title: Child marriage

text: Although the general marriageable age is 18 in the majority of countries, most jurisdictions allow for exceptions for underage youth with parental and/or judicial consent. Such laws are neither limited to developing countries, nor a state's religion. In some countries, a religious marriage by itself has legal validity, while in others it does not, as civil marriage is obligatory. For Catholics incorporated into the Latin Church, the 1983 Code of Canon Law sets the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females. In 2015, Spain raised its minimum marriageable age to 18 (16 with court consent) from the previous 14. In Mexico, marriage under 18 is allowed with parental consent, from age 14 for girls and age 16 for boys. In Ukraine, in 2012, the Family Code was amended to equalize the marriageable age for girls and boys to 18, with courts being allowed to grant permission to marry from 16 years of age if it is established that the marriage is in the best interest of the youth.


title: Child marriage

text: Many states in the US permit child marriages, with the court's permission. Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under the age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years." The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage." In the UK, marriage is allowed for 16–17 years old with parental consent in England and Wales as well as in Northern Ireland, and even without parental consent in Scotland. However, a marriage of a person under 16 is void under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The United Nations Population Fund stated the following:


title: Child marriage

text: Lower legally allowed marriage age does not necessarily cause high rates of child marriages. However, there is a correlation between restrictions placed by laws and the average age of first marriage. In the United States, per 1960 Census data, 3.5% of girls married before the age of 16, while an additional 11.9% married between 16 and 18. States with lower marriage age limits saw higher percentages of child marriages. This correlation between the higher age of marriage in civil law and the observed frequency of child marriages breaks down in countries with Islam as the state religion. In Islamic nations, many countries do not allow child marriage of girls under their civil code of laws. But, the state recognized Sharia religious laws and courts in all these nations have the power to override the civil code, and often do. UNICEF reports that the top eight nations in the world with the highest observed child marriage rates are Niger (75%), Chad (72%), Mali (71%), Bangladesh (64%), Guinea (63%), Central African Republic (61%), Mozambique (56%), and Nepal (51%).


title: Child marriage

text: Ancient Rabbis set the age of marriage for every Israelite at 18 years old; males are expected to be married by 20 years old in teenage marriage and females can stay unmarried but must be celibate.


title: Child marriage

text: In Rabbinic Judaism, males cannot consent to marriage until they reach the age of 13 years and a day and have undergone puberty. They are considered minors until the age of twenty. The same rules apply to females, except their age is 12 years and a day. If females show no signs of puberty and males show no signs of puberty or do show impotence, they automatically become adults by age 35 and can marry.


title: Child marriage

text: A large age gap between spouses, in either direction, is advised against as unwise. A younger woman marrying a significantly older man however is especially problematic: marrying one's young daughter to an old man was declared as reprehensible as forcing her into prostitution.


title: Child marriage

text: A "ketannah" (literally meaning "little [one]") was any girl between the age of 3 years and 12 years plus one day; she was subject to her father's authority, and he could arrange a marriage for her without her agreement. However, after reaching the age of maturity, she would have to agree to the marriage to be considered married.


title: Child marriage

text: The minimum ages of consent for marriage in the Catholic Church are 14 for girls and 16 for boys. Being underage constitutes a diriment impediment. That is, a marriage involving an underage bride or groom is canonically invalid. A Conference of Bishops may adopt a higher age for marriage, but in that case, the higher age only creates a prohibitive impediment, that is, a marriage involving a bride or groom above the Church's minimum age but below that set by the Conference is "valid but illicit". Permission to marry against a civil authority's directive requires the permission of the Ordinary, which, in the case of sensible and equal laws regarding marriage age, is not usually granted. The permission by the Ordinary is also required in case of a marriage of a minor when their parents are unaware of his marriage or if their parents reasonably oppose the marriage.


title: Child marriage

text: In classical Islamic law, suitability for marital relations is conditional on physical maturity ("bulugh") and mental maturity ("rushd"). Classical jurists did not stipulate a minimum marriageable age because they did not believe that maturity is reached by everyone at a specific age. Büchler and Schlater observe that "marriageable age according to classical Islamic law coincides with the occurrence of puberty. The notion of puberty refers to signs of physical maturity such as the emission of semen or the onset of menstruation". Traditional schools of Islamic jurisprudence (madhaahib) define the age of full legal capacity to enter marriage as follows:


title: Child marriage

text: According to Büchler and Schlater, while marriageable age is not the same as the legal majority under civil law, these age limits may correspond.


title: Child marriage

text: The 1917 codification of Islamic family law in the Ottoman Empire distinguished between the age of competence for marriage, which was set at 18 for boys and 17 for girls, and the minimum age for marriage, which followed the traditional Hanafi ages of the legal majority of 12 for boys and 9 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence was permissible only if proof of sexual maturity was accepted in court, while marriage under the minimum age was forbidden. During the 20th century, most countries in the Middle East followed the Ottoman precedent in defining the age of competence, while raising the minimum age to 15 or 16 for boys and 13–16 for girls. Marriage below the age of competence is subject to approval by a judge and the legal guardian of the adolescent. Egypt diverged from this pattern by setting the age limits of 18 for boys and 16 for girls, without a distinction between competence for marriage and minimum age. In 2020, Saudi Arabia officially banned all marriages under the age of 18. The push to ban child marriage was initially opposed by senior clergy, who argued that a woman reaches adulthood at puberty. However, by 2019 the Saudi Shura Council had outlawed marriages under the age of 15, and required court approval for those under 18.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriages may depend upon socio-economic status. The aristocracy in some cultures, as in the European feudal era tended to use child marriage as a method to secure political ties. Families were able to cement political and/or financial ties by having their children marry. The betrothal is considered a binding contract between the families and the children. The breaking of a betrothal can have serious consequences both for the families and for the betrothed individuals themselves.


title: Child marriage

text: A UNFPA report stated, "For the period 2000–2011, just over one third (an estimated 34 percent) of women aged 20 to 24 years in developing regions were married or in union before their eighteenth birthday. In 2010 this was equivalent to almost 67 million women. About 12 percent of them were married or in union before age 15." The prevalence of child marriage varies substantially among countries. Around the world, girls from rural areas are twice as likely to marry as children as those from urban areas.


title: Child marriage

text: According to UNICEF, Africa has the highest incidence rates of child marriage, with over 50% of girls marrying under the age of eighteen in five nations. Girls in West and Central Africa have the highest risk of marrying in childhood. Niger has one of the highest rates of early marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. Among Nigerien women between the ages of twenty and twenty-four, 76% reported marrying before the age of eighteen and 28% reported marrying before the age of fifteen. This UNICEF report is based on data that is derived from a small sample survey between 1995 and 2004, and the current rate is unknown given the lack of infrastructure and in some cases, regional violence.


title: Child marriage

text: UNICEF stated in 2018 that although the number of child marriages has declined on a worldwide scale, the problem remains most severe in Africa, despite the fact that Ethiopia cut child marriage rates by a third.


title: Child marriage

text: African countries have enacted marriageable age laws to limit marriage to a minimum age of 16 to 18, depending on the jurisdiction. In Ethiopia, Chad and Niger, the legal marriage age is 15, but local customs and religious courts have the power to allow marriages below 12 years of age. Child marriages of girls in West Africa, Central Africa and Northeast Africa are widespread. Additionally, poverty, religion, tradition, and conflict make the rate of child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa very high in some regions.


title: Child marriage

text: In many traditional systems, a man pays a bride price to the girl's family to marry her (comparable to the customs of dowry and dower). In many parts of Africa, this payment, in cash, cattle, or other valuables, decreases as a girl gets older. Even before a girl reaches puberty, it is common for a married girl to leave her parents to be with her husband. Many marriages are related to poverty, with parents needing the bride price of a daughter to feed, clothe, educate, and house the rest of the family. In Mali, the female: male ratio of marriage before age 18 is 72:1; in Kenya, 21:1.


title: Child marriage

text: The various reports indicate that in many Sub-Saharan countries, there is a high incidence of marriage among girls younger than 15. Many governments have tended to overlook the particular problems resulting from child marriage, including obstetric fistulae, premature births, stillbirth, sexually transmitted diseases (including cervical cancer), and malaria.


title: Child marriage

text: In parts of Ethiopia and Nigeria, many girls are married before the age of 15, some as young as 7 In parts of Mali, 39% of girls are married before the age of 15. In Niger and Chad, over 70% of girls are married before the age of 18.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2016, during a feast ending the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced that child and forced marriages were banned.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2015, Malawi passed a law banning child marriage, which raises the minimum age for marriage to 18. This major accomplishment came following years of effort by the Girls Empowerment Network campaign, which ultimately led to tribal and traditional leaders banning the cultural practice of child marriage.


title: Child marriage

text: In Morocco, child marriage is a common practice. Over 41,000 marriages every year involve child brides. Before 2003, child marriages did not require a court or state's approval. In 2003, Morocco passed the family law ("Moudawana") that raised the minimum age of marriage for girls from 14 to 18, with the exception that underage girls may marry with the permission of the government-recognized official/court and girl's guardian. Over the 10 years preceding 2008, requests for child marriages have been predominantly approved by Morocco's Ministry for Social Development, and have increased (c. 29% of all marriages). Some child marriages in Morocco are a result of Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code, a law that allows rapists to avoid punishment if they marry their underage victims. Article 475 was amended in January 2014 after much campaigning, and rapists can legally no longer avoid sentencing by marrying their victims.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2019, Mozambique's national assembly passed a law prohibiting child marriage. This law came after national movements condemning Mozambique's high rate of child marriage with 50% of girls marrying under the age of 18.


title: Child marriage

text: As of 2006, 15–20% of school dropouts in Nigeria were the result of child marriage. In 2013, Nigeria attempted to change Section 29, subsection 4 of its laws and thereby prohibit child marriages. Christianity and Islam are each practiced by roughly half of its population, and the country continues with personal laws from its British colonial-era laws, where child marriages are forbidden for its Christians and allowed for its Muslims. In Nigeria, child marriage is a divisive topic and widely practiced. In northern states, predominantly Muslim, over 50% of the girls marry before the age of 15.


title: Child marriage

text: In South Africa, the law provides for respecting the marriage practices of traditional marriages, whereby a person might be married as young as 12 for females and 14 for males. Early marriage is cited as "a barrier to continuing education for girls (and boys)". This includes "absuma" (arranged marriages set up between cousins at birth in local Islamic ethnic group), bride kidnapping and elopement decided on by the children.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2016, the Tanzanian High Court – in a case filed by the "Msichana Initiative", a lobbying group that advocates for girls' right to education – ruled in favor of protecting girls from the harms of early marriage. It is now illegal for anyone younger than 18 to marry in Tanzania.


title: Child marriage

text: A 2015 Human Rights Watch report stated that in Zimbabwe, one-third of women aged between 20 and 49 years old had married before reaching the age of 18. In January 2016, two women who had been married as children brought a court case requesting a change in the legal age of marriage to the Constitutional Court, with the result that the court declared that 18 is to be the minimum age for a legal marriage for both men and women (previously the legal age had been 16 for women and 18 for men). The law took effect immediately and was hailed by several of human rights, women's rights, medical, and legal groups as a landmark ruling for the country.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage is common in Latin America and the Caribbean island nations. About 29% of girls are married before age 18. Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti and Ecuador report some of the highest rates in the Americas, while Bolivia and Guyana have shown the sharpest decline in child marriage rates as of 2012. Brazil is ranked fourth in the world in terms of absolute numbers of girls married or cohabitating by age fifteen.


title: Child marriage

text: Poverty and lack of laws mandating minimum age for marriage have been cited as reasons of child marriage in Latin America. In an effort to combat the widespread belief among poor, rural, and indigenous communities that child marriage is a route out of poverty, some NGOs are working with communities in Latin America to shift norms and create safe spaces for adolescent girls.


title: Child marriage

text: In Guatemala, early marriage is most common among indigenous Mayan communities. In southeastern Colombia, historically the indigenous Nasa sometimes married at early ages to dissuade colonizers from coercively taking girls.


title: Child marriage

text: Since 2015, the minimum marriageable age throughout Canada is 16. In Canada the age of majority is set by province/territory at 18 or 19, so minors under this age have additional restrictions (i.e. parental and court consent). Under the Criminal Code, Art. 293.2 Marriage under age of 16 years reads: "Everyone who celebrates, aids or participates in a marriage rite or ceremony knowing that one of the persons being married is under the age of 16 years is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years." The Civil Marriage Act also states: "2.2 No person who is under the age of 16 years may contract marriage."


title: Child marriage

text: According to a study from McGill University, from 2000 to 2018, 3,600 marriage certificates were issued to children (mostly girls) under 18 in Canada.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage, as defined by UNICEF, is observed in the United States. The UNICEF definition of child marriage includes couples who are formally married, or who live together as a sexually active couple in an informal union, with at least one member – usually the girl – being less than 18 years old. The latter practice is more common in the United States, and it is officially called cohabitation. According to a 2010 report by the United States' National Center for Health Statistics, 2.1% of all girls in the 15–17 age group were either in a child marriage or in an informal union. In the age group of 15–19, 7.6% of all girls in the United States were formally married or in an informal union. The child marriage rates were higher for certain ethnic groups and states. In Hispanic groups, for example, 6.6% of all girls in the 15–17 age group were formally married or in an informal union, and 13% of the 15–19 age group were. Over 350,000 babies are born to teenage mothers every year in the United States, and over 50,000 of these are second babies to teen mothers.


title: Child marriage

text: Laws regarding child marriage vary in the different states of the United States. Generally, children 16 and over may marry with parental consent, with the age of 18 being the minimum in all but two states to marry without parental consent. However all states but Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have exceptions for child marriage within their laws, and although those under 16 generally require a court order in addition to parental consent, when those exceptions are taken into account, 17 states have no minimum age requirement.


title: Child marriage

text: Until 2008 the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints practiced child marriage through the concept of "spiritual marriage" as soon as it was possible for girls to bear children, as part of its polygamy practice, but laws have raised the age of legal marriage in response to criticism of the practice. In 2007 church leader Warren Jeffs was convicted of being an accomplice to statutory rape of a minor due to arranging a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and a 19-year-old man. In March 2008 officials of the state of Texas believed that children at the Yearning For Zion Ranch were being married to adults and were being abused. The state of Texas removed all 468 children from the ranch and placed them into temporary state custody. After the Austin's 3rd Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that Texas acted improperly in removing them from the YFZ Ranch, the children were returned to their parents or relatives. In 2008 the Church changed its policy in the United States to no longer marry individuals younger than the local legal age.


title: Child marriage

text: Between 2000 and 2015 there were at least 207,468 child marriages in the United States of which over 1,000 marriage licences were for children under 15, some as young as ten years old.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2018, Delaware became the first state to ban child marriage without exceptions, followed by New Jersey the same year. In 2020, Pennsylvania became the third state to ban it.


title: Child marriage

text: More than half of all child marriages occur in the South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. There was a decrease in the rates of child marriage across the Indian subcontinent from 1991 to 2007, but the decrease was observed among young adolescent girls and not girls in their late teens. Some scholars believe this age-specific reduction was linked to girls increasingly attending school until about age 15 and then marrying.


title: Child marriage

text: A 2013 report claims 53% of all married women in Afghanistan were married before age 18, and 21% of all were married before age 15. Afghanistan's official minimum age of marriage for girls is 15 with her father's permission. In all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, the customary practice of "ba'ad" is another reason for child marriages; this custom involves village elders, "jirga", settling disputes between families or unpaid debts or ruling punishment for a crime by forcing the guilty family to give their 5- to 12-year-old girls as a wife. Sometimes a girl is forced into child marriage for a crime her uncle or distant relative is alleged to have committed. Andrew Bushell claims rate of marriage of 8- to 13-year-old girls exceeding 50% in Afghan refugee camps along the Pakistan border.


title: Child marriage

text: Over half of Yemeni girls are married before 18, some by the age eight. Yemen government's Sharia Legislative Committee has blocked attempts to raise marriage age to either 15 or 18, on grounds that any law setting minimum age for girls is un-Islamic. Yemeni Muslim activists argue that some girls are ready for marriage at age 9. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), in 1999 the minimum marriage age 15 for women was abolished; the onset of puberty, interpreted by conservatives to be at age nine, was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage. In practice "Yemeni law allows girls of any age to wed, but it forbids sex with them until the indefinite time they're 'suitable for sexual intercourse'." As with Africa, the marriage incidence data for Yemen in HRW report is from surveys between 1990 and 2000. Current data is difficult to obtain because of regional violence.


title: Child marriage

text: In April 2008, Nujood Ali, a 10-year-old girl, successfully obtained a divorce after being raped under these conditions. Her case prompted calls to raise the legal age for marriage to 18. Later in 2008, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood proposed to define the minimum age for marriage at 18 years. The law was passed in April 2009, with the age voted for as 17. But the law was dropped the next day following maneuvers by opposing parliamentarians. Negotiations to pass the legislation continue. Meanwhile, Yemenis inspired by Nujood's efforts continue to push for change, with Nujood involved in at least one rally. In September 2013, an 8-year-old girl died of internal bleeding and uterine rupture on her wedding night after marrying a 40-year-old man.


title: Child marriage

text: The widespread prevalence of child marriage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been documented by human rights groups. Saudi clerics have justified the marriage of girls as young as 9, with sanction from the judiciary. No laws define a minimum age of consent in Saudi Arabia, though drafts for possible laws have been created since 2011. Members of the Saudi Shoura Council in 2019 approved fresh regulations for minor marriages that will outlaw the marrying of 15-year-olds and force the need for court approval for those under 18. Chairman of the Human Rights Committee at the Shoura Council, Dr. Hadi Al-Yami, said that introduced controls were based on in-depth studies presented to the body. He pointed out that the regulation, vetted by the Islamic Affairs Committee at the Shoura Council, has raised the age of marriage to 18 and prohibited it for those under 15. Saudi Arabia has officially updated the law banning all marriages under the age of 18.


title: Child marriage

text: Research by the United Nations Population Fund indicates that 28.2% of marriages in Turkey – almost one in three – involve girls under 18.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage was also found to be prevalent among Syrian and Palestinian Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in addition to other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Marriage was seen as a potential way to protect family honor and protect a girl from rape given how common rape was during the conflict. Incidents of child marriages increased in Syria and among Syrian refugees over the course of the conflict. The proportion of Syrian refugee girls living in Jordan who were married increased from 13% in 2011 to 32% in 2014. Journalists Magnus Wennman and Carina Bergfeldt documented the practice, and some of its results.


title: Child marriage

text: Hill tribes girls are often married young. For the Karen people it is possible that two couples can arrange their children's marriage before the children are born.


title: Child marriage

text: In a move to curb child marriage in Indonesia, the minimum marriage age for girls in Indonesia will be raised to 19 in 2022. Previously, under the 1974 marriage law, the marriage age for girls was 16, and there was no minimum with judicial consent.


title: Child marriage

text: There has been an increase in underage marriage which has been attributed to a rise in social networking sites like Facebook. It has been reported that in areas like Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, couples become acquainted through Facebook and continuing their relationships until girls became pregnant. Under Indonesian law underage marriage is prosecuted as sexual abuse, though unregistered marriages between young girls and older men are common in rural areas. In one case that caused a nationwide outcry, a wealthy Muslim cleric married a 12-year-old girl. He was prosecuted for sexually abusing a minor and sentenced to 4 years in jail.


title: Child marriage

text: Among the Atjeh of Sumatra girls formerly married before puberty. The husbands, though usually older, were still unfit for sexual union.


title: Child marriage

text: In June 2018, the Malaysian public learned that a 41-year-old Malaysian man had married an 11-year-old girl in Golok, a border town in southern Thailand. The man, who already had two wives and six children, was said to be the imam of a surau at a village in Gua Musang, Kelantan. The parents of the 11-year-old girl defended their decision to allow their daughter's marriage to the man.


title: Child marriage

text: In response to this incident, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said that the marriage remained valid under Islam. She also said in a press statement that "the Malaysian government "unequivocally" opposes child marriages and is already taking steps to raise the minimum age of marriage to 18".


title: Child marriage

text: Following this controversy, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mujahid Yusof Rawa proposed a blanket ban on marriages involving minors. In response, PAS Vice President Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah said that imposing a blanket ban on child marriage contravened Islamic religious teachings and, therefore, could not be accepted. He also claimed it would be better to enforce existing laws to protect young children from being forced into unwanted early marriages.


title: Child marriage

text: In July 2018 another case of a child bride was reported in Malaysia, involving a 19-year-old man from Terengganu and a 13-year-old girl from Kelantan.


title: Child marriage

text: In August 2018, Selangor announced plans for an amendment to the Islamic Family Law (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 which would raise the minimum age of marriage for Muslim women from 16 to 18 years.


title: Child marriage

text: Malaysia planned to tighten the requirements for child marriages in 2019. Subsequently, any marriage with minors would have to go through a stringent approval process involving Shariah Court Department, the Home Ministry, State Religious Council and Customary Courts.


title: Child marriage

text: In December 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law criminalizing child marriage, including its facilitation and solemnization, and cohabitation of an adult with a child outside wedlock.


title: Child marriage

text: Before the law change, the legal age for marriage was 18 for most Filipinos, however Muslim Filipino boys were able to marry from age 15, and Muslim girls from puberty.


title: Child marriage

text: According to UNICEF, 15% of Filipino girls were married before age 18, and 2% were married by 15. mostly in the Muslim-dominated Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao region


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage rates in Bangladesh are amongst the highest in the world. Every 2 out of 3 marriages involve child marriages. According to statistics from 2005, 49% of women then between 25 and 29 were married by the age of 15 in Bangladesh. According to a 2008 study, for each additional year a girl in rural Bangladesh is not married she will attend school an additional 0.22 years on average. The later girls were married, the more likely they were to utilize preventive health care. Married girls in the region were found to have less influence on family planning, higher rates of maternal mortality, and lower status in their husband's family than girls who married later. Another study found that women who married at age 18 or older were less likely to experience IPV (intimate partner violence) than those married before age 18. It also found that girls married before age 15 were at an even higher risk for IPV.


title: Child marriage

text: According to UNICEF's "State of the World's Children-2009" report, 47% of India's women aged 20–24 married before the legal age of 18, with 56% marrying before age 18 in rural areas. The report also showed that 40% of the world's child marriages occur in India. As with Africa, this UNICEF report is based on data that is derived from a small sample survey in 1999. The latest available UNICEF report for India uses 2004–2005 household survey data, on a small sample, and other scholars report lower incidence rates for India. According to Raj et al., the 2005 small sample household survey data suggests 22% of girls ever married aged 16–18, 20% of girls in India married between 13 and 16, and 2.6% married before age 13. According to 2011 nationwide census of India, the average age of marriage for women in India is 21. The child marriage rates in India, according to a 2009 representative survey, dropped to 7%. In its 2001 demographic report, the Census of India stated zero married girls below age 10, 1.4 million married girls out of 59.2 million girls in the age 10–14, and 11.3 million married girls out of 46.3 million girls in the age 15–19 (which includes 18–19 age group). For 2011, the Census of India reports child marriage rates dropping further to 3.7% of females aged less than 18 being married.


title: Child marriage

text: The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 was passed during the tenure of British rule on Colonial India. It forbade the marriage of a male younger than 21 or a female younger than 18 for Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and most people of India. However, this law did not and currently does not apply to India's 165 million Muslim population, and only applies to India's Hindu, Christian, Jain, Sikh and other religious minorities. This link of law and religion was formalized by the British colonial rule with the Muslim personal laws codified in the Indian Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937. The age at which India's Muslim girls can legally marry, according to this Muslim Personal Law, is 9, and can be lower if her guardian ("wali") decides she is sexually mature. Over the last 25 years, All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other Muslim civil organizations have actively opposed India-wide laws and enforcement action against child marriages; they have argued that Indian Muslim families have a religious right to marry a girl aged 15 or even 12. Several states of India claim specially high child marriage rates in their Muslim and tribal communities. India, with a population of over 1.2 billion, has the world's highest total number of child marriages. It is a significant social issue. As of 2016, the situation has been legally rectified by The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.


title: Child marriage

text: According to "National Plan of Action for Children 2005", published by Indian government's Department of Women and Child Development, set a goal to eliminate child marriage completely by 2010. In 2006, The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 was passed to prohibit solemnization of child marriages. This law states that men must be at least 21 years of age and women must but be at least 18 years of age to marry.


title: Child marriage

text: Some Muslim organizations planned to challenge the new law in the Supreme Court of India. In latter years, various high courts in India – including the Gujarat High Court, the Karnataka High Court and the Madras High Court – have ruled that the act prevails over any personal law (including Muslim personal law).


title: Child marriage

text: UNICEF reported that 28.8% of marriages in Nepal were child marriages as of 2011. A UNICEF discussion paper determined that 79.6 percent of Muslim girls in Nepal, 69.7 percent of girls living in hilly regions irrespective of religion, and 55.7 percent of girls living in other rural areas, are all married before the age of 15. Girls born into the highest wealth quintile marry about two years later than those from the other quintiles.


title: Child marriage

text: According to a UNICEF report from 2018, around 18% of the girls in Pakistan were married before the age of 18 and 4% of the girls were married before the age of 15. In the past two 2013 reports suggest that over 50% of all marriages in Pakistan involve girls less than 18 years old.


title: Child marriage

text: The exact number of child marriages in Pakistan below the age of 13 is unknown, but rising according to the United Nations.


title: Child marriage

text: Another custom in Pakistan, called "swara" or "vani", involves village elders solving family disputes or settling unpaid debts by marrying off girls. The average marriage age of "swara" girls is between 5 and 9. Similarly, the custom of watta satta has been cited as a cause of child marriages in Pakistan.


title: Child marriage

text: According to Population Council, 35% of all females in Pakistan become mothers before they reach the age of 18, and 67% have experienced pregnancy – 69% of these have given birth – before they reach the age of 19. Less than 4% of married girls below the age of 19 had some say in choosing her spouse; over 80% were married to a near or distant relative. Child marriage and early motherhood is common in Pakistan.


title: Child marriage

text: Though the legal age of marriage in Iran is 13 years for girls and 15 for boys, there are cases of girls below the age of 10 being married. The same source pointed out that "child marriages are more common in socially backward rural areas often afflicted with high levels of illiteracy and drug addiction". In October 2019, a prosecutor annulled the marriage of an 11-year-old girl to her adult cousin in rural Iran, and said he was indicting the mullah (officiant) and the girl's parents for an illegal underage marriage. According to the Iranian Students News Agency, nearly 6,000 children are married each year in Iran.


title: Child marriage

text: The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) examining child marriage in Iran has warned of a rising number of young girls forced into marriage in Iran. The Committee deplored the fact that the State party allows sexual intercourse involving girls as young as 9 lunar years and that other forms of sexual abuse of even younger children is not criminalized.


title: Child marriage

text: CRC said that Tehran must "repeal all provisions that authorize, condone or lead to child sexual abuse" and called for the age of sexual consent to be increased from nine years old to 16. The Society For Protecting The Rights of The Child said that 43,459 girls aged under 15 married in 2009. In 2010, 716 girls under the age of 10 married, up from 449 in the year prior.


title: Child marriage

text: On 8 March 2018 a member of the Tehran City Council, Shahrbanoo Amani said that there were 15,000 widows under the age of 15 in the country.


title: Child marriage

text: Each European country has its own laws; in both the European Union and the Council of Europe the marriageable age falls within the jurisdiction of individual member states. The Istanbul convention, the first legally binding instrument in Europe in the field of violence against women and domestic violence, only requires countries which ratify it to prohibit forced marriage (Article 37) and to ensure that forced marriages can be easily voided without further victimization (Article 32), but does not make any reference to a minimum age of marriage.


title: Child marriage

text: In the European Union, the general age of marriage "as a right" is 18 in all member states. When all exceptions are taken into account (such as judicial or parental consent), the minimum age is 16 in most countries, and in Estonia it is 15. In 6 countries marriage under 18 is completely prohibited. By contrast, in 6 countries there is no set minimum age, although all these countries require the authorization of a public authority (such as judge or social worker) for the marriage to take place.


title: Child marriage

text: In April 2016, Reuters reported "Child brides sometimes tolerated in Nordic asylum centers despite bans". For example, at least 70 girls under 18 were living as married couples in Sweden; in Norway, "some" under 16 lived "with their partners". In Denmark, it was determined there were "dozens of cases of girls living with older men", prompting Minister Inger Stojberg to state she would "stop housing child brides in asylum centres".


title: Child marriage

text: Marriage under 18 was completely banned in Sweden in 2014, in Denmark in 2017, and in Finland in 2019.


title: Child marriage

text: In these areas, child and forced marriages are associated with the Roma community and with some rural populations. However, such marriages are illegal in most of the countries from that area. In recent years, many of those countries have taken steps in order to curb these practices, including equalizing the marriageable age of both sexes (e.g. Romania in 2007, Ukraine in 2012). Therefore, most of those 'marriages' are informal unions (without legal recognition) and often arranged from very young ages. Such practices are common in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania (in these countries the marriageable age is 18, and can only be lowered to 16 in special circumstances with judicial approval). A 2003 case involving the daughter of an informal 'gypsy king' of the area has made international news.


title: Child marriage

text: "The Washington Post" reported in April 2016 that "17 child brides" arrived in Belgium in 2015 and a further 7 so far in 2016. The same report added that "Between 2010 and 2013, the police registered at least 56 complaints about a forced marriage."


title: Child marriage

text: In 2016 there were 1475 underage foreigners were registered in Germany, of which 1100 were girls. Syrians represented 664, Afghans 157 and Iraqis 100. In July 2016, 361 foreign children under 14 were registered as married.


title: Child marriage

text: The Dutch government's National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children wrote that "between September 2015 and January 2016 around 60 child brides entered the Netherlands". At least one was 14 years old. "The Washington Post" reported that asylum centres in the Netherlands were "housing 20 child brides between ages 13 and 15" in 2015.


title: Child marriage

text: The common marriageable age established by the Family Code of Russia is 18 years old. Marriages of persons at age from 16 to 18 years allowed only with good reasons and by local municipal authority permission. Marriage before 16 years old may be allowed by federal subject of Russia law as an exception just in special circumstances.


title: Child marriage

text: By 2016, a minimum age for marriage in special circumstances had been established at 14 years (in Adygea, Kaluga Oblast, Magadan Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Novgorod Oblast, Oryol Oblast, Sakhalin Oblast, Tambov Oblast, Tatarstan, Vologda Oblast) or to 15 years (in Murmansk Oblast and Ryazan Oblast). Others subjects of Russia also can have marriageable age laws.


title: Child marriage

text: Abatement of marriageable age is an ultimate measure acceptable in cases of life threat, pregnancy and childbirth.


title: Child marriage

text: The marriageable age in both England and Wales is 18 with no exemptions since 1 May 2022 (16 with consent of both parents or guardians, plus also a magistrate approval required within Northern Ireland only), although in Scotland no parental consent is required over 16. Scotland and Andorra are the only European jurisdictions where 16 year-olds can marry as "a right" (i.e. without parental or court approval); see .


title: Child marriage

text: In the UK girls as young as 12 have been smuggled in to be brides of men in the Muslim community, according to a 2004 report in "The Guardian". Girls trying to escape this child marriage can face death because this breaks the honor code of her husband and both families.


title: Child marriage

text: As with the United States, underage cohabitation is observed in the United Kingdom. According to a 2005 study, 4.1% of all girls in the 15–19 age group in the UK were cohabiting (living in an informal union), while 8.9% of all girls in that age group admitted to having been in a cohabitation relation (child marriage per UNICEF definition), before the age of 18. Over 4% of all underage girls in the UK were teenage mothers.


title: Child marriage

text: In July 2014, the United Kingdom hosted its first global Girl Summit; the goal of the Summit was to increase efforts to end child, early, and forced marriage and female genital mutilation within a generation.


title: Child marriage

text: The Marquesas Islands have been noted for their sexual culture. Many sexual activities seen as taboo in Western cultures are viewed appropriate by the native culture. One of these differences is that children are introduced and educated to sex at a very young age. Contact with Western societies has changed many of these customs, so research into their pre-Western social history has to be done by reading antique writings. Children slept in the same room as their parents and were able to witness their parents while they had sex. Intercourse simulation became real penetration as soon as boys were physically able. Adults found simulation of sex by children to be funny. As children approached 11 attitudes shifted toward girls. When a child reaches adulthood, they are educated on sexual techniques by a much older adult.


title: Child marriage

text: Adam Johann von Krusenstern in his book about the same expedition as Yuri's, reports that a father brought a 10- to 12-year-old girl on his ship, and she had sex with the crew. According to the book of Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu and Étienne Marchand, eight-year-old girls had sex and other unnatural acts in public.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage has lasting consequences on girls that last well beyond adolescence. Women married in their teens or earlier struggle with the health effects of pregnancy at a young age and often with little spacing between children. Early marriages followed by teen pregnancy also significantly increase birth complications and social isolation. In poor countries, early pregnancy limits or can even eliminate a woman's education options, affecting her economic independence. Girls in child marriages are more likely to suffer from domestic violence, child sexual abuse, and marital rape.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage threatens the health and life of girls. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the main cause of death among adolescent girls below age 19 in developing countries. Girls aged 15 to 19 are twice as likely to die in childbirth as fully-grown women in their 20s, and girls under the age of 15 are five to seven times more likely to die during childbirth. These consequences are due largely to girls' physical immaturity wherefore the pelvis and birth canal are not fully developed. Teen pregnancy, particularly below age 15, increases risk of developing obstetric fistula, since their smaller pelvises make them prone to obstructed labor. Girls who give birth before the age of 15 have an 88% risk of developing fistula. and those between 18 and 15 have a 25% chance. Fistula leaves its victims with urine or fecal incontinence that causes lifelong complications with infection and pain. Unless surgically repaired, obstetric fistulas can cause years of permanent disability, shame to mothers, and can result in being shunned by the community. Married girls also have a higher risk of sexually transmitted infections, cervical cancer, and malaria than non-married peers or girls who marry in their 20s.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage also threatens the lives of offspring. Mothers under the age of 18 years have 35 to 55% increased risk of delivering pre-term or having a low birth weight baby than a mother who is 19 or 20 years old. In addition, infant mortality rates are 60% higher when the mother is under 18 years old. Infants born to child mothers tend to have weaker immune systems and face a heightened risk of malnutrition.


title: Child marriage

text: Prevalence of child marriage may also be associated with higher rates of population growth, more cases of children left orphaned, and the accelerated spread of disease which for many translate into prolonged poverty.


title: Child marriage

text: Child marriage often ends a girl's education, particularly in impoverished countries where child marriages are common. In addition, uneducated girls are more at risk for child marriage. Girls who have only a primary education are twice as likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary or higher education, and girls with no education are three times more likely to marry before age 18 than those with a secondary education. Early marriage impedes a young girl's ability to continue with her education as most drop out of school following marriage to focus their attention on domestic duties and having or raising children. Girls may be taken out of school years before they are married due to family or community beliefs that allocating resources for girls' education is unnecessary given that her primary roles will be that of wife and mother. Without education, girls and adult women have fewer opportunities to earn an income and financially provide for themselves and their children. This makes girls more vulnerable to persistent poverty if their spouses die, abandon them, or divorce them. Given that girls in child marriages are often significantly younger than their husbands, they become widowed earlier in life and may face associated economic and social challenges for a greater portion of their life than women who marry later.


title: Child marriage

text: Married teenage girls with low levels of education suffer greater risk of social isolation and domestic violence than more educated women who marry as adults. Following marriage, girls frequently relocate to their husband's home and take on the domestic role of being a wife, which often involves relocating to another village or area. This transition may result in a young girl dropping out of school, moving away from her family and friends, and a loss of the social support that she once had. A husband's family may also have higher expectations for the girl's submissiveness to her husband and his family because of her youth. This sense of isolation from a support system can have severe mental health implications including depression.


title: Child marriage

text: Large age gaps between the child and her spouse makes her more vulnerable to domestic violence and marital rape. Girls who marry as children face severe and life-threatening marital violence at higher rates. Husbands in child marriages are often more than ten years older than their wives. This can increase the power and control a husband has over his wife and contribute to prevalence of spousal violence. Early marriage places young girls in a vulnerable situation of being completely dependent on her husband. Domestic and sexual violence from their husbands has lifelong, devastating mental health consequences for young girls because they are at a formative stage of psychological development. These mental health consequences of spousal violence can include depression and suicidal thoughts. Child brides, particularly in situations such as vani, also face social isolation, emotional abuse and discrimination in the homes of their husbands and in-laws.


title: Child marriage

text: The United Nations, through a series of conventions has declared child marriage a violation of human rights. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination of Women ('CEDAW'), the Committee on the Rights of the Child ('CRC'), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights form the international standard against child marriage. Child marriages impact violates a range of women's interconnected rights such as equality on grounds of sex and age, to receive the highest attainable standard of health, to be free from slavery, access to education, freedom of movement, freedom from violence, reproductive rights, and the right to consensual marriage. The consequence of these violations impact woman, her children and the broader society.


title: Child marriage

text: High rates of child marriage negatively impact countries' economic development because of early marriages' impact on girls' education and labor market participation. Some researchers and activists note that high rates of child marriage prevent significant progress toward each of the eight Millennium Development Goals and global efforts to reduce poverty due to its effects on educational attainment, economic and political participation, and health.


title: Child marriage

text: A UNICEF Nepal issued report noted that child marriage impacts Nepal's development due to loss of productivity, poverty, and health effects. Using Nepal Multi-Indicator Survey data, its researchers estimate that all girls delaying marriage until age 20 and after would increase cash flow among Nepali women in an amount equal to 3.87% of the country's GDP. Their estimates considered decreased education and employment among girls in child marriages in addition to low rates of education and high rates of poverty among children from child marriages.


title: Child marriage

text: In December 2011 a resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/66/170) designated 11 October as the "International Day of the Girl Child". On 11 October 2012 the first "International Day of the Girl Child" was held, the theme of which was ending child marriage.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2013 the first United Nations Human Rights Council resolution against child, early, and forced marriages was adopted; it recognizes child marriage as a human rights violation and pledges to eliminate the practice as part of the U.N.'s post-2015 global development agenda.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2014 the UN's Commission on the Status of Women issued a document in which they agreed, among other things, to eliminate child marriage.


title: Child marriage

text: The World Health Organization recommends increased educational attainment among girls, increased enforcement structures for existing minimum marriage age laws, and informing parents in practicing communities of the risks associated as primary methods to prevent child marriages.


title: Child marriage

text: Programs to prevent child marriage have taken several different approaches. Various initiatives have aimed to empower young girls, educate parents on the associated risks, change community perceptions, support girls' education, and provide economic opportunities for girls and their families through means other than marriage. A survey of a variety of prevention programs found that initiatives were most effect when they combined efforts to address financial constraints, education, and limited employment of women.


title: Child marriage

text: Girls in families participating in an unconditional cash transfer program in Malawi aimed at incentivizing girls' education married and had children later than their peers who had not participated in the program. The program's effects on rates of child marriage were greater for unconditional cast transfer programs than those with conditions. Evaluators believe this demonstrated that the economic needs of the family heavily influenced the appeal of child marriage in this community. Therefore, reducing financial pressures on the family decreased the economic motivations to marry daughters off at a young age.


title: Child marriage

text: The Haryana state government in India operated a program in which poor families were given a financial incentive if they kept their daughters in school and unmarried until age 18. Girls in families who were eligible for the program were less likely to be married before age 18 than their peers.


title: Child marriage

text: A similar program was operated in 2004 by the Population Council and the regional government in Ethiopia's rural Amhara Region. Families received cash if their daughters remained in school and unmarried during the two years of the program. They also instituted mentorship programs, livelihood training, community conversations about girls' education and child marriage, and gave school supplies for girls. After the two-year program, girls in families eligible for the program were three times more likely to be in school and one tenth as likely to be married compared to their peers.


title: Child marriage

text: In the other free program the Global Campaign for the Prevention of Child Marriage (GCPCM) has been launched in March 2019, and the primary goal of this Campaign is raising awareness and illuminating people's minds to address child marriage in the world.


title: Child marriage

text: Other programs have addressed child marriage less directly through a variety of programming related to girls' empowerment, education, sexual and reproductive health, financial literacy, life skills, communication skills, and community mobilization.


title: Child marriage

text: In 2018, UN Women announced that Jaha Dukureh would serve as Goodwill Ambassador in Africa to help organize to prevent child marriage.


title: Child marriage

text: Researchers at the International Center for Research on Women found that in some communities rates of child marriage increase significantly when girls are a particular age. This "tipping point", or age at which rates of marriage increase dramatically, may occur years before the median age of marriage. Therefore, the researchers argue prevention programs should focus their programming on girls who are pre-tipping point age rather than only girls who are married before they reach the median age for marriage.


title: Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012 video game)

text: Need for Speed: Most Wanted is an open world racing game developed by Criterion Games and published by Electronic Arts. "Most Wanted" is the nineteenth title in the "Need for Speed" series and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, iOS and Android, beginning in North America in 2012, with a Wii U version following in 2013 under the title Need for Speed: Most Wanted U. The game picked up on the "" intellectual property, as opposed to the "" reboot that Criterion Games developed previously.


text: "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" received positive reviews, which focused on the world map that blended the styles of previous "Burnout" and "Need for Speed" games, and the social features, while criticism fell on the single-player mode. Following its release, the game won several awards including the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards for Best Driving Game and was nominated for Best British Game and Best Online Multiplayer at the 2013 BAFTA Awards, and was repeatedly recognized as the best driving/racing game of 2012 by several outlets.


text: "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" is set in an open world environment. The game takes on the gameplay style of the first "" title in the "Need for Speed" franchise; the contrast difference is the 2012 "Most Wanted" does not contain a story. "Most Wanted" allows players to select one car and compete against other racers in three types of events: Sprint races, which involves traveling from one point of the city to another, Circuit races, each having two or three laps total and Speed runs, which involve traversing through a course in the highest average speed possible. There are also Ambush races, where the player starts surrounded by cops and must evade their pursuit as quickly as possible.


text: Cops are integrated into certain racing sessions, in which the police deploy vehicles and tactics to stop the player's car and arrest the player, like the original "". The game features a Most Wanted List of 10 racers, similar to the Blacklist in the single-player section of the original "Most Wanted", which featured 15 racers. As the Most Wanted racers are defeated, their cars are added to the player's roster the moment the player wrecks them. In this reiteration, the focus shifts from Rockport, the city in the original, to a new city called Fairhaven.


text: Fairhaven resembles a regular city. It has a beach and an industrial district. It has a main highway dubbed I-92 that stretches across the city.


text: Gameplay of "Most Wanted" has been likened to that of the "Burnout" series. Unlike the game's spiritual predecessor "Burnout Paradise", the races have checkpoints that you must pass through instead of just having a start and end. Destructible billboards and fences; and drive-through repair garages, all of which originated from "Paradise", are also featured.


text: The game uses Autolog, the competition-between-friends system developed by Criterion for "", and since used in other titles in the "Need for Speed" series. Autolog in "Most Wanted" plays a larger role and gives more information to players. Activities in-game allow players to earn Speed Points which can boost players up on the Most Wanted list. Autolog recommendations have now been integrated into the game world, rather than sit externally on the menu system. "Most Wanted" features a new social system called Cloudcompete, which strings together "Most Wanted" across all platforms in an inspired example of cross-compatibility. One profile is used for all versions of the game, allowing the player to rank up on one format and continue progress on another.


text: The driving model of the game has been described as "deep, physical and fun", not as arcade-styled as the "Burnout" series and "Hot Pursuit", but far from a simulator. "Most Wanted" has a range of real-world vehicles, a mix of muscle cars, street racers and exotics, described as "the wildest selection of cars yet". The cars can be altered with performance upgrades, such as reinflatable tires, transmission, engine, nitrous oxide, and body work that enables players to crash through roadblocks, have a higher top speed, and accelerate faster. A feature called EasyDrive enables players to modify their vehicle performance while in usage. Almost all the cars are available from the start, hidden in different locations throughout Fairhaven; the player has to discover them in order to unlock them.


text: The Wii U version was retitled to "Need for Speed: Most Wanted U". It includes content from the previously released "Ultimate Speed Pack", and offers three unique features that take advantage of the Wii U GamePad to make it the "Enhanced Version."


text: This version supports Off-TV Play, which is the ability to play the game exclusively on the Wii U GamePad, independently from the television. There is also a new co-op mode, called Co-Driver, that supports two players: one player drives using a Wii Remote or the Wii U Pro Controller and another uses the Wii U GamePad to provide control and navigation assistance on an interactive real-time map. The Wii U GamePad can also be used to change mods and switch cars.


text: The Wii U version of the game also includes full Miiverse integration, which is the first for a third-party game on Wii U. The game also includes three secret vehicles which are exclusive to the Wii U version, all which allude to the "Mario" franchise characters Mario, Peach, and Yoshi. These secret vehicles can each be accessed via hidden entrances, shaped like the iconic Warp Pipes from the series, on various tracks. Finding all the secret vehicles unlocks secret license plates which further confirm the allusion of these characters. Besides the included "Ultimate Speed Pack", there is no DLC for the Wii U version of the game.


text: In November 2011, it was revealed that Criterion Games was developing another "Need for Speed" game, according to a job advertisement. According to the job listing, the studio was "looking for talented Cinematic Artists to work on the world's number one, multi award winning, arcade racing franchise." According to the listing, players should expect "entertaining, compelling in-game cinematic action sequences" from the racer, as well as "intense car action sequences, terrifying jumps, insane crashes and epic car chases." Earlier in the year, another job advert revealed that Criterion was developing a game with "believable, open world AI racing drivers." On 11 January 2012, British retailer Game revealed that EA plans to release "" and a new entry in the "Need for Speed" series later that year, which was shown by EA during a confidential presentation. However, the developer and what direction the racing series takes in 2012 was not revealed. On 23 January 2012, Criterion's creative director, Craig Sullivan, said on Twitter that the Guildford-based studio has "lots to share over the coming months". Sullivan did not provide any further details, except to say the upcoming announcement/s are "going to be BIG". On 8 April 2012, South African-based online retailer BTGames listed "Dead Space 3" and "Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2" for pre-order.


text: On 7 May 2012, EA confirmed that new entries in both the "Dead Space" and "Need for Speed" franchises would be on shelves by March 2013. The then unnamed and unannounced "Need for Speed" game was slated for a Q3 2012 release, which would have been any time between October and Christmas 2012. On 25 May 2012, a booth schedule sent out by Twitch revealed that EA was showing off "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" at E3. While EA had previously confirmed that a new "Need for Speed" was on the way, this was the first time its title had been confirmed. On 1 June 2012, EA officially confirmed the existence of the Criterion-developed "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" as part of the publisher's E3 line-up.


text: "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" was officially revealed at EA's Media Briefing during E3 2012, with a trailer which showed a police chase involving a street race. The trailer was followed by a live demo of the game on stage by creative director Craig Sullivan. When asked about that Criterion Games would only be focused on "Need for Speed", meaning no more "Burnout", Sullivan stated "It's more a case of wanting to get "Need for Speed" back on its feet after last year," referring to the poorly received "". Producer Matt Webster stated that "Most Wanted" is "everything we know about open-world driving, just piling it together. All the best stuff about "Burnout" and everything we did in "", we're just smashing them together."


text: On 30 July 2012, it was reported that "Most Wanted" would include some form of Kinect functionality on Xbox 360. The "Better with Kinect" banner was seen emblazoned on the game's Xbox 360 cover during the game latest gameplay trailer. On 7 September 2012, it was confirmed by producer Matt Webster that the game would support Kinect with a range of support-oriented voice commands that allow players to keep watching the road in front of them. Many of the commands would be tied to the game's "easy drive" menus.


text: At Gamescom 2012, Sony Computer Entertainment announced Cross Buy, which offers the Vita version of a game for free to customers who purchase it on PlayStation 3. When asked by IGN about Cross Buy for "Most Wanted", an EA spokesperson told "We're taking it under consideration, but we have no specific plans to announce at this time." Producer Matt Webster announced that the Vita version of the game is "exactly the same game [as the PlayStation 3 version] apart from traffic density and number of players online," which it called a "significant achievement" on the portable.


text: As with previous "Need for Speed" titles, "Most Wanted"s soundtrack contains a variety of licensed music. It mainly comprises electronic music (including dubstep, such as Skrillex; techno, such as Deadmau5; and electronica, such as Zedd), alternative rock, and hip hop, such as "Bonkers" by Dizzee Rascal. Among these songs are two remixes of The Who songs originally from the album "Who's Next". "Most Wanted" also contains songs from Criterion Games' previous title, "Burnout Crash!", which play over the stereo of parked cars. The menu music was composed by Steve Hillage and Vanesa Lorena.


text: Most Wanted racing champion, a two-city event that took the game around the United Kingdom prior to the game's release. The leading UK racer was crowned the UK's Most Wanted champion live on stage at the Golden Joysticks, and received a special "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" Golden Joystick, one of the first Golden Joysticks to be won by a member of the gaming public, plus a Limited Edition copy of the game.


text: In addition to the standard edition, a Limited Edition version of the game was available through pre-order at the same price as the regular game. The Limited Edition features numerous bonuses over the standard edition, including "four hours of double Speed Points, custom liveries, pre-customized rollouts and two vehicles: the Porsche 911 Carrera S and the Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale." EA also collaborated with several retail outlets on pre-order incentives through several store chains throughout the world. Each retailer offered one of three "special edition extra pack", which consists of multiplayer cars with unique modifications that fit different play styles. Which of the "special edition extra pack" the player received depended upon where they pre-order the game. The "special edition extra packs" on offer were the Speed Pack, Strike Pack and Power Pack.


text: To celebrate the launch of "Most Wanted", a contest was held where Facebook users could "like" a picture for the chance to win a VIP kit, which included an iPhone 4S, an iPad 3, a watch, a pair of Converse shoes, a "Get Wanted" cap, and a copy of the game for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A single-player demo was released on 13 November on Xbox Live Marketplace worldwide and the PlayStation Network in North America and on 15 November 2012 on the PlayStation Network in Europe. The demo packs four vehicles, each with their own races, challenges and unlockable mods. Speed Points racked up in the demo also carry over to the full game if the player bought it, up to a cap of 50,000.


text: On 21 November 2012, EA updated the "Need for Speed Autolog" iPhone app with support for "Most Wanted". The app features the in-game maps, Speed Point tallies, allows to manage friend interactions, change profile picture, view speed walls, and keep up to the latest "Most Wanted" info via the news feed.


text: On 1 February 2016, the Windows version of the game was made available for free via Origin's "On the House" program.


text: In addition to the trailer shown at the official reveal during E3 2012, several other game trailers were released, each revealing new aspects of the game. An episode of PWND, released in August 2012, featured new footage of "Need for Speed: Most Wanted", and covered information on the single and multiplayer mode of the game, and the Autolog 2.0. One trailer revealed some of the new cars from the game. Two trailers revealed the multiplayer aspect of the game. One trailer showcased how players will be able to drive any car they find in the open world location of the game. Two trailers revealed the single-player aspect of the game. One trailer showcased the relationship between the cops and racers. An extended version of its live action TV advert splices real footage with some gameplay. A trailer was released to explain the game's Kinect integration. One trailer showed off Wii U gameplay.


text: The first DLC pack for "Most Wanted" was released on the same day as the game's launch. Dubbed "Time Saver Pack", the pack grants the player immediate access to every car in the game's multiplayer, and also marks every car Jackspots on the map in single-player with the exception of the Most Wanted cars.


text: EA announced the first post-launch DLC for "Most Wanted" on 6 December 2012. The "Ultimate Speed Pack" adds five new cars; the Pagani Zonda R, McLaren F1 LM, Lamborghini Aventador J, the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse and Hennessey Venom GT Spyder. The DLC also features a series of new events for each car and a new Most Wanted event. In total, there are 26 new High Speed Races and Speed Runs and 70 more multiplayer milestones, plus additional rewards and unlocks. It was released on 18 December on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America, and on 19 December on PlayStation Network in Europe.


text: EA announced three new DLC packs for "Most Wanted" on 26 February 2013. "Terminal Velocity" is an airport world expansion. It contains two new single player modes along with five new cars: the BMW 1 Series M Coupe, Audi RS3 Sportback, Ford Fiesta ST, Alfa Romeo MiTo QV, and the production model of the Porsche 918 Spyder. It also comes with eight new single-player events, 136 new multiplayer milestones, plus additional rewards and unlocks.


text: The second and third packs, "Movie Legends" and "NFS Heroes", introduce classic rides from action movies and past "Need for Speed" games. "Movie Legends" features five new cars: the Aston Martin DB5, Dodge Charger R/T, Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am, Aston Martin DBS V12, and the Shelby GT500. It also comes with eight new single-player sprint events, 136 new multiplayer milestones, a new Most Wanted event, and additional rewards and unlocks.


text: "NFS Heroes" contains five famous cars from "Need for Speed" history: the Lamborghini Diablo SV from ""; the Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34) from ""; the Nissan 350Z from ""; the Porsche 911 GT2 from ""; and the BMW M3 GTR from the 2005 "". The DLC also contains a new Most Wanted event, eight new High Speed Races and Speed Runs, 25 new liveries, 136 new multiplayer milestones, plus additional rewards and unlocks. All three packs were released on 26 February 2013 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in North America (27 February in Europe on PlayStation 3), and on 13 March on Origin, individually and collectively as part of the "Deluxe DLC" bundle.


text: On 20 March 2013, Criterion stated that "Most Wanted"s DLC packs would only be released for the Wii U if the studio saw enough support on Nintendo's format. The Wii U version comes with the "Ultimate Speed Pack" as standard, but it is missing the "Terminal Velocity", "Movie Legends" and "NFS Heroes" DLC packs.


text: A Complete Edition of the game containing all the downloadable content was later released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on retail and digitally.


text: "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" was well received by critics at E3 2012 and was awarded with "Best Racing Game" as well as a nomination for "Best Online Multiplayer Game" from Game Critics Awards. Previewers who had access to "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" called the game a spiritual successor to Criterion's "Burnout Paradise", rather than the original "" from 2005, citing similar gameplay mechanics.


text: "Need For Speed: Most Wanted" was met with generally positive reviews, though it was not as acclaimed as Criterion Games' in the franchise. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the Wii U version 86/100, the PlayStation 3 version 84/100, the PlayStation Vita version 79/100, the Xbox 360 version 84/100 and the PC version 78/100.


text: In the edition of 22 October 2012 of "Edge", the first review score was given as 9/10. The reviewer praised the Criterion racer's "perfectly" pitched handling, "essential" Autolog social features and its "flowing, coherent" world map, which it says blends the styles of previous "Burnout" and "Need for Speed" games. The review said of the game, "Once again, Criterion still manages to stand out and offer something fresh, setting a new standard in open-world driving games with – that word again – a seamless feast of quality."


text: "IGN" gave the game 9/10, calling "It's undoubtedly one of the year's most exhilarating experiences." Eurogamer gave it an 8/10, and stated "Its sense of character may be not be as forceful as Criterion's other games - but the sense of competition that informs it, the joy of discovery and the plain pleasure of driving haven't been dimmed in the slightest. This isn't quite paradise, but it comes very close."


text: "PlayStation Official Magazine UK" gave the game an 8/10, and stated "It's achieved a vicious racing experience that thrills so much more than it frustrates, and it's pushed vehicular multiplayer forward significantly, setting the bar so high it's hard to imagine who can better it." "Official Xbox Magazine" gave it an 8.5/10, stating ""Most Wanted" delivers raucous entertainment in spades, whether you're battling Fairhaven City's finest in the campaign or dueling network competition in serious races and silly trick competitions. After years of revisiting "Burnout Paradise"s recurring playground, we finally have a fresh racing addiction to keep us hooked until Criterion's next seemingly inevitable open-road opus."


text: "The Guardian" gave the game a perfect score, stating "Criterion has done it again, setting a new standard for arcade-style racing games which won't be surpassed until the next generation of consoles has been on sale for a while. It actually leaves one feeling a bit sorry for "Forza Horizon", which is a very good game, and infinitely superior to its predecessors. But "Need For Speed: Most Wanted" is, by whatever criteria you may see fit to apply, a great game."


text: Joystiq gave it a 4/5, stating ""Need for Speed: Most Wanted" is the next "Burnout" game fans have clamoring for – it may not say so on the box, but everything about it screams "Burnout". The feel of the cars, the physics and the eclectic mix of multiplayer modes are all undeniably Criterion qualities, the things old fans love and the properties that convert new fans with every studio release."


text: The game was criticised for some negative issues, such as the single-player. GamesRadar, who gave it an 8/10, stated "If you're not big on multiplayer, there's little reason to pick up "Most Wanted" over, say, heading to the bargain bin for a copy of "Burnout Paradise". If you're willing to invest a few hours to learning the game's quirks, however, and are at all interested in racing against your friends online, this suddenly becomes one of the most recommendable arcade racers to come along in the past few years." Destructoid, who gave the game an 8.5/10, stated "There are some scrapes with single-player and a lack of polish here and there, but the multiplayer delivers in such a big way that all of this hardly matters. "Need for Speed Most Wanted" is that big, crazy, crash-y open-world racer you've been asking for."


text: The PlayStation Vita version was praised for how close it is to the console versions. GamesRadar stated ""Most Wanted" on PS Vita uses the same city layout and element placement as the 'big' console versions. Obviously there have to be some graphical concessions to make the game run on the Vita."


text: The Wii U version was praised for its high-end PC textures and improved night-time lighting. Eurogamer stated "Many ports have failed to impress in the transition to Wii U, but Criterion's tech credentials are second to none and there's a strong argument that "Most Wanted U" is the best-looking version yet."


text: According to NPD Group, "Most Wanted" was the seventh-best selling game in the U.S. in November 2012, at 509,000 copies. However, these figures do not take into account the number of PC units sold, nor sales through digital distribution. "Most Wanted" was the fifth-best selling game in the United Kingdom in the week of its release, the week's fourth highest new entry. On 31 January 2013, on EA's financial result report of Q3 2013, while sales figures weren't released, it was mentioned "Most Wanted" outperformed 2011's "". Because of the low sales of "Most Wanted" on the Wii U and PlayStation Vita, "Need for Speed Rivals" was not developed for those platforms.


title: Typography

text: Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and letter-spacing (tracking), as well as adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning). The term "typography" is also applied to the style, arrangement, and appearance of the letters, numbers, and symbols created by the process. Type design is a closely related craft, sometimes considered part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers. Typography also may be used as an ornamental and decorative device, unrelated to the communication of information.


title: Typography

text: Typography is the work of typesetters (also known as compositors), typographers, graphic designers, art directors, manga artists, comic book artists, and, now, anyone who arranges words, letters, numbers, and symbols for publication, display, or distribution, from clerical workers and newsletter writers to anyone self-publishing materials. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of previously unrelated designers and lay users. As the capability to create typography has become ubiquitous, the application of principles and best practices developed over generations of skilled workers and professionals has diminished. Thus, at a time when scientific techniques can provide evidence that supports established practice (legibility or brand recognition achieved through the appropriate use of serifs, letter case, letter forms, contrast, spacing, etc.) through understanding the limitations of human vision, typography may be encountered that fails to achieve its principal objective: effective communication.


title: Typography

text: Although typically applied to printed, published, broadcast, and reproduced materials in contemporary times, all words, letters, symbols, and numbers written alongside the earliest naturalistic drawings by humans may be called typography. The word, "typography", is derived from the Greek words τύπος "typos" "form" or "impression" and γράφειν "graphein" "to write", traces its origins to the first punches and dies used to make seals and currency in ancient times, which ties the concept to printing. The uneven spacing of the impressions on brick stamps found in the Mesopotamian cities of Uruk and Larsa, dating from the second millennium B.C., may be evidence of type, wherein the reuse of identical characters was applied to create cuneiform text. Babylonian cylinder seals were used to create an impression on a surface by rolling the seal on wet clay. Typography was also implemented in the Phaistos Disc, an enigmatic Minoan printed item from Crete, which dates to between 1850 and 1600 B.C. It has been proposed that Roman lead pipe inscriptions were created with movable type printing, but German typographer Herbert Brekle recently dismissed this view.


title: Typography

text: The essential criterion of type identity was met by medieval print artifacts such as the Latin Pruefening Abbey inscription of 1119 that was created by the same technique as the Phaistos Disc. The silver altarpiece of patriarch Pellegrinus II (1195–1204) in the cathedral of Cividale was printed with individual letter punches. Apparently, the same printing technique may be found in tenth to twelfth century Byzantine reliquaries. Other early examples include individual letter tiles where the words are formed by assembling single letter tiles in the desired order, which were reasonably widespread in medieval Northern Europe.


title: Typography

text: Typography with movable type was invented during the eleventh-century Song dynasty in China by Bi Sheng (990–1051). His movable type system was manufactured from ceramic materials, and clay type printing continued to be practiced in China until the Qing Dynasty.


title: Typography

text: Wang Zhen was one of the pioneers of wooden movable type. Although the wooden type was more durable under the mechanical rigors of handling, repeated printing wore the character faces down and the types could be replaced only by carving new pieces.


title: Typography

text: Metal movable type was first invented in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty, approximately 1230. Hua Sui introduced bronze type printing to China in 1490 AD. The diffusion of both movable-type systems was limited and the technology did not spread beyond East and Central Asia, however.


title: Typography

text: Modern lead-based movable type, along with the mechanical printing press, is most often attributed to the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg in 1439. His type pieces, made from a lead-based alloy, suited printing purposes so well that the alloy is still used today. Gutenberg developed specialized techniques for casting and combining cheap copies of letter punches in the vast quantities required to print multiple copies of texts. This technical breakthrough was instrumental in starting the Printing Revolution and the first book printed with lead-based movable type was the Gutenberg Bible.


title: Typography

text: Rapidly advancing technology revolutionized typography in the latter twentieth century. During the 1960s some camera-ready typesetting could be produced in any office or workshop with stand-alone machines such as those introduced by IBM (see: IBM Selectric typewriter). During the same period Letraset introduced dry transfer technology that allowed designers to transfer types instantly. The famous Lorem Ipsum gained popularity due to its usage in Letraset. During the mid-1980s personal computers such as the Macintosh allowed type designers to create typefaces digitally using commercial graphic design software. Digital technology also enabled designers to create more experimental typefaces as well as the practical typefaces of traditional typography. Designs for typefaces could be created faster with the new technology, and for more specific functions. The cost for developing typefaces was drastically lowered, becoming widely available to the masses. The change has been called the "democratization of type" and has given new designers more opportunities to enter the field.


title: Typography

text: The design of typefaces has developed alongside the development of typesetting systems. Although typography has evolved significantly from its origins, it is a largely conservative art that tends to cleave closely to tradition. This is because legibility is paramount, and so the typefaces that are the most readable usually are retained. In addition, the evolution of typography is inextricably intertwined with lettering by hand and related art forms, especially formal styles, which thrived for centuries preceding typography, and so the evolution of typography must be discussed with reference to this relationship.


title: Typography

text: In the nascent stages of European printing, the typeface (blackletter, or Gothic) was designed in imitation of the popular hand-lettering styles of scribes. Initially, this typeface was difficult to read, because each letter was set in place individually and made to fit tightly into the allocated space. The art of manuscript writing, whose origin was during Hellenistic and Roman bookmaking, reached its zenith in the illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages. Metal typefaces notably altered the style, making it "crisp and uncompromising", and also brought about "new standards of composition".


title: Typography

text: During the Renaissance period in France, Claude Garamond was partially responsible for the adoption of Roman typeface that eventually supplanted the more commonly used Gothic (blackletter). Roman typeface also was based on hand-lettering styles.


title: Typography

text: The development of Roman typeface can be traced back to Greek lapidary letters. Greek lapidary letters were carved into stone and "one of the first formal uses of Western letterforms"; after that, Roman lapidary letterforms evolved into the monumental capitals, which laid the foundation for Western typographical design, especially serif typefaces. There are two styles of Roman typefaces: the old style, and the modern. The former is characterized by its similarly weighted lines, while the latter is distinguished by its contrast of light and heavy lines. Often, these styles are combined.


title: Typography

text: By the twentieth century, computers turned typeface design into a rather simplified process. This has allowed the number of typefaces and styles to proliferate exponentially, as there now are thousands available. Unfortunately, confusion between typeface and font (the various styles of a single typeface) occurred in 1984 when Steve Jobs mislabeled typefaces as fonts for Apple computers and his error has been perpetuated throughout the computer industry, leading to common misuse by the public of the term "font" when typeface is the proper term.


title: Typography

text: "Experimental typography" is defined as the unconventional and more artistic approach to typeface selection. Francis Picabia was a Dada pioneer of this practice in the early twentieth century. David Carson is often associated with this movement, particularly for his work in "Ray Gun" magazine in the 1990s. His work caused an uproar in the design community due to his abandonment of standard practices in typeface selection, layout, and design. Experimental typography is said to place emphasis on expressing emotion, rather than having a concern for legibility while communicating ideas, hence considered bordering on being art.


title: Typography

text: There are many facets to the expressive use of typography, and with those come many different techniques to help with visual aid and the graphic design. Spacing and kerning, size-specific spacing, x-height and vertical proportions, character variation, width, weight, and contrast, are several techniques that are necessary to be taken into consideration when thinking about the appropriateness of specific typefaces or creating them. When placing two or more differing and/or contrasting fonts together, these techniques come into play for organizational strategies and demanding attractive qualities. For example, if the bulk of a title has a more unfamiliar or unusual font, simpler sans-serif fonts will help complement the title while attracting more attention to the piece as a whole.


title: Typography

text: In contemporary use, the practice and study of typography include a broad range, covering all aspects of letter design and application, both mechanical (typesetting, type design, and typefaces) and manual (handwriting and calligraphy). Typographical elements may appear in a wide variety of situations, including:


title: Typography

text: Since digitization, typographical uses have spread to a wider range of applications, appearing on web pages, LCD mobile phone screens, and hand-held video games.


title: Typography

text: Traditionally, text is "composed" to create a readable, coherent, and visually satisfying typeface that works invisibly, without the awareness of the reader. Even distribution of typeset material, with a minimum of distractions and anomalies, aims to produce clarity and transparency.


title: Typography

text: Choice of typeface(s) is the primary aspect of text typography—prose fiction, non-fiction, editorial, educational, religious, scientific, spiritual, and commercial writing all have differing characteristics and requirements of appropriate typefaces (and their fonts or styles). For historic material, established text typefaces frequently are chosen according to a scheme of historical "genre" acquired by a long process of accretion, with considerable overlap among historical periods.


title: Typography

text: Contemporary books are more likely to be set with state-of-the-art "text romans" or "book romans" typefaces with serifs and design values echoing present-day design arts, which are closely based on traditional models such as those of Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo (a punchcutter who created the model for Aldine typefaces), and Claude Garamond. With their more specialized requirements, newspapers and magazines rely on compact, tightly fitted styles of text typefaces with serifs specially designed for the task, which offer maximum flexibility, readability, legibility, and efficient use of page space. Sans serif text typefaces (without serifs) often are used for introductory paragraphs, incidental text, and whole short articles. A current fashion is to pair a sans-serif typeface for headings with a high-performance serif typeface of matching style for the text of an article.


title: Typography

text: Typesetting conventions are modulated by orthography and linguistics, word structures, word frequencies, morphology, phonetic constructs and linguistic syntax. Typesetting conventions also are subject to specific cultural conventions. For example, in French it is customary to insert a non-breaking space before a colon (:) or semicolon (;) in a sentence, while in English it is not.


title: Typography

text: In typesetting, "color" is the overall density of the ink on the page, determined mainly by the typeface, but also by the word spacing, leading, and depth of the margins. Text layout, tone, or color of the set text, and the interplay of text with the white space of the page in combination with other graphic elements impart a "feel" or "resonance" to the subject matter. With printed media, typographers also are concerned with binding margins, paper selection, and printing methods when determining the correct color of the page.


title: Typography

text: Three fundamental aspects of typography are "legibility", "readability", and "aesthetics". Although in a non-technical sense "legible" and "readable" are often used synonymously, typographically they are separate but related concepts. Legibility and readability tend to support aesthetic aspects of a product.


title: Typography

text: "Legibility" describes how easily individual characters can be distinguished from one another. It is described by Walter Tracy as "the quality of being decipherable and recognisable". For instance, if a "b" and an "h", or a "3" and an "8", are difficult to distinguish at small sizes, this is a problem of legibility. Typographers are concerned with legibility insofar as it is their job to select the correct font to use. Brush Script is an example of a font containing many characters that might be difficult to distinguish. The selection of cases influences the legibility of typography because using only uppercase letters ("all-caps") reduces legibility.


title: Typography

text: "Readability" refers to how easy it is to read the text as a whole, as opposed to the individual character recognition described by legibility. Use of margins, word and line spacing, and clear document structure all impact readability. Some fonts or font styles, for instance sans-serif fonts, are considered to have low readability and so are unsuited for large quantities of prose.


title: Typography

text: Legibility "refers to perception" (being able to see as determined by physical limitations of the eye), and readability "refers to comprehension" (understanding the meaning). Good typographers and graphic designers aim to achieve excellence in both.


title: Typography

text: "The typeface chosen should be legible. That is, it should be read without effort. Sometimes legibility is simply a matter of type size; more often, however, it is a matter of typeface design. Case selection always influences legibility. In general, typefaces that are true to the basic letterforms are more legible than typefaces that have been condensed, expanded, embellished, or abstracted.


title: Typography

text: Studies of both legibility and readability have examined a wide range of factors including type size and type design, comparing serif vs. sans-serif type, roman type vs. "oblique type" and "italic type", line length, line spacing, color contrast, the design of right-hand edge (for example, justification, straight right hand edge) vs. ragged right, and whether text is hyphenated. Justified copy must be adjusted tightly during typesetting to prevent loss of readability, something beyond the capabilities of typical personal computers.


title: Typography

text: Legibility research has been published since the late nineteenth century. Although there often are commonalities and agreement on many topics, others often create poignant areas of conflict and variation of opinion. For example, Alex Poole asserts that no one has conclusively answered which typeface style, serif or sans serif, is more legibile, although strong opinion exist. Other topics, such as justified vs. unjustified type, use of hyphens, and proper typefaces for people with reading difficulties such as dyslexia, have continued to be debated.


title: Typography

text: Legibility is usually measured through the speed of reading, with comprehension scores used to check for effectiveness (that is, not a rushed or careless read). For example, Miles Tinker, who published numerous studies from the 1930s to the 1960s, used a speed of reading test that required participants to spot incongruous words as an effectiveness filter.


title: Typography

text: The "Readability of Print Unit" at the Royal College of Art under Professor Herbert Spencer with Brian Coe and Linda Reynolds did important work in this area. It was one of the centres that revealed the importance of the saccadic rhythm of eye movement for readability—in particular, the ability to take in (i.e., recognise the meaning of groups of) about three words at once and the physiognomy of the eye, which means the eye tires if the line required more than 3 or 4 of these saccadic jumps. More than this is found to introduce strain and errors in reading (e.g., doubling). The use of all-caps renders words indistinguishable as groups, all letters presenting a uniform line to the eye, requiring special effort for separation and understanding.


title: Typography

text: These days, legibility research tends to be limited to critical issues or the testing of specific design solutions (for example, when new typefaces are developed). Examples of critical issues include typefaces for people with visual impairment, typefaces and case selection for highway and street signs, or for other conditions where legibility may make a key difference.


title: Typography

text: Much of the legibility research literature is atheoretical—various factors were tested individually or in combination (inevitably so, as the different factors are interdependent), but many tests lacked a model of reading or visual perception. Some typographers believe that the overall word shape (Bouma) is essential in readability and that the theory of parallel letter recognition is wrong, less important, or not the entire picture. Word shape differs by outline, influenced by ascending and descending elements of lowercase letters and enables reading the entire word without having to parse out each letter (for example, "dog" is easily distinguished from "cat") and that becomes more influential on being able to read groups of words at a time.


title: Typography

text: Regarding how people recognize words when they read, studies comparing Bouma recognition and parallel letter recognition have favored parallel letter recognition, which is widely accepted by cognitive psychologists.


title: Typography

text: Readability also may be compromised by letter-spacing, word spacing, or leading that is too tight or too loose. It may be improved when generous vertical space separates text lines, making it easier for the eye to distinguish one line from the next, or previous line. Poorly designed typefaces and those that are too tightly or loosely fitted also may be less legible. Underlining also may reduce readability by eliminating the recognition effect contributed by the descending elements of letters.


title: Typography

text: Periodical publications, especially newspapers and magazines, use typographical elements to achieve an attractive, distinctive appearance, to aid readers in navigating the publication, and in some cases for dramatic effect. By formulating a style guide, a publication or periodical standardizes with a relatively small collection of typefaces, each used for specific elements within the publication, and makes consistent use of typefaces, case, type sizes, italic, boldface, colors, and other typographic features such as combining large and small capital letters together. Some publications, such as "The Guardian" and "The Economist", go so far as to commission a type designer to create customized typefaces for their exclusive use.


title: Typography

text: Different periodicals design their publications, including their typography, to achieve a particular tone or style. For example, "USA Today" uses a bold, colorful, and comparatively modern style through their use of a variety of typefaces and colors; type sizes vary widely, and the newspaper's name is placed on a colored background. In contrast, "The New York Times" uses a more traditional approach, with fewer colors, less typeface variation, and more columns.