title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: An estimated 900 Chinese-Eurasian born as result of marriages from Chinese fathers and white mothers of various ethnic backgrounds; the most common being British and Irish. Most British-Chinese of Eurasian origin were concentrated in around the Liverpool area of Chinatown, where there was a growing Chinese-Eurasian community. Many of them had assimilated with other ethnic Chinese, while others assimilated with mainstream British population.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Following World War I, there were more women than men in Britain, and there were increasing numbers of seamen arriving from abroad, mostly from the Indian subcontinent, in addition to smaller numbers from Yemen, Malaysia and China. This led to increased intermarriage and cohabitation with local white females. Some residents grew concerned about miscegenation and there were several race riots at the time. In the 1920s to 1940s, several writers raised concerns about an increasing 'mixed-breed' population, born mainly from Muslim Asian (mostly South Asian in addition to Arab and Malaysian) fathers and local white mothers, occasionally out of wedlock. They denounced white girls who mixed with Muslim Asian men as 'shameless' and called for a ban on the breeding of 'half-caste' children. Such attempts at imposing anti-miscegenation laws were unsuccessful. As South Asian women began arriving in Britain in large numbers from the 1970s, mostly as family members, intermarriage rates have decreased in the British Asian community, although the size of the community has increased. As of 2006, there are 246,400 'British Mixed-Race' people of European and South Asian descent.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: There is also a small Eurasian community in Liverpool. The first Chinese settlers were mainly Cantonese from south China some were also from Shanghai. The figures of Chinese for 1921 are 2157 men and 262 women. Many Chinese men married British women while others remained single, possibly supporting a wife and family back home in China. During World War II (1939–1945) another wave of Chinese seamen from Shanghai and of Cantonese origin married British women. Records show that about some 300 of these men had married British women and supported families. A estimated 900 Chinese-Eurasian born as result of marriages from Chinese fathers and white mothers of various ethnic backgrounds; the most common being British and Irish. Most British-Chinese of Eurasian origin were concentrated in around the Liverpool area of Chinatown, where there was a growing Chinese-Eurasian community. Many of them had assimilated with other ethnic Chinese, while others assimilated with mainstream British population.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: There were almost no women among the nearly entirely male Chinese coolie population that migrated to Cuba. In Cuba some Indian (Native American), mulatto, black, and white women engaged in carnal relations or marriages with Chinese men, with marriages of mulatto, black, and white woman being reported by the Cuba Commission Report.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: 120,000 Cantonese 'coolies' (all males) entered Cuba under contract for 80 years. Most of these men did not marry, but Hung Hui (1975:80) cites there was a frequency of sexual activity between black women and these Asian immigrants. According to Osberg (1965:69) the free Chinese practice of buying slave women and then freeing them expressly for marriage was utilized at length. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Chinese men (Cantonese) engaged in sexual activity with white Cuban women and black Cuban women, and from such relations many children were born. (For a British Caribbean model of Chinese cultural retention through procreation with black women, see Patterson, 322–31).


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: In the 1920s an additional 30,000 Cantonese and small groups of Japanese also arrived; both immigrant groups were exclusively male, and there was rapid intermarriage with white, black, and mulato populations. CIA World Factbook. Cuba. 2008. 15 May 2008. claimed 114,240 Chinese-Cuban with only 300 pure Chinese.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: In the study of genetic origin, admixture, and asymmetry in maternal and paternal human lineages in Cuba. Thirty-five Y-chromosome SNPs were typed in the 132 male individuals of the Cuban sample. The study does not include any people with some Chinese ancestry. All the samples were white Cubans and black Cubans. Two out of 132 male sample belong to East Asian Haplogroup O2 which is found in significant frequencies among Cantonese people is found in 1.5% of Cuban population.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The Chinese originated from the Cantonese male migrants. Pure Chinese make up only 1% of the Costa Rican population but according to Jacqueline M. Newman close to 10% of Costa Ricans are of Chinese descent or married to a Chinese. Most Chinese immigrants since then have been Cantonese, but in the last decades of the twentieth century, a number of immigrants have also come from Taiwan. Many men came alone to work and married Costa Rican women and speak Cantonese. However the majority of the descendants of the first Chinese immigrants no longer speak Cantonese and feel themselves to be Costa Ricans. They married Tican women (who are a blend of Europeans, Castizos, Mestizos, Indian, black). A Tican is also a white person with a small portion of nonwhite blood like Castizos. The census In 1989 shows about 98% of Costa Ricans were either white, castizos, mestizos, with 80% being white or Castizos.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: A marriage between a Chinese man and a white Mexican woman was recorded in "Current anthropological literature, Volumes 1–2", published in 1912, titled "Note on two children born to a Chinese and a Mexican white"- "Note sur deux enfants nes d'un chinois et d une mexicaine de race blanche. (Ibid., 122–125, portr.) Treats briefly of Chen Tean (of Hong Kong), his wife, Inez Mancha (a white Mexican), married in 1907, and their children, a boy (b. April 14, 1908) and a girl (b. Sept. 24, 1909). The boy is of marked Chinese type, the girl much more European. No Mongolian spots were noticed at birth. Both children were born with red cheeks. Neither has ever been sick. The boy began to walk at ten months, the girl a little after a year."


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Mexican women and Chinese men initiated free unions with each other as recorded by the Chihuahua and Sonora census records, a number Chinese men and their Mexican wives and children came to China to live there while a big number of Chinese-Mexican families were entirely expelled from northern Mexico to China, during the early 1930s 500 Chinese-Mexican families, numbering around 2,000 people in total came to China, with a large number of them settling in Portuguese Macau and forming their own ghetto there since they were drawn to the Catholic and Iberian culture of Macau. A lot of couples ended up divorcing in China due to a huge variety of factors which caused stress like culture, economic, and familial with the men leaving Macau with hundreds of Mexican women and mixed children alone. Mexican women in Macau rearing their mixed Chinese children wanted to return to Mexico saying "Even if we have to scrape bittersweet potatoes in the sierra, we want Mexico." and Mexico under President Lázaro Cardenas allowed over 400 Mexican women and their children to come back in 1937–1938 after the women petitioned, after World War II, some Chinese Mexican families also came back and after a petition by mixed race Chinese-Mexicans who had been deported from Mexico and raised in Macau led another campaign to allow them to return home in 1960. Children which were born to Mexican women and sired by Chinese men were counted as ethnic Chinese by Mexican census takers since they were not considered Mexicans by the general public and viewed as Chinese. The Mexican ideology of mestizaje portrayed the quintessential Mexican identity as being made from a mix of indigenous native and Spanish white, with Mexico being portrayed by racial ideologues as being made out of a south populated by indigenous natives, a central part populated by mixed white-native Mestizos, and a north populated by white Spanish creoles, Sonora was where these white Spanish creoles lived, and the marriage of Chinese with Mexicans was portrayed as particularly threatening to the white identity of Sonora and to the concept of mixed mestizaje identity of indigenous natives and Spanish since the Chinese-Mexican mixed children did not fit into this identity.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The anti-Chinese campaigns resulted in an exodus of Chinese leaving northern Mexican states like Sonora, Sinaloa, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Mexicali, with the Chinese and their families being stripped of the property they took with them as they were forced across the Mexican border into America, where they would be sent back to China, Dr. David Trembly MacDougal said "many of these departing Chinese have married Mexican women, some of whom with their children accompany them into exile.", and after "a lifetime of skillful and honest work" they were driven into poverty by the loss of their property.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Mexico's international image was being damaged by the anti-Chinese expulsion campaign and while attempts were made to reign in anti-Chinese measures by the Mexican federal government, using the war between Japan and China as a reason to stop deporting Chinese, Mexican states continued in the anti-Chinese campaign to drive Chinese out of states like Sinora and Sinaloa with citizenship being stripped from Mexican women who were married to Chinese men, labeled as "race traitors" and from the United States, Sinaloa, and Sonora, both Mexican women, their Chinese husbands and their mixed children were expelled to China


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: There was a more widespread general anti-foreign sentiment sweeping through Mexico which was against Arabs, eastern Europeans, and Jews, in addition to Chinese, with the anti-Chinese movement being part of this bigger campaign, a Mexican anti-foreign pamphlet exhorted Mexicans to "not spend one penny on the Chinese, Russians, Poles, Czechoslovacs, Lithuanians, Greeks, Jews, Sirio-Lebanese, etc." a poster advocated "boycott sabotage, and expulsion from the country of all foreigners in general, considered as pernicious and undesirable." and warned against Chinese men marrying Mexican women, saying "WHATEVER IT COSTS, MEXICAN WOMAN! Do not fall asleep, help your racial brothers boycott the undesirable foreigners, who steal the bread from our children."


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Many Chinese migrated into Sinaloa and into cities such as Mazatlán up to the 1920s where they engaged in business and married Mexican women, this led to the expulsion of Chinese in the 1930s and Sinaloa passed laws expelling the Chinese in 1933, leading to the break up of mixed Chinese Mexican families and Mexican women to be deported to China with their Chinese husbands.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: After several hundred Chinese men and their mixed families of Mexican wives and Mexican Chinese children were expelled from Mexico into the United States, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) took charge of these people, took their testimonies and labelled them as refugees before sending them to China, the U.S. immigration employees also included under the category "Chinese refugees from Mexico", the Mexican women and mixed Chinese Mexican children who accompanied the Chinese men and sent them all to China instead of sending the mixed children and Mexican women to Mexico in spite of it having been cheaper, since at this era of history laws and convention regarding citizenship held that women were controlled by their husbands and when they married foreign men, women had their citizenship stripped from them so the women were dealt with by their husbands' standing and conditions so while Chinese men had their testimonies collected, the Mexican women were not interviewed by U.S. immigration officials, and the Mexican women and the mixed Chinese Mexican families were sent to China, even Mexican women who were not officially married but were engaged in relationships with Chinese men. Sinaloa and Sonora saw most of their Chinese population and mixed Chinese Mexican families deported due to the virulent anti-Chinese movement.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The anti-Chinese sentiment in Mexico was spurred on by the onset of the Great Depression, Chinese started to come to Mexico in the late 19th century and the majority of them were in trade and owners of businesses when the Maderistas came into power, marrying Mexican women and siring mixed race children with them which resulted in a law banning Chinese-Mexican marriages in 1923 in Sonora and another law forcing Chinese into ghettos two years after, and in Sinaloa, Sonora, and Chihuahua, the Chinese were driven out in the early 1930s with northern Mexico seeing 11,000 Chinese expelled in total.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The maternal grandfather of Mexican singer Ana Gabriel was a Chinese man named Yang Quing Yong Chizon who adopted the name Roberto in Mexico.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: According to James P. Allen and Eugene Turner from California State University, Northridge, by some calculations, the largest part-European bi-racial population is European/Native American and Alaskan Native, at 7,015,017; followed by European/African at 737,492; then European/Asian at 727,197; and finally European/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander at 125,628.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The U.S. census has categorized Eurasian responses in the "Some other race" section as belonging to the Asian category. The Eurasian responses the US census officially recognizes are Indo-European, Amerasian, and Eurasian.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Starting with the 2000 census, people have been allowed to mark more than one "race" on the U.S. census, and many have identified as both Asian and European. Defining Eurasians as those who were marked as both "white" and "Asian" in the census, there were 868,395 Eurasians in the United States in 2000 and 1,623,234 in 2010.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Accusations of support for miscegenation were commonly made by slavery defenders against abolitionists before the US Civil War. After the War, similar charges were used by white segregationists against advocates of equal rights for African Americans. They were said to be secretly plotting the destruction of the white race through miscegenation. In the 1950s, segregationists alleged a Communist plot funded by the Soviet Union with that goal. In 1957, segregationists cite the antisemitic hoax "A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century" as evidence for these claims.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: From the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, the Chinese who migrated to the United States were almost entirely of Cantonese origin. Anti-miscegenation laws in many states prohibited Chinese men from marrying white women. In the mid-1850s, 70 to 150 Chinese were living in New York City, and 11 of them married Irish women. In 1906 the New York Times (6 August) reported that 300 white women (Irish American) were married to Chinese men in New York, with many more cohabited. In 1900, based on Liang research, of the 120,000 men in more than 20 Chinese communities in the United States, he estimated that one out of every 20 Chinese men (Cantonese) was married to white women. In the 1960s census showed 3500 Chinese men married to white women and 2900 Chinese women married to white men.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Twenty-five percent of married Asian American women have white spouses, but 45% of cohabitating Asian American women are with white American men. Of cohabiting Asian men, slightly over 37% of Asian men have white female partners and over 10% married to white women. Asian American women and Asian American men live with a white partner, 40% and 27%, respectively (Le, 2006b). In 2008, of new marriages including an Asian man, 80% were to an Asian spouse and 14% to a white spouse; of new marriages involving an Asian woman, 61% were to an Asian spouse and 31% to a white spouse.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The majority of early Hawaiian Chinese were Cantonese-speaking immigrants, with a small number of Hakka speakers. If all people with Chinese ancestry in Hawaii (including the Sino-Hawaiians) are included, they form about one-third of Hawaii's entire population. Many thousands of them married women of Hawaiian, Hawaiian/European and European origin. A large percentage of the Chinese men married Hawaiian and Hawaiian European women. While a minority married white women in Hawaii were with Portuguese women. The 12,592 Asiatic Hawaiians enumerated in 1930 were the result of Chinese men intermarrying with Hawaiian and part Hawaiian European. Most Asiatic Hawaiians men also married Hawaiians and European women (and vice versa). On the census some Chinese with little native blood would be classified as Chinese not an Asiatic Hawaiians due to dilution of native blood. Intermarriage started to decline in the 1920s. Portuguese and other Caucasian women married Chinese men. These unions between Chinese men and Portuguese women resulted in children of mixed Chinese Portuguese parentage, called Chinese-Portuguese. For two years to 30 June 1933, 38 of these children were born, they were classified as pure Chinese because their fathers were Chinese. A large amount of mingling took place between Chinese and Portuguese, Chinese men married Portuguese, Spanish, Hawaiian, Caucasian-Hawaiian, etc. Only one Chinese man was recorded marrying an American woman. Chinese men in Hawaii also married Puerto Rican, Portuguese, Japanese, Greek, and half-white women.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Most of the early Australian Chinese population consisted of Cantonese-speaking migrants from Guangzhou and Taishan as well as some Hokkien-speaking immigrants. They migrated to Australia during the gold rush period of the 1850s. Marriage records show that between the 1850s and the start of the twentieth century, there were about 2000 legal marriages between white women and migrant Chinese men in Australia's eastern colonies, probably with similar numbers involved in de facto relationships of various kinds.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: A Chinese man Sun San Lung and his son by his white European Australian wife Lizzie in Castlemaine returned to China in 1887 for a trip after marrying a second white wife after Lizzie died, but they were blocked from coming back to Melbourne. Chinese men were found living with 73 opium addicted Australian white women when Quong Tart surveyed the goldfields for opium addicts, and many homeless women abused by husbands and prostitutes ran away and married Chinese men in Sydney after taking refuge in Chinese opium dens in gambling houses, Reverend Francis Hopkins said that "A Chinaman's Anglo-Saxon wife is almost his God, a European's is his slave. This is the reason why so many girls transfer their affections to the almond-eyed Celestials." when giving the reason why these women married Chinese men. After the gold mining ended some Chinese remained in Australia and started families, one youthful Englishwoman married a Chinese in 1870 in Bendigo and the Golden Dragon Museum is run by his great-grandson Russell Jack.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The Australian sniper Billy Sing was the son of a Chinese father and an English mother. His parents were John Sing (c. 1842–1921), a drover from Shanghai, China, and Mary Ann Sing (née Pugh; c. 1857–unknown), a nurse from Kingswinford, Staffordshire, England.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: The rate of intermarriage declined as stories of the viciousness of Chinese men towards white women spread, mixed with increasing opposition to intermarriage. In late 1878, there were 181 marriages between women of European descent and Chinese men as well as 171 such couples cohabiting without matrimony, resulting in the birth of 586 children of Sino-European descent. Such a rate of intermarriage between Chinese Australians and white Australians was to continue until the 1930s.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Today, there are an estimated of 180,000 Asian-Argentines, with 120,000 of Chinese descent, 32,000 of Japanese descent, 25,000 of Korean descent.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: Common estimates generally include about 25–35% of Japanese Brazilians as multiracial, being generally over 50–60% among the yonsei, or fourth-generation outside Japan. In Brazil, home to the largest Japanese community overseas, miscegenation is celebrated, and it promoted racial integration and mixing over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, nevertheless as a way of dealing with and assimilating its non-white population, submitted to white elites, with no dangers of uprisings that would put its "status quo" in risk .


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: While culture shock was strong for the first and second generations of Japanese Brazilians, and the living conditions in the "fazendas" (plantation farms) after the slavery crisis were sometimes worse than in Asia, Brazil stimulated immigration as means of substitution for the lost workforce, and any qualms about the non-whiteness of the Japanese were quickly forgotten. After Japan became one of the world's most developed and rich nations, the Japanese in Brazil and their culture as well gained an image of progress, instead of the old bad perception of a people which would not be assimilated or integrated as its culture and race were deemed as diametrically opposed to the Brazilian ones.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: In the censuses, self-reported "amarelos" (literally "yellows" i.e. Mongolics, people racially Asian) include about 2,100,000 people, or around 1% of the Brazilian population. A greater number of persons may have Japanese and less commonly Chinese and Korean ancestry, but identify as white (Brazilian society has no one drop rule), "pardo" (i.e. brown-skinned multiracial or assimilated Amerindian, "pardo" stands for a Brazilian darker than white and lighter than black, but not necessarily implying a white-black admixture) or Afro-Brazilian. When it comes to religion, self-reported Asian Brazilians are only less Irreligious than whites, and a little more Catholic than Amerindians. They are the least group when it comes to traditional churches of Christianity, and also the least group in percent of Protestants, and Evangelicals or Pentecostals as well. Asian Brazilians have the highest income per capita according to the 2010 census.


title: Eurasian (mixed ancestry)

text: About 100,000 Cantonese coolies (almost all males) in 1849 to 1874 migrated to Peru and intermarried with Peruvian women of mestizo, European, Amerindian, European/mestizo, African and mulatto origin. Many Peruvian Chinese and Peruvian Japanese today are of Spanish, Italian, African and American origin. Estimates for Chinese-Peruvian is about 1.3–1.6 millions. Asian Peruvians are estimated to be 3% of the population, but one source places the number of citizens with some Chinese ancestry at 4.2 million, which equates to 15% of the country's total population. In Peru, non-Chinese women married the mostly male Chinese coolies.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor (; ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty. He was originally enfeoffed as the Prince of Yan () in May 1370, with the capital of his princedom at Beiping (modern Beijing). Zhu Di was a capable commander against the Mongols. He initially accepted his father's appointment of his eldest brother Zhu Biao and then Zhu Biao's son Zhu Yunwen as crown prince, but when Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne as the Jianwen Emperor and began executing and demoting his powerful uncles, Zhu Di found pretext for rising in rebellion against his nephew. Assisted in large part by eunuchs mistreated by the Hongwu and Jianwen Emperors, who both favored the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, Zhu Di survived the initial attacks on his princedom and drove south to launch the Jingnan campaign against the Jianwen Emperor in Nanjing. In 1402, he successfully overthrew his nephew and occupied the imperial capital, Nanjing, after which he was proclaimed emperor and adopted the era name Yongle, which means "perpetual happiness".


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Eager to establish his own legitimacy, Zhu Di voided the Jianwen Emperor's reign and established a wide-ranging effort to destroy or falsify records concerning his childhood and rebellion. This included a massive purge of the Confucian scholars in Nanjing and grants of extraordinary extralegal authority to the eunuch secret police. One favorite was Zheng He, who employed his authority to launch major voyages of exploration into the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. The difficulties in Nanjing also led the Yongle Emperor to re-establish Beiping (present-day Beijing) as the new imperial capital. He repaired and reopened the Grand Canal and, between 1406 and 1420, directed the construction of the Forbidden City. He was also responsible for the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, considered one of the wonders of the world before its destruction by the Taiping rebels in 1856. As part of his continuing attempt to control the Confucian scholar-bureaucrats, the Yongle Emperor also greatly expanded the imperial examination system in place of his father's use of personal recommendation and appointment. These scholars completed the monumental "Yongle Encyclopedia" during his reign.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor died while personally leading a military campaign against the Mongols. He was buried in the Changling Mausoleum, the central and largest mausoleum of the Ming tombs located north of Beijing.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor was born Zhu Di () on 2 May 1360, the fourth son of the new leader of the Red Turbans, Zhu Yuanzhang, who led these rebels to success and became the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty. According to surviving Ming historical records, Zhu Di's mother was the Hongwu Emperor's primary consort, Empress Ma, the view Zhu Di himself maintained. Some contemporaries maintained, however, that Zhu Di's mother was one of his father's concubines, who might be of Korean origin, and that the official records were changed during his reign to list him as a son of the Empress Ma in order to sanction his succession on the "death" of the Jianwen Emperor.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Zhu Di grew up as a prince in a loving, caring environment. His father supplied nothing but the best education and, trusting them alone, reestablished the old feudal principalities for his many sons. Zhu Di was created Prince of Yan, a location important for being both the former capital of the Yuan dynasty and the frontline of battle against Northern Yuan, a successor state to the Yuan dynasty. When Zhu Di moved to Beiping, the former Khanbaliq of Yuan, he found a city that had been devastated by famine and disease, but he worked with his father's general Xu Da who was also his own father-in-law to continue the pacification of the region. The official Ming histories portray a Zhu Di who impressed his father with his energy, daring, and leadership amid numerous successes; nonetheless, the Ming dynasty suffered numerous reverses during his tenure and the great victory at Buir Lake was won not by Zhu Di but by his brother's partisan Lan Yu. Similarly, when the Hongwu Emperor sent large forces to the north, they were not placed under Zhu Di's command.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Hongwu Emperor was long-lived and outlived his first heir, Zhu Biao, Crown Prince Yiwen. He worried about his succession and issued a series of dynastic instructions for his family, the "Huang Ming Zu Xun". These instructions made it clear that the rule would pass only to children from the emperor's primary consort, excluding the Prince of Yan in favour of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Biao's son. When the Hongwu Emperor died on 24 June 1398, Zhu Yunwen succeeded his grandfather as the Jianwen Emperor. In direct violation of the dynastic instructions, the Prince of Yan attempted to mourn his father in Nanjing, bringing a large armed guard with him. The imperial army was able to block him at Huai'an and, given that three of his sons were serving as hostages in the capital, the prince withdrew in disgrace.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Jianwen Emperor's harsh campaign against his weaker uncles (dubbed , "Weakening the Marcher Lords") made accommodation much more difficult, however: Zhu Di's full brother, Zhu Su, Prince of Zhou, was arrested and exiled to Yunnan; Zhu Gui, Prince of Dai was reduced to a commoner; Zhu Bai, Prince of Xiang committed suicide under duress; Zhu Fu, Prince of Qi and Zhu Pian, Prince of Min were demoted all within the later half of 1398 and the first half of 1399. Faced with certain hostility, Zhu Di pretended to fall ill and then "went mad" for a number of months before achieving his aim of freeing his sons from captivity to visit him in the north in June 1399. On 5 August, Zhu Di declared that the Jianwen Emperor had fallen victim to "evil counselors" () and that the Hongwu Emperor's dynastic instructions obliged him to rise in arms to remove them, a conflict known as the Jingnan campaign.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: In the first year, Zhu Di survived the initial assaults by superior forces under Geng Bingwen and Li Jinglong thanks to superior tactics and capable Mongol auxiliaries. He also issued numerous justifications for his rebellion, including questionable claims to have been the son of Empress Ma and bold-faced lies that his father had attempted to name him as the rightful heir, only to be thwarted by bureaucrats scheming to empower Zhu Biao's son. Whether because of this propaganda or for personal motives, Zhu Di began to receive a steady stream of turncoat eunuchs and generals who provided him with invaluable intelligence allowing a hit-and-run campaign against the imperial supply depots along the Grand Canal. By 1402, he knew enough to be able to avoid the main hosts of the imperial army while sacking Xuzhou, Suzhou, and Yangzhou. The betrayal of Chen Xuan gave him the imperial army's Yangtze River fleet; the betrayal of Li Jinglong and the prince's half-brother Zhu Hui, Prince of Gu opened the gates of Nanjing on 13 July. Amid the disorder, the imperial palace quickly caught fire: Zhu Di enabled his own succession by claiming three bodies charred beyond recognition as the Jianwen Emperor, his consort, and their son but rumours circulated for decades that the Jianwen Emperor had escaped in disguise as a Buddhist monk.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Having captured the capital, Zhu Di now left aside his former arguments about rescuing his nephew from evil counsel and voided the Jianwen Emperor's entire reign, taking 1402 as the 35th year of the Hongwu era. His own brother Zhu Biao, whom the Jianwen Emperor had posthumously elevated to emperor, was now posthumously demoted; Zhu Biao's surviving two sons were demoted to commoners and placed under house arrest; and the Jianwen Emperor's surviving younger son was imprisoned and hidden for the next 55 years. After a brief show of humility where he repeatedly refused offers to take the throne, Zhu Di accepted and proclaimed that the next year would be the first year of the Yongle era. On 17 July 1402, after a brief visit to his father's tomb, Zhu Di was crowned emperor of the Ming dynasty at the age of 42. He would spend most of his early years suppressing rumours and outlaws.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: With many scholar-bureaucrats in Nanjing refusing to recognise the legitimacy of his claim to the throne, the Yongle Emperor began a thorough purge of them and their families, including women and children. Other supporters of the Jianwen Emperor's regime were extirpated throughout the country, while a reign of terror was seen due to eunuchs settling scores with the two prior administrations.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Chinese law had long allowed for the execution of families along with principals: The "Classic of History" records insubordinate officers being threatened with it as far back as the Shang dynasty. The Hongwu Emperor had fully restored the practice, punishing rebels and traitors with death by a thousand cuts as well as the death of their grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, siblings by birth or by bond, children, nephews and nieces, grandchildren, and all cohabitants of whatever family, although children were sometimes spared and women were sometimes permitted to choose slavery instead. Four of the purged scholars became known as the Four Martyrs, the most famous of whom was Fang Xiaoru, the former tutor to the Jianwen Emperor: threatened with execution of all nine degrees of his kinship, he fatuously replied "Never mind nine! Go with ten!" and alone in Chinese history he was sentenced to execution of 10 degrees of kinship: along with his entire family, every former student or peer of Fang Xiaoru that the Yongle Emperor's agents could find was also killed. It was said that as he died, cut in half at the waist, Fang used his own blood to write the character ("usurper") on the floor and that 872 other people were executed in the ordeal.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor followed traditional rituals closely and held many popular beliefs. He did not overindulge in the luxuries of palace life, but still used Buddhism and Buddhist festivals to help calm civil unrest. He stopped the warring between the various Chinese tribes and reorganised the provinces to best provide peace within the Ming Empire. The Yongle Emperor was said to be an "ardent Buddhist" by Ernst Faber.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Due to the stress and overwhelming amount of thinking involved in running a post-rebellion empire, the Yongle Emperor searched for scholars to serve in his government. He had many of the best scholars chosen as candidates and took great care in choosing them, even creating terms by which he hired people. He was also concerned about the degeneration of Buddhism in China.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: In 1403, the Yongle Emperor sent messages, gifts, and envoys to Tibet inviting Deshin Shekpa, the fifth Gyalwa Karmapa of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, to visit the imperial capital – apparently after having a vision of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. After a long journey, Deshin Shekpa arrived in Nanjing on 10 April 1407 riding on an elephant towards the imperial palace, where tens of thousands of monks greeted him.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Deshin Shekpa convinced the Yongle Emperor that there were different religions for different people, which does not mean that one is better than the others. The Karmapa was very well received during his visit and a number of miraculous occurrences were reported. He also performed ceremonies for the imperial family. The emperor presented him with 700 measures of silver objects and bestowed the title of 'Precious Religious King, Great Loving One of the West, Mighty Buddha of Peace'. A khatvanga in the British Museum was one of the objects given to the Karmapa by the Yongle Emperor.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Aside from the religious matter, the Yongle Emperor wished to establish an alliance with the Karmapa similar to the one the 13th- and 14th-century Yuan khans had established with the Sakyapa. He apparently offered to send armies to unify Tibet under the Karmapa but Deshin Shekpa demurred, as parts of Tibet were still firmly controlled by partisans of the former Yuan dynasty.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Deshin Shekpa left Nanjing on 17 May 1408. In 1410, he returned to Tsurphu where he had his monastery rebuilt following severe damage from an earthquake.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: When it was time for him to choose an heir, the Yongle Emperor wanted to choose his second son, Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Han. Zhu Gaoxu had an athletic-warrior personality which contrasted sharply with his elder brother's intellectual and humanitarian nature. Despite much counsel from his advisers, the Yongle Emperor chose his older son, Zhu Gaozhi (the future Hongxi Emperor), as his heir apparent mainly due to advice from Xie Jin. As a result, Zhu Gaoxu became infuriated and refused to give up jockeying for his father's favour and refusing to move to Yunnan Province, where his princedom was located. He even went so far as to undermine Xie Jin's counsel and eventually killed him.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: After the Yongle Emperor's overthrow of the Jianwen Emperor, China's countryside was devastated. The fragile new economy had to deal with low production and depopulation. The Yongle Emperor laid out a long and extensive plan to strengthen and stabilise the new economy, but first he had to silence dissension. He created an elaborate system of censors to remove corrupt officials from office that spread such rumors. The emperor dispatched some of his most trusted officers to reveal or destroy secret societies, bandits, and loyalists to his other relatives. To strengthen the economy, he fought population decline, using the most he could from the existing labour force, and maximising textile and agricultural production.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor also worked to reclaim production rich regions such as the Lower Yangtze Delta and called for a massive reconstruction of the Grand Canal. During his reign, the Grand Canal was almost completely rebuilt and was eventually moving imported goods from all over the world. The Yongle Emperor's short-term goal was to revitalise northern urban centres, especially his new capital at Beijing. Before the Grand Canal was rebuilt, grain was transferred to Beijing in two ways; one route was simply via the East China Sea, from the port of Liujiagang (near Suzhou); the other was a far more laborious process of transferring the grain from large to small shallow barges (after passing the Huai River and having to cross southwestern Shandong), then transferred back to large river barges on the Yellow River before finally reaching Beijing. With the necessary tribute grain shipments of four million "shi" (one "shi" equal to 107 liters) to the north each year, both processes became incredibly inefficient. It was a magistrate of Jining, Shandong who sent a memorandum to the Yongle Emperor protesting the current method of grain shipment, a request that the emperor ultimately granted.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor ambitiously planned to move his capital to Beijing. According to a popular legend, the capital was moved when the emperor's advisers brought the emperor to the hills surrounding Nanjing and pointed out the emperor's palace showing the vulnerability of the palace to artillery attack.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The emperor planned to build a massive network of structures in Beijing in which government offices, officials, and the imperial family resided. After a painfully long construction time (1407–1420), the Forbidden City was finally completed and became the imperial capital for the next 500 years.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor finalised the architectural ensemble of his father's Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing by erecting a monumental "Square Pavilion" (Sifangcheng) with an eight-metre-tall tortoise-borne stele, extolling the merits and virtues of the Hongwu Emperor. In fact, the Yongle Emperor's original idea for the memorial was to erect an unprecedented stele 73 metres tall. However, due to the impossibility of moving or erecting the giant parts of that monuments, they have been left unfinished in Yangshan Quarry, where they remain to this day.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Even though the Hongwu Emperor may have meant for his descendants to be buried near his own Xiaoling Mausoleum (this was how the Hongwu Emperor's heir apparent, Zhu Biao was buried), the Yongle Emperor's relocation of the capital to Beijing necessitated the creation of a new imperial burial ground. On the advice of fengshui experts, the Yongle Emperor chose a site north of Beijing, where he and his successors were to be buried. Over the next two centuries, thirteen emperors in total were laid to rest in the Ming tombs.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor was a Chinese traditionalist. He promoted Confucianism, retained traditional ritual ceremonies, and respected the classical culture, overhauled numerous Taoist temples and monasteries in Mount Wudang dedicated to Zhenwu Dadi. During his reign, many Buddhist and Taoist temples were built. The Yongle Emperor sought to eradicate old Yuan influence from China; the use of popular Mongol names, habits, language, and clothing were forbidden.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor sponsored a mosque each in Nanjing and Xi'an; both survive. Repairs to mosques were encouraged and conversion to other uses was forbidden.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: He commissioned Grand Secretary Xie Jin to write the "Yongle Encyclopedia", a compilation of Chinese civilization. It was completed in 1408 and was the world's largest general encyclopedia until being surpassed by Wikipedia in late 2007.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Mongol invaders were still causing many problems for the Ming Empire. The Yongle Emperor prepared to eliminate this threat. He mounted five military expeditions into the Mongol steppes and crushed the remnants of the Yuan dynasty that had fled north after being defeated by the Hongwu Emperor. He repaired the northern defences and forged buffer alliances to keep the Mongols at bay in order to build an army. His strategy was to force the Mongols into economic dependence on the Chinese and to launch periodic initiatives into Mongolia to cripple their offensive power. He attempted to compel Mongolia to become a Chinese tributary, with all the tribes submitting and proclaiming themselves vassals of the Ming Empire, and wanted to contain and isolate the Mongols. Through fighting, the Yongle Emperor learned to appreciate the importance of cavalry in battle and eventually began spending much of his resources to keep horses in good supply. The emperor spent his entire life fighting the Mongols. Failures and successes came and went, but after the emperor's second personal campaign against the Mongols, the Ming Empire was at peace for over seven years.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Vietnam was a significant source of difficulties during the Yongle Emperor's reign. In 1406, the emperor responded to several formal petitions from members of the Trần dynasty, however on arrival to Vietnam, both the Trần prince and the accompanying Chinese ambassador were ambushed and killed. In response to this insult, the Yongle Emperor sent two armies led by Zhang Fu and Mu Sheng to conquer Vietnam. As the Trần royal family were all executed, Vietnam was integrated as a province of China, just as it had been up until 939. With the Ho monarch defeated in 1407, the Chinese began a serious and sustained effort to sinicise the population. Various ancient sites such as pagoda Bao Minh were looted and destroyed. On 2 December 1407, the Yongle Emperor gave orders to Zhang Fu that innocent Vietnamese were not to be harmed, ordering family members of rebels to be spared such as young males if they themselves were not involved in rebellion. In early 1418, Lê Lợi, who founded the Lê dynasty, started a major rebellion against Ming rule. By the time the Yongle Emperor died in 1424, the Vietnamese rebels under Lê Lợi's leadership had captured nearly the entire province. By 1427, the Xuande Emperor gave up the effort started by his grandfather and formally acknowledged Vietnam's independence on condition they accept vassal status.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: As part of his desire to expand Chinese influence throughout the known world, the Yongle Emperor sponsored the massive and long term treasure voyages led by admiral Zheng He. While Chinese ships continued travelling to Japan, Ryukyu, and many locations in Southeast Asia before and after the Yongle Emperor's reign, Zheng He's expeditions were China's only major sea-going explorations of the world (although the Chinese may have been sailing to Arabia, East Africa, and Egypt since the Tang dynasty or earlier). The first expedition was launched in 1405 (18 years before Henry the Navigator began Portugal's voyages of discovery). The expeditions were under the command of Zheng He and his associates (Wang Jinghong, Hong Bao, etc.). Seven expeditions were launched between 1405 and 1433, reaching major trade centres of Asia (as far as Tenavarai (Dondra Head), Hormuz and Aden) and northeastern Africa (Malindi). Some of the ships used were apparently the largest sail-powered wooden ships in human history.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Chinese expeditions were a remarkable technical and logistical achievement. The Yongle Emperor's successors, the Hongxi and Xuande Emperors, felt that the costly expeditions were harmful to the Ming Empire. The Hongxi Emperor ended further expeditions and the descendants of the Xuande Emperor suppressed much of the information about Zheng He's treasure voyages.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: On 30 January 1406, the Yongle Emperor expressed horror when the Ryukyuans castrated some of their own children to become eunuchs to serve in the Ming imperial palace. The emperor said that the boys who were castrated were innocent and did not deserve castration, and he returned the boys to Ryukyu and instructed them not to send eunuchs again.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: In 1411, a smaller fleet, built in Jilin and commanded by another eunuch Yishiha, who was a Jurchen, sailed down the Sungari and Amur Rivers. The expedition established a Nurgan Regional Military Commission in the region, headquartered at the place the Chinese called Telin (特林; now the village of Tyr, Russia). The local Nivkh or Tungusic chiefs were granted ranks in the imperial administration. Yishiha's expeditions returned to the lower Amur several more times during the reigns of the Yongle and Xuande Emperors, the last one visiting the region in the 1430s.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: After the death of Timur, who intended to invade China, relations between the Ming Empire and Shakhrukh's state in Persia and Transoxania state considerably improved, and the states exchanged large official delegations on a number of occasions. Both the Ming Empire's envoy to Samarkand and Herat, Chen Cheng, and his counterpart, Ghiyasu'd-Din Naqqah, recorded detailed accounts of their visits to each other's states.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: One of the Yongle Emperor's consorts was a Jurchen princess, which resulted in many of the eunuchs serving him being of Jurchen origin, notably Yishiha.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: Due to Ming rule in Manchuria, Chinese cultural and religious influence such as Chinese New Year, the "Chinese god", Chinese motifs like the dragon, spirals, scrolls, and material goods like agriculture, husbandry, heating, iron cooking pots, silk, and cotton spread among the Amur natives like the Udeghes, Ulchis, and Nanais.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: After Manchuria under Yuan rule, Ainu and Nivkh of Sakhalin became tributaries to the Ming dynasty of China after Manchuria came under Ming rule as part of the Nurgan Regional Military Commission. Boluohe, Nanghar and Wuliehe were Yuan posts set up to receive tribute from the Ainu after their war with the Yuan ended in 1308. Ming Chinese outposts in Sakhalin and the Amur river area received animal skin tribute from Ainu on Sakhalin, Uilta and Nivkh in the 15th century after the Tyr based Yongning Temple was set up along with the Nurkan (Nurgan) outposts by the Yongle emperor in 1409. The Ming also held the post at Wuliehe and received marten pelt fur tribute from the assistant commander Alige in 1431 from Sakhalin after the Ming assigned titles like weizhenfu (official charged with subjugation), zhihui qianshi (assistance commander), zhihui tongzhi (vice commander) and Zhihuishi (commander) from Sakhalin indigenous headmen. The Ming received tribute from the headmen Alingge, Tuolingha, Sanchiha and Zhaluha in 1437. The position of headman among Sakhalin indigenous peoples was inherited paternally from father to son and the sons came with their fathers to Wuliehe. Ming officials gave silk uniforms with the appropriate rank to the Sakhalin Ainu, Uilta and Nivkh after they gave tribute. The Maritime Province region had the Ming "system for subjugated peoples' implementers in it for the Sakhalin indigenous peoples. Sakhalin received iron tools from mainland Asia through this trade as Tungus groups joined in from 1456-1487. Local indigenous hierarchies had Ming Chinese given political offices integrated with them. The Ming system on Sakhalin was imitated by the Qing. Nivkh women in Sakhalin married Han Chinese Ming officials when the Ming took tribute from Sakhalin and the Amur river region.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor instituted a Ming governor on Luzon during Zheng He's voyages and appointed Ko-ch'a-lao (許柴佬; Xu Chailao) to that position in 1405. China also had vassals among the leaders in the archipelago. China attained ascendancy in trade with the area in the Yongle Emperor's reign. The local rulers on Luzon were "confirmed" by the governor or "high officer" appointed by the Yongle Emperor.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: States in Luzon, Sulu (under King Paduka Pahala), Sumatra, and Brunei all established diplomatic relations with the Ming Empire and exchanged envoys and sent tribute to the Yongle Emperor.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor exchanged ambassadors with Shahrukh Mirza, sending Chen Cheng to Samarkand and Herat, and Shahrukh sent Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh to Beijing.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: On 1 April 1424, the Yongle Emperor launched a large campaign into the Gobi Desert to chase an army of fleeing Oirats. Frustrated at his inability to catch up with his swift opponents, Yongle fell into a deep depression and then into illness, possibly owing to a series of minor strokes. On 12 August 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. He was entombed in Changling (), a location northwest of Beijing.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: The Yongle Emperor is generally regarded to have had a lifelong pursuit of glory, power, and wealth. He respected and worked hard to preserve Chinese culture by designing monuments such as the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, while undermining and expelling from Chinese society people from foreign cultures. He deeply admired and wished to save his father's accomplishments and spent a lot of time proving his claim to the throne. His reign was a mixed blessing for the Chinese populace. The Yongle Emperor's economic, educational, and military reforms provided unprecedented benefits for the people, but his despotic style of government set up a spy agency. Despite these negatives, the Yongle Emperor is considered an architect and keeper of Chinese culture, history, and statecraft and an influential ruler in Chinese history.


title: Yongle Emperor

text: He is remembered very much for his cruelty, just like his father. He killed most of the Jianwen Emperor's palace servants, tortured many of his nephew's loyalists to death, killed or by other means badly treated their relatives. He ordered 2,800 concubines, servant girls and eunuchs who guarded them put to death as the Yongle Emperor tried to suppress a sex scandal which threatened to humiliate him. His successor, Hongxi Emperor freed most of the survivors.


title: Arun Gawli

text: Arun Gulab Gawli (born 17 July 1955) also known as Arun Gulab Ahir, is an Indian politician, underworld don and retired gangster. Gawli and his brother Kishor (Pappa) entered the Mumbai underworld in the 1970s, when they joined the "Byculla Company", a criminal gang led by Rama Naik and Babu Reshim, operating in the central Mumbai areas of Byculla, Parel and Saat Rasta. In 1988, after Rama Naik was killed in a police encounter, Gawli took over the gang and began operating it from his residence, Dagdi Chawl. Under his control, the gang controlled most criminal activities in the central Mumbai areas. Throughout the late eighties and nineties, Gawli's gang was involved in a power struggle with Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company gang. Gawli is also the founder of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena political party based in Maharashtra.


title: Arun Gawli

text: Arun Gawli was born in Pohegaon, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He married Zubeida Mujawar, who later became Asha Gawli after marriage and converted to Hinduism. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Maharashtra and they both have five children, two sons and three daughters including Mahesh and Geeta, Yogita,Yatika including Daddy Adopted Friend Child Rudra Amar Timunkar Geeta is a first term ABS corporator from the Chinchpokli assembly constituency. Gawli's nephew Sachin Ahir is an MLA and is the former Maharashtra Minister of State for Housing. Gawli's uncle Hukumchand Yadav was a legislator from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.


title: Arun Gawli

text: Gawli worked in textile mills, located in the central areas of Parel, Chinchpokli, Byculla and Cotton Green. From the 1970s to the late 1980s, Mumbai's textile mill industry witnessed mass strikes and eventual lock-outs. As a result, many young adults (including Gawli) had no employment and eventually found a short-cut to quick money through matka gambling and hafta-vasuli. Gawli then joined the "Byculla Company" gang led by gangsters Rama Naik and Babu Reshim and supervised their illegal liquor dens. Arun Gawali got his underworld name as DADDY. This "Byculla Company" became popular in Mumbai Underworld and it was well know as BRA Gang as the first alphabets of three gang leaders Rama Naik, Babu Reshim and Arun Gawali.


title: Arun Gawli

text: After the death of gang leader Rama Naik by his bodyguard Buwa and Babu Reshim, Gawali took the whole responsibility of BRA Gang and lead the gang in Central Bombay. Arun Gawali became the first Marathi Gang Leader of Mumbai Underworld. Famous Gangster of Pune Ajit Bhai Lawand joined Gawali gang in the late 80's and started operations in Pune as well. Ajit Lawand was the right hand of Arun Gawli and had ruled Pune,Satara and Mumbai during 1990's.


title: Arun Gawli

text: Gawli gang came to fame in Pune because of Lawand. In the year 1993, Lawand was shot dead by rivals in Nigadi, Pune. Lawand is still remembered as one of the top gansters of Pune. He is remembered for his social work done in Mumbai, Pune and Satara district.


title: Arun Gawli

text: Mumbai police raided the premises of Dagdi Chawl several times and finally broke Gawli's underworld operations. Gawli was arrested several times for criminal activities and was detained for long periods during the trial. However, he could not be convicted in most of the cases as witnesses would not depose against him for fear of retaliation. He was finally convicted of the murder of Shiv Sena leader Kamlakar Jamsandekar by a court in August 2012. Gawli and eleven others were found guilty of Jamsandekar's murder and Gawali was sentenced to life imprisonment.


title: Arun Gawli

text: Gawli got political patronage in the 1980s, when the then Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray, criticised the Mumbai police for taking stringent action against Hindu gangsters like Arun Gawli and Sai Bansod, referring to them as "amchi mulgey" (our boys). Thackeray was challenged by a rival gangster in an open letter carried on the front page of a city tabloid. However, Gawli fell out with Shiv Sena in the mid 1990s, murdered Shiv Sena men and formed his own political party, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena.


title: Arun Gawli

text: In 2004, Gawli was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Mumbai Chinchpokli constituency as an Akhil Bharatiya Sena candidate. Gawli's rise in prominence is believed to be due to his "native roots" as a local lad, which makes him distinct from most other non-Marathi-speaking politicians.


title: Arun Gawli

text: Gawli's political designs suffered a major blow when his nephew and party legislator, Sachin Ahir, came out openly against him and joined Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party. Ahir even contested against Gawli in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections on a Nationalist Congress Party ticket, resulting in defeat for them both, but a victory for the Shiv Sena's sitting MP Mohan Rawale. Gawli's daughter Geeta was a ex a corporator to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.


title: Dragons' Den

text: Dragons' Den is a reality television program format in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance from them. The program originated in 2001 in Japan, where it is known as The Tigers of Money (), a pun on "The Tiger of Malaya" (), which was the nickname of WWII general Tomoyuki Yamashita. The format was created and is owned by Nippon TV and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television.


title: Dragons' Den

text: Local versions of the show have been produced in nearly 30 countries, as well as one for the Arab world; in some countries, more than one version has been aired. The first version to air outside of Japan was the British programme "Dragons' Den", which launched in 2005; in the several years afterward, most versions named themselves "Dragons' Den" or variations thereof, though some also used other animals in the title, such as lions. Since the launch of the U.S. version of the show, "Shark Tank", in 2009, many versions have been named "Shark Tank" or variations thereof. In versions where the name of the show contains a creature's name, the investors are referred to by that name.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The contestants are usually inventors, product designers, or service operators who have what they consider to be a viable and potentially very profitable business idea, but who lack funding and/or business acumen. They pitch their idea to five rich entrepreneurial businesspeople, who in most iterations of the show are referred to as "dragons", "tigers" (in the original Japanese show), "lions" or "sharks". Before the show, the contestants have named a specific amount of money that they wish to get along with a percentage in the business that the contestant is offering to sell to the investors. The rules stipulate that if they do not raise at least this amount from the dragons, they get nothing. In return, the contestant gives the dragons a percentage of the company's capital stock, which is the chief point of negotiation. The program does not show the entire pitch as scenes are selected and edited from the episode due to time constraints.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The dragons probe the idea further once the contestant has made the presentation. This will either reveal a sound business proposition resulting in an investment offer from one or more of the dragons in return for equity or a withdrawal from the transaction by either the contestant or all of the dragons. A rejection by the dragons is often given as "I'm out" which is usually triggered (in the investor's opinion) by the investor asking for a larger equity stake in the business than the contestant wants to give up, the contestant's valuation on the business being too high compared to its overall profits, the product not having any proprietary value, or the investor's belief that they cannot add value to the business. Sometimes the dragons identify troubling facts such as an embarrassing lack of preparation on the part of the contestant, the contestant's lack of business knowledge, their perceived margins, competitors, insufficient sales, or high manufacturing costs. Contestants often negotiate and barter with the investors. The deals agreed to on the program may or may not actually be carried through.


title: Dragons' Den

text: "Dragons' Den" series have been produced in numerous countries. Apart from Japan (where the show debuted) the show names, structures, and styles are based upon the UK version.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In Afghanistan, the show is called "Fikr wa Talash" ("Dream and Achieve"). The show's purpose is to encourage Afghans to embark on entrepreneurship. It aimed to promote entrepreneurial spirit among ordinary Afghans, with the show giving contestants a lifetime opportunity to pitch their creative business ideas before a panel of business tycoons and walk away with the cash prize of US$20,000.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The show began in 2008 on TOLO TV. The first series ended in August 2008, with the final contestant, Faizulhaq Moshkani, winning $20,000 towards his plastic recycling business. At the time of the show, he owned a plastic recycling plant in Qandahar in southern Afghanistan. After winning, Moshkani shut the factory due to the high cost of fuel to power generators. Instead, he used the $20,000 prize money to move the business to Kabul, where he planned to build a miniature hydroelectric plant to power the new recycling plant. Mariam Al Ahmadi collected the runner-up prize of $10,000.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In the second season, a follow-up episode was introduced with the top contestants tracking their progress in their businesses.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The show was produced by Bamyan media with the help of the Moby Group's strategic communications arm, Lapis Ltd, and aired on the Group's most popular channel in Afghanistan, TOLO TV, reaching an estimated 7 million viewers in 2010.


title: Dragons' Den

text: "Fikr wa Talash" was sponsored by USAID, Roshan telecommunication (the country's leading mobile operator) and Bank e Milli (Afghan National Bank). The host is Ramiz Baktiar. Like the Egyptian version, it was created by Anna Elliot, founder of the NGO Bamyan Media.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In the Arab world, "Dragons' Den" was known as "Dragons' Den: Al Aareen العرين" (The Den). It was broadcast on the Lebanese channel Future Television and was hosted by Ibrahim Abu Jawdeh. The show received contestants from various Arab countries.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Egyptian version of Dragons' Den is "El Mashroua" ("The Project"). The show was created in 2013 by Anna Elliot, the founder of the NGO Bamyan Media. It was broadcast on the national channel Alnahar and followed by approximately four million people. The program created the largest community of entrepreneurs through a digital platform connected to the show with one million participants. The winner of the first season, Tina Boules, won the sum of 350,000 Egyptian pounds to develop her startup Taqa Solutions, which specializes in agricultural waste recycling and biogas exploitation.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Australian version of "Dragons' Den" was broadcast on the Seven Network and hosted by Andrew O'Keefe. Unlike in other versions, the host ran through the outline of the business with the contestant before the contestant began negotiating with the Dragons for a deal. The show was produced by Michael Horrock. The Australian Dragons were:


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Seven Network announced in December 2005 that the show would not be back for a second season after poor ratings.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The format was revived by Network Ten, under the American "Shark Tank" name, for a show that premiered February 2015. It ran for four seasons, until August 2018. The show was hosted by Sarah Harris. The Sharks for this edition are:


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Brazilian version is called "Shark Tank Brasil — Negociando com Tubarões" ('Negotiating with Sharks'). It debuted in October 2016. The sharks (investors) have included João Appolinário, Cristiana Arcangeli, Robinson Shiba, Sorocaba (of Fernando & Sorocaba), Camila Farani, José Semezato, Carlos Wizard Martins and Caito Maia. Specials episodes included Roberto Justus, Luiza (Magazine Luiza) and others.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Chinese version of "Dragons' Den" (中国合伙人 "Chinese Partner") started airing in May 2016 on Shenzhen Satellite TV. The Chinese format is produced by Shanghai-based IPCN (International Programme International Network).


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Colombian version of "Shark Tank" called "Shark Tank Colombia" began airing on 23 February 2018 on Canal Sony.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Croatian version of "Dragons' Den" called "" ("Dragon's Nest") was scheduled to broadcast in May 2007 on Croatian Radiotelevision and produced by Ocean Film, a local production company.


title: Dragons' Den

text: It first aired on 31 March 2009 on Czech TV (CT1 channel), in a very similar set up to the British version of BBC.


title: Dragons' Den

text: A Danish version of the show, "" ("The Lion's Den"), began airing in April 2015. The five "lions" in the first season were Christian Stadil, Birgit Aaby, Tommy Ahlers, Ilse Jacobsen and Jesper Buch. Only Jesper Buch remains as of 2022.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In Finland, the first version of the show was ', which means the jaws or the mouth of a lion. The show began running on 27 September 2007 on the MTV3 channel and aired for one season. It was hosted by Anna Sorainen. The local ' (lions) were Kyösti Kakkonen, Eero Lehti, Toivo Sukari, Lisa Sounio and Kaija Ward.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In February 2013 the show re-emerged on the Nelonen channel, this time named "" ("Lion's Den"). The show was hosted by Kirsi Salo, and the new lions were Riku Asikainen, Jorma Terentjeff, Ari Lahti, Anne Berner and Oskari Lehtonen.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The French version is called "Qui veut être mon associé?" ("Who wants to be my business partner?"). It debuted on 14 January 2020 on M6. The second season debuted on 5 January 2022. The investors have been:


title: Dragons' Den

text: The German version is called "" ("The Lions' Cave"). It debuted on 19 August 2014 on VOX. The German "lions" are:


title: Dragons' Den

text: The first episode of the second season aired on 18 August 2015. The third season launched on 23 August 2016, introducing two new presenters. A fourth season was announced for 2017. Nico Rosberg replaced Frank Thelen as an investor on the programme ('The Lions' Cave') in late 2019.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Hungarian version is called "Cápák között (Among Sharks)". It debuted on 18 February 2019 on RTL.


title: Dragons' Den

text: An Irish version of the show began in 2009 on RTÉ One, the state broadcaster. It is presented by Richard Curran, deputy editor of "The Sunday Business Post".


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Dragons have appeared on television in Ireland, in promotion of the series, on "Tubridy Tonight", on RTÉ One. RTÉ started broadcasting show promos after Christmas 2008 as part of their winter line-up.


title: Dragons' Den

text: A third season of "Dragons' Den" began airing on RTÉ One, on Thursday, 20 February 2011. Norah Casey was the new Dragon for the third season. Episodes at the end of the third season, for the first time on "Dragons' Den" in Ireland, showed the Dragons on tour visiting their past investments.


title: Dragons' Den

text: A fourth season of "Dragons' Den" was commissioned. Sean O'Sullivan replaced Seán Gallagher. Sean is co-founder at Avego Ltd, based in Kinsale.


title: Dragons' Den

text: For the fourth series of Dragons' Den, a live, interactive "Sixth Dragon Game" was developed to be played whilst watching the show, in which viewers are able to decide in real time if they're IN or OUT as the pitches unfold. The "Sixth Dragon Game" is the first live, interactive game for a TV show in Ireland.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In Israel, "Dragons' Den" is entitled "", Hebrew for "The Sharks". It was produced by Gil Productions and was broadcast on the now defunct Channel 10. It was hosted by Guy Zohar and ran for two seasons. In the Israeli version, there were six dragons who rotate their appearance weekly. The first season was broadcast during the summer and fall of 2006 and the second during the summer of 2007.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In 2018 the show was renewed by Gil Productions and is now being broadcast on Keshet 12. The show is currently airing its 3rd season on Keshet 12. The show welcomed an entirely new cast, with dragon Amir Eyal from the original iteration of the show returning for the 3rd season.


title: Dragons' Den

text: Titled , this is the original version. It was created by and broadcast on Nippon Television from 2001 to 2004. It was the first entertainment programme in the history of Japanese television that dealt with the concept of business investment. During its three-year run, as many as 16 business executives appeared in the programme as Tigers.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The premier of Lion's Den was in October 2016 on NTV. The show was sponsored by KCB Group, the largest commercial bank in East Africa. The format was introduced to Kenya by Quite Bright Films Kenya Ltd (QBF) who produce the show in Nairobi.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In Mexico the series is called "Shark Tank México: Negociando con tiburones" or just simply "", Spanish for "Negotiating with Sharks".


title: Dragons' Den

text: This series is titled "Shark Tank Nepal". Himalaya Television HD has the rights to produce and broadcast the show.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In the Netherlands the show ran on Nederland 3 for three seasons. The first season was broadcast in May 2007, every Friday at 20:25. The second season was broadcast in May 2008, every Monday at 21:25. Both seasons were hosted by Jort Kelder. The dragons were:


title: Dragons' Den

text: Initially, the UK and Australian series of "Dragons' Den" were broadcast in New Zealand before a local version was produced by Eyeworks Television. It broadcast on TV One in 2006 and was hosted by Rawdon Christie. The dragons were:


title: Dragons' Den

text: Nigeria's adaptation of "Dragons' Den" was broadcast weekly in 2008 on the AIT Network and produced by Storm Vision.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In Pakistan, the program airs as "Idea Croron Ka" and is broadcast on Neo News. It is a joint venture between Chaudhry Muhammad Akram Centre for Entrepreneurship Development (CMACED) at Superior University and Neo News. The first episode premiered on 18 March 2017. The main lead and driving force of this show is Nabeel A. Qadeer who was the Director Entrepreneurship at Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB).


title: Dragons' Den

text: In Poland, the program is called "Dragons' Den – jak zostać milionerem" ("How to be a millionaire") and has been broadcast on TV4 since 2011.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The largest investment ever secured on the program was 15 million PLN (US$5.5 million), on 24 April 2011.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Portuguese version of "Dragons' Den" has the American name "Shark Tank". It ran for two seasons, from 2015 to 2016, on the SIC Network.


title: Dragons' Den

text: Saudi Arabian broadcaster STV1 showed the BBC version of "Dragons' Den" in 2010, then broadcast a local version in 2011. It was called "التجار", or "Traders". The dragons were:


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Slovenian version of the show was called "" ("Good Deal"). It was aired by new Slovenian broadcaster Planet TV, owned by Telekom Slovenije. The show was announced in May 2012, and premiered on 11 November 2012.


title: Dragons' Den

text: "Dragon's Den South Africa" premiered on 23 September 2014 on Mzansi Magic. In a 2014 episode, Vusi Thembekwayo, one of the Dragons, signed his biggest deal, when he invested ZAR2 million in a Halaal abattoir owned by contestant Johan Jacobs and received a 40% stake in the business. There were two seasons of the show.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Sri Lankan version is called "Ath Pavura" (ඇත් පවුර), which means "Wall of Tuskers". It debuted on Independent Television Network on 24 September 2017. Unlike the other versions, the Sri Lankan version focuses on social entrepreneurs and impact investors.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The British version was on air in Sweden for several years on TV8 and BBC Prime. A Swedish version called " ("The Dragons' Nest") ran for two seasons, from 2009 to 2010, on Sveriges Television.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Swiss version is called "Die Höhle der Löwen Schweiz" ("Lion's Cave") and uses the same style, design and name as the German version. The first season premiered on July 7, 2020, on the German-speaking channel 3+. A second season was aired on TV24 and featured famous music producer DJ Antoine.


title: Dragons' Den

text: The Trinbagonian version of Dragon's Den is called "Planting Seeds". The first season premiered on August 23, 2016, on CNC3. The show ran for four seasons before becoming an online sales platform called "Seed Shops".


title: Dragons' Den

text: In Ukraine, the series was called ' (', "Business Sharks") and featured Dragons such as future presidential candidate Serhiy Tihipko.


title: Dragons' Den

text: "Dragons' Den" was first broadcast in the UK on 4 January 2005 on BBC Two. Since 2021, after 16 series on that channel, the show has been broadcast on BBC One, with reruns of previous episodes still broadcast on BBC Two. The producers are Darrell Olsen and Samantha Davies, and it is hosted by BBC presenter Evan Davis.


title: Dragons' Den

text: During filming for series 17, Touker Suleyman fell ill with pneumonia and was unable to appear on the show for the second half of the series; Theo Paphitis returned temporarily to cover his place.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In May 2021 it was confirmed that Steven Bartlett would become the youngest ever Dragon to join the den.


title: Dragons' Den

text: In 2008, television producer Mark Burnett signed a deal with format holder Sony to produce an American version of the series. The series on U.S. television is titled "Shark Tank".


title: Dragons' Den

text: The U.S. network ABC ordered a pilot episode which was produced by Sony Pictures TV. On 9 October 2008, a casting producer announced that "The Shark Tank" was accepting applications for a pilot, giving entrepreneurs two weeks to submit their ideas. The pilot was filmed from 6 to 9 January 2009 in Los Angeles.


title: Dragons' Den

text: For the first two seasons of the series, Kevin Harrington was a regular shark. He was replaced in the third season by Mark Cuban.


title: Dragons' Den

text: Unlike versions of the show in other countries, the U.S. version uses a rotating cast of sharks every season, of which five usually appear in each episode, although all six sharks have occasionally appeared on a single episode. Also on occasion, guest investors fill in for a regular shark on the panel. Past guest investors include:


title: Dragons' Den

text: A Vietnamese version of the show, titled "Thương vụ bạc tỷ" ("billion-dollar deal"), with the English-language title "Shark Tank Vietnam", has aired for five seasons on Vietnam Television, starting in 2017.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association (IFA). In 1921, the jurisdiction of the IFA was reduced to Northern Ireland following the secession of clubs in the soon-to-be Irish Free State, although its team remained the national team for all of Ireland until 1950, and used the name "Ireland" until the 1970s. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) organises the separate Republic of Ireland national football team.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Although part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland has always had a representative side that plays in major professional tournaments – whether alongside the rest of Ireland pre-1922 or as its own entity – though not in the Olympic Games, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has always recognised United Kingdom representative sides.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Northern Ireland has competed in three FIFA World Cups, reaching the quarter-final stage in the 1958 and 1982 tournaments. Northern Ireland held the accolade of being the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup Finals from their first appearance in 1958 until 2006, when Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup. At UEFA Euro 2016, the team made its first appearance at the European tournament and reached the round of 16.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: On 18 February 1882, 15 months after the founding of the Irish FA, Ireland made their international debut against England, losing 13–0 in a friendly played at Bloomfield in Belfast. This remains the record defeat for the team, and also England's largest winning margin. On 25 February 1882, Ireland played their second international, against Wales at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, and an equaliser from Johnston became Ireland's first ever goal.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In 1884, Ireland competed in the inaugural British Home Championship and lost all three games. Ireland did not win their first game until 19 February 1887, a 4–1 win over Wales in Belfast. Between their debut and this game, they had a run of 14 defeats and 1 draw, the longest run without a win in the 1800s. Despite the end of this run, heavy defeats continued. On 3 March 1888, they lost 11–0 to Wales and three weeks later, on 24 March, lost 10–2 to Scotland. Further heavy defeats came on 15 March 1890 when they lost 9–1 to England, on 18 February 1899 when they lost 13–2 to England and on 2 February 1901 when they lost 11–0 to Scotland.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In 1899, the Irish FA also changed its rules governing the selection of non-resident players. Before then the Ireland team selected its players exclusively from the Irish League, in particular the three Belfast-based clubs Linfield, Cliftonville and Distillery. On 4 March 1899, for the match against Wales, McAteer included four Irish players based in England. The change in policy produced dividends as Ireland won 1–0. Three weeks later, on 25 March, one of these four players, Archie Goodall, aged 34 years and 279 days, became the oldest player to score in international football during the 19th century when he scored Ireland's goal in a 9–1 defeat to Scotland.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In 1920, Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. In 1922, Southern Ireland gained independence as the Irish Free State, later to become a republic under the name of Ireland. Amid these political upheavals, a rival football association, the Football Association of Ireland, emerged in Dublin in 1921 and organised a separate league and international team. In 1923, at a time when the home nations had withdrawn from FIFA, the FAI was recognised by FIFA as the governing body of the Irish Free State on the condition that it changed its name to the Football Association of the Irish Free State. The Irish FA continued to organise its national team on an all-Ireland basis.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Between 1928 and 1946, the IFA were not affiliated to FIFA and the two Ireland teams co-existed, never competing in the same competition. On 8 March 1950, however, in a 0–0 draw with Wales at the Racecourse Ground in a FIFA World Cup qualifier, the IFA fielded a team that included four players who were born in the Irish Free State. All four players had previously played for the FAI in their qualifiers and as a result had played for two different associations in the same FIFA World Cup tournament.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: After complaints from the FAI, FIFA intervened and restricted players' eligibility based on the political border. In 1953 FIFA ruled neither team could be referred to as Ireland, decreeing that the FAI team be officially designated as the Republic of Ireland, while the IFA team was to become Northern Ireland.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Until the 1950s, the major competition for Northern Ireland/Ireland was the British Home Championship. The team won the competition eight times, taking the title outright on three occasions. They were the last winners of the now defunct competition held in 1984, and hence still are the British champions, and the trophy remains the property of the Irish FA.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Northern Ireland's best World Cup performance was in their first appearance in the finals, the 1958 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals after beating Czechoslovakia 2–1 in the play-off. They were knocked out by France, losing 4–0. In the 1958 competition, Northern Ireland became the least populous country to have qualified for the World Cup, a record that stood until Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the 2006 World Cup. Northern Ireland remains, however, the least populous country to have qualified for more than one World Cup finals tournament, to win a World Cup finals match, and to have progressed from the first round of the World Cup finals.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Captain of the national side at the 1958 World Cup was Danny Blanchflower, who also captained Tottenham Hotspur in the English league and was twice footballer of the year in England. His younger brother Jackie was also a key member of the national team, and won two league titles in England with Manchester United, until his career was ended by injuries suffered in the Munich air disaster of February 1958.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Despite the presence of world class forward George Best, another Manchester United player, for the 1960s and 1970s, Northern Ireland failed to qualify for any major tournaments.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Northern Ireland also qualified for the 1982 World Cup. Their opening game was against Yugoslavia at La Romareda stadium in Zaragoza. It was the international debut of 17-year-old Norman Whiteside, who became the youngest player ever in the World Cup finals, a record that still stands. The game finished goalless. Five days later, they drew 1–1 with Honduras, which was a disappointment, and many believed had doomed Northern Ireland's chances of advancing in the competition. They needed a win against hosts Spain in the third and final group game at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia. They faced a partisan atmosphere with a mostly Spanish crowd and a Spanish-speaking referee in Héctor Ortiz who was unwilling to punish dirty play from the Spanish players. A mistake from Spain goalkeeper Luis Arconada, however, gifted Gerry Armstrong the only goal of the game, and despite having Mal Donaghy sent off on 60 minutes, Northern Ireland went on to record an historic 1–0 win and top the first stage group.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: A 2–2 draw with Austria at the Vicente Calderón Stadium meant that a win against France would take them into the semi-finals, however a French team inspired by Michel Platini won 4–1 and eliminated Northern Ireland from the competition.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In the 1986 World Cup, they reached the first round. Billy Bingham, a member of the 1958 squad, was manager for both of these tournaments. They have not qualified for any other World Cups since.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Lawrie Sanchez was appointed in January 2004 after a run of ten games without a goal under the previous manager Sammy McIlroy, which was a European record for any international team until San Marino went over 20 games without scoring between October 2008 and August 2012. That run ended after his first game in charge, a 1–4 loss to Norway in a friendly in February 2004. The run of 16 games without a win ended after his second game, a 1–0 victory in a friendly over Estonia, with a largely experimental side, in March 2004.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: On 7 September 2005, Northern Ireland beat England 1–0 in a 2006 World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park. David Healy scored the winner in the 73rd minute. Almost a year later, on 6 September 2006, Northern Ireland defeated Spain 3–2 in a qualifier for UEFA Euro 2008, with Healy scoring a hat-trick. In June 2007, Nigel Worthington was named manager in the place of Lawrie Sanchez, who took over at Fulham. Initially, Worthington took over until the end of the Euro 2008 qualifiers, but was later given a contract until the end of the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Michael O'Neill became manager in February 2012 after Worthington had resigned in October 2011 after a poor Euro 2012 qualification campaign.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: The Northern Ireland team qualified for its first ever UEFA European Championship, Euro 2016 in France, after beating Greece 3–1 at Windsor Park on 8 October 2015. At the tournament, Northern Ireland were beaten 1-0 by Poland on 20 June 2016 followed by a 2–0 win against Ukraine on 16 June 2016 and finally a 1–0 loss against Germany in the group stage. That was enough to qualify for a Round of 16 spot where they lost 1–0 to Wales due to an unfortunate own goal by Gareth McAuley.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Northern Ireland play their home matches at Windsor Park, Belfast, home of Linfield, which they have use of on a 108-year lease, giving the owners 15% of revenue, including gate receipts and TV rights.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: There was a proposal to build a multisports stadium for Northern Ireland at the disused Maze prison outside Lisburn for the use of Rugby, Gaelic games and football. This plan was given an "in principle" go-ahead by the Irish Football Association. However, it was opposed by fans, over 85% of whom in a match day poll conducted by the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs ("AONISC") preferred to stay at a smaller new or redeveloped ground in the city of Belfast. The AONISC organised a protest against the move to the Maze at the game against Estonia in March 2006.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: The issue assumed ever greater urgency by 2007, following a series of inspections which questioned the suitability of Windsor Park to host international football. Following a reduction of capacity due to the closure of the Railway Stand, the IFA made it known that they wished to terminate their contract for the use of the stadium. A report on health and safety in October 2007 indicated that the South Stand might have to be closed for internationals, which would further reduce the stadium's capacity to 9,000.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In April 2008, Belfast City Council announced that they had commissioned Drivers Jonas to conduct a feasibility study into the building of a Sports Stadium in Belfast which could accommodate international football, which was followed at the beginning of May 2008 by speculation that the Maze Stadium project was going to be radically revised by Peter Robinson, the finance and personnel minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly, so that any construction might be used for purposes other than football, rugby union and Gaelic games.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Given the time that is needed to build a new stadium, in the absence of significant work improving Windsor Park, it seemed to be likely that Northern Ireland might be forced to play their home games at a venue outside Northern Ireland for a period.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In March 2009, proposals were announced for the construction of a new 25,000-seat stadium in the Sydenham area of East Belfast as an alternative to the Maze proposal. This would form part of a major development, with links to both George Best Belfast City Airport and the Bangor railway line. The development would also include a hotel, and retail/leisure areas. The stadium itself would be used for both football and rugby union, with Glentoran and Ulster Rugby intended as tenants. Ulster GAA, however, who were a partner in the Maze proposal, stated that in the event of a new stadium being built in East Belfast, which is a major unionist area, their preference would then be to remain at Casement Park in nationalist west Belfast.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: The IFA were initially non-committal about any of the proposals for improving their facilities, be it rebuilding Windsor Park, or supporting either the Maze or Sydenham proposals. In September 2009, however, they issued an announcement in favour of the redevelopment of Windsor Park. Although there were no specifics to this, Linfield had previously released a study with two proposals, of which the major one would be a £20 million rebuilding of the stadium, raising the spectator capacity to 20,000. In 2011, the Northern Ireland Executive allocated £138 million for a major programme of stadium redevelopment throughout Northern Ireland, with £28 million allocated to the redevelopment of Windsor Park. In June 2012, further details of the stadium's redevelopment were released. The plan was to redevelop Windsor Park into an 18,000 all-seater stadium with a series of phased works originally intended to begin in the summer of 2013. The redevelopment would include the demolition of the existing East and South Stand structures, to be replaced by new purpose built stands that would partially enclose the stadium; complete renovation of the existing North and West Stands; and construction of both new conferencing facilities and a new headquarters facility for the IFA.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In February 2013, planning permission for the redevelopment was granted. The cost of the project was estimated to be around £29.2 million, of which £25.2 million would come from government funding. It was initially planned for the work to begin in September 2013. Two months later however, Irish Premiership club Crusaders began legal proceedings to have the process judicially reviewed. As owners of the site, rivals Linfield were in line to receive not only a redeveloped stadium, but also £200,000 per annum from the IFA in land rent instead of the existing agreement which entitled Linfield to 15% of match revenue. Crusaders believed this to be against European Union competition law as well as a form of state aid towards Linfield. In a hearing that took place on 22 May 2013, Crusaders' request was granted. It was ruled that it was a possibility for the redevelopment to be classed as state aid towards Linfield. The aspect of the challenge concerning competition law, however, was dismissed.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In July 2013, Crusaders agreed to a possible settlement brought forward by the judicial review. The details of the settlement were not made public, but Crusaders said that it had the "potential to benefit the entirety of the football family". In September 2013, sports minister Carál Ní Chuilín said that she was still committed to making sure the redevelopment went ahead as scheduled, after previously stating that she would not sign off on the funding until the IFA resolved "governance issues" surrounding David Martin's return to the role of deputy president. In December 2013, three months after the work was originally scheduled to begin, the redevelopment was finally given the green light. The sports minister signed off on £31 million to complete the project. The redevelopment finally got under way on 6 May 2014 after the 2013–14 domestic season had finished, eight months later than originally planned. The work is due to be completed in 2015.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Northern Ireland traditionally wears green shirts, white shorts and green socks. The kit has been manufactured by Adidas since 2012. Prior to this, the kit was manufactured by Umbro.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: The Green and White Army is the name given to the fans that follow the Northern Ireland national football team.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Since the defeat of England in 2005, there has been an increased demand for tickets exceeding supply. Tongue-in-cheek songs such as "We're not Brazil, we're Northern Ireland" (sung to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic, an American Civil War song), "It's Just Like Watching Brazil" and "Stand up for the Ulstermen" are popular at home matches.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: One of the first footballing celebrities was former Manchester United and Northern Ireland footballer George Best. The 1968 European Footballer of the Year, Best won 37 caps and scored 9 goals for his country.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Leading up to the Euro 2016, YouTuber Sean Kennedy released the song "Will Grigg's on Fire", a parody about Northern Irish national Will Grigg to the tune of "Freed From Desire" by Gala. The song became a popular chant and internet sensation. A studio version was released by London-based production duo Blonde, going on to reach number seven in the iTunes UK Top 100.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In 2000 the IFA launched the "Football For All" campaign to tackle sectarianism and racism at Northern Ireland games. Michael Boyd, the director of football development at the IFA, recalled how the team struggled to even get a sponsor for their kit because the image of Northern Irish football was so poor. Attendance at matches was low; at a 1999 game against France, then reigning World Cup champions, IFA couldn't sell out the ground and there were problems with "sectarian singing and racist abuse." Neil Lennon, a Roman Catholic Celtic player who had been subject to sectarian abuse from Northern Ireland fans while playing for Northern Ireland in Windsor Park, was issued a death threat by Loyalists and retired from international football in 2002 as a result. Former Security Minister Jane Kennedy said the threat against Lennon 'disgraced Northern Ireland in the eyes of the world' and widened the divide between the association and Catholic players and supporters. However, the incident represented a turning point in the campaign against sectarianism in the IFA which had seen slow progress in the previous two years.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Steps taken to eradicate the sectarian element within the support have been successful. Lennon has been quick to praise these initiatives. He also praised the "Football For All" Outstanding Achievement Award Winner Stewart MacAfee for the work he has done to create a more inclusive atmosphere at international games.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In 2006, Northern Ireland's supporters were awarded the Brussels International Supporters Award for their charity work, general good humour and behaviour and efforts to stamp out sectarianism. Representatives of the Amalgamation of Official Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs received the award from UEFA and EU representatives prior to the Northern Ireland–Spain game at Windsor Park in September 2006.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Northern Ireland Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Carál Ní Chuilín, the first senior Sinn Féin representative to attend an international at Windsor Park, commended "the very real efforts that have been made by the IFA to tackle sectarianism at their matches" after a match in August 2011. Twenty years after Lennon's resignation, Northern Ireland international games regularly sell out and women and children were "noticeable" amongst the spectators.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Premier Sports currently have the rights to show all of Northern Ireland's competitive international fixtures up until 2024.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Highlights of qualifiers are shown on BBC Northern Ireland with rights to World Cup Finals and European Championships held jointly by BBC and ITV - both channels shared coverage of Northern Ireland's games at Euro 2016.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: Dating from the 1960s, Northern Ireland's games were shown live on BBC Northern Ireland, with highlights on network BBC via Sportsnight until the rights to home games were sold to Sky in 2007. In May 2013, Sky acquired the rights to all Northern Ireland qualifying games for UEFA Euro 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: From 2008 to 2013, BBC Northern Ireland held the rights to highlights of all of Northern Ireland's home international qualifiers. But in May 2013, ITV secured a deal to show highlights of the European Qualifiers for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, including Northern Ireland games, between 2014 and 2017.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: In 2015, BBC Northern Ireland acquired the live rights to show Northern Ireland's friendlies in the run-up to UEFA Euro 2016, but the next two subsequent home friendlies against Croatia and New Zealand were shown on Premier Sports/eirSport until the contract ended before the 2018 World Cup.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: The following players were called up for the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League matches against on 24 September and on 27 September.


title: Northern Ireland national football team

text: "For the all-time record of the national team against opposing nations, see the team's all-time record page"


title: The Lincoln Project

text: The Lincoln Project is an American political action committee (PAC) formed in late 2019 by former and current Republicans. During the 2020 presidential election, it aimed to prevent the re-election of Donald Trump and defeat all Republicans in close races running for re-election in the United States Senate. In April 2020, the committee endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.