title: Austro-Hungarian Navy

text: British author John Biggins wrote a series of four serio-comic historical novels concerning the Austro-Hungarian Navy and a fictional hero named Ottokar Prohaska, although genuinely historical individuals, such as Georg Ludwig von Trapp and Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria make appearances. Published by McBooks Press, the novels are:


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: The game is played from a third-person perspective and features an open world for the player to explore in the form of the Willamette Parkview Mall. The player must survive by scavenging for items around the shopping mall to fight zombies and hostile human non-player characters known as psychopaths, while rescuing friendly human non-player characters known as survivors. In addition, the game features a set time limit of 72 hours, which the player will have to complete the story within before the time expires.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: "Dead Rising" was released on August 8, 2006, originally for the Xbox 360. The game became a critical and commercial success, leading it to being introduced as part of the Xbox 360 "Platinum Hits" lineup and spawning three sequels – "Dead Rising 2" in September 2010, "Dead Rising 3" in November 2013, and "Dead Rising 4" in December 2016. A remake of the game was developed for the Wii, "", released in February 2009. A mobile phone version was developed. As part of its tenth anniversary, the original Xbox 360 version of the game was re-released on September 13, 2016, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Players can operate the game in one of two modes. 72 Hour Mode is the main mode and the only one available to players to begin with, in which the main objective is to investigate the Willamette Parkview Mall within three days, before Frank can be rescued by helicopter, completing a series of "Case Files" - major missions that, when completed, advance the game's main story. If the player fails a Case File, the game does not end, allowing the player to merely explore the mall instead until the mode is up, though failure to comply to certain conditions (primarily associated with Case Files) will result in earning a different ending. Completing all the Case Files by the time 72 Hour Mode is over, unlocks "Overtime Mode" which players automatically begin, where the main objective to complete has Frank given one more day to complete an additional set of objectives within the mall. The second mode, ∞ (Infinity) Mode, is unlocked after completing Overtime Mode and allows players to roam around the mall in sandbox mode without any time limit, with Frank trying to survive as long as possible.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: To survive in all modes, players need to find and seek out weapons scattered around the mall that they can use against the zombies. Over 250 items are available to use in combat; they can be found anywhere, such as in stores, and fall under two categories, melee and ranged, with all ranging from the powerful, to the near-useless. The weapons and other items are firearms, sports equipment, children's toys, furniture, construction tools, electronic devices, and various bladed objects. Frank can carry only a limited number of weapons - baseball bats, 2x4 planks, hammers, pistols, shotguns, and so forth, though he can carry multiple versions of the same type. He can use them only a limited number of times before he must find new ones, as melee weapons eventually deteriorate and break, while guns must be discarded when out of ammunition. Some weapons can be changed by the environment - frying pans can be heated on a stove both to increase damage and grant access to a special move - while others are large objects that Frank cannot store in his inventory and which he will drop if he picks up or switches to another item. Many of the less useful weapons exist purely for humorous effect. For example, the toy Megabuster, from Capcom's Mega Man, shoots tennis balls; traffic cones are put over a zombie's head, causing it to stumble about blindly.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Items other than weapons are available. Frank can try out various outfits from the mall's clothing stores - such as a Special Forces uniform, wrestling boots, a hockey mask and X's armour from the Mega Man X franchise. He can carry around certain books that can confer bonuses, such as increasing the durability of weapons. He can consume food and drink scavenged while exploring to recover health, or blend them together to make different "juices", which have temporary effects on the player. In Infinity Mode, players need to eat food to stay alive, as Frank's health drops every 100 seconds. They cannot access the supermarket within the mall, and food items are limited, but they can acquire weapons and food items from all characters; survivors are hostile to them in this mode.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: "Dead Rising" incorporates a role-playing element in the form of an experience system, in which completing various actions will reward Frank with "Prestige Points" (PP). While in both modes, killing large number of zombies can earn PP, so too can taking photographs. Any photograph that Frank takes in the game is automatically scored based on five "genres" - horror (zombies and graphic gore), outtakes (humorous events or scenes), erotica (photos of female survivors or zombies, particularly those focusing on the breasts and crotch), drama (dramatic events, such as the survivors' reactions while in the security room), or brutality (deaths of zombies and other characters) - with the score converted into PP. In addition to these actions, both 72 Hour Mode and Overtime Mode award PP for completing Case Files, and completing the optional task of rescuing survivors within the mall, and defeating "psychopaths" - boss characters who have either been driven insane by the zombie attacks, or are using the outbreak as cover for their own purposes. Once enough PP is earned, Frank will level up, resulting in upgrades to either attack power, running speed, throw distance, health, or to the number of items Frank can carry in his inventory, while new moves can be unlocked, which boost his effectiveness with hand-to-hand combat. Any experience, levels, and unlocked moves earned in a playthrough will automatically be carried over into a new game should the player choose to restart, which can make subsequent playthroughs much easier.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: An in-game HUD is provided, which displays information on Frank's health, his prestige level and the amount of PP progress he has made towards the next one, his inventory of weapons and their condition/amount of ammo left, a counter for the number of zombies the player has killed during a playthrough, and objective counters for both major and optional tasks, which consists of a bar that counts down the amount of time a player has to reach where the objective is located within the mall and complete it, before it is considered to be failed. Players have access to a map to help them make their way around the mall and pinpoint where they must go in the main game mode, can receive calls on a transceiver about anything suspicious that Frank can investigate (he cannot jump, attack, switch weapons, or pick up/use any item when taking a call), and can view Frank's watch to determine what time it is; in-game time progresses faster than real time, with a day in the game taking two hours of real time, while the time of day affects the behaviour of the zombies - during the day, they are sluggish and weak, but become more active, tougher, and more numerous at night. Players may save by using green couches or the mall's various restrooms, though the original Xbox 360 version allows only one game-in-progress save to be made per memory device and player profile; the save system is disabled for Infinity Mode. When Frank is killed, the player may reload from the last save or restart from the beginning.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: In 2006, photojournalist Frank West is alerted by a source that something is happening in the town of Willamette, Colorado. Flying into the town with helicopter pilot Ed DeLuca, he learns that the town is subject to a military quarantine and observes several violent incidents throughout the town. He is dropped onto the Willamette Parkview Mall's helipad, after asking Ed to return in three days.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Arriving in the mall, he learns that the quarantine is due to an outbreak of zombies. The mall is breached, forcing Frank to take refuge in the mall's security room. With the help of janitor Otis Washington, he travels into the mall. After helping agent Brad Garrison in a firefight against an unknown assailant, the two strike an alliance. Person of interest to Brad, Russell Barnaby is located by the two, hidden in a bookstore. Barnaby refuses to be escorted to safety, forcing the two to return to the security room where they are unable to call for assistance due to a communications jammer. Frank meets and saves several survivors who are either trapped, injured, or held captive by psychotic survivors (the main bosses of the game dubbed psychopaths) who attack Frank. The two later rescue Barnaby from the unknown assailant. Brad is injured, forcing Frank to search for medicine.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: In his search, he finds the medicine required to save Brad is in the supermarket but is held by an angry and mad manager named Steve who is holding captive a woman he met during the mall's breach. After killing Steve and saving her the woman rebukes him, mentioning Santa Cabeza. Frank learns from Barnaby that Santa Cabeza was ostensibly a Central American town linked to the drug trade, which distributed drugs that had a zombifying effect. Locating the woman again on security monitors, he questions her. Revealing herself to be Isabela Keyes, sister of the unknown assailant, Carlito, she promises to set up an interview between the two.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Isabela comes to the meeting alone, after being shot in a rage by Carlito. Frank escorts Isabela to the security room, where she reveals that Santa Cabeza was home to an American research facility experimenting on cattle and that Barnaby was its head. Isabela, as a research assistant, was privy to the fact that a species of native wasp was used in an attempt to boost the performance of cattle, but instead had a zombifying effect. The wasps escaped and infected humans, forcing a U.S. military cleanup of all life in the town, with few escapees. Barnaby begins to zombify and attacks Brad's partner, Jessie McCarney, and is killed.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Isabela reveals that Carlito is planning to use the mall as a staging point to spread the parasites across the country, using bombs located in trucks. Brad and Frank disable the bombs. Brad and Carlito engage in a firefight, and Carlito is mortally wounded. Carlito manages to kick Brad out of the room, where he is injured by zombies off-screen. Frank can find him in the tunnels, where he tells Frank not to tell Jessie, and slides his handgun to Frank, implying that he wants Frank to shoot him. He will then fully turn.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Frank locates Carlito being held hostage by an insane butcher named Larry, and after killing Larry he receives Carlito's locket before Carlito dies. The locket causes Isabela to realize the password of Carlito's computer, allowing her to shut down the jammer. However, U.S. Special Forces arrive in the mall regardless, and have cleanup orders. Jessie is allowed to live, but she zombifies. Otis escapes with a helicopter and possible survivors that Frank rescued. Frank returns to the helipad alone, and DeLuca's helicopter arrives, but crashes into the mall's clock tower.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Isabela arrives, but Frank passes out. Isabela realizes that Frank has been infected by the wasp larval parasite. Frank gathers supplies for a drug that can suppress the parasite and discovers an exit from the mall created by DeLuca's crash. Isabela learns from Carlito's computer that he has manufactured the drug before, and used it on fifty infected orphans, spreading them across the country. After exiting the mall, Frank encounters the cleanup operation's commander, Brock Mason, who also commanded Santa Cabeza's operation. The two fight, until Mason is knocked into a crowd of zombies.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Frank and Isabela escape from Willamette, but Isabela is taken into custody as a perpetrator of the incident. Frank manages to report on the incident and Santa Cabeza, but the truth of Carlito's orphans remain unknown.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Although completing all Case Files and Overtime Mode leads to the game's canon ending, in terms of the game's lore, the player may encounter different endings in "Dead Rising", depending on certain actions that they perform, as listed below:


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: "Dead Rising" started development as a sequel to "Shadow of Rome". The development team knew they wanted to make a game aimed at the Western market and also something different this time around so they changed the story, setting and time period from "Shadow of Rome". Despite the game's similarities to George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead", Capcom asserted that the concept of "humans battling zombies in a shopping mall" is a "wholly unprotectible idea" under the present copyright laws. While the company wanted to have the game follow on from "Resident Evil", Capcom's other zombie-centered game series, its development team opted to design the game with a more comical view of zombies in the horror genre, particularly in the way that players interacted with the zombies in the game, allowing them to be able to do anything against them in terms of what weapons they could use against them, while they based the mall upon the stereotypical design of American shopping malls. One particular area that was keenly worked on by the team was the number of zombies that could appear onscreen during the game in order to give the feel that it was a major outbreak; when "Electronic Gaming Monthly" reviewed the game, they reported that up to 800 zombies could appear on screen at once. As the development team consisted of members who had worked on Capcom's role-playing video game "", it helped greatly in incorporating one of the game's elements borrowed from it, towards the developing the mechanics structure of "Dead Rising" - the ability to roll over anything earned in terms of experience, levels and abilities, towards making a new playthrough, was implemented so that players would have a sense of responsibility for their decisions and actions.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: After making changes to the beta of the game, a playable demo was released via the Xbox Live Marketplace on August 4, 2006, prior to its release over the next two months.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: "Dead Rising Original Soundtrack" was released in Japan on March 30, 2007, in a 2,000-copy limited edition, bundled with a T-shirt. It was packaged with a T-shirt that showcased Frank, Isabella, and an outline of the mall. A non-limited edition of the same soundtrack was released on June 20, 2007.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: After "Dead Rising" was released in the United States, Capcom released nine downloadable "keys" to Xbox Live Marketplace that would unlock different lockers in the Security Room, providing the player with nine new outfit options, adding three more keys for players to download and use on May 31, 2007.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: "Dead Rising" received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Most reviewers commended the "sandbox"-style of gameplay, the amount to explore within the mall, and the sheer number of ways to kill the thousands of zombies. GameSpot stated it was "a great piece of entertainment", while two reviewers on Australian video game talk show "Good Game" gave the title a 6-7/10 score. However, general consensus amongst reviews was towards criticising the game's save system mechanic and the AI of the survivors; while IGN considered the game to be "one of the more unique and entertaining titles on the Xbox 360", its review notably indicated that improvements were needed with both the save system and NPCs, along with offering "a more forgiving story progression, and tighter controls". One point of contention in reviews was the operation of the game's transceiver, specifically on how persistent it is when ringing, how vulnerable Frank is while answering any calls on it, and how if the telephone call is somehow interrupted (such as being attacked), it would end abruptly and be repeated again when the player answers the transceiver a few seconds later and hears Frank being scolded by Otis for disrupting him; the use of the transceiver in the game led to numerous gamer-oriented webcomics and blogs parodying the use of it. Capcom reported around 500,000 copies had been shipped out in the first month after its release, and one million copies worldwide by the end of 2006. It received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: One notable complaint that "Dead Rising" received, was from players who ran the game through either a standard-definition or small high-definition set, only to find themselves having difficulty reading the on-screen text, an issue caused due to Capcom deciding to develop the game exclusively for high-definition televisions, particularly as it had been touted as one of the first truly "next generation" titles available for the Xbox 360. In response to the complaints about the issue, a representative of the company posted the following on Xbox.com:


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: A week later, Capcom released a statement saying they would not be fixing the problem, and suggested some DIY solutions to resolve the issue.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Along with being ranked #2 in gaming magazine Gamesmaster's Top 50 of 2006, "Dead Rising" won several awards:


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Because of the graphical nature of the violence portrayed in "Dead Rising", the BPjM in Germany felt that game fulfilled at least one of their indexing criteria, documenting that the title glorified violence. As a direct result, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, the board responsible for rating entertainment software for Germany, refused to rate the game, and effectively put a halt to Microsoft publishing a German version, as the company does not allow unrated games to be released for the Xbox 360, though the game was made available for import to players of a legal age. However, after a decision by Hamburg's county court in June 2007, it was prohibited within the country from late August 2007, making sales of the title illegal in Germany; anyone caught selling the game would be sentenced to imprisonment or a monetary penalty according to §131 of the German criminal code, with all copies confiscated by the German police.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: The MKR Group, who holds the copyright to both the 1978 "Dawn of the Dead" film and its 2004 remake, sent letters on February 6, 2008, to Capcom, Microsoft, and Best Buy, claiming that "Dead Rising" infringes on the copyrights and trademarks of these films. In a complaint filed February 12, 2008, to seek an injunction that would pre-emptively counter an anticipated complaint from MKR, Capcom asserted that "humans battling zombies in a shopping mall" is a "wholly unprotectable idea" under today's copyright laws; Capcom further pointed to the warning "label" on the box cover as a preemptive measure that was intended to separate the game from the films and avoid any customer confusion.<ref name="Joystiq-02/14/08"></ref> The MKR Group subsequently filed a lawsuit in February 2008 after failing to reach an agreement with Capcom over the dispute.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: The lawsuit was dismissed in October 2008, with United States Magistrate Judge Richard G. Seeborg stating that MKR failed to demonstrate the similarity of any protected element of "Dawn of the Dead" to that of "Dead Rising", with many of the elements MKR claimed were similar being part of the "wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall during a zombie outbreak".


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: A remake of "Dead Rising" was released for the Wii in February 2009, titled "Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop", and was developed by Capcom and published by THQ in Australia. Built upon the same engine used for the Wii version of "Resident Evil 4", which had been positively received by reviewers, the remake incorporated additional features to that of the Xbox 360 original, including the use of an over-the-shoulder camera approach and utilising the motion control system of the Wii Remote, yet lacked some of the features of the original, including showing large number of zombies on screen and the photography system. The Wii version ultimately earned mixed reviews, though was praised for having an improved aiming system to that of the original.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: In 2008, Capcom released a hand-held spin-off of the game for mobile phone, announcing on 4 October 2010 that an iOS version of the game was also announced. In this version, players have access to a new game mechanic in which they can call upon their friends via Twitter and Facebook to help revive them, with their refusal causing them to appear as a zombie within their friend's game, while complex operations in the game are performed through context-based buttons. Similar to Infinity Mode in the console version, the game features a hunger meter, with Frank now required to eat food within the mall in order to survive. The hand-held spin-off was generally well received by reviewers, earning a B+ from 1UP.com, and a 7.3/10 from IGN, with praise given for staying true to the sandbox design and plot of the Xbox 360 version, despite being pared down for the smaller screen and platform.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: On 18 July 2016, Capcom announced that work was underway for a remastered version of the original "Dead Rising", alongside its sequel "Dead Rising 2" and its spin-off title, aiming for these to be released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, prior to the release of the fourth game in the series. These were released on 13 September that year, both separately and in a bundle pack, with the developers improving the game's graphics to high-definition, increasing the number of save slots and improving the frame-rate.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: Following the game's commercial success, plans were made to create a sequel, with it aimed to operate on multiple platforms. On 28 September 2010, "Dead Rising 2" was released for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows, and while it followed the basic setup of gameplay mechanics as the original, it featured a new character, a currency system, a weapon creation system that involved finding "Combo Cards" to know what to make, and online multiplayer modes, including zombie-killing minigames and two-player cooperative play, whilst also featuring improvements to address some of the negative feedback that "Dead Rising" received. Since its release, two downloadable episodes were released for the game - one a prologue set before the main story of "Dead Rising 2", the other taking place after it and featuring Frank West, who is also controllable in it - and a re-imagined version was released in October 2011, with a new story and Frank West being the main protagonist.


title: Dead Rising (video game)

text: The game spawned two more sequels, developed by Capcom's Canadian branch, Capcom Vancouver - "Dead Rising 3" was released on 22 November 2013 for Xbox One and on 5 September 2014 for Microsoft Windows, while "Dead Rising 4" was released on 6 December 2016. Capcom Vancouver was also developing another sequel to the franchise, which was cancelled when the studio closed down in September 2018.


title: Amur Annexation

text: The Amur Annexation was the annexation of the southeast corner of Siberia by the Russian Empire in 1858–1860 through a series of unequal treaties forced upon the Qing dynasty of China. The two areas involved are Priamurye between the Amur River and the Stanovoy Range to the north, and Primorye which runs down the coast from the Amur mouth to the Korean border, including the island of Sakhalin. The territory now known as Outer Manchuria, part of the wider region called Manchuria, was formerly under the sovereignty of Qing China.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In the modern-day geography of Russia, "Priamurye" ("the Amur Lands") roughly corresponds to the Amur Oblast and the southern half of the Khabarovsk Krai, while "Primorye" ("the Maritime Lands") corresponds to the Primorsky Krai (and, possibly, adjacent sections of Khabarovsk Krai).


title: Amur Annexation

text: Hydrologically, the Stanovoy Range separates the rivers that flow north into the Arctic from those that flow south into the Amur River. Ecologically, the area is the southeastern edge of the Siberian boreal forest with some areas good for agriculture along the middle Amur. Socially and politically, from about 600 CE, it was the northern fringe of the Chinese-Korean-Manchu world.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In 1643, Russian adventurers spilled over the Stanovoys. By 1689, they were driven back by the Manchus. By the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689) the two empires recognized the Stanovoys and the Argun River as their border. This remained stable until the 1840s.


title: Amur Annexation

text: Following the voyages of Captain James Cook, significant numbers of British, French, and American vessels began entering the Pacific. They were followed by Russians like Grigory Shelikhov and Nikolai Rezanov who were mainly concerned with the new Russian colonies in Alaska. This raised the problem of naval defense of the east coast of Siberia and the possibility of using the Amur River as a supply route to the Pacific.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In 1845, Alexander von Middendorf entered the Amur country and wrote a report. In 1847, reached the mouth of the Amur but could not find a deep-water entrance.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In 1847, Nikolay Muravyov was appointed governor-general of East Siberia. Before leaving for Irkutsk, he arranged for the creation of an Amur Committee to coordinate work in the area. In 1849, he made an overland trip to Okhotsk and then to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. One result of this was the removal of the main naval center from Okhotsk to Petropavlovsk.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In 1849, Nevelskoy sailed part way up the Amur, and then sailed south through the Tatar Strait, thereby proving that Sakhalin was an island, a fact that was kept a military secret.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In 1850, Nevelskoy founded Nikolayevsk-on-Amur on what was alleged Chinese territory. Karl Nesselrode, the foreign minister, tried to overrule this, but Nicholas I declared "where once the Russian flag is raised, it must not be lowered". Over the next three years, Nevelskoy established other forts on the alleged Chinese territory around the mouth of the Amur.


title: Amur Annexation

text: To establish a military force, Muravyov created a new Cossack host, the Transbaikalian Cossacks, by arming 20,000 mining serfs. In May–June 1854 he and 1,000 men sailed down the Amur to Nikolayevsk. The Manchu governor at Aigun had no choice but to let them pass.


title: Amur Annexation

text: News of the Crimean War reached the far east in July 1854. In September, an Anglo-French naval force was defeated at the Siege of Petropavlovsk. Judging that Petropavlovsk could not be defended, Muravyov ordered Rear Admiral Vasily Zavoyko to move his forces to the Amur area. In May 1855, Charles Elliot's force found Zavoyko at De Kastri Bay (south of Cape Nevelskoy on the Tatar Strait).


title: Amur Annexation

text: Under the cover of fog, Zavoiko withdrew north to the mouth of the Amur, which baffled the British since they thought that Sakhalin was connected to the mainland. In 1855, Muravyov sent a 3,000-man force down the Amur, including settlers. The Chinese declared this to be illegal, but did nothing.


title: Amur Annexation

text: Also in 1855, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimoda which temporarily resolved their conflict in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The Russian representative was Admiral Putyatin (see below).


title: Amur Annexation

text: The Second Opium War broke out in 1856. In 1858, the British and French captured Canton. When news of this reached Saint Petersburg, the foreign minister, Alexander Gorchakov, who had replaced Nesselrode, decided that it was time to "activate Russian Far Eastern Policy". Muravyov was given plenipotentiary powers and Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin was sent to Peking to negotiate a more favorable relation.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In 1856 and 1857, Muravyov sent more settlers down the Amur. In 1858, he went himself. His instructions were not to use force except to rescue captives. On reaching Aigun he presented the local governor with a treaty, which was signed. The Treaty of Aigun assigned all the land north of the Amur to Russia and declared the area east of the Ussuri River and south of the Amur (northern Primorye) to be a Russo-Chinese condominium until further negotiations.


title: Amur Annexation

text: Muravyov continued down the Amur and founded Khabarovsk at the mouth of the Ussuri. In September 1858, Alexander II promoted him to full general and granted him the suffix '-Amursky'. In 1859, he sent an exploring expedition down the coast as far as Vladivostok.


title: Amur Annexation

text: Meanwhile, Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin was travelling overland to China. Reaching Kyakhta, he was refused entry in the spring of 1857. He sailed down the Amur and took his ship to Tientsin. Refused entry again, he joined the British and French at Shanghai. When the allies took the Taku Forts Putyatin offered himself as a mediator. The result was the Treaties of Tientsin which granted most of the allied demands. Without fully informing the allies, Putyatin made a separate deal with the Chinese on June 13, 1858.


title: Amur Annexation

text: In return for cannon, 20,000 rifles and military instructors, the frontier would be adjusted in some unspecified way. Putyatin was not aware of the Treaty of Aigun which had been signed 16 days earlier. After the allies withdrew the Chinese failed to implement the treaties. The allies returned in June 1859, attempted to retake the Taku Forts and failed. As a result, the Chinese refused to ratify the treaties.


title: Amur Annexation

text: At this point, a 27-year-old Major General named Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev entered the picture. In March 1859 he was assigned to accompany the Russian weapons and instructors. At the frontier he found that the Chinese had rejected the treaties and would not accept the weapons. He continued to Peking where he stayed at the Russian ecclesiastical mission and attempted to negotiate with the Manchus.


title: Amur Annexation

text: Hearing of allied preparations, Ignatyev joined the British and French in Shanghai and proved to be helpful to the allied councils, as he had a map of Peking and good interpreters. By October 1860 the British and French had retaken the Taku forts. They entered Peking and the Emperor fled to Jehol. Ignatyev placed himself as an intermediary between the Europeans and Chinese. In the first two Treaties of Peking (October 24 and 25, 1860) nearly all the allied demands were met. Ignatyev continued negotiations for a Russo-Chinese treaty. He convinced the Chinese that only his support would cause the allies to leave the capital.


title: Amur Annexation

text: The result was the Russo-Chinese Convention of Peking of November 14, 1860. By this, the Treaty of Tientsin was ratified and all the land north of the Amur and east of the Ussuri was ceded to the Russian Empire. Thus, by pure diplomacy and only a few thousand troops, the Russians took advantage of Chinese weakness and the strength of the other European powers to annex of Chinese territory. With the exception of Muravyov's rather ceremonial cannonade at Aigun, they had apparently not fired a single shot.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: HIT: The First Case is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language action suspense-thriller film written and directed by Sailesh Kolanu, being a remake of his 2020 Telugu film of the . The film is produced by Dil Raju Production and T-Series. It stars Rajkummar Rao and Sanya Malhotra. It was released on 15 July 2022.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Vikram Jaisingh aka Vicky is a cop who works in the Homicide Intervention Team HIT, and is sharp person, who solves crucial cases with his ability to capture even the smallest of details, thus earning the trust of his senior Ajit. He is in love with Neha Mehta, his colleague and a forensic official.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Rohit is Vikram's close friend and his colleague, who accompanies him in most of his cases. Vikram is constantly in an argument with Akshay, another officer, who crosses lines with Vikram. Vikram occasionally suffers from PTSD due to his past experience and refuses to take pills as he believes it slows down his abilities.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Meanwhile, a girl named Preeti is driving on the highway, and her car stops to the side because it suffers a malfunction. Officer Ibrahim Sheikh, stops to help her, and she calls her father since she forgot her phone at her home. When her father comes to pick her up, he sees that she has gone missing and Ibrahim says that she got into a blue car and he thought it was his car.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: When Preeti's parents approach Ibrahim demandingly, he remains firm and insults them. Being a good friend of Preeti’ parents, Ajit decides to suspend Ibrahim because of how he acted and since he does not believe him. Vikram decides to take a six-month break to relieve his PTSD attacks. After two months, Vikram gets a call that Neha goes missing. He decides to go back to Ajit and ask for the case file for Neha going missing, but he says Akshay is dealing with the case, and he cannot give it to him.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Vikram decides to ask Saxena, who is Neha's colleague, about the cases Neha has dealt with the past two months. Vikram and Rohit connect Preeti's and Neha's missing case and deduce that the same person is involved in both cases. Vikram decides to investigate, and he asks Srinivas for Preethi's case, and he takes over the case.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Meanwhile, Akshay has suspicions that Vikram was the one who kidnapped Neha. Vikram decides to go to Preeti's college, and he asks Ajay and Sandya about what happened the previous night, and they say the same response how they were at a pub. Vikram and Rohit ask both Preeti's parents, and they say that her parents died in a plane crash and she was living with them and Preeti's neighbor Sheela about her.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Vikram and Rohit start deducing the case, and they come to a conclusion that Sheela kidnapped Preeti after they see Sheela's blue car and a note forged by Sheela indicating the whereabouts of Preeti's corpse. Ibrahim then sees the car and says that Sheela was not the one who kidnapped Preeti. Vikram and his team dig up the body behind the house and find that it is unnoticeable and it has a few DNA samples on it.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Vikram suspects Ajay because he said that Preeti was his girlfriend. While searching for the evidences Vikram gets a call from a stranger named Eesha who is stalked by a man in a car telling her to stop so that he can talk, but she drives fast and reaches the outskirts and contacted Vikram. Vikram begins his investigation in the toll booth in the highway. Vikram using the toll gate security cameras he deduces that the man who kidnapped was Fahad. After Vikram, Akshay, and Ibrahim find Fahad, Ibrahim is shot dead by Fahad while Vikram and Akshay capture him. Fahad takes them to the house where he received the money to kidnap Preeti. Vikram finds out that it was Rohit's house, and before Rohit shoots him, he shoots him dead.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Akshay goes upstairs and gets Neha. During the funeral of Rohit Sapna explains how Preeti and Sapna belonged to the same orphanage. Sapna had started developing feelings for Preeti since the age of 14. Saraswati Ma'am from the orphanage had tried to separate them. A couple came to adopt a child and were interested in both of them. But in the end they choose one and Preeti gets selected and adopted. Saraswati Ma'am asked her to suppress her feelings.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Sapna explains how she saw Preeti at a club and suddenly all the pent up feelings came out. Sapna tries to tell Preeti but Preeti rebukes Sapna. To express her feelings to Preeti, Sapna kidnaps Preeti with the help of Fahad and then Preeti dies in a scuffle. Rohit tries to protect Sapna by burying her and planting the DNA evidences. Sapna explains the whole story and Sapna gets arrested. Vikram attends the funeral of Both Preeti and Ibrahim. the Unidentified DNA on Preeti was of Rohit . He knew he would be caught and wanted to die at the hands of Vikram.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: The music of the film is composed by Mithoon and Manan Bhardwaj while the lyrics are written by Sayeed Quadri and Manan Bhardwaj. The film score is composed by John Stewart Eduri. The first single was released on 29 June 2022.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: "HIT: The First Case" earned 1.35 crore at the domestic box office on its opening day and 5.59 crore on opening weekend.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: "HIT: The First Case" received mixed to positive reviews from critics with praise towards the performance of Rao and Malhotra, pacing and direction. Chirag Sehgal of "News 18" rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rajkummar Rao shines bright in the movie. The film also looks very similar to Kunal Kemmu's web series Abhay". A critic for "Bollywood Hungama" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "HIT THE FIRST CASE is a decent watch thanks to a superlative performance, whodunit element and a story". Shubham Kulkarni of "Koimoi" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rajkummar Rao needs his glory back where the entire movie somehow complimented his talent and hardwork. This is not it but is not entirely bad either". Tushar Joshi of "India Today" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "If you are looking for a solid performance from Rajkummar Rao, then HIT won't disappoint. It is gripping in parts but we hoped the writers had put in more efforts to go beyond just remaking another south film". Renuka Vyavahare of "The Times of India" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rajkummar Rao lends gravitas to the dawdling crime mystery. He has the ability to elevate a scrambled script and he does that here as well. He ensures you are on his team despite the misfires. HIT is more of a hit-and-miss" Sukanya Verma of "Rediff.com" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "HIT: The First Case hits the jackpot with Rajkummar Rao.


title: HIT: The First Case (2022 film)

text: Nothing escapes his discerning eye. Nothing comes in our way of admiring it". Devesh Sharma of "Filmfare" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Rajkumar Rao is the best thing about the film and keeps you invested in the project through sheer dint of effort". A critic for "Pinkvilla" rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "HIT: The First Case hits the bulls eye in the first half, but falls flat in the second. It's an honest attempt to bring the thriller for the Hindi audience".


title: Citroën SM

text: The Citroën SM is a high-performance coupé produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1970 to 1975. The SM placed third in the 1971 European Car of the Year contest, trailing its stablemate Citroën GS, and won the 1972 "Motor Trend" Car of the Year award in the U.S.


title: Citroën SM

text: In 1961, Citroën began work on 'Project S' – a sports variant of the Citroën DS. As was customary for the firm, many running concept vehicles were developed, increasingly complex and upmarket from the DS. At some stage in the 9-year project, it evolved from developing a faster variant of the 1955 DS to developing an entirely new, thoroughly engineered car – in terms of engineering effort, a replacement for the high volume DS model. Citroën purchased Maserati in 1968 with the intention of harnessing Maserati's high-performance engine technology to produce a true Gran Tourer car, combining the sophisticated Citroën suspension with a Maserati V6.


title: Citroën SM

text: The result was the Citroën SM, first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1970. It went on sale in France in September of that year. Factory produced cars were all left-hand-drive, although RHD conversions were done in the UK and Australia.


title: Citroën SM

text: This car was unusual for France – production of luxury cars was heavily restricted in the country by post-World War II "puissance fiscale" horsepower tax, so France had not had a production vehicle in this market sector since before World War II.


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM had an engine of only 2.7 liters owing to these regulations; it was the first response to the luxury/performance sector since the export oriented Chrysler Hemi V8 engine Facel Vega in the late 1950s. Citroën's flagship vehicle competed with high-performance GTs of the time from other nations and manufacturers, such as Jaguar, Lotus, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche.


title: Citroën SM

text: The origin of the model name 'SM' is not completely clear. The 'S' may derive from the Project 'S' designation, the aim of which was to produce what is essentially a sports variant of the Citroën DS, and the 'M' perhaps refers to Maserati, hence SM is often assumed to stand for "Systeme Maserati" or "Sports Maserati". Another common alternative is "Série Maserati", but others have suggested it is short for 'Sa Majesté' (Her Majesty in French), which aligns with the common DS model's nickname 'La déesse' (The Goddess).


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM did not find a sufficient customer base in the small European GT market, but much of the SM's technology was carried forward to the successful Citroën CX, launched in 1974 the DIRAVI steering being the most obvious example. The same basic engine in enlarged 3.0 L form (some in Italy had 2.0 L) was used in Maserati's own Merak (1,800 units) and later with some modification in the Biturbo (40,000 units). The Merak, Khamsin, and Bora, used Citroën's high-pressure hydraulics for some functions, and the Citroën gearbox in the Merak, during the Citroën-Maserati alliance.


title: Citroën SM

text: Contemporary automotive journalists were effusive about the SM's dynamic qualities, which were unlike anything they had experienced before. The SM provided a combination of comfort, sharp handling, and braking not available in any other car at the time. The magazine "Popular Science" reported that the SM had the shortest stopping distance of any car they had tested.


title: Citroën SM

text: Automotive journalists marveled at the resulting ability to travel for hours at in comfort. In 1972 "Motorsport" (U.K.) noted ..."that rare quality of being a nice car to be in at any speed, from stationary to maximum." The touring range based on the SM's fuel economy and the large fuel tank made long, fast, relaxing journeys possible.


title: Citroën SM

text: Because the SM had a smaller engine than competitors, the acceleration was adequate rather than exemplary – some competitors were quicker. Some owners have fitted the similar sized Maserati Merak SS engine, which does improve the driving experience considerably.


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM combined many unusual and innovative features, some of which were only becoming commonplace on cars manufactured many decades later. It borrowed heavily from the innovations introduced on the DS, by including hydro-pneumatic (oleo pneumatic) self-leveling suspension, and self-leveling lights that swiveled with the steering (except in the United States, where these were illegal at the time).


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM was Citroën's means of demonstrating just how much power and performance could be accommodated in a front-wheel drive design. This was novel, and many technical issues needed to be overcome, especially related to torque steer, where excessive steering feedback affects control of the vehicle.


title: Citroën SM

text: A solution was found – no road feedback at all – the driver points and goes, regardless of what the driven wheels are experiencing. Hitting a pothole at high speed would not turn the steering wheel in the driver's hands.


title: Citroën SM

text: This new type of variable assist power steering was later fitted to the Citroen CX in large numbers and its basic principle has since spread throughout the vehicle production. DIRAVI as it was called, allowed great assistance to the motorist while parking, but little assistance at motorway speeds. The system adjusts the hydraulic pressure on the steering centering cam according to vehicle speed so that the amount of steering feel remained almost constant at any speed, counteracting the tendency of manual and ordinary power assisted steering to feel light at high speed. Thus the car turns easily at low speed, emphasized by high gearing given two turns lock-lock, and relatively more effort is required at higher speed.


title: Citroën SM

text: If the driver released the steering wheel, then the steering would center back to the straight ahead position. It was geared for minimal steering input – with 2 turns from lock to lock, often described as like a "go kart."


title: Citroën SM

text: Many contemporary reviewers remarked that this system would take at least of driving to become familiar, but once the driver is accustomed to the system, then traditional steering feels old-fashioned.


title: Citroën SM

text: This steering was controversial at the time – the exaggerated, "strong-arm" steering inputs required in contemporary cars could cause abrupt manoeuvres in the SM. When the SM was cast as a TV series regular on "The Protectors" (1972), the lead actress refused to drive it, because of the familiarization required from the steering.


title: Citroën SM

text: The "DIRAVI" steering is self-centering and fully powered (as opposed to hydraulically assisted). This feature allows the front wheels to run near-zero caster, and means that there is no camber change as lock is applied, and also ensures that the maximum amount of tyre area is in contact with the road at all times.


title: Citroën SM

text: The wiper mechanism, when on the "low speed" setting, is 'sensitive' to rain, by measuring the current needed to drive the wiper motor, while the steering column is adjustable in both height and reach.


title: Citroën SM

text: The braking system, adapted from the DS, employs disc brakes at all four corners (the DS has drums at the rear), with the front brakes being inboard, and cooled via large ducts on the front underside of the car. The hydraulic braking pressure front to rear balance is self-adjusting according to the weight in the rear of the car, so on hard braking the entire car lowers evenly.


title: Citroën SM

text: Standard wheels are steel with stainless trims, but for the rigors of off-road racing, Michelin developed a unique solution – a lightweight carbon-reinforced resin wheel, which became a factory fitted option. These "plastic" wheels weigh less than half the standard weight and were decades in advance of similar applications. The construction method is similar to the more brittle fiberglass material (some hobbyists even refer to them this way), but the wheels contain carbon fibers, not glass fibers.


title: Citroën SM

text: Designed in-house by Citroën's chief designer Robert Opron, the SM bears a family resemblance to the Citroën CX and Citroën GS, and to some extent the Maserati Mistral. Like the CX, the SM retains the rear fender skirts, and seen from above, the SM resembles a teardrop, with a wide front track tapering to a narrower rear track.


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM was unusually aerodynamic for its era, with Kamm tail and low drag coefficient of 0.26. The ventilation intake is located in a "neutral" area on the hood, which makes the ventilator fan regulate the interior ventilation at all road speeds.


title: Citroën SM

text: With its distinctly modernist influence, the interior styling of the SM is as dramatic as the exterior. The small oval steering wheel is matched by oval gauges. The manual shift lever 'boot' is a highly stylized chrome gate. The seats are highly adjustable buckets with centre padding composed of many individual 'rolls'. High-quality materials are used throughout. The bonnet is aircraft grade aluminum, while the external bright work is stainless steel, rather than 'cheaper' chrome (except for "plastichrome" "SM" trim at the rear base of the rain gutter).


title: Citroën SM

text: In 1970, it was the fastest front-wheel-drive car, with a factory-quoted top speed of , and independent tests achieving as much as . It was an example of the car as a symbol of optimism and progressive technology, similar to the SM's contemporary, the Concorde aircraft.


title: Citroën SM

text: The main export market for the SM was the U.S, where the market for personal luxury cars was much larger than in Europe. Competitors included the Cadillac Eldorado, Lincoln Mark IV and Ford Thunderbird alongside Italian, British, and German imports. The unique design of the SM made quite a splash and won the "Motor Trend" magazine's Car of the Year award in 1972, unheard of for a non-US vehicle at the time.


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM's system of six replaceable-bulb composite halogen headlamps with swivelling high beams was illegal in the U.S., where regulations at the time required all vehicles to have two or four round sealed-beam headlamps on fixed mounts and with no lens or other covering in front of them. So, SMs for the U.S. market were fitted with four exposed round non-swivelling sealed beams.


title: Citroën SM

text: Despite initial success, U.S. sales ceased suddenly when Citroën did not receive an expected exemption for the 1974 model year bumper regulation imposed by the NHTSA. The integral variable height suspension of the SM made compliance impossible. The 1974 SMs built for the U.S. market (134 cars), could not be supplied to Americans due to the effective date of the bumper regulation, so were sold in Japan instead.


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM was sold with a small, lightweight engine in various forms, designed from scratch by Giulio Alfieri but capable of being assembled on existing V8 tooling. Because of this, the engine sported an unusual 90° angle between cylinder banks – a trait shared with the later PRV V6. It was a very compact and innovative design that allowed the use of just one pattern for the cylinder heads and an intermediate shaft extended out to drive the auxiliaries.


title: Citroën SM

text: The size of the 2.7 L engine was limited by French puissance fiscale taxation, which made large displacement vehicles too expensive to sell in any quantity in France.


title: Citroën SM

text: One SM had a Maserati V8 motor – this was a heavily used test bed developed by Maserati for the 1974 Maserati Quattroporte II. Despite developing , the car required relatively modest adjustments, and the performance made the SM into a true sporting car.


title: Citroën SM

text: One SM had a V6 twin Turbo – developed by specialist Jerry Hathaway ("SM World") for land speed record testing at Bonneville Salt Flats – achieving .


title: Citroën SM

text: Smooth shifting 5-speed manual transmissions were fitted to most SMs. A 3-speed Borg Warner fully automatic transmission was an option in North America in 1972–73, and in Europe 1974–75.


title: Citroën SM

text: The engine was also used in the Maserati Merak from 1972 to 1982. Later versions of the Merak "SS" had much larger valves and developed . The Ligier JS2 sports car also used this V6 engine. The final SMs were produced in the Ligier factory in Vichy.


title: Citroën SM

text: Under new ownership, Maserati developed the 1981 Biturbo model, by applying turbocharging to this engine, and sold 40,000 units.


title: Citroën SM

text: The SM won its first competitive outing, the gruelling 1971 Rallye du Maroc. Citroën continued rallying the SM, eventually developing a "breadvan" short-wheelbase racing variant.


title: Citroën SM

text: SM World, a marque specialist in Los Angeles, California, produced a turbocharged SM, which in 1987 set the land speed record for production vehicles in its class at the Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah – traveling .


title: Citroën SM

text: After the 1974 bankruptcy of Citroën, Peugeot took ownership of the company and, in May 1975, divested from Maserati. Peugeot quickly decided to stop building the SM, as production had dropped to 294 cars in 1974 and 115 units the final year.


title: Citroën SM

text: While the oil shock certainly affected sales, many far more profligate cars were introduced at the same time the SM ceased production, including the hydropneumatically suspended Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9. Peugeot even introduced a V6 powered car of similar displacement and fuel consumption in 1975, the 604. In the U.S. (the main export market for the SM), the SM was actually an economical vehicle relative to its competitors. However, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) imposed new automotive design regulations in 1974, effectively banning the Citroën from the U.S. market.


title: Citroën SM

text: As illustrated under production numbers, SM sales declined starting in 1972. This appears to be attributable to maintenance issues. Like an exotic Italian car, the Weber carburetors require frequent adjustment. Many engines experienced failure at 60,000 km – it was unclear to most owners that the interference engine design has timing chains that require manual adjustment, an issue not corrected until long after production ceased. The 90° engine timing was unfamiliar to mechanics in the 1970s. Only Buick (1962–66; 1975–) and Jeep (1966–71) used a V6 with 90° between banks of cylinders. Another issue that has been resolved with retrofit is the unreliable ignition breaker cassettes.


title: Citroën SM

text: Most vehicles require only generalist maintenance, where any competent mechanic can properly maintain the vehicle. Certain vehicles – like Citroëns and Ferraris – require specialist care due to their unique design. While a sturdy car if maintained rigorously, an SM requires two sets of specialist care – Citroën specialists, which are widespread in Europe, and a rarer Maserati specialist, to keep the engine in tune. Once potential buyers began to realize this, sales dropped precipitously.


title: Citroën SM

text: The Quai André-Citroën factory on the banks of the Seine River in Paris closed in 1974. Both the DS and the SM had to find new manufacturing facilities. The runout DS models were built at the new Aulnay-sous-Bois factory, while the final 135 SM's was built by the Ligier company.


title: Citroën SM

text: Components of the SM lived on, albeit mirror imaged – in the Maserati Merak (engine, transmission) and the Lotus Esprit (transmission). The successful Citroën CX carried forward most of the SM's dynamic qualities, including the trendsetting speed sensitive power steering.


title: Citroën SM

text: A total of 12,920 SMs were produced during its lifetime. Sales declined steeply each year following the first full year of production. The North American market took 2,400 cars, in 1972 and 1973.


title: Citroën SM

text: The factory always produced just one body style – a LHD two-door fastback fixed head coupé, but the design did inspire a variety of variants, none produced in any quantity.Coachbuilder Henri Chapron from Levallois-Perret produced several very collectible variants of the SM.


title: Citroën SM

text: French Presidents from Georges Pompidou to Jacques Chirac enjoyed touring Paris in the two 4-door convertible Citroën SM "présidentielle" models, sharing them with such notables as Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II. These manual transmission cars have special low gearing suitable for parade use.


title: Citroën SM

text: Chapron also created five convertibles (SM Mylord) and seven sedans (SM Opéra). Original examples of these rare models are very valuable – the last "MyLord" sale recorded was for €548,320 in February 2014. Some SM owners have made their own copies of the SM convertible in particular. Unlike the DS, the factory never authorized a convertible model, as Citroën felt the roof was integral to the structure of the SM. On the SM, the roof and rear quarter panels were welded on.


title: Citroën SM

text: In 1971, Heuliez produced two examples of pillarless targa top convertible, the SM Espace. Unlike the factory SM, the rear quarter windows could retract into the bodywork.


title: Citroën SM

text: Just before the SM's demise, Citroën produced several short-wheelbase racing versions with squared-off rear sections and highly tuned engines – known as the "breadvan" model.


title: Citroën SM

text: In the UK, three official RHD prototypes were constructed by "Middleton Motors", a Citroën dealer in Hertfordshire, England. At least one of these prototypes still survives.


title: Citroën SM

text: In Australia, 12 cars were converted to RHD by "Chappel Engineering" in Melbourne, Australia for "Dutton's" (the Australian importer of Citroën at the time). Cars are still being modified with RHD controls and dashboards for the Australian market, where RHD is mandatory.


title: Citroën SM

text: Frua also proposed a concept car based on the SM, a front-wheel-drive car that closely resembled the mid-engine Maserati Merak.


title: Citroën SM

text: In the spring of 1974, Maserati created a special 4.0 L V8 engine based on the latest C114-11 engine variant. This engine, installed in a standard SM, tested over 12,000 kilometers. The engine was then removed and preserved, while the rest of the car was destroyed by Alejandro de Tomaso. The SM Club of France created an exact replica of this car using the actual engine from the original and displayed it at the Rétromobile 2010 show.


title: Citroën SM

text: Unfortunately, the intended recipient never received this V8. The Maserati Quattroporte II was a Maserati-badged, four-door variant of the SM with an angular body and lengthened floorpan. The six headlights were retained and the later 'SS' version of the engine fitted. This model was introduced at the time of Citroën's bankruptcy in 1974. It entered production in 1976 and only twelve were produced between then and 1978.


title: Citroën SM

text: General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR Leonid Brezhnev, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, Adam Clayton of the rock group U2, and Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia each drove SMs, while Ugandan dictator Idi Amin had seven of them. The Shah of Iran drove an SM.


title: Citroën SM

text: Actors Lorne Greene and Lee Majors, composer John Williams, author Graham Greene, and former Mauritian QC and Politician Sir Gaetan Duval (1930–1996), football player Johan Cruijff, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, Cheech & Chong's Cheech Marin and Thomas Chong, motorcycle racer Mike Hailwood, composer John Barry, and musician Carlos Santana, all owned SMs as well. Yugoslav and Croatian singer Mišo Kovač had his very own golden SM.


title: Citroën SM

text: As of 2019, Guy Berryman of Coldplay was driving an SM. Television host and comedian Jay Leno's SM is seen frequently in the background of his "Jay Leno's Garage" YouTube videos.


title: Querétaro City

text: Santiago de Querétaro (; Otomi: Dähnini Maxei), known simply as Querétaro City (), is the capital and largest city of the state of Querétaro, located in central Mexico. It is part of the macroregion of Bajío. It is northwest of Mexico City, southeast of San Miguel de Allende and south of San Luis Potosí. It is also the seat of the municipality of Querétaro, divided into seven boroughs. In 1996, the historic center of Querétaro was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.


title: Querétaro City

text: The city is a strong business and economic center and a vigorous service center that is experiencing an ongoing social and economic revitalization. All this has resulted in high levels of migration from other parts of Mexico.


title: Querétaro City

text: Querétaro has seen outstanding industrial and economic development since the mid-1990s. Querétaro metropolitan area has the 2nd highest GDP per capita among Mexico's metropolitan areas with US$20,000 after Monterrey. The city is the fastest-growing in the country, basing its economy on IT and data centers, logistics services, aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, call centers, the automotive and machinery industries, and the production of chemicals and food products. The region of Querétaro has a rapidly growing vineyards agriculture and hosts the famous wine producer from Spain Freixenet. Wine production in Querétaro is now the second largest in Mexico after that of the Baja California region.


title: Querétaro City

text: Major international corporations in the aerospace, electronics, automotive, chemical, food, and financial areas have their national headquarters in Querétaro.


title: Querétaro City

text: In the Otomi language, it is referred to as "Maxei" or "Ndamaxei", which means ball game and the grand ball game respectively. In the Mendocino Codex the town is called Tlaschco or Tlaxco, from the Nahuatl word for ball game. However, Querétaro most likely comes from k'eri ireta rho, meaning place of the great people, especially since during Aztec times about 15,000 people lived here. Querétaro has an Aztec glyph to represent it as it was a tributary province. In 1655, it received a coat of arms from the Spanish Crown.


title: Querétaro City

text: The word "Querétaro" was voted by 33,000 participants as "the most beautiful word in the Spanish language", before being approved by the Instituto Cervantes. In Pre-Columbian terminology, Querétaro literally means "the island of the blue salamanders." Nevertheless, other scholars suggest that it can mean "place of the reptiles" or "place of the giant rocks."


title: Querétaro City

text: The area was settled around AD 200 by Mesoamerican groups moving north, and archeological sites here show Teotihuacan influences. From the Classic Period, there were two population centers in this area called Toluquilla and Las Ranas. The mountain now known as El Cerrito was a ceremonial center, but was later abandoned for unknown reasons.


title: Querétaro City

text: In the later pre-Hispanic period, the area was populated by the Otomi, who had become sedentary urban dwellers with sophisticated politics by the time of the Aztec Empire, who referred to them as the Tlacetilli Otomi or "Otomi Nation/State" . This area was under control of the Otomi dominion of Xilotepeque in the 1440s, which in turn was subject to the Aztec Empire of Mexihco-Tenochtitlan. Under the reign of Ahuizotl in the late 15th century, the Aztecs administered the area directly, considering it a bulwark against the Chichimeca lands to the north. The Otomi were the most populous ethnicity in Xilotepec although there were other groups, primarily Chichimeca as well. These two groups are still found here today. During the pre-Hispanic and colonial times, the Otomi were organized into familial clan like groups with defined territories, living in stone, wood or adobe dwellings. They were sedentary farmers, who fought, but unlike the Aztecs, did not make warfare a large part of their culture.


title: Querétaro City

text: The foundation of the Spanish city of Santiago de Querétaro is pegged to 25 July 1531 when Spaniard Hernán Pérez Bocanegra y Córdoba arrived with the allied Otomi leader Conín (later named Hernando de Tapia) who was the administrative head of the Otomi peoples living in Aztec controlled territory. On this date, the Spanish and their Nahuan allies were battling the local insurgent Otomi and Chichimecas at a hill now known as Sangremal and which was called Ynlotepeque and considered sacred in pre-Hispanic times. Chronicles of this event, such as that written by Friar Isidro Félix de Espinoza, state that the Chichimeca were at the point of winning when a total eclipse of the sun occurred. This supposedly scared the Chichimeca and the Spanish claimed to have seen an image of Saint James (the patron saint of Spain) riding a white horse carrying a rose-colored cross. This event caused the Chichimeca to surrender. This event is why the city is called Santiago (Saint James) de Querétaro, with James as patron saint. A stone cross imitating the one the Spanish supposedly saw was erected on the hill, which later was accompanied by a church and monastery.


title: Querétaro City

text: Spanish dominion, however, grew gradually, and was definitively not won through just a single battle. In the 1520s, the Otomis and many Chichimecas of what is now southern Querétaro and northern Mexico State allied with Hernán Cortés under the control of the lord of Xilotepeque, who still maintained a certain amount of control of the old dominion. The first Spanish arrived between 1526 and 1529, headed by Hernán Pérez de Bocanegra. Bocanegra at first tried non-violent means of subduing the area and founding a Spanish city. However, the initial attempts to establish the city of Querétaro were repelled by the locals, forcing Bocanegra south and establishing the cities of Huimilpan and Acámbaro.


title: Querétaro City

text: Bocanegra continued negotiating with the lord of Xilotepeque, Conín. The lord's cooperation was gained, for which he was eventually credited for bringing an end to the Spanish-Chichime/Otomi conflict and was made the Spanish governor of the area. However, most of Querétaro's early colonial history was marked by skirmishes between the remaining Chichimeca insurgency and the Spanish authorities, with one of the first being over the establishment of encomiendas. Conín separated the indigenous and Spanish residents of the new city, with the indigenous on and around Sangremal hill and the Spanish around where the current historic center is. The Spanish part of the city was laid out by D. Juan Sanchez de Alaniz, and the indigenous section was laid out in the traditional Otomi manner. The first city council convened in 1535, and the settlement was named a Pueblo de Indios (Indian Village) in 1537, ending the encomiendas. During this time, the Franciscans arrived for missionary work, who were later joined by the Jesuits, the Augustinians and other who built monasteries such as the Monastery of San Francisco, Lima and the Monastery of Santa Cruz.


title: Querétaro City

text: The settlement was declared a town in 1606 and by 1655, only Spaniards were living in the city proper. In 1656, it was decreed as the "Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Querétaro" (Very Noble and Loyal City of Santiago de Querétaro). This honor was solicited by Viceroy Luís de Velasco, in recognition of Querétaro's growth, agricultural production, industry and educational institutions. By the 18th century, it was informally known as the "Pearl of the Bajío" and "The Third City of the Viceroyalty".


title: Querétaro City

text: By the 17th century, the Franciscans had been joined by the Dieguinos, who built the monastery of San Antonio, the Jesuits, who built the Colleges of San Ignacio and San Francisco Javier as well as the Dominicans, the Carmelites and the Royal Convent of Santa Clara de Asís, which was one of the largest and most opulent in New Spain. Querétaro was also the site for the training of many of the missionaries who went north as far as Texas and California. Most of these were educated at the Colegio de Propagación de la Fe (College for the Propagation of the Faith), which was established at the monastery of Santa Cruz in 1683. Some of its graduates even went as far as South America. Few of the buildings from the 16th century have remained intact, due to the violence during the city's initial development, which reached its peak in the 17th century. As a result, most of the city's oldest structures are of Baroque style.


title: Querétaro City

text: Querétaro is considered to be one of the "cradles" of Mexican Independence and much of the credit is given to Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez. She was the wife of the city's mayor, called a "corregidor", at the beginning of the 19th century. She used her prominent position to gather intelligence for the nascent insurgency.


title: Querétaro City

text: Literary circles called "tertulias" were a popular pastime for the upper Creole classes, as they also served as a relatively safe place to discuss politics. One such occurred regularly at the house of José María Sánchez, with the name of the Asociación de Apatistas, which became a group dedicated to independence and winning supporters to the cause. Members included licenciados Lorenzo de la Parra, Juan Nepomuceno Mier y Altamirano, Manuel Ramírez de Arellano y Mario Lazo de la Vega José María Sánchez, Fray José Lozano, Antonio Tellez, don Emeterio y Epigmenio González, José Ignacio de Villaseñor Cervantes y Aldama, Dr. Manuel Marciano Iturriaga, Pedro Antonio de Septién Montero y Austri, Luis Mendoza, Juan José García Rebollo, Francisco Lojero, Ignacio Gutiérrez, Mariano Hidalgo, Mariano Lozada, José María Buenrostro, Manuel Delgado, Francisco Araujo, Felipe Coria, Francisco Lanzagorta, Ignacio Villaseñor and José María Sotelo. The group was visited on occasion by Ignacio Allende, Juan Aldama, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, Miguel Domínguez and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. This associación was important for the early organisation of those seeking independence for Mexico.


title: Querétaro City

text: However the most famous of the tertulias was hosted by Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez herself at what is now the Palace of the Corregidora. Originally, they were open to both creoles and Spanish-born but after an altercation between Ignacio Allende and the Spaniard Crisóstomo López y Valdez, only creoles attended. The tertulias of Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez culminated in the Conspiracy of 1810, which was discovered before they had planned to act.


title: Querétaro City

text: On 13 September 1810, Epigmenio Gonzalez was arrested for having stockpiled weapons for an insurgency and the next day Mayor Miguel Domínguez and his wife Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez were arrested for their roles in the Conspiracy of 1810. With the conspiracy discovered, she still managed to get a warning to Miguel Hidalgo. He eluded capture and rushed to Dolores, where he gave his famous grito (the cry for independence). For her actions, La Corregidora was imprisoned several times between 1810 and 1817. She died impoverished and forgotten, but was later remembered when she became the first woman to appear on a Mexican coin. Once the armed battle began, the city was taken by the royalist army and was the last major city to be taken by the insurgents.


title: Querétaro City

text: After the end of the war, Santiago de Querétaro became the capital of the state of Querétaro in 1823, with the first state congress convening at the Auditorium of the Instituto de Bellas Artes de la Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro in the city. The state's first constitution was promulgated in the city in 1825, with the city as head of one of the state's six districts. In 1847, it was declared the capital of Mexico when U.S. forces invaded the country. One year later, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in this city, ceding almost half of Mexico's territory and ending the war. In 1854, another treaty signed here led to the Gadsden Purchase.


title: Querétaro City

text: In 1867, Maximilian I of Mexico was defeated at the Siege of Querétaro, where the liberals took him prisoner along with Generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía. In May 1867, the emperor was sentenced to death along with Mejía and Miramón in the Cerro de las Campanas.


title: Querétaro City

text: From 1869 to 1879, the districts were subdivided into municipalities, which the city of Querétaro as seat of both the municipality of Querétaro and the district of Querétaro. In the 20th century, the original municipality of Querétaro divided into three: Querétaro, El Marqués and Corregidora. The district system as a political entity was abolished after the Mexican Revolution, with the municipality as the base of local government. The first municipal president was Alfonso Camacho who took office in 1917.


title: Querétaro City

text: No major battles were fought here during the Mexican Revolution but various of the factions passed through here given the state's location between the northern states and Mexico City.


title: Querétaro City

text: In 1916, the city was again named the capital of the country due to the Tampico Affair. In 1917, the Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos (Political Constitution of the United Mexican States) was promulgated by the Constituent Congress and president Venustiano Carranza. This constitution still remains the law of the land.


title: Querétaro City

text: Querétaro has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification "BSh") with mild temperatures year round, although the average high temperature in May is . Most of the precipitation falls from June to August.


title: Querétaro City

text: Economic growth has been outstanding during the last decade. Today, Querétaro is a middle class city in terms of PPP GDP, with $20,000, The municipality of Querétaro was ranked 23rd in Mexico on the United Nations Index of Human Development. Querétaro debuted in 13th place in the 2006 rankings of the "Best Cities to do Business in Latin America" in América Economía, a leading economic magazine. In the 2007 rankings, it is considered the second best place in Mexico to do business, after Monterrey and the fifth best in Latin America, ahead of Miami in 6th place. The ranking takes into account variables such as telecommunications, innovation, quality of life, urban expansion, and crime statistics. In its 2007 survey entitled "Cities of the Future", FDI magazine ranked Querétaro as having the third highest cost effectiveness of all North American cities between 500,000 and two million people. In the overall classification of large cities, Querétaro was ranked sixth.


title: Querétaro City

text: Until the 1970s, agriculture had been the overwhelming basis of the economy of the municipality outside the city and commerce within it. Since then, the expansion of industry and the growth of the city, which started in the 1950s, have diminished the importance of agriculture and the land available for it. It now only employs .01% of the municipality's population. Major employers now are the industrial parks that surround the city and extend to San Juan del Río. These include the Zona Industrial Benito Juarez, Parque Industrial Querétaro, Parque Industrial Jurica Parque La Montaña and the Querétaro-San Juan del Río Industrial Corridor. Most of the businesses operating here are foreign-owned or were built with foreign investment monies. Industries include machine and auto parts, food processing, paper products, printing, chemicals and glass.


title: Querétaro City

text: Querétaro's economic growth is above the national average, due in part, the city believes, to the investment that it makes in infrastructure, public services and the creation of parks as well as sports and cultural facilities.


title: Querétaro City

text: The economy spurs immigration to the city, which has seen a population growth of more than 3.5 percent a year. The industrialization of the area has attracted a large number of migrants from poorer areas of Mexico but many of these are unemployed or under-employed. This has led to an explosion of informal markets and other businesses in and around the city. Also a large number of those seeking to migrate to the northern Mexican states or to the United States pass through here. This has led to commerce being the largest economic activity in the municipality.


title: Querétaro City

text: Tourism has grown as a sector of the economy, especially in the city proper, and is now one of the most important, accounting for 21 percent of the gross product of the city.


title: Querétaro City

text: Both Standard & Poor's and the newspaper "Reforma" have ranked Querétaro as one of the safest cities to live in with the highest quality of life in Mexico. According to the Secretaría de Desarrollo Sustenable Municipal, the city is expected to increase in size 35 percent over the next 20 to 25 years. Economic growth for 2009 and 2010 was predicted to be between one and two percent due to the worldwide economic downturn.


title: Querétaro City

text: Especially changes like the deconcentration of the economic activities (industry and service) and the emergence of a housing market lead to significant growth in cities like Querétaro.


title: Querétaro City

text: Major corporations headquartered in Querétaro include Bombardier Aerospace (an airplane manufacturing facility in Mexico), Kellogg's, Samsung Electronics, Daewoo, and Colgate-Palmolive. Harman International Industries, General Electric, Michelin, Tetra Pak, Siemens Mexico, New Holland, Faurecia, ABC Group, Autoliv, TRW Automotive, Tremec, Valeo, Funai, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, Pilgrim's Pride, Santander Bank's call center for Latin America, Mabe Mexico, Irizar, Scania, Hitachi, Kostal, Aernnova, Dana, Dow Chemical, Bose, Alpha Hilex, Saint-Gobain, Flex-N-Gate, ThyssenKrupp, and TCS.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Festival of Santiago de Querétaro is an annual arts and cultural event that takes place in the city for eight days during Holy Week. It is sponsored by the city of Querétaro along with CONACULTA and the Secretary of Tourism for the state of Querétaro. Each year the event has a theme, which was being "Arte in Todos los Sentidos" (Art in All Senses) in 2009. The events are held in various locations, such as the City Museum, the Guerrero Garden, the Zenea Garden and the Rosalio Solano Theatre as well as the various plazas around the city center. The festival is held during Holy Week holiday to attract Mexican and international visitors to the city. The event starts with an inaugural parade through the streets of the historic center, starting from Corregidora Street to Constituyentes, Angela Peralta, Juárez, Madera, and Guerrero streets. The parade ends at the site where public officials open the event.


title: Querétaro City

text: Over the eight days, both Mexican and international artists perform and exhibit their work. Events include music, painting, dance, photography, literature, special workshops and a children's pavilion. One final day, there is a culinary event were visitors can sample regional cuisine from restaurants of the city.


title: Querétaro City

text: The 2009 event has 110 events and with an expected attendance of about 3,150,000 people in total, far exceeding the 260,000 who attended in 2008. The 2009 event had concerts featuring traditional Mexican music, rock and jazz. Some of the international artists came from Italy, Argentina, and Brazil. Featured Mexican artists included Pindekuechua, a traditional music group from Morelia, Grupo Esparza from Guanajuato and Jazzcorps from Toluca.


title: Querétaro City

text: According to the latest definitions by the National Population Council (CONAPO), the Metropolitan Area of Querétaro spans over an area of , comprising the municipalities of Querétaro, Corregidora, El Marqués and Huimilpan in the state of Querétaro, and Apaseo el Alto in the state of Guanajuato. With a total population of 1,594,212 in 2020, it is the 8th largest metro area in Mexico, as well as the 128th largest in the Americas.


title: Querétaro City

text: The metropolitan area of Querétaro has seen a high population growth since the second half of the 1990s, making it the second fastest-growing in the country, just behind Cancún. The municipality of El Marqués has the highest rate of population growth in the state, almost doubling its population in the last ten years. Most of the population growth is due to migration with people relocating from Mexico City, State of Mexico, Guanajuato, Michoacan and Veracruz. It is estimated that in 2005 alone, 10,465 people migrated to the metropolitan area.


title: Querétaro City

text: Due to factors as diverse as education, economy, security, and quality of life, migration flows from the north and center of the country to the city of Santiago de Querétaro have been noticeable in the recent years. Especially the cities' high security reason also attracts people from other countries like Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Spain and many others. Due to the high number of migrants, the municipality is currently considering implementing the Institute for Migrant Assistance to make migration more visible and hence increase structure, legality and safety.


title: Querétaro City

text: In January 2008, the government of the border municipality of Apaseo el Alto in the state of Guanajuato announced the construction of an urbanization for 120,000 inhabitants, which will be part of the metropolitan area of Santiago de Querétaro.


title: Querétaro City

text: Querétaro is the crossroads of Mexico. Federal Highway 57, which runs from Mexico City to Piedras Negras, crosses Querétaro. Federal Highway 45 leaves Querétaro westbound, towards Guanajuato. The part of Federal Highway 57 that crosses the city is called Blvd. Bernardo Quintana, and this is the main road of the city, stretching from its southernmost part near City Hall, to the new industrial areas northwest of downtown. Federal Highway 45 crosses the city, south of downtown. Cinco de Febrero Ave joins them in a north–south route. The three of them form a sort of ring road around downtown. The railway line that connects Mexico City with western Mexico bisects the city.


title: Querétaro City

text: The "Libramiento Sur-Poniente" is a new ring road under construction, though parts of it already exist. When completed, it will join Bernardo Quintana on its southeastern part, go around the city in its southwestern and western parts, and reach the northern suburb of Santa Rosa Jauregui. Currently, there is work in progress that aims to extend Bernardo Quintana on its northwestern end to this ring road.


title: Querétaro City

text: Another freeway, named after missionary Junípero Serra who founded the Missions of the Sierra Gorda, creates another ring road. It goes from northeast Querétaro around the old airport, reaches the northern suburb of Juriquilla and goes southwards down to the Libramiento Sur-Poniente.


title: Querétaro City

text: Querétaro's public transportation consists of private owned bus companies that pick up and drop off over a specific route. These cover 123 authorized routes all neighborhoods of the city. There are also conventional taxis. The city also has a large inter-city bus terminal.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Querétaro International Airport began operations in 2004, replacing the old Ing. Fernando Espinoza Gutiérrez International Airport in the city. The airport handles passengers and freight of both transport and private airplanes, and in recent years became of the fastest growing airports in Mexico in terms of passengers. Plans to convert the old airport into an international one began in 1999, after studies indicated the need for such. Construction of infrastructure began in 2002.


title: Querétaro City

text: The city and its surroundings are home to some of the most important universities in Mexico. The most prestigious universities in Mexico, the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the Universidad Anáhuac and the ITESM (Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey), have set campuses at the outskirts where significant research is carried out. UNAM is a public institution and the Universidad Anáhuac and the ITESM-Querétaro are private.


title: Querétaro City

text: Also, the city is home to more than seven research centers. Among the most important are CIATEQ, CIDESI and CIDETEQ. There are also several private research centers.


title: Querétaro City

text: The city has one of the most modern stadiums in Mexico, the Estadio Corregidora, built for the FIFA World Cup celebrated in 1986. Querétaro F.C. of the Liga MX plays there.


title: Querétaro City

text: One of the most popular sports in the city is bullfighting. There are two bullrings, Santa María, and Juriquilla. Santa María was inaugurated on December 22, 1963 and it has a capacity for 13,000 spectators. Juriquilla is much smaller but considered the most beautiful bullring in the country.


title: Querétaro City

text: Another popular sport is American Football which is played in different institutions (UAQ [Gatos Salvajes], ITQ [Zorros] & ITESM [Borregos Salvajes]), Querétaro has two college football teams,


title: Querétaro City

text: Golf is also quite popular, with numerous courses including: Juriquilla, Campestre, Balvanera, and El Campanario. San Gil and Tequisquiapan are located near the city itself.


title: Querétaro City

text: There are two wrestling or Lucha Libre Arenas in the city, the Arena Querétaro that has matches from the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, the Desastre Total Ultraviolento, and the Auditorio Arteaga a multipurpose venue that hosts Libertadores de Querétaro basketball and AAA fights.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Auditorio Arteaga also serves as Basketball stadium for the city team Libertadores and for traditional wrestling, volleyball and other sports. This venue has a capacity of 3000 people seated.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Auditorio Josefa Ortiz is the largest multipurpose venue in the city, it serve for tennis matches (Davis Cup), Tae Kwon Do, Table Tennis, and other sports, it has a capacity of 6000 seated in stadium formation.


title: Querétaro City

text: As municipal seat, the city of Querétaro is the governing authority for 132 communities in the municipality, divided into seven delegations. The municipality has a territory of and borders 3 municipalities in Querétaro and 1 in Guanajuato.


title: Querétaro City

text: The total population of the municipality in 2020 is 1,049,777, the 12th most populated in Mexico. 794,789 people (75%) live in the city of Santiago de Querétaro proper. Other major cities in the municipality are Juriquilla (39,244), San Pedro Mártir (31,677), San José el Alto (29,758) and Santa Rosa Jáuregui (22,168).


title: Querétaro City

text: The mayor of each borough, called "delegado", is appointed by the mayor of the city, although there have been attempts to make these posts popularly elected.


title: Querétaro City

text: The municipality has rolling hills, mountain ranges and flatlands. Most of the rolling hills cross the territory from south to north, paralleling the Querétaro-San Luis Potosí highway. Most plains are located in the north, and are of sedimentary soil with some protrusions of volcanic rock. Altitude varies from 1,900 to 2,460 meters above sea level with the highest elevations at mountains called El Buey, Pie de Gallo, El Patol, El Nabo, and El Paisano. The city proper is on a plain at 1,900 meters. There is only one river, the Querétaro River, which carved the La Cañada. There are numerous streams, many of them seasonal, and fresh water springs near the mountain areas. The climate is temperate and semi-dry in which the summers can be hot, with high up to 36C in May and June. Freezing temperatures are possible in the winter.


title: Querétaro City

text: In most areas, various species of cacti can be seen such as the organ pipe and nopals, as well as the yucca. Trees adapted to dry climates include mesquite, willows and cypress, near streams and rivers. Animal life mostly consists of small mammals, deer, predatory birds and reptiles. In some areas, monarch butterflies can be seen as well. Nature reserves in the municipality include the Peña Colorado, Tángano, Parque Ecologicao Joya-La Barreta and the El Cimatario National Park.


title: Querétaro City

text: Near the city is the Sierra Gorda de Querétaro, part of the Sierra Madre Oriental, was declared by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve. This protected area is very rugged terrain, filled with canyons, steep mountains, waterfalls and deep abysses with a total expansion of 24,803 hectares. The area contains 360 species of birds, 130 species of mammals, 71 of reptiles and twenty-three of amphibians. It also contains about thirty percent of the country's butterfly species including the endangered Humboldt, the Jaguar the Oso Negro and the Guacamaya. Plant species include 1,710 different species including endangered species and is considered to be one of the best-preserved forested areas in Mexico. The Missionary Route of Friar Junípero Serra passes through here as caves such as the Sótano del Barro are located here.


title: Querétaro City

text: The territory contains deposits of gold, silver, manganese, tin, mercury, lead, zinc, opal, quartz, cantera stone (for building) among other minerals.


title: Querétaro City

text: In 1996, the historic center of Querétaro was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. According to UNESCO's website, the "old colonial town of Querétaro is unusual in having retained the geometric street plan of the Spanish conquerors side by side with the twisting alleys of the Otomi quarters. The Otomi, the Tarasco, the Chichimeca and the Spanish lived together peacefully in the town with similar standards of living, a rare occurrence at a time when the Indigenous and Hispanic were usually separated by a large income gap and at odds with one another in other parts of the nation.


title: Querétaro City

text: This peace and similarity of social integration is largely attributed to the fact that the local Indigenous ethnicities and Spanish reached peace early after contact and both functioned concurrently with the Indigenous retaining their own economic and social systems while the Criollos operated in a separate but integrated society within the city. The city is notable for the many ornate civil and religious Baroque monuments from its golden age in the 17th and 18th centuries" In 2008, "National Geographic Traveler" listed Querétaro as one of the top 15 historic destinations of the world.


title: Querétaro City

text: The most prominent feature of the city is the enormous aqueduct of Querétaro, consisting of seventy-four arches, each twenty meters wide with a total extension of 1,280 meters and an average height of 23 meters. It was built by the Marquis Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana between 1726 and 1738 at the request of the nuns of the Santa Clara Convent to bring water to the residents of the city from La Cañada.


title: Querétaro City

text: Most of the rest of Querétaro's notable sites are located in the historic center, which is pedestrian-friendly and filled with colonial architecture. The local government maintains this area well, with cleaning crews to keep the streets clean and regulating vendors so that they do not block streets and sidewalks. In the evening, the area fills with people strolling the plazas and walkways and frequenting the area's restaurants, cafes and food stands. One way to see this part of town is the Noche de Leyendas (Night of Legends), which is a hybrid between interactive theater and a recounting of history. A group of actors guide visitors through the streets of the city narrating stories about what has happened in these places. This event begins at the main plaza, the Plaza de Armas in the center of the city with a reenactment of the legend of Carambada. Then the show wanders the street all the while telling tales related to bandits, loves and myths. These tales demand audience participation providing lines and provoking debate.


title: Querétaro City

text: In the center of downtown is the Church of San Francisco, finished at the beginning of the 18th century and from then on the most important in town, serving as the cathedral until the 20th century. It and the attached cloister is all that is left of a large complex that included several chapels and an orchard that extended for blocks to the east and south. On the facade, there is a depicting of Saint James fighting the Moors, cutting the head off of one. The main altar is Neoclassic, and replaced what reputedly was a masterpiece of Baroque design. This has happened frequently in the city; those Baroque altars not plundered over the course of Mexican history were replaced by newer designs. Older Baroque side altarpieces are still here, and are covered in gold leaf. Other notable pieces here include a large Baroque music stand and the seating of the choir section both done by architect Francisco Eduardo Tresguerras of Celaya in the 18th century. There are also sculptures done by Mariano Montenegro and Mariano Arce.


title: Querétaro City

text: The church's cloister is now the Museo Regional (Regional Museum). Built between 1660 and 1698, the monastery it houses was the first in the city, built by Franciscans to evangelize the native populations here. The architecture is representative of Franciscan style, with simple lines and decoration. The museum exhibits artifacts from the pre-Hispanic, colonial and post-Independence eras of this region's history. The Plaza de la Constitución and Jardin Zenea plaza (named after liberal governor Benito Zenea) were part of the atrium of the church and monastery. This area is crowded every night and all day on Sunday, when the municipal band plays dance music from the 1940s to the 1960s.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Plaza de Independencia or Plaza de Armas is the oldest part of the city, and is filled with Indian laurel trees, surrounded by outdoor restaurants and colonial mansions. Streets here are made of cobblestone and have names such as La Calle de Bimbo and the Callejón del Ciego. In the middle of this plaza is a fountain that honors Juan Antonio de Urrutia y Arana, who built that large aqueduct to bring water to the city. Around the plaza is the Galeria Libertad (Libertad Gallery) and the Casa de Ecala (Ecala House), which is a baronial mansion from the 18th century with large balconies and wrought ironwork. However, the best-known structure on this plaza is the Palacio de la Corregiadora.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Palacio de la Corregidora was originally called the Casas Reales y Cárceles (Royal Houses and Jails). Today it houses the government of the state of Querétaro. Its name comes from its most famous occupant, Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, who was the wife of the mayor or corregidor of the city. Ortiz de Domínguez is a heroine of the Mexican War of Independence and the Conspiracy of 1810 that led to the start of the war which occurred here. Her final resting place is the Mausoleum of the Corregidora.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Church and ex-monastery of San Felipe Neri was built between 1786 and 1805. It was opened and blessed by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who also officiated the first Mass. In 1921, this church was declared the Cathedral of Querétaro by Pope Benedict XV. The church is constructed of tezontle and has altarpieces of cantera stone. The facade shows the transition between Baroque and Neoclassical architecture, and is considered to be the last Baroque facade in the city. Inside the nave is sober, austere and completely Neoclassical. The old monastery complex now houses the Ministry of Urban Development and Public Works. It is more commonly referred to as the Palace of Conín.


title: Querétaro City

text: The Church and ex-convent of Santa Rosa de Viterbo is attributed to Alarife Ignacio Maraiano de las Casas and financed by José Velasquez de Lorea, finished in 1752. The church has twin entrances, which was common with convent churches. The two arches are decorated with mocking faces put there by Casas to those who did not think he could manage the building of the institution. The outside is flanked by scroll-shaped flying buttresses, which only serve as decoration and are unique to Querétaro. The tower has a unique shape and is topped with a pyramid-shaped crest. There is an inner doorway decorated in Churrigueresque style and an image of Saint Rose. Inside, the most outstanding feature is the pulpit inlaid with ivory, nacre, turtle shell and silver, and its altarpieces are gold covered in Querétaro Baroque style. The entrance to the sacristy contains paintings of José Velazquez de Lore and Sor Ana María de San Francisco y Neve. The convent complex was later amplified by Juan Caballero y Osio. The nuns began to dedicate themselves to primary education and by 1727 it became the Royal College of Santa Rosa. The convent was closed in 1861 due to the Reform Laws and was subsequently used as a hospital for about 100 years. Today the convent portion is home to the Centro de Estudios de Diseño y Artes Graficas Mexico-Italiano.


title: Querétaro City

text: The church and monastery of La Santa Cruz is on Sangremal Hill, where the appearance of Saint James is said to have occurred at the founding of the city and the cross commemorating the event is kept. Both the church and the monastery are Franciscan, and in one of the few monasteries to be in operation in Mexico. This was also the site of the Colegio de la Propagación de la Fe, the first missionary school established in the Americas. From here, missionaries such as Junípero Serra set out on foot, as required by the Order, to establish missions as far away as Texas and California. During the early War of Independence, Miguel Domínguez, Querétaro's mayor and part of the 1810 Conspiracy was imprisoned here. The church has been completely restored and its main attraction is the pink stone cross that was placed on this hill in the 16th century. Its altarpieces are also of pink stone and are a mix of Baroque and Neoclassical. Tours are available here and feature how the aqueduct brought water here to cisterns, from which the residents of the city would fill their buckets. There is also a thorn tree said to have grown from the walking stick of Friar Antonio Margil de Jesús, and is considered miraculous as the thorns grow in the shape of a cross.