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Architecture For Humanity

Architecture for Humanity

Architecture for Humanity is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 1999 to promote architectural and design solutions to global, social and humanitarian crises and provide design services to communities in need. In addition to implementing design initiatives and competitions, Architecture for Humanity aims to promote humanitarian and social design through advocacy and education programs. To that end, they have consulted with government bodies and relief organizations on a number of projects, including landmine clearance programs and playground building in the Balkans; developing a mobile health clinic to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa; transitional housing for returning refugees and IDPs from Kosovo and Afghanistan; and earthquake reconstruction assistance in Pakistan, Turkey and Iran. The orgainization is currently working on sustainable long term rebuilding in areas affected by the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Finally, the organization seeks to foster public appreciation for the many ways that architecture and design can improve lives. Co-Founder Cameron Sinclair is the recipient of the 2006 TED prize and the 2005 Lewis Mumford Award for Peace "Architecture for Humanity represents the finest of the new breed of architectural leadership, employing architectural skills and directing them for the larger good," wrote Robert Ivy, editor of Architectural Record about the organization. "Committed, unapologetically architectural in name and mission, Architecture for Humanity stands up for people in need."

External link


- [http://www.architectureforhumanity.org Architecture for Humanity]
- [http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/programs/tsunami/Pottuvil/Pottuvil.htm School building in Pottuvil, Sri Lanka]
- [http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/programs/tsunami/Housingl/Housing.htm Housing for Sri Lanka]
- [http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/programs/tsunami/India/index.htm Rebuilding in India]
- [http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/programs/katrina/katrina.htm Responding to Hurricane Katrina]
- [http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/programs/South_Asia_Earthquake/index.htm Responding to the 2005 South Asia Earthquake] Category:Architecture

Non-profit organization

A non-profit organization (sometimes abbreviated to "not-for-profit," "non-profit" or "NPO") is an organization whose primary objective is to support some issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes. Non-profits may be involved in an innumerable range of areas relating to the arts, charities, education, politics, religion, research, or some other endeavor. Although non-profits do not operate to generate profit, they still need to generate revenue in order to finance their activities. However, the extent to which non-profits may generate income may be constrained, or the use of such income may be restricted. Non-profits are therefore typically funded by donations from the private or public sector. Private donations may sometimes be tax deductible. A charity is a type of non-profit organization, and some non-governmental organizations may also be non-profit organizations.

Structure

Most non-profits do not have members, although they may. The non-profit may also be a trust or association of members. The organization may be controlled by its members who elect the Board of Directors or Board of Trustees. Not-for-profit organizations may have a delegate structure to allow for the representation of groups or corporations as members. Alternately, it may be a non-membership organization and the board of directors may elect its own successors. Although the characteristic of not earning or "making" a profit is widely believed by the general public to be definitive, most experts today agree that it is actually legal and ethical restrictions on the distribution of profits to owners or shareholders that is the defining characteristic of nonprofits.

Resource Capacity

Capacity support is a chronic issues faced by all non-profits that rely on external funding to maintain their operations. Often nonprofit capacity needs do not reflect donor priorities. For a more complete discussion on this issue, references and resources see Capacity building

Status

In most countries, non-profit organizations may apply for a tax exempt status; this means that financial donors may claim back any income taxes paid on money donated. A primary difference between a non-profit and a for-profit corporation is that a non-profit does not issue dividends, and may not enrich its directors. However, like for-profit corporations, non-profits may still have employees and can compensate their directors within reasonable bounds. Some critics of corporations argue that when they donate instead of paying taxes, the companies whitewash their reputations, sometimes paying even less than they would in taxes and benefitting in terms of marketing and public relations purposes. In some countries, e.g. in Europe, the idea of deductible donations is not endorsed as it is considered to violate the popular sovereignty. In a democracy, the people, i.e. the parliament, should be able to decide where the tax money goes. Donors indirectly decide on the use of their taxes which should be the privilege of parliament, not of individuals. In countries where donations are not tax-deductible, the state usually assumes a much larger role in supporting non-profit organizations.

Goals

Such "organizations" are often charities or service organizations; they may be organized as a not-for-profit corporation or as a trust, a cooperative or they may be purely informal. Sometimes they are also called foundations, or endowments that have large equity funds. Most foundations give out grants to other not-for-profit organizations, or fellowships to individuals. However, the name foundation may be used by any not-for-profit corporation -- even volunteer organizations or grass roots groups. A non-profit organization may be a very loosely organized group such as a block association, or a trade union, or it may be a complex structure such as a university, hospital, documentary film production company or educational book publisher. In many countries applying Germanic or Nordic law (e.g. Germany,Sweden, Finland), it is typical that non-profit organizations are voluntary associations although there are some non-profit organizations with a corporate structure (e.g. housing corporations). A voluntary association is usually founded upon a principle of one man–-one vote. A large, nation-wide organization is usually organized as a league: the local level has a town- or county-level association with natural person membership, these associations being members of the national association. This is perceived to give the local level the maximal autonomy, while it also protects the organization from financial blunders of any single association. The organization of such league (e.g. trade union or a party) may be extremely complex. Often there are separate laws regulating usual, “idealist“ associations (anything from a sports club to trade union), political parties and religious denominations, restricting each type of organization to its chosen field.

Laws

Most countries have laws governing the setting up, running, and reporting requirements of these organizations. Most larger organizations are required to publish their financial reports detailing their income and expenditure for the public. In many aspects they are similar to business entities though there are often significant differences. Both non-profit and for-profit entities must have board members, steering committee members, or trustees who owe the organization a fiduciary duty of loyalty and trust. A notable exception to this involves churches, which are often not required to disclose finances to anyone, not even its own members if the leadership choose.

Examples

The largest non-profit organization in the United States is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has an endowment of approximately $27 billion. The second-largest is the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which has an endowment of approximately $11 billion. The largest organisation of this kind in the rest of the world is probably the British Wellcome Trust, though it is a "charity" in British usage, not a "non-profit". Note that this listing excludes universities, at least a few of which have assets in the tens of billions of dollars.

Laws on non-profit organizations


- Commonwealth non-profit laws
- European Union non-profit laws
- People's Republic of China non-profit laws
- Republic of India non-profit laws
- Republic of Japan non-profit laws
- Russian Federation non-profit laws
- United States of America non-profit laws

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom non-profit organizations are rarely considered as a single class of entity. All philanthropic organizations have to be registered with the Charity Commission and they are referred to as charities, not as non-profits. Other groups which are classified as non-profit organizations in the U.S., such as trade unions, are subject to separate regulations, and are not conflated with charities in British usage.

Examples of well known non-profit organizations

Some non-profits which are particularly well known, often for the charitable or social nature of their activities conducted over a long period of time, include the following organisations.
- AIESEC
- Amnesty International
- Better Business Bureau
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of America [http://www.bbbsa.com web site]
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Idealist.org
- The Nature Conservancy
- Red Cross
- WWF Preserving wild animals
- YMCA
- PBS
- Teaching Matters Many non-profit organizations use the .org top-level domain when selecting a domain name to differentiate themselves from more commercially-focussed entities which typically use the .com space.

See also


- Charity
- List of charities
- List of organizations
- Not-for-profit corporation
- 501(c)(3)
- Non-commercial

External links


- [http://internautconsulting.com/articles-nonprofitcapacity.shtm The Quiet Revolution in Non-profit Capacity Support], Jonathan Peizer, 2003
- [http://www.idealist.org Idealist.org], a database of 50,000 organizations around the world.
- [http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/policy/2005/04/28/nonprofits.html How to Build a Nonprofit for Your Community] — Using mozdev.org as an example.
- [http://capaciteria.org Capaciteria: over 1000 free nonprofit capacity support resources by category] ja:NPO simple:Non-Profit

Architectural

Architecture (in Greek αρχή = start and τέχνη = craftsmanship) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. A wider definition would include within its scope the design of the total built environment, from the macrolevel of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the microlevel of furniture. furniture, Athens, Greece]] However, the widest definition in modern use refers to the organization, articulation, and interfaces of any built (or To Be Built— TBB) entity, whether a building or a communications' network. That is, an architecture, in its broadest sense, shows how the components of a built or TBB entity fit together. An architecture may be considered a translation between a user's needs and a builder's building instructions, or requirements. The components of an architecture may be already built items, or specified items (items whose building requirements have been completed), or To Be Specified items (items whose building requirements have not yet been been completed, and for which only user or builder needs may be assigned).

Introduction

The skills of the architect are used in complex building types such as the skyscraper, hospital, stadium, airport, etc. to less complicated projects such as commercial and residential buildings and development. Many pieces of architecture can be seen as cultural and political symbols. The role of the architect, though changing, has been central to the successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) design and implementation of the built environment in which we live.

Scope and intentions

According to the very earliest surviving work on the subject, Vitruvius' De architectura, good buildings satisfy three core principles: Firmness, Commodity, and Delight; architecture can be said to be a balance and coordination among these three elements, with none overpowering the others. A modern day definition sees architecture as addressing aesthetic, structural and functional considerations. However, looked at another way, function itself is seen as encompassing all criteria, including aesthetic and psychological ones. Architecture is a multi-disciplinary field, including within its fold mathematics, science, art, technology, social sciences, politics, history, philosophy, and so on. In Vitruvius' words: "Architecture is a science, arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and varied learning: by the help of which a judgement is formed of those works which are the result of other arts". He adds that an architect should be well versed in fields such as music, astronomy, etc. Philosophy is a particular favourite; in fact the approach of an architect to their subject is often called their philosophy. Rationalism, empiricism, structuralism, poststructuralism, and phenomenology are some topics from philosophy that have influenced architecture. phenomenology, Italy]] # Translation of firmitatis utilitatis venustatis [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html] due to Henry Wotton, 1624 [http://www.gardenvisit.com/landscape/LIH/history/vitruvius.htm#ch1-3].

Theory and practice

Architecture and buildings

The difference between architecture and building is a subject matter that has engaged the attention of many. According to Nikolaus Pevsner, European historian of the early 20th century, "A bicycle shed is a building, Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture". In current thinking, the division is not too clear. Bernard Rudofsky's famous Architecture Without Architects consolidated a whole range of structures designed by ordinary people into the realm of architecture. Architecture is also the art of designing the human built environment. Buildings, landscaping, and street designs may be used to impart both functional as well as aesthetic character to a project. Siding and roofing materials and colors may be used to enhance or blend buildings with the environment. Building features such as cornices, gables, entrances, window treatments and borders may be used to soften or enhance portions of a building. Landscaping may be used to create privacy and block direct views from or to a site and enhance buildings with colorful plants and trees. Street side features such as decorative lighting, benches, meandering walkways, and bicycle lanes may enhance a site for passersby, pedestrians, and cyclists.

Architectural history

Architecture first evolved out of the dynamics between needs (shelter, security, worship, etc.) and means (available building materials and attendant skills). Prehistoric and primitive architecture constitute this early stage. As humans progressed and knowledge began to be formalised through oral traditions and practices, architecture evolved into a craft. Here there is first a process of trial and error, and later improvisation or replication of a successful trial. What is termed Vernacular architecture continues to be produced in many parts of the world. Vernacular architecture, India]] Early human settlements were essentially rural. As surplus of production began to occur, rural societies transformed into urban ones and cities began to evolve. In many ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians' and Mesopotamians' architecture and urbanism reflected the constant engagement with the divine and the supernatural. However, the architecture and urbanism of the Classical civilisations such as the Greek and the Roman evolved from more civic ideas and new building types emerged. Architectural styles developed and texts on architecture began to be written. These became canons to be followed in important works, especially religious architecture. Some examples of canons are the works of Vitruvius, the Kaogongji of ancient China and Vaastu Shastra in ancient India. In Europe in the Classical and Medieval periods, buildings were not attributed to specific individual architects who remained anonymous. Guilds were formed by craftsmen to organise their trade. Over time the complexity of buildings and their types increased. General civil construction such as roads and bridges began to be built. Many new building types such as schools, hospitals, and recreational facilities emerged. Islamic architecture has a long and complex history beginning in the 7th century CE. Examples can be found throughout the countries that are, or were, Islamic - from Morocco and Spain to Iran, and Indonesia. Other examples can be found in areas where Muslims are a minority. Islamic architecture includes mosques, madrasas, caravansarais, palaces, and mausolea of this large region. With the Renaissance and its emphasis on the individual and humanity rather than religion, and with all its attendant progress and achievements, a new chapter began. Buildings were ascribed to specific architects - Michaelangelo, Brunelleschi, Leonardo da Vinci - and the cult of the individual had begun. But there was no dividing line between artist, architect and engineer, or any of the related vocations. At this stage, it was still possible for an artist to design a bridge as the level of structural calculations involved were within the scope of the generalist. With the consolidation of knowledge in scientific fields such as engineering and the rise of new materials and technology, the architect began to lose ground on the technical aspects of building. He therefore cornered for himself another playing field - that of aesthetics. There was the rise of the "gentleman architect" who usually dealt with wealthy clients and concentrated predominantly on visual qualities derived usually from historical prototypes. In the 19th century Ecole des Beaux Arts in France, the training was toward producing quick sketch schemes involving beautiful drawings without much emphasis on context. France, USA]] Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution laid open the door for mass consumption and aesthetics started becoming a criterion even for the middle class as ornamented products, once within the province of expensive craftmanship, became cheaper under machine production. Industrial Revolution, India]] The dissatisfaction with such a general situation at the turn of the twentieth century gave rise to many new lines of thought that in architecture served as precursors to Modern Architecture. Notable among these is the Deutscher Werkbund, formed in 1907 to produce better quality machine made objects. The rise of the profession of industrial design is usually placed here. Following this lead, the Bauhaus school, founded in Germany in 1919, consciously rejected history and looked at architecture as a synthesis of art, craft, and technology. When Modern architecture first began to be practiced, it was an avant-garde movement with moral, philosophical, and aesthetic underpinnings. Truth was sought by rejecting history and turning to function as the generator of form. Architects became prominent figures and were termed masters. Later modern architecture moved into the realm of mass production due to its simplicity and economy. However, a reduction in quality of modern architecture was perceived by the general public from the 1960s. Some reasons cited for this are its lack of meaning, sterility, ugliness, uniformity, and psychological effects. The architectural profession responded to this partly by attempting a more populist architecture at the visual level, even if at the expense of sacrificing depth for shallowness, a direction called Postmodernism. Robert Venturi's contention that a "decorated shed" (an ordinary building which is functionally designed inside and embellished on the outside) was better than a "duck" (a building in which the whole form and its function are considered together) gives an idea of this approach. Another part of the profession, and also some non-architects, responded by going to what they considered the root of the problem. They felt that architecture was not a personal philosophical or aesthetic pursuit by individualists; rather it had to consider everyday needs of people and use technology to give a livable environment. The Design Methodology Movement involving people such as Chris Jones, Christopher Alexander started searching for more people-orientated designs. Extensive studies on areas such as behavioural, environmental, and social sciences were done and started informing the design process. As many other concerns began to be recognised and complexity of buildings began to increase in terms of aspects such as services, architecture started becoming more multi-disciplinary than ever. Architecture now required a team of professionals in its making, an architect being one among the many, sometimes the leader, sometimes not. This is the state of the profession today. However, individuality is still cherished and sought for in the design of buildings seen as cultural symbols - the museum or fine arts centre has become a showcase for new experiments in style: today Deconstructivism, tomorrow maybe something else.

See also

Deconstructivism, including the egg-shaped Swiss Re tower. In 2004 this building won the Stirling Prize for its architects Foster and Partners ]] Foster and Partners]
- Architect
- Architectural history
- Architectural style
  - Classical architecture
  - Ideological architecture
    - Nazi architecture
    - Stalinist architecture
  - Byzantine architecture
  - Persian (Iranian) architecture
  - List of house styles
  - Modern architecture
  - Religious architecture
    - Cathedral architecture
    - Synagogue architecture
  - Vastu
  - Vernacular architecture
- Architectural theory
  - Mathematics and architecture
  - Pattern language
  - Proportion (architecture)
  - Space syntax
- Architecture timeline
- Building code
- Building construction
- Building material
- Environmental design
- Energy efficient building (Green building)
- Forms in architecture
- Interior design
- Landscape architecture
- List of architects
- List of architecture firms
- List of architecture prizes
  - Pritzker Prize
  - Stirling Prize
- List of buildings
  - Skyscraper
- Russian architecture
- Structural engineering
- Sustainable design
- Sustainable architecture
- Urban planning
- World Heritage Sites

External links


- [http://www.pygmies.info/camps.html African Pygmies Architecture]
- [http://www.aia.org/ American Institute of Architects]
- [http://www.architectsindex.com/ ArchitectsIndex - Directory of UK Architects along with work examples]
- [http://www.architypes.net/ Architypes - Wiki of architecture design principles and patterns]
- [http://www.architecture.com/ Architecture.com - Courtesy of the Royal Institute of British Architects]
- [http://www.archpedia.com/ Archpedia - architecture encyclopedia]
- [http://www.vernarch.com/ Center for vernacular Architecture-Bangalore-India]
- [http://st-takla.org/Gallery/Gallery-Coptic-Orthodox-Architecture-01.html Christian Coptic Orthodox Architecture] at http://St-Takla.org
- [http://www.cupola.com/bldgstr1.htm Cupola - Building and Structure Photo Galleries]
- [http://www.danda.be/ Danda - News and reviews on architecture]
- [http://www.iab.org.br/ Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil]
- [http://www.islamicarchitecture.org Islamic Architecture]
- [http://www.archinform.net/ Archinform - International Architecture Database]
- [http://architect.architecture.sk Famous architects]
- [http://www.galinsky.com/ Galinsky - People enjoying buildings worldwide]
- [http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/ Global Architecture Encyclopedia - Glass Steel and Stone]
- [http://www.thehopkinscompany.com/glossary/glossary.html Glossary of Architectural Terms]
- [http://www.greatbuildings.com/ Great Buildings Collection]
- [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/ New York architecture images]
- [http://www.riba.org Royal Institute of British Architects]
- [http://www.sah.org/ Society of Architectural Historians]
- [http://www.vitruvio.ch/ Vitruvio]
- [http://worldheritage-forum.net/de/ Worldheritage-Forum: Weblog and Information on UNESCO World Heritage topics] Category:Applied sciences Category:Arts ko:건축 ms:Seni bina ja:建築学 simple:Architecture th:สถาปัตยกรรมศาสตร์

Global

The adjective "global" and adverb "globally" imply that the verb or noun to which they are applied applies to the entire Earth and all of its species and regions. It is sometimes used as a synonym for the much narrower international/internationally but this is incorrect:
- Only two nations need to be involved to make something international, but, presumably, all must be potentially involved before it becomes truly global
- Nations are concerned wholly and only with humanity's concerns, and that usually in a narrow time frame, whereas there are many global concerns that transcend species or generations. The term "world" is also sometimes used when humanity rather than the Earth is concerned. ---- In computer programming, global means accessible throughout the whole program. The most common global objects are probably global variables, considered undesirable by some. ---- In physics, geometry and topology, global is usually the antonym of local. ---- In Canada, Global often refers to the Global Television Network.

See also


- Earth
- Globalization
- Glocal
- Political
- Racial
- Social
- Global village
- World community
- Culture portal
- Global politics ---- ---- category:society

Social

Latin root meaning

The term social is derived from the Latin word socius, which as a noun means "an associate, ally, companion, business partner or comrade" and in the adjectival form socialis refers to "a bond between people" (such as marriage) or to their collective or connected existence.

The Unobservable

Although the term "social" is a crucial category in social science and often used in public discourse, its meaning is often vague, suggesting that it is a fuzzy concept. An added difficulty is that social attributes or relationships may not be directly observable and visible, and must be inferred by abstract thought. Thus the sociologist C. Wright Mills invented the expression "the sociological imagination", which referred to the need to think imaginatively beyond what an individual can empirically observe in order to grasp the social domain in all its dimensions - connecting, for example, "private troubles" and "public issues". A similar point is made in the context of architecture by Ole Bouman and Roemer van Toorn in their groundbreaking work The Invisible in Architecture. General problems concerning the nature of social reality and what (or how) we can know about it are the object of social theory.

Some different definitions

In the absence of agreement about its meaning, the term "social" is used in many different senses, referring among other things to:
- attitudes, orientations or behaviours which take the interests, intentions or needs of other people into account (in contrast to anti-social behaviour);
- common characteristics of people or descriptions of collectivities (social facts);
- relations between people (social relations) generally, or particular associations among people;
- interactions between people (social action);
- membership of a group of people or inclusion or belonging to a community of people;
- co-operation or co-operative characteristics between people;
- relations of (mutual) dependence;
- the public sector ("social sector") or the need for governance for the good of all, contrasted with the private sector;
- in existentialist and postmodernist thought, relationships between the Self and the Other;
- interactive systems in communities of animal or insect populations, or any living organisms. In one broad meaning, "social" refers only to society as "a system of common life", but in another sense it contrasts specifically with "individual" and individualist theories of society. This is reflected for instance in the different perspectives of liberalism and socialism on society and public affairs. The adjective "social" implies that the verb or noun to which it is applied is somehow more communicative, cooperative, and moderated by contact with human beings, than if it were omitted. That is, it implies that larger society has played some role in defining the idea or the principle. For instance terms like social realism, social justice, social constructivism, social psychology and social capital imply that there is some social process involved or considered, a process that is not there in regular, "non-social", realism, justice, constructivism, psychology, or capital. The adjective "social" is also used often in political discourse, although its meaning in such a context depends heavily on who is using it. In left-wing circles it is often used to imply a positive characteristic, while in right-wing circles it is generally used to imply a negative characteristic. It should also be noted that, overall, this adjective is used much more often by those on the political left than by those on the political right. For these reasons, those seeking to avoid association with the left-right political debates often seek to label their work with phrases that do not include the word "social". An example is quasi-empiricism in mathematics which is sometimes labelled social constructivism by those who see it as an unwarranted intrusion of social considerations in mathematical practice, which is supposed to be "objective" and "above" social concerns.

Social theorists

In the view of Karl Marx, human beings are intrinsically, necessarily and by definition social beings who - beyond being "gregarious creatures" -cannot survive and meet their needs other than through social co-operation and association. Their social characteristics are therefore to a large extent an objectively given fact, stamped on them from birth and affirmed by socialization processes; and, according to Marx, in producing and reproducing their material life, people must necessarily enter into relations of production which are "independent of their will". By contrast, the sociologist Max Weber for example defines human action as "social" if, by virtue of the subjective meanings attached to the action by individuals, it "takes account of the behaviour of others, and is thereby oriented in its course". In this case, the "social" domain really exists only in the intersubjective relations between individuals, but by implication the life of these individuals also exists in part outside the social domain. "Social" is thus implicitly also contrasted with "private". In the positivist sociology of Emile Durkheim, a social fact is an abstraction external to the individual which constrains that individual's actions. In his 1895 work Rules of Sociological Method, Durkheim writes: "A social fact is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an influence, or an external constraint; or again, every way of acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right independent of its individual manifestations." In Durkheim's view, sociology is 'the science of social facts'.

Socialism and social democracy

The term "socialism", used from the 1830s onwards in France and England, was directly related to what was called the social question, in essence the problem that the emergence of competitive market societies did not create "liberty, equality and fraternity" for all citizens, requiring the intervention of politics and social reform to tackle social problems, injustices and grievances (a topic on which Jean-Jacques Rousseau discourses at length in his classic work The Social Contract). Originally the term "socialist" was often used interchangeably with "co-operative", "mutualist", "associationist" and "collectivist". The term social democracy originally referred to the political project of extending democratic forms of association to the whole of society, substituting popular sovereignty, the universal franchise and social ownership for the rule of a propertied class which had exclusive voting rights.

Modern uses

In contemporary society, "social" often refers to the redistributive policies of the government which aim to apply resources in the public interest, for example, social security. Policy concerns then include the problems of social exclusion and social cohesion. Here, "social" contrasts with "private" and to the distinction between the public and the private (or privatised) spheres, where ownership relations define access to resources and attention. The social domain is often also contrasted with that of physical nature, but in sociobiology analogies are drawn between humans and other living species in order to explain social behavior in terms of biological factors. The term "social" is also added in various other academic sub-disciplines such as social geography, social psychology, social anthropology, social philosophy, social ontology, social statistics and social choice theory in mathematics. Some references:
- Herbert Gintis, Samuel Bowles, Robert T. Boyd, and Ernst Fehr (eds.), Moral Sentiments and Material Interests, Foundations of Cooperation in Economic Life.
- Max Weber, Economy and Society.
- Talcott Parsons, The Structure of Social Action.
- Goran Therborn, Science, Class and Society.
- Russell Keat and John Urry, Social Theory As Science.
- Alex Callinicos, Social Theory: an Historical Introduction.
- C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination.
- Ole Bouman and Roemer van Toorn (eds.), The Invisible in Architecture.
- Jürgen Habermas, Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere.
- Charles Derber, The Pursuit of Attention; Power and Ego in Everyday Life.
- Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin, The Dialectical Biologist.

Humanitarian

Humanitarianism is an informal ideology of practice, whereby people practice humane treatment and provide assistance to others. Humanitarianism is based on a view that all human beings deserve respect and dignity and should be treated as such. Therefore, humanitarians work towards advancing the well-being of humanity as a whole. Humanitarianism is the antithesis of the "us vs. them" mentality that characterizes tribalism and ethnic nationalism. Humanitarians abhor slavery, cannibalism, and discrimination on the basis of features such as color of skin, ancestry, place of birth, etc. Humanitarianism is embraced by movements and people across the political spectrum, and particularly (but not exclusively) by leftists. Humanitarianism was probably most publicly seen in the social reforms of the late 1800s and early 1900s, following the economoic turmoil of the Industrial Revolution in England. Many of the women in Great Britain who were involved with feminism during the 1900s also pushed humanitarianism. The atrocious hours and working conditions of children and unskilled laborers were made illegal by pressure on Parliament by humanitarians. The Factory Acts of 1833 and 1844 were some of the most significant humanitarian bills passed in Parliament following the Industrial Revolution. A Humanitarian is one who is devoted to human welfare.

Noteable Humanitarians of Modern Times


- Bono - Rock Star Activist involved in lobbying for poverty reduction.
- Clint Borgen - Head of the Borgen Project and one of the world's most recognized figures in poverty reduction.
- Jeffrey Sachs - Economist and leading figure in poverty reduction.

See also


- Humanitarian aid
- Mundialization
- World citizen
- [http://www.borgenproject.org/ Borgen Project]

Sources


- [http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Humanitarian Dictionary.com: Humanitarian]

Land mine

A landmine is a type of self-contained explosive device which is placed onto or into the ground, exploding when triggered by a vehicle or person. The name originates from the practice of sapping, where tunnels were dug under opposing forces or fortifications and filled with explosives. Landmines generally refer to devices specifically manufactured for purpose, as distinguished from improvised explosive devices. Landmines (sometimes called area denial munitions) are used to secure disputed borders and to restrict enemy movement in times of war. Tactically they serve a purpose similar to barbed wire or concrete dragon's teeth vehicle barriers, channelling the movement of attacking troops in ways that permit the defenders to engage them more easily. From a military perspective, landmines serve as force multipliers, allowing an organised force to overcome a larger enemy. Anti-personnel landmines or APLs are widely considered to be ethically problematic weapons because their victims are commonly civilians, who are often killed or maimed long after a war has ended. According to anti–landmine campaigners, in Cambodia alone mines have resulted in 35,000 amputees after the cessation of hostilities. Removal of landmines is dangerous, slow and costly; however, some countries maintain that landmines are necessary to protect their soldiers in times of war.

History

The basic concept behind the landmine has appeared through military history. Some sources report that Zhuge Liang, of the Kingdom of Shu of China, invented a landmine type device in the third century. Forces in ancient Rome sometimes dug small foot-sized holes, covered and armed with a sharpened spike. In the Middle Ages in Europe, small, four-pronged spiked devices called caltrops or crows' feet could be scattered on the ground to delay the advance of an enemy. In Europe in the early eighteenth century, improvised landmines or booby traps were constructed in the form of bombs buried in shallow wells in the earth and covered with scrap metal and/or gravel to serve as shrapnel. Known in French as fougasse, the term is sometimes still used in the present day to describe such devices. This technique was used in several European wars of the eighteenth Century, the American Revolution, and the American Civil War. The first modern mechanically fuzed high explosive anti-personnel landmines were created in Imperial Germany, circa 1912, and were copied and manufactured by all major participants in the First World War. In World War One, landmines were used notably at the start of the battle of Passchendale. Well before the war was over, the British were manufacturing landmines that contained poison gas instead of explosives. Poison gas mines were manufactured at least until the 1980s in the Soviet Union. The United States was known to have at least experimented with the concept in the 1950s. Nuclear mines have also been developed, both land and naval varieties. An example is the British Blue Peacock project.

Triggering mechanisms

A landmine can be triggered by a number of things including pressure, movement, sound, magnetism and vibration. Anti-personnel mines commonly use the pressure of a person's foot as a trigger, but tripwires are also frequently employed. Most modern anti-vehicle mines use a magnetic trigger to enable it to detonate even if the tires or tracks did not touch it. Advanced mines are able to sense the difference between friendly and enemy types of vehicles by way of a built-in signature catalogue. This will theoretically enable friendly forces to use the mined area while denying the enemy access. Many mines combine the main trigger with a touch or tilt trigger to prevent enemy engineers from defusing it. Landmine designs tend to use as little metal as possible to make searching with a metal detector more difficult; landmines made mostly of plastic have the added advantage of being very inexpensive. Some types of mines used by the U.S. Army and many other forces are designed to self-destruct after a period of weeks or months to reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties at the conflict's end. However, these self-destruct mechanisms are not absolutely reliable, and most landmines laid historically are not equipped in this manner.

Landmine varieties

Anti-tank mines (AT)

Anti-tank mines are designed to immobilise or destroy vehicles and their occupants. Anti-tank mines can achieve either a mobility kill (m-kill) or a catastrophic kill (k-kill). A mobility kill destroys one or more of the vehicle's vital drive components (for example, breaking a track on a tank) thus immobilising the target. A mobility kill does not always destroy the weapon system or injure the crew. In a catastrophic kill, the weapon system and/or the crew are disabled. Anti-tank mines are typically larger than anti-personnel mines and require more pressure to detonate. The high trigger pressure (normally 100 kg (220 lb.)) prevents them from being set off by infantry. More modern anti-tank mines use shaped charges to cut through armour. These were first deployed in large numbers in World War II.

Anti-personnel mines (AP)

Anti-personnel mines are designed to kill or incapacitate their victims. Such mines require the commitment of medical resources on the part of the affected enemy force, may degrade unit morale, and can damage unarmoured vehicles. Some types of AP mines may break or damage the track on armoured vehicles. AP mines can be classified into three main types: blast mines, AP fragmentation mines and AP bounding mines.

AP blast mines

A typical AP blast mine can be classified as "pressure activated munition", the primary purpose of which is to incapacitate via the direct blast wave of the explosive charge. A typical AP blast mine will have the following components: blast wave ; Mine casing : The mine casing houses the components of the mine and protects it from its environment. Early landmines such as the ones found in the WWII era had casings made of steel and could be found with an electronic mine detector. Today, most AP blast mines have a casing made out of plastic which makes them immune from electronic mine detectors. ; Pressure plate/detonation mechanism: The detonation mechanism is designed to set off the detonation charge either by striking it with a firing pin or passing an electric charge through it. Most AP blast mines use a spring-loaded detonation mechanism that strikes the detonator charge when activated. ; Detonator : The detonator charge is a highly sensitive explosive that will explode easily if sudden pressure is applied to it or an electric charge is applied through it. ; Main charge : The main charge of an AP blast mine consists of stable explosive that is itself detonated by the detonator charge. This is necessary, as making a mine out of highly sensitive "detonator charge" explosive would make it dangerously susceptible to explosion. In most AP blast mines TNT or tetryl is used. On a U.S. M-14 AP blast mine, around 31 grams of tetryl is used, while up to 200 grams of TNT is used in a Russian PMN mine.
Deployment of AP blast mines
AP blast mines are typically used to deny an area for use by military forces or civilians. They are normally buried under 5 to 10 cm of soil or in some cases put under leaves or rocks.
Consequences of activating an AP blast mine
When a subject activates an AP blast mine by stepping on one, the mine's main charge will explode and release a blast wave consisting of hot gases (the by-product of the explosion). This blast wave will send a huge compressive force upwards, bringing the mine casing and bits of the soil covering the mine along with it. When the blast wave hits the surface, it will quickly transfer the force into the subject's footwear and foot. This results in a massive compression force being applied to the subject's footwear and the foot's soft tissue and bone. In most cases, these will be crushed and torn off by the blast wave. The resulting injuries to a human body depend on the size of the blast mine's main charge, the depth and type of soil it was laid in and how the victim contacted it. Different types of soil will result in different amounts of energy being transferred upward into the subject's extremities, with saturated "clay-like" soil transferring the most. Larger main charges result in a release of significantly more energy, driving the blast wave further up a target's foot and leg and causing greater injury. Small landmines such as the Chinese Type 72 or the U.S. M-14 will result in a "traumatically amputated" foot up to the ankle, while large Russian PMN Blast mines with 200 g of TNT are so powerful that activating them will likely result in the injury of both of the subject's legs. Secondary injuries from a blast mine will be caused by the material that has been torn loose by the mine's explosion. The material consists of the soil and stones that were on top of the mine, parts of the subject's footwear and the small bones in the subject's foot. This debris is projected upwards at great velocity and can become embedded in the wounds of the target, shredding tissue and encouraging infection. Footwear, including combat boots or so-called "blast boots", does little to mitigate the effects of the mine, and the loss of a foot is the typical outcome of activating an AP Blast.

Anti-personnel fragmentation mines

AP fragmentation mines such as the German S-mine are a type of area denial munition designed to incapacitate or kill. When activated, the mine is designed to explode and project lethal metal fragments into its victim. Most AP fragmentation mines are triggered by a tripwire. When a subject disturbs the wire, the mine will explode and release a shower of metal fragments into its surroundings. Any subject caught in its blast will likely suffer multiple shrapnel wounds over his or her body.

Anti-handling devices (AHD)

Anti-handling devices trigger the mine fuze if someone attempts to tamper or defuse the mine. They are intended to prevent moving or removing the mine, not to prevent reduction of the minefield by enemy dismounts. An AHD usually consists of an explosive charge that is connected to, placed next to, or manufactured in the mine. The device can be attached to the mine body and activated by a wire that is attached to a firing mechanism. U.S. forces employ AHDs on conventional AT mines only and not on Anti-personal mines. The makes it somewhat safer to remove mines laid by US forces. Other countries may employ AHDs on both AT and AP mines.

Mine warfare

In military science, minefields are considered a defensive or harassing weapon, used to slow the enemy down, to help deny certain terrain to the enemy, to focus enemy movement into kill zones, or to reduce morale by randomly attacking matériel and personnel. Since combat engineers with mine-clearing equipment can clear a path through a minefield relatively quickly, they are usually considered effective only if covered by fire. combat engineer]] The extents of minefields are often marked with warning signs and cloth tape, to prevent friendly troops and non-combatants from entering them. Of course, sometimes terrain can be denied using dummy minefields. Most forces carefully record the location and disposition of their own minefields, because warning signs can be destroyed or removed, and minefields should eventually be cleared. Minefields may also have marked or unmarked safe routes to allow friendly movement through them. Placing minefields without marking and recording them for later removal is considered uncivilized and is illegal under international conventions.

Laying mines

Minefields may be laid by several means. The preferred, but most labour-intensive, way is to have engineers bury the mines, since this will make the mines practically invisible and reduce the number of mines needed to deny the enemy an area. Mines can be laid by specialized mine-laying vehicles. Mine-scattering shells may be fired by artillery from a distance of several tens of kilometres. Mines may be dropped from helicopters or airplanes, or ejected from cruise missiles. Anti-tank minefields can be scattered with anti-personnel mines to make clearing them manually more time-consuming; and anti-personnel minefields are scattered with anti-tank mines to prevent the use of armoured vehicles to clear them quickly. Some anti-tank mine types are also able to be triggered by infantry, giving them a dual purpose even though their main and official intention is to work as anti-tank weapons. Some minefields are specifically booby-trapped to make clearing them more dangerous. Mixed anti-personnel and anti-tank minefields, double-stacked anti-tank mines, anti-personnel mines under anti-tank mines, and fuzes separated from mines have all been used for this purpose.

Detecting and removing landmines

booby-trap While placing and arming landmines is relatively inexpensive and simple, the reverse of detecting and removing them is typically expensive, slow, and dangerous. Various means to detect landmines include:
- Carefully searching suspected or known minefields areas for mines. Often this is done by crawling slowly into the field, inserting a probe (anything from a knife to a stick) into the soil to find hard objects. When walking in mined areas, mine-clearing personnel may wear large, pillow-like pads strapped under their feet, to spread their weight and dull the impact of their footsteps, as very slight disturbances of the ground can tip off old, unstable, or intentionally sensitive mine triggers. knife knife
- Using metal detectors to sweep a suspected minefield. However, the detectors may not easily differentiate various types of metal objects, which slows the search.
- Using animals like dogs that can sniff out explosive chemicals like TNT in landmines. Recent experiments with the Gambian giant pouched rat have indicated that it has the required sensitivity to smell, can be trained reliably with food-reward incentives, and is typically too small to set off the mines.
- Sowing genetically engineered flower seeds over suspected minefields from the air. The flowers bloom in distinctive colours when there are explosives nearby in the soil.[http://www.acfnewsource.org/science/mine_sniffing_plants.html] Methods for removing landmines include:
- Manually disarming them.
- Destroying or detonating them safely, possibly using another explosive or even an artillery barrage.
- Driving a heavily armoured vehicle like an armoured bulldozer or a tank equipped with a mine roller, plough, or flail through a minefield to deliberately detonate the explosives.
- Using a specialized mine-clearing explosive, typically a pipe or hose filled with explosive material, pushed or launched across a minefield. Examples include the Bangalore torpedo, Giant Viper, and Antipersonnel Obstacle Breaching System.

Efforts to ban anti-personnel mines

After a sustained and successful international campaign led by a coalition of NGOs, and with key support from the government of Canada, the majority of the world's countries (144 to date) have made the use and possession of anti-personnel landmines by its military forces illegal. The only three Western democracies that have not banned anti-personnel landmines are the United States, Finland and Israel. Some other countries like Russia, China and North Korea also continue to use and manufacture them. The Ottawa Treaty (Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction) came into force on March 1, 1999. The treaty was the result of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, launched in 1992. The [http://www.icbl.org campaign] and its leader, Jody Williams, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for its efforts. Signatories of the Ottawa Treaty agree that they will not use, develop, manufacture, stockpile or trade in anti-personnel landmines. Existing stocks must be destroyed within four years of signing the treaty. There were originally 122 signatories in 1997; as of February 2004, it has been signed by 152 countries and ratified by 144. The remaining 42 countries have not signed. The biggest of these are the People's Republic of China[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/china], India[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/india], the USA[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/usa] and the Russian Federation[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/russia]. The United States refuses to sign the treaty because it does not offer a "Korean exception", as landmines are a crucial component of the U.S. military strategy in South Korea. According to the US government, the one million mines along the DMZ between North and South help maintain the delicate peace by deterring a North Korean attack. Despite conducting research on technologies that could replace the mines in Korea by 2006, in 1999 the U.S. modified the Ottawa Treaty by introducing the M86 Pursuit Deterrent Munition (PDM) which was meant to slow enemy pursuit on retreating armed forces. While still a landmine, PDM exploits technical loopholes in the Ottawa Treaty; therefore, the future of landmines in the U.S. is unclear. According to the ICBL report for August 2004, eighty countries declared stockpiles totalling 48 million landmines, of which 37.5 million have been destroyed so far. 65 countries have completed the destruction of their stockpiles, and another 51 countries have declared that they did not possess stockpiles to destroy. Nine countries signed the treaty in the year to August 2004. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/intro/banning] There is a clause in the treaty, Article 3, which permits countries to retain landmines for use in training or development of countermeasures. 64 countries have taken this option. In February 2004, the number of mines retained varied from 93 for Mauritius, 1783 for the United Kingdom, around 4000 for France and Spain, 9,000 for Japan right up to as many as 69,200 for Turkmenistan. Other high levels are reported by Brazil (16,545), Sweden (16,015), Algeria (15,030), and Bangladesh (15,000). In total 289,000 mines have been declared as retained by various countries under Article 3. A further 23 countries have not declared a figure. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/factsheets/pdf/art3_feb_2004.pdf] As an alternative to an outright ban, 10 countries follow regulations that are contained in a 1996 amendment of Protocol II of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). The countries are China, Finland, India, Israel, Latvia, Morocco, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and the United States. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/intro/banning#fn6] The Ottawa Treaty does not include anti-tank mines, cluster bombs or claymore-type mines operated in command mode, but does cover victim-activated claymore-type mines (including those activated by tripwires). [http://www.icbl.org/lm/factsheets/pdf/art2_feb_2004.pdf]

Manufacturers

The ICBL has identified the following countries as manufacturing landmines as of August 2004. None are signatories of the Ottawa Treaty. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/findings]
- Cuba [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/cuba]
- Iraq (although production had presumably ceased since the invasion of 2003)[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/iraq]
- Iran [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/iran]
- India [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/india]
- Myanmar [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/burma]
- Nepal [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/nepal]
- North Korea [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/north_korea]
- Pakistan [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/pakistan]
- Russian Federation [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/russia]
- Singapore [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/singapore]
- Vietnam [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/vietnam] Of other states which are thought to have manufactured landmines recently:
- Turkey is now a signatory of the Ottawa Treaty [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/turkey]
- Serbia and Montenegro is now a signatory of the Ottawa Treaty [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/kosovo]
- Egypt has unofficially stated that production ceased in 1988. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/egypt]
- The United States has not manufactured anti-personnel mines since 1997, but a government statement in February 2004 stated that, “The United States will continue to develop non-persistent anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines.”[http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/usa]
- South Korea has stated that no mines have been produced since 2000. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/south_korea]
- An official from China stated in September 2003 that production has ceased there, since they have an ample stockpile. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/china]
- In March 2004, a Libyan official stated that the country has never produced anti-personnel mines, but is known to have laid landmines in the 1970s and 1980s [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/libya]
- A United Nations assessment mission to Peru reported that production of landmines in the country ceased in January 1999. Peru was one of the original signatories and to the treaty came into force for them in March 1999. [http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/peru] The Soviet Union had been accused of using specifically-designed mines looking like toys (to target children) in its conflict with Afghanistan. Some of the Soviet mines used were small, green, made from plastic and winged so that they could be deployed from planes, with the result that children often mistook them for toys, but others were allegedly manufactured of red and white plastic in the shape of toy trucks.

See also


- Demining
- Improvised explosive device
- Cluster bomb
- Naval mine Anti-mine organizations:
- Roots of Peace
- International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL)
- ICBL landmine monitor: http://www.icbl.org/lm/ Types of mines and mine delivery systems used by US military:
- Artillery Delivered Antipersonnel Mine (ADAM)
- M14 mine
- M16 mine
- Claymore mine
- Gator mine
- Volcano mine
- Ground Emplaced Mine Scattering System (GEMSS)
- M86 Pursuit Deterrent Munition (PDM)
- Modular Pack Mine System (MOPMS)

External links


- [http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/iwpList2/Focus:Landmines The International Committee of the Red Cross on Landmines]
- [http://www.icbl.org The International Campaign to Ban Landmines]
- Steve McClure, Japan Times, 16 May 2001, [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fm20010516sm.htm "The sweet sound of a good cause"] - "Zero Landmine" charity CD and television programme.
- UK author Alexander Deane defends the use and legality of landmines: [http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=2431]
- [http://www.clearthelandmines.org Aurora Land Mines Task Force: An example of student activism against land mines.]
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Playground

A playground is an area designed for children to play freely, without structure, which helps to develop the child's physical, emotional, cognitive, and social well being. Modern playground often have recreational equipment such as the see-saw, merry-go-round, swingset, slide, climber, walking bridge, jungle gym, chin-up bars, sandbox, parallel bars, overhead ladder, trapeze and trapeze rings, playhouses, and maze, many of which help children develop physical coordination, strength, and flexibility, as well as providing recreation and enjoyment. Common in modern playgrounds are "play structures" that link many different pieces of equipment. Professionals recognize that the social skills that children develop on the playground become lifelong skill sets that are carried forward into their adulthood. Independant research concludes that playgrounds are among the most important environments for children outside the home. Most forms of play are essential for healthy development, but free, spontaneous play—the kind that occurs on playgrounds—is the most beneficial type of play. Playgrounds often also have facilities for playing informal games of adult sports, such as a baseball diamond, a skating rink, a basketball court, or a tetherball. Sometimes the safety of playgrounds is disputed in school or among regulators. Over at least the last twenty years, the kinds of equipment to be found in playgrounds has changed, often towards safer equipment built with modern materials. For example, an older jungle gym might be constructed entirely from steel bars, while newer ones tend to have a minimal steel framework while providing a web of nylon ropes for children to climb on. nylon nylon Playgrounds can be
- Public, free of charge
- A business with an entrance fee
- Connected to a business, for customers only, e.g., at McDonald's and IKEA.
- Elaborate indoor mazes, like those at the (now defunct) Discovery Zone and Chuck E. Cheese's Children have devised many playground games and pastimes. But because playgrounds are usually subject to adult supervision and oversight, young children's street culture often struggles to fully thrive there. Research by Robin Moore (Childhood's Domain: Play and Place, 1986) has clearly shown that playgrounds need to be balanced with marginal areas that (to adults) appear to be derelict or wasteground, which young children can claim for themselves.

See also:


- The Law of the Playground Image:Vanderwoning_slide9083.jpg|A slide, viewed from the top. Image:Playground.jpg|A playground in Stratford, Australia Image:Jacques Laurent Agasse 001.jpg|Jacques Laurent Agasse: The Playground, 1830 Image:Wasserspielplatz.jpg|water-based playground ---- Playground is also an informal term to describe an area designed for any particular group of people. For example, "the resort spa has become a playground for millionaires". "Playground" can also simply be the title of a summer program. In many cities now, the playgrounds have been turned into free daycare services that merely use the playground as a meeting place for the "playground program" to jump off from. And from there the childcare providers take their children to more fun places as field trips to a swimming pool, a miniature golf course, or a laser tag adventure. :) Category:Play Category:Entertainment Category:Technology

Balkans

: Balkan redirects here. For the Turkmen province, see: Balkan Province The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe a region of south-eastern Europe. The region has a combined area of 728,000 km² and a population of around 53 million. The region takes its name from the Balkan mountains which run through the centre of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia. Serbia

Definitions and boundaries

Balkan Peninsula

The Balkans are sometimes referred to as the "Balkan Peninsula" as they are surrounded by water on three sides: the Black Sea to the east and branches of the Mediterranean Sea to the south and west (including the Adriatic, Ionian, Aegean and Marmara seas). While it is not geographically a peninsula as it has no isthmus to connect it to the mainland of Europe, this name is nonetheless commonly used to denote the wider region.

The Balkans

The identity of the Balkans owes as much to its fragmented and often violent common history as to its mountainous geography. The region was perennially on the edge of great empires, its history dominated by wars, rebellions, invasions and clashes between empires, from the times of the Roman Empire to the latter-day Yugoslav wars. Its fractiousness and tendency to splinter into rival political entities led to the coining of the term Balkanization (or balkanizing). The term Balkan commonly connotes a connection with violence, religious strife, ethnic clannishness and a sense of hinterland. The Balkans, as they are known today, have changed dramatically over the course of history.

Etymology and evolving meaning

The region takes its name from the "Balkan" mountain range in Bulgaria (from a Turkish word meaning "a chain of wooded mountains"). On a larger scale, one long continuous chain of mountains crosses the region in the form of a reversed letter S, from the Carpathians south to the Balkan range proper, before it marches away east into Anatolian Turkey. On the west coast, an offshoot of the Dinaric Alps follows the coast south through Dalmatia and Albania, crosses Greece and continues into the sea in the form of various islands. . The word was based on Turkish balakan 'stone, cliff', which confirms the pure 'technical' meaning of the term. Actually the mountain range that runs across Bulgaria from west to east (Stara Planina) is still commonly known as the Balkan Mountains. As time passed the term gradually obtained political connotations far from its initial geographic meaning, arising from political changes from the late 1800s to the creation of post-WW1 Yugoslavia (initially the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and Slovenians). Zeune's goal was to have a geographical parallel term to the Italic and Iberian Peninsula, and seemingly nothing more. The gradually acquired political connotations are newer, and - to a large extentdue to oscillating political circumstances. After the split of Yugoslavia beginning with June 1991, the term 'Balkans' got again a negative meaning, even if this is casual again. For example, Romania is also labelled a 'Balkanic country' even if this is not compliant with either its initial meaning or later evolutions of the term. Over the last decade, in the wake of the former Yugoslav split, Croatians and especially Slovenians have rejected their former label as 'Balkan nations'. This is in part due to the pejorative connotation of the term 'Balkans' in the 1990s, and continuation of this meaning until now. Today the term Southeast Europe is preferred or, in the case of Slovenia and sometimes Croatia, Central Europe. Even if incorrect, both historically and politically, it is probable that "Balkans" will continue to have a wider, and pejorative, meaning. Quite often this is rather a cliché covering ignorance or ill intentions.

Southeastern Europe

Due to the aforementioned connotations of the term "Balkan", many people prefer the term Southeastern Europe instead. The use of this term is slowly growing; a European Union initiative of 1999 is called the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and the online newspaper Balkan Times renamed itself Southeast European Times in 2003. The use of this term to mean the Balkan peninsula (and only that) technically ignores the geographical presence of northern Romania and Ukraine, which are also located in the southeastern part of the European continent.

Ambiguities and controversies

The northern border of the Balkan peninsula is usually considered be the line formed by the Danube, Sava and Kupa rivers and a segment connecting the spring of the Kupa with the Kvarner Bay. Some other definitions of the northern border of the Balkans has been proposed:
- the line Danube - Sava - Krka (river in Slovenia) - Postojnska Vrata - Vipava River - Isonzo River (also known as Soča river)
- the line Danube - Sava - Ljubljansko polje - Idrijca river - Soča river.
- the line Dniester - Timişoara - Zagreb - Triglav (mountain). Triglav The most commonly used Danube-Sava-Kupa northern boundary is arbitrarily set as to the physiographical characteristics, however it can be easily recognized on the map. It has a historical and cultural substantiation. The region so defined (together with Romania and excluding Montenegro, Dalmatia, and the Ionian Islands) constituted most of the European territory of the Ottoman Empire from the late 15th to the 19th century. The Kupa forms a natural boundary between south-eastern Slovenia and Croatia and has been a political frontier since the 12th century, separating Carniola (belonging to Austria) from Croatia (belonging to Hungary). The Danube-Sava-Krka-Postojnska Vrata-Vipava-Isonzo line ignores some historical and cultural characteristics, but can be seen as a rational delimitation of the Balkan peninsula from a geographical point of view. It assigns all the Karstic and Dinaric area to the Balkan region. The Sava bisects Croatia and Serbia and the Danube, which is the second largest European river (after Volga), forms a natural boundary between both Bulgaria and Serbia and Romania. North of that line lies the Pannonian plain and (in the case of Romania) the Carpathian mountains. Although Romania (with the exception of Dobrudja) is not geographically part of the Balkans, it is conventionally included as a successor state to the old Ottoman Empire. According to the most commonly used border, Slovenia lies to the north of the Balkans and is considered a part of Central Europe. Historically and culturally, it is also more related to Central Europe, although the Slovenian culture also incorporates some elements of culture of Balkanic peoples. However, as already stated, the northern boundary of the Balkan peninsula can also be drawn otherwise, in which case at least a part of Slovenia and a small part of Italy (Province of Trieste) may be included in the Balkans. Slovenia is also sometimes regarded as a Balkan country due to its association with the former Yugoslavia. When the Balkans are described as a twentieth-century geopolitical region, the whole Yugoslavia is included (so, Slovenia, Istria, islands of Dalmatia, northern Croatia and Vojvodina too). The aforementioned historical justification for the Sava-Kupa northern boundary would preclude including a big part of Croatia (whose territories were by and large part of the Habsburg Monarchy and Venetian Republic during the Ottoman conquest). Other factors such as prior history and culture also bind Croatia to Central Europe and the Mediterranean region more than they bind it to the Balkans. Nevertheless, its peculiar geographic shape inherently associates it with the region Bosnia and Herzegovina is part of, as well as the recent history with Yugoslavia etc.

Current common definition

Venetian Republic In most of the English-speaking, western world, the countries commonly included in the Balkan region are:
-
-
-
-
-
- ¤
-
- , but only the European part of it around Istanbul (traditionally called Rumelia or Eastern Thrace) Some other countries are sometimes included in the list as well:
-
- Many regions in the countries listed as Balkan states can be in many respects rather distinct from the remainder of the region, so countries that are borderline cases (often far away from the Balkan mountain itself) usually prefer not to be called Balkan countries. Prime examples of this are Romania, Slovenia and Croatia, sometimes also Greece.

Related countries

Other countries not included in the Balkan region that are close to it and/or play or have played an important role in the region's geopolitics, culture and history:
- Cyprus (see also Cyprus dispute)
- Hungary (see also Austria-Hungary)
- Austria (see also Austria-Hungary, Assassination in Sarajevo)
- Italy (see Croatia: Dalmatia, Zara, Fiume; History of Slovenia)
- Russia (see History of Serbia)

Nature and natural resources

Most of the area is covered by mountain ranges running from south-west to north-east. The main ranges are the Dinaric Alps in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, the Šar massif which spreads from Albania to Republic of Macedonia and the Pindus range, spanning from southern Albania into central Greece. In Bulgaria there are ranges running from east to west: the Balkan mountains and the Rhodope mountains at the border with Greece. The highest mountain of the region is Musala in Bulgaria at 2925 m, with Mount Olympus in Greece being second at 2919 m and Vihren in Bulgaria being the third at 2914. It is also worth mentioning Stefani in Greece at 2,912 which is known as the ancient throne of Zeus in the Olympus range. On the coasts the climate is Mediterranean, in the inland it is moderate continental. In the northern part of the peninsula and on the mountains, winters are frosty and snowy, while summers are hot and dry. In the southern part winters are milder. During the centuries many woods have been cut down and replaced with bush and brush. In the southern part and on the coast there is evergreen vegetation. In the inland there are woods typical of Central Europe (oak and beech, and in the mountains, spruce, fir and pine). The tree-line in the mountains lies at the height of 1800-2300 m. The soils are generally poor, except on the plains where areas with natural grass, fertile soils and warm summers provide an opportunity for tillage. Elsewhere, land cultivation is mostly unsuccessful because of the mountains, hot summers and poor soils, although certain cultures such as olives and grapes flourish. Resources of energy are scarce. There are some deposits of coal, especially in Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia. Lignite deposits are widespread in Greece. Petroleum, is present in Greece, Serbia, Albania and Croatia. Natural gas deposits are scarce. Hydropower stations are largely used in energetics. Metal ores are more usual than other raw materials. Iron ore is rare but in some countries there is a considerable amount of copper, zinc, tin, chromite, manganese, magnesite and bauxite. Some metals are exported.

History and geopolitical significance

:Main article: History of the Balkans The Balkan region was the first area of Europe to experience the arrival of farming cultures in the Neolithic era. The practices of growing grain and raising livestock arrived in the Balkans from the Fertile Crescent by way of Anatolia, and spread west and north into Pannonia and Central Europe. In pre-classical and classical antiquity, this region was home to Greeks, Illyrians, Paeonians, Thracians, and other ancient groups. Later the Roman Empire conquered most of the region and spread Roman culture and the Latin language but significant parts still remained under classical Greek influence. During the Middle Ages, the Balkans became the stage for a series of wars between the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian Empires. By the end of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire became the controlling force in the region, although it was centered around Anatolia. In the past 550 years, because of the frequent Ottoman wars in Europe fought in and around the Balkans, and the comparative Ottoman isolation from the mainstream of economic advance (reflecting the shift of Europe's commercial and political centre of gravity towards the Atlantic), the Balkans has been the least developed part of Europe. The Balkan nations began to regain their independence in the 19th century(Greece), and in 1912-1913 a Balkan League reduced Turkey's territory to its present extent in the Balkan Wars. The First World War was sparked in 1914 by the assassination in Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina) of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. After the Second World War, the Soviet Union and communism played a very important role in the Balkans. During the Cold War, most of the countries in the Balkans were ruled by Soviet-supported communist governments. However, despite being under communist governments, Yugoslavia (1948) and Albania (1961) fell out with the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia, led by marshal Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), first propped up then rejected the idea of merging with Bulgaria, and instead sought closer relations with the West, later even joining many third world countries in the Non-Aligned Movement. Albania on the other hand gravitated toward Communist China, later adopting an isolationist position. The only non-communist countries were Greece and Turkey, which were (and still are) part of NATO. In the 1990s, the region was gravely affected by armed conflict in the former Yugoslav republics, resulting in intervention by NATO forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Republic of Macedonia. The status of Kosovo and ethnic Albanians in general is still mostly unresolved. Balkan countries control the direct land routes between Western Europe and South West Asia (Asia Minor and the Middle East). Since 2000, all Balkan countries are friendly towards the EU and the USA. Greece has been a member of the European Union since 1981; Slovenia and Cyprus since 2004. Bulgaria and Romania are set to become members in 2007. Croatia is also expected to become part of these organizations, however due to lack of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in a manhunt for fugitive general Ante Gotovina, in March 2005 its entrance has been postponed. Turkey initially applied in 1963 and as of 2004 accesion negotiations have not yet begun, although some customs agreements have been signed. As of 2004 Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia are also members of NATO. All other countries have expressed a desire to join the EU but at some date in the future.

Population composition by nationality and religion

The region's principal nationalities include Greeks (10.5 million, with about 10 million of them being in Greece), Turks (9.2 million in the European part of Turkey), Serbs (8.5 million), Bulgarians (7 million), Albanians (6 million, with about 3.3 millions of them being in Albania), Croats (4.5 million), Bosniaks (2.4 million), Macedonian Slavs (1.4 million) and Montenegrins (0.265 million). If Romania and Slovenia are included, then also Romanians (26 million) and Slovenians (2 million). Practically all Balkan countries have a smaller or larger Roma (Gypsy) minority. Other much smaller stateless minorities include the Gagauz, the Gorani, the Karakachans, the Arvanites and the Aromanians. The region's principal religions are (Eastern Orthodox and Catholic) Christianity and Islam. A variety of different traditions of each faith are practiced, with each of the Eastern Orthodox countries having its own national church. Eastern Orthodoxy is the principal religion in the following countries:
- Bulgaria
- Greece
- Romania
- Serbia and Montenegro
- Macedonia Catholicism is the principal religion in the following countries:
- Croatia
- Slovenia Islam is the principal religion in the following countries:
- Albania
- Turkey Following countries have many religious groups which exceed 10% of the total population:
- Albania: Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Islam, Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism.
- Bulgaria: Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam.
- Republic of Macedonia: Slavic population is mostly Eastern Orthodox, Albanian population is mostly Muslim.
- Serbia and Montenegro: Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam. For more detailed information and a precise ethnic breakdown see articles about particular states:
- Albania, Demographics of Albania
- Croatia, Demographics of Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria, Demographics of Bulgaria
- Greece, Demographics of Greece
- Republic of Macedonia, Demographics of the Republic of Macedonia
- Serbia and Montenegro, Demographics of Serbia and Montenegro
- Tur