title: Lucinda Williams

text: Williams was a guest vocalist on the song "Factory Girls" from Irish punk-folk band Flogging Molly's 2004 album "Within a Mile of Home", and appeared on Elvis Costello's "The Delivery Man" (2004). She sang with folk legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott on the track "Careless Darling" from his 2006 album "I Stand Alone". In 2006, she recorded a version of the John Hartford classic "Gentle on My Mind", which played over the closing credits of the Will Ferrell film "".


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On February 13, 2007, Williams released her eighth album, "West", for which she wrote more than 27 songs. It addresses her mother's death and a tumultuous relationship break-up. The album's lead single, "Are You Alright?", was ranked No. 34 on "Rolling Stone's" list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007, while the third single, "Come On", earned Williams two Grammy nominations: Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song. In the fall of 2007, Williams announced a series of shows in Los Angeles and New York. Playing five nights in each city, she performed her entire catalog on consecutive nights. These albums include the self-titled "Lucinda Williams" (1988), "Sweet Old World" (1992), "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (1998), "Essence" (2001), and "World Without Tears" (2003). Each night also featured a second set with special guest stars, including Steve Earle, Allison Moorer, Mike Campbell, Greg Dulli, E, Ann Wilson, Emmylou Harris, David Byrne, David Johansen, Yo la Tengo, John Doe, Chuck Prophet, Jim Lauderdale and Shelby Lynne. Each night's album set was recorded and made available to the attendees that night. These live recordings are currently available on her website and at her shows.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: Williams wrapped recording on her ninth album in March 2008. Titled "Little Honey", it was released on October 14 of that year and become her first Top 10 album on the "Billboard" 200, peaking at No. 9. "Spin" called it "her finest record since "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road"," stating she "goes back to the roots-rock well and takes a long, satisfying swig", while AllMusic called it "the most polished and studied record she's ever made". It earned Williams a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album in 2010 (the first year to feature this category). The album includes 13 songs—among them, "Real Love" and "Little Rock Star", the latter inspired by music celebrities in the press, like Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse. It also includes a cover of AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)", and "Rarity", inspired by singer-songwriter Mia Doi Todd.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: In July 2008, though "Little Honey" was yet to be released, "Paste" listened to an advance copy and ranked the duet between Williams and Elvis Costello on the song "Jailhouse Tears" as the No. 5 all-time greatest country/rock duet. Her 2008 concert appearance at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz contained an announcement by the city's mayor that September 6, 2008, would henceforth be Lucinda Williams Day.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: Williams released a cover of Shel Silverstein's "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" in June 2010, as part of the "Twistable, Turnable Man" tribute album.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On March 1, 2011, Williams released her 10th studio album "Blessed". Another critical and commercial success; the album debuted at No. 15 on the "Billboard" 200, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album in 2012. It was also nominated for the Americana Award for Album of the Year. The track "Kiss Like Your Kiss" originally appeared in the HBO series "True Blood", and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media the previous year. AllMusic wrote ""Blessed" is Williams' most focused recording since "World Without Tears"; it stands with it and her 1988 self-titled Rough Trade as one of her finest recordings to date. The "Los Angeles Times" called it "one of the best albums she's ever released".


title: Lucinda Williams

text: In July 2011, Williams' performance of her song "Crescent City" at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival was included in HBO's "Treme" series 2 finale, episode 11; the characters comment that it was "amazing she wrote this before the storm", referring to Hurricane Katrina. In September 2012, Williams was featured in a campaign called "30 Songs / 30 Days" to support "", a multi-platform media project inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book. In 2012 and 2013, Williams toured the U.S. accompanied only by guitarist Doug Pettibone.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On September 30, 2014, Williams released her 11th studio album, "Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone", and performed the track "Protection" on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". The first album on her Highway 20 Records label, "Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone" was met with critical acclaim, and debuted at No. 13 on the "Billboard" 200. It won the Americana Music Award for Album of the Year in 2015, while the track "East Side of Town" was nominated for Song of the Year. That same year, she provided backup vocals for the Don Henley song "Train in the Distance" on his album "Cass County."


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On February 5, 2016, Williams released her 12th studio album, "The Ghosts of Highway 20", and performed the track "Dust" on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" on February 17, 2016. AllMusic wrote "after releasing one of the best and boldest albums of her career with "Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone", Williams goes from strength to strength with "The Ghosts of Highway 20", and it seems like a welcome surprise that she's moving into one of the most fruitful periods of her recording career as she approaches her fourth decade as a musician". The album debuted at No. 36 on the "Billboard" 200, and was nominated for the Americana Music Award for Album of the Year.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On May 13, 2017, Williams was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music Degree from Berklee College of Music during the 2017 Commencement Concert. In June, "Rolling Stone" named Williams one of the 100 Greatest Country Artists of All Time. On September 29, 2017, she released "This Sweet Old World", a re-recorded and expanded version her 1992 album, "Sweet Old World". Writing for "Exclaim!", Mark Dunn gave the album seven out of 10, agreeing that Williams' voice has changed dramatically in the ensuing 25 years but noting that she uses it as an instrument masterfully, pairing it with stripped-down country arrangements, compared to the more pop feel of the 1992 release. George de Stefano of PopMatters gave the release nine stars out of ten, calling it a "surprising and bold move" and writes that both the re-recordings and the new tracks are "gems".


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On June 29, 2018, Blue Note Records released "Vanished Gardens", a collaborative album by Charles Lloyd & the Marvels and Williams, who performed on five tracks, including "Dust" from "The Ghosts of Highway 20", "Ventura" from "World Without Tears", and "Unsuffer Me" from "West". Marvels members Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz had previously worked with Williams, including on her 1998 album "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road". The album was met with critical acclaim; AllMusic wrote "the pairing of this band with Williams sounds natural, effortless, and holistic", while "Rolling Stone" called it a "savvy stylistic blend".


title: Lucinda Williams

text: In 2019, Williams produced New York City singer-songwriter Jesse Malin's eighth studio album "Sunset Kids", which was met with widespread critical acclaim. She co-wrote three tracks on the album, and performed on three tracks.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On February 4, 2020, Williams announced her album "Good Souls Better Angels" would be released on April 23. In the same "Rolling Stone" article, Williams released the first single from the album, "Man Without a Soul", which strongly alluded to then-President Donald Trump. Jon Breen of "The Irish Times" gave the release five out of five stars, writing that it "punch[es] with a dark, almost biblical vengeance but also, importantly, balance vitriol with solace, hellfire with a hand in need" and praising its timely lyrics. In "American Songwriter", Hal Horowitz gave the release 4.5 out of five stars, writing that it is arguably her most intense album, ending his review: "By the end of the hour, you'll be wiped out. This is a devastatingly in your face, take no prisoners presentation from Williams and her band that will leave most serious listeners shattered and perhaps shaking. Few albums connect with this much pure emotional fury, let alone those from artists well into their 60s."


title: Lucinda Williams

text: At the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, "Good Souls Better Angels" received a nomination for Best Americana Album and songwriters Williams and Tom Overby received a nomination in the Best American Roots Song category for "Man Without a Soul". The album also made several critics' best-of-the-year lists, including "Rolling Stone", which placed it at No. 47, while "Mojo" ranked it No. 38 on their list. In their alphabetical list, "Pitchfork" named it one of the 35 Best Rock Albums of 2020.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On March 19, 2020, Williams released a song she wrote for the Netflix movie "Lost Girls", titled "Lost Girl". Later that year, Williams began "Lu's Jukebox", a six-episode series of themed live performances.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: Williams was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in October 2021. Jason Isbell, who inducted Williams, credited her with creating a map for other singer-songwriters to follow; "A lot of my songs wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t spent so much time trying to rip her off", he stated in his speech. Isbell also performed Williams' "I Envy the Wind" from her 2002 album "Essence". Williams also performed at the ceremony, she sang "Crescent City" with Rosanne Cash and "Changed the Locks" with Margo Price.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On November 17, 2021, it was announced that Williams would receive the Americana Music Association-UK International Lifetime Achievement Award in January 2022. The ceremony was held on January 27, 2022. On September 12, 2022, Williams will be the recipient of the BMI Troubadour Award. The award celebrates songwriters who have made a lasting impact on their community and who "craft for the sake of the song, setting the pace for generations of songwriters who will follow." Past recipients include John Hiatt, John Prine, and Robert Earl Keen.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: From before 2012 into 2022, Williams has called her backing band the Buick 6, whose name was inspired by Bob Dylan's song "From a Buick 6". Since 2012, Buick 6 has been Butch Norton, drums, who joined Williams in 2007; Stuart Mathis, guitar; and David Sutton, bass. Buick 6 has occasionally performed and recorded separately from Williams. For Williams' 2022 tours, Jim Oblon joined on guitar and keyboards.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: In 1986, Williams married Long Ryders drummer Greg Sowders, but the couple divorced within eighteen months. In September 2009 she married Tom Overby, an executive from Best Buy's music department, who is also her manager. The marriage ceremony was performed on stage at First Avenue by her father.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: On November 17, 2020, Williams had a stroke in her home in Nashville. Doctors discovered a blood clot, and she was discharged five weeks later. Though at the time she needed to walk with a cane and still could not play guitar, she subsequently recovered in time for her summer 2021 tour with Jason Isbell.


title: Lucinda Williams

text: The Americana Music Honors & Awards are presented annually by the Americana Music Association and celebrate outstanding achievement in Americana music. Established in 2002, Williams is one of the most nominated artists in the awards history, with eleven. She has received two awards (one competitive, one honorary).


title: Lucinda Williams

text: The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by The Recording Academy of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry. Often considered the highest music honour, the awards were established in 1958. Williams has received three awards in three separate categories (country, folk and rock), from 17 nominations that span five genres (country, folk, pop, rock, and Americana).


title: Eeyore

text: Eeyore ( ) is a fictional character in the "Winnie-the-Pooh" books by A. A. Milne. He is generally characterized as a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, anhedonic, old grey stuffed donkey who is a friend of the title character, Winnie-the-Pooh.


title: Eeyore

text: Eeyore appears in chapters 4, 6, 7, and 10 of "Winnie-the-Pooh" and is mentioned in a few others. He also appears in all the chapters of "The House at Pooh Corner" except chapter 7. His name is an onomatopoeic representation of the braying sound made by a normal donkey, usually represented as "hee haw" in American English: the spelling with an "r" is explained by the fact that Milne and most of his intended audience spoke a non-rhotic variety of English in which the "r" in "Eeyore" is not pronounced as /r/.


title: Eeyore

text: Physically, Eeyore is described as an "old grey donkey". In Ernest H. Shepard's illustrations, he appears to be about chin-high to Pooh and about hip-high to Christopher Robin. He has a long, detachable tail with a pink bow on the end, of which he is very fond, but which he is also prone to losing (Owl once mistakes it for a bell-pull). Christopher Robin is able to reattach the tail with a drawing pin.


title: Eeyore

text: In "The House at Pooh Corner", Eeyore's level of literacy is unclear. When Christopher Robin shows him the letter "A", Eeyore does not understand its meaning, knowing only that "it means learning", something he desperately wants to be seen as having, but he angrily destroys the letter after finding that Rabbit (who is quite literate) knows about it already. Nevertheless, he spells his own name "eoR" when signing the "rissolution" that the animals give to Christopher Robin as a farewell present in the final chapter. Eeyore also wrote the awkwardly-rhymed poem called "POEM", which appeared on the "rissolution", making him the only character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books other than Pooh himself who attempts to write poetry (a fact that Eeyore himself notes). When Pooh humbly declares that Eeyore's poetry is better than his own, "really believing it to be true", Eeyore vainly replies that "it was meant to be".


title: Eeyore

text: Eeyore has a poor opinion of most of the other animals in the Forest, describing them as having "No brain at all, some of them", "only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake" (from chapter 1 of "The House at Pooh Corner"). Eeyore's favorite food is thistles. He lives in the southeast corner of the Hundred Acre Wood, in an area labeled "Eeyore's Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy and Sad" on the map in the "Winnie-the-Pooh" book. He has a stick house therein called The House at Pooh Corner. Pooh and Piglet built it for him after accidentally mistaking the original house that Eeyore built for a pile of sticks. On Eeyore's birthday, he is given an empty honey jar from Pooh for keeping things in, a popped red balloon from Piglet to keep in the pot, and a note from Owl.


title: Eeyore

text: Eeyore is also surprisingly good at the game Poohsticks, winning more times than anyone else when it is played in the sixth chapter.


title: Eeyore

text: Eeyore appears in the "Winnie the Pooh" cartoons produced by The Walt Disney Company. He is somewhat less caustic and sarcastic in the Disney version than in Milne's original stories. Though often a supporting character, "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore" focuses on him. He is physically one of the stronger animals and is often treated as a pack animal whenever a plot calls for one. His house is regularly knocked down, but he always rebuilds it. He usually expects misfortune to happen to him, accepts it when it does and rarely even tries to prevent it. His catchphrases are "Thanks for noticin' me" and "Ohhh-kayyy". His pessimistic outlook was also shown in an encounter with Piglet, who cheerfully bade him "Good morning!" Eeyore responded, "Well, I suppose it is...for some."


title: Eeyore

text: Despite his depressive nature, Eeyore is capable of great compassion, whereas in the books he is more apathetic. Several episodes of "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" exemplify this, including "Donkey for a Day", "Stripes", "Home is Where the Home is" and "Eeyi Eeyi Eeyore". Eeyore is usually one of the core group of animals, along with Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit and Tigger. Of these five, he is the most reluctant to go along with their plans or adventures, but does not oppose them because he believes it to be futile to try.


title: Eeyore

text: In the adaptations, Eeyore has developed a close friendship with Tigger. Despite their opposite personalities, Eeyore's passive nature and Tigger's optimism and outgoingness help them to accept each other's flaws and understand each other better. Their closeness begins at the end of "Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore" and continues in later works such as "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh", "A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving" and the "Winnie the Pooh" film.


title: Eeyore

text: His tail was not always fixed to him by a nail, although Disney has chosen this as part of his permanent image. When Eeyore lost his tail, Owl found it and used it as a bell-pull beside his door before Pooh found it for Eeyore. Christopher Robin then pinned it back on. According to "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree", this was possible because Eeyore is full of sawdust. In Disney merchandise, Eeyore sometimes has an uncharacteristic smile. In animation, Eeyore is coloured his natural grey, though he is coloured blue with a pink muzzle in merchandising. He appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts for meet and greets.


title: Eeyore

text: Eeyore was voiced by Ralph Wright in the original featurettes, although Ron Feinberg filled in as his voice in the short film "Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons". Thurl Ravenscroft voiced him for Disneyland Records. Ron Gans took over the role for "Welcome to Pooh Corner" and was succeeded by Peter Cullen in "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" through "My Friends Tigger and Pooh". Although Cullen was still active when the film "Winnie the Pooh" was in production, Eeyore was voiced by Bud Luckey for the film. In reference to this, Cullen re-enacted a scene at BotCon to demonstrate a scene where his character Optimus Prime meets Eeyore; Cullen later returned to the role in the 2017 crossover with "Doc McStuffins". Gregg Berger voiced Eeyore in video games from "My Interactive Pooh" to "", plus "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" dark ride. Brad Garrett voices Eeyore in the 1990s video games "" and "Ready to Read with Pooh". Garrett reprised the role for the 2018 live-action film "Christopher Robin" and the animated film "Ralph Breaks the Internet".


title: Sharon Gless

text: Sharon Marguerite Gless (born May 31, 1943) is an American actress and author, who is known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin on "Switch" (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series "Cagney & Lacey" (1982–88), the title role in "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" (1990–92), Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series "Queer as Folk" (2000–2005), and Madeline Westen on "Burn Notice" (2007–2013). A 10-time Emmy Award nominee and seven-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won a Golden Globe in 1986 and Emmys in 1986 and 1987 for "Cagney & Lacey", and a second Golden Globe in 1991 for "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill". Gless received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995.


title: Sharon Gless

text: A fifth-generation Californian, Gless was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Marjorie (McCarthy) and sportswear manufacturing executive Dennis J. Gless. She was raised Catholic. She has two brothers, Michael McCarthy Gless and Arick Dennis Gless. Her parents divorced when she was in her teens. Her maternal grandfather was Neil McCarthy, a prominent Los Angeles attorney for Howard Hughes, who also had a large clientele of major film-studio executives and actors. Wanting to become an actress, she sought her grandfather's advice and he told her, "Stay out of it, it's a filthy business!" A few years later, though, when she spoke to him again about acting, he encouraged her, and gave her money for acting classes.


title: Sharon Gless

text: She worked as a secretary for advertising agencies Grey Advertising and Young & Rubicam, and then for the independent movie production companies Sassafras Films and General Film Corporation.


title: Sharon Gless

text: While she worked as a production assistant, Gless studied drama with acting coach Estelle Harman. In 1972, she signed a 7-year contract with Universal Studios, and remained under contract until Universal ended all contracts in 1981. Near the end of her contract, she was identified in the media as the last of the contract players, a salaried, old Hollywood apprentice system, which Universal was the last to employ.


title: Sharon Gless

text: At the beginning of her career, Gless appeared in numerous television series and TV movies, such as "Revenge of the Stepford Wives", "Faraday & Company" with Dan Dailey and James Naughton in 1973 and 1974, "Adam 12" season six, episode 24, "Emergency!" as a sculptor in 1975, and "The Rockford Files". She played small parts in "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969–1976), until being offered the role of Kathleen Faverty, which she played from 1974 to 1976. This was in addition to a variety of guest-starring roles on television, including the part of the classy young secretary, Maggie Philbin, alongside Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner on the CBS private detective/con artist series "Switch" (1975–1978). Despite being a newcomer on the show, she got along very well with both Albert and Wagner, both on- and off-screen. When the show was cancelled after the third season, she thanked both Albert and Wagner for giving a jump start to her career and remained close friends with them.


title: Sharon Gless

text: While under contract with Universal, she co-starred in a number of properties, including the 1979 Steven Bochco television sitcom, "Turnabout" (based on the Thorne Smith 1931 novel about a husband and wife who temporarily switch bodies), which failed to be a ratings blockbuster, and briefly in the sitcom "House Calls" (in which she replaced Lynn Redgrave, who had left due to a contract dispute).


title: Sharon Gless

text: Beginning with the series' seventh episode/first full season, Gless replaced actress Meg Foster in the role of NYPD police detective Christine Cagney on "Cagney & Lacey." (The role had been originated, in the pilot installment, by Loretta Swit. Swit, like Foster, was chosen as Cagney because, though the character of Cagney had been created with Gless herself in mind, she was unavailable for the pilot or the first seven installments of the first season.) In 1991, she married the series' executive producer, Barney Rosenzweig, who speaks in his book "Cagney & Lacey...and Me" about wanting Sharon Gless from the beginning and Gless being unavailable due to her contract with Universal.


title: Sharon Gless

text: Rosenzweig created the 1990–1992 CBS drama series "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" for Gless, and uncredited, played the only partially seen psychiatrist to whom the attorney Fiona "Rosie" O'Neill confided at the beginning of each episode. Gless, who had garnered six Emmy nominations – including two wins and a Golden Globe win for her role as Cagney – earned two additional Emmy nominations and a second Golden Globe win for this subsequent series.


title: Sharon Gless

text: In 1993 and 1995, Gless and her television partner, Tyne Daly, recreated their title roles in a quartet of critically acclaimed and popular "Cagney & Lacey" television movies. Gless and Tyne Daly jokingly called these "The Menopause Years".


title: Sharon Gless

text: In 1998, Gless narrated the documentary "", which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.


title: Sharon Gless

text: Between 2000 and 2005, Gless appeared as Hal Sparks's mother, Debbie Novotny, in her biggest and most critically acclaimed role since "Cagney & Lacey" in the acclaimed Showtime cable television series "Queer as Folk."


title: Sharon Gless

text: On May 26, 2005, Gless was one of the mourners at Eddie Albert's funeral, along with ex-"Switch" co-stars Robert Wagner and Charlie Callas.


title: Sharon Gless

text: In 2006, Gless starred in the BBC television series "The State Within". The following year, she co-starred in the USA Network cable television series "Burn Notice", playing Michael Westen's (Jeffrey Donovan) mother, Madeline Westen. In addition, Gless was a guest star on several episodes of the FX Network cable television series "Nip/Tuck" as an unstable agent named Colleen Rose, a role that netted her an Emmy Award nomination.


title: Sharon Gless

text: In 2009, Gless starred in her first leading role as a lesbian character in the independent film "Hannah Free" (Ripe Fruit Films), described as a film about a lifelong love affair between an independent spirit and the woman she calls home. The film is based on a screenplay by the Jeff Award-winning playwright Claudia Allen and directed by Wendy Jo Carlton.


title: Sharon Gless

text: In 2017, Gless was announced as appearing in one episode of the BBC's "Casualty", the world's longest-running medical drama, as surgeon Zsa Zsa Harper-Jenkinson. She appears in the 13th episode of the serial's 32nd series. Gless called Zsa Zsa a "wonderful character". Gless was invited to appear in the show by one of the producers, and expressed interest in reprising the role. Gless' appearance marked the first time the show has flown an American to the UK to film a role. She reprised the role on the October 13, 2018 episode.


title: Sharon Gless

text: Gless's most recent stage appearance was as Jane Juska in "", Jane Prowse's stage adaptation of Jane Juska's book "A Round-Heeled Woman: my Late-life Adventures in Sex and Romance". The first production ran in San Francisco in early 2010. Sharon starred in a new production in Miami, December 2010 - February 2011, directed by Jane Prowse. A production took place in London, transferring in November 2011 from Riverside Studios to the Aldwych Theatre, where the run closed on January 14, 2012.


title: Sharon Gless

text: Gless made her stage debut in Lillian Hellman's "Watch on the Rhine" at Stage West in Springfield, Massachusetts. Gless has extensive stage experience, including two appearances in London's West End, first in 1993 with Bill Paterson, when she created the role of Annie Wilkes in the stage version of Stephen King's "Misery" at the Criterion Theatre, and then in 1996, where she appeared opposite Tom Conti in Neil Simon's "Chapter Two", at the Gielgud Theatre.


title: Sharon Gless

text: She starred at Chicago playhouse The Victory Gardens Theater in Claudia Allen's "Cahoots", as well as several stints, including an evening at Madison Square Garden with the National Company of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues". Gless appeared on "The Alan Titchmarsh Show" on October 17, 2011.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic "sui iuris" particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the Maronite Church is Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, who was elected in March 2011 following the resignation of Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. The current seat of the Maronite Patriarchate is in Bkerke, northeast of Beirut, Lebanon. Officially known as the Antiochene Syriac Maronite Church, it is part of Syriac Christianity by liturgy and heritage.


title: Maronite Church

text: The early development of the Maronite Church can be divided into three periods, from the 4th to the 7th centuries. A congregation movement, with Saint Maron from the Taurus Mountains as an inspirational leader and patron saint, marked the first period. The second began with the establishment of the Monastery of Saint Maroun on the Orontes, built after the Council of Chalcedon to defend the doctrines of the council. This monastery was described as the "greatest monastery" in the region of "Syria Secunda", with more than 300 hermitages around it, according to ancient records. After 518, the monastery "de facto" administered many parishes in "Syria Prima", "Cole Syria" and "Phoenicia". The third period was when "Sede Vacante" followed the Islamic conquest of the region and bishops of the Saint Maron Monastery elected John Maron as Patriarch circa 685 AD, according to Maronite tradition. The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch reestablished their patriarchate in 751 AD. Other centers of historical importance include Kfarhay, Yanouh, Mayfouq, and the Qadisha Valley.


title: Maronite Church

text: Although reduced in numbers today, the distinct but related Maronite ethno-religious group remains a principal grouping in Lebanon, with smaller minorities of Maronites in Syria, Cyprus, Israel, and Jordan. Emigration since the 19th century means that by about two-thirds of the Maronite Church's roughly 3.5 million members in 2017 were located outside "The Antiochian's Range", where they are part of the worldwide Lebanese diaspora.


title: Maronite Church

text: The six major traditions of the Catholic Church are Alexandrian, Antiochene, Armenian, Chaldean, Constantinopolitan (Byzantine), and Latin (Roman). The Maronite Church follows the Antiochene Tradition. Any Catholic may attend any Eastern Catholic liturgy and fulfill his or her canonical obligations at an Eastern Catholic parish. Any Catholic may attend any Eastern Catholic parish or service and receive any sacrament from an Eastern Catholic priest since all belong to the Catholic Church. Maronites who do not reside within a convenient distance to a local Maronite Church are permitted to attend other Catholic churches while retaining their Maronite membership.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Maronite Patriarchal Assembly (2003–2004) identified five distinguishing marks of the Maronite Church:


title: Maronite Church

text: Maron, a fourth-century monk and a contemporary and friend of John Chrysostom, left Antioch for the Orontes River in modern-day Syria to lead an ascetic life, following the traditions of Anthony the Great of the Desert and of Pachomius. Many of his followers also lived a monastic lifestyle. Maron is considered the founder of the spiritual and monastic movement that evolved into what is now the Maronite Church. Maronite Christianity has had a profound influence on what is now Lebanon, and to a lesser degree Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Saint Maron spent his life on a mountain in Syria, generally believed to be ""Kefar-Nabo"" on the mountain of "Ol-Yambos" in the Taurus Mountains, contemporary Turkey, becoming the cradle of the Maronite movement established in the Monastery of Saint Maron.


title: Maronite Church

text: Following Maron's death in 410 AD, his disciples built Beth-Maron monastery at Apamea (present day Qalaat al-Madiq). This formed the nucleus of the Maronite Church. In 452, after the Council of Chalcedon, the monastery was expanded by the Byzantine emperor Marcian.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Maronite movement reached Lebanon when St. Maron's first disciple, Abraham of Cyrrhus, who was called the "Apostle of Lebanon", set out to convert the non-Christians by introducing them to St. Maron.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Maronites subscribed to the beliefs of the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Monophysites of Antioch slew 350 monks and burned the monastery, although Justinian I later restored the walls. Correspondence concerning the event brought the Maronites papal and orthodox recognition, indicated by a letter from Pope Hormisdas (514–523) dated 10 February 518. Representatives from Beth-Maron participated in the Constantinople synods of 536 and 553.


title: Maronite Church

text: An outbreak of civil war during the reign of Emperor Phocas brought forth riots in the cities of Syria and Palestine and incursions by Persian King Khosrow II. In 609, the Patriarch of Antioch, Anastasius II, was killed either at the hands of some soldiers or locals. This left the Maronites without a leader, which continued because of the final Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628.


title: Maronite Church

text: In the aftermath of the war, the Emperor Heraclius propagated a new Christological doctrine in an attempt to unify the various Christian churches of the East, who were divided over accepting the Council of Chalcedon. This doctrine, called Monothelitism, held that Christ had two natures (one divine and one human) but only one will (not a divine will and also a human will) and was meant as a compromise between supporters of Chalcedon, such as the Maronites, and opponents, such as the Jacobites. The doctrine was endorsed by Pope Honorius I to win back the Monophysites but problems soon arose (see his anathematization). Monothelitism failed to settle the schism, however, and was declared a heresy at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680–681. The Council condemned both Honorius and Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople but did not mention the Maronites.


title: Maronite Church

text: Contemporary Greek and Arab sources suggest the Maronites rejected the Third Council of Constantinople and accepted monothelitism, only moving away from it in the time of the Crusades in order to avoid being branded heretics by the crusaders. The Maronite Church, however, rejects the assertions that the Maronites were ever monothelites and broke communion with Rome; and the question remains a matter of controversy. Elias El-Hāyek attributes much of the confusion to Eutyches of Alexandria, whose "Annals" El-Hāyek claimed contain erroneous material regarding the early Maronite Church, which was then picked up by William of Tyre and others. Robert W. Crawford concluded the same, pointing out that the heretic "Maro" mentioned in the "Annals", which William of Tyre considers as the namesake of the Maronites, was a Nestorian from Edessa and could not have been Maron or John Maron. However, Donald Attwater, 20th Century historian of Eastern Christianity, affirmed the view that Maronites broke communion with Rome over monothelitism, however briefly.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Patriarch of Antioch Anastasius II died in 609, and Constantinople began to appoint a series of titular patriarchs, who resided in Constantinople. In 685, the Maronites elected Bishop John Maron of Batroun as Patriarch of Antioch and all the East.


title: Maronite Church

text: In 687, as part of an agreements with Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Byzantine emperor Justinian II sent 12,000 Christian Maronites from Lebanon to Armenia, in exchange for a substantial payment and half the revenues of Cyprus. There they were conscripted as rowers and marines in the Byzantine navy. Additional resettlement efforts allowed Justinian to reinforce naval forces depleted by earlier conflicts.


title: Maronite Church

text: John Maron established himself in the remote Qadisha Valley in Lebanon. In 694, Justinian sent troops against the Maronites in an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Patriarch. John Maron died in 707 at the Monastery of St. Maron in Lebanon. Around 749 the Maronite community, in the Lebanon mountains, built the Mar-Mama church at Ehden. Meanwhile, caught between the Byzantines and the Arabs, the monastery at Beth-Maron struggled to survive.


title: Maronite Church

text: After they came under Arab rule following the Muslim conquest of Syria (634–638), Maronite immigration to Lebanon, which had begun some time before, increased, intensifying under the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (813–33).


title: Maronite Church

text: To eliminate internal dissent, from 1289 to 1291 Egyptian Mamluk troops descended on Mount Lebanon, destroying forts and monasteries.


title: Maronite Church

text: Following the Muslim conquest of Eastern Christendom outside Anatolia and Europe in the 7th century and after the establishment of secured lines of demarcation between Islamic Caliphs and Byzantine Emperors, little was heard from the Maronites for 400 years. Secure in their mountain strongholds, the Maronites were re-discovered in the mountains near Tripoli, Lebanon, by Raymond of Toulouse on his way to conquer Jerusalem in the Great Crusade of 1096–1099. Raymond later returned to besiege Tripoli (1102–1109) after the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, and relations between the Maronites and European Christianity were subsequently reestablished.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Maronites assisted the crusaders and affirmed their affiliation with the Holy See of Rome in 1182. To commemorate their communion, Maronite Patriarch Youseff Al Jirjisi received the crown and staff, marking his patriarchal authority, from Pope Paschal II in 1100 AD. In 1131, Maronite Patriarch Gregorios Al-Halati received letters from Pope Innocent II in which the Papacy recognized the authority of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Patriarch Jeremias II Al-Amshitti (1199–1230) became the first Maronite Patriarch to visit Rome when he attended the Fourth Council of the Lateran in 1215. The Patriarchate of Antioch was also represented at the Council of Ferrara in 1438.


title: Maronite Church

text: Peter Hans Kolvenbach notes, "This contact with the Latin Church enriched the intellectual world of Europe in the Middle Ages. Maronites taught Oriental languages and literature at the universities of Italy and France."


title: Maronite Church

text: In the Ottoman Empire, indigenous concentrated religious communities dealt mainly with the provincial administration. Officially, Maronites had to pay the "jizya" tax as non-Muslims, but sometimes the monks and clergy were exempt because they were considered to be "poor".


title: Maronite Church

text: Fakhr-al-Din II (1572–1635) was a Druze prince and a leader of the Emirate of Chouf District in the governorate of Mount Lebanon. Maronite Abū Nādir al-Khāzin was one of his foremost supporters and served as Fakhr-al-Din's adjutant. Phares notes that "The emirs prospered from the intellectual skills and trading talents of the Maronites, while the Christians gained political protection, autonomy and a local ally against the ever-present threat of direct Ottoman rule." In 1649, Patriarch Yuhanna al-Sufrari placed the Maronites under French protection, and the French opened a consulate in Beirut.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Khāzin sheikhs subsequently increased in power and influence. In 1662, with the mediation of Jesuit missionaries, Abū Nawfal al-Khāzin was named French consul, despite complaints by Marseille merchants that he was not from Marseille. The Church prospered from the protection and influence of the Khāzins, but at the expense of interference in church affairs, particularly ecclesiastical appointments, which the Khāzins saw as an extension of their political influence.


title: Maronite Church

text: The relationship between the Druze and Christians has been characterized by harmony and peaceful coexistence, with amicable relations between the two groups prevailing throughout history, with the exception of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Maronite Catholics and the Druze founded modern Lebanon in the early Eighteenth Century, through a governing and social system known as the "Maronite-Druze dualism" in the Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate.


title: Maronite Church

text: Maronite orientalist Joseph Simon Assemani presided as papal legate for Pope Clement XII. The synod drafted a Code of Canons for the Maronite Church and created the first regular diocesan structure. The Council of Luwayza led to a more effective church structure and to gradual emancipation from the influence of Maronite families.


title: Maronite Church

text: Due to closer ties with the Latin Church, the Maronite Church is among the most Latinized of the Eastern Catholic Churches.


title: Maronite Church

text: Contacts between the Maronite monks and Rome were revived during the Crusades. The Maronites introduced to Eastern Churches Western devotional practices such as the rosary and the Stations of the Cross. Late in the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII sent Jesuits to the Lebanese monasteries to ensure that their practice conformed to decisions made at the Council of Trent. The Maronite College in Rome was established by Gregory XIII in 1584. The Maronite missal ("Qurbono") was first printed between 1592 and 1594 in Rome, although with fewer anaphoras.


title: Maronite Church

text: Patriarch Stephan al-Duwayhî (1670–1704), (later declared a "Servant of God"), was able to find a middle ground between reformers and conservatives, and re-vitalized Maronite liturgical tradition.


title: Maronite Church

text: The Synod of Mount Lebanon sought to incorporate both traditions. It formalized many of the Latin practices that had developed, but also attempted to preserve ancient Maronite liturgical tradition. The Synod did not sanction the exclusive use of the Roman ritual in the administration of Baptism. However, in the Eastern tradition, the oil of catechumens is blessed by the priest during the baptismal rite. This blessing was now reserved to the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday. A practice common among all the Eastern Churches is to administer Baptism and First Communion together. Unlike in other Eastern Catholic churches and similar to the Latin Church, Holy Communion is to be given only to those who have attained the age of reason; priests were forbidden to give Communion to infants.


title: Maronite Church

text: In "Orientale lumen", the Apostolic Letter to the Churches of the East, issued 2 May 1995, Pope John Paul II quotes "Orientalium Ecclesiarum", the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches:It has been stressed several times that the full union of the Catholic Eastern Churches with the Church of Rome which has already been achieved must not imply a diminished awareness of their own authenticity and originality. Wherever this occurred, the Second Vatican Council has urged them to rediscover their full identity, because they have "the right and the duty to govern themselves according to their own unique disciplines. For these are guaranteed by ancient tradition and seem to be better suited to the customs of their faithful and to the good of their souls."


title: Maronite Church

text: Cardinal Sfeir's personal commitment accelerated liturgical reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1992 he published a new Maronite Missal. This represents an attempt to return to the original form of the Antiochene Liturgy, removing the liturgical Latinization of past centuries. There are six Anaphoras.


title: Maronite Church

text: Patriarch Sfeir stated that "Sacrosanctum concilium" and the Roman liturgical changes following Vatican II apply to the Maronite Church. "Sancrosanctum Concilium" says, "Among these principles and norms there are some which can and should be applied both to the Roman rite and also to all the other rites. The practical norms which follow, however, should be taken as applying only to the Roman rite, except for those which, in the very nature of things, affect other rites as well."


title: Maronite Church

text: The head of the Maronite Church is the Patriarch of Antioch and the Whole Levant, who is elected by the Maronite bishops and resides in Bkerké, close to Jounieh, north of Beirut. He resides in the northern town of Dimane during the summer.


title: Maronite Church

text: Clerical celibacy is not strictly required for Maronite deacons and priests of parishes outside of North America; monks, however, must remain celibate, as well as bishops who are normally selected from the monasteries. Around 50% of the Maronite diocesan priests in the Middle East are married. Due to a long-term understanding with their Latin counterparts in North America, Maronite priests in that area have traditionally remained celibate. However, in February 2014, Wissam Akiki was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the U.S. Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon at St. Raymond's Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis. Deacon Akiki is the first married man to be ordained to the Maronite priesthood in North America and will not be expected to uphold a vow of celibacy.


title: Maronite Church

text: In the 12th century, about 40,000 Maronites resided in the area around Antioch and modern-day Lebanon. By the 21st century, estimates suggest that the Maronite diaspora population may have grown to more than twice the estimated 2 million Maronites living in their historic homelands in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.


title: Maronite Church

text: According to the official site of the Maronite church, approximately 1,062,000 Maronites live in Lebanon, where they constitute up to 22 -23 percent of the population. Syrian Maronites total 51,000, following the archdioceses of Aleppo and Damascus and the Diocese of Latakia. A Maronite community of about 10,000 lives in Cyprus with approximately 1,000 speakers of Cypriot Maronite Arabic from Kormakitis. A noticeable Maronite community exists in northern Israel (Galilee), numbering 7,504.


title: Maronite Church

text: Immigration of Maronite faithful from the Middle East to the United States began during the latter part of the nineteenth century. When the faithful were able to obtain a priest, communities were established as parishes under the jurisdiction of the local Latin bishops. In January 1966, Pope Paul VI established the Maronite Apostolic Exarchate for the Maronite faithful of the United States. In a decree of the Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, Bishop Francis Mansour Zayek was appointed the first exarch. The see, in Detroit, Michigan, with a cathedral under the patronage of Saint Maron, was suffragan to the Archdiocese of Detroit. In 1971, Pope Paul VI elevated the Exarchate to the status of an Eparchy, with the name of Eparchy of Saint Maron of Detroit. In 1977, the see of the Eparchy of Saint Maron was transferred to Brooklyn, New York, with the cathedral under the patronage of Our Lady of Lebanon. The name of the Eparchy was modified to Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn.


title: Maronite Church

text: In 1994, the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon was established with the cathedral at Los Angeles, California, under the patronage of Our Lady of Lebanon. John George Chedid, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, was ordained as the first Bishop of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles at the Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral in Los Angeles, California, where he served until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80. In December 2000, Robert Joseph Shaheen succeeded Chedid as eparch.


title: Maronite Church

text: Eparchies operate in São Paulo in Brazil, as well as in Colombia, México, France, Australia, South Africa, Canada and Argentina.


title: Maronite Church

text: Former Brazilian president Michel Temer, the first Arab-Brazilian to have led the nation, was the son of two Maronite Catholic Lebanese immigrants.


title: Mayawati

text: Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social change for "Bahujans", more commonly known as Other Backward Castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as well as converted minorities from these castes. She was chief minister briefly in 1995 and again in 1997, then from 2002 to 2003 and from 2007 to 2012.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati's rise from humble beginnings has been called a "miracle of democracy" by P. V. Narasimha Rao, former prime minister of India. In 1993 Kanshi Ram formed a coalition with the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1995. She was the first female Scheduled Caste chief minister in India. In 1997 and in 2002 she was chief minister with outside support from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the second time only for a year up to 26 August 2003 due to BJP withdrawing support.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati's tenure has attracted praise and criticism. Millions of Dalits across India view her as an icon, and refer to her as "Behen-ji" (elder sister). She has been praised for her fundraising efforts on behalf of her party and her birthdays have been widely celebrated by her supporters. The rise in her personal wealth and that of her party have been criticised as indicative of corruption.


title: Mayawati

text: After losing the 2012 legislative assembly elections to Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party, she resigned from her post on 7 March 2012. Later that month, she was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati was born on 15 January 1956 at Shrimati Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi into a Dalit family of Jatav caste. Her father Prabhu Das, was a post office employee at Badalpur village, near Dadri in Gautam Buddha Nagar. The sons in the family were sent to private schools, while the daughters went to "low-performing government schools".


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati studied for her B.A. in 1975 at the Kalindi College, University of Delhi and obtained her LL.B. from the prestigious Faculty of Law, University of Delhi in 1983. She completed a B.Ed. from Meerut University's VMLG College, Ghaziabad, in 1976. She was working as a teacher in Inderpuri JJ Colony, Delhi, and studying for the Indian Administrative Services exams, when Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other backward castes politician Kanshi Ram visited her family home in 1977. According to biographer Ajoy Bose, Ram told her: "I can make you such a big leader one day that not one but a whole row of IAS officers will line up for your orders." Kanshi Ram included her as a member of his team when he founded the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 1984. Mayawati was first elected to Parliament in 1989.


title: Mayawati

text: Kanshi Ram founded the BSP in 1984. Influenced by B. R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution of India, the party's primary focus is to improve the situation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other disadvantaged groups through policy reform, affirmative action on hiring of members of scheduled castes for government posts, and providing rural development programmes. Reservation in India is a system whereby a percentage of government positions and seats at universities are reserved for persons of backward classes and scheduled castes and tribes. Throughout her political career, Mayawati supported reservation in both government and private sectors for backward classes, with an increase in quotas and inclusion of more communities such as religious minorities and economically weak upper castes. In August 2012 a bill was cleared that starts the process of amending the constitution so that the reservation system can be expanded to promotions in state jobs. Mayawati's career has been called a "miracle of democracy" by former Prime Minister of India P. V. Narasimha Rao. Millions of Dalit supporters view her as an icon and refer to her as "Behen-ji" (sister). Her public meetings have been attended by large audiences, who use slogans such as ""Kanshi Ram ka mission Adhoora; karegi Behen Mayawati poora"" (Kanshi Ram's unfulfilled mission will be completed by Mayawati) and ""Behenji tum sangharsh karo; hum tumhare saath hain"" (Sister, go ahead with your struggle; we are with you).


title: Mayawati

text: In its first election campaign in 1984, BSP fielded Mayawati for the Lok Sabha (Lower House) seat of Kairana in the Muzaffarnagar district, for Bijnor in 1985, and for Haridwar in 1987. In 1989 she was elected as the representative for Bijnor, with 183,189 votes, winning by 8,879 votes. Although BSP did not win control of the house, the electoral experience led to considerable activity for Mayawati over the next five years, as she worked with Mahsood Ahmed and other organisers. The party won three seats in the 1989 national election and two seats 1991.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati was first elected to the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in 1994. In 1995 she became, as head of her party, Chief Minister in a short-lived coalition government, the youngest Chief Minister in the history of the state up until that point, and the first female Dalit Chief Minister in India. She won election to the Lok Sabha in two different constituencies in 1996 and chose to serve for Harora. She became Chief Minister again for a short period in 1997 and then from 2002 to 2003 in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 2001 Ram named her as his successor to the party leadership.


title: Mayawati

text: On 15 December 2001, in an address during a rally in Lucknow, Kanshi Ram named Mayawati as his successor. She was elected national president of the BSP for her first term on 18 September 2003. She was elected unopposed for a second consecutive term on 27 August 2006, for a third term on 30 August 2014 and for fourth term on 28 August 2019.


title: Mayawati

text: As the Chief Minister, Mayawati gained a reputation for efficient governance and promoting law and order, winning praise even from opposition parties<ref name="http://aninews.in 2016"></ref> and other rivals. In 2007, MP Umakant Yadav of her own political party, accused in a land grabbing case, was arrested near her dwelling on her orders. During September–October 2010, at the time of the Ayodhya verdict, her government maintained law and order and the state remained peaceful. Several high-profile criminals and mafia dons were jailed during her terms in office. She called for strong anti-rape laws. Fewer riots, lowest rapes, and least corruption occurred during her tenure as compared to previous or successive governments. In the 2007-2012 assembly, only 124 MLAs were crorepatis as compared to 271 crorepatis in successive assembly elected in 2012. Uttar Pradesh achieved higher GDP growth rate at 17 per cent and lesser crimes under Mayawati regime as compared to previous and successive governments.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati first served as Chief Minister from 3 June 1995 to 18 October 1995 with support of BJP. During this term, the new districts of Ambedkar Nagar district and Udham Singh Nagar district were created.


title: Mayawati

text: Her second term was from 21 March 1997 to 20 September 1997. A drive under her government allotted "pattas" or gram sabha lands on lease to thousands of landless residents. In April 1997, she created Gautam Budh Nagar district from the district of Ghaziabad, Kaushambi district was separated from Allahabad district, and Jyotiba Phule Nagar district from Moradabad district. In May 1997, Mahamaya Nagar district was created out of Aligarh district and Banda district was split into Banda and Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Nagar. Mayawati carried out review meetings with bureaucrats and suspended 127 officers. She setup Dr Ambedkar Awards and erected over 100 statues of various sizes of Ambedkar in Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad and other key towns.


title: Mayawati

text: Her third term was from 3 May 2002 to 26 August 2003. She suspended 12 IAS officers, including Divisional Commissioners and District Magistrates. Six IPS officers were suspended for failing to maintain law and order, while 24 officers were warned to improve. She started 511 acre Gautam Buddha University.<ref name="http://www.outlookindia.com/ 2016"></ref> She renamed King George's Medical University to Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University. She suspended three senior officials after review in a couple of administrative divisions.


title: Mayawati

text: Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and one of its poorest, is considered pivotal in the politics of India because of its large number of voters. BSP won a majority in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, due to support of Brahmans. The campaign was accompanied by a colourful slogan: "Haathi nahin, Ganesh hain, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh Hain": "The elephant (the BSP logo) is really the Lord Ganesha, the trinity of gods rolled into one". 37 percent Brahmins voted for the party.


title: Mayawati

text: The BSP won 20 seats in Lok Sabha from the state of Uttar Pradesh in the 2009 elections, obtaining the highest percentage (27.42%) of votes for any political party in the state. The party placed third in terms of national polling percentage (6.17%).


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time on 13 May 2007. She announced an agenda that focused on providing social justice to the weaker sections of society and providing employment instead of distributing money to the unemployed. Her slogan was to make "Uttar Pradesh" ("Northern Province") into "Uttam Pradesh" ("Excellent Province"). Her government began a major crackdown on irregularities in the recruitment process of police officers recruited during the previous Mulayam Singh government. Over 18,000 policemen lost their jobs for irregularities in their hiring, and 25 Indian Police Service officers were suspended for their involvement in corruption while recruiting the constables. Mayawati instituted reforms to introduce transparency into the recruiting process, including posting the results of selection exams online.


title: Mayawati

text: On 10 August 2007, the Mayawati government proposed 30 per cent reservation in jobs in the private sector. A quota for promotions was also introduced, but was later quashed by the Supreme Court of India. In September 2007, Bhimrao Ambedkar Rural Integrated Development Programme was started. The Dr Ambedkar Gram Vikas Yojana scheme was launched for supplying water, electricity, and constructing roads in villages with a Dalit majority. Under this scheme, 24,716 villages received improvements.


title: Mayawati

text: In 2008, Mayawati launched, "Manyawar Shri Kanshiram Ji Shahri Garib Awas Yojna", a scheme for building low-cost housing colonies for urban poor with 90,000 low-cost homes under the first round of construction in different towns and cities across the state while a second and a third round were still underway when government ended in 2012 and next government scrapped the scheme including cutting down electricity of these colonies.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati government started efforts to set up solar power plants and the first 5 MW solar power plant located in Naini of Allahabad district started functioning in March 2012 and was developed by EMC Limited. UP government signed a MoU with NTPC Limited for 1,320-MW power plant. Mayawati's dream project of 165 km six lane Yamuna Expressway connected Delhi to Agra through Noida–Greater Noida Expressway, touching 1,182 villages in the state. Later, Indian Air Force fighter jet Dassault Mirage 2000 test-Landed on Yamuna Expressway as Part of Trials. On 15 January 2008, Mayawati inaugurated the construction of the 1,047 km Ganga Expressway at the cost of for joining Ballia to Greater Noida. In 2008, Her government established Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University for the Physically challenged students. In November 2009, Mayawati dedicated Noida Metro constructed at the cost of . She had vigorously proposed for construction of Jewar airport near Noida. In October 2011, Mayawati government under public-private partnership with Jaypee Group successfully executed and delivered First F1 Indian Grand Prix, an international event at Buddh International Circuit, Greater Noida constructed by Jaypee Group. The event was hailed as flawlessly conducted salvaging some of India's prestige when compared to minor embarrassments in 2010 Commonwealth Games (Before opening ceremony) conducted in Delhi. Mayawati presented the winning trophy to winner Sebastian Vettel. Foreigners found the track as 'impressive' and 3 Indian teenagers picked by a F1 panel to train them as future Formula One drivers in Europe.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati has seen through to completion of several memorials dedicated to icons of Bahujan Samaj build first time in India, including the Manyawar Shri Kanshiram Ji Green Eco Garden (inaugurated March 2011), the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden (inaugurated October 2011), and the Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Prateek Sthal (opened November 2012). She renamed Amethi district as Chattrapati Sahuji Maharaj Nagar, Kanpur Dehat as Rambai Nagar, Sambhal as Bheem Nagar, Shamli as Prabuddha Nagar, Hapur as Panchsheel Nagar, Kasganj as Kanshiram Nagar, Hathras as Mahamaya Nagar and Amroha as JP Nagar.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati during her tenure directed all the Commissioners and the District Magistrates to distribute 3 acre land pieces or pattas to weaker sections of society by launching special drive for illegal possesses of pattas be dispossessed of them and the eligible poor be identified by regular monitoring of pattas and strict action against the mafias and musclemen through spot verification of different development and public welfare programmes. In 2010, 5596 people belonging to the SC and ST communities were allotted 1054.879 hectares of agriculture land. In a special drive 74 FIRs were filed and 88 people were arrested for illegal occupation from agricultural land. "Sugar Information Service" a model website supported by SMS and IVRS facility was developed. Mayawati dedicated the 286-bed super-specialty Centenary hospital in Lucknow and 50-bed critical care unit at CSMMU and increased salaries of doctors. Mayawati, in 2007, launched Manyawar Kanshiram Multi-speciality Hospital in Greater Noida which started its OPD services in April 2013. Mayawati government also spent on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Multi Speciality Hospital in Sector 30 of Noida.


title: Mayawati

text: Her government also instituted "Sant Ravidas Kala Samman Award" with a cash prize of . Under "Savitri Bai Phule Balika Shiksha Madad Yojna", Mayawati distributed over 10 lakh bicycles among Muslim and poor school girls from 2008 to 2011.


title: Mayawati

text: After coming to power in 2007, Mayawati wrote letters to the Prime Minister regarding partitioning of Uttar Pradesh into four different states in 2007, in March 2008 and December 2009. Finally on 15 November 2011, Mayawati's cabinet approved partitioning Uttar Pradesh into four different states (Pashchim Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh, Bundelkhand and Purvanchal) for better administration and governance.


title: Mayawati

text: On 6 March 2012 the Bahujan Samaj Party lost its majority to the Samajwadi Party and Mayawati tendered her resignation to the governor of Uttar Pradesh the next day, thereby becoming the first CM to complete five full years in office. On 13 March 2012 she filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha, and she was declared elected unopposed on 22 March.


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati's political career has attracted praise and controversy. She has been praised for her fundraising efforts on behalf of her party, and her birthdays were major media events as well as a symbol for her supporters. The increase in her personal wealth and that of her party have been viewed by critics as signs of corruption.


title: Mayawati

text: In 2002, the government of Uttar Pradesh began improvements of the infrastructure in the Taj Heritage Corridor, the important tourist area in Agra that includes the Taj Mahal. The project was soon riddled with problems, including funds being released for the project without the submission of the required detailed project reports to the environmental authorities. Suspecting there were financial irregularities as well, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided twelve residences, including Mayawati's. It had filed a First Information Report against her and seven others two days earlier. The raid uncovered evidence of assets disproportionate to her known income. Afterwards, Mayawati resigned from her own government to prove that she was not "hungry for power" She asked the BJP-run Government of India to remove Union Tourism and Culture Minister, Jagmohan for conspiring this all controversy against her.


title: Mayawati

text: In June 2007, Governor T. V. Rajeswar said that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute her. In his 23-page order, he said: "the fact that the Mission Management Board, consisting of officers of both the State and the Central Government, regularly met and discussed the project and the fact that even a sum of 17 crores was spent through the Central Government public sector undertaking, NPCC, all go to show that the serious offences with which Mayawati and the Minister were charged do not stand scrutiny." Advocates unsuccessfully challenged the governor's decision in court. The Supreme Court rejected the plea of the CBI and refused to direct the governor to prosecute her. The Taj corridor case was effectively ended before going to trial.


title: Mayawati

text: In the 2007–08 assessment year, Mayawati paid an income tax of 26 crore, ranking among the top 20 taxpayers in the country. Earlier the CBI filed a case against her for owning assets disproportionate to her known sources of income. Mayawati described the CBI investigation against her as illegal. Her party asserted that her income comes from gifts and small contributions made by party workers and supporters.


title: Mayawati

text: On 3 August 2011 the Delhi High court dismissed the central government's appeal against Mayawati, stating that "she has fully discharged her obligations by disclosing the identities of all of her donors, the gifts had been donated by her supporters". The central government decided not to file an appeal in the Supreme Court. On 13 March 2012 Mayawati revealed assets worth 111.26 crore in an affidavit filed with her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha. The disproportionate assets case was finally quashed on 6 July 2012—nine years later—by a Supreme Court bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Dipak Misra; the court found that the case was unwarranted. Based on an opinion received from the Directorate of Prosecution, the CBI decided not to file an appeal. On 4 October 2012 a review petition was filed by Kamlesh Verma, contending that the case had been dismissed merely on technical grounds, and that the evidence had not been adequately reviewed. On 8 August 2013 the Supreme Court declined a request to re-open the case. After seeking legal advice, the CBI finally closed their file on 8 October 2013.


title: Mayawati

text: In her tenures as a Chief Minister, Mayawati commissioned the production and public display of several monuments having parks, gallerias, museums, memorials, murals and statues representing Buddhist and Hindu, Dalit/OBC icons like Gautama Buddha, Gadge Maharaj, Sant Ravidas, Sant Kabir, Narayana Guru, Jyotirao Phule, Chatrapati Shahuji Maharaj, Babasaheb Ambedkar, BSP party founder Kanshi Ram, and of herself. She claims that the expenditure was required because the past governments did not show respect towards Dalit leaders, in whose memory nothing had ever been built. She spent somewhere between 25 and 60 billion rupees (about US$500 million to US$1.3 billion) on projects in five parks and at memorials such as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Samajik Parivartan Sthal and Manyavar Kanshiram Smarak Sthal, built in the name of B.R. Ambedkar, Ramabai Ambedkar, and Kanshi Ram in Lucknow between 2007 and 2009. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India reported that 66 crore (about US$12 million) in excessive costs had been incurred on the construction of the memorials. In February 2010 Mayawati's government approved a plan for a special police force to protect the statues, as she feared that her political opponents might demolish them. In December 2010, her government received permission to continue part of the plan, namely maintenance and completion of Ambedkar Memorial Park.


title: Mayawati

text: Despite the existing Supreme Court stay, in October 2011 Mayawati inaugurated the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal and Green Garden, built at a cost of 685 crore. Since the memorial also features her own statues, Mayawati was accused by the Indian National Congress of wasting the taxpayers' money. The BSP dismissed the allegations, stating that her statues were erected because Kanshi Ram's will requested that his statues should be constructed next to those of the current President of BSP. Mayawati accused the Congress of being "anti-Dalit".


title: Mayawati

text: In January 2012, the Election Commission ordered that all of the statues of Mayawati as well as recent statues of elephants ( the symbol of the Bahujan Samaj Party) should be covered up until after February's Uttar Pradesh election. On 26 July 2012 the statue in Lucknow was damaged by members of a group calling themselves "Uttar Pradesh Naunirman Sena". A replacement statue was re-installed overnight by the Lucknow city administration. Following the Lucknow vandalism, there were similar such incidents in other parts of Uttar Pradesh.


title: Mayawati

text: The World Bank lent India funds for development, and Mayawati was to manage projects with this money in UP. The projects were preplanned and on schedule, but the Mayawati government made changes which put the projects behind schedule, including rapidly transferring upper caste managers in and out of rural posts. The World Bank sent a letter of complaint on 1 August 2002 to India's central government stating, "We have now learnt that project managers have been replaced within three weeks of assuming office. The project coordinator of the Diversified Agriculture Support Project has been changed twice in quick succession and at the moment there is no project coordinator. In the forestry project, numerous changes have been made over past six months ... Such developments do not augur well for these time-bound projects that require consistently good leadership." Mayawati initially responded by saying the letter was a fake and later said there had been a misunderstanding. She then decreased the number of transfers, stopped creating new posts, and temporarily reduced the level of government spending on furniture and vehicles in response to the allegations. The World Bank continued to criticise the level of corruption even after these measures had been implemented.


title: Mayawati

text: As per the Election affidavit of 2012 (Rajya Sabha), Mayawati has assets worth ₹111.64 crores and liabilities worth ₹87.68 lakhs (0.87 crores).


title: Mayawati

text: Mayawati started her political career after Kanshi Ram, the founder of Bahujan Samaj Party, persuaded her to join the civil service and politics. Mayawati chose to remain unmarried. She is also known as the "Iron Lady Mayawati".


title: Mayawati

text: Kanshi Ram praised Mayawati at her 47th birthday celebrations for her fundraising activities on behalf of the party. He stated that the party's eventual goal is to gain power at the national level, and that Mayawati's efforts had helped in that quest. Her birthdays have since become major media events at which she has appeared laden with diamonds. Her supporters have declared her birthday as "Jan Kalyankari Diwas" (People's Welfare Day). In 2009, the day was marked by the announcement of welfare schemes targeted towards poor and downtrodden people of the state and, in 2010, by the launch of social programmes with a value of over 7,312 crore.


title: Mayawati

text: In 2007–08, Mayawati paid as income tax. She was at number 20 in the I-T department's compilation of the top 200 taxpayers' list with names like Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar. Mayawati paid in advance tax in April–December 2007. She paid on other incomes, most of which was declared by her as "gifts" by party members.


title: Mayawati

text: When BSP workers garlanded Mayawati with currency notes on the occasion of the party's silver jubilee celebrations coinciding with BSP founder Kanshi Ram's birth anniversary on 15 March 2010, Indian news channels and newspapers purported to expose the event as a ‘scandal’ on the presumption that the Chief Minister had publicly committed an act of corruption that was being flaunted openly and declaring that the garland of currency notes was made from money through corrupt means and not from donations of Bahujan Samaj Party supporters as Mayawati, her Ministers and supporters claimed.


title: Mayawati

text: At Kanshi Ram's funeral ceremonies in 2006, Mayawati stated that both Kanshi Ram and herself had been, and she would continue to be, observant of Buddhist traditions and customs. She has stated her intention to formally convert to Buddhism when the political conditions enable her to become Prime Minister of India. Her act of performing the last rites (traditionally done by a male heir) was an expression of their views against gender discrimination. When she was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, she publicly called Bhikkhus to prayer.


title: Mayawati

text: Literature about Mayawati includes studies and books. One of the first works about her was journalist Mohammad Jamil Akhter's book, "Iron Lady Kumari Mayawati". Her autobiographies are "Mere Sangarshmai Jeevan Evam Bahujan Movement Ka Safarnama" in three volumes in Hindi and "A Travelogue of My Struggle-ridden Life and of Bahujan Samaj", in two volumes in English. "Behenji : A Political Biography of Mayawati" is a biography by veteran journalist Ajoy Bose.


title: Mayawati

text: In 2003, Mayawati as the Chief Minister, was awarded "Paul Harris Fellow Award" by UNICEF, World Health Organization and Rotary International, for her initiative in Polio eradication. Mayawati was also honoured with "Rajarshi Shahu Award" by Rajarshi Shahu Memorial Trust. In 2008, "Forbes" added Mayawati in the 59th place on its list of the 100 most powerful women in the world. She appeared in "Newsweek"s top woman achievers list in 2007. In 2009 a "Newsweek" article described her as the Barack Obama of India, and a potential candidate for Prime Minister. "Time" magazine included Mayawati in India's 15 Most Influential list for 2007.


title: Metropolis

text: A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.


title: Metropolis

text: A big city belonging to a larger urban agglomeration, but which is not the core of that agglomeration, is not generally considered a metropolis but a part of it. The plural of the word is "metropolises", although the Latin plural is "metropoles", from the Greek "metropoleis" ().


title: Metropolis

text: For urban centers outside metropolitan areas that generate a similar attraction on a smaller scale for their region, the concept of the regiopolis ("regio" for short) was introduced by urban and regional planning researchers in Germany in 2006.


title: Metropolis

text: Metropolis (μητρόπολις) is a Greek word, coming from μήτηρ, "mḗtēr" meaning "mother" and πόλις, "pólis" meaning "city" or "town", which is how the Greek colonies of antiquity referred to their original cities, with whom they retained cultic and political-cultural connections. The word was used in post-classical Latin for the chief city of a province, the seat of the government and, in particular, ecclesiastically for the seat or see of a metropolitan bishop to whom suffragan bishops were responsible. This usage equates the province with the diocese or episcopal see.


title: Metropolis

text: In a colonial context, it is the "mother city" of a colony, that is, the city which sent out settlers. The word has distant roots in the colonial past of Ancient Greece with first usage in Middle English around the 14th century. This was later generalized to a city regarded as a center of a specified activity, or any large, important city in a nation.


title: Metropolis

text: Luanda is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Its metropolitan area is the most populous Portuguese-speaking capital city in the world, with over 8.3 million inhabitants.


title: Metropolis

text: Kinshasa is a megacity with a population of about 15 million. Kinshasa is Africa's third-largest urban area after Cairo and Lagos. It is projected to be one of the ten biggest cities in the world in 2050.


title: Metropolis

text: Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia, and where the African Union is headquartered. As of 2008 the metro population is approximately 4.5 million.


title: Metropolis

text: Accra is an economic and administrative hub, and serves as the anchor of the larger Greater Accra Metropolitan Area (GAMA).


title: Metropolis

text: According to the 2014 census, Abidjan's population was 4.7 million, which is 20 percent of the overall population of the country, and this also makes it the sixth most populous city proper in Africa, after Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa, Dar es Salaam, and Johannesburg. It has officially been designated as the "economic capital" of the country. In 2020 the Urban area population was over 5 million inhabitants.


title: Metropolis

text: Nairobi is the capital and the largest city of Kenya. The city proper had a population of 4,397,073 in the 2019 census, while the metropolitan area has a population of 9,354,580.


title: Metropolis

text: Lagos is projected to be one of the ten biggest cities in the world in 2050. As of 2015, unofficial figures put the population of "Greater Metropolitan Lagos", which includes Lagos and its surrounding metro area, extending as far as into Ogun State, at approximately 21 million.


title: Metropolis

text: With a population increase of 5.6 percent per year from 2002 to 2012, Dar es Salaam is the third-fastest-growing city in Africa, after Bamako and Lagos, and the ninth-fastest-growing in the world. The metro population is expected to reach 15.12 million by 2020.


title: Metropolis

text: Kampala is the capital and largest city of Uganda. Kampala's metropolitan area is estimated at 6,709,900 people in 2019 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics in an area of . Kampala is reported to be among the fastest-growing cities in Africa, with an annual population growth rate of 4.03 percent.


title: Metropolis

text: The capital city, Kabul, has grown to become the country's sole metropolis, and is the only city with more than one million people.


title: Metropolis

text: In the People's Republic of Bangladesh, there are five metropolitan areas: Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Khulna. Lands are highly priced and residents are considered to have a better urban lifestyle. Special police departments are allotted for the metropolitan cities, and there are city corporations for which mayors are elected for five-year regimes. Most of these cities have population density of 35,000/square mile or more. Dhaka is the wealthiest city out of all and is considered a Megacity because its population surpassed 10 million.


title: Metropolis

text: China (People's Republic of China) is the fourth-largest country by geographical area and the most populous country with over 1.4 billion people and is also known for its large number of metropoles, with recognised "tiers" that classify mainland metropoles. Nationally, the largest metropoles include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the four cities are classified as the "First-Tier Cities" (一线城市). Second-tier cities are numerous and consist of regional centres, such as Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Xi'an, etc.


title: Metropolis

text: Many of China's metropoles constitute a city cluster, such as the Yangtze River Delta Megalopolis and the Pearl River Delta Megalopolis.


title: Metropolis

text: India (Republic of India) is the seventh-largest country by geographical area and the second-most populous country with over 1.3 billion people. The 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution defines a metropolitan area as an area having a population of 10 Lakh or 1 Million or more, comprised in one or more districts and consisting of two or more Municipalities or Panchayats or other contiguous areas, specified by the Governor by public notification to be a Metropolitan area. As of 2011 Census of India, India has 46 other cities with populations greater than one million. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, are among the largest of 23 metropolitan cities in India.


title: Metropolis

text: In Indonesia, the metropolitan cities are in Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bekasi, Bogor, Depok, and Tangerang), the biggest metropolitan area in Southeast Asia and the fifth biggest metropolitan area in the world (2007). The other metropolises are Bandung, Medan, Semarang, and Surabaya.


title: Metropolis

text: In Iran, the metropolitan cities are in Tehran and Mashhad, and other cities such as Shiraz, Karaj, Isfahan, Tabriz, Ahvaz, Rasht and Kermanshah.


title: Metropolis

text: The Japanese legal term "to" (都) is by designation to be translated as "metropolis". however existing translations predate the designation. Structured like a prefecture instead of a normal city, there is only one "to" in Japan, namely Tokyo. , Japan has 12 other cities with populations greater than one million. The same Kanji character in Chinese, or in generic Japanese (traditional or non-specific), translates variously—city, municipality, special municipality—all qualify.


title: Metropolis

text: In Malaysia, the capital Kuala Lumpur is the largest city, popularity is 7.8 million people. The others metropolis in Malaysia are Johor Bahru, Seremban, Malacca City, Shah Alam, Kuantan, Kuala Terengganu, Kota Bahru, Ipoh, Georgetown, Alor Setar, Kangar, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.


title: Metropolis

text: According to the census of 2017, there are about 12 metropolitan areas in Pakistan each with a metro population of at least 2 million and city proper population of at least 0.5 million. Karachi is the largest metropolitan area of Pakistan with a population of about 16.01 million, followed by Lahore (11.12 million), Faisalabad (7.873 million), Islamabad-Rawalpindi (7.412 million), Gujranwala (5.01 million), Multan (4.745 million), Peshawar (4.269 million), Sargodha (3.903 million), Sialkot (3.893 million), Bahawalpur (3.668 million), Quetta (2.275 million) and Hyderabad (2.199 million).


title: Metropolis

text: The Philippines has three metropolises as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority. They are Manila, Cebu, and Davao


title: Metropolis

text: Metropolitan Manila, or Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the city of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines. It is composed of 16 cities and 1 municipality namely the city of Manila, Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Pasay, Pasig, Parañaque, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, Valenzuela and the municipality of Pateros. The region is the political, economic, social, cultural, and educational center of the Philippines. As proclaimed by Presidential Decree No. 940, Metro Manila as a whole is the Philippines' seat of government but the city of Manila is the capital. The largest city in the metropolis is Quezon City, while the largest business district is the Makati Central Business District.


title: Metropolis

text: The Republic of Singapore is a sovereign island city-state and a metropolis. The country has no capital city.


title: Metropolis

text: In the Republic of Korea there are seven special and metropolitan cities at autonomous administrative levels. These are the most populous metropolitan areas in the country. In decreasing order of the population of 2015 census, they are Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju and Ulsan.


title: Metropolis

text: According to the census of 2015, cities of Changwon and Suwon also qualify for being elevated to the level of metropolitan cities (having population over 1 million), but any future plans to promote them into metropolitan city are unlikely to be accepted because of political concerns about the structure of administrative divisions. There are also some county-level cities with increasing population near 1 million, namely Goyang, Yongin, and Seongnam, but they are also unlikely to be promoted into metropolitan city because they are all satellite cities of Seoul.


title: Metropolis

text: The City of Colombo is the largest city in Sri Lanka. The Colombo Metropolitan Area is Sri Lanka's most urbanized region with a population of over 5 million people.


title: Metropolis

text: Taipei City is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Taiwan. The Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area consists of 4 administrative divisions (Taipei, Keelung, New Taipei, and sometimes including Taoyuan) with a total of more than 9 million residents. The metropolis houses the largest international airport in Taiwan and the 36th busiest airport in the world – Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, which has an annual passenger traffic of nearly 50 million.


title: Metropolis

text: In Turkey the metropolitan cities are described as "büyükşehir". There are 30 metropolitan municipalities in Turkey now. The largest by far is İstanbul, followed by Ankara, İzmir and Bursa.


title: Metropolis

text: There are 8 metropolises in the UAE: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Ajman, Ras Al-Khaimah, Fujairah, and Umm Al-Quwain. Of these, Dubai is the largest.


title: Metropolis

text: Vienna is the capital city of Austria, an old imperial city, and the seat of many international organisations, including OPEC, as well as hosting a main office of the United Nations. Together with its cultural acumen and history, these features make Vienna a true global metropolis, the only one in Austria.


title: Metropolis

text: The region of Brussels contains the capital city of Belgium with a population of over 1.2 million people, it is the largest urban area in the Benelux. The region is the seat of the European Union, NATO and various other international institutions such as the World Customs Organization. It is nicknamed the 'Capital of Europe'.


title: Metropolis

text: Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, seat of the country's Presidency, government, parliament and the only metropolis in the country.


title: Metropolis

text: Prague is the Czech Republic's only metropolis, with more than 1.3 million people living within the city limits and with more than 2.6 million living in its metropolitan area. This makes the Prague metropolitan area one of largest in Europe.


title: Metropolis

text: In Denmark the only metropolis is the capital, Copenhagen, situated in the Capital Region of Denmark. It has more than 750,000 people living in city proper and 1.28 million in its urban area.


title: Metropolis

text: Finland's capital, Helsinki, along with the neighboring areas (including Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa) forms a metropolitan area with an approximate population of 1.45 million people. This area is the only metropolis in the country.


title: Metropolis

text: A 2014 law allowed any group of communes to cooperate in a larger administrative division called a "métropole". One métropole, Lyon, also has status as a department.


title: Metropolis

text: France's national statistics institute, Insee, designates 12 of the country's urban areas as "metropolitan areas". Paris, Lyon and Marseille are the biggest, the other nine being Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, Nice, Nantes, Strasbourg, Rennes, Grenoble and Montpellier.


title: Metropolis

text: The largest German city by administrative borders is Berlin, while Rhine-Ruhr is the largest metropolitan area (with more than 10 million people). The importance of a city is measured with three groups of indicators, also called metropolitan functions: The decision making and control function, the innovation and competition function, and the gateway function. These functions are seen as key domains for metropolitan regions in developing their performance.


title: Metropolis

text: In spatial planning, a metropolis is usually observed within its regional context, thus the focus is mainly set on the metropolitan regions. These regions can be mono central or multi central. Eleven metropolitan regions have been defined due to these indicators: Berlin-Brandenburg, Bremen-Oldenburg, Dresden-Halle-Leipzig, Frankfurt-Rhine-Main, Hamburg, Hannover-Braunschweig-Göttingen-Wolfsburg, Munich, Nuremberg, Rhine-Neckar, Rhine-Ruhr (with Cologne/Bonn), and Stuttgart.


title: Metropolis

text: Budapest has a population of 1 750 000, more than eight times the population of the second largest city, Debrecen.


title: Metropolis

text: As of January 1, 2015, there are 14 "metropolitan cities" in Italy. Rome, Milan, Naples and other big cores have taken in urban zones from their surrounding areas and merged them into the new entities, which have been home for one out of three Italians. The provinces remained in the parts of the country not belonging to any "Città Metropolitana".


title: Metropolis

text: The Randstad is in the Blue Banana and encompasses both the Amsterdam metropolitan area and Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area.


title: Metropolis

text: The "Union of Polish Metropoles" (), established in 1990, is an organization of the largest cities in the country. Currently twelve cities are members of the organization, of which 11 have more than a quarter-million inhabitants. The largest metropolitan area in Poland, if ranked solely by the number of inhabitants, is the Silesian Metropolis (in fact a metroplex), with around 3 million inhabitants (5 million inhabitants in the Silesian metropolitan area), followed by Warsaw, with around 1.7 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.1 million in the Warsaw metropolitan area. The Silesian Metropolis is an initiative of recent years attempting to unite a large conurbation into one official urban unit. Other Polish metropoles are Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław, Poznań, Tricity, Szczecin and Bydgoszcz–Toruń.


title: Metropolis

text: Romania has one big metropolis, Bucharest with a population of around 2.5 million people. Other metropolitan areas with populations of about half a million people are Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Timișoara, Brașov, Constanța, Galați and Craiova.


title: Metropolis

text: Moscow is the capital and largest city of Russia, with a population estimated at 12.4 million residents within the city limits, while over 17 million residents in the urban area, and over 20 million residents in the Moscow Metropolitan Area. Moscow is among the world's largest cities, being the most populous city entirely within Europe, the most populous urban area in Europe, the most populous metropolitan area in Europe, and also the largest city by land area on the European continent. Saint Petersburg, the cultural capital, is the second-largest city, with a population of roughly 5.4 million inhabitants. Other major urban areas are Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Chelyabinsk.


title: Metropolis

text: Spain has around 15 metropolitan areas with a population greater than 500,000 people. The largest is Madrid, located in the center of the Iberian peninsula and its the seat of the government and the monarch of Spain, with a metropolitan area of almost 7 million people surpassing the limits of its own autonomous community and making it one of the largest of Europe; Barcelona is the second largest city of Spain its metropolitan area comprise 5.5 million people with its limits surpassing its own province, other large cities are Valencia, and Sevilla.


title: Metropolis

text: In the United Kingdom, the term "the Metropolis" was historically used to exclusively refer to London, or the London conurbation. The term is retained by the London police force, the Metropolitan Police Service (the "Met"). The chief officer of the Metropolitan Police is formally known as the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.


title: Metropolis

text: Since 1974 six conurbations in England (outside London) have been known as metropolitan counties, each divided into metropolitan districts. These counties are South Yorkshire (centred on the city of Sheffield), the West Midlands (including Birmingham), West Yorkshire (including Leeds), Merseyside (including Liverpool), Greater Manchester and Tyne & Wear (including Newcastle-upon-Tyne). Greater Glasgow, South Hampshire and Greater Nottingham are also large conurbations.


title: Metropolis

text: Canada's six largest metropoles are Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton. Statistics Canada defines a census metropolitan area as one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core where the urban core has a population of at least 100,000. Canada's most populated metropole is the City of Toronto, with a population of 2.7 million and a metropolitan population of over 6 million people. It is also the heart of Canada's finance and banking industry.


title: Metropolis

text: In Mexico, the term metropolis is used to refer to an urban area of economic, political, and cultural importance. Mexico City represents all three factors as it is the country's capital and financial center with 27 million people. Other metropolises are Monterrey and Guadalajara, both metropolitan areas with a population over 6,000,000 inhabitants.


title: Metropolis

text: In the United States, an incorporated area or group of areas having a population more than 50,000 is required to have a metropolitan planning organization in order to facilitate major infrastructure projects and to ensure financial solvency. Thus, a population of 50,000 or greater has been used as a de facto standard to define a "metropolis" in the United States. A similar definition is used by the United States Census Bureau. The bureau defines a Metropolitan Statistical Area as "at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more inhabitants." The six largest metropolitan areas in the USA are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., with New York being the largest.


title: Metropolis

text: The Government of Australia defines a metropolitan area as any statistical division or district with a population of more than 100,000. According to this definition, there are currently 19 metropolitan areas in Australia, including every state capital. By population, the largest metropolitan area is Sydney (urban area population at 2020 Census of 5,367,206) and the smallest is Bendigo (urban area population at 2020 Census of 100,632). Rapid urban growth in Victoria has seen the 'Manhattanization' of Melbourne, with high-rise clusters in South Yarra, Box Hill, Moonee Ponds and Footscray. The regional city of Geelong which is approximately 40 miles south west of Melbourne, has seen the emergence of high-rise office and apartment buildings in recent years. Geelong is the fastest growing regional city in Australia, and its growth will transform the Port Phillip region in a similar manner to San Francisco's Bay Area. (urban area population at 2020 Census of 160,991).


title: Metropolis

text: In Argentina, Buenos Aires is the principal metropolis with a population of around 15.5 million. The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the third-largest conurbation in Latin America. Buenos Aires is the main political, financial, industrial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina.


title: Metropolis

text: In Brazil, the Greater São Paulo is the principal metropolis with over 21 million inhabitants. In the larger cities, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (population 12 million), favelas (slums) grew up over decades as people migrated from rural areas in order to find work. The term used in Brazilian Portuguese for a metropolitan area is "Região Metropolitana". Other metropolises in Brazil with more than one million inhabitants include: Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Campinas, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Goiânia, Maceió, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Salvador and São Luís.


title: Metropolis

text: The primary metropolis in Chile is its capital: the city of Santiago, with a population of 7 million, living across its metropolitan area. Santiago is the main political, financial, industrial, commercial, and cultural hub of Chile. The other two metropolises in the country are the conurbations of Valparaíso and Concepción with a population of nearly 1 million each.


title: Metropolis

text: In Colombia, Bogotá is the main metropolis with over 13 million inhabitants residing in its Metropolitan Area, which includes boroughs like Soacha, Mosquera, Cota, and Chía. The second metropolis in Colombia is Medellín, which includes such boroughs as Envigado, Itagüi, La Estrella, and Sabaneta. This metropolitan area is known for having the first and only Metro in Colombia, the Medellín Metro. Bogotá has the Transmilenio, a Rapid Transit Metro-bus system.


title: Metropolis

text: The Lima metropolitan area is Peru's capital and largest city with over 10 million inhabitants, more than one third of the total national population.


title: Metropolis

text: In France, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, the word "metropolis" ("métropole" (Fr.) / "metrópole" (Port.) / "metrópoli" (Spa.) / "metropool" (Dutch)) designates the mainland part of a country situated on or close to the European mainland; in the case of France, this means France without its overseas departments. For Portugal and Spain during the Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire period, the term was used to designate Portugal or Spain minus its colonies (the "Ultramar"). In France "métropole" can also be used to refer to a large urban agglomeration; for example, "La Métropole de Lyon" (the Lyon Metropolis).


title: Dune

text: A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat regions covered with wind-swept sand or dunes with little or no vegetation are called "ergs" or "sand seas". Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, but most kinds of dunes are longer on the stoss (upflow) side, where the sand is pushed up the dune, and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee side. The valley or trough between dunes is called a "dune slack".