title: Jacques Chirac

text: Elected in 1967, reelected in 1968, 1973, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1993: Member for Corrèze: March–April 1967 (became Secretary of State in April 1967), reelected in 1968, 1973, but he remained a minister in 1976–1986 (became prime minister in 1986), 1988–95 (resigned to become President of the French Republic in 1995).


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi Sri Prasad (; born 2 August 1979) is an Indian film composer, lyricist, singer-songwriter and performer. Popularly known by his initials DSP, he is best known for his work in Telugu-language films, and has also worked in a few Tamil films. He is a recipient of ten Filmfare Awards, nine of which are Best Music Director – Telugu and one Special Award for Best Background Music, five CineMAA Awards, seven SIIMA Awards and one Nandi Award. He is one of the highest paid music composers in Tollywood.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi has worked on over 100 films over the span of 20 years. He began his music career in 1997, by composing one of the eight tracks in the studio album "Dance Party". He composed the soundtrack of "Anandam" in 2001, by which he made breakthrough in Tollywood and Telugu music. In the same year, he made his Tamil debut by composing the film score and singing two songs of "Badri". Devi also choreographed a song in the 2015 film "Kumari 21F".


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi Sri Prasad was born as Gandham Devi Sri Prasad in Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh into a Telugu speaking family. His father G. Satyamurthy was a writer in Telugu cinema who has penned popular films like "Devatha, Khaidi No. 786, and Pedarayudu". His father hails from Vedurupaka.He is named after his maternal grandparents, Devi Meenakshi, and Prasada Rao. He grew up in Madras (now Chennai) and attended Sir M. Venkata Subba Rao School in T. Nagar.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Contrary to popular belief that 'Devi' was prefixed to his name after his debut film, he was named after his maternal grandparents, Devi Meenakshi, and Prasada Rao. He has one younger sister and one younger brother, Gandham Sagar who is a playback singer. Their father, G. Satyamurthy, died in December 2015.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: In his debut music album "Dance Party", he collaborated with veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam's son S. P. Charan. He then composed score and soundtrack of the 1999 Telugu film "Devi", thus marking his debut as a film music composer at the age of 19. He also composed Tamil version of the soundtrack for the film. It became an instant hit. Devi once again collaborated with Kodi Ramakrishna for the film "Navvuthu Bathakalira" (2001) after "Devi" (1999).


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi made his breakthrough with the soundtrack album of the film "Anandam" in the same year, marking his first collaboration with director Srinu Vaitla. He has written and sung the song "Premante Emitante" and lent his vocals for another song titled "Monalisa". "Idlebrain" stated that, "music of the film is good though some of the tunes are inspired by 'back street boys' work. Background music is impressive. Devi Sri Prasad has got a chance to work with a fulltime love story, which has scope for good music". This is his first major successful film album. In the same year, he composed film score for a Tamil film "Badri". This marks his debut in Tamil cinema.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: In 2002, he had five album releases, including soundtrack albums of the films "Kalusukovalani, Manmadhudu" and "Sontham" became the biggest chartbusters of the time. These films were critically and commercially successful, music composition by DSP also contributed to the films' successes. Films "Sontham" and "Manmadhudu" were regarded as musical hits of the year. Most of the songs in these albums were widely appreciated. A critic writing for "Manmadhudu" review, stated that "Music by Devi Sri Prasad is excellent. Even the background score is pretty good. The picturization of the songs has elevated the audio of Manmadhudu." The same year, devi composed music for a patriotic film "Khadgam". Krishna Prasad Chigurupati of "The Times of India" wrote: " ‘Meme Indians’ composed by Devi Sri Prasad depicts the real attitude and unity among Indians with a hint of satire and humour." "Nuvvu Nuvvu" sung by Sumangali is another biggest hit of the album. By the time, Devi became one of the most sought after music composers in Telugu cinema and Telugu music.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Although the film "Varsham" was released in 2004, its soundtrack album was released on 18 December 2003 through Aditya Music at the film's audio launch event at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. It is his second collaboration with producer M. S. Raju, who introduced him to the film industry through "Devi" in 1999. Devi introduced his brother Gandham Sagar debut into the music industry by "Neeti Mulla" song of the album. The film was a huge hit at the box office. The soundtrack fetched him three awards, those include Santosham Best Music Director, CineMAA Awards Best Music Director and Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Telugu. A critic described that he gave a perfect sound to the film and made a deep impact on the audiences with his soulful, melodious and romantic music. He continued his "romantic music" style in his next big hit "Arya" (2004)"." Devi made his first collaboration with Sukumar, who his regular collaborator. The song "Aa Ante Amalapuram" enjoyed wide popularity in Telugu states and other parts of India. The six-track is considered the best of all time by a critic of "The Times of India". Another critic from "IndiaGlitz" cited: "The man who should walk away with all the kudos is musician Devi Sri Prasad. He is at his inspirational best in the songs and in re-recording he is soothing as a cool juice in summer heat. The songs Nuvvante, Takadhimithom (Allu Arjun's dance add more weight age), Feel MY Love among the six numbers in the film stand out." In the same year, DSP made his first on-screen appearance in two songs "Chaila Chaila" and "Sande Poddu" of the film "Shankar Dada M.B.B.S." alongside Chiranjeevi.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: The next year, he composed the album of Tamil remake of "Varsham" – "Mazhai." Devi has eleven album releases in 2005 in both Telugu and Tamil, the highest number of releases in a single year till date. The soundtrack album of "Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana" which was released on 21 December 2004, made DSP one of the most prolific musicians in India. For the first time in his music career, Devi remixed the song "Prema Kosamai Volalo" sung by Ghantasala for the 1951 film "Pathala Bhairavi". A reviewer of "Idlebrain.com" felt DSP had his best outcome. He cited that "The songs might not sound great when you listen on stereo. But they are entirely different when captured on the screen amid situations. Songs do stand out in the film as the best. The re-recording and background score are terrific. There is rhythm, merriment, emotions upsurge and passion that flows throughout these songs. Songs in this film are a part of story narration." He composed film score and soundtrack for the action films "Bhadra", "Bunny" and "Aaru," which received decent success. Devi's made his breakthrough in Tamil with the film "Sachein", which became successful both commercially and critically. The songs "Vaadi Vaadi", "Dai Dai Dai Kattikkoda", "Kanmoodi Thirakumbothu" and "Gundu Manga Thoppukkulle" of the soundtrack became chartbusters upon its release.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: His next releases in 2006 were all romantic films. Of these, coming-of-age film "Bommarillu" was the biggest hit. The music of the film received positive response from critics. "Appudo Ippudo", "Nammaka Thappani" and "Bommani Geesthe" became chartbusters of the year. A critic from "IndiaGlitz" stated: "Bommani Geesthe is a quaint and quite folksy start. Something that Devi Sri Prasad hardly ever tries in recent times. After you listen to this, you would want him to try something similar again and again. His instrumentation, especially the violin ensemble, is in one word superb. The violin rendition of the film's theme in between is very beautiful. A good one in the album." It became one of the most sold Telugu music albums of the year. A repository of Indian songs has recommended the feel-good soundtracks to the audiences. Devi composed a classic traditional-style music album for "Pournami" for the first time. The track "Bharata Vedamuga" helped DSP prove his classical talent as well. It was an evergreen chartbuster and is recognized as most fine works performed by Chitra, DSP, Sirivennala, and Charmi, as well. A critic writing an article titled 'Six best compositions of the music director' to "The Times of India" included soundtracks of the films "Anandam, Kalusukovalani, Manmadhudu, Varsham, Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana" and "Arya." All these works made him to win further more accolades.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: In 2007, four film were released with music composition by DSP. All the films were action-comedy films and music by DSP got decent reviews from critics and audience. He made his second onscreen appearance alongside Chiranjeevi in the song "Good Morning Hyderabad" of the film "Shankar Dada Zindabad" directed by Prabhu Deva. The film is a sequel to his previously composed film "Shankar Dada M.B.B.S." The next year Devi made Kannada debut by composing score and soundtrack of the film "Sangama." "Jalsa" directed by Trivikram Srinivas, was the hit of the year. It was launched on 29 February 2008 with DSP as the music director, marking his first collaboration with Trivikram Srinivas and Pawan Kalyan. "Gaallo Thelinattunde" and "My Heart is Beating" were chartbusters of the year in the soundtrack and was the highest selling Telugu album at the time of release. The audio rights were sold to Aditya Music for ₹ 9 million, the highest for any Telugu film at that point of time. A critic credited devi's muisic in the film as "peppy, youthful and incredibly fun filled." Devi next composed film score for the action-thriller film "Dasavathaaram" starring Kamal Haasan and Asin, directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film is one of the top grossers in India of the year. Himesh Reshammiya was first considered for the composition of film's score. Due to unavailability of his daily call sheets, Devi was chosen to compose the score of the film.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: In 2009, he has five album releases. Devi with his regular collaborator Sukumar, collaborated for the film "Arya 2," which is spiritual sequel to his previous film "Arya" (2004). He also composed for the film's dubbed versions in Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. The tracks "Ringa Ringa", "Uppenantha Prema" and "My Love Is Gone" topped the music charts. Although the film received mixed reviews, the song "Ringa Ringa" received a cult status. He received various nominations for his work. The song's music was re-used by Devi in the 2011 Hindi film "Ready" due to its popularity. The same year devi got a decent hit in Tamil with the film "Kanthaswamy." Devi made Vikram to sing as many as four songs in the album. Pavithra Srinivasan of "Rediff.com" cited that ""Kanthaswamy"'s music is not Devi Sri Prasad's best." The song "Excuse me, Mr. Kandasamy" been into a controversy after its release. Advocate V. Elango claimed that he had written five lines of the song. Finally, the controversy was over, after film's team won the case.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: 2010 was a major year for DSP in Tamil. Both of his albums in Tamil, "Singam" and "Manmadan Ambu" received huge response from both audience and critics. Of these, the soundtrack album of "Singam" received good response. A critic of "Rediff.com" wrote: "DSP has a reputation for sticking with his regulation format of tunes and here too, you can see it pop up at certain places but there's also a departure from the usual, mostly an influence of Haasan in both lyrics and music. Whatever the reason, the end result is an album that provides you a treat. Go for it." Another critic praised devi's work and stated that "A westernized folk song, jazz, melodies, a poem and a kuthu...an album could not ask for more variety and DSP has delivered. The new experiments shows his maturity and his intention for being innovative." Devi returned to his usual romantic-genre albums with "100% Love" and "Mr. Perfect" in 2011"." These were released under Aditya Music label. A critic wrote: "The duo, Sukumar – Devisri certainly knows the pulse of the urban youth and this album is yet another great attempt to grab the attention of the target audience. This ‘100% Love’ is 100% for the youth." Another critic cited that Devi Sri Prasad has excelled in the background score . A music reviewer felt about "Mr. Perfect" music album that DSP comes up with more soul stirring tunes and comes out of his stereotype beats and raps. Though there are those occasional flashes of brilliance, there is a repetitive mode seen in terms of the mixing and a constant background beat. Melody is missing in most of the songs and the focus is more on energy and peppy touch."Oosaravelli" was another film released in the same year. A critic cited it as "definitely not DSP's best work" By the time Devi Sri Prasad became highest-paid musician in Tollywood.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: He has four album releases in 2012, two action films "Gabbar Singh" and "Julayi," one fantasy film "Damarukam" and a drama film "Sarocharu." The six-track album of "Julai" was released on 6 July 2002, which became a chartbuster. In the UK, the BBC Asian Network radio station officially play listed the track "O Madhu" on 14 July 2012 marking it as the first Telugu song to be play listed there. He danced alongside Allu Arjun in a song of the album. Devi received various awards and nominations for his work in the film "Gabbar Singh." As the years pass, "Kevvu Keka" song received cult status. The song featuring Malaika Arora has huge popularity. A critic wrote that "DSP keeps the acoustics at the right level, like a seasoned engineer." Cheruku Raja of "India Herald" cited DSP on "Sarocharu" music album that "DSP's magical tunes are missing to core in the audio of this film." Critics gave mixed reviews for DSP's 50th film "Damarukam". His composition of score was praised, but ten-track album got mixed response, except for few romance-styled songs.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Music album of three film which were released in 2014, were released in late-2013 and early-2014. These include "Yevadu," "" and "Mirchi." All these film were successful with music composed by DSP was well appreciated. Karthik Pasupulate of "The Times of India" rated"Yevadu" music 3/5 and stated: Music director Devi Sri Prasad has come up with an album that is high on beat and low on melody, but plays to the galleries unabashedly, blending multiple genres. Though there isn't one stand-out song, the album has an overriding happy vibe about it. The soundtrack album of Devi's usual collaborator Sukumar-directed action thriller film "1: Nenokkadine" was released at a promotional event at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad. The event, watched by 14,500 people, was shown live in 24 theatres across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and was the first Indian soundtrack release event shown live in theatres. His biggest hit of the year was Attarintiki Daredi (soundtrack), released on 19 July 2013. Devi once again re-mixed an old folk song, "Kaatama Rayudu", earlier used in the 1940 film "Sumangali" whose tune was re-composed by V. Nagayya and lyrics were re-written by Samudrala Raghavacharya. It was sung by Pawan Kalyan. Devi composed multi-genre songs in the album, a first in his career. A critic stated that "Attarintiki Daaredhi is that album which every Telugu film goer would expect from the hit combination of Pawan Kalyan, Devi Sri Prasad and Trivikram Srinivas. The album has melody, peppiness, and energizing factors which would definitely elevate the overall feel of the movie." He received further accolades for his music composition. The other two albums that performed well in the same year were "Iddarammayilatho" and "Singam II." A critic of "The Times of India" cited "DSP gets a foot-tapping album in Singam 2, though it sounds uncomfortably very similar to "Singam"." "Top Lechipoddi" from "Iddarammayilatho" was the biggest hit among the songs released that year It is one of the most streamed Telugu songs. In 2014, Devi reclaimed success in Tamil with the film "Veeram." "Alludu Seenu" was another successful album in the year. The soundtrack album had a record number of sales for which Aditya Music thanked Devi Sri Prasad and the film makers, one of the representatives from the company stated that "Devi Sri Prasad, who has given many super hit albums in his career, has provided beautiful songs for "Alludu Seenu" and it has been creating sensation regarding sales, from the day it was released."


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: 2015 was a mixed-musical year for DSP. Because he received both positive and negative reviews from critics. "Kumari 21F" and "Nenu Sailaja" were regarded as "musical hits" of the year, although these films received a good response. A critic felt that the "Kumari 21F" album on the whole falls desperately short of the standards that one would expect from DSP. "Meghaalu Lekunna" was recorded using a live orchestra, which Nisar found "rare these days". "123Telugu.com" wrote about "Nenu Sailaja" album that "DSP has provided some feel good music which will gel with the flow of the love story in this family entertainer. The lyricists did a splendid job in bringing emotions out of every song. Crazy feeling, Sailaja Sailaja, Em Cheppanu are pretty good and will go well with all sections." The film score and soundtrack of fantasy-adventure film "Puli" was composed by collaborating with Vijay for the third time after "Sachein" (2005) and "Villu" (2009). The film performed poorly at the box office and also got negative reviews. Film score was praised but the soundtrack was criticized. A critic stated: "Puli's music will need the grand visuals as it is programmed keeping in mind whats going to come onscreen." "Indiaglitz's" critic wrote that the album in all is racy but only in parts. the energy, which is typical of DSP seems to have dipped in his snoopiness for the choice of instruments, orchestrina of genres and classic melodies. DSP was highly credited for composing music for "Srimanthudu" and "S/O Satyamurthy""," two of the highest-grossing films of the year. He received various accolades for composition of score and soundtrack and singing.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi next collaborated with Sukumar for the film "Nannaku Prematho" in 2016 for the fifth time. After the death of Satyamurthy, Devi's father, the album was dedicated to the former in an audio launch ceremony on 27 December 2015. Critics cited the album as "a fun album with ample dose of trendy as well as mass numbers with a tinge of experimentation", "It is not vintage DSP at his best" and "different album from the crazy combo." The same year he had another big release "Janatha Garage," which received good response from audience and critics. "Sardaar Gabbar Singh," an action-comedy film didn't receive much praise. He remixed a popular song "Naa Koka Baagunda" from the Chiranjeevi-starrer "Kondaveeti Raja" (1986) for this film. Devi had eight album releases in 2017, out of which "Khaidi No. 150" and were successful. Songs such as "Ammadu Let's Do Kummudu", "Ratthalu" and "Seeti Maar" were the biggest hits from the two albums. A. Kameshwari of "The Indian Express" stated: "DJ-Duvvada Jaggannadham's jukebox stands up to all kinds of expectations Allu Arjun's fans must have had from the hit duo." "Jai Lava Kusa," is another film that received good response for music. A critic from "Firstpost" wrote that "Devi Sri Prasad does a brilliant job at composing tracks for the "Raavana"-inspired portrayal in the movie. In almost three songs, we have the theme screaming out. The album leaves us wishing for a romantic track, but on a deeper analysis of the album of "Jai Lava Kusa", it seems like this was a conscious choice by the makers to stick to the beats."


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: The year 2018 is one of the major ones for Devi. Rangasthalam (soundtrack) received wide recognition and praise from audience and critics. The album has some of the most popular Telugu songs such as "Rangamma Mangamma" and "Jigelu Rani". The film is a periodical-styled, so Devi's unusual folk-traditional-classic-style album received huge praise. A critic of "Firstpost" wrote: "Every song on this album is tailor-made for the movie set in a village and captures rural essence at its best. The album is also an instant reminder of many Telugu shows like "Rasamayi Daruvu"." Another critic cited Devi Sri Prasad as the other hero of "Rangasthalam". Priyanka Sundar of "Hindustan Times" stated that "In essence, Rangasthalam album is rustic." Devi received various accolades for his work in the film. "Saamy²" is his last Tamil film till now. The film is flagged as a box-office bomb. The other two releases "Bharat Ane Nenu" and "Hello Guru Prema Kosame" were also good musical hits, but received mixed reviews. Actor Farhan Akhtar was made to sing "I Don't Know" in the album "Bharat Ane Nenu".


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: In 2019, Devi had four releases. All of them were decent hits. Suresh Kavirayani of "Deccan Chronicle" stated that DSP's songs are the high points of the film "Chitralahari." Another critic writing for music review of "Maharshi," said that "OST of Maharshi is good for a one-time listen with most of the numbers sounding situational; they might work better when seen on-screen."Score of "" received good praise. Devi had only one release in 2020, i.e., "Sarileru Neekevvaru." He collaborated with director Anil Ravipudi after "". "Mind Block" and "He's So Cute" songs from the album got good response from audience. However, it received negative reviews from critics for his and quoted them as routine compositions. "IndiaGlitz"'s reviewer wrote: "The album is not exactly DSP being on fire. But it surely has its big moments." Another critic of "Gulf News" said that the music of the film not too great.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: After a brief setback, he reclaimed success through the soundtrack album and score of the film "Uppena" (2021). The film is regarded as a "musical hit" Most of the songs in the soundtrack were successful. "Nee Kannu Neeli Samudram" and "Jala Jala Jalapaatham Nuvvu" were the biggest hits of the album and also been in the top spots in the national music charts. A critic wrote: "One of the biggest plus points of the film is Devi Sri Prasad's splendid music. It holds the narration in a big way. Every song is superbly composed and shot well." Jeevi of "Idlebrain.com" stated that "Devi Sri Prasad deserves a huge pat for his outstanding music for the songs in this film."


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi is also a noted playback singer. He has sung 66 songs in a span of 20 years in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. He sung mostly in his own compositions. He lent his vocals for the first time in 2000 for the song "Vechavechaga" which was written by him for the film album "Vamsi", composed by Mani Sharma. The next year he sang four songs, two Telugu and two Tamil. The same year, Devi made his debut in Kollywood and Tamil music by lending his vocals for two songs "Angel Vandhaale" and "King of Chennai" from the film album "Badri", composed by Ramana Gogula.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Film songs such as "Tellarindoi", "Kanthasamy", "Rakhi Rakhi", "Mr. Perfect", "A square B square", "Ninnu Chudagane", "Super Machi", "Singam", "Nannaku Prematho", "Ammadu Let's Do Kummudu" and "Yentha Sakkagunnave" are his popular ones. Few of them were written by himself. DSP sang a devotional song in the 2006 film "Sri Ramadasu," composed by M. M. Keeravani. He collaborated with actress Swathi Reddy for the song "A square B square" in the 2011 film "100% Love". He dedicated the song "Nannaku Prematho" for his late father. He performed the song along with his brother Sagar. The song received good response.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi sang a Hindi song "Daddy Mummy" for the 2015 film "Bhaag Johnny." It was re-composed by himself from his previous song "Akalesthey" from "Shankar Dada Zindabad." Devi re-composed and re-mixed many of his own songs in other languages, especially in Tamil and Hindi. The last one to be re-composed and re-mixed is "Seeti Maar", for the 2021 Hindi film "Radhe", from the 2017 soundtrack album "". He also sang a Kannada song "Dil Maange More" from his own composed film "Sangama."


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: DSP had written over 25 songs in Telugu and Tamil. Most of these songs were either sung by him or composed by him.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi Sri Prasad made his first live performance outside India on 26 July 2008, at Chicago, U.S. He announced his first concert tour on 14 June 2014. The next day, at a private event, he announced that the concert will be held from 4 July 2014 to 2 August 2014 across various cities of the United States and Canada. The concert featured music performances of Sagar, Neha Bhasin, Rita Thyagarajan, Ranina Reddy, Malathy Lakshman and Sooraj Santhosh and few dance performances by several local American artists. It was concluded on 2 August 2014 at Prudential Center, New Jersey.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Since then, Devi performed at various concerts across the world, especially in the United States. His 2016 concert tour in the U.S. received wide response and was telecasted on Zee Telugu. Devi Sri Prasad made a music tribute in 2014, to the legendary singer Michael Jackson on his birth anniversary with a special track from his album "Jalsa."


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi Sri Prasad was supposed to make his acting debut. In 2019, it is reported that Sukumar will be writing the story, produced by Dil Raju. But as of now, there is no official announcement due to few production issues. Devi made his television debut as a judge in 2021 with the Tamil reality-singing show "Rockstar", which premiered on Zee Tamil on 28 March 2021. Although, DSP appeared in various other shows in Telugu and Tamil languages, this is his first major one [as a judge]. In 2015, he dance choreographed for music video of the song "Bang Bang Bangkok" from his soundtrack film album "Kumari 21F."


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi Sri Prasad is known for composing iconic item numbers in Telugu films. Since the 2000s, production of item numbers seen a steady rise, of them, Devi has composed majority. "Jigelu Rani", "Aa Ante Amalapuram", "Kevvu Keka" and "Aakalesthe Annam Pedatha" are some of his popular compositions. Due to their popularity, he is referred as "king of item numbers" and most of his re-mixed songs in Tamil and Hindi, were item numbers. He collaborated with Director Sukumar for nine times,


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Besides item numbers, his music style is characterized as romantic melody, pop rock, hard rock and folk. Priyanka Sundar of "The Indian Express" listed "Mellaga Karagani", "Ghal Ghal", "Violin Song" and "Gudilo Badilo Madilo Vodilo" in her article "Five songs by DSP that has redefined romance in Tollywood." Devi is the first music director to initiate in putting up names of background singers in his albums.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Devi frequently admits that Ilaiyaraaja's music and Michael Jackson's style of performance are his biggest influences.


title: Devi Sri Prasad

text: Due to his energetic music beats and energetic stage performances, Devi Sri Prasad is dubbed as the "Rockstar" or "Rockstar DSP" in the media. Devi was honored from the U.S. state of Illinois, where the governor Pat Quinn declared 26 July 2014 as "Devi Sri Prasad Day", while he is performing at Now Arena, Illinois, as part of his international debut concert tour. He is the highest-paid Tollywood musician.


title: London, Ontario

text: London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximately from both Toronto and Detroit; and about from Buffalo, New York. The city of London is politically separate from Middlesex County, though it remains the county seat.


title: London, Ontario

text: London and the Thames were named in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe, who proposed the site for the capital city of Upper Canada. The first European settlement was between 1801 and 1804 by Peter Hagerman. The village was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1855. Since then, London has grown to be the largest southwestern Ontario municipality and Canada's 11th largest metropolitan area, having annexed many of the smaller communities that surround it.


title: London, Ontario

text: London is a regional centre of healthcare and education, being home to the University of Western Ontario (which brands itself "Western University"), Fanshawe College, and three major hospitals: Victoria Hospital, University Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital. The city hosts a number of musical and artistic exhibits and festivals, which contribute to its tourism industry, but its economic activity is centered on education, medical research, manufacturing, financial services, and information technology. London's university and hospitals are among its top ten employers. London lies at the junction of highways 401 and 402, connecting it to Toronto, Windsor, and Sarnia. These highways also make the Detroit-Windsor, Port Huron-Sarnia, and Niagara Falls border crossings with the United States easily accessible. The city also has an international airport, train stations and bus stations.


title: London, Ontario

text: London was named for the British capital of London by John Graves Simcoe, who also named the local river the Thames, in 1793. Simcoe had intended London to be the capital of Upper Canada. Guy Carleton (Governor Dorchester) rejected that plan after the War of 1812, but accepted Simcoe's second choice, the present site of Toronto, to become the capital city of what would become the Province of Ontario, at Confederation, on 1 July 1867.


title: London, Ontario

text: A series of archaeological sites throughout southwestern Ontario, named for the Parkhill Complex excavated near Parkhill, indicate the presence of Paleo-Indians in the area dating back approximately 11,000 years. Just prior to European settlement, the London area was the site of several Attawandaron, Odawa, and Ojibwe villages. The Lawson Site in northwest London is an archaeological excavation and partial reconstruction of an approximately 500-year-old Neutral Iroquoian village, estimated to have been home to 2,000 people. These groups were driven out by the Iroquois by c. 1654 in the Beaver Wars. The Iroquois abandoned the region some 50 years later, driven out by the Ojibwa. London is also situated on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, One Anishinaabe community site was described as located near the forks of Thames River (Anishinaabe language: Eshkani-ziibi, "Antler River") in circa 1690 and was referred to as Pahkatequayang ("Baketigweyaang":"At the River Fork" (lit: at where the by-stream is)).


title: London, Ontario

text: Later, in the early 19th century, the Munsee-Delaware Nation (the Munsee are a subtribe of the Lenape or Delaware people), expelled from their homeland in Modern New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania after the creation of the United States.


title: London, Ontario

text: The Oneida Nation of the Thames, Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, and Munsee-Delaware Nation reserves are located south-west of the city.


title: London, Ontario

text: The current location of London was selected as the site of the future capital of Upper Canada in 1793 by Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe, who also named the village which was founded in 1826. Originally, Simcoe had proposed to call it "Georgiana", in honour of George III, the reigning monarch at that time. It did not become the capital Simcoe envisioned. Rather, it was an administrative seat for the area west of the actual capital, York (now Toronto). The London Township Treaty of 1796 with the Chippewa ceded the original town site on the north bank of the Thames (then known as the "Escunnisepe") to Upper Canada.


title: London, Ontario

text: London was part of the Talbot Settlement, named for Colonel Thomas Talbot, the chief administrator of the area, who oversaw the land surveying and built the first government buildings for the administration of the western Ontario peninsular region. Together with the rest of southwestern Ontario, the village benefited from Talbot's provisions not only for building and maintaining roads but also for assignment of access priorities to main routes to productive land. Crown and clergy reserves then received preference in the rest of Ontario.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 1814, the Battle of Longwoods took place during the War of 1812 in what is now Southwest Middlesex, near London.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 1832, the new settlement suffered an outbreak of cholera. London proved a centre of strong Tory support during the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837, notwithstanding a brief rebellion led by Charles Duncombe. Consequently, the British government located its Ontario peninsular garrison there in 1838, increasing its population with soldiers and their dependents, and the business support populations they required. London was incorporated as a town in 1840.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 13 April 1845, a fire destroyed much of London, which was then largely constructed of wooden buildings. One of the first casualties was the town's only fire engine. The fire burned nearly of land, destroying 150 buildings, before it burned itself out later that day. One fifth of London was destroyed in the province's first million-dollar fire.


title: London, Ontario

text: John Carling, Tory MP for London, gave three events to explain the development of London in a 1901 speech: the location of the court and administration in London in 1826, the arrival of the military garrison in 1838, and the arrival of the railway in 1853.


title: London, Ontario

text: The population in 1846 was 3,500. Brick buildings included a jail and court house, and large barracks. London had a fire company, a theatre, a large Gothic church, nine other churches or chapels, and two market buildings. The buildings that were destroyed by fire in 1845 were mostly rebuilt by 1846. Connection with other communities was by road, using mainly stagecoaches that ran daily. A weekly newspaper was published and mail was received daily by the post office.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 1 January 1855, London was incorporated as a city (10,000 or more residents). In the 1860s, a sulphur spring was discovered at the forks of the Thames River while industrialists were drilling for oil. The springs became a popular destination for wealthy Ontarians, until the turn of the 20th century when a textile factory was built at the site, replacing the spa.


title: London, Ontario

text: Records from 1869 indicate a population of about 18,000 served by three newspapers, churches of all major denominations and offices of all the major banks. Industry included several tanneries, oil refineries and foundries, four flour mills, the Labatt Brewing Company and the Carling brewery in addition to other manufacturing. Both the Great Western and Grand Trunk railways had stops here. Several insurance companies also had offices in the city.


title: London, Ontario

text: The Crystal Palace Barracks, an octagonal brick building with eight doors and forty-eight windows built in 1861, was used for events such the Provincial Agricultural Fair of Canada West held in London that year. It was visited by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Governor-General John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar and Prime Minister John A. Macdonald.


title: London, Ontario

text: Long before the Royal Military College of Canada was established in 1876, there were proposals for military colleges in Canada. Staffed by British Regulars, adult male students underwent three-month-long military courses from 1865 at the School of Military Instruction in London. Established by Militia General Order in 1865, the school enabled Officers of Militia or Candidates for Commission or promotion in the Militia to learn Military duties, drill and discipline, to command a Company at Battalion Drill, to Drill a Company at Company Drill, the internal economy of a Company and the duties of a Company's Officer. The school was not retained at Confederation, in 1867.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 1875, London's first iron bridge, the Blackfriars Street Bridge, was constructed. It replaced a succession of flood-failed wooden structures that had provided the city's only northern road crossing of the river. A rare example of a wrought iron bowstring arch through truss bridge, the Blackfriars remains open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, though it was temporarily closed indefinitely to vehicular traffic due to various structural problems and was once again reopened to vehicular traffic 1 December 2018, see Blackfriars Bridge Grand Opening. The Blackfriars, amidst the river-distance between the Carling Brewery and the historic Tecumseh Park (including a major mill), linked London with its western suburb of Petersville, named for Squire Peters of Grosvenor Lodge. That community joined with the southern subdivision of Kensington in 1874, formally incorporating as the municipality of Petersville. Although it changed its name in 1880 to the more inclusive "London West", it remained a separate municipality until ratepayers voted for amalgamation with London in 1897, largely due to repeated flooding. The most serious flood was in July 1883, which resulted in serious loss of life and property devaluation. This area retains much original and attractively maintained 19th-century tradespeople's and workers' housing, including Georgian cottages as well as larger houses, and a distinct sense of place.


title: London, Ontario

text: London's eastern suburb, London East, was (and remains) an industrial centre, which also incorporated in 1874. Attaining the status of town in 1881, it continued as a separate municipality until concerns over expensive waterworks and other fiscal problems led to amalgamation in 1885. The southern suburb of London, including Wortley Village, was collectively known as "London South". Never incorporated, the South was annexed to the city in 1890, although Wortley Village still retains a distinct sense of place. By contrast, the settlement at Broughdale on the city's north end had a clear identity, adjoined the university, and was not annexed until 1961.


title: London, Ontario

text: Ivor F. Goodson and Ian R. Dowbiggin have explored the battle over vocational education in London, Ontario, in the 1900–1930 era. The London Technical and Commercial High School came under heavy attack from the city's social and business elite, which saw the school as a threat to the budget of the city's only academic high school, London Collegiate Institute.


title: London, Ontario

text: London's role as a military centre continued into the 20th century during the two World Wars, serving as the administrative centre for the Western Ontario district. In 1905, the London Armoury was built and housed the First Hussars until 1975. A private investor purchased the historic site and built a new hotel (Delta London Armouries, 1996) in its place, preserving the shell of the historic building. In the 1950s, two reserve battalions amalgamated and became London and Oxford Rifles (3rd Battalion), The Royal Canadian Regiment. This unit continues to serve today as 4th Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment. The Regimental Headquarters of The Royal Canadian Regiment remains in London at Wolseley Barracks on Oxford Street. The barracks are home to the First Hussars militia regiment as well.


title: London, Ontario

text: London annexed many of the surrounding communities in 1961, including Byron and Masonville, adding 60,000 people and more than doubling its area. After this amalgamation, suburban growth accelerated as London grew outward in all directions, creating expansive new subdivisions such as Westmount, Oakridge, Whitehills, Pond Mills, White Oaks and Stoneybrook.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 1 January 1993, London annexed nearly the entire township of Westminster, a large, primarily rural municipality directly south of the city, including the police village of Lambeth. With this massive annexation, which also included part of London township, London almost doubled in area again, adding several thousand more residents. In the present day, London stretches south to the boundary with Elgin County, north and east to Fanshawe Lake, north and west to the township of Middlesex Centre (the nearest developed areas of it being Arva to the north and Komoka to the west) and east to Nilestown and Dorchester.


title: London, Ontario

text: The 1993 annexation, made London one of the largest urban municipalities in Ontario. Intense commercial and residential development is presently occurring in the southwest and northwest areas of the city. Opponents of this development cite urban sprawl, destruction of rare Carolinian zone forest and farm lands, replacement of distinctive regions by generic malls, and standard transportation and pollution concerns as major issues facing London. The City of London is currently the eleventh-largest urban area in Canada, eleventh-largest census metropolitan area in Canada, and the sixth-largest city in Ontario.


title: London, Ontario

text: On Victoria Day, 24 May 1881, the stern-wheeler ferry "SS Victoria" capsized in the Thames River close to Cove Bridge in West London. Approximately 200 passengers drowned in the shallow river, making it one of the worst disasters in London's history, and is now dubbed "The Victoria Day Disaster". At the time, London's population was relatively low; therefore it was hard to find a person in the city who did not have a family member affected by the tragedy.


title: London, Ontario

text: Two years later, on 12 July 1883, the first of the two most devastating floods in London's history killed 17 people. The second major flood, on 26 April 1937, destroyed more than a thousand houses across London, and caused over $50 million in damages, particularly in West London.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 3 January 1898, the floor of the assembly hall at London City Hall collapsed, killing 23 people and leaving more than 70 injured. Testimony at a coroner's inquest described the wooden beam under the floor as unsound, with knots and other defects reducing its strength by one fifth to one third.


title: London, Ontario

text: After repeated floods, the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority in 1953 built Fanshawe Dam on the North Thames to control the downstream rivers. Financing for this project came from the federal, provincial, and municipal governments. Other natural disasters include a 1984 tornado that led to damage on several streets in the White Oaks area of South London.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 11 December 2020, a partially-constructed apartment building just off of Wonderland Road in southwest London collapsed, killing two people and injuring at least four others. As late August 2021, the investigation is still ongoing.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 6 June 2021, a man rammed a pickup truck into Muslim Pakistani Canadian pedestrians at an intersection in London. Four people were killed, and another was wounded, all from the same family. The attack was the largest mass killing in London's history.


title: London, Ontario

text: The area was formed during the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age, which produced areas of marshland, notably the Sifton Bog, as well as some of the most agriculturally productive areas of farmland in Ontario.


title: London, Ontario

text: The Thames River dominates London's geography. The North and South branches of the Thames River meet at the centre of the city, a location known as "The Forks" or "The Fork of the Thames." The North Thames runs through the man-made Fanshawe Lake in northeast London. Fanshawe Lake was created by Fanshawe Dam, constructed to protect the downriver areas from the catastrophic flooding which affected the city in 1883 and 1937.


title: London, Ontario

text: London has a humid continental climate (Köppen "Dfb"), though due to its downwind location relative to Lake Huron and elevation changes across the city, it is virtually on the Dfa/Dfb (hot summer) boundary favouring the former climate zone to the southwest of the confluence of the South and North Thames Rivers, and the latter zone to the northeast (including the airport). Because of its location in the continent, London experiences large seasonal contrast, tempered to a point by the surrounding Great Lakes. The summers are usually warm to hot and humid, with a July average of , and temperatures above occur on average 10 days per year. In 2016, however, temperatures at or above occurred more than 35 times, and in 2018, four heatwave incidents led to humidex temperatures topping out at . The city is affected by frequent thunderstorms due to hot, humid summer weather, as well as the convergence of breezes originating from Lake Huron and Lake Erie. The same convergence zone is responsible for spawning funnel clouds and the occasional tornado. Spring and autumn in between are not long, and winters are cold but witness frequent thaws. Annual precipitation averages . Its winter snowfall totals are heavy, averaging about per year, although the localized nature of snow squalls means the total can vary widely from year to year. The majority of snow accumulation comes from lake effect snow and snow squalls originating from Lake Huron, some to the northwest, which occurs when strong, cold winds blow from that direction. From 5 December 2010, to 9 December 2010, London experienced record snowfall when up to of snow fell in parts of the city. Schools and businesses were closed for three days and bus service was cancelled after the second day of snow.


title: London, Ontario

text: The highest temperature ever recorded in London was on 6 August 1918. The lowest temperature ever recorded was on 9 February 1934.


title: London, Ontario

text: London has a number of parks. Victoria Park in downtown London is a major centre of community events, attracting an estimated 1 million visitors per year. Other major parks include Harris Park, Gibbons Park, Fanshawe Conservation Area (Fanshawe Pioneer Village), Springbank Park, White Oaks Park and Westminster Ponds. The city also maintains a number of gardens and conservatories.


title: London, Ontario

text: In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, London had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.


title: London, Ontario

text: At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the London CMA had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.


title: London, Ontario

text: As per the 2021 census, the most common ethnic or cultural origins in London are English (21.9%), Scottish (17.4%), Irish (16.8%), Canadian (12.1%), German (9.3%), French (6.6%), Dutch (5.0%), Italian (4.5%), British Isles (4.3%), Indian (3.7%), Polish (3.6%), and Chinese (3.0%). Indigenous people made up 2.6% of the population, with most being First Nations (1.9%). Ethnocultural backgrounds in the city included European (68.7%), South Asian (6.5%), Arab (5.3%), Black (4.2%), Latin American (3.0%), Chinese (2.9%), Southeast Asian (1.4%), Filipino (1.4%), West Asian (1.3%), and Korean (1.0%).


title: London, Ontario

text: The 2021 census found English to be the mother tongue of 71.1% of the population. This was followed by Arabic (3.7%), Spanish (2.7%), Mandarin (1.6%), Portuguese (1.3%), French (1.1%), Polish (1.1%), Korean (0.8%), Punjabi (0.8%), Malayalam (0.8%), and Urdu (0.7%). Of the official languages, 98% of the population reported knowing English and 7.2% French.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 2021, 48.8% of the population identifed as Christian, with Catholics (21.5%) making up the largest denomination, followed by United Church (4.7%), Anglican (4.4%), Orthodox (1.8%), Presbyterian (1.5%), Baptist (1.4%), and other denominations. 37.2% of the population reported no religious affiliation. Others identified as Muslim (8.4%), Hindu (2.1%), Sikh (1.0%), Buddhist (0.9%), Jewish (0.5%), and with other religions.


title: London, Ontario

text: London's economy is dominated by medical research, financial services, manufacturing, and information technology. Much of the life sciences and biotechnology related research is conducted or supported by the University of Western Ontario (partly through the Robarts Research Institute), which adds about C$1.5 billion to the London economy annually. Private companies in the industry like Alimentiv, KGK Sciences and Sernova are also based in London. The largest employer in London is the London Health Sciences Centre, which employs 10,555 people.


title: London, Ontario

text: Since the economic crisis of 2009, the city has transitioned to become a technology hub with a focus on the Digital Creative sector. As of 2016, London is home to 300 technology companies that employ 3% of the city's labour force. Many of these companies have moved into former factories and industrial spaces in and around the downtown core, and have renovated them as modern offices. For example, Info-Tech Research Group's London office is in a hosiery factory, and Arcane Digital moved into a 1930s industrial building in 2015. The Historic London Roundhouse, a steam locomotive repair shop built in 1887, is now home to Royal LePage Triland Realty, rTraction and more. Its redesign, which opened in 2015, won the 2015 Paul Oberman Award for Adaptive Re-Use from the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. London is also home to StarTech.com, Diply, video game companies like Digital Extremes, Big Blue Bubble and Big Viking Games, and Voices.com, which provides voiceover artists a platform to advertise and sell their services to those looking for voiceover work. Other tech companies located in London include AutoData, Carfax Canada, HRDownloads, Mobials, Northern Commerce and Paystone which recently raised $100M.


title: London, Ontario

text: The London Life Insurance Company was founded there, as was Canada Trust (in 1864), Imperial Oil, GoodLife Fitness, and both the Labatt and Carling breweries. The Libro Financial Group was founded in London 1951 and is the second largest credit union in Ontario and employs over 600 people. Downtown London is also home to major satellite offices for each of the Big Five banks of Canada, particularly TD Bank which employees 2,000 people, and the digital challenger bank VersaBank is also headquartered in the city.


title: London, Ontario

text: The headquarters of the Canadian division of 3M are in London. General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) builds armoured personnel carriers in the city. GDLS has a 14-year $15-billion deal to supply light armored vehicles and employees over 2,400 people. McCormick Canada, formerly Club House Foods, was founded in 1883 and currently employs more than 600 Londoners. A portion of the city's population work in factories outside of the city limits, including the General Motors automotive plant CAMI, and a Toyota plant in Woodstock. A Ford plant in Talbotville became one of the casualties of the economic crisis in 2011, the site will soon be home to a major Amazon distribution center employing 2,000 workers by 2023.


title: London, Ontario

text: London's city centre mall was first opened in 1960 as Wellington Square with 400,000 sq. ft. of leasable area, with Eaton's and Woolworths as anchors. From 1986 to 1989, Campeau expanded Wellington Square into Galleria London with 1,000,000 sq. ft. of leasable area and 200 stores including The Bay and Eaton's. However the early 1990s recession, following by the bankruptcy of Eaton's in 1999 and then the departure of The Bay in 2000 resulted in only 20 stores left by 2001. Galleria London then began seeking non-retail tenants, becoming the home for London's central library branch, and satellite campuses for both Fanshawe College and Western University. The complex was purchased and renamed to Citi Plaza by Citigroup in 2009. Citi Plaza has been redeveloped as a mixed use complex that blends retail, office, businesses, and education providers. Alongside Citi Cards Canada's offices, in November 2016, CBC announced plans to move its expanded operations into the building.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 11 December 2009, Minister of State Gary Goodyear announced a new $11-million cargo terminal at the London International Airport.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 2021, the city established "FilmLondon" through the London Economic Development Corporation in order to attract film and television productions to the city as an alternative to filming in the Greater Toronto Area. Notable productions that have resulted from this effort include "The Amazing Race Canada 8" and "The Changeling". Notable actors born in London include Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, Victor Garber, Hume Cronyn, Michael McManus, and director Paul Haggis.


title: London, Ontario

text: The city is home to many festivals including "SunFest", the London Fringe Theatre Festival, the Forest City Film Festival, the London Ontario Live Arts Festival "(LOLA)", the Home County Folk Festival, Rock the Park London, Western Fair, Pride London, and others. The London Rib Fest is the second largest barbecue rib festival in North America. SunFest, a world music festival, is the second largest in Canada after Toronto Caribbean Carnival "(Caribana)" and is among the top 100 summer destinations in North America.


title: London, Ontario

text: London has a rich musical history. Guy Lombardo, the internationally acclaimed Big-Band leader, was born in London, as was jazz musician Rob McConnell, country music legend Tommy Hunter, singer-songwriter Meaghan Smith, pop icon Justin Bieber, the heavy metal band Kittie, film composer Trevor Morris, and DJ duo Loud Luxury; it is also the adopted hometown of hip-hop artist Shad Kabango, rock-music producer Jack Richardson, and 1960s folk-funk band Motherlode.


title: London, Ontario

text: American country-music icon Johnny Cash proposed to his wife June Carter Cash onstage at the London Gardens—site of the famous April 26, 1965, fifteen-minute Rolling Stones concert—during his February 22, 1968 performance in the city (the hometown of his manager Saul Holiff).


title: London, Ontario

text: Avant-garde noise-pioneers The Nihilist Spasm Band formed in downtown London in 1965. Between 1966 and 1972, the group held a Monday night residency at the York Hotel in the city's core, which established it as a popular venue for emerging musicians and artists; known as Call the Office, the venue served as a hotbed for punk music in the late 1970s and 1980s and hosted college rock bands and weekly alternative-music nights until closing indefinitely in 2020.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 2003, CHRW-FM developed The London Music Archives, an online music database that chronicled every album recorded in London between 1966 and 2006, and in 2019 the CBC released a documentary entitled "London Calling" which outlined "The Secret Musical History of London Ontario" (including its importance for the massively popular electronic-music duo Richie Hawtin and John Acquaviva). London also had (and still has, in an unofficial capacity) a professional symphony orchestra -- Orchestra London—which was founded in 1937; although the organization filed for bankruptcy in 2015, members of the orchestra continue to play self-produced concerts under the moniker London Symphonia. In addition, the city is home to the London Community Orchestra, the London Youth Symphony, and the Amabile Choirs of London, Canada. The Juno Awards of 2019 were hosted in London in March 2019, hosted by singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan. In 2021, London was named Canada's first City of Music, by UNESCO. The labor union representing entertainment venue workers in London is IATSE Local 105.


title: London, Ontario

text: London artists Jack Chambers and Greg Curnoe co-founded The Forest City Gallery in 1973 and the Canadian Artists' Representation society in 1968. Museum London, the city's central Art Gallery, was established in 1940 (initially operated from the London Public Library, until 1980, when Canadian architect Raymond Moriyama was commissioned to design its current home at the forks of the Thames River). London is also home to the Museum of Ontario Archaeology, owned and operated by Western University; it is Canada's only ongoing excavation and partial reconstruction of a prehistoric village—in this case, a Neutral Nation village. The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum is a military museum at Wolseley Barracks (a Canadian former Forces Base in the city's Carling neighbourhood). The Secrets of Radar Museum was opened at Parkwood Hospital in 2003, and tells the story of the more than 6,000 Canadian World War II veterans who were recruited into a top-secret project during World War II involving radar. The London Regional Children's Museum in South London provides hands-on learning experiences for children and was one of the first children's museums established in Canada. The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame has its headquarters in downtown London and features a medical history museum.


title: London, Ontario

text: Eldon House is the former residence of the prominent Harris Family and oldest surviving such building in London. The entire property was donated to the city of London in 1959 and is now a heritage site. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate The Eldon House's role in Ontario's heritage. The Banting House National Historic Site of Canada is the house where Frederick Banting developed the ideas that led to the discovery of insulin. Banting lived and practised in London for ten months, from July 1920 to May 1921. London is also the site of the Flame of Hope, which is intended to burn until a cure for diabetes is discovered.


title: London, Ontario

text: In addition to Museum London and The Forest City Gallery, London is also home to a number of other galleries and art spaces, including the McIntosh Gallery at Western University, TAP Centre for Creativity, and various smaller galleries such as the Thielsen Gallery, the Westland Gallery, the Michael Gibson Gallery, the Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Gallery, The Art Exchange, Strand Fine Art and others. London also hosts an annual Nuit Blanche every June.


title: London, Ontario

text: London is home to the Grand Theatre, a professional proscenium arch theatre in Central London. The building underwent renovations in 1975 to restore the stage proscenium arch and to add a secondary performance space. The architectural firm responsible for the redesign was awarded a Governor General's award in 1978 for their work on the venue. In addition to professional productions, the Grand Theatre also hosts the High School Project, a program unique to North America that provides high school students an opportunity to work with professional directors, choreographers, musical directors, and stage managers. The Palace Theatre, in Old East Village, originally opened as a silent movie theatre in 1929 and was converted to a live theatre venue in 1991. It is currently the home of the London Community Players, and as of 2016 is undergoing extensive historical restoration. The Original Kids Theatre Company, a nonprofit charitable youth organisation, currently puts on productions at the Spriet Family Theatre in the Covent Garden Market.


title: London, Ontario

text: London serves as a core setting in Southern Ontario Gothic literature, most notably in the works of James Reaney. The psychologist Richard Maurice Bucke, author of "Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind" and Walt Whitman's literary executor, lived and worked in London, where he was often visited by Whitman (the Maurice Bucke Archive are part of the Special Collections in The Weldon Library of Western University). Modern writers from this city include fantasy-fiction authors R. Scott Bakker and Kelley Armstrong, Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton, Scotiabank Giller Prize winner Bonnie Burnard and distinguished nominee Joan Barfoot. Emma Donoghue, whose 2010 novel, "Room", was adapted into a 2015 Academy Award-winning film of the same name, also lives in London. WordFest is an annual literary and creative arts festival that takes place each November.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 2020 and 2021, house prices rose significantly across Canada, especially in Ontario. The average price of a home in Canada in March 2021 was $716,828, a 31.6% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, the average cost to purchase a home in London was $607,000 in January 2021; since then increasing to $641,072 in June 2021 according to LSTAR. As the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to decrease in severity as vaccinations in Canada reach close to herd immunity, the housing market in London is showing signs of a cool-down according to some realtors. In April 2021, the Bank of Canada reported that the primary reason house prices had increased to such an unprecedented extent was due to housing inventory reaching record lows.


title: London, Ontario

text: Nevertheless, the city's cost of living remains lower than many other southern Ontario cities. London is known for being a medium-sized city with big city amenities, having under 400,000 residents as of the 2016 census yet having all of the services one could find in a large city, including two large-scale shopping malls, Masonville Place and White Oaks Mall, regional health care centres, and postsecondary education hubs such as the world-class University of Western Ontario and well-known Fanshawe College. In mid-2021, London had an 8.75% cheaper cost of living, and 27.5% cheaper cost of rent, compared to nearby Toronto.


title: London, Ontario

text: London has nine major parks and gardens throughout the city, many of which run along the Thames River and are interconnected by a series of pedestrian and bike paths, known as the Thames Valley Parkway. This path system is 40 km (25 mi) in length, and connects to an additional 150 km (93 mi) of bike and hiking trails throughout the city. The city's largest park, Springbank Park, is 140-hectare (300 acre) and contains 30 km (19 mi) of trails. It is also home to Storybook Gardens, a family attraction open year-round.


title: London, Ontario

text: The city includes many pedestrian walkways throughout its neighbourhoods. Newer settled areas in the northwest end of the city include long pathways between housing developments and tall grass bordering Snake Creek, a thin waterway connected to the Thames River. These walkways connect the neighbourhoods of Fox Hollow, White Hills, Sherwood Forest and the western portion of Masonville, also running through parts of Medway Valley Heritage Forest.


title: London, Ontario

text: London is the home of the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, who play at the Budweiser Gardens. The Knights are 2004–2005 and 2015–2016 OHL and Memorial Cup Champions. During the summer months, the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League play at Labatt Park. FC London of League1 Ontario and founded in 2008 is the highest level of soccer in London. The squad plays at German Canadian Club of London Field. Other sports teams include the London Silver Dolphins Swim Team, the Forest City Volleyball Club, London Cricket Club, the London St. George's Rugby Club, the London Aquatics Club, the London Rhythmic Gymnastics Club, the London Rowing Club, London City Soccer Club and Forest City London.


title: London, Ontario

text: The Eager Beaver Baseball Association (EBBA) is a baseball league for youths in London. It was first organized in 1955 by former Major League Baseball player Frank Colman, London sportsman Gordon Berryhill and Al Marshall.


title: London, Ontario

text: London's basketball team, the London Lightning plays at Budweiser Gardens as members of the National Basketball League of Canada. Finishing their inaugural regular season at 28–8, the Lightning would go on to win the 2011–12 NBL Canada championship, defeating the Halifax Rainmen in the finals three games to two.There are also a number of former sports teams that have moved or folded. London's four former baseball teams are the London Monarchs (Canadian Baseball League), the London Werewolves (Frontier League), the London Tecumsehs (International Association) and the London Tigers (AA Eastern League). Other former sports teams include the London Lasers (Canadian Soccer League)


title: London, Ontario

text: In March 2013, London hosted the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships. The University of Western Ontario's teams play under the name "Mustangs". The university's football team plays at TD Stadium. Western's Rowing Team rows out of a boathouse at Fanshawe Lake. Fanshawe College teams play under the name "Falcons". The Women's Cross Country team has won 3 consecutive Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championships. In 2010, the program cemented itself as the first CCAA program to win both Men's and Women's National team titles, as well as CCAA Coach of the Year.


title: London, Ontario

text: The Western Fair Raceway, about 85 acres harness racing track and simulcast centre, operates year-round. The grounds include a coin slot casino, a former IMAX theatre, and Sports and Agri-complex. Labatt Memorial Park the world's oldest continuously used baseball grounds was established as Tecumseh Park in 1877; it was renamed in 1937, because the London field has been flooded and rebuilt twice (1883 and 1937), including a re-orientation of the bases (after the 1883 flood). The Forest City Velodrome, at the former London Ice House, is the only indoor cycling track in Ontario and the third to be built in North America, opened in 2005. London is also home to World Seikido, the governing body of a martial art called Seikido which was developed in London in 1987.


title: London, Ontario

text: London's municipal government is divided among fourteen councillors (one representing each of London's fourteen wards) and the mayor. Josh Morgan was elected mayor in the 2022 municipal election. Until the elections in 2010, there was a Board of Control, consisting of four controllers and the mayor, all elected citywide.


title: London, Ontario

text: Although London has many ties to Middlesex County, it is a totally separate entity; the two have no jurisdictional overlap. The exception is the Middlesex County courthouse and former jail, as the judiciary is administered directly by the province.


title: London, Ontario

text: London was the first city in Canada (in May 2017) to decide to move a ranked choice ballot for municipal elections starting in 2018. Voters mark their ballots in order of preference, ranking their top three favourite candidates. An individual must reach 50 per cent of the total to be declared elected; in each round of counting where a candidate has not yet reached that target, the person with the fewest votes is dropped from the ballot and their second or third choice preferences reallocated to the remaining candidates, with this process repeating until a candidate has reached 50 per cent.


title: London, Ontario

text: In 2001, the City of London first published their Facilities Accessibility Design Standards (FADS) which was one of the first North American municipal accessibility requirements to include Universal Design. It has since been adopted by over 50 municipalities in Canada and the United States.


title: London, Ontario

text: In addition to mayor Josh Morgan, the following were elected in the 2022 municipal election for the 2022–2026 term:


title: London, Ontario

text: The city includes four provincial ridings. In the provincial government, London is represented by New Democrats Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre), Teresa Armstrong (London—Fanshawe) and Peggy Sattler (London West), and Progressive Conservative Rob Flack (Elgin—Middlesex—London).


title: London, Ontario

text: The London and surrounding area includes four federal ridings. In the federal government, London is represented by Conservative Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London), Liberals Peter Fragiskatos (London North Centre) and Arielle Kayabaga (London West), and NDP Lindsay Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe).


title: London, Ontario

text: Statistics from police indicate that total overall crimes in London have held steady between 2010 and 2016, at roughly 24,000 to 27,000 incidents per year. The majority of incidents are property crimes, with violent crimes dropping markedly (up to about 20%) between 2012 and 2014 but rising again in 2015–2016. In July 2018, Police Deputy Chief Steve Williams was quoted as saying many crimes go unreported to police.


title: London, Ontario

text: The city has been home to several high-profile incidents over the years such as the Ontario Biker War and the London Conflict, it was also the location where most of the trial for the Shedden Massacre took place.


title: London, Ontario

text: Research by Michael Andrew Arntfield, a police officer turned criminology professor, has determined that on a per-capita basis, London Ontario had more active serial killers than any locale in the world from 1959 to 1984. Arntfield determined there were at least six serial killers active in London during this era. Some went unidentified, but known killers in London included Russell Maurice Johnson, Gerald Thomas Archer, and Christian Magee.


title: London, Ontario

text: On 6 June 2021 four members of a Canadian Muslim family, two women aged 74 and 44, a 46-year-old man and a 15-year-old girl were all killed by a pickup truck which jumped the curb and ran them over. The sole survivor was a 9-year-old boy. According to the London Police Service, they were deliberately targeted in anti-Islamic hate crime. Later on the same day, 20 year old Nathaniel Veltman was arrested in the parking lot of a nearby mall. He has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.


title: London, Ontario

text: The City of London initiatives in Old East London are helping to create a renewed sense of vigour in the East London Business District. Specific initiatives include the creation of the Old East Heritage Conservation District under Part V of the "Ontario Heritage Act", special Building Code policies and Facade Restoration Programs.


title: London, Ontario

text: London is home to heritage properties representing a variety of architectural styles, including Queen Anne, Art Deco, Modern, and Brutalist


title: London, Ontario

text: Londoners have become protective of the trees in the city, protesting "unnecessary" removal of trees. The City Council and tourist industry have created projects to replant trees throughout the city. As well, they have begun to erect metal trees of various colours in the downtown area, causing some controversy.


title: London, Ontario

text: London is at the junction of Highway 401 that connects the city to Toronto and Windsor, and Highway 402 to Sarnia. Also, Highway 403, which diverges from the 401 at nearby Woodstock, provides ready access to Brantford, Hamilton, and the Niagara Peninsula. Many smaller two-lane highways also pass through or near London, including Kings Highways 2, 3, 4, 7 and 22. Some of these are no longer highways, as provincial downloading in the 1980s and 1990s put responsibility for most provincial highways on municipal governments. Nevertheless, these roads continue to provide access from London to nearby communities and locations in much of Western Ontario, including Goderich, Port Stanley and Owen Sound. A 4.5 km long section of Highbury Ave., connecting the east end of London to Highway 401, consists of an controlled-access highway with 100 km/h speed limits.


title: London, Ontario

text: Since the 1970s, London has improved urban road alignments that eliminated "jogs" in established traffic patterns over 19th-century street misalignments. The lack of freeways directly through the city as well as the presence of two significant railways (each with attendant switching yards and few over/underpasses) are the primary causes of rush hour congestion, along with construction and heavy snow. Thus, traffic times can be significantly variable, although major traffic jams are rare. Wellington Road between Commissioners Road E and Southdale Road E is London's busiest section of roadway, with more than 46,000 vehicles using the span on an average day City council rejected early plans for the construction of a freeway, and instead accepted the Veterans Memorial Parkway to serve the east end. Some Londoners have expressed concern the absence of a local freeway may hinder London's economic and population growth, while others have voiced concern such a freeway would destroy environmentally sensitive areas and contribute to London's suburban sprawl. Road capacity improvements have been made to Veterans Memorial Parkway (formerly named Airport Road and Highway 100) in the industrialized east end. However, the Parkway has received criticism for not being built as a proper highway; a study conducted in 2007 suggested upgrading it by replacing the intersections with interchanges.


title: London, Ontario

text: In the late 19th century, and the early 20th century, an extensive network of streetcar routes served London.


title: London, Ontario

text: London's public transit system is run by the London Transit Commission, which has 44 bus routes throughout the city. Although the city has lost ridership over the last few years, the commission is making concerted efforts to enhance services by implementing a five-year improvement plan. In 2015, an additional 17,000 hours of bus service was added throughout the city. In 2016, 11 new operators, 5 new buses, and another 17,000 hours of bus service were added to the network. Bus service is currently the only mode of public transit available to the public in London, with no available rapid transit networks like those used in other Canadian cities. However, the city council approved a bus rapid transit (BRT) network, named Shift, in May 2016. The network will consist of two corridors serving each end of the city, and meeting at a central hub in the downtown. Construction is expected to begin in 2018, with the service fully operational by 2025.


title: London, Ontario

text: London has 330 km (205 mi) of cycling paths throughout the city, 91 km (59 mi) of which have been added since 2005. In June 2016, London unveiled its first bike corrals, which replace parking for one vehicle with fourteen bicycle parking spaces, and fix-it stations, which provide cyclists with simple tools and a bicycle pump, throughout the city. In September 2016, city council approved a new 15 year cycling master plan that will see the construction of an additional 470 km (292 mi) of cycling paths added to the existing network.


title: London, Ontario

text: London is on the Canadian National Railway main line between Toronto and Chicago (with a secondary main line to Windsor) and the Canadian Pacific Railway main line between Toronto and Detroit. Via Rail operates regional passenger service through London station as part of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, with connections to the United States. Via Rail's London terminal is the fourth-busiest passenger terminal in Canada. In October 2021 GO Transit began a two-year pilot project providing commuter rail service between London and Toronto along the Kitchener line.


title: London, Ontario

text: London is also a destination for inter-city bus travellers. In 2009, London was the seventh-busiest Greyhound Canada terminal in terms of passengers, At one point, service was available from London throughout southwestern Ontario and through to the American cities of Detroit, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois.


title: London, Ontario

text: London International Airport (YXU) is the 12th busiest passenger airport in Canada and the 11th busiest airport in Canada by take-offs and landings. It is served by airlines including Air Canada Express, and WestJet, and provides direct flights to both domestic and international destinations, including Toronto, Orlando, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Cancún, Vancouver, Varadero, Punta Cana, Montego Bay, Santa Clara, and Holguin.


title: London, Ontario

text: The city of London is considering bus rapid transit (BRT) and/or high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV) to help it achieve its long-term transportation plan. Additional cycleways are planned for integration in road-widening projects, where there is need and sufficient space along routes. An expressway/freeway network is possible along the eastern and western ends of the city, from Highway 401 (and Highway 402 for the western route) past Oxford Street, potentially with another highway, joining the two in the city's north end.


title: London, Ontario

text: The city of London has assessed the entire length of the Veterans Memorial Parkway, identifying areas where interchanges can be constructed, grade separations can occur, and where cul-de-sacs can be placed. Upon completion, the Veterans Memorial Parkway would no longer be an expressway, but a freeway, for the majority of its length.


title: London, Ontario

text: London public elementary and secondary schools are governed by four school boards – the Thames Valley District School Board, the London District Catholic School Board and the French first-language school boards (the "Conseil scolaire Viamonde" and the "Conseil scolaire catholique Providence" or CSC). The CSC has a satellite office in London.


title: London, Ontario

text: The city is home to two post-secondary institutions: the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and Fanshawe College, a college of applied arts and technology. UWO, founded in 1878, has about 3,500 full-time faculty and staff members and almost 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It placed tenth in the 2008 "Maclean's" magazine rankings of Canadian universities. The Richard Ivey School of Business, part of UWO, was formed in 1922 and ranked among the best business schools in the country by the Financial Times in 2009. UWO has three affiliated colleges: Brescia University College, founded in 1919 (Canada's only university-level women's college); Huron University College, founded in 1863 (also the founding college of UWO) and King's University College, founded in 1954. All three are liberal arts colleges with religious affiliations: Huron with the Anglican Church of Canada, King's and Brescia with the Roman Catholic Church. London is also home to Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts one of few of its kind.


title: London, Ontario

text: Fanshawe College has an enrollment of approximately 15,000 students, including 3,500 apprentices and over 500 international students from more than 30 countries. It also has almost 40,000 students in part-time continuing education courses. Fanshawe's Key Performance Indicators (KPI) have been over the provincial average for many years now, with increasing percentages year by year.


title: London, Ontario

text: The Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology (OIART), founded in 1983, offers recording studio experience for audio engineering students.


title: London, Ontario

text: Westervelt College is also in London. This private career college was founded in 1885 and offers several diploma programs.


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nominations and seven Primetime Emmy nominations. She also appeared as Linda in "Equal Justice" (1990–1991), Judge Trudy in "Raising the Bar" (2008–2009), Ann in "Falling in Love" (1984), Emily in "The Heavenly Kid" (1985), and Gayle in "6 Balloons" (2018).


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: Kaczmarek was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the daughter of Evelyn (née Gregorska), a teacher, and Edward Kaczmarek, a US Department of Defense worker. Of Polish ancestry, she grew up in Greendale, where she was raised a Roman Catholic.


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: In 1999, Kaczmarek was cast to play Lois in the sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle", which premiered on January 9, 2000. "TV Guide" dubbed her role in the series as a "true breakout; a female Homer Simpson", and critics hailed her for her comic talents. Later, Kaczmarek would credit the show for bringing out her comedic side, saying, "[Before "Malcolm"] I couldn't even get auditions for comedies. I played very unfunny people."


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: On July 22, 2011, it was confirmed that Kaczmarek would make a vocal appearance as Red Jessica in the television series "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" during its second season early 2012.


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: In November 2012, she made a guest appearance on ABC's "The Middle" as Frankie Heck's (Patricia Heaton) dental teacher. In 2013, Kaczmarek guest starred on NBC's long-running legal drama, "", as Suffolk County D.A. Pamela "Pam" James.


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: Kaczmarek and former "Malcolm in the Middle" co-star Bryan Cranston reprised their roles as Lois and Hal respectively in an "alternate ending" featurette on the "Breaking Bad" DVD/Blu-ray box set that was released on November 26, 2013. In it, Hal wakes up from the nightmare that was the plot of "Breaking Bad", in a nod to the final scene from "Newhart".


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: Kaczmarek married fellow Wisconsin native and actor Bradley Whitford on August 15, 1992. They lived in Los Angeles with their three children. Both were active with charity, and were seen attending major award shows together. In June 2009, the couple filed for divorce after almost 17 years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in October 2010. One of the last times they were seen together publicly was in September 2008, at the opening of a Los Angeles production of "The House of Blue Leaves", in which Kaczmarek was starring. According to a June 2009 magazine interview with More.com conducted prior to announcement of the divorce, she replied "That's a big no comment" when asked to sum up her love life. She added that she used to believe that she could "go it alone and as long as I had some fabulous boy on my arm, or man, and my career was sailing, that's all I needed" whereas she now had grown to appreciate the support of her girlfriends "to talk about kids, to talk about marriages, to talk about just life". In 2010, they sold their 1924 villa in San Marino, California.


title: Jane Kaczmarek

text: Kaczmarek underwent a hip replacement in April 2004, due to chronic arthritis. She recovered quickly, and used an X-ray of her new hip for her Emmy campaign the following summer, advertising herself as "the only Emmy nominee with an artificial hip (except for Anthony LaPaglia)".


title: Coral reef

text: A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups.


title: Coral reef

text: Coral belongs to the class Anthozoa in the animal phylum Cnidaria, which includes sea anemones and jellyfish. Unlike sea anemones, corals secrete hard carbonate exoskeletons that support and protect the coral. Most reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and agitated water. Coral reefs first appeared 485 million years ago, at the dawn of the Early Ordovician, displacing the microbial and sponge reefs of the Cambrian.


title: Coral reef

text: Sometimes called "rainforests of the sea", shallow coral reefs form some of Earth's most diverse ecosystems. They occupy less than 0.1% of the world's ocean area, about half the area of France, yet they provide a home for at least 25% of all marine species, including fish, mollusks, worms, crustaceans, echinoderms, sponges, tunicates and other cnidarians. Coral reefs flourish in ocean waters that provide few nutrients. They are most commonly found at shallow depths in tropical waters, but deep water and cold water coral reefs exist on smaller scales in other areas.


title: Coral reef

text: Coral reefs have declined by 50% since 1950, partly because they are sensitive to water conditions. They are under threat from excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), rising ocean heat content and acidification, overfishing (e.g., from blast fishing, cyanide fishing, spearfishing on scuba), sunscreen use, and harmful land-use practices, including runoff and seeps (e.g., from injection wells and cesspools).


title: Coral reef

text: Coral reefs deliver ecosystem services for tourism, fisheries and shoreline protection. The annual global economic value of coral reefs has been estimated at anywhere from US$30–375 billion (1997 and 2003 estimates) to US$2.7 trillion (a 2020 estimate) to US$9.9 trillion (a 2014 estimate).


title: Coral reef

text: Most coral reefs were formed after the Last Glacial Period when melting ice caused sea level to rise and flood continental shelves. Most coral reefs are less than 10,000 years old. As communities established themselves, the reefs grew upwards, pacing rising sea levels. Reefs that rose too slowly could become drowned, without sufficient light. Coral reefs are also found in the deep sea away from continental shelves, around oceanic islands and atolls. The majority of these islands are volcanic in origin. Others have tectonic origins where plate movements lifted the deep ocean floor.


title: Coral reef

text: In "The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs", Charles Darwin set out his theory of the formation of atoll reefs, an idea he conceived during the voyage of the "Beagle". He theorized that uplift and subsidence of Earth's crust under the oceans formed the atolls. Darwin set out a sequence of three stages in atoll formation. A fringing reef forms around an extinct volcanic island as the island and ocean floor subside. As the subsidence continues, the fringing reef becomes a barrier reef and ultimately an atoll reef.


title: Coral reef

text: Darwin predicted that underneath each lagoon would be a bedrock base, the remains of the original volcano. Subsequent research supported this hypothesis. Darwin's theory followed from his understanding that coral polyps thrive in the tropics where the water is agitated, but can only live within a limited depth range, starting just below low tide. Where the level of the underlying earth allows, the corals grow around the coast to form fringing reefs, and can eventually grow to become a barrier reef.


title: Coral reef

text: Where the bottom is rising, fringing reefs can grow around the coast, but coral raised above sea level dies. If the land subsides slowly, the fringing reefs keep pace by growing upwards on a base of older, dead coral, forming a barrier reef enclosing a lagoon between the reef and the land. A barrier reef can encircle an island, and once the island sinks below sea level a roughly circular atoll of growing coral continues to keep up with the sea level, forming a central lagoon. Barrier reefs and atolls do not usually form complete circles but are broken in places by storms. Like sea level rise, a rapidly subsiding bottom can overwhelm coral growth, killing the coral and the reef, due to what is called "coral drowning". Corals that rely on zooxanthellae can die when the water becomes too deep for their symbionts to adequately photosynthesize, due to decreased light exposure.


title: Coral reef

text: The two main variables determining the geomorphology, or shape, of coral reefs are the nature of the substrate on which they rest, and the history of the change in sea level relative to that substrate.


title: Coral reef

text: The approximately 20,000-year-old Great Barrier Reef offers an example of how coral reefs formed on continental shelves. Sea level was then lower than in the 21st century. As sea level rose, the water and the corals encroached on what had been hills of the Australian coastal plain. By 13,000 years ago, sea level had risen to lower than at present, and many hills of the coastal plains had become continental islands. As sea level rise continued, water topped most of the continental islands. The corals could then overgrow the hills, forming cays and reefs. Sea level on the Great Barrier Reef has not changed significantly in the last 6,000 years. The age of living reef structure is estimated to be between 6,000 and 8,000 years. Although the Great Barrier Reef formed along a continental shelf, and not around a volcanic island, Darwin's principles apply. Development stopped at the barrier reef stage, since Australia is not about to submerge. It formed the world's largest barrier reef, from shore, stretching for .


title: Coral reef

text: Healthy tropical coral reefs grow horizontally from per year, and grow vertically anywhere from per year; however, they grow only at depths shallower than because of their need for sunlight, and cannot grow above sea level.


title: Coral reef

text: As the name implies, coral reefs are made up of coral skeletons from mostly intact coral colonies. As other chemical elements present in corals become incorporated into the calcium carbonate deposits, aragonite is formed. However, shell fragments and the remains of coralline algae such as the green-segmented genus "Halimeda" can add to the reef's ability to withstand damage from storms and other threats. Such mixtures are visible in structures such as Eniwetok Atoll.


title: Coral reef

text: Since Darwin's identification of the three classical reef formations – the fringing reef around a volcanic island becoming a barrier reef and then an atoll – scientists have identified further reef types. While some sources find only three, Thomas and Goudie list four "principal large-scale coral reef types" – the fringing reef, barrier reef, atoll and table reef – while Spalding "et al." list five "main types" – the fringing reef, barrier reef, atoll, "bank or platform reef" and patch reef.


title: Coral reef

text: A fringing reef, also called a shore reef, is directly attached to a shore, or borders it with an intervening narrow, shallow channel or lagoon. It is the most common reef type. Fringing reefs follow coastlines and can extend for many kilometres. They are usually less than 100 metres wide, but some are hundreds of metres wide. Fringing reefs are initially formed on the shore at the low water level and expand seawards as they grow in size. The final width depends on where the sea bed begins to drop steeply. The surface of the fringe reef generally remains at the same height: just below the waterline. In older fringing reefs, whose outer regions pushed far out into the sea, the inner part is deepened by erosion and eventually forms a lagoon. Fringing reef lagoons can become over 100 metres wide and several metres deep. Like the fringing reef itself, they run parallel to the coast. The fringing reefs of the Red Sea are "some of the best developed in the world" and occur along all its shores except off sandy bays.


title: Coral reef

text: Barrier reefs are separated from a mainland or island shore by a deep channel or lagoon. They resemble the later stages of a fringing reef with its lagoon but differ from the latter mainly in size and origin. Their lagoons can be several kilometres wide and 30 to 70 metres deep. Above all, the offshore outer reef edge formed in open water rather than next to a shoreline. Like an atoll, it is thought that these reefs are formed either as the seabed lowered or sea level rose. Formation takes considerably longer than for a fringing reef, thus barrier reefs are much rarer.


title: Coral reef

text: The best known and largest example of a barrier reef is the Australian Great Barrier Reef. Other major examples are the Belize Barrier Reef and the New Caledonian Barrier Reef. Barrier reefs are also found on the coasts of Providencia, Mayotte, the Gambier Islands, on the southeast coast of Kalimantan, on parts of the coast of Sulawesi, southeastern New Guinea and the south coast of the Louisiade Archipelago.


title: Coral reef

text: Platform reefs, variously called bank or table reefs, can form on the continental shelf, as well as in the open ocean, in fact anywhere where the seabed rises close enough to the surface of the ocean to enable the growth of zooxanthemic, reef-forming corals. Platform reefs are found in the southern Great Barrier Reef, the Swain and Capricorn Group on the continental shelf, about 100–200 km from the coast. Some platform reefs of the northern Mascarenes are several thousand kilometres from the mainland. Unlike fringing and barrier reefs which extend only seaward, platform reefs grow in all directions. They are variable in size, ranging from a few hundred metres to many kilometres across. Their usual shape is oval to elongated. Parts of these reefs can reach the surface and form sandbanks and small islands around which may form fringing reefs. A lagoon may form In the middle of a platform reef.


title: Coral reef

text: Platform reefs can be found within atolls. There they are called patch reefs and may reach only a few dozen metres in diameter. Where platform reefs form on an elongated structure, e. g. an old, eroded barrier reef, they can form a linear arrangement. This is the case, for example, on the east coast of the Red Sea near Jeddah. In old platform reefs, the inner part can be so heavily eroded that it forms a pseudo-atoll. These can be distinguished from real atolls only by detailed investigation, possibly including core drilling. Some platform reefs of the Laccadives are U-shaped, due to wind and water flow.


title: Coral reef

text: Atolls or atoll reefs are a more or less circular or continuous barrier reef that extends all the way around a lagoon without a central island. They are usually formed from fringing reefs around volcanic islands. Over time, the island erodes away and sinks below sea level. Atolls may also be formed by the sinking of the seabed or rising of the sea level. A ring of reefs results, which enclose a lagoon. Atolls are numerous in the South Pacific, where they usually occur in mid-ocean, for example, in the Caroline Islands, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia.


title: Coral reef

text: Atolls are found in the Indian Ocean, for example, in the Maldives, the Chagos Islands, the Seychelles and around Cocos Island. The entire Maldives consist of 26 atolls.


title: Coral reef

text: Coral reef ecosystems contain distinct zones that host different kinds of habitats. Usually, three major zones are recognized: the fore reef, reef crest, and the back reef (frequently referred to as the reef lagoon).


title: Coral reef

text: The three zones are physically and ecologically interconnected. Reef life and oceanic processes create opportunities for the exchange of seawater, sediments, nutrients and marine life.


title: Coral reef

text: Most coral reefs exist in waters less than 50 m deep. Some inhabit tropical continental shelves where cool, nutrient-rich upwelling does not occur, such as the Great Barrier Reef. Others are found in the deep ocean surrounding islands or as atolls, such as in the Maldives. The reefs surrounding islands form when islands subside into the ocean, and atolls form when an island subsides below the surface of the sea.


title: Coral reef

text: Alternatively, Moyle and Cech distinguish six zones, though most reefs possess only some of the zones.


title: Coral reef

text: The reef surface is the shallowest part of the reef. It is subject to surge and tides. When waves pass over shallow areas, they shoal, as shown in the adjacent diagram. This means the water is often agitated. These are the precise condition under which corals flourish. The light is sufficient for photosynthesis by the symbiotic zooxanthellae, and agitated water brings plankton to feed the coral.


title: Coral reef

text: The off-reef floor is the shallow sea floor surrounding a reef. This zone occurs next to reefs on continental shelves. Reefs around tropical islands and atolls drop abruptly to great depths and do not have such a floor. Usually sandy, the floor often supports seagrass meadows which are important foraging areas for reef fish.


title: Coral reef

text: The reef drop-off is, for its first 50 m, habitat for reef fish who find shelter on the cliff face and plankton in the water nearby. The drop-off zone applies mainly to the reefs surrounding oceanic islands and atolls.


title: Coral reef

text: The reef face is the zone above the reef floor or the reef drop-off. This zone is often the reef's most diverse area. Coral and calcareous algae provide complex habitats and areas that offer protection, such as cracks and crevices. Invertebrates and epiphytic algae provide much of the food for other organisms. A common feature on this forereef zone is spur and groove formations that serve to transport sediment downslope.


title: Coral reef

text: The reef flat is the sandy-bottomed flat, which can be behind the main reef, containing chunks of coral. This zone may border a lagoon and serve as a protective area, or it may lie between the reef and the shore, and in this case is a flat, rocky area. Fish tend to prefer it when it is present.


title: Coral reef

text: The reef lagoon is an entirely enclosed region, which creates an area less affected by wave action and often contains small reef patches.


title: Coral reef

text: However, the "topography of coral reefs is constantly changing. Each reef is made up of irregular patches of algae, sessile invertebrates, and bare rock and sand. The size, shape and relative abundance of these patches change from year to year in response to the various factors that favor one type of patch over another. Growing coral, for example, produces constant change in the fine structure of reefs. On a larger scale, tropical storms may knock out large sections of reef and cause boulders on sandy areas to move."


title: Coral reef

text: Coral reefs are estimated to cover 284,300 km (109,800 sq mi), just under 0.1% of the oceans' surface area. The Indo-Pacific region (including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific) account for 91.9% of this total. Southeast Asia accounts for 32.3% of that figure, while the Pacific including Australia accounts for 40.8%. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs account for 7.6%.