaces and
remapping sectors of the media which have failed. Sony
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Error rates and handling[edit]
Modern drives make extensive use of
error correction codes (ECCs), particularly Reed–Solomon error correction.
These techniques store extra bits, determined by mathematical formulas, for
each block of data; Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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invisibly. The extra bits themselves take up space on the HDD, but allow higher
recording densities to be employed without causing uncorrectable errors,
resulting in much larger storage capacity.[ Dell
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Dell
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with 512-byte sectors provides additional capacity of about 93 GB for the ECC
data.[31] Sony
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In the newest drives, as of 2009, low-density parity-check codes (LDPC) were supplanting Reed-Solomon; LDPC codes enable performance close to the Shannon Limit and thus provide the highest storage density available.[32]
Typical hard disk drives attempt to
"remap" the data in a physical sector that is failing to a spare
physical sector provided by the drive's "spare sector pool" (also
called "reserve pool"),[33] while relying on the ECC to recover
stored data while the amount of errors in a bad sector is still low enough. Sony
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The S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and
Reporting Technology) feature counts the total number of errors in the entire
HDD fixed by ECC (although not on all hard drives as the related S.M.A.R.T
attributes "Hardware ECC Recovered" Sony
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Sony
PCG-41218L Battery and "Soft ECC Correction" are not consistently supported),
and the total number of performed sector remappings, as the occurrence of many
such errors may predict an HDD failure. Sony
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The "No-ID Format", developed by IBM in the mid-1990s, contains information about which sectors are bad and where remapped sectors have been located.[34]
Only a tiny fraction of the detected
errors ends up as not correctable. For example, specification for an enterprise
SAS disk (a model from 2013) Sony
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Sony
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error in every 1016 bits,[35] and another SAS enterprise disk from 2013
specifies similar error rates.[3Dell
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Dell
Latitude E6520 Battery6] Another modern (as of 2013) enterprise SATA
disk specifies an error rate of less than 10 non-recoverable read errors in
every 1016 bits.[3
Sony
PCG-41215L Battery7] An enterprise disk with a Fibre Channel interface,
which uses 520 byte sectors to support the Data Integrity Field standard to
combat data corruption, specifies similar error rates in 2005.[38] Sony
PCG-41213L Battery
Sony
PCG-41214L BatteryThe worst type of errors are those that go
unnoticed, and are not even detected by the disk firmware or the host operating
system. These errors are known as silent data corruption, some of which may be
caused by hard disk drive malfunctions.[39]
Future development[edit]
Leading-edge hard disk drive areal densities from 1956 through 2009 compared to Moore's law
HDD areal density's long term compound growth trend (1956–2014) has been similar to a 41% per year Moore's law growth; the trend was 60–100% per year beginning in the early 1990s and continuing until about 2005,[40][ sony PCG-4R1L battery
sony PCG-6122L battery41] an increase which Gordon Moore (1997) called "flabbergasting" and he speculated that HDDs had "moved at least as fast as the semiconductor complexity."[42] However, the trend decreased dramatically around 2006 and, as of 2014, growth has been in the annual range of 8–12%.[43][4sony PCG-4Q3L battery
sony PCG-6121L battery4] While growth cannot continue forever,[45] whether HDD areal density growth returns to its previous high rate is an open question.
Increasing areal density corresponds to an ever decreasing bit cell size. In 2013 a production desktop 3 TByte HDD (4 platters) would have had an areal density of about 500 Gbit/in2 which would have amounted to a bit cell comprising about 18 magnetic grains sony PCG-6X1L battery
sony PCG-6Z3L battery (11 by 1.6 grains).[44] Since the mid-2000s areal density progress has increasingly been challenged by a superparamagnetic trilemma involving grain size, grain magnetic strength and ability of the head to write.[46] In order to maintain acceptable signal to noise smaller grains are required; sony PCG-6X6L battery
sony PCG-6Z2L batterysmaller grains may self-reverse (thermal instability) unless their magnetic strength is increased, but known write head materials are unable to generate a magnetic field sufficient to write the medium. sony PCG-6X8L battery
sony PCG-6Z1L battery Several new magnetic storage technologies are being developed to overcome or at least abate this trilemma and thereby maintain the competitiveness of HDDs with respect to products such as flash memory-based solid-state drives (SSDs).
One such technology, shingled magnetic
recording, was introduced in 2013 as "the first step to reaching a 20 TB
HDD by 2020."[47] Other new HDD technologies still in the laboratory
include heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR),[48][4Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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9] microwave-assisted magnetic recording
(MAMR),[50] two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR),[44][51] bit-patterned
recording (BPR),[52] and "current perpendicular to plane" giant
magnetoresistance (CPP/GMR) heads.[53][54][55]
Depending upon assumptions regarding the feasibility and timing of these technologies the median forecast by industry observers and analysts for 2016 and beyond for areal density growth is 20% per year with a range of 10% to 40%.[44][53][56][57][58][59]
The ultimate limit to BPR may be the superparamagnetic limit of a single particle which is estimated to be about two orders of magnitude higher than 500 Gbits/in2 represented by 2013 production desktop HDDs.[44]
Sony
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Capacity[edit]
The capacity of an HDD reported to an end user by the operating system is less than the amount stated by a drive or system manufacturer due to amongst other things, different units of measuring capacity, capacity consumed system and/or redundancy.
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Calculation[edit]
Because modern disk drives appear to their interface as a contiguous set of logical blocks their gross capacity can be calculated by multiplying the number of blocks by the size of the block. This information is available from the manufacturer's specification and from the drive itself through use of special utilities invoking low level commands.[60][61]
Sony
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The gross capacity of older HDDs can be
calculated by multiplying for each zone of the drive the number of cylinders by
the number of heads by the number of sectors/zone by the number of bytes/sector
(most commonly 512) Sony
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Sony
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modern SATA drives will also report cylinder-head-sector (C/H/S) values to the
CPU but they are no longer actual physical parameters since the reported
numbers are constrained by historic operating-system interfaces.
Sony
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The old C/H/S scheme has been replaced by logical block addressing. In some cases, to try to "force-fit" the C/H/S scheme to large-capacity drives, the number of heads was given as 64, although no modern drive has anywhere near 32 platters: the typical 2 TB hard disk as of 2013 has two 1 TB platters (and 4 TB drives use four platters).
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Redundancy[edit]
In modern HDDs, spare capacity for defect management is not included in the published capacity; however in many early HDDs a certain number of sectors were reserved for spares, thereby reducing capacity available to end users.
In some systems, there may be hidden partitions used for system recovery that reduce the capacity available to the end user.
Sony
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Sony
PCG-61911L BatteryFor RAID subsystems, data integrity and
fault-tolerance requirements also reduce the realized capacity. For example, a
RAID1 subsystem will be about half the total capacity as a result of data
mirroring. RAID5 subsystems with x drives, Dell
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Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Battery
would lose 1/x of capacity to parity. RAID
subsystems are multiple drives that appear to be one drive or more drives to
the user, but provides a great deal of fault-tolerance. Sony
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Sony
PCG-61813L BatteryMost RAID vendors use some form of checksums to
improve data integrity at the block level. For many vendors, this involves
using HDDs with sectors of 520 bytes per sector to contain 512 bytes of user
data and eight checksum bytes or using separate 512-byte sectors for the
checksum data.[62] Sony
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File system use[edit]
Main article: Disk formatting
The presentation of an HDD to its host is determined by its controller. This may differ substantially from the drive's native interface particularly in mainframes or servers.
Modern HDDs, such as SAS[60] and SATA[61] drives, appear at their interfaces as a contiguous set of logical blocks; typically 512 bytes long but the industry is in the process of changing to 4,096-byte logical blocks; see Advanced Format.[63]
The process of initializing these logical blocks on the physical disk platters is called low level formatting which is usually performed at the factory and is not normally changed in the field.[f]
High level formatting then writes the file
system structures into selected logical blocks to make the remaining logical
blocks available to the host OS and its applications.[64] The operating system
file system uses some of the disk space to organize files on the disk, Sony
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Sony
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disk areas that represent the file. Examples of data structures stored on disk
to retrieve files include the File Allocation Table (FAT) in the DOS file
system and inodes in many UNIX file systems, Sony
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Sony
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As a consequence not all the space on an HDD is available for user files. This
file system overhead is usually less than 1% on drives larger than 100 MB.
The practice of using prefixes assigned to powers of 1,000 within the HDD and computer industries dates back to the early days of computing.[72] By the 1970s million, mega and M were consistently being used in the powers of 1,000 sense to describe HDD capacity.[73][74][75]
Computers do not internally represent HDD
or memory capacity in powers of 1,024; reporting it in this manner is just a
convention.[76] Microsoft Windows uses the powers of 1,024 convention when
reporting HDD capacity, thus an HDD offered by its manufacturer as a 1 TB drive
is reported by these OSes as a 931 GB HDD. Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard"),
uses powers of 1,000 when reporting HDD capacity. Sony
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In the case of "mega-", there is
a nearly 5% difference between the powers of 1,000 definition and the powers of
1,024 definition. Furthermore, the difference is compounded by 2.4% with each
incrementally larger prefix (gigabyte, Sony
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Sony
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conventions for measuring capacity was the subject of several class action
suits against HDD manufacturers. The plaintiffs argued that the use of decimal
measurements effectively misled consumers[77][78] while the defendants denied
any wrongdoing or liability, sony
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asserting
that their marketing and advertising complied in all respects with the law and
that no class member sustained any damages or injuries.[79]
In December 1998, standards organizations addressed these dual definitions of the conventional prefixes by standardizing on unique binary prefixes and prefix symbols to denote multiples of 1,024, such as "mebibyte (MiB)", sony SVF15NA1YL battery
Sony SVE171G112 Batterywhich exclusively denotes 220 or 1,048,576 bytes.[80] This standard has seen little adoption by the computer industry, and the conventionally prefixed forms of "byte" continue to denote slightly different values depending on context.[81][82] They are occasionally used, however.
sony
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Mainframe and minicomputer hard disks were of
widely varying dimensions, typically in free standing cabinets the size of
washing machines or designed to fit a 19" rack. In 1962, IBM introduced
its model 1311 disk, which used 14 inch (nominal size) platters. This became a
standard size for mainframe and minicomputer drives for many years. sony
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97] Such large platters were never used with microprocessor-based systems.
With increasing sales of microcomputers having built in floppy-disk drives (FDDs), HDDs that would fit to the FDD mountings became desirable. Thus HDD Form factors, initially followed those of 8-inch, 5.25-inch, and 3.5-inch floppy disk drives. Because there were no smaller floppy disk drives, smaller HDD form factors developed from product offerings or industry standards.
8 inch
9.5 in × 4.624 in × 14.25 in (241.3 mm × 117.5 mm × 362 mm). In 1979, Shugart Associates' SA1000 was the first form factor compatible HDD, having the same dimensions and a compatible interface to the 8" FDD.
5.25 inchsony SVF15AC1QL battery
5.75 in × 3.25 in × 8 in (146.1 mm × 82.55 mm × 203 mm). This smaller form factor, first used in an HDD by Seagate in 1980,[98] was the same size as full-height 5 1⁄4-inch-diameter (130 mm) FDD, 3.25-inches high. This is twice as high as "half height"; i.e., 1.63 in (41.4 mm). Most desktop models of drives for optical 120 mm disks (DVD, CD) sony SVF14AA1QL battery
sony SVF154B1EL battery use the half height 5¼" dimension, but it fell out of fashion for HDDs. The format was standardized as EIA-741 and co-published as SFF-8501 for disk drives, with other SFF-85xx series standards covering related 5.25 inch devices sony SVF15AA1QL battery
sony SVF153B18L battery (optical drives, etc.)[99] The Quantum Bigfoot HDD was the last to use it in the late 1990s, with "low-profile" (≈25 mm) and "ultra-low-profile" (≈20 mm) high versions.
3.5 inchsony VGP-BPS34 battery
4 in × 1 in × 5.75 in (101.6 mm × 25.4 mm × 146 mm) = 376.77344 cm³. This smaller form factor is similar to that used in an HDD by Rodime in 1983,[100] which was the same size as the "half height" 3½" FDD, i.e., sony SVT212A12L battery
sony SVF153B1GL battery1.63 inches high. Today, the 1-inch high ("slimline" or "low-profile") version of this form factor is the most popular form used in most desktops. The format was standardized in terms of dimensions and positions of mounting holes as EIA/ECA-740, co-published as SFF-8301.[ sony SVF142A29L battery
2.5 inch
2.75 in × 0.275–0.75 in × 3.945 in (69.85 mm × 7–19 mm × 100 mm) = 48.895–132.715 cm3. This smaller form factor was introduced by PrairieTek in 1988;[102] there is no corresponding FDD. The 2.5 drive format is standardized in the EIA/ECA-720 co-published as SFF-8201; sony SVF142C29L battery
sony SVF152C1WL batterywhen used with specific connectors, more detailed specifications are SFF-8212 for the 50-pin (ATA laptop) connector, SFF-8223 with the SATA, or SAS connector and SFF-8222 with the SCA-2 connector.[10sony SVF143A1GL battery
sony SVF152A29L battery] It came to be widely used for HDDs in mobile devices (laptops, music players, etc.) and for solid-state drives (SSDs), by 2008 replacing some 3.5 inch enterprise-class drives.[104] It is also used in the PlayStation 3[105] and Xbox 360[citation needed] video game consoles. Drives 9.5 mm high became an unofficial standard for all except the largest-capacity laptop drives (usually having two platters inside); sony SVF143A1YL battery
sony SVF143B1YL battery 12.5 mm-high drives, typically with three platters, are used for maximum capacity, but will not fit most laptop computers. Enterprise-class drives can have a height up to 15 mm.[106] Seagate released a 7 mm drive aimed at entry level laptops and high end netbooks in December 2009.[10sony SVF143B1GL battery
7] Western Digital released on April 23, 2013 a hard drive 5 mm in height specifically aimed at UltraBooks.[108]
1.8 inch
54 mm × 8 mm × 71 mm = 30.672 cm³. This
form factor, originally introduced by Integral Peripherals in 1993, evolved
into the ATA-7 LIF with dimensions as stated. For a time it was increasingly
used in digital audio players and subnotebooks, Sony
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but
its popularity decreased to the point where this form factor is increasingly
rare and only a small percentage of the overall market.[109] There was an
attempt to standardize this format as SFF-8123, but it was cancelled in
2005.[110] Sony
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Sony
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1 inch
42.8 mm × 5 mm × 36.4 mm. This form factor was introduced in 1999 as IBM's Microdrive to fit inside a CF Type II slot. Samsung calls the same form factor "1.3 inch" drive in its product literature.[111]
0.85 inchSony
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Sony
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24 mm × 5 mm × 32 mm. Toshiba announced this form factor in January 2004[112] for use in mobile phones and similar applications, including SD/MMC slot compatible HDDs optimized for video storage on 4G handsets. Toshiba manufactured a 4 GB (MK4001MTD) and an 8 GB (MK8003MTD) version[113] and holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest HDD.[114]
5¼" full height 110 MB HDD; 2½" (63.5 mm) 6,495 MB HDD
As of 2012, 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch hard disks were the most popular sizes.
By 2009 all manufacturers had discontinued the development of new products for the 1.3-inch, 1-inch and 0.85-inch form factors due to falling prices of flash memory,[115][116] which has no moving parts.
While these sizes are customarily described by an approximately correct figure in inches, actual sizes have long been specified in millimeters.
Performance characteristics[edit]
Main article: Hard disk drive performance characteristics
Time to access data[edit]
The factors that limit the time to access
the data on an HDD are mostly related to the mechanical nature of the rotating
disks and moving heads. Seek time is a measure of how long it takes the head
assembly to travel to the track of the disk that contains data. Sony
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Rotational latency is incurred because the
desired disk sector may not be directly under the head when data transfer is
requested. These two delays are on the order of milliseconds each. The bit rate
or data transfer rate (once the head is in the right position) creates delay
which is a function of the number of blocks transferred; Sony
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sony PCG-3D2L batterytypically relatively small, but can be quite long with the transfer of large contiguous files. Delay may also occur if the drive disks are stopped to save energy.
An HDD's Average Access Time is its average
Seek time which technically is the time to do all possible seeks divided by the
number of all possible seeks, but in practice is determined by statistical
methods or simply approximated as the time of a seek over one-third of the
number of tracks.[117] Sony
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Defragmentation is a procedure used to minimize delay in retrieving data by moving related items to physically proximate areas on the disk.[118] Some computer operating systems perform defragmentation automatically. Although automatic defragmentation is intended to reduce access delays, performance will be temporarily reduced while the procedure is in progress.[119]
Time to access data can be improved by
increasing rotational speed (thus reducing latency) and/or by reducing the time
spent seeking. Increasing areal density increases throughput by increasing data
rate and by increasing the amount of data under a set of heads, thereby
potentially reducing seek activity for a given amount of data. The time to
access data has not kept up with throughput increases, which themselves have
not kept up with growth in bit density and storage capacity. Sony
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Seek time[edit]
See also: Hard disk drive performance characteristics: Seek time
Average seek time ranges from under 4 ms
for high-end server drives[120] to 15 ms for mobile drives, with the most
common mobile drives at about 12 ms[121] and the most common desktop type
typically being around 9 ms. Sony
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sony
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600 ms;[3] by the middle of 1970s HDDs were available with seek times of about
25 ms.[122] Some early PC drives used a stepper motor to move the heads, Sony
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sony PCG-61412L batteryand as a result had seek times as slow as 80–120 ms, but this was quickly improved by voice coil type actuation in the 1980s, reducing seek times to around 20 ms. Seek time has continued to improve slowly over time.
Some desktop and laptop computer systems allow the user to make a tradeoff between seek performance and drive noise. Faster seek rates typically require more energy usage to quickly move the heads across the platter, sony PCG-3G2L battery
sony PCG-61412L battery causing louder noises from the pivot bearing and greater device vibrations as the heads are rapidly accelerated during the start of the seek motion and decelerated at the end of the seek motion. Quiet operation reduces movement speed and acceleration rates, but at a cost of reduced seek performance.
Latency[edit]
Rotational speed
[rpm] Average latency
[ms]
15,000 2
10,000 3
7,200 4.16
5,400 5.55
4,800 6.25
Latency is the delay for the rotation of the disk to bring the required disk sector under the read-write mechanism. It depends on rotational speed of a disk, measured in revolutions per minute (rpm). Average rotational latency is shown in the table below, based on the statistical relation that the average latency in milliseconds for such a drive is one-half the rotational period.
Data transfer rate[edit]
As of 2010, a typical 7,200-rpm desktop HDD has a sustained "disk-to-buffer" data transfer rate up to 1,030 Mbits/sec.[1sony PCG-5G3L battery
23] This rate depends on the track location; the rate is higher for data on the outer tracks (where there are more data sectors per rotation) and lower toward the inner tracks (where there are fewer data sectors per rotation); sony PCG-61A12L battery
sony PCG-61112L batteryand is generally somewhat higher for 10,000-rpm drives. A current widely used standard for the "buffer-to-computer" interface is 3.0 Gbit/s SATA, which can send about 300 megabyte/s (10-bit encoding) from the buffer to the computer, sony PCG-41111L battery
and thus is still comfortably ahead of today's disk-to-buffer transfer rates. Data transfer rate (read/write) can be measured by writing a large file to disk using special file generator tools, then reading back the file. Transfer rate can be influenced by file system fragmentation and the layout of the files.[118] sony PCG-41112L battery
HDD data transfer rate depends upon the rotational speed of the platters and the data recording density. Because heat and vibration limit rotational speed, advancing density becomes the main method to improve sequential transfer rates. sony SVP132A16M battery
sony SVF13NA1UM battery Higher speeds require a more powerful spindle motor, which creates more heat. While areal density advances by increasing both the number of tracks across the disk and the number of sectors per track, sony VGP-BPS38 battery
sony SVF14NA1EM battery only the latter increases the data transfer rate for a given rpm. Since data transfer rate performance only tracks one of the two components of areal density, its performance improves at a lower rate.[citation needed] sony SVP112A16M battery
Other considerations[edit]
Other performance considerations include power consumption, audible noise, and shock resistance.
Access and interfaces[edit]
Inner view of a 1998 Seagate HDD which used Parallel ATA interface
Main article: Hard disk drive interface
HDDs are accessed over one of a number of bus types, including as of 2011 parallel ATA (PATA, also called IDE or EIDE; described before the introduction of SATA as ATA), Serial ATA (SATA), SCSI, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), sony VGP-BPS40 battery
and Fibre Channel. Bridge circuitry is sometimes used to connect HDDs to buses with which they cannot communicate natively, such as IEEE 1394, USB and SCSI.
Modern HDDs present a consistent interface to the rest of the computer, no matter what data encoding scheme is used internally. Typically a DSP in the electronics inside the HDD takes the raw analog voltages from the read head and uses PRML and Reed–Solomon error correction[124] to decode the sector boundaries and sector data, sony SVS131B11M battery
then sends that data out the standard interface. That DSP also watches the error rate detected by error detection and correction, and performs bad sector remapping, data collection for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, and other internal tasks.
Modern interfaces connect an HDD to a host bus interface adapter (today typically integrated into the "south bridge") with one data/control cable. Each drive also has an additional power cable, usually direct to the power supply unit. sony SVS131C24M battery
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), originally named SASI for Shugart Associates System Interface, was standard on servers, workstations, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and Apple Macintosh computers through the mid-1990s, by which time most models had been transitioned to IDE (and later, SATA) family disks. The range limitations of the data cable allows for external SCSI devices.
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), later standardized under the name AT Attachment (ATA, with the alias P-ATA or PATA (Parallel ATA) retroactively added upon introduction of SATA) moved the HDD controller from the interface card to the disk drive. This helped to standardize the host/contoller interface, reduce the programming complexity in the host device driver, and reduced system cost and complexity. sony SVS131E1EM battery
sony SVF15NB1GM batteryThe 40-pin IDE/ATA connection transfers 16 bits of data at a time on the data cable. The data cable was originally 40-conductor, but later higher speed requirements for data transfer to and from the HDD led to an "ultra DMA" mode, sony SVS131E1DM battery
sony SVS131C1DM battery known as UDMA. Progressively swifter versions of this standard ultimately added the requirement for an 80-conductor variant of the same cable, where half of the conductors provides grounding necessary for enhanced high-speed signal quality by reducing cross talk. sony SVS131C1DM battery
EIDE was an unofficial update (by Western Digital) to the original IDE standard, with the key improvement being the use of direct memory access (DMA) to transfer data between the disk and the computer without the involvement of the CPU, an improvement later adopted by the official ATA standards. sony SVF15NB1GM battery
sony SVS131E1EM batteryBy directly transferring data between memory and disk, DMA eliminates the need for the CPU to copy byte per byte, therefore allowing it to process other tasks while the data transfer occurs. sony SVF15NB1YM battery
Fibre Channel (FC) is a successor to parallel SCSI interface on enterprise market. It is a serial protocol. In disk drives usually the Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) connection topology is used. FC has much broader usage than mere disk interfaces, and it is the cornerstone of storage area networks (SANs). sony SVF15NA1GM battery
sony SVS131C24M batteryRecently other protocols for this field, like iSCSI and ATA over Ethernet have been developed as well. Confusingly, drives usually use copper twisted-pair cables for Fibre Channel, not fibre optics. The latter are traditionally reserved for larger devices, such as servers or disk array controllers. sony SVF15NA1YM battery
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). The SAS is a new generation serial communication protocol for devices designed to allow for much higher speed data transfers and is compatible with SATA. SAS uses a mechanically identical data and power connector to standard 3.5-inch SATA1/SATA2 HDDs, sony SVF14NA1UM battery
and many server-oriented SAS RAID controllers are also capable of addressing SATA HDDs. SAS uses serial communication instead of the parallel method found in traditional SCSI devices but still uses SCSI commands. sony SVF14NA1EM battery
Serial ATA (SATA). The SATA data cable has one data pair for differential transmission of data to the device, and one pair for differential receiving from the device, just like EIA-422. That requires that data be transmitted serially. A similar differential signaling system is used in RS485, LocalTalk, USB, FireWire, and differential SCSI. sony SVF13NA1UM battery
Integrity and failure[edit]
Close-up of an HDD head resting on a disk platter; its mirror reflection is visible on the platter surface.
Main articles: Hard disk drive failure and Data recovery
Due to the extremely close spacing between the heads and the disk surface, HDDs are vulnerable to being damaged by a head crash—a failure of the disk in which the head scrapes across the platter surface,
sony VGP-BPS40 batteryoften grinding away the thin magnetic film and causing data loss. Head crashes can be caused by electronic failure, a sudden power failure, physical shock, contamination of the drive's internal enclosure, wear and tear, corrosion, or poorly manufactured platters and heads.
The HDD's spindle system relies on air density inside the disk enclosure to support the heads at their proper flying height while the disk rotates. HDDs require a certain range of air densities in order to operate properly. sony SVP132A16M battery
sony VGP-BPS38 battery The connection to the external environment and density occurs through a small hole in the enclosure (about 0.5 mm in breadth), usually with a filter on the inside (the breather filter).[125] If the air density is too low, then there is not enough lift for the flying head, so the head gets too close to the disk, Sony PCG-4F1M battery
Sony PCG-1R1M battery and there is a risk of head crashes and data loss. Specially manufactured sealed and pressurized disks are needed for reliable high-altitude operation, above about 3,000 m (9,800 ft).[126] Modern disks include temperature sensors and adjust their operation to the operating environment. Sony PCG-4T1M battery
Sony PCG-1Q4M battery Breather holes can be seen on all disk drives—they usually have a sticker next to them, warning the user not to cover the holes. The air inside the operating drive is constantly moving too, being swept in motion by friction with the spinning platters. This air passes through an internal recirculation (or "recirc") Sony PCG-4X1M battery
Sony PCG-1Q1M batteryfilter to remove any leftover contaminants from manufacture, any particles or chemicals that may have somehow entered the enclosure, and any particles or outgassing generated internally in normal operation. Very high humidity present for extended periods of time can corrode the heads and platters.
For giant magnetoresistive (GMR) heads in particular, a minor head crash from contamination (that does not remove the magnetic surface of the disk) still results in the head temporarily overheating, due to friction with the disk surface, Sony PCG-4N1M battery
Sony VGP-BPS15 batteryand can render the data unreadable for a short period until the head temperature stabilizes (so called "thermal asperity", a problem which can partially be dealt with by proper electronic filtering of the read signal).
When the logic board of a hard disk fails, the drive can often be restored to functioning order and the data recovered by replacing the circuit board of one of an identical hard disk. In the case of read-write head faults, they can be replaced using specialized tools in a dust-free environment. If the disk platters are undamaged, Sony PCG-4S2M battery
Sony PCG-4V1M batterythey can be transferred into an identical enclosure and the data can be copied or cloned onto a new drive. In the event of disk-platter failures, disassembly and imaging of the disk platters may be required.[1Sony PCG-11111M battery
27] For logical damage to file systems, a variety of tools, including fsck on UNIX-like systems and CHKDSK on Windows, can be used for data recovery. Recovery from logical damage can require file carving.
A common expectation is that hard disk drives designed for server use will fail less frequently than consumer-grade drives usually used in desktop computers. A study by Carnegie Mellon University[128] and an independent one by Google[129] both found that the "grade" of a drive does not relate to the drive's failure rate. Sony PCG-4V1M battery
A 2011 summary of research into SSD and magnetic disk failure patterns by Tom's Hardware summarized research findings as follows:[130]
MTBF does not indicate reliability; the annualized failure rate is higher and usually more relevant.
Magnetic disks do not have a specific tendency to fail during early use, and temperature only has a minor effect; instead, failure rates steadily increase with age.
S.M.A.R.T. warns of mechanical issues but not other issues affecting reliability, and is therefore not a reliable indicator of condition. Sony VGP-BPS23 battery
Failure rates of drives sold as "enterprise" and "consumer" are "very much similar", although customized for their different environments.
In drive arrays, one drive's failure significantly increases the short-term chance of a second drive failing. Sony VGP-BPS15 battery
Market segments[edit]
Two Western Digital VelociRaptor 1 TB SATA 10,000 rpm 3.5-inch HDDs
Desktop HDDs
They typically store between 60 GB and 4 TB and rotate at 5,400 to 10,000 rpm, and have a media transfer rate of 0.5 Gbit/s or higher (1 GB = 109 bytes; 1 Gbit/s = 109 bit/s). As of August 2014, the highest capacity HDDs store 8 TB.[83][84] Sony PCG-1P1M battery
Mobile (laptop) HDDs
They are smaller than their desktop and enterprise counterparts, tend to be slower and have lower capacity. Mobile HDDs spin at 4,200 rpm, 5,200 rpm, 5,400 rpm, or 7,200 rpm, with 5,400 rpm being typical. Sony PCG-1Q4M battery
Sony PCG-4K1M battery 7,200 rpm drives tend to be more expensive and have smaller capacities, while 4,200 rpm models usually have very high storage capacities. Because of smaller platter(s), mobile HDDs generally have lower capacity than their greater desktop counterparts.
Sony PCG-4X1M batteryAs a note, there are also 2.5-inch drives spinning at 10,000 rpm which are belonging to the enterprise segment, thus not intended to be used in laptops.
Enterprise HDDs Sony PCG-1R1M battery
Typically used with multiple-user computers running enterprise software. Examples are: transaction processing databases, internet infrastructure (email, webserver, e-commerce), scientific computing software, and nearline storage management software. Enterprise drives commonly operate continuously ("24/7") Sony PCG-4F1M battery
Sony
PCG-4H1M batteryin demanding environments while delivering the
highest possible performance without sacrificing reliability. Maximum capacity
is not the primary goal, and as a result the drives are often offered in
capacities that are relatively low in relation to their cost.[131Sony
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Sony
SVE1511W1ESI battery] The fastest enterprise HDDs spin at 10,000 or
15,000 rpm, and can achieve sequential media transfer speeds above 1.6
Gbit/s[132] and a sustained transfer rate up to 1 Gbit/s.[132] Drives running
at 10,000 or 15,000 rpm use smaller platters to mitigate increased power
requirementsSony
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Sony
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(as they
have less air drag) and therefore generally have lower capacity than the
highest capacity desktop drives. Enterprise HDDs are commonly connected through
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Fibre Channel (FC). Sony
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Sony SVE1511M1E
battery
Sony
SVE1511R9ESI battery Some support multiple ports, so they can be
connected to a redundant host bus adapter. They can be reformatted with sector
sizes larger than 512 bytes (often 520, 524, 528 or 536 bytes). The additional
storage can be used by hardware RAID cards or to store a Data Integrity Field. Sony
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Consumer electronics HDDs
They include drives embedded into digital video recorders and automotive vehicles. The former are configured to provide a guaranteed streaming capacity, even in the face of read and write errors, while the latter are built to resist larger amounts of shock.
Manufacturers and sales[edit] Sony
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Sony
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Diagram of HDD manufacturer consolidation
See also: History of hard disk drives and List of defunct hard disk manufacturers
More than 200 companies have manufactured
HDDs over time. But consolidations have concentrated production into just three
manufacturers today: Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba. Sony
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Worldwide revenues for disk storage were $32 billion in 2013, down about 3% from 2012.[4] This corresponds to shipments of 552 million units in 2013 compared to 578 million in 2012 and 622 million in 2011.[4] The estimated 2013 market shares are about 40–45% each for Seagate and Western Digital and 13–16% for Toshiba.
External hard disk drives[edit]
See also: USB mass storage / USB drive and Disk enclosure
Toshiba 1 TB 2.5" external USB 2.0 HDD
3.0 TB 3.5" Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex
plug and play external USB 3.0-compatible drive (left), 750 GB 3.5"
Seagate Technology push-button external USB 2.0 drive (right), and a 500 GB
2.5" generic brand plug and play external USB 2.0 drive (front). Sony
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External HDDs[j] typically connect via USB; variants using USB 2.0 interface generally have slower data transfer rates when compared to internally mounted hard drives connected through SATA. Plug and play drive functionality offers system compatibility and features large storage options and portable design.
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External HDDs are usually available as
pre-assembled integrated products, but may be also assembled by combining an
external enclosure (with USB or other interface) with a separately purchased
HDD. Sony
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Sony
SVE1713C5E battery They are available in 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch
sizes; 2.5-inch variants are typically called portable external drives, while
3.5-inch variants are referred to as desktop external drives. "Portable"
drives are packaged in smaller and lighter enclosures than the
"desktop" drives; Sony
SVE1513C4E battery
Sony SVE1712Z1E
batteryadditionally, "portable" drives use power provided
by the USB connection, while "desktop" drives require external power
bricks.
As of April 2014, capacities of external HDDs generally range from 160 GB to 6 TB; common sizes are 160 GB, 250 GB, 320 GB, 500 GB, 640 GB, 750 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 3 TB, 4 TB, 5 TB and 6 TB.[133][134] Features such as biometric security or multiple interfaces (for example, Firewire) are available at a higher cost.[135]
Sony
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Sony
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There are pre-assembled external hard disk
drives that, when taken out from their enclosures, cannot be used internally in
a laptop or desktop computer due to embedded USB interface on their printed
circuit boards, and lack of SATA (or Parallel ATA) interfaces.[136][137] Sony
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Sony
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----------------
A solid-state drive (SSD) (also known as a
solid-state disk[1][2][3] or electronic disk,[4] though it contains no actual
disk) is a data storage device using integrated circuit assemblies as memory to
store data persistently. SSD technology uses electronic interfaces compatible
with traditional block input/output (I/O) Sony
SVE1513D1E battery
Sony
SVE1711R1E batteryhard disk drives, thus permitting simple
replacement in common applications.[5] Also, new I/O interfaces like SATA
Express are created to keep up with speed advancements in SSD technology.
SSDs have no moving (mechanical)
components. This distinguishes them from traditional electromechanical magnetic
disks such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or floppy disks, which contain spinning
disks and movable read/write heads.[6] Sony
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Sony
SVE1513H1E battery Compared with electromechanical disks, SSDs are
typically more resistant to physical shock, run silently, have lower access
time, and less latency.[7] However, while the price of SSDs has continued to
decline over time,[8] SSDs are still roughly seven to eight times more
expensive per unit of storage than HDDs.
Sony
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Sony
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Sony SVE15 battery
As of 2014, most SSDs use NAND-based
flash memory, which retains data without power. For applications requiring fast
access, but not necessarily data persistence after power loss, SSDs may be
constructed from random-access memory (RAM). Such devices may employ separate
power sources, such as batteries, to maintain data after power loss.[ Sony
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Sony
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5]
Hybrid drives or solid state hybrid
drives (SSHD) combine the features of SSDs and HDDs in the same unit,
containing a large hard disk drive and an SSD cache to improve performance of
frequently accessed data.[9][10][11] Sony
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Sony
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SSDs had origins in the 1950s with two similar technologies: magnetic core memory and card capacitor read-only store (CCROS).[12][13] These auxiliary memory units (as contemporaries called them) emerged during the era of vacuum-tube computers. But with the introduction of cheaper drum storage units their use ceased.[14]
Later, in the 1970s and 1980s, SSDs were
implemented in semiconductor memory for early supercomputers of IBM, Amdahl and
Cray,[15] but they were seldom used because of the prohibitively high price. In
the late 1970s, General Instruments produced an electrically alterable ROM
(EAROM) which operated somewhat like the later NAND flash memory.
Unfortunately, Sony
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Sony
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Sony
VPCEA4M1R Battery a ten-year life was not achievable and many
companies abandoned the technology.[16] In 1976 Dataram started selling a
product called Bulk Core, which provided up to 2 MB of solid state storage
compatible with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and Data General (DG)
computers.[1Sony
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Sony
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Sony VPCEA3Z1R Battery7] In 1978, Texas Memory Systems introduced a 16 kilobyte RAM solid-state drive to be used by oil companies for seismic data acquisition.[18] The following year, StorageTek developed the first RAM solid-state drive.[19]
The Sharp PC-5000, introduced in 1983, used 128-kilobyte solid-state storage cartridges containing bubble memory.[20] In 1984 Tallgrass Technologies Corporation had a tape backup unit of 40 MB with a solid state 20 MB unit built in. The 20 MB unit could be used instead of a hard drive.[citation needed] Sony VPCEA3A4E Battery
In September 1986, Santa Clara Systems introduced BatRam, a 4 megabyte mass storage system expandable to 20 MB using 4 MB memory modules. The package included a rechargeable battery to preserve the memory chip contents when the array was not powered.[ Sony VPCEA3C4E Battery
Sony VPCEA2M1R Battery21] 1987 saw the entry of EMC Corporation (EMC) into the SSD market, with drives introduced for the mini-computer market. However, by 1993 EMC had exited the SSD market.[22][23]
Software-based RAM Disks were still used as of 2009 because they are an order of magnitude faster than other technology, though they consume CPU resources and cost much more on a per-GB basis.[24]
Flash-based SSDs[edit]
In 1983, Psion MC 400 Mobile Computer included four slots for removable storage in form of flash-based solid-state disks, using the same type of flash-memory cards as used by the Psion Series 3.[25] Sony VPCEA3S1E Battery
Sony VPCEA1S1R BatteryThe flash modules did have the limitation of needing to be re-formatted entirely to reclaim space from deleted or modified files; old versions of files which were deleted or modified continued to take up space until the module was formatted.
Sony
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In 1991 SanDisk Corporation created a 20MB solid state drive (SSD) which sold for $1,000.
In 1994, STEC, Inc. bought Cirrus Logic's flash controller operation, allowing the company to enter the flash memory business for consumer electronic devices.[citation needed]
In 1995, M-Systems introduced
flash-based solid-state drives.[26] They had the advantage of not requiring
batteries to maintain the data in the memory (required by the prior volatile
memory systems), but were not as fast as the DRAM-based solutions.[2Sony
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Sony
VPCCA2 battery
] Since then, SSDs have been used successfully as HDD replacements by the military and aerospace industries, as well as for other mission-critical applications. These applications require the exceptional mean time between failures (MTBF) rates that solid-state drives achieve, by virtue of their ability to withstand extreme shock, vibration and temperature ranges.[28]
Sony
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VPCCB3P1E
battery
In 1999, BiTMICRO made a number of introductions and announcements about flash-based SSDs, including an 18 GB 3.5-inch SSD.[29]
In 2007, Fusion-io announced a PCIe-based SSD with 100,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) of performance in a single card, with capacities up to 320 gigabytes.[30]
At Cebit 2009, OCZ Technology demonstrated
a 1 terabyte (TB) flash SSD using a PCI Express ×8 interface. It achieved a
maximum write speed of 654 megabytes per second (MB/s) and maximum read speed
of 712 MB/s.[31] Sony
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In December 2009, Micron Technology announced an SSD using a 6 gigabits per second (Gbit/s) SATA interface.[32]
Sony
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Sony
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Enterprise flash drives[edit]
Enterprise flash drives (EFDs) are
designed for applications requiring high I/O performance (IOPS), reliability,
energy efficiency and, more recently, consistent performance. In most cases, an
EFD is an SSD with a higher set of specifications,
Sony
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Sony
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notebook computers. The term was first used by EMC in January 2008, to help
them identify SSD manufacturers who would provide products meeting these higher
standards.[
Sony
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Sony SVE1511S1ESI battery33] There are no standards bodies who control the definition of EFDs, so any SSD manufacturer may claim to produce EFDs when they may not actually meet the requirements.[34]
In the fourth quarter of 2012, Intel introduced its SSD DC S3700 drive, which focused on achieving consistent performance, an area that had previously not received much attention but which Intel claimed was important for the enterprise market. Sony VPCSA2Z9E battery
Sony
SVE1511G1EB battery In particular, Intel claims that at steady state
the S3700 won't vary its IOPS by more than 10–15%, and that 99.9% of all 4kB
random IOs are serviced in less than 500µs.[35]
Architecture and function[edit]
The key components of an SSD are the controller and the memory to store the data. The primary memory component in an SSD was traditionally DRAM volatile memory, but since 2009 it is more commonly NAND flash non-volatile memory.[5][36] Other components play a less significant role in the operation of the SSD and vary among manufacturers.[citation needed]
Controller[edit]
Every SSD includes a controller that incorporates the electronics that bridge the NAND memory components to the host computer. The controller is an embedded processor that executes firmware-level code and is one of the most important factors of SSD performance.[37] Some of the functions performed by the controller include:[38][39]
Error-correcting code (ECC)
Wear leveling
Bad block mapping
Read scrubbing and read disturb management
Read and write caching
Garbage collection
EncryptionSony SVE14AE12M battery
The performance of an SSD can scale with the number of parallel NAND flash chips used in the device. A single NAND chip is relatively slow, due to the narrow (8/16 bit) asynchronous I/O interface, and additional high latency of basic I/O operations (typical for SLC NAND, ~25 μs to fetch a 4 KB page from the array to the I/O buffer on a read, ~250 μs to commit a 4 KB page from the IO buffer to the array on a write, ~Sony SVE14AJ15M battery
Sony
SVE1711K1EW battery2 ms to erase a 256 KB block). When multiple NAND
devices operate in parallel inside an SSD, the bandwidth scales, and the high
latencies can be hidden, as long as enough outstanding operations are pending
and the load is evenly distributed between devices.[40Sony
SVE14AA11M battery
Sony
SVE1711T1EB battery] Micron and Intel initially made faster SSDs by
implementing data striping (similar to RAID 0) and interleaving in their
architecture. This enabled the creation of ultra-fast SSDs with 250 MB/s
effective read/write speeds with the SATA 3 Gbit/s interface in 2009.[41] Two
years later,
Sony
SVE151C11M battery SandForce continued to leverage this parallel
flash connectivity, releasing consumer-grade SATA 6 Gbit/s SSD controllers
which supported 500 MB/s read/write speeds.[42] SandForce controllers compress
the data prior to sending it to the flash memory. This process may result in
less writing and higher logical throughput, depending on the compressibility of
the data.[43]
Memory[edit]
Flash memory-based[edit]
Comparison of architectures[44]
SLC vs MLC NAND vs NOR
10× more persistent 10× more persistent
3x faster Sequential Write
same Sequential Read 4x faster Sequential Write
5x faster Sequential Read
30% more expensive 30% cheaper
The following Technologies should
combine the advantages of NAND and NOR: OneNAND (Samsung), mDOC (Sandisk) and
ORNAND (Spansion). Sony
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Most[citation needed] SSD manufacturers
use non-volatile NAND flash memory in the construction of their SSDs because of
the lower cost compared with DRAM and the ability to retain the data without a
constant power supply, Sony SVE171A11M
battery
ensuring data persistence through sudden power outages. Flash memory SSDs are slower than DRAM solutions, and some early designs were even slower than HDDs after continued use. This problem was resolved by controllers that came out in 2009 and later.[45]
Flash memory-based solutions are typically packaged in standard disk drive form factors (1.8-, 2.5-, and 3.5-inch), or smaller unique and compact layouts because of the compact memory.
Lower priced drives usually use
multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory, which is slower and less reliable than
single-level cell (SLC) flash memory.[46][47] This can be mitigated or even reversed
by the internal design structure of the SSD, Sony
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Sony
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such as interleaving, changes to writing algorithms,[47] and higher over-provisioning (more excess capacity) with which the wear-leveling algorithms can work.[48][49][50]
DRAM-based[edit]
See also: I-RAM and Hyperdrive (storage)
SSDs based on volatile memory such as DRAM are characterized by ultrafast data access, generally less than 10 microseconds, and are used primarily to accelerate applications that would otherwise be held back by the latency of flash SSDs or traditional HDDs. Sony SVE151G13M battery
DRAM-based SSDs usually incorporate either an
internal battery or an external AC/DC adapter and backup storage systems to
ensure data persistence while no power is being supplied to the drive from
external sources. If power is lost, the battery provides power while all
information is copied from random access memory (RAM) to back-up storage. Sony
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Sony
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Sony
PCG-4121GM battery When the power is restored, the information is
copied back to the RAM from the back-up storage, and the SSD resumes normal
operation (similar to the hibernate function used in modern operating
systems).[27][51] SSDs of this type are usually fitted with DRAM modules of the
same type used in regular PCs and servers, which can be swapped out and
replaced by larger modules. Sony
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Sony
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Sony
PCG-41214M battery [citation needed] Such as i-RAM, HyperOs
HyperDrive, DDRdrive X1, etc. Some manufacturers of DRAM SSDs solder the DRAM
chips directly to the drive, and do not intend the chips to be swapped out—such
as ZeusRAM, Aeon Drive, etc.[52]
A remote, indirect memory-access disk (RIndMA Disk) uses a secondary computer with a fast network or (direct) Infiniband connection to act like a RAM-based SSD, but the new, faster, flash-memory based, SSDs already available in 2009 are making this option not as cost effective.[53]
While the price of DRAM continues to fall, the price of Flash memory falls even faster. The "Flash becomes cheaper than DRAM" crossover point occurred approximately 2004.[54][55]
Other[edit]
Some SSDs use MRAM.[56][57]
Some SSDs use both DRAM and flash memory.
When the power goes down, the SSD copies all the data from its DRAM to flash.
When the power comes back up, the SSD copies all the data from its flash to its
DRAM.[58] Sony
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Some drives use a hybrid of spinning disks and flash memory.[59][60]
Cache or buffer[edit]
A flash-based SSD typically uses a small
amount of DRAM as a cache, similar to the cache in hard disk drives. A
directory of block placement and wear leveling data is also kept in the cache
while the drive is operating. Data is not permanently stored in the cache.[4Sony
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Sony
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Sony
PCG-41211M battery0] One SSD controller manufacturer, SandForce,
does not use an external DRAM cache on their designs, but still achieves very
high performance. Eliminating the external DRAM enables a smaller footprint for
the other flash memory components in order to build even smaller SSDs.[61] Sony
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Sony
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Battery or super capacitor[edit]
Another component in higher performing SSDs
is a capacitor or some form of battery. These are necessary to maintain data
integrity such that the data in the cache can be flushed to the drive when
power is dropped; some may even hold power long enough to maintain data in the
cache until power is resumed.[citation neededSony
SVS13AA11M battery
Sony
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Sony
PCG-4121DM battery] In the case of MLC flash memory, a problem
called lower page corruption can occur when MLC flash memory loses power while
programming an upper page. The result is that data written previously and
presumed safe can be corrupted if the memory is not supported by a super
capacitor in the event of a sudden power loss. This problem does not exist with
SLC flash memory.[3Sony
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Sony
VPCSE2V9E battery9] Most consumer-class SSDs do not have built-in
batteries or capacitors;[62] among the exceptions are the Crucial M500 series,[63]
the Intel 320 series[64] and the more expensive Intel 710 and 730 series.[65]
Host interface[edit]
The host interface is not specifically a component of the SSD, but it is a key part of the drive. The interface is usually incorporated into the controller discussed above. The interface is generally one of the interfaces found in HDDs. They include:
Sony
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Sony
VPCSB4S9E batteryThe size and shape of any device is largely driven
by the size and shape of the components used to make that device. Traditional HDDs
and optical drives are designed around the rotating platter or optical disc
along with the spindle motor inside. If an SSD is made up of various
interconnected integrated circuits Sony
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Sony
VPCSA3Q9E battery (ICs) and an interface connector, then its shape
could be virtually anything imaginable because it is no longer limited to the
shape of rotating media drives. Some solid state storage solutions come in a
larger chassis that may even be a rack-mount form factor with numerous SSDs
inside. They would all connect to a common bus inside the chassis and connect
outside the box with a single connector.[5] Sony
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Sony
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For general computer use, the 2.5-inch form
factor (typically found in laptops) is the most popular. For desktop computers
with 3.5-inch hard disk slots, a simple adapter plate can be used to make such
a disk fit. Other types of form factors are more common in enterprise
applications. An SSD can also be completely integrated in the other circuitry
of the device, Sony
SVS1511L3ES battery
Sony
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Sony
SVS1511V9EB battery as in the Apple MacBook Air (starting with the
fall 2010 model).[citation needed] As of 2014, mSATA and M.2 form factors are
also gaining popularity, primarily in laptops.
Standard HDD form factors[edit]
The benefit of using a current HDD form
factor would be to take advantage of the extensive infrastructure already in
place to mount and connect the drives to the host system.[5][69] These
traditional form factors are known by the size of the rotating media, e.g.,
5.25-inch, 3.5-inch, 2.5-inch, 1.8-inch, not by the dimensions of the drive
casing.[70] Sony
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Standard card form factors[edit]
Main articles: mSATA and M.2
For applications where space is at premium, like for ultrabooks or tablets, a few compact form factors were standardized for flash-based SSDs.
There is the mSATA form factor, which uses the PCI Express Mini Card physical layout. It remains electrically compatible with the PCI Express Mini Card interface specification, while requiring an additional connection to the SATA host controller through the same connector.
M.2 form factor, formerly known as the Next Generation Form Factor (NGFF), is a natural transition from the mSATA and physical layout it used, to a more usable and more advanced form factor. While mSATA took advantage of an existing form factor and connector, Sony PCG-41215M battery
Sony VPCZ13Z9E/X batteryM.2 has been designed to maximize usage of the card space, while minimizing the footprint. The M.2 standard allows both SATA and PCI Express SSDs to be fitted onto M.2 modules.[71]
Disk-on-a-module form factors[edit]
A 2 GB disk-on-module with PATA interface
A disk-on-a-module (DOM) is a flash drive with either 40/44-pin Parallel ATA (PATA) or SATA interface, intended to be plugged directly into the motherboard and used as a computer hard disk drive (HDD). The flash-to-IDE converter simulates a HDD, Sony PCG-41217M battery
so DOMs can be used without additional software support or drivers. DOMs are usually used in embedded systems, which are often deployed in harsh environments where mechanical HDDs would simply fail, or in thin clients because of small size, low power consumption and silent operation.
As of 2010, storage capacities range from 32 MB to 64 GB with different variations in physical layouts, including vertical or horizontal orientation.
Box form factors[edit]
Many of the DRAM-based solutions use a box that is often designed to fit in a rack-mount system. The number of DRAM components required to get sufficient capacity to store the data along with the backup power supplies requires a larger space than traditional HDD form factors.[citation needed]
Bare-board form factors[edit]
Viking Technology SATA Cube and AMP SATA Bridge multi-layer SSDs
Viking Technology SATADIMM based SSD
MO-297 SSD form factor
A custom-connector SATA SSD
Form factors which were more common to memory modules are now being used by SSDs to take advantage of their flexibility in laying out the components. Some of these include PCIe, mini PCIe, mini-DIMM, MO-297, and many more.[72] Sony PCG-31114M battery
The SATADIMM from Viking Technology uses an empty DDR3 DIMM slot on the motherboard to provide power to the SSD with a separate SATA connector to provide the data connection back to the computer. The result is an easy-to-install SSD with a capacity equal to drives that typically take a full 2.5-inch drive bay.[73Sony PCG-41311M battery
] At least one manufacturer, Innodisk, has produced a drive that sits directly on the SATA connector (SATADOM) on the motherboard without any need for a power cable.[74] Some SSDs are based on the PCIe form factor and connect both the data interface and power through the PCIe connector to the host. Sony PCG-41314M battery
Sony PCG-6121M batteryThese drives can use either direct PCIe flash controllers[75] or a PCIe-to-SATA bridge device which then connects to SATA flash controllers.[76]
Ball grid array form factors[edit]
In the early 2000s, a few companies introduced SSDs in Ball Grid Array (BGA) form factors, such as M-Systems' (now SanDisk) DiskOnChip[77] and Silicon Storage Technology's NANDrive[78][79] (now produced by Greenliant Systems), Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Sony PCG-6112M battery and Memoright's M1000[80] for use in embedded systems. The main benefits of BGA SSDs are their low power consumption, small chip package size to fit into compact subsystems, and that they can be soldered directly onto a system motherboard to reduce adverse effects from vibration and shock.[81] Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Comparison with hard disk drives[edit]
SSD benchmark, showing about 230 MB/s reading speed (blue), 210 MB/s writing speed (red) and about 0.1 ms seek time (green), all independent from the accessed disk location.
See also: Hard disk drive performance characteristics Sony PCG-81112M battery
Making a comparison between SSDs and ordinary (spinning) HDDs is difficult. Dell Inspiron N7010 Battery
Dell Latitude E6400 Battery Traditional HDD benchmarks tend to focus on the performance characteristics that are poor with HDDs, such as rotational latency and seek time. As SSDs do not need to spin or seek to locate data, they may prove vastly superior to HDDs in such tests. Sony PCG-81212M battery
Sony SVF153B1YM batteryHowever, SSDs have challenges with mixed reads and writes, and their performance may degrade over time. SSD testing must start from the (in use) full disk, as the new and empty (fresh out of the box) disk may have much better write performance than it would show after only weeks of use.[82] Sony PCG-81311M battery
Most of the advantages of solid-state drives over traditional hard drives are due to their ability to access data completely electronically instead of electromechanically, resulting in superior transfer speeds and mechanical ruggedness.[83] On the other hand, hard disk drives offer significantly higher capacity for their price.[7][84] Sony PCG-81312M battery
Field failure rates indicate that SSDs are significantly more reliable than HDDs,[85][86][87] however SSDs are uniquely sensitive to sudden power interruption, resulting in aborted writes or even cases of the complete loss of the drive.[88] The reliability of both HDD and SSD vary greatly amongst models.[89] Sony PCG-81411M battery
As with HDDs, there is a tradeoff between cost and performance of different SSDs. Dell Inspiron N5010D Battery
Dell Latitude E6320 Battery Single-level cell (SLC) SSDs, while significantly more expensive than multi-level (MLC) SSDs, offer a significant speed advantage. At the same time, DRAM-based solid-state storage is currently considered the fastest and most costly, Sony PCG-81412M battery
Sony SVF14AA1QM batterywith average response times of 10 microseconds instead of the average 100 microseconds of other SSDs. Enterprise flash devices (EFDs) are designed to handle the demands of Tier-1 application with performance and response times similar to less-expensive SSDs.[90]
In traditional HDDs, a re-written file will generally occupy the same location on the disk surface as the original file, whereas in SSDs the new copy will often be written to different NAND cells for the purpose of wear leveling. Sony PCG-81212M battery
Sony SVT1313C5E battery The wear leveling algorithms are complex and difficult to test exhaustively. One major cause of data loss in SSDs is firmware bugs,[91] which rarely cause problems in HDDs.[dubious – discuss][92]
The following table shows a detailed overview of the advantages and disadvantages of both technologies. Comparisons reflect typical characteristics, and may not hold for a specific device.
Attribute or characteristic Solid-state drive Hard disk drive
Start-up time Almost instantaneous; no mechanical components to prepare. May need a few milliseconds to come out of an automatic power-saving mode. Disk spin-up may take several seconds. A system with many drives may need to stagger spin-up to limit peak power drawn, which is briefly high when an HDD is first started.[citation needed] Sony PCG-81312M battery
Random access time[93] Typically under 0.1 ms.[94] As data can be retrieved directly from various locations of the flash memory, access time is usually not a big performance bottleneck. Ranges from 2.9 (high end server drive) to 12 ms (laptop HDD) due to the need to move the heads and wait for the data to rotate under the read/write head.[ Dell Inspiron 13R Battery
Dell Latitude E6220 Battery95] Sony PCG-81313M battery
Read latency time[96] Generally low because the data can be read directly from any location. In applications where hard disk seeks are the limiting factor, this results in faster boot and application launch times (see Amdahl's law).[97] Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
Dell Latitude E6120 BatteryMuch higher than SSDs. Read time is different for every different seek, since the location of the data on the disk and the location of the read-head make a difference. Sony PCG-81412M battery
Data transfer rate SSD technology can deliver rather consistent read/write speed, but when lots of individual smaller blocks are accessed, performance is reduced. Dell Latitude E5400 Battery
Dell Latitude E5520 Battery In consumer products the maximum transfer rate typically ranges from about 100 MB/s to 600 MB/s, depending on the disk. Enterprise market offers devices with multi-gigabyte per second throughput. sony SVF152C29M battery
Sony SVT131A11M battery Once the head is positioned, when reading or writing a continuous track, an enterprise HDD can transfer data at about 140 MB/s. In practice transfer speeds are many times lower due to constant seeking, sony SVF153B1YM battery
Sony SVF152A29M battery as files are read from various locations or they are fragmented. Data transfer rate depends also upon rotational speed, which can range from 4,200 to 15,000 rpm[98] and also upon the track (reading from the outer tracks is faster due higher absolute head velocity relative to the disk). sony SVF154B1EM battery
Read performance[99] Read performance does not change based on where data is stored on an SSD.[citation needed]
Unlike mechanical hard drives, current SSD technology suffers from a performance degradation phenomenon called write amplification, where the NAND cells show a measurable drop in performance, and will continue degrading throughout the life of the SSD.[ sony SVT131A11M battery
sony SVF152A29M batterydubious – discuss] A technique called wear leveling is implemented to mitigate this effect, but due to the nature of the NAND chips, the drive will inevitably degrade at a noticeable rate. sony SVT151A11M battery
If data from different areas of the platter must be accessed, as with fragmented files, response times will be increased by the need to seek each fragment.[citation needed] Dell Latitude E5420 Battery
Fragmentation (filesystem specific) There is limited benefit to reading data sequentially (beyond typical FS block sizes, say 4kB), making fragmentation negligible for SSDs.[100] Defragmentation would cause wear by making additional writes of the NAND flash cells, which have a limited cycle life.[101][102] Files, particularly large ones, sony SVT151B11M battery
sony VGP-BPS33 battery on HDDs usually become fragmented over time if frequently written; periodic defragmentation is required to maintain optimum performance.[103]
Noise (acoustic)[104] SSDs have no moving parts and therefore are basically silent, although electric noise from the circuits may occur. HDDs have moving parts (heads, sony SVT1511C5E battery
sony SVT1511M1RS battery actuator, and spindle motor) and make characteristic sounds of whirring and clicking; noise levels vary between models, but can be significant (while often much lower than the sound from the cooling fans). Laptop hard disks are relatively quiet. sony SVT1511M1ES battery
Temperature control[105] SSDs usually do not require any special cooling and can tolerate higher temperatures than HDDs. High-end enterprise models installed as add-on cards may ship with heat sinks to dissipate generated heat. sony PCG-51311M battery
Ambient temperatures above 95 °F (35 °C) can shorten the life of a hard disk, and reliability will be compromised at drive temperatures above 131 °F (55 °C). Fan cooling may be required if temperatures would otherwise exceed these values.[106] In practice most hard drives are used without special arrangements for cooling. sony PCG-51512M battery
Susceptibility to environmental factors[97][107][108] No moving parts, very resistant to shock and vibration. Heads floating above rapidly rotating platters are susceptible to shock and vibration. sony PCG-61112M battery
Installation and mounting Not sensitive to orientation, vibration, or shock. Usually no exposed circuitry. Circuitry may be exposed, and it must not be short-circuited by conductive materials (such as the metal chassis of a computer). Most recent models work well in all orientations.[citation needed] Should be mounted to protect against vibration and shock.
Susceptibility to magnetic fields [109] Low impact on flash memory. But an electromagnetic pulse will damage any electrical system, especially integrated circuits. Magnets or magnetic surges could in principle damage data, although the magnetic platters are usually well-shielded inside a metal case. sony PCG-61215M battery
Weight and size[107] Solid state drives, essentially semiconductor memory devices mounted on a circuit board, are small and light in weight. However, for easy replacement, they often follow the same form factors as HDDs (3.5-inch, 2.5-inch or 1.8-inch). Such form factors typically weigh as much as their HDD counterparts, Sony VGP-BPL14 battery
Sony VGP-BPL26 battery mostly due to the enclosure. HDDs typically have the same form factor but may be heavier. This applies for 3.5-inch drives, which typically weigh around 700 grams.
Reliability and lifetime SSDs have no moving parts to fail mechanically. Sony VGP-BPS14 battery
Sony VGP-BPS22A battery Each block of a flash-based SSD can only be erased (and therefore written) a limited number of times before it fails. The controllers manage this limitation so that drives can last for many years under normal use. Sony VGP-BPL14/S battery
Sony VGP-BPS26 battery SSDs based on DRAM do not have a limited number of writes. However the failure of a controller can make a SSD unusable. Reliability varies significantly across different SSD manufacturers and models with return rates reaching 40% for specific drives.[87] As of 2011 leading SSDs have lower return rates than mechanical drives.[85Sony VGP-BPS14/S battery
Sony VGP-BPL22 battery] Many SSDs critically fail on power outages; a December 2013 survey of many SSDs found that only some of them are able to survive multiple power outages.[115] HDDs have moving parts, and are subject to potential mechanical failures from the resulting wear and tear. The storage medium itself (magnetic platter) does not essentially degrade from read and write operations. Sony VGP-BPS12 battery
According to a study performed by Carnegie Mellon University for both consumer and enterprise-grade HDDs, their average failure rate is 6 years, and life expectancy is 9–11 years.[116] Leading SSDs have overtaken hard disks for reliability,[85] however the risk of a sudden, catastrophic data loss can be lower for mechanical disks.[117] Sony VGP-BPS12/Q battery
When stored offline (unpowered in shelf) in long term, the magnetic medium of HDD retains data significantly longer than flash memory used in SSDs.
Secure writing limitations NAND flash memory cannot be overwritten, but has to be rewritten to previously erased blocks. If a software encryption program encrypts data already on the SSD, the overwritten data is still unsecured, unencrypted, and accessible (drive-based hardware encryption does not have this problem) Sony vgp-bpsc24 battery
Also data cannot be securely erased by overwriting the original file without special "Secure Erase" procedures built into the drive.[118] HDDs can overwrite data directly on the drive in any particular sector. However the drive's firmware may exchange damaged blocks with spare areas, so bits and pieces may still be present. Sony VGP-BPS12 battery
Cost per capacity SSD pricing changes rapidly; April 2013 - US$0.59/GB.[119] April 2014 - US$0.45/GB. HDDs cost about US$0.05 per GB for 3.5-inch and $0.10 per GB for 2.5-inch drives.
Storage capacity In 2013, SSDs were available in sizes up to 2 TB, but less costly 128 to 512 GB drives were more common.[citation needed] In 2014, HDDs of up to 8 TB were available.[120] Sony VGP-BPS12/Q battery
Read/write performance symmetry Less expensive SSDs typically have write speeds significantly lower than their read speeds. Higher performing SSDs have similar read and write speeds. HDDs generally have slightly longer (worse) seek times for writing than for reading.[121] Sony VGP-BPS20 battery
Free block availability and TRIM SSD write performance is significantly impacted by the availability of free, programmable blocks. Previously written data blocks no longer in use can be reclaimed by TRIM; however, even with TRIM, fewer free blocks cause slower performance.[40][122] Sony VGP-BPL20 battery
Sony VGP-BPL14/S battery [123] HDDs are not affected by free blocks and do not benefit from TRIM.
Power consumption High performance flash-based SSDs generally require half to a third of the power of HDDs. High-performance DRAM SSDs generally require as much power as HDDs, and must be connected to power even when the rest of the system is shut down.[124] Sony VGP-BPS20/B battery
Sony VGP-BPL14/B battery [125] Emerging technologies like DevSlp can minimize power requirements of idle drives. The lowest-power HDDs (1.8-inch size) can use as little as 0.35 watts when idle.[126] 2.5-inch drives typically use 2 to 5 watts. The highest-performance 3.5-inch drives can use up to about 20 watts. Sony VGP-BPS20/S battery
Comparison with memory cards[edit]
CompactFlash card used as an SSD
While both memory cards and most SSDs use flash memory, they serve very different markets and purposes. Each has a number of different attributes which are optimized and adjusted to best meet the needs of particular users. Some of these characteristics include power consumption, performance, size, and reliability.[127]
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SSDs were originally designed for use in a
computer system. The first units were intended to replace or augment hard disk
drives, so the operating system recognized them as a hard drive. Originally,
solid state drives were even shaped and mounted in the computer like hard
drives. Sony
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battery
Later SSDs became smaller and more compact,
eventually developing their own unique form factors. The SSD was designed to be
installed permanently inside a computer.[127]
Sony VPCSB battery
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In contrast, memory cards (such as Secure
Digital (SD), CompactFlash (CF) and many others) were originally designed for
digital cameras and later found their way into cell phones, gaming devices, GPS
units, etc. Most memory cards are physically smaller than SSDs, and designed to
be inserted and removed repeatedly.[1Sony
SVS13A1V9E battery
Sony
VPCSB4S9E battery27] There are adapters which enable some memory
cards to interface to a computer, allowing use as an SSD, but they are not
intended to be the primary storage device in the computer. Sony
SVS13A1Y9E battery
Sony
SVS13A1Z9E battery
Sony
VPCSA3Q9E battery The typical CompactFlash card interface is three
to four times slower than an SSD. As memory cards are not designed to tolerate
the amount of reading and writing which occurs during typical computer use, their
data may get damaged unless special procedures are taken to reduce the wear on
the card to a minimum.
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Applications[edit]
Until 2009, SSDs were mainly used in those
aspects of mission critical applications where the speed of the storage system
needed to be as high as possible. Since flash memory has become a common
component of SSDs, Sony
SVS1311K9E battery
Sony
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Sony
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made it more cost-effective for many other applications. Organizations that can
benefit from faster access of system data include equity trading companies,
telecommunication corporations, streaming media and video editing firms. The
list of applications which could benefit from faster storage is vast.[5]
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Flash-based solid-state drives can be used to create network appliances from general-purpose personal computer hardware. A write protected flash drive containing the operating system and application software can substitute for larger, less reliable disk drives or CD-ROMs. Appliances built this way can provide an inexpensive alternative to expensive router and firewall hardware.[citation needed]
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SSDs based on an SD card with a live SD
operating system are easily write-locked. Combined with a cloud computing
environment or other writable medium, to maintain persistence, an OS booted
from a write-locked SD card is robust, rugged, reliable, and impervious to
permanent corruption. If the running OS degrades, Sony
SVS1313P9E battery
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simply turning the machine off and then on
returns it back to its initial uncorrupted state and thus is particularly
solid. The SD card installed OS does not require removal of corrupted
components since it was write-locked though any written media may need to be
restored.
Hard drives caching[edit]
In 2011, Intel introduced a caching
mechanism for their Z68 chipset (and mobile derivatives) called Smart Response
Technology, which allows a SATA SSD to be used as a cache (configurable as
write-through or write-back) for a conventional, magnetic hard disk drive.[128]
A similar technology is available on HighPoint's RocketHybrid PCIe card.[129Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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Solid-state hybrid drives (SSHDs) are based
on the same principle, but integrate some amount of flash memory on board of a
conventional drive instead of using a separate SSD. The flash layer in these
drives can be accessed independently from the magnetic storage by the host
using ATA-8 commands, allowing the operating system to manage it. Sony
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Sony
SVS1311P9EB batteryFor example Microsoft's ReadyDrive technology
explicitly stores portions of the hibernation file in the cache of these drives
when the system hibernates, making the subsequent resume faster.[130]
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Dual-drive hybrid systems are combining the usage of separate SSD and HDD devices installed in the same computer, with overall performance optimization managed by the computer user, or by the computer's operating system software. Examples of this type of system are bcache and dm-cache on Linux,[131] and Apple’s Fusion Drive.
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Wear leveling[edit]
Main articles: Wear leveling and Write amplification
If a particular block was programmed and
erased repeatedly without writing to any other blocks, that block would wear
out before all the other blocks — thereby prematurely ending the life of the
SSD. For this reason, SSD controllers use a technique called wear leveling to
distribute writes as evenly as possible across all the flash blocks in the SSD.
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In a perfect scenario, this would enable
every block to be written to its maximum life so they all fail at the same
time. Unfortunately, the process to evenly distribute writes requires data
previously written and not changing (cold data) to be moved, so that data which
are changing more frequently (hot data) Sony
VPCSE2C5E battery
Sony
SVS131B12M battery can be written into those blocks. Each time data
are relocated without being changed by the host system, this increases the
write amplification and thus reduces the life of the flash memory. The key is
to find an optimum algorithm which maximizes them both.[132][133]
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SVS13AA11M battery
Data recovery and secure deletion[edit]
Solid state drives have set new challenges
for data recovery companies, as the way of storing data is non-linear and much
more complex than that of hard disk drives. The strategy the drive operates by
internally can largely vary between manufacturers, and the TRIM command zeroes
the whole range of a deleted file. Sony
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Sony
vgp-bps24 battery
Sony
VPCSA2Z9E battery Wear leveling also means that the physical address
of the data and the address exposed to the operating system are different.
As for secure deletion of data, using the ATA Secure Erase command is recommended, as the drive itself knows the most effective method to truly reset its data. A program such as Parted Magic can be used for this purpose.[134Sony vgp-bpsc24 battery] In 2014, Asus was the first company to introduce a Secure Erase feature built into the UEFI of its Republic of Gamers series of PC motherboards.[135]
File systems suitable for SSDs[edit]
Main article: File systems optimized for flash memory, solid state media
Typically the same file systems used on
hard disk drives can also be used on solid state disks. It is usually expected
for the file system to support the TRIM command which helps the SSD to recycle
discarded data. Sony
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There is no need for the file system to take care of wear leveling or other
flash memory characteristics, as they are handled internally by the SSD. Some
flash file systems using log-based designs (F2FS, JFFS2) help to reduce write
amplification on SSDs, especially in situations where only very small amounts
of data are changed, such as when updating file system metadata. Sony
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While not a file system feature, operating systems must also align partitions correctly to avoid excessive read-modify-write cycles. A typical practice for personal computers is to have each partition aligned to start at a 1 MB mark, which covers all common SSD page and block size scenarios, as it is divisible by 1 MB, 512 KB, 128 KB, 4 KB and 512 bytes. Modern operating system installation software and disk tools handle this automatically.
Other features designed for hard disk drives, most notably defragmentation, are disabled in SSD installations.
Listed below are some notable computer file systems that work well with solid-states drives.
Linux systems[edit]
The ext4, Btrfs, XFS, JFS and F2FS file
systems include support for the discard (TRIM) function. As of November 2013,
ext4 can be recommended as a safe choice. F2FS is a modern file system
optimized for flash-based storage, and from a technical perspective is a very
good choice, but is still in experimental stage. Sony
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Kernel support for the TRIM operation
was introduced in version 2.6.33 of the Linux kernel mainline, released on 24
February 2010.[136] To make use of it, a filesystem must be mounted using the
discard parameter. Linux swap partitions are by default performing discard
operations when the underlying drive supports TRIM, with the possibility to
turn them off, or to select between one-time or continuous discard
operations.[137] Sony PCG-41218M
battery
Sony
SVE1511P1E battery [138][139]
An alternative to the kernel-level TRIM
operation is to use a user-space utility called fstrim that goes through all of
the unused blocks in a filesystem and dispatches TRIM commands for those areas.
fstrim utility is usually run by cron as a scheduled task. Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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Sony
SVE1511M1E batteryAs of November 2013, it is used by the Ubuntu
Linux distribution, in which it is enabled only for Intel and Samsung
solid-state drives for reliability reasons; vendor check can be disabled by
editing file /etc/cron.weekly/fstrim using instructions contained within the
file itself.[14
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Since 2010, standard Linux disk utilities have taken care of appropriate partition alignment by default.[141]
Performance considerations[edit]
During installation, Linux distributions usually do not configure the installed system to use TRIM and thus the /etc/fstab file requires manual modifications.[142] This is because of the notion that the current Linux TRIM command implementation might not be optimal.[14Sony PCG-4121GM battery
Sony
SVE1511A1EW battery3] It has been proven to cause a performance
degradation instead of a performance increase under certain
circumstances.[144][ Sony PCG-41212M
battery
145] As of January 2014, Linux sends individual TRIM commands, instead of vectorized lists of TRIM ranges as recommended by the TRIM specification.[146] This problem has existed for years and it is not known when the Linux TRIM strategy will be reworked to fix the issue.
For performance reasons, it is recommended to switch the I/O scheduler from the default CFQ (Completely Fair Queuing) to Noop or Deadline. CFQ was designed for traditional magnetic media and seek optimizations, thus many of those I/O scheduling efforts are wasted when used with SSDs. Sony PCG-41216M battery
Sony PCG-31113M battery As part of their designs, SSDs are offering much bigger levels of parallelism for I/O operations, so it is preferable to leave scheduling decisions to their internal logic – especially for high-end SSDs.[147][148]
A scalable block layer for high-performance SSD storage, developed primarily by Fusion-io engineers, was merged into the Linux kernel mainline in kernel version 3.13, released on 19 January 2014. This leverages the performance offered by SSDs and NVM Express, by allowing much higher I/O submission rates. Sony PCG-41218M battery
Sony
PCG-31111M batteryWith this new design of the Linux kernel block
layer, internal queues are split into two levels (per-CPU and
hardware-submission queues), thus removing bottlenecks and allowing much higher
levels of I/O parallelization. Sony
VPCEA3S1R Battery
Sony VGP-BPS20 batteryWith the release of Linux kernel version 3.13, only the virtioblk driver has been modified to actually use this new interface; other drivers will be ported in the following releases.[149][150][151]
Mac OS X[edit]
Mac OS X versions since 10.6.8 (Snow
Leopard) support TRIM but only when used with an Apple-purchased SSD.[152]
There is also a technique to enable TRIM in earlier versions, though it is
uncertain whether TRIM is utilized properly if enabled in versions before
10.6.8.[1Sony SVE171A11M
battery
Sony
VGP-BPS20/S battery53] TRIM is generally not automatically enabled
for third-party drives, although it can be enabled by using third-party
utilities such as Trim Enabler. The status of TRIM can be checked in the System
Information application or in the system_profiler command-line tool. Sony
SVE151C11M battery
Microsoft Windows[edit]
Versions of Microsoft Windows prior to 7 do not take any special measures to support solid state drives. Partitions should be manually aligned before operating system installation. Defragmentation negatively affects the life of the SSD and has no benefit. The TRIM command can be triggered using third-party tools to help maintain performance over time.[citation needed]
Starting from Windows 7, the standard NTFS file system provides TRIM support (other file systems do not support TRIM[154]).
By default, Windows 7, 8, and 8.1
execute TRIM commands automatically if the device is detected to be a
solid-state drive. To change this behavior, in the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem Sony
SVE1711K1EW battery
Sony
SVE1711V1EB battery
Sony
SVE1711X1EB battery
Sony VPCZ23K9E batterythe value DisableDeleteNotification can be set to 1 to prevent the mass storage driver from issuing the TRIM command. This can be useful in situations where data recovery is preferred over wear leveling (TRIM irreversibly resets all data that it manipulates).[citation needed]
Windows implements TRIM command for more than just file delete operations. The TRIM operation is fully integrated with partition- and volume-level commands like format and delete, with file system commands relating to truncate and compression, and with the System Restore (also known as Volume Snapshot) feature.[155]
Windows 7, 8, and 8.1[edit]
Windows 7 has support for
SSDs.[156][157] Support in Windows 8 and 8.1 is similar. The operating system
detects the presence of an SSD and optimizes operation accordingly. For SSD
devices Windows disables defragmentation, Sony
SVE1511G1EB battery
Sony
SVE1511S1EW battery
SuperFetch and ReadyBoost, the latter two
being boot-time and application prefetching operations. It also includes
support for the TRIM command to reduce garbage collection for data which the
operating system has already determined is no longer valid. Without support for
TRIM, the SSD would be unaware of this data being invalid and would
unnecessarily continue to rewrite it during garbage collection causing further
wear on the SSD.[15Sony
SVE1511S1ESI battery
Sony
SVE1511S1EB battery
Sony VPCZ13 battery8][159]
Windows Vista[edit]
Windows Vista generally expects hard
disk drives rather than SSDs.[160][161] Windows Vista includes ReadyBoost to
exploit characteristics of USB-connected flash devices, but for SSDs it only
improves the default partition alignment to prevent read-modify-write
operations which reduce the speed of the SSD. Sony
SVE1511B1EW battery
Sony
PCG-6124M batteryThis is because most SSDs are typically aligned on
4 kB sectors and most systems are based on 512 byte sectors with the default
partition set up unaligned.[162] The proper alignment really does not help the
SSD's endurance over the life of the drive, however some Vista operations, Sony
SVE1511H1EW battery
Sony
PCG-6123M battery if not disabled, can shorten the life of the SSD.
Disk defragmentation should be disabled because the location of the file
components on an SSD doesn't significantly impact its performance, but moving
the files to make them contiguous using the Windows Defrag routine will cause
unnecessary write wear on the limited number of P/E cycles on the SSD. Sony
SVE1511H1ESI battery
Sony PCG-6122M batteryThe Superfetch feature will not materially improve the performance of the system and causes additional overhead in the system and SSD, although it does not cause wear.[163] There is no official information to confirm whether Windows Vista sends TRIM commands to a solid state drive.
ZFS[edit]
Solaris as of version 10 Update 6
(released in October 2008), and recent versions of OpenSolaris, Solaris Express
Community Edition, Illumos, Linux with ZFS on Linux and FreeBSD all can use
SSDs as a performance booster for ZFS. Sony
VPCCA4S1E battery
Sony
VPCCB3M1E battery
Sony
PCG-6112M battery A low-latency SSD can be used for the ZFS Intent
Log (ZIL), where it is named the SLOG. This is used every time a synchronous
write to the disk occurs. An SSD (not necessarily with a low-latency) may also
be used for the level 2 Adaptive Replacement Cache (L2ARC), Sony
VPCCA3S1E battery
Sony PCG-6Z4M battery which is used to cache data for reading. When used either alone or in combination, large increases in performance are generally seen.[164]
FreeBSD[edit]
ZFS for FreeBSD introduced support for TRIM on September 23, 2012.[165] The code builds a map of regions of data that were freed; on every write the code consults the map and eventually removes ranges that were freed before, but are now overwritten. There is a low-priority thread that TRIMs ranges when the time comes.
Also the Unix File System (UFS) supports the TRIM command.[citation needed]
Swap partitions[edit]
Linux swap partitions are by default performing TRIM operations when the underlying block device supports TRIM, with the possibility to turn them off, or to select between one-time or continuous TRIM operations.[137][138][139] Sony PCG-41311M battery
If an operating system does not support using TRIM on discrete swap partitions, it might be possible to use swap files inside an ordinary file system instead. For example, OS X does not support swap partitions; it only swaps to files within a file system, so it can use TRIM when, for example, swap files are deleted. Sony PCG-41313M battery
DragonFly BSD allows SSD-configured swap to also be used as file system cache.[166] This can be used to boost performance on both desktop and server workloads. The bcache, dm-cache and Flashcache projects provide a similar concept for the Linux kernel.[167] Sony PCG-41314M battery
Standardization organizations[edit]
The following are noted standardization organizations and
bodies that work to create standards for solid-state drives (and other computer
storage devices). The table below also includes organizations which promote the
use of solid-state drives. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list. Sony PCG-6P2M Battery
Sony PCG-6Q2M Battery
Along with the emerging enterprise market, SSDs have been appearing
in ultra-mobile PCs and a few lightweight laptop systems, adding significantly
to the price of the laptop, depending on the capacity, form factor and transfer
speeds. For low-end applications, a USB flash drive may be obtainable for
anywhere from $10 to $100 or so, depending on capacity; Sony PCG-6R1M Battery
Sony
SVE14AJ15M battery alternatively, a CompactFlash card may be paired
with a CF-to-IDE or CF-to-SATA converter at a similar cost. Either of these
requires that write-cycle endurance issues be managed, either by refraining
from storing frequently written files on the drive or by using a flash file
system. Standard CompactFlash cards usually have write speeds of 7 to 15 MB/s
while the more expensive upmarket cards claim speeds of up to 60 MB/s. Sony PCG-6C1M Battery
Sony PCG-6D1M Battery
One of the first mainstream releases of SSD was the XO
Laptop, built as part of the One Laptop Per Child project. Mass production of
these computers, built for children in developing countries, began in December
2007. Sony PCG-6E1M Battery
Sony PCG-6G1M Battery
Sony
SVE14AG18M batteryThese machines use 1,024 MiB SLC NAND flash as
primary storage which is considered more suitable for the harsher than normal
conditions in which they are expected to be used. Dell began shipping
ultra-portable laptops with SanDisk SSDs on April 26, 2007.[168] Asus released
the Eee PC subnotebook on October 16, 2007, with 2, 4 or 8 gigabytes of flash
memory.[169Sony PCG-6H1M Battery
Sony PCG-6G2M Battery
Sony
SVE14AG15M battery] On January 31, 2008, Apple released the MacBook
Air, a thin laptop with an optional 64 GB SSD. The Apple Store cost was $999
more for this option, as compared with that of an 80 GB 4200 RPM hard disk
drive.[170] Another option, the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 with a 64 gigabyte SSD,
was announced by Lenovo in February 2008.[1Sony PCG-6J1M Battery
Sony SVE151E11M battery71] On August 26, 2008, Lenovo released ThinkPad X301 with 128 GB SSD option which adds approximately $200 US.[172]
Some Mtron solid-state drives
In 2008 low end netbooks appeared with SSDs. In 2009 SSDs began to appear in laptops.[168][170]
On January 14, 2008, EMC Corporation (EMC) became the first enterprise storage vendor to ship flash-based SSDs into its product portfolio when it announced it had selected STEC, Inc.'s Zeus-IOPS SSDs for its Symmetrix DMX systems.[173]
Sony PCG-6L1M Battery
Sony PCG-6L2M Battery
In 2008 Sun released the Sun Storage 7000 Unified Storage Systems (codenamed Amber Road), which use both solid state drives and conventional hard drives to take advantage of the speed offered by SSDs and the economy and capacity offered by conventional hard disks.[174]
Dell began to offer optional 256 GB solid state drives on select notebook models in January 2009.[citation needed]
In May 2009, Toshiba launched a laptop with a 512 GB SSD.[175][176]
Since October 2010, Apple's MacBook Air line has used a solid state drive as standard.[177]
In December 2010, OCZ RevoDrive X2 PCIe SSD was available
in 100 GB to 960 GB capacities delivering speeds over 740 MB/s sequential
speeds and random small file writes up to 120,000 IOPS.[178] Sony PCG-8V1M Battery
Sony PCG-8V2M Battery
Sony PCG-8W1M Battery
In November 2010, Fusion-io released its highest performing SSD drive named ioDrive Octal utilising PCI-Express x16 Gen 2.0 interface with storage space of 5.12 TB, read speed of 6.0 GB/s, write speed of 4.4 GB/s and a low latency of 30 microseconds. It has 1.19 M Read 512 byte IOPS and 1.18 M Write 512 byte IOPS.[179]
Sony PCG-8W2M Battery
Sony PCG-7A1M Battery
In 2011, computers based on Intel's Ultrabook specifications became available. These specifications dictate that Ultrabooks use an SSD. These are consumer-level devices (unlike many previous flash offerings aimed at enterprise users), and represent the first widely available consumer computers using SSDs aside from the MacBook Air.[citation needed]
At CES 2012, OCZ Technology demonstrated the R4 CloudServ PCIe SSDs capable of reaching transfer speeds of 6.5 GB/s and 1.4 million IOPS.[180] Also announced was the Z-Drive R5 which is available in capacities up to 12 TB capable of reaching transfer speeds of 7.2 GB/s and 2.52 million IOPS using the PCI Express x16 Gen 3.0.[181]
In December 2013, Samsung introduced and launched industry's first 1 TB mSATA SSD.[182][183]
Quality and performance[edit]
Main article: Disk drive performance characteristics
SSD technology has been developing rapidly. Most of the
performance measurements used on disk drives with rotating media are also used
on SSDs. Performance of flash-based SSDs is difficult to benchmark because of
the wide range of possible conditions. In a test performed in 2010 by Xssist,
using IOmeter, 4 kB random 70% read/30% write, Sony PCG-7D1M Battery
Sony SVE171E13M battery queue depth 4, the IOPS delivered by the Intel X25-E 64 GB G1 started around 10,000 IOPs, and dropped sharply after 8 minutes to 4,000 IOPS, and continued to decrease gradually for the next 42 minutes. IOPS vary between 3,000 to 4,000 from around 50 minutes onwards for the rest of the 8+ hour test run.[184]
Write amplification is the major reason for the change in performance of an SSD over time. Designers of enterprise-grade drives try to avoid this performance variation by increasing over provisioning, and by employing wear-leveling algorithms that move data only when the drives are not heavily utilized.[185]
Sales[edit]
SSD shipments were 11 million units in 2009,[186] 17.3
million units in 2011[187] for a total of $5 billion,[188] 39 million units in
2012, and are expected to rise to 83 million units in 2013[189] to 201.4 million
units in 2016[187] and to 227 million units in 2017.[190] Sony PCG-7H2M Battery
Revenues for the SSD market (including low-cost PC solutions) worldwide totaled US$585 million in 2008, rising over 100% from US$259 million in 2007.[191
A USB flash drive is a data storage device that includes
flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. USB flash
drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than
an optical disc. Most weigh less than 30 grams (1.1 oz).[1] As of January 2013,
drives of up to 512 gigabytes (GB) were available.[ Sony PCG-7M1M Battery
Sony
SVE14AE12M battery2] A one-terabyte (TB) drive was unveiled at the
2013 Consumer Electronics Show and became available later that year.[3] Storage
capacities as large as 2 TB are planned, with steady improvements in size and
price per capacity expected.[4] Some allow up to 100,000 write/erase cycles,
depending on the exact type of memory chip used, and have a 10-year shelf
storage time.[5][6][7] Sony
PCG-7N1M Battery
Sony
PCG-791M Battery
USB flash drives are often used for the
same purposes for which floppy disks or CDs were used, i.e., for storage,
back-up and transfer of computer files. They are smaller, faster, have
thousands of times more capacity, and are more durable and reliable because
they have no moving parts. Additionally,
Sony
PCG-7X1M Battery they are immune to magnetic interference (unlike
floppy disks), and unharmed by surface scratches (unlike CDs). Until about
2005, most desktop and laptop computers were supplied with floppy disk drives
in addition to USB ports, but floppy disk drives have been abandoned due to
their lower capacity compared to USB flash drives.
USB flash drives use the USB mass storage
standard, supported natively by modern operating systems such as Linux, OS X,
Windows, and other Unix-like systems, as well as many BIOS boot ROMs. USB
drives with USB 2.0 support can store more data and transfer faster than much
larger optical disc drives like CD-RW or DVD-RW drives and can be read by many
other systems such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Sony
PCG-7N2M Battery
Sony
PCG-7R1M Battery DVD players and in a number of handheld devices
such as smartphones and tablet computers, though the electronically similar SD
card is better suited for those devices.
A flash drive consists of a small printed circuit board carrying the circuit elements and a USB connector, insulated electrically and protected inside a plastic, metal, or rubberized case which can be carried in a pocket or on a key chain, for example. sony PCG-51113M battery
The USB connector may be protected by a removable cap or by retracting into the body of the drive, although it is not likely to be damaged if unprotected. Most flash drives use a standard type-A USB connection allowing connection with a port on a personal computer, but drives for other interfaces also exist. sony PCG-51311M battery
USB flash drives draw power from the computer via the USB connection. Some devices combine the functionality of a digital audio player with USB flash storage; they require a battery only when used to play music.
USB flash drives were invented by Amir Ban, Dov Moran and Oron Ogdan, all of the Israeli company M-Systems, who filed US patent 6,148,354 in April 1999.[8] However, the patent describes a product that has a cable between the memory unit and the USB connector.[citation needed] Released later the same year, IBM Patent Disclosure RPS8-1999-0201 from September 13, 1999 by Shimon Shmueli accurately describes the USB flash drive.[ Sony PCG-3B1M battery
Sony PCG-8161M battery9] IBM partnered with M-Systems to bring the product to market. Shmueli was later an expert witness for M-Systems and as part of his testimony in the Singapore court presented the IBM disclosure and evidenceSony PCG-7186M battery
to the fact that he invented the USB flash drive.[citation needed] M-Systems' product, developed by a team led by Dan Harkabi and named the DiskOnKey, was announced in September 2000.[10] Sony PCG-7154M battery
Competing claims have been made by Singaporean company Trek Technology and Chinese company Netac Technology,[11] but these claims are based on patents that post-date M-Systems'. Both Trek Technology and Netac Technology have tried to protect their patent claims. Trek won a Singaporean suit,[1Sony PCG-7186M battery
Sony PCG-3H1M battery2] but a court in the United Kingdom revoked one of Trek's UK patents.[13] While Netac Technology has brought lawsuits against PNY Technologies,[14] Lenovo,[15] aigo,[16] Sony,[17][18][19] and Taiwan's Acer and Tai Guen Enterprise Co,[19] most companies that manufacture USB flash drives do so without regard for Trek and Netac's patents.
Pua Khein-Seng from Malaysia claims to have incorporated the world's first single chip USB flash controller. He is currently the CEO of Phison Electronics Corp, which is based in Taiwan.[20]
First commercial product[edit]
Trek Technology and IBM began selling the first USB flash drives commercially in 2000. Trek Technology sold a model under the brand name "ThumbDrive", and IBM marketed the first such drives in North America with its product named the "DiskOnKey", which was developed and manufactured by M-Systems.[21Sony PCG-7192M battery
] IBM's USB flash drive became available on December 15, 2000,[22] and had a storage capacity of 8 MB, more than five times the capacity of the then-common floppy disks.
In 2000, Lexar introduced a Compact Flash (CF) card with a USB connection, and a companion card read/writer and USB cable that eliminated the need for a USB hub.[citation needed]
Second generation[edit] Sony PCG-7195M battery
Question book-new.svg
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)
In 2013, most USB flash drives have USB 2.0 connectivity. USB 2.0 the Hi-Speed specification has a 480 Megabit per second (Mbit/s) Sony PCG-5S1M battery
upper bound on the transfer rate, but after protocol overhead, that translates to only 35 Megabytes per second (MB/s) effective throughput. The fastest USB 2.0 flash drives approach that speed. That is considerably slower than hard disk drive or Solid-state drive can transfer through a SATA interface. Sony PCG-7141M battery
File transfer speeds vary considerably. Speeds may be given in megabytes (Mbyte) per second, megabits per second (Mbit/s) or optical drive multipliers such as "180X" (180 times 150 Kibibyte(KiB) per second). Typical fast drives claim to read at up to 30 megabytes/s (MB/s) and write at about half that speed. Sony PCG-7144M battery
This is about 20 times faster than USB 1.1 "full speed" devices, which are limited to a maximum speed of 12 Mbit/s (1 MB/s with overhead). The speed of the device is significantly affected by the access pattern. For example small writes to random locations are much slower (and cause more wear) than long sequential reads.
Third generation[edit]
Like USB 2.0 before it, USB 3.0 offers dramatically improved data transfer rates compared to its predecessor. It was announced in late 2008, but consumer devices were not available until the beginning of 2010. The USB 3.0 interface specifies transfer rates up to 5 Gbit/s (625 MB/s), compared to USB 2.0's 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s).[23]
All USB 3.0 devices are backward compatible with USB 2.0 ports.[23] As of April 2014, computers with USB 3.0 ports are common; most newer laptops and desktops have at least one such port. USB 3.0 port expansion cards are available to upgrade older systems, and many newer motherboards feature two or more USB 3.0 ports available through PCB headers.
Storage capacity[edit]
The first USB flash drive appeared on the market in late 2000, providing a storage capacity of 8 MB.[24][25] Later, the maximum available storage capacity gradually doubled (16 MB, 32 MB, etc.)[26][ Sony PCG-3D1M battery
27] all the way up to reaching capacities of 512 GB[28] and 1 TB[29] by January 2013. However, as of May 2014 flash drives with anywhere from 8 to 128 GB are still frequently sold.
Design and implementation[edit]
On a USB flash drive, one end of the device is fitted with a single Standard-A USB plug; some flash drives additionally offer a micro USB plug, facilitating data transfers between different devices.[30]
Inside the plastic casing is a small printed circuit board, which has some power circuitry and a small number of surface-mounted integrated circuits (ICs). Typically, one of these ICs provides an interface between the USB connector and the onboard memory, while the other is the flash memory. In October 2013, Sony PCG-3G2M battery
Sony PCG-7195M batteryPKparis claims the launch of the world's smallest USB 3.0 flash drive.[31] Drives typically use the USB mass storage device class to communicate with the host.
Technology[edit]
A Kingston card reader which accepts Micro SD memory cards (Transcend card shown partially inserted), and acts as a USB flash drive; resulting size is approximately 2 cm in length, 1 cm in width, and 2 mm in thickness. Sony PCG-5R2M battery
Main articles: Flash memory and USB
Flash memory combines a number of older technologies, with lower cost, lower power consumption and small size made possible by advances in microprocessor technology. The memory storage was based on earlier EPROM and EEPROM technologies. These had limited capacity, were slow for both reading and writing, Sony PCG-8161M battery
Sony PCG-7192M batteryrequired complex high-voltage drive circuitry, and could only be re-written after erasing the entire contents of the chip.
Hardware designers later developed EEPROMs with the erasure region broken up into smaller "fields" that could be erased individually without affecting the others. Altering the contents of a particular memory location involved copying the entire field into an off-chip buffer memory, Sony PCG-3B1M battery
Sony PCG-7191M battery erasing the field, modifying the data as required in the buffer, and re-writing it into the same field. This required considerable computer support, and PC-based EEPROM flash memory systems often carried their own dedicated microprocessor system. Flash drives are more or less a miniaturized version of this. Sony PCG-9Z1M battery
The development of high-speed serial data interfaces such as USB made semiconductor memory systems with serially accessed storage viable, and the simultaneous development of small, high-speed, Sony PCG-8141M battery
Sony PCG-7154M battery low-power microprocessor systems allowed this to be incorporated into extremely compact systems. Serial access requires far fewer electrical connections for the memory chips than does parallel access, which has simplified the manufacture of multi-gigabyte drives. Sony SVE171G12M battery
Computers access modern flash memory systems very much like hard disk drives, where the controller system has full control over where information is actually stored. The actual EEPROM writing and erasure processes are, however, still very similar to the earlier systems described above. Sony SVE151J13M battery
Many low-cost MP3 players simply add extra software and a battery to a standard flash memory control microprocessor so it can also serve as a music playback decoder. Most of these players can also be used as a conventional flash drive, for storing files of any type.
Essential components[edit]
The internal mechanical and electronic parts of a Kingston 2 GB flash drive
There are typically five parts to a flash drive:
Standard-A USB plug – provides a physical interface to the host computer.
USB mass storage controller – a small microcontroller with a small amount of on-chip ROM and RAM.
NAND flash memory chip(s) – stores data (NAND flash is typically also used in digital cameras).
Crystal oscillator – produces the device's main 12 MHz clock signal and controls the device's data output through a phase-locked loop. Sony SVE141C11L battery
Cover – typically made of plastic or metal, protecting the electronics against mechanical stress and even possible short circuits.
Additional components[edit]
The typical device may also include:
Jumpers and test pins – for testing during the flash drive's manufacturing or loading code into the microprocessor.
LEDs – indicate data transfers or data reads and writes.
Write-protect switches – Enable or disable writing of data into memory.
Unpopulated space – provides space to include a second memory chip. Having this second space allows the manufacturer to use a single printed circuit board for more than one storage size device. Sony SVE141D11L battery
USB connector cover or cap – reduces the risk of damage, prevents the entry of dirt or other contaminants, and improves overall device appearance. Some flash drives use retractable USB connectors instead. Others have a swivel arrangement so that the connector can be protected without removing anything. sony PCG-51412M battery
Transport aid – the cap or the body often contains a hole suitable for connection to a key chain or lanyard. Connecting the cap, rather than the body, can allow the drive itself to be lost.
Some drives offer expandable stsony PCG-51513M battery
sony PCG-51512M batteryorage via an internal memory card slot, much like a memory card reader.[32][33]
Size and style of packaging[edit]
Flash drives come in various shapes and sizes, sometimes bulky or novelty, such as the shape of ikura gunkan-maki.
A USB Drive in the shape of a key
Some manufacturers differentiate their products by using elaborate housings, which are often bulky and make the drive difficult to connect to the USB port. Because the USB port connectors on a computer housing are often closely spaced, sony PCG-6111M battery
sony PCG-51311M batteryplugging a flash drive into a USB port may block an adjacent port. Such devices may only carry the USB logo if sold with a separate extension cable. Such cables are USB-compatible but do not conform to the USB standard.[34][35]
USB flash drives have been integrated into other commonly carried items, such as watches, pens, and even the Swiss Army Knife; others have been fitted with novelty cases such as toy cars or LEGO bricks. Particularly in the Far East bizarre USB flash drives with images of dragons, sony PCG-51113M battery
cats or aliens are very popular.[36] The small size, robustness and cheapness of USB flash drives make them an increasingly popular peripheral for case modding.
File system[edit]
Main article: Flash file system
Most flash drives ship preformatted with the FAT32, or ExFat file systems. The ubiquity of the FAT32 file system allows the drive to be accessed on virtually any host device with USB support. Also, standard FAT maintenance utilities (e.g., Sony PCG-6Z2M battery
Sony PCG-71318M battery ScanDisk) can be used to repair or retrieve corrupted data. However, because a flash drive appears as a USB-connected hard drive to the host system, the drive can be reformatted to any file system supported by the host operating system.
Defragmenting: Flash drives can be defragmented. There is a widespread opinion that defragmenting brings little advantage (as there is no mechanical head that moves from fragment to fragment), and that defragmenting shortens the life of the drive by making many unnecessary writes.[37]
Sony PCG-71315M battery However some sources claim[38] that defragmenting a flash drive can improve performance (mostly due to improved caching of the clustered data), and the additional wear on flash drives may not be significant.
Even Distribution: Some file systems are designed to distribute usage over an entire memory device without concentrating usage on any part (e.g., for a directory) to prolong the life of simple flash memory devices. Some USB flash drives have this 'wear leveling' feature built into the software controller to prolong device life, while others do not, so it is not necessarily helpful to install one of these file systems.[39] Sony PCG-4Q1M battery
Hard Drive: Sectors are 512 bytes long, for compatibility with hard drives, and the first sector can contain a master boot record and a partition table. Therefore, USB flash units can be partitioned just like hard drives.
Longevity[edit]
The memory in flash drives is commonly engineered with multi-level cell (MLC) based memory that is good for around 3,000-5,000 program-erase cycles,[40] but some flash drives have single-level cell (SLC) based memory that is good for around 100,000 writes.
There is virtually no limit to the number of reads from such flash memory, so a well-worn USB drive may be write-protected to help ensure the life of individual cells.
Regardless of the endurance of the memory itself, the USB connector hardware is specified to withstand only around 1,500 insert-removal cycles.[41]
Fake products[edit]
Fake USB flash drives are sometimes sold (often online), claiming to have higher capacities than they actually have. These are typically low capacity USB drives which are modified so that they emulate larger capacity drives (for example, a 2 GB drive being marketed as an 8 GB drive). When plugged into a computer, Sony PCG-71D14M battery
Sony PCG-61813M batterythey report themselves as being the larger capacity they were sold as, but when data is written to them, either the write fails, the drive freezes up, or it overwrites existing data. Software tools exist to check and detect fake USB drives,[42][43] and in some cases it is possible to repair these devices to remove the false capacity information and use them normally.[44][45] Sony PCG-61511M battery
File transfer speeds[edit]
USB flash drives usually specify their read and write speeds in megabytes per second (MB/s); read speed is usually faster. Sony PCG-61611M battery
Sony PCG-61712M battery These speeds are for optimal conditions; real-world speeds are usually slower. In particular, circumstances that often lead to speeds much lower than advertised are transfer (particularly writing) of many small files rather than a few very large ones, and mixed reading and writing to the same device.
In a typical well-conducted review of a number of high-performance USB 3.0 drives, a drive that could read large files at 68 MB/s and write at 46 MB/s, could only manage 14 MB/s and 0.3 MB/s with many small files. When combining streaming reads and writes the speed of another drive, that could read at 92 MB/s and write at 70 MB/s, was 8 MB/s. Sony PCG-6X4M battery,
Sony PCG-71315M battery These differences differ radically from one drive to another; some drives could write small files at over 10% of the speed for large ones. The examples given are chosen to illustrate extremes.[46] Sony PCG-4Q2M battery
Uses[edit]
Personal data transport[edit]
The most common use of flash drives is to transport and store personal files, such as documents, pictures and videos. Individuals also store medical information on flash drives for emergencies and disaster preparation.
Secure storage of data, application and software files[edit]
With wide deployment(s) of flash drives being used in various environments (secured or otherwise), the issue of data and information security remains important. The use of biometrics and encryption is becoming the norm with the need for increased security for data; on-the-fly encryption systems
Sony PCG-71511M battery are particularly useful in this regard, as they can transparently encrypt large amounts of data. In some cases a secure USB drive may use a hardware-based encryption mechanism that uses a hardware module instead of software for strongly encrypting data. IEEE 1667 is an attempt to create a generic authentication platform for USB drives. It is supported in Windows 7 and Windows Vista (Service Pack 2 with a hotfix).[47]
Computer forensics and law enforcement[edit]
A recent development for the use of a USB Flash Drive as an application carrier is to carry the Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE) application developed by Microsoft. COFEE is a set of applications designed to search for and extract digital evidence on computers confiscated from suspects.[48] Sony PCG-71C11M battery
Sony PCG-61813M batteryForensic software is required not to alter, in any way, the information stored on the computer being examined. Other forensic suites run from CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, but cannot store data on the media they are run from (although they can write to other attached devices, such as external drives or memory sticks).
Updating motherboard firmware[edit]
Motherboard firmwares (including BIOS and UEFI) can be updated using USB flash drives. Usually, new firmware image is downloaded and placed onto a FAT16- or FAT32-formatted USB flash drive connected to a system which is to be updated, Sony PCG-61511M battery
Sony PCG-61611M batteryand path to the new firmware image is selected within the update component of system's firmware.[49] Some motherboard manufacturers are also allowing such updates to be performed without the need for entering system's firmware update component, making it possible to easily recover systems with corrupted firmwares.[50]
Also, HP has introduced a USB floppy drive key, which is an ordinary USB flash drive with additional possilibility for performing floppy drive emulation, allowing its usage for updating system firmwares where direct usage of USB flash drives is not supported. Desired mode of operation (either regular USB mass storage device or of floppy drive emulation) is made selectable by a sliding switch on the device's housing.[51][5Sony SVE1513B1EW battery
Booting operating systems[edit]
Most current PC firmware permits booting from a USB drive, allowing the launch of an operating system from a bootable flash drive. Such a configuration is known as a Live USB.
Original flash memory designs had very limited estimated lifetimes. The failure mechanism for flash memory cells is analogous to a metal fatigue mode; the device fails by refusing to write new data to specific cells that have been subject to many read-write cycles over the device's lifetime. Premature failure of a "live USB" Sony SVE151C11M battery
Sony SVE1512Q1EW batterycould be circumvented by using a flash drive with a write-lock switch as a WORM device, identical to a live CD. Originally, this potential failure mode limited the use of "live USB" system to special-purpose applications or temporary tasks, such as:
Loading a minimal, hardened kernel for embedded applications (e.g., network router, firewall).
Bootstrapping an operating system install or disk cloning operation, often across a network.
Maintenance tasks, such as virus scanning or low-level data repair, without the primary host operating system loaded. Sony SVE1513C1EW battery
As of 2011, newer flash memory designs have much higher estimated lifetimes. Several manufacturers are now offering warranties of 5 years or more. Such warranties should make the device more attractive for more applications. By reducing the probability of the device's premature failure, flash memory devices can now be considered for use where a magnetic disk would normally have been requiredSony SVE1513H4EB battery
. Flash drives have also experienced an exponential growth in their storage capacity over time (following the Moore's Law growth curve). As of 2013, single-packaged devices with capacities of 1 TB are readily available,[2Sony SVE1513J1EW battery
Sony SVE1512I1ESI battery9] and devices with 16 GB capacity are very economical. Storage capacities in this range have traditionally been considered to offer adequate space, because they allow enough space for both the operating system software and some free space for the user's data.
Operating system installation media[edit]
Some operating systems can be installed from a flash drive instead of a CD or DVD. Such operating systems include some Linux distributions, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Mac OS X. In particular, Mac OS X 10.7 is distributed only online (through the Mac App Store) or on flash drives. If one has a MacBook Air with Boot Camp and no external optical drive, they can use a flash drive to install Windows. Sony SVE1513L1ES battery
Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 ReadyBoost[edit]
In Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, the ReadyBoost feature allows flash drives (from 4 GB in the case of Windows Vista) to augment operating system memory.[53]
Application carriers[edit]
Flash drives are used to carry applications that run on the host computer without requiring installation. While any standalone application can in principle be used this way, many programs store data, configuration information, etc. on the hard drive and registry of the host computer.
The U3 company works with drive makers (parent company SanDisk as well as others) to deliver custom versions of applications designed for Microsoft Windows from a special flash drive; U3-compatible devices are designed to autoload a menu when plugged into a computer running Windows. Applications must be modified for the U3 platform not to leave any data on the host machine. U3 also provides a software framework for independent software vendors interested in their platform
Ceedo is an alternative product, with the key difference that it does not require Windows applications to be modified in order for them to be carried and run on the drive.
Similarly, other application virtualization solutions and portable application creators, such as VMware ThinApp (for Windows) or RUNZ (for Linux) can be used to run software from a flash drive without installation.
In October 2010, Apple Inc. released their newest iteration of the MacBook Air, which had the system's restore files contained on a USB card drive rather than the traditional install CDs, due to the Air not coming with an optical drive.[54]
A wide range of portable applications which are all free of charge, and able to run off a computer running Windows without storing anything on the host computer's drives or registry, can be found in the list of portable software.
Backup[edit]
Some value-added resellers are now using a flash drive as part of small-business turnkey solutions (e.g., point-of-sale systems). The drive is used as a backup medium: at the close of business each night, the drive is inserted, Sony SVE1513Y1ESI battery
and a database backup is saved to the drive. Alternatively, the drive can be left inserted through the business day, and data regularly updated. In either case, the drive is removed at night and taken offsite. Sony SVE1513Y1ES battery
This is simple for the end-user, and more likely to be done
The drive is small and convenient, and more likely to be carried off-site for safety
The drives are less fragile mechanically and magnetically than tapes
The capacity is often large enough for several backup images of critical data
Flash drives are cheaper than many other backup systems Sony SVE171A11M battery
Flash drives also have disadvantages. They are easy to lose. And it may be easy for unauthorized people to make backups. A lesser setback for flash drives is that they have only one tenth the capacity of hard drives manufactured around their time of distribution.
Audio players[edit]
Many companies make small solid-state digital audio players, essentially producing flash drives with sound output and a simple user interface. Examples include the Creative MuVo, Philips GoGear and the first generation iPod shuffle. Some of these players are true USB flash drives as well as music players; others do not support general-purpose data storage. Other applications requiring storage, such as digital voice or sound recording, can also be combined with flash drive functionality.[55]
Many of the smallest players are powered by a permanently fitted rechargeable battery, charged from the USB interface. Fancier devices that function as a digital audio player have a USB host port (type A female typically).
Media storage and marketing[edit]
Digital audio files can be transported from one computer to another like any other file, and played on a compatible media player (with caveats for DRM-locked files). In addition, many home Hi-Fi and car stereo head units are now equipped with a USB port. This allows a USB flash drive containing media files in a variety of formats to be played directly on devices which support the format. Some LCD monitors for consumer HDTV viewing have a dedicated USB port through which music and video files can also be played without use of a personal computer.
Artists have sold or given away USB flash drives, with the first instance believed to be in 2004 when the German band WIZO released the "Stick EP", only as a USB drive. In addition to five high-bitrate MP3s, it also included a video, pictures, lyrics, and guitar tablature.[56] Subsequently, artists including Nine Inch Nails and Kylie Minogue[57] have released music and promotional material on USB flash drives. The first USB album to be released in the UK was Kiss Does... Rave, a compilation album released by the Kiss Network in April 2007.[58]
Brand and product promotion[edit]
Ubuntu-branded USB flash drive and lanyard.
The availability of inexpensive flash drives has enabled them to be used for promotional and marketing purposes, particularly within technical and computer-industry circles (e.g., technology trade shows). They may be given away for free, sold at less than wholesale price, or included as a bonus with another purchased product.
Usually, such drives will be custom-stamped with a company's logo, as a form of advertising. The drive may be blank, or preloaded with graphics, documentation, web links, Flash animation or other multimedia, and free or demonstration software. Some preloaded drives are read-only, while others are configured with both read-only and user-writable segments. Such dual-partition drives are more expensive.[59Sony SVE1512E6EB battery
Flash drives can be set up to automatically launch stored presentations, websites, articles, and any other software immediately on insertion of the drive using the Microsoft Windows AutoRun feature.[60] Autorunning software this way does not work on all computers, and it is normally disabled by security-conscious users.
Security systems[edit]
Windows Vista uses flash drives as certificate carriers for BitLocker encryption on system drives, on systems which do not support TPMs. Some software uses flash drives with hidden data as an offline activation method.
Arcades[edit]
In the arcade game In the Groove and more commonly In The Groove 2, flash drives are used to transfer high scores, screenshots, dance edits, and combos throughout sessions. As of software revision 21 (R21), players can also store custom songs and play them on any machine on which this feature is enabled. While use of flash drives is common, the drive must be Linux compatible.
In the arcade games Pump it Up NX2 and Pump it Up NXA, a specially produced flash drive is used as a "save file" for unlocked songs, as well as for progressing in the WorldMax and Brain Shower sections of the game.
In the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution X, an exclusive USB flash drive was made by Konami for the purpose of the link feature from its Sony PlayStation 2 counterpart. However, any USB flash drives can be used in this arcade game.
Advantages and disadvantages[edit]
Advantages[edit]
Flash drives use little power, have no fragile moving parts, and for most capacities are small and light. Data stored on flash drives is impervious to mechanical shock, magnetic fields, scratches and dust. These properties make them suitable for transporting data from place to place and keeping the data readily at hand.
Flash drives also store data densely compared to many removable media. In mid-2009, 256 GB drives became available, with the ability to hold many times more data than a DVD or even a Blu-ray disc.[61]
Flash drives implement the USB mass storage device class so that most modern operating systems can read and write to them without installing device drivers. The flash drives present a simple block-structured logical Sony SVE1713F1EB battery
Sony SVE1712H1EB battery unit to the host operating system, hiding the individual complex implementation details of the various underlying flash memory devices. The operating system can use any file system or block addressing scheme. Some computers can boot up from flash drives.
Specially manufactured flash drives are available that have a tough rubber or metal casing designed to be waterproof and virtually "unbreakable". These flash drives retain their memory Sony SVE1713F1EW battery
Sony SVE1712F1EB batteryafter being submerged in water, and even through a machine wash. Leaving such a flash drive out to dry completely before allowing current to run through it has been known to result in a working drive with no future problems. Channel Five's Gadget Show cooked one of these flash drives with propane, froze it with dry ice, Sony SVE1713G1EW battery
Sony SVE151D11M batterysubmerged it in various acidic liquids, ran over it with a jeep and fired it against a wall with a mortar. A company specializing in recovering lost data from computer drives managed to recover all the data on the drive.[62] All data on the other removable storage devices tested, using optical or magnetic technologies, were destroyed. Sony SVE1713H1EW battery
Disadvantages[edit]
Main article: Flash memory: Limitations
Like all flash memory devices, flash drives can sustain only a limited number of write and erase cycles before the drive fails.[63] Sony SVE1713L1EB battery
Sony SVE1713W1EB battery [unreliable source?][64] This should be a consideration when using a flash drive to run application software or an operating system. To address this, as well as space limitations, some developers have produced special versions of operating systems (such as Linux in Live USB)[65Sony SVE1713S1EW battery
Sony SVE1713V1EB battery] or commonplace applications (such as Mozilla Firefox) designed to run from flash drives. These are typically optimized for size and configured to place temporary or intermediate files in the computer's main RAM rather than store them temporarily on the flash drive.
When used in the same manner as external rotating drives (hard drives, optical drives, or floppy drives), i. e. in ignorance of their technology, USB drives' failure is more likely to be sudden: while rotating drives can fail instantaneously, they more frequently give some indication (noises, slowness) that they are about to fail, often with enough advance warning that data can be removed before total failure. Sony SVE1713D1EW battery
Sony SVE17A1M6E battery USB drives give little or no advance warning of failure.[citation needed] Furthermore, when internal wear-leveling is applied to prolong life of the flash drive, once failure of even part of the memory occurs it can be difficult or impossible to use the remainder of the drive, which differs from magnetic media, where bad sectors can be marked permanently not to be used.[66]
Most USB flash drives do not include a write protection mechanism. This feature, which gradually became less common, consists of a switch on the housing of the drive itself, that prevents the host computer from writing or modifying data on the drive. For example, write protection makes a device suitable for repairing virus-contaminated host computers without the risk of infecting a
Sony SVE1711W1E batteryUSB flash drive itself. In contrast to SD cards, write protection on USB flash drives (when available) is connected to the drive circuitry, and is handled by the drive itself instead of the host (on SD cards handling of the write-protection notch is optional).
A drawback to the small size of flash drives is that they are easily misplaced, left behind, or otherwise lost. This is a particular problem if the data they contain are sensitive (see data security). Sony SVE1712C1EW battery
Sony SVE1711V1E batteryAs a consequence, some manufacturers have added encryption hardware to their drives—although software encryption systems which can be used in conjunction with any mass storage medium achieve the same thing. Most drives can be attached to keychains, necklaces and lanyards. The USB plug is usually fitted with a removable and easily lost protective cap, or is retractable. Sony SVE1711F1EW battery
USB flash drives are more expensive per unit of storage than large hard drives, but are less expensive in capacities of a few tens of gigabytes as of 2011.[67][68] Maximum available capacity is increasing with time, but is less than larger hard drives. This balance is changing, but the rate of change is slowing. Sony SVE1711G1E battery
Most USB-based flash technology integrates a printed circuit board with a metal tip, which is simply soldered on. As a result, the stress point is where the two pieces join. The quality control of some manufacturers does not ensure a proper solder temperature, further weakening the stress point.[69][7
Sony SVE1711P1EW battery0] Since many flash drives stick out from computers, they are likely to be bumped repeatedly and may break at the stress point. Most of the time, a break at the stress point tears the joint from the printed circuit board and results in permanent damage. However, some manufacturers produce[7Sony SVE1711G1EW battery
1] discreet flash drives that do not stick out, and others use a solid metal uni-body[72] that has no easily discernible stress point. SD cards serve as a good alternative to USB drives since they can be inserted flush. Sony SVE1711L1E battery
Comparison with other portable storage[edit]
Punched cards in storage at a U.S. Federal records center in 1959. All the data visible here could fit on a 4 GB flash drive (with minimal ZIP compression).
Tape[edit
The applications of current data tape
cartridges hardly overlap those of flash drives: on tape, cost per gigabyte is
very low for large volumes, but the individual drives and media are expensive.
Media has a very high capacity and very fast transfer speeds, but store data
sequentially and is very slow for random access of data. ] Dell XPS
14 battery
Dell XPS
15 battery
Dell
Latitude E6410 ATG batteryWhile disk-based backup is now the primary
medium of choice for most companies, tape backup is still popular for taking
data off-site for worst-case scenarios and for very large volumes (more than a
few hundreds of TB). See LTO tapes.
Floppy disk[edit]
Size comparison of a flash drive and a 3.5-inch floppy disk. The flash drive can hold about 11,380 times more data.
Floppy disk drives are rarely fitted to
modern computers and are obsolete for normal purposes, although internal and
external drives can be fitted if required. Floppy disks may be the method of
choice for transferring data to and from very old computers without USB or
booting from floppy disks, and so they are sometimes used to change the
firmware on, for example, Dell XPS
L401X battery
Dell XPS
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Dell
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Dell
Latitude E6400 XFR battery BIOS chips. Devices with removable
storage like older Yamaha music keyboards are also dependent on floppy disks,
which require computers to process them. Newer devices are built with USB flash
drive support.
Optical media[edit]
The various writable and rewritable forms
of CD and DVD are portable storage media supported by the vast majority of computers
as of 2008. CD-R, DVD-R, and DVD+R can be written to only once, RW varieties up
to about 1,000 erase/write cycles, while modern NAND-based flash drives often
last for 500,000 or more erase/write cycles.[73Dell XPS
L502X battery
Dell
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] DVD-RAM discs are the most suitable optical
discs for data storage involving much rewriting.
Optical storage devices are among the
cheapest methods of mass data storage after the hard drive. They are slower
than their flash-based counterparts. Standard 12 cm optical discs are larger
than flash drives and more subject to damage. Dell XPS
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Dell XPS
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Dell XPS M1210 battery
Dell
Latitude E4300 battery Smaller optical media do exist, such as
business card CD-Rs which have the same dimensions as a credit card, and the
slightly less convenient but higher capacity 8 cm recordable MiniCD and
MiniDVD. The small discs are more expensive than the standard size, and do not
work in all drives.
Dell XPS M1330 battery
Dell
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Universal Disk Format (UDF) version 1.50
and above has facilities to support rewritable discs like sparing tables and
virtual allocation tables, spreading usage over the entire surface of a disc
and maximising life, Dell XPS
M140 battery
Dell
Latitude E6400 ATG battery but many older operating systems do not
support this format. Packet-writing utilities such as DirectCD and InCD are
available but produce discs that are not universally readable (although based
on the UDF standard). The Mount Rainier standard addresses this shortcoming in
CD-RW media by running the older file systems on top of it and performing
defect management for those standards, but it requires support from both the
CD/DVD burner and the operating system. Dell XPS M1530 battery
Dell XPS M1730 battery
Dell
Latitude E6400 battery Many drives made today do not support Mount
Rainier, and many older operating systems such as Windows XP and below, and
Linux kernels older than 2.6.2, do not support it (later versions do).
Essentially CDs/DVDs Dell XPS
M2010 battery
Dell
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Dell
Latitude E5500 batteryare a good way to record a great deal of
information cheaply and have the advantage of being readable by most standalone
players, but they are poor at making ongoing small changes to a large
collection of information. Flash drives' ability to do this is their major
advantage over optical media. Dell
Latitude E5400 battery
Flash memory cards[edit]
Flash memory cards, e.g., Secure Digital
cards, are available in various formats and capacities, and are used by many
consumer devices. However, while virtually all PCs have USB ports, allowing the
use of USB flash drives, memory card readers are not commonly supplied as
standard equipment (particularly with desktop computers). Dell
Latitude E5410 battery
Dell
Latitude E5510 battery Although inexpensive card readers are
available that read many common formats, this results in two pieces of portable
equipment (card plus reader) rather than one.
Some manufacturers, aiming at a
"best of both worlds" solution, have produced card readers that
approach the size and form of USB flash drives (e.g., Dell
Latitude E6510 battery
Dell
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Kingston MobileLite,[74] SanDisk
MobileMate[75]) These readers are limited to a specific subset of memory card
formats (such as SD, microSD, or Memory Stick), and often completely enclose
the card, offering durability and portability approaching, if not quite equal
to, that of a flash drive. Although the combined cost of a mini-reader and a
memory card is usually slightly higher than a Dell
Latitude E6210 battery
USB flash drive of comparable capacity,
the reader + card solution offers additional flexibility of use, and virtually
"unlimited" capacity. The ubiquity of SD cards is such that, circa
2011, due to economies of scale, their price is now less than an
equivalent-capacity USB flash drive, even with the added $2 (Canadian) cost of
a USB SD card reader. Dell
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Dell
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An additional advantage of memory cards is that many consumer devices (e.g., digital cameras, portable music players) cannot make use of USB flash drives (even if the device has a USB port), whereas the memory cards used by the devices can be read by PCs with a card reader.
Dell
Latitude E6320 battery
Dell
Latitude E6330 battery
Dell Latitude E6430S XFR Battery
External hard disk[edit]
Particularly with the advent of USB,
external hard disks have become widely available and inexpensive. External hard
disk drives currently cost less per gigabyte than flash drives and are
available in larger capacities. Some hard drives support alternative and faster
interfaces than USB 2.0 (e.g., IEEE 1394 and eSATA). Dell
Latitude E6430 battery
Dell
Latitude E6430s battery
Dell Latitude E6430 ATG Battery
For consecutive sector writes and reads (for example, from an unfragmented file), most hard drives can provide a much higher sustained data rate than current NAND flash memory, though mechanical latencies seriously impact hard drive performance.
Unlike solid-state memory, hard drives
are susceptible to damage by shock (e.g., a short fall) and vibration, have
limitations on use at high altitude, and although they are shielded by their
casings, they are vulnerable when exposed to strong magnetic fields. In terms
of overall mass, hard drives are usually larger and heavier than flash drives; Dell
Latitude E5420 battery
Dell
Latitude E5520 battery
Dell Latitude E5530 Batteryhowever, hard disks sometimes weigh less per unit of storage. Like flash drives, hard disks also suffer from file fragmentation, which can reduce access speed.
Obsolete devices[edit]
Audio tape cassettes and high-capacity floppy disks (e.g., Imation SuperDisk), and other forms of drives with removable magnetic media, such as the Iomega Zip and Jaz drives, are now largely obsolete and rarely used. There are products in today's market that will emulate these legacy drives for both tape and disk (SCSI1/SCSI2, SASI, Magneto optic, Ricoh ZIP, Jaz, IBM3590/ Fujitsu 3490E and Bernoulli for example) in state-of-the-art Compact Flash storage devices – CF2SCSI.
Encryption and security[edit]
Main article: USB flash drive security
As highly portable media, USB flash drives are easily lost or stolen. All USB flash drives can have their contents encrypted using third-party disk encryption software, which can often be run directly from the USB drive without installation (for example, FreeOTFE), although some, such as BitLocker, require the user to have administrative rights on every computer it's run on.
Archiving software can achieve a similar result by creating encrypted ZIP or RAR files.
Some manufacturers have produced USB flash drives which use hardware-based encryption as part of the design,[76] removing the need for third-party encryption software. In limited circumstances these drives have been shown to have security problems, and are typically more expensive than software-based systems, which are available for free.
A minority of flash drives support biometric fingerprinting to confirm the user's identity. As of mid-2005,[dated info] this was an expensive alternative to standard password protection offered on many new USB flash storage devices. Most fingerprint scanning drives rely upon the host operating system to validate the fingerprint via a software driver, often restricting the drive to Microsoft Windows computers. However, there are USB drives with fingerprint scanners which use controllers that allow access to protected data without any authentication.[77]
Some manufacturers deploy physical authentication tokens in the form of a flash drive. These are used to control access to a sensitive system by containing encryption keys or, more commonly, communicating with security software on the target machine. The system is designed so the target machine will not operate except when the flash drive device is plugged into it. Some of these "PC lock" devices also function as normal flash drives when plugged into other machines.
Security threats[edit]
See also: BadUSB
Flash drives may present a significant security challenge for some organizations. Their small size and ease of use allows unsupervised visitors or employees to store and smuggle out confidential data with little chance of detection. Dell XPS 17 Battery
Dell Latitude E5430 Battery Both corporate and public computers are vulnerable to attackers connecting a flash drive to a free USB port and using malicious software such as keyboard loggers or packet sniffers.
For computers set up to be bootable from a USB drive, it is possible to use a flash drive containing a bootable portable operating system to access the files of the computer, even if the computer is password protected. The password can then be changed, or it may be possible to crack the password with a password cracking program and gain full control over the computer. Encrypting files provides considerable protection against this type of attack.
USB flash drives may also be used deliberately or unwittingly to transfer malware and autorun worms onto a network.
Some organizations forbid the use of flash drives, and some computers are configured to disable the mounting of USB mass storage devices by users other than administrators; others use third-party software to control USB usage. The use of software allows the administrator to not only provide a USB lock but also control the use of CD-RW, SD cards and other memory devices. This enables companies with policies forbidding the use of USB flash drives in the workplace to enforce these policies. In a lower-tech security solution, some organizations disconnect USB ports inside the computer or fill the USB sockets with epoxy.
Some of the security measures taken to prevent confidential data from being taken have presented some side effects such as curtailing user privileges of recharging mobile devices off the USB ports on the systems.
Naming[edit]
In 2005, Microsoft was using the term "USB Flash Drive" as the common name for these devices when they introduced the Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager application.[78] Alternative names are commonly used, many of which are trademarks of various manufacturers.
Current and future developments[edit]
The internals of a 32 GB Toshiba USB 3.0 Flash Drive. The USB 3.0 standard is becoming increasingly popular. This drive has a write speed of 60 MB/s and a read speed of 120 MB/s, making it faster than the USB 2.0 standard.
Semiconductor corporations have worked to reduce the cost of the components in a flash drive by integrating various flash drive functions in a single chip, thereby reducing the part-count and overall package-cost.
Flash drive capacities on the market increase continually. As of 2010, few manufacturers continue to produce models of 1 GB and smaller, and many have started to phase out 2 GB capacity flash memory. High speed has become a standard for modern flash drives. Capacities of up to 256 GB have come on the market, as of 2009.[61]
Lexar is attempting to introduce a USB FlashCard, which would be a compact USB flash drive intended to replace various kinds of flash memory cards. Pretec introduced a similar card, which also plugs into any USB port, but is just one quarter the thickness of the Lexar model.[79] Until 2008, SanDisk manufactured a product called SD Plus, which was a SecureDigital card with a USB connector.[80] Dell XPS L501X Battery
SanDisk has also introduced a new technology to allow controlled storage and usage of copyrighted materials on flash drives, primarily for use by students. This technology is termed FlashCP.
Sweden
Sweden officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. Sweden borders Norway and Finland, and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Øresund.
At 450,295 square kilometres (173,860 sq mi), Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area,
Levono Ideapad Y570D Keyboardwith a total population of about 9.5 million.[1] Sweden has a low population density of 21 inhabitants per square kilometre (54 /sq mi) with the population mostly concentrated to the southern half of the country. Levono Ideapad G560 Keyboard
Levono Ideapad Z575 KeyboardAbout 85% of the population live in urban areas.[10] Sweden's capital city is Stockholm, which is also the largest city. Since the early 19th century Sweden has generally been at peace and has largely avoided war. Levono Ideapad Z570 Keyboard
Today, Sweden is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy form of government and a highly developed economy. Sweden has the world's eighth-highest per capita income. In 2013, Levono Ideapad Z560 Keyboard
Levono Ideapad Z565 Keyboard it ranked second in the world on the Democracy Index,[11] seventh (tied with Ireland) on the 2013 United Nations' Human Development Index (third on the inequality-adjusted HDI),[12] second on the 2013 OECD Better Life Index[13] and third on the 2012 Legatum Prosperity Index.[14] Levono Ideapad Y560P Keyboard
In 2012, the World Economic Forum ranked Sweden as the fourth-most competitive country in the world.[15] According to the United Nations, it has the third-lowest infant mortality rate in the world. In 2010,
Levono Ideapad V570A KeyboardSweden also had one of the lowest Gini coefficients of all developed countries (0.25),[16] making Sweden one of the world's most equal countries in terms of income. Sweden's wealth, however,
Levono Ideapad G575 Keyboardis distributed much less equally than its income, with a wealth Gini coefficient of 0.85, which is higher than the European average of 0.8.[17]
In 2013, The Economist declared that the Nordic countries "are probably the best-governed in the world," with Sweden in first place.[18] Also in 2013, The Reputation Institute declared Sweden to be the 2nd most reputable country on earth.[19] Levono Ideapad Y560 Keyboard
Contents [hide]
The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod, which meant "people of the Swedes" (Old Norse Svíþjóð, Latin Suetidi). This word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas (Old Norse Sviar, Latin Suiones). Levono Ideapad V570A Keyboard
Levono Ideapad B570A KeyboardThe Swedish name Sverige (a compound of the words Svea and Rike, with lenition of the consonant [k], first recorded in the cognate Swēorice in Beowulf—[20]) literally means "Kingdom of the Swedes", excluding the Geats in Götaland. Levono Ideapad V570 Keyboard
Variations of the name Sweden are used in most languages, with the exception of Danish and Norwegian using Sverige, Icelandic Svíþjóð, and the more notable exception of some Finnic languages where Ruotsi (Finnish) and Rootsi (Estonian) are used,
Levono Ideapad B570 Keyboard names commonly considered etymologically related to the English name for Russia, referring to the people, Rus', originally from the coastal areas of Roslagen, Uppland.
The etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning "one's own",[21] referring to one's own Germanic tribe.
History Sony PCG-41111M Keyboard
Main article: History of Sweden
Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages. In the 17th century, the country expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire. Sony PCG-41112M Keyboard
Sony PCG-81411M Keyboard The empire grew to be one of the great powers of Europe in the 17th and early 18th century. Most of the conquered territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost during the 18th and 19th centuries. Sony PCG-81111M Keyboard
Sony PCG-81311M KeyboardThe eastern half of Sweden, present-day Finland, was lost to Russia in 1809. The last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Sweden by military means forced Norway into a personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace,
Sony PCG-81313M Keyboardpractising "non-participation in military alliances during peacetime and neutrality during wartime".[22] Sweden has been a member of the European Union since 1 January 1995 and is a member of the OECD. Sony PCG-81112M Keyboard
Prehistory
Main article: Prehistoric Sweden
A Vendel-era helmet, at the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities.
Sweden's prehistory begins in the Allerød oscillation, a warm period around 12,000 BC, with Late Palaeolithic reindeer-hunting camps of the Bromme culture at the edge of the ice in what is now the country's southernmost province. Sony PCG-81212M Keyboard
Sony PCG-81113M KeyboardThis period was characterized by small bands of hunter-gatherer-fishers using flint technology.
Sweden enters proto-history with the Germania of Tacitus in AD 98. In Germania 44 and 45 he mentions the Swedes (Suiones) as a powerful tribe (distinguished not merely for their arms and men, but for their powerful fleets) Sony PCG-21313M Keyboard
Sony PCG-31311M
Keyboard
with ships that had a prow at each end (longships). Which kings (kuningaz)
ruled these Suiones is unknown, but Norse mythology presents a long line of
legendary and semi-legendary kings going back to the last centuries BC. Sony PCG-51512M
Keyboard
Sony PCG-3C2M Keyboard
As for literacy in Sweden itself, the runic script was in use among the south
Scandinavian elite by at least the 2nd century AD, but all that has come down
to the present from the Roman Period is curt inscriptions on artefacts, Sony PCG-51212M
Keyboard
Sony PCG-5N2M Keyboard
mainly of male names, demonstrating that the people of south Scandinavia spoke
Proto-Norse at the time, a language ancestral to Swedish and other North
Germanic languages.
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Keyboard
In the 6th century Jordanes named two tribes he calls the Suehans and the Suetidi who lived in Scandza. These two names are both considered to refer to the same tribe. The Suehans, he says, have very fine horses just as the Thyringi tribe (alia vero gens ibi moratur Suehans, quae velud Thyringi equis utuntur eximiis). Sony PCG-51111M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7171M KeyboardSnorri
Sturluson wrote that the contemporary Swedish king Adils (Eadgils) had the
finest horses of his day. The Suehans were the suppliers of black fox skins for
the Roman market.
Sony PCG-5S1M
Keyboard Then Jordanes names the Suetidi which is considered to be the
Latin form of Svitjod. He writes that the Suetidi are the tallest of men
together with the Dani who were of the same stock. Later he mentions other
Scandinavian tribes for being of the same height. Sony PCG-51112M
Keyboard
Sony PCG-51211M
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Originating
in semi-legendary Scandza, believed to be somewhere in modern Götaland, Sweden,
a Gothic population had crossed the Baltic Sea before the 2nd century AD,
reaching Scythia at the coast of the Black Sea in modern Ukraine where Goths
left their archaeological traces in the Sony PCG-7195M Keyboard
Chernyakhov culture. In the 5th and 6th centuries, they became
divided as the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, and established powerful
successor-states of the Roman Empire in the Iberian Peninsula and Italy.[23]
Crimean Gothic communities appear to have survived intact until the late 18th
century.[24] Sony
PCG-7196M Keyboard
Viking and Middle Ages
See also: Early Swedish history, Foundation of Modern Sweden, and Varangians
Viking expeditions (blue): going into Russia were Swedish Vikings.
The Swedish Viking Age lasted roughly between the 8th and 11th centuries. It is believed that Swedish Vikings and Gutar mainly travelled east and south, going to Finland, the Baltic countries, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Black Sea and further as far as Baghdad. Sony PCG-7192M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7181M Keyboard Their routes passed through the Dnieper south to Constantinople, on which they carried out numerous raids. The Byzantine Emperor Theophilos noticed their great skills in war, and invited them to serve as his personal bodyguard, Sony PCG-7194M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7161M Keyboard
known as the varangian guard. The Swedish Vikings, called Rus are believed to
be the founding fathers of Kievan Rus'. The Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan described
these Vikings as follows:
Sony PCG-7151M Keyboard
I have seen the Rus as they came on their merchant journeys and encamped by the Itil. I have never seen more perfect physical specimens, Sony PCG-7144M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7143M Keyboardtall as date palms, blond and ruddy; they wear neither tunics nor caftans, but the men wear a garment which covers one side of the body and leaves a hand free. Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife, and keeps each by him at all times. The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort.[25] Sony PCG-7141M Keyboard
The adventures of these Swedish Vikings are commemorated on many runestones in Sweden, such as the Greece Runestones and the Varangian Runestones. There was also considerable participation in expeditions westwards, Sony PCG-7151M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7162M Keyboardwhich
are commemorated on stones such as the England Runestones. The last major
Swedish Viking expedition appears to have been the ill-fated expedition of
Ingvar the Far-Travelled to Serkland, Sony PCG-7153M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7154M
Keyboardthe region south-east of the Caspian Sea. Its members are
commemorated on the Ingvar Runestones, none of which mentions any survivor.
What happened to the crew is unknown, but it is believed that they died of
sickness. Sony PCG-7151M
Keyboard
The Kingdom of Sweden
It is not known when and how the kingdom of Sweden was born, but the list of Swedish monarchs is drawn from the first kings known to have ruled both Svealand (Sweden) and Götaland (Gothia) as one province, Sony PCG-7161M Keyboard
Sony PCG-3J1M Keyboardbeginning with Eric the Victorious. Sweden and Gothia were two separate nations long before that into antiquity. It is not known how long they existed: the epic poem Beowulf describes semi-legendary Swedish-Geatish wars in the 6th century. Sony PCG-7181M Keyboard
Sony PCG-3H1M Keyboard By
"Götaland" in this sence, mainly included the provinces of
Östergötland (East Gothia) and Västergötland (West Gothia). The island of
Gotland was disputed by other than Swedes, at this time (Danish, Hanseatic, Sony PCG-7186M Keyboard
Sony PCG-3F1M Keyboard
and Gotland-domestic). Småland was at that time of little interest to anyone
due to the deep pine forests, and only city of Kalmar with its castle was of
importance. The south-west parts of the Scandinavian peninsula consisted of three
Danish provinces (Scania, Blekinge and Halland).
Sony PCG-71911M
Keyboard
North of Halland Denmark had a direct border to Norway and its province
Bohuslän. But there was Swedish settlements in south-west Finland, and along
the southern coastline of Norrland. Most of this early Kingdom's borders were
dizzy or unknown today. Mainly the culture and history of Svealand has been
presurved better than the one's of Götaland. Sony PCG-61211M
Keyboard
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Keyboard
Gamla Uppsala, (Old Uppsala), a site of religious and political importance in the early days of Sweden
Cultural advances
During the early stages of the Scandinavian Viking Age, Ystad in Danish province Scania and Paviken on Gotland, were flourishing centres of trade, but they were not parts of the early Swedish Kingdom. Remains of what is believed to have been a large market dating from 600–700 AD have been found in Ystad.[ Sony PCG-71213M Keyboard
Sony PCG-71811M Keyboard26] In Paviken, an important centre of trade in the Baltic region during the 9th and 10th century, remains have been found of a large Viking Age harbour with shipbuilding yards and handicraft industries. Between 800 and 1000, Sony PCG-71212M Keyboard
Sony PCG-61611M Keyboard trade brought an abundance of silver to Gotland, and according to some scholars, the Gotlanders of this era hoarded more silver than the rest of the population of Scandinavia combined.[26] Sony PCG-71312M Keyboard
St. Ansgar is usually credited with introducing Christianity in 829, but the new religion did not begin to fully replace paganism until the 12th century. During the 11th century, Christianity became the most prevalent religion, Sony PCG-71311M Keyboard
Sony PCG-71D14M Keyboardand from 1050 Sweden is counted as a Christian nation. The period between 1100 and 1400 was characterized by internal power struggles and competition among the Nordic kingdoms. Swedish kings began to expand the Swedish-controlled territory in Finland, creating conflicts with the Rus who no longer had any connection with Sweden.[27]
Feudal institutions in Sweden
Except for the provinces of Scania, Blekinge and Halland, in the south-west of the Scandinavian peninsula which were parts of the Kingdom of Denmark during this time, feudalism never developed in Sweden as it did in the rest of Europe.[ Sony PCG-71313M Keyboard
28] The peasantry therefore remained largely a class of free farmers throughout most of Swedish history. Slavery (also called thralldom) was not common in Sweden,[29] and what slavery there was tended to be driven out of existence by the spread of Christianity, the difficulty in obtaining slaves from the lands east of the Baltic Sea, Sony PCG-61212M Keyboard
Sony PCG-71411M
Keyboardand by the development of cities before the 16th century.[30]
Indeed, both slavery and serfdom were abolished altogether by a decree of King
Magnus Erickson in 1335. Former slaves tended to be absorbed into the
peasantry, and some became labourers in the towns. Still,
Sony PCG-7171M
Keyboard
Sweden remained a poor and economically backward country in which barter was the means of exchange. For instance, the farmers of the province of Dalsland would transport their butter to the mining districts of Sweden and exchange it there for iron, Sony PCG-5P2m Keyboard
Sony PCG-7186M Keyboardwhich they would then take to the coast and trade for fish, which they consumed, while the iron would be shipped abroad.[31]
Valdemar IV takes control over Gotland. The final fight outside the walls of Visby ended with a total massacre of 1,800 Gotlanders. Sony PCG-5R1M Keyboard
The Plague in Sweden
In the middle of 14th century, Sweden was struck by the Black Death.[32] The population of Sweden and most of Europe was seriously decimated. And the population (at same territory) as existed by 1348 did not reach the same numbers again until the beginning of the 19th century. One third of the population died during 1349–1351. Sony PCG-5R2M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7185M Keyboard During this period the Swedish cities began to acquire greater rights and were strongly influenced by German merchants of the Hanseatic League, active especially at Visby. In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus Eriksson, Sony PCG-5T1M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7184M Keyboardand in 1397 Queen Margaret I of Denmark effected the personal union of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark through the Kalmar Union. However, Margaret's successors, whose rule was also centred in Denmark, were unable to control the Swedish nobility. Sony PCG-5T2M Keyboard
Minors and regents
A
large number of children inherited the Swedish crown over the course of the
kingdom's existence; consequently real power was held for long periods by
regents (notably those of the Sture family) chosen by the Swedish parliament.
King Christian II of Denmark, who asserted his claim to Sweden by force of
arms, Sony PCG-7183M
Keyboardordered a massacre in 1520 of Swedish nobles in Stockholm. This
came to be known as the "Stockholm blood bath" and stirred the
Swedish nobility to new resistance and, on 6 June (now Sweden's national
holiday) in 1523, they made Gustav Vasa their king.[3Sony PCG-7181M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7182M
Keyboard
3] This is sometimes considered as the foundation of modern Sweden. Shortly
afterwards he rejected Catholicism and led Sweden into the Protestant
Reformation.
The Hanseatic League had been officially formed at Lübeck on the Baltic coast of Northern Germany in 1356. Sony VPCEE2M1E keyboard
The Hanseatic League sought civil and commercial privileges from the princes and royalty of the countries and cities along the coasts of the Baltic Sea.[34] In exchange, they offered a certain amount of protection. Having their own navy, the Hansa were able to sweep the Baltic Sea free of pirates.[35Sony VPCEE2S1E keyboard
] The privileges obtained by the Hansa included assurances that only Hansa citizens would be allowed to trade from the ports where they were located. They sought agreement to be free of all customs and taxes. With these concessions, Sony VPCEE3E0E keyboard
Sony PCG-71C11M Keyboard Lübeck merchants flocked to Stockholm, Sweden, where they soon came to dominate the economic life of the city, and made the port city of Stockholm into the leading commercial and industrial city of Sweden.[3Sony VPCEE3J0E keyboard
6] Under the Hanseatic trade, two-thirds of Stockholm's imports consisted of textiles and one-third of salt. Exports from Sweden consisted of iron and copper.[37]
However, the Swedes began to resent the monopoly trading position of the Hansa (mostly German citizens), and to resent the income they felt they lost to the Hansa. Consequently, when Gustav Vasa or Gustav I broke the monopoly power of the Hanseatic League he was regarded as a hero by the Swedish people.[3Sony VPCEE3L0E keyboard
8] History now views Gustav I as the father of the modern Swedish nation. The foundations laid by Gustav would take time to develop. Furthermore, when Sweden did develop, freed itself from the Hanseatic League, Sony VPCEE3Z0E keyboard
and entered its golden era, the fact that the peasantry had traditionally been free meant that more of the economic benefits flowed back to them rather than going to a feudal landowning class.[39]
Swedish Empire
The Swedish Empire between 1560 and 1815
See also: History of Sweden (1611–1648), Swedish Empire, Swedish overseas colonies, Sweden and the Great Northern War, Absolute Monarchy in Sweden, Sweden-Finland, and Union between Sweden and Norway
During the 17th century Sweden emerged as a European great power. Before the emergence of the Swedish Empire, Sweden was a very poor and scarcely populated country on the fringe of European civilization,
with no significant power or reputation. Sweden rose to prominence on a continental scale during the tenure of king Gustavus Adolphus, seizing territories from Russia and Poland–Lithuania in multiple conflicts, including the Thirty Years' War. Sony VPCEE3S1E kseyboard
During the Thirty Years' War, Sweden conquered approximately half of the Holy Roman states. Gustav Adolphus planned to become the new Holy Roman Emperor, ruling over a united Scandinavia and the Holy Roman states, Sony PCG-7T1M Keyboard
but he died at the Battle of Lützen in 1632. After the Battle of Nördlingen, Sweden's only significant military defeat of the war, pro-Swedish sentiment among the German states faded. These German provinces excluded themselves from Swedish power one by one, Sony PCG-7T2M Keyboard
Sony PCG-7Y1M Keyboardleaving Sweden with only a few northern German territories: Swedish Pomerania, Bremen-Verden and Wismar. The Swedish armies may have destroyed up to 2,000 castles, 18,000 villages and 1,500 towns in Germany, one-third of all German towns.[40]
Stockholm in mid-17th century
In the middle of the 17th century Sweden was the third-largest country in Europe by land area, only surpassed by Russia and Spain. Sweden reached its largest territorial extent under the rule of Charles X after the treaty of Roskilde in 1658.[4Sony VGN-NW31EF Keyboard
1][42] The foundation of Sweden's success during this period is credited to Gustav I's major changes on the Swedish economy in the 16th century, and his introduction of Protestantism.[43] In the 17th century, Sony VGN-NW20ZF Keyboard
Sweden
was engaged in many wars, for example with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,
with both sides competing for territories of today's Baltic states, with the
disastrous Battle of Kircholm being one of the highlights.[ Sony VGN-NW24S Keyboard
Sony VGN-NW26M
Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS20EF/P keyboard44] One-third of the Finnish population died in the devastating famine that struck the country in 1696.[45] Famine also hit Sweden,[46] killing roughly 10% of Sweden's population.[47] Sony VGN-NW20EF Keyboard
The Swedes conducted a series of invasions into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, known as the Deluge. After more than half a century of almost constant warfare, the Swedish economy had deteriorated. Sony VGN-NW20SF Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS30Z keyboard It became the lifetime task of Charles' son, Charles XI, to rebuild the economy and refit the army. His legacy to his son, the coming ruler of Sweden, Charles XII, was one of the finest arsenals in the world, Sony VGN-NW24EG Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS30E keyboarda large standing army and a great fleet. Sweden's largest threat at this time, Russia, had a larger army but was far behind in both equipment and training.
Death of Gustav II Adolf at the Battle of Lützen
After the Battle of Narva in 1700, one of the first battles of the Great Northern War, the Russian army was so severely devastated that Sweden had an open chance to invade Russia. However, Charles did not pursue the Russian army, Sony VGN-NW24JG Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS20M
keyboardinstead turning against Poland–Lithuania and defeating the Polish
king, Augustus II, and his Saxon allies at the Battle of Kliszow in 1702. This
gave Russia time to rebuild and modernize its army. Sony VGN-NW24MG
Keyboard
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Keyboard
After the success of invading Poland, Charles decided to make an attempt at invading Russia, but this ended in a decisive Russian victory at the Battle of Poltava in 1709. After a long march exposed to Cossack raids, the Russian Tsar Peter the Great's scorched-earth techniques and the extremely cold winter of 1709, Sony VGN-NW26EG Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS20E keyboardthe Swedes stood weakened with a shattered morale and were enormously outnumbered against the Russian army at Poltava. The defeat meant the beginning of the end for the Swedish Empire. In addition, the plague raging in East Central Europe devastated the Swedish dominions and reached Central Sweden in 1710.
The Battle of Poltava in 1709. In the years following Poltava, Russia and her allies occupied all the Swedish dominions on the Baltic coast and even Finland.
Charles XII attempted to invade Norway in 1716, but he was shot dead at Fredriksten fortress in 1718. The Swedes were not militarily defeated at Fredriksten, Sony VGN-NW26JG Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS10L keyboardbut the whole structure and organization of the campaign fell apart with the king's death, and the army withdrew.
Forced to cede large areas of land in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, Sweden also lost its place as an empire and as the dominant state on the Baltic Sea. Sony VGN-NW20SF Keyboard
Sony VGN-NS10E keyboard With Sweden's lost influence, Russia emerged as an empire and became one of Europe's dominant nations. As the war finally ended in 1721, Sweden had lost an estimated 200,000 men, 150,000 of those from the area of present-day Sweden and 50,000 from the Finnish part of Sweden.[48] Sony VGN-NW21MF/P Keyboard
In
the 18th century, Sweden did not have enough resources to maintain its
territories outside Scandinavia, and most of them were lost, Sony VGN-NW31EF
Keyboard
Sony VGN-NW31ZF/S
Keyboardculminating with the loss in 1809 of eastern Sweden to Russia,
which became the highly autonomous Grand Principality of Finland in Imperial
Russia.
In interest of re-establishing Swedish dominance in the Baltic Sea, Sweden allied itself against its traditional ally and benefactor, Sony VGN-FZ39VN Keyboard
France, in the Napoleonic Wars. Sweden's role in the Battle of Leipzig gave it the authority to force Denmark–Norway, an ally of France, to cede Norway to the King of Sweden on 14 January 1814 in exchange for northern German provinces, at the Treaty of Kiel. Sony VGN-FZ39VN Keyboard
Sony VGN-FZ38M KeyboardThe
Norwegian attempts to keep their status as a sovereign state were rejected by
the Swedish king, Charles XIII. He launched a military campaign against Norway
on 27 July 1814, ending in the Convention of Moss, Sony VGN-FZ31ZR
Keyboard
Sony VGN-FZ31SR
Keyboard
Sony VGN-FZ31M Keyboard which forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden under the Swedish crown, which lasted until 1905. The 1814 campaign was the last time Sweden was at war.
Modern history
See also: Modernization of Sweden and Swedish emigration to the United States
Swedish emigrants boarding ship in Gothenburg in 1905
There
was a significant population increase during the 18th and 19th centuries, which
the writer Esaias Tegnér in 1833 attributed to "the peace, the smallpox
vaccine, and the potatoes".[49] Between 1750 and 1850, SONY VGN-FZ31B Keyboard
SONY VGN-FZ21S
Keyboard
Sony VGN-FZ31J Keyboard the population in Sweden doubled. According to some scholars, mass emigration to America became the only way to prevent famine and rebellion; over 1% of the population emigrated annually during the 1880s.[5SONY VGN-FZ11L Keyboard
Sony VGN-FZ31E Keyboard0] Nevertheless, Sweden remained poor, retaining a nearly entirely agricultural economy even as Denmark and Western European countries began to industrialize.[50][51] Sony VGN-FZ Keyboard
Illustration of starvation in northern Sweden, Famine of 1866–1868
Many
looked towards America for a better life during this time. It is believed that
between 1850 and 1910 more than one million Swedes moved to the United
States.[52] In the early 20th century,
Sony VGN-FZ21Z
Keyboardmore Swedes lived in Chicago than in Gothenburg (Sweden's second
largest city).[53] Most Swedish immigrants moved to the Midwestern United
States, with a large population in Minnesota, with a few others moving to other
parts of the United States and Canada.
Sony VGN-FZ21M
Keyboard
Despite the slow rate of industrialization into the 19th century, many important changes were taking place in the agrarian economy because of innovations and the large population growth.[54] These innovations included government-sponsored programmes of enclosure, aggressive exploitation of agricultural lands, Sony VGN-FZ11 Keyboard
Sony VGN-FZ21E Keyboard and the introduction of new crops such as the potato.[54] Because the Swedish peasantry had never been enserfed as elsewhere in Europe,[55] the Swedish farming culture began to take on a critical role in Swedish politics, Sony VGN-FZ11M Keyboard
Sony VGN-FZ11Z Keyboardwhich
has continued through modern times with modern Agrarian party (now called the
Centre Party).[56] Between 1870 and 1914, Sweden began developing the
industrialized economy that exists today.[57] Sony VGN-FZ11E Keyboard
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Keyboard
Strong grassroots movements sprung up in Sweden during the latter half of the 19th century (trade unions, temperance groups, and independent religious groups), creating a strong foundation of democratic principles. Sony VPCF11C4E/B Keyboard
Sony VPCF13M1E/H Keyboard In 1889 The Swedish Social Democratic Party was founded. These movements precipitated Sweden's migration into a modern parliamentary democracy, achieved by the time of World War I. Sony VPCF11C5E Keyboard
Sony VPCF12Z1E/BI
Keyboard As the Industrial Revolution progressed during the 20th century,
people gradually moved into cities to work in factories and became involved in
socialist unions. A communist revolution was avoided in 1917, following the
re-introduction of parliamentarism, and the country was democratized. Sony VPCF11D4E Keyboard
Sony VPC-F11M1E/H
Keyboard
World Wars
See also: Sweden during World War II
Sweden
remained officially neutral during World War I and World War II, although its
neutrality during World War II has been disputed.[58][ Sony VPCF11S1E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPC-F2 Keyboard
Sony VPCF13Z8E/BI Keyboard 59] Sweden was under German influence for much of the war, as ties to the rest of the world were cut off through blockades.[58] The Swedish government felt that it was in no position to openly contest Germany,[60] Sony VPC-F21Z1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF13Z8E Keyboard and therefore made some concessions.[61] Sweden also supplied steel and machined parts to Germany throughout the war. However, Sweden supported Norwegian resistance, Sony VPCF22J1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF11C4E/B Keyboardand in 1943 helped rescue Danish Jews from deportation to concentration camps. Sweden also supported Finland in the Winter War and the Continuation War with volunteers and materiel. Sony VPCF22L1E Keyboard
Swedish soldier during World War II
Toward the end of the war, Sweden began to play a role in humanitarian efforts, and many refugees, among them many Jews from Nazi-occupied Europe, Sony VPCF22M1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF1318E/H
Keyboard were saved partly because of the Swedish involvement in rescue
missions at the internment camps and partly because Sweden served as a haven
for refugees, primarily from the Nordic countries and the Baltic states.[60] Sony VPCF22S1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF22S8E
Keyboard
Sony VPCF13J0E/H KeyboardThe Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and his colleagues may have saved up to 100,000 Hungarian Jews.[62] Nevertheless, internal and external critics have argued that Sweden could have done more to resist the Nazi war effort, even if risking occupation.[60]
Post-war
era
Sony VPCF13E8E
Keyboard
Sweden
was officially a neutral country and remained outside NATO and Warsaw pact
membership during the Cold War, but privately Sweden's leadership had strong
ties with the United States and other western governments. Sony VPCF23M1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF23Q1E
Keyboard
A typical Falu red house in Tällberg, Sweden
Following the war, Sweden took advantage of an intact industrial base, social stability and its natural resources to expand its industry to supply the rebuilding of Europe.[63] Sweden was part of the Marshall Plan and participated in the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Sony VPCF231S1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF13E4E Keyboard During most of the post-war era, the country was governed by the Swedish Social Democratic Party largely in cooperation with trade unions and industry. The government actively pursued an internationally competitive manufacturing sector of primarily large corporations.[64] Sony VPCF23S1E Keyboard
Sweden was one of the founding states of the European Free Trade Area. During the 1960s the EFTA countries were often referred to as the Outer Seven, as opposed to the Inner Six of the then-European Economic Community (EEC).[65] Sony VPCF24M1E Keyboard
Sweden, like countries around the globe, entered a period of economic decline and upheaval following the oil embargoes of 1973–74 and 1978–79.[66] In the 1980s pillars of Swedish industry were massively restructured.[by whom?] Sony VPCF11S1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF12E1E/H
Keyboard Shipbuilding was discontinued, wood pulp was integrated into
modernized paper production, the steel industry was concentrated and
specialized, and mechanical engineering was robotized.[67] Sony VPCF11C4E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPCF11Z1E/BI
Keyboard
Between 1970 and 1990 the overall tax burden rose by over 10%, and the growth was low compared to other countries in Western Europe. Eventually government began to spend over half of the country's gross domestic product. Sweden GDP per capita ranking declined during this time.[64] Sony VPCF21Z1E/BI Keyboard
Recent history
See also: History of Sweden (since 1989)
Sweden joined the European Union in 1995 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.
A
bursting real estate bubble caused by inadequate controls on lending combined
with an international recession and a policy switch from anti-unemployment
policies to anti-inflationary policies resulted in a fiscal crisis in the early
1990s.[6Sony
VPCF24Q1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF23P1E
Keyboard
8] Sweden's GDP declined by around 5%. In 1992, a run on the currency caused the central bank to briefly increase interest rates to 500%.[69][70]
The
response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms
to improve Sweden's competitiveness, among them reducing the welfare state and
privatizing public services and goods. Much of the political establishment
promoted EU membership, Sony VPCF23N1E Keyboard
Sony VPCY21S1E/L
Keyboard
Sony VPCYB3Q1R Keyboard and a referendum passed with 52.3% in favour of joining the EU on 13 November 1994. Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995.
Sweden
remains non-aligned militarily, although it participates in some joint military
exercises with NATO and some other countries, in addition to extensive
cooperation with other European countries in the area of defence technology and
defence industry. Sony
VPCY21S1E/G Keyboard
Sony VPCF22M0E Keyboard
Sony VPCYB2M1E Keyboard
Among others, Swedish companies export weapons that were used by the
American military in Iraq.[71] Sweden also has a long history of participating
in international military operations, including most recently, Afghanistan,
where Swedish troops are under NATO command, and in EU sponsored peacekeeping
operations in Kosovo, Sony VPCF13S1E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPCF13S0E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPCYB1S1R Keyboard Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Cyprus. Sweden held the chair of the European Union from 1 July to 31 December 2009.
In
recent decades Sweden has become a more multicultural nation due to significant
immigration; in 2013 it was estimated that 15 per cent of the population was
foreign-born, and an additional five per cent of the population were born to
two immigrant parents. Sony VPCF12Z1E Keyboard
Sony VPCF12S1E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPCYB1S1E Keyboard The influx of immigrants has brought new social challenges. Riots erupted in Malmö's city district Rosengård, which houses a strong majority of people of immigrant background, in 2008 and 2010.[72][73] The Stockholm suburb of Husby was struck by similar incidents in May 2013.[74] Sony VPCF12M0E/B Keyboard
Sony VPCYA1V9E Keyboard
In response to these violent events, the far-right opposition party,
the Swedish Democrats, took the opportunity to promote their anti-immigration
stance, while the left wing opposition blamed growing inequality caused by
socio-economic policies recently implemented by the centre-right government.[7Sony VPCF13M8E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPCF13Z0E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPCYA1C5E Keyboard 5] According to historian Mats Berglund, rioting in Stockholm is not a novelty and the recent riots in Husby bear a strong resemblance to the 1719 Södermalm riots in that an socio-economically excluded group expresses its frustration through rioting.[76][77][78]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Sweden
View of the Stora Sjöfallet National Park
Situated
in Northern Europe, Sweden lies west of the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia,
providing a long coastline, and forms the eastern part of the Scandinavian
Peninsula. To the west is the Scandinavian mountain chain (Skanderna), Sony VPCF13M0E/B
Keyboard
Sony VPCY21S1E
Keyboard
Sony VPCY21V9E Keyboard a range that separates Sweden from Norway. Finland is located to its north-east. It has maritime borders with Denmark, Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, and it is also linked to Denmark (south-west) by the Öresund Bridge. Its border with Norway (1,619 km long) is the longest uninterrupted border within Europe. Sony VPCYB3V1E Keyboard
Sweden lies between latitudes 55° and 70° N, and mostly between longitudes 11° and 25° E (part of Stora Drammen island is just west of 11°).
At 449,964 km2 (173,732 sq mi), Sweden is the 55th-largest country in the world,[79] the 4th-largest country entirely in Europe, and the largest in Northern Europe. Sony VPCYB3V1E/R Keyboard
Sony VPCY21C5E Keyboard The lowest elevation in Sweden is in the bay of Lake Hammarsjön, near Kristianstad, at −2.41 m (−7.91 ft) below sea level. The highest point is Kebnekaise at 2,111 m (6,926 ft) above sea level.
Sweden
has 25 provinces or landskap (landscapes), based on culture, geography and
history. While these provinces serve no political or administrative purpose,
they play an important role in people's self-identity.
Sony VPCY21S1E/SI
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parts, the northern Norrland, the central Svealand and southern Götaland. The
sparsely populated Norrland encompasses almost 60% of the country. Sony VPCY11M1E Keyboard
About 15% of Sweden lies north of the Arctic Circle. Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, with increasing forest coverage northward. Around 65% of Sweden's total land area is covered with forests. The highest population density is in the Öresund Region in southern Sweden, along the western coast up to central Bohuslän, Sony VPCY11S1E Keyboard
Sony VPCY21S1E/L Keyboardand in the valley of lake Mälaren and Stockholm. Gotland and Öland are Sweden's largest islands; Vänern and Vättern are its largest lakes. Vänern is the third largest in Europe, after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega in Russia. Sony VPCY11S1E Keyboard
Climate
The Scandinavian Mountains
Most
of Sweden has a temperate climate, despite its northern latitude, with four
distinct seasons and mild temperatures throughout the year. The country can be
divided into three types of climate; the southernmost part has an oceanic
climate, Sony
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northernmost part has a subarctic climate. However, Sweden is much warmer and
drier than other places at a similar latitude, and even somewhat farther south,
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HP Pavilion DV7-4180SA Keyboard mainly because of the Gulf Stream.[80][81] For example, central and southern Sweden has much warmer winters than many parts of Russia, Canada, and the northern United States.[82] Because of its high latitude, the length of daylight varies greatly. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets for part of each summer, and it never rises for part of each winter.
HP Pavilion DV7-4150EA KeyboardIn the capital, Stockholm, daylight lasts for more than 18 hours in late June but only around 6 hours in late December. Sweden receives between 1,100 to 1,900 hours of sunshine annually.[83] HP Pavilion DV7-2230SA Keyboard
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Temperatures vary greatly from north to south. Southern and central parts of the country have warm summers and cold winters, with average high temperatures of 20 to 25 °C (68 to 77 °F) in the summer, and average temperatures of -4 to 2 °C (25 to 36 °F) in the winter, while the northern part of the country has shorter, cooler summers and longer, HP Pavilion DV7-3000 Keyboard
HP Pavilion DV7-4143EA Keyboard colder and snowier winters, with temperatures that often drop below freezing from September to May. The highest temperature ever recorded in Sweden was 38 °C (100 °F) in Målilla in 1947, while the coldest temperature ever recorded was −52.6 °C (−62.7 °F) in Vuoggatjålme in 1966. HP Pavilion DV7-3001EA Keyboard
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On average, most of Sweden receives between 500 and 800 mm (20 and 31 in) of precipitation each year, making it considerably drier than the global average. The south-western part of the country receives more precipitation, between 1000 and 1200 mm (39 and 47 in), HP Pavilion DV7-3020SA Keyboard
HP Pavilion DV7-4140EA Keyboardand some mountain areas in the north are estimated to receive up to 2000 mm (79 in). Despite northerly locations, southern and central Sweden may have almost no snow in some winters. HP Pavilion DV7-3020EA Keyboard
Average high and low temperatures in various cities in Sweden (°C)[84]
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Sweden is a constitutional monarchy, in which King Carl XVI Gustaf is head of state, but royal power has long been limited to ceremonial and representative functions.[85] The Economist Intelligence Unit, while acknowledging that democracy is difficult to measure, listed Sweden in fourth place in 2010 in its index of democracy assessing 167 countries. HP Pavilion DV7-3021EA Keyboard
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The nation's legislative body is the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament), with 349 members, which chooses the Prime Minister. Parliamentary elections are held every four years, on the third Sunday of September.
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Sweden municipal borders
Administrative divisions
Main articles: Counties of Sweden and Municipalities of Sweden
Sweden
is a unitary state, currently divided into twenty-one counties (län):
Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Östergötland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Kalmar,
Gotland, Blekinge, Skåne, Halland, Västra Götaland, Värmland, Örebro,
Västmanland, Dalarna, Gävleborg, Västernorrland, Jämtland, Västerbotten and
Norrbotten. HP
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Each county has a County Administrative Board or länsstyrelse, which is a Government appointed board. It is led by a Governor or Landshövding appointed for a term of six years and the list of succession, in most cases, stretches back to 1634 when the counties were created by the Swedish Lord High Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. HP Pavilion DV7-3105EA Keyboard
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Board is to coordinate the development of the county in line with goals set in
national politics. In each county there is also a County Council or landsting
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Each county further divides into a number of municipalities or kommuner, with a total of 290 municipalities in 2004. Municipal government in Sweden is similar to city commission government and cabinet-style council government. HP Pavilion DV7-3115EA Keyboard
HP Pavilion DV7-4040SA Keyboard A legislative municipal assembly (kommunfullmäktige) of between 31 and 101 members (always an uneven number) is elected from party-list proportional representation at municipal elections, held every four years in conjunction with the national parliamentary elections.
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The municipalities are divided into a total of 2,512 parishes, or församlingar. These have traditionally been a subdivision of the Church of Sweden but still have importance as districts for census and elections. There are older historical divisions, primarily the twenty-five provinces and three lands, which still retain cultural significance. HP Pavilion DV7-2215SA Keyboard
Further information: Subdivisions of Sweden and National Areas of Sweden
Political history
Kingdoms of Svear (Sweonas) and Götar (Geats) in the 12th century, with modern borders in grey
The actual age of the kingdom of Sweden is unknown.[ HP G72-100 Keyboard
6] It depends mostly on whether Sweden should be considered a nation when the Svear (Sweonas) ruled Svealand or if the emergence of the nation started with the Svear and the Götar (Geats) of Götaland being united under one ruler. In the first case, HP Pavilion DV7-4020SA Keyboard
HP Pavilion DV7-4015SA Keyboard Sweden was first mentioned as having one single ruler in the year 98 by Tacitus, but it is almost impossible to know for how long it had been this way. However, historians usually start the line of Swedish monarchs from when Svealand and Götaland were HP G72-101SA Keyboard
HP G72-b15SA Keyboardruled under the same king, namely Eric the Victorious (Geat) and his son Olof Skötkonung in the 10th century. These events are often described as the consolidation of Sweden, although substantial areas were conquered and incorporated later. HP G72-102SA Keyboard
Earlier kings, for which no reliable historical sources exist, can be read about in mythical kings of Sweden and semi-legendary kings of Sweden. Many of these kings are only mentioned in various saga and blend with Norse mythology. HP G72-105SA Keyboard
The title Sveriges och Götes Konung was last used for Gustaf I of Sweden, after which the title became "King of Sweden, of the Goths and of the Wends" (Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung) in official documentation. Up until the beginning of the 1920s, all laws in Sweden were introduced with the words, "We, the king of Sweden, HP G72-130SA Keyboard
HP G72-b01SA Keyboardof the Goths and Wends". This title was used up until 1973.[87] The present King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, was the first monarch officially proclaimed "King of Sweden" (Sveriges Konung) with no additional peoples mentioned in his title. HP G72-a10SA Keyboard
The term riksdag was used for the first time in the 1540s, although the first meeting where representatives of different social groups were called to discuss and determine affairs affecting the country as a whole took place as early as 1435, HP G72-a20SA Keyboard
HP G72-a40SA Keyboard in the town of Arboga.[88] During the assemblies of 1527 and 1544, under King Gustav Vasa, representatives of all four estates of the realm (clergy, nobility, townsmen and peasants) were called on to participate for the first time.[88] The monarchy became hereditary in 1544. HP Pavilion G72-110SA Keyboard
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Executive power was historically shared between the King and a noble Privy Council until 1680, followed by the King's autocratic rule initiated by the common estates of the Riksdag. As a reaction to the failed Great Northern War, HP Pavilion G72-130SA Keyboard
HP Pavilion G72-B15SA Keyboarda parliamentary system was introduced in 1719, followed by three different flavours of constitutional monarchy in 1772, 1789 and 1809, the latter granting several civil liberties. The monarch remains as the formal, but merely symbolic, head of state with ceremonial duties. HP Pavilion G72-A10SA Keyboard
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The Riksdag of the Estates consisted of two chambers. In 1866 Sweden became a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament, with the First Chamber indirectly elected by local governments,
HP Pavilion G72-B01SA Keyboard and the Second Chamber directly elected in national elections every four years. In 1971 the parliament became unicameral. Legislative power was (symbolically) shared between king and parliament until 1975. Swedish taxation is controlled by the Riksdag.
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Sweden has a history of strong political involvement by ordinary people through its "popular movements" (Folkrörelser), the most notable being trade unions, the independent Christian movement, the temperance movement, the women's movement and more recently the intellectual property pirate movements. HP Pavilion G72-102SA Keyboard
HP Pavilion G72-A40SA Keyboard Sweden was the first country in the world to outlaw corporal punishment of children by their parents (parents' right to spank their own children was first removed in 1966, and it was explicitly prohibited by law from July 1979).[89] HP Pavilion G72-105SA Keyboard
Sweden is currently leading the EU in statistics measuring equality in the political system and equality in the education system.[90] The Global Gender Gap Report 2006 ranked Sweden as the number one country in terms of gender equality.[91] HP Pavilion G72-A20SA Keyboard
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Political system
Main article: Politics of Sweden
The Parliament House in Stockholm.
Carl XVI Gustaf, the King of Sweden and ceremonial head of state
The 349-member Riksdag (Parliament) holds supreme authority in modern Sweden, according to its constitution. The Riksdag is responsible for choosing the prime minister, who then appoints the government department heads (cabinet ministers). HP 640426-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 534676-001 CPU fan with heatsink Legislative power is only exercised by the Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and the cabinet, while the judiciary is independent. Sweden lacks compulsory judicial review, HP 640903-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 534675-001 CPU fan with heatsinkalthough the non-compulsory review carried out by lagrådet (Law Council) is mostly respected in technical matters but less so in controversial political matters. Acts of the Riksdag and government decrees can be made inapplicable at every level if they are manifestly against constitutional laws. However, because of the restrictions in this form of judicial review and a weak judiciary, this has had little practical consequence. HP 641477-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Legislation may be initiated by the cabinet or by members of the Riksdag. Members are elected on the basis of proportional representation to a four-year term. The Constitution of Sweden can be altered by the Riksdag, which requires a simple but absolute majority with two separate votes, HP 650848-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 532605-001 CPU fan with heatsinkseparated by general elections in between. Sweden has four constitutional laws: the Instrument of Government, the Act of Royal Succession, the Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression. HP 653627-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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The Swedish Social Democratic Party has played a leading political role since 1917, after Reformists had confirmed their strength and the revolutionaries left the party. After 1932, cabinets have been dominated by the Social Democrats. HP 665309-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 531941-001 CPU fan with heatsink Only five general elections (1976, 1979, 1991, 2006 and 2010) have given the centre-right bloc enough seats in the Riksdag to form a government. However, due to poor economic performance since the beginning of the 1970s, HP 666391-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 498480-001 CPU fan with heatsink and especially since the fiscal crisis of the early 1990s, Sweden's political system has become less one-sided, and more like other European countries.
In the 2006 general election the Moderate Party, allied with the Centre Party, Liberal People's Party, and the Christian Democrats, HP 650057-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 487436-001 CPU fan with heatsink formed the centre-right Alliance for Sweden and won a majority of the votes. Together they formed a majority government under the leadership of the Moderate party's leader, Fredrik Reinfeldt. In the 2010 general election the Alliance contended against a unified left block consisting of the Social Democrats, HP 650797-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 456605-001 CPU fan with heatsinkthe Greens and the Left Party. It was also the first time the Sweden Democrats were elected to the Riksdag.[92]
Following is the current party composition of the Riksdag (correct at June 2013), organized by the political spectrum into the categories of centre-right and centre-left:[93] HP 384622-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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English name Swedish name Abbr. Seats In Government
The Alliance won a plurality of 173 seats, but remained two seats short of a 175-seat majority. Nevertheless, neither the Alliance, nor the left block, chose to form a coalition with the Sweden Democrats, and the Alliance is currently governing as a minority government.[95]
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Election turnout in Sweden has always been high by international comparison, although it has declined in recent decades, and is currently around 80% (80.11% in 2002, and 81.99% in 2006). Swedish politicians enjoyed a high degree of confidence from the citizens in the 1960s,
HP 431311-001 CPU fan with heatsink However, that level of confidence has since declined steadily, and is now at a markedly lower level than in its Scandinavian neighbours.[96]
Some Swedish political figures have become known worldwide, among these are: Raoul Wallenberg, Folke Bernadotte, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld, the former Prime Minister Olof Palme, HP 535439-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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the former Prime Minister and Foreign minister Carl Bildt, the former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations Jan Eliasson, and the former International Atomic Energy Agency Iraq inspector Hans Blix.
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Law, law enforcement, and judicial system
Main articles: Law of Sweden and Judicial system of Sweden
The Supreme Court of Sweden is the third and final instance in all civil and criminal cases in Sweden. Before a case can be decided by the Supreme Court, leave to appeal must be obtained, and with few exceptions,
HP 582139-001 CPU fan with heatsinkleave to appeal can be granted only when the case is of interest as a precedent. The Supreme Court consists of 16 Councillors of Justice, or justitieråd, which are appointed by the government, but the court as an institution is independent of the Riksdag, and the government is not able to interfere with the decisions of the court. HP 535766-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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The law is enforced in Sweden by several government entities. The Swedish Police Service is a Government agency concerned with police matters. The National Task Force is a national SWAT unit within the National Criminal Investigation Department. HP 534684-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 6608231-001 CPU fan with heatsinkThe Swedish Security Service's responsibilities are counter-espionage, anti-terrorist activities, protection of the constitution and protection of sensitive objects and people. HP 534685-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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According to a victimization survey of 1,201 residents in 2005, Sweden has above-average crime rates compared to other EU countries. Sweden has high or above-average levels of assaults, sexual assaults, hate crimes, and consumer fraud. Sweden has low levels of burglary, car theft and drug problems. Bribe seeking is rare.[97] HP 576837-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Sweden
Throughout the 20th century, Swedish foreign policy was based on the principle of non-alignment in peacetime and neutrality in wartime. Sweden's government pursued an independent course of nonalignment in times of peace so that neutrality would be possible in the event of war.[63] HP 579158-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Sweden's doctrine of neutrality is often traced back to the 19th century as the country has not been in a state of war since the end of the Swedish campaign against Norway in 1814. During World War II Sweden joined neither the allied nor axis powers. HP 602472-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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HP 637607-001 CPU fan with heatsinkThis has sometimes been disputed since in effect Sweden allowed in select cases the Nazi regime to use its railroad system to transport troops and goods,[58][60] especially iron ore from mines in northern Sweden, which was vital to the German war machine.[60]
HP 631742-001 CPU fan with heatsink [98] However, Sweden also indirectly contributed to the defence of Finland in the Winter War, and permitted the training of Norwegian and Danish troops in Sweden after 1943.
Development aid measured in GNI in 2009. Source: OECD. As a percentage Sweden is the largest donor.
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During the early Cold War era, Sweden combined its policy of non-alignment and a low profile in international affairs with a security policy based on strong national defence.[99] The function of the Swedish military was to deter attack.[1HP 603691-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 608378-001 CPU fan with heatsink00] At the same time, the country maintained relatively close informal connections with the Western bloc, especially in the realm of intelligence exchange. In 1952, a Swedish DC-3 was shot down over the Baltic Sea by a Soviet MiG-15 jet fighter. Later investigations revealed that the plane was actually gathering information for NATO.[ HP 604787-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 608229-001 CPU fan with heatsink101] Another plane, a Catalina search and rescue plane, was sent out a few days later and shot down by the Soviets as well. Olof Palme, the former prime minister of Sweden, visited Cuba during the 1970s and showed his support for Cuba in his speech. HP 606574-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Beginning in the late 1960s, Sweden attempted to play a more significant and independent role in international relations. It involved itself significantly in international peace efforts, especially through the United Nations,
HP 608010-001 CPU fan with heatsinkand in support to the Third World. Since the assassination of Olof Palme in 1986 and the end of the Cold War, Sweden has adopted a more traditional foreign policy approach. Nevertheless, the country remains active in peace keeping missions and maintains a considerable foreign aid budget. HP 606575-001 CPU fan with heatsink
In 1981 a Soviet Whiskey-class submarine ran aground close to the Swedish naval base at Karlskrona in the southern part of the country. Research has never clearly established whether the submarine ended up on the shoals through a navigational mistake or if an enemy committed espionage against Swedish military potential. The incident triggered a diplomatic crisis between Sweden and the Soviet Union. HP 606729-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Since 1995 Sweden has been a member of the European Union, and as a consequence of a new world security situation the country's foreign policy doctrine has been partly modified, with Sweden playing a more active role in European security co-operation. HP 480481-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Military
Main article: Swedish Armed Forces
The JAS 39 Gripen is an advanced Swedish multi-role fighter aircraft of the Swedish Air Force.
Försvarsmakten (Swedish Armed Forces) is a government agency reporting to the Swedish Ministry of Defence and responsible for the peacetime operation of the armed forces of Sweden. The primary task of the agency is to train and deploy peace support forces abroad, HP 533736-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 622029-001 CPU fan with heatsink while maintaining the long-term ability to refocus on the defence of Sweden in the event of war. The armed forces are divided into Army, Air Force and Navy. The head of the armed forces is the Supreme Commander (Överbefälhavaren, ÖB), the most senior officer in the country.
HP 631743-001 CPU fan with heatsinkUp to 1974 the head of state (the King) was pro forma Commander-in-Chief, but in reality it was clearly understood all through the 20th century that the Monarch would have no active role as a military leader.
When King Gustav V asserted his right to decide and bypass the government in military matters just before the First World War ("borggårdskrisen", the Castle Court Crisis) it was seen as a deliberate provocation against established terms of how the country would be ruled. HP 535441-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 610778-001 CPU fan with heatsink The office of an appointed Supreme Commander was set up in 1939; before that date, from the late 19th century onwards, the leading men of the army and navy would report directly to the cabinet (and the king), and no fully unified command existed in the professional military sphere itself. HP 535442-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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The Infantry fighting vehicle Strf 90, which is produced and used by Sweden.
Until the end of the Cold War, nearly all males reaching the age of military service were conscripted. In recent years,
HP 622033-001 CPU fan with heatsinkthe number of conscripted males has shrunk dramatically, while the number of female volunteers has increased slightly. Recruitment has generally shifted towards finding the most motivated recruits, rather than solely those otherwise most fit for service. All soldiers serving abroad must by law be volunteers. In 1975 the total number of conscripts was 45,000. By 2003 it was down to 15,000.
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On 1 July 2010 Sweden stopped routine conscription, switching to an all volunteer force unless otherwise required for defence readiness.[102][103][104] The need to recruit only the soldiers later prepared to volunteer for international service will be emphasized. The total forces gathered would consist of about 60,000 men. HP 657942-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 610774-001 CPU fan with heatsinkThis could be compared with the 80s before the fall of the Soviet Union, when Sweden could gather up to 1,000,000 men.
Swedish units have taken part in peacekeeping operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Liberia, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Chad. HP 646578-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Currently, one of the most important tasks for the Swedish Armed Forces has been to form a Swedish-led EU Battle Group to which Norway, Finland, Ireland and Estonia will also contribute.[105] The Nordic Battle Group (NBG) had a 10-day deployment readiness during the first half of 2008 and, although Swedish-led, had its Operational Headquarters (OHQ) in Northwood, outside London. HP 606609-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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Economy
Main article: Economy of Sweden
Gross Regional Product (GRP) per capita in thousands of kronor (2004).
Nordstan is one of the largest shopping malls in northern Europe
Sweden is an export-oriented mixed economy. Timber, hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. HP 612354-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 612355-001 CPU fan with heatsink Telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. Agriculture accounts for 2% of GDP and employment. The country ranks among the highest in telephone and Internet access penetration.[106] In 2010, HP 582321-001 CPU fan with heatsink
Sweden had the third lowest income Gini coefficient among developed countries, at 0.25, slightly higher than Japan and Denmark, suggesting Sweden had low income inequality. However, Sweden's wealth Gini coefficient at 0.853 was the second highest in developed countries, and above European and North American averages, suggesting high wealth inequality.[16][17
HP 576838-001 CPU fan with heatsink] Even on disposable income basis, the geographical distribution of Gini coefficient of income inequality varies within different regions and municipalities of Sweden. Danderyd, outside Stockholm, has Sweden's highest Gini coefficient of income inequality at 0.55,
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HP 434678-001 CPU fan with heatsinkwhile Hofors near Gävle has the lowest at 0.25. In and around Stockholm and Scania, two of the more densely populated regions of Sweden, the income Gini coefficient is between 0.35 to 0.55.[107] HP 532614-001 CPU fan with heatsink
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In terms of structure, the Swedish economy is characterised by a large, knowledge-intensive and export-oriented manufacturing sector, an increasing, but comparatively small, business service sector, and by international standards, a large public service sector. Large organisations both in manufacturing and services dominate the Swedish economy.[10HP 587244-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 486844-001 CPU fan with heatsink8] High and medium-high technology manufacturing accounts for 9.9% of GDP.[109]
The 20 largest (by turnover in 2007) companies registered in Sweden are Volvo, Ericsson, Vattenfall, Skanska, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, Electrolux, Volvo Personvagnar, TeliaSonera, Sandvik, Scania, HP 535438-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 493001-001 CPU fan with heatsink ICA, Hennes & Mauritz, IKEA, Nordea, Preem, Atlas Copco, Securitas, Nordstjernan and SKF.[110] Sweden's industry is overwhelmingly in private control, unlike many other industrialised Western countries and publicly owned enterprises have always been of minor importance.
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Real GDP growth in Sweden, 1996–2006.
Some 4.5 million residents are working, out of which around a third has tertiary education. GDP per hour worked is the world's 9th highest at 31 USD in 2006, compared to 22 USD in Spain and 35 USD in United States.[
HP 491572-001 CPU fan with heatsink111] GDP per hour worked is growing 2½ per cent per year for the economy as a whole and the trade-terms-balanced productivity growth is 2%.[111] According to OECD, deregulation, globalisation, and technology sector growth have been key productivity drivers.[11HP 448016-001 CPU fan with heatsink
HP 486799-001 CPU fan with heatsink1] Sweden is a world leader in privatised pensions and pension funding problems are relatively small compared to many other Western European countries.[112]
Sweden is part of the Schengen Area and the EU single market.
The typical worker receives 40% of his or her labour costs after the tax wedge. Total tax collected by Sweden as a percentage of its GDP peaked at 52.3% in 1990.[113] The country faced a real estate and banking crisis in 1990–1991, Dell RX221 keyboard
Dell 0WX4JF keyboard and consequently passed tax reforms of 1991 to implement tax rate cuts and tax base broadening over time.[114][115] Since 1990, taxes as a percentage of GDP collected by Sweden has been dropping, with total tax rates for the highest income earners dropping the most.[11Dell ORX221 keyboard
Dell HT514 keyboard6] In 2010, it collected 45.8% of the country's GDP as taxes, the second highest among OECD countries and still nearly double of that in the United States or South Korea.[113] The share of employment financed via tax income amounts to a third of Swedish workforce, a substantially higher proportion than in most other countries. Dell UK723UK keyboard
Dell FM760 keyboardOverall, GDP growth has been fast since reforms in the early 1990s, especially in manufacturing.[117]
Sweden is the fourth-most competitive economy in the world, according to the World Economic Forum in its Global Competitiveness Report 2012–2013.[1Dell 0FM760 keyboard
Dell P0XM3 keyboard5] Sweden is ranked fourth in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2013.[118] According to the book The Flight of the Creative Class by the U.S. economist Professor Richard Florida of the University of Toronto, Dell PTP49 keyboard
Dell HT517 keyboard Sweden is ranked as having the best creativity in Europe for business and is predicted to become a talent magnet for the world's most purposeful workers. The book compiled an index to measure the kind of creativity it claims is most useful to business—talent, technology and tolerance.[119] Dell Latitude E4310 Keyboard
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Sweden maintains its own currency, the Swedish krona (SEK), a result of the Swedes having rejected the euro in a referendum. The Swedish Riksbank—founded in 1668 and thus making it the oldest central bank in the world—is currently focusing on price stability with an inflation target of 2%. Dell Latitude E4320 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6330 Keyboard According to the Economic Survey of Sweden 2007 by the OECD, the average inflation in Sweden has been one of the lowest among European countries since the mid-1990s, largely because of deregulation and quick utilisation of globalisation.[11Dell Latitude E4200 Keyboard
]
The largest trade flows are with Germany, the United States, Norway, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Finland.
Energy
See also: Nordic energy market, Nuclear power phase-out in Sweden, and Oil phase-out in Sweden Dell Latitude E4300 Keyboard
Sweden's energy market is largely privatized. The Nordic energy market is one of the first liberalized energy markets in Europe and it is traded in NASDAQ OMX Commodities Europe and Nord Pool Spot. In 2006, out of a total electricity production of 139 TWh, electricity from hydropower accounted for 61 TWh (44%), Dell Latitude E6500 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6220 Keyboard and nuclear power delivered 65 TWh (47%). At the same time, the use of biofuels, peat etc. produced 13 TWh (9%) of electricity, while wind power produced 1 TWh (1%). Sweden was a net importer of electricity by a margin of 6 TWh.[120] Biomass is mainly used to produce heat for district heating and central heating and industry processes. Dell Latitude E5400 Keyboard
The 1973 oil crisis strengthened Sweden's commitment to decrease dependence on imported fossil fuels. Since then, electricity has been generated mostly from hydropower and nuclear power. The use of nuclear power has been limited, however. Dell Latitude E5410 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E5530 Keyboard Among other things, the accident of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (United States) prompted the Riksdag to ban new nuclear plants. In March 2005, an opinion poll showed that 83% supported maintaining or increasing nuclear power.[12Dell Latitude E5500 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6520 Keyboard 1] Politicians have made announcements about oil phase-out in Sweden, decrease of nuclear power, and multi-billion dollar investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.[122
Dell Latitude E6420 Keyboard ][123] The country has for many years pursued a strategy of indirect taxation as an instrument of environmental policy, including energy taxes in general and carbon dioxide taxes in particular.[122] Dell Latitude E5510 Keyboard
Transport
Main article: Transport in Sweden
The Öresund Bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen in Denmark.
The Stockholm Central Station
Sweden has 162,707 km (101,101 mi) of paved road and 1,428 km (887 mi) of expressways. Motorways run through Sweden, Denmark and over the Öresund Bridge to Stockholm, Gothenburg, Uppsala and Uddevalla. Dell Latitude E5420 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E5520 Keyboard The system of motorways is still under construction and a new motorway from Uppsala to Gävle was finished on 17 October 2007. Sweden had left-hand traffic (Vänstertrafik in Swedish) from approximately 1736 and continued to do so well into the 20th century. Voters rejected right-hand traffic in 1955, Dell Latitude E6430 Keyboard
Dell Precision M4400 Keyboard but after the Riksdag passed legislation in 1963 changeover took place in 1967, known in Swedish as Dagen H.
The Stockholm metro is the only subway system in Sweden and serves the city of Stockholm via 100 stations. The rail transport market is privatized, but while there are many privately owned enterprises, Dell Latitude E6430-ATG Keyboard
many operators are still owned by state. The counties have financing, ticket and marketing responsibility for local trains. For other trains the operators handle tickets and marketing themselves. Operators include SJ, Veolia Transport, Dell Latitude E6430-XFR Keyboard
Dell Precision M6500 Keyboard DSB, Green Cargo, Tågkompaniet and Inlandsbanan. Most of the railways are owned and operated by Trafikverket.
The largest airports include Stockholm-Arlanda Airport (16.1 million passengers in 2009) 40 km (25 mi) north of Stockholm, Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport (4.3 million passengers in 2008), and Stockholm-Skavsta Airport (2.0 million passengers). Dell Latitude E6520N Keyboard
Dell Precision M6400 Keyboard Sweden hosts the two largest port companies in Scandinavia, Port of Göteborg AB (Gothenburg) and the transnational company Copenhagen Malmö Port AB.
Public policy
See also: Nordic model and Social welfare in Sweden
Sweden has one of the most highly developed welfare states in the world. According to a 2012 OECD report, the country had the second-highest public social spending as a percentage of its GDP after France (27.3% and 28.4%, respectively), Dell Latitude E5220 Keyboard
Dell Precision M4500 Keyboard and the third-highest total (public and private) social spending at 30.2% of its GDP, after France and Belgium (31.3% and 31.0%, respectively).[124] Sweden spent 6.3% of its GDP, the 9th-highest among 34 OECD countries, to provide equal access to education.[125] On health care, the country spent 10.0% of its total GDP, the 12th highest.[12Dell Latitude E5420M Keyboard
Dell Precision M6600 Keyboard 6]
Historically, Sweden provided solid support for free trade (except agriculture) and mostly relatively strong and stable property rights (both private and public), though some economists have pointed out that Sweden promoted industries with tariffs and used publicly subsidised R&D during the country's early critical years of industrialisation.[12Dell Latitude E6400 Keyboard
Dell Precision M4600 Keyboard 7] After World War II a succession of governments expanded the welfare state by raising the taxes. During this period Sweden's economic growth was also one of the highest in the industrial world. Dell Latitude E6500 Keyboard
Dell Precision M2400 Keyboard A series of successive social reforms transformed the country into one of the most equal and developed on earth. The consistent growth of the welfare state led to Swedes achieving unprecedented levels of social mobility and quality of life—to this day Sweden consistently ranks at the top of league tables for health, Dell Latitude E6400-ATG Keyboard
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Dell Latitude E5430 Keyboard literacy and Human Development—far ahead of some wealthier countries (for example the United States).[128]
However, from the 1970s and onwards Sweden's GDP growth fell behind other industrialised countries and the country's per capita ranking fell from 4th to 14th place in a few decades.[1Dell Latitude E6410 Keyboard
Dell Latitude E6410-ATG Keyboard 29] From the mid-1990s until today Sweden's economic growth has once again accelerated and has been higher than in most other industrialised countries (including the US) during the last 15 years.[130] Sony VPCS13L9E/B Keyboard
Sweden began slowing the expansion of the welfare state in the 1980s, and even trimming it back, and according to the OECD and McKinsey, Sweden has recently been relatively quick to adopt economic liberalization policies, such as deregulation, compared to countries such as France.[111][ Sony VPCS13X9E/B Keyboard
131] The current Swedish government is continuing the trend of moderate rollbacks of previous social reforms.[111][132] Growth has been higher than in many other EU-15 countries. Also since the mid-1980s, Sweden has had the fastest growth in inequality of any developed nation, according to the OECD. Sony VPCS12V9E/B Keyboard
This has largely been attributed to the reduction in state benefits and a shift toward the privatization of public services. According to Barbro Sorman, an activist of the opposition Left Party, “The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. Sweden is starting to look like the U.S.A.” Nevertheless, it remains far more egalitarian than most nations.[75][13Sony VPCS12L9E/B Keyboard
3]
Sweden adopted free market agricultural policies in 1990. Since the 1930s, the agricultural sector had been subject to price controls. In June 1990, the Riksdag voted for a new agricultural policy marking a significant shift away from price controls. As a result, food prices fell somewhat. However, the liberalizations soon became moot because EU agricultural controls supervened.[134] Sony VPCS11B7E Keyboard
Since the late 1960s, Sweden has had the highest tax quota (as percentage of GDP) in the industrialised world, although today the gap has narrowed and Denmark has surpassed Sweden as the most heavily taxed country among developed countries. Sony VPCS11D7E Keyboard
Sony VPCS13S9E Keyboard Sweden has a two-step progressive tax scale with a municipal income tax of about 30% and an additional high-income state tax of 20–25% when a salary exceeds roughly 320,000 SEK per year. Payroll taxes amount to 32%. Sony VPCS11E7E Keyboard
Sony VPCS13S9E/B KeyboardIn addition, a national VAT of 25% is added to many things bought by private citizens, with the exception of food (12% VAT), transportation, and books (6% VAT). Certain items are subject to additional taxes, e.g. electricity, petrol/diesel and alcoholic beverages. Sony VPCS11F7E Keyboard
In 2007, total tax revenue was 47.8% of GDP, the second-highest tax burden among developed countries, down from 49.1% 2006.[135] Sweden's inverted tax wedge – the amount going to the service worker's wallet – is approximately 15%, compared to 10% in Belgium, 30% in Ireland, and 50% in United States.[ Sony VPCS11G7E Keyboard
Sony VPCS12E7E Keyboard129] Public sector spending amounts to 53% of the GDP. State and municipal employees total around a third of the workforce, much more than in most Western countries. Only Denmark has a larger public sector (38% of Danish workforce). Spending on transfers is also high. Sony VPCS11J7E Keyboard
Eighty per cent of the workforce is organised in trade unions, which also have the right to elect two representatives to the board in all Swedish companies with more than 25 employees. Sweden has a relatively high amount of sick leave per worker in OECD: the average worker loses 24 days due to sickness.[11Sony VPCS11M1E/W Keyboard
Sony VPCS12C5E Keyboard7] In December 2008, the number employed in the 16–64 age group was 75.0%. The employment tendency was very strong in 2007. The positive trend continued during the first half of 2008, Sony VPCS11M9R/B Keyboard
Sony VPCS12B7E Keyboard but the rate of increase slackened. According to Statistics Sweden, the unemployment rate in June 2012 was at 8.8%.[136] Unemployment among youth (aged 24 or younger) in 2012 was 24.2%, making Sweden the OECD country with the highest ratio of youth unemployment versus unemployment in general.[137] Sony VPCS11V9E/B Keyboard
Science today
Combined, the public and the private sector in Sweden allocate over 3.5% of GDP to research & development (R&D) per year, making Sweden's investment in R&D as a percentage of GDP the second-highest in the world.[138Sony VPCS12A7E Keyboard
Sony VPCS12A7R Keyboard] For several decades the Swedish government has prioritized scientific and R&D activities. As a percentage of GDP, the Swedish government spends the most of any nation on research and development.[139] Sweden tops other European countries in the number of published scientific works per capita.[140] Sony VPCEB1B4E Keyboard
Science and technology
Main article: Swedish inventions
Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and institutor of the Nobel Prize.
Carl Linnaeus laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology. Sony VPCEB1E0E Keyboard
Tycho Brahe, born in 1546 in an area of present-day Sweden which was then Denmark, made the careful astronomic observations upon which Kepler proved and quantified the heliocentric Copernican solar system.
In the 18th century Sweden's scientific revolution took off. Previously, technical progress had mainly come from mainland Europe. Sony VPCEB1E8E Keyboard
In 1739, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was founded, with people such as Carolus Linnaeus and Anders Celsius as early members. Many of the companies founded by early pioneers still remain major international brands. Gustaf Dalén founded AGA, and received the Nobel Prize for his sun valve. Sony VPCEB1E9E Keyboard
Alfred Nobel invented dynamite and instituted the Nobel Prizes. Lars Magnus Ericsson started the company bearing his name, Ericsson, still one of the largest telecom companies in the world. Jonas Wenström was an early pioneer in alternating current and is along with Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla credited as one of the inventors of the three-phase electrical system.[141]
The traditional engineering industry is still a major source of Swedish inventions, but pharmaceuticals, electronics and other high-tech industries are gaining ground. Tetra Pak was an invention for storing liquid foods, Sony VPCEB1E9R Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2M0E Keyboard invented by Erik Wallenberg. Losec, an ulcer medicine, was the world's best-selling drug in the 1990s and was developed by AstraZeneca. More recently Håkan Lans invented the Automatic Identification System, Sony VPCEB1M0E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2L9E Keyboard a worldwide standard for shipping and civil aviation navigation. A large portion of the Swedish economy is to this day based on the export of technical inventions, and many large multinational corporations from Sweden have their origins in the ingenuity of Swedish inventors.[141] Sony VPCEB1M1R Keyboard
Swedish inventors held 41,735 patents in the United States in 2012, according to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. As a nation, only ten other countries hold more patents than Sweden.[142] Sony VPCEB1S0E Keyboard
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Sweden and Swedish people
The total population of Sweden was estimated to be 9,596,436 on 30 June 2013.[1][143] The population exceeded 9 million for the first time on approximately 12 August 2004 and 9.5 million in the spring of 2012, according to Statistics Sweden.[144] Sony VPCEB1S1R Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2F4E Keyboard [145] The population density is 20.6 people per km² (53.3 per square mile) and it is substantially higher in the south than in the north. About 85% of the population live in urban areas.[10] The capital city Stockholm has a population of about 800,000 (with 1.3 million in the urban area and 2 million in the metropolitan area). Sony VPCEB1S8E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2E9R KeyboardThe second- and third-largest cities are Gothenburg and Malmö.
Between 1820 and 1930, approximately 1.3 million Swedes, a third of the country's population, emigrated to North America, and most of them to the United States. There are more than 4.4 million Swedish Americans according to a 2006 U.S. Census Bureau estimate.[146Sony VPCEB1Z0E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2E4E Keyboard] In Canada, the community of Swedish ancestry is 330,000 strong.[147]
There are no official statistics on ethnicity, but according to Statistics Sweden around 1,921,000 (20.1%) inhabitants of Sweden were of a foreign background in 2012, defined as being born abroad or born in Sweden to two parents born abroad.[8][ Sony VPCEB1Z1E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2E1R Keyboard9] With the same definition, the most common countries of origin were Finland (2.38%), former Yugoslavia or its successing states (2.06%), Iraq (1.74%), Poland (0.91%) and Iran (0.84%).[148]
The official language of Sweden is Swedish,[5][6] a North Germanic language, related and very similar to Danish and Norwegian, but differing in pronunciation and orthography. Norwegians have little difficulty understanding Swedish, and Danes can also understand it, with slightly more difficulty than the Norwegians. Sony VPCEB2A4E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2C5E Keyboard The same goes for standard Swedish speakers, who find it far easier to understand Norwegian than Danish. The dialects spoken in Scania, the southernmost part of the country, are influenced by Danish because the region traditionally was a part of Denmark and is nowadays situated closely to it. Sony VPCEB2B4E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB2C4E Keyboard Sweden Finns are Sweden's largest linguistic minority, comprising about 5% of Sweden's population,[149] and Finnish is recognized as a minority language.[6]
Along with Finnish, four other minority languages are also recognized: Meänkieli, Sami, Romani and Yiddish. Swedish became Sweden's official language on 1 July 2009, when a new language law was implemented.[6Sony VPCEB3A4E Keyboard
] The issue of whether Swedish should be declared the official language has been raised in the past, and the Riksdag voted on the matter in 2005, but the proposal narrowly failed.[150]
In varying degrees, depending largely on frequency of interaction with English, a majority of Swedes, especially those born after World War II, Sony VPCEB3A4R Keyboard
Sony VPCEB1A4E Keyboardunderstand and speak English owing to trade links, the popularity of overseas travel, a strong Anglo-American influence and the tradition of subtitling rather than dubbing foreign television shows and films, and the relative similarity of the two languages which makes learning English easier. In a 2005 survey by Eurobarometer, 89% of Swedes reported the ability to speak English.[151] Sony VPCEB3B4R Keyboard
English became a compulsory subject for secondary school students studying natural sciences as early as 1849, and has been a compulsory subject for all Swedish students since the late 1940s.[15Sony VPCEB3C4R Keyboard
Sony VPCEB4J1R Keyboard2] Depending on the local school authorities, English is currently a compulsory subject between first grade and ninth grade, with all students continuing in secondary school studying English for at least another year. Most students also study one and sometimes two additional languages. Sony VPCEB3D4E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB4E0E KeyboardThese include (but are not limited to) German, French and Spanish. Some Danish and Norwegian is at times also taught as part of Swedish courses for native speakers.
Religion
Main article: Religion in Sweden
Before the 11th century, Swedes adhered to Norse paganism, worshiping Æsir gods, with its centre at the Temple in Uppsala. Sony VPCEB3D4R Keyboard
Sony VPCEB4D4E Keyboard With Christianization in the 11th century, the laws of the country were changed, forbidding worship of other deities into the late 19th century. After the Protestant Reformation in the 1530s, Sony VPCEB3E1R Keyboard
Sony VPCEB4C4E Keyboard a change led by Martin Luther's Swedish associate Olaus Petri, the authority of the Roman Catholic Church was abolished. The church and state were separated, allowing Lutheranism to prevail. Sony VPCEB3E4R Keyboard
Sony VPCEB4A4E KeyboardThis process was completed by the Uppsala Synod of 1593. Lutheranism became Sweden's official religion. During the era following the Reformation, usually known as the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy, small groups of non-Lutherans, Sony VPCEB3F4E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB3S1R Keyboard especially Calvinist Dutchmen, the Moravian Church and Walloons or French Huguenots from Belgium, played a significant role in trade and industry, and were quietly tolerated as long as they kept a low religious profile. Sony VPCEB3G4E Keyboard
Sony VPCEB3H4E Keyboard The Sami originally had their own shamanistic religion, but they converted to Lutheranism by the work of Swedish missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Uppsala Cathedral.
With religious liberalizations in the late 18th century believers of other faiths, including Judaism and Roman Catholicism, were allowed to openly live and work in the country. However, until 1860 it remained illegal for Lutheran Swedes to convert to another religion. The 19th century saw the arrival of various evangelical free churches, and, Compaq Presario CQ62-215SA keyboard
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towards the end of the century, secularism, leading many to distance themselves from Church rituals. Leaving the Church of Sweden became legal with the so-called dissenter law of 1860, but only under the provision of entering another Christian denomination. Compaq Presario CQ62-221SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ62-A10EA keyboardThe right to stand outside any religious denomination was formally established in the Law on Freedom of Religion in 1951. In 2000 the Church of Sweden was separated from the state and Sweden ceased to have any official church. Compaq Presario CQ62-225SA keyboard
Church of Sweden[153][154]
At the end of 2012, 67.5% of Swedes belonged to the Church of Sweden (Lutheran); this number has been decreasing by about one percentage point a year for the last two decades.[158][159][16
Compaq Presario CQ62-230EA keyboard0] Approximately 2% of the church's members regularly attend Sunday services.[161] The reason for the large number of inactive members is partly that until 1996, children automatically became members at birth if at least one of the parents was a member. Since 1996,
Compaq Presario CQ62-220EA keyboard only children that are christened become members. Some 275,000 Swedes are today members of various free churches (where congregation attendance is much higher), and immigration has meant that there are now some 92,000 Roman Catholics and 100,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians living in Sweden.[162] Compaq Presario CQ62-229SA keyboard
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The first Muslim congregation was established in 1949 when a small contingent of Tatars migrated from Finland, but Islam's presence in Sweden remained marginal until the 1960s when Sweden started to receive migrants from the Balkans and Turkey. Further immigration from North
Compaq Presario CQ62-A65SA keyboardAfrica and the Middle East have brought the estimated Muslim population to 500,000. However, only about 110,000 are members of a congregation and of these approximately 25,000 actively practise Islam in the sense that they pray five times a day and attend Friday prayer.[163][164][165] Compaq Presario CQ62-230SA keyboard
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According to a study by Californian based Pitzer college, between 46% and 85% of Swedes do not believe in God.[16Compaq Presario CQ62-235SA keyboard
6] In a Eurostat survey, 23% of Swedish citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 53% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 23% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force". Sociology professor Phil Zuckerman claims that Swedes,
Compaq Presario CQ62-A50SA keyboarddespite a lack of belief in God, commonly resent the term atheist, preferring to call themselves Christians while being content with remaining in the Church of Sweden.[167] Other research has shown that religion in Sweden continues to play a role in cultural identity.[16
Compaq Presario CQ62-A25SA keyboard8] This is evidenced by the fact that around 80 per cent of adults continue to remain members of the Lutheran Church despite having to pay a church tax; moreover, rates of baptism remain high and church weddings are increasing in Sweden.[168] Compaq Presario CQ62-A10SA keyboard
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Health
See also: Healthcare in Sweden and Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare
Healthcare in Sweden is similar in quality to other developed nations. Sweden ranks in the top five countries with respect to low infant mortality. It also ranks high in life expectancy and in safe drinking water. Compaq Presario CQ62Z-200 keyboard
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A person seeking care first contacts a clinic for a doctor's appointment, and may then be referred to a specialist by the clinic physician, who may in turn recommend either in-patient or out-patient treatment, or an elective care option. The health care is governed by the 21 landsting of Sweden and is mainly funded by taxes, with nominal fees for patients. Compaq Presario CQ60-107EA keyboard
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Education
Main article: Education in Sweden
Uppsala University (established 1477)
Children aged 1–5 years old are guaranteed a place in a public kindergarten (Swedish: förskola or, colloquially, dagis). Between the ages of 6 and 16, children attend compulsory comprehensive school. In the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Swedish 15-year-old pupils score close to the OECD average.[169] Compaq Presario CQ60-114EA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60-420SA keyboard After completing the 9th grade, about 90% of the students continue with a three-year upper secondary school (gymnasium), which can lead to both a job qualification or entrance eligibility to university. The school system is largely financed by taxes.
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The Swedish government treats public and independent schools equally[170] by introducing education vouchers in 1992 as one of the first countries in the world after The Netherlands. Anyone can establish a for-profit school and the municipality must pay new schools the same amount as municipal schools get. School lunch is free for all students in Sweden, and providing breakfast is also encouraged.[171] Compaq Presario CQ60-212EA keyboard
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There are a number of different universities and colleges in Sweden, the oldest and largest of which are situated in Uppsala, Lund, Gothenburg and Stockholm. In 2000, 32% of Swedish people held a tertiary degree, making the country 5th in the OECD in that category.[17
Compaq Presario CQ60-409SA keyboard2] Along with several other European countries, the government also subsidises tuition of international students pursuing a degree at Swedish institutions, although a recent bill passed in the Riksdag will limit this subsidy to students from EEA countries and Switzerland.[173] Compaq Presario CQ60-219EA keyboard
Immigration
Main article: Immigration to Sweden
Immigrants (red) and emigrants (blue), Sweden 1850–2007
Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of Sweden, and in recent centuries the country has been transformed from a nation of net emigration, ending after World War I, Compaq Presario CQ60-305EA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60-405SA keyboard to a nation of net immigration, from World War II onwards. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, crime, and voting behaviour.[174] Compaq Presario CQ60-305SA keyboard
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There are no exact numbers on the ethnic background of migrants and their descendants in Sweden because the Swedish government does not base any statistics on ethnicity. This is, however, not to be confused with the migrants' national backgrounds, which are recorded.
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In 1998, there were 1,746,921 inhabitants of a foreign background (foreign-born and children of international migrants), comprising around 20% of the Swedish population. Around 1,216,659, or 70%, came from Scandinavia and the rest of Europe and 530,262, or 30%, came from the rest of the world.[175]
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As of 2011, a Statistics Sweden study showed that around 27% or 2,000,000 inhabitants of Sweden had a full or partial foreign background.[176][177][178] Of these inhabitants; 1,427,296 persons living in Sweden were born abroad. In addition, Compaq Presario CQ60-307SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ60-307EA keyboard 430,253 persons were born in Sweden to two parents born abroad and another 666,723 persons had one parent born abroad (with the other parent born in Sweden). Thus, with the total population in 2011 being 9,482,855, roughly 15% of the population was born abroad, Compaq Presario CQ60Z keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ56-108SA keyboard4.5% of the population was born in Sweden to two parents born abroad, and another 7% was born in Sweden to one parent born abroad. Around 26.5% of the Swedish population is, at least partly, of foreign descent.[176] Compaq Presario CQ56-252SA keyboard
Population by ancestry, Sweden 2002–2011
According to Eurostat, in 2010, there were 1.33 million foreign-born residents in Sweden, corresponding to 14.3% of the total population. Of these, 859 000 (9.2%) were born outside the EU and 477 000 (5.1%) were born in another EU Member State.[179][180] Compaq Presario CQ56-254SA keyboard
In 2009, immigration reached its highest level since records began, with 102,280 people emigrating to Sweden.[181] Immigrants in Sweden are mostly concentrated in the urban areas of Svealand and Götaland.[1
Compaq Presario CQ56-206SA keyboard80] Since the early 1970s, immigration to Sweden has been mostly due to refugee migration and family reunification from countries in the Middle East and Latin America.[182] In 2012 alone, Sweden accepted 44,000 asylum seekers.[183]
The largest groups of foreign born persons in the Swedish civil registry in 2012 were:[184]
Compaq Presario CQ56-204SA keyboardNationalmuseum in Stockholm
Sweden has many authors of worldwide recognition including August Strindberg, Astrid Lindgren, and Nobel Prize winners Selma Lagerlöf and Harry Martinson. In total seven Nobel Prizes in Literature have been awarded to Swedes. The nation's most well-known artists are painters such as Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn, and the sculptors Tobias Sergel and Carl Milles. Compaq Presario CQ56-100EA keyboard
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Swedish 20th-century culture is noted by pioneering works in the early days of cinema, with Mauritz Stiller and Victor Sjöström. In the 1920s–1980s, the filmmaker Ingmar Bergman and actors Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman became internationally noted people within cinema. More recently, the films of Lukas Moodysson and Lasse Hallström have received international recognition.
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Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Sweden was seen as an international leader in what is now referred to as the "sexual revolution", with gender equality having particularly been promoted.[18
Compaq Presario CQ56-258SA keyboard5] At the present time, the number of single people is one of the highest in the world. The early Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) reflected a liberal view of sexuality, including scenes of love making that caught international attention, and introduced the concept of the "Swedish sin" that had been introduced earlier in the US with Ingmar Bergman's Summer with MonicaCompaq Presario CQ56Z-200 CTO keyboard
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The image of "hot love and cold people" emerged. Sexual liberalism was seen as part of modernization process that by breaking down traditional borders would lead to the emancipation of natural forces and desires.[186] Compaq Presario CQ56-250SA keyboard
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Sweden has also become very liberal towards homosexuality, as is reflected in the popular acceptance of films such as Show Me Love, which is about two young lesbians in the small Swedish town of Åmål. Since 1 May 2009, Sweden repealed its "registered partnership" laws and fully replaced them with gender-neutral marriage,[1Compaq Presario CQ56-109SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-106SA keyboard87] Sweden also offers domestic partnerships for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Cohabitation (sammanboende) by couples of all ages, including teenagers as well as elderly couples, is widespread. Recently, Sweden is experiencing a baby boom.[188] Compaq Presario CQ56-112SA keyboard
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Music
Main article: Music of Sweden
Agnetha Fältskog of the Swedish band ABBA performing in 1977.
Sweden has a rich musical tradition, ranging from mediaeval folk ballads to hip hop music. The music of the pre-Christian Norse has been lost to history, although historical re-creations have been attempted based on instruments found in Viking sites. Compaq Presario CQ56-102SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ56-106EA keyboard The instruments used were the lur (a sort of trumpet), simple string instruments, wooden flutes and drums. It is possible that the Viking musical legacy lives on in some of the old Swedish folk music. Compaq Presario CQ56-104SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ56-103EA keyboardSweden has a significant folk-music scene, both in the traditional style as well as more modern interpretations which often mix in elements of rock and jazz. Väsen is more of a traditionalist group, Compaq Presario CQ56-105SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ56-102EA keyboardusing a unique, traditional Swedish instrument called the nyckelharpa while Garmarna, Nordman and Hedningarna have more modern elements. There is also Sami music, called the joik, which is actually a type of chant which is part of the traditional Saami animistic spirituality but has gained recognition in the international world of folk music.
Compaq Presario CQ56-261EA keyboardSweden's most classic and notable composers includes Carl Michael Bellman and Franz Berwald.
Sweden also has a prominent choral music tradition, deriving in part from the cultural importance of Swedish folk songs. In fact, out of a population of 9.5 million, it is estimated that five to six hundred thousand people sing in choirs.[189] Compaq Presario CQ56-107SA keyboard
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In 2007, with over 800 million dollars in revenue, Sweden was the third-largest music exporter in the world and surpassed only by the US and the UK.[190][191][better source needed] ABBA was one of the first internationally well-known popular music bands from Sweden, Compaq Presario CQ56-111EA keyboard
and still ranks among the most prominent bands in the world, with about 370 million records sold. With ABBA, Sweden entered into a new era, in which Swedish pop music gained international prominence. Compaq Presario CQ56-112EA keyboard
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The Gothenburg Opera
There have been many other internationally successful bands since, such as Roxette, Ace of Base, Europe, A-teens, The Cardigans, Robyn and The Hives, to name some of the biggest, and recently there has been a surge of Swedish Indie pop bands such as Loney, Dear, Compaq Presario CQ71-135SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ62-210SA keyboard Shout Out Louds, The Radio Dept. and Dungen, a group which incorporates many elements of Swedish traditional folk music in their sound. One of the most popular rock bands domestically is Kent. Compaq Presario CQ71-130SA keyboard
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Sweden has also become known for a large number of heavy metal bands. Swedish musicians are often credited for creating melodic death metal (aka MDM, melodeath). Some of the most popular metal bands (not necessarily melodeath) are In Flames, Compaq Presario CQ71-140SA keyboard
Amon Amarth, HammerFall, Pain of Salvation, Dark Tranquillity, Opeth, Arch Enemy and Meshuggah. The renowned neo-classical power metal guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen is also from Sweden.
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Starting in the 1990s, Denniz Pop's Cheiron Studios became an international hit factory, with his disciple Max Martin responsible for Britney Spears' breakthrough songs and for shaping the whole boy-band boom at the turn of the millennium with global hits for groups like the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync. Compaq Presario CQ71-210SA keyboard
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Compaq Presario CQ71 keyboardIn the mid-2000s, Martin came back with a more rock-tinged sound and produced major hits with artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Katy Perry. Another producer worth mentioning is RedOne, a Moroccan-Swede who is the creator of a slew of hits for Lady Gaga. Compaq Presario CQ71-235SA keyboard
In the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Swedish songwriters and producers featured in 10 out of the 42 songs that qualified for the Contest. In The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 the Swedish artist Loreen took a landslide victory with the song Euphoria. Compaq Presario CQ71-300 keyboard
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Sweden has a rather lively jazz scene. During the last sixty years or so it has attained a remarkably high artistic standard, stimulated by domestic as well as external influences and experiences. The Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research has published an overview of jazz in Sweden by Lars Westin.[192] Compaq Presario CQ71-305SA keyboard
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The most recent development in the Swedish music industry has been the rise of the house/techno genre, in which artists such as Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Eric Prydz, a.k.a. Pryda, and Basshunter have gained worldknown reputation. Compaq Presario CQ71-312SA keyboard
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Architecture
Main article: Architecture of Sweden
Djurgårdsbron
Before the 13th century almost all buildings were made of timber, but a shift began towards stone. Early Swedish stone buildings are the Romanesque churches on the country side. As so happens, many of them were built in Scania and are in effect Danish churches. Compaq Presario CQ71-314SA keyboard
Compaq Presario CQ71-320SA keyboardThis would include the magnificent Lund Cathedral from the 11th century and the somewhat younger church in Dalby, but also many early Gothic churches built through influences of the Hanseatic League, such as in Ystad, Malmö and Helsingborg. Sony SVE1511A1EW Keyboard
Cathedrals in other parts of Sweden were also built as seats of Sweden's bishops. The Skara Cathedral is of bricks from the 14th century, and the Uppsala Cathedral in the 15th. In 1230 the foundations of the Linköping Cathedral were made, the material was there limestone, but the building took some 250 years to finish. Sony SVE1511F1E Keyboard
Among older structures are also some significant fortresses and other historical buildings such as at Borgholm Castle, Halltorps Manor and Eketorp fortress on the island Öland, the Nyköping fortress and the Visby ring wall.
The Kalmar Cathedral
Around 1520 Sweden was out of the Middle Ages and united under King Gustav Vasa, who immediately initiated grand mansions, castles and fortresses to be built. Some of the more magnificent include the Kalmar fortress, the Gripsholm Castle and the one at Vadstena. Sony SVE1511L1E Keyboard
In the next two centuries, Sweden was designated by Baroque architecture and later the rococo. Notable projects from that time include the city Karlskrona, which has now also been declared a World Heritage Site and the Drottningholm Palace. Sony SVE1511M1E Keyboard
1930 was the year of the great Stockholm exhibition, which marked the breakthrough of Functionalism, or "funkis" as it became known. The style came to dominate in the following decades. Some notable projects of this kind were the Million Programme, offering affordable but anti-human living in large apartment complexes. Sony SVE1511V1E Keyboard
Media
Main article: Media in Sweden
Swedes are among the greatest consumers of newspapers in the world, and nearly every town is served by a local paper. The country's main quality morning papers are Dagens Nyheter (liberal), Göteborgs-Posten (liberal), Sony SVE1512B1E Keyboard
Svenska Dagbladet (liberal conservative) and Sydsvenska Dagbladet (liberal). The two largest evening tabloids are Aftonbladet (social democratic) and Expressen (liberal). The ad-financed, free international morning paper, Metro International, was originally founded in Stockholm, Sweden. The country's news is reported in English by, among others, The Local (liberal). Sony SVE1512C6E Keyboard
The public broadcasting companies held a monopoly on radio and television for a long time in Sweden. Licence funded radio broadcasts started in 1925. A second radio network was started in 1954 and a third opened 1962 in response to pirate radio stations. Non-profit community radio was allowed in 1979 and in 1993 commercial local radio started. Sony SVE1512K1E Keyboard
The licence funded television service was officially launched in 1956. A second channel, TV2, was launched in 1969. These two channels (operated by Sveriges Television since the late '70s) held a monopoly until the 1980s when cable and satellite television became available. Sony SVE1512M1E Keyboard
Sony SVE1513H1E KeyboardThe first Swedish language satellite service was TV3 which started broadcasting from London in 1987. It was followed by Kanal 5 in 1989 (then known as Nordic Channel) and TV4 in 1990. Sony SVE1513C4E Keyboard
In 1991 the government announced it would begin taking applications from private television companies wishing to broadcast on the terrestrial network. TV4, which had previously been broadcasting via satellite, was granted a permit and began its terrestrial broadcasts in 1992, becoming the first private channel to broadcast television content from within the country. Sony SVE1513C5E Keyboard
Around half the population are connected to cable television. Digital terrestrial television in Sweden started in 1999 and the last analogue terrestrial broadcasts were terminated in 2007.
Literature Sony SVE14A1S1EB Keyboard
Main article: Swedish literature
The writer and playwright August Strindberg.
The first literary text from Sweden is the Rök Runestone, carved during the Viking Age c. 800 AD. With the conversion of the land to Christianity around 1100 AD, Sweden entered the Middle Ages, during which monastic writers preferred to use Latin. Sony SVE1511Q1EB Keyboard
Sony SVE17 batteryKeyboardTherefore there are only a few texts in the Old Swedish from that period. Swedish literature only flourished when the Swedish language was standardized in the 16th century, a standardization largely due to the full translation of the Bible into Swedish in 1541. This translation is the so-called Gustav Vasa Bible. Sony SVE1511R9ESI Keyboard
With improved education and the freedom brought by secularization, the 17th century saw several notable authors develop the Swedish language further. Some key figures include Georg Stiernhielm (17th century), Sony SVE1511W1ESI Keyboard
Sony SVE1513V1E Keyboardwho was the first to write classical poetry in Swedish; Johan Henric Kellgren (18th century), the first to write fluent Swedish prose; Carl Michael Bellman (late 18th century), the first writer of burlesque ballads; Sony SVE14 Keyboard
Sony SVE1513M1E Keyboard and August Strindberg (late 19th century), a socio-realistic writer and playwright who won worldwide fame. The early 20th century continued to produce notable authors, such as Selma Lagerlöf, (Nobel laureate 1909), Verner von Heidenstam (Nobel laureate 1916) and Pär Lagerkvist (Nobel laureate 1951). Sony SVE14A3C5E Keyboard
In recent decades, a handful of Swedish writers have established themselves internationally, including the detective novelist Henning Mankell and the writer of spy fiction Jan Guillou. The Swedish writer to have made the most lasting impression on world literature is the children's book writer Astrid Lindgren,
Sony SVE1513B1E Keyboardand her books about Pippi Longstocking, Emil, and others. In 2008, the second best-selling fiction author in the world was Stieg Larsson, whose Millennium series of crime novels is being published posthumously to critical acclaim.[1Sony SVE15 Keyboard
Sony SVE1513A4E Keyboard93] Larsson drew heavily on the work of Lindgren by basing his central character, Lisbeth Salander, on Longstocking.[194]
Holidays
Main article: Public holidays in Sweden
Walpurgis Night bonfire in Sweden.
Apart from traditional Protestant Christian holidays, Sweden also celebrates some unique holidays, some of a pre-Christian tradition. They include Midsummer celebrating the summer solstice; Walpurgis Night (Valborgsmässoafton) on 30 April lighting bonfires; and Labour Day or Mayday on 1 May is dedicated to socialist demonstrations. Sony SVE1511A1E Keyboard
The day of giver-of-light Saint Lucia, 13 December, is widely acknowledged in elaborate celebrations which betoken its Italian origin and commence the month-long Christmas season.
6 June is the National Day of Sweden and has since 2005 been a public holiday. Furthermore, there are official flag day observances and a Namesdays in Sweden calendar. Sony SVE1511R9E Keyboard
Sony SVE1512X9E
Keyboard In August many Swedes have kräftskivor (crayfish dinner parties).
Martin of Tours Eve is celebrated in Scania in November with Mårten Gås
parties, where roast goose and svartsoppa ('black soup', made of goose stock,
fruit, spices, HP
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HP Pavilion dv6-3033sa Fan spirits and goose blood) are served. The Sami, one of Sweden's indigenous minorities, have their holiday on 6 February and Scania celebrate their Scanian Flag day on the third Sunday in July.
Cuisine
Main
article: Swedish cuisine
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Swedish knäckebröd (crisp bread)
Swedish cuisine, like that of the other Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway and Finland), was traditionally simple. Fish (particularly herring), meat, potatoes and dairy products played prominent roles.
Swedish saffron buns
Spices were sparse. Famous dishes include Swedish meatballs, traditionally served with gravy, boiled potatoes and lingonberry jam; pancakes, lutfisk, and Smörgåsbord, or lavish buffet. Akvavit is a popular alcoholic distilled beverage, and the drinking of snaps is of cultural importance. HP Pavilion dv6-3046sa Fan
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several contemporary variants. Regionally important foods are the surströmming
(a fermented fish) in Northern Sweden and eel in Scania in Southern Sweden. HP Pavilion
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Swedish traditional dishes, some of which are many hundreds of years old, others perhaps a century or less, are still a very important part of Swedish everyday meals, in spite of the fact that modern day Swedish cuisine adopts many international dishes. HP Pavilion dv6-3112sa Fan
In August, at the traditional feast known as crayfish party, kräftskiva, Swedes eat large amounts of boiled crayfish with boiled potato and dill.
Cinema
Main article: Cinema of Sweden
Swedes
have been fairly prominent in the film area through the years. A number of
Swedish people have found success in Hollywood, including Ingrid Bergman, Greta
Garbo and Max von Sydow. Amongst several directors who have made
internationally successful films can be mentioned Ingmar Bergman, Lukas
Moodysson and Lasse Hallström. HP Pavilion
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Fashion
Interest in fashion is big in Sweden and the country is headquartering famous brands like Hennes & Mauritz (operating as H&M), J. Lindeberg (operating as JL), Acne, Lindex, Odd Molly, Cheap Monday, Gant, WESC, Filippa K, HP Pavilion dv6-3122sa Fan
HP Pavilion dv6-3035sa Fan and Nakkna within its borders. These companies, however, are composed largely of buyers who import fashionable goods from throughout Europe and America, continuing the trend of Swedish business toward multinational economic dependency like many of its neighbours. HP Pavilion dv6-3123sa Fan
Sports
Main article: Sport in Sweden
Robin Söderling
Sport
activities are a national movement with half of the population actively
participating in organized sporting activities. HP Pavilion
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Second to football, horse sports have the highest number of practitioners,
mostly women. Thereafter follow golf, athletics, and the team sports of
handball, floorball, basketball and bandy. HP Pavilion
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The Swedish ice hockey team Tre Kronor is regarded as one of the best in the world. The team has won the World Championships nine times, placing them third in the all-time medal count. Tre Kronor also won Olympic gold medals in 1994 and 2006. HP Pavilion dv6-3118sa Fan
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dv6-3030sa FanIn 2006, Tre Kronor became the first national hockey team to
win both the Olympic and world championships in the same year. The Swedish
national football team has seen some success at the World Cup in the past,
finishing second when they hosted the tournament in 1958, and third twice,
HP Pavilion
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popularity due to several successful athletes in recent years, such as Carolina
Klüft and Stefan Holm.
Sweden hosted the 1912 Summer Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in 1958. Other big sports events held here include 1992 UEFA European Football Championship, HP Pavilion dv6-3120sa Fan
HP Pavilion dv6-3020sa FanFIFA Women's World Cup 1995, and several championships of ice hockey, curling, athletics, skiing, bandy, figure skating and swimming.
Successful tennis players include former world No. 1's Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg. HP Pavilion dv6-3000 Fan
The history of the Jews in Poland
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium.[4] For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the Partitions of Poland which began in 1772, HP MU06 Battery
in particular, with the discrimination and persecution of Jews in the Russian Empire. During World War II there was a nearly complete genocidal destruction of the Polish Jewish community by Nazi Germany, during the 1939–1945 German occupation of Poland and the ensuing Holocaust. Since the fall of communism there has been a Jewish revival in Poland, HP MU09 Battery
HP HA03 Batterycharacterized by the annual Jewish Culture Festival, new study programmes at Polish high schools and universities, the work of synagogues such as the Nozyk, and the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. HP RM08 Battery
From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in 1025 through to the early years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth created in 1569, Poland was the most tolerant country in Europe.[ HP RS06 Battery
5] Known as paradisus Iudaeorum (Latin for "Paradise for the Jews"), it became a shelter for persecuted and expelled European Jewish communities and the home to the world's largest Jewish community of the time. According to some sources, about three-quarters of all Jews lived in Poland by the middle of the 16th century.[6][ HP BS06 Battery
HP BX06 Battery7][8] With the weakening of the Commonwealth and growing religious strife (due to the Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation), Poland’s traditional tolerance[9] began to wane from the 17th century onward.[1HP VE06 Battery
HP PT06 Battery0] After the partitions of Poland in 1795 and the destruction of Poland as a sovereign state, Polish Jews were subject to the laws of the partitioning powers, the increasingly antisemitic Russian Empire,[11HP VE12 Battery
HP MN06 Battery] as well as Austro-Hungary and Kingdom of Prussia (later a part of the German Empire). Still, as Poland regained independence in the aftermath of World War I, it was the center of the European Jewish world with one of world's largest Jewish communities of over 3 million. HP GA08 Battery
Antisemitism, however, from both the political establishment and from the general population, common throughout Europe, was a growing problem.[12] HP MO06 Battery
At the start of World War II, Poland was partitioned between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union (see: Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). The war resulted in the death of one-fifth of the Polish population, with 90% or about 3 million of Polish Jewry killed along with approximately 3 million Polish non-Jews.[ HP MO09 Battery
13] Although the Holocaust occurred largely in German occupied Poland there was little collaboration with the Nazis by its citizens. Collaboration by individual Poles has been described as smaller than in other occupied countries.[14] HP EV12 Battery
[15] Statistics of the Israeli War Crimes Commission indicate that less than 0.1% of Polish gentiles collaborated with the Nazis.[16] Examples of Polish gentile attitudes to German atrocities varied widely, from actively risking death in order to save Jewish lives,[17HP CL09 Battery
HP LU06 Battery] and passive refusal to inform on them; to indifference, blackmail,[18] and in extreme cases, participation in pogroms such as the Jedwabne massacre. Grouped by nationality, Poles represent the largest number of people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust.[19][20]
In the postwar period, many of the approximately 200,000 Jewish survivors registered at CKŻP (of whom 136,000 arrived from the Soviet Union)[20][21][ Dell XPS 14 Battery
Dell Inspiron N5010 Battery22] left the Communist People's Republic of Poland for the nascent State of Israel and North or South America. Their departure was hastened by the destruction of Jewish institutions, post-war violence and the hostility of the Communist Party to both religion and private enterprise, Dell XPS 14D Battery
Dell Inspiron N5010D Battery but also because in 1946–1947 Poland was the only Eastern Block country to allow free Jewish aliyah to Israel,[23] without visas or exit permits.[24][25] Britain demanded from Poland to halt the exodus, but their pressure was largely unsuccessful.[2Dell XPS 15 Battery
Dell Inspiron 15R Battery6] Most of the remaining Jews left Poland in late 1968 as the result of the Soviet-sponsored "anti-Zionist" campaign. After the fall of the Communist regime in 1989, the situation of Polish Jews became normalized and those who were Polish citizens before World War II were allowed to renew Polish citizenship. Dell XPS 15-L501X Battery
Dell Inspiron 17R Battery Religious institutions were revived, largely through the activities of Jewish foundations from the United States. The contemporary Polish Jewish community is estimated to have approximately 20,000 members,[27Dell XPS 15-L502X Battery
Dell Inspiron N7010 Battery] though the actual number of Jews, including those who are not actively connected to Judaism or Jewish culture, may be several times larger.
The first Jews arrived in the territory of modern Poland in the 10th century. By travelling along the trade routes leading eastwards to Kiev and Bukhara, Jewish merchants (known as Radhanites) crossed the areas of Silesia. One of them, Dell XPS 15Z Battery
Dell Inspiron N4010R Batterya diplomat and merchant from the Moorish town of Tortosa in Spanish Al-Andalus, known under his Arabic name of Ibrahim ibn Jakub, was the first chronicler to mention the Polish state under the rule of prince Mieszko I. Dell XPS 17 Battery
Dell Inspiron N4010D Battery The first actual mention of Jews in Polish chronicles occurs in the 11th century. It appears that Jews were then living in Gniezno, at that time the capital of the Polish kingdom of the Piast dynasty. The first permanent Jewish community is mentioned in 1085 by a Jewish scholar Jehuda ha-Kohen in the city of Przemyśl.[28] Dell XPS L702X Battery
Early medieval Polish coins with Hebrew inscriptions
The first extensive Jewish emigration from Western Europe to Poland occurred at the time of the First Crusade in 1098. Under Bolesław III (1102–1139), Dell XPS 17-L701X Battery
Dell Inspiron N3010 Battery the Jews, encouraged by the tolerant regime of this ruler, settled throughout Poland, including over the border in Lithuanian territory as far as Kiev. Bolesław III for his part recognized the utility of the Jews in the development of the commercial interests of his country. Dell XPS L501X Battery
Dell Inspiron N3010R BatteryThe Jews came to form the backbone of the Polish economy and the coins minted by Mieszko III even bear Hebraic markings. Jews enjoyed undisturbed peace and prosperity in the many principalities into which the country was then divided; Dell XPS L502X Battery
Dell Inspiron N5010R Battery they formed the middle class in a country where the general population consisted of landlords (developing into szlachta, the unique Polish nobility) and peasants, and they were instrumental in promoting the commercial interests of the land. Dell XPS L701X Battery
Gesta principum Polonorum states that Princess Judith of Bohemia, wife of Polish Prince Władysław I Herman ransomed many Christians with her own money from the bondage of the Jews.[29] Dell Inspiron N4020 Battery
The tolerant situation was gradually altered by the Roman Catholic Church on the one hand, and by the neighboring German states on the other.[3Dell Inspiron N4030 Battery
Dell Inspiron N5110 Battery0] There were, however, among the reigning princes some determined protectors of the Jewish inhabitants, who considered the presence of the latter most desirable as far as the economic development of the country was concerned. Prominent among such rulers was Bolesław the Pious of Kalisz, Prince of Great Poland. With the consent of the class representatives and higher officials, Dell Inspiron N7110 Battery
in 1264 he issued a General Charter of Jewish Liberties, the Statute of Kalisz, which granted all Jews the freedom of worship, trade and travel. During the next hundred years, the Church pushed for the persecution of the Jews while the rulers of Poland usually protected them.[31]
Wojciech Gerson, Reception of Jews, Casimir the Great and Jews
In 1332, King Casimir III the Great (1303–1370) amplified and expanded Bolesław's old charter with the Wiślicki Statute. Casimir, who according to a legend had a Jewish lover named Esterka from Opoczno[32] was especially friendly to the Jews, Dell Inspiron 13R Battery
Dell Latitude E6410 ATG Battery and his reign is regarded as an era of great prosperity for Polish Jewry, and was nicknamed by his contemporaries "King of the serfs and Jews." Under penalty of death, he prohibited the kidnapping of Jewish children for the purpose of enforced Christian baptism. He inflicted heavy punishment for the desecration of Jewish cemeteries. Dell Inspiron 14R Battery
Dell Latitude E6400 XFR Battery Nevertheless, while for the greater part of Casimir’s reign the Jews of Poland enjoyed tranquility, toward its close they were subjected to persecution on account of the Black Death. In 1348, the first blood libel accusation against Jews in Poland was recorded, and in 1367 the first pogrom took place in Poznań (Posen).[3Dell Latitude E4200 Battery
Dell Latitude E6400 ATG Battery3] Compared with the pitiless destruction of their co-religionists in Western Europe, however, the Polish Jews did not fare badly; and the Jewish masses of Germany fled to the more hospitable cities in Poland. Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
The early Jagiellon era: 1385–1505[edit]
Main article: History of Poland (1385-1569)
As a result of the marriage of Wladislaus II (Jagiełło) to Jadwiga, daughter of Louis I of Hungary, Lithuania was united with the kingdom of Poland. Dell Latitude E4310 Battery
Dell Latitude E6510 Battery In 1388–1389, broad privileges were extended to Lithuanian Jews including freedom of religion and commerce on equal terms with the Christians.[34] Under the rule of Wladislaus II, Polish Jews had increased in numbers and attained prosperity. However, religious persecution gradually increased, Dell Latitude E5400 Battery
Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Batteryas the dogmatic clergy pushed for less official tolerance, pressured by the Synod of Constance. There were accusations of blood libel by the priests, and new riots against the Jews in Poznań in 1399. Accusations of blood libel by another fanatic priest led to the riots in Kraków in 1407, Dell Latitude E5420 Battery
Dell Latitude E6420 Batteryalthough the royal guard hastened to the rescue.[34] Hysteria caused by Black Death led to additional 14th-century outbreaks of violence against the Jews in Kalisz, Kraków and Bochnia. Traders and artisans jealous of Jewish prosperity, and fearing their rivalry, supported the harassment. Dell Latitude E5500 Battery
Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk confirmed and extended Jewish charters in the second half of the 15th century
The decline in the status of the Jews was briefly checked by Casimir IV the Jagiellonian (1447–1492), Dell Latitude E5520 Battery
Dell Latitude E6400 Battery but soon the nobility forced him to issue the Statute of Nieszawa.[35] Among other things it abolished the ancient privileges of the Jews "as contrary to divine right and the law of the land." Nevertheless, Dell Latitude E6120 Battery
Dell Latitude E6320 Batterythe king continued to offer his protection to the Jews. Two years later Casimir issued another document announcing that he could not deprive the Jews of his benevolence on the basis of "the principle of tolerance which in conformity with God's laws obliged him to protect them".[36Dell Latitude E6210 Battery
Dell Latitude E6530 Battery] The policy of the government toward the Jews of Poland oscillated under Casimir's sons and successors, John I Olbracht (1492–1501) and Alexander the Jagiellonian (1501–1506).
Dell Latitude E6520N BatteryThe latter expelled the Jews from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1495 when he was the Grand Duke of Lithuania but reversed the law in 1503 shortly after becoming King of Poland. A year later he issued a proclamation in which he stated that a policy of tolerance befitted "kings and rulers".[36] Dell Latitude E6230 Battery
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Center of the Jewish world: 1505–72[edit]
Alexander became more tolerant just as the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, as well as from Austria, Hungary and Germany, Dell Latitude E6330 Battery
Dell Latitude E6430 ATG Batterythus stimulating Jewish immigration to the much more tolerant Poland. Indeed, with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Poland became the recognized haven for exiles from Western Europe; and the resulting accession to the ranks of Polish Jewry made it the cultural and spiritual center of the Jewish people. Dell Latitude E5420M Battery
The most prosperous period for Polish Jews began following this new influx of Jews with the reign of Zygmunt I (1506–1548), Dell Latitude E5530 Battery
Dell
Latitude E6430 Batterywho protected the Jews in his realm. His son,
Zygmunt II August (1548–1572), mainly followed in the tolerant policy of his
father and also granted autonomy to the Jews in the matter of communal
administration and laid the foundation for the power of the Qahal, or
autonomous Jewish community. Sony
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This
period led to the creation of a proverb about Poland being a "heaven for
the Jews". According to some sources, about three-quarters of all Jews
lived in Poland by the middle of the 16th century.[6][7Sony
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welcomed the Jewish newcomers from Italy and Turkey, mostly of Sephardi origin.
However, some of the immigrants from the Ottoman Empire are still considered
Mizrahim. Jewish religious life thrived in many Polish communities. In 1503,
the Polish monarchy appointed Rabbi Jacob Polak, the official Rabbi of Poland, Sony
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1551, Jews were given permission to choose their own Chief Rabbi. The Chief
Rabbinate held power over law and finance, appointing judges and other
officials. Some power was shared with local councils. The Polish government
permitted the Rabbinate to grow in power, to use it for tax collection
purposes. Sony
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Only 30% of the money raised by the Rabbinate
served Jewish causes, the rest went to the Crown for protection. In this period
Poland-Lithuania became the main center for Ashkenazi Jewry and its yeshivot
achieved fame from the early 16th century.
Moses Isserles (1520–1572), Sony
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established his yeshiva in Kraków. In addition to being a renowned Talmudic and
legal scholar, Isserles was also learned in Kabbalah, and studied history,
astronomy, and philosophy. The Remuh Synagogue was built for him in 1557. Rema
(רמ״א) is the Hebrew acronym for his name.[37] Sony
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The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: 1572–1795[edit]
Main article: History of Poland (1572-1795)
For more details on this topic, see Jewish Polish history during the 18th century.
The Warsaw Confederation[edit]
Main article: Warsaw Confederation (1573)
Following the childless death of Zygmunt
II, the last king of the Jagiellon dynasty, Polish and Lithuanian nobles
(szlachta) Sony
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gathered at Warsaw in 1573 and signed a document
of limited toleration in which representatives of all the major religions
pledged each other mutual support and tolerance. The edict did not include the
Polish Brethren, an anti-Trinitarian that would later become known as
Socinians, who formed roots for the modern Unitarian church in the US.
Number of Jews in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth per voivodeship in 1764
The Cossack uprising and the Deluge[edit]
In 1648 the Commonwealth was devastated by
several conflicts, in which the Commonwealth lost over a third of its
population (over three million people), and Jewish losses were counted in the
hundreds of thousands. Sony
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Sony
PCG-41217L BatteryThe first of these large-scale riots was the
Chmielnicki Uprising, in which Bohdan Khmelnytsky's Cossacks massacred tens of
thousands of Jews and Catholic Poles in the eastern and southern areas he
controlled (today's Ukraine). Sony
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Sony
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that the Poles had sold them as slaves "into the hands of the accursed
Jews".[3Sony
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Sony
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but the decrease of the Jewish population during that period is estimated at
100,000 to 200,000, which also includes emigration, deaths from diseases and
jasyr (captivitySony
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Sony
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Jewish community suffered greatly during the 1648 Cossack uprising which had
been directed primarily against the Polish nobility. The Jews, perceived as
allies of the nobles, were also victims of the revolt, during which about 20%
of them were killed. Sony
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Then the incompetent politics of the elected kings of the House of Vasa brought the weakened state to its knees, as it was invaded by the Swedish Empire in what became known as The Deluge. The kingdom of Poland proper, which had hitherto suffered but little either from the Chmielnicki Uprising or from the recurring invasion of the Russians, sony PCG-4R2L battery
Crimean Tatars and Ottomans, now became the
scene of terrible disturbances (1655–1658). Charles X of Sweden, at the head of
his victorious army, overran Poland; and soon the whole country, sony
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sony PCG-6Z4L battery including the cities of Kraków and Warsaw, was in his hands. The Jews of Great and Little Poland found themselves torn between two sides: those of them who were spared by the Swedes were attacked by the Poles, who accused them of aiding the enemy. The Polish general Stefan Czarniecki, sony PCG-4Q3L battery
in his flight from the Swedes, devastated the whole country through which he passed and treated the Jews without mercy. The Polish partisan detachments treated the non-Polish inhabitants with equal severity. Moreover, sony PCG-4Q1L battery
sony PCG-6Z3L batterythe horrors of the war were aggravated by pestilence, and the Jews and townsfolk of the districts of Kalisz, Kraków, Poznań, Piotrków, and Lublin perished en masse by the sword of the besieging armies and the plague. sony PCG-6X1L battery
As soon as the disturbances had ceased, the Jews began to return and to rebuild their destroyed homes; and while it is true that the Jewish population of Poland had decreased and become impoverished,
sony PCG-6Z1L batteryit still was more numerous than that of the Jewish colonies in Western Europe; and Poland remained as the spiritual center of Judaism, and through 1698, the Polish kings generally remained supportive of the Jews, sony PCG-6X2L battery
sony PCG-6XBL batterydespite a hostile clergy and nobility. It also should be noted that while Jewish losses in those events were high, estimated by some historians to be close to 500,000, the Commonwealth lost one third of its population — approximately three million of its citizens.
Decline under the Saxon dynasty[edit]
With the accession to the throne of the Saxon dynasty the Jews completely lost the support of the government.
sony PCG-6X8L battery The szlachta and the townsfolk were increasingly hostile to the Jews, as the religious tolerance that dominated the mentality of the previous generations of Commonwealth citizens was slowly forgotten. sony PCG-6X6L battery
sony
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Commonwealth now approached the "standards" that dominated most of
the contemporary European countries, and many Jews felt betrayed by the country
they once viewed as their haven. In the larger cities, like Poznań and Kraków,
quarrels between the Satins[citation needed] Sony
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occurrence. Attacks on the Jews by students, the so-called Schüler-Gelauf,
became everyday occurrences in the large cities, the police regarding such
scholastic riots with indifference. Sony
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PCG-61911L BatteryIn the 16th and 17th centuries Jews were expelled
from a number of Polish cities, and victimized by pogroms usually organized by
local merchants and artisans.[39] By 1764, there were about 750,000 Jews in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The worldwide Jewish population was estimated
at 1.2 million.[40] Sony
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The partitions[edit]
Jewish dress in the 17th (top) and the 18th century (bottom).
Disorder and anarchy reigned supreme in
Poland during the second half of the 18th century, from the accession to the
throne of its last king, Stanislaus II Augustus Poniatowski (1764–1795). In
1772, in the aftermath of the Confederation of Bar, Sony
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among the three neighboring nations, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Jews were
most numerous in the territories that fell to the lot of Austria and Russia. Sony
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Berek Joselewicz (1764–1809)
The permanent council established at the
instance of the Russian government (1773–1788) served as the highest administrative
tribunal, and occupied itself with the elaboration of a plan that would make
practicable the reorganization of Poland on a more rational basis.
Sony
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recognized the urgency of popular education as the very first step toward
reform. The famous Komisja Edukacji Narodowej ("Commission of National
Education"), Sony
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established in 1773 and founded numerous new schools and remodeled the old
ones. One of the members of the commission, kanclerz Andrzej Zamoyski, along
with others Sony
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Sony
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and property should be guaranteed and that religious toleration should be to a
certain extent granted them; Sony
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but he insisted that Jews living in the cities
should be separated from the Christians, that those of them having no definite
occupation should be banished from the kingdom, and that even those engaged in
agriculture should not be allowed to possess land. Sony
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On the
other hand, some szlachta and intellectuals proposed a national system of
government, of the civil and political equality of the Jews. Sony
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the French Revolution of tolerance and broadmindedness in dealing with the
Jewish question. But all these reforms were too late: a Russian army soon
invaded Poland, and soon after a Prussian one followed. Sony
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A second partition of Poland was made on
July 17, 1793. Jews, in a Jewish regiment led by Berek Joselewicz, took part in
the Kościuszko Uprising the following year, when the Poles tried to again
achieve independence, but were brutally put down. Following the revolt, the
third and final partition of Poland took place in 1795. Sony
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SVE171C11L BatteryThe great bulk of the Jewish population was
transferred to Russia, and thus became subjects of that empire, although in the
first half of the 19th century some semblance of a vastly smaller Polish state
was preserved, especially in the form of the Congress Poland (1815–1831).
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Jews were represented in the November
Insurrection (1830–1831), the January Insurrection (1863), as well as in the
revolutionary movement of 1905. Many Polish Jews were enlisted in the Legions,
which fought for the Polish independence finally achieved in 1918. Sony
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The development of Judaism in Poland and the Commonwealth[edit]
A Jewish couple, Poland, c. 1765
The culture and intellectual output of the
Jewish community in Poland had a profound impact on Judaism as a whole. Some
Jewish historians have recounted that the word Poland is pronounced as Polania
or Polin in Hebrew, and as transliterated into Hebrew, Sony
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Sony
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"good omens" because Polania can be broken down into three Hebrew
words: po ("here"), lan ("dwells"), ya ("God"),
and Polin into two words of: po ("here") Sony
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was that Poland was meant to be a good place for the Jews. During the time from
the rule of Sigismund I the Old until the Nazi Holocaust, Poland would be at
the center of Jewish religious life. Sony
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Jewish learning[edit]
Late renaissance synagogue in Zamość (1610–1620).
Yeshivot were established, under the
direction of the rabbis, in the more prominent communities. Such schools were
officially known as gymnasiums, and their rabbi principals as rectors.
Important yeshivot existed in Kraków, Sony
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establishments came into existence in the first quarter of the 16th century. In
1530 a Hebrew Pentateuch (Torah) was printed in Kraków; and at the end of the
century the Jewish printing houses of that city and Lublin issued a large
number of Jewish books, Sony
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Talmudic scholarship in Poland was coincident with the greater prosperity of
the Polish Jews; and because of their communal autonomy educational development
was wholly one-sided and along Talmudic lines. Exceptions are recorded,
however, Sony
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the European universities. The learned rabbis became not merely expounders of
the Law, but also spiritual advisers, teachers, judges, and legislators; Sony
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leaders to make themselves familiar with the abstruse questions of Jewish law.
Polish Jewry found its views of life shaped by the spirit of Talmudic and
rabbinical literature, whose influence was felt in the home, in school, and in
the synagogue. Sony
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In the first half of the 16th century the
seeds of Talmudic learning had been transplanted to Poland from Bohemia,
particularly from the school of Jacob Pollak, the creator of Pilpul
("sharp reasoning"). Shalom ShachnaSony
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among the pioneers of Talmudic learning in Poland. He lived and died in Lublin,
where he was the head of the yeshivah which produced the rabbinical celebrities
of the following century. Shachna's son Israel became rabbi of Lublin on the
death of his father, Sony
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ReMA) (1520–1572) achieved an international reputation among the Jews as the
co-author of the Shulkhan Arukh, (the "Code of Jewish Law").Sony
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(1510–1573) of Lublin also enjoyed a wide reputation among his co-religionists;
and the authority of both was recognized by the Jews throughout Europe. Heated
religious disputations were common, and Jewish scholars participated in them. Sony
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PCG-71216L Battery At the same time, the Kabbalah had become
entrenched under the protection of Rabbinism; and such scholars as Mordecai
Jaffe and Yoel Sirkis devoted themselves to its study. This period of great
Rabbinical scholarship was interrupted by the Chmielnicki Uprising and The
Deluge. Sony
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Israel ben Eliezer, founder of Hasidism.
The rise of Hasidism[edit]
Main article: Hasidim
The decade from the Cossacks' uprising
until after the Swedish war (1648–1658) left a deep and lasting impression not
only on the social life of the Polish-Lithuanian Jews, but on their spiritual
life as well.
Sony
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reduced. The Talmudic learning which up to that period had been the common
possession of the majority of the people became accessible to a limited number
of students only. Sony
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formalized, some rabbis busied themselves with quibbles concerning religious
laws; others wrote commentaries on different parts of the Talmud in which
hair-splitting arguments were raised and discussed; and at times these
arguments dealt with matters which were of no practical importance. Sony
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At the
same time, many miracle workers made their appearance among the Jews of Poland,
culminating in a series of false "Messianic" movements, most famously
as Sabbatianism was succeeded by Frankism. Sony
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In this time of mysticism and overly formal
rabbinism came the teachings of Israel ben Eliezer, known as the Baal Shem Tov,
or BeShT, (1698–1760), which had a profound effect on the Jews of Eastern
Europe and Poland in particular. Sony
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Sony
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brand of Judaism based on Kabbalah known as Hasidism. The rise of Hasidic
Judaism within Poland's borders and beyond had a great influence on the rise of
Haredi Judaism all over the world, Sony
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with a continuous influence through its many
Hasidic dynasties including those of Chabad-Lubavitch, Aleksander, Bobov, Ger,
Nadvorna, among others. More recent rebbes of Polish origin include Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchok Schneersohn (1880–1950), Sony
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the sixth head of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic
movement, who lived in Warsaw until 1940 when he moved Lubavitch from Warsaw to
the United States. See also: List of Polish Rabbis
Jews of Poland within the Russian Empire
(1795–1918)[edit] Sony
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Main article: History of Poland (1795-1918)
See also: History of the Jews in 19th-century Poland and History of the Jews in Russia and Soviet Union
Jewish merchants in 19th-century Warsaw
Official Russian policy would eventually
prove to be substantially harsher to the Jews than that under independent
Polish rule. The lands that had once been Poland were to remain the home of
many Jews, as, in 1772, Catherine II, Sony
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Sony
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Settlement, restricting Jews to the western parts of the empire, which would
eventually include much of Poland, although it excluded some areas in which
Jews had previously lived. By the late 19th century, over four million Jews
would live in the Pale.
Map of the Pale of Settlement, the highest Jewish populations were located in parts of present day Poland and Belarus
Tsarist policy towards the Jews of Poland
alternated between harsh rules, and inducements meant to break the resistance
to large-scale conversion. In 1804, Alexander I of Russia issued a
"Statute Concerning Jews",[41Sony
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Sony
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the Empire's new Jewish population. The Polish Jews were allowed to establish
schools with Russian, German or Polish curriculum. They could own land in the
territories annexed from Poland. However, they were also restricted from
leasing of property, Sony
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Sony
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were banned from the brewing industry. The harshest measures designed to compel
Jews to merge into society at large called for their expulsion from small
villages into towns. Sony
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lost their only source of income and turned to Kahal for support. Their living
conditions in the Pale began to dramatically worsen.[41] Sony
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During the reign of Tsar Nicolas I, known
by the Jews as "Haman the Second", hundreds of new anti-Jewish
measures were enacted.[4Sony
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Sony
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Sony
PCG-8131L Battery2] The 1827 decree by Nicolas – while lifting the
traditional double taxation on Jews in lieu of army service – made Jews subject
to general military recruitment laws that required Jewish communities to
provide 7 recruits per each 1000 "souls" every 4 years. Unlike the
general population that had to provide recruits between the ages of 18 and 35, Sony
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12 and 25, at the qahal's discretion. Thus between 1827 and 1857 over 30,000
children were placed in the so-called Cantonist schools, where they were
pressured to convert.[43][4
Sony
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Sony
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where the conscription of Jews did not take effect until 1844."[42]
For more details on the Garrison schools for male children, see Cantonist.
Although the Jews were accorded slightly
more rights with the Emancipation reform of 1861 by Alexander II, they were
still restricted to the Pale of Settlement and subject to restrictions on
ownership and profession. Sony
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assassination of Alexander in 1881 – an act falsely blamed upon the Jews.
Pogroms within the Russian Empire[edit] Sony
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1906 Białystok pogrom.
The assassination prompted a large-scale
wave of anti-Jewish riots, called pogroms, throughout 1881–1884. In the 1881 outbreak,
pogroms were primarily limited to Russia, although in a riot in Warsaw two Jews
were killed, Sony
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Sony
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two million rubles worth of property was destroyed.[45][46] The new czar,
Alexander III, blamed the Jews for the riots and issued a series of harsh
restrictions on Jewish movements. Pogroms continued until 1884, with at least
tacit government approval. Sony
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Jews in partitioned Poland and throughout the world. As a result of the pogroms
and the waves of antisemitism, 36 Jewish Zionist delegates met in Katowice, in
1884, Sony
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prompted a great flood of Jewish immigration to the United States. Nearly two
million Jews left the Pale by the late 1920s, setting the stage for the Zionist
movement. Sony
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An even bloodier wave of pogroms broke out
from 1903 to 1906, and at least some of the pogroms are believed to have been
organized or supported by the Tsarist Russian secret police, the Okhrana
Sony
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Russia-occupied Polish territory, where the majority of Jews lived, and
included the Białystok pogrom of 1906, in which up to a 100 Jews were murdered
and many more wounded. Sony
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1906 Białystok pogrom caricature
Haskalah and Halakha[edit]
Main article: Haskalah
The Jewish Enlightenment, Haskalah, began
to take hold in Poland during the 19th century, stressing secular ideas and
values. Champions of Haskalah, the Maskilim, pushed for assimilation and
integration into Russian culture. Sony
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that emphasized traditional study and a Jewish response to the ethical problems
of antisemitism and persecution, one form of which was the Musar movement. Sony
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Polish Jews generally were less influenced by
Haskalah, rather focusing on a strong continuation of their religious lives
based on Halakha ("rabbis's law") following primarily Orthodox Judaism,
Hasidic Judaism, and also adapting to the new Religious Zionism of the Mizrachi
movement later in the 19th century. Sony
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Politics in Polish territory[edit]
A Bundist demonstration, 1917
By the late 19th century, Haskalah and the debates it caused created a growing number of political movements within the Jewish community itself, covering a wide range of views and vying for votes in local and regional elections. Sony VGP-BPL8 Battery
Zionism became very popular with the advent of the Poale Zion socialist party as well as the religious Polish Mizrahi, and the increasingly popular General Zionists. Jews also took up socialism, forming the Bund labor union which supported assimilation and the rights of labor. The Folkspartei (People's Party) Sony VGP-BPL9 Battery
Sony VGP-BPL14/S Battery advocated, for its part, cultural autonomy and resistance to assimilation. In 1912, Agudat Israel, a religious party, came into existence. Sony VGP-BPL10 Battery
Many Jews took part in the Polish insurrections, particularly against Russia (since the Tsars discriminated heavily against the Jews). The Kościuszko Insurrection, January Insurrection (1863) and Revolutionary Movement of 1905 all saw significant Jewish involvement in the cause of Polish independence. Sony VGP-BPL11 Battery
By the end of the 19th century, 14% of Polish citizens were Jewish. Jews participated in their religious communities, as well as local and federal government. There were several prominent Jewish politicians in the Polish Sejm, Sony VGP-BPL13 Battery
Sony VGP-BPL14 Batterysuch as Apolinary Hartglass and Yitzhak Gruenbaum. Many Jewish political parties were active, representing a wide ideological spectrum, from the Zionists, to the socialists to the anti-Zionists. One of the largest of these parties was the Bund, which was strongest in Warsaw and Lodz.
In addition to the socialists, Zionist parties were also popular, in particular, the Marxist Poale Zion and the orthodox religious Polish Mizrahi. The General Zionist party became the most prominent Jewish party in the interwar period and in the 1919 elections to the first Polish Sejm since the partitions, gained 50% of the Jewish vote. Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery
In 1914, the German Zionist Max Bodenheimer founded the short-lived German Committee for Freeing of Russian Jews, with the goal of establishing a buffer state (Pufferstaat) within the Jewish Pale of Settlement,
Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Batterycomposed of the former Polish provinces annexed by Russia, being de facto protectorate of the German Empire that would free Jews in the region from Russian oppression. The plan, known as Judeopolonia, soon proved unpopular with both German officials and Bodenheimer's colleagues, and was dead by the following year.[47][48] Sony VGP-BPS10 Battery
Interwar period 1918–1939[edit]
Main article: History of Poland (1918-1939)
For more details on this topic, see History of the Jews in 20th-century Poland.
Fight for independence and Polish Jews[edit]
Hasidic schoolchildren in Łódź, circa 1910s under Partitions
While many other non-Polish minorities were ambivalent or neutral to the idea of a Polish state, Jews played a role in the fight for Poland's independence in 1918, a significant number joining Józef Piłsudski.[49]
Sony VGP-BPS13/B BatteryIn the wake of World War I and the ensuing conflicts that engulfed Eastern Europe — the Russian Civil War, Polish-Ukrainian War, and Polish-Soviet War — many pogroms were launched against the Jews by all sides. Sony VGP-BPS12 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery As a substantial number of Jews were perceived to have supported the Bolsheviks in Russia, they came under frequent attack by those opposed to the Bolshevik regime.[
Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery50] Just after the end of World War I, the West became alarmed by reports about alleged massive pogroms in Poland against Jews. Pressure for government action reached the point where U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sent an official commission to investigate the matter.
Sony VGP-BPS13A BatteryThe commission, led by Henry Morgenthau, Sr., concluded in its report that the reports of pogroms were exaggerated, but also noted that the violence against Jews had been produced by a "widespread anti-semitic prejudice against Jews" (see: Morgenthau Report).[ Sony VGP-BPS12/Q Battery
Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery 51] It identified eight major incidents in the years 1918–1919, and estimated the number of victims at 280. Four of these were attributed to the actions of deserters and undisciplined individual soldiers; none was blamed on official government policy. Among the incidents,
in Pińsk a commander of a local Polish military garrison accused a group of Jewish civilians of plotting against the Poles (a claim the Morgenthau report found "devoid of foundation") and ordered the execution of thirty-five Jewish men, women and children. In Lviv (then Lemberg) in 1918,
Sony VGP-BPS21/S Batteryafter the Polish Army captured the city, the report concluded that 64 Jews had been killed (other accounts put the number at seventy-two Jews who were killed by officers and soldiers of the Blue Army).[52][ Sony VGP-BPS14 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery53] In Warsaw, soldiers of Blue Army assaulted Jews in the streets, but were punished by military authorities. Many other events in Poland were later found to have been exaggerated, especially by contemporary newspapers such as The New York Times, although serious abuses against the Jews, Sony VGP-BPS14/B Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21A Battery including pogroms, continued elsewhere, especially in Ukraine.[54] The above-mentioned atrocities committed by the young Polish army and its allies in 1919 during their Kiev operation against the Bolsheviks had a profound impact on the foreign perception of the re-emerging Polish state.[ Sony VGP-BPS14B Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery55] The result of the concerns over the fate of Poland's Jews was a series of explicit clauses in the Versailles Treaty signed by the Western powers, and President Paderewski,[5
Sony VGP-BPS15/S Battery6] protecting the rights of minorities in new Poland including Germans. In 1921, Poland's March Constitution gave the Jews the same legal rights as other citizens and guaranteed them religious tolerance and freedom of religious holidays.[57] Sony VGP-BPS14/S Battery
Jewish population in the area of the Congress of Poland increased sevenfold between 1816 and 1921, from around 213,000 to roughly 1,500,000.[58] The number of Jews migrating to Poland from Ukraine and the Soviet Russia during the interwar period grew rapidly. Sony VGP-BPS15 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS15/B Battery According to the Polish national census of 1921, there were 2,845,364 Jews living in the Second Polish Republic; but, by late 1938 that number had grown by over 16% to approximately 3,310,000. Sony SVS13AA11L Battery
The average rate of permanent settlement was about 30,000 per annum. At the same time, every year around 100,000 Jews were passing through Poland in unofficial emigration overseas. Between the end of the Polish–Soviet War and late 1938, the Jewish population of the Republic had grown by over 464,000.[59]
Jewish and Polish culture[edit]
Main articles: Jewish culture and Polish culture
Warsaw Great Synagogue
The newly independent Second Polish Republic had a large and vibrant Jewish minority – by the time World War II began, Poland had the largest concentration of Jews in Europe although many Polish Jews had a separate culture and ethnic identity from Catholic Poles. Sony SVS131A11L Battery
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According to the 1931 National Census there were 3,130,581 Polish Jews measured by the declaration of their religion. Estimating the population increase and the emigration from Poland between 1931 and 1939, Sony SVS151A11L Battery
Sony PCG-41412L Batterythere were probably 3,474,000 Jews in Poland as of September 1, 1939 (approximately 10% of the total population) primarily centered in large and smaller cities: 77% lived in cities and 23% in the villages. They made up about 50%, and in some cases even 70% of the population of smaller towns, Sony SVS151G1GL Battery
Sony PCG-41411L Battery especially in Eastern Poland.[61] Prior to World War II, the Jewish population of Łódź numbered about 233,000, roughly one-third of the city’s population.[62] The city of Lwów (now in Ukraine) had the third largest Jewish population in Poland, numbering 110,000 in 1939 (42%).Sony PCG-4121DL Battery
Sony PCG-41218L Battery Wilno (now in Lithuania) had a Jewish community of nearly 100,000, about 45% of the city's total.[63] In 1938, Kraków's Jewish population numbered over 60,000, or about 25% of the city's total population.[6Sony PCG-4121EL Battery
Sony PCG-41217L Battery4] In 1939 there were 375,000 Jews in Warsaw or one third of the city's population. Only New York City had more Jewish residents than Warsaw. Sony PCG-6X4M battery
The major industries in which Polish Jews were employed were manufacturing and commerce. In many areas of the country the majority of retail businesses were owned by Jews who were sometimes among the wealthiest members of their communities.[6Sony PCG-4121GL Battery
Sony PCG-41216L Battery5] Many Jews also worked as shoemakers and tailors, as well as in the liberal professions; doctors (56% of all doctors in Poland), teachers (43%), journalists (22%) and lawyers (33%).[66]
Hanna Rovina as Leah'le in The Dybbuk
Jewish youth and religious groups, diverse political parties and Zionist organizations, newspapers and theatre flourished. Jews owned land and real estate, participated in retail and manufacturing and in the export industry. The religious beliefs spanned the range from Orthodox Hasidic Judaism to Progressive Judaism. Sony PCG-41211L Battery
Polish language instead of Yiddish was increasingly used by the young Warsaw Jews who did not have a problem in identifying themselves fully as Jews, Warsavians and Poles. Jews such as Bruno Schulz, were entering the mainstream of Polish society, though many thought of themselves as a separate nationality within Poland. Sony PCG-41213L Battery
Children were mainly enrolled in religious Jewish schools which limited their ability to speak Polish. As a result, according to the 1931 census, 79% of Jews gave Yiddish as their first language and only 12% listed Polish, with the remaining 9% being Hebrew. sony PCG-4R1L battery
sony PCG-6Z4L batteryIn contrast, the overwhelming majority of German-born Jews of this period spoke German as their first language. During the school year of 1937–1938 there were 226 elementary schools [67] and twelve high schools as well as fourteen vocational schools with either Yiddish or Hebrew as the instructional language. sony PCG-4Q4L battery
sony PCG-6Z3L battery The YIVO (Jidiszer Wissenszaftlecher Institute) Scientific Institute was based in Wilno before transferring to New York during the war. Jewish political parties, both the Socialist General Jewish Labour Bund (The Bund),[6sony PCG-4Q3L battery
8] as well as parties of the Zionist right and left wing and religious conservative movements, were represented in the Sejm (the Polish Parliament) as well as in the regional councils. Sony PCG-4Q2M battery,
Bolesław Leśmian
The Jewish cultural scene [69] was particularly vibrant in pre–World War II Poland with numerous Jewish publications and more than one hundred periodicals. Yiddish authors, most notably Isaac Bashevis Singer,
sony PCG-6Z2L batterywent on to achieve international acclaim as classic Jewish writers, and in Singer's case, win the 1978 Nobel Prize. Other Jewish authors of the period, like, Bruno Schulz, Julian Tuwim, Marian Hemar, Emanuel Schlechter, Jan Brzechwa (a favorite poet of Polish children) and Bolesław Leśmian, sony PCG-6X1L battery
as well as Konrad Tom and Jerzy Jurandot were less well-known internationally, but made important contributions to Polish literature. Singer Jan Kiepura, born of a Jewish mother and Polish father, was one of the most popular artist of that era and pre-war songs of Jewish composers like Henryk Wars, Jerzy Petersburski, sony PCG-6X2L battery
sony PCG-6Z1L batteryArtur Gold, Henryk Gold, Zygmunt Białostocki, Zygmunt Karasiński, Szymon Kataszek or Jakub Kagan are still widely known in Poland today. Painters became known as well for their depictions of Jewish life, like Maurycy Gottlieb Artur Markowicz, Maurycy Trebacz and younger ones like Chaim Goldberg were coming up in the ranks. sony PCG-6X7L battery
Scientist Leopold Infeld, mathematician Stanislaw Ulam, Alfred Tarski, and professor Adam Ulam contributed to the world of science. Others are Moses Schorr, Ludwik Zamenhof – the creator of Esperanto, Georges Charpak, Samuel Eilenberg, sony PCG-6X8L battery
sony PCG-6XAL battery Emanuel Ringelblum, Artur Rubinstein just to name a few from the long list of Polish Jews who are known internationally. The term "genocide" was coined by Rafał Lemkin (1900–1959), a Polish-Jewish legal scholar. Leonid Hurwicz was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics. Sony SVS13AB1GL Battery
Sony PCG-71713L BatteryThe Scientific Institute YIVO was first organized in Wilno. In Warsaw, important centers of Judaic scholarship, such the Main Judaic Library and the Institute of Judaic Studies were located, along with numerous Talmudic Schools (Jeszybots), religious centers and synagogues, Sony SVS131C1DL Battery
Sony PCG-71614L Batterymany of which were of great architectural quality. Yiddish theatre also flourished; Poland had fifteen Yiddish theatres and theatrical groups. Warsaw was home to the most important Yiddish theater troupe of the time, the Vilna Troupe, which staged the first performance of The Dybbuk in 1920 at the Elyseum Theatre. Some future Israeli leaders studied at University of Warsaw including Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir. Sony PCG-4R1M battery
There also were several Jewish sports clubs, with some of them, such as Hasmonea Lwow and Jutrzenka Kraków, winning promotion to the Polish First Football League. A Polish-Jewish footballer, Józef Klotz, scored the first ever goal for the Poland national football team. Another athlete, Alojzy Ehrlich, won several medals in the table-tennis tournaments. Sony SVS131C24L Battery
Growing antisemitism[edit]
An ever-increasing proportion of Jews in interwar Poland lived separate lives from the Polish majority. In 1921, 74.2% of Polish Jews listed Yiddish or Hebrew as their native language; the number rose to 87% by 1931, resulting in growing tensions between Jews and Poles.[70] Jews were often not identified as Polish nationals; Sony SVS131G1DL Battery
Sony PCG-61913L Battery a problem caused not only by the reversal of assimilation shown in national censuses between 1921 and 1931, but also by the influx of Russian Jews escaping persecution especially in Ukraine, where up to 2,000 pogroms took place during the Civil War and an estimated 30,000 Jews were massacred directly and a total of 150,000 died.[7Sony SVS151C2DL Battery
Sony PCG-61911L Battery1][72] A large number of Russian Jews emigrated to Poland, as they were entitled by the Peace treaty of Riga to choose the country they preferred. Several hundred thousand refugees joined the already numerous Jewish minority of the Polish Second Republic. The resulting economic instability was mirrored by anti-Jewish sentiment in some of the media, discrimination,
Sony PCG-61813L Battery exclusion, and violence at the universities, and the appearance of "anti-Jewish squads" associated with some of the right-wing political parties. These developments contributed to a greater support among the Jewish community for Zionist and socialist ideas,[73Sony SVS151E1GL Battery
Sony PCG-61714L Battery][74] coupled with attempts at further migration, curtailed only by the British government. Notably, the "campaign for Jewish emigration was predicated not on antisemitism but on objective social and economic factors".[7Sony PCG-61A11L Battery
Sony PCG-71C12L Battery5] However, regardless of these changing economic and social conditions, the increase in antisemitic activity in prewar Poland was also typical of antisemitism found in other parts of Europe at that time, developing within a broader, continent-wide pattern with counterparts in every other European country.[76] Sony PCG-4Q1M battery
The matters improved for a time under the rule of Józef Piłsudski (1926–1935), who opposed antisemitism. Piłsudski countered Endecja's 'ethnic assimilation' with the 'state assimilation' policy: citizens were judged by their loyalty to the state, not by their nationality.[7Sony PCG-61A13L Battery
Sony PCG-71C11L Battery7] The years 1926–1935 were favourably viewed by many Polish Jews, whose situation improved especially under the cabinet of Pilsudski’s appointee Kazimierz Bartel.[78] However a combination of various reasons, including the Great Depression,[77Sony PCG-71811L Battery
] meant that the situation of Jewish Poles was never too satisfactory, and it deteriorated again after Piłsudski's death in May 1935, which many Jews regarded as a tragedy.[79]
The student's book of the Jewish student of medicine Marek Szapiro at the Warsaw University with "Ghetto benches" (odd-numbered seats) stamp
With the influence of the Endecja party growing, antisemitism gathered new momentum in Poland and was most felt in smaller towns and spheres in which Jews came into direct contact with Poles, such as in Polish schools or on the sports field. Sony PCG-71912L Battery
Sony PCG-91211L Battery Further academic harassment, such as the introduction of ghetto benches, which forced Jewish students to sit in section of the lecture halls reserved exclusively for them, anti-Jewish riots, and semi-official or unofficial quotas (Numerus clausus) Sony PCG-71913L Battery
Sony PCG-71914L Battery introduced in 1937 in some universities halved the number of Jews in Polish universities between independence and the late 1930s. The restrictions were so inclusive that, while Jews made up 20.4% of the student population in 1928, by 1937 their share was down to only 7.5%.[80]
Although many Jews were educated, they were excluded from most of the relevant occupations, including the government bureaucracy. A good number therefore turned to the liberal professions, particularly medicine and law. Sony PCG-61713L Battery
Sony PCG-61317L Battery In 1937 the Catholic trade unions of Polish doctors and lawyers restricted their new members to Christian Poles (in a similar manner the Jewish trade unions excluded non-Jewish professionals from their ranks after 1918). Sony PCG-91112L Battery
Sony PCG-61316L BatteryA series of professional and trade unions, including those for lawyers and physicians, enacted "Aryan clauses" expelling Polish Jews from their ranks.[81] The bulk of Jewish workers were organized in Jewish trade unions under the influence of the Jewish Labor Bund, which recognized the special cultural needs of the Jewish population, Sony PCG-71311L Battery
Sony PCG-61315L Battery as well as special conditions arising from official discrimination against Jews in certain professions.[82] Jews were virtually excluded from Polish government jobs during this period.[83] Sony PCG-71217L Battery
Complex and long history shaped Polish attitudes towards the Jews and Jewish attitudes towards the Poles, but the anti-Jewish sentiment in Poland had reached its zenith in the years leading to the Second World War.[84] Between 1935 and 1937 seventy-nine Jews were killed and 500 injured in anti-Jewish incidents.[8Sony PCG-71313L Battery
Sony PCG-61312L Battery5] National policy was such that jobless Jews, who largely worked at home or in small shops due to discrimination in employment, were excluded from welfare benefits.[86] Sony PCG-71C11M battery
Demonstration of Polish students demanding implementation of "ghetto benches" at Lwów Polytechnic (1937). Sony PCG-71315L Battery
The national boycott of Jewish businesses and advocacy for their confiscation was promoted by the Endecja party, which introduced the term "Christian shop". A national movement to prevent the Jews from kosher slaughter of animals, with animal rights as the stated motivation, was also organized.[8
Sony PCG-61215L Battery7] Violence was also frequently aimed at Jewish stores, and many of them were looted. At the same time, persistent economic boycotts and harassment, including property-destroying riots, combined with the effects of the Great Depression that had been very severe on agricultural countries like Poland, Sony PCG-71316L Battery
Sony PCG-61211L Battery reduced the standard of living of Poles and Polish Jews alike to the extent that by the end of the 1930s, a substantial portion of Polish Jews lived in grinding poverty.[88] As a result, on the eve of the Second World War, Sony PCG-71318L Battery
Sony PCG-71216L Battery the Jewish community in Poland was large and vibrant internally, yet (with the exception of a few professionals) also substantially poorer and less integrated than the Jews in most of Western Europe.[citation needed] Sony PCG-71211L Battery
The main strain of antisemitism in Poland during this time was motivated by Catholic religious beliefs and centuries-old myths such as the blood libel. This religious-based antisemitism was sometimes joined with an ultra-nationalistic stereotype of Jews as disloyal to the Polish nation.[89] On the eve of World War II, Sony PCG-71212L Battery
Sony PCG-71215L Batterymany typical Polish Christians believed that there were far too many Jews in the country and the Polish government became increasingly concerned with the "Jewish Question".Sony PCG-71D14M battery
Sony PCG-91311M battery Some politicians were in favor of mass Jewish emigration from Poland.
By the time of the German invasion in 1939, antisemitism was escalating, and hostility towards Jews was a mainstay of the right-wing political forces post-Piłsudski regime and also the Catholic Church. Sony PCG-71111L Battery
Discrimination and violence against Jews had rendered the Polish Jewish population increasingly destitute, as was the case throughout much of Central and Eastern Europe. Despite the impending threat to the Polish Republic from Nazi Germany, Sony PCG-81111L Battery
Sony PCG-81411L Batterythere was little effort seen in the way of reconciliation with Poland's Jewish population. In July 1939 the pro-government Gazeta Polska wrote, "The fact that our relations with the Reich are worsening does not in the least deactivate our program in the Jewish question—
Sony PCG-81314L Battery there is not and cannot be any common ground between our internal Jewish problem and Poland's relations with the Hitlerite Reich."[90][91] Escalating hostility towards Polish Jews and an official Polish government desire to remove Jews from Poland continued until the German invasion of Poland.[92] Sony PCG-81113L Battery
World War II and the destruction of Polish Jewry (1939–45)[edit]
Main article: History of Poland (1939-1945)
The Polish September campaign[edit]
Main article: Invasion of Poland (1939)
Graves of Jewish soldiers who died in September Campaign
The number of Jews in Poland on September 1, 1939 amounted to about 3,474,000 people.[93] One hundred thirty thousand soldiers of Jewish descent served in the Polish Army at the outbreak of the Second World War,[94] Sony PCG-61511M battery
Sony PCG-91112M battery thus being among the first to launch armed resistance against the Nazi Germany.[95] It is estimated that during the entirety of World War II as many as 32,216 Polish-Jewish soldiers and officers died and 61,000 were taken prisoner by the Germans; the majority did not survive. Sony PCG-81214L Battery
The soldiers and non-commissioned officers who were released ultimately found themselves in the Nazi ghettos and labor camps and suffered the same fate as other Jewish civilians in the ensuing Holocaust in Poland.
NOTICE
Concerning:
the Sheltering of Escaping Jews.
....There is a need for a reminder, that in
accordance with paragraph 3 of the decree of October 15, 1941, on the
Limitation of Residence in General Government (page 595 of the GG Register)
Jews leaving the Jewish Quarter without permission will incur the death
penalty. Sony
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....According to this decree, those knowingly helping these Jews by providing shelter, supplying food, or selling them foodstuffs are also subject to the death penalty
....This is a categorical warning to the non-Jewish population against:
Sony
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Sony
SVE14A1S1EB batteryDr. Franke – Town Commander – Częstochowa 9/24/42
In 1939 Jews constituted 30% of Warsaw's
population.[96] With the coming of the war, Jewish and Polish citizens of
Warsaw jointly defended the city, putting their differences aside.[96] Polish
Jews later served in almost all Polish formations during the entire World War
II, Sony
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Sony
SVE1511A1EB battery many were killed or wounded and very many were
decorated for their combat skills and exceptional service. Jews fought with the
Polish Armed Forces in the West, in the Soviet formed Polish People's Army as
well as in several underground organizations and as part of Polish partisan
units or Jewish partisan formations.[97]
Territories annexed by the USSR (1939–1941)[edit]
Main article: Polish areas annexed by the Soviet Union
On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and
Nazi Germany entered into a Nonaggression Pact, the so-called Ribbentrop-Molotov
Pact with a secret protocol providing the partition of Poland. Germany attacked
Poland on September 1, 1939 and the Soviet Union on September 17, 1939. Sony
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Sony
SVE1713S1E battery In the newly-partitioned Poland, 61.2% of Polish
Jews found themselves under German occupation while 38.8% were in the Polish
areas annexed by the Soviet Union. Based on population migration from West to
East during and after the Invasion of Poland the percentage of Jews in the
Soviet-occupied areas was probably higher than that of the 1931 census. Sony
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The Soviet annexation was accompanied by
the widespread arrests of government officials, police, military personnel,
border guards, teachers, priests, judges etc., followed by executions and
massive deportation to the Soviet interior or forced labour camps where, Sony
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Sony
SVE1712Z1E batteryas a result of the harsh conditions, many people
died. Of the approximately 1.450 million Polish citizens living in the region
deported by the Soviets, 63.1% were ethnic Poles but Jews represented 7.4% of
all the prisoners.
Jewish refugees from Western Poland who
registered for repatriation back to the German zone (people in the Soviet
occupation zone had little knowledge of what was going on in the German occupation
zone since the Soviet media did not report on their Nazi ally's misdeeds),
Sony
SVE1712Q1E batterywealthy Jewish capitalists, prewar political and
social activists were labelled "class enemies" and deported for that
reason. Jews caught for illegal border crossings or engaged in illicit trade
and other "illegal" activities were also arrested and deported.
Several thousand, mostly captured Polish soldiers, were executed on the spot;
some of them were Jewish. Sony
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All private property and, crucial to
Jewish economic life, private businesses were nationalized, political activity
was illegal and thousands of people were jailed, many of whom were later
executed. Zionism, which was designated by the Soviets as counter-revolutionary
was also forbidden. Sony
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Within one day all Polish and Jewish media was
shut down and replaced by the new Soviet press, which conducted mainly
political propaganda but also was attacking religion, including the Jewish
faith. Synagogues and Churches were not yet closed but heavily taxed. Sony
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Sony
SVE1711X1E battery The Soviet ruble of little value was immediately
equalized to the much higher Polish zloty and by the end of 1939, zloty was
abolished.[98] Sony
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Most economic activity was subject to
central planning and restrictions and a lot of private property nationalized.
Because Jewish communities tended to rely on commerce and small scale
businesses, the nationalization affected some of them to a greater degree than
the general populace. Sony
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Sony SVE1512J1E
battery
Sony
SVE1711F1E battery The Soviet system resulted in different economic
arrangements which were characterized by low wages and frequent shortages of
goods and materials. As a result, Jews, like many other inhabitants of the
region, saw a fall in their living standards.[99] Sony
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Sony
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Under Soviet policy, Poles were denied
access to positions in the civil service and former Polish senior officials and
notable members of the community were arrested and exiled to remote regions of
Russia together with their families.[1Sony
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Sony
SVE1711R1E battery00][101] At the same time the Soviet authorities
encouraged Jews to fill in the newly emptied government and civil service
jobs.[99]
While most Poles of all ethnicities had
anti-Soviet and anti-communist sentiments, a portion of the Jewish population, Sony
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Sony
VPCCB2M0E batteryalong with ethnic Belorussians, Ukrainians and few
communist Poles had initially welcomed invading Soviet forces.[102][103][ Sony
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104] The general feeling among Polish Jews
was a sense of relief in having escaped the dangers of falling under Nazi rule,
as well as from the overt policies of discrimination against Jews which had
existed in the Polish state, Sony
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Sony
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including discrimination in education,
employment and commerce, as well as antisemitic violence that in some cases
reached pogrom levels.[105] Sony
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[106] The Polish poet and former communist
Aleksander Wat has stated that Jews were more inclined to cooperate with the
Soviets [107][108] Norman Davies claimed that among the informers and
collaborators, the percentage of Jews was striking, Sony
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Sony
SVE1513Q1E batteryand they prepared lists of Polish "class
enemies",[107] while other historians have indicated that the level of
Jewish collaboration could well have been less than that of ethnic Poles.[109]
Holocaust scholar Martin Dean has written that "few local Jews obtained
positions of power under Soviet rule."[110] Sony
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The issue of Jewish collaboration with the
Soviet occupation remains controversial. Some scholars note that while not
pro-communist, many Jews saw the Soviets as the lesser threat compared to the
German Nazis. Sony
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They stress that stories of Jews welcoming the
Soviets on the streets, vividly remembered by many Poles from eastern part of
the country are impressionistic and not reliable indicators of the level of
Jewish support for the Soviets. Additionally, Sony
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Sony
SVE1713Z1E battery it has been noted that some ethnic Poles were as
prominent as Jews in filling civil and police positions in the occupation
administration, and that JewSony
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Sony
SVE1513V1E batterys, both civilians and in the Polish military,
suffered equally at the hands of the Soviet occupiers.[111] Whatever initial
enthusiasm for the Soviet occupation Jews might have felt was soon dissipated
upon feeling the impact of the suppression of Jewish societal modes of life by
the occupiers.[11Sony
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Sony
SVE1513M1E battery2] The tensions between ethnic Poles and Jews as a
result of this period has, according to some historians, taken a toll on
relations between Poles and Jews throughout the war, creating until this day,
an impasse to Polish-Jewish rapprochement.[104] Sony SVE14A1S1E
battery
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Even though only a small percentage of
the Jewish community had been members of the Communist Party of Poland during
the interwar era, they had occupied an influential and conspicuous place in the
party's leadership and in the rank and file in major centres, such as Warsaw, Sony
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Sony
SVE1513B1E battery Łódź and Lwow. A larger number of younger Jews,
often through the pro-Marxist Bund or some Zionist groups, were sympathetic to
Communism and Soviet Russia, both of which had been enemies of the Polish
Second Republic. Sony
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Sony
SVE1513A4E batteryAs a result of these factors they found it easy
after 1939 to participate in the Soviet occupation administration in Eastern
Poland, and briefly occupied prominent positions in industry, schools, Sony
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Sony
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institutions. The concept of "Judeo-communism" was reinforced during
the period of the Soviet occupation (see Żydokomuna).[113][114] Sony
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There were also Jews who demonstrated
loyalty toward Poland, assisting Poles during brutal Soviet occupation. Among
thousands Polish officers killed by the Soviet NKVD in the Katyń massacre there
were 500–600 Jews. Sony
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Sony
SVS1511L3ES batteryFrom 1939 to 1941 between 100,000 and 300,000
Polish Jews were deported from Soviet-occupied Polish territory into the Soviet
Union. Some of them, especially Polish Communists (e.g. Jakub Berman), moved
voluntarily; however, most of them were forcibly deported or imprisoned in
Gulag. Sony
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Small
numbers of Polish Jews (about 6,000) were able to leave the Soviet Union in
1942 with the Władysław Anders army, among them the future Prime Minister of
Israel Menachem Begin. During the Polish army's II Corps' stay in the British
Mandate of Palestine, 67% (2,972) Sony SVS15 battery
Sony
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Sony
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Palestine, and many joined the Irgun. General Anders decided not to prosecute
the deserters and emphasized that the Jewish soldiers who remained in the Force
fought bravely.[11Sony
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Sony
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Sony
SVS1311E3EW battery5] Cemetery of Polish soldiers who died during
the Battle of Monte Cassino contains also headstones bearing a Star of David.
The Holocaust: German-occupied Poland[edit]
Main articles: The Holocaust in Poland and Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany
Sony
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Sony
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The Holocaust in German occupied Poland: the map
"The Mass Extermination of Jews in German Occupied Poland", note of Republic of Poland addressed to United Nations, 1942
The Polish Jewish community suffered the
most in the Holocaust. About six million Polish citizens perished during the
war,[1Sony
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Sony
SVS151A11M battery16] half of them (three million) Polish Jews—all
but about 300,000 of the Jewish population—who were killed at the German Nazi
murder camps of Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, Belzec, Sobibór, Chełmno or
died of starvation in ghettos.[117] Sony
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Poland was where the German Nazi program for the extermination of Jews, the "Final Solution" was implemented, since this was where the majority of Europe's Jews lived at the time (excluding the Soviet Union).[118]
In 1939 several hundred synagogues were blown up or burnt by the Germans who sometimes forced the Jews to do it themselves.[9Sony PCG-6X4M battery,
Sony
PCG-71316M battery3] In many cases Germans turned the synagogues
into factories, places of entertainment, swimming-pools or prisons.[93] By the
end of the war, almost all of the synagogues in Poland have been
destroyed.[119] rabbis were ordered to dance and sing in public with their
beards cut or torn. Some rabbis were set on fire or hanged.[93] Sony
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Jewish children in the Ghetto
Germans ordered registration of all Jews
and a word “Jude” was stamped in their identity cards.[120] Numerous
restrictions and prohibitions targeting Jews were introduced and brutally
enforced.[12Sony
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Sony
SVS13A1U9ES battery1] For example, Jews were forbidden to walk on
the sidewalks, use public transport, enter places of leisure, sports arenas,
theaters, museums and libraries.[122] On the street, Jews had to lift their hat
to passing Germans.[1Sony
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Sony
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Sony
VPCCA2S1E battery23] By the end of 1941 all Jews in German-occupied
Poland, except the children, had to wear an identifying badge with a blue Star
of David.[124] The Germans made almost no attempt to set up a collaborationist
government in Poland,[125][126Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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collaborate",[128] nevertheless, Polish language rags run by them
routinely published antisemitic articles that urged local people to adopt an
attitude of indifference towards the Jews.[129] Sony
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battery
Following Operation Barbarossa, many Jews
in what was then Eastern Poland fell victim to Nazi death squads called
Einsatzgruppen, which massacred Jews, especially in 1941. Some of these
German-inspired massacres were carried out with help from, or active
participation of Poles themselves: for example, Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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the
massacre in Jedwabne, in which between 300 (Institute of National Remembrance's
Final Findings[130]) and 1,600 Jews (Jan T. Gross) were tortured and beaten to
death by members of the local population. The full extent of Polish
participation in the massacres of the Polish Jewish community remains a
controversial subject, Sony
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Sony
PCG-4121GM battery in part due to Jewish leaders' refusal to allow
the remains of the Jewish victims to be exhumed and their cause of death to be
properly established. The Polish Institute for National Remembrance identified
twenty-two other towns that had pogroms similar to Jedwabne.[13
Sony
PCG-41214M battery1] The reasons for these massacres are still
debated, but they included antisemitism, resentment over alleged cooperation
with the Soviet invaders in the Polish-Soviet War and during the 1939 invasion
of the Kresy regions, greed for the possessions of the Jews, and of course
coercion by the Nazis to participate in such massacres. Sony
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Some historians have written of the
negative attitudes of some Poles towards persecuted Jews during the
Holocaust.[132] Sony
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Sony
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Sony
PCG-41218M battery While members of Catholic clergy risked their
lives to assist Jews, these efforts were made in the face of strong antisemitic
attitudes from the Polish Catholic Church hierarchy.[133][134] Anti-Jewish
attitudes also existed in the London-based Polish Government in Exile.[135] Sony
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Sony
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Holocaust survivors's views of Polish
behavior during the War span a wide range, depending on the personal experiences
of the person. Some are very negative, based on the view of Christian Poles as
passive witnesses who failed to act and aid the Jews as they were being
persecuted or liquidated by the Nazi Germans.[1Sony
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Sony
PCG-41211M battery36] Poles, who were also victims of Nazi
crimes,[137] were often afraid for their and their family's lives themselves
and this fear prevented many of them from giving aid and assistance, even if
some of them felt sympathy for the Jews. Sony
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Sony
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the Warsaw Ghetto, wrote in 1944 in his Polish-Jewish Relations during the
Second World War of the indifferent and sometimes joyful responses in Warsaw to
the destruction of Polish Jews in the Ghetto.[138] However despite that,
Sony
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work on the Jews of Warsaw has demonstrated, Polish citizens of Warsaw managed
to support and hide the same percentage of Jews as did the citizens of cities
in Western European countries.[15] Sony
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Ghettos and death camps[edit]
The German Nazis established six
extermination camps throughout Poland by 1942. All of these – at Chelmno (Kulmhof),
Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and Auschwitz (Oswiecim) – were located on
the rail network so that the victims could be easily transported to them.
Sony
VPCSE2V9E batteryThe system of camps was expanded over the course of
the German occupation of Poland and their purposes were diversified; some
served as transit camps, some as forced labor camps and some as death camps.
While in the death camps, the victims were usually killed shortly after
arrival, in the other camps able-bodied Jews were worked and beaten to death.[139]
Sony
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The operation of concentration camps depended on Kapos, collaborator-prisoners. Some of these Kapos were Jewish themselves, and their prosecution after the war created an ethical dilemma.[140] Sony PCG-41311M battery
Jewish Ghettos in German occupied Poland and Eastern Europe
Between October 1939 and July 1942 a system of ghettos was imposed for the confinement of Jews. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest in all of World War II, with 380,000 people crammed into an area of 1.3 square miles. Sony PCG-41313M battery
Sony VPCZ23N9E batteryThe Łódź Ghetto was the second largest, holding about 160,000. Other Polish cities with large Jewish ghettos included Białystok (Białystok Ghetto), Częstochowa, Kielce, Kraków (Kraków Ghetto), Lublin, Lwów (Lviv Ghetto), and Radom. Ghettos were also established in hundreds of smaller settlements. Sony PCG-41314M battery
Sony VPCZ23M9E battery Living conditions in the Ghettos, most hermetically sealed and without ability to leave, were terrible. Overcrowding, dirt, lice, lethal epidemics such as typhoid and hunger resulted in countless deaths.
Further information: Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland
Announcement of death penalty for Jews captured outside the Ghetto and for Poles helping Jews, November 1941
Many Jews tried to escape from the ghetto in the hope of finding a place to hide outside of it, or of joining the partisan units. Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Sony VPCZ21V9E batteryWhen this proved difficult escapees often returned to the ghetto on their own. If caught, Germans would murder the escapees and leave their bodies in plain view as a warning to others. Despite these terror tactics attempts at escape from ghettos continued up until their liquidation.[141] Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Since Nazi terror reigned throughout the Aryan districts, the chances of remaining successfully hidden undoubtedly depended on a fluent knowledge of the language and on having close ties with the community. Sony PCG-4U2M battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/B battery Many Poles were not willing to hide Jews who might have escaped the ghettos or who might have been in hiding due to fear for their own lives and that of their families. The Germans would often murder non-Jewish Poles for small misdemeanors and execution for help rendered to Jews, even the most basic kinds, Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
Sony VPCZ12X9E/B batterywas automatic. Poles often refused to help, but the general reason for that was that they feared for their own lives since in any apartment block or area where Jews were found to be harboured, everybody in the house would be immediately shot by the Germans. Sony PCG-6121M battery
Sony VPCZ12V9E/B batteryWhile the German policy towards Jews was ruthless and criminal, their policy towards Christian Poles who helped Jews was very much the same. Thousands of non-Jewish Poles were executed for helping Jews.[142] Sony PCG-4Q2M battery
Hiding in a Christian society to which the Jews were only partially assimilated was a daunting task.[143] They needed to quickly acquire not only a new identity, but a new body of knowledge.[14Sony PCG-6122M battery
Sony VPCZ12V9E battery3] Many Jews spoke Polish with an accent, used different nonverbal language, different gestures and facial expressions. Jews with the specific physical characteristics were particularly vulnerable.[143] Sony PCG-6124M battery
Some individuals took advantage of a hiding person's desperation by collecting money, then reneging on their promise of aid — or worse, turning them over to the Germans for an additional reward. Individuals who turned in Jews in hiding to the Gestapo received a standard payment consisting of some cash, liquor, sugar and cigarettes. Sony VPCZ13 battery
Many Jews were robbed and handed over to the Germans by "szmalcownik"s many of whom practiced blackmail as an "occupation". Those criminals were condemned by the Polish Underground State and a fight against these informers was organized by Armia Krajowa (Underground State's military arm), with the death sentence being meted out on a scale unknown in the occupied countries of Western Europe.[144] Sony VPCZ13V9E battery
Janusz Korczak's orphanage
The belief that the experienced suffering was preordained and that it would result in the coming of the Messiah also existed among some religious Jews.[145] Sony VPCZ21Q9E battery
To discourage Poles from giving shelter to Jews, the Germans often searched houses and introduced ruthless penalties. Poland was the only occupied country during World War II where the Nazis formally imposed the death penalty[146] for anybody found sheltering and helping Jews.[147][148] Sony VGP-BPL20 battery
The penalty applied not only to the person who did the helping, but also extended to his or her family, neighbors and sometimes to an entire village.[149] In this way Germans applied the principle of collective responsibility whose purpose was to encourage neighbors to inform on each other in order to avoid punishment. Sony VGP-BPS20/B battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E/B batteryThe nature of these policies was widely known and visibly publicized by the Nazis who sought to terrorize the Polish population.
Food rations for Poles were very small (669 kcal per day in 1941) Sony VGP-BPS20/S battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E battery and black market prices of food were high, factors which made it difficult to hide people and almost impossible to hide entire families, especially in the cities. Despite these draconian measures imposed by the Nazis, Poland has the highest number of Righteous Among The Nations awards at the Yad Vashem Museum (6,339).[150] Sony VGP-BPL14 battery
The Polish Government in Exile was the first (in November 1942) to reveal the existence of Nazi-run concentration camps and the systematic extermination of the Jews by the Nazis, through its courier Jan Karski[1Sony VGP-BPL14/B battery
Sony VGN-Z51XG/B battery51] and through the activities of Witold Pilecki, a member of Armia Krajowa who was the only person to volunteer for imprisonment in Auschwitz and who organized a resistance movement inside the camp itself.[15Sony PCG-4R1M battery
2] One of the Jewish members of the National Council of the Polish government in exile, Szmul Zygielbojm, committed suicide to protest the indifference of the Allied governments in the face of the Holocaust in Poland. Sony VGP-BPS14 battery
Sony VGN-Z51WG/B battery The Polish government in exile was also the only government to set up an organization (Żegota) specifically aimed at helping the Jews in Poland.
Warsaw Ghetto and its uprising[editSony VGP-BPS14/B battery
Main article: Warsaw Ghetto
Further information: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Daily life in the Warsaw Ghetto
The cover page of The Stroop Report with International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg markings.
Deportation to Treblinka at the Umschlagplatz
The Warsaw Ghetto[153] and its 1943 Uprising represents what is likely the most known episode of the wartime history of the Polish Jews. Sony VGP-BPS14/S battery
Sony VGN-Z51XTG/B batteryThe ghetto was established by the German Governor-General Hans Frank on October 16, 1940. Initially, almost 140,000 Jews were moved into the ghetto from all parts of Warsaw. At the same time approximately 110,000 Poles had been forcibly evicted from the area. Sony VGN-Z11MN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z31XN/B batteryThe Germans selected Adam Czerniakow to take charge of the Jewish Council called Judenrat made up of 24 Jewish men ordered to organize Jewish labor battalions as well as Jewish Ghetto Police which would be responsible for maintaining order within the Ghetto walls.[154][ Sony VGN-Z11WN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z41WD/B battery155] A number of Jewish policemen were corrupt and immoral. Soon the Nazis demanded even more from the Judenrat and the demands were much more cruel. Death was the punishment for the slightest indication of noncompliance by the Judenrat. Sony VGN-Z21 battery
Sony VGP-BPS12/Q battery Sometimes the Judenrat refused to collaborate in which case its members were consequently executed and replaced by the new group of people. Adam Czerniakow who was the head of the Warsaw Judenrat committed suicide [156] when he was forced to collect daily lists of Jews to be deported to Treblinka extermination camp at the onset of Grossaktion Warsaw. Sony VGN-Z21WN/B battery
The population of the ghetto reached 380,000 people by the end of 1940, about 30% of the population of Warsaw. However, the size of the Ghetto was only about 2.4% of the size of the city. Sony VGN-Z21XN battery
Sony VGP-BPL12 batteryThe Germans closed off the Ghetto from the outside world, building a wall around it on November 16, 1940. During the next year and a half, Jews from smaller cities and villages were brought into the Warsaw Ghetto, while diseases (especially typhoid) Sony VGN-Z21ZN/X battery
Sony VGN-Z batteryand starvation kept the inhabitants at about the same number. Average food rations in 1941 for Jews in Warsaw were limited to 253 kcal, and 669 kcal for Poles, as opposed to 2,613 kcal for Germans. Sony VGN-Z31 battery
Sony VGN-Z51XG batteryOn July 22, 1942, the mass deportation of the Warsaw Ghetto inhabitants began. During the next fifty-two days (until September 12, 1942) about 300,000 people were transported by freight train to the Treblinka extermination camp. Sony VGN-Z31MN/B battery
Sony VGN-Z51WG battery The deportations were carried out by fifty German SS soldiers, 200 soldiers of the Latvian Schutzmannschaften Battalions, 200 Ukrainian Police,[157] and 2,500 Jewish Ghetto Police. Employees of the Judenrat, including the Ghetto Police,[158] along with their families and relatives, Sony VGN-Z31WN/B battery
were spared from deportations until September 1942 in return for their cooperation. Jewish Ghetto policemen were ordered to personally "deliver" ghetto inhabitants to the Umschlagplatz train station, but afterwards shared their fate. On January 18, 1943, Sony VGN-Z31ZN/B battery
Sony
VGN-Z51 battery a group of Ghetto militants led by the right leaning
ŻZW, including some members of the left leaning ŻOB rose up in a first Warsaw
uprising. Both organizations resisted, with arms, German attempts for
additional deportations to Auschwitz and Treblinka.[15Sony
vgp-bps24 battery
Sony
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came four months later after the crushing of one of the most heroic and tragic
battles of the war, the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 saw the destruction of what remained of the Ghetto
Ghetto fighters memorial in Warsaw build in 1948, sculpturer: Natan Rappaport
When we invaded the Ghetto for the first
time – wrote SS commander Jürgen Stroop – the Jews and the Polish bandits
succeeded in repelling the participating units, including tanks and armored
cars, by a well-prepared concentration of fire. (..Sony
vgp-bpsc24 battery
Sony
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Sony
PCG-4121GM battery.) The main Jewish battle group, mixed with Polish
bandits, had already retired during the first and second day to the so-called
Muranowski Square. There, it was reinforced by a considerable number of Polish
bandits. Its plan was to hold the Ghetto by every means in order to prevent us
from invading it. — Jürgen Stroop, Stroop Report, 1943.[160][161][1Sony SVS15 battery
Sony
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The Uprising was led by ŻOB (Jewish Combat
Organization) and the ŻZW.[159][163] The ŻZW (Jewish Military Union) was the
better supplied in arms.[159] The ŻOB had more than 750 fighters, but lacked
weapons: Sony
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Sony
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grenades.[145] A developed network of bunkers and fortifications were formed.
The Jewish fighters also received support from the Polish Underground (Armia
Krajowa). Sony
SVS13AA11M battery
Sony
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Sony
PCG-41218M batteryThe German forces, which included 2,842 Nazi
soldiers and 7,000 security personnel, were not capable of crushing the Jewish
resistance in open street combat and after several days, decided to switch
strategy by setting buildings on fire in which the Jewish fighters hid. The
commander of the ŻOB, Sony
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Sony
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Mordechai Anielewicz died fighting on May 8,
1943 at the organization's command centre on 18 Mila Street.
It took the Germans twenty-seven days to
put down the uprising, after some very heavy fighting. The German general
Jürgen Stroop, in his report, stated that his troops had killed 6,065 Jewish
fighters during the battle. Sony
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Sony SVS1311P9EB
battery
Sony
PCG-41213M batteryAfter the uprising was already over, Heinrich
Himmler had the Great Synagogue on Tłomackie Square (outside the ghetto)
destroyed as a celebration of German victory and a symbol that the Jewish
Ghetto in Warsaw was no longer. Sony
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A group of fighters escaped from the ghetto through the sewers and reached the Lomianki forest. About 50 ghetto fighters were saved by the Polish "People's Guard" and later formed their own partisan group, named after Anielewicz. Even after the end of the uprising there were still several hundreds of Jews who continued living in the ruined ghetto. Many of them survived thanks to the contacts they managed to establish with Poles outside the ghetto.
Sony
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34 Mordechaj Anielewicz Street, Warsaw, Poland
The Uprising inspired Jews throughout
Poland. Many Jewish leaders who survived the liquidation continued underground
work outside the ghetto. They hid other Jews, forged necessary documents and
were active in the Polish underground in other parts of Warsaw and surrounding
area. Sony
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Sony
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Freed prisoners of Gęsiówka and the Szare Szeregi fighters after the liberation of the camp in August 1944
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, was followed by
other Ghetto uprisings in many smaller towns and cities across German occupied
Poland. Many Jews were found alive in the ruins of the former Warsaw Ghetto
during the 1944 general Warsaw Uprising when the Poles themselves rose up
against the Germans. Some of the survivors of 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Sony
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Sony
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during 1944 Warsaw Uprising, led by the Polish resistance movement Armia
Krajowa, and immediately joined Polish fighters. Only a few of them survived. Sony
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The Polish commander of one Jewish unit, Waclaw
Micuta, described them as some of the best fighters, always at the front line.
It is estimated that over 2,000 Polish Jews, some as well known as Marek
Edelman or Icchak Cukierman, and several dozen Greek,[164Sony
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Sony
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Krajowa from Gesiowka concentration camp in Warsaw, men and women, took part in
combat against Nazis during 1944 Warsaw Uprising. Some 166,000 people lost
their lives in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, Sony
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including perhaps as many as 17,000 Polish Jews
who had either fought with the AK or had been discovered in hiding (see:
Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński and Stanisław Aronson). Warsaw was razed to the ground
by the Germans and more than 150,000 Poles were sent to labor or concentration
camps. Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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destroyed and nearly uninhabited Warsaw. Some 300 Jews were found hiding in the
ruins in the Polish part of the city (see: Wladyslaw Szpilman). Sony
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The fate of the Warsaw Ghetto was similar
to that of the other ghettos in which Jews were concentrated. With the decision
of Nazi Germany to begin the Final Solution, the destruction of the Jews of
Europe, Aktion Reinhard began in 1942, Sony
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Sony
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Bełżec, Sobibór, and Treblinka, followed by Auschwitz-Birkenau where people
were killed in gas chambers and mass executions (death wall).[16Sony
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Sony
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5] Many died from hunger, starvation, disease,
torture or by pseudo-medical experiments. The mass deportation of Jews from
ghettos to these camps, such as happened at the Warsaw Ghetto, soon followed,
and more than 1.7 million Jews were killed at the Aktion Reinhard camps by
October 1943 alone. Sony
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Białystok Ghetto and uprising[edit]
Main article: Białystok Ghetto
Further information: Białystok Ghetto Uprising
In August 1941, Sony
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Sony
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in Białystok. About 50,000 Jews from the city and the surrounding region were
confined in a small area of Białystok. The ghetto had two sections, divided by
the Biala River. Most Jews in the Białystok ghetto worked in forced-labor
projects, Sony
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Sony
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within the ghetto boundaries. The Germans also sometimes used Jews in
forced-labor projects outside the ghetto.
In February 1943, Sony
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Sony SVE14 battery
Sony
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to the Treblinka extermination camp. During the deportations, hundreds of Jews,
mainly those deemed too weak or sick to travel, were killed. Sony
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In August 1943, the Germans mounted an
operation to destroy the Białystok ghetto. German forces and local police
auxiliaries surrounded the ghetto and began to round up Jews systematically for
deportation to the Treblinka extermination camp. Sony
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Sony
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Sony
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transit camp in the city before deportation to Treblinka. Those deemed fit to
work were sent to the Majdanek camp. In Majdanek, after another screening for
ability to work, they were transported to the Poniatowa, Blizyn, or Auschwitz
camps. Sony
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Sony
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Majdanek. More than 1,000 Jewish children were sent first to the Theresienstadt
ghetto in Bohemia, and then to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where they were killed. Sony
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On August 15, 1943, the Białystok Ghetto Uprising began, and several
hundred Polish Jews and members of the Anti-Fascist Military Organisation
(Polish: Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa) started an armed struggle against
the German troops who were carrying out the planned liquidation and deportation
of the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp.[166][1Sony
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Sony
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67] The guerrillas were armed with only one machine gun, several
dozen pistols, Molotov cocktails and bottles filled with acid. The fighting in
isolated pockets of resistance lasted for several days, but the defence was
broken almost instantly. Sony
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Sony
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Sony
VGP-BPS20/B batteryAs with the earlier Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of
April 1943, the Białystok uprising had no chances for military success, but it
was the second largest ghetto uprising, after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Several dozen guerrillas managed to break through to the forests surrounding
Białystok where they joined the partisan units of Armia Krajowa and other
organisations and survived the war. Sony
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Communist rule: 1945–1989[edit]
Main article: History of Poland (1945-1989)
Further information: Polish anti-religious campaign (1945–1990)
Postwar[edit]
Main article: Anti-Jewish violence in Poland, 1944–1946
Between 40,000 and 100,000 Polish Jews
survived the Holocaust in Poland by hiding or by joining the Polish or Soviet
partisan units. Sony
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Sony
VPCCA3S1E batteryAnother 50,000–170,000 were repatriated from the
Soviet Union and 20,000–40,000 from Germany and other countries. At its postwar
peak, there were 180,000–240,000 Jews in Poland mostly in Warsaw, Łódź, Kraków,
Wrocław and Lower Silesia, e.g., Legnica, Dzierżoniów and Bielawa.[16Sony
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Sony
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The character of Poland had changed
however. In spite of the major Polish contribution to World War II, Poland was
placed under direct Soviet control due to British and US dependence on the
Soviet military commitment to the defeat of Hitler and Franklin D. Sony
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Sony
VPCCA4S1E batteryRoosevelt's unwillingness to confront Stalin over
his future plans for Poland. Soviet style communism was established and the
borders of Poland were moved west. The Soviet Union annexed the eastern
regions, which had many ethnic minorities including Jewish shtetl communities. Sony
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Sony
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The Jewish survivors found it practically
impossible to reconstruct their earlier lives as they were before in pre-war
Poland.[1Sony
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Sony
SVE1511H1ESI battery69] Jewish communities and rich Jewish life
ceased to exist. People who somehow survived the Holocaust and who returned to
their town or villages often discovered that their homes had been looted or
destroyed. Some homes had new repatriated inhabitants who at times were very
unhappy to see returning Jewish survivors.
Jewish Holocaust survivors awaiting transportation to the British Mandate of Palestine
Polish Jews began to leave Poland soon
after the Second World War ended for a variety of reasons.[1Sony
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Sony
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Sony
SVE1511B1EW battery70] Many left because Poland became a Communist
country they did not want to live in, or because all private property had been
confiscated by the new Communist government. Some left because they did not
want to live where their family members were murdered and instead chose to live
with relatives in different countries. Many wanted to go to British Mandate of
Palestine, soon to be the new state of Israel, Sony
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especially after Gen. Spychalski signed a decree allowing Jews to leave Poland without visas or exit permits.[24] Yet others left because many Poles viewed Jews with hostility due to antisemitic prejudice. Sony PCG-41311M battery
Anti-Jewish riots broke out in several Polish cities and hundreds of Jews were murdered in anti-Jewish violence (see: Anti-Jewish violence in Poland, 1944-1946).[171] The best-known case is the Kielce pogrom of 1946,[ Sony PCG-41313M battery
Sony VPCZ21Q9E battery172] in which thirty-seven Jews were brutally murdered. Kielce antisemitic riot, amidst the raging civil war in postwar Poland,[173] discouraged many survivors from rebuilding their lives there and convinced them to emigrate. Sony PCG-41314M battery
Irrespective of their status, the Communist government's response to the Kielce atrocities was rapid.[174] Special investigators were dispatched and military tribunals formed.[174] Acitivities of the local authorities were investigated.[174] However, only the local commander of Milicja Obywatelska was found guilty of inaction.[1Sony PCG-41315M battery
Sony VPCZ13V9E battery74] Nine direct participants of the pogrom were sentenced to death; three were given lengthy prison sentences.[174] Debate in Poland continues today whether the murderers were leftists or rightists. Who inspired the killings is not agreed upon or known. Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Between 1945 and 1948, 100,000–120,000 Jews left Poland. Their departure was largely organized by the Zionist activists in Poland such as Adolf Berman and Icchak Cukierman under the umbrella of a semi-clandestine organization Berihah ("Flight").[175] Berihah was also responsible for the organized emigration of Jews from Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia totaling 250,000 (including Poland) Holocaust survivors. Sony PCG-4U2M battery
A second wave of Jewish emigration (50,000) took place during the liberalization of the Communist regime between 1957 and 1959. After 1967's Six Day War, in which the Soviet Union supported the Arab side, the Polish communist party adopted an anti-Jewish course of action which in the years 1968–69 provoked the last mass migration of Jews from Poland.[170] Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
The Bund took part in the post-war
elections of 1947 on a common ticket with the (non-communist) Polish Socialist
Party (PPS) and gained its first and only parliamentary seat in its Polish
history, plus several seats in municipal councils. Dell XPS
14 battery
Dell XPS
15 battery
Dell XPS
17 battery
Dell
Latitude E6410 ATG batteryUnder pressure from Soviet-installed
communist authorities, the Bund's leaders 'voluntarily' disbanded the party in
1948–1949 against the opposition of many activists. Stalinist Poland was
basically governed by the Soviet NKVD which was against the renewal of Jewish
religious and even cultural life. Dell XPS
L401X battery
Dell XPS
L501X battery
Dell Latitude E6410 batteryIn the years 1948–49 all remaining Jewish schools were nationalized by the communists and Yiddish was replaced with Polish as a language of teaching.
For those Polish Jews who remained, the
rebuilding of Jewish life in Poland was carried out between October 1944 and
1950 by the Central Committee of Polish Jews (Centralny Komitet Żydów Polskich,
CKŻP) which provided legal, educational, social care, Dell XPS
L502X battery
Dell
Latitude E6400 XFR battery cultural, and propaganda services. A
countrywide Jewish Religious Community, led by Dawid Kahane, who served as
chief rabbi of the Polish Armed Forces, functioned between 1945 and 1948 until
it was absorbed by the CKŻP. Eleven independent political Jewish parties, of
which eight were legal, Dell XPS
L701X battery
Dell XPS
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Dell XPS M1210 battery
existed until their dissolution during 1949–50.
Hospitals and schools were opened in Poland by the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee and ORT to provide service to Jewish communities.[17Dell XPS M1330 battery
Dell XPS M140 battery
6] Some Jewish cultural institutions were
established including the Yiddish State Theater founded in 1950 and directed by
Ida Kaminska, the Jewish Historical Institute, an academic institution
specializing in the research of the history and culture of the Jews in Poland,
and the Yiddish newspaper Folks-Shtime ("People's Voice").Sony
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Following liberalization after Joseph
Stalin's death, in this 1958–59 period, 50,000 Jews emigrated to Israel.[8] A
significant number of Polish Communists were of Jewish descent and actively
participated in the establishment of the communist regime in the People's
Republic of Poland. Between 1944 and 1956, they held, among others, prominent
posts in the Politburo of the Polish United Worker's Party (e.g., Jakub Berman,
Dell XPS
M1530 battery
Dell XPS M1730 battery
Dell
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Communist-style economy), and the security apparatus Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (UB)
and in diplomacy/intelligence. After 1956, during the process of
destalinisation in Poland under Władysław Gomułka's regime, some Urząd
Bezpieczeństwa officials including Roman Romkowski (born Natan
Grunsapau-Kikiel), Jacek Różański (born Jozef Goldberg), Dell XPS M2010 battery
Dell
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and Anatol Fejgin were prosecuted for
"power abuses" including the torture of Polish anti-communists (among
them, Witold Pilecki), and sentenced to long prison terms. A UB official, Józef
Światło, (born Izaak Fleichfarb), after escaping in 1953 to the West, Dell
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Dell
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of the UB which led to its dissolution in 1954. Solomon Morel a member of the
Ministry of Public Security of Poland and commandant of the Stalinist era Zgoda
labour camp, fled Poland for Israel to escape prosecution for genocide. Helena
Wolińska-Brus (born Fajga Mindla Danielak), Dell
Latitude E5410 battery
Dell
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Dell
Latitude E4300 batterya former Stalinist prosecutor, who emigrated
to England in the late 1960s, was fighting being extradited to Poland on
charges related to the execution of a Second World War resistance hero Emil
Fieldorf. Wolinska died in London in 2008. Dell
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Dell
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1967–1989[edit]
In 1967, following the Six-Day War between
Israel and the Arab states, Poland's Communist government, following the Soviet
lead, broke off diplomatic relations with Israel and launched an antisemitic
campaign under the guise of "anti-Zionism".Dell
Latitude E6400 battery
Dell
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well with the Polish public, as most Poles saw similarities between Israel's
fight for survival and Poland's past struggles for independence. Many Poles
also felt pride in the success of the Israeli military, which was dominated by
Polish Jews. The slogan "our Jews beat the Soviet Arabs" (Nasi Żydzi
pobili sowieckich Arabów) became popular in Poland.[177][178] Sony
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The vast majority of the 40,000 Jews in
Poland by the late 1960s were completely assimilated into the broader
society.[citation needed] However, this did not prevent them from becoming
victims of a campaign, centrally organized by the Polish Communist Party, Dell
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Dell
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with
Soviet backing, which equated Jewish origins with "Zionism" and
disloyalty to a Socialist Poland.[citation needed] Dell
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In March 1968 student-led demonstrations in
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to try and channel public anti-government sentiment into another avenue. Dell
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used the situation as a pretext to launch an antisemitic press campaign
(although the expression "Zionist" was officially used). The
state-sponsored "anti-Zionist" campaign resulted in the removal of
Jews from the Polish United Worker's Party and from teaching positions in
schools and universities. In 1967–1971 under economic, Dell
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14,000 Polish Jews were forced to leave Poland and relinquish their Polish
citizenship .[179] Officially, they were expelled to Israel. However, only
about 4,000 actually went there; most settled throughout Europe and in the
United States. Dell
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stifle the ongoing protests and unrest by scapegoating the Jews. At the same
time there was an ongoing power struggle within the party itself and the
antisemitic campaign was used by one faction against another. The so-called
"Partisan" faction blamed the Jews who had held office during the
Stalinist period for the excesses that had occurred, but the end result was
that most of the remaining Polish Jews,
Dell
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affiliation, were targeted by the communist authorities.[180]
There were several outcomes of the March 1968
events. The campaign damaged Poland's reputation abroad, particularly in the
U.S. Many Polish intellectuals, however, were disgusted at the promotion of
official antisemitism and opposed the campaign. Some of the people who
emigrated to the West at this time founded organizations which encouraged
anti-Communist opposition inside Poland. Dell
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First attempts to improve Polish-Israeli relations began in the mid-1970s. Poland was the first of the Eastern Bloc countries to restore diplomatic relations with Israel after these have been broken off right after the Six Day's War.[ Sony VGN-TT1RLN/B battery
8] In 1986 partial diplomatic relations with Israel were restored,[8] and full relations were restored in 1990 as soon as communism fell.
During the late 1970s some Jewish activists were engaged in the anti-Communist opposition groups. Most prominent among them, Adam Michnik (founder of Gazeta Wyborcza) Sony VGN-TT1RVN/X battery
Sony VGN-TT46SG/W battery was one of the founders of the Workers' Defence Committee (KOR). By the time of the fall of Communism in Poland in 1989, only 5,000–10,000 Jews remained in the country, many of them preferring to conceal their Jewish origin.
Since 1989[edit] Sony VGN-TT1RWN/X battery
Main article: History of Poland (1989–present)
For more details on this topic, see Jewish Polish history (1989–present).
With the fall of communism in Poland, Jewish cultural, social, and religious life has been undergoing a revival. Many historical issues, Sony VGN-TT11LN/B battery
Sony VGN-TT46GG/W battery especially related to World War II and the 1944–89 period, suppressed by Communist censorship have been re-evaluated and publicly discussed (like the Massacre in Jedwabne, the Koniuchy Massacre, the Kielce pogrom, the Auschwitz cross, and Polish-Jewish wartime relations in general).
Chief Rabbi of Poland – Michael Schudrich
According to a 2005 survey by ADL, the portion of the population holding antisemitic views in Poland is not higher than those in some other countries surveyed.[181] According to a Polish survey carried out by CBOS,[1Sony VGN-TT11M/N battery
Sony VGN-TT21VN/X battery82] and published in January 2005, in which Poles were asked to assess their attitudes toward other nationalities representing different European and non-European countries, 45% claimed to feel antipathy towards Jews (steadily decreasing), 18% to feel sympathy (fluctuating by up to 10 percentage points annually; in 1997 it was 28%), while 29% felt impartial and 8% were undecided. Sony VGN-TT11RM/N battery
Sony VGN-TT21JN/B battery Those surveyed were asked to express their feeling on the scale from −3 (strong antipathy) to +3 (strong sympathy). The average score for attitude towards Jews was −0.67 in that year. In the CBOS survey from 2010,[18Sony VGN-TT11VN/X battery
Sony VGN-TT11XN/B battery3] antipathy decreased to 27%, and sympathy rose to 31% (down from 34% in 2008). The average score for attitude was +0.05 at that time.
The Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael
Schudrich, said in a BBC interview: it's ... false and painful stereotype that
all Poles are antisemitic. This is something I want to clearly state: this is a
false stereotype. Today there is antisemitism in Poland, Sony
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Lesko Synagogue, Poland
Reform Beit Warszawa Synagogue
Poland has many legal provisions to combat
antisemitism, neo-fascism, extremism and has ratified all the major
international conventions pertaining to human rights protection and
anti-discrimination. Sony
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Jewish religious life has been revived with
the help of the Ronald Lauder Foundation and the Taube Foundation for Jewish
Life & Culture. There are two rabbis serving the Polish Jewish community,
several Jewish schools and associated summer camps as well as several
periodical and book series sponsored by the above foundations. Jewish studies
programs are offered at major universities, Sony
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University. The Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland was founded in
1993. Its purpose is the promotion and organization of Jewish religious and
cultural activities in Polish communities. Sony
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A large number of cities with synagogues
include Warsaw, Kraków, Zamość, Tykocin, Rzeszów, Kielce, or Góra Kalwaria
although not many of them are still active in their original religious role.
Stara Synagoga ("Old Synagogue") in Kraków, which hosts a Jewish
museum, was built in the early 1400s and is the oldest synagogue in Poland. Sony
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was Europe's largest. In 2007 it was renovated, dedicated and reopened thanks
to the efforts and endowments by Polish Jewry. Warsaw has an active synagogue,
Beit Warszawa, affiliated with the Liberal/Progressive stream of Judaism. Sony
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There are also several Jewish publications
although most of them are in Polish. These include Midrasz, Dos Jidische Wort
(which is bilingual), as well as a youth journal Jidele and
"Sztendlach" for young children. Active institutions include the
Jewish Historical Institute, the E.R. Kaminska State Yiddish Theater in Warsaw,
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Foundation in Kraków has sponsored a wide range of cultural and educational
programs on Jewish themes for a predominantly Polish audience. Sony
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government (26$ million total) a Museum of the History of Polish Jews is being
built in Warsaw. The building was designed by the Finnish architect Rainer
Mahlamaecki.[176]
2005 March of the Living
Former extermination camps of
Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek and Treblinka are open to visitors. At Auschwitz
the Oświęcim State Museum currently houses exhibitions on Nazi crimes with a
special section (Block Number 27) Sony
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At Treblinka there is a monument built out of many shards of broken stone, as
well as a mausoluem dedicated to those who perished there. A small mound of
human ashes commemorates the 350,000 victims of the Majdanek camp who were
killed there by the Nazis. Sony
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in Europe, and preserved historic sites include those located in Góra Kalwaria
and Leżajsk.[185]
Young Jews in the Auschwitz museum, 2008
The Great Synagogue in Oświęcim was
excavated after testimony by a Holocaust survivor suggested that many Jewish
relics and ritual objects had been buried there, just before Nazis took over
the town. Candelabras, chandeliers, Sony
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be seen at the Auschwitz Jewish Center.[185]
The Warsaw Ghetto Memorial was unveiled on
April 19, 1948—the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw ghetto
Uprising. It was constructed out of bronze and granite that the Nazis used for
a monument honoring German victory over Poland and it was designed by Natan
Rappaport. The Memorial is located where the Warsaw Ghetto used to be, at the
site of one command bunker of the Jewish Combat Organization. Sony VPCSE battery
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President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, 26 June 2007
A memorial to the victims of the Kielce
Pogrom of 1946, where a mob murdered more than 40 Jews who returned to the city
after the Holocaust, was unveiled in 2006. The funds for the memorial came from
the city itself and from the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's
Heritage Abroad. Sony
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In modern Poland, interest in learning
about and preserving the artifacts of Jewish culture is quite strong,
especially among the younger generations. Many works devoted to the Holocaust
have been published. Notable among them are the Polish Academy of Sciences's
journal Zaglada (first issue, 2005) as well as other publications from the
Institute of National Remembrance. Sony
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"Shalom in Szeroka Street", the final concert of the 15th Jewish Festival
There have been a number of Holocaust remembrance activities in Poland in recent years. The United States Department of State documents that:
In September 2000, dignitaries from Poland,
Israel, the United States, and other countries (including Prince Hassan of
Jordan) gathered in the city of Oświęcim (Auschwitz) Sony
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Mishnayot synagogue and the Auschwitz Jewish Center. The synagogue, the sole
synagogue in Oświęcim to survive World War II and an adjacent Jewish cultural
and educational center, Sony
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the active pre–World War II Jewish community that existed in Oświęcim. The
synagogue was the first communal property in the country to be returned to the
Jewish community under the 1997 law allowing for restitution of Jewish communal
property.[186] Sony
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The March of the Living is an event held
each year in April to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. It takes place
from Auschwitz to Birkenau and is attended by many people from Israel, Poland
and other countries. The marchers honor Holocaust Remembrance Day as well as
Israel Independence Day. Sony
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An annual festival of Jewish culture, which is one of the biggest festivals of Jewish culture in the world, takes place in Kraków.[187]
In 2006, Poland's Jewish population was
estimated to be approximately 20,000;[27] most living in Warsaw, Wrocław,
Kraków, and Bielsko-Biała, though there are no census figures that would give
an exact number. Sony
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other Polish sources, however, this may represent an undercount of the actual
number of Jews living in Poland, since many are not religious.[1Sony
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Sony
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approximately 100,000 Jews in Poland, of which 30,000 to 40,000 have some sort
of direct connection to the Jewish community, either religiously or
culturally.[citation needed] Sony
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not possess adequate documentation to confirm it, due to various historical and
family complications.[188] A special program of introduction to Judaism is
offered to them by a progressive Jewish Community Beit Kraków.[188][189] Sony
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Poland is currently easing the way for Jews
who left Poland during the Communist organized massive expulsion of 1968 to
re-obtain their citizenship.[190] Some 15,000 Polish Jews were deprived of
their citizenship in the 1968 Polish political crisis.[19Sony
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According to an ADL report released in
2012, based on telephone survey of 500 adults in Poland (out of the total
number of 5,000 adults polled by Ipsos-Reid in 10 European countries), 54% of
Poles continue to believe in some anti-Semitic stereotypes. The percentage is
down from similar survey conducted in 2009. For instance, Sony
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too much power in the business world", Poles surveyed ranked the
third-highest after Hungary (73%) and Spain (60%).
Sony
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Jewish citizens, the surveyed Poles answered at par with Italians at 61%
(overall, more than half of all European respondents gave the same answer). ADL
currently ranks Poland after Hungary and Spain as the third-highest in the
surveyed countries for people holding some anti-Semitic attitudes.[193] Sony
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Iran and IraqIran officially the Islamic Republic of
Iran since 1980, is a country in Western Asia.[12][13][14] The country is
bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, with Kazakhstan
and Russia to the north across the Caspian Sea. Sony
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terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran is an ethnically diverse
country and has a population of around 77 million.[12] Sony
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civilizations.[20] The first dynasty in Iran formed during the Elamite kingdom
in 2800 BC. The Iranian Medes unified Iran into an empire in 625 BC.[2] Cyrus
the Great founded the first Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), which became the
largest ancient empire. Sony
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OIC and OPEC. The political system of Iran, based on the 1979 constitution,
combines elements of a parliamentary democracy with a religious theocracy run
by the country’s clergy. Sony
PCG-4121EL Battery Main article: Name of Iran The name of Iran (ایران) is the
Modern Persian derivative from the Proto-Iranian term Aryānā, meaning
"Land of the Aryans",Sony
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"Persia" or similar (La Perse, Persien, Perzië, etc.) by the Western
world, mainly due to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis
(Περσίς), meaning land of the Persians.
The historical and cultural wider usage of
"Iran" is not restricted to the modern state proper.[33][34][ Sony
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History[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: History of Iran Early history[edit source | editbeta] Further information: Archaeological sites in Iran, Proto-Elamite, Jiroft culture, Tepe Sialk, and Shahr-e Sukhteh sony PCG-4Q4L battery
The earliest archaeological artifacts in Iran, like those excavated at the Kashafrud and Ganj Par sites, attest to a human presence in Iran since the Lower Paleolithic era.[38] Neanderthal artifacts dating back to the Middle Paleolithic period have been found mainly in the Zagros region at sites such as Warwasi and Yafteh Cave.[39] sony PCG-4Q3L battery [40][page needed] Early agricultural communities began to flourish in Iran at around 8000 BC,[41][42] with settlements such as Chogha Bonut, Susa and Chogha Mish developing in the Zagros region.[43][page needed][44][45]
sony PCG-6Z2L batteryThe emergence of Susa as a city is determined by C14 dating as early as 4395 BC.[46] There are dozens of pre-historic sites across the Iranian plateau pointing to the existence of ancient cultures and urban settlements in the fourth millennium BC.[45][47][ sony PCG-6X1L battery
sony PCG-6Z1L battery48] During the Bronze age Iran was home to several civilisations such as Elam, Jiroft and Zayandeh Rud civilisations. Elam, the most prominent of these civilisations developed in the southwest of Iran alongside those in Mesopotamia. The development of writing in Elam in fourth millennium BC paralleled that in Sumer.[49sony PCG-6X2L battery
sony PCG-6XBL battery] The Elamite kingdom continued its existence until the emergence of the Median and Achaemenid Empires. Classical Era[edit source | editbeta]
Territorial expansion and greatest extent of the Achaemenid Empire.
Ruins of the Achaemenid palace of Persepolis, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site[50] Main articles: Median Empire, Achaemenid Empire, Seleucid Empire, Parthian Empire, and Sassanid Empire sony PCG-6X6L battery
During the second millenium BC, Proto-Iranian tribes arrived in Iran from the Eurasian steppes,[51] rivaling the native settlers of the country.[52][53] As these tribes dispersed into the wider area of Greater Iran and beyond, the boundaries of modern Iran were dominated by the Persian, Parthian and Median tribes. sony PCG-6X7L battery sony
PCG-6X8L battery From the late 10th to late 7th centuries BC, these
Iranic peoples, together with the pre Iranic kingdoms, fell under the
domination of the Assyrian Empire, based in northern Mesopotamia.[54] Under
king Cyaxares, the Medes and Persians entered into an alliance with
Nabopolassar of Babylon, Sony
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of Anshan took over the Median empire, and founded the Achaemenid empire by
unifying other city states. Sony
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Achaemenid Empire, defeating the last Achaemenid Emperor Darius III at the
Battle of Issus in 333 BC. Following the premature death of Alexander, Iran
came under the control of Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Sony
SVS151C2DL Battery Middle Ages (652–1501)[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: Islamic conquest of Iran and Medieval Iran
Khwarezmid Empire around 1200 The prolonged Roman-Persian wars, as well
as social conflict within the Empire opened the way for an Islamic invasion of
Iran in the 7th century.[60][61]Gundeshapur was the most important medical
centre of the ancient world at the time of the Islamic conquest.[6Sony
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Persian miniature depicting Timur's campaign in India The arrival of the Abbasid Caliphs saw a
revival of Persian culture and influence, and a move away from Arabic culture.
The role of the old Arab aristocracy was slowly replaced by a Persian
bureaucracy.[7 The cultural revival that began in the
Abbasid period led to a resurfacing of Iranian national identity, and so
earlier attempts of Arabization never succeeded in Iran. The Iranian Shuubiyah
movement became a catalyst for Iranians to regain their independence in their
relations with the Arab invaders.[7
The 10th century saw a mass migration of
Turkic tribes from Central Asia into the Iranian plateau.[74] Turkic tribesmen
were first used in the Abbasid army as slave-warriors (Mamluks), replacing
Persian and Arab elements within the army.[66] As a result the Mamluks gained
significant political power. In 999, Sony
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a devastating invasion by Genghis Khan's Mongol army. Mongol violence and
depredations killed up to three-fourths of the population of the Iranian
Plateau, possibly 10 to 15 million people. Sony
PCG-91112L Battery Dynasties (1501–1979)[edit source | editbeta]
Shah Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid Dynasty (1501–1736) Main articles: Safavid Dynasty, Afsharid Dynasty, Zand Dynasty, Qajar Dynasty, and Pahlavi Dynasty At the start of the 16th century, Shah
Ismail I established the Safavid Dynasty in western Persia and Azerbaijan.[ In 1729, a Khorasan chieftain, Nader Shah,
successfully drove out, then conquered the Pashtun invaders. In 1738-9 he
invaded India and sacked Delhi. Following a brief period of civil war and turmoil,
sparked by Nader Shah's assassination, Karim Khan came to power in 1750,
bringing a period of relative peace and prosperity.[ Sony
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Nadir Shah at the sack of Delhi[80] Whilst resisting efforts to be colonised,
Iran suffered in the 19th century as a result of Russian and British
empire-building, known as 'The Great Game', losing much of its territory in the
Russo-Persian and the Anglo-Persian Wars. Sony
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and former general of the Persian Cossack Brigade, overthrew the Qajar Dynasty
and became Shah. In 1941 he was forced to abdicate in favour of his son,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Sony
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Mosaddegh, Iranian democracy advocate and deposed PM in Pahlavi dynasty In 1951 Mohammad Mosaddegh was elected
prime minister. He became enormously popular in Iran after he nationalized
Iran's petroleum industry and oil reserves. He was deposed in an Anglo-American
coup in 1953, the first time the US had overthrown a foreign government during
the Cold War.[81] Sony
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increasingly autocratic. Arbitrary arrests and torture by his secret police,
SAVAK, were used to crush all forms of political opposition. Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini became an active critic of the Shah's White Revolution and publicly
denounced the government. Sony
PCG-3D4L Battery Islamic Republic (1979-)[edit source | editbeta] See also: Iranian Revolution
Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 14 years exile on February 1, 1979. The Iranian Revolution, also known as the
Islamic Revolution,[82][83][84] began in January 1978 with the first major
demonstrations against the Shah.[ Sony
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theocratic constitution.[86] Although both nationalists and Marxists joined
with Islamic traditionalists to overthrow the Shah, tens of thousands were
executed by the Islamic regime afterward. Sony
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Iranian soldiers in Khorramshahr during the Iran-Iraq War Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein decided to take
advantage of the disorder in the wake of the Revolution by acquiring
territories that Iraq had claimed earlier from Iran during the Shah's rule. In 1987, Iran tried to close the Persian
Gulf to stop the flow of Iraqi, Kuwaiti and Saudi oil, as a way to strangle
Iraq, with which it had been fighting a bloody war for almost seven years. On
October 15 and 16, Iran hit American supertankers with Silkworm
missiles.[89][90] Sony
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accepted a truce mediated by the UN. The total Iranian casualties in the war
were estimated to be between 500,000 and 1,000,000.[91] An estimated 95,000
Iranian child soldiers were killed during the Iran–Iraq War.[92] Sony
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Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and his administration concentrated on a pragmatic
pro-business policy of rebuilding and strengthening the economy without making
any dramatic break with the ideology of the revolution. Sony
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conservative populist candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected.[9Sony
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Iran on 15 June 2013, defeating Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and four other
candidates.[98][99] He took office on 3 August 2013 and replaced Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad. Sony
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Main article: Geography of Iran See also: Agriculture in Iran and Wildlife of Iran
Topography of Iran Iran is the eighteenth largest country in
the world, with an area of 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi).[19] Its area roughly
equals that of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Germany combined, or
somewhat more than the US state of Alaska.[100Sony
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Mount Damavand, Iran's highest point, is located in Amol County, Mazanderan. Iran consists of the Iranian Plateau with
the exception of the coasts of the Caspian Sea and Khuzestan Province. It is
one of the world's most mountainous countries, its landscape dominated by
rugged mountain ranges that separate various basins or plateaux from one
another. The northern part of Iran is covered by
dense rain forests called Shomal or the Jungles of Iran. The eastern part
consists mostly of desert basins such as the Dasht-e Kavir, Iran's largest
desert, in the north-central portion of the country, Sony
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semiarid, to subtropical along the Caspian coast and the northern forests. On
the northern edge of the country (the Caspian coastal plain) temperatures
rarely fall below freezing and the area remains humid for the rest of the year.
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basin experience lower temperatures, severe winters with below zero average
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Persian Leopard Iran's wildlife is composed of several
animal species including bears, gazelles, wild pigs, wolves, jackals, panthers,
Eurasian Lynx, and foxes. Domestic animals include, sheep, goats, cattle,
horses, water buffalo, donkeys, and camels. The pheasant, partridge, stork,
eagles and falcon are also native to Iran. Sony
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wildlife is the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah, also known as the
Iranian Cheetah, whose numbers were greatly reduced after the Iranian
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(ostān), each governed by an appointed governor (استاندار,
ostāndār). The provinces are divided into counties (shahrestān), and subdivided
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rates in the world. From 1950 to 2002, the urban proportion of the population
increased from 27% to 60%.[106] The United Nations predicts that by 2030, 80%
of the population will be urban.[107][not in citation given] Most internal
migrants have settled near the cities of Tehran, Sony
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the second largest Iranian city and the centre of the Razavi Khorasan Province.
Mashhad is one of the holiest Shia cities in the world as it is the site of the
Imam Reza shrine. It is the centre of tourism in Iran, and between 15 and 20
million pilgrims go to the Imam Reza's shrine every year.[109][110] Sony
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(population 1,583,609), which is the capital of Isfahan Province. The Naqsh-e
Jahan Square in Isfahan has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The fourth major city of Iran is Tabriz
(population 1,378,935), the capital of the East Azerbaijan Province. It is also
the second industrial city of Iran after Tehran. Tabriz had been the second
largest city in Iran until the late 1960s and one of its former capitals and
residence of the crown prince under the Qajar dynasty. Sony
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The sixth major Iranian city is Shiraz (population 1,214,808); it is the capital of Fars Province. The Elamite civilization to the west greatly influenced the area, which soon came to be known as Persis. The ancient Persians were present in the region from about the 9th century BC, Sony VGP-BPL9 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery and became rulers of a large empire under the Achaemenid dynasty in the 6th century BC. The ruins of Persepolis and Pasargadae, two of the four capitals of the Achaemenid Empire, are located in or near Shiraz. Sony VGP-BPL10 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21B BatteryPersepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire and is situated 70 kilometres (43 mi) northeast of modern Shiraz. UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979. Sony VGP-BPL11 Battery
Sa'dabad Palace, office of President The political system of the Islamic Republic is based on the 1979 Constitution, and comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The Leader of the Revolution ("Supreme Leader") is responsible for delineation and supervision of the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran.[113] Sony VGP-BPL13 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery The Supreme Leader is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations; and has sole power to declare war or peace.[11Sony VGP-BPL14 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS15/S Battery3] The heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces and six of the twelve members of the Guardian Council are appointed by the Supreme Leader.[113] The Assembly of Experts elects and dismisses the Supreme Leader on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem.[1Sony VGP-BPL14B Battery
After the Supreme Leader, the Constitution defines the President of Iran as the highest state authority.[113][115] The President is elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years and can only be re-elected for one term.[11Sony VGP-BPL21 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS15 Battery5][dubious – discuss] Presidential candidates must be approved by the Guardian Council prior to running in order to ensure their allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic revolution.[116] The President is responsible for the implementation of the Constitution and for the exercise of executive powers, except for matters directly related to the Supreme Leader, who has the final say in all matters.[11Sony VGP-BPS10 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS14/S Battery3] The President appoints and supervises the Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature.[117] Eight Vice-Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of twenty two ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature.[118]
Iran's Syncretic political system combines elements of a modern Islamic theocracy with democracy. The legislature of Iran (known in English as the Islamic Consultative Assembly) is a unicameral body.[119] The Majlis of Iran comprises 290 members elected for four-year terms.[119] The Majlis drafts legislation, ratifies international treaties, and approves the national budget. All Majlis candidates and all legislation from the assembly must be approved by the Guardian Council.[120] Sony VGP-BPS12/Q Battery The Guardian Council comprises twelve jurists including six appointed by the Supreme Leader. The others are elected by the Parliament from among the jurists nominated by the Head of the Judiciary.[121][122Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery The Council interprets the constitution and may veto Parliament. If a law is deemed incompatible with the constitution or Sharia (Islamic law), it is referred back to Parliament for revision.[115] The Expediency Council has the authority to mediate disputes between Parliament and the Guardian Council, and serves as an advisory body to the Supreme Leader, making it one of the most powerful governing bodies in the country.[123] Sony VGP-BPS13A Battery
Local city councils are elected by public vote to four-year terms in all cities and villages of Iran. Law[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Judicial system of Iran The Supreme Leader appoints the head of Iran's judiciary, who in turn appoints the head of the Supreme Court and the chief public prosecutor.[124] Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery
There are several types of courts including public courts that deal with civil and criminal cases, and revolutionary courts which deal with certain categories of offenses, including crimes against national security. The decisions of the revolutionary courts are final and cannot be appealed.[124] The Special Clerical Court handles crimes allegedly committed by clerics, although it has also taken on cases involving lay people. The Special Clerical Court functions independently of the regular judicial framework and is accountable only to the Supreme Leader. The Court's rulings are final and cannot be appealed.[124] Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery
The Assembly of Experts, which meets for one week annually, comprises 86 "virtuous and learned" clerics elected by adult suffrage for eight-year terms. As with the presidential and parliamentary elections, Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery the Guardian Council determines candidates' eligibility.[124] The Assembly elects the Supreme Leader and has the constitutional authority to remove the Supreme Leader from power at any time.[124] It has not challenged any of the Supreme Leader's decisions.[124] Foreign relations[edit source | editbeta] Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery
Main article: Foreign relations of Iran
Former president Khatami meets Putin, president of Russia in Moscow Kremlin. Iran's stated goal is to establish a new world order based on world peace, global collective security and justice.[125][1Sony VPCEA1C5E Battery
Sony VPCEA4S1E Battery26] Iran's foreign relations are based on two strategic principles: eliminating outside influences in the region and pursuing extensive diplomatic contacts with developing and non-aligned countries. Iran maintains diplomatic relations with almost every member of the United Nations, except for Israel, which Iran does not recognize, and the United States since the Iranian Revolution.[127Sony VPCEA1S1E Battery
Sony VPCEA4S1R Battery] Since 2005, Iran's nuclear program has become the subject of contention with the Western world due to suspicions that Iran could divert the civilian nuclear technology to a weapons program. This has led the UN Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran on select companies linked to this program, thus furthering its economic isolation on the international scene. Sony VPCEA4M1R BatteryThe US Director of National Intelligence said in February 2009 that Iran would not realistically be able to a get a nuclear weapon until 2013, if it chose to develop one.[128] Military[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Defense industry of Iran See also: Military history of Iran and List of military equipment manufactured in Iran
Iranian made Zulfiqar tank
Iranian F-14A Tomcat The Islamic Republic of Iran has two types of armed forces: the regular forces Islamic Republic of Iran Army, Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, Islamic Republic of Iran Navy and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Sony VPCEA1Z1E Battery totaling about 545,000 active troops. Iran also has around 350,000 Reserve Force totaling around 900,000 trained troops.[129] Iran has a paramilitary, volunteer militia force within the IRGC, called the Basij, which includes about 90,000 full-time, active-duty uniformed members. Sony VPCEA2M1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3Z1R BatteryUp to 11 million men and women are members of the Basij who could potentially be called up for service; GlobalSecurity.org estimates Iran could mobilize "up to one million men". This would be among the largest troop mobilizations in the world.[130] In 2007, Iran's military spending represented 2.6% of the GDP or $102 per capita, the lowest figure of the Persian Gulf nations.[13Sony VPCEA2S1E Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery1] Iran's military doctrine is based on deterrence.[132] Since the Iranian Revolution, to overcome foreign embargo, Iran has developed its own military industry, produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, guided missiles, submarines, military vessels, guided missile destroyer, radar systems, helicopters and fighter planes.[133][134][135Sony VPCEA2M1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1E Battery] In recent years, official announcements have highlighted the development of weapons such as the Hoot, Kowsar, Zelzal, Fateh-110, Shahab-3 and Sejjil missiles, and a variety of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).[136] The Fajr-3 (MIRV) is currently Iran's most advanced ballistic missile, it is a liquid fuel missile with an undisclosed range which was developed and produced domestically. Sony VPCEA2S1R Battery
Economy[edit source | editbeta] Iran Khodro is the largest car manufacturer in the Middle-East. It has established joint-ventures with foreign partners on 4 continents. Iran's economy is a mixture of central planning, state ownership of oil and other large enterprises, village agriculture, and small-scale private trading and service ventures.[137] In 2011 GDP was $482.4 billion ($1.003 trillion at PPP), Sony VPCEA3A4E Battery
Sony VPCEA3M1E Battery or $13,200 at PPP per capita.[19] Iran is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank.[138] In the early 21st century the service sector contributed the largest percentage of the GDP, Sony VPCEA3B4E Battery followed by industry (mining and manufacturing) and agriculture.[citation needed] The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for developing and maintaining the Iranian rial, which serves as the country's currency. Sony VPCEA3C4E Battery
Economic sanctions against Iran, such as a European Union embargo against Iranian crude oil, have affected the economy.[139] Sanctions have led to a steep fall in the value of the rial, and as of April 2013 one US dollar is worth 36,000 rial, Sony VPCEA3C5E Battery Sony VPCEA3D4E Batterycompared with 16,000 in early 2012.[140] The government doesn't recognize trade unions other than the Islamic Labour Councils, which are subject to the approval of employers and the security services.[141] The minimum wage in June 2013 was 487 million rials a month (US$ 134).[1Sony VPCEA1C5E Battery
In 2006, about 45% of the government's budget came from oil and natural gas revenues, and 31% came from taxes and fees.[143] As at 2007, Iran had earned $70 billion in foreign exchange reserves mostly (80%) from crude oil exports. Sony VPCEA1S1E Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery144] Iranian budget deficits have been a chronic problem, mostly due to large-scale state subsidies, that include foodstuffs and especially gasoline, totaling more than $84 billion in 2008 for the energy sector alone.[1Sony VPCEA1S1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery45][146] In 2010, the economic reform plan was approved by parliament to cut subsidies gradually and replace them with targeted social assistance. The objective is to move towards free market prices in a 5-year period and increase productivity and social justice.[147]
Iranian provinces' contribution to GDP. Tehran host 45% of Iran's industries.[148] The administration continues to follow the market reform plans of the previous one and indicated that it will diversify Iran's oil-reliant economy. Iran has also developed a biotechnology, nanotechnology, Sony VPCEA2C5E Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery and pharmaceuticals industry.[149] However, nationalized industries such as the bonyads have often been managed badly, making them ineffective and uncompetitive with years. Currently, the government is trying to privatize these industries, and, despite successes, there are still several problems to be overcome, such as the lagging corruption in the public sector and lack of competitiveness. Iran ranks 69th out of 139 in Global Competitiveness Report.[150]
Iran has leading manufacturing industries in the fields of car-manufacture and transportation, construction materials, home appliances, food and agricultural goods, armaments, pharmaceuticals, information technology, power and petrochemicals in the Middle East.[151] Foolad Mobarakeh Steel Mill, Isfahan In Iran, the state-owned Telecommunication Company of Iran handles telecommunications. The media of Iran is a mixture of private and state-owned, but books and movies must be approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance before being released to the public. Iran originally received access to the internet in 1993[citation needed], Sony VPCEA2S1E Battery
and it has become enormously popular among the Iranian youth. Iran is now the world's fourth largest country of bloggers.[152] About 1,659,000 foreign tourists visited Iran in 2004; most came from Asian countries, including the republics of Central Asia, while a small share came from the countries of the European Union and North America. Iran currently ranks 89th in tourist income, but is rated among the "10 most touristic countries" in the world in terms of its history.[153Sony VPCEA2S1R Battery
Sony VPCEA3S1R Battery][154] Weak advertising, unstable regional conditions, a poor public image in some parts of the world, and absence of efficient planning schemes in the tourism sector have all hindered the growth of tourism. Sony VPCEA3B4E Battery
Energy[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: Energy in Iran, Petroleum industry in Iran, and Nuclear program of Iran
Iran holds 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas. It is OPEC's second largest exporter and the world's fourth oil producer. Iran has the largest proved gas reserves in the world, with 33.6 trillion cubic metres.[18] It also ranks third in oil reserves.[155][156Sony VPCEA3C4E Battery
Sony VPCEA4S1E Battery] It is OPEC's 2nd largest oil exporter and is an energy superpower.[157][158] In 2005, Iran spent US$4 billion on fuel imports, because of contraband and inefficient domestic use.[159]
Sony VPCEA4S1R BatteryOil industry output averaged 4 million barrels per day (640,000 m3/d) in 2005, compared with the peak of six million barrels per day reached in 1974. In the early years of the 2000s (decade), industry infrastructure was increasingly inefficient because of technological lags. Few exploratory wells were drilled in 2005. Sony VPCEA3C5E Battery
In 2004, a large share of natural gas reserves in Iran were untapped. The addition of new hydroelectric stations and the streamlining of conventional coal and oil-fired stations increased installed capacity to 33,000 megawatts. Of that amount, about 75% was based on natural gas, 18% on oil, and 7% on hydroelectric power. Sony VPCEA3D4E Battery
Sony VPCEA3Z1R Battery In 2004, Iran opened its first wind-powered and geothermal plants, and the first solar thermal plant is to come online in 2009. Iran is the third country in the world to have developed GTL technology.[160] Sony VPCEA3L1E Battery
Demographic trends and intensified industrialization have caused electric power demand to grow by 8% per year. The government’s goal of 53,000 megawatts of installed capacity by 2010 is to be reached by bringing on line new gas-fired plants and by adding hydroelectric, Sony VPCEA3M1E Battery and nuclear power generating capacity. Iran’s first nuclear power plant at Bushehr went online in 2011.[161][162] Demographics[edit source | editbeta]
Main articles: Demographics of Iran and Iranian peoples
Population of Iran Iran is a diverse country, consisting of people of many religious and ethnic backgrounds, which is cemented by the Persian language and culture.[163] Sony VPCEA3M1R Battery Iran's population increased dramatically during the latter half of the 20th century, reaching about 75 million by 2009.[164] According to the 1956 census the population of Iran was about 19 million.[16
5] In recent years, however, Iran's
birth rate has dropped significantly, and is 1.29% in July 2012.[166] Studies
project that Iran's rate of population growth will continue to slow until it
stabilizes above 105 million by 2050.[167][168] Sony
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Iran hosts one of the largest refugee
populations in the world, with more than one million refugees, mostly from
Afghanistan and Iraq.[169] Since 2006, Iranian officials have been working with
the UNHCR and Afghan officials for their repatriation.[17Sony
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Sony VPCZ12Z9E/B battery0] According to estimates, about five million Iranian citizens have emigrated to other countries, mostly since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.[171][172] According to the Iranian Constitution,
the government is required to provide every citizen of the country with access
to social security that covers retirement, Sony
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Sony
VPCZ12X9E/B batteryunemployment, old age, disability, accidents,
calamities, health and medical treatment and care services. This is covered by
public revenues and income derived from public contributions. The World Health
Organization in on health systems ranked Iran's performance on health level
58th, and its overall health system performance 93rd among the world's nations
in 2000.[173Sony
SVE1511G1ESI battery ] Languages[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Languages of Iran
Geographic distribution of the Modern Iranian languages: Persian (green), Pashto (purple) and Kurdish (turquoise), as well as smaller communities of other Iranian languages The majority of the population speaks
the Persian language, which is also the official language of the country, as
well as other Iranian languages or dialects. Turkic languages and dialects,
most importantly Azerbaijani language, Sony
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Sony VPCZ12V9E/B
batteryare spoken in different areas in Iran. Additionally, Arabic
is spoken in the southwestern parts of the country, although Arabs constitute a
minority in these regions. The local dialect of Arabic spoken in Iran is
Khuzestani Arabic, an Iraqi Arabic dialect spoken in southwestern Iranian
province Khuzestan, Sony
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Sony
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students in secondary schools, regardless of their ethnic or linguistic
background, are Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, the latter a
liturgical language of Islam. Sony
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Ethnic groups[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Ethnicities in Iran The exact ethnic composition of Iran is
unknown, as there is no official data; however, some organizations have made
estimates. The CIA World Factbook released the following breakdown: Persians
(61%), Azerbaijanis (16%), Kurds (10%), Lurs (6%), Arabs (2%), Balochs (2%),
Turkmens and Turkic tribes (2%), and others (1%).[19] Sony
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Sony
VPCZ12M9E battery However according to them Persian is spoken as
first language by 53%, while Azerbaijani and other Turkic dialectare spoken by
18%, Kurdish by 10%, Gilaki and Mazandarani by 7%, Luri by 6%, Balochi by 2%,
Arabic by 2% and that some 2% have other languages as first language.[19] Sony
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The Library of Congress estimates are as
follows: Persians (65%), Azerbaijanis (16%), Kurds (7%), Lurs (6%), Arabs (2%),
Baluchi (2%), Turkmens (1%), Turkic tribal groups such as the Qashqai (1%), and
non-Iranian, non-Turkic groups such as Armenians, Assyrians and Georgians (less
than 1%). Sony
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Sony VPCZ11Z9E/B batteryAccording to it Persian is spoken as a mother tongue by at least 65% of the population and as a second language by a large proportion of the remaining 35%.[174] Religion[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Religion in Iran Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, one of the most important religious places in Iran. Religion in Iran is dominated by the Twelver Shia branch of Islam, which is the official state religion and to which about 90% to 95%[175][176] of Iranians belong. About 4% to 8% of Iranians belong to the Sunni branch of Islam, Sony PCG-41311M battery
mainly Kurds and Iran's Balochi Sunni. The remaining 2% are non-Muslim religious minorities, including Bahá'ís, Mandeans, Hindus, Yezidis, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians.[19] The latter three minority religions are officially recognized and protected, and have reserved seats in the Majlis (Parliament). Sony PCG-41314M battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E/B battery However the Bahá'í Faith, Iran's largest religious minority,[177] is not officially recognized, and has been persecuted during its existence in Iran since the 19th century. Since the 1979 revolution the persecution of Bahá'ís has increased with executions, the denial of civil rights and liberties, and the denial of access to higher education and employment.[178][179][180] Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Culture[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Culture of Iran See also: Persian mythology, Iranian studies, Persian garden, and Media of Iran
"Two Herons with Ducks", 14th-century illustration Iranian culture has long been a predominant culture of the region, with Persian considered the language of intellectuals during much of the 2nd millennium, and the language of religion and the populace before that. Sony PCG-4R2M battery
The Sassanid era was an important and influential historical period in Iran as Iranian culture influenced China, India and Roman civilization considerably,[181] and so influenced as far as Western Europe and Africa.[182] This influence played a prominent role in the formation of both Asiatic and European medieval art.[ Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
Sony VGP-BPS20/S battery183] This influence carried forward to the Islamic world. Much of what later became known as Islamic learning, such as philology, literature, jurisprudence, philosophy, medicine, architecture and the sciences were based on some of the practises taken from the Sassanid Persians to the broader Muslim world. Sony PCG-6121M battery
Sony VGP-BPS20/B battery [184][185][186] Daily life in modern Iran is closely interwoven with Shia Islam and the country's art, literature, and architecture are an ever-present reminder of its deep national tradition and of a broader literary culture.[186][187] Sony PCG-6122M battery
The Iranian New Year (Nowruz) is an ancient tradition celebrated on 21 March to mark the beginning of spring in Iran. Nowruz was registered on the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity[188] and described as the Persian New Year[189][190][ Sony PCG-6123M battery
Sony VPCZ23K9E battery191][192] by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2009. Arts and literature[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: Iranian architecture and Iranian art
Tiles of Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosque Iran is home to one of the richest artistic traditions in world history and encompasses many disciplines, including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and stonemasonry.
Sony VPCZ21Q9E battery Carpet-weaving is one of the most distinguished manifestations of Persian culture and art, and dates back to ancient Persia. Persians were among the first to use mathematics, geometry, and astronomy in architecture and also have extraordinary skills in making massive domes which can be seen frequently in the structure of bazaars and mosques. Sony PCG-6124M battery
Sony VPCZ13Z9E/X batteryThis greatly inspired the architecture of Iran's neighbors as well. The main building types of classical Iranian architecture are the mosque and the palace. Besides being home to a large number of art houses and galleries, Iran also holds one of the largest and most valuable jewel collections in the world. Sony VPCZ13 battery
Iran ranks seventh among countries in the world with the most archeological architectural ruins and attractions from antiquity as recognized by UNESCO.[193] Fifteen of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites are creations of Iranian architecture. Sony VPCZ13M9E/B battery Poetry is used in many Persian classical works, whether
from literature, science, or metaphysics. Persian literature has been
considered by such thinkers as Goethe as one of the four main bodies of world
literature.[194] The Persian language has produced a number of famous poets;
however, Sony PCG-6P2M Battery Sony PCG-8X1M Batteryonly a few poets as Rumi and Omar Khayyám have surfaced among western popular readership, even though the likes of Hafiz, Saadi, Nizami,[195] Attar, Sanai, Nasir Khusraw and Jami are considered by many Iranians to be just as influential. Popular culture[edit source | editbeta] Sony
PCG-6Q2M Battery The musical culture of Persia, while
distinct, is closely related to other musical systems of the West and Central
Asia. It has also affinities to the music cultures of the Indian subcontinent,
to a certain degree even to those of Africa, Sony
PCG-6C1M Battery and,
in the period after 1850 particularly, to that of Europe. Its history can be
traced to some extent through these relationships. Like that of most of the
world’s cultures, the music of Persia has depended on oral/aural transmission
and learning.[196] Sony
PCG-6E1M Battery Iranian cinema has thrived in modern Iran, and many Iranian directors have garnered worldwide recognition for their work. Iranian movies have won over three hundred awards in the past twenty-five years including Oscars. One of the best-known directors is Abbas Kiarostami. Cuisine[edit source | editbeta] Sony
PCG-6H1M Battery Main article: Iranian cuisine
Iranian Kabab served with both plain rice and Tah-chin. The cuisine of Iran is diverse, with each
province featuring dishes, as well as culinary traditions and styles, distinct
to their regions. Sony
PCG-6J1M Battery Sports[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Sport in Iran
Football is among the favorite sports in Iran. With two thirds of Iran's population under
the age of 25, many sports are practised in Iran, both traditional and modern.
Iran is the birthplace of polo,[198] and Varzesh-e Pahlavani. Freestyle
wrestling has been traditionally regarded as Iran's national sport. Sony
PCG-8V2M Battery Education and science[edit source | editbeta]
Main articles: Education in Iran and Science and technology in Iran
Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran Education in Iran is highly centralized.
K-12 education is supervised by the Ministry of Education and higher education
is under supervision of Ministry of Science and Technology. The adult literacy
rate in 2008 was 85.0%, up from 36.5% in 1976.[204] Sony
PCG-7H2M Battery Higher education is sanctioned by different levels of diplomas: Fogh-e-Diplom or Kārdāni after 2 years of higher education, Kārshenāsi (also known under the name “licence”) is delivered after 4 years of higher education (Bachelor's degree). Kārshenāsi-ye Arshad is delivered after 2 more years of study (Master's degree). After which, Sony PCG-6P2M Battery
Sony PCG-8X1M Batteryanother exam allows the candidate to pursue a doctoral program (PhD).[205] According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, the top-ranking universities in the country are the University of Tehran (468th worldwide), the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (612th) and Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (815th).[206Sony PCG-6R1M Battery
Iran has increased its publication output nearly tenfold from 1996 through 2004, and has been ranked first in terms of output growth rate followed by China.[207] According to SCImago, Iran could rank fourth in the world in terms of research output by 2018.[208] Sony PCG-6E1M Battery
In 2009, a SUSE Linux-based HPC system made by the Aerospace Research Institute of Iran (ARI) was launched with 32 cores and now runs 96 cores. Its performance was pegged at 192 GFLOPS.[209Sony PCG-6G1M Battery
Sony PCG-7T2M Battery] Sorena 2 Robot, which was designed by engineers at University of Tehran, was unveiled in 2010. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has placed the name of Surena among the five prominent robots of the world after analyzing its performance.[210] Sony PCG-6H1M Battery
Omid satellite. Iran is the 9th country to put a domestically-built satellite into orbit and the sixth to send animals in space. In the biomedical sciences, Iran's Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics is a UNESCO chair in biology.[211] In late 2006, Iranian scientists successfully cloned a sheep by somatic cell nuclear transfer, at the Rouyan research centre in Tehran.[212] According to a study by David Morrison and Ali Khademhosseini (Harvard-MIT and Cambridge), stem cell research in Iran is amongst the top 10 in the world.[ Sony PCG-6G2M Battery
Sony PCG-7N2M Battery213] Iran ranks 15th in the world in nanotechnologies.[214][215][216] Iran placed its domestically built satellite, Omid into orbit on the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, on 2 February 2009,[217] through Safir rocket, becoming the ninth country in the world capable of both producing a satellite and sending it into space from a domestically made launcher.[218] Sony PCG-6J1M Battery
The Iranian nuclear program was launched in the 1950s. Iran is the 7th country in production of uranium hexafluoride.[219] Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the west, Saudi Arabia to the south and southwest, and Kuwait to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country. Sony PCG-6J2M Battery
Sony PCG-7N1M BatteryTwo major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia. Sony PCG-6L1M Battery
Iraq has been known by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing. At different periods in its history, Sony PCG-7Y1M Battery
Sony PCG-7H2M BatteryIraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, and Babylonian empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.[6][7] Sony PCG-8V1M Battery
Iraq's modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres. Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. Sony PCG-8W1M Battery
Sony PCG-7G1M Battery A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Republic of Iraq was created. Iraq was controlled by the Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-led faction) from 1968 until 2003. After an invasion led by multinational forces, Sony PCG-8W2M Battery Sony PCG-7D1M Battery the Ba'ath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011.[8] Iraq is home to two of the world's holiest places among Shias: Najaf and Karbala.[9] Sony PCG-41212M battery
The Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name. One dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk (Biblical Hebrew Erech) and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for "city", UR.[10][11] Sony PCG-41216M battery
Lower Mesopotamia has always been called "the land of Iraq" in Arabic, meaning "the fertile" or "deep-rooted land".[12][page needed] During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī ("Arabian Iraq") for lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī ("Foreign Iraq"),[13] for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran.[1Sony PCG-41218M battery
Sony VPCZ12Z9E/B battery4] The term historically included the plain south of the Hamrin Mountains and did not include the northernmost and westernmost parts of the modern territory of Iraq.[15] The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the alluvial plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, contrasting it with the arid Arabian desert. Sony PCG-31112M battery
As an Arabic word, عراق means "hem", "shore", "bank", or "edge",[citation needed] so that the name by folk etymology came to be interpreted as "the escarpment", viz. at the south and east of the Jazira Plateau, which forms the northern and western edge of the "al-Iraq arabi" area.[16] The Arabic pronunciation is [ʕiˈrɑːq]. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ (the only pronunciation listed in the Oxford English Dictionary and the first one in Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary) or /ɪˈræk/ (listed first by MQD), the American Heritage Dictionary, and the Random House Dictionary. /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in US media. Sony PCG-41313M battery
History[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: History of Iraq Ancient Iraq[edit source | editbeta]
King Jehu of Israel bows before Shalmaneser III of Assyria, 825 BCE. Main article: History of Mesopotamia The "Cradle of Civilization", is a common term for the area comprising modern Iraq as it was home to the earliest known civilization, the Sumerian civilization, which arose in the fertile Tigris-Euphrates river valley of southern Iraq in the Chalcolithic (Ubaid period). It was here in the late 4th millennium BC, Sony PCG-41315M battery
Sony VPCZ12M9E/B batterythat the world's first writing system and recorded history itself were born. The Sumerian civilization flourished for over 3,000 years[citation needed] and was succeeded by the rise of the Akkadian Empire in the 24th century BC. Over two centuries of Akkadian dominance was followed by a Sumerian Renaissance in the 21st century BC. An Elamite invasion in 2004 BC brought the Third Dynasty of Ur to an end. By the 21st century BC, Sony PCG-4R2M battery
Sony VPCZ12M9E battery a new Akkadian civilization, Assyria, had risen to dominance in northern Iraq, and by the 19th century BC a contemporaneous Amorite state, Babylonia, had formed in southern Iraq.
Iraq was to be dominated by the Assyrians and Babylonians for the next 14 centuries, and under the Babylonian empire of Hammurabi, the Assyrian Empires of 1365–1076 BC and the Neo Assyrian Empire of 911–609 BC, and the final Babylonian empire of 620–539 BC Iraq became a centre of world power. Sony VPCZ11Z9E/B batteryThe Neo Assyrian Empire in particular put Iraq at the heart of a massive empire stretching from the Caucasus to Egypt and Arabia, and from Cyprus to Persia. In the 6th century BC, Cyrus the Great of neighbouring Persia defeated the Neo-Babylonian Empire at the Battle of Opis and Iraq was subsumed into the Achaemenid Empire for nearly two centuries. In the late 4th century BC, Alexander the Great conquered the region, Sony PCG-6Z4M battery
putting it under Hellenistic Seleucid rule for over two centuries.[17] The Parthians (247 BC – 224 AD) from Persia conquered the region during the reign of Mithridates I of Parthia (r. 171–138 BC). From Syria, the Romans invaded western parts of the region several times. Christianity began to take hold in Iraq (particularly in Assyria) Sony PCG-6121M battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E/B battery between the 1st and 3rd centuries, and Assyria became a center of the Church of the East. The Sassanids of Persia under Ardashir I destroyed the Parthian Empire and conquered the region in 224 AD. The region was thus a province of the Sassanid Empire for over four centuries, Sony PCG-6122M battery
Sony VPCZ11X9E battery until the Muslim conquest of Persia in the mid-7th century, although a number of indigenous states evolved during the Parthian era, such as Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra. Middle Ages[edit source | editbeta]
Abbasid-era coins, Baghdad, 1244. The Islamic conquest in the 7th century established Islam in Iraq. Under the Rashidun Caliphate, the prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law Ali moved his capital to Kufa when he became the fourth caliph.
Sony VGP-BPS20/S batteryThe Umayyad Caliphate ruled the province of Iraq from Damascus in the 7th century. (However, eventually there was a separate, independent Caliphate of Córdoba.) The Abbasid Caliphate built the city of Baghdad in the 8th century as their capital, and it became the leading metropolis of the Arab and Muslim world for five centuries. Baghdad was the largest multicultural city of the Middle Ages, Sony PCG-6124M battery
Sony VGP-BPS20/B battery peaking at a population of more than a million,[18] and was the centre of learning during the Islamic Golden Age. The Mongols destroyed the city during the siege of Baghdad in the 13th century.[19]
The sack of Baghdad by the Mongols In 1257, Hulagu Khan amassed an unusually large army, a significant portion of the Mongol Empire's forces, for the purpose of conquering Baghdad. When they arrived at the Islamic capital, Hulagu Khan demanded surrender but the last Abbasid Caliph Al-Musta'sim refused. This angered Hulagu, and,
Sony VPCZ23K9E batteryconsistent with Mongol strategy of discouraging resistance, Baghdad was decimated.[20] Estimates of the number of dead range from 200,000 to a million.[21] Sony VPCZ13 battery
The Mongols destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate and the House of Wisdom, which contained countless precious and historical documents. The city has never regained its status as major center of culture and influence. Sony VPCZ13V9E batterySome historians believe that the Mongol invasion destroyed much of the irrigation infrastructure that had sustained Mesopotamia for millennia. Other historians point to soil salination as the culprit in the decline in agriculture.[22] The mid-14th-century Black Death ravaged
much of the Islamic world.[23] The best estimate for the Middle East is a death
rate of a third.[24] Sony
vgp-bps24 battery In 1401, warlord of Mongol descent
Tamerlane (Timur Lenk) invaded Iraq. After the capture of Baghdad, 20,000 of
its citizens were massacred.[25] Timur ordered that every soldier should return
with at least two severed human heads to show him (many warriors were so scared
they killed prisoners captured earlier in the campaign just to ensure they had
heads to present to Timur).[26] Ottoman Iraq[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: Ottoman Iraq and Mamluk dynasty of Iraq During the late 14th and early 15th
centuries, the Black Sheep Turkmen ruled the area now known as Iraq. In 1466,
the White Sheep Turkmen defeated the Black Sheep and took control. In the 16th
century, Sony
VPCSD1S1C battery By the 17th century, the frequent conflicts
with the Safavids had sapped the strength of the Ottoman Empire and had
weakened its control over its provinces. The nomadic population swelled with
the influx of bedouins from Najd, in the Arabian Peninsula. Bedouin raids on
settled areas became impossible to curb.[27] Sony
VPCSA2Z9E battery During the years 1747–1831 Iraq was ruled
by a Mamluk dynasty of Georgian[28] origin who succeeded in obtaining autonomy
from the Ottoman Porte, suppressed tribal revolts, curbed the power of the
Janissaries, restored order and introduced a program of modernization of
economy and military. Sony
SVE151C11M battery During World War I, the Ottomans sided with
Germany and the Central Powers. In the Mesopotamian campaign against the
Central Powers, British forces invaded the country and suffered a major defeat
at the hands of the Turkish army during the Siege of Kut (1915–1916). In 1916,
the British and French made a plan for the post-war division of Western Asia
under the Sykes-Picot Agreement. Sony
SVE1711V1EB battery During World War I the Ottomans were driven
from much of the area by the United Kingdom during the dissolution of the
Ottoman Empire. The British lost 92,000 soldiers in the Mesopotamian campaign. Sony
SVE1511G1EW battery British Mandate and Kingdom[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: Kingdom of Iraq (Mandate administration) and Kingdom of Iraq (1932–58) Sony
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British troops in Baghdad, June 1941. On 11 November 1920 Iraq became a League of
Nations mandate under British control with the name "State of Iraq".
The British established the Hashemite king, Faisal, who had been forced out of
Syria by the French, as their client ruler. Sony
SVE1511S1EW battery Faced with spiralling costs and influenced
by the public protestations of war hero T. E. Lawrence in The Times, Britain
replaced Arnold Wilson in October 1920 with new Civil Commissioner Sir Percy
Cox. Cox managed to quell the rebellion, Sony
SVE1511S1ESI battery Britain granted independence to the Kingdom
of Iraq in 1932, on the urging of King Faisal, though the British retained
military bases and transit rights for their forces. King Ghazi ruled as a
figurehead after King Faisal's death in 1933, Sony
SVE1511S1EB battery On 1 April 1941, Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and
members of the Golden Square staged a coup d'état and overthrew the government
of 'Abd al-Ilah. During the subsequent Anglo-Iraqi War, the United Kingdom
invaded Iraq for fear that the Rashid Ali government might cut oil supplies to
Western nations because of his links to the Axis powers. Sony
SVS1311E3EW battery A military occupation followed the
restoration of the pre-coup government of the Hashemite monarchy. The
occupation ended on 26 October 1947. Sony
SVS1511L3ES battery Republic and Ba'athist Iraq[edit source | editbeta] Main articles: Iraqi Republic (1958–1968) and Ba'athist Iraq
The 14 July Revolution in 1958 In 1958 a coup d'etat known as the 14 July
Revolution led to the end of the monarchy. Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim
assumed power, but he was overthrown by Colonel Abdul Salam Arif in a February
1963 coup. Sony
SVS1511V9ES batteryAfter his death in 1966 he was succeeded by his
brother, Abdul Rahman Arif, who was overthrown by the Ba'ath Party in 1968.
Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr became the first Ba'ath President of Iraq but then the
movement gradually came under the control of General Saddam Hussein, Sony
SVS1511T9ES battery After the success of the 1979 Iranian
Revolution, President Saddam Hussein invaded Iran a year and a half later,
initiating the Iran–Iraq War (or First Persian Gulf War). The war ended in
stalemate in 1988, largely due to foreign support for Iraq[citation needed]. Sony
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Dead Iraqi Kurds of Halabja in 1988 after the Halabja poison gas attack. In August 1990, Iraq invaded and annexed
Kuwait. This subsequently led to military intervention by United States-led
forces in the Second Gulf War. The coalition forces proceeded with a bombing
campaign targeting military targets.[39][40][ Sony
SVE1511M1E battery The Iraqi government claimed some
inspectors were spies for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.[44] On multiple
occasions throughout the disarmament crisis, the UN passed further resolutions
(see United Nations Resolutions concerning Iraq) compelling Iraq to comply with
the terms of the ceasefire resolutions. Sony
SVE1512B1E battery During the late 1990s, the U.N. considered relaxing the Iraq sanctions because of the hardships suffered by ordinary Iraqis. Studies dispute the number of people who died in south and central Iraq during the years of the sanctions.[45][46][47] In October 1998, Sony
SVE1512C6E battery Kurdish Peshmerga became the northern front
of the invasion and eventually defeated Ansar al-Islam in Northern Iraq before
the invasion and Saddam's forces in the north. The battle led to the killing of
a substantial number of militants and the uncovering of what was claimed to be
a chemical weapons facility at Sargat.[48][page needed][4Sony
SVE1512K1E battery International invasion and aftermath[edit source | editbeta] Sony
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The April 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square in Baghdad shortly after the Iraq War invasion. Main articles: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Iraq War On March 20, 2003, a United
States-organized coalition invaded Iraq, with the stated reason that Iraq had
failed to abandon its nuclear and chemical weapons development program in
violation of U.N. Resolution 687. These claims were based on documents that were
provided by the CIA and the government of the United Kingdom.[ Sony
SVE1513C5E battery Following the invasion, the United States
established the Coalition Provisional Authority to govern Iraq. In May 2003 L.
Paul Bremer, the chief executive of the CPA, issued orders to exclude Baath
Party members from the new Iraqi government (CPA Order 1) and to disband the
Iraqi Army (CPA Order 2).[53] The decision to dissolve the army was blamed for
leading many Sunnis, who led much of the army, to join the insurgency against
American occupation.[5Sony
SVE1513D1E battery The years following the invasion saw
insurgency against Coalition and government troops as well as intense violence
between Sunnis and Shias.[56] The Mahdi Army, a Shia militia created in the
summer of 2003 by Moqtada Sadr,[57Sony
SVE1513E9E battery] reached some 60,000 members by December
2006.[57] Al-Qaeda in Iraq targeted Shia Muslims.[58] By 2007, the violence had
increased to the point of being described in the United States' National
Intelligence Estimate as a civil war. On December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was
hanged.[59] Some of his closest associates were also executed.[60][61Sony
SVE1513H1E battery There have since been many attacks on Iraqi
minorities such as the Yezidis, Mandeans, Assyrians and others.[63] A U.S.
troop surge was enacted to deal with increased violence,[64] which began to
abate from the summer of 2007.[65] Iraq also suffered a cholera outbreak in
2007.[66] Sony
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U.S. and Kuwaiti troops closing the gate between Kuwait and Iraq on December 18, 2011. Crime and violence initially spiked in the
months following the US withdrawal from cities.[67][68] Despite the initial
increase in violence, in November 2009, Sony
SVE1711R1E battery U.S. troops handed over security duties to Iraqi forces in June 2009, though they continued to work with Iraqi forces after the pullout.[70] On the morning of December 18, 2011, the final contingent of U.S. troops to be withdrawn ceremonially exited over the border to Kuwait,[8] though the U.S. still maintains two bases and approximately 4,000 troops in the country.[71] The Iraqi National Movement, Sony
VPCCB4X1E battery In February 2011 the Arab Spring protests
spread to Iraq;[72] however, the initial protests had largely ended by the end
of 2011. Sony
SVS1312J3E battery Geography[edit source | editbeta]
Satellite map of Iraq Main article: Geography of Iraq Iraq lies between latitudes 29° and 38° N,
and longitudes 39° and 49° E (a small area lies west of 39°). Spanning 437,072
km2 (168,754 sq mi), it is the 58th-largest country in the world. It is
comparable in size to the US state of California, and somewhat larger than
Paraguay. Sony
SVS1313S9E battery Iraq mainly consists of desert, but near
the two major rivers (Euphrates and Tigris) are fertile alluvial plains, as the
rivers carry about 60,000,000 m3 (78,477,037 cu yd) of silt annually to the
delta. The north of the country is mostly composed of mountains; the highest
point being at 3,611 m (11,847 ft) point, Sony
SVS1511S9E battery Climate[edit source | editbeta] Sony SVS13 battery Main article: Climate of Iraq Most of Iraq has a hot arid climate with
subtropical influence. Summer temperatures average above 40 °C (104 °F) for
most of the country and frequently exceed 48 °C (118.4 °F). Winter temperatures
infrequently exceed 21 °C (69.8 °F) with maxima roughly 15 to 19 °C (59 to 66.2
°F) and night-time lows 2 to 5 °C (35.6 to 41 °F). Sony VPCSA battery Government and politics[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Politics of Iraq
Baghdad Convention Center, the current meeting place of the Council of Representatives of Iraq. The federal government of Iraq is defined
under the current Constitution as a democratic, federal parliamentary Islamic
republic. The National Alliance is the main Shia
parliamentary bloc, and was established as a result of a merger of Prime
Minister Nouri Maliki's State of Law Coalition and the Iraqi National
Alliance.[77] The Iraqi National Movement is led by Iyad Allawi, Sony
VPCSB2M9E battery In 2010, according to the Failed States
Index, Iraq was the world's seventh most politically unstable country.[78][79]
The concentration of power in the hands of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and
growing pressure on the opposition have led to growing concern about the future
of political rights in Iraq.[80] Sony
SVS13A1Z9E battery Since the establishment of the "no–fly
zones" following the Gulf War of 1990–1991, the Kurds have established
their own autonomous region. This has been a source of particular tension with
Turkey. Law[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Law of Iraq In October 2005, the new Constitution of
Iraq was approved in a referendum with a 78% overall majority, although the
percentage of support varying widely between the country's territories.[81] The
new constitution was backed by the Shia and Ķurdish communities, Sony
SVS1311F3E battery Law no. 188 of the year 1959 (Personal
Status Law)[82] made polygamy extremely difficult, granted child custody to the
mother in case of divorce, prohibited repudiation and marriage under the age of
16.[83 In 2004, the CFA chief executive L. Paul
Bremer said he would veto any constitutional draft stating that sharia is the
principal basis of law.[87Sony
SVS1311K9E battery The Iraqi Penal Code is the statutory law of Iraq. Military[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Iraqi armed forces
Iraqi Army BMP-1 on the move. Iraqi security forces are composed of
forces serving under the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defense, as
well as the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Bureau, reporting directly to the Prime
Minister of Iraq, which oversees the Iraqi Special Operations Forces. Sony
SVS1311Q9E battery The Iraqi Army is an objective
counter-insurgency force that as of November 2009 includes 14 divisions, each
division consisting of 4 brigades.[91] It is described as the most important
element of the counter-insurgency fight.[9Sony
SVS13AA11M battery The Iraqi Air Force is designed to support
ground forces with surveillance, reconnaissance and troop lift. Two
reconnaissance squadrons use light aircraft, three helicopter squadrons are
used to move troops and one air transportation squadron uses C-130 transport
aircraft to move troops, equipment, and supplies. Sony
SVS151A12M battery The Iraqi Navy is a small force with 1,500
sailors and officers, including 800 Marines, designed to protect shoreline and
inland waterways from insurgent infiltration. The navy is also responsible for
the security of offshore oil platforms. Sony
SVS1311E3EW battery Foreign relations[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Foreign relations of Iraq
U.S. President Barack Obama speaking with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in 2009. This section requires expansion. (June 2012) On November 17, 2008, the U.S. and Iraq
agreed to a Status of Forces Agreement,[95] as part of the broader Strategic
Framework Agreement.[9Sony
SVS1311P9EB battery On 12 February 2009, Iraq officially became the 186th State Party to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Under the provisions of this treaty, Iraq is considered a party with declared stockpiles of chemical weapons. Because of their late accession, Sony PCG-6Z2M battery Iraq is the only State Party exempt from the existing timeline for destruction of their chemical weapons. Specific criteria is in development to address the unique nature of Iraqi accession.[97] Iran–Iraq relations have flourished since 2005 by the exchange of high level visits: Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki makes frequent visits, Sony PCG-6X2M battery,
Sony PCG-71318M batteryalong with Jalal Talabani visiting numerous times, to help boost bilateral cooperation in all fields. A conflict occurred in December 2009, when Iraq accused Iran of seizing an oil well on the border.[98] Relationships with Turkey are tense, largely because of the Kurdistan Regional Government, as clashes between Turkey and the PKK continue.[9Sony PCG-4Q2M battery,
Sony PCG-71316M battery9] In October 2011, the Turkish parliament renewed a law that gives Turkish forces the ability to pursue rebels over the border in Iraq."[100] Human rights[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Human rights in Iraq Relations between Iraq and its Kurdish population have been sour in recent history, especially with Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign against them in the 1980s. After uprisings during the early 90s, Sony PCG-4Q1M battery
Sony PCG-71315M batterymany Kurds fled their homeland and no-fly zones were established in northern Iraq to prevent more conflicts. Despite historically poor relations, some progress has been made, and Iraq elected its first Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, in 2005. Furthermore, Kurdish is now an official language of Iraq alongside Arabic according to Article 4 of the constitution.[101] Sony PCG-71C11M battery
LGBT rights in Iraq remain limited. Although decriminalized, homosexuality remains stigmatized in Iraqi society. Targeting people because of their gender identity or sexual orientation is not uncommon and is usually carried out in the name of family honor. People who dress in emo style are mistakenly associated with homosexuality and may suffer the same fate.[102Sony PCG-71D14M battery
Sony PCG-91112M battery A BBC article published in 2009, which includes interviews of homosexual and transgendered Iraqis, suggests that LGBT people were less subject to violence under Hussein's regime.[103] Administrative divisions[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Governorates of Iraq Global distribution of Iraqi exports in 2006. Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. The lack of development in other sectors has resulted in 18%–30% unemployed and a depressed per capita GDP of $4,000.[1] Public sector employment accounted for nearly 60% of full-time employment in 2011.[10Sony PCG-61511M battery
Sony PCG-71511M battery4] The oil export industry, which dominates the Iraqi economy, generates very little employment.[104] Currently only a modest percentage of women (the highest estimate for 2011 was 22%) participate in the labour force.[104] Prior to US occupation, Sony PCG-61611M battery Iraq's centrally planned economy prohibited foreign ownership of Iraqi businesses, ran most large industries as state-owned enterprises, and imposed large tariffs to keep out foreign goods.[105] After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, the Coalition Provisional Authority quickly began issuing many binding orders privatizing Iraq's economy and opening it up to foreign investment. On November 20, 2004, Sony PCG-61712M battery the Paris Club of creditor nations agreed to write off 80% ($33 billion) of Iraq's $42 billion debt to Club members. Iraq's total external debt was around $120 billion at the time of the 2003 invasion, and had grown another $5 billion by 2004. The debt relief will be implemented in three stages: two of 30% each and one of 20%.[106] Sony PCG-61813M battery
In February 2011, Citigroup included Iraq in a group of countries which it described as 'Global Growth Generators', that it argued will enjoy significant economic growth in the future.[107] The official currency in Iraq is the Iraqi dinar. The Coalition Provisional Authority issued new dinar coins and notes,
Sony PCG-61813M batterywith the notes printed by De La Rue using modern anti-forgery techniques.[108] Jim Cramer's October 20, 2009 endorsement of the Iraqi Dinar on CNBC has further piqued interest in the investment.[109] Sony PCG-71411M battery
Five years after the invasion, an estimated 2.4 million people were internally displaced (with a further two million refugees outside Iraq), four million Iraqis were considered food-insecure (a quarter of children were chronically malnourished) and only a third of Iraqi children had access to safe drinking water.[110] Sony PCG-71511M battery
According to the Overseas Development Institute, international NGOs face challenges in carrying out their mission, leaving their assistance "piecemeal and largely conducted undercover, hindered by insecurity, a lack of coordinated funding, limited operational capacity and patchy information".[1Sony PCG-91112M battery
Sony PCG-61712M battery10] International NGOs have been targeted and during the first 5 years, 94 aid workers were killed, 248 injured, 24 arrested or detained and 89 kidnapped or abducted.[110] Oil and energy[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Oil reserves in Iraq
Tankers at the Basra Oil Terminal With its 143.1 billion barrels (2.275×1010 m3) of proved oil reserves, Iraq ranks second in the world behind Saudi Arabia in the amount of oil reserves.[111][112] Oil production levels reached 3.4 million barrels per day by December 2012.[113] Iraq intends to increase its production to 5 million barrels per day by 2014.[11Sony PCG-71315M battery
Sony PCG-61611M battery4] Only about 2,000 oil wells have been drilled in Iraq, compared with about 1 million wells in Texas alone.[115] Iraq was one of the founding members of OPEC.[116] As of 2010, despite improved security and billions of dollars in oil revenue, Iraq still generates about half the electricity that customers demand, leading to protests during the hot summer months.[117]
The Iraq oil law is a proposed piece of legislation submitted to the Iraqi Council of Representatives in May 2007.[118] The Iraqi government has yet to reach an agreement on the law. According to a US Study from May 2007, between 100,000 barrels per day (16,000 m3/d) and 300,000 barrels per day (48,000 m3/d) of Iraq’s declared oil production over the past four years could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling.[1Sony PCG-71316M battery
Sony PCG-71D14M battery19] In 2008, Al Jazeera reported $13 billion of Iraqi oil revenues in U.S. care was improperly accounted for, of which $2.6 billion is totally unaccounted for.[120] In June 2008, the Iraqi Oil Ministry announced plans to go ahead with small one- or two-year no-bid contracts to Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — once partners in the Iraq Petroleum Company — along with Chevron and smaller firms to service Iraq’s largest fields.[1Sony PCG-71318M battery
Sony PCG-71C11M battery21] These plans were canceled in September because negotiations had stalled for so long that the work could not be completed within the time frame, according to Iraqi oil minister Hussain al-Shahristani. Several United States senators had also criticized the deal, arguing it was hindering efforts to pass the hydrocarbon law.[122]
On June 30 and December 11, 2009, the Iraqi ministry of oil awarded service contracts to international oil companies for some of Iraq's many oil fields.[123][124] Oil fields contracted include the "super-giant" Majnoon Field, Halfaya Field, Sony PCG-6X4M battery,
Sony PCG-4Q1M batteryWest Qurna Field and Rumaila Field.[124] BP and China National Petroleum Corporation won a deal to develop Rumaila, the largest Iraqi oil field.[125] Infrastructure[edit source | editbeta] There are many projects under-way throughout Iraq to modernise the infrastructure. In 2009, the IBBC was established (Iraq Britain Business Council). The Council was established by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne. Sony PCG-6X2M battery,
In August 2009, two American firms reached a deal with the Iraqi Government to build Basra Sports City, a new sports complex. Basra Sports City will be the venue for the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations. Sony PCG-4Q2M battery An April 2009 estimate of the total Iraqi
population is 31,234,000.[2] Iraq's population was estimated at only 2 million
in 1878.[128] Iraq's population as announced by the government has reached 35
million amid a post-war population boom.[129] Sony
VPCF115FM battery According to the Central Intelligence
Agency, Arabs form 75%–80% of the population.[1] Minorities include a 15%–20%
of Kurds, and Turkoman, Assyrian, or other make up 5% of the population.[1]
Around 20,000 Marsh Arabs live in southern Iraq.[130] The Iraqi population
includes a community of around 30,000 Circassians,[131][132] 20,000 Armenians,
and a community of 2,500 Chechens.[133Sony
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Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf Iraq is a Muslim-majority country; Islam
accounts for an estimated 97% of the population, while Christianity or other
religions for just 3%.[1] It has a mixed Shia and Sunni population. Most
sources estimate that around 65% of Muslims in Iraq are Shia, and around 35%
are Sunni.[1] Sony
VPCF113FX battery There are also small populations of Mandaeans, Shabaks, Yarsan and Yezidis. The Iraqi Jewish community, numbering around 150,000 in 1941, has almost entirely left the country.[138] Languages[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Languages of Iraq Arabic is the majority language, Kurdish is
spoken by approximately 15–20% of the population, Turkmen language,[101]
Neo-Aramaic and others by 5%.[1] Other smaller minority languages include
Mandaic Shabaki, Sony
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Armenian, and Persian. Arabic, Kurdish,
Persian, and South Azeri are written with versions of the Arabic script, the
Neo-Aramaic languages in the Syriac script and Armenian is written in the
Armenian script. Prior to the invasion in 2003, Arabic was
the sole official language. Since the new Constitution of Iraq approved in June
2004, both Arabic and Kurdish are official languages,[139] while Assyrian
Neo-Aramaic and Turkmen language(referred to as respectively "Syriac"
and "Turkmen" in the constitution) are recognized regional
languages.[14Sony
VPCF11DGX battery As the constitition says : "The Arabic
language and the Kurdish language are the two official languages of Iraq. The
right of Iraqis to educate their children in their mother tongue, such as
Turkmen, Syriac, Diaspora and refugees[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Refugees of Iraq
Iraqi refugees in Damascus, Syria The dispersion of native Iraqis to other
countries is known as the Iraqi diaspora. The UN High Commission for Refugees
has estimated that nearly two million Iraqis have fled the country after the
Multi-National invasion of Iraq in 2003, mostly to Syria and Jordan.[143] The
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates an additional 1.9 million are
currently displaced within the country.[144] In 2007, the U.N. said that about 40% of
Iraq's middle class is believed to have fled and that most are fleeing
systematic persecution and have no desire to return.[145] Refugees are mired in
poverty as they are generally barred from working in their host
countries.[146][ Sony
VPCF117FX battery As of 2011, nearly 3 million Iraqis have
been displaced, with 1.3 million within the Iraq and 1.6 million in neighboring
countries, mainly Jordan and Syria.[149] More than half of Iraqi Christians
have fled the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.[1Sony
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Syrian refugees have fled to Iraq since 2012.[153] Increasing violence during
the Syrian civil war led to an inceasing numbers of Iraqis returning to their
native country.[154] Sony
VPCF11CGX battery Iraq is known primarily for its rich maqam heritage which has been passed down orally by the masters of the maqam in an unbroken chain of transmission leading up to the present. The maqam al-Iraqi is considered to be the most noble and perfect form of maqam. Dell XPS 14 Battery
Dell XPS L701X BatteryAl-maqam al-Iraqi is the collection of sung poems written either in one of the sixteen meters of classical Arabic or in Iraqi dialect (Zuhayri).[155] This form of art is recognized by UNESCO as “an intangible heritage of humanity”.[156] Dell XPS 14D Battery
Early in the 20th century, many of the most prominent musicians in Iraq were Jewish.[157] In 1936, Iraq Radio was established with an ensemble made up entirely of Jews, with the exception of the percussion player. At the nightclubs of Baghdad, ensembles consisted of oud, qanun and two percussionists, while the same format with a ney and cello were used on the radio.[157]
The most famous singer of the 1930s–1940s was perhaps the Jew Salima Pasha (later Salima Murad).[157][158] The respect and adoration for Pasha were unusual at the time, since public performance by women was considered shameful and most female singers were recruited from brothels.[157] Dell XPS 14D-L401X Battery
The most famous early composer from Iraq was Ezra Aharon, an oud player, while the most prominent instrumentalist was Daoud Al-Kuwaiti. Daoud and his brother Saleh formed the official ensemble for the Iraqi radio station and were responsible for introducing the cello and ney into the traditional ensemble.[157]
Art and architecture[edit source | editbeta]
The Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah. Main article: Architecture of Mesopotamia Some important cultural institutions in the capital include the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra – rehearsals and performances were briefly interrupted during the Occupation of Iraq but have since returned to normal.
Dell XPS L702X BatteryThe National Theatre of Iraq was looted during the 2003 invasion, but efforts are underway to restore it. The live theatre scene received a boost during the 1990s when UN sanctions limited the import of foreign films. As many as 30 movie theatres were reported to have been converted to live stages, producing a wide range of comedies and dramatic productions.
Institutions offering cultural education in Baghdad include the Academy of Music, Institute of Fine Arts and the Music and Ballet school Baghdad. Dell Latitude E6220 Battery
Dell Latitude E5420M Battery Baghdad also features a number of museums including the National Museum of Iraq – which houses the world's largest and finest collection of artifacts and relics of Ancient Iraqi civilizations; some of which were stolen during the Occupation of Iraq.
The capital, Ninus or Nineveh, was taken by the Medes under Cyaxares, and some 200 years after Xenophon passed over its site, then mere mounds of earth. Dell Latitude E6320 Battery
Dell Latitude E5520 Battery It remained buried until 1845, when Botta and Layard discovered the ruins of the Assyrian cities. The principal remains are those of Khorsabad, 10 miles (16 km) N.E. of Mosul; Dell XPS 15D Battery Dell XPS 15-L502X Batteryof Nimroud, supposed to be the ancient Calah; and of Kouyunjik, in all probability the ancient Nineveh. In these cities are found fragments of several great buildings which seem to have been palace-temples. Dell Inspiron 14V Battery
They were constructed chiefly of sun-dried bricks, and all that remains of them is the lower part of the walls, decorated with sculpture and paintings, portions of the pavements, a few indications of the elevation, and some interesting works connected with the drainage. Media[edit source | editbeta] Dell Inspiron N4030 Battery
Main article: Media of Iraq After the end of the full state control in 2003, there were a period of significant growth in the broadcast media in Iraq. Immediately, and the ban on satellite dishes is no longer in place, and by mid-2003, according to a BBC report, Dell Inspiron N7110 Battery
Dell Inspiron N5010D Battery there were 20 radio stations from 0.15 to 17 television stations owned by Iraqis, and 200 Iraqi newspapers owned and operated. Significantly, there have been many of these newspapers in numbers disproportionate to the population of their locations. For example, in Najaf, which has a population of 300,000, is being published more than 30 newspapers and distributed. Dell Inspiron N7010R Battery
Iraqi media expert and author of a number of reports on this subject, Ibrahim Al Marashi, identifies four stages of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 where they had been taking the steps that have significant effects on the way for the later of the Iraqi media since then. Stages are: pre-invasion preparation, Dell Latitude E6420 Battery Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Battery
Dell Inspiron 17R Batteryand the war and the actual choice of targets, the first post-war period, and a growing insurgency and hand over power to the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG) and Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.[159][page needed] Dell Inspiron N7010D Battery
Cuisine[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Iraqi cuisine
Fattoush. Iraqi cuisine has a long history going back some 10,000 years – to the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Ancient Persians.[160] Tablets found in ancient ruins in Iraq show recipes prepared in the temples during religious festivals –Dell Inspiron N5110 Battery the first cookbooks in the world.[16Dell Latitude E6500 Battery
Dell Latitude E6230 Battery0] Ancient Iraq, or Mesopotamia, was home to many sophisticated and highly advanced civilizations, in all fields of knowledge – including the culinary arts.[160
Dell Inspiron N4010R Battery] However, it was in the medieval era when Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate that the Iraqi kitchen reached its zenith.[160] Today the cuisine of Iraq reflects this rich inheritance as well as strong influences from the culinary traditions of neighbouring Turkey, Iran and the Greater Syria area.[160] Dell Inspiron N5030 Battery
Some characteristic ingredients of Iraqi cuisine include – vegetables such as aubergine, tomato, okra, onion, potato, courgette, garlic, peppers and chilli, cereals such as rice, bulgur wheat and barley, pulses and legumes such as lentils, chickpeas and cannellini, Dell Latitude E6520 Battery
Dell Latitude E6410 ATG Battery Dell Latitude E6210 Batteryfruits such as dates, raisins, apricots, figs, grapes, melon, pomegranate and citrus fruits, especially lemon and lime.[160]
Similarly with other countries of Western Asia, chicken and especially lamb are the favourite meats. Most dishes are served with rice – usually Basmati, grown in the marshes of southern Iraq.[160] Bulgur wheat is used in many dishes – having been a staple in the country since the days of the Ancient Assyrians.[160] Dell Inspiron N5010R Battery
Sport[edit source | editbeta] Main article: Sport in Iraq Football is the most popular sport in Iraq. Football is a considerable uniting factor in Iraq following years of war and unrest. Basketball, swimming, weightlifting, bodybuilding, boxing, kick boxing and tennis are also popular sports. Dell Inspiron N3010R Battery The Iraqi Football Association is the governing body of football in Iraq, controlling the Iraqi National Team and the Iraqi Premier League (also known as Dawri Al-Nokba). It was founded in 1948,
and has been a member of FIFA since 1950 and the Asian Football Confederation since 1971. The Iraqi National Football Team were the 2007 AFC Asian Cup Champions after defeating Saudi Arabia in the final. Dell Latitude E6400 ATG Battery Dell Latitude E6400 XFR Battery Iraq will be the host of the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations. The tournament will be held in Basra. The matches will be held in the newly built Basra Sports City. Health[edit source | editbeta] Dell Inspiron 13R Battery
Main article: Health in Iraq In 2010, spending on healthcare accounted for 6.84% of the country's GDP. In 2008, there were 6.96 physicians and 13.92 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants.[161] The life expectancy at birth was 68.49 years in 2010, or 65.13 years for males and 72.01 years for females.[162] This is down from a peak life expectancy of 71.31 years in 1996.[163] Dell Latitude E4200 Battery
Iraq had developed a centralized free health care system in the 1970s using a hospital based, capital-intensive model of curative care. The country depended on large-scale imports of medicines, medical equipment and even nurses, paid for with oil export income, according to a “Watching Brief” report issued jointly by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in July 2003. Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
Dell Latitude E6430S XFR BatteryUnlike other poorer countries, which focused on mass health care using primary care practitioners, Iraq developed a Westernized system of sophisticated hospitals with advanced medical procedures, provided by specialist physicians. The UNICEF/WHO report noted that prior to 1990, Dell Latitude E5400 Battery
Dell Latitude E6430 ATG Battery 97% of the urban dwellers and 71% of the rural population had access to free primary health care; just 2% of hospital beds were privately managed. [164] Education[edit source | editbeta]
Main article: Education in Iraq
Students at the college of medicine of the University of Basrah, 2010 The CIA World Factbook estimates that in 2000 the adult literacy rate was 84% for males and 64% for females, with UN figures suggesting a small fall in literacy of Iraqis aged 15–24 between 2000 and 2008, from 84.8% to 82.4%.[165] The Coalition Provisional Authority undertook a complete reform of Iraq’s education system: Baathist ideology was removed from curricula and there were substantial increases in teacher salaries and training programs, which the Hussein regime neglected in the 1990s. Dell Latitude E5420 Battery
Dell Latitude E6430 Battery In 2003 an estimated 80% of Iraq’s 15,000 school buildings needed rehabilitation and lacked basic sanitary facilities, and most schools lacked libraries and laboratories. Education is mandatory only through the sixth grade, after which a national examination determines the possibility of continuing into the upper grades. Although a vocational track is available to those who do not pass the exam, few students elect that option because of its poor quality. Dell Latitude E5500 Battery
Dell Latitude E5530 BatteryBoys and girls generally attend separate schools beginning with seventh grade. In 2005 obstacles to further reform were poor security conditions in many areas, a centralized system that lacked accountability for teachers and administrators, and the isolation in which the system functioned for the previous 30 years. Few private schools exist. Prior to the occupation of 2003, Dell Latitude E5520 Battery
Dell Latitude E5430 Batterysome 240,000 persons were enrolled in institutions of higher education. According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, the top-ranking universities in the country are the University of Dohuk (1717th worldwide), the University of Baghdad (3160th) and Babylon University (3946th).[166] |
