title: Sand cat

text: The sand cat's fur is of a pale, sandy, isabelline colour, but much lighter on the lower part of the head, around the nose, throat, and on the belly. A faint reddish line runs from the outer corner of each eye across the cheeks. Markings vary between individuals: some have neither spots nor stripes, some are faintly spotted, some have both spots and stripes. There are dark brown to blackish bars on the limbs, and the tail has a black tip with two or three dark rings alternating with buff bands. The head is sandy brown. The large, greenish-yellow eyes are ringed with white, and the nose is blackish. The cat's whiskers are white and up to long.


title: Sand cat

text: The sand cat is a small cat, characterized by a flat, wide head, short legs, and a relatively long tail of . It stands at the shoulder and weighs . The head-and-body length ranges from . The long ears are set low, giving a broad, flat appearance to the head. The ears are tawny at the base and tipped with black, and more pointed than those of the Pallas's cat ("Otocolobus manul").


title: Sand cat

text: In Central Asia, the sand cat's winter coat is very long and thick, with hairs reaching up to in length. The sand cat's claws on the forelimbs are short and very sharp, and claws on the hind feet are small and blunt. The undersides of its paws are protected from extreme temperatures by a thick covering of fur. The long hairs growing between its toes create a cushion of fur over the foot pads, helping to insulate them while moving over hot sand. This feature makes the cat's tracks obscure and difficult to identify and follow.


title: Sand cat

text: Its skull is arched in lateral outline with wide zygomatic arches. The pinnae of the ears are triangular, and the ear canal is very wide, giving the cat an enhanced sense of hearing. The auditory bullae and the passages from the external ears to the ear drums are greatly enlarged compared to other small wild cats; the inner parts of the ears are protected from foreign objects by long, closely spaced white hairs.


title: Sand cat

text: The sand cat's outer ear is similar to that of a domestic cat, but its ear canal is about twice the size. The magnitude of acoustic input-admittance is about five times higher than of a domestic cat. Additionally, hearing sensitivity of the sand cat is about 8 decibels greater than that of the domestic cat.


title: Sand cat

text: It has a bite force at the canine tip of 155.4 Newton and a bite force quotient at the canine tip of 136.7.


title: Sand cat

text: The sand cat inhabits both sandy and stony deserts. It is widely but not contiguously distributed in the deserts of North Africa and Southwest and Central Asia.


title: Sand cat

text: It prefers flat or undulating terrain with sparse vegetation of grasses or small bushes; it avoids bare and shifting sand dunes, where little prey is available.


title: Sand cat

text: In the Moroccan Sahara, sand cats were sighted and photographed in the Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab region several times between 2005 and 2016.


title: Sand cat

text: Sand cat kittens that had been hiding beneath a tuft of "Panicum turgidum" grass were sighted and photographed in the area in April 2017.


title: Sand cat

text: No confirmed records are known in Mauritania, Tunisia and Libya. In Mali's Lake Faguibine area, one individual was shortly sighted by night in 2011.


title: Sand cat

text: Sightings in Egypt's rocky Western and Eastern Deserts date to the mid 1980s. In the Sinai peninsula, sand cats were sighted in the mid 1990s.


title: Sand cat

text: On the Arabian Peninsula, a sand cat skin was discovered by Wilfred Thesiger in 1948 in an oasis of the Rub' al Khali desert.


title: Sand cat

text: In Saudi Arabia's Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area, sand cats were captured and encountered trapped in wire mesh fence surrounding the adjacent Saja Umm Ar-Rimth Natural Reserve in the country's Najd region. In the Tabuk Region, two sand cats were killed by hunters in 2013 and 2016; and one individual was captured by a local farmer in 2014 and kept in a cage.


title: Sand cat

text: Sand cats were also observed in 2014–2015 in three localities in the Turaif area in northern Saudi Arabia.


title: Sand cat

text: In 'Uruq Bani Ma'arid on the western edge of the Rub' al Khali, sand cats use gravel valley and sand dune habitats in the cool season from October to April; in the hot season from May to September, they mainly use sand dune habitat.


title: Sand cat

text: Several sand cats were recorded in a protected area in Abu Dhabi's Al Gharbia area between April and December 2015, after an absence of sightings for ten years.


title: Sand cat

text: In southern Israel, four sand cats were radio-collared and tracked over a few months in the late 1980s in the Arabah Valley, which lies mostly in Jordan. The monitored sand cats frequently roamed in military camps of the Israeli army and crossed the international border. Since 2002, the sand cat is considered locally extinct in Israel, as it has not been recorded since the turn of the century.


title: Sand cat

text: In Jordan, a sand cat was sighted for the first time in 1997 during a survey in a desert area in the eastern part of the country. In Syria, sand cats were sighted and photographed by a camera-trap in a protected area near Palmyra in 2000 and 2001.


title: Sand cat

text: In Iran, it occurs in arid flat plains and sandy desert of Abbas'abad Wildlife Reserve, Kavir National Park and Petergan Rural District. Between March 2014 and July 2016, sand cats were also observed at elevations of in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, foremost in black saxaul dominated habitat. In central Iran, sand cats were observed foremost in sand dunes and sabulous areas during surveys in 2014–2016.


title: Sand cat

text: In Pakistan, the first sand cat was detected in 1966 near the Lora River in Balochistan. In the late 1960s, sand cats were also encountered in the Chagai Hills, an extremely arid area comprising rolling sand dunes and stony plains at an elevation of about .


title: Sand cat

text: In Central Asia, the sand cat was known to occur up to the late 1960s in the Karakum Desert from the Ustyurt Plateau in the northwest to the Kopet Dag Mountains in the south, and from the Kyzylkum Desert to the Syr Darya River and the northern border to Afghanistan. Adult sand cats with kittens were photographed in the southern Kyzylkum Desert in spring 2013 and 2014.


title: Sand cat

text: The sand cat is solitary, except during the mating season and when a female has kittens. It makes loud, high-pitched and short rasping sounds, especially when seeking a mate. Its vocalizations are similar to those of the domestic cat. It communicates by urine spraying and using scent and scratch marks. It buries its feces and covers it with sand.


title: Sand cat

text: Its way of moving is distinct: with its belly close to the ground, it moves at a fast run punctuated with occasional leaps. It is capable of sudden bursts of speed and can sprint at speeds of per hour.


title: Sand cat

text: Four radio-collared sand cats in Israel moved long distances of in a single night. They were generally active throughout the night, hunting and travelling an average distance of . They retired below ground at dawn and stayed in the burrow during the day. During the survey period, they used several burrows in their home ranges.


title: Sand cat

text: Burrows are about deep and dug in slightly slanting ground with usually only a single entrance. Burrows with two or three entrances have also been observed. These burrows were either abandoned by foxes or porcupines, or dug by gerbils or other rodents. In winter, sand cats stay in the sun during the day, but during the hot season, they are crepuscular and nocturnal.


title: Sand cat

text: In Morocco, a male sand cat travelled in 30 hours. A female sand cat moved in an area of during six days, and two males had home ranges of .


title: Sand cat

text: In 2018, several sand cats were observed resting in brown-necked raven nests built in umbrella thorn acacia trees in the Moroccan Sahara.


title: Sand cat

text: In the Ténéré Desert, sand cats were observed preying foremost on small rodents, and the young of cape hare ("Lepus capensis"), but also hunting greater hoopoe lark ("Alaemon alaudipes"), desert monitor ("Varanus griseus"), sandfish ("Scincus scincus") and venomous "Cerastes" vipers. If they caught more than they could eat, they buried the remains for later consumption. They satisfied their moisture requirements from their prey but drank water if it was available. The Toubou people have reported incidents of sand cats coming to their camps at night and drinking fresh camel milk.


title: Sand cat

text: In Israel, remains of Egyptian spiny-tailed lizards ("Uromastyx aegyptia") were found near burrows used by sand cats. They were observed preying on jirds ("Meriones"), Cairo spiny mouse ("Acomys cahirinus"), desert lark ("Ammomanes deserti") and small reptiles.


title: Sand cat

text: In central Iran, remains of Blanford's jerboa ("Jaculus blanfordi") and Balochistan gerbil ("Gerbillus nanus") were the most frequent prey species found around dens of sand cats.


title: Sand cat

text: Sand cats were collected in eastern Karakum Desert in the late 1950s. Their feces and stomachs contained remains of tolai hare ("Lepus tolai"), small rodents, birds, small reptiles and invertebrates.


title: Sand cat

text: In March 2018, a sand cat was recorded feeding on a MacQueen's bustard ("Chlamydotis macqueenii") in the Kyzylkum Desert.


title: Sand cat

text: Oestrus in female sand cats lasts from five to six days, during which they frequently call and scent mark. After a gestation of 59 to 66 days, they give birth to a litter of two to three kittens. The kittens weigh at birth, and have spotted pale yellow or reddish fur. They grow relatively rapidly, reaching three quarters of the adult size within five months, are fully independent by the end of their first year and reach sexual maturity soon after the first year.


title: Sand cat

text: Of 228 sand cats born in zoos globally by 2007, only 61% of the kittens lived to day 30. They died primarily due to maternal neglect by first-time mothers. Otherwise, they can live up to 13 years in captivity. The life expectancy of wild sand cats has not been documented.


title: Sand cat

text: Habitat degradation and loss of sand dunes due to human activities are considered major threats to sand cat populations in Western Asia, where uncontrolled hunting and persecution of predators using poisoned baits are common practices. The sand cat's small-mammal prey-base depends on having adequate vegetation, which may experience large fluctuations due to drought or declines due to desertification and loss of natural vegetation.


title: Sand cat

text: Fencing of protected areas threatens the sand cat in Saudi Arabia, where several individuals were found stuck in fences.


title: Sand cat

text: In Iran, vulnerable arid ecosystems are being rapidly degraded by human settlement and activity, especially livestock grazing.


title: Sand cat

text: In Uzbekistan, drifting sand areas are increasing, as local people uproot shrubs for use as firewood and as a substrate for silk worm ("Bombyx mori") cocoons.


title: Sand cat

text: In the Sahara, sand cats have been killed in traps laid out by inhabitants of oases targeting foxes and golden jackals ("Canis aureus") or in retaliation for killing poultry.


title: Sand cat

text: Several cases of sand cats having been killed by domestic dogs ("C. familiaris") were reported in Israel and Iran.


title: Sand cat

text: In Israel, the sand cat was thought to be threatened by predation from caracals ("Caracal caracal") and wolves ("Canis lupus").


title: Sand cat

text: Sand cats have also been caught for the pet trade in the United Arab Emirates and in Iraq. In Baghdad, two sand cats were presented to a local nursery in 2012 that had been sold as pets; they died a week later. In 2014 and 2015, four sand cats were trapped alive by local truffle collectors and offered for sale in a wildlife market in Bagdad; their fate is unknown.


title: Sand cat

text: Sand cats may be at risk of transfer of diseases from domestic and feral cats encroaching desert areas. In Saudi Arabia, one of 17 wild-caught sand cats was tested positive for feline leukaemia virus.


title: Sand cat

text: "Felis margarita" is listed on CITES Appendix II. Hunting is prohibited in Algeria, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Niger, Pakistan, and Tunisia. No legal protection exists in Egypt, Mali, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Previously having been classified as near threatened, it has been downlisted to least concern in 2016, as the estimated size of the global population exceeds the threshold for a threatened category; the extent of decline of the global population is unknown.


title: Sand cat

text: The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo started a sand cat reintroduction project in Israel's Arabah Desert. Several captive-born individuals from the zoo's population were kept in an acclimatization enclosure, but did not survive subsequent release into the wild.


title: Sand cat

text: Since the mid 1960s, sand cats were captured in Pakistan for trade and export to Europe until the Pakistani government rejected issuing permits in 1974.


title: Sand cat

text: Captive sand cats are highly sensitive to respiratory diseases and infection of the upper respiratory tract. This is the main cause of death in adults. The most common disease is infectious rhinotracheitis. With sand cats being very susceptible to respiratory infections, they have to be kept in very arid enclosures, where humidity and temperature do not fluctuate.


title: Sand cat

text: The captive population kept in the European Endangered Species Programme is offspring of 18 founders that originated almost exclusively on the Arabian Peninsula. Until December 2009, the global captive population comprised 200 individuals in 45 institutions, including 23 European zoos with 102 individuals.


title: Sand cat

text: In 2010, two sand cat kittens were born at the Al Ain Zoo after the first procedure of in vitro fertilisation and transfer of frozen-thawed embryos into the oviducts of ovulating females. In July 2012, four sand cat kittens were born at the Ramat Gan Zoo as part of the European Endangered Species Programme.


title: Human tooth

text: The human teeth function to mechanically break down items of food by cutting and crushing them in preparation for swallowing and digesting. As such, they are considered part of the human digestive system. Humans have four types of teeth: incisors, canines, premolars, and molars, which each have a specific function. The incisors cut the food, the canines tear the food and the molars and premolars crush the food. The roots of teeth are embedded in the maxilla (upper jaw) or the mandible (lower jaw) and are covered by gums. Teeth are made of multiple tissues of varying density and hardness.


title: Human tooth

text: Humans, like most other mammals, are diphyodont, meaning that they develop two sets of teeth. The first set, deciduous teeth, also called "primary teeth", "baby teeth", or "milk teeth", normally eventually contains 20 teeth. Primary teeth typically start to appear ("erupt") around six months of age and this may be distracting and/or painful for the infant. However, some babies are born with one or more visible teeth, known as neonatal teeth or "natal teeth".


title: Human tooth

text: Dental anatomy is a field of anatomy dedicated to the study of tooth structure. The development, appearance, and classification of teeth fall within its field of study, though dental occlusion, or contact between teeth, does not. Dental anatomy is also a taxonomic science as it is concerned with the naming of teeth and their structures. This information serves a practical purpose for dentists, enabling them to easily identify and describe teeth and structures during treatment.


title: Human tooth

text: The anatomic crown of a tooth is the area covered in enamel above the cementoenamel junction (CEJ) or "neck" of the tooth. Most of the crown is composed of dentin ("dentine" in British English) with the pulp chamber inside. The crown is within bone before eruption. After eruption, it is almost always visible. The anatomic root is found below the CEJ and is covered with cementum. As with the crown, dentin composes most of the root, which normally has pulp canals. Canines and most premolars, except for maxillary first premolars, usually have one root. Maxillary first premolars and mandibular molars usually have two roots. Maxillary molars usually have three roots. Additional roots are referred to as supernumerary roots.


title: Human tooth

text: Humans usually have 20 primary (deciduous, "baby" or "milk") teeth and 32 permanent (adult) teeth. Teeth are classified as incisors, canines, premolars (also called "bicuspids"), and molars. Incisors are primarily used for cutting, canines are for tearing, and molars serve for grinding.


title: Human tooth

text: Most teeth have identifiable features that distinguish them from others. There are several different notation systems to refer to a specific tooth. The three most common systems are the FDI World Dental Federation notation (ISO 3950), the Universal Numbering System, and the Palmer notation. The FDI system is used worldwide, the Universal only in the United States, while the older Palmer notation still has some adherents only in the United Kingdom.


title: Human tooth

text: Among deciduous (primary) teeth, ten are found in the maxilla (upper jaw) and ten in the mandible (lower jaw), for a total of 20. The dental formula for primary teeth in humans is .


title: Human tooth

text: In the primary set of teeth, in addition to the canines, there are two types of incisors—centrals and laterals—and two types of molars—first and second. All primary teeth are normally later replaced with their permanent counterparts.


title: Human tooth

text: Among permanent teeth, 16 are found in the maxilla and 16 in the mandible, for a total of 32. The dental formula is . Permanent human teeth are numbered in a boustrophedonic sequence.


title: Human tooth

text: The maxillary teeth are the maxillary central incisors (teeth 8 and 9 in the diagram), maxillary lateral incisors (7 and 10), maxillary canines (6 and 11), maxillary first premolars (5 and 12), maxillary second premolars (4 and 13), maxillary first molars (3 and 14), maxillary second molars (2 and 15), and maxillary third molars (1 and 16). The mandibular teeth are the mandibular central incisors (24 and 25), mandibular lateral incisors (23 and 26), mandibular canines (22 and 27), mandibular first premolars (21 and 28), mandibular second premolars (20 and 29), mandibular first molars (19 and 30), mandibular second molars (18 and 31), and mandibular third molars (17 and 32). Third molars are commonly called "wisdom teeth" usually emerge at ages 17 to 25. These molars may never erupt into the mouth or form at all. When they do form, they often must be removed. If any additional teeth form—for example, fourth and fifth molars, which are rare—they are referred to as supernumerary teeth (hyperdontia). Development of fewer than the usual number of teeth is called hypodontia.


title: Human tooth

text: There are small differences between the teeth of males and females, with male teeth along with the male jaw tending to be larger on average than female teeth and jaw. There are also differences in the internal dental tissue proportions, with male teeth consisting of proportionately more dentine while female teeth have proportionately more enamel.


title: Human tooth

text: Enamel is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance of the body. It has its origin from oral ectoderm. It is one of the four major tissues which make up the tooth, along with dentin, cementum, and dental pulp. It is normally visible and must be supported by underlying dentin. 96% of enamel consists of mineral, with water and organic material comprising the rest. The normal color of enamel varies from light yellow to grayish white. At the edges of teeth where there is no dentin underlying the enamel, the color sometimes has a slightly blue tone. Since enamel is semitranslucent, the color of dentin and any restorative dental material underneath the enamel strongly affects the appearance of a tooth. Enamel varies in thickness over the surface of the tooth and is often thickest at the cusp, up to 2.5mm, and thinnest at its border, which is seen clinically as the CEJ. The wear rate of enamel, called attrition, is 8 micrometers a year from normal factors.


title: Human tooth

text: Enamel's primary mineral is hydroxyapatite, which is a crystalline calcium phosphate. The large amount of minerals in enamel accounts not only for its strength but also for its brittleness. Dentin, which is less mineralized and less brittle, compensates for enamel and is necessary as a support. Unlike dentin and bone, enamel does not contain collagen. Proteins of note in the development of enamel are ameloblastins, amelogenins, enamelins and tuftelins. It is believed that they aid in the development of enamel by serving as framework support, among other functions. In rare circumstances enamel can fail to form, leaving the underlying dentine exposed on the surface.


title: Human tooth

text: Dentin is the substance between enamel or cementum and the pulp chamber. It is secreted by the odontoblasts of the dental pulp. The formation of dentin is known as dentinogenesis. The porous, yellow-hued material is made up of 70% inorganic materials, 20% organic materials, and 10% water by weight. Because it is softer than enamel, it decays more rapidly and is subject to severe cavities if not properly treated, but dentin still acts as a protective layer and supports the crown of the tooth.


title: Human tooth

text: Dentin is a mineralized connective tissue with an organic matrix of collagenous proteins. Dentin has microscopic channels, called dentinal tubules, which radiate outward through the dentin from the pulp cavity to the exterior cementum or enamel border. The diameter of these tubules range from 2.5 μm near the pulp, to 1.2 μm in the midportion, and 900 nm near the dentino-enamel junction. Although they may have tiny side-branches, the tubules do not intersect with each other. Their length is dictated by the radius of the tooth. The three dimensional configuration of the dentinal tubules is genetically determined.


title: Human tooth

text: There are three types of dentin, primary, secondary and tertiary. Secondary dentin is a layer of dentin produced after root formation and continues to form with age. Tertiary dentin is created in response to stimulus, such as cavities and tooth wear.


title: Human tooth

text: Cementum is a specialized bone like substance covering the root of a tooth. It is approximately 45% inorganic material (mainly hydroxyapatite), 33% organic material (mainly collagen) and 22% water. Cementum is excreted by cementoblasts within the root of the tooth and is thickest at the root apex. Its coloration is yellowish and it is softer than dentin and enamel. The principal role of cementum is to serve as a medium by which the periodontal ligaments can attach to the tooth for stability. At the cement to enamel junction, the cementum is acellular due to its lack of cellular components, and this acellular type covers at least ⅔ of the root. The more permeable form of cementum, cellular cementum, covers about ⅓ of the root apex.


title: Human tooth

text: The dental pulp is the central part of the tooth filled with soft connective tissue. This tissue contains blood vessels and nerves that enter the tooth from a hole at the apex of the root. Along the border between the dentin and the pulp are odontoblasts, which initiate the formation of dentin. Other cells in the pulp include fibroblasts, preodontoblasts, macrophages and T lymphocytes. The pulp is commonly called "the nerve" of the tooth.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth development is the complex process by which teeth form from embryonic cells, grow, and erupt into the mouth. Although many diverse species have teeth, their development is largely the same as in humans. For human teeth to have a healthy oral environment, enamel, dentin, cementum, and the periodontium must all develop during appropriate stages of fetal development. Primary teeth start to form in the development of the embryo between the sixth and eighth weeks, and permanent teeth begin to form in the twentieth week. If teeth do not start to develop at or near these times, they will not develop at all.


title: Human tooth

text: A significant amount of research has focused on determining the processes that initiate tooth development. It is widely accepted that there is a factor within the tissues of the first pharyngeal arch that is necessary for the development of teeth.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth development is commonly divided into the following stages: the bud stage, the cap, the bell, and finally maturation. The staging of tooth development is an attempt to categorize changes that take place along a continuum; frequently it is difficult to decide what stage should be assigned to a particular developing tooth. This determination is further complicated by the varying appearance of different histologic sections of the same developing tooth, which can appear to be different stages.


title: Human tooth

text: The tooth bud (sometimes called the tooth germ) is an aggregation of cells that eventually forms a tooth. It is organized into three parts: the enamel organ, the dental papilla and the dental follicle. The "enamel organ" is composed of the outer enamel epithelium, inner enamel epithelium, stellate reticulum and stratum intermedium. These cells give rise to ameloblasts, which produce enamel and the reduced enamel epithelium. The growth of cervical loop cells into the deeper tissues forms Hertwig's Epithelial Root Sheath, which determines a tooth's root shape. The "dental papilla" contains cells that develop into odontoblasts, which are dentin-forming cells. Additionally, the junction between the dental papilla and inner enamel epithelium determines the crown shape of a tooth. The "dental follicle" gives rise to three important cells: cementoblasts, osteoblasts, and fibroblasts. Cementoblasts form the cementum of a tooth. Osteoblasts give rise to the alveolar bone around the roots of teeth. Fibroblasts develop the periodontal ligaments which connect teeth to the alveolar bone through cementum.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth eruption in humans is a process in tooth development in which the teeth enter the mouth and become visible. Current research indicates that the periodontal ligaments play an important role in tooth eruption. Primary teeth erupt into the mouth from around six months until two years of age. These teeth are the only ones in the mouth until a person is about six years old. At that time, the first permanent tooth erupts. This stage, during which a person has a combination of primary and permanent teeth, is known as the mixed stage. The mixed stage lasts until the last primary tooth is lost and the remaining permanent teeth erupt into the mouth.


title: Human tooth

text: There have been many theories about the cause of tooth eruption. One theory proposes that the developing root of a tooth pushes it into the mouth. Another, known as the cushioned hammock theory, resulted from microscopic study of teeth, which was thought to show a ligament around the root. It was later discovered that the "ligament" was merely an artifact created in the process of preparing the slide. Currently, the most widely held belief is that the periodontal ligaments provide the main impetus for the process.


title: Human tooth

text: The onset of primary tooth loss has been found to correlate strongly with somatic and psychological criteria of school readiness.


title: Human tooth

text: The periodontium is the supporting structure of a tooth, helping to attach the tooth to surrounding tissues and to allow sensations of touch and pressure. It consists of the cementum, periodontal ligaments, alveolar bone, and gingiva. Of these, cementum is the only one that is a part of a tooth. Periodontal ligaments connect the alveolar bone to the cementum. Alveolar bone surrounds the roots of teeth to provide support and creates what is commonly called an alveolus, or "socket". Lying over the bone is the gingiva or gum, which is readily visible in the mouth.


title: Human tooth

text: The periodontal ligament is a specialized connective tissue that attaches the cementum of a tooth to the alveolar bone. This tissue covers the root of the tooth within the bone. Each ligament has a width of 0.15–0.38mm, but this size decreases over time. The functions of the periodontal ligaments include attachment of the tooth to the bone, support for the tooth, formation and resorption of bone during tooth movement, sensation, and eruption. The cells of the periodontal ligaments include osteoblasts, osteoclasts, fibroblasts, macrophages, cementoblasts, and epithelial cell rests of Malassez. Consisting of mostly Type I and III collagen, the fibers are grouped in bundles and named according to their location. The groups of fibers are named alveolar crest, horizontal, oblique, periapical, and interradicular fibers. The nerve supply generally enters from the bone apical to the tooth and forms a network around the tooth toward the crest of the gingiva. When pressure is exerted on a tooth, such as during chewing or biting, the tooth moves slightly in its socket and puts tension on the periodontal ligaments. The nerve fibers can then send the information to the central nervous system for interpretation.


title: Human tooth

text: The alveolar bone is the bone of the jaw which forms the alveolus around teeth. Like any other bone in the human body, alveolar bone is modified throughout life. Osteoblasts create bone and osteoclasts destroy it, especially if force is placed on a tooth. As is the case when movement of teeth is attempted through orthodontics, an area of bone under compressive force from a tooth moving toward it has a high osteoclast level, resulting in bone resorption. An area of bone receiving tension from periodontal ligaments attached to a tooth moving away from it has a high number of osteoblasts, resulting in bone formation.


title: Human tooth

text: The gingiva ("gums") is the mucosal tissue that overlays the jaws. There are three different types of epithelium associated with the gingiva: gingival, junctional, and sulcular epithelium. These three types form from a mass of epithelial cells known as the epithelial cuff between the tooth and the mouth. The gingival epithelium is not associated directly with tooth attachment and is visible in the mouth. The junctional epithelium, composed of the basal lamina and hemidesmosomes, forms an attachment to the tooth. The sulcular epithelium is nonkeratinized stratified squamous tissue on the gingiva which touches but is not attached to the tooth.


title: Human tooth

text: Plaque is a biofilm consisting of large quantities of various bacteria that form on teeth. If not removed regularly, plaque buildup can lead to periodontal problems such as gingivitis. Given time, plaque can mineralize along the gingiva, forming "tartar". The microorganisms that form the biofilm are almost entirely bacteria (mainly streptococcus and anaerobes), with the composition varying by location in the mouth. "Streptococcus mutans" is the most important bacterium associated with dental caries.


title: Human tooth

text: Certain bacteria in the mouth live off the remains of foods, especially sugars and starches. In the absence of oxygen they produce lactic acid, which dissolves the calcium and phosphorus in the enamel. This process, known as "demineralisation", leads to tooth destruction. Saliva gradually neutralises the acids, which causes the pH of the tooth surface to rise above the critical pH, typically considered to be 5.5. This causes remineralisation, the return of the dissolved minerals to the enamel. If there is sufficient time between the intake of foods then the impact is limited and the teeth can repair themselves. Saliva is unable to penetrate through plaque, however, to neutralize the acid produced by the bacteria.


title: Human tooth

text: Dental caries (cavities), described as "tooth decay", is an infectious disease which damages the structures of teeth. The disease can lead to pain, tooth loss, and infection. Dental caries has a long history, with evidence showing the disease was present in the Bronze, Iron, and Middle ages but also prior to the neolithic period. The largest increases in the prevalence of caries have been associated with diet changes. Today, caries remains one of the most common diseases throughout the world. In the United States, dental caries is the most common chronic childhood disease, being at least five times more common than asthma. Countries that have experienced an overall decrease in cases of tooth decay continue to have a disparity in the distribution of the disease. Among children in the United States and Europe, 60–80% of cases of dental caries occur in 20% of the population.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth decay is caused by certain types of acid-producing bacteria which cause the most damage in the presence of fermentable carbohydrates such as sucrose, fructose, and glucose. The resulting acidic levels in the mouth affect teeth because a tooth's special mineral content causes it to be sensitive to low pH. Depending on the extent of tooth destruction, various treatments can be used to restore teeth to proper form, function, and aesthetics, but there is no known method to regenerate large amounts of tooth structure. Instead, dental health organizations advocate preventive and prophylactic measures, such as regular oral hygiene and dietary modifications, to avoid dental caries.


title: Human tooth

text: Oral hygiene is the practice of keeping the mouth clean and is a means of preventing dental caries, gingivitis, periodontal disease, bad breath, and other dental disorders. It consists of both professional and personal care. Regular cleanings, usually done by dentists and dental hygienists, remove tartar (mineralized plaque) that may develop even with careful brushing and flossing. Professional cleaning includes tooth scaling, using various instruments or devices to loosen and remove deposits from teeth.


title: Human tooth

text: The purpose of cleaning teeth is to remove plaque, which consists mostly of bacteria. Healthcare professionals recommend regular brushing twice a day (in the morning and in the evening, or after meals) in order to prevent formation of plaque and tartar. A toothbrush is able to remove most plaque, except in areas between teeth. As a result, flossing is also considered a necessity to maintain oral hygiene. When used correctly, dental floss removes plaque from between teeth and at the gum line, where periodontal disease often begins and could develop caries.


title: Human tooth

text: Electric toothbrushes are a popular aid to oral hygiene. A user without disabilities, with proper training in manual brushing, and with good motivation, can achieve standards of oral hygiene at least as satisfactory as the best electric brushes, but untrained users rarely achieve anything of the kind. Not all electric toothbrushes are equally effective and even a good design needs to be used properly for best effect, but: "Electric toothbrushes tend to help people who are not as good at cleaning teeth and as a result have had oral hygiene problems." The most important advantage of electric toothbrushes is their ability to aid people with dexterity difficulties, such as those associated with rheumatoid arthritis.


title: Human tooth

text: Fluoride therapy is often recommended to protect against dental caries. Water fluoridation and fluoride supplements decrease the incidence of dental caries. Fluoride helps prevent dental decay by binding to the hydroxyapatite crystals in enamel. The incorporated fluoride makes enamel more resistant to demineralization and thus more resistant to decay. Topical fluoride, such as a fluoride toothpaste or mouthwash, is also recommended to protect teeth surfaces. Many dentists include application of topical fluoride solutions as part of routine cleanings.


title: Human tooth

text: Dental sealants are another preventive therapy often used to provide a barrier to bacteria and decay on the surface of teeth. Sealants can last up to ten years and are primarily used on the biting surfaces of molars of children and young adults, especially those who may have difficulty brushing and flossing effectively. Sealants are applied in a dentist's office, sometimes by a dental hygienist, in a procedure similar in technique and cost to a fluoride application.


title: Human tooth

text: After a tooth has been damaged or destroyed, restoration of the missing structure can be achieved with a variety of treatments. Restorations may be created from a variety of materials, including glass ionomer, amalgam, gold, porcelain, and composite. Small restorations placed inside a tooth are referred to as "intracoronal restorations". These restorations may be formed directly in the mouth or may be cast using the lost-wax technique, such as for some inlays and onlays. When larger portions of a tooth are lost, an "extracoronal restoration" may be fabricated, such as an artificial crown or a veneer, to restore the involved tooth.


title: Human tooth

text: When a tooth is lost, dentures, bridges, or implants may be used as replacements. Dentures are usually the least costly whereas implants are usually the most expensive. Dentures may replace complete arches of the mouth or only a partial number of teeth. Bridges replace smaller spaces of missing teeth and use adjacent teeth to support the restoration. Dental implants may be used to replace a single tooth or a series of teeth. Though implants are the most expensive treatment option, they are often the most desirable restoration because of their aesthetics and function. To improve the function of dentures, implants may be used as support.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth abnormalities may be categorized according to whether they have environmental or developmental causes. While environmental abnormalities may appear to have an obvious cause, there may not appear to be any known cause for some developmental abnormalities. Environmental forces may affect teeth during development, destroy tooth structure after development, discolor teeth at any stage of development, or alter the course of tooth eruption. Developmental abnormalities most commonly affect the number, size, shape, and structure of teeth.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth abnormalities caused by environmental factors during tooth development have long-lasting effects. Enamel and dentin do not regenerate after they mineralize initially. Enamel hypoplasia is a condition in which the amount of enamel formed is inadequate. This results either in pits and grooves in areas of the tooth or in widespread absence of enamel. Diffuse opacities of enamel does not affect the amount of enamel but changes its appearance. Affected enamel has a different translucency than the rest of the tooth. Demarcated opacities of enamel have sharp boundaries where the translucency decreases and manifest a white, cream, yellow, or brown color. All these may be caused by nutritional factors, an exanthematous disease (chicken pox, congenital syphilis), undiagnosed and untreated celiac disease, hypocalcemia, dental fluorosis, birth injury, preterm birth, infection or trauma from a deciduous tooth. Dental fluorosis is a condition which results from ingesting excessive amounts of fluoride and leads to teeth which are spotted, yellow, brown, black or sometimes pitted. In most cases, the enamel defects caused by celiac disease, which may be the only manifestation of this disease in the absence of any other symptoms or signs, are not recognized and mistakenly attributed to other causes, such as fluorosis. Enamel hypoplasia resulting from syphilis is frequently referred to as Hutchinson's teeth, which is considered one part of Hutchinson's triad. Turner's hypoplasia is a portion of missing or diminished enamel on a permanent tooth usually from a prior infection of a nearby primary tooth. Hypoplasia may also result from antineoplastic therapy.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth destruction from processes other than dental caries is considered a normal physiologic process but may become severe enough to become a pathologic condition. Attrition is the loss of tooth structure by mechanical forces from opposing teeth. Attrition initially affects the enamel and, if unchecked, may proceed to the underlying dentin. Abrasion is the loss of tooth structure by mechanical forces from a foreign element. If this force begins at the cementoenamel junction, then progression of tooth loss can be rapid since enamel is very thin in this region of the tooth. A common source of this type of tooth wear is excessive force when using a toothbrush. Erosion is the loss of tooth structure due to chemical dissolution by acids not of bacterial origin. Signs of tooth destruction from erosion is a common characteristic in the mouths of people with bulimia since vomiting results in exposure of the teeth to gastric acids. Another important source of erosive acids are from frequent sucking of lemon juice. Abfraction is the loss of tooth structure from flexural forces. As teeth flex under pressure, the arrangement of teeth touching each other, known as occlusion, causes tension on one side of the tooth and compression on the other side of the tooth. This is believed to cause V-shaped depressions on the side under tension and C-shaped depressions on the side under compression. When tooth destruction occurs at the roots of teeth, the process is referred to as internal resorption, when caused by cells within the pulp, or external resorption, when caused by cells in the periodontal ligament.


title: Human tooth

text: Discoloration of teeth may result from bacteria stains, tobacco, tea, coffee, foods with an abundance of chlorophyll, restorative materials, and medications. Stains from bacteria may cause colors varying from green to black to orange. Green stains also result from foods with chlorophyll or excessive exposure to copper or nickel. Amalgam, a common dental restorative material, may turn adjacent areas of teeth black or gray. Long term use of chlorhexidine, a mouthwash, may encourage extrinsic stain formation near the gingiva on teeth. This is usually easy for a hygienist to remove. Systemic disorders also can cause tooth discoloration. Congenital erythropoietic porphyria causes porphyrins to be deposited in teeth, causing a red-brown coloration. Blue discoloration may occur with alkaptonuria and rarely with Parkinson's disease. Erythroblastosis fetalis and biliary atresia are diseases which may cause teeth to appear green from the deposition of biliverdin. Also, trauma may change a tooth to a pink, yellow, or dark gray color. Pink and red discolorations are also associated in patients with lepromatous leprosy. Some medications, such as tetracycline antibiotics, may become incorporated into the structure of a tooth, causing intrinsic staining of the teeth.


title: Human tooth

text: Tooth eruption may be altered by some environmental factors. When eruption is prematurely stopped, the tooth is said to be impacted. The most common cause of tooth impaction is lack of space in the mouth for the tooth. Other causes may be tumors, cysts, trauma, and thickened bone or soft tissue. Tooth ankylosis occurs when the tooth has already erupted into the mouth but the cementum or dentin has fused with the alveolar bone. This may cause a person to retain their primary tooth instead of having it replaced by a permanent one.


title: Human tooth

text: A technique for altering the natural progression of eruption is employed by orthodontists who wish to delay or speed up the eruption of certain teeth for reasons of space maintenance or otherwise preventing crowding and/or spacing. If a primary tooth is extracted before its succeeding permanent tooth's root reaches ⅓ of its total growth, the eruption of the permanent tooth will be delayed. Conversely, if the roots of the permanent tooth are more than ⅔ complete, the eruption of the permanent tooth will be accelerated. Between ⅓ and ⅔, it is unknown exactly what will occur to the speed of eruption.


title: Human tooth

text: Some systemic disorders which may result in hyperdontia include Apert syndrome, cleidocranial dysostosis, Crouzon syndrome, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, Gardner's syndrome, and Sturge–Weber syndrome. Some systemic disorders which may result in hypodontia include Crouzon syndrome, Ectodermal dysplasia, Ehlers–Danlos syndrome, and Gorlin syndrome.


title: Human tooth

text: Microdontia of a single tooth is more likely to occur in a maxillary lateral incisor. The second most likely tooth to have microdontia are third molars. Macrodontia of all the teeth is known to occur in pituitary gigantism and pineal hyperplasia. It may also occur on one side of the face in cases of hemifacial hyperplasia.


title: Human tooth

text: There are many types of dental anomalies seen in cleft lip and palate (CLP) patients. Both sets of dentition may be affected; however, they are commonly seen in the affected side. Most frequently, missing teeth, supernumerary or discoloured teeth can be seen; however, enamel dysplasia, discolouration and delayed root development are also common. In children with cleft lip and palate, the lateral incisor in the alveolar cleft region has the highest prevalence of dental developmental disorders; this condition may be a cause of tooth crowding. This is important to consider in order to correctly plan treatment keeping in mind considerations for function and aesthetics. By correctly coordinating management invasive treatment procedures can be prevented resulting in successful and conservative treatment.


title: Human tooth

text: There have been a plethora of research studies to calculate prevalence of certain dental anomalies in CLP populations however a variety of results have been obtained.


title: Human tooth

text: In a study evaluating dental anomalies in Brazilian cleft patients, male patients had a higher incidence of CLP, agenesis, and supernumerary teeth than did female patients. In cases of complete CLP, the left maxillary lateral incisor was the most commonly absent tooth. Supernumerary teeth were typically located distal to the cleft. In a study of Jordanian subjects, the prevalence of dental anomaly was higher in CLP patients than in normal subjects. Missing teeth were observed in 66.7% of patients, with maxillary lateral incisor as the most frequently affected tooth. Supernumerary teeth were observed in 16.7% of patients; other findings included microdontia (37%), taurodontism (70.5%), transposition or ectopic teeth (30.8%), dilacerations (19.2%), and hypoplasia (30.8%). The incidence of microdontia, dilaceration, and hypoplasia was significantly higher in bilateral CLP patients than in unilateral CLP patients, and none of the anomalies showed any significant sexual dimorphism.


title: Human tooth

text: It is therefore evident that patients with cleft lip and palate may present with a variety of dental anomalies. It is essential to assess the patient both clinically and radiographically in order to correctly treat and prevent progression of any dental problems. It is also useful to note that patients with a cleft lip and palate automatically score a 5 on the IOTN ( index for orthodontic need) and therefore are eligible for orthodontic treatment, liaising with an orthodontist is vital in order coordinate and plan treatment successfully.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: The 2012 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2011–12 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeated the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder four games to one to win their second NBA title. Heat forward LeBron James was named the Finals MVP.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: The 2012 Finals marked the fourth time in franchise history that the Oklahoma City Thunder played in the NBA Finals. Previously known as the Seattle SuperSonics, the Thunder had not reached the Finals since relocating from Seattle, Washington to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma before the start of the 2008–2009 season. Prior to 2012, the franchise last played in the NBA Finals in 1996 as the SuperSonics, losing to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. The 2012 Thunder team was the second-youngest NBA Finals team in history.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: The 2012 Finals also marked the Miami Heat's second consecutive appearance in the NBA Finals and its third appearance overall. The Heat appeared in the Finals in 2006, defeating the Dallas Mavericks, and were defeated by the Mavericks in the 2011 Finals.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: This was the second consecutive appearance for the Heat, after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in . This was also their second Finals appearance in the "Big Three" era, being led by superstar LeBron James, shooting guard Dwyane Wade, and power forward Chris Bosh. Their other Finals appearance was in , when they defeated the Mavericks to win their first NBA title.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: In the regular season, the Heat finished with 46 victories, then defeated the New York Knicks (4–1), Indiana Pacers (4–2) and Boston Celtics (4–3) on their way to the Finals. Along the way, they managed to overcome serious deficits that nearly sent them home but they had strings of victories to let them survive. The first was against the Pacers in the Conference Semifinals when they trailed in the series, 1–2. The Heat responded by taking three straight victories to defeat the Pacers. The second was against the Celtics in the Conference Finals when they trailed, 2–3, in the series. They responded by winning a decisive game 6 in Boston, taking the last two games of the series to advance to the Finals.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: The 2011-2012 Heat team included several new players that had not played for the team during its 2011 Finals run, including Shane Battier, Eddy Curry, Ronny Turiaf, and rookies Terrel Harris and Norris Cole.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: This was the Thunder's first NBA Finals appearance since the team relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008. Including their seasons as the Seattle SuperSonics, this was also the club's fourth Finals appearance, and first since , when they lost to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. The team was seeking their first NBA championship since .


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: The Thunder finished with 47 wins, second in the Western Conference. During the playoffs, they defeated the defending champion Dallas Mavericks (4–0), the Los Angeles Lakers (4–1), and the #1 West Seed San Antonio Spurs (4–2).


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: The Thunder defeated the Heat, 105–94, in Game 1. Miami held the lead for most of the first three quarters, including a 13-point lead at one point during the second quarter. The Heat made five three-pointers to jump to a 29–22 lead by the end of the first quarter, but Oklahoma City kept on pace with Miami to keep the score at 54–47 by halftime. The Thunder then took the lead for good with 16 seconds left in the third quarter after Russell Westbrook made a free throw to make it 74–73. Kevin Durant led Oklahoma City with 36 points, while Westbrook had 27. LeBron James led the Heat with 30 points, but was held to one basket during the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: The Heat defeated the Thunder 100-96 in Game 2, tying the series at one game a piece and giving the Thunder their first home playoff loss of the season. Miami never trailed, building a 27–15 first quarter lead, and holding a 17-point advantage at one point. The Thunder attempted a comeback in the fourth quarter, and with 37 seconds left in the game, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant made a three-pointer to cut the deficit, 98–96. Durant would miss a game-tying jumper in the closing seconds as Miami held off Oklahoma City for the Game 2 win. The play did not come without controversy however as many observers had felt that James had fouled Durant on the right hip during the shot, a potential sixth foul that would have taken the Heat superstar out of the game in the process. LeBron James led the Heat with 32 points, while Durant scored 32 of his own to lead the Thunder.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: Miami won Game 3, 91-85, to go up two games to one in the series. Miami had a slim 47–46 halftime lead before Oklahoma City began the third quarter with a 10–4 run, eventually building a 10-point lead midway through the period. However, Miami scored the last seven points in the third quarter to regain the lead at 69–67. With 7:36 remaining in the game, the Thunder came back to retake the lead at 77–76, but the Heat then scored eight unanswered points to build an 84–77 advantage with 3:47 left. A 6–0 run by Oklahoma City pulled them within one point of Miami with 90 seconds left, but the Thunder could not score again for the rest of the game while the Heat made five insurance free throws. LeBron James led the Heat with 29 points and 14 rebounds, while Kevin Durant scored 25 points to lead the Thunder.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: Miami won Game 4, 104–98, to go up three games to one in the series. The Thunder jumped to a 33–19 lead by the end the first quarter, but the Heat rallied to cut the score to 49–46 at halftime, thanks to two huge three-pointers by Heat rookie Norris Cole. The two teams remained neck-and-neck throughout most of the third quarter, with Miami holding a 4-point lead at the start of fourth period. However, for the final 16 minutes of the game, Russell Westbrook (who led the Thunder with 43 points) and Kevin Durant (who had 28 points) were the only two Oklahoma City players able to score. With the other Thunder players struggling to make their shots, Miami was able to pull away in the end, largely thanks to late-game heroics from LeBron James, Mario Chalmers and Dwyane Wade. LeBron James led the Heat with 26 points, including the go ahead three pointer, but had to sit out during the final two minutes of the game due to leg cramps. Mario Chalmers scored 25 points and made two key plays to seal Miami's win: a driving layup around a well-positioned Serge Ibaka and two free throws after a rare mistake by Westbrook (he fouled Chalmers after the point guard recovered Shane Battier's tip on a jump ball with less than 1 minute left, thinking that the shot clock would reset, while NBA rules do not reset at that point in a 4th quarter if the team that previously had the ball re-gains possession off the tip).


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: Miami won Game 5, 121–106, to win the series, four games to one. After keeping it a close game in the first half, the Thunder were outscored 36–22 in the third quarter, with Miami leading as much as 27 at one point. Miami was fueled by strong performances by their "Big Three" of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, as well as by Mike Miller, who was 7 for 8 for three-pointers, ending the night with 23 points. Miller only entered the game because Wade encountered foul trouble in the first half, with Coach Erik Spoelstra telling the variously-injured veteran the Heat just needed him to hold the fort until the 2nd quarter began; when Miller hit two three-pointers, Spoelstra asked him if he could keep playing and Miller said yes, leading to 23 minutes on the court that were critical in blowing the game open for Miami. The team tied an NBA Finals record for most 3-pointers in a game with 14. With three minutes remaining in the game, both teams took their starters out of the game, with the Heat still leading by more than 20 points. With their Game 5 win, the Heat won their second NBA championship in team history, and the first for several Heat players, including James, who was named the NBA Finals MVP after averaging 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists in the finals, capping it all off with his first triple double of the season in the final game. For the Thunder, Kevin Durant had 32 points, and 11 rebounds; Russell Westbrook had 19 points and 6 assists; and James Harden led the bench with 19 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds.


title: 2012 NBA Finals

text: In the United States, the NBA Finals aired on ABC and Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy served as commentators. ESPN Radio aired it as well and had Jim Durham, Jack Ramsey and Hubie Brown as commentators.


title: Paris Métro

text: The Paris Métro ( ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform architecture and unique entrances influenced by Art Nouveau. It is mostly underground and long. It has 308 stations, of which 64 have transfers between lines. There are 16 lines (with an additional four under construction), numbered 1 to 14, with two lines, 3bis and 7bis, named because they started out as branches of Line 3 and Line 7 respectively. Line 1 and Line 14 are automated. Lines are identified on maps by number and colour, with the direction of travel indicated by the terminus.


title: Paris Métro

text: It is the second busiest metro system in Europe, after the Moscow Metro, more than two and a half times London Underground, as well as the tenth busiest in the world. It carried 1.520 billion passengers in 2015, 4.16 million passengers a day, which amounts to 20% of the overall traffic in Paris. It is one of the densest metro systems in the world, with 244 stations within the of the City of Paris. Châtelet–Les Halles, with five Métro and three RER lines, is one of the world's largest metro stations. However, the system has generally poor accessibility, because most stations were built underground well before this became a consideration.


title: Paris Métro

text: The first line opened without ceremony on 19 July 1900, during the World's Fair (Exposition Universelle). The system expanded quickly until World War I and the core was complete by the 1920s; extensions into suburbs were built in the 1930s. The network reached saturation after World War II with new trains to allow higher traffic, but further improvements have been limited by the design of the network and in particular the short distances between stations. Besides the Métro, central Paris and its urban area are served by five RER lines (587 km with 257 stations), twelve tramway lines (156 km with 235 stations) with an additional two under construction, eight Transilien suburban trains (1,299 km with 392 stations), as well as three VAL lines at Charles de Gaulle Airport and Orly Airport. In the late 1990s, Line 14 was put into service to relieve RER A. Line 12 reaches Mairie d'Aubervilliers in 2022 constitutes the network's most recent extension. A large expansion programme is currently under construction with four new orbital Métro lines (15, 16, 17 and 18) around the Île-de-France region, outside Paris city limits. Other extensions are currently under construction on Line 11 and Line 14. Further plans exist for Line 1 and Line 10, as does a merger of Line 3bis and Line 7bis.


title: Paris Métro

text: Métro is the abbreviated name of the company that originally operated most of the network: the "Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris S.A." ("Paris Metropolitan Railway Company Ltd."), shortened to "Le Métropolitain". It was quickly abbreviated to "métro", which became a common designation and brand name for rapid transit systems in France and in many cities elsewhere.


title: Paris Métro

text: The Métro is operated by the "Régie autonome des transports parisiens" (RATP), a public transport authority that also operates part of the RER network, light rail lines and many bus routes. The name "métro" was adopted in many languages, making it the most used word for a (generally underground) urban transit system. It is possible that "Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain" was copied from the name of London's pioneering underground railway company, the Metropolitan Railway, which had been in business for almost 40 years prior to the inauguration of Paris's first line.


title: Paris Métro

text: By 1845, Paris and the railway companies were already thinking about an urban railway system to link inner districts of the city. The railway companies and the French government wanted to extend mainline railways into a new underground network, whereas the Parisians favoured a new and independent network and feared national takeover of any system it built. The disagreement lasted from 1856 to 1890. Meanwhile, the population became denser and traffic congestion grew massively. The deadlock put pressure on the authorities and gave the city the chance to enforce its vision.


title: Paris Métro

text: Prior to 1845, the urban transport network consisted primarily of a large number of omnibus lines, consolidated by the French government into a regulated system with fixed and unconflicting routes and schedules. The first concrete proposal for an urban rail system in Paris was put forward by civil engineer Florence de Kérizouet. This plan called for a surface cable car system. In 1855, civil engineers Edouard Brame and Eugène Flachat proposed an underground freight urban railroad, due to the high rate of accidents on surface rail lines. On 19 November 1871 the General Council of the Seine commissioned a team of 40 engineers to plan an urban rail network. This team proposed a network with a pattern of routes "resembling a cross enclosed in a circle" with axial routes following large boulevards. On 11 May 1872 the Council endorsed the plan, but the French government turned down the plan. After this point, a serious debate occurred over whether the new system should consist of elevated lines or of mostly underground lines; this debate involved numerous parties in France, including Victor Hugo, Guy de Maupassant, and the Eiffel Society of Gustave Eiffel, and continued until 1892. Eventually the underground option emerged as the preferred solution because of the high cost of buying land for rights-of-way in central Paris required for elevated lines, estimated at 70,000 francs per metre of line for a -wide railroad.


title: Paris Métro

text: The last remaining hurdle was the city's concern about national interference in its urban rail system. The city commissioned renowned engineer Jean-Baptiste Berlier, who designed Paris' postal network of pneumatic tubes, to design and plan its rail system in the early 1890s. Berlier recommended a special track gauge of (versus the standard gauge of ) to protect the system from national takeover, which inflamed the issue substantially. The issue was finally settled when the Minister of Public Works begrudgingly recognized the city's right to build a local system on 22 November 1895, and by the city's secret designing of the trains and tunnels to be too narrow for mainline trains, while adopting standard gauge as a compromise with the state.


title: Paris Métro

text: On 20 April 1896, Paris adopted the Fulgence Bienvenüe project, which was to serve only the city proper of Paris. Many Parisians worried that extending lines to industrial suburbs would reduce the safety of the city. Paris forbade lines to the inner suburbs and, as a guarantee, Métro trains were to run on the right, as opposed to existing suburban lines, which ran on the left.


title: Paris Métro

text: Unlike many other subway systems (such as that of London), this system was designed from the outset as a system of (initially) nine lines. Such a large project required a private-public arrangement right from the outset – the city would build most of the permanent way, while a private concessionaire company would supply the trains and power stations, and lease the system (each line separately, for initially 39-year leases). In July 1897, six bidders competed, and The Compagnie Generale de Traction, owned by the Belgian Baron Édouard Empain,


title: Paris Métro

text: won the contract; this company was then immediately reorganized as the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer Métropolitain.


title: Paris Métro

text: Construction began in November 1898. The first line, Porte Maillot–Porte de Vincennes, was inaugurated on 19 July 1900 during the Paris World's Fair. Entrances to stations were designed in Art Nouveau style by Hector Guimard. Eighty-six of his entrances are still in existence.


title: Paris Métro

text: Bienvenüe's project consisted of 10 lines, which correspond to current Line 1 to 9. Construction was so intense that by 1920, despite a few changes from schedule, most lines had been completed. The shield method of construction was rejected in favor of the cut-and-cover method in order to speed up work. Bienvenüe, a highly regarded engineer, designed a special procedure of building the tunnels to allow the swift repaving of roads, and is credited with a largely swift and relatively uneventful construction through the difficult and heterogeneous soils and rocks.


title: Paris Métro

text: Line 1 and Line 4 were conceived as central east–west and north–south lines. Two lines, "ligne 2 Nord" (Line 2 North) and "ligne 2 Sud" (Line 2 South), were also planned but Line 2 South was merged with Line 5 in 1906. Line 3 was an additional east–west line to the north of line 1 and line 5 an additional north to south line to the east of Line 4. Line 6 would run from Nation to Place d'Italie. Lines 7, 8 and 9 would connect commercial and office districts around the Opéra to residential areas in the north-east and the south-west. Bienvenüe also planned a circular line, the "ligne circulaire intérieure", to connect the six mainline stations. A section opened in 1923 between Invalides and the Boulevard Saint-Germain before the plan was abandoned.


title: Paris Métro

text: On 31 January 1904, a second concession was granted to the "Société du chemin de fer électrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris" (Paris North-South underground electrical railway company), abbreviated to the "Nord-Sud" (North-South) company. It was responsible for building three proposed lines:


title: Paris Métro

text: Line A was inaugurated on 4 November 1910, after being postponed because of floods in January that year. Line B was inaugurated on 26 February 1911. Because of the high construction costs, the construction of line C was postponed. Nord-Sud and CMP used compatible trains that could be used on both networks, but CMP trains used 600 volts third rail, and NS −600 volts overhead wire and +600 volts third rail. This was necessary because of steep gradients on NS lines. NS distinguished itself from its competitor with the high-quality decoration of its stations, the trains' extreme comfort and pretty lighting.


title: Paris Métro

text: Nord-Sud did not become profitable and bankruptcy became unavoidable. By the end of 1930, the CMP bought Nord-Sud. Line A became Line 12 and Line B Line 13. Line C was built and renamed Line 14; that line was reorganised in 1937 with Lines 8 and 10. This partial line is now the south part of Line 13.


title: Paris Métro

text: Bienvenüe's project was nearly completed during the 1920s. Paris planned three new lines and extensions of most lines to the inner suburbs, despite the reluctance of Parisians. Bienvenüe's inner circular line having been abandoned, the already-built portion between Duroc and Odéon for the creation of a new east–west line that became Line 10, extended west to Porte de Saint-Cloud and the inner suburbs of Boulogne.


title: Paris Métro

text: The line C planned by Nord-Sud between Montparnasse station and Porte de Vanves was built as Line 14 (different from present Line 14). It extended north in encompassing the already-built portion between Invalides and Duroc, initially planned as part of the inner circular. The over-busy Belleville funicular tramway would be replaced by a new line, Line 11, extended to Châtelet. Lines 10, 11 and 14 were thus the three new lines envisaged under this plan.


title: Paris Métro

text: Most lines would be extended to the inner suburbs. The first to leave the city proper was Line 9, extended in 1934 to Boulogne-Billancourt; more followed in the 1930s. World War II forced authorities to abandon projects such as the extension of Line 4 and Line 12 to the northern suburbs. By 1949, eight lines had been extended: Line 1 to Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vincennes, Line 3 to Levallois-Perret, Line 5 to Pantin, Line 7 to Ivry-sur-Seine, Line 8 to Charenton, Line 9 to Boulogne-Billancourt, Line 11 to Les Lilas and Line 12 to Issy-les-Moulineaux.


title: Paris Métro

text: World War II had a massive impact on the Métro. Services were limited and many stations closed. The risk of bombing meant the service between Place d'Italie and Étoile was transferred from Line 5 to Line 6, so that most of the elevated portions of the Métro would be on Line 6. As a result, Lines 2 and 6 now form a circle. Most stations were too shallow to be used as bomb shelters. The French Resistance used the tunnels to conduct swift assaults throughout Paris.


title: Paris Métro

text: It took a long time to recover after liberation in 1944. Many stations had not reopened by the 1960s and some closed for good. On 23 March 1948, the CMP (the underground) and the STCRP (bus and tramways) merged to form the RATP, which still operates the Métro.


title: Paris Métro

text: The network grew saturated during the 1950s. Outdated technology limited the number of trains, which led the RATP to stop extending lines and concentrate on modernisation. The MP 51 prototype was built, testing both rubber-tyred metro and basic automatic driving on the "voie navette". The first replacements of the older Sprague trains began with experimental articulated trains and then with mainstream rubber-tyred metro MP 55 and MP 59, some of the latter still in service (Line 11). Thanks to newer trains and better signalling, trains ran more frequently.


title: Paris Métro

text: The population boomed from 1950 to 1980. Car ownership became more common and suburbs grew further from the centre of Paris. The main railway stations, termini of the suburban rail lines, were overcrowded during rush hour. The short distance between metro stations slowed the network and made it unprofitable to build extensions. The solution in the 1960s was to revive a project abandoned at the end of the 19th century: joining suburban lines to new underground portions in the city centre as the Réseau Express Régional (regional express network; RER).


title: Paris Métro

text: The RER plan initially included one east–west line and two north–south lines. RATP bought two unprofitable SNCF lines—the Ligne de Saint-Germain (westbound) and the Ligne de Vincennes (eastbound) with the intention of joining them and to serve multiple districts of central Paris with new underground stations. The new line created by this merger became Line A. The Ligne de Sceaux, which served the southern suburbs and was bought by the CMP in the 1930s, would be extended north to merge with a line of the SNCF and reach the new Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy. This became Line B. These new lines were inaugurated in 1977 and their wild success outperformed all the most optimistic forecasts to the extent that line A is the most used urban rail line in the world with nearly 300 million journeys a year.


title: Paris Métro

text: Because of the enormous cost of these two lines, the third planned line was abandoned and the authorities decided that later developments of the RER network would be more cheaply developed by the SNCF, alongside its continued management of other suburban lines. However, the RER developed by the SNCF would never match the success of the RATP's two RER lines. In 1979, the SNCF developed Line C by joining the suburban lines of the Gare d'Austerlitz and Gare d'Orsay, the latter being converted into a museum dedicated to impressionist paintings. During the 1980s, it developed Line D, which was the second line planned by the initial RER schedule, but serving Châtelet instead of République to reduce costs. A huge Métro-RER hub was created at Châtelet–Les Halles, becoming one of the world's largest underground stations.


title: Paris Métro

text: The same project of the 1960s also decided to merge Line 13 and Line 14 to create a quick connection between Saint-Lazare and Montparnasse as a new north–south line. Distances between stations on the lengthened line 13 differ from that on other lines in order to make it more "express" and hence to extend it farther in the suburbs. The new Line 13 was inaugurated on 9 November 1976.


title: Paris Métro

text: In October 1998, Line 14 was inaugurated. It was the first fully new Métro line in 63 years. Known during its conception as "Météor" (Métro Est-Ouest Rapide), it is one of the three fully automatic lines within the network along with Line 1 and Line 4. It was the first with platform screen doors to prevent suicides and accidents. It was conceived with extensions to the suburbs in mind, similar to the extensions of the line 13 built during the 1970s. As a result, most of the stations are at least a kilometre apart. Like the RER lines designed by the RATP, nearly all stations offer connections with multiple Métro lines. The line initially ran between Saint-Lazare and Olympiades and was subsequently extended north to Mairie de St.Ouen in 2020.


title: Paris Métro

text: Lines 13 and 7 are the only two on the network to be split in branches. The RATP would like to get rid of those saturated branches in order to improve the network's efficiency. A project existed to attribute to line 14 one branch of each line, and to extend them further into the suburbs. This project was abandoned. In 1999, the RER Line E was inaugurated. Known during its conception as Eole (Est-Ouest Liaison Express), it is the fifth RER line. It terminates at Haussmann–Saint-Lazare, but a new project, financed by EPAD, the public authority managing the La Défense business district, should extend it west to La Défense–Grande Arche and the suburbs beyond.


title: Paris Métro

text: Between 2007 and November 2011, Line 1 was converted to driverless operation. The line was operated with a combination of driver-operated trains and driverless trains until the delivery of the last of its driverless MP 05 trains in February 2013. The same conversion was ongoing for Line 4 which was completed on January 13, 2022.


title: Paris Métro

text: Several extensions to the suburbs opened in the last years. Line 8 was extended to Pointe du Lac in 2011, line 12 was extended to Aubervilliers in 2012, line 4 was extended to Mairie de Montrouge in 2013, Line 14 was extended by to Mairie de Saint-Ouen in December 2020, and Line 4 was extended to Bagneux in January 2022.


title: Paris Métro

text: Since the Métro was built to comprehensively serve the city inside its walls, the stations are very close: 548 metres apart on average, from 424 m on Line 4 to one kilometre on the newer line 14, meaning Paris is densely networked with stations. The surrounding suburbs are served by later line extensions, thus traffic from one suburb to another must pass through the city (the circular line 15, now under construction, will enable some journeys that do not need to pass through Paris). The slow average speed effectively prohibits service to the greater Paris area.


title: Paris Métro

text: The Métro is mostly underground ( of ). Above-ground sections consist of elevated railway viaducts within Paris (on Lines 1, 2, 5 and 6) and the suburban ends of Lines 1, 5, 8, and 13. The tunnels are relatively close to the surface due to the variable nature of the terrain, which complicates deep digging; exceptions include parts of Line 12 under the hill of Montmartre and line 2 under Ménilmontant. The tunnels follow the twists and turns of the streets above. During construction in 1900, a minimum radius of curvature of just 75 metres was imposed, but even this low standard was not adhered to at Bastille and Notre-Dame-de-Lorette.


title: Paris Métro

text: Like the New York City Subway, and in contrast with the London Underground, the Paris Métro mostly uses two-way tunnels. As in most French métro and tramway systems, trains drive on the right (SNCF trains run on the left track). The tracks are standard gauge (1,435 mm). Electric power is supplied by a third rail which carries 750 volts DC.


title: Paris Métro

text: The width of the carriages, , is narrower than that of newer French systems (such as the carriages in Lyon, among the widest in Europe) and trains on Lines 1, 4 and 14 have capacities of 600-700 passengers; this is as compared with 2,600 on the Altéo MI 2N trains of RER A. The City of Paris deliberately chose the narrow size of the Metro tunnels to prevent the running of mainline trains; the city of Paris and the French state had historically poor relations. In contrast to many other historical metro systems (such as New York, Madrid, London, and Boston), all lines have tunnels and operate trains with the same dimensions. Five Paris Métro Lines (1, 4, 6, 11 and 14) run on a rubber tire system developed by the RATP in the 1950s, exported to the Montreal, Santiago, Mexico City and Lausanne metro.


title: Paris Métro

text: The number of cars in each train varies line by line. The shortest are lines 3bis and 7bis with three-car trains. Line 11 currently runs with four but will be expanded to five in the future. Lines 1 and 4 run six-car trains. Line 14 currently runs a mix of six and 8-car trains; in the future it will only run 8 cars. All other lines run with five. Two lines, 7 and 13, have branches at the end, and trains serve every station on each line except when they are closed for renovations.


title: Paris Métro

text: The first train leaves each terminus at 5:30 a.m. On some lines additional trains start from an intermediate station. The last train, often called the "balai" (broom) because it sweeps up remaining passengers, arrives at the terminus at 1:15 a.m., except on Fridays (since 7 December 2007), Saturdays and on nights before a holiday, when the service ends at 2:15 a.m.


title: Paris Métro

text: On New Year's Eve, "Fête de la Musique", "Nuit Blanche" and other events, some stations on Lines 1, 4, 6, 9 and 14 remain open all night.


title: Paris Métro

text: Fares are sold at kiosks and at automated machines in the station foyer. Entrance to platforms is by automated gate, opened by smart cards and simple tickets. Gates return tickets for passengers to retain for the duration of the journey. There is normally no system to collect or check tickets at the end of the journey, and tickets can be inspected at any point. The exit from all stations is clearly marked as to the point beyond which possession of a ticket is no longer required.


title: Paris Métro

text: The standard ticket is ticket "t+". It is valid for a multi-transfer journey within 90 minutes from the first validation. It can be used on the Métro, buses and trams, and in zone 1 of the RER. It allows unlimited transfers between the same mode of transport (i.e. Métro to Métro, bus to bus and tram to tram), between bus and tram, and between metro and RER zone 1. When transferring between the Metro and the RER, it is necessary to retain the ticket. The RER requires a valid ticket for entry and exit, even for a transfer. It costs €1.90 or ten (a "carnet") for €16.90 as of March 2020. The carnet option will be phased out for paper tickets by March 2022.


title: Paris Métro

text: Other fares use the Navigo card (the name being a portmanteau from the French terms "navigation" and "Parigot", a nickname for Parisians), an RFID-based contactless smart card. Fares include:


title: Paris Métro

text: On 26 June 2012 it was announced that the Métro would get Wi-Fi in most stations. Access provided would be free, with a premium paid alternative offer proposed for a faster internet connection. As of 2020, the entire RATP network was connected with 4G service, including within tunnels. Line 1, Line 4 and Line 14 - as well as congested stations on Line 13 - have platform edge doors ('porte palière') separating the tracks from the platform.


title: Paris Métro

text: The vast majority of Métro stations are not accessible to people with disabilities. The 13 stations of Line 14 (which first opened in 1998) are fully accessible, and extensions of lines since 1992 have included lifts. By 2025, 23 stations on the Métro will be accessible, following extensions to existing lines. In future, the new Grand Paris Express lines will be fully accessible.


title: Paris Métro

text: The does not require the Métro to be made accessible. RATP states that it would cost between 4 and 6 billion euros to retrofit the network, and it would be impossible to do at certain stations. , there are no plans to retrofit existing stations with lifts. RATP notes that buses and trams in Paris are fully accessible, and many RER & Transilien stations are accessible.


title: Paris Métro

text: The Métro has of track and 302 stations, 62 connecting between lines. These figures do not include the RER network. The average distance between stations is . Trains stop at all stations. Lines do not share tracks, even at interchange (transfer) stations.


title: Paris Métro

text: Trains average with a maximum of on all but the automated driverless trains of Line 14, which average and reach . An average interstation trip takes 58 seconds. Trains travel on the right. The track is standard gauge but the loading gauge is smaller than the mainline SNCF network. Power is from a lateral third rail, 750 V DC, except on the rubber-tyred lines where the current is from guide bars.


title: Paris Métro

text: The loading gauge is small compared to those of newer metro systems (but comparable to that of early European metros), with capacities of between about 560 and 720 passengers per train on Lines 1–14. Many other metro systems (such as those of New York and London) adopted expanded tunnel dimensions for their newer lines (or used tunnels of multiple sizes almost from the outset, in the case of Boston), at the cost of operating incompatible fleets of rolling stock. Paris built all lines to the same dimensions as its original lines. Before the introduction of rubber-tire lines in the 1950s, this common shared size theoretically allowed any Métro rolling stock to operate on any line, but in practice each line was assigned a regular roster of trains.


title: Paris Métro

text: A feature is the use of rubber-tired trains on five lines: this technique was developed by RATP and entered service in 1951. The technology was exported to many networks around the world (including Montreal, Mexico City and Santiago). Lines 1, 4, 6, 11 and 14 have special adaptations to accommodate rubber-tyred trains. Trains are composed of 3 to 8 cars depending on the line, the most common being 5 cars, but all trains on the same line have the same number of cars.


title: Paris Métro

text: The Metro is designed to provide local, point-to-point service in Paris proper and service into the city from some close suburbs. Stations within Paris are very close together to form a grid structure, ensuring that every point in the city is close to a metro station (less than ), but this makes the service slow , except on Line 14 where the stations are farther apart and the trains travel faster. The low speed virtually precludes feasible service to farther suburbs, which are serviced by the RER.


title: Paris Métro

text: The Paris Métro runs mostly underground; surface sections include sections on viaducts in Paris (Lines 1, 2, 5, and 6) and at the surface in the suburbs (Lines 1, 5, 8, and 13). In most cases, both tracks are laid in a single tunnel. Almost all lines follow roads, having been built by the cut-and-cover method near the surface (the earliest by hand). Line 1 follows the straight course of the Champs-Elysées and on other lines, some stations (Liège, Commerce) have platforms that do not align: the street above is too narrow to fit both platforms opposite each other. Many lines have very sharp curves. The specifications established in 1900 required a very low minimum curve radius by railway standards, but even this was often not fully respected, for example near Bastille and Notre Dame de Lorette. Parts of the network are built at depth, in particular a section of Line 12 under Montmartre, the sections under the Seine, and all of Line 14.


title: Paris Métro

text: Lines 7 and 13 have two terminal branches, while line 7bis runs in a unidirectional loop at one end. One end of lines 2 and 5 each and both ends of line 6 have their terminus station on a balloon loop. One end of lines 3bis and 7bis each have their trains essentially operate this way, but instead reverse. One end of lines 2, 3bis, and 4 have trains run out of service on a balloon loop before reentering service. All other termini have trains continue a certain distance beyond the terminal, before proceeding back to the station on a different platform headed the other way.


title: Paris Métro

text: The rolling stock has steel wheels ("MF" for "matériel fer") and rubber-tyred trains ("MP" for "matériel pneu"). The different versions of each kind are specified by year of design. Some trains have suffixes to differentiate between them - "CC" ("Conduite" "Conducteur") for trains driven by a driver and "CA" ("Conduite Automatique)" for trains that are automatically driven.


title: Paris Métro

text: The typical station comprises two central tracks flanked by two four-metre wide platforms. About 50 stations, generally current or former termini, are exceptions; most have three tracks and two platforms (Porte d'Orléans), or two tracks and a central platform (Porte Dauphine). Some stations are single-track, either due to difficult terrain (Saint-Georges), a narrow street above (Liège) or track loops (Église d'Auteuil).


title: Paris Métro

text: Station length was originally 75 m. This was extended to 90 m on high-traffic lines (Line 1 and Line 4), with some stations at 105 m (the difference as yet unused).


title: Paris Métro

text: In general, stations were built near the surface by the cut-and-cover method, and are vaulted. Stations of the former "Nord-Sud" network (Line 12 and Line 13) have higher ceilings, due to the former presence of a ceiling catenary. There are exceptions to the rule of near-surface vaulting:


title: Paris Métro

text: Several ghost stations are no longer served by trains. One of the three platforms at Porte des Lilas station is on a currently unused section of track, often used as a backdrop in films.


title: Paris Métro

text: In 2018, the busiest stations were Saint-Lazare (46.7 million passengers), Gare du Nord (45.8), Gare de Lyon (36.9), Montparnasse – Bienvenüe (30.6), Gare de l'Est (21.4), Bibliothèque François Mitterrand (18.8), République (18.3), Les Halles (17.5), La Défense (16.0) and Bastille (13.2).


title: Paris Métro

text: Concourses are decorated in Art Nouveau style defined at the Métro's opening in 1900. The spirit of this aesthetic has generally been respected in renovations.


title: Paris Métro

text: Standard vaulted stations are lined by small white earthenware tiles, chosen because of the poor efficiency of early twentieth century electric lighting. From the outset walls have been used for advertising; posters in early stations are framed by coloured tiles with the name of the original operator (CMP or "Nord Sud"). Stations of the former "Nord Sud" (most of line 12 and parts of line 13) generally have more meticulous decoration. Station names are usually inscribed on metallic plaques in white letters on a blue background or in white tiles on a background of blue tiles.


title: Paris Métro

text: The first renovations took place after the Second World War, when the installation of fluorescent lighting revealed the poor state of the original tiling. Three main styles of redecoration followed in succession.


title: Paris Métro

text: A number of stations have original decorations to reflect the cultural significance of their locations. The first to receive this treatment was Louvre – Rivoli on line 1, which contains copies of the masterpieces on display at the museum. Other notable examples include Bastille (line 1), Saint-Germain-des-Prés (line 4), Cluny – La Sorbonne (line 10) and Arts et Métiers (line 11).


title: Paris Métro

text: The original Art Nouveau entrances are iconic symbols of Paris. There are currently 83 of them. Designed by Hector Guimard in a style that caused some surprise and controversy in 1900, there are two main variants:


title: Paris Métro

text: A handful of entrances have original architecture (Saint-Lazare); a number are integrated into residential or standalone buildings (Pelleport).


title: Paris Métro

text: In addition to the projects already under construction or currently being actively studied, there have also been proposals for:


title: Paris Métro

text: The Métro has a cultural significance that goes well beyond the City of Paris. The name Métropolitan (or Métro) has become a generic name for subways and urban underground railroads.


title: Paris Métro

text: The station entrance kiosks, designed by Hector Guimard, fostered Art Nouveau building style (once widely known as "le style Métro"), though, some French commentators criticized the Guimard station kiosks, including their green colour and sign lettering, as difficult to read.


title: Paris Métro

text: The success of rubber-tired lines led to their export to metro systems around the world, starting with the Montreal Metro. The success of Montreal "did much to accelerate the international subway boom" of the 1960s/1970s and "assure the preeminence of the French in the process. Rubber-tired systems were adopted in Mexico City, Santiago, Lausanne, Turin, Singapore and other cities. The Japanese adopted rubber-tired metros (with their own technology and manufacturing firms) to systems in Kobe, Sapporo, and parts of Tokyo.


title: Paris Métro

text: The "Rabbit of Paris Métro" is an anthropomorphic rabbit visible on stickers on the doors of the trains from 1977 to advise passengers (especially children) of the risk of getting one's hands trapped when the doors are opening, as well as the risk of injury on escalators or becoming trapped in the closing doors. This rabbit is now a cultural icon in Paris similar to the "mind the gap" phrase in London.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a 2003 American action comedy film directed by McG and written by John August, and Cormac and Marianne Wibberley. It is the sequel to 2000's "Charlie's Angels" and the second installment in the "Charlie's Angels" film series, which is a continuation of the story that began with the television series of the same name by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: In an ensemble cast, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu reprise their roles as the three women working for the Townsend Agency. Crispin Glover, Matt LeBlanc and Luke Wilson also reprise their roles from the first film. It also features Justin Theroux, Demi Moore and Bernie Mac as John Bosley's adoptive brother while Robert Patrick, Shia LaBeouf, John Cleese and Ja'net DuBois appear in supporting roles. Jaclyn Smith reprised her role as Kelly Garrett from the original series for a cameo appearance. John Forsythe also reprised his role as Charlie's voice from the series and previous film for the last time. It was his final film role before his retirement in 2006 and his death in 2010.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: It was released in the United States on June 27, 2003 by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label and was number one at the box office for that weekend, also making a worldwide total of $259.2million. Like its predecessor, the film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the performances of Diaz, Barrymore and Liu, but criticism aimed at the "bland plot and lack of sense".


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: After rescuing U.S. Marshal Ray Carter in Mongolia, the Angels: Natalie Cook, Dylan Sanders, and Alex Munday together with John Bosley's adoptive brother Jimmy Bosley are sent to recover titanium rings stolen from the United States Department of Justice that can display the people listed in the witness protection program. DOJ official William Rose Bailey and a protected witness, Alan Caulfield are among those killed. At Caulfield's house in San Bernardino, the Angels track his assassin Randy Emmers to a beach where they meet former Angel Madison Lee. During the Coal Bowl motorcycle race, Emmers targets another witness named Max Petroni, and the Angels try to intervene. Emmers is killed by the Thin Man (believed to be dead after the events of the first film) because he was protecting Max. Inside Emmers' pocket, the Angels discover the photos of Caulfield, Max, and, surprisingly, Dylan, under her birth name, Helen Zaas.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: Dylan reveals that she is a protected witness after sending her former boyfriend, Irish mob leader Seamus O'Grady to prison. O'Grady has since targeted those who wronged him; including Dylan and Max, whose parents O'Grady killed. As Max previously testified against O'Grady, he is sent to the home of Bosley's mother for protection. At a monastery, the Angels learn about the Thin Man's past from the Mother Superior, who reveals his name, Anthony. Afterwards, the Angels track O'Grady's mob at San Pedro and manage to get the rings, but O'Grady threatens Dylan with the murder of everyone she loves. Natalie attends her boyfriend, Pete Kominsky's high school reunion at Hermosa Beach, where she overhears his friends implying he might propose, which she feels is too fast since they just moved in together. Alex returns home to her actor boyfriend, Jason while Dylan leaves the Angels and heads to Mexico. When Natalie, Bosley, and Alex notice the letter she left for them, they realize that Dylan fled to protect them. Natalie asks Charlie how O'Grady got out of jail, and Charlie reveals someone had him released on good behaviour. While hiding out in Mexico, Dylan is convinced to return after seeing an apparition of former Angel Kelly Garrett.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: Natalie and Alex deduce that Carter is the one who let O'Grady out of prison after seeing him return Bosley's keys without any pain, despite claiming to have broken his ribs beforehand. Following him, the two witness him killed by Madison, the true mastermind. Though Dylan arrives to back the group, the Angels are shot by Madison, who takes the rings, though they survived via Kevlar vests. Back at the base, Charlie reprimands Madison for what she's done and confronts her for endangering her former teammates' lives. Madison is angry she never got the recognition she deserved from Charlie and shoots his speaker to bits. The Angels realize that Madison is going to sell the rings to the O'Grady Crime Family, the Antonioni Mafia, the Tanaka Yakuza, and the Diablo Cartel at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where Jason's film premiere is about to commence.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: The Angels arrange for the buyers to be arrested by the FBI while they confront Madison and O'Grady. The O'Grady's enter the melee, having avoided arrest when Seamus realized the Angels' plan. The Thin Man comes to the Angels' aid, helping Alex and rescuing Dylan when she is being attacked by O'Grady - he begins to fight O'Grady and kicks him off the roof. The Thin Man grabs Dylan and chokes her at first, but they ended up sharing a kiss and he pulls some of Dylan's hair out. Just as he is about to say something, O'Grady stabs him and he falls off the roof. O'Grady nearly succeeds in killing Dylan as well, but she blinds him, causing him to lose his footing and fall to his death (in the unrated cut, O'Grady is still alive and attempts to get back up but is stopped by The Thin Man, who also survived; Dylan accidentally knocks over the "E" sign and it falls on O'Grady, possibly The Thin Man as well). The Angels fight Madison all the way to an abandoned theatre, where they kick her into a chamber filled with gas and she fires her gun, inadvertently blowing herself up.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: The Angels attend the premiere, where they learn that Mama Bosley is adopting Max. Peter surprises Natalie by asking her to get a puppy (the big question he was planning on asking her) and Alex terminates her "time out" with Jason. The Angels celebrate their victory together with Bosley.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: "Charlie's Angels: Animated Adventures", an animated prequel series explain how the Angels got there and their mission, concluded by the very introduction of the film.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: The Seamus O'Grady prison introduction scene is a direct reference to Robert De Niro's prison-set introduction in "Cape Fear". Whenever O'Grady (Justin Theroux) appears, he is accompanied by Bernard Hermann's theme from "Cape Fear".


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: The scene where the Angels go to investigate the body of Agent Caufield dressed as crime-scene professionals is a homage/parody of "", complete with the theme "Who Are You" by The Who.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: The Thin Man character perhaps pays homage to the Thin Man in 1927 German expressionist film "Metropolis", directed by Fritz Lang. In the film, Thin Man is ordered by Joh Frederson, master of Metropolis, to spy on his son Freder.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: The film had a production budget of $120million. It grossed $100,830,111 at the United States box office and had to depend on earnings from the international box office to make profit. By the end of its run, the film had grossed $259,175,788 worldwide, underperforming its predecessor by $5 million.


title: Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

text: "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" received mixed reviews and earned a rating of 41% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 187 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Eye candy for those who don't require a movie to have a plot or for it to make sense". On Metacritic the film has weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on reviews from 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.