^a The area of Poland, as given by the Central Statistical Office, is 312,679 km² (120,726 sq mi), of which 311,888 km² (120,421 sq mi) is land and 791 km² (305 sq mi) is internal water surface area.^[9]

^b.

^b The adoption of Christianity in Poland is seen by many Poles, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof, as one of the most significant events in their country's history, as it was used to unify the tribes in the region.^[10]

Poland (Polish: Polska [ˈpɔlska] ( listen)), officially the Republic of Poland (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska,^[a] listen (help·info)), is a country in Central Europe,^[11] situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and twomountain ranges (the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains) in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine and Belarus to the east; and the Baltic Sea, Kaliningrad Oblast (a Russian exclave) and Lithuania to the north. The total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres (120,726 sq mi),^[9] making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people,^[9] Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world,^[12] the 8th most populous country in Europe and the sixth most populous member of the European Union, as well as the most populous post-communist member of the European Union. Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions.

The establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I,^[13] ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a longstanding political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th- and 17th-century Europe.^[14]^[15] The Commonwealth ceased to exist in the years 1772–95, when its territory was partitioned among Prussia, the Russian Empire, and Austria. Poland regained its independence (as the Second Polish Republic) at the end of World War I, in 1918.

In September 1939, World War II started with the invasions of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union (as part of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact). More than six million Polish citizens died in the war.^[16]^[17] In 1944, a Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation was formed and, after a falsified referendum in 1947, it took control of the country and Poland became a satellite state^[18] of the Soviet Union, as People's Republic of Poland. During the Revolutions of 1989 Poland's Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy. Despite the large number of casualties and destruction the country experienced during World War II, Poland managed to preserve much of its cultural wealth. There are 14 heritage sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage^[19] and 54 Historical Monuments and manyobjects of cultural heritage in Poland.

Since the beginning of the transition to a primarily market-based economy that took place in the early 1990s, Poland has achieved a "very high" ranking on the Human Development Index,^[20] as well as gradually improving economic freedom.^[21] Poland is a democratic country with an advanced high-income economy,^[22] a high quality of life and a very high standard of living.^[23]^[24] Moreover, the country is visited by nearly 16 million tourists every year (2013), which makes it one of the most visited countries in the world.^[25] Poland is the sixth largest economy in the European Union and among the fastest rising economic states in the world. The country is the sole member nation of the European Union to have escaped a decline in GDP and in recent years.^[26] Furthermore, according to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is one of the safest countries in the world to live in.^[27]

Etymology

Main article: Name of Poland

The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans (Polanie) that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century. The origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole (field). In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites (Lechici), which derives from the name of a semi-legendray ruler of Polans, Lech I.

History

Main article: History of Poland

Prehistory and protohistory

Main articles: Bronze- and Iron-Age Poland, Poland in Antiquity, and Poland in the Early Middle Ages

Reconstruction of a Bronze Age,Lusatian culture settlement in Biskupin, c. 700 BC

Historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The ethnicity and linguistic affiliation of these groups have been hotly debated; the time and route of the original settlement of Slavic peoples in these regions lacks written records and can only be defined as fragmented.^[28]

The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement (now reconstructed as an open-air museum), dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, around 700 BC. The Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. Up until the creation of Mieszko's state and his subsequent conversion to Christianity in 966 AD, the main religion of Slavic tribes that inhabited the geographical area of present-day Poland was Slavic paganism. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the religious authority of the Roman Church. However, the transition from paganism was not a smooth and instantaneous process for the rest of the population as evident from the pagan reaction of the 1030s.^[29]

Piast dynasty

Main articles: History of Poland during the Piast dynasty, Civitas Schinesghe, and Gesta principum Polonorum

Map of Poland under the rule ofMieszko I who is considered the de facto creator of the Polish state, c. 960–992

Poland began to form into a recognizable unitary and territorial entity around the middle of the 10th century under the Piast dynasty. Poland's first historically documented ruler, Mieszko I, accepted Christianity with the Baptism of Poland in 966, as the new official religion of his subjects. The bulk of the population converted in the course of the next few centuries. In 1000,Boleslaw the Brave, continuing the policy of his father Mieszko, held a Congress of Gniezno and created the metropolis of Gniezno and the dioceses of Kraków, Kołobrzeg, and Wrocław. However, the pagan unrest led to the transfer of the capital to Kraków in 1038 by Casimir I the Restorer.^[30]

Earliest known contemporary depiction of a Polish ruler—King Mieszko II Lambert of Poland, who ruled between 1025 and 1031, being presented with aLiturgical book by Matilda of Swabia

In 1109, Prince Bolesław III Wrymouth defeated the King of Germany Henry V at the Battle of Hundsfeld, stopping the German march into Poland. The significance of the event was documented by Gallus Anonymus in his 1118 chronicle.^[31] In 1138, Poland fragmented into several smaller duchies when Bolesław divided his lands among his sons. In 1226, Konrad I of Masovia, one of the regional Piast dukes, invited the Teutonic Knights to help him fight the Baltic Prussian pagans; a decision which led to centuries of warfare with the Knights. In 1264, the Statute of Kalisz or the General Charter of Jewish Liberties introduced numerous right for the Jews in Poland, leading to a nearly autonomous "nation within a nation".^[32]

In the middle of the 13th century, the Silesian branch of the Piast dynasty (Henry I the Bearded and Henry II the Pious, ruled 1238–41) nearly succeeded in uniting the Polish lands, but theMongols invaded the country from the east and defeated the combined Polish forces at the Battle of Legnica where Duke Henry II the Pious died. In 1320, after a number of earlier unsuccessful attempts by regional rulers at uniting the Polish dukedoms, Władysław I consolidated his power, took the throne and became the first king of a reunified Poland. His son, Casimir III (reigned 1333–70), has a reputation as one of the greatest Polish kings, and gained wide recognition for improving the country's infrastructure.^[33]^[34] He also extended royal protection to Jews, and encouraged their immigration to Poland.^[33]^[35] Casimir III realized that the nation needed a class of educated people, especially lawyers, who could codify the country's laws and administer the courts and offices. His efforts to create an institution of higher learning in Poland were finally rewarded when Pope Urban V granted him permission to open the University of Kraków.

Casimir III the Great is the only Polish king to receive the title of Great. He built extensively during his reign, and reformed the Polish army along with the country's civil and criminal laws, 1333–70

The Golden Liberty of the nobles began to develop under Casimir's rule, when in return for their military support, the king made a series of concessions to the nobility, and establishing their legal status as superior to that of the townsmen. When Casimir the Great died in 1370, leaving no legitimate male heir, the Piast dynasty came to an end.

During the 12th and 13th-centuries, Poland became a destination for German, Flemish and to a lesser extent Scottish, Danish and Walloon migrants. Also, the Jewish and Armenian community began to settle and flourish in Poland during this era (see History of the Jews in Poland and Armenians in Poland).

The Black Death, a plague that ravaged Europe from 1347 to 1351 did not significantly affect Poland and the country only suffered a minor outbreak.^[36]^[37] The reason for this was the decision of Casimir the Great to quarantine the nation's borders.

Jagiellon dynasty

Main articles: History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty and Renaissance in Poland

Battle of Grunwald was fought against the German Order of Teutonic Knights, and resulted in a decisive victory for the Kingdom of Poland, 15 July 1410

The Jagiellon dynasty spanned the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era of Polish history. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło), the Jagiellon dynasty (1386–1572) formed the Polish–Lithuanian union. The partnership brought vast Lithuania-controlled Rus' areas into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for the Poles and Lithuanians, who coexisted and cooperated in one of the largest political entities in Europe for the next four centuries. In the Baltic Sea region Poland's struggle with the Teutonic Knights continued and culminated in the Battle of Grunwald (1410), where a combined Polish-Lithuanian army inflicted a decisive victory against the Teutonic Knights, allowing for territorial expansion of both nations into the far north region of Livonia.^[38]In 1466, after the Thirteen Years' War, King Casimir IV Jagiellon gave royal consent to the Peace of Thorn, which created the future Duchy of Prussia, a Polish vassal. The Jagiellon dynasty at one point also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of Bohemia (1471 onwards) and Hungary.^[39]^[40] In the south, Poland confronted the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Tatars (by whom they were attacked on 75 separate occasions between 1474 and 1569),^[41] and in the east helped Lithuania fight the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Some historians estimate that Crimean Tatar slave-raiding cost Poland-Lithuania one million of its population between the years of 1494 and 1694.^[42]

Wawel Castle in Kraków—seat of Polish kings from 1038 until the capital was moved to Warsaw in 1596. The royal residence is an early example of Renaissance architecture in Poland

Poland was developing as a feudal state, with a predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly powerful landed nobility. The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish Sejm (parliament) in 1505, transferred most of the legislative power from the monarch to the Sejm, an event which marked the beginning of the period known as "Golden Liberty", when the state was ruled by the "free and equal" Polish nobility. Protestant Reformation movements made deep inroads into Polish Christianity, which resulted in the establishment of policies promoting religious tolerance, unique in Europe at that time.^[43] This tolerance allowed the country to avoid most the religious turmoil that spread over Europe during the 16th century.^[43]

The European Renaissance evoked in late Jagiellon Poland (kings Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus) a sense of urgency in the need to promote acultural awakening, and during this period Polish culture and the nation's economy flourished. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus a Polish astronomer from Toruń, published his epochal work De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres), and thus became the first proponent of a predictive mathematical model confirming the heliocentric theory, which became the accepted basic model for the practice of modern astronomy. Another major figure associated with the era is the classicist poet Jan Kochanowski.^[44]

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

Main articles: History of Poland in the Early Modern era (1569–1795), Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Sarmatism

The Warsaw Confederation was an important development in the history of Poland that extended religious freedoms and tolerance, and is the first such document in Europe, 28 January 1573

The 1569 Union of Lublin established the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a more closely unified federal state with an elective monarchy, but which was governed largely by the nobility, through a system of local assemblieswith a central parliament. The Warsaw Confederation (1573) confirmed the religious freedom of all residents of Poland, which was extremely important for the stability of the multiethnic Polish society of the time.^[32] Serfdomwas banned in 1588.^[45] The establishment of the Commonwealth coincided with a period of stability and prosperity in Poland, with the union thereafter becoming a European power and a major cultural entity, occupying approximately one million square kilometers of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as an agent for the dissemination of Western culture through Polonization into areas of modern-day Ukraine, Belarus and Western Russia.

In the 16th and 17th-centuries, Poland suffered from a number of dynastic crises during the reigns of the Vasa kings Sigismund III and Władysław IV and found itself engaged in major conflicts with Russia, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire, as well as a series of minor Cossack uprisings.^[46] In 1610 Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski seized Moscow after winning the Battle of Klushino.

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at its greatest extent after the Truce of Deulino, 1619

From the middle of the 17th century, the nobles' democracy, suffering from internal disorder, gradually declined, thus leaving the once powerful Commonwealth vulnerable to foreign intervention. Starting in 1648, the Cossack Khmelnytsky Uprising engulfed the south and east eventually leaving Ukraine divided, with the eastern part, lost by the Commonwealth, becoming a dependency of the Tsardom of Russia. This was followed by the 'Deluge', a Swedish invasion of Poland, which marched through the Polish heartlands and ruined the country's population, culture and infrastructure. Around four million of Poland's eleven million inhabitants died in famines and epidemics.^[47]However, under John III Sobieski the Commonwealth's military prowess was re-established, and in 1683 Polish forces played a major role in the Battle of Vienna against theOttoman Army, commanded by Kara Mustafa the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire.

King John III Sobieskidefeated the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Vienna on 12 September 1683

Sobieski's reign marked the end of the nation's golden-era. Finding itself subjected to almost constant warfare and suffering enormous population losses as well as massive damage to its economy, the Commonwealth fell into decline. The government became ineffective as a result of large-scale internal conflicts (e.g. Lubomirski Rebellion against John II Casimir and rebellious confederations) and corrupted legislative processes. The nobility fell under the control of a handful of magnats, and this, compounded with two relatively weak kings of the Saxon Wettin dynasty, Augustus II and Augustus III, as well as the rise of Russia and Prussia after the Great Northern War only served to worsen the Commonwealth's plight. Despite this The Commonwealth-Saxony personal union gave rise to the emergence of the Commonwealth's first reform movement, and laid the foundations for the Polish Enlightenment.^[48]

Stanisław II August, the last King of Poland—acceded to the throne in 1764 and reigned until his abdication on 25 November 1795

During the later part of the 18th century, the Commonwealth made attempts to implement fundamental internal reforms; with the second half of the century bringing a much improved economy, significant population growth and far-reaching progress in the areas of education, intellectual life, art, and especially toward the end of the period, evolution of the social and political system. The most populous capital city of Warsaw replaced Gdańsk (Danzig) as the leading centre of commerce, and the role of the more prosperous townsmen increased.

Age of partitions

Main articles: History of Poland (1795–1918) and Partitions of Poland

The royal election of 1764 resulted in the elevation of Stanisław II August, a Polish aristocrat connected to major magnate factions, to the monarchy. However, a one-time lover of Empress Catherine II of Russia, the new king spent much of his reign torn between his desire to implement reforms necessary to save his nation, and his perceived necessity to remain in a political relationship with his Russian sponsor. This led to the formation of the 1768 Bar Confederation, a szlachta rebellion directed against Russia and the Polish king that fought to preserve Poland's independence and the szlachta's traditional privileges. Attempts at reform provoked the union's neighbours, and in 1772 the First Partition of the Commonwealth by Prussia, Russia and Austria took place; an act which the "Partition Sejm", under considerable duress, eventually "ratified" fait accompli.^[49] Disregarding this loss, in 1773 the king established the Commission of National Education, the first government education authority in Europe. Corporal punishment of children was officially prohibited in 1783.

Enactment ceremony of the 3 May Constitution inside the Senate Chamber at the Warsaw Royal Castle, 1791

The Great Sejm convened by Stanisław II August in 1788 successfully adopted the 3 May Constitution, the first set of modern supreme national laws in Europe. However, this document, accused by detractors of harbouring revolutionary sympathies, generated strong opposition from the Commonwealth's nobles and conservatives as well as from Catherine II, who, determined to prevent the rebirth of a strong Commonwealth set about planning the final dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Russia was aided in achieving its goal when the Targowica Confederation, an organisation of Polish nobles, appealed to the Empress for help. In May 1792, Russian forces crossed the Commonwealth's frontier, thus beginning the Polish-Russian War.

The defensive war fought by the Poles ended prematurely when the King, convinced of the futility of resistance, capitulated and joined the Targowica Confederation. The Confederation then took over the government. Russia and Prussia, fearing the mere existence of a Polish state, arranged for, and in 1793 executed, the Second Partition of the Commonwealth, which left the country deprived of so much territory that it was practically incapable of independent existence. Eventually, in 1795, following the failed Kościuszko Uprising, the Commonwealth was partitioned one last time by all three of its more powerful neighbours, and with this, effectively ceased to exist.^[50]

Congress Poland

Main articles: Duchy of Warsaw and Congress Poland

Partitions of Poland, carried out by the Kingdom of Prussia, Russian Empire and Austrian Habsburg Empire in 1772, 1793 and 1795

Poles rebelled several times against the partitioners, particularly near the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. An unsuccessful attempt at defending Poland's sovereignty took place in 1794 during the Kościuszko Uprising, where a popular and distinguished general Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who had several years earlier served under Washington in the American Revolutionary War, led Polish insurgents against numerically superior Russian forces. Despite the victory at the Battle of Racławice, his ultimate defeat ended Poland's independent existence for 123 years.^[51] In 1807, Napoleon I of France temporarily recreated a Polish state as a satellite Duchy of Warsaw, but after the failed Napoleonic Wars, Poland was again split between the victorious powers at the Congress of Vienna of 1815.^[52] The eastern part was ruled by the Russian tsar as a Congress Kingdom, which had a very liberal constitution. However, over time the Russian tsar reduced Polish freedoms, and Russia annexed the country in virtually all but name. Meanwhile, the Prussian-controlled territory of Poland came under increased Germanization. Thus, in the 19th century, only Austrian-ruled Galicia, and particularly the Free City of Kraków, allowed free Polish cultural life to flourish.

Tadeusz Kościuszko takes the oath of loyalty to the Polish King in Kraków, vowing to fight against the military intervention of the partitioning powers, 1794

Throughout the period of the partitions, political and cultural repression of the Polish nation led to the organisation of a number of uprisings against the authorities of the occupying Russian, Prussian and Austrian governments. Notable among these are the November Uprising of 1830 and January Uprising of 1863, both of which were attempts to free Poland from the rule of tsarist Russia. The November uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when, led by Lieutenant Piotr Wysocki, young non-commissioned officers at the Imperial Russian Army's military academy in that city revolted. They were joined by large segments of Polish society, and together forced Warsaw's Russian garrison to withdraw north of the city.

Over the course of the next seven months, Polish forces successfully defeated the Russian armies of Field Marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch and a number of other Russian commanders; however, finding themselves in a position unsupported by any other foreign powers, save distant France and the newborn United States, and with Prussia andAustria refusing to allow the import of military supplies through their territories, the Poles accepted that the uprising was doomed to failure. Upon the surrender of Warsaw to General Ivan Paskievich, many Polish troops, feeling they could not go on, withdrew into Germany and there laid down their arms. Poles would have to wait another 32 years for another opportunity to free their homeland.

Capture of the Warsaw Arsenal by the Polish army during the November Uprising, 29 November 1830

When in January 1863 a new Polish uprising against Russian rule began, it did so as a spontaneous protest by young Poles against conscription into the Imperial Russian Army. However, the insurrectionists, despite being joined by high-ranking Polish-Lithuanian officers and numerous politicians, were still severely outnumbered and lacking in foreign support. They were forced to resort to guerrilla warfare tactics and failed to win any major military victories. Afterwards no major uprising was witnessed in the Russian-controlled Congress Poland, and Poles resorted instead to fostering economic and cultural self-improvement.

Despite the political unrest experienced during the partitions, Poland did benefit from large-scale industrialisation and modernisation programs, instituted by the occupying powers, which helped it develop into a more economically coherent and viable entity. This was particularly true in the Greater Poland, Pomerania and Warmia annexed by Prussia (later becoming a part of the German Empire); an area which eventually, thanks largely to the Greater Poland Uprising, was reconstituted as a part of the Second Polish Republic and became one of its most productive regions.

Reconstitution

Main articles: History of Poland (1918–39), Kingdom of Poland (1916–18), and Second Polish Republic

Chief of State MarshalJózef Piłsudski was the nation's premiere statesman between 1918 until his death on 12 May 1935

During World War I, all the Allies agreed on the reconstitution of Poland that United States President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed in Point 13 of his Fourteen Points. A total of 2 million Polish troops fought with the armies of the three occupying powers, and 450,000 died. Shortly after the armistice with Germany in November 1918, Poland regained its independence as the Second Polish Republic (II Rzeczpospolita Polska). It reaffirmed its independence after a series of military conflicts, the most notable being the Polish–Soviet War (1919–21) when Poland inflicted a crushing defeat on the Red Army at the Battle of Warsaw, an event which is considered to have halted the advance of Communism into Europe and forced Vladimir Lenin to rethink his objective of achieving global socialism. The event is often referred to as the "Miracle at the Vistula".^[53]

Map of Poland during the Interwar period, 1918–39

During this period, Poland successfully managed to fuse the territories of the three former partitioning powers into a cohesive nation state. Railways were restructured to direct traffic towardsWarsaw instead of the former imperial capitals, a new network of national roads was gradually built up and a major seaport was opened on the Baltic Coast, so as to allow Polish exports and imports to bypass the politically charged Free City of Danzig.

The inter-war period heralded in a new era of Polish politics. Whilst Polish political activists had faced heavy censorship in the decades up until the First World War, the country now found itself trying to establish a new political tradition. For this reason, many exiled Polish activists, such as Ignacy Paderewski (who would later become prime minister) returned home to help; a significant number of them then went on to take key positions in the newly formed political and governmental structures. Tragedy struck in 1922 when Gabriel Narutowicz, inaugural holder of the presidency, was assassinated at the Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw by painter and right-wing nationalist Eligiusz Niewiadomski.^[54]

The 1926 May Coup of Józef Piłsudski turned rule of the Second Polish Republic over to the Sanacja movement. By the 1930s Poland had become increasingly authoritarian; a number of 'undesirable' political parties, such as the Polish Communists, had been banned and following Piłsudski's death, the regime, unable to appoint a new leader, began to show its inherent internal weaknesses and unwillingness to cooperate in any way with other political parties.

As result of the Munich Agreement in 1938, major European powers (Germany, France, Britain and Italy) awarded Poland the small 350 sq mi Zaolzie Region of Czechoslovakia. The area was a point of contention between the Polish and Czechoslovak governments in the past and the two countries fought a brief seven-day war over it in 1919.

World War II

Main articles: History of Poland (1939–45), Invasion of Poland, Polish contribution to World War II, and War crimes in occupied Poland during World War II

Polish army's 7TP tanks during military maneuvers shortly before the Invasion of Poland, 1939

The formal beginning of World War II was marked by the Nazi German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, followed by the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September in violation of the Soviet–Polish Non-Aggression Pact. On 28 September 1939 Warsaw capitulated. As agreed earlier in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Poland was split into two occupied zones, one subdivided by Nazi Germany, while the other, including all of eastern Kresy fell under the control of the Soviet Union. In 1939–41, the Soviets had deported hundreds of thousands of Poles out to the most distant parts of the Soviet Union. The Soviet NKVD secretly executed thousands of Polish prisoners of war (inter alia Katyn massacre) ahead of the Operation Barbarossa.^[55] German planners had in November 1939 called for "the complete destruction" of all Poles and their fate, as well as many other Slavs, was outlined in genocidal Generalplan Ost.^[56]

Pilots of the 303 "Kościuszko" Polish Fighter Squadron during the Battle of Britain, October 1940

During the war, Poland made the fourth-largest troop contribution to the Allied war effort, after the Soviets, the British, and the Americans.^[b] Polish troops fought under the command of both thePolish Government in Exile in the west and under Soviet leadership in the east. The Polish expeditionary corps, which was controlled by the exiled pre-war government based in London, played an important role in the Italian and North African Campaigns.^[57]^[58] They are particularly well remembered for their conduct at the Battle of Monte Cassino, a conflict which culminated in the raising of a Polish flag over the ruins of the mountain-top abbey by the 12th Podolian Uhlans. The Polish forces in the west were commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders, who had received his command from prime minister of the exiled government Władysław Sikorski. In the east, the Soviet-backed Polish 1st Army distinguished itself in the battles for Warsaw and Berlin.^[59]

Polish servicemen were also active in the theatres of naval and air warfare; during the Battle of Britain Polish squadrons such as the No. 303 "Kościuszko" fighter squadron^[60] achieved considerable success, and by the end of the war the exiled Polish Air Forces could claim 769 confirmed kills. Meanwhile, the Polish Navy was active in the protection of convoys in the North Seaand Atlantic Ocean.^[61]

Grave of a Polish resistance fighter killed during the Warsaw Uprising. The battle lasted 63 days and resulted in the deaths of 200,000 civilians, 1944

In addition to the organised units of the 1st Army and the Forces in the Nazi-occupied Europe, the domestic underground resistance movement, the Armia Krajowa (Home Army), fought against the German occupation. The wartime resistance movement in Poland was one of the three largest resistance movements of the entire war,^[c] and encompassed an unusually broad range of clandestine activities, which essentially functioned as an underground state complete with degree-awarding universities and a court system.^[62] The resistance was, however, largely loyal to the exiled government and generally resented the idea of a communist Poland; for this reason, in the summer of 1944 they initiated Operation Tempest, of which the Warsaw Uprising that begun on 1 August 1944 was the best known operation.^[63]^[64] The objective of the uprising was to drive the German occupiers from the city and help with the larger fight against Germany and the Axis powers. However, secondary motives for the uprising sought to see Warsaw liberated before the Soviets could reach the capital, so as to underscore Polish sovereignty by empowering the Polish Underground State before the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation could assume control. However, a lack of available allied military aid and Stalin's reluctance to allow the 1st Army to help their fellow countrymen take the city, led to the uprising's failure and subsequent planned destruction of the city.

Map of the Holocaust in occupied Poland with deportation routes and massacre sites. Major ghettos marked with yellow stars. Germany's Naziextermination camps marked with white skulls in black squares. The border in 1941 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union marked in red

During the war, German forces under direct order from Adolf Hitler set up six major extermination camps, all of which operated in the heart of Poland. They included the notorious Treblinka,Majdanek and Auschwitz killing centers. This allowed the Germans to transport the condemned Jews under the guise of resettlement from the Third Reich and across occupied Europe, and systematically murder them in the death camps set up in the Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany.

The Nazi crimes against the Polish nation claimed the lives of 2.9 million Polish Jews,^[65] and 2.8 million ethnic Poles,^[66] including Polish academics, doctors, lawyers, nobility, priests and numerous others. Since 3,5 million Jews lived in pre-war Poland, Jewish victims make up the largest percentage of all victims of the Nazis' extermination program. It is estimated that, of pre-war Poland's Jewry, approximately 90% were killed. Throughout the occupation, many members of the Armia Krajowa, supported by the Polish government in exile, and millions of ordinary Poles – at great risk to themselves and their families – engaged in rescuing Jews from the Nazi Germans. Grouped by nationality, Poles represent the largest number of people who rescued Jews during the Holocaust. To date, 6,620 Poles have been awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel–more than any other nation.^[67] Some estimates put the number of Poles involved in rescue efforts at up to 3 million, and credit Poles with sheltering up to 450,000 Jews.

Also, some 150,000 Polish civilians were killed by Soviet Communists between 1939 and 1941 during the Soviet Union's occupation of eastern Poland (Kresy), and another estimated 100,000 Poles were killed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) in the regions of Wołyń and Eastern Galicia between 1943 and 1944 in what became known as the Wołyń Massacres. The massacres were part of a vicious ethnic clensing campaign waged by Ukrainian nationalists against the local Polish population in the German-occupied territories of eastern Poland.^[68]^[69]

At the war's conclusion in 1945, Poland's borders were shifted westwards, resulting in considerable territorial losses. Most of the Polish inhabitants of Kresy were expelled along the Curzon Line in accordance with Stalin's agreements.^[70] The western border was moved to the Oder-Neisse line. As a result, Poland's territory was reduced by 20%, or 77,500 square kilometres (29,900 sq mi). The shift forced the migration of millions of other people, most of whom were Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, and Jews.^[71] Of all the countries involved in the war, Poland lost the highest percentage of its citizens: over 6 million perished – nearly one-fifth of Poland's population – half of them Polish Jews.^[16]^[17]^[72]^[73] Over 90% of deaths were non-military in nature. Population numbers did not recover until the 1970s.

Postwar communism

Main articles: History of Poland (1945–1989), Polish People's Republic, History of Solidarity, and Polish Round Table Agreement

At High Noon, 4 June 1989– political poster featuringGary Cooper to encourage votes for the Solidarity party in the 1989 elections

At the insistence of Joseph Stalin, the Yalta Conference sanctioned the formation of a new provisional pro-Communist coalition government in Moscow, which ignored the Polish government-in-exile based in London; a move which angered many Poles who considered it a betrayal by the Allies. In 1944, Stalin had made guarantees to Churchill and Roosevelt that he would maintain Poland's sovereignty and allow democratic elections to take place. However, upon achieving victory in 1945, the elections organized by the occupying Soviet authorities were falsified and were used to provide a veneer of 'legitimacy' for Soviet hegemony over Polish affairs. The Soviet Union instituted a newcommunist government in Poland, analogous to much of the rest of the Eastern Bloc. As elsewhere in Communist Europe the Soviet occupation of Poland met with armed resistance from the outset which continued into the fifties.

Despite widespread objections, the new Polish government accepted the Soviet annexation of the pre-war eastern regions of Poland^[74] (in particular the cities of Wilno and Lwów) and agreed to the permanent garrisoning of Red Armyunits on Poland's territory. Military alignment within the Warsaw Pact throughout the Cold War came about as a direct result of this change in Poland's political culture and in the European scene came to characterise the full-fledged integration of Poland into the brotherhood of communist nations.

The People's Republic of Poland (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa) was officially proclaimed in 1952. In 1956 after the death of Bolesław Bierut, the régime of Władysław Gomułka became temporarily more liberal, freeing many people from prison and expanding some personal freedoms. Collectivization in the Polish People's Republic failed. A similar situation repeated itself in the 1970s under Edward Gierek, but most of the time persecution of anti-communist opposition groups persisted. Despite this, Poland was at the time considered to be one of the least oppressive states of the Soviet Bloc.^[75]

Labour turmoil in 1980 led to the formation of the independent trade union "Solidarity" ("Solidarność"), which over time became a political force. Despite persecution and imposition of martial law in 1981, it eroded the dominance of thePolish United Workers' Party and by 1989 had triumphed in Poland's first partially free and democratic parliamentary elections since the end of the Second World War. Lech Wałęsa, a Solidarity candidate, eventually won the presidency in 1990. The Solidarity movement heralded the collapse of communist regimes and parties across Europe.

Present-day

Main articles: History of Poland (1989–present) and 2004 enlargement of the European Union

Flags of Poland and the European Union—the country became a member of the European community of nations on 1 May 2004

A shock therapy programme, initiated by Leszek Balcerowicz in the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its socialist-style planned economy into a market economy. As with other post-communist countries, Poland suffered slumps in social and economic standards,^[76] but it became the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 GDP levels, which it achieved by 1995 largely thanks to its booming economy.^[77]^[78]

Most visibly, there were numerous improvements in human rights, such as freedom of speech, internet freedom (no censorship), civil liberties (1st class) and political rights (1st class), as ranked by Freedom House non-governmental organization. In 1991, Poland became a member of the Visegrád Group and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Poles then voted to join the European Union in a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on 1 May 2004. Poland joined the Schengen Area in 2007, as a result of which, the country's borders with other member states of the European Union have been dismantled, allowing for full freedom of movement within most of the EU.^[79] In contrast to this, a section of Poland's eastern border now comprises the external EU border withBelarus, Russia and Ukraine. That border has become increasingly well protected, and has led in part to the coining of the phrase 'Fortress Europe', in reference to the seeming 'impossibility' of gaining entry to the EU for citizens of the former Soviet Union.

Candles and flowers on the Royal Route, Warsaw following the death of Poland's top government officialsincluding President in a plane crash over Smolensk in Russia, 10 April 2010

In an effort to strengthen military cooperation with its neighbors, Poland set up the Visegrád Battlegroup with Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, with a total of 3,000 troops ready for deployment. Also, in the east Poland created the LITPOLUKRBRIG battle groups with Lithuania and Ukraine. These battle groups will operate outside of NATO and within the European defense initiative framework.^[80]

On 10 April 2010, the President of the Republic of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, along with 89 other high-ranking Polish officials died in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. The president's party were on their way to attend an annual service of commemoration for the victims of the Katyń massacre when the tragedy took place.

In 2011, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union responsible for the functioning of the Council was awarded to Poland. The same year parliamentary elections took place to both the Senate and the Sejm. They were won by the ruling Civic Platform. Poland joined European Space Agency in 2012, as well as organised the UEFA Euro 2012 (along with Ukraine). In 2013, Poland also became a member of the Development Assistance Committee. In 2014, the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, was chosen to be President of the European Council.

Geography

Main article: Geography of Poland

Topographic map of Poland

Poland's territory extends across several geographical regions, between latitudes 49° and 55° N, and longitudes 14° and 25° E. In the north-west is the Baltic seacoast, which extends from the Bay of Pomerania to the Gulf of Gdańsk. This coast is marked by several spits, coastal lakes (former bays that have been cut off from the sea), and dunes. The largely straight coastline is indented by the Szczecin Lagoon, the Bay of Puck, and the Vistula Lagoon. The centre and parts of the north lie within the North European Plain.

Rising above these lowlands is a geographical region comprising the four hilly districts of moraines and moraine-dammed lakes formed during and after the Pleistocene ice age. These lake districts are the Pomeranian Lake District, the Greater Polish Lake District, the Kashubian Lake District, and the Masurian Lake District. The Masurian Lake District is the largest of the four and covers much of north-eastern Poland. The lake districts form part of the Baltic Ridge, a series of moraine belts along the southern shore of the Baltic Sea.

South of the Northern European Lowlands lie the regions of Lusatia, Silesia and Masovia, which are marked by broad ice-age river valleys. Farther south lies the Polish mountain region, including the Sudetes, the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, and the Carpathian Mountains, including the Beskids. The highest part of the Carpathians is the Tatra Mountains, along Poland's southern border.

Geology

Sudetes Mountains in the Silesiaregion

The geological structure of Poland has been shaped by the continental collision of Europe and Africa over the past 60 million years and, more recently, by the Quaternary glaciations of northern Europe. Both processes shaped the Sudetes and the Carpathian Mountains. The moraine landscape of northern Poland contains soils made up mostly of sand or loam, while the ice age river valleys of the south often contain loess. The Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, the Pieniny, and the Western Tatras consist of limestone, while the High Tatras, the Beskids, and the Karkonosze are made up mainly of granite and basalts. The Polish Jura Chain is one of the oldest mountain ranges on earth.

Tatra Mountains in southern Poland average 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in elevation

Poland has 70 mountains over 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) in elevation, all in the Tatras. The Polish Tatras, which consist of the High Tatras and the Western Tatras, is the highest mountain group of Poland and of the entire Carpathian range. In the High Tatras lies Poland's highest point, the north-western summit of Rysy, 2,499 metres (8,199 ft) in elevation. At its foot lies the mountain lakes of Czarny Staw pod Rysami (Black Lake below Mount Rysy), and Morskie Oko (the Marine Eye).^[81]

The second highest mountain group in Poland is the Beskids, whose highest peak is Babia Góra, at 1,725 metres (5,659 ft). The next highest mountain groups is the Karkonosze in theSudetes, whose highest point is Śnieżka, at 1,603 metres (5,259 ft); Śnieżnik Mountains whose highest point is Śnieżnik, at 1,425 metres (4,675 ft).

Shifting sand dunes in Słowiński National Park located in northern Poland on the Baltic Sea coast. Driven by wind, the dunes slowly move at an annual rate of 3 to 10 metres (9.8 to 32.8 ft) per year

Tourists also frequent the Bieszczady Mountains in the far southeast of Poland, whose highest point in Poland is Tarnica, with an elevation of 1,346 metres (4,416 ft), Gorce Mountains inGorce National Park, whose highest point is Turbacz, with elevations 1,310 metres (4,298 ft), the Pieniny in Pieniny National Park, whose highest point is Wysokie Skałki (Wysoka), with elevations 1,050 metres (3,445 ft) and the Świętokrzyskie Mountains in Świętokrzyski National Park, with two highest peaks called Łysica, 612 m (2008 ft), and Łysa Góra, 593 m (1946 ft).

The lowest point in Poland – at 2 metres (6.6 ft) below sea level – is at Raczki Elbląskie, near Elbląg in the Vistula Delta.

The only desert located in Poland stretches over the Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (the Coal Fields of Dąbrowa) region. It is called the Błędów Desert, located in the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It has a total area of 32 square kilometres (12 sq mi). It is one of only five natural deserts in Europe. But also, it is the warmest desert that appears at this latitude.

The Baltic Sea activity in Słowiński National Park created sand dunes which in the course of time separated the bay from the sea creating two lakes. As waves and wind carry sand inland the dunes slowly move, at a rate of 3 to 10 metres (9.8 to 32.8 ft) meters per year. Some dunes reach the height of up to 30 metres (98 ft). The highest peak of the park is Rowokol (115 metres or 377 feet above sea level).

Waters

Main article: Rivers of Poland

A view of the Vistula River near theRoyal Castle in Sandomierz. The river is the longest in Poland, flowing the entire length of the country for 1,047 kilometres (651 mi) from south to north

The longest rivers are the Vistula (Polish: Wisła), 1,047 kilometres (651 mi) long; the Oder (Polish: Odra) which forms part of Poland's western border, 854 kilometres (531 mi) long; its tributary, the Warta, 808 kilometres (502 mi) long; and the Bug, a tributary of the Vistula, 772 kilometres (480 mi) long. The Vistula and the Oder flow into the Baltic Sea, as do numerous smaller rivers in Pomerania.

The Łyna and the Angrapa flow by way of the Pregolya to the Baltic, and the Czarna Hańcza flows into the Baltic through the Neman. While the great majority of Poland's rivers drain into the Baltic Sea, Poland's Beskids are the source of some of the upper tributaries of the Orava, which flows via the Váh and the Danube to the Black Sea. The eastern Beskids are also the source of some streams that drain through the Dniester to the Black Sea.

Łebsko Lake is a coastal freshwaterlagoon located in the Pomerania region

Poland's rivers have been used since early times for navigation. The Vikings, for example, traveled up the Vistula and the Oder in their longships. In the Middle Ages and in early modern times, when the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was the breadbasket of Europe;^[82] the shipment of grain and other agricultural products down the Vistula toward Gdańsk and onward to other parts of Europe took on great importance.^[82]

In the valley of Pilica river in Tomaszów Mazowiecki there is a unique natural karst spring of water containing calcium salts, that is an object of protection in Niebieskie Źródła Nature Reserve in Sulejów Landscape Park. The origin of the name of the reserve Niebieskie Źródła, that means Blue Springs, comes from the fact that red waves are absorbed by water and only blue and green are reflected from the bottom of the spring, giving that atypical colour.^[83]

With almost ten thousand closed bodies of water covering more than 1 hectare (2.47 acres) each, Poland has one of the highest numbers of lakes in the world. In Europe, only Finlandhas a greater density of lakes.^[84] The largest lakes, covering more than 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi), are Lake Śniardwy and Lake Mamry in Masuria, and Lake Łebsko and Lake Drawsko in Pomerania.

In addition to the lake districts in the north (in Masuria, Pomerania, Kashubia, Lubuskie, and Greater Poland), there is also a large number of mountain lakes in the Tatras, of which the Morskie Oko is the largest in area. The lake with the greatest depth—of more than 100 metres (328 ft)—is Lake Hańcza in the Wigry Lake District, east of Masuria in Podlaskie Voivodeship.

Masurian Lake District located in theMasuria region of Poland contains more than 2,000 lakes

Among the first lakes whose shores were settled are those in the Greater Polish Lake District. The stilt house settlement of Biskupin, occupied by more than one thousand residents, was founded before the 7th century BC by people of the Lusatian culture.

Lakes have always played an important role in Polish history and continue to be of great importance to today's modern Polish society. The ancestors of today's Poles, the Polanie, built their first fortresses on islands in these lakes. The legendary Prince Popiel ruled from Kruszwica tower erected on the Lake Gopło.^[85] The first historically documented ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I, had his palace on an island in the Warta River in Poznań. Nowadays the Polish lakes provide a location for the pursuit of water sports such as yachting and wind-surfing.

Polish Baltic Sea coast is approximately 528 kilometres (328 mi) long and extends from Usedom island in the west to Krynica Morska in the east

The Polish Baltic coast is approximately 528 kilometres (328 mi) long and extends from Świnoujście on the islands of Usedom and Wolin in the west to Krynica Morska on the Vistula Spitin the east. For the most part, Poland has a smooth coastline, which has been shaped by the continual movement of sand by currents and winds. This continual erosion and depositionhas formed cliffs, dunes, and spits, many of which have migrated landwards to close off former lagoons, such as Łebsko Lake in Słowiński National Park.

Prior to the end of the Second World War and subsequent change in national borders, Poland had only a very small coastline; this was situated at the end of the 'Polish Corridor', the only internationally recognised Polish territory which afforded the country access to the sea. However, after World War II, the redrawing of Poland's borders and resulting 'shift' of the country's borders left it with an expanded coastline, thus allowing for far greater access to the sea than was ever previously possible. The significance of this event, and importance of it to Poland's future as a major industrialised nation, was alluded to by the 1945 Wedding to the Sea.

The largest spits are Hel Peninsula and the Vistula Spit. The largest Polish Baltic island is called Wolin. The largest sea harbours are Szczecin, Świnoujście, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Police and Kołobrzeg and the main coastal resorts -Świnoujście, Międzyzdroje, Kołobrzeg, Łeba, Sopot, Władysławowo and the Hel Peninsula.

Land use

Rye fields in Greater Poland

Poland is the fourth most forested country in Europe. Forests cover about 30.5% of Poland's land area based on international standards.^[86] Its overall percentage is still increasing.Forests of Poland are managed by the national program of reforestation (KPZL), aiming at an increase of forest-cover to 33% in 2050. The richness of Polish forest (per SoEF 2011 statistics) is more than twice as high as European average (with Germany and France at the top), containing 2.304 billion cubic metres of trees.^[86] The largest forest complex in Poland is Lower Silesian Wilderness.

More than 1% of Poland's territory, 3,145 square kilometres (1,214 sq mi), is protected within 23 Polish national parks. Three more national parks are projected for Masuria, the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, and the easternBeskids. In addition, wetlands along lakes and rivers in central Poland are legally protected, as are coastal areas in the north. There are over 120 areas designated as landscape parks, along with numerous nature reservesand other protected areas (e.g. Natura 2000).

Since Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004, Polish agriculture has performed extremely well and the country has over two million private farms.^[87]^[88] It is the leading producer in Europe of potatoes and rye(world's second largest in 1989) the world's largest producer of triticale,^[89] and one of the more important producers of barley, oats, sugar beets, flax, and fruits. Poland is the European Union's fourth largest supplier of pork after Germany, Spain and France.^[90]

Biodiversity

Białowieża Forest, an ancient woodland in eastern Poland, is now home to 800 wild wisent

Phytogeographically, Poland belongs to the Central European province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the territory of Poland belongs to three Palearctic Ecoregions of the continental forest spanning Central and Northern European temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregions as well as the Carpathian montane conifer forest.

Many animals that have since died out in other parts of Europe still survive in Poland, such as the wisent in the ancient woodland of the Białowieża Forest and in Podlaskie. Other such species include the brown bear inBiałowieża, in the Tatras, and in the Beskids, the gray wolf and the Eurasian lynx in various forests, the moose in northern Poland, and the beaver in Masuria, Pomerania, and Podlaskie.

In the forests, one also encounters game animals, such as red deer, roe deer and wild boars. In eastern Poland there are a number of ancient woodlands, like Białowieża forest, that have never been cleared or have been disturbed much by people. There are also large forested areas in the mountains, Masuria, Pomerania, Lubusz Land and Lower Silesia.

A family of white storks. Poland is host to the largest white stork population in Europe^[91]

Poland is the most important breeding ground for a variety of European migratory birds.^[92] Out of all of the migratory birds who come to Europe for the summer, one quarter of the global population of white storks (40,000 breeding pairs) live in Poland,^[93] particularly in the lake districts and the wetlands along the Biebrza, the Narew, and the Warta, which are part of nature reserves or national parks.

Climate

The climate is mostly temperate throughout the country. The climate is oceanic in the north and west and becomes gradually warmer and continental towards the south and east. Summers are generally warm, with average temperatures between 18 and 30 °C (64.4 and 86.0 °F) depending on a region. Winters are rather cold, with average temperatures around 3 °C (37.4 °F) in the northwest and −6 °C (21 °F) in the northeast. Precipitation falls throughout the year, although, especially in the east; winter is drier than summer.^[94]

The warmest region in Poland is Lower Silesia located in south-western Poland where temperatures in the summer average between 24 and 32 °C (75 and 90 °F) but can go as high as 34 to 39 °C (93.2 to 102.2 °F) on some days in the warmest month of July and August. The warmest cities in Poland are Tarnów, which is situated in Lesser Poland and Wrocław, which is located in Lower Silesia. The average temperatures in Wrocław are 20 °C (68 °F) in the summer and 0 °C (32.0 °F) in the winter, but Tarnów has the longest summer in all of Poland, which lasts for 115 days, from mid-May to mid-September. The coldest region of Poland is in the northeast in thePodlaskie Voivodeship near the border of Belarus and Lithuania. Usually the coldest city is Suwałki. The climate is affected by cold fronts which come from Scandinavia and Siberia. The average temperature in the winter in Podlaskie ranges from −6 to −4 °C (21 to 25 °F). The biggest impact of the oceanic climate is observed in Świnoujście and Baltic Sea seashore area from Police to Słupsk.^[95]

Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for the seven largest cities in Poland^[96]
Location	July (°C)	July (°F)	January (°C)	January (°F)
Warsaw	22/12	73/55	0/−4	33/24
Kraków	21/12	71/55	0/−5	33/22
Łódź	21/12	71/54	0/−4	32/24
Wrocław	22/12	73/55	1/−3	35/26
Poznań	22/12	72/55	1/–3	34/26
Gdańsk/Gdynia	20/11	69/53	-1/−4	33/24
Szczecin	20/11	68/53	1/–2	35/28

Politics

Main article: Politics of Poland

President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda

Poland is a representative democracy, with a president as a head of state, whose current constitution dates from 1997. Poland ranks in the top 20 percent of the most peaceful countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index. The government structure centers on the Council of Ministers, led by a prime minister. The president appoints the cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, typically from the majority coalition in the Sejm. The president is elected by popular vote every five years. The president is Andrzej Duda and the current prime minister is Beata Szydło.

Polish voters elect a bicameral parliament consisting of a 460-member lower house (Sejm) and a 100-member Senate (Senat). The Sejm is elected under proportional representation according to the d'Hondt method, a method similar to that used in many parliamentary political systems. The Senat, on the other hand, is elected under the first-past-the-post voting method, with one senator being returned from each of the 100 constituencies.

Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament

With the exception of ethnic minority parties, only candidates of political parties receiving at least 5% of the total national vote can enter the Sejm. When sitting in joint session, members of the Sejm and Senat form the National Assembly (the Zgromadzenie Narodowe). The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: when a new president takes the oath of office; when an indictment against the President of the Republic is brought to the State Tribunal (Trybunał Stanu); and when a president's permanent incapacity to exercise his duties due to the state of his health is declared. To date only the first instance has occurred.

The judicial branch plays an important role in decision-making. Its major institutions include the Supreme Court of the Republic of Poland (Sąd Najwyższy); the Supreme Administrative Court of the Republic of Poland (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny); the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Poland (Trybunał Konstytucyjny); and the State Tribunal of the Republic of Poland (Trybunał Stanu). On the approval of the Senat, the Sejm also appoints the ombudsman or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) for a five-year term. The ombudsman has the duty of guarding the observance and implementation of the rights and liberties of Polish citizens and residents, of the law and of principles of community life and social justice.

Law

Main article: Law of Poland

The Supreme Courtbuilding in Warsaw

The Constitution of Poland is the supreme law in contemporary Poland, and the Polish legal system is based on the principle of civil rights, governed by the code of Civil Law. Historically, the most famous Polish legal act is theConstitution of 3 May 1791. Historian Norman Davies describes it as the first of its kind in Europe.^[97] The Constitution was instituted as a Government Act (Polish: Ustawa rządowa) and then adopted on 3 May 1791 by the Sejm of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Primarily, it was designed to redress long-standing political defects of the federative Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and its Golden Liberty. Previously only the Henrican articles signed by each of Poland's elected kings could perform the function of a set of basic laws.

The Constitution of May 3, 1791 was the first modern constitution in Europe^[97]

The new Constitution introduced political equality between townspeople and the nobility (szlachta), and placed the peasants under the protection of the government. The Constitution abolished pernicious parliamentary institutions such as the liberum veto, which at one time had placed the sejm at the mercy of any deputy who might choose, or be bribed by an interest or foreign power, to have rescinded all the legislation that had been passed by that sejm. The 3 May Constitution sought to supplant the existing anarchy fostered by some of the country's reactionary magnates, with a moreegalitarian and democratic constitutional monarchy. The adoption of the constitution was treated as a threat by Poland's neighbours.^[98] In response Prussia, Austria and Russia formed an anti-Polish alliance and over the next decade collaborated with one another to partition their weaker neighbour and destroyed the Polish state. In the words of two of its co-authors, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj, the constitution represented "the last will and testament of the expiring Fatherland." Despite this, its text influenced many later democratic movements across the globe.^[99] In Poland, freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Article 25 (section I. The Republic) and Article 54 (section II. The Freedoms, Rights and Obligations of Persons and Citizens) of the Constitution of Poland.

Narcyza Żmichowskawas a proponent of earlyfeminism in Poland

Feminism in Poland started in the 1800s in the age of the foreign Partitions. Poland's precursor of feminism, Narcyza Żmichowska, founded a group of Suffragettes in 1842. Prior to the last Partition in 1795, tax-paying females were allowed to take part in political life. Since 1918, following the return to independence, all women could vote. Poland was the 15th (12th sovereign) country to introduce universal women's suffrage. Currently, in Poland abortion is allowed only in special circumstances, such as when the woman's life or health is endangered by the continuation of pregnancy, when the pregnancy is a result of a criminal act, or when the fetus is seriously malformed.^[100]^[101] Homosexuality in Poland was confirmed as legal in 1932. Poland recognises gender change.^[102]

March for Life and Family organized in support of traditional social values

A 2010 article in Rzeczpospolita reported that in a 2008 study three-quarters of Poles were against gay marriage and the adoption of children by gay couples.^[103] The same study revealed that 66% of respondents were opposed to Pride parade as the demonstration of a way of life, and 69% believed that gay people should not show their sexual orientation in public.^[104] Poland belongs to the group of 'Tier 1'^[105] (countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards.) in Trafficking in Persons Report. Trafficking women is 'illegal and rare' (top results worldwide).^[106]

Poland's current constitution was adopted by the National Assembly of Poland on 2 April 1997, approved by a national referendum on 25 May 1997, and came into effect on 17 October 1997. It guarantees a multi-party state, the freedoms of religion, speech and assembly, and specifically casts off many Communist ideals to create a 'free market economic system'. It requires public officials to pursue ecologically sound public policy and acknowledges the inviolability of the home, the right to form trade unions, and to strike, whilst at the same time prohibiting the practices of forced medical experimentation, torture and corporal punishment.

Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of Poland

In recent years, Poland has extended its responsibilities and position in European and international affairs, supporting and establishing friendly relations with other European nations and a large number of 'developing' countries.

Poland is a member of the European Union, NATO, the UN, the World Trade Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), European Economic Area, International Energy Agency,Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, International Atomic Energy Agency, European Space Agency, G6, Council of the Baltic Sea States, Visegrád Group, Weimar Triangle and Schengen Agreement.

In 1994, Poland became an associate member of the European Union (EU) and its defensive arm, the Western European Union (WEU), having submitted preliminary documentation for full membership in 1996, it formally joined the European Union in May 2004, along with the other members of the Visegrád group. In 1996, Poland achieved full OECD membership, and at the 1997 Madrid Summit was invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in the first wave of policy enlargement finally becoming a full member of NATO in March 1999.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs located inWarsaw

As changes since the fall of Communism in 1989 have redrawn the map of Europe, Poland has tried to forge strong and mutually beneficial relationships with its seven new neighbours, this has notably included signing 'friendship treaties' to replace links severed by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The Poles have forged special relationships with Lithuania and particularly Ukraine,^[107] with whom they co-hosted the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament, in an effort to firmly anchor these countries within the Western world and provide them with an alternative to aligning themselves with the Russian Federation respectively. Despite many positive developments in the region, Poland has found itself in a position where it must seek to defend the rights of ethnic Poles living in the former Soviet Union; this is particularly true of Belarus, where in 2005 the Lukashenko regime launched a campaign against the Polish ethnic minority.^[108]

Poland is the sixth most populous member state of the European Union and has a grand total of 51 representatives in the European Parliament. Ever since joining the union in 2004, successive Polish governments have pursued policies to increase the country's role in European and regional affairs.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Poland

Poland's current voivodeships (provinces) are largely based on the country's historic regions, whereas those of the past two decades (to 1998) had been centred on and named for individual cities. The new units range in area from less than 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi) for Opole Voivodeship to more than 35,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi) for Masovian Voivodeship. Administrative authority at voivodeship level is shared between a government-appointed voivode(governor), an elected regional assembly (sejmik) and an executive elected by that assembly.

The voivodeships are subdivided into powiats (often referred to in English as counties), and these are further divided into gminas (also known as communes or municipalities). Major cities normally have the status of both gmina and powiat. Poland has 16 voivodeships, 379 powiats (including 65 cities with powiat status), and 2,478 gminas.

Lubusz

Opole

Łódź

Lublin

Voivodeship		Capital city or cities
in English	in Polish	Capital city or cities
Greater Poland	Wielkopolskie	Poznań
Kuyavian-Pomeranian	Kujawsko-Pomorskie	Bydgoszcz / Toruń
Lesser Poland	Małopolskie	Kraków
Łódź	Łódzkie	Łódź
Lower Silesian	Dolnośląskie	Wrocław
Lublin	Lubelskie	Lublin
Lubusz	Lubuskie	Gorzów Wielkopolski / Zielona Góra
Masovian	Mazowieckie	Warsaw
Opole	Opolskie	Opole
Podlaskie	Podlaskie	Białystok
Pomeranian	Pomorskie	Gdańsk
Silesian	Śląskie	Katowice
Subcarpathian	Podkarpackie	Rzeszów
Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross)	Świętokrzyskie	Kielce
Warmian-Masurian	Warmińsko-Mazurskie	Olsztyn
West Pomeranian	Zachodniopomorskie	Szczecin

Military

Main article: Polish Armed Forces

Polish Air Force F-16s—a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft

The Polish armed forces are composed of four branches: Land Forces (Wojska Lądowe), Navy (Marynarka Wojenna), Air Force (Siły Powietrzne) and Special Forces (Wojska Specjalne). The military is subordinate to theMinister for National Defence. However, its sole commander-in-chief is the President of the Republic.

The Polish army consists of 65,000 active personnel, whilst the navy and air force respectively employ 14,300 and 26,126 servicemen and women. The Polish Navy primarily operates in the Baltic Sea and conducts operations such as maritime patrol, search and rescue for the section of the Baltic under Polish sovereignty, as well as hydrographic measurements and research. Also, the Polish Navy played a more international role as part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, providing logistical support for the United States Navy. The current position of the Polish Air Force is much the same; it has routinely taken part in Baltic Air Policing assignments, but otherwise, with the exception of a number of units serving in Afghanistan, has seen no active combat since the end of the Second World War. In 2003, the F-16C Block 52 was chosen as the new general multi-role fighter for the air force, the first deliveries taking place in November 2006.

Crew of a KTO Rosomak armored personnel carrier during a NATOexercise at the Military Training Area near Drawsko Pomorskie

The most important mission of the armed forces is the defence of Polish territorial integrity and Polish interests abroad.^[109] Poland's national security goal is to further integrate with NATOand European defence, economic, and political institutions through the modernisation and reorganisation of its military.^[109] The armed forces are being re-organised according to NATO standards, and since 2010, the transition to an entirely contract-based military has been completed. During the previous period, men were obliged to undertake compulsory military service. In the final stage of validity of this type of military service (since 2007 until the amendment of the law on conscription in 2008) the duration of compulsory service amounted nine months.^[110]

Super Seasprite ship-based helicopter flying by the frigate ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski during an exercise in the Baltic Sea

Polish military doctrine reflects the same defensive nature as that of its NATO partners. From 1953 to 2009 Poland was a large contributor to various United Nations peacekeeping missions.^[109]^[111] The Polish Armed Forces took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, deploying 2,500 soldiers in the south of that country and commanding the 17-nation Multinational force in Iraq.

The military was temporarily, but severely, affected by the loss of many of its top commanders in the wake the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash near Smolensk, Russia, which killed all 96 passengers and crew, including, among others, the Chief of the Polish Army's General Staff Franciszek Gągor and Polish Air Force commanding general Andrzej Błasik. They were en route from Warsaw to attend an event to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, whose site is commemorated approximately 19 km (12 mi) west of Smolensk.^[112]^[113]

Law enforcement and emergency services

Main articles: Law enforcement in Poland and Emergency medical services in Poland

Mounted Police officers in the Silesian Park

Poland has a highly developed system of law enforcement with a long history of effective policing by the State Police Service. The structure of law enforcement agencies within Poland is a multi-tier one, with the State Police providing criminal-investigative services, Municipal Police serving to maintain public order and a number of other specialised agencies, such as the Polish Border Guard, acting to fulfil their assigned missions. In addition to these state services, private security companies are also common, although they possess no powers assigned to state agencies, such as, for example, the power to make an arrest or detain a suspect.

Emergency services in Poland consist of the emergency medical services, search and rescue units of the Polish Armed Forces and State Fire Service. Emergency medical services in Poland are, unlike other services, provided for by local and regional government.

Since joining the European Union all of Poland's emergency services have been undergoing major restructuring and have, in the process, acquired large amounts of new equipment and staff.^[114] All emergency services personnel are now uniformed and can be easily recognised thanks to a number of innovative design features, such as reflective paint and printing, present throughout their service dress and vehicle liveries. In addition to this, in an effort to comply with EU standards and safety regulations, the police and other agencies have been steadily replacing and modernising their fleets of vehicles; this has left them with thousands of new automobiles, as well as many new aircraft, boats and helicopters.^[115]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Poland

Warsaw is the financial and economic hub of Poland

Poland's high-income economy^[22] is considered to be one of the largest of the post-Communist countries and is one of the fastest growing within the EU.^[116] Having a strong domestic market, low private debt, flexible currency, and not being dependent on a single export sector, Poland is the only European economy to have avoided the late-2000s recession.^[117] Since the fall of the communist government, Poland has pursued a policy of liberalising the economy. It is an example of the transition from a centrally planned to a primarily market-based economy. The country's most successful exports include machinery, furniture, food products, clothing, shoes and cosmetics.^[118]^[119] Poland's largest trading partner is Germany.^[120]

Poland is a member of theSchengen Area and the EU single market

The privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed the development of the private sector. Also, several consumer rights organizations have become active in the country. Restructuring and privatisation of "sensitive sectors" such as coal, steel, rail transport and energy has been continuing since 1990. The biggest privatisations have been the sale of the national telecoms firm Telekomunikacja Polska toFrance Télécom in 2000, and an issue of 30% of the shares in Poland's largest bank, PKO Bank Polski, on the Polish stockmarket in 2004.

The Polish banking sector is the largest in East Central/Eastern European region,^[121] with 32.3 branches per 100,000 adults.^[122]^[123] The banks are the largest and most developed sector of the country's financial markets. They are regulated by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. During the transformation to a market-oriented economy, the government privatized several banks, recapitalized the rest, and introduced legal reforms that made the sector more competitive. This has attracted a significant number of strategic foreign investors (ICFI). Poland's banking sector has approximately 5 national banks, a network of nearly 600 cooperative banks and 18 branches of foreign-owned banks. In addition, foreign investors have controlling stakes in nearly 40 commercial banks, which make up 68% of the banking capital.^[121]

Port of Szczecin is a center for the shipbuilding industry

Poland has a large number of private farms in its agricultural sector, with the potential to become a leading producer of food in the European Union. The biggest money-makers abroad include smoked and fresh fish, fine chocolate, and dairy products, meats and specialty breads,^[124] with the exchange rate conducive to export growth.^[125] Food exports amounted to 62 billion zloty in 2011, increasing by 17% from 2010.^[126] Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment.^{[citation needed]} GDP growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002, also the country avoided recession in 2008.

The economy had growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004, GDP growth equaled 5.4%, in 2005 3.3% and in 2006 6.2%.^[127] According to Eurostat data, Polish PPS GDP per capita stood at 67% of the EU average in 2012.^[128]

In terms of the clarity, efficiency and neutrality of Poland's legal framework for multinational investors, a 2012 report by the World Economic Forum concluded that the ongoing foreign business disputes may "have damaged Poland's reputation as an attractive location for FDI" from other countries by creating the impression of "substandard reputation for maintaining an efficient and neutral framework to settle business disputes."^[129] Ernst and Young's 2010 European attractiveness survey reported that Poland saw a 52% decrease in FDI foreign job creation and a 42% decrease in number of FDI projects since 2008.^[130]

Average salaries in the enterprise sector in December 2010 were 3,848 PLN (1,012 euro or 1,374 US dollars)^[131] and growing sharply.^[132] Salaries vary between the regions: the median wage in the capital city Warsaw was 4,603 PLN (1,177 euro or 1,680 US dollars) while in Kielce it was 3,083 PLN (788 euro or 1125 US dollars). There is a wide distribution of salaries among the various districts of Poland. They range from 2,020 PLN (517 euro or 737 US dollars) in Kępno County, which is located in Greater Poland Voivodeship to 5,616 (1,436 euro or 2,050 US dollars) in Lubin County, which lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship.^[133]

Solaris Bus & Coach is a family-owned bus, coach and tram manufacturer near Poznań

According to a Credit Suisse report, Poles are the second wealthiest (after Czechs) of the Central European peoples.^[134]^[135]^[136]

Since the opening of the labor market in the European Union, Poland experienced a mass emigration of over 2.3 million abroad, mainly due to higher wages offered abroad, and due to the raise in levels of unemploymentfollowing the global Great Recession of 2008.^[137]^[138]^[139] The out migration has increased the average wages for the workers who remained in Poland, in particular for those with intermediate level skills.^[140]

Products and goods manufactured in Poland include: electronics, buses (Solaris, Solbus), helicopters (PZL Świdnik), trains (Pesa SA), transport equipment, planes (PZL Mielec), ships, military equipment (Bumar-Łabędy SA), medicines (Polpharma, Polfa), food (Tymbark), clothes (LLP), glass, pottery (Bolesławiec), chemical products and others.

Corporations

Warsaw Stock Exchange is one of East-Central Europe's largest exchanges by market capitalization

Poland is recognised as a regional economic leader within East-Central Europe, with nearly 40 percent of the 500 biggest companies in the region (by revenues) as well as a high globalisation rate.^[141] Poland was the only member of the EU to avoid the recession of the late 2000s. The country's largest firms comprise the WIG30 index, which is traded on theWarsaw Stock Exchange.

Well known Polish brands include, among others PKO BP, PKN Orlen, PGE, PZU, PGNiG, Tauron Group, Lotos Group, KGHM Polska Miedź, Asseco, Plus, Play, PLL LOT, Poczta Polska, PKP, Biedronka, and TVP.^[142]

Poland is recognised as having an economy with development potential, overtaking the Netherlands in mid-2010 to become Europe's sixth largest economy.^[143] Foreign Direct Investment in Poland has remained steady ever since the country's political transformation following the Round Table Agreement in 1989. However, problems still exist—it is believed that progress of privatization was uneven across sectors due to emergence of interest groups supporting government's push for the reforms based on feasibility rather than efficiency, at the cost of Poland's remaining sectors in need of development and modernisation, such as the extractive industries.^[144]

The list includes the largest companies by turnover in 2011 (not including banks or insurance companies):

Rank 2011 ^[145]	Corporation	Sector	Headquarters	Revenue (Thou. PLN)	Profit (Thou. PLN)	Employees
1.	PKN Orlen SA	oil and gas	Płock	79 037 121	2 396 447	4,445
2.	Lotos Group SA	oil and gas	Gdańsk	29 258 539	584 878	5,168
3.	PGE SA	energy	Warsaw	28 111 354	6 165 394	44,317
4.	Jerónimo Martins	retail	Kostrzyn	25 285 407	N/A	36,419
5.	PGNiG SA	oil and gas	Warsaw	23 003 534	1 711 787	33,071
6.	Tauron Group SA	energy	Katowice	20 755 222	1 565 936	26,710
7.	KGHM Polska Miedź SA	mining	Lubin	20 097 392	13 653 597	18,578
8.	Metro Group Poland	retail	Warsaw	17 200 000	N/A	22,556
9.	Fiat Auto Poland SA	automotive	Bielsko-Biała	16 513 651	83 919	5,303
10.	Orange Polska	telecommunications	Warsaw	14 922 000	1 785 000	23,805

Tourism

Main articles: Tourism in Poland, List of World Heritage Sites of Poland, List of Historic Monuments (Poland), and Seven Wonders of Poland

Zoological Gardens and aquarium in Wrocław

Poland experienced an increase in the number of tourists after joining the European Union.^[146] Tourism contributes significantly to Poland's overall economy and makes up a relatively large proportion of the country's service market.^[147]

The city of Zamość is a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Kraków was the former capital and a relic of Poland's Golden Age of Renaissance. The city served as the place of coronation of most Polish kings. In Wrocław, the Zoological Gardens are the largest in Poland, and are one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. The Old Town of Poland's capital, Warsaw, was reconstructed after its wartime destruction. Other cities attracting tourists include Gdańsk, Poznań, Szczecin, Lublin and Toruń. The historic site of the Nazi-German Auschwitz concentration camp is located near Oświęcim.

Poland is the 16th most visited country in the world by foreign tourists, as ranked by World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).^[148]

Poland's main tourist offerings include outdoor activities such as skiing, sailing and mountain hiking, as well as agrotourism, sightseeing historical monuments. Tourist destinations include the Baltic Sea coast in the north; the Masurian Lake District and Białowieża Forest in the east; on the south Karkonosze, the Table Mountains and the Tatra Mountains, where Rysy, the highest peak of Poland, and the famous Orla Perć mountain trail are located. The Pieniny and Bieszczady Mountains lie in the extreme south-east.^[149] There are over 100 castles in the country, many along the popular Trail of the Eagles' Nests.^[150]

Malbork Castle is the world's largest medieval brick gothic complex and a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Energy

Main articles: Energy in Poland and Coal mining in Poland

Bełchatów Power Station is a lignite-fired power station that produces 27-28 TWh of electricity per year, or 20% of the total power generation in Poland

The electricity generation sector in Poland is largely fossil-fuel–based. Many power plants nationwide use Poland's position as a major European exporter of coal to their advantage by continuing to use coal as the primary raw material in production of their energy. In 2013, Poland scored 48 out of 129 states in the Energy Sustainability Index.^[151] The three largest Polish coal mining firms (Węglokoks, Kompania Węglowa and JSW) extract around 100 million tonnes of coal annually. All three of these companies are key constituents of the Warsaw Stock Exchange's lead economic indexes.

Renewable forms of energy account for a small^[quantify] proportion of Poland's full energy generation capacity.^[152] However, the national government has set targets for the development of renewable energy sources in Poland which should see the portion of power produced by renewable resources climb to 7.5% by 2010 and 15% by 2020. This is to be achieved mainly through the construction of wind farms and a number of hydroelectric stations.

Poland is thought to have around 164,800,000,000 m³ of proven natural gas reserves and around 96,380,000 barrels of proven oil reserves. These reserves are exploited by energy supply companies such as PKN Orlen ("the only Polish company listed in the Fortune Global 500"). However, the small amounts of fossil fuels naturally occurring in Poland is insufficient to satisfy the full energy consumption needs of the population. Therefore, the country is a net importer of oil and natural gas.

Transport

Main article: Transport in Poland

A1, A4 motorways and national road 44 junction near Gliwice

Transport in Poland is provided by means of rail, road, marine shipping and air travel. Positioned in Central Europe with its eastern and part of its northeastern border constituting the longest land border of the Schengen Areawith the rest of Northern and Central Europe.

Since joining the EU in May 2004, Poland has invested large amounts of public funds into modernization projects of its transport networks. The country now has a developing expressway network composed of motorways such as the A1, A2, A4, A8, A18 and express roads such as the S1, S3, S5, S7, S8. In addition to these newly built roads, many local and regional roads are being fixed as part of a national programme to rebuild all roads in Poland.^[153]

PKP Intercity Pendolino at theWrocław Główny railway station

In 2015, the nation had 11,800 miles (19,000 km) of railway track. Trains can operate up to 99 miles per hour (159 km/h) on 7.5% of the track. Most trains operate between 50 and 75 miles per hour (80 and 121 km/h). Part of the system operates at 25 miles per hour (40 km/h).^[154] Polish authorities maintain a program of improving operating speeds across the entire Polish rail network. Polish State Railways (PKP) are using new rolling stock such as Siemens Taurus ES64U4, which is in principle capable of speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph). In December 2014, Poland began to implement high–speed rail routes connecting major Polish cities. The Polish government has revealed that it intends to connect all major cities to a future high-speed rail network by 2020.^[155] The new PKP Pendolino ETR 610 test train set the record for the fastest train in the history of Poland, reaching 293 km/h (182 mph) on 24 November 2013. Previously, the speed record had been 160 km/h (99 mph) since 1985. Most intercity rail routes in Poland are operated by PKP Intercity, whilst regional trains are run by a number of operators, the largest of which is Przewozy Regionalne.

On 14 December 2014, Polish State Railways started passenger service using the PKP Pendolino ED250, operating at 200 km/h speed on 80 km of line between Olszamowice and Zawiercie (part of the Central Rail Line from Warsaw to Kraków). Currently, it is the line with highest railway speed in Poland.

LOT Polish Airlines is the world's twelfth oldest air carrier still in operation, originally established on 1 January 1929

The air and maritime transport markets in Poland are largely well developed. Poland has a number of international airports, the largest of which is Warsaw Chopin Airport, the primary global hub for LOT Polish Airlines. LOT is the 28th largest European airline and the world's 12th oldest still in operation, established in 1929 from a merger of Aerolloyd (1922) and Aero(1925). Other major airports with international connections include John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice, Wrocław–Copernicus Airport, Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport and Poznań–Ławica Airport.

Seaports exist all along Poland's Baltic coast, with most freight operations using Szczecin, Świnoujście, Gdynia and Gdańsk as well as Police, Kołobrzeg and Elbląg as their base. Passenger ferries link Poland with Scandinaviaall year round; these services are provided from Gdańsk and Świnoujście by Polferries, Stena Line from Gdynia and Unity Line from the Port of Świnoujście.

Science and technology

Main article: Polish science and technology

Staszic Palace in Warsaw is home to the Polish Academy of Sciences

According to Frost & Sullivan's Country Industry Forecast the country is becoming a new location for research and development investments.^[156] Multinational companies such as: ABB,Delphi, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, Hewlett–Packard, IBM, Intel, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Motorola, Siemens and Samsung all have set up research and development centres in Poland.^[157] Over 40 research and development centers and 4,500 researchers make Poland the biggest research and development hub in Central and Eastern Europe.^[156]^[158]Companies chose Poland because of the availability of highly qualified labour force, presence of universities, support of authorities, and the largest market in East-Central Europe.^[156]

Physicist and chemistMaria Skłodowska-
Curie, the first person to win two Nobel Prizes, established Poland's Radium Institute in 1925^[159]

Today, Poland's tertiary education institutions; traditional universities, as well as technical, medical, and economic institutions, employ around 61,000 researchers and members of staff. There are around 300 research and development institutes, with about 10,000 researchers. In total, there are around 91,000 scientists in Poland today. However, in the 19th and 20th centuries many Polish scientists worked abroad; one of the most important of these exiles was Maria Skłodowska-Curie, a physicist and chemist who lived much of her life in France. In the first half of the 20th century, Poland was a flourishing centre of mathematics. Outstanding Polish mathematicians formed the Lwów School of Mathematics (with Stefan Banach, Stanisław Mazur, Hugo Steinhaus, Stanisław Ulam) and Warsaw School of Mathematics (with Alfred Tarski, Kazimierz Kuratowski, Wacław Sierpiński). The events of World War II pushed many of them into exile. Such was the case of Benoît Mandelbrot, whose family left Poland when he was still a child. An alumnus of the Warsaw School of Mathematics was Antoni Zygmund, one of the shapers of 20th-century mathematical analysis.

According to a KPMG report^[160] 80% of Poland's current investors are content with their choice and willing to reinvest.

Communications

Main article: Telecommunications in Poland

Warsaw headquarters of the telecommunications provider Orange Polska

The share of the telecom sector in the GDP is 4.4% (end of 2000 figure), compared to 2.5% in 1996. The coverage increased from 78 users per 1,000 inhabitants in 1989 to 282 in 2000. The value of the telecommunication market is zl 38.2bn (2006), and it grew by 12.4% in 2007 PMR.^[161] The coverage mobile cellular is over 1000 users per 1000 people (2007). Telephones—mobile cellular: 38.7 million (Onet.pl&GUS Report, 2007), telephones—main lines in use: 12.5 million (Telecom Team Report, 2005). In 2012, the process of converting to Digital terrestrial television started, to be compatible with the rest of Europe.

Main Post Office in Bydgoszcz. Poland's postal service can trace its roots to the year 1558

The public postal service in Poland is operated by Poczta Polska (the Polish Post). It was created on 18 October 1558, when King Sigismund II Augustus established a permanent postal route fromKraków to Venice. The service was dissolved during the foreign partitions. After regaining independence in 1918, Poland saw the rapid development of the postal system as new services were introduced including money transfers, payment of pensions, delivery of magazines, and air mail. During wars and national uprisings communication was provided mainly through the military authorities. Many important events in the history of Poland involved the postal service, like the heroic defence of the Polish Post Office in Gdańsk in 1939, and the participation of the Polish Scouts' Postal Service in the Warsaw Uprising. Today, the service is a modern state-owned company that provides a number of standard and express delivery as well as home-delivery services.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Poland

Population of Poland 1900–2010 in millions of inhabitants

Poland, with 38,544,513 inhabitants, has the eighth-largest population in Europe and the sixth-largest in the European Union. It has a population density of 122 inhabitants per square kilometer (328 per square mile).

Poland historically contained many languages, cultures and religions on its soil. The country had a particularly large Jewish population prior to World War II, when the Nazi Germany's regime led to the Holocaust. There were an estimated 3 million Jews living in Poland before the war—less than 300,000 survived. The outcome of the war, particularly the shift of Poland's borders to the area between the Curzon Line and the Oder-Neisse line, coupled with post-war expulsion of minorities, significantly reduced the country's ethnic diversity. Over 7 million Germans fled or were expelled from the Polish side of the Oder-Neisse boundary, after the country's borders were re-drawn by the big three Allied powers (United States, Britain and the Soviet Union) after the war.^[162]

According to the 2002 census, 36,983,700 people, or 96.74% of the population, consider themselves Polish, while 471,500 (1.23%) declared another nationality, and 774,900 (2.03%) did not declare any nationality. The largest minority nationalities and ethnic groups in Poland are Silesians (173,153 according to the census), Germans (152,897 according to the census, 92% of whom live in Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship), Belarusians (c. 49,000), Ukrainians (c. 30,000), Lithuanians, Russians, Roma, Jews, Lemkos, Slovaks, Czechs, and Lipka Tatars.^[163] Among foreign citizens, the Vietnamese are the largest ethnic group, followed by Armenians and Greeks.

The Polish language, part of the West Slavic branch of the Slavic languages, functions as the official language of Poland. Until recent decades Russian was commonly learned as a second language, but has been replaced by English as the most common second language studied and spoken.^[164] In 2015, more than 50% of Poles declared to speak English - Russian came second and German came third, other commonly spoken languages include French, Italian and Spanish.^[165]

In recent years, Poland's population has decreased due to an increase in emigration and a decline in the birth rate. Since Poland's accession to the European Union, a significant number of Poles have emigrated, primarily to the United Kingdom, Germany and Ireland in search of better work opportunities abroad.^[166]

Polish minorities are still present in the neighboring countries of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania, as well as in other countries (see Poles for population numbers). Altogether, the number of ethnic Poles living abroad is estimated to be around 20 million.^[167] The largest number of Poles outside of Poland can be found in the United States.^[168] The total fertility rate (TFR) in Poland was estimated in 2013 at 1.33 children born to a woman.^[169]

Urbanization

v t e Largest cities or towns in Poland Central Statistical Office population report for 2015
	Rank	Name	Voivodeship	Pop.	Rank	Name	Voivodeship	Pop.
Warsaw Kraków	1	Warsaw	Masovian	1,735,442	11	Białystok	Podlaskie	295,459	Łódź Wrocław
	2	Kraków	Lesser Poland	762,508	12	Gdynia	Pomeranian	247,820
	3	Łódź	Łódź	706,004	13	Częstochowa	Silesian	230,123
	4	Wrocław	Lower Silesian	634,457	14	Radom	Masovian	217,201
	5	Poznań	Greater Poland	545,680	15	Sosnowiec	Silesian	209,274
	6	Gdańsk	Pomeranian	461,489	16	Toruń	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	203,158
	7	Szczecin	West Pomeranian	407,180	17	Kielce	Świętokrzyskie	198,857
	8	Bydgoszcz	Kuyavian-Pomeranian	357,652	18	Rzeszów	Subcarpathian	185,123
	9	Lublin	Lublin	341,722	19	Gliwice	Silesian	184,415
	10	Katowice	Silesian	301,834	20	Zabrze	Silesian	177,188

Languages

Main articles: Polish language and Languages of Poland

Dolina Jadwigi—a bilingual (Polish-Kashubian) road sign with the village name

Polish (język polski, polszczyzna) is a Slavic language spoken primarily in Poland and the native language of Poles. It belongs to the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages.^[170] Polish is the official language of Poland, but it is also used throughout the world by Polish minorities in other countries. It is one of the official languages of the European Union. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet, which has 9 additions to the letters of the basic Latin script (ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż). The deaf communities use Polish Sign Language belonging to the German family of Sign Languages.

According to the Act of 6 January 2005 on national and ethnic minorities and on the regional languages,^[171] 16 other languages have officially recognized status of minority languages: 1 regional language, 10 languages of 9 national minorities (minority groups that have their own independent state elsewhere) and 5 languages of 4 ethnic minorities spoken by the members of minorities not having a separate state elsewhere). Jewish and Romani minorities each have 2 minority languages recognized.

Languages having the status of national minority's language are Armenian, Belarusian, Czech, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Russian, Slovak and Ukrainian. Languages having the status of ethnic minority's language are Karaim, Kashubian, Rusyn (called Lemko in Poland) and Tatar. Also, official recognition is granted to two Romani languages: Polska Roma and Bergitka Roma.^[172]

Official recognition of a language provides certain rights (under conditions prescribed by the law): of education in that language, of having the language established as the secondary administrative language or help language in bilingual municipalities and of financial support from the state for the promotion of that language.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Poland

Religion in Poland according to 2011 survey of 91,2% of citizens

Roman Catholic (87.5%)

Opting out of answer (7.1%)

Non believer (2.4%)

Not stated (1.6%)

Orthodox (0.7%)

Other religions (1%)

Jasna Góra Monastery is a major pilgrimage site for Poland's many Catholics

From its beginnings, Poland has contributed substantially to the development of religious freedom. Since the country adopted Christianity in 966, it was also welcoming to other religions through a series of laws: Statute of Kalisz (1264), Warsaw Confederation (1573). The Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło, however, was pressed by the Catholic Church to issue the Edict of Wieluń (1424), outlawing early Protestant Hussitism. Polish theological thought includes theological movements, such as Calvinist Polish Brethren and a number of other Protestant groups, as well as atheists, such as ex-Jesuit philosopher Kazimierz Łyszczyński, one of the first atheist thinkers in Europe. Also, in the 16th-century, Anabaptists from the Netherlands and Germany settled in Poland—after being persecuted in Western Europe—and became known as the Vistula delta Mennonites.

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Chichester

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the larger local government district, see Chichester District.

For other uses, see Chichester (disambiguation).

City of Chichester
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, Chichester
City of Chichester City of Chichester shown within West Sussex
Area	10.67 km² (4.12 sq mi) ^[1]
Population	26,795 ^[2] 2011 Census
– density	2,225/km² (5,760/sq mi)
Demonym	Cicestrian
OS grid reference	SU860048
– London	54 miles (87 km) NNE
Civil parish	Chichester
District	Chichester
Shire county	West Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHICHESTER
Postcode district	PO19
Dialling code	01243
Police	Sussex
Fire	West Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Chichester
Website	City Council
List of places UK England West Sussex

Coordinates: 50.83652°N 0.77918°W

Chichester (/ˈtʃɪtʃᵻstər/) is a cathedral city in West Sussex, in South-East England.^[3] It is the only city in West Sussex and is its county town. It has a long history as a settlement from Roman times and was important inAnglo-Saxon times. It is the seat of a bishopric, with a 12th-century cathedral, and is home to some of the oldest churches and buildings in Great Britain.

Chichester has three tiers of local government. It is a transport hub, and a centre for culture in the county, with a theatre, museum and art galleries. Chichester Harbour and the South Downs provide opportunities for outdoor pursuits.

History[edit]

Roman period[edit]

Main article: Noviomagus Reginorum

The area around Chichester is believed to have played significant part during the Roman Invasion of A.D 43, as confirmed by evidence of military storage structures in the area of the nearby Fishbourne Roman Palace.^[4] The city centre stands on the foundations of the Romano-British city of Noviomagus Reginorum, capital of the Civitas Reginorum. The Roman road of Stane Street, connecting the city with London, started at the east gate, while the Chichester to Silchester road started from the north gate. The plan of the city is inherited from the Romans: the North, South, East and West shopping streets radiate from the central market cross dating from medieval times.

The original Roman city wall was over 6½ feet thick with a steep ditch (which was later used to divert the River Lavant). It survived for over one and a half thousand years but was then replaced by a thinner Georgianwall.

The city was also home to some Roman baths, found down Tower Street when preparation for a new car park was under way. A museum, the Novium, preserving the baths was opened on 8 July 2012.

An amphitheatre was built outside the city walls, close to the East Gate, in around 80 AD. The area is now a park, but the site of the amphitheatre is discernible as a gentle bank approximately oval in shape; a notice board in the park gives more information.

Anglo-Saxon period[edit]

AR penny, minted in Chichester under Cnut the Great between 1024-1030 AD.
Moneyer: Leofwine.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle it was captured towards the close of the fifth century, by Ælle, and renamed after his son, Cissa. It was the chief city of the Kingdom of Sussex.

The cathedral for the South Saxons was founded in 681 at Selsey; the seat of the bishopric was moved to Chichester in 1075.

Chichester was one of the burhs (fortified towns) established by Alfred the Great, probably in 878-9, making use of the remaining Roman walls. According to the Burghal Hidage, a list written in the early 10th century, it was one of the biggest of Alfred's burhs, supported by 1500 hides, units of land required to supply one soldier each for the garrison in time of emergency. The system was supported by a communication network based on hilltop beacons to provide early warning. It has been suggested that one such link ran from Chichester to London.^[5]

Norman period[edit]

When the Domesday Book was compiled, Chichester consisted of 300 dwellings which held a population of 1,500 people. There was a mill named Kings Mill that would have been rented to local slaves and villeins. After the Battle of Hastings the township of Chichester was handed to Roger de Mongomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, for courageous efforts in the battle, but it was forfeited in 1104 by the 3rd Earl. Shortly after 1066Chichester Castle was built by Roger de Mongomerie to consolidate Norman power.^[6] In around 1143 the title Earl of Arundel (also known as the Earl of Sussex until that title fell out of use) was created and became the dominant local landowner. Between 1250 and 1262, the Rape of Chichester was created from the western half of Arundel rape, with the castle as its administrative centre.^[7]

Medieval to modern times[edit]

This section requires expansion.(January 2015)

An enduring military presence was established in the city in 1795 with the construction of a depot on land where the Hawkhurst Gang had been hanged. It was named the Roussillon Barracks in 1958.^[8] The military presence had ceased by 2014 and the site was being developed for housing.^[9]

Governance[edit]

Chichester, although in terms of local government in England is a civil parish, has the status of a city,^[10] and is one of seven so designated, the others being Ely, Hereford, Ripon, Salisbury, Truro and Wells. The City Council consists of twenty elected members serving four wards of the city – North, South, East, and West.^[11]

Chichester Council House (1731)

Chichester Council House on North Street dates from 1731; prior to this the City Corporation had met in Chichester Guildhall. In addition to its own council offices, those of the Chichester District and the West Sussex County Council are located in the City. The current MP for the Chichester Constituency is Andrew Tyrie.

Chichester has an unusual franchise in its history. Chichester's residents had enjoyed political enfranchisement for 300 years before the 19th century Reform Bills expanded the right to vote for members of Parliament to include most ordinary citizens. However, when the mayor restricted the vote solely to Freemen in the election of 1660 for the Convention Parliament that organised the restoration of the monarchy, the House of Commons noted that "for One-and-twenty Parliaments, the Commonalty, as well as the Citizens, had had Voice in the electing of Members to serve in Parliament; and that thereupon the Committee were of Opinion, that the Commonalty of the said Borough, together with the free Citizens, have Right of Election"^[12] and overturned the election, seating instead the candidate elected by the more-inclusive Commonality of Chichester, and jailing the mayor for two weeks for contempt because of his wilful denial of the ancient rights.

Geography[edit]

The 8 areas of Chichester Conservation

The City of Chichester is located on the River Lavant south of its gap through the South Downs. This winterbourne for part of its course now runs through the city in underground culverts.^[13] The City's site made it an ideal place for settlement, with many ancient routeways converging here. The oldest section lies within the Medieval walls of the city, which are built on Roman foundations.^[14]

Chichester Canal

The Chichester Conservation area, designated for its architectural and historic interest,^[15] encompasses the whole of the Roman town, and includes many Grade I and II listed buildings. Further to the north lies the separate conservation area around the former Graylingwell Hospital, and to the south, the Chichester Conservation Area has been extended recently to include the newly restored canal basin and part of the canal itself. The Conservation Area has been split into eight 'character' areas, based on historic development, building type, uses and activities.

Climate[edit]

Chichester has an Oceanic climate. With its position in southern England, Chichester has mild winters and cool summers. It has high sunshine levels compared to other parts of the UK with around 1900 hours annually.^[16]

Economy[edit]

Chichester Marina

The city has a tourist industry.^[17] Several marinas are situated in the area together with related industries.

Main sights[edit]

Chichester Cathedral's west front and millennium statue of Saint Richard.

Chichester Cathedral, founded in the 11th century, is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and contains a shrine to Saint Richard of Chichester. Its spire, built of the weak local stone, collapsed and was rebuilt during the 19th century. In the south aisle of the cathedral a glass panel in the floor enables a view of the remains of a Roman mosaic pavement. The cathedral is unusual in Britain in having a separate bell tower a few metres away from the main building, rather than integrated into it. Within the cathedral there is a medieval tomb of a knight and his wife, the inspiration of the poem "An Arundel Tomb", by Philip Larkin. A memorial statue exists of William Huskisson, once member of parliament for the city, but best remembered as the first man to be run over by a railway engine. Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms were commissioned for the cathedral. The statue of St Richard (pictured left) is by the sculptor Philip Jackson. There are further Philip Jackson sculptures outside the Chichester Festival Theatre and St Richard's Hopsital in Chichester.

In addition to the cathedral there are five Church of England churches, St Richard's Roman Catholic church and nine religious buildings of other denominations.^[18] Redundant churches include the Grade I-listed St John the Evangelist's Church, an octagonal white-brick proprietary chapel with an impressive three-decker pulpit.^[19]^[20]

The site of a Roman amphitheatre is in a park south of the Hornet. The precise location can be discerned by a gentle bank roughly oval in shape. A notice board in the park gives information.

The Butter Market in North Street was designed by John Nash, and was opened in 1808 as a food and produce market. In 1900, a second storey was added to the building, originally housing an arts institute. The building has recently been renovated.

Chichester Cross

The Corn Exchange in East Street was built in 1833, one of the first in the country.^[21] It is an imposing building, designed to show off its importance to trade.^{[citation needed]} In 1883 it was also used for drama and entertainment.^{[citation needed]} From then it became a cinema (1923–1984), a restaurant, and then a fast food restaurant. It is currently occupied by Next clothing retailers.

The Chichester Cross, which is a type of Buttercross familiar to old market towns, was built in 1501 as a covered market-place,^[22] stands at the intersection of the four main roads in the centre of the city.

Chichester is home to the South Downs Planetarium & Science Centre, which opened in 2001 and features a program of public star shows in its 100-seat theatre.

Transport[edit]

Chichester is the hub of several main roads. The most important of these is the A27 coastal trunk road (connecting Eastbourne with Southampton) which passes to the south of the city. The A27 connects Chichester to the M27,M3 and M275 motorways. The secondary coastal road, the A259, which began its journey at Folkestone in Kent, joins the A27 here and ends in Havant to the west. Both those roads make east-west connections. Three roads give Chichester access to the north: the A29 to London joins the A27 several miles to the east of the city; the A285 runs northeast to Petworth and beyond; and the A286 runs northwards towards Haslemere, Surrey.

Chichester railway station, on the West Coastway Line, has regular services to Brighton, London Victoria via Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton. In the past there was a branch line to Midhurst in the north; and a light railway built by Colonel HF Stephensknown as the West Sussex Railway which ran south to Selsey, and which closed in 1935.

There are also many bus services, with Chichester bus station, adjacent to the railway station, acting as a local hub.

Chichester Airport is north of the city.

There are several long distance routes for walkers, cyclists and riders in the area, some of which, like the Centurion Way to West Dean, start here. Centurion Way was opened in the mid-1990s and runs along the former railway line. The name was chosen by Ben Adams, a local schoolboy who won a competition to name the path.

Education[edit]

There are four secondary schools in Chichester: the Chichester High School for Boys, Chichester Free School (which also has a primary sector there) and the Chichester High School For Girls, located on the Kingsham Campus; and the Bishop Luffa School. In the primary sector there are two infant-only schools: Lancastrian and Rumboldswyke; the Central C of E Junior School; six all-level schools;^[23] and two special-needs schools at Fordwater and St Anthony's. There is also a Roman Catholic school, St Richard's Primary School, and a Sure Start Children's Centre, Chichester Nursery School, Children and Family Centre.

In the independent sector there are three-day preparatory schools (Oakwood Preparatory School, Prebendal School and Westbourne House).

The higher and further educational institutions include the Chichester High Schools Sixth Form, which is the largest Sixth Form in West Sussex. It offers a range of A-Level and vocational courses with full use of a wide range of facilities at both boys and girls high schools. Chichester College, formerly Chichester College of Arts, Science and Technology; offers both foundation-level and degree-equivalent courses, mainly focused towards vocational qualifications for industry. The college has recently made significant investment in upgrading facilities, and is now offering a wider range of subject areas in its prospectus.

The University of Chichester^[24] was granted degree-awarding body status by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in 2005. Whereas Chichester College has always been focused towards vocational qualifications, the University of Chichester has a more academic bent.

St Richard's Hospital[edit]

St Richard's Hospital is a medium-sized District General Hospital (DGH). Built in 1938 and expanded during World War II the hospital is to the north of Spitalfield Lane in the northeast of the city.

Culture[edit]

Chichester Festival Theatre

The city holds an annual four-week arts and music festival ("Festival of Chichester")^[25] held in June and July.

Chichester Festival Theatre,^[26] is one of the United Kingdom's flagship producing and touring theatres, whose annual summer season attracts actors, writers and directors from the West End theatre and the USA.

Pallant House Gallery,^[27] winner of the 2007 gallery of the year Gulbenkian Prize, has a major collection of chiefly modern British art and in 2006 opened a new extension that houses the collection of Professor Sir Colin St John Wilson. It has a changing programme of exhibitions.

The Sloe Fair, a funfair that dates back to the 12th Century, is held annually on 20 October in the city's Northgate car park.^[28]

Chichester Cinema at New Park^[29] is the city's first and only arthouse cinema. It shows a selection of mainstream, small-budget and older films 7 days a week. It hosts an annual 18-day International Film Festival in August/September. Vice-presidents are Dame Maggie Smith and Kenneth Branagh. There is a larger, multiplex cinema located at Chichester Gate.

Street Art By 'Run' Italian Street Artist Electric Cinema Chichester, West Sussex

The Chichester Open Mic has supported regular programmes of readings by contemporary poets in the city since 2010. It also hosts a high-profile annual event under the banner Poetry and All That Jazz which included performances by Don Paterson in 2010, Sam Willetts in 2011 and David Harsent in 2012.^[30]

In 2012 The Novium, Chichester's museum, was opened by author Kate Mosse.^[31] Designed by the architect Keith Williams, is approximately 2.4 times the size of the previous museum in Little London. Key highlights are Roman Bath House, Jupiter Stone and Chilgrove Mosaic.

In May 2013 Chichester hosted the Chichester Street Art Festival week where international street artists created colourful murals around the city.^[32]

Chichester is mentioned in a 1992 episode of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, the 2003 film Bright Young Things directed by Stephen Fry, the 2005 film Stoned about Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones, and also in the 2009 filmSherlock Holmes. The city is periodically referred to in Call the Midwife, as the seat of the Order of Saint Raymond Nonnatus, the mother house's exterior being depicted in episode 1.6.

Music[edit]

The following section considers the city's music scene: in recent years it has experienced growth in various genres.^[33]

Chichester Symphony Orchestra[edit]

Founded in 1881, the Chichester Symphony Orchestra plays an important part in maintaining the classical music tradition of the area. The orchestra has both amateur and professional players and rehearses weekly. Three concerts are given each year with the summer concert being part of the Chichester Festivities while the autumn concert is included in the Chichester Cathedral Lunchtime Series.

Popular music[edit]

For some years a part of the Chichester music scene was the Chichester RAJF (From "Real Ale and Jazz Festival"), a four-day festival of music and real ale held each July in tents beside the 13th century Guildhall in Priory Park.^[34] Founded in 1980 by members of Chichester Hockey Club as a fund-raising event, the festival grew in size and ambition. In the early years the focus was on traditional jazz and featured performers such as Kenny Ball, Humphrey Lyttelton and Kenny Baker. In the 1990s blues and R&B were introduced and more recently the festival increased its capacity to 2500 persons and offered popular music including James Brown, Status Quo, Blondie, Boney M, Robert Cray, Hot Chocolate, Howard Jones, Go West, The Pretenders, The Drifters and Simple Minds. In 2009, the RAJF changed from 4 consecutive nights to 2 consecutive weekends. 2010 was the RAJF's 30th Birthday and celebrations were held. The last RAJF was in 2011.

Sport[edit]

Chichester City F.C. is the main football club and are based at Oaklands Park. They play in the Sussex County League.^[35] The rugby club, Chichester R.F.C., are also based at Oaklands Park.^[36]

Chichester Priory Park Cricket Club and Chichester Priory Park Hockey Club share a clubhouse at Priory Park.^[37]^[38]

The city is home to the Chichester Sharks Flag American Football Club who are members of the BAFA National League.^[39] In October 2007, the Sharks won the National Championship, beating Andover Voodoo 31-29 in the final. The Chichester Sharks also won the title in 2003.

Chichester Falcons Softball Club, based at Oaklands Park, play in the Solent Softball League. They have enjoyed success in league and tournament matches.

Chichester Bowls Club in Priory Park is the oldest established bowls club in Sussex, being founded in 1881. The club has men's and ladies' sections and plays a mixture of competitive and friendly matches.

The city has a leisure centre with swimming pool, flume, sports hall and fitness room; it plays host to Chichester Cormorants swimming club. Chichester Runners and A.C is a club with runners and athletes from all ages. Other sports include cycling.^[40]

Notable people[edit]

Main article: List of people from Chichester

William Juxon, born 1582, attended The Prebendal School before studying at Oxford. He became chaplain to Charles I and was the last English cleric to hold both church and secular high office. He became Archbishop of Canterbury following the Restoration. William Cawley, born 1602 in Chichester, was on the other side of the English Civil War. Also educated at Oxford University he became the Member of Parliament for Chichester in 1628 and for Midhurst in 1640. He was a regicide and served on the Council of State during the Commonwealth, being forced to flee to Switzerland after the Restoration. A later MP for the town, William Huskisson was one of the earlier people to die from a railway accident, when he was run over by Stephenson's Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In modern times middle distance runner Christopher Chataway was elected to Parliament in 1969.

Military people have included Edric Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford who won a Victoria Cross during the Third Anglo-Ashanti War. General Charles Harington Harington served in the Second Boer War and as a staff officer throughout World War I, and military theorist Major General J. F. C. Fuller planned the first large scale tank assault at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917.

Timothy Peake, who became the first official British astronaut when he arrived on the International Space Station in December 2015, was born in Chichester in 1972. Peake attended the Chichester High School for Boys, which now has a Sports and Conference centre named after him and opened by him.

Town twinning[edit]

The City of Chichester is twinned with Chartres, France and Ravenna, Italy.^[41]

References[edit]

Jump up^ "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
Jump up^ Office for National Statistics 2011 census - Chichester CP
Jump up^ OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. ISBN 978 0319240793
Jump up^ Manley, John (2007). AD43: The Roman Invasion of Britain. Tempus Publishing. pp. 111–128. ISBN 978-0-7524-1959-6.
Jump up^ Gower, Graham, London Archaeologist Winter 2002, pp 59–63
Jump up^ Chichester Castle, Pastscape.org, retrieved 10 May 2011
Jump up^ "Victoria County History – The rape of Chichester". British History Online. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Roussillon Barracks". Royal Sussex. Retrieved 16 November2014.
Jump up^ "Social hub revealed for Roussillon Park". chichester.co.uk.
Jump up^ "Chichester City Council website". Chichestercity.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "City councillors". Chichestercity.gov.uk. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. 22 June 2003. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ Sub-Urban website: River Lavant Archived 10 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up^ "City Walls Walk: includes map". Chichesterweb.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Chichester Council Conservation Areas". Chichester.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Bognor Regis the sunniest spot in Britain". Telegraph. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
Jump up^ "The Chichester Guide". Chichester Web. Retrieved 16 July2010.
Jump up^ "''Chichester Web': churches of Chichester". Chichesterweb.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Former Church of St John the Evangelist, St John's Street (East Side), Chichester, Chichester, West Sussex". The National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
Jump up^ Beevers, David; Marks, Richard; Roles, John (1989). Sussex Churches and Chapels. Brighton: The Royal Pavilion, Art Gallery and Museums. p. 58. ISBN 0-948723-11-4.
Jump up^ "The Corn Exchange". Chichester.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 July2010.
Jump up^ "Chichester City Cross". West Sussex.info.
Jump up^ They are the Jessie Younghusband Primary School; Kingsham Primary School; Parklands Community School; Chichester Free School, Portfield Community Primary and Singleton C of E Primary School
Jump up^ The establishment was initially called Bishop Otter College, although throughout its history it has had many names: West Sussex Institute of Higher Education, then Chichester Institute of Higher Education, then University College Chichester
Jump up^ "Festival of Chichester". 17 May 2013. Retrieved 17 May2013.
Jump up^ "The Website of Chichester Festival Theatre". Cft.org.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Pallant House Gallery". Pallant.org.uk. Retrieved 16 July2010.
Jump up^ "BBC - Domesday Reloaded: CHICHESTER'S SLOE FAIR.".domesday.
Jump up^ "Chichester Cinema at New Park". Chichestercinema.org. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Chichester Open Mic". Retrieved 23 April 2012.
Jump up^ Chichester District Council. "Kate Mosse to open new museum in Chichester".
Jump up^ "GALLERY: Chichester Street Art". chichester.co.uk.
Jump up^ As an example, Anthony of Antony and the Johnsonsoriginated from the city
Jump up^ "Chichester RAJF website". Chichester-raja.com. Retrieved16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Chichester City FC website". Ccufc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July2010.
Jump up^ "Chichester RFC website". Chichesterrfc.co.uk. 26 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Chichester Priory Park Cricket Club". Retrieved 17 March2013.
Jump up^ "Chichester Priory Park Hockey Club". Retrieved 17 March2013.
Jump up^ "Chichester Sharks flag American football website". Chichestersharks.co.uk. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Southdown Velo cycling club". Southdownvelo.org.uk. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
Jump up^ "British towns twinned with French towns [via WaybackMachine.com]". Archant Community Media Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013. Retrieved 20 July2013.

Bibliography[edit]

Down, Alec (1988). Roman Chichester. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-435-7.
Sharp, Thomas (1949). Georgian City: A plan for the preservation and improvement of Chichester. London: The Architectural Press.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chichester.

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Until World War II Poland was a religiously diverse society, in which substantial Jewish, Christian Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic groups coexisted.^[173] In the Second Polish Republic, Roman Catholic was the dominant religion, declared by about 65% of the Polish citizens, followed by other Christian denominations, and about 3% of Judaism believers.^[174] As a result of the Holocaust and the post–World War II flight and expulsion of German and Ukrainian populations, Poland has become overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. In 2007, 88.4% of the population belonged to the Catholic Church.^[175] Though rates of religious observance are lower, at 52%^[176] or 51% of the Polish Catholics,^[177] Poland remains one of the most devoutly religious countries in Europe.^[178]

From 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005 Karol Józef Wojtyła (later Pope John Paul II), a Polish native, reigned as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been the only Slavic and Polish Pope to date, and was the first non-Italian Pope since Dutch Pope Adrian VI in 1522.^[179] Additionally he is credited with having played a significant role in hastening the downfall of communism in Poland and throughout Central and Eastern Europe; he is famously quoted as having, at the height of communism in 1979, told Poles "not be afraid", later praying: "Let your Spirit descend and change the image of the land... this land".^[180]^[181]

St. Michael Archangel's Tserkva, an Orthodox Church in the Carpathian region of Poland

Religious minorities include Polish Orthodox (about 506,800),^[9] various Protestants (about 150,000),^[9] Jehovah's Witnesses (126,827),^[9] Eastern Catholics, Mariavites, Polish Catholics,Jews, and Muslims (including the Tatars of Białystok). Members of Protestant churches include about 77,500 Lutherans in the largest Evangelical-Augsburg Church,^[9] 23,000 Pentecostals in the Pentecostal Church in Poland, and smaller numbers in various Evangelical Protestant churches. There are also a several thousand neopagans, some of whom are members of officially registered churches such as the Native Polish Church.

Kraków's Tempel Synagogue is one of the largest in Poland

Freedom of religion is now guaranteed by the 1989 statute of the Polish Constitution,^[182] enabling the emergence of additional denominations.^[183] The Concordat between the Holy Seeand Poland guarantees the teaching of religion in state^[184] schools. According to a 2007 survey, 72% of respondents were not opposed to religious instruction in public schools; alternative courses in ethics are available only in one percent of the entire public educational system.^[185]

Famous sites of Roman Catholic pilgrimage in Poland include the Monastery of Jasna Góra in the southern Polish city of Częstochowa, Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń, Divine Mercy Sanctuary, Kraków. Many tourists visit also the Family home of John Paul II in Wadowice just outside Kraków. Orthodox pilgrims visit Mountain Grabarka near Grabarka-Klasztor.^[186]

Health

Main article: Health in Poland

University Medical Centrein Gdańsk

Poland's healthcare system is based on an all-inclusive insurance system. State subsidised healthcare is available to all Polish citizens who are covered by this general health insurance program. However, it is not compulsory to be treated in a state-run hospital as a number of private medical complexes do exist nationwide.^[187]

All medical service providers and hospitals in Poland are subordinate to the Polish Ministry of Health, which provides oversight and scrutiny of general medical practice as well as being responsible for the day-to-day administration of the healthcare system. In addition to these roles, the ministry is also tasked with the maintenance of standards of hygiene and patient-care.

Hospitals in Poland are organised according to the regional administrative structure, resultantly most towns have their own hospital (Szpital Miejski).^{[citation needed]} Larger and more specialised medical complexes tend only to be found in larger cities, with some even more specialised units located only in the capital, Warsaw. However, all voivodeships have their own general hospital (most have more than one), all of which are obliged to have a trauma centre; these types of hospital, which are able to deal with almost all medical problems are called 'regional hospitals' (Szpital Wojewódzki). The last category of hospital in Poland is that of specialised medical centres, an example of which would be the Skłodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology, Poland's leading, and most highly specialised centre for the research and treatment of cancer.

In 2012, the Polish health-care industry experienced a transformation. Hospitals were given priority for refurbishment where necessary.^[188] As a result of this process, many hospitals were updated with the latest medical equipment.

In 2013, the average life expectancy at birth was 76.45 years (72.53 years infant male/80.62 years infant female).^[189]

Education

Main articles: Education in Poland, Universities in Poland, and List of schools in Poland

Wearing of traditional academic regalia is an important feature of Polish university ceremonies

Density of collegiate-level institutions of higher education

The Commission of National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej) established in 1773, was the world's first state ministry of education.^[190]^[191] The education of Polish society was a goal of the nation's rulers as early as the 12th century. The library catalogue of the Cathedral Chapter of Kraków dating back to 1110 shows that in the early 12th century Polish academia had access to European and Classical literature. The Jagiellonian University was founded in 1364 by King Casimir III in Kraków—the school is the world's 19th oldest university.

The modern-day Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, ranks Poland's educational system in its PISA 2012 as the 10th best in the world,^[192] scoring higher than the OECD average.^[193]

Education in Poland starts at the age of five or six (with the particular age chosen by the parents) for the '0' class (Kindergarten) and six or seven years in the 1st class of primary school (Polish szkoła podstawowa). It is compulsory that children participate in one year of formal education before entering the 1st class at no later than 7 years of age. Corporal punishment of children in schools is officially prohibited since 1783 (before the partitions) and criminalised since 2010 (in schools as well as at home).

At the end of the 6th class when students are 13, students take a compulsory exam that will determine their acceptance and transition into a specific lower secondary school (gimnazjum, pronounced gheem-nah-sium) (Middle School/Junior High). They will attend this school for three years during classes 7, 8, and 9. Students then take another compulsory exam to determine the upper secondary level school they will attend. There are several alternatives, the most common being the three years in a liceum or four years in a technikum. Both end with a maturity examination (matura—similar to French baccalauréat), and may be followed by several forms of higher education, leading to licencjat or inżynier (the Polish Bologna Process first cycle qualification), magister (second cycle qualification) and eventually doktor (third cycle qualification).^[194]

In Poland, there are 500 university-level institutions for the pursuit of higher education.^[195] There are 18 fully accredited traditional universities, 20 technical universities, 9 independent medical universities, 5 universities for the study of economics, 9 agricultural academies, 3 pedagogical universities, a theological academy, 3 maritime service universities and 4 national military academies. Also, there are a number of higher educational institutions dedicated to the teaching of the arts—amongst these are the 7 academies of music.

Goodwood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Goodwood may refer to:

Events[edit]

Goodwood Festival of Speed, a motorsport event in the United Kingdom
Glorious Goodwood, a horseracing event in the United Kingdom
Goodwood Revival, a historical motorsport event in the United Kingdom

Places and structures[edit]

in Australia

Goodwood, South Australia, Australia
- Electoral district of Goodwood, a former electoral district in South Australia
Goodwood, Tasmania, Australia

In Canada

In New Zealand

Goodwood, New Zealand, a farming community near Palmerston

in South Africa

Goodwood, Cape Town, South Africa

in the United Kingdom

Goodwood, Leicestershire, England
Goodwood, West Sussex, England - the site of the famous circuit mentioned below
- Goodwood plant, of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
Chichester/Goodwood Airport, West Sussex, England
Goodwood Circuit, West Sussex, England
Goodwood House, West Sussex, England
Goodwood Racecourse, West Sussex, England
Goodwood Cricket Club, West Sussex, England

in the United States

Goodwood Plantation, Tallahassee, Florida, listed on the NRHP in Florida
Goodwood (Richmond, Massachusetts), listed on the NRHP in Massachusetts

Other[edit]

Operation Goodwood: a Second World War British military operation during the Battle of Normandy, July 1944
Operation Goodwood (naval): a series of Royal Naval attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz in August 1944 during the Second World War
Operation Goodwood (1968−1969) (Battle of Hat Dich): actions fought between the 1st Australian Task Force and the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War

England

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the country. For other uses, see England (disambiguation).

England

Flag

Anthem: "God Save the Queen"

Location of England (dark green)

– in Europe (green & dark grey)
– in the United Kingdom (green)

Status

Country

Capital
and largest city

National language

Regional languages

Ethnic groups(2011)

85.4% White
7.8% Asian
3.5% Black
2.3% Mixed
0.4% Arab
0.6% Other^[1]

Religion

Sovereign state

Part of a constitutional monarchy

•

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Establishment

•

Anglo-Saxon settlement

5th–6th century

•

Unification

10th century

•

Union with Scotland

1 May 1707

Area

•

Land

130,279 km²^[2]
50,301 sq mi

Population

•

2015 estimate

54,786,300

•

2011 census

53,012,456

•

Density

420.5/km²
1,089.1/sq mi

GDP (nominal)

2009 estimate

•

Total

$2.68 trillion

•

Per capita

$50,566

Currency

Pound sterling (GBP)

Time zone

GMT (UTC)

•

Summer (DST)

BST (UTC+1)

Date format

dd/mm/yyyy (AD)

left

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

England portal

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom.^[3]^[4]^[5] It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west. The Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers much of the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain, which lies in theNorth Atlantic; and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world.^[6] The English language, theAnglican Church, and English law – the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world – developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations.^[7] The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation.^[8]

England's terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north (for example, the mountainous Lake District, Pennines, and Yorkshire Dales) and in the south west (for example, Dartmoor and the Cotswolds). The capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union.^{[nb 1]} England's population of over 53 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century.^[9]

The Kingdom of England—which after 1535 included Wales—ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707, when the Acts of Union put into effect the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year, resulting in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.^[10]^[11] In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Toponymy

History

Main article: History of England

Prehistory and antiquity

Main article: Prehistoric Britain

Stonehenge, a Neolithic monument

The earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago.^[26] Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years.^[27]^[28] After the last ice age only large mammals such as mammoths, bison and woolly rhinoceros remained. Roughly 11,000 years ago, when the ice sheets began to recede, humans repopulated the area; genetic research suggests they came from the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula.^[29] The sea level was lower than now and Britain was connected by land bridge to Ireland and Eurasia.^[30] As the seas rose, it was separated from Ireland 10,000 years ago and from Eurasia two millennia later.

The Beaker culture arrived around 2,500 BC, introducing drinking and food vessels constructed from clay, as well as vessels used as reduction pots to smelt copper ores.^[31] It was during this time that major Neolithicmonuments such as Stonehenge and Avebury were constructed. By heating together tin and copper, which were in abundance in the area, the Beaker culture people made bronze, and later iron from iron ores. The development of iron smelting allowed the construction of better ploughs, advancing agriculture (for instance, with Celtic fields), as well as the production of more effective weapons.^[32]

Boudica led an uprising against the Roman Empire

During the Iron Age, Celtic culture, deriving from the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures, arrived from Central Europe. Brythonic was the spoken language during this time. Society was tribal; according to Ptolemy's Geographia there were around 20 tribes in the area. Earlier divisions are unknown because the Britons were not literate. Like other regions on the edge of the Empire, Britain had long enjoyed trading links with the Romans. Julius Caesar of theRoman Republic attempted to invade twice in 55 BC; although largely unsuccessful, he managed to set up a client king from the Trinovantes.

The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius, subsequently conquering much of Britain, and the area was incorporated into the Roman Empire as Britannia province.^[33] The best-known of the native tribes who attempted to resist were the Catuvellauni led by Caratacus. Later, an uprising led by Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, ended with Boudica's suicide following her defeat at the Battle of Watling Street.^[34] This era saw a Greco-Roman culture prevail with the introduction of Roman law, Roman architecture, aqueducts, sewers, many agricultural items and silk.^[35]^[36]^[37] In the 3rd century, Emperor Septimius Severus died at Eboracum (now York), whereConstantine was subsequently proclaimed emperor.^[38]

There is debate about when Christianity was first introduced; it was no later than the 4th century, probably much earlier. According to Bede, missionaries were sent from Rome by Eleutherius at the request of the chieftain Lucius of Britain in 180 AD, to settle differences as to Eastern and Western ceremonials, which were disturbing the church. There are traditions linked to Glastonbury claiming an introduction through Joseph of Arimathea, while others claim through Lucius of Britain.^[39] By 410, during the Decline of the Roman Empire, Britain was left exposed by the end of Roman rule in Britain and the withdrawal of Roman army units, to defend the frontiers in continental Europe and partake in civil wars.^[40] Celtic Christian monastic and missionary movements flourished: Patrick (5th-century Ireland) and in the 6th century Brendan (Clonfert), Comgall (Bangor), David (Wales), Aiden (Lindisfarne) and Columba (Iona). This period of Christianity was influenced by ancient Celtic culture in its sensibilities, polity, practices and theology. Local "congregations" were centred in the monastic community and monastic leaders were more like chieftains, as peers, rather than in the more hierarchical system of the Roman-dominated church.^[41]

Middle Ages

Main article: England in the Middle Ages

Replica of a 7th-century ceremonialhelmet from the Kingdom of East Anglia, found at Sutton Hoo

Roman military withdrawals left Britain open to invasion by pagan, seafaring warriors from north-western continental Europe, chiefly the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who had long raided the coasts of the Roman province and began to settle, initially in the eastern part of the country.^[40] Their advance was contained for some decades after the Britons' victory at the Battle of Mount Badon, but subsequently resumed, over-running the fertile lowlands of Britain and reducing the area under Brythonic control to a series of separate enclaves in the more rugged country to the west by the end of the 6th century. Contemporary texts describing this period are extremely scarce, giving rise to its description as a Dark Age. The nature and progression of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain is consequently subject to considerable disagreement. Roman-dominated Christianity had in general disappeared from the conquered territories, but was reintroduced by missionaries from Rome led by Augustine from 597 onwards.^[42] Disputes between the Roman- and Celtic-dominated forms of Christianity ended in victory for the Roman tradition at the Council of Whitby (664), which was ostensibly about haircuts and the date of Easter, but more significantly, about the differences in Roman and Celtic forms of authority, theology, and practice (Lehane).

During the settlement period the lands ruled by the incomers seem to have been fragmented into numerous tribal territories, but by the 7th century, when substantial evidence of the situation again becomes available, these had coalesced into roughly a dozen kingdoms including Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex, East Anglia, Essex, Kent and Sussex. Over the following centuries this process of political consolidation continued.^[43] The 7th century saw a struggle for hegemony between Northumbria and Mercia, which in the 8th century gave way to Mercian preeminence.^[44] In the early 9th century Mercia was displaced as the foremost kingdom by Wessex. Later in that century escalating attacks by the Danes culminated in the conquest of the north and east of England, overthrowing the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. Wessex under Alfred the Great was left as the only surviving English kingdom, and under his successors it steadily expanded at the expense of the kingdoms of the Danelaw. This brought about the political unification of England, first accomplished under Æthelstan in 927 and definitively established after further conflicts by Eadred in 953. A fresh wave of Scandinavian attacks from the late 10th century ended with the conquest of this united kingdom by Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013 and again by his sonCnut in 1016, turning it into the centre of a short-lived North Sea Empire that also included Denmark and Norway. However the native royal dynasty was restored with the accession of Edward the Confessor in 1042.

King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, fought on Saint Crispin's Day and concluded with an English victory against a larger French army in the Hundred Years' War.

A dispute over the succession to Edward led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066, accomplished by an army led by Duke William of Normandy.^[45] The Normans themselves originated from Scandinavia and had settled in Normandy in the late 9th and early 10th centuries.^[46] This conquest led to the almost total dispossession of the English elite and its replacement by a new French-speaking aristocracy, whose speech had a profound and permanent effect on the English language.^[47]

Subsequently the House of Plantagenet from Anjou inherited the English throne under Henry II, adding England to the budding Angevin Empire of fiefs the family had inherited in France including Aquitaine.^[48] They reigned for three centuries, some noted monarchs being Richard I, Edward I, Edward III and Henry V.^[48] The period saw changes in trade and legislation, including the signing of the Magna Carta, an English legal charter used to limit the sovereign's powers by law and protect the privileges of freemen. Catholic monasticism flourished, providing philosophers, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were founded with royal patronage. The Principality of Walesbecame a Plantagenet fief during the 13th century^[49] and the Lordship of Ireland was given to the English monarchy by the Pope.

During the 14th century, the Plantagenets and the House of Valois both claimed to be legitimate claimants to the House of Capet and with it France; the two powers clashed in the Hundred Years' War.^[50] The Black Death epidemichit England; starting in 1348, it eventually killed up to half of England's inhabitants.^[51]^[52] From 1453 to 1487 civil war occurred between two branches of the royal family—the Yorkists and Lancastrians—known as the Wars of the Roses.^[53] Eventually it led to the Yorkists losing the throne entirely to a Welsh noble family the Tudors, a branch of the Lancastrians headed by Henry Tudor who invaded with Welsh and Breton mercenaries, gaining victory at theBattle of Bosworth Field where the Yorkist king Richard III was killed.^[54]

Early Modern

King Henry VIII becameSupreme Head of the Church of England

During the Tudor period, the Renaissance reached England through Italian courtiers, who reintroduced artistic, educational and scholarly debate from classical antiquity.^[55] England began to develop naval skills, and exploration to the West intensified.^[56]^[57]

Henry VIII broke from communion with the Catholic Church, over issues relating to his divorce, under the Acts of Supremacy in 1534 which proclaimed the monarch head of the Church of England. In contrast with much of European Protestantism, the roots of the split were more political than theological.^{[nb 2]} He also legally incorporated his ancestral land Wales into the Kingdom of England with the 1535–1542 acts. There were internal religious conflicts during the reigns of Henry's daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The former took the country back to Catholicism while the latter broke from it again, forcefully asserting the supremacy of Anglicanism.

Competing with Spain, the first English colony in the Americas was founded in 1585 by explorer Walter Raleigh in Virginia and named Roanoke. The Roanoke colony failed and is known as the lost colony, after it was found abandoned on the return of the late-arriving supply ship.^[59] With the East India Company, England also competed with the Dutch and French in the East. In 1588, during the Elizabethan period, an English fleet under Francis Drake defeated an invading Spanish Armada. The political structure of the island changed in 1603, when the King of Scots, James VI, a kingdom which was a longtime rival to English interests, inherited the throne of England as James I — creating apersonal union.^[60]^[61] He styled himself King of Great Britain, although this had no basis in English law.^[62] Under the auspices of King James VI and I the Authorised King James Version of the Holy Bible was published in 1611. It has not only been ranked with Shakespeare's works as the greatest masterpiece of literature in the English language but also was the standard version of the Bible read by most Protestant Christians for four hundred years, until modern revisions were produced in the 20th century.

The English Restorationrestored the monarchy under King Charles II and peace after the English Civil War.

Based on conflicting political, religious and social positions, the English Civil War was fought between the supporters of Parliament and those of King Charles I, known colloquially as Roundheads andCavaliers respectively. This was an interwoven part of the wider multifaceted Wars of the Three Kingdoms, involving Scotland and Ireland. The Parliamentarians were victorious, Charles I was executed and the kingdom replaced by the Commonwealth. Leader of the Parliament forces, Oliver Cromwell declared himself Lord Protector in 1653; a period of personal rule followed.^[63] After Cromwell's death and the resignation of his son Richard as Lord Protector, Charles II was invited to return as monarch in 1660, in a move called the Restoration. After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, it was constitutionally established that King and Parliament should rule together, though Parliament would have the real power. This was established with the Bill of Rights in 1689. Among the statutes set down were that the law could only be made by Parliament and could not be suspended by the King, also that the King could not impose taxes or raise an army without the prior approval of Parliament.^[64] Also since that time, no British monarch has entered the House of Commons when it is sitting, which is annually commemorated at the State Opening of Parliament by the British monarch when the doors of the House of Commons are slammed in the face of the monarch's messenger, symbolising the rights of Parliament and its independence from the monarch.^[65]^[66] With the founding of the Royal Society in 1660, science was greatly encouraged.

In 1666 the Great Fire of London gutted the City of London but it was rebuilt shortly afterwards^[67] with many significant buildings designed by Sir Christopher Wren. In Parliament two factions had emerged — the Tories and Whigs. Though the Tories initially supported Catholic king James II, some of them, along with the Whigs, during the Revolution of 1688 invited Dutch prince William of Orange to defeat James and ultimately to become William III of England. Some English people, especially in the north, were Jacobites and continued to support James and his sons. After the parliaments of England and Scotland agreed,^[68] the two countries joined in political union, to create the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.^[60] To accommodate the union, institutions such as the law and national churches of each remained separate.^[69]

Late Modern and contemporary

Saltaire, West Yorkshire, is a model mill town from theIndustrial Revolution, and aWorld Heritage Site.

Under the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain, output from the Royal Society and other English initiatives combined with the Scottish Enlightenment to create innovations in science and engineering, while the enormous growth inBritish overseas trade protected by the Royal Navy paved the way for the establishment of the British Empire. Domestically it drove the Industrial Revolution, a period of profound change in the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of England, resulting in industrialised agriculture, manufacture, engineering and mining, as well as new and pioneering road, rail and water networks to facilitate their expansion and development.^[70] The opening of Northwest England'sBridgewater Canal in 1761 ushered in the canal age in Britain.^[71]^[72] In 1825 the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway—the Stockton and Darlington Railway—opened to the public.^[71]

Cotton mills in Manchester, the world's "first industrial city", circa 1820.^[73]

During the Industrial Revolution, many workers moved from England's countryside to new and expanding urban industrial areas to work in factories, for instance at Manchester and Birmingham, dubbed "Warehouse City" and "Workshop of the World" respectively.^[74]^[75] England maintained relative stability throughout the French Revolution; William Pitt the Younger was British Prime Minister for the reign of George III. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon planned to invade from the south-east. However this failed to manifest and the Napoleonic forces were defeated by the British at sea by Lord Nelson and on land by the Duke of Wellington. The Napoleonic Wars fostered a concept of Britishness and a united national British people, shared with the Scots and Welsh.^[76]

The Cenotaph, Whitehall, is a memorial to members of the British Armed Forces who died during the two World Wars.

London became the largest and most populous metropolitan area in the world during the Victorian era, and trade within the British Empire—as well as the standing of the British military and navy—was prestigious.^[77] Political agitation at home from radicals such as the Chartists and the suffragettes enabled legislative reform and universal suffrage.^[78] Power shifts in east-central Europe led to World War I; hundreds of thousands of English soldiers died fighting for the United Kingdom as part of the Allies.^{[nb 3]} Two decades later, in World War II, the United Kingdom was again one of the Allies. At the end of the Phoney War, Winston Churchill became the wartime Prime Minister. Developments in warfare technology saw many cities damaged by air-raids during the Blitz. Following the war, the British Empire experienced rapid decolonisation, and there was a speeding up of technological innovations; automobiles became the primary means of transport and Frank Whittle's development of the jet engine led to wider air travel.^[80] Residential patterns were altered in England by private motoring, and by the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. The UK's NHS provided publicly funded health care to all UK permanent residents free at the point of need, being paid for from general taxation. Combined, these changes prompted the reform of local government in England in the mid-20th century.^[81]^[82]

Since the 20th century there has been significant population movement to England, mostly from other parts of the British Isles, but also from the Commonwealth, particularly the Indian subcontinent.^[83] Since the 1970s there has been a large move away from manufacturing and an increasing emphasis on the service industry.^[84] As part of the United Kingdom, the area joined a common market initiative called the European Economic Community which became theEuropean Union. Since the late 20th century the administration of the United Kingdom has moved towards devolved governance in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.^[85] England and Wales continues to exist as a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom.^[86] Devolution has stimulated a greater emphasis on a more English-specific identity and patriotism.^[87]^[88] There is no devolved English government, but an attempt to create a similar system on a sub-regional basis was rejected by referendum.^[89]

Governance

Politics

Main article: Politics of England

The Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

As part of the United Kingdom, the basic political system in England is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary system.^[90] There has not been a government of England since 1707, when the Acts of Union 1707, putting into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union, joined England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.^[68] Before the union England was ruled by its monarch and the Parliament of England. Today England is governed directly by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, although other countries of the United Kingdom have devolved governments.^[91] In the House of Commons which is the lower house of the British Parliament based at thePalace of Westminster, there are 532 Members of Parliament (MPs) for constituencies in England, out of the 650 total.^[92]

In the United Kingdom general election, 2015, the Conservative Party won an absolute majority in the 650 contested seats with 10 seats more than all other parties combined (the Speaker of the House not being counted as a Conservative).^[93] The Conservative party, headed by the prime minister David Cameron, won 98 more seats than the Labour Party, whose leader Ed Miliband subsequently stood down.^[94] The Scottish National Party (Scotland only) won 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons replacing the Liberal Democrats as the third largest party overall in the UK.^[95]

Lines of men wearing large black bearskin hats and red tunics.

Changing of the Queen's Guard at the royal residence, Buckingham Palace

As the United Kingdom is a member of the European Union, there are elections held regionally in England to decide who is sent as Members of the European Parliament. The 2014 European Parliament election saw the regions of England elect the following MEPs: 22 UK Independence Party (UKIP), 17 Conservatives, 17 Labour, 3 Greens, and one Liberal Democrat.

Since devolution, in which other countries of the United Kingdom—Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—each have their own devolved parliament or assemblies for local issues, there has been debate about how to counterbalance this in England. Originally it was planned that various regions of England would be devolved, but following the proposal's rejection by the North East in a referendum, this has not been carried out.^[89]

One major issue is the West Lothian question, in which MPs from Scotland and Wales are able to vote on legislation affecting only England, while English MPs have no equivalent right to legislate on devolved matters.^[96] This when placed in the context of England being the only country of the United Kingdom not to have free cancer treatment, prescriptions, residential care for the elderly and free top-up university fees,^[97] has led to a steady rise inEnglish nationalism.^[98] Some have suggested the creation of a devolved English parliament,^[99] while others have proposed simply limiting voting on legislation which only affects England to English MPs.^[100]

Law

Main article: English law

The Royal Courts of Justice

The English law legal system, developed over the centuries, is the basis of common law^[101] legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries^[102] and the United States (except Louisiana). Despite now being part of the United Kingdom, the legal system of the Courts of England and Wales continued, under the Treaty of Union, as a separate legal system from the one used in Scotland. The general essence of English law is that it is made by judges sitting in courts, applying their common sense and knowledge of legal precedent—stare decisis—to the facts before them.^[103]

The court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice for civil cases, and the Crown Court for criminal cases.^[104] The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court for criminal and civil cases in England and Wales. It was created in 2009 after constitutional changes, taking over the judicial functions of the House of Lords.^[105] A decision of the Supreme Court is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, which must follow its directions.^[106]

Crime increased between 1981 and 1995, but fell by 42% in the period 1995–2006.^[107] The prison population doubled over the same period, giving it the highest incarceration rate in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000.^[108]Her Majesty's Prison Service, reporting to the Ministry of Justice, manages most prisons, housing over 85,000 convicts.^[109]

Regions, counties, and districts

Main article: Subdivisions of England

The subdivisions of England consist of up to four levels of subnational division controlled through a variety of types of administrative entities created for the purposes of local government. The highest tier of local government were the nine regions of England: North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East, South East, South West, and London. These were created in 1994 as Government Offices, used by the UK government to deliver a wide range of policies and programmes regionally, but there are no elected bodies at this level, except in London, and in 2011 the regional government offices were abolished.^[110] The same boundaries remain in use for electingMembers of the European Parliament on a regional basis.

After devolution began to take place in other parts of the United Kingdom it was planned that referendums for the regions of England would take place for their own electedregional assemblies as a counterweight. London accepted in 1998: the London Assembly was created two years later. However, when the proposal was rejected by the northern England devolution referendums, 2004 in the North East, further referendums were cancelled.^[89] The regional assemblies outside London were abolished in 2010, and their functions transferred to respective Regional Development Agencies and a new system of local authority leaders' boards.^[111]

Below the regional level, all of England is divided into 48 ceremonial counties.^[112] These are used primarily as a geographical frame of reference and have developed gradually since the Middle Ages, with some established as recently as 1974.^[113] Each has a Lord Lieutenant and High Sheriff; these posts are used to represent the British monarchlocally.^[112] Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly, England is also divided into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties; these correspond to areas used for the purposes of local government^[114] and may consist of a single district or be divided into several.

There are six metropolitan counties based on the most heavily urbanised areas, which do not have county councils.^[114] In these areas the principal authorities are the councils of the subdivisions, the metropolitan boroughs. Elsewhere, 27 non-metropolitan "shire" counties have a county council and are divided into districts, each with a district council. They are typically, though not always, found in more rural areas. The remaining non-metropolitan counties are of a single district and usually correspond to large towns or sparsely populated counties; they are known as unitary authorities. Greater London has a different system for local government, with 32 London boroughs, plus the City of London covering a small area at the core governed by the City of London Corporation.^[115] At the most localised level, much of England is divided into civil parishes with councils; they do not exist in Greater London.^[116]

Geography

Main article: Geography of England

Landscape and rivers

Skiddaw massif, seen from Walla Crag in the Lake District

Geographically England includes the central and southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain, plus such offshore islands as the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly. It is bordered by two other countries of the United Kingdom—to the north by Scotland and to the west by Wales. England is closer to the European continent than any other part of mainland Britain. It is separated from France by a 21-mile (34 km)^[117] sea gap, though the two countries are connected by the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone.^[118] England also has shores on the Irish Sea, North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

The ports of London, Liverpool, and Newcastle lie on the tidal rivers Thames, Mersey and Tyne respectively. At 220 miles (350 km), the Severn is the longest river flowing through England.^[119] It empties into the Bristol Channel and is notable for its Severn Bore tidal waves, which can reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in height.^[120] However, the longest river entirely in England is the Thames, which is 215 miles (346 km) in length.^[121] There are many lakes in England; the largest is Windermere, within the aptly named Lake District.^[122]

Terrain of Dartmoor, Devon

In geological terms, the Pennines, known as the "backbone of England", are the oldest range of mountains in the country, originating from the end of the Paleozoic Eraaround 300 million years ago.^[123] Their geological composition includes, among others, sandstone and limestone, and also coal. There are karst landscapes in calcite areas such as parts of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The Pennine landscape is high moorland in upland areas, indented by fertile valleys of the region's rivers. They contain three national parks, the Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland, and the Peak District. The highest point in England, at 978 metres (3,209 ft), is Scafell Pike in Cumbria.^[122]Straddling the border between England and Scotland are the Cheviot Hills.

The English Lowlands are to the south of the Pennines, consisting of green rolling hills, including the Cotswold Hills, Chiltern Hills, North and South Downs—where they meet the sea they form white rock exposures such as the cliffs of Dover. The granite Southwest Peninsula in the West Country includes upland moorland, such asDartmoor and Exmoor, and enjoys a mild climate; both are national parks.^[124]

Climate

Main article: Climate of England

England has a temperate maritime climate: it is mild with temperatures not much lower than 0 °C (32 °F) in winter and not much higher than 32 °C (90 °F) in summer.^[125] The weather is damp relatively frequently and is changeable. The coldest months are January and February, the latter particularly on the English coast, while July is normally the warmest month. Months with mild to warm weather are May, June, September and October.^[125] Rainfall is spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

Important influences on the climate of England are its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, its northern latitude and the warming of the sea by the Gulf Stream.^[125] Rainfall is higher in the west, and parts of the Lake District receive more rain than anywhere else in the country.^[125] Since weather records began, the highest temperature recorded was 38.5 °C (101.3 °F) on 10 August 2003 at Brogdale in Kent,^[126] while the lowest was −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F) on 10 January 1982 in Edgmond, Shropshire.^[127]

Major conurbations

Rank	Urban area	Population	Major localities
1	Greater London Urban Area	9,787,426	Greater London, divided into the City of London and 32 London boroughs including Croydon, Barnet, Ealing, Bromley
2	Greater Manchester Urban Area	2,553,379	Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Stockport, Oldham
3	West Midlands Urban Area	2,440,986	Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Aldridge
4	West Yorkshire Urban Area	1,777,934	Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Halifax
5	Liverpool Urban Area	864,122	Liverpool, St Helens, Bootle, Huyton-with-Roby
6	South Hampshire	855,569	Southampton, Portsmouth, Eastleigh, Gosport, Fareham, Havant, Horndean
7	Tyneside	774,891	Newcastle, North Shields, South Shields, Gateshead, Jarrow
8	Nottingham Urban Area	729,977	Nottingham, Beeston and Stapleford, Carlton, Long Eaton
9	Sheffield Urban Area	685,368	Sheffield, Rotherham, Rawmarsh, Killamarsh
10	Bristol Urban Area	617,280	Bristol, Kingswood, Mangotsfield, Stoke Gifford

Economy

Main article: Economy of England

The City of London is the financial capital of the world^[130]^[131]

England's economy is one of the largest in the world, with an average GDP per capita of £22,907.^[132] Usually regarded as a mixed market economy, it has adopted many free market principles, yet maintains an advanced social welfare infrastructure.^[133] The official currency in England is the pound sterling, whose ISO 4217 code is GBP. Taxation in England is quite competitive when compared to much of the rest of Europe – as of 2014 the basic rate of personal tax is 20% on taxable income up to £31,865 above the personal tax-free allowance (normally £10,000), and 40% on any additional earnings above that amount.^[134]

The economy of England is the largest part of the UK's economy,^[132] which has the 18th highest GDP PPP per capita in the world. England is a leader in the chemical^[135] and pharmaceutical sectors and in key technical industries, particularly aerospace, the arms industry, and the manufacturing side of the software industry. London, home to the London Stock Exchange, the United Kingdom's main stock exchange and the largest in Europe, is England's financial centre—100 of Europe's 500 largest corporations are based in London.^[136] London is the largest financial centre in Europe, and as of 2014 is the second largest in the world.^[137]^[138]

The Bentley Mulsanne. Bentley is a well-known English car company.

The Bank of England, founded in 1694 by Scottish banker William Paterson, is the United Kingdom's central bank. Originally established as private banker to the government of England, since 1946 it has been a state-owned institution.^[139] The bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales, although not in other parts of the United Kingdom. The government has devolved responsibility to the bank's Monetary Policy Committee for managing the monetary policy of the country and setting interest rates.^[140]

England is highly industrialised, but since the 1970s there has been a decline in traditional heavy and manufacturing industries, and an increasing emphasis on a more service industryoriented economy.^[84] Tourism has become a significant industry, attracting millions of visitors to England each year. The export part of the economy is dominated by pharmaceuticals, cars (although many English marques are now foreign-owned, such as Land Rover, Lotus, Jaguar and Bentley), crude oil and petroleum from the English parts of North Sea oil along with Wytch Farm, aircraft engines and alcoholic beverages.^[141]

Most of the UK's £25 billion^[142] aerospace industry is primarily based in England. The wings for the Airbus A380 and the Airbus A350 XWB are designed and manufactured at Airbus UK's world-leading facility in Broughton.GKN Aerospace – an expert in metallic and composite aerostructures is involved in almost every civil and military fixed and rotary wing aircraft in production is based in Redditch.^[143]

BAE Systems makes large sections of the Typhoon Eurofighter at its sub-assembly plant in Salmesbury and assembles the aircraft for the RAF at its Warton plant, near Preston. It is also a principal subcontractor on the F35 Joint Strike Fighter – the world's largest single defence project – for which it designs and manufactures a range of components including the aft fuselage, vertical and horizontal tail and wing tips and fuel system. As well as this it manufactures the Hawk, the world's most successful jet training aircraft.^[143]

Rolls-Royce PLC is the world's second-largest aero-engine manufacturer. Its engines power more than 30 types of commercial aircraft, and it has more 30,000 engines currently in service across both the civil and defence sectors. With a workforce of over 12,000 people, Derby has the largest concentration of Rolls-Royce employees in the UK. Rolls-Royce also produces low-emission power systems for ships; makes critical equipment and safety systems for the nuclear industry and powers offshore platforms and major pipelines for the oil and gas industry.^[143]^[144]

Much of the UK's space industry is centred on EADS Astrium, based in Stevenage and Portsmouth. The company builds the buses – the underlying structure onto which the payload and propulsion systems are built – for most of the European Space Agency's spacecraft, as well as commercial satellites. The world leader in compact satellite systems, Surrey Satellites, is also part of Astrium.^[143] Reaction Engines Limited, the company planning to build Skylon, a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane using their SABRE rocket engine, a combined-cycle, air-breathing rocket propulsion system is based Culham.

Agriculture is intensive and highly mechanised, producing 60% of food needs with only 2% of the labour force.^[145] Two thirds of production is devoted to livestock, the other to arable crops.^[146]

Science and technology

Main articles: List of English inventions and discoveries and Royal Society

Sir Isaac Newton is one of the most influential figures in the history of science

Prominent English figures from the field of science and mathematics include Sir Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Joseph Priestley, J. J. Thomson, Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking,Christopher Wren, Alan Turing, Francis Crick, Joseph Lister, Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Dirac, Andrew Wiles and Richard Dawkins. Some experts claim that the earliest concept of a metric system was invented by John Wilkins, the first secretary of the Royal Society, in 1668.^[147]

As the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, England was home to many significant inventors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Famous English engineers include Isambard Kingdom Brunel, best known for the creation of the Great Western Railway, a series of famous steamships, and numerous important bridges, hence revolutionising public transport and modern-day engineering.^[148] Thomas Newcomen's steam engine helped spawn the Industrial Revolution.^[149] The Father of Railways, George Stephenson, built the first public inter-city railway line in the world, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. With his role in the marketing and manufacturing of the steam engine, and invention of modern coinage, Matthew Boulton (business partner of James Watt) is regarded as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in history.^[150] The physician Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine is said to have "saved more lives ... than were lost in all the wars of mankind since the beginning of recorded history."^[151]^[152]^[153]

Inventions and discoveries of the English include: the jet engine, the first industrial spinning machine, the first computer and the first modern computer, the World Wide Web along with HTML, the first successful human blood transfusion, the motorised vacuum cleaner,^[154] the lawn mower, the seat belt, the hovercraft, the electric motor, steam engines, and theories such as the Darwinian theory of evolution and atomic theory. Newton developed the ideas ofuniversal gravitation, Newtonian mechanics, and calculus, and Robert Hooke his eponymously named law of elasticity. Other inventions include the iron plate railway, the thermosiphon, tarmac, the rubber band, the mousetrap, "cat's eye" road marker, joint development of the light bulb, steam locomotives, the modern seed drill and many modern techniques and technologies used in precision engineering.^[155]

Transport

Main article: Transport in England

London Heathrow Airport has more international passenger traffic than any other airport in the world.^[156]

The Department for Transport is the government body responsible for overseeing transport in England. There are many motorways in England, and many other trunk roads, such as the A1 Great North Road, which runs through eastern England from London to Newcastle^[157] (much of this section is motorway) and onward to the Scottish border. The longest motorway in England is the M6, from Rugby through the North West up to the Anglo-Scottish border, a distance of 232 miles (373 km).^[157] Other major routes include: the M1 from London to Leeds, the M25 which encircles London, the M60 which encircles Manchester, the M4 from London to South Wales, theM62 from Liverpool via Manchester to East Yorkshire, and the M5 from Birmingham to Bristol and the South West.^[157]

Bus transport across the country is widespread; major companies include National Express, Arriva and Go-Ahead Group. The red double-decker buses in London have become a symbol of England. There is a rapid railnetwork in two English cities: the London Underground; and the Tyne and Wear Metro in Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland.^[158] There are several tram networks, such as the Blackpool tramway, Manchester Metrolink,Sheffield Supertram and Midland Metro, and the Tramlink system centred on Croydon in South London.^[158]

Rail transport in England is the oldest in the world: passenger railways originated in England in 1825.^[159] Much of Britain's 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of rail network lies in England, covering the country fairly extensively, although a high proportion of railway lines were closed in the second half of the 20th century. There are plans to reopen lines such as the Varsity Line between Oxford and Cambridge. These lines are mostly standard gauge (single, double or quadruple track) though there are also a few narrow gauge lines. There is rail transport access to France and Belgium through an undersea rail link, the Channel Tunnel, which was completed in 1994.

England has extensive domestic and international aviation links. The largest airport is London Heathrow, which is the world's busiest airport measured by number of international passengers.^[160] Other large airports include Manchester Airport, London Stansted Airport, Luton Airport and Birmingham Airport.^[156] By sea there is ferry transport, both local and international, including to Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium.^[161] There are around 4,400 miles (7,100 km) of navigable waterways in England, half of which is owned by the Canal and River Trust,^[161] however water transport is very limited. The Thames is the major waterway in England, with imports and exports focused at the Port of Tilbury in the Thames Estuary, one of the United Kingdom's three major ports.^[161]

Healthcare

Main article: Healthcare in England

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, an NHS hospital

The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England responsible for providing the majority of healthcare in the country. The NHS began on 5 July 1948, putting into effect the provisions of theNational Health Service Act 1946. It was based on the findings of the Beveridge Report, prepared by economist and social reformer William Beveridge.^[162] The NHS is largely funded from general taxation including National Insurance payments,^[163] and it provides most of its services free at the point of use, although there are charges for some people for eye tests, dental care, prescriptions and aspects of personal care.^[164]

The government department responsible for the NHS is the Department of Health, headed by the Secretary of State for Health, who sits in the British Cabinet. Most of the expenditure of the Department of Health is spent on the NHS—£98.6 billion was spent in 2008–2009.^[165] In recent years the private sector has been increasingly used to provide more NHS services despite opposition by doctors and trade unions.^[166] The average life expectancy of people in England is 77.5 years for males and 81.7 years for females, the highest of the four countries of the United Kingdom.^[167]

Demography

Main article: Demography of England

Population

Main article: English people

The metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, colour-coded to show population

Population of England and Wales by administrative areas. Their size is approximately in proportion to their population. The darker colour the bigger is the real area.

With over 53 million inhabitants, England is by far the most populous country of the United Kingdom, accounting for 84% of the combined total.^[9]^[168] England taken as a unit and measured against international states has the fourth largest population in the European Union and would be the 25th largest country by population in the world.^[169] With a density of 407 people per square kilometre, it would be the second most densely populated country in the European Union after Malta.^[170]^[171]

The English people are a British people.^[172] Some genetic evidence suggests that 75–95% descend in the paternal line from prehistoric settlers who originally came from the Iberian Peninsula, as well as a 5% contribution fromAngles and Saxons, and a significant Scandinavian (Viking) element.^[173]^[174]^[175] However, other geneticists place the Germanic estimate up to half.^[176]^[177]^[178] Over time, various cultures have been influential: Prehistoric,Brythonic,^[179] Roman, Anglo-Saxon,^[180] Viking (North Germanic),^[181] Gaelic cultures, as well as a large influence from Normans. There is an English diaspora in former parts of the British Empire; especially the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.^{[nb 4]} Since the late 1990s, many English people have migrated to Spain.^[186]^[187]

2009 estimates of ethnic groups in England^[188]

In 1086, when the Domesday Book was compiled, England had a population of two million. About ten per cent lived in urban areas.^[189] By 1801 the population had grown to 8.3 million, and by 1901 had grown to 30.5 million.^[190] Due in particular to the economic prosperity of South East England, it has received many economic migrants from the other parts of the United Kingdom.^[172] There has been significant Irish migration.^[191] The proportion of ethnically European residents totals at 87.50%, including Germans^[192] and Poles.^[172]

Other people from much further afield in the former British colonies have arrived since the 1950s: in particular, 6% of people living in England have family origins in the Indian subcontinent, mostly India, Pakistan andBangladesh.^[172]^[192] 2.90% of the population are black, from both the Caribbean and countries in Africa itself, especially former British colonies.^[172]^[192] There is a significant number of Chinese and British Chinese.^[172]^[192] In 2007, 22% of primary school children in England were from ethnic minority families,^[193] and in 2011 that figure was 26.5%.^[194] About half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001 was due to immigration.^[195] Debate over immigration is politically prominent;^[196] according to a 2009 Home Office poll, 80% of people want to cap it.^[197] The ONS has projected that the population will grow by six million between 2004 and 2029.^[198]

Language

Further information: English language in England

Language	Native speakers^[199]
English	46,936,780
Cornish	554
Polish	529,173
Punjabi	271,580
Urdu	266,330
Bengali	216,196
Gujarati	212,217
Arabic	152,490
French	145,026
Other	2,267,016
Population	51,005,610

English-speaking world

Majority native language

Official, but not majority language

Note: English is also an official language of the EU^[200]

As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue spoken by 98% of the population.^[201] It is an Indo-European language in the Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family.^[202] After the Norman conquest, the Old English language was displaced and confined to the lower social classes as Norman French and Latin were used by the aristocracy.

By the 15th century, English was back in fashion among all classes, though much changed; the Middle English form showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the English Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins.^[203] Modern English has extended this custom of flexibility, when it comes to incorporating words from different languages. Thanks in large part to the British Empire, the English language is the world's unofficial lingua franca.^[204]

English language learning and teaching is an important economic activity, and includes language schooling, tourism spending, and publishing. There is no legislation mandating an official language for England,^[205] but English is the only language used for official business. Despite the country's relatively small size, there are many distinct regional accents, and individuals with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood everywhere in the country.

As well as English, England has two other indigenous languages, Cornish and Welsh. Cornish died out as a community language in the 18th century but is being revived,^[206]^[207]^[208] and is now protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.^[209] It is spoken by 0.1% of people in Cornwall,^[210] and is taught to some degree in several primary and secondary schools.^[211]^[212]

When the modern border between Wales and England was established by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, many Welsh-speaking communities found themselves on the English side of the border. Welsh was spoken inArchenfield in Herefordshire into the nineteenth century.^[213] Welsh was spoken by natives of parts of western Shropshire until the middle of the twentieth century if not later.^[214]

State schools teach students a second language, usually French, German or Spanish.^[215] Due to immigration, it was reported in 2007 that around 800,000 school students spoke a foreign language at home,^[193] the most common being Punjabi and Urdu.^[216] However, following the 2011 census data released by the Office for National Statistics, figures now show that Polish is the main language spoken in England after English.^[217]

Religion

Canterbury Cathedral, seat of theArchbishop of Canterbury

Main article: Religion in England

Further information: History of Christianity in England

According to the 2011 census, 59.4% of the population is Christian, 24.7% non-religious, 5% is Muslim while 3.7% of the population belongs to other religions and 7.2 did not give an answer.^[218] Christianity is the most widely practised religion in England, as it has been since the Early Middle Ages, although it was first introduced much earlier in Gaelic and Roman times. This Celtic Church was gradually joined to the Catholic hierarchy following the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by St Augustine. The established church of England is Church of England,^[219] which left communion with Rome in the 1530s when Henry VIII was unable to annul his divorce to the auntof the king of Spain. The religion regards itself as both Catholic and Reformed.

Saint George is the patron saint of England

There are High Church and Low Church traditions, and some Anglicans regard themselves as Anglo-Catholics, following the Tractarian movement. The monarch of the United Kingdom is the Supreme Governor of the church, which has around 26 million baptised members (of whom the vast majority are not regular churchgoers). It forms part of the Anglican Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as its symbolic worldwide head.^[220]Many cathedrals and parish churches are historic buildings of significant architectural importance, such as Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral, and Salisbury Cathedral.

The 2nd-largest Christian practice is the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. Since its reintroduction after the Catholic Emancipation, the Church has organised ecclesiastically on an England and Wales basis where there are 4.5 million members (most of whom are English).^[221] There has been one Pope from England to date, Adrian IV; while saints Bede and Anselm are regarded as Doctors of the Church.

Westminster Abbey is a notable example of English Gothic architecture. The coronation of the British monarchtraditionally takes place at the Abbey

A form of Protestantism known as Methodism is the third largest Christian practice and grew out of Anglicanism through John Wesley.^[222] It gained popularity in the mill towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and amongst tin miners in Cornwall.^[223] There are other non-conformist minorities, such as Baptists, Quakers, Congregationalists, Unitarians and The Salvation Army.^[224]

The patron saint of England is Saint George; his symbolic cross is included in the flag of England, as well as in the Union Flag as part of a combination.^[225]^[225] There are many other English and associated saints; some of the best-known are: Cuthbert, Edmund, Alban, Wilfrid, Aidan, Edward the Confessor, John Fisher, Thomas More, Petroc, Piran, Margaret Clitherow and Thomas Becket. There are non-Christian religions practised. Jews have a history of a small minority on the island since 1070.^[226] They were expelled from England in 1290 following the Edict of Expulsion, only to be allowed back in 1656.^[226]

Especially since the 1950s, religions from the former British colonies have grown in numbers, due to immigration. Islam is the most common of these, now accounting for around 5% of the population in England.^[227] Hinduism,Sikhism and Buddhism are next in number, adding up to 2.8% combined,^[227] introduced from India and South East Asia.^[227]

A small minority of the population practice ancient Pagan religions. Neopaganism in the United Kingdom is primarily represented by Wicca and Witchcraft religions, Druidry, and Heathenry. According to the 2011 UK Census, there are roughly 53,172 people who identify as Pagan in England,^{[nb 5]} and 3,448 in Wales,^{[nb 6]} including 11,026 Wiccans in England and 740 in Wales.^{[nb 7]}

Education

Main article: Education in England

The frontage of Warwick School, one of the oldest independent schools in England

The Department for Education is the government department responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including education.^[229] State-run and state-funded schools are attended by approximately 93% of English schoolchildren.^[230] Of these, a minority are faith schools (primarily Church of England or Roman Catholic schools). Children who are between the ages of 3 and 5 attend nursery or an Early Years Foundation Stage reception unit within a primary school. Children between the ages of 5 and 11 attend primary school, and secondary school is attended by those aged between 11 and 16. After finishing compulsory education, students take GCSE examinations. Students may then opt to continue into further education for two years.Further education colleges (particularly sixth form colleges) often form part of a secondary school site. A-level examinations are sat by a large number of further education students, and often form the basis of an application to university.

Although most English secondary schools are comprehensive, in some areas there are selective intake grammar schools, to which entrance is subject to passing the eleven-plus exam. Around 7.2% of English schoolchildren attend private schools, which are funded by private sources.^[231] Standards in state schools are monitored by the Office for Standards in Education, and in private schools by the Independent Schools Inspectorate.^[232]

Large yellow stone building with an arched window and two towers at the end nearest the photographer. In the foreground is grass and water with people in a punt.

King's College, University of Cambridge

Higher education students normally attend university from age 18 onwards, where they study for an academic degree. There are over 90 universities in England, all but one of which are public institutions. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is the government department responsible for higher education in England.^[233] Students are generally entitled to student loans to cover the cost of tuition fees and living costs.^{[nb 8]} The first degree offered to undergraduates is the Bachelor's degree, which usually takes three years to complete. Students are then able to work towards a postgraduate degree, which usually takes one year, or towards a doctorate, which takes three or more years.

King's College London'sMaughan Library, the biggest university library in the UK

England's universities include some of the highest-ranked universities in the world; Cambridge University, Imperial College London, Oxford University, University College London and King's College London are all ranked in the global top 20 in the 2014–2015 QS World University Rankings.^[234] The London School of Economics has been described as the world's leading social science institution for both teaching and research.^[235] The London Business School is considered one of the world's leading business schools and in 2010 its MBA programme was ranked best in the world by the Financial Times.^[236] Academic degrees in England are usually split into classes: first class (1st), upper second class (2:1), lower second class (2:2), third (3rd), and unclassified.

The King's School, Canterbury and King's School, Rochester are the oldest schools in the English-speaking world.^[237] Many of England's most well-known schools, such as Winchester College, Eton, St Paul's School, Harrow School and Rugby School are fee-paying institutions.^[238]

Culture

Main article: Culture of England

Further information: English Renaissance

Architecture

A red telephone box in front of St Paul's Cathedral, one of the most important buildings of the English Baroque period

Many ancient standing stone monuments were erected during the prehistoric period, amongst the best-known are Stonehenge, Devil's Arrows, Rudston Monolith and Castlerigg.^[239] With the introduction of Ancient Roman architecturethere was a development of basilicas, baths, amphitheaters, triumphal arches, villas, Roman temples, Roman roads, Roman forts, stockades and aqueducts.^[240] It was the Romans who founded the first cities and towns such as London, Bath, York, Chester and St Albans. Perhaps the best-known example is Hadrian's Wall stretching right across northern England.^[240] Another well-preserved example is the Roman Baths at Bath, Somerset.^[240]

Early Medieval architecture's secular buildings were simple constructions mainly using timber with thatch for roofing. Ecclesiastical architecture ranged from a synthesis of Hiberno—Saxon monasticism,^[241]^[242] to Early Christian basilicaand architecture characterised by pilaster-strips, blank arcading, baluster shafts and triangular headed openings. After the Norman conquest in 1066 various Castles in England were created so law lords could uphold their authority and in the north to protect from invasion. Some of the best-known medieval castles are the Tower of London, Warwick Castle, Durham Castle and Windsor Castle.^[243]

A castle of square plan surrounded by a water-filled moat. It has round corner towers and a forbidding appearance.

Bodiam Castle is a 14th-centurymoated castle near Robertsbridge inEast Sussex

Throughout the Plantagenet era an English Gothic architecture flourished—the medieval cathedrals such as Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and York Minster are prime examples.^[243]Expanding on the Norman base there was also castles, palaces, great houses, universities and parish churches. Medieval architecture was completed with the 16th-century Tudor style; the four-centred arch, now known as the Tudor arch, was a defining feature as were wattle and daub houses domestically. In the aftermath of the Renaissance a form of architecture echoing classical antiquity, synthesised with Christianity appeared—the English Baroque style, architect Christopher Wren was particularly championed.^[244]

Georgian architecture followed in a more refined style, evoking a simple Palladian form; the Royal Crescent at Bath is one of the best examples of this. With the emergence of romanticism during Victorian period, a Gothic Revival was launched—in addition to this around the same time the Industrial Revolution paved the way for buildings such as The Crystal Palace. Since the 1930s various modernist forms have appeared whose reception is often controversial, though traditionalist resistance movements continue with support in influential places.^{[nb 9]}

Folklore

Main article: English folklore

Robin Hood illustrated in 1912 wearing Lincoln green

English folklore developed over many centuries. Some of the characters and stories are present across England, but most belong to specific regions. Common folkloric beings include pixies, giants, elves, bogeymen, trolls, goblins anddwarves. While many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, for instance the tales featuring Offa of Angel and Wayland the Smith,^[246] others date from after the Norman invasion; Robin Hood and his Merry Men ofSherwood and their battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham being, perhaps, the best known.^[247]

During the High Middle Ages tales originating from Brythonic traditions entered English folklore—the Arthurian myth.^[248]^[249]^[250] These were derived from Anglo-Norman, Welsh and French sources,^[249] featuring King Arthur, Camelot,Excalibur, Merlin and the Knights of the Round Table such as Lancelot. These stories are most centrally brought together within Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain).^{[nb 10]} Another early figure from British tradition, King Cole, may have been based on a real figure from Sub-Roman Britain. Many of the tales and pseudo-histories make up part of the wider Matter of Britain, a collection of shared British folklore.

Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story has been passed down centuries; Lady Godiva for instance was said to have ridden naked on horseback through Coventry, Hereward the Wake was a heroic English figure resisting the Norman invasion, Herne the Hunter is an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park and Mother Shipton is the archetypal witch.^[252] On 5 November people make bonfires, set offfireworks and eat toffee apples in commemoration of the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot centred on Guy Fawkes. The chivalrous bandit, such as Dick Turpin, is a recurring character, while Blackbeard is the archetypal pirate. There are various national and regional folk activities, participated in to this day, such as Morris dancing, Maypole dancing, Rapper sword in the North East, Long Sword dance in Yorkshire, Mummers Plays, bottle-kicking in Leicestershire, andcheese-rolling at Cooper's Hill.^[253] There is no official national costume, but a few are well established such as the Pearly Kings and Queens associated with cockneys, the Royal Guard, the Morris costume and Beefeaters.^[254]

Cuisine

Main article: English cuisine

Fish and chips is a very popular dish in England

Since the early modern period the food of England has historically been characterised by its simplicity of approach and a reliance on the high quality of natural produce.^[255] During the Middle Ages and through the Renaissance period, English cuisine enjoyed an excellent reputation, though a decline began during the Industrial Revolution with the move away from the land and increasing urbanisation of the populace. The cuisine of England has, however, recently undergone a revival, which has been recognised by the food critics with some good ratings in Restaurant's best restaurant in the world charts.^[256] An early book of English recipes is the Forme of Cury from the royal court of Richard II.^[257]

Apple pie has been consumed in England since the Middle Ages

Traditional examples of English food include the Sunday roast, featuring a roasted joint (usually beef, lamb, chicken or pork) served with assorted vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy.^[258] Other prominent meals includefish and chips and the full English breakfast (generally consisting of bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, fried bread, black pudding, baked beans, mushrooms, and eggs).^[259] Various meat pies are consumed such as steak and kidney pie, steak and ale pie, cottage pie, pork pie (the latter usually eaten cold)^[258] and the Cornish Pasty.

Sausages are commonly eaten, either as bangers and mash or toad in the hole. Lancashire hotpot is a well known stew in the northwest. Some of the more popular cheeses are Cheddar, Red Leicester and Wensleydaletogether with Blue Stilton. Many Anglo-Indian hybrid dishes, curries, have been created such as chicken tikka masala and balti. Traditional English dessert dishes include apple pie or other fruit pies; spotted dick – all generally served with custard; and, more recently, sticky toffee pudding. Sweet pastries include scones (either plain or containing dried fruit) served with jam and/or cream, dried fruit loaves, Eccles cakes and mince pies as well as a wide range of sweet or spiced biscuits. Common drinks include tea, whose popularity was increased by Catherine of Braganza,^[260] whilst frequently consumed alcoholic drinks include wines, ciders and English beers, such as bitter,mild, stout, and brown ale.^[261]

Visual arts

Main article: English art

Literature, poetry and philosophy

Main article: English literature

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet and philosopher, best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales.

Early authors such as Bede and Alcuin wrote in Latin.^[268] The period of Old English literature provided the epic poem Beowulf and the secular prose of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,^[269] along with Christian writings such as Judith,Cædmon's Hymn and hagiographies.^[268] Following the Norman conquest Latin continued amongst the educated classes, as well as an Anglo-Norman literature.

Middle English literature emerged with Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, along with Gower, the Pearl Poet and Langland. William of Ockham and Roger Bacon, who were Franciscans, were major philosophers of the Middle Ages. Julian of Norwich, who wrote Revelations of Divine Love, was a prominent Christian mystic. With the English Renaissance literature in the Early Modern English style appeared. William Shakespeare, whose works includeHamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, remains one of the most championed authors in English literature.^[270]

Christopher Marlowe, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sydney, Thomas Kyd, John Donne, and Ben Jonson are other established authors of the Elizabethan age.^[271] Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes wrote on empiricism and materialism, including scientific method and social contract.^[271] Filmer wrote on the Divine Right of Kings. Marvell was the best-known poet of the Commonwealth,^[272] while John Milton authored Paradise Lost during the Restoration.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise; this fortress, built by nature for herself. This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

William Shakespeare.^[273]

Some of the most prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Samuel Johnson and Jeremy Bentham. More radical elements were later countered by Edmund Burke who is regarded as the founder of conservatism.^[274] The poet Alexander Pope with his satirical verse became well regarded. The English played a significant role in romanticism: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley,William Blake and William Wordsworth were major figures.^[275]

In response to the Industrial Revolution, agrarian writers sought a way between liberty and tradition; William Cobbett, G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc were main exponents, while the founder of guild socialism, Arthur Penty, andcooperative movement advocate G. D. H. Cole are somewhat related.^[276] Empiricism continued through John Stuart Mill and Bertrand Russell, while Bernard Williams was involved in analytics. Authors from around the Victorian erainclude Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, H. G. Wells and Lewis Carroll.^[277] Since then England has continued to produce novelists such as George Orwell, D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, C. S. Lewis, Enid Blyton, Aldous Huxley, Agatha Christie, Terry Pratchett, J. R. R. Tolkien, and J. K. Rowling.^[278]

Performing arts

Further information: Folk music of England

Cinema

Museums, libraries, and galleries

Further information: List of museums in England

The Natural History Museum in London

English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The charity National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty holds a contrasting role. 17 of the 25 United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England.^[302] Some of the best-known of these are: Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, Tower of London, Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Studley Royal Park and various others.^[303]

There are many museums in England, but perhaps the most notable is London's British Museum. Its collection of more than seven million objects^[304] is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world,^[305] sourced from every continent, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; including around 25 million books.^[306] The most senior art gallery is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.^[307] The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the famously controversial Turner Prize.^[308]

Sports

Main article: Sport in England

The World Cup Sculpturefeaturing England captain Bobby Moore with the 1966 FIFA World Cuptrophy, on the shoulders of Geoff Hurst and Ray Wilson, together withMartin Peters

England has a strong sporting heritage, and during the 19th century codified many sports that are now played around the world. Sports originating in England include association football,^[309] cricket, rugby union, rugby league,tennis, boxing, badminton, squash,^[310] rounders,^[311] hockey, snooker, billiards, darts, table tennis, bowls, netball, thoroughbred horseracing, greyhound racing and fox hunting. It has helped the development of golf, sailing andFormula One.

Football is the most popular of these sports. The England national football team, whose home venue is Wembley Stadium, played Scotland in the first ever international football match in 1872.^[312] Referred to as the "home of football" by FIFA, England hosted the 1966 FIFA World Cup, and won the tournament by defeating West Germany 4–2 in the final, with Geoff Hurst scoring a hat-trick.^[313] With a British television audience peak of 32.30 million viewers, the final is the most watched television event ever in the UK.^[314]

Wembley Stadium, home of theEngland football team, has a 90,000 capacity. It is the biggest stadium in the UK

At club level England is recognised by FIFA as the birthplace of club football, due to Sheffield F.C. founded in 1857 being the world's oldest club.^[309] The Football Association is the oldest governing body in the sport, with the rules of football first drafted in 1863 by Ebenezer Cobb Morley.^[315] The FA Cup and The Football League were the first cup and league competitions respectively. In the modern day the Premier League is the world's most-watched football league,^[316] most lucrative,^[317] and amongst the elite.^[318]

As is the case

Valentino Rossi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Valentino Rossi

Rossi at the 2010 Qatar Grand Prix

Nationality

Italian

Born

16 February 1979 (age 37)
Urbino, Italy

Current team

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Bike number

Website

valentinorossi.com

[hide]Motorcycle racing career statistics

MotoGP World Championship

Active years

2000–

Manufacturers

Honda (2000–2003)
Yamaha (2004–2010, 2013–)
Ducati (2011–2012)

Championships

7 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,2005, 2008, 2009)

2015 championshipposition

2nd (325 pts)

Starts	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F. laps	Points
281	88	180	53	75	4620

250cc World Championship

Active years

1998–1999

Manufacturers

Aprilia

Championships

1 (1999)

Starts	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F. laps	Points
30	14	21	5	11	510

125cc World Championship

Active years

1996–1997

Manufacturers

Aprilia

Championships

1 (1997)

Starts	Wins	Podiums	Poles	F. laps	Points
30	12	15	5	9	432

Valentino Rossi (Italian pronunciation: [valenˈtiːno ˈrossi]; born 16 February 1979) is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is considered to be the greatest and one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with nine Grand Prix World Championships to his name – seven of which are in the premier class.

Following his father, Graziano Rossi, Valentino started racing in Grand Prix in 1996 for Aprilia in the 125cc category and won his first World Championship the following year. From there, he moved up to the 250cc category with Aprilia and won the 250cc World Championship in 1999. After graduating to the premier class in 2000, he won the 500cc World Championship with Honda in 2001, the MotoGP World Championships (also with Honda) in 2002 and 2003, and continued his streak of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha, before regaining the title in 2008 and retaining it in2009.^[1] He left Yamaha to join Ducati for the 2011 season,^[2]^[3] but it was confirmed in 2012 that he would rejoin Yamaha for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.^[4] He suffered two winless seasons while at Ducati.

Rossi came close to winning the 2015 title after several years out of contention, leading the championship for most of the season, only to lose out in the final round to fellow Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo. The end of that season was marred with controversy following Rossi having a coming together on track with Marc Márquez resulting in Márquez crashing, as such Rossi was given a grid penalty for the final round, and accused Márquez of deliberately trying to harm his championship, something Márquez repeatedly denied.^[5]^[6] Feedback from riders and experts showed a generalized consensus that Márquez's manoeuvres were within the rules, although unsportsmanlike - with Race Director Mike Webb officially acknowledging that there was blame on both sides.^[7] Márquez's manoeuvres exasperated Rossi, prompting an illegal response,^[8] although Lorenzo eventually stated to the media he was helped by Márquez not making serious moves trying to overtake him.^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12] However, the controversial rivalries between Rossi and Márquez appeared to come to an end at the 2016 Catalan Grand Prix, when Rossi started a handshake with Márquez at the parc frame.

Rossi is first in all time 500cc/MotoGP race wins standings, with 88 victories, and second in all time overall wins standings with 114 race wins, behind Giacomo Agostini with 122.

Career[edit]

The early years[edit]

Valentino Rossi was born in Urbino, Marche,^[13] and he was still a child when the family moved to Tavullia. Son of Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, he first began riding at a very young age.^[14] Rossi's first racing love was karting. Fuelled by his mother, Stefania's, concern for her son's safety, Graziano purchased a kart as substitute for the bike. However, the Rossi family trait of perpetually wanting to go faster prompted a redesign; Graziano replaced the 60cc motor with a 100cc national kart motor for his then 5-year-old son.^[15]

Rossi won the regional kart championship in 1990.^[16] After this he took up minimoto and before the end of 1991 had won numerous regional races.^[14]

Rossi continued to race karts and finished fifth at the national kart championships in Parma. Both Valentino and Graziano had started looking at moving into the Italian 100cc series, as well as the corresponding European series, which most likely would have pushed him into the direction of Formula One. However, the high cost of racing karts led to the decision to race minimoto exclusively.^{[citation needed]} Through 1992 and 1993, Valentino continued to learn the ins and outs of minimoto racing.

In 1993, with help from his father, Virginio Ferrari, Claudio Castiglioni and Claudio Lusuardi (who ran the official Cagiva Sport Production team), he rode a Cagiva Mito 125cc motorcycle, which he damaged in a first-corner crash no more than a hundred metres from the pit lane.^[17] He finished ninth that race weekend.^[17]

Although his first season in the Italian Sport Production Championship was varied, he achieved a pole position in the season's final race at Misano, where he would ultimately finish on the podium. By the second year, Rossi had been provided with a factory Mito by Lusuardi and won the Italian title.

125 cc, 250 cc and 500 cc World Championships[edit]

The Aprilia RS 125 (left) and 250 (right) with which Rossi won the 125cc World Championship in 1997 and the 250cc World Championship in 1999.

In 1994, Aprilia by way of Peppino Sandroni, used Rossi to improve its RS125R and in turn allowed him to learn how to handle the fast new pace of 125 cc racing. At first he found himself on a Sandroni,^[18] with a Rotax-Aprilia engine in the 1994 Italian championship and continued to ride it through the 1995 European and Italian championships.

Rossi had some success in the 1996 World Championship season, failing to finish five of the season's races and crashing several times. Despite this, in August he won his first World Championship Grand Prix at Brno in the Czech Republic on an AGV Aprilia RS125R. He finished the season in ninth position and proceeded to dominate the 125 cc World Championship in the following 1997 season, winning 11 of the 15 races.

By 1998, the Aprilia RS250 was reaching its pinnacle and had a team of riders in Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Tetsuya Harada. He later concluded the 1998 250 cc season in second place, 23 points behind Capirossi. In 1999, however, he won the title, collecting five pole positions and nine wins.

Rossi was rewarded in 2000 for his 250 cc World Championship by being given a ride with Honda in what was then the ultimate class in World Championship motorcycle racing, 500 cc. Retired 500 cc World Champion Mick Doohan, who also had Jeremy Burgess as chief engineer, worked with Rossi as his personal mentor in his first year at Honda. It would also be the first time Rossi would be racing against Max Biaggi. It would take nine races before Rossi would win on the Honda but, like his previous seasons in 125 and 250, it would bode well for a stronger second season as he finished second to Kenny Roberts, Jr.; Rossi recorded only two wins during the season, winning in Great Britain^[19] and Brazil.^[20]

Honda NSR500 used by Rossi in the 2001 season

Rossi won his first 500 cc World Championship in 2001,^[21] winning 11 races in the final year of that class and collected 325 points, 106 points ahead of Biaggi, who became Rossi's main rival during the season, and Rossi was the first and only satellite rider to clinch the title. Also during the season, Rossi teamed up with American rider Colin Edwards for the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race aboard a Honda VTR1000SPW, becoming the first Italian rider to win the race. The pair won the race despite Rossi's lack of experience racing superbikes. In 2002, 500cc two-strokes were still allowed, but saw the beginning of the 990 cc four-stroke Moto GP class, after which the 500 cc machines were essentially obsolete.

MotoGP[edit]

Honda (2002–2003)[edit]

2002

Rossi riding his Honda RC211VMotoGP bike

The inaugural year for the MotoGP bikes was 2002, when riders experienced teething problems getting used to the new bikes. Rossi won the first race in wet conditions at Suzuka, beating several local riders, who were racing as wildcards.^[22] Rossi went on to win 8 of the first 9 races of the season, eventually claiming 11 victories in total.^[23] Rossi clinched his second title at Rio de Janeiro,^[24] with four races remaining in the season; he finished all but one race during the season, with a retirement at Brno.^[25]

2003

Honda RC211V with a one-off livery used by Rossi during the 2003 season

It was more of the same in 2003 for Rossi's rivals when he claimed nine pole positions as well as nine race wins to claim his third consecutive World Championship, clinching the title inMalaysia.^[26] This year, Sete Gibernau became his strongest opponent, beating Rossi several times, although Rossi got the better of Gibernau in the Czech Republic, by just 0.042 seconds.^[27] The Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island is considered by many observers to be one of Rossi's greatest career moments due to unique circumstances. After being given a 10-second penalty for overtaking during a yellow flag due to a crash by Ducati rider Troy Bayliss, front runner Rossi proceeded to pull away from the rest of the field, eventually finishing more than 15 seconds ahead, more than enough to cancel out the penalty and win the race.^[28] He won the final race at Valencia with a special livery, which would turn out to be his final win for Honda.^[29]

Partnered with increased scepticism that the reason for his success was the dominance of the RC211V rather than Rossi, it was inevitable^{[dubious – discuss]} that Honda and Rossi would part. Mid-season rumours pointed towards a possible move to Ducati, which sent the Italian press into a frenzy; the concept of Rossi on the great Italian bike seemed too good to be true. Ducati did indeed try to seduce Rossi into riding their MotoGP bike, theDesmosedici, but for numerous reasons Rossi passed the offer up. Critics say that compared to the other manufacturers, Ducati had a significant way to go before being competitive even with Rossi at the helm. This proved to be the truth with Ducati's lacklustre performance in the 2004 season, which had actually been worse than their inaugural year in MotoGP in 2003. In his 2005 autobiography, What If I'd Never Tried It?, Rossi offered another reason for choosing Yamaha over Ducati, saying that the mindset at Ducati Corse was a little too similar to the one he was trying to escape from at Honda. Ultimately, Rossi signed a two-year contract with rivals Yamaha reportedly worth in excess of US$12 million; a price no other manufacturer, even Honda, was willing to pay.

Yamaha (2004–2010)[edit]

2004

Yamaha YZR-M1 used by Rossi in the 2004 season

With the traditional first race of the season at Suzuka off the list due to safety considerations following the fatal accident of Daijiro Kato, the 2004 season started at Welkom in South Africa. Rossi won the race, becoming the only rider to win consecutive races with different manufacturers, having won the final race of the previous season on his Honda bike.^[30] His fourth-place finish at Jerez saw the end of a 23-race podium streak.^[31] He failed to finish inBrazil^[32] and Qatar^[33] but Rossi would go on to win eight more Grands Prix in the season, primarily battling Sete Gibernau, with Rossi clinching the championship at the penultimate race of the season at Phillip Island, beating Gibernau by just 0.097 seconds to do so.^[34] Rossi ended the season with 304 points to Gibernau's 257, with Max Biaggi third with 217 points.

2005

Rossi at the 2005 British Grand Prix

In 2005, Rossi captured his 7th World Championship^[35] and fifth straight MotoGP Championship after winning 11 races including wins in 3 rain-affected races at Shanghai,^[36] Le Mans^[37] and Donington.^[38] His only non-podium result was a retirement at Motegi.^[39] Rossi finished with a total of 367 points, 147 points ahead of second-place finisher Marco Melandri, and Nicky Hayden finished third with 206 points.

2006

Rossi at the 2006 Italian Grand Prix

The 2006 MotoGP season started off with Rossi, once again, being the favorite to take the Championship, but he had trouble in the first half of the season, including mechanical failures at Shanghai^[40] and Le Mans.^[41] Rossi did however, win several races, in Qatar,^[42] Italy,^[43] Catalunya,^[44] Germany^[45] and Malaysia.^[46] Hayden held the points lead throughout most of the season, but Rossi was slowly working his way up the points ladder. It was not until Motegi when Rossi finally grabbed 2nd in the points race behind Hayden.^[47] In the Portuguese Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season, Hayden was taken out by his teammate, Dani Pedrosa, and did not finish the race. This led to Rossi taking the points lead with only one race left in the season.^[48] However, Rossi crashed early in Valencia, the last race, and Hayden went on to win the championship, ahead of Rossi.^[49]

2007

Rossi at the 2007 Dutch TT

Rossi returned to MotoGP for the 2007 season, riding the new Yamaha YZR-M1 800 cc. In the first race in Qatar he came second to Casey Stoner on the Ducati Desmosedici.^[50] Rossi won the second race of the season in Spain,^[51] and would win three more races that year – at Assen,^[52] Estoril^[53] and Mugello^[54] – but retired from races at the Sanchsenring^[55] andMisano.^[56] Stoner dominated the season, winning ten races to take his first title, 125 points clear of second place Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa's win in the last race at Valencia combined with Rossi's retirement meant that he beat Rossi, by a single point.^[57] This was Rossi's lowest championship position since his first season in 1996 in 125s.

2008

For 2008 Rossi changed to Bridgestone tyres. The season started slowly with a fifth-place finish in Qatar,^[58] but he took his first win in Shanghai,^[59] and also won the next two races at Le Mans^[60] and Mugello.^[61] From that race, Rossi was on the podium of every remaining race – except Assen, where he crashed on the first lap and finished 11th^[62] – winning a total of nine races in the season. His victories at Laguna Seca – after a pass down the "Corkscrew" corner over Stoner,^[63]^[64]^[65] who crashed but continued and took the second place – and at a rain-shortened race in Indianapolis,^[66] meant that Rossi had won at every circuit on the calendar, at that time. His win at Motegi was his first MotoGP victory at the track, and became the first Yamaha rider to win at the Honda-owned circuit. The victory at Motegi won Rossi his first 800cc MotoGP title, his sixth in the premier category, and eighth overall.^[67]

2009

Rossi at the 2009 United States Grand Prix

The 2009 season saw Rossi win six races to win his ninth championship title, beating his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo into second place by 45 points, clinching the title at Sepang in wet conditions.^[68] Six wins was the lowest number of wins Rossi has had in a championship winning season; the previous lowest was nine in 1999 in the 250 cc class and 2003, 2004 and 2008 in MotoGP. Rossi also failed to win at Mugello, for the first time since 2001.^[69] The most dramatic victory of the season came at Barcelona, beating Lorenzo by 0.095 seconds.^[70] Rossi also won a close race in Germany, winning by 0.099 seconds.^[71]

Rossi celebrates his 100th career victory at the 2009 Dutch TT in Assen

His victory at the 2009 Dutch TT in Assen was Rossi's 100th victory, becoming only the second rider in motorcycle grand prix history – after Giacomo Agostini – to reach 100 wins.^[72]

On 8 June 2009, Valentino Rossi rode a Yamaha around the famous Snaefell Mountain Course in an exhibition lap at the 2009 Isle of Man TT, alongside Agostini, in what was called 'The Lap of the Gods'.^[73] This had been delayed by 48 hours due to bad weather. He also performed the garlanding ceremony for the Superbike podium, bestowing the podium of John McGuinness, Steve Plater and Guy Martin.^[73]

2010

Rossi celebrates victory at the 2010 Qatar Grand Prix

The 2010 season began with Rossi topping most of all pre-season testing sessions and took victory in the first race of the season in Qatar, after early leader Casey Stoner crashed out.^[74]Rossi injured his shoulder and back while training on a motocross bike after the Japanese Grand Prix was postponed to October due to the disruption to air travel after the second eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. The following two rounds in Spain^[75] and France,^[76] Rossi was beaten by team-mate Lorenzo with Rossi complaining about shoulder pain. The injury was not taken seriously initially and was expected to cure in a few weeks, but did not turn out as expected and the ligament tear in the shoulder failed to sufficiently heal.

On 5 June 2010 at his home race at Mugello, Rossi crashed in the second free practice session, around the Biondetti corner, at around 120 mph (190 km/h). Rossi suffered a displaced compound fracture of his right tibia, and after post-surgical care close to his home in the hospital at Cattolica, it was diagnosed that he was likely to be out for most of the season.^[77]^[78] It was the first time that Rossi had missed a race in his Grand Prix career.^[79] However ahead of the British Grand Prix, Suzi Perry reported in her Daily Telegraph column that Rossi was planning on making a comeback atBrno.^[80] This was confirmed a week later by Rossi himself.^[81] On 7 July, Rossi rode at Misano on a Superbike World Championship-specification Yamaha YZF-R1 provided by the Yamaha World Superbike Team to test his leg's recovery.^[82] He completed 26 laps during two runs, with a best lap time that was around two seconds off the pace of recent World Superbike times at the circuit. At the conclusion of the session, Rossi complained of discomfort, reporting pain in both his leg and his shoulder.^[83]^[84] On 12 July, Rossi took part in another test at Brno, after which Rossi stated he was happier and a lot more in form.^[85]

Rossi leading Jorge Lorenzo at the 2010 French Grand Prix

After an observation by the Chief Medical Officer on the Thursday before the weekend, Rossi made his return at the German Grand Prix, two rounds earlier than predicted^[86] and only 41 days after the accident. He managed to end the race in fourth place after a battle with Casey Stoner for third^[87] before a third-place finish at Laguna Seca.^[88] He added another race victory to his name at Sepang, Malaysia^[89] on his way to collecting ten podiums throughout the season, including five podiums in a row in the final run in of the season, where he finished third in the overall standings.^[90]

Ducati (2011–2012)[edit]

2011

Rossi during a pre-season test atSepang in February 2011.

On 15 August 2010, after the Brno race, Rossi confirmed he would ride for Ducati Corse, signing a two-year deal starting in 2011,^[2]^[3] joining former Honda racing team-mate Nicky Hayden on the team. He tested the Desmosedici for the first time in Valencia on 9 November 2010,^[91] making his first appearance since 1999, on an Italian motorcycle.^[92] Rossi underwent surgery on his shoulder which he injured during the 2010 season,^[93] in order to be ready for preseason testing in Malaysia. After original progress during the first test,^[94] the Ducati failed to meet the team's expectations at the second Malaysian test and left Rossi unsatisfied, having finished over 1.8 seconds behind Casey Stoner's pace-setting Honda.^[95]

Rossi at the 2011 Portuguese Grand Prix

Rossi started the season finishing seventh in Qatar.^[96] before a fifth in wet conditions at Jerez, despite a collision with Casey Stoner, which Rossi later apologised for.^[97] Another fifth place followed in Portugal,^[98] before a third place at Le Mans, benefitting from a collision between Dani Pedrosa and Marco Simoncelli, with Pedrosa retiring from the race and Simoncelli given a ride-through penalty.^[99] Rossi then finished the next four races inside the top six, with a best of fourth at Assen.^[100] Ninth at the Sachsenring,^[101] was followed by a pair of sixth places at Laguna Seca^[102] and Brno,^[103] and a tenth place at Indianapolis.^[104]

A seventh-place finish at Misano^[105] was followed by a tenth-place finish in Aragon,^[106] before a first-lap retirement in Japan, after contact with Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, which left Rossi with a blow to his finger.^[107] He also retired in Australia,^[108] crashing out midway through the race. In Malaysia, Rossi qualified ninth but was involved in a collision with Marco Simoncelli and Colin Edwards on the second lap of the race. Simoncelli fell while running fourth, landing in the path of Edwards and Rossi, who both hit Simoncelli's Honda with Simoncelli's helmet also coming off in the incident. Simoncelli later died of the injuries he sustained in the crash, and the race was cancelled.^[109] At the final race in Valencia, Rossi retired at the first corner after Álvaro Bautista fell from his bike and took down Rossi, team-mate Hayden and Randy de Puniet in the process. With his retirement, Rossi finished a season winless for the first time in his Grand Prix career,^[110] and finished seventh place in the championship.^[111]

2012

Rossi started the 2012 season slowly with a tenth place in Qatar,^[112] ninth at Jerez and seventh in Portugal,^[113] At Le Mans he scored his first podium of the season; he was involved in a fight for third position from the early stages of the race with Tech 3 pairing Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, but both riders hit trouble and left Rossi on his own. Rossi later closed down Casey Stoner, and passed him in the closing stages.^[114] Rossi finished seventh in Catalunya, while at Silverstone, Rossi was fastest in the first free practice session, but finished the race in ninth. After a thirteenth-place finish at Assen, Rossi finished sixth at the Sachsenring^[115] and fifth at Mugello. He scored his second podium of the season at Misano^[116] and ultimately finished sixth in the final championship standings, with 163 points.^[117]

Return to Yamaha (2013–)[edit]

2013

On 10 August, it was confirmed that Rossi would leave the factory Ducati team at the end of the 2012 season,^[118] after two seasons with the team. Later that day, it was also announced that Rossi would rejoin the Yamaha factory team until the end of the 2014 season, resuming his partnership with Jorge Lorenzo.^[4] Rossi was reacquainted with the Yamaha, when he tested the bike over 13–14 November 2012 at a post season test atValencia.^[119] However, rain prevented him from posting an accurate lap time, until he next tested the 2013 machine over 5–7 February 2013, in Sepang, where he posted a 3rd fastest time of 2:00.542 out of 28 riders, clocking 0.442 seconds from pace setter Dani Pedrosa; and just 0.113 seconds off team mate Jorge Lorenzo.

He kicked off the season with 2nd place at the season opener in Qatar,^[120] followed by 6th at Circuit of the Americas,^[121] and 4th at Jerez.^[122] At Le Mans, he crashed but was able to finish in 12th place,^[123] which was followed by a crash at his home race in Mugelloafter making contact with Álvaro Bautista.^[124] In Catalunya he finished 4th.^[125]

On 29 June 2013 Rossi won the Dutch TT at Assen, his first MotoGP win since Malaysia in 2010 – a 46-race winless streak – after passing Dani Pedrosa on the sixth lap of the race.^[126] He finished third in the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring on 14 July, behind race winner Marc Márquez and Cal Crutchlow.^[127] At the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, Rossi finished in third place, his third consecutive podium finish.^[128] Before the end of the season, he obtained two more third-place finishes in Aragon^[129]and Australia,^[130] finishing fourth in the final championship standings, with 237 points. Rossi battled consistently among the second group of riders, along with Cal Crutchlow, Stefan Bradl and Álvaro Bautista.^[131]

2014

Rossi at the 2014 Grand Prix of the Americas

At the end of the 2013 season, Rossi announced the conclusion of his long collaboration with crew chief Jeremy Burgess, who was replaced by Silvano Galbusera, the former crew chief of Marco Melandri in the Superbike World Championship.^[132]

Rossi started the season well, with second-place finishes in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix – after battling with Márquez until the last lap for the victory^[133] – and at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez.^[134] He achieved his third second place of the season at the French Grand Prix.^[135] On 1 June 2014, Rossi appeared in his 300th Grand Prix race, at his home round at Mugello.^[136] He finished the race in third place. At the San Marino Grand Prixat Misano, Rossi took his first win of the season – the first non-Honda win of 2014 – ahead of teammate Lorenzo.^[137] The victory pushed him past the 5000 career points total, the first and so far only rider to achieve this.^[138]

At the Aragon Grand Prix, Rossi qualified in sixth place and had been making progress up the order in the race, when he ran wide onto the grass – damp due to the wet conditions – and crashed heavily. He lost consciousness briefly after the crash (or as Rossi put it: "I had a little nap"^[139]), and was transferred to a hospital in Alcañiz for a precautionary CT scan.^[140] Rossi took his second victory of 2014, at Phillip Island, benefitting from an accident for Márquez, while he was leading the race. It was Rossi's sixth win at the circuit, after five successive wins from 2001 to 2005.^[141] Rossi took his first pole position since the 2010 French Grand Prix^[142] in Valencia, his 60th pole position in Grand Prix racing. He finished in second place behind Márquez in the race,^[143] and as a result, he finished the season with 295 points – his highest points tally since the 2009 season – which was enough to finish as championship runner-up, 67 points behind Márquez.^[144]

2015

Rossi during an autograph session at the 2015 Grand Prix of the Americas

Rossi started the 2015 season – his 20th at World Championship level – by taking victory in the opening race in Qatar; it was his first win in a season-opening race since 2010. Rossi held off Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso to complete his 109th Grand Prix victory,^[145] while Dovizioso's teammate Andrea Iannone finished third, completing an all-Italian podium – the first since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.^[146] After achieving a third place behindMarc Márquez and Dovizioso in the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas,^[147] Rossi took a second victory of the season in Argentina, consolidating his championship lead, becoming the first rider to win a race using an extra-hard Bridgestone rear tyre.^[148] He recorded his eighth successive podium finish – and the 200th of his Grand Prix career^[149] – with a third place in Spain, and kept the run going with a second place in France,^[150] and a third on home soil at Mugello.^[151]

Rossi finished second to Lorenzo in Catalunya,^[152] to maintain the championship lead over his team-mate by one point. Rossi took his first pole position of the season at Assen, his 61st pole position in Grand Prix racing, and achieved his third victory of the season; it was his first win the race from pole position since the 2009 San Marino Grand Prix — and his twelfth successive podium – after a race-long battle with Márquez; he also extended his championship lead to ten points over Lorenzo, who finished third.^[153] Rossi further extended his championship lead at Sachsenring with third,^[154] and continued his podium streak with third-place finishes at Indianapolis,^[155]and Brno.^[156] Lorenzo's win in Brno gave him the championship lead over Rossi, by virtue of more wins at that point. Rossi returned to the championship lead with his fourth victory of 2015 at Silverstone, after Márquez – who had been chasing him for the majority of the race – crashed out in wet conditions, while Lorenzo could only finish fourth.^[157] The podium streak of 16 races ended with a fifth-place finish at Misano, but Rossi extended his championship lead to 23 points after Lorenzo crashed out.^[158] Lorenzo won the Aragon Grand Prix with Rossi in third, to cut the gap to fourteen points with four races remaining. The pair's results were enough for the team to clinch their respective title, their first since 2010.^[159]

In Japan, Rossi extended his championship lead to eighteen with a second-place finish to Dani Pedrosa in drying conditions. Lorenzo had started on pole but faded to third with tyre issues.^[160] Lorenzo cut the lead to eleven in Australia, with a second-place finish to Rossi's fourth.^[161] Lorenzo further cut the lead to seven, after a second-place finish in Malaysia; Rossi finished third after a collision with Márquez, in which he accrued three penalty points – enough to enforce a start from the back of the grid for the final race inValencia.^[162] Rossi made it up to fourth in the race, but with Lorenzo winning the race, Lorenzo took the championship by five points.^[163]

2016

Rossi began the 2016 season with fourth place in Qatar, albeit just two seconds from victory. In the next race in Argentina, Rossi returned to the podium with second place behind Marc Márquez after a collision between Ducati riders Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso on the last lap for which Iannone was penalised. The race was split into two parts similar to the 2013 Australian Grand Prix after concerns over Michelin rear tyres forced riders into making a pitstop to change bikes, Rossi had fought with Marquez for the lead in the first half of the race but fell back to fourth on his second bike before the last lap incident between the Ducati's. At Austin, Rossi suffered his first DNF since the 2014 Aragon Grand Prix, bringing and end to a run of 24 consecutive top five finishes after crashing at the start of the third lap. At Jerez, Rossi led the race start-to-finish with the exception of one corner to Jorge Lorenzo after gaining his 52nd pole position, the race marked the first time in his MotoGP career that Rossi led every lap of a race from pole position. At Le Mans, Rossi started a lowly seventh on the grid but recovered in the race to finish second with the fastest lap of the race. Rossi suffered a highly disappointing engine failure in his rome race at Mugello when closely following Lorenzo for the lead after starting from pole position; it was Rossi's first technical failure since the 2007 San Marino Grand Prix. Rossi bounced back however at the Catalunya by winning from seventh on the first lap after a late race battle with Márquez. Rossi dedicated the victory to the family of former Moto2 rider Luis Salom, who had been killed following a crash in Friday practice.

Rivalries[edit]

Earlier in his career Max Biaggi was considered Rossi's main rival. Although they had not even raced against each other until 2000, the rivalry between the two had been growing since the mid-1990s, and reached its peak in Barcelona in 2001, at the end of the Class 500 race, when the two drivers come to blows (involving members of their entourage and the circuit employees) in the moments before the podium ceremony. Previously, always in 2001, during the grand-prix of Japan, one of the most famous episodes in the quarrel between Biaggi and Rossi took place, when first Biaggi surpassed the rival widening incorrectly and conspicuously his left arm, making Rossi to risk a very dangerous fall at high speed, and a few laps later Rossi himself returned to overtake Biaggi showing, on live television, the middle finger. The rivalry died down after Rossi's consecutive World Championships and Biaggi's struggle to find support and a consistent rhythm with his races.

In his autobiography What If I'd Never Tried It?, Rossi makes a number of claims about the reasons for his rivalry with Biaggi, and some of the incidents which led to its escalation. The rivalry was also featured in the 2003 documentary film, Faster.

Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi at the2010 French Grand Prix

The podium after the 2010 Australian Grand Prix, with Casey Stoner flanked by Jorge Lorenzo and Rossi.

Rossi's closest rival in the 2003 and 2004 seasons was Sete Gibernau, riding with Team Gresini's Movistar Honda team on a satellite RC211V in 2004 and then on an all but in name factory RC211V, which Gibernau helped to develop, in 2005. Initially they were quite friendly in the paddock and off – Gibernau partied on occasions with Rossi at the Italian's Ibiza villa – but a souring in their relationship began in the 2004 season and culminated in the "Qatar Incident" that same season when Rossi's team was penalized for "cleaning" his grid position to aid in traction, along with Honda Pons' Max Biaggi, and both riders were subsequently forced to start from the back of the grid. A number of teams, including Gibernau's Team Gresini and the official Repsol Honda factory team, appealed successfully to race direction for Rossi to be sanctioned. Rossi and his chief engineer, Jeremy Burgess, insisted that they were doing nothing more than what many others had done before when faced with a dirty track.

Since then the two have not spoken and Rossi seemed to resolve to use the incident to apply psychological pressure on Gibernau. Rumours of Rossi having sworn that after the Qatar race, which Gibernau won while Rossi crashed out after rising to 6th position, he would do everything to make sure that Gibernau never stood on the highest step of the podium again. However, Rossi has denied these claims.^[164] Gibernau retired from Grand Prix racing after an unsuccessful, injury blighted 2006 season with Ducati and he never won another race after Qatar, prompting some in the Spanish and Italian motorcycle racing media to explain this fact by way of reference to the "Qatar Curse."^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Casey Stoner emerged as a rival for Rossi. Coupled with a Ducati, the young Australian won the first race of the year, followed by many more victories resulting in his claiming of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship title. Stoner's and Rossi's rivalry came to a dramatic climax at Laguna Seca Raceway in 2008. After numerous position changes, Rossi overtook Stoner at the Corkscrew. The bold move caused Rossi to run into the dirt and broken pavement on the inside of the right turn, and his rejoining the track came close to causing a collision between the two riders. A few laps later, Stoner went into the gravel on the slow entry into turn 11. Stoner picked up his bike to finish second, while Rossi took the win. After this, Casey Stoner made the comment, "I have lost respect for one of the greatest riders in history." For the comment, Stoner apologised to Rossi at the next race.^[165]

In 2008, Jorge Lorenzo joined Rossi in the factory Yamaha Motor Racing team, which started a new rivalry. Rossi won the 2008 title, with Lorenzo suffering two serious crashes at Laguna Seca and China. In 2009, Rossi and Lorenzo resumed hostilities with Rossi emerging as champion again. In 2009, Rossi defeated Lorenzo in several tight battles, at Valencia, Assen, Sachsenring and, most memorably, Lorenzo's home race at Catalonia, after passing him in the final corner to take victory, in that part of the track where any overtaking was considered impossible. In 2010, Lorenzo finally emerged victorious in the championship battle, after Rossi first injured his shoulder in a motocross training accident, then breaking his shin-bone after a vicious crash in Mugello, missing four races. The most dramatic race of the season came at Motegi, beating Lorenzo for third place.^[166]

Nicknames[edit]

Rossi at the 2011 Portuguese Grand Prix

Rossi's Yamaha YZR-M1 at the 2007 Bologna Motor Show

Since his early racing days Valentino Rossi has had numerous nicknames.

Since dominating the 500 cc category later known as MotoGP, "The Doctor" has become the nickname of choice for Rossi. Two theories prevail as to why Rossi uses "The Doctor." One is that Rossi adopted the nickname upon having earned a degree, which in Italy entitles one to use the title "Doctor." Another, as spoken by Graziano himself, "The Doctor because, I don't think there is a particular reason, but it's beautiful, and is important, The Doctor. And in Italy, The Doctor is a name you give to someone for respect, it's very important, The Doctor... important."^[167] Rossi often jokes, however, that the name arrived because in Italy, Rossi is a common surname for doctors.

He has always raced with the number No. 46 in his motorcycle grand prix career. The number his father had raced with in the first of his 3 grand prix career wins, in 1979, in Yugoslavia, on a 250c Morbidelli. Typically, a World Championship winner is awarded the No. 1 sticker for the next season. However, in a homage to Barry Sheene, who was the first rider of the modern era to keep the same number (#7), Rossi has stayed with the now-famous No. 46 throughout his career, though as the world champion he has worn the No. 1 on the shoulder of his racing leathers.

The text on his helmet refers to the name of his group of friends: "The Tribe of the Chihuahua," and the letters WLF on his leathers stand for "Viva La Figa," Italian for "Long Live Pussy." He has so far escaped any sanctions or ultimatums that he remove the letters because the "W" in "WLF" represents the two "V"s in "ViVa." Equally obvious is his success at escaping any disciplinary action from the FIM or Dorna Sports for having the letters so brazenly on the front neck area of his leathers. He traditionally also incorporates his favorite color (fluorescent yellow) into his leather designs. This has also earned him the nickname "Highlighter Pen" more recently. It is most commonly used by commentators Toby Moody and Julian Ryder.

Fellow motorcycle racer and former team mate Colin Edwards, as well as some TV journalists, have often referred to him as 'the GOAT' (Greatest of all Time).^[168]

Other motorsport activities[edit]

Rossi competing on the shakedown stage for the 2008 Rally GB

Rossi tested the Ferrari Formula One car in 2006 on 31 January, 1 February, and 2 February at Valencia. The first test saw Rossi spin out on the damp track into the gravel trap, ending his day. On the second day, he posted the ninth fastest time of fifteen drivers, approximately one second behind Michael Schumacher, who himself was third fastest. Rossi lapped faster than seasoned drivers Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber and David Coulthardand Toyota F1's Jarno Trulli.^[169] On the final day of testing, Rossi was just a little more than a half second behind Schumacher's best time.^[170] Schumacher hailed Rossi as having immense talent and said he would be perfectly capable of moving to Formula One and being competitive immediately.

In May 2006, Rossi announced that he would be staying in MotoGP until he felt his work on the motorbike was "finished." Ferrari driver Schumacher said that he felt "saddened" by Rossi's decision but supported it. Rossi subsequently signed a new contract with Yamaha for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, then for 2009 and 2010.

Beyond his interest in F1, Rossi's strong passion is for rallying. In Rossi's youth one of his heroes was WRC Champion Colin McRae. Rally legend McRae taught Rossi the basics of driving a rally car.^[171] The two competed against each other at the 2005 Monza Rally Show, with McRae driving a Skoda Fabia WRC and Rossi winning in a Subaru Impreza WRC.^[172] His first official foray into rallying came in 2002 at WRC Rally Great Britain in a Peugeot 206 WRC, in which he crashed out on the second stage (first non-superspecial stage).

In October 2006 it was announced that Rossi would enter that year's Rally New Zealand, a WRC event which was to run from 17–19 November.^[173] He competed in a Subaru Impreza WRC04 finishing 11th out of 39. In 2006 Rossi also won the Monza Rally Show driving a Ford Focus RS WRC 04. He beat the 2005 winner Rinaldo Capello by 24 seconds, winning five of the seven stages on his way. He also managed to outpace former WRCchampion Didier Auriol by seven seconds in the head-to-head Master Show final. Rossi also announced at the 2006 Monza Rally Show, that he would be entering the 2007 Rally of Great Britain, however, he later opted out. At the 2007 Monza Rally, Rossi again took first place.

Rossi had been linked with a move to both Formula One and the World Rally Championship in 2007, having tested for Ferrari and competed in a number of rally events.^[174]

But Rossi decided to remain in MotoGP; "I have a contract with Yamaha until 2008," said Rossi. "When that finishes then we will see. What I am sure about is that I will ride until I'm 31 or 32 at most. I will look for new stimuli in the next few seasons, but for now I am fully motivated".^[175] Rossi signed a new two-year contract confirming he will be at Yamaha until 2010.^[176] He originally planned to use the Impreza WRC2008 during his participation in the Rally GB in December 2008,^[177] but decided to drive a Ford Focus RS WRC 07 instead.^[178] He finished the rally in 12th place, 13 minutes and 20.4 seconds behind eventual winner Sébastien Loeb.^[179]

In January 2010, Rossi has said that once he retires from motorcycle racing, he hopes to move into rallying. "There are not many changes in a man's body between 22 and 34 so I still have some time left. I would consider shifting to cars, probably rallying, after that before I finally decide to take it easy ... I know F1 would've been easier but by the time I finish MotoGP, I will be too old for F1."^[180] Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's Formula One Team principal, however, reasserted his wish to have a third Ferrari on the F1 grid driven by Rossi, whilst confirming that Rossi would test an older Ferrari F1 car on 21 and 22 January 2010.^[181]

In March 2010, the Italian minister Franco Frattini government awarded Rossi the first Winning Italy Award for the image he portrays of his country on an international level.^[182]

In 2013, Rossi was given a special test of Kyle Busch's NASCAR Nationwide Series stock car at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rossi achieved a top speed of 185 miles per hour, a speed which would have put him in the top fifteen of a Nationwide Series race.^[183]

Team ownership[edit]

Rossi is the owner of the Sky Racing Team by VR46, which debuted in the Moto3 category of Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 2014 with riders Romano Fenati and Francesco Bagnaia. In 2015, Andrea Migno replaced Bagnaia.

Helmets and protective gear[edit]

Various helmets used by Rossi

Valentino Rossi has gone through numerous helmet designs throughout his career, most featuring the Sun & Moon motif, signifying (according to Rossi) the two sides of his personality. His helmets are manufactured byAGV.^[184] The artist of Rossi's current helmet graphics is Aldo Drudi.^[185]

Since commencing his Grand Prix career, Rossi has worn leathers from Dainese. In 1996 and 1997, Alpinestars was a sponsor on his bike, but did not supply Rossi with leathers. Alpinestars just supplied racing boots for Rossi. After Rossi joined the Yamaha Factory Team, the team wore shirts from Alpinestars, while Rossi maintained his association with Dainese. In 2011 and 2012, Rossi was a member of the Ducati factory team, where the team wore shirts from Puma, while Rossi still maintained his association with Dainese. In 2016, Rossi has a new jacket from Dainese . His jacket has a differents graphic compare with Alpinestars Movistar Yamaha jacket.

Pre-ride rituals[edit]

Rossi at the 2010 Qatar Grand Prix.

Rossi is very superstitious and is renowned for his pre-ride rituals. On a race day, he will always watch the beginning of the Moto3 race to see how long the starting lights remain lit before going out at the start of the race. Prior to riding (whether racing, qualifying, or practice), he will start his personal ritual by stopping about 2 metres from his bike, bending over and reaching for his boots. Then, when arriving at his bike, he will crouch down and hold the right-side foot-peg, with his head bowed. In an interview, Rossi said "It’s just a moment to focus and ‘talk’ to my bike, like moving from one place to the next."^[186] He adjusts the fit of his leathers by standing straight up on the foot-pegs, whilst riding down the pit-lane before the start of race or practice. He also revealed in an interview with MotoGP.com that he always puts one boot on before the other, one glove on before the other, and he always gets on the bike the same way. He also gets off the bike in the same way, swinging his right leg over the front of the bike.

Personal life[edit]

After leaving the family home in Tavullia, he moved to Milan, before taking up residency in London, England during his period with Honda. During this time he acquired a villa in Ibiza which he still owns,^[187] and following the tax case has now returned to his main residence to live close to his family in Italy. Rossi is a practising Catholic.^[188]

In 2002 he received threats from an Italian-Spanish anarchist movement – which in those days sent parcel bombs against important objectives between the two countries – because he was considered "guilty" to have printed on the motorbike and on the suit, the oil company name Repsol, for which he filmed a commercial in Spain.^[189]

On 31 May 2005 he received an honorary degree in Communications and Advertising for Organizations. In March 2010, the Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini delivered to Valentino Rossi the first Winning Italy Award for his contribution to the promotion of Italy's image in the world.^[182]

Reputed earnings[edit]

According to Sports Illustrated, Rossi is one of the highest earning sports personalities in the world, having earned an estimated $34 million in 2007.^[190] In 2009 Forbes ranked Rossi as number nine among the world's highest-paid athletes having earned an estimated $35 million in the past year.^[191]

Tax avoidance case[edit]

In 2007, the Italian tax authorities declared Rossi was being investigated for suspected tax evasion. Having previously unsuccessfully investigated Rossi for tax evasion in 2002, the authorities announced they were investigating Rossi for undeclared revenues of 112 million euros ($160 million) between 2000 to 2004. The officials said, against the European Taxes Agreements among European countries, Rossi's London residency has enabled him to take advantage of favourable tax conditions, such as only declaring earnings made in Britain and avoiding taxes on his lucrative merchandising and sponsorship contracts, commenting that Rossi had residency in London but his "centre of interests" wasn't there, as shown by a thorough investigation.^[192] It noted that in 2002, Rossi's Italian tax form declared earnings of 500 euros, while sponsorship contracts were all reported to be made out to foreign companies, but with his affairs controlled mainly from Italy.^[193] In February 2008, Rossi announced that he had reached a settlement with the Italian tax authorities: he paid 35 million euros to close the tax case. He also plea-bargained a suspended sentence of six months' imprisonment for non-declaration of income.^[194]

Videogame[edit]

In November 2015, Milestone S.r.l. announced Valentino Rossi: The Game, to be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.^[195]

Other hobbies[edit]

Rossi tries to keep his personal life out of the public eye as much as possible, though he makes no secret of his fondness for Italian football club Internazionale. After he won world titles in 2008 and 2009, Inter congratulated him via their website.^[196]^[197] At the 2015 Argentine Grand Prix, Rossi wore a replica Diego Maradona football shirt on the podium in tribute to Maradona after Rossi won the race. Maradona congratulated him via his Facebook.

Career statistics[edit]

By season[edit]

Season	Class	Bike	Team	Number	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
1996	125cc	Aprilia RS125	Scuderia AGV Aprilia	46	15	1	2	1	2	111	9th	0
1997	125cc	Aprilia RS125	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	46	15	11	13	4	7	321	1st	1
1998	250cc	Aprilia RS250	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	46	14	5	9	0	3	201	2nd	0
1999	250cc	Aprilia RS250	Nastro Azzurro Aprilia	46	16	9	12	5	8	309	1st	1
2000	500cc	Honda NSR500	Nastro Azzurro Honda	46	16	2	10	0	5	209	2nd	0
2001	500cc	Honda NSR500	Nastro Azzurro Honda	46	16	11	13	4	10	325	1st	1
2002	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	Repsol Honda Team	46	16	11	15	7	9	355	1st	1
2003	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	Repsol Honda Team	46	16	9	16	9	12	357	1st	1
2004	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha	46	16	9	11	5	3	304	1st	1
2005	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Gauloises Yamaha Team^{[N 1]}	46	17	11	16	5	6	367	1st	1
2006	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Camel Yamaha Team	46	17	5	10	5	4	247	2nd	0
2007	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha Team	46	18	4	8	4	3	241	3rd	0
2008	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha Team	46	18	9	16	2	5	373	1st	1
2009	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha Team	46	17	6	13	7	6	306	1st	1
2010	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Fiat Yamaha Team	46	14	2	10	1	2	233	3rd	0
2011	MotoGP	Ducati Desmosedici GP11	Ducati Team	46	17	0	1	0	1	139	7th	0
2012	MotoGP	Ducati Desmosedici GP12	Ducati Team	46	18	0	2	0	1	163	6th	0
2013	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Yamaha Factory Racing	46	18	1	6	0	1	237	4th	0
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	46	18	2	13	1	1	295	2nd	0
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	46	18	4	15	1	4	325	2nd	0
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha YZR-M1	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	46	11	2	5	2	2	144*	2nd*	0
Total					341	114	216	63	95	5562		9

By class[edit]

Class	Seas	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	1996–1997	1996 Malaysia	1996 Austria	1996 Czech Republic	30	12	15	5	9	432	1
250 cc	1998–1999	1998 Japan	1998 Spain	1998 Netherlands	30	14	21	5	11	510	1
500 cc	2000–2001	2000 South Africa	2000 Spain	2000 Great Britain	32	13	23	4	15	534	1
MotoGP	2002 – present	2002 Japan	2002 Japan	2002 Japan	238	73	152	47	58	3942	6
Total	1996 – present				338	112	211	61	93	5431	9

Races by year[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos.	Pts
1996	125cc	Aprilia	MAL 6	INA 11	JPN 11	SPA 4	ITA 4	FRA Ret	NED Ret	GER 5	GBR Ret	AUT 3	CZE 1	IMO 5	CAT Ret	BRA Ret	AUS 14				9th	111
1997	125cc	Aprilia	MAL 1	JPN Ret	SPA 1	ITA 1	AUT 2	FRA 1	NED 1	IMO 1	GER 1	BRA 1	GBR 1	CZE 3	CAT 1	INA 1	AUS 6				1st	321
1998	250cc	Aprilia	JPN Ret	MAL Ret	SPA 2	ITA 2	FRA 2	MAD Ret	NED 1	GBR Ret	GER 3	CZE Ret	IMO 1	CAT 1	AUS 1	ARG 1					2nd	201
1999	250cc	Aprilia	MAL 5	JPN 7	SPA 1	FRA Ret	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 2	GBR 1	GER 1	CZE 1	IMO 2	VAL 8	AUS 1	RSA 1	BRA 1	ARG 3			1st	309
2000	500cc	Honda	RSA Ret	MAL Ret	JPN 11	SPA 3	FRA 3	ITA 12	CAT 3	NED 6	GBR 1	GER 2	CZE 2	POR 3	VAL Ret	BRA 1	PAC 2	AUS 3			2nd	209
2001	500cc	Honda	JPN 1	RSA 1	SPA 1	FRA 3	ITA Ret	CAT 1	NED 2	GBR 1	GER 7	CZE 1	POR 1	VAL 11	PAC 1	AUS 1	MAL 1	BRA 1			1st	325
2002	MotoGP	Honda	JPN 1	RSA 2	SPA 1	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 1	GBR 1	GER 1	CZE Ret	POR 1	BRA 1	PAC 2	MAL 2	AUS 1	VAL 2			1st	355
2003	MotoGP	Honda	JPN 1	RSA 2	SPA 1	FRA 2	ITA 1	CAT 2	NED 3	GBR 3	GER 2	CZE 1	POR 1	BRA 1	PAC 2	MAL 1	AUS 1	VAL 1			1st	357
2004	MotoGP	Yamaha	RSA 1	SPA 4	FRA 4	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 1	BRA Ret	GER 4	GBR 1	CZE 2	POR 1	JPN 2	QAT Ret	MAL 1	AUS 1	VAL 1			1st	304
2005	MotoGP	Yamaha	SPA 1	POR 2	CHN 1	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 1	USA 3	GBR 1	GER 1	CZE 1	JPN Ret	MAL 2	QAT 1	AUS 1	TUR 2	VAL 3		1st	367
2006	MotoGP	Yamaha	SPA 14	QAT 1	TUR 4	CHN Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 1	CAT 1	NED 8	GBR 2	GER 1	USA Ret	CZE 2	MAL 1	AUS 3	JPN 2	POR 2	VAL 13		2nd	247
2007	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 2	SPA 1	TUR 10	CHN 2	FRA 6	ITA 1	CAT 2	GBR 4	NED 1	GER Ret	USA 4	CZE 7	RSM Ret	POR 1	JPN 13	AUS 3	MAL 5	VAL Ret	3rd	241
2008	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 5	SPA 2	POR 3	CHN 1	FRA 1	ITA 1	CAT 2	GBR 2	NED 11	GER 2	USA 1	CZE 1	RSM 1	IND 1	JPN 1	AUS 2	MAL 1	VAL 3	1st	373
2009	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 2	JPN 2	SPA 1	FRA 16	ITA 3	CAT 1	NED 1	USA 2	GER 1	GBR 5	CZE 1	IND Ret	RSM 1	POR 4	AUS 2	MAL 3	VAL 2		1st	306
2010	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 1	SPA 3	FRA 2	ITA DNS	GBR	NED	CAT	GER 4	USA 3	CZE 5	IND 4	RSM 3	ARA 6	JPN 3	MAL 1	AUS 3	POR 2	VAL 3	3rd	233
2011	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT 7	SPA 5	POR 5	FRA 3	CAT 5	GBR 6	NED 4	ITA 6	GER 9	USA 6	CZE 6	IND 10	RSM 7	ARA 10	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	MAL C	VAL Ret	7th	139
2012	MotoGP	Ducati	QAT 10	SPA 9	POR 7	FRA 2	CAT 7	GBR 9	NED 13	GER 6	ITA 5	USA Ret	IND 7	CZE 7	RSM 2	ARA 8	JPN 7	MAL 5	AUS 7	VAL 10	6th	163
2013	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 2	AME 6	SPA 4	FRA 12	ITA Ret	CAT 4	NED 1	GER 3	USA 3	IND 4	CZE 4	GBR 4	RSM 4	ARA 3	MAL 4	AUS 3	JPN 6	VAL 4	4th	237
2014	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 2	AME 8	ARG 4	SPA 2	FRA 2	ITA 3	CAT 2	NED 5	GER 4	IND 3	CZE 3	GBR 3	RSM 1	ARA Ret	JPN 3	AUS 1	MAL 2	VAL 2	2nd	295
2015	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 1	AME 3	ARG 1	SPA 3	FRA 2	ITA 3	CAT 2	NED 1	GER 3	IND 3	CZE 3	GBR 1	RSM 5	ARA 3	JPN 2	AUS 4	MAL 3	VAL 4	2nd	325
2016	MotoGP	Yamaha	QAT 4	ARG 2	AME Ret	SPA 1	FRA 2	ITA Ret	CAT 1	NED Ret	GER 8	AUT 4	CZE 2	GBR	RSM	ARA	MAL	JPN	AUS	VAL	2nd	144*

Suzuka 8 Hours results[edit]

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Bike	Pos.
2001	Honda	Colin Edwards	Honda VTR1000SPW	1st

Records[edit]

As of the conclusion of round number 8 in Assen of the 2016 season, Valentino Rossi holds the following records:^[198]^[199]^[200]^[201]

Record	Number
Combined records (all classes)
Race starts	335
Podium finishes	213
Points	5,493
Consecutive years with a win	15 (1996–2010)
Championship titles with different engine displacement	5 (125cc, 250cc, 500cc, 800cc, 990cc)
Longest winning career in Grand Prix racing	19 years, 292 days 1996 Czech Republic GP (18 August 1996; 125cc) to 2016 Catalan GP (5 June 2016; MotoGP)
Most wins at Mugello (Italian GP)	9 (1997, 1999, 2002–2008)
Consecutive wins at Mugello (Italian GP)	7 (2002–2008)
Most wins at Catalunya	10 (1997–1999, 2001–2002, 2004–2006, 2009, 2016)
Most wins at Estoril	5 (2001–2004, 2007)
Most wins at Phillip Island	8 (1998–1999, 2001–2005, 2014)
Most wins at Welkom	3 (1999, 2001, 2004)
Most wins at Jerez	9 (1997, 1999, 2001–2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2016)
Most wins at Sepang	6 (2001, 2003–2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
Most wins at Donington Park	7 (1997, 1999–2002, 2004–2005)
Most wins at Rio	6 (1997, 1999–2003)
Wins with Aprilia	26
500cc/MotoGP records
Wins	88
Second places	51
Podium finishes	177
Race starts	275
Most wins at Assen	7 (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015)
Most wins at Brno	5 (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008–2009)
Most wins at Shanghai	2 (2005, 2008)
Podium finishes in a season^{[N 2]}	16 (2003, 2005, 2008)
Fastest laps in a season^{[N 3]}	12 (2003)
Consecutive podium finishes	23 (2002 Portuguese GP–2004 South African GP)
Consecutive race starts	170 (2000 South African GP–2010 French GP)
Championship titles with Yamaha	4 (2004–2005, 2008–2009)
Consecutive championship titles with different constructors^{[N 4]}	2 (2003–2004)
Consecutive wins with different constructors	2 (2003 Valencian GP–2004 South African GP)
Wins with Yamaha	54
Wins in a season with Yamaha	11 (2005)
Consecutive wins with Yamaha	5 (2005 Chinese GP–2005 Dutch TT, 2008 United States GP–2008 Japanese GP)
Championship titles with different motorcycles	4 (500cc Honda, 990cc Honda, 990cc Yamaha, 800cc Yamaha)
Championship titles with different engine displacement	3 (500cc, 800cc, 990cc)
Championship titles with different engine configuration^{[N 5]}	2 (two-stroke engine, four-stroke engine)
Wins race with different engine displacement	4 (500cc, 800cc, 990cc, 1000cc)
125cc records
Wins in a season	11 (1997)

Complete WRC results[edit]

Year	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC
2002	Peugeot 206 WRC	MON	SWE	FRA	ESP	CYP	ARG	GRE	KEN	FIN	GER	ITA	NZL	AUS	GBR Ret			NC
2006	Subaru Impreza WRC04	MON	SWE	MEX	ESP	FRA	ARG	ITA	GRE	GER	FIN	JPN	CYP	TUR	AUS	NZL 11	GBR	NC
2008	Ford Focus RS WRC 07	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	JOR	ITA	GRE	TUR	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	GBR 12		NC

Notes[edit]

Jump up^ Due to tobacco advertising, the team was known as Yamaha Factory Racing at the United States and Valencian Grands Prix.
Jump up^ Record shared with Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Marc Márquez.
Jump up^ Record shared with Marc Márquez.
Jump up^ Record shared with Eddie Lawson.
Jump up^ Record shared with Giacomo Agostini.

References[edit]

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Jump up^ "Stoner defeats Rossi for debut victory!". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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Jump up^ "Rossi escapes to Mugello seventh heaven". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 1 June 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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Jump up^ "Stoner wins Italian Grand Prix". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Lorenzo: Rossi more clever, or brave.". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 14 June 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
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Jump up^ "Rossi: This just wasn't our race this year". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 3 May 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Lorenzo wins at Le Mans". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 23 May 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
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Jump up^ "Doctors tell Rossi he's out for six months".moto.gpupdate.net. GPUpdate. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 11 June2010.
Jump up^ Moody, Toby; Beer, Matt (5 June 2010). "Rossi sidelined with shin bone fracture". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
Jump up^ Perry, Suzi (18 June 2010). "Rossi to return in Czech Republic". The Daily Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Valentino Rossi optimistic on target date for return". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 June 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Valentino Rossi test ride in Misano today". MotoGP.com.Dorna Sports. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
Jump up^ Beer, Matt (7 July 2010). "Rossi still in pain in comeback test". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 8 July2010.
Jump up^ "Valentino Rossi completes test at Misano". MotoGP.com.Dorna Sports. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Rossi eyeing German comeback". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
Jump up^ "Rossi is back!". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
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Jump up^ "Rossi celebrates podium return". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 25 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi wins in Malaysia but Lorenzo is champion". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
Jump up^ "2010 MotoGP points standings". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 7 November 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
Jump up^ Birt, Matthew (9 November 2010). "Valentino Rossi tenth on Ducati debut". Motorcycle News. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
Jump up^ "New start for Rossi and Ducati". One. Ten Network Holdings. Agence France-Presse. 14 January 2011. Retrieved14 January 2011.
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Jump up^ "Hayden and Rossi make final day advances". motogp.com.Dorna Sports. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
Jump up^ "Rossi not satisfied with Sepang outcome". motogp.com.Dorna Sports. 24 February 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
Jump up^ "Race results from the Qatar MotoGP, round 1 of the 2011 world championship.". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 20 March 2011. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Stoner and Rossi's thoughts after clashing in Jerez".MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 3 April 2011. Retrieved 27 October2011.
Jump up^ "Rossi beaten at the line by Dovizioso". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi hails first Ducati podium". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi happy with Assen fourth". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi: Still too far back". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi analyses sixth in US GP". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi encouraged by Brno performance". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi recovers to tenth after gearbox problems". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 29 August 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi satisfied with seventh". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 5 September 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Crutchlow boosts confidence with Aragon ninth". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 27 July2015.
Jump up^ "Bad luck for Ducati at Motegi following a promising weekend". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
Jump up^ "PICS: Rossi falls passing Bautista". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Marco Simoncelli dies after MotoGP crash in Sepang". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
Jump up^ "Lorenzo: Rossi not fading yet". Yahoo! Eurosport. TF1 Group. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
Jump up^ "Rossi, Simoncelli finish 2011 tied on points". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 6 November2011.
Jump up^ "Rossi losing patience after Qatar nightmare". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi: A better weekend". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 6 May 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Lorenzo storms to wet Le Mans win". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi sixth and 'closer to Yamahas'". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi: The choice is done". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Tough finale as Rossi bids farewell to Ducati". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 12 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November2012.
Jump up^ "Ducati and Rossi to part ways at the end of 2012".MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 10 August 2012. Retrieved10 August 2012.
Jump up^ "PICS: Valentino Rossi returns to Yamaha". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi revels in comeback podium". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 8 April 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi defensive sixth, 'lost part of a disc'". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi unable to match pace of leading trio at Jerez".Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 5 May 2013. Retrieved 15 July2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi sees podium chance slide away". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi, Bautista clash declared 'racing incident'". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Rossi: We are growing up every race". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 16 June 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Dutch MotoGP: Imperious Valentino Rossi dominates at Assen". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "German MotoGP: Rossi: I must go faster if I want to fight for title". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 15 July 2013. Retrieved16 July 2015.
Jump up^ "US MotoGP: Rossi happy with third consecutive podium".Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July2015.
Jump up^ "Aragon MotoGP: Rossi hails 'positive' podium return".Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 30 September 2013. Retrieved19 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Australian MotoGP: Rossi celebrates first flag-to-flag podium". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Final 2013 MotoGP World Championship standings".Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 November 2013. Retrieved10 November 2013.
Jump up^ "Silvano Galbusera becomes Rossi's Crew Chief".MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 7 May2014.
Jump up^ "Qatar MotoGP: Valentino Rossi - 'Dangerous' Galbusera bet paid off". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
Jump up^ "Spain MotoGP: Tyre 'risk' spurs Rossi on to podium".Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 15 July2015.
Jump up^ "Le Mans MotoGP: Rossi mistake ends Marquez victory

throughout the UK, football in England is renowned for the intense rivalries between clubs and the passion of the supporters, which includes a tradition of football chants, such as, "You're Not Singing Any More" (or its variant "We Can See You Sneaking Out!"), sung by jubilant fans towards the opposition fans who have gone silent (or left early).^[319]^[320] TheEuropean Cup (now UEFA Champions League) has been won by Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and Chelsea, while Arsenal, and Leeds United have reached the final.^[321] Other English clubs have enjoyed success, Tottenham Hotspur, Ipswich Town, Chelsea, and Liverpool have won the UEFA Cup, renamed UEFA Europa League.

England on the way to victory against Australia in the 2009 Ashes series at Lord's Cricket Ground

Cricket is generally thought to have been developed in the early medieval period among the farming and metalworking communities of the Weald.^[322] The England cricket team is a composite England and Wales team. One of the game's top rivalries is The Ashes series between England and Australia, contested since 1882. The climax of the 2005 Ashes was viewed by 7.4 million as it was available on terrestrial television.^[323] England has hosted four Cricket World Cups (1975, 1979, 1983, 1999) and will host the 2019 edition, but never won the tournament, reaching the final 3 times. However they have hosted the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009, winning this format in 2010 beating rivals Australia in the final. In the domestic competition, the County Championship, Yorkshire are by far the most successful club having won the competition 31 times.^[324] Lord's Cricket Ground situated in London is sometimes referred to as the "Mecca of Cricket".^[325]

William Penny Brookes was prominent in organising the format for the modern Olympic Games. In 1994, then President of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, laid a wreath on Brooke's grave, and said, "I came to pay homage and tribute to Dr Brookes, who really was the founder of the modern Olympic Games".^[326] London has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times, in 1908, 1948, and 2012. England competes in the Commonwealth Games, held every four years. Sport England is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in England.

The England rugby union teamduring their victory parade after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup

Rugby union originated in Rugby School, Warwickshire in the early 19th century.^[327] The England rugby union team won the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the country was one of the host nations of the competition in the 1991 Rugby World Cup and is set to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup.^[328] The top level of club participation is the English Premiership. Leicester Tigers,London Wasps, Bath Rugby and Northampton Saints have had success in the Europe-wide Heineken Cup.

Rugby league was born in Huddersfield in 1895. Since 2008, the England national rugby league team has been a full test nation in lieu of the Great Britain national rugby league team, which won three World Cups but is now retired. Club sides play in Super League, the present-day embodiment of the Rugby Football League Championship. Rugby League is most popular among towns in the northern English counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire andCumbria.^[329] All eleven English clubs in Super League are based in the north of England. Some of the most successful clubs include Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants; the former three have all won the World Club Challenge previously.

Golf has been prominent in England; due in part to its cultural and geographical ties to Scotland, the home of Golf.^[330] There are both professional tours for men and women, in two main tours: the PGA and the European Tour. England has produced grand slam winners: Cyril Walker, Tony Jacklin, Nick Faldo, and Justin Rose in the men's and Laura Davies, Alison Nicholas, and Karen Stupples in the women's. The world's oldest golf tournament, and golf's first major, is The Open Championship, played both in England and Scotland. The biennial golf competition, the Ryder Cup, is named after English businessman Samuel Ryder who sponsored the event and donated the trophy.^[331] Nick Faldo is the most successful Ryder Cup player ever, having won the most points (25) of any player on either the European or U.S. teams.^[332]

Centre Court at Wimbledon. First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world.^[333]

Tennis was created in Birmingham, England in the late 19th century, and the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and widely considered the most prestigious.^[334]^[335] Fred Perry was the last Englishman to win Wimbledon in 1936. He was the first player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles^[336] and helped lead the Great Britain team to victory over France in the Davis Cup in 1933. English women who have won Wimbledon include: Ann Haydon Jones won in 1969 and Virginia Wade in 1977.

In boxing, under the Marquess of Queensberry Rules, England has produced many world champions across the weight divisions internationally recognised by the governing bodies. World champions include Bob Fitzsimmons,Ted "Kid" Lewis, Randolph Turpin, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Frank Bruno, Lennox Lewis, Ricky Hatton, Naseem Hamed, Amir Khan, Carl Froch, and David Haye.^[337] In women's boxing, Nicola Adams became the world's first woman to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Former Formula One world champion Nigel Mansell driving atSilverstone in 1990. The circuit hosted the first ever Formula One race in 1950

The 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created Formula One World Championship.^[338] Since then, England has produced some of the greatest drivers in the sport, including; John Surtees, Stirling Moss, Graham Hill (only driver to have won the Triple Crown), Nigel Mansell (only man to hold F1 and IndyCar titles at the same time),Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.^[339] It has manufactured some of the most technically advanced racing cars, and many of today's racing companies choose England as their base of operations for its engineering knowledge and organisation. McLaren Automotive, Williams F1, Team Lotus, Honda, Brawn GP, Benetton, Renault, and Red Bull Racing are all, or have been, located in the south of England. England also has a rich heritage in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, the premier championship of motorcycle road racing, and produced several World Champions across all the various class of motorcycle: Mike Hailwood, John Surtees, Phil Read, Geoff Duke, and Barry Sheene.

Darts is a widely popular sport in England; a professional competitive sport, darts is a traditional pub game. The sport is governed by the World Darts Federation, one of its member organisations is the BDO, which annually stages the Lakeside World Professional Championship, the other being the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC), which runs its own world championship at Alexandra Palace in London. Phil Taylor is widely regarded as the best darts player of all time, having won 187 professional tournaments, and a record 16 World Championships.^[340]^[341] Trina Gulliver is the ten-time Women's World Professional Darts Champion of the British Darts Organisation. Another popular sport commonly associated with pub games is Snooker, and England has produced several world champions, including Steve Davis and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The English are keen sailors and enjoy competitive sailing; founding and winning some of the worlds most famous and respected international competitive tournaments across the various race formats, including the match race, a regatta, and the America's Cup. England has produced some of the world's greatest sailors, including, Francis Chichester, Herbert Hasler, John Ridgway, Robin Knox-Johnston, Ellen MacArthur, Mike Golding, Paul Goodison, and the most successful Olympic sailor ever Ben Ainslie.^[342]

National symbols

Main article: National symbols of England

The Royal Arms of England

The St George's Cross has been the national flag of England since the 13th century. Originally the flag was used by the maritime Republic of Genoa. The English monarch paid a tribute to the Doge of Genoa from 1190 onwards, so that English ships could fly the flag as a means of protection when entering the Mediterranean. A red cross was a symbol for many Crusaders in the 12th and 13th centuries. It became associated with Saint George, along with countries and cities, which claimed him as their patron saint and used his cross as a banner.^[343] Since 1606 the St George's Cross has formed part of the design of the Union Flag, a Pan-British flag designed by King James I.^[225]

The Tudor rose, England'snational floral emblem

There are numerous other symbols and symbolic artefacts, both official and unofficial, including the Tudor rose, the nation's floral emblem, and the Three Lions featured on the Royal Arms of England. The Tudor rose was adopted as a national emblem of England around the time of the Wars of the Roses as a symbol of peace.^[344] It is a syncretic symbol in that it merged the white rose of the Yorkistsand the red rose of the Lancastrians—cadet branches of the Plantagenets who went to war over control of the nation. It is also known as the Rose of England.^[345] The oak tree is a symbol of England, representing strength and endurance. The Royal Oak symbol and Oak Apple Day commemorate the escape of King Charles II from the grasp of the parliamentarians after his father's execution: he hid in an oak tree to avoid detection before safely reaching exile.

The Royal Arms of England, a national coat of arms featuring three lions, originated with its adoption by Richard the Lionheart in 1198. It is blazoned as gules, three lions passant guardant or and it provides one of the most prominent symbols of England; it is similar to the traditional arms of Normandy. England does not have an official designated national anthem, as the United Kingdom as a whole has God Save the Queen. However, the following are often considered unofficial English national anthems: Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory (used for England during the 2002 Commonwealth Games),^[346] and I Vow to Thee, My Country. England's National Day is 23 April which is St George's Day: St George is the patron saint of England.^[347]

Notes

Jump up^ According to the European Statistical Agency, London is the largest Larger Urban Zone in the EU, a measure of metropolitan area which comprises a city's urban core as well as its surrounding commuting zone. London's municipal population is also the largest in the EU.
Jump up^ As Roger Scruton explains, "The Reformation must not be confused with the changes introduced into the Church of England during the 'Reformation Parliament' of 1529–36, which were of a political rather than a religious nature, designed to unite the secular and religious sources of authority within a single sovereign power: the Anglican Church did not make substantial change in doctrine until later."^[58]
Jump up^ Figure of 550,000 military deaths is for England and Wales^[79]
Jump up^ For instance, in 1980 around 50 million Americans claimed English ancestry.^[182] In Canada there are around 6.5 million Canadians who claim English ancestry.^[183] Around 70% of Australians in 1999 denoted their origins as Anglo-Celtic, a category which includes all peoples from Great Britain and Ireland.^[184] Chileans of English descent are somewhat of an anomaly in that Chile itself was never part of the British Empire, but today there are around 420,000 people of English origins living there.^[185]
Jump up^ People who strictly identified as "Pagan". Other Pagan paths, such as Wicca or Druidism, have not been included in this number.^[228]
Jump up^ People who strictly identified as "Pagan". Other Pagan paths, such as Wicca or Druidism, have not been included in this number.^[228]
Jump up^ People who strictly identified as "Wiccan". Other Pagan paths, such as Druidism, and general "Pagan" have not been included in this number.^[228]
Jump up^ Students attending English universities now have to pay tuition fees towards the cost of their education, as do English students who choose to attend university in Scotland. Scottish students attending Scottish universities have their fees paid by the devolved Scottish Parliament.^[97]
Jump up^ While people such as Norman Foster and Richard Rogers represent the modernist movement, Prince Charles since the 1980s has voiced strong views against it in favour of traditional architecture and put his ideas into practice at his Poundbury development in Dorset.^[245] Architects likeRaymond Erith, Francis Johnson and Quinlan Terry continued to practice in the classical style.
Jump up^ These tales may have come to prominence, at least in part, as an attempt by the Norman ruling elite to legitimise their rule of the British Isles, finding Anglo-Saxon history ill-suited to the task during an era when members of the deposed House of Wessex, especially Edgar the Æthelingand his nephews of the Scottish House of Dunkeld, were still active in the isles.^[249]^[251] Also Michael Wood explains; "Over the centuries the figure of Arthur became a symbol of British history—a way of explaining the matter of Britain, the relationship between the Saxons and the Celts, and a way of exorcising ghosts and healing the wounds of the past."^[248]

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Goodwood.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the

University of Warsaw^[196]	Kraków Jagiellonian University^[196]	Poznań Mickiewicz University^[196]	University of Wrocław^[196]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Poland

Tadeusz Kościuszko was a veteran and hero of bothPolish and American wars of independence between 1765 and 1794^[197]

The culture of Poland is closely connected with its intricate 1,000-year history^[198] Its unique character developed as a result of its geography at the confluence of European cultures. With origins in the culture of the Proto-Slavs, over time Polish culture has been profoundly influenced by its interweaving ties with the Germanic, Latinate and Byzantine worlds as well as in continual dialog with the many other ethnic groups and minorities living in Poland.^[199] The people of Poland have traditionally been seen as hospitable to artists from abroad and eager to follow cultural and artistic trends popular in other countries. In the 19th and 20th centuries the Polish focus on cultural advancement often took precedence over political and economic activity. These factors have contributed to the versatile nature of Polish art, with all its complex nuances.^[199]

Famous people

Nicolaus Copernicus, the 16th-century Polish astronomer who formulated the heliocentric model of the solar system that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at its center—work first published in 1543

The list of famous Poles begins in earnest with the polymath Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus),^[200] who studied at the Jagiellonian University founded in 1364 by Casimir the Great from proceeds of his Wieliczka Salt Mine.^[201] Poland is the birthplace of many distinguished personalities among whom are: Fryderyk Chopin,^[202]^[203] Maria Skłodowska Curie,^[204] Tadeusz Kościuszko, Kazimierz Pułaski, Józef Piłsudski, Lech Wałęsa and Pope John Paul II (Karol Wojtyła). Great Polish painter Jan Matejko devoted his monumental art to the most significant historical events on Polish lands, along with the playwright, painter and poet Stanisław Wyspiański. Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy) was an example of a Polish avant-garde philosopher and author of aesthetic theories. Joseph Conradwas a notable author of works in English.^[205] Many world-famous Polish movie directors include Academy Awards winners Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Janusz Kamiński,Krzysztof Kieślowski, and Agnieszka Holland. Actresses known outside of Poland, include Helena Modjeska and Pola Negri.

Society

Poland has a long-standing tradition of tolerance towards minorities, as well as an absence of discrimination on the grounds of religion, nationality or race.^[206] Prior to World War II, ethnic minorities made up a significant proportion of the Polish population. Poland has maintained a high level of gender equality, an established disability rights movement and promotes peaceful equality.^[206]

John Paul II was the firstPole and Slav to become aRoman Catholic Pope. He held the papacy between 1978 and 2005

Poland was the first country in the world to prohibit corporal punishment in all its forms. Poland has, throughout most of its long history, experienced only very limited immigration from abroad; this trend can be largely attributed to Poland's rejection of slavery and to a lack of overseas colonies as well as occupation of its territories during much of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite this, the country has for a long time been regarded as having a very tolerant society, which affords equal rights to all people no matter what their ethnic background.^[206] This can be said to stem largely from the reign of King Casimir III the Great and his acceptance of Poland's Jewish community, in a time when most of Europe recessed into antisemitic moods and actions. The history of Jews in Polandexemplifies peaceful co-existence of a nation with a particular ethnic group.^[206]

Today, as many as 96.7% of Polish citizens declare to be Poles, and 97.8% declare that they speak Polish at home (Census 2002). The population of Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous in the world as a result of the radically altered borders after World War II and the subsequent migrations. This homogeneity is a result of post World War II deportations ordered by the Soviet authorities, who wished to remove the sizeable Polish minorities from Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine and repatriation of Ukrainians from Poland to the Soviet Union (see territorial changes of Poland and historical demography of Poland for details). Unlike in many other countries, the ethnic minority rights in Poland are guaranteed directly by the Constitution of Poland (art. 35), and today there are, among others, sizeable German, Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities in the country.^[207]

In 2013, the Polish parliament rejected proposed legislation for civil partnerships, which the majority of Polish society is against,^[208] but for the first time it gave an asylum to a gay person from Uganda on the basis of the sexual orientation.^[209] In a 2013 opinion poll conducted by CBOS, 60% of Poles were against homosexual civil partnerships, 72% were against same-sex marriage, 88% were against adoption by same-sex couples, and 68% were against gays and lesbians publicly showing their way of life.^[208] Article 18 of the Constitution of Poland bans same-sex marriage.^[210]

The results of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) survey from 2004 showed that Poles worked the second most hours per week of any nationality worldwide. Poland remains one of the most safe and peaceful countries in the world.^[211]

Music

Main article: Music of Poland

Fryderyk Chopin was a renowned classical composer and virtuoso pianist

Frédéric Chopin

Mazurka no. 4 in a minor, op. 17

Mazurka (Polish: mazurek), stylized folk dance in triple meter (1832), commemorating the November Uprising

Artists from Poland, including famous composers like Chopin or Penderecki and traditional, regionalized folk musicians, create a lively and diverse music scene, which even recognizes its own music genres, such as poezja śpiewana and disco polo. As of 2006, Poland is one of the few countries in Europe where rock and hip hop dominate over pop music, while all kinds of alternative music genres are encouraged.^[212]

The origins of Polish music can be traced as far back as the 13th-century; manuscripts have been found in Stary Sącz, containing polyphonic compositions related to the ParisianNotre Dame School. Other early compositions, such as the melody of Bogurodzica and Bóg się rodzi (a coronation polonaise for Polish kings by an unknown composer), may also date back to this period, however, the first known notable composer, Mikołaj z Radomia, was born and lived in the 15th-century. During the 16th-century, two main musical groups – both based in Kraków and belonging to the King and Archbishop of Wawel – led to the rapid development of Polish music. Composers writing during this period include Wacław z Szamotuł, Mikołaj Zieleński, and Mikołaj Gomółka. Diomedes Cato, a native-born Italian who lived in Kraków from about the age of five, became a renowned lutenist at the court of Sigismund III, and not only imported some of the musical styles from southern Europe, but blended them with native folk music.^[213]

Artur Rubinstein was one of the greatest concert pianists of the 20th-century

At the end of the 18th-century, Polish classical music evolved into national forms like the polonaise. In the 19th-century the most popular composers were: Józef Elsner and his pupils Fryderyk Chopinand Ignacy Dobrzyński. Important opera composers of the era were Karol Kurpiński and Stanisław Moniuszko whilst the list of famous soloists and composers included Henryk Wieniawski, Juliusz Zarębski. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the most prominent composers could said to have been Władysław Zeleński and Mieczysław Karłowicz, with Karol Szymanowski gaining prominence prior to World War II. Alexandre Tansman lived in Paris but had strong connections with Poland. Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Górecki, and Krzysztof Penderecki composed in Poland, Andrzej Panufnikemigrated.

Ballade form invented byChopin.^[214]

Ballade no. 3 in a-flat major, op. 47

Inspired by poems of Adam Mickiewicz

Traditional Polish folk music has had a major effect on the works of many well-known Polish composers, and no more so than on Fryderyk Chopin, a widely recognised national hero of the arts. All of Chopin's works involve the piano and are technically demanding, emphasising nuance and expressive depth. As a great composer, Chopin invented the musical form known as the instrumental ballade and made major innovations to the piano sonata,mazurka, waltz, nocturne, polonaise, étude, impromptu and prélude, he was also the composer of a number of polonaises which borrowed heavily from traditional Polish folk music. It is largely thanks to him that the such pieces gained great popularity throughout Europe during the 19th-century. Nowadays the most distinctive folk music can be heard in the towns and villages of the mountainous south, particularly in the region surrounding the winter resort town of Zakopane.

Today Poland has a very active music scene, with the jazz and metal genres being particularly popular among the contemporary populace. Polish jazz musicians such as Krzysztof Komeda, created a unique style, which was most famous in the 1960s and 1970s and continues to be popular to this day. Since the fall of Communism, Poland has become a major venue for large-scale music festivals, chief among which are the Open'er Festival, Opole Festival andSopot Festival.

Visual arts

Main article: List of Polish artists

Prussian Homage (Hołd pruski) by Jan Matejko, 1882

Polish art has always reflected European trends while maintaining its unique character. The Kraków school of Historicist painting developed by Jan Matejko produced monumental portrayals of customs and significant events in Polish history. Stanisław Witkiewicz was an ardent supporter of realism in Polish art, its main representative being Jozef Chełmoński. The Młoda Polska (Young Poland) movement witnessed the birth of modern Polish art, and engaged in a great deal of formal experimentation led by Jacek Malczewski (Symbolism), Stanisław Wyspiański, Józef Mehoffer, and a group of Polish Impressionists. Artists of the twentieth-century Avant-Garde represented various schools and trends. The art of Tadeusz Makowski was influenced by Cubism; while Władysław Strzemiński and Henryk Stażewski worked within the Constructivist idiom.

Distinguished contemporary artists include Roman Opałka, Leon Tarasewicz, Jerzy Nowosielski, Wojciech Siudmak, Mirosław Bałka, and Katarzyna Kozyra and Zbigniew Wąsiel in the younger generation. The most celebrated Polish sculptors include Xawery Dunikowski, Katarzyna Kobro, Alina Szapocznikow and Magdalena Abakanowicz. Since the inter-war years, Polish art and documentary photography has enjoyed worldwide recognition. In the sixties the Polish Poster School was formed, with Henryk Tomaszewski and Waldemar Świerzy at its head.^[199] Top fine Art schools in Poland are Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow School of Art and Fashion Design, Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Art Academy of Szczecin, University of Fine Arts in Poznańand Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts.

Architecture

Further information: Category:Polish architecture

St. Mary's Basilica on theMain Market Square inKraków is an example of Brick Gothic architecture

Polish cities and towns reflect a whole spectrum of European architectural styles. Romanesque architecture is represented by St. Andrew's Church, Kraków, and St. Mary's Church, Gdańsk, is characteristic for the Brick Gothic style found in Poland. Richly decorated attics and arcade loggias are the common elements of the Polish Renaissance architecture,^[215]^[216] as evident in the City Hall in Poznań. For some time the late renaissance style known asmannerism, most notably in the Bishop's Palace in Kielce, coexisted with the early baroque style, typified in the Church of SS. Peter and Paul in Kraków.

Ratusz, the RenaissanceCity Hall in Poznań

History has not been kind to Poland's architectural monuments. Nonetheless, a number of ancient structures has survived: castles, churches, and stately homes, often unique in the regional or European context. Some of them have been painstakingly restored, like Wawel Castle, or completely reconstructed after being destroyed in the Second World War, including the Old Town and Royal Castle of Warsaw and the Old Town of Gdańsk.

The architecture of Gdańsk is mostly of the Hanseatic variety, a Gothic style common among the former trading cities along the Baltic sea and in the northern part of Central Europe. The architectural style of Wrocław is mainly representative of German architecture, since it was for centuries located within the German states. The centre of Kazimierz Dolny on the Vistula is a good example of a well-preserved medieval town. Poland's ancient capital, Kraków, ranks among the best-preserved Gothic and Renaissance urban complexes in Europe. Meanwhile, the legacy of the Kresy Marchlands of Poland's eastern regions, where Wilno and Lwów (now Vilnius and Lviv) were recognised as two major centres for the arts, played a special role in the development of Polish architecture, with Catholic church architecture deserving special note.^[199]

The second half of the 17th century is marked by baroque architecture. Side towers, such as those of Branicki Palace in Białystok, are typical for the Polish baroque. The classical Silesian baroque is represented by the University in Wrocław. The profuse decorations of the Branicki Palace in Warsaw are characteristic of the rococo style. The centre of Polish classicism was Warsaw under the rule of the last Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski.^[217] The Palace on the Water is the most notable example of Polish neoclassical architecture. Lublin Castle represents the Gothic Revival style in architecture, while the Izrael Poznański Palace in Łódź is an example of eclecticism.

Literature

Main articles: Polish literature and History of philosophy in Poland

Adam Mickiewicz was a strong advocate of Poland's heritage during his years in exile, 1798–1855

Polish literature dates back to the 12th century,^[218] and includes many renowned writers. Two Polish novelists have won the Nobel Prize in Literature: Henryk Sienkiewicz, and Władysław Reymont; along with two poets: Czesław Miłosz, and Wisława Szymborska.^[219]^[220] A prose poet of the highest order, Joseph Conrad (1857–1924), son of the Polish dramatist Apollo Korzeniowski, won world-wide fame with his English-language novels and stories that are informed with elements of the Polish national experience.^[221]^[222] Among the best known Polish Romantics are the "Three Bards" — the three national poets active in the age of partitions: Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki, and Zygmunt Krasiński.^[223]

During the Middle Ages, most Polish writers and scholars (e.g., Jan Długosz) wrote only in Latin, the common language of European letters. This tradition was broken by Jan Kochanowski, who became one of the first Polish Renaissance authors to write most of his works in Polish, along with Mikołaj Rej. Also notable are the 19th- and 20th-century Polish authors such as Bolesław Prus, Kornel Makuszyński, Stanisław Lem, and Witold Gombrowicz, among others.

Media

Main articles: Television in Poland, Media of Poland, Theatre of Poland, and Cinema of Poland

Further information: Category:Video gaming in Poland

Headquarters of the national television network TVP in Warsaw

Poland has instituted freedom of press since the fall of communism, a system under which the media was heavily politically controlled and censored. However, public TV and radio are still regulated by the government, this is exercised through an agency called Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji (The National Radio and Television Committee), which is similar to television regulatory commissions in other developed nations.

Poland has a number of major media outlets, chief among which are the national television channels. TVP is Poland's public broadcasting corporation; about a third of its income comes from abroadcast receiver licence, while the rest is made through revenue from commercials and sponsorships. State television operates two mainstream channels, TVP 1 and TVP 2, as well as regional programs for each of the country's 16 voivodeships. In addition to these general channels, TVP runs a number of genre-specific programmes such as TVP Sport, TVP Historia, TVP Kultura, TVP Seriale and TV Polonia, the latter is a state-run channel dedicated to the transmission of Polish language television for the Polish diaspora abroad.

Intel Extreme Masters an eSportsvideo game tournament in Katowice

Poland has several 24-hour news channels, chief among which are Polsat News, TVP Info and TVN 24. The two largest private television networks are Polsat and TVN.

In Poland, daily newspapers like Gazeta Wyborcza ("Electoral Gazette"), Rzeczpospolita ("The Republic") and Gazeta Polska Codziennie ("Polish Daily Newspaper") provide traditional opinion and news, while tabloids such as Fakt provide more sensationalist journalism. Rzeczpospolita, founded in 1920 is one of the oldest newspapers still in operation. In 2006, it won a prestigious award for being, along with the Guardian (a British daily), the best designed newspaper in the world.^[224] The most popular weeklies are Tygodnik Angora, W Sieci, Polityka, Wprost, Newsweek Polska, Gość Niedzielny, and Gazeta Polska.

Also, Poland has emerged as a major hub for video game developers in Europe, with the country now being home to hundreds of studios. One of the most popular video game series developed in Poland includes The Witcher.^[225] Katowice hosts Intel Extreme Masters, one of the biggest eSports events in the world.^[226]

Cuisine

Main article: Polish cuisine

Selection of hearty traditional comfort food from Poland includingbigos, cabbage rolls, żurek, pierogi and specialty breads

Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to become very eclectic due to Poland's history. Polish cuisine shares many similarities with other Central European cuisines, especiallyGerman and Austrian^[227] as well as Jewish,^[228] Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian,^[229] French and Italian culinary traditions.^[230] It is rich in meat, especially pork, chicken and beef (depending on the region) and winter vegetables (cabbage in the dish bigos), and spices.^[231] It is also characteristic in its use of various kinds of noodles the most notable of which are kluski as well as cereals such as kasha (from the Polish word kasza).^[232] Polish cuisine is hearty and uses a lot of cream and eggs. Festive meals such as the meatless Christmas eve dinner (Wigilia) or Easter breakfast could take days to prepare in their entirety.^[233]

The main course usually includes a serving of meat, such as roast, chicken, or kotlet schabowy (breaded pork cutlet), vegetables, side dishes and salads, including surówka [suˈrufka] – shredded root vegetables with lemon and sugar (carrot, celeriac, seared beetroot) or sauerkraut (Polish: kapusta kiszona, pronounced [kaˈpusta kʲiˈʂɔna]). The side dishes are usually potatoes, rice or kasza (cereals). Meals conclude with a dessert such as sernik,makowiec (a poppy seed pastry), or drożdżówka [drɔʐˈd͡ʐufka] yeast pastry, and tea.

Oscypek is a smoked cheese made of salted sheep milk exclusively in the Tatra Mountains region of Poland

The Polish national dishes are bigos [ˈbiɡɔs]; pierogi [pʲɛˈrɔɡʲi]; kielbasa; kotlet schabowy [ˈkɔtlɛt sxaˈbɔvɨ] breaded cutlet; gołąbki [ɡɔˈwɔ̃pkʲi] cabbage rolls; zrazy [ˈzrazɨ] roulade; pieczeńroast [ˈpʲɛt͡ʂɛɲ]; sour cucumber soup (zupa ogórkowa, pronounced [ˈzupa ɔɡurˈkɔva]); mushroom soup, (zupa grzybowa, [ˈzupa ɡʐɨˈbɔva] quite different from the North American cream of mushroom); zupa pomidorowa tomato soup pronounced [ˈzupa pɔmidɔˈrɔva];^[234] rosół [ˈrɔɕuw] variety of meat broth; żurek [ˈʐurɛk] sour rye soup; flaki [ˈflakʲi] tripe soup; barszcz [barʂt͡ʂ]and chłodnik [ˈxwɔdɲik] among others.^[235]

Traditional alcoholic beverages include honey mead, widespread since the 13th century, beer, wine and vodka (old Polish names include okowita and gorzałka). The world's first written mention of vodka originates from Poland.^[236] The most popular alcoholic drinks at present are beer and wine which took over from vodka more popular in the years 1980–98.^[237] Tea remains common in Polish society since the 19th century, whilst coffee is drunk widely since the 18th century. Other frequently consumed beverages include various mineral waters and juices, soft drinks popularized by the fast-food chains since the late 20th century, as well as buttermilk, soured milk and kefir.

Sports

Main article: Sport in Poland

The National Stadium in Warsaw, home of national football team, and one of the host stadiums of Euro 2012

Association football is one of country's most popular sports, with a rich history of international competitions.^[238]^[239] Track and field, basketball, volleyball, handball, boxing, MMA, motorcycle speedway, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, tennis, fencing, swimming and weightlifting are other popular sports.

The golden era of football in Poland occurred throughout the 1970s and went on until the early 1980s when the Polish national football team achieved their best results in any FIFA World Cup competitions finishing 3rd place inthe 1974 and the 1982 tournaments. The team won a gold medal in football at the 1972 Summer Olympics and two silver medals, in 1976 and in 1992. Poland, along with Ukraine, hosted the UEFA European Football Championship in 2012.^[240]

Motorcycle speedway (Żużel) race in the Speedway Ekstraliga

The Polish men's national volleyball team is ranked as 3rd in the world. Mariusz Pudzianowski is a highly successful strongman competitor and has won more World's Strongest Man titles than any other competitor in the world, winning the event in 2008 for the fifth time. The first Polish Formula One driver, Robert Kubica, has brought awareness of Formula One racing to Poland. He won the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix and now does rallying following a crash in 2011 that left him unable to drive F1 cars.

Poland has made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob, a highly successful Polish rider. The top Ekstraliga division has one of the highest average attendances for any sport in Poland. The national speedway team of Poland, one of the major teams in international speedway,^[241] has won the Speedway World Team Cup championships three times consecutively, in 2009, 2010, and 2011. No team has ever managed such feat.^[242]^[243]

Poles made significant achievements in mountaineering, in particular, in the Himalayas and the winter ascending of the eight-thousanders. The most famous Polish climbers are Jerzy Kukuczka, Krzysztof Wielicki, Piotr Pustelnik, Andrzej Zawada, Maciej Berbeka, Artur Hajzer, Andrzej Czok, Wojciech Kurtyka, and women Wanda Rutkiewicz, and Kinga Baranowska. Polish mountains are one of the tourist attractions of the country. Hiking,climbing, skiing and mountain biking and attract numerous tourists every year from all over the world.^[149] Water sports are the most popular summer recreation activities, with ample locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing and windsurfing especially in the northern regions of the country.^[244]

International rankings

The following are links to international rankings of Poland from selected research institutes and foundations including economic output and various composite indices.

Index	Rank	Countries reviewed
Human Development Index 2014	36th	187
Corruption Perceptions Index 2014 ^[245]	35th	175
OECD Working time 2012 ^[246]	5th	34
Index of Economic Freedom 2015	42nd	167
Globalization Index 2013	26th	176
Global Peace Index 2014^[27]	19th	162
Privacy International Yearly Privacy ranking of countries, 2007	19th	45
Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2014	19th	180
UNICEF Children's Fund	14th	21
Networked Readiness Index 2013 ^[247]	49th	142
OICA Automobile Production 2012	22nd	50
Legatum Prosperity Index 2014	31st	142
EF English Proficiency Index 2014 ^[248]	6th	60
Programme for International Student Assessment 2012 (Maths)	13th	65
Programme for International Student Assessment 2013 (Science)	8th	65
Programme for International Student Assessment 2013 (Reading)	9th	65

Notes

a. ^{^} In other languages of Poland:

*Kashubian: Repùblika Pòlskô

*Silesian: Polsko Republik

b. ^{^} Numerous sources state that Polish Army was the Allies' fourth biggest fighting contingent. Steven J. Zaloga and Richard Hook write that "by the war's end the Polish Army was the fourth largest contingent of the Allied coalition after the armed forces of the Soviet Union, the United States and the United Kingdom".^[249] Jerzy Jan Lerski writes "All in all, the Polish units, although divided and controlled by different political orientation, constituted the fourth largest Allied force, after the America, British and Soviet Armies."^[250] M. K. Dziewanowski has noted that "if Polish forces fighting in the east and west were added to the resistance fighters, Poland had the fourth largest Allied army in the war (after the USSR, the U.S. and Britain)".^[251]

The claim of the fourth biggest Ally needs to be reconsidered, however. Throughout the war, Poland's position varied from the 2nd biggest Ally (after the fall of France, when Polish army outnumbered the French) to perhaps the 5th at the end of it (after the US, Soviet Union, China and Britain). Please see the analysis in Polish contribution to World War II.

c. ^{^} Sources vary with regards to what was the largest resistance movement during World War II. The confusion often stems from the fact that as war progressed, some resistance movements grew larger – and other diminished. Polish territories were mostly freed from Nazi German control in the years 1944–45, eliminating the need for their respective (anti-Nazi) partisan forces in Poland (although the cursed soldiers continued to fight against the Soviets). Several sources note that Polish Armia Krajowa was the largest resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Europe. Norman Davieswrote: "Armia Krajowa (Home Army), the AK, which could fairly claim to be the largest of European resistance";^[252] Gregor Dallas wrote "Home Army (Armia Krajowa or AK) in late 1943 numbered around 400000, making it the largest resistance organization in Europe";^[253] Mark Wyman wrote "Armia Krajowa was considered the largest underground resistance unit in wartime Europe".^[254] Certainly, Polish resistance was the largest resistance till German invasion of Yugoslavia and invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. After that point, the numbers of Soviet partisans and Yugoslav partisans begun growing rapidly. The numbers of Soviet partisans quickly caught up and were very similar to that of the Polish resistance.^[255]^[256] The numbers of Tito's Yugoslav partisans were roughly similar to those of the Polish and Soviet partisans in the first years of the war (1941–42), but grew rapidly in the latter years, outnumbering the Polish and Soviet partisans by 2:1 or more (estimates give Yugoslavian forces about 800,000 in 1945, to Polish and Soviet forces of 400,000 in 1944).^[256]^[257]

References

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Jump up^ "Human Development Index and its components" (PDF).hdr.undp.org. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
Jump up^ "Hong Kong Declines, but Remains the World's Freest Economy, 2015 Index of Economic Freedom Shows". The Heritage Foundation. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 10 February2016.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b "Country and Lending Groups | Data".Data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
Jump up^ "SPI PROGRESS INDEX 2015". Retrieved 16 December2015.
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Jump up^ "PLN: Polish Zloty". OANDA. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Sławek Szefs; Agnieszka Bielawska (28 June 2015). "What's Up:: Poland a safe country". Radio Poland. Retrieved10 February 2016.
Jump up^ Maciej Kosiński; Magdalena Wieczorek-Szmal (2007). Z mroku dziejów. Kultura Łużycka (PDF file, direct download 1.95 MB). Muzeum Częstochowskie. Rezerwat archeologiczny (Museum of Częstochowa). pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-83-60128-11-4. Retrieved9 January 2013. Możemy jedynie stwierdzić, że kultura łużycka nie tworzyła jednej zwartej całości. Jak się wydaje, jej skład etniczny był niejednorodny.
Jump up^ Gerard Labuda (1992). Mieszko II król Polski: 1025–1034 : czasy przełomu w dziejach państwa polskiego. Secesja. p. 112.ISBN 978-83-85483-46-5. Retrieved 26 October 2014. ... w wersji Anonima Minoryty mówi się znowu, iż w Polsce "paliły się kościoły i klasztory", co koresponduje w przekazaną przez Anonima Galla wiadomością o zniszczeniu kościołów katedralnych w Gnieźnie...
Jump up^ Anita J. Prazmowska (13 July 2011). A History of Poland. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 34–35. ISBN 978-0-230-34537-9. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
Jump up^ Knoll, Paul W.; Schaer, Frank, eds. (2003), Gesta Principum Polonorum / The Deeds of the Princes of the Poles, Central European Medieval Texts, General Editors János M. Bak, Urszula Borkowska, Giles Constable & Gábor Klaniczay, Volume 3, Budapest/ New York: Central European University Press, pp. 87–211, ISBN 963-9241-40-7
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Dembkowski, Harry E. (1982). The union of Lublin, Polish federalism in the golden age. East European Monographs, 1982. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-88033-009-1.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Stanley S. Sokol (1992). The Polish Biographical Dictionary: Profiles of Nearly 900 Poles who Have Made Lasting Contributions to World Civilization. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-86516-245-7.
Jump up^ Britannica Educational Publishing (1 June 2013). Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Britanncia Educational Publishing. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-61530-991-7.
Jump up^ Heiko Haumann (2002). A History of East European Jews. Central European University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-963-9241-26-8.
Jump up^ Teeple, J. B. (2002). Timelines of World History. Publisher: DK Adult.
Jump up^ Wróbel, Piotr (2004). "Poland". In Frucht, Richard C. Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the People, Lands, and Culture. 1.ABC-CLIO. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6. Retrieved 8 April2013. At the same time, when most of Europe was decimated by the Black Death, Poland developed quickly and reached the levels of the wealthiest countries of the West in its economy and culture.
Jump up^ Jerzy Wyrozumski – Historia Polski do roku 1505 (History of Poland until 1505), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe (Polish Scientific Publishers PWN), Warszawa 1986, ISBN 978-83-01-03732-1
Jump up^ Norman Davies (1996). Europe: a history. Oxford University Press. p. 428. ISBN 0-19-820171-0. By 1490 the Jagiellons controlled Poland-Lithuania, Bohemia, and Hungary, but not the Empire.
Jump up^ "Jagiellon dynasty (European history)". Encyclopædia Britannica.
Jump up^ Davies (2007). Warfare, State and Society on the Black Sea Steppe,1500–1700.. p.17.
Jump up^ "The Crimean Tatars and their Russian-Captive Slaves" (PDF). Eizo Matsuki, Mediterranean Studies Group at Hitotsubashi University.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Paul W. Knoll (15 March 2011). "Religious Toleration in Sixteenth-Century Poland. Political Realities and Social Constrains.". In Howard Louthan; Gary B. Cohen; Franz A. J. Szabo. Diversity and Dissent: Negotiating Religious Difference in Central Europe, 1500–1800. Berghahn Books. pp. 30–45.ISBN 978-0-85745-109-5.
Jump up^ Józef Andrzej Gierowski – Historia Polski 1505–1764 (History of Poland 1505–1764), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe (Polish Scientific Publishers PWN), Warszawa 1986, ISBN 978-83-01-03732-1
Jump up^ Dembkowski, Harry E. (1982). The union of Lublin, Polish federalism in the golden age. East European Monographs, 1982. p. 271. ISBN 978-0-88033-009-1.
Jump up^ Józef Andrzej Gierowski – Historia Polski 1505–1764 (History of Poland 1505–1764), p. 105-173
Jump up^ "Poland – The 17th-century crisis". Britannica Online Encyclopedia.
Jump up^ Józef Andrzej Gierowski – Historia Polski 1505–1764 (History of Poland 1505–1764), p. 174-301
Jump up^ Józef Andrzej Gierowski – Historia Polski 1764–1864 (History of Poland 1764–1864), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe (Polish Scientific Publishers PWN), Warszawa 1986, ISBN 978-83-01-03732-1, p. 1-74
Jump up^ Józef Andrzej Gierowski – Historia Polski 1764–1864 (History of Poland 1764–1864), p. 74-101
Jump up^ Gardner, Monica Mary (1942). The Rising of Kościuszko (Chapter VII) (Project Gutenberg). Kościuszko: A Biography. G. Allen & Unwin., ltd, 136 pages.
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Jump up^ Michael Geyer (2009). Beyond Totalitarianism: Stalinism and Nazism Compared. Cambridge University Press. pp. 152–153.ISBN 978-0-521-89796-9.
Jump up^ At the siege of Tobruk
Jump up^ including the capture of the monastery hill at the Battle of Monte Cassino
Jump up^ Richard J. Kozicki, Piotr Wróbel (eds), Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945, Greenwood Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0-313-26007-0, Google Print, p.34
Jump up^ Lynne Olson & Stanley Cloud. 2003. A Question of Honor. The Kosciuszko Squadron: Forgotten Heroes of World War II. New York: Knopf.
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Jump up^ Stanisław Salmonowicz, Polskie Państwo Podziemne, Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, Warszawa, 1994, ISBN 978-83-02-05500-3, p.37
Jump up^ The Warsaw Rising, polandinexile.com
Jump up^ Jerzy Jan Lerski (1996). Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-313-26007-0.
Jump up^ Wojciech Materski, Tomasz Szarota (2009), Polska 1939–1945. Straty Osobowe i Ofiary Represji pod Dwiema Okupacjami at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 March 2012). Quote: Liczba Żydów i Polaków żydowskiego pochodzenia, obywateli II Rzeczypospolitej, zamordowanych przez Niemców sięga 2,7- 2,9 mln osób. Translation: The number of Jewish victims is estimated at 2,9 million. This was about 90% of the 3.3 million Jews living in prewar Poland. Source: IPN.
Jump up^ Wojciech Materski, Tomasz Szarota (2009), Polska 1939–1945. Straty Osobowe i Ofiary Represji pod Dwiema Okupacjami (Human Losses and Victims of Repressions under Two Occupations) at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 March 2012). Retrieved 27 October 2014. Quote: Łączne straty śmiertelne ludności polskiej pod okupacją niemiecką oblicza się obecnie na ok. 2 770 000. Translation: Current estimate is roughly 2,770,000 victims of German occupation. This was 11.3% of the 24.4 million ethnic Poles in prewar Poland.
Jump up^ Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, Names and Numbers of Righteous Among the Nations - per Country & Ethnic Origin, as of 1 January 2013
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Jump up^ Institute of National Remembrance (2013) 1943 Wołyń Massacres Truth and Remembrancehttp://www.volhyniamassacre.eu
Jump up^ Bogumiła Lisocka-Jaegermann (2006). "Post-War Migrations in Poland". In: Mirosława Czerny. Poland in the geographical centre of Europe. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers. pp. 71–87. ISBN 1-59454-603-7. Google Books preview.
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Jump up^ Reuters, Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania form joint military unit. Warsaw, 19 September 2014.
Jump up^ The CIA World Factbook, Introduction: Poland. Geography.Retrieved 3 November 2014.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Timothy Snyder (2003). The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569–1999. Yale University Press. p. 111. ISBN 0-300-12841-X. Commonwealth became the breadbasket of Western Europe, wrote Timothy Snyder, thanks to the presence of fertile southeastern regions of Podolia and east Galicia.
Jump up^ http://www.touristlink.com/poland/blue-springs-of-tomaszow-mazowiecki/overview.html
Jump up^ Christine Zuchora-Walske (2013). "The Lakes Region".Poland. ABDO Publishing. p. 28. ISBN 1-61480-877-5. Insert:Poland is home to 9,300 lakes. Finland is the only European nation with a higher density of lakes than Poland.
Jump up^ Ḥayah Bar-Yitsḥaḳ (2001). Jewish Poland – legends of Origin: Ethnopoetics and Legendary Chronicles. Wayne State University Press. p. 93. ISBN 0-8143-2789-3.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Centrum Informacyjne Lasów Państwowych (June 2012),Raport o stanie lasów w Polsce (Report on the Status of Forests in Poland) (PDF file, direct download 4.12 MB) (in Polish), Dyrekcja Generalna Lasów Państwowych (Main Directorate of State Forest), p. 8, retrieved 14 September 2013, Określona według standardu międzynarodowego lesistość Polski na koniec roku 2011 wynosiła 30,5%.
Jump up^ "A golden age for Polish farming?". The Economist. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
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Jump up^ Gnel Gabrielyan, Domestic and Export Price Formation of U.S. Hops School of Economic Sciences at Washington State University. PDF file, direct download 220 KB. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
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Jump up^ "Poland.pl – White Stork – About White Stork". Storks.poland.pl. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.
Jump up^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2011). "Kingdom of birds".Experience Poland » Geography » Environment » Fauna. A real kingdom of birds is the Biebrza Basin, its wildlife making it one of the most unique areas in Poland. It is Europe's most valuable peatland/marshland and an important wildfowl breeding area on the continent, providing refuge for 263 bird species, including 185 nesting species.
Jump up^ Kevin Hillstrom; Laurie Collier Hillstrom (2003). Europe: A Continental Overview of Environmental Issues, Volume 4. ABC-CLIO World geography. p. 34. ISBN 1-57607-686-5.
Jump up^ The CIA World Factbook, Poland Climate. Photius Coutsoukis 2004. The Library of Congress Country Studies.
Jump up^ Borówka R., et al. Przyroda Pomorza Zachodniego. Szczecin: Oficyna In Puls; 2002.
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^ Jump up to:^a ^b Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 699. ISBN 0-19-820171-0.
Jump up^ Józef Andrzej Gierowski (1986). Historia Polski, 1505–1764[History of Poland, 1505–1764] (in Polish). Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. p. 251. ISBN 978-83-01-03732-1. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
Jump up^ Norman Davies (1996). Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 699. ISBN 0-19-820171-0.
Jump up^ Centrum Praw Kobiet 2012. Historia. Baza wiedzy. (Polish)
Jump up^ Frauen, www.eurotopics.net (German)
Jump up^ "Trans Rights Europe Map & Index 2013 from Transgender Europe".
Jump up^ ""Nie" dla małżeństw gejowskich" (in Polish). RP.pl. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2011. Sondaż GfK Polonia
Jump up^ "Polacy nie chcą parad homoseksualistów - Polska - Fakty w INTERIA.PL". Fakty.interia.pl. 6 June 2008. Retrieved20 January 2011.
Jump up^ Tier 1: Countries whose governments fully comply with the TVPA's minimum standards.
Jump up^ WomanStats Project. Trafficking of Women 2011. World map (PNG file). Best results worldwide for two locations (both in Europe) including Poland. Maped by HBLL@BYU.
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Jump up^ "Bordering on madness: Belarus mistreats its Polish minority". The Economist. 16 June 2005. Retrieved 28 July2011.
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c "Strategia Bezpieczeństwa Narodowego RP" (PDF).www.wp.mil.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 26 September 2008.
Jump up^ Day, Matthew (5 August 2008). "Poland ends army conscription". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
Jump up^ "Polska zakończyła udział w misjach po auspicjami ONZ – Wiadomości z kraju i ze świata – Gazeta Prawna – Partner pracodawcy, narzędzie specjalisty". Gazetaprawna.pl. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
Jump up^ "Accident Database". AirDisaster.com. Retrieved12 December 2010.
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Jump up^ "– 15 tys. zimowych mundurów trafi do jednostek". Policja.pl. 30 September 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
Jump up^ "Nowe radiowozy dla policji". Moto.onet.pl. 3 March 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
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Jump up^ PAP, 9 May 2013 Polska żywność - fundament polskiego eksportu - 2012 kolejnym rokiem rekordowego eksportu żywności. Ministerstwo Skarbu Państwa (Internet Archive).
Jump up^ GUS, Najwięksi partnerzy handlowi Polski: kto kupuje nasze produkty? 9 July 2014 (Internet Archive)
Jump up^ Ministerstwo Gospodarki, Polska - kierunki eksportu i najchętniej kupowane produkty z naszego kraju. 8 December 2013 Euro-Dane :: Ekonomia Unii Europejskiej (Internet Archive). Most important importers of Poland's 2012 exports, graph.Manifo (Wayback).
^ Jump up to:^a ^b Thomas White International (September 2011), Prominent Banks in Poland. Emerging Market Spotlight. Banking Sector in Poland (Internet Archive). Retrieved 6 November 2014.
Jump up^ Worldbank.org, Global Financial Development Report 2014.Appendix B. Key Aspects of Financial Inclusion (PDF file, direct download). Retrieved 6 November 2014. There are 32.3 providers per 100,000 adults in Poland by IMF’s Financial Access Survey (FAS). Comparatively, in the United States there are 35.4 but in Cyprus a whopping 103.9.
Jump up^ World Bank, Financial Inclusion Data. Country Dashboard: Poland. The World Bank Group. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
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Jump up^ PAP, Więcej niż 80 proc. eksportu żywności z Polski to przetworzone produkty spożywcze 10 October 2014 Portal Spozywczy.pl (Internet Archive).
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Jump up^ "Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency. News".www.paiz.gov.pl. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
Jump up^ "Eurostat: PKB na mieszkańca w Polsce wzrosło do 67% średniej w UE w 2012 r." [Eurostat: GDP per capita has increased to 67% of the EU average in 2012] (in Polish). eurostat. biznes.pl. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December2013.
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^ Jump up to:^a ^b "UNTWO World Tourism Barometer, Vol.5 No.2" (PDF).www.tourismroi.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
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^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c Newswire Poland Emerges as the European R&D Hub Despite Favorable Conditions in Asia Pacific
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Jump up^ Ethical Cleansing?: The Expulsion of Germans from Central Europe during and after World War ., Eric Langenbacher, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. HEC No. 2004/1. p.29
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Jump up^ According to Ethnologue the following Romani languages are spoken in Poland: Romani Vlax, Romani Carpathian, Romani Sinte, Baltic Romani. See: Ethnologue. Languages of the World, Ethnologue report for Poland
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^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d Aneta Zadroga (10 March 2008). "Studia w liczbach: Warszawa bije Kraków" [University studies in numbers].Source: Gazeta Wyborcza. Gazeta.pl Kraków. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
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Jump up^ Adam Zamoyski, The Polish Way: A Thousand Year History of the Poles and Their Culture. Published 1993, Hippocrene Books, Poland, ISBN 978-0-7818-0200-0
^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, 2002–2007, AN OVERVIEW OF POLISH CULTURE. Access date 13 December 2007.
Jump up^ "Nicolaus Copernicus". www.britannica.com. Retrieved10 October 2008.
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Jump up^ Michael Kennedy, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford dictionary of music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860884-4. p. 141
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Jump up^ "Dr. Sławomir Łodziński, Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, "The Protection of National Minorities in Poland"". Minelres.lv. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
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Jump up^ Vision of Humanity (2015), Positive Peace Index.Downloads. Quote: In the period between 2005 and 2015 Poland recorded the largest improvement in PPI score (Positive Peace Index) in the world. Page 30 of 84 in PDF. Tables. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
Jump up^ Andrew Khan. "Sounds of Poland – day one: a history of Polish pop in 10 songs". Music. The Guardian. Also: Piotr Metz (7 June 2012). "Polish music now: from punk-folk to hip-hop".Music. The Guardian.
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Jump up^ Many designs imitated the arcaded courtyard and arched loggias of the Wawel palace. Michael J. Mikoś. "RENAISSANCE CULTURAL BACKGROUND". www.staropolska.pl. p. 9. Retrieved 23 April 2009.
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Jump up^ Koca, B. (2006). "Polish Literature – The Middle Ages (Religious writings)" (in Polish). Archived from the original on 8 November 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2006.
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Jump up^ Busfield, Steve (21 February 2006). "Guardian wins design award". The Guardian. London.
Jump up^ CNBC (13 Oct 2015) Poland’s video game sector powers uphttp://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/13/polands-video-game-sector-powers-up.html
Jump up^ Fortune Magazine (March 3, 2016) Poland Is Home to the Biggest eSports Event in the Worldhttp://fortune.com/2016/03/03/poland-is-home-to-the-biggest-esports-event-in-the-world/
Jump up^ Eve Zibart, The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion, p. 114."Polish cuisine displays its German-Austrian history in its sausages, particularly the garlicky kielbasa (or kolbasz), and its smoked meats." (p. 108.)
Jump up^ "Polish & Russian-Jewish Cuisine - My Jewish Learning".
Jump up^ Nigel Roberts (12 April 2011), The Bradt Travel Guide 2, Belarus, page 81, (2nd), ISBN 1-84162-340-7. "Like Ukrainians, Russians and Poles, Belarusians are still fond of borscht with a very large dollop of sour cream (smyetana) and it is particularly warming and nourishing in the depths of winter."
Jump up^ Jerzy Pasikowski (2011). "Wpływy kuchni innych narodów na kształt kuchni polskiej (Influences of cuisines of other nations in Polish cuisine)". Portal Gastronomiczny NewsGastro. Retrieved9 March 2014.
Jump up^ Polish Meals – Polish Food – Polish Cuisine. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
Jump up^ Kasha, extended definition by Webster's Online Dictionary. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
Jump up^ Traditional celebrations: Wigilia article from Pope John Paul II Polish Center. Centrum Polonijne w Jorba Linda, California.
Jump up^ "Always home-made, tomato soup is one of the first things a Polish cook learns to prepare." [in:] Marc E. Heine. Poland. 1987
Jump up^ "Tu się w lasy schroniły wygnane ze zbytkowych stołów, narodowe potrawy, Barszcz, Bigos, Zrazy, Pirogi i Pieczeń" [in:] Jan N. de Bobrowicz. Maxymilian arcyksiąże Austryacki obrany Król polski. 1848. s. 74; "barszcz, rosół, sztuka mięsa, pieczenie huzarskie, bigos, pierogi, kiełbasa z kapustą, przede wszystkim zaś rozmaite kasze" Zbigniew Kuchowicz Obyczaje staropolskie XVII-XVIII wieku. 1975; "pieczeń cielęca pieczona (panierowana), pieczeń cielęca zapiekana w sosie beszamelowym, pieczeń huzarska (=pieczeń wołowa przekładana farszem), pieczeń rzymska (klops), pieczeń rzymska (klops z cielęciny) w sosie śmietanowym, pieczeń rzymska z królika " [in:] Stanisław Berger. Kuchnia polska. 1974.; Polish Holiday Cookery by Robert Strybel.Strybel, Robert (2003). Polish Holiday Cookery.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about a type of building. For the reconnaissance satellite, see Vortex satellite. For the emergency service protocol, see CHALET. For the band, see The Chalets.

A typical chalet in the Swiss Alps

A chalet (pronounced /ˈʃæleɪ/ in British English; in American English usually /ʃæˈleɪ/), also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house, native to the Alpine region in Europe. It is made of wood, with a heavy, gently sloping roof and wide, well-supported eaves set at right angles to the front of the house.^[1]

[hide]

Definition and origin[edit]

The term chalet stems from Arpitan speaking part of Switzerland and French Savoy and originally referred to the hut of a herder.^[2]

A 'chalet' in the hills to the east of Orosí, Costa Rica

Many chalets in the European Alps were originally used as seasonal farms for dairy cattle which would be brought up from the lowland pastures during the summer months. The herders would live in the chalet and make butter and cheese in order to preserve the milk produced. These products would then be taken, with the cattle, back to the low valleys before the onset of the alpine winter. The chalets would remain locked and unused during the winter months. Around many chalets there are small windowless huts called mazots which were used to lock away valuable items for this period.

Modern international usage[edit]

A holiday 'chalet' in the Blue Ridge Mountains

With the emergence of the Alpine travel business, chalets were transformed into holiday homes used by ski and hiking enthusiasts. Over the years, the term 'chalet' changed to be applied generally to holiday homes, whether built in a strictly Alpine style or not. In Quebec French, any summer or holiday dwelling, especially near a ski hill, is called a chalet whether or not it is built in the style of a Swiss chalet.

Nowadays, in North America and elsewhere in the world, the use of the word chalet can refer to more than just a mountain location. The term chalet is even used to describe resort-like homes or residential properties located by the beach. For example, in Lebanon a chalet usually refers to holiday homes at one of the sixLebanese ski resorts, but the term can also refer to a beach cabin at seaside resorts.^[3] In North American ski areas, the word chalet is also used to describe buildings that house cafeterias and other services provided to the tourist, even though they may not resemble a traditional Alpine chalet. In the United States, alpine Ski Chalets are gaining popularity in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region during winter months. Most Ski Chalets are privately owned vacation homes that owners visit two to three times per year and rent out the remaining time. Owners of these Ski Chalets often hire Property Management companies to manage and rent their property.^[4]

In the Levant, Egypt, and Kuwait, chalets refer to beach houses, rather than mountainside homes, and built in any style of architecture.

In Britain, the word chalet was used for basic sleeping accommodation at holiday camps built around the mid-20th century.^[5]

References[edit]

Jump up^ Webster's Dictionary defines a chalet as "A wooden dwelling with a sloping roof and widely overhanging eaves, common in Switzerland and other Alpine regions."
Jump up^ Harper, Douglas. "chalet". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
Jump up^ Pierce, Eleanor B. All You Need to Know about Living Abroad: Pan American's guide to living conditions in 93 countries
Jump up^ "Ski Chalet | History of United States & European Chalets". movingmountains.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
Jump up^ Butlins FAQ, Butlins Memories. Retrieved 22 February 2012.

Bibliography[edit]

Dana, William Sumner Barton (1913), The Swiss Chalet Book; A Minute Analysis and Reproduction of the Chalets of Switzwerland, Obtained by a Special Visit to That Country, Its Architects, and Its Chalet Homes (reprinted 2009 by Nabu Press) ISBN 1-172-29267-1

Galindo, Michelle (2009), Chale

Apartment hotel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

An apartment hotel in Hammond, IN

An apartment hotel (also residential hotel, or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check-out" whenever they wish.

The standard zoning definition in the United States^[where?] is:

"Apartment hotel means a building designed for or containing both apartments and individual guestrooms or rental units, under resident supervision, and which maintains an inner lobby through which all tenants must pass to gain access to apartments, rooms or units."^{[citation needed]}

An apartment hotel complex usually offers a complete fully fitted apartment. These complexes are usually custom built, and similar to a hotel complex containing a varied amount of apartments. The length of stay in these apartment hotels is varied with anywhere from a few days to months or even years. The people who stay in apartment hotels use them as long-term accommodation; therefore, the hotels are often fitted with most things the average home would require.

[hide]

Origins[edit]

Apartment hotels were first created in holiday destinations as accommodation for families that needed to "live" in an apartment rather than "stay" as they would in a hotel. The apartments would provide a "holiday home" but generally be serviced. Later, these apartments evolved to be complete homes, allowing occupants to do everything they would at home, such as cleaning, washing, and cooking.

Extended stay hotels[edit]

Extended stay hotels are a type of lodging with features unavailable at standard hotels. These features are intended to provide more home-like amenities. There are currently 27 extended stay chains in North America with at least 7 hotels, representing over 2,000 properties.^{[citation needed]} There is substantial variation among extended stay hotels with respect to quality and the amenities available. Some of the economy chains attract clientele who use the hotels as semi-permanent lodging.

Extended-stay hotels typically have self-serve laundry facilities and offer discounts for extended stays, beginning at 5 or 7 days. They also have guestrooms (or "suites") with kitchens. The kitchens include at a minimum usually: a sink, a refrigerator (usually full size), a microwave oven, and a stovetop. Some kitchens also have dishwashers and conventional ovens.

Extended stay hotels are aimed at business travelers on extended assignments, families in the midst of a relocation, and others in need of temporary housing.

The Residence Inn chain was launched in 1975 in Wichita, Kansas by Jack DeBoer, and acquired by Marriott Corporation in 1987. As of April 2005, there were over 450 Residence Inn hotels in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites, both owned by the InterContinental Hotels Group, are two examples of hotels designed for business and extended stay travelers.

Another brand of extended-stay hotels is Homewood Suites, which is part of Hilton Worldwide.

Another brand came from the merger of Extended Stay America and Homestead Hotels, which combined in 2004 to become Extended Stay Hotels with over 670 owned and operated properties in the United States.

Another hotel chain, Choice Hotels International, franchiser for brands such as Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, and Quality Inn, operate the MainStay Suites brand. They acquired the Suburban Extended Stay hotel chain in 2005, with over 150 hotels open and under development.

The low-budget extended stay chain Intown Suites was founded in 1988, with 139 locations in 21 states.

Since 1999 the U.S. budget lodging chain Motel 6, owned by The Blackstone Group (previously Accor),^[1] operates Studio 6, a chain of extended stay hotels with weekly rates. The chain provides a kitchen area in its rooms, and allows pets, and operates in 18 U.S. states and Canada.

Reservations[edit]

Reserving a stay in an apartment hotel differs slightly from booking a hotel room. A more personal approach is needed, as guests staying for extended periods want to ensure that the apartment is to their liking. Guests ask about view, floor plan, floor where the apartment is located, etc. Another reason a reservation agent is required to assist a guest with booking an apartment hotel is due to simple business reasons. Unlike hotels, where all bookings are short stays and check in and check out dates are confirmed at the time the reservation is made, apartment hotels often try to accommodate guests who don't know their checkout date. Such stays include guests who wait for their home to be built or renovated. For that reason it is difficult to list such apartment hotels on most common booking websites. Specialized booking companies allow the apartment hotels to accept or decline a request, rather than simply accepting a confirmed booking, and allow communication of details of the stay with the guest before the reservation is confirmed.

Notes[edit]

Jump up^ http://www.accor.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Contenus_Accor/Finance/Pressreleases/2012/EN/pr_accor___motel_6_20120522.pdf

Categories:

Hotel types
Apartment types

t Architecture and Design, Braun Architecture AG ISBN 3-03768-021-0

[hide] v t e European farmhouse types

(If the same type of house is known by alternative names, it may be linked more than once.)

Old European	Housebarn Longhouse Neolithic long house

German	Black Forest house Cimbrian house East Frisian house Geestharden house Gulf house Haubarg Low German house Lower Saxony house Middle German house Old Frisian farmhouse Schleswig house Upper Lusatian house Uthland-Frisian house

Danish	Cimbrian house

Dutch	Bildts farmhouse Frisian farmhouse Old Frisian longhouse

English	Dartmoor longhouse Hall house

Scottish	Bastle house Blackhouse

Swiss	Chalet

French	Bresse house Lorraine house Mas (Provençal farmhouse)

Spanish	Alqueria Baserri Cabaña pasiega Casa montañesa Masia

Italian	Cascina a corte

Swedish	Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland

Malta	Gozo Farmhouse

Offering wonderful views of Chichester Harbour and the South Downs beyond, the natural and unspoilt sandy beach of West Wittering has been a favourite destination for a family day out for generations. The highest water quality and excellent facilities have made it one of the premier Blue Flag beaches in the country.Click here to read more about the bathing water quality.

The extensive acres of neatly mown grass close to the beach are perfect for parking, and picnics. The sea is popular with wind and kite surfers, while shallow lagoons are left on extensive sandy flats at low tide. The whole area is internationally recognised for its wildlife, birds and unique beauty.

Our trained and dedicated staff endeavour to maintain and protect this special environment, and to provide a warm welcome to all our visitors whether here for a carefree traditional bucket and spade day in summer, or a brisk winter walk.

superb ground floo

West Wittering

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The Witterings" redirects here. See also East Wittering.

West Wittering
The Parish Church
West Wittering West Wittering shown within West Sussex
Area	13.63 km² (5.26 sq mi) ^[1]
Population	2,700. 2011 Census^[2]
– density	197/km² (510/sq mi)
OS grid reference	SZ779984
– London	60 miles (97 km) NE
Civil parish	West Wittering
District	Chichester
Shire county	West Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CHICHESTER
Postcode district	PO20 7
Dialling code	01243
Police	Sussex
Fire	West Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Chichester
Website	Parish Council
List of places UK England West Sussex

Coordinates: 50.78064°N 0.89564°W

West Wittering is a small village and civil parish, on the Manhood Peninsula, in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies near the mouth ofChichester Harbour on the B2179 road 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southwest of Chichester and has a sandy beach with what has been described as excellent water quality.^[3]

In 1872 it had a population of 616, a post office and a National School.^[4] The 2001 census records a population of 2,684.^[1] There is a thriving primary school.^[5]The locality is referred to in Giles Cooper's Unman, Wittering and Zigo.^[6]

At the mouth of Chichester Harbour lies the little settlement of West Wittering, beautiful and glittering when the sea flows round it at high tide, forlorn and untidy when it is out.
— Clare Jerrold

[hide]

Holiday cottage

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Holiday cottages in converted farm buildings, Gloucestershire, England

Purpose-built holiday cottages nearPortrush, Northern Ireland

Seventies architecture in Port Camargue, France

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(March 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

A holiday cottage, holiday home, or vacation property is accommodation used for holiday vacations. Such properties are typically small homes, such as cottages, that vacationers can rent and run as if it were their own home for the duration of their stay. The properties may be owned by those using them for a vacation, in which case the term second home applies; or may be rented out to holidaymakers through an agency.

Terminology varies among countries. In the United Kingdom this type of property is usually termed a holiday home or holiday cottage; in Australia, a holiday house/home, or weekender; in New Zealand, a bach or crib.

[hide]

Characteristics and advantages[edit]

A second home or vacation home can be a home owner's asset as renting it could provide additional income. Many vacationers are opting for a single family residence that they can rent on a nightly or weekly basis. In many cases the savings for them are significant compared to hotels or vacation packages. For owners it can be as rewarding as paying the mortgage. As people begin to realize this trend vacation type properties are becoming popular not only for existing homes but also for building one.

Renting a holiday cottage gives vacationers the freedom to eat in, eat out, stay in bed all day and generally come and go as they please. In contrast to this, accommodation in a bed and breakfast or hotel usually involves some sort of restriction on the time of day guests need to vacate their rooms for cleaning and so on.

Young children and babies can be more easily accommodated for in a holiday cottage where the parents do not feel pressure from other families (e.g. in a hotel resort) who may not have young children. The fact that guests are on holiday in a home together, often with three generations in larger houses, brings a much different atmosphere to the holiday.

Holiday cottages are nowadays found across the length and breadth of the UK, with many destinations from town houses to forests. New Forest Holiday Cottages have become more popular in recent years, gaining a higher profile from such news as the New Forest becoming a National Park. Many other areas in the UK have seen a growth in the Holiday Cottage industry such as the Lake District and Cornwall. There are typically two routes to renting a holiday cottage. Either direct with an owner, or through the auspices of a holiday cottage agency. Several holiday home portals list cottages available direct from the owner, and charge an fee for listing the property.

The holiday cottage market in both Canada and the UK is highly competitive – and big business.^[1] In the UK, this increased competition has led to significant improvements in the quality of properties on offer – so gone are the swirly carpets and tacky furniture of old, to be replaced by tasteful hues, character furnishings and quality appliances, in some cases providing a standard of accommodation more akin to a 'boutique' hotel. This improvement in standards has in turn contributed to the increase in the popularity of holiday cottages for weekend breaks, offering in many cases the same standard of accommodation as an hotel, yet with the increased freedom that a holiday cottage offers.

One other significant development in the UK holiday cottage market is that of Farm Stays, driven partly by the farmers and the poor returns they get from farming itself, but also by the desire of parents wanting their children to experience rural life first-hand.

The rapid development of the Internet and technologies such as telephony and personal digital assistants that allow people to work from home since circa 1995 has blurred the division between vacation property and a primary residence. Some business people, including the British entrepreneur Richard Branson, use their luxury real estate for both business and leisure purposes. Many internet services have developed to connect short term rental customers with owners or brokers of vacation properties.

Numbers[edit]

United Kingdom[edit]

Holiday/second homes in England, 2006
Region	Number	%
Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly	13,458	5.6%
Cumbria	7,906	3.4%
Dorset	10,540	3.2%
Norfolk	11,857	3.1%
Devon	14,813	3.0%
East Sussex	7,583	2.1%
Northumberland	2,805	2.0%
North Yorkshire	7,074	1.9%
West Sussex	6,266	1.8%
Suffolk	5,414	1.8%

Wales[edit]

Holiday homes and second homes comprise 14% of the housing stock in Snowdonia, Wales, compared to the figure of 1% for the whole of Wales.^[2] Only in Gwynedd has the council put in place measures to control the number of holiday homes. But they only control new developments, by withholding permission where consent is likely to raise the figure in any community above 10%, they do not stop anyone from buying a holiday home.^[3]

Cornwall[edit]

The number in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly was calculated to be 5.6% in 2004 and 2006,^[4] this is the region which has the highest number of second homes in England.^[5] Within a year alone, between 2004 and 2005, the percentage of holiday/second homes in England increased by 3.3%.^[6]

Scotland[edit]

Holiday/second homes in Scotland, 2006^[3]
Region	%
Argyll and Bute	11.1%
Eilean Siar	7.2%
Scottish Highlands	6.2%
Orkney Islands	5.3%
Shetland Islands	3.6%
Perth and Kinross	3.1%
North Ayrshire	2.4%
Dumfries and Galloway	2.3%
Scottish borders	2.3%
Moray	2.2%
Aberdeenshire	1.8%
South Ayrshire	1.5%
Stirling	1.4%
East Lothian	1.2%
Angus	1.1%
Fife	0.9%
Edinburgh	0.7%
Aberdeen	0.6%
Clackmannanshire	0.2%
Dundee	0.2%
East Ayrshire	0.2%
Falkirk	0.2%
Glasgow	0.2%
Inverclyde	0.2%
South Lanarkshire	0.2%
West Dunbartonshire	0.2%
East Dunbartonshire	0.1%
East Renfrewshire	0.1%
North Lanarkshire	0.1%
Renfrewshire	0.1%
West Lothian	0.1%

There were 29,299 holiday/summer homes in Scotland on the 2001 Scottish Census, which accounted for 1.3% of Scotland's housing stock.^[7] This figure was 19,756 in 1981, but the majority of the increase occurred during the 1990s. The greatest increase was seen in urban areas, contrary to the usual trends, and increased especially in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. But the majority of holiday/second homes are still to be found in rural areas, notably, 47% of these are to be found in the remote rural areas, where one in every eight house is a holiday or second home.^[8]

France[edit]

The figure in France is also fairly high: approximately 10% of all the housing stock is a holiday or second home, but the majority of these are owned by French. There are approximately 300,000 homes, or 1% of the total housing stock which are the property of owners from abroad. Of this percentage 28% are owned by British owners, 14% Italian, 10% Belgian, 8% Dutch, 3% Spanish and 3% American.^[9]

United States[edit]

Holiday/second homes in north east U.S.A., 2000
State	Number	%
Maine	103,569	15.89%
Vermont	44,006	14.95%
New Hampshire	57,251	10.47%
Delaware	26,600	7.75%
Massachusetts	97,434	3.72%
New Jersey	115,439	3.49%
New York	250,199	3.26%
Rhode Island	13,624	3.10%
Pennsylvania	154,495	2.94%
Maryland	42,541	1.98%
Connecticut	25,565	1.84%
District of Columbia	2,811	1.02%
West Virginia	38,326	0.54%

In 2000, 3,578,718, or 3.09% of the American housing stock, were holiday or second homes, compared with 2.66% in 1990, and 1.87% in 1980. 26% of all these are located in the north-eastern states, with approximately 250,199 (7% of all the second homes in the U.S.) located in New York, and Maine having the largest percentage of its housing stock as second homes.^[10]

Canada[edit]

Second homes are immensely popular, particularly during Canada's summer season. They are referred to differently in different parts of the country; in Ontario it is usually 'cottage', while 'cabin' or 'the lake' is used in much of the rest of Canada. In Ontario, the most popular destination is the Muskoka region of Ontario, known for its many lakes and forests. Muskoka is even referred to as "cottage country" and sees over 2.1 million visitors annually. On the East Coast, the Maritimes are home to many oceanfront cottages. Likewise, British Columbia on the West Coast is another popular vacation destination for seekers of vacation properties. In the Canadian Prairies and British Columbia Interior, vacation properties are located near or on freshwater lakes. Chalets at ski resorts are also common during winter.

Costs and effects[edit]

Financial and legal implications[edit]

In the UK, furnished holiday lettings offer other tax relief providing certain conditions are met. The current conditions are:

It should be available for commercial letting to the public for a total of 140 days in the 12-month period.
It must be let for at least 70 days in the 12-month period. (Where more than one qualifying property is held, it is possible to average the number of days all properties are let in total in order to meet this condition.)
The total periods of long term occupation may not exceed 155 days during the 12-month period.

Second home and holiday home owners used to be able to claim discounts in their council tax in the United Kingdom, as the property is vacant for much of the year. This is no longer true in many areas, including Carmarthenshire; if the property is empty (but furnished) no discount is permitted and the owner will be liable to pay the tax in full.^[11] But, In Cornwall, since 2004 second home owners can claim a 10% discount in their council tax.^[4] Prior to 2004, they could claim a 50% discount in Cornwall,^[12] they are still able to claim 50% in many other areas in England.^[5] The Welsh movement, Cymuned, promote the principle that owners of holiday homes should pay double the standard rate of council tax, as they do not otherwise invest in the local community.^[13]^[14] Testimony of this is to be seen in a report on the effect of holiday homes in Scotland, which found that those who went on holiday to Scotland spent an average of £57 a day, in comparison to just £32 a day spent by those visiting their holiday or second homes.^[3]

Community[edit]

Owners of holiday homes will occasionally move to their second homes permanently upon retirement, this can be a threat to the culture of an area, especially in Wales where the influx of non-Welsh speakers affects the percentage of Welsh speakers in the area and reduces the use of Welsh in everyday life.^[14]^[15] Hundreds of second homes were burnt between 1979 and the mid-1990s as a part of a campaign by nationalist movement Meibion Glyndŵr to protect the indigenous language and culture.

Governance[edit]

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward includes some of Birdham and at the 2011 Census had a total population of 4,472.^[7]

Landmarks[edit]

Part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest Bracklesham Bay runs in between the coastline in the parish.^[8]

Chichester Harbour, a Site of Special Scientific Interest is partly within the parish. This is a wetland of international importance, a Special Protection Area for wild birds and a Special Area of Conservation. The harbour is of particular importance for wintering wildfowl and waders of which five species reach numbers which are internationally important.^[9]

Gallery[edit]

East Head sand dunes
Salt marsh, East Head
West Wittering beach

Notable residents[edit]

Kate Winslet, Actress
Sarah Ayton, Olympic gold medalist
Michael Ball actor and singer.^[10]
Nicholas Lyndhurst, actor.^[11]
Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.^[12]
Sir Henry Royce Engineer, designer of Rolls-Royce cars and aero-engines. From 1917 until his death in 1933.

Bibliography[edit]

J.M. Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales 1872
Clare Jerrold Picturesque Sussex, Hove, Combridge 1932

References[edit]

^ Jump up to:^a ^b "2001 Census: West Sussex – Population by Parish" (PDF). West Sussex County Council. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
Jump up^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 15 October 2015.
Jump up^ "Blue Flag Award". FEE International. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
Jump up^ "Historical details".
Jump up^ "School details".
Jump up^ 1971 Walton-on-Thames, Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd ISBN 0-17-432370-0
Jump up^ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 17 October 2015.
Jump up^ "SSSI Citation — Bracklesham Bay" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
Jump up^ "SSSI Citation — Chichester Harbour" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
Jump up^ "Sunday Times December 23, 2007".
Jump up^ "Sunday Mirror May 23, 1999".
Jump up^ Sunday Telegraph 29 October 2007 p14(Issue no 2,420)

External links[edit]

r apartment providing absolutely stunning southerly views across to the Isle of Wight and also westerley along the Solent to Hayling Island, Portsmouth and the Millenium Tower. The apartment, reached by a short flight of steps, is situated on the south west corner, ideally placed to take in the stunning sun sets.

ommunal Entrance Lobby with lift.

Hall:

Double aspect Living Room: Views directly out through the sliding doors and also westwards along the beach to Hayling Island and the entrance to Chichester Harbour. TV, DVD. Access onto south facing balcony.

Kitchen: Direct sea views. Electric oven and hob, fridge, washing machine, microwave. Dishwasher.

Bedroom 1: Direct westerly sea views. King size double bed. Duvets. Electric night storage heater.

Bedroom 2: Direct westerly sea views. Two 3' single beds. Duvets. Electric night storage heater.

Bathroom with electric power shower over bath.

Residents Parking.

Electric night storage heating.

WiFi Included

The bright, light interior is presented in a white, open plan contemporary style featuring full width sliding picture windows, solid oak floors, modern furnishings and a fully equipped integrated kitchen. Free Wi-Fi is included along with an LCD TV with freeview, DVD, CD player with IPOD connection and DAB radio.

There are communal lawn gardens with a boat ramp leading onto the beach if you would like to launch your own dinghy. The location is fantastic for those who love walking, wind surfing, surfing andcanoeing.

Direct Sea front location

A stunning, newly remodelled, sea front house situated overlooking the beach with views across The Solent to the Isle of Wight and along the coast to the east and west. Prior to being upgraded‘The Breeze’ was always a very popular property with our clients and we feel that now the work is completed it will be even more sought after. The layout now offers a large open plan living area with kitchen providing a beautiful and sociable space. On the first floor there is a full width, glass enclosed, south facing balcony accessed from three of the bedrooms. An unusual feature is the private sun bathing area situated right on top of the sea wall for the exclusive use of ‘The Breeze’ from where the view extends all the way to Portsmouth and the ‘Spinnaker Tower’ in the west, steps then lead down onto the beach. The accommodation is very spacious and ideal for families as it offers four bath/shower rooms and five bedrooms.

SLEEPS max.10

No smoking.

No pets.

Free Wi-Fi

Happy Days' - A superb, new addition to our portfolio this summer. Situated within just 150 m of the beach 'Happy Days' has recentlyy undergone comprehensive re-modelling and has also been completely upgraded by the owners now offering an extremely spacious and comfortable interior providing luxury self-catering accommodation for up to eight guests.

We are sure th

Sleeps 8

No Pets

100 m from the beach in a private road.

Free Wifi

Gas central heating

Spacious entrance hall with hardwood floors. Large open plan living area with stylish sofas and furnishings. Sky dish and leads in place to bring your own Sky Box,TV, DVD/Blue Ray player and free Wifi throughout the property.

Patio doors opening onto the outside dining area, la

Property info

No 21 is a recently renovated family holiday home, tucked away in the corner of Owers Way in West Wittering. It is just two minutes from the seafront and approximately 5 minutes from the shops and facilities of East Wittering where you will find your traditional shops such as butchers, bakers and greengrocers as well as plenty of variety for dining out. The light modern interior of No 21 offers a comfortable sitting room with an open fire should the weather turn chilly (logs and coal can be purchased locally). The dining area is neatly tucked away in the corner of this room. From the sitting room you can open up the French windows for access to the large secluded garden, ideal for the children to play once they have had enough of the beach.

A modern fully equipped kitchen has plenty of storage space with a small table suitable for the family to enjoy a family breakfast. This room also has French doors onto the garden. The washing machine and tumble drier are conveniently placed in a cupboard in the hallway.
Sleeping 5, the tastefully furnished main bedroom has a 4'6" double bed and there a two further bedrooms one with 3' twin beds and another single bedroom.
The modern bathroom has a full size bath with shower over.
Outside has plenty of parking on the front drive which will accommodate 3 cars.

Free Wi-fi

rge w

A beautifully presented, recen

PO20 8DL - Situated on this small private estate and within just 150m of the beach, this delightful newly renovated detached cottage offers a cosy and contemporary interior. With a bright and very spacious interior the cottage inc

Max. occupancy - 6

No 2 The Gee Gee
Sleeps 5 adults or 4 adults and 3 children

NEW to our portfolio- Situated less than 2 minutes from the quieter seafront of East Wittering, No 2 The Gee Gee is in the ideal location to enjoy a seaside holiday but still within easy walking distance of the shops and restaurants in East Wittering.

Willow Cottage is situated on a private estate in the centre of West Wittering village just a short stroll from the family friendly village pub and local shops. The beautiful 'blue flag' beach of West Wittering is within walking distance. The property is recognised by the large Willow Tree standing in the front garden with parking for several cars.

The ground floor has a spacious living room and convervatory with ample seating overlooking the secure landscaped garden. Should you be staying out of season there is an open fire although the property does have full central heating. There is a smart TV and DVD player, telephone for outgoing calls and broadband provided.

The kitchen is fully equipped with electric hob and oven, washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher, a large fridge/freezer plus an additional fridge, plus all the usual items such as a toaster, microwave and plenty of cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery.

The dining room leads off the kitchen with patio doors leading onto the patio and rear garden where you will find a garden table and matching chairs.

Also situated on the ground floor is the newly fitted shower room.

Upstairs the house has three bedrooms, two have double beds (one is a 6' bed) and the third provides twin beds. Should you have any little ones there is a brand new travel cot and a small highchair provided. The newly fitted family bathroom has a bath with shower over.

Willow Cottage is available all year and will consider short breaks out of season.

Pets are not allowed however occupants should be aware that the owners have a dog if this may cause them a problem with allergies or asthma.

Sleeps 6 plus travel cot.

Free WiFi

Oli fired central heating.

Parking.

The property has recently undergone complete refurbishment and now has modern features throughout - for anyone looking to holiday with friends or family it is conveniently situated next door to No 1, The Gee Gee which has been popular with our guests for many years.

Free Wi Fi available

New to our portfolio for 2016 – 27 Marine Drive has been tastefully up-dated and re-modelled within the last year to offer a very comfortable home in a great location for holidays with the beach literally 100m away around the corner and East Wittering village with its excellent variet

Consistently rebooked, No 5 has been a very popular choice with many of our regular clients who have appreciated the bright south westerley position of this first flat as it directly overlooks the beach at the front of this much requested complex. The views, particularly from the living room and south facing balcony, reach across to the Isle of Wight and also westwards along the The Solent to Portsmouth and the Spinnaker Tower.

SLEEPS 4 + 2

No smoking. No pets.

Direct sea front position.

y of shops, supermarkets and restaurants only a short 400m walk away.

Outside there is the advantage of an enclosed, south facing garden with a large terrace and deck area with tables and chairs providing al fresco dining for six. The interior offers four spacious ground floor bedrooms, one with an En-Suite Wet Room and there is also a family bathroom. The open plan Kitchen/Dining Room will probably become the hub of the house with a superb fitted, fully equipped kitchen and wood burner for cosy evenings. Just off the dining area is a pool table and there are double, sliding doors accessing the rear garden and large, paved, terrace. The main Living Room is on the first floor and features a beautiful vaulted ceiling with picture windows overlooking the garden and has glimpses of the sea, also on this floor there is a fifth bedroom with a single bed.

For larger parties it should be noted that directly next door is ‘Roshanara’ another one of our holiday rental properties which sleeps eight people.

Although 27 Marine has five bedrooms it should be noted that there is a maximum occupancy of six persons.

ludes a superb first floor Master Bedroom Suite with feature gable end window. A modern fully equipped Kitchen with Dining area. There is the benefit of an enclosed, lawned rear garden facing south to make the most of the light and sun.

150m from the beach

Free wi-fi

tly built cottage situated just 150m back from the beach and also very handily placed for all of the local shops and amenities in the village centre 200m away. The property has been stylishly and comfortably furnished and has a superb large, open plan ground floor which includes a beautiful and well equiped kitchen, a living room and dining area with both double doors and bi-fold doors leading out to a rear paved courtyard, this provides a wonderful sociable space for all of your guests. 'Seascape'was new to our holiday program last year and we feel that the cottage will become a firm favourite with our regular clients.

Free Wi Fi.

Close to the beach and village centre.

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Map

Satellite

Directions to West Wittering Beach

By car

From the A27 on the south side of CHICHESTER take the A286 signed “THE WITTERINGS” and continue for about 5 miles. At the small roundabout in Birdham Village, take the RIGHT fork following the brown tourist signs to “West Wittering Beach”. After 2 miles you will enter West Wittering Village.

After passing the village shops continue for 200 yards then turn RIGHT following the brown tourist signs along the private road to the car park ticket barrier, or the manned kiosk. Please have the correct change available.

Other transport

Trains

The nearest train station is Chichester. Train timetables are available fromwww.nationalrail.co.uk.

Buses

Stagecoach run bus services from Chichester bus station next to the railway station. Please see their website www.stagecoachbus.com/routes/south/ for timetable. The nearest bus stop is by the Old House at Home pub - 10 minutes stroll from the beach.

Cycle

The Salterns Way Cycle and Wheelchair Path runs from the centre of Chichester to our car park. A leaflet with map is available from the estate office, Chichester Harbour Conservancy (01243 512301) www.conservancy.co.uk, and from the Chichester Tourist Information Centre 01243 775888.

rap around garden laid to lawn Attractive indoor dining area with seating for 8 leading to:

Fully fitted modern kitchen with eye level oven and grill, 5 ring gas hob, dishwasher, larder style fridge, microwave, kettle, toaster and coffee maker, plenty of crockery, cutlery and glasses Separate utility room with washing machine, tumble dryer and freezer. Door to rear garden.

Bedroom 1 - 5' King size bed with anti-allergy duvet and pillows, en-suite shower room with modern suite and heated towel rail.

Bedroom 2 - 5' King size bed with anti-allergy duvet and pillows, en-suite shower room with modern suite and heated towel rail.

Bedroom 3 - 2 x 3' twin beds, tastefully furnished with plenty of storage space.

Bedroom 4 - 2 x 3' twin beds again tastefully furnished. All bedrooms have wardrobe and chest of drawers.

Family bathroom beautifully tiled - comprising large oval bath, spacious walk in shower and heated towel rail to warm your towels. Hairdryer.

The garden is an additional feature, securely gated at the front with space for 3 cars on the gravel drive. Mainly laid to lawn with hedges and fences offering relative privacy. There is a garden shed should you wish to bring your bikes and the owner has thoughtfully installed an outside hot and cold shower so you can rinse away the sand after returning from the beach which is just across the road.

The patio off the sitting room catches the evening sun so you can relax at the end of the day with a chilled glass of wine sitting on the comfortable outdoor furniture!

BBQ and sun loungers are also provided for your use.

at once you have experienced 'Happy Days' you will be wishing to return year after year!

Free Wi-fi

No Pets

Within walking distance of shops and restaurants of Bracklesham Bay and approximately 1.5 miles from East Wittering village

Linen and towels included

ChaletPoland

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History[edit]

Roman period[edit]

Anglo-Saxon period[edit]

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Medieval to modern times[edit]

Governance[edit]

Geography[edit]

Climate[edit]

Economy[edit]

Main sights[edit]

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St Richard's Hospital[edit]

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