title: El Niño

text: In terrestrial ecosystems, rodent outbreaks were observed in northern Chile and along the Peruvian coastal desert following the 1972-73 El Niño event. While some nocturnal primates (western tarsiers "Tarsius bancanus" and slow loris "Nycticebus coucang") and the Malayan sun bear ("Helarctos malayanus") were locally extirpate or suffered drastic reduction in numbers within these burned forests. Lepidoptera outbreaks were documented in Panamá and Costa Rica. During the 1982–83, 1997–98 and 2015–16 ENSO events, large extensions of tropical forests experienced a prolonged dry period that resulted in widespread fires, and drastic changes in forest structure and tree species composition in Amazonian and Bornean forests. But Their impacts do not restrict only vegetation, since declines in insect populations were observed after extreme drought and terrible fires during El Niño 2015–16. Declines in habitat-specialist and disturbance-sensitive bird species and in large-frugivorous mammals were also observed in Amazonian burned forests, while temporary extirpation of more than 100 lowland butterfly species occurred at a burned forest site in Borneo.


title: El Niño

text: Most critically, global mass bleaching events were recorded in 1997-98 and 2015–16, when around 75-99% losses of live coral were registered across the word. Considerable attention was also given to the collapse of Peruvian and Chilean anchovy populations that led to a severe fishery crisis following the ENSO events in 1972–73, 1982–83, 1997–98 and, more recently, in 2015–16. In particular, increased surface seawater temperatures in 1982-83 also lead to the probable extinction of two hydrocoral species in Panamá, and to a massive mortality of kelp beds along 600 km of coastline in Chile, from which kelps and associated biodiversity slowly recovered in the most affected areas even after 20 years. All these findings enlarge the role of ENSO events as a strong climatic force driving ecological changes all around the world – particularly in tropical forests and coral reefs.


title: El Niño

text: In Seasonally dry tropical forests, which are more drought tolerant, researchers found that El Niño induced drought increased seedling mortality. In a research published in October 2022, researchers studied Seasonally dry tropical forests in a national park in Chiang May in Thailand for 7 years and observed that El Niño increased seedling mortality even in Seasonally dry tropical forests and may impact entire forest in long run.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, steel-framed landmarked building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinkelberg, it was completed in 1902 and originally contained 20 floors. The building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street—where the building's back end is located—with East 23rd Street grazing the triangle's northern (uptown) peak. The name "Flatiron" derives from its triangular shape, which recalls that of a cast-iron clothes iron.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building was developed as the headquarters of construction firm Fuller Company, which acquired the site from the Newhouse family in May 1901. Construction proceeded at a very rapid pace, and the building opened on October 1, 1902. A "cowcatcher" retail space and a one-story penthouse were added shortly after the building's opening. The Fuller Company sold the building in 1925 to an investment syndicate. The Equitable Life Assurance Society took over the building after a foreclosure auction in 1933 and sold it to another syndicate in 1945. Helmsley-Spear managed the building for much of the late 20th century, renovating it several times. The Newmark Group started managing the building in 1997. The building's ownership was divided among several companies, which started renovating the building again in 2019.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building's facade is divided vertically into three sections, similarly to the components of a classical column. The three-story base is clad with limestone, while the upper stories are clad with glazed terracotta. The building's steel frame, designed by structural engineering firm Purdy and Henderson, was intended to withstand four times the maximum wind force of the area. Called "one of the world's most iconic skyscrapers and a quintessential symbol of New York City", the building anchors the south (downtown) end of Madison Square and the north (uptown) end of the Ladies' Mile Historic District. The neighborhood around it is called the Flatiron District after its signature, iconic building. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue to the west, Broadway to the east, and East 22nd Street to the south. The western and eastern facades converge, forming a "peak" at its northern corner where Fifth Avenue and Broadway intersect with East 23rd Street. The shape of the site arises from Broadway's diagonal alignment relative to the Manhattan street grid. The site measures on Fifth Avenue, on Broadway, and on 22nd Street. Above the ground level, all three corners of the triangle are curved.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Adjacent buildings include the Toy Center to the north, the Sohmer Piano Building to the southwest, the Scribner Building to the south, and Madison Green to the southeast. Entrances to the New York City Subway's 23rd Street station, served by the , are adjacent to the building. The Flatiron Building is at the northern end of the Ladies' Mile Historic District, which extends between 15th Street to the south and 24th Street to the north. By the 1990s, the blocks south of the building had also become known as the Flatiron District.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The St. Germain Hotel (alternatively spelled St. Germaine) was built by 1855 on the south end of the lot. It was one of several hotels built in the neighborhood during the mid-19th century. Amos Eno purchased the entire block in 1857 for $32,000, and he shortly built the Fifth Avenue Hotel on a site diagonally across from it. At some point after 1880, Eno tore down the St. Germain Hotel and replaced it with a seven-story apartment building, the Cumberland. On the remainder of the lot, he built four three-story buildings for commercial use. This left four stories of the Cumberland's northern face exposed, which Eno rented out to advertisers, including "The New York Times", which installed a sign made up of electric lights. The sign, the first of its kind in New York City, was a precursor to the Great White Way near Times Square. Eno later put a canvas screen on the wall, projecting images from a magic lantern atop one of his smaller buildings, where he alternately presented advertisements and interesting pictures. Both the "Times" and the "New-York Tribune" began using the screen for news bulletins, and on election nights tens of thousands of people would gather in Madison Square, waiting for the latest results.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The site came to be known by many names, including "Eno's flatiron", "Eno's corner", and "the cow catcher". Although Eno was one of the largest landowners in New York City by 1894, he rejected all offers to purchase the flatiron site during his lifetime. After his death in 1899, his assets were liquidated, and the lot went up for sale. The New York State Assembly appropriated $3 million for the city to buy it, but this fell through when a newspaper reporter discovered that the plan was a graft scheme by Tammany Hall boss Richard Croker. Instead, the lot was bought at auction by William Eno, one of Amos's sons, for $690,000 in April 1899. This was more than 20 times what the elder Eno had paid for the property four decades earlier.


title: Flatiron Building

text: In May 1899, just three weeks after William had acquired the flatiron lot, he resold it to Samuel and Mott Newhouse for around $801,000. The Newhouses intended to erect a 12-story building with retail shops at street level and bachelor apartments above. They announced plans for the building in November 1900, but the plans were not executed, even though the value of land lots in the city was increasing. At the time, eight- to ten-story office and commercial buildings were being developed in the neighborhood, replacing older, shorter commercial structures.


title: Flatiron Building

text: At the beginning of March 1901, media outlets reported that the Newhouse family was planning to sell "Eno's flatiron" for about $2 million to Cumberland Realty Company, an investment partnership created by Harry S. Black, CEO of the Fuller Company. The Fuller Company was the first true general contractor that dealt with all aspects of buildings' construction (except for design), and they specialized in erecting skyscrapers. Black intended to construct a new headquarters building on the site, despite the recent deterioration of the surrounding neighborhood. At the end of that March, the Fuller Company organized a subsidiary to develop a building on the site. The sale was finalized in May 1901.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Black hired Daniel Burnham's architectural firm to design a 21-story building on the site in February 1901. It would be Burnham's first in New York City, the tallest building in Manhattan north of the Financial District, and the first skyscraper north of Union Square (at 14th Street). The Northwestern Salvage and Wrecking Company began razing the site in May 1901, after the majority of existing tenants' leases had expired. Most of the Cumberland's remaining tenants readily vacated the building in exchange for monetary compensation. The sole holdout was Winfield Scott Proskey, a retired colonel who refused to move out until his lease expired later that year. Cumberland Realty unsuccessfully attempted to deactivate Proskey's water and gas supply, and Proskey continued to live in the Cumberland while contractors demolished all of the surrounding apartments. By the end of May 1901, Cumberland Realty discovered that Proskey was bankrupt, and his creditors took over the lease and razed the rest of the Cumberland that June.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The "New York Herald" published an image of the site on June 2, 1901, with the caption "Flatiron Building". The project's structural engineer, Corydon Purdy, filed plans for a 20-story building on the site were filed that August. The Flatiron Building was not the first building of its triangular ground-plan, although it was the largest at the time of its completion. Earlier buildings with a similar shape include a triangular Roman temple built on a similarly constricted site in the city of Verulamium, Britannia; Bridge House, Leeds, England (1875); the I.O.O.F. Centennial Building (1876) in Alpena, Michigan; and the English-American Building in Atlanta (1897). The "Real Estate Record and Guide" published a drawing of the building in October 1901; though the drawing was captioned "The Cumberland", it was very similar to the Flatiron Building's final design.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Atlantic Terra Cotta Company began producing architectural terracotta pieces for the building in August 1901. Around the same time, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) indicated that it would refuse to approve Purdy's initial plans unless the engineers submitted detailed information about the framework, fireproofing, and wind-bracing systems. Purdy complied with most of the DOB's requests, submitting detailed drawings and documents, but he balked at the department's requirement that the design include fire escapes. For reasons that are unclear, the DOB dropped its requirement that the building contain fire escapes. In addition, the building was originally legally required to contain metal-framed windows, although this would have increased the cost of construction. The city's Board of Building Commissioners had granted an exemption to Black's syndicate, prompting allegations of favoritism. A new Buildings Department commissioner was appointed at the beginning of 1902, promising to enforce city building codes; this prompted general contractor Thompson–Starrett Co. to announce that the building's window frames would be made of fireproof wood with a copper coating.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The building's steel frame was manufactured by the American Bridge Company in Pennsylvania. The frame had risen above street level by January 1902. Construction was then halted for several weeks, first because of a delay in steel shipments, then because of a blizzard that occurred in February. Further delays were caused by a strike at the factory of Hecla Iron Works, which was manufacturing elevators and handrails for the building. The steel was so meticulously pre-cut that, according to "The New York Times", the steel pieces could be connected "without so much as the alteration of a bored hole, or the exchange of a tiny rivet". Workers used air-powered tools to rivet the steel beams together, since such equipment was more efficient than steam-powered tools at conducting power over long distances. The frame was complete by February 1902, and workers began installing the terracotta tiles as the framework of the top stories were being finished. By mid-May, the building was half-covered by terracotta tiling. The terracotta work was completed the next month, and the scaffolding in front of the building was removed. The Fifth Avenue Building Company had invested $1.5 million in the project.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Officials of the Fuller Company announced in August 1902 that the structure would be officially named after George A. Fuller, founder of the Fuller Company and "father of the skyscraper", who had died two years earlier. By then, the site had been known as the "flatiron" for several years; according to Christopher Gray of "The New York Times", Burnham's and Fuller's architectural drawings even labeled the structure as the "Flatiron Building". Although the Fuller name was used for some time after the building's completion, locals persisted in calling it the Flatiron, to the displeasure of Harry Black and the building's contractors. In subsequent years, the edifice officially came to be known as the Flatiron Building, and the Fuller name was transferred to a newer 40-story structure at 597 Madison Avenue.


title: Flatiron Building

text: In the weeks before the official opening, the Fuller Company distributed six-page brochures to potential tenants and real-estate brokers. The brochures advertised the building as being "ready for occupancy" on October 1, 1902. The Fuller Company took the 19th floor for its headquarters. When completed, the Flatiron Building was much taller than others in the neighborhood; when New York City Fire Department officials tested the building's standpipes in November 1902, they found that "the 'flat-iron' building would be of great aid in fighting the fire" in any surrounding buildings. Following the building's completion, the surrounding neighborhood evolved from an entertainment district to a commercial hub. Initially, the building was topped by a flagpole, which was maintained by one man, "Steeplejack" Kay, for four decades. Henry Clay Frick expressed interest in purchasing the structure in 1904 for $5 million, but he ultimately withdrew his offer.


title: Flatiron Building

text: During the building's construction, Black had suggested that the "cowcatcher" retail space be installed at the northern tip of the building, occupying of unused space at the extreme northern end of the lot. This would maximize use of the building's lot and produce some retail income. Burnham initially refused to consider Black's suggestion, and, in April 1902, Black asked a draftsman at the Fuller Company to draw up plans for the retail space. Black submitted plans for the annex to the DOB in May 1902. The DOB rejected the initial plans because the walls were too thin, but the department approved a revised proposal that June, to Burnham's disapproval. The retail space in the "cowcatcher" was leased by United Cigar Stores.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Another addition to the building not in the original plan was the penthouse, which was constructed after the rest of the building had been completed. By 1905, the Fuller Company needed to expand its technical drawing facilities. As a result, the company filed plans for a penthouse with the New York City Department of Buildings that March. The penthouse would cost $10,000 and would include fireproof partitions and a staircase from the existing 20th floor. The penthouse, intended for use as artists' studios, was quickly rented out to artists such as Louis Fancher, many of whom contributed to the pulp magazines which were produced in the offices below.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Besides the Fuller Company, the Flatiron's other original tenants included publishers such as magazine publishing pioneer Frank Munsey, "American Architect and Building News", and a vanity publisher. An insurance company, the Equitable Life Assurance Society, leased nearly the entire third floor. Small businesses also occupied the Flatiron, including a patent medicine company; the Western Specialty Manufacturing Company; and Whitehead & Hoag, which made celluloid novelties. Other tenants included an overflow of music publishers from "Tin Pan Alley" on 28th Street; a landscape architect; the Imperial Russian Consulate, which took up three floors the New York State Athletic Commission; the Bohemian Guides Society; the Roebling Construction Company, owned by the sons of Tammany Hall boss Richard Croker; and the crime syndicate Murder, Inc. Harry Black moved the Fuller Company's offices in 1911 to the Trinity Building at 111 Broadway, where its parent company, U.S. Realty, had its offices. U.S. Realty moved its offices back to the Flatiron in 1916.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The building's vast cellar extended into the vaults that went more than under the surrounding streets. Initial plans called for a ratskeller to be opened within the vaults, but Manhattan borough president Jacob A. Cantor had objected to the plans. Ultimately, part of the basement was occupied by the Flatiron Restaurant, which could seat 1,500 patrons and was open from breakfast through late supper for those taking in a performance at one of the many theatres which lined Broadway between 14th and 23rd Streets. In the building's early years, sightseeing buses would bring visitors to the Flatiron Restaurant and to the 21st-story observation deck. In 1911, the building introduced a restaurant/club in the basement. It was among the first of its kind that allowed a black jazz band to perform, thus introducing ragtime to affluent New Yorkers.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Even before construction on the Flatiron Building had begun, the area around Madison Square had started to deteriorate somewhat. After U.S. Realty constructed the New York Hippodrome, Madison Square Garden was no longer the venue of choice, and survived largely by staging boxing matches. The base of the Flatiron became a cruising spot for gay men, including some male prostitutes. Nonetheless, in 1911 the Flatiron Restaurant was bought by Louis Bustanoby, of the well-known Café des Beaux-Arts, and converted into a trendy 400-seat French restaurant, Taverne Louis. As an innovation to attract customers from another restaurant opened by his brothers, Bustanoby hired a black musical group, Louis Mitchell and his Southern Symphony Quintette, to play dance tunes at the Taverne and the Café. Irving Berlin heard the group at the Taverne and suggested that they should try to get work in London, which they did. The Taverne also welcomed a gay clientele, which then was unusual for a restaurant of its type. The Taverne was forced to close after Prohibition negatively impacted restaurant business.


title: Flatiron Building

text: In March 1925, Black agreed to sell the Flatiron Building to a syndicate led by Lewis Rosenbaum, which also owned numerous other notable buildings around the U.S. Although the sale price was not revealed, the building was valued at $2 million, about the same as what Black had paid to buy the lot and erecting the Flatiron. The syndicate paid $500,000 in cash and covered the remainder of the purchase price with a long-term mortgage; the transaction provided cash for the financially struggling U.S. Realty Company. Many pottery, glassware, and china firms leased space for display firms within the Flatiron Building through the late 1920s. Additionally, drug-store chain Walgreens opened a store within the "cowcatcher" space in 1927, replacing the United Cigar store. By then, many businesses were moving further northward, including the Fuller Company, which left permanently for the Fuller Building on Madison Avenue in 1929. The Flatiron's operating costs were increasing, and its income decreased greatly with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. The Flatiron had long since been surpassed in height by other structures, and its roof was "of interest chiefly for its historic associations".


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Equitable Life Assurance Society sued to foreclose upon the building's mortgage in March 1933 after the owners defaulted on mortgage payments. The mortgage had an unpaid principal of more than $1 million, and the owners had not paid interest in more than a year. The building was placed for sale at a foreclosure auction, and Equitable acquired the building on June 30 for $100,000, submitting the only bid at the auction. To attract tenants, Equitable upgraded some parts of the building in 1941. The original cast-iron birdcage elevators, which consisted of rubber-tiled cabs built by Hecla Iron Works, were replaced with enclosed cabs; however, the hydraulic power system remained in place. In addition, the lobby's open grillwork partitions were replaced with marble partitions. The building's heat, light, and elevators were maintained by a team of eight engineers, who sometimes went on strike.


title: Flatiron Building

text: By the mid-1940s, the building was fully rented, and clothing and toy companies took up much of the space. In addition, the building was occupied by firms such as a paper company, an advertiser, and "Baseball Magazine". When the U.S. entered World War I, the Federal government instituted a "Wake Up America!" campaign, and the United Cigar store in the Flatiron's cowcatcher donated its space to the U.S. Navy for use as a recruiting center. Liberty Bonds were sold outside on sidewalk stands.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Equitable sold the building in October 1945 to an investment syndicate led by lawyer Max Silverstein; at the time, the structure was valued at $1.05 million. Harry Helmsley's firm Dwight-Helmsley (later Helmsley-Spear) brokered the sale and continued to manage the property. By 1946, the partnership of Flatiron Associates owned the building, and Dwight-Helmsley owned a minority stake in the partnership. The new owners made some superficial changes in the early 1950s, such as adding a dropped ceiling to the lobby and replacing the original mahogany-paneled entrances with revolving doors. After architect George C. Rudolph remodeled the main entrance, the 23rd Street Association gave Dwight-Helmsley an award in 1953, recognizing the firm's "contribution to the development of the Twenty-third Street area". By then, the surrounding area had become largely industrial, with many companies in the publishing, clothing, toy, and manufacturing industries.


title: Flatiron Building

text: In 1959, St. Martin's Press moved into the building, and gradually its parent company, Macmillan, rented other offices as they became available. During its tenancy, Macmillan renovated some of the Flatiron Building's floors for its imprints such as Tor/Forge, Picador and Henry Holt and Company. St. Martin's Press president Thomas McCormack had an office within the building's prow. According to McCormack, the company's authors were "fascinated" by the building; he said it was "the only office I know of where you can stand in one place and see the East River, the Hudson and Central Park without moving". Macmillan wrote about the building:


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron's interior is known for having its strangely-shaped offices with walls that cut through at an angle on their way to the skyscraper's famous point. These "point" offices are the most coveted and feature amazing northern views that look directly upon another famous Manhattan landmark, the Empire State Building.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Helmsley/Flatiron Associates ownership structure was a tenancy-in-common, in which all co-owners had to agree on any action, as opposed to a straightforward partnership, in which only a majority of co-owners needed to agree. Hence, it was difficult to get permission for necessary repairs and improvements, and the building declined during the Helmsley/Flatiron Associates era. The surrounding neighborhood declined for several decades, and many of the area's longtime commercial tenants had started to move out. An "anonymous-looking importing firm" occupied the "cowcatcher" retail space, for which there was relatively little demand. The 21st floor and several stories below it were slightly damaged during a fire in 1972. By the late 1980s, one broker said that "the elevators are bad and the facade is dirty" at the Flatiron Building; in particular, there was graffiti across the base, while the rest of the facade was covered in soot. Several of Helmsley's other buildings were similarly rundown.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The facade of the Flatiron Building was restored in 1991 by the firm of Hurley & Farinella. As part of the project, the lobby was renovated, and the terracotta details were also repaired. In addition, C.P. Company leased the ground floor and renovated the space into a clothing store, which opened in February 1991. Bentley LaRosa Salasky designed the store's facade, while Cordero Progetti redesigned the interior, exposing the columns at the building's prow. The surrounding neighborhood's reputation had started to improve, and all of the Flatiron Building's space was under lease. Numerous publishing firms relocated to the area in the late 20th century, and, by the early 1990s, the building's two largest tenants were publishing firms. St. Martin's Press renewed its lease for ten stories of the building in 1993, with an option to expand into smaller tenants' space when their leases expired. Simultaneously, Springer–Verlag renewed its lease for six stories and secured an option for four additional stories. The C.P. Company store only operated until 1996.


title: Flatiron Building

text: By 1995, some of the partners at Flatiron Associates wanted to hire real-estate firm Newmark & Company to replace Helmsley-Spear as the property's managing agent. The dissenting co-owners claimed that Helmsley-Spear was overpaying for elevator maintenance and cleaning. However, the Helmsley family owned a stake in the building, and, because of the tenancy-in-common ownership structure, could block the other owners' attempts to hire Newmark. In 1997, some of the investors sold their 52 percent stake in the building to Newmark, which replaced Helmsley-Spear as the building's managing agent. Shortly after Helmsley's death in January 1997, Helmsley's widow, Leona Helmsley, also sold her ownership stake in the building. Newmark made significant improvements to the property, including installing new electric elevators, replacing the antiquated cabs, which were the last hydraulic elevators in New York City.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building was popular among service companies in the early 2000s, causing rental rates at surrounding buildings to increase. The rent increases occurred amid the gentrification of the surrounding area. By then, St. Martin's Press and Springer–Verlag collectively occupied 90 percent of the space; some of the remaining small tenants had moved away because rents at the Flatiron were too expensive. Macmillan's parent company Holtzbrinck Publishing Group leased additional space in the building in 2004, expanding its presence from 12 to 18 floors. In addition, Holtzbrinck bought an option to lease the two remaining office stories. The building's owners had contemplated converting the building into apartments, but, after Holtzbrinck leased most of the space, the owners instead decided to restore the building's historical details. A 15-story vertical advertising banner covered the facade of the building in 2005, during the renovation, but it was removed after protests from many New York City residents.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Italian real estate investment firm Sorgente Group bought a majority stake in the Flatiron Building in June 2008; it had previously owned less than 20 percent of the building. The following January, Sorgente announced plans to turn it into a luxury hotel. The value of the Flatiron Building, whose zoning allowed a hotel conversion, was estimated to be $190 million. Jeffrey Gural sold his stake in the building to the Sorgente Group in November 2009 for $51.8 million. Afterward, Sorgente owned a 52 percent stake in the building, while various real estate families owned the remaining stake. By 2010, Macmillan occupied all of the building's space, except for the ground floor.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The hotel conversion plans were hampered by the fact that Macmillan's existing lease did not expire until 2018. In a 2010 interview, Veronica Mainetti, who led the Sorgente Group's United States division, did not indicate whether Sorgente still planned to convert the building into a hotel. Mainetti subsequently said in 2015 that, when Macmillan's lease expired, "There possibly is going to be an upgrade and the building could make also a good potential hotel conversion, which we’re not completely taking off the table." Due to high demand for office space, the building's value increased 30 percent from 2009 to 2013, when it was worth between $250 million and $300 million. In July 2017, Macmillan announced it was consolidating its New York offices to the Equitable Building at 120 Broadway. Knotel, an operator of coworking spaces, subsequently announced in January 2019 that it wanted to lease all of the building's office space.


title: Flatiron Building

text: By June 2019, Macmillan had left the building, and all 21 office floors were vacant. GFP Real Estate announced that it would upgrade the building's interior, since the structure would be completely vacant. GFP planned to install a central air and heating system, strip away all interior partitions – leaving triangular open floors – put in a new sprinkler system and a second staircase, and upgrade the elevators. The lobby would also be renovated. The cost would be $60–80 million, and the project was estimated to take a year. The owners were interested in renting the entire building to a single tenant, hiring a high-profile real estate agency to find a suitable tenant. The executive director of the ownership company said: "The building was born as a commercial property, and we want to keep it as such."


title: Flatiron Building

text: , the building was empty, and the full renovation was expected to last until at least 2022. By 2021, four of the building's five co-owners wished to sell off their combined ownership stakes due to disputes over the renovation. A New York state judge ruled in June 2022 that the four co-owners could buy out the stake of the fifth owner, Nathan Royce Silverstein.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham as a vertical Renaissance palazzo with Beaux-Arts styling. Unlike New York's early skyscrapers, which took the form of towers arising from a lower, blockier mass, such as the contemporary Singer Building (completed in 1908), the Flatiron Building epitomizes the Chicago school conception. Filling its entire land lot, the building was constructed as a slab without any setbacks. Originally, the structure was tall, with 20 stories and an attic. After an expansion in 1905, the building stood tall, with 22 stories; if the attic is excluded, the expanded building only contains 21 stories. Some sources mistakenly describe the building as one of the world's first skyscrapers or steel-framed buildings.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Early sketches by Daniel Burnham show an unexecuted clock face and a far more elaborate crown than was ultimately built. Though Burnham maintained overall control of the design process, he was not directly connected with the details of the structure as built. That task was performed by his designer Frederick P. Dinkelberg, a Pennsylvania-born architect in Burnham's office. The men had worked together since the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It is unknown where the working drawings for the Flatiron Building are stored, though renderings were published at the time of construction in "The American Architect" and "Architectural Record".


title: Flatiron Building

text: Similar to the parts of a classical Greek column, the Flatiron Building's facade is divided into a base, shaft, and capital. The Fifth Avenue and Broadway elevations of the facade are both eighteen bays wide, while the 22nd Street elevation is eight bays wide; the bays are arranged in pairs. The southwest and southeast corners are curved, with one rounded window on each story above the base. In addition, each story of the curved prow on 23rd Street contains three sash windows; the central window is wider than the other two. Many of the Flatiron Building's tenants referred to the prow as "the Point".


title: Flatiron Building

text: The facade of the three-story base is made of limestone. Each of the openings at the base is two bays wide. There are entrances on either end of the 22nd Street elevation, as well as at the centers of the Fifth Avenue and Broadway elevations. Above the base, the facade is made of glazed terracotta from the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company in Tottenville, Staten Island. The building also contains decorative details such as cornices, moldings, and oriel windows. These materials were intended to give the impression of "general unity in treatment", while also giving the facade a textured appearance.


title: Flatiron Building

text: At ground level, the entrances on Fifth Avenue and Broadway are each flanked by four storefront windows to the north and south. The storefront windows are separated from each other by vertical piers with horizontal bands of smooth-faced and vermiculated limestone. There are revolving doors at the southwestern and southeastern corners of the building. The entrances on Fifth Avenue and Broadway are flanked by a pair of engaged columns, which are vertically fluted and are overlaid by smooth and vermiculated bands of limestone. The columns support an entablature decorated with alternating roundels and triglyphs; immediately above the entablature, on the second story, are oculus windows with console brackets on either side. The entablatures above both entrances are connected by a projecting cornice that wraps around the ground floor. On the second and third stories, each opening generally contains two sash windows. A frieze with dentils runs above the third story.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The prow of the building, facing 23rd Street, includes a pair of two-story-high Classical columns. These were echoed at the top of the building by two columns that supported the cornice. The single-story "cowcatcher" retail space in front of the prow, added to the plans in 1902, was not part of Burnham or Dinkelberg's design. The "cowcatcher" structure measured long and tall, with a metal roof. Burnham initially did not want to add the "cowcatcher" space, since he believed it would ruin the symmetry of the prow's design, but he was forced to accept the addition on Black's insistence.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The 4th story is designed as a transitional story, with eight sash windows on 22nd Street, as well as 18 sash windows each on Broadway and Fifth Avenue. The windows are flanked by alternating wide and narrow piers, each of which contains terracotta panels with decorations such as foliate motifs, masks, lozenges, and wreaths. Above the 4th story is a frieze with roundels, as well as a cornice.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The 12-story midsection spans the 5th through 16th stories. The 5th and 6th stories each contain sash windows similar to those on the 4th story, but the terracotta piers between each bay are decorated in a simpler design. A frieze with a meander pattern wraps around the building above the 6th story. The Broadway and Fifth Avenue facades both contain three projecting trapezoidal oriels on the 7th through 14th stories; each oriel contains three windows per story. At the time of the Flatiron Building's construction, relatively few skyscrapers in New York City used oriels, but they were commonly used in Chicago to break up winds. The 15th story contains sash windows separated by rusticated brick piers. The 16th story contains arched windows; the voussoirs above these windows support a cornice that runs above that story. The 17th story is also designed as a transitional story, with alternating wide and narrow piers decorated with roundels and lions' heads. Another projecting cornice runs above the 17th story.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The capital consists of the top four stories. The 18th and 19th stories contain an arcade of double-height, double-width arches. Each archway contains a metal frame with multiple glass panes. There are metal spandrel panels between the windows on the 18th and 19th stories. The arches themselves are separated vertically by ornate terracotta piers, topped by capitals with masks and wreaths. The 20th story contains small square windows, above which is a deep cornice with dentils and brackets; the cornice projects about beyond the building's perimeter. There are decorative triglyphs between the 20th-story windows.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The 20th story was originally topped by an attic for mechanical equipment; the 21st-story penthouse was added in a subsequent renovation. The attic still exists and is placed between the 20th and 21st stories. Initially, the penthouse was not surrounded by a railing; a balustrade was subsequently added above the 20th story. At the building's apex were originally two terracotta sculptures of cherubs. The cherubs symbolized the building's "guardian spirits" and held scrolls that surrounded a tablet with George A. Fuller's name. The statues were removed to an unknown location in the late 1980s, and a set of replacement cherubs were installed in 2001 after preservationists filed a complaint with the LPC.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Purdy and Henderson were the structural engineers, and Hamilton J. Chapman was the chief consulting engineer for the project. The construction of the Flatiron was made feasible by a change to New York City's building codes in 1892, which eliminated the requirement that masonry be used for fireproofing considerations. This opened the way for steel-skeleton construction. The steel-frame technique was familiar to the Fuller Company, a contracting firm with considerable expertise in building such tall structures. The Flatiron Building's construction was relatively easy because it used a steel frame; its 22-story height would have been difficult using other construction methods of that time. The steel bracing, designed by engineer Corydon Purdy of Purdy and Henderson, allowed the Flatiron Building to withstand four times the amount of wind force it could ever be expected to endure. In theory, the frame would remain standing even if the rest of the building were to tip over.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The building's frame contains of steel. According to architectural writers Sarah Bradford Landau and Carl W. Condit, as well as the "New-York Tribune", each of the stories above ground level measures on Broadway, on Fifth Avenue, and on 22nd Street. "Engineering Record" magazine gives a slightly different measurement of on Fifth Avenue and on 22nd Street. At the vertex, the triangular tower is only or 6.5 feet (2 m) wide. The Broadway and Fifth Avenue elevations meet at an angle of about 25 degrees.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The foundation of the building extends deep and was excavated to the underlying layer of bedrock. It is surrounded by trapezoidal, waterproof retaining walls, which measure between thick. The underlying bedrock ranges from below ground, very close to the bottom of the building's foundation. The foundation itself consists of concrete footings with granite caps, above which rise the building's steel columns. The cast-iron bases measure square and are placed on slightly wider granite capstones, which measure thick. The concrete footings, placed directly on the bedrock, also have a square cross-section, measuring on each side.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The basement extends beyond the building's lot line, occupying vaults underneath the sidewalk and roadways. The vaults have a total area of . Measured from the centers of the columns at the site's perimeter, the vaults extend about to the west, to the east, and to the north. These spaces are surrounded by the retaining walls. The ceiling of the vaults is supported by 18 steel columns outside the building's lot line. The steel columns are recessed behind the retaining wall and are connected to the retaining wall by horizontal girders, which support the sidewalks above.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The superstructure is primarily supported by 36 built-up steel columns. Each column is an I-beam measuring across and thick; they have a maximum working stress of . Twenty-five of these columns are placed on the building's perimeter: five on 22nd Street and ten each on Fifth Avenue and Broadway. The perimeter columns are spaced apart on Fifth Avenue, apart on Broadway, and apart on 22nd Street. Five of the interior columns are recessed from the Fifth Avenue facade, and there are several interior columns at the south end of the building. At each story, the columns are connected horizontally by a grid of steel girders and floor beams, which mostly run parallel to the Manhattan street grid. The spaces between the horizontal girders are spanned by flat arches made of terracotta. All of the floor beams could carry a live load of . Each column is connected to the horizontal beams by triangular gusset plates, placed both above and below the beams.


title: Flatiron Building

text: From the 1st to the 12th stories, the outer walls are carried on plate girders; the remaining stories contain wall girders, with channels engraved into their surfaces. There is also a masonry pier adjacent to each of the columns on the building's perimeter. The framework at the first story is similar to that at the basement, except at the corners and above each entrance. At ground level, the building's northern prow is cantilevered from a pair of elliptical girders, while the southwest and southeast corners contain diagonal floor beams. On the upper stories, the corners contain curved wall girders and diagonal floor beams of varying dimensions. In addition, the oriel windows and some of the facade's decorative details are cantilevered from the outer walls. On the 18th through 20th stories, the columns are recessed from the outer wall.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Purdy and Henderson designed two systems of wind bracing for the building. One system consists of diagonal steel bars shaped like a rotated "K", which extend downward from the centers of the horizontal girders. The other system of bracing is similar, but the diagonal steel bars extend both upward and downward from the horizontal girders. A supplemental system of transverse bracing is also used between the foundation and the second floor. The flat roof was built similarly to the floor slabs and could carry a live load of .


title: Flatiron Building

text: The building was considered to be "quirky" overall, with drafty wood-framed and cooper-clad windows, no central air conditioning, a heating system which utilized cast-iron radiators, an antiquated sprinkler system, and a single staircase should evacuation of the building be necessary. The offices were furnished with mahogany and oak, which the Fuller Company advertised as "fireproof". The triangular shape of the structure led to a "rabbit warren" of oddly-shaped rooms. The offices on each floor were connected by a central passageway, and each floor contained about 20 office cubicles, all of which were connected by various doors. According to "The New York Times", offices in the prow had "impressive" views "because of the converging traffic street markings, which accent the telescoping boulevards, and because of the changing seasons in Madison Square Park".


title: Flatiron Building

text: The building contained its own power plant, which generated high-pressure steam and electricity. In the 1940s, it was one of a few remaining structures in New York City with its own power plant. Bathrooms for males and females are placed on alternating floors, with the men's rooms on even floors and the women's rooms on odd ones. Originally, there were no restrooms for women.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Until the end of the 20th century, the building also retained its original hydraulic elevators, which were powered by water. Otis Elevator manufactured six hydraulic elevators for the building, although Hecla Iron Works constructed the original elevator cabs. The elevators had a reputation for being slow and, when the elevators' hydraulic pipes burst, water would often leak into the elevator cabs. To reach the top floor – the 21st, which was added in 1905, three years after the building was completed – a second elevator has to be taken from the 20th floor. On the 21st floor, the bottoms of the windows are chest-high.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building became an icon of New York City upon completion, and public response to it was enthusiastic. The structure attracted not only "sidewalk superintendents" – members of the general public who expressed great interest in the project – but also architects and engineers. Crowds of several hundred people looked at the building "for five and ten minutes at a time", often from multiple vantage points, while the "Tribune" said that crowds would sometimes look at the building "with their heads bent back until a general breakage of necks seems imminent". By the mid-20th century, the building no longer attracted crowds, and most tourists "want[ed] to go up in the Flatiron only to take pictures of other taller buildings". However, it remained well known, even after taller buildings such as the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building were constructed. According to graphic designer Miriam Berman, the building's enduring popularity was attributed to the fact that it was "the only famous Manhattan skyscraper that enables tourists to take a picture of the entire building from the ground up".


title: Flatiron Building

text: According to "The New York Times", the Flatiron Building was "considered 'the most photographed structure' in New York" in its early years. In part because of its unusual shape and prominent location next to Madison Square Park, it was depicted in books and postcards worldwide. As an icon of New York City, the Flatiron Building was also depicted on other pieces of merchandise, such as plates, mugs, and tchotchkes. The building's exterior remains a popular spot for tourist photographs, making it "possibly one of the most photographed buildings in the world." The Flatiron's status as an icon also led to a trademark dispute in 1999, when Newmark & Company and venture capital firm Flatiron Partners (which was headquartered in a different building) both tried to register an image of the building as a trademark. Flatiron Partners, which had wanted to use the building's image as its logo, ultimately licensed the image from Newmark & Company.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Flatiron Building as a city landmark in 1966. The structure, along with the Manhattan Municipal Building, were the first two skyscrapers in New York City to be protected as city landmarks. The Flatiron Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1979. The structure was re-added to the NRHP in 1989 when it was designated a National Historic Landmark. The LPC further designated the Flatiron Building as part of the Ladies' Mile Historic District, a city landmark district created in 1989.


title: Flatiron Building

text: When the building was completed, critical response was not completely positive, and what praise it garnered was often for the cleverness of its engineering. Montgomery Schuyler, editor of "Architectural Record", said that its "awkwardness [is] entirely undisguised, and without even an attempt to disguise them, if they have not even been aggravated by the treatment. ... The treatment of the tip is an additional and it seems wanton aggravation of the inherent awkwardness of the situation." He praised the building's surface, and the detailing of its terra-cotta work, but questioned the practicality of its large number of windows: "[The tenant] can, perhaps, find wall space within for one roll top desk without overlapping the windows, with light close in front of him and close behind him and close on one side of him. But suppose he needed a bookcase? Undoubtedly he has a highly eligible place from which to view processions. But for the transaction of business?"


title: Flatiron Building

text: Before the Flatiron Building was completed, "Life" magazine wrote: "Madison Square is not a bad-looking place as it is, and ought to be one of the beauty spots of the city. It is grievous to think that its fair proportions are to be marred by this outlandish structure." Sculptor William Ordway Partridge remarked in 1904 that it was "a disgrace to our city, an outrage to our sense of the artistic, and a menace to life". The "New-York Tribune" called the new building "A stingy piece of pie ... the greatest inanimate troublemaker in New York". The Municipal Art Society said that it was "unfit to be in the Center of the City", and "The New York Times" called it a "monstrosity". Even later, Christopher Gray of the "Times" wrote in 1991: "The facade itself is handsome but not exceptional for its time."


title: Flatiron Building

text: Some critics saw the building differently. Futurist H. G. Wells wrote in his 1906 book "The Future in America: A Search After Realities": "I found myself agape, admiring a sky-scraper the prow of the Flat-iron Building, to be particular, ploughing up through the traffic of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the afternoon light." Architect Robert A. M. Stern wrote in 1983 that the Flatiron was among the city's first buildings to "convincingly express the romantic characteristics of the skyscraper". Karl Zimmerman of "The Washington Post" wrote in 1987 that the Flatiron was "an idiosyncratic wedge blanketed with French Renaissance ornamentation, still remarkable today in its lightness, grace and novelty."


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron was to attract the attention of numerous artists and photographers. It was the subject of one of Edward Steichen's atmospheric photographs, taken on a wet wintry late afternoon in 1904, as well as a memorable image by Alfred Stieglitz taken the year before, to which Steichen was paying homage. Stieglitz reflected on the dynamic symbolism of the building, noting upon seeing it one day during a snowstorm that "... it appeared to be moving toward me like the bow of a monster ocean steamer – a picture of a new America still in the making." He remarked that the Flatiron had a comparable effect on New York as the Parthenon had on Athens. When Stieglitz's photograph was published in "Camera Work", his friend Sadakichi Hartmann, a writer, painter and photographer, accompanied it with an essay on the building: "A curious creation, no doubt, but can it be called beautiful? Beauty is a very abstract idea ... Why should the time not arrive when the majority without hesitation will pronounce the 'Flat-iron' a thing of beauty?"


title: Flatiron Building

text: Besides Stieglitz and Steichen, photographers such as Alvin Langdon Coburn and Jessie Tarbox Beals took photographs of the building. Painters of the Ashcan School, like John Sloan, Everett Shinn, and Ernest Lawson also painted images of the building, as did Paul Cornoyer and Childe Hassam. Lithographer Joseph Pennell, illustrator John Edward Jackson, and French Cubist Albert Gleizes all took the Flatiron as the subject of their work. The edifice was also depicted in Samuel Halpert's 1919 painting "Flatiron Building", later placed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The building's most common criticism focused on its structure, on the grounds that the "combination of triangular shape and height would cause the building to fall down". When construction began, locals placed bets on how far the debris would spread when the wind knocked the building down. This presumed susceptibility to damage had also given it the nickname "Burnham's Folly". The "Brooklyn Daily Eagle" was one of a few contemporary sources to describe the building's shape favorably, saying: "A triangle is the safest possible form of building, as the triangle is the strongest of the geometric form."


title: Flatiron Building

text: Due to the geography of the site, with Broadway on one side, Fifth Avenue on the other, and the open expanse of Madison Square and the park in front of it, the wind currents around the building could be treacherous. Wind from the north would split around the building, downdrafts from above and updrafts from the vaulted area under the street would combine to make the wind unpredictable. The winds raised women's skirts and scattered paper bills from pedestrians' pocketbooks. According to some accounts, this gave rise to the phrase "23 skidoo" (sometimes spelled "23 skiddoo"). Policemen would shout this phrase at men who tried to get glimpses of women's dresses being blown up by the winds swirling around the building due to the strong downdrafts. Films from the Library of Congress confirm that the building's shape did contribute to high winds around the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street. However, the origin of the phrase "23 skidoo" itself is disputed; even before the building was constructed, the number "twenty-three" and the word "skidoo" were independently used as expressions of dismissal.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The winds allegedly also caused damage to neighboring structures, prompting some critics to request that the Flatiron Building be shortened or demolished. The winds prompted a lawsuit from a nearby property owner, and they were also blamed for the 1903 death of a bicycle messenger, who was blown into the street and run over by a car. Newspapers of the time also claimed that "every window in the building" would break in high winds, although the "American Architect and Building News" observed that only a few windows broke during one such instance of high winds. Pedestrians were initially reluctant to walk on the same side of the street as the Flatiron Building because of concerns over the wind gusts, but these concerns had largely dissipated by the mid-20th century.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Unlike other structures, such as the Seagram Building or New York City's brownstone houses, the Flatiron Building's shape was rarely copied by other structures in the city until the early 21st century. This was in part because many buildings occupied rectangular sites on Manhattan's street grid; furthermore, developers tended to avoid buying oddly-shaped plots, as their unconventional dimensions were hard to market to potential tenants. Consequently, in the early 20th century, the Flatiron Building was one of only two major buildings that were developed at the intersection of Broadway and another north–south avenue; the other was the Times Tower. Although some buildings in lower Manhattan, such as One Wall Street Court, also contain a flatiron shape, they generally were not as well known as the Flatiron Building. A shortage of available land lots prompted the development of other triangular structures in the city during the 2010s, such as 10 Sullivan and 100 Franklin.


title: Flatiron Building

text: One of the first films to depict the Flatiron Building was created by Robert Bonine, who used a kinetograph to film the building on October 8, 1902, a week after the building opened. In the 1958 comedy film "Bell, Book and Candle", James Stewart and Kim Novak were filmed on top of the Flatiron Building in a romantic clinch. For Warren Beatty's 1980 film "Reds", the base of the building was used for a scene with Diane Keaton.


title: Flatiron Building

text: Today, the Flatiron Building is frequently used in television commercials and documentaries as an easily recognizable symbol of the city, shown, for instance, in the opening credits of the "Late Show with David Letterman" or in scenes of New York City that are shown during scene transitions in the TV sitcoms "Friends", "Spin City", and "Veronica's Closet". In 1987, the building was used as the scene of a murder for the TV series "Murder, She Wrote", in the episode "No Accounting for Murder". In the 1998 film "Godzilla", the Flatiron Building is accidentally destroyed by the US Army while in pursuit of Godzilla. It is depicted as the headquarters of the "Daily Bugle", for which Peter Parker is a freelance photographer, in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man trilogy", and once again in "The Spectacular Spider-Man" animated series. It is shown as the location of the Channel 6 News headquarters where April O'Neil works in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV series. The Flatiron Building is also the home of the fictional company Damage Control in the Marvel Universe comics and for the CIA-sponsored superhero management team "The Boys" in the Dynamite Comics title of the same name (as well as in Season 3 of the TV series "The Boys").


title: Flatiron Building

text: In 2013, the Whitney Museum of American Art installed a life-sized 3D-cutout replica of Edward Hopper's 1942 painting "Nighthawks" in the Flatiron Art Space in the building's prow. Although Hopper said his picture was inspired by a diner in Greenwich Village, the prow is reminiscent of the painting, and was selected to display the two-dimensional cutouts.


title: Flatiron Building

text: In 2014, the Lego Architecture series produced a model of the Flatiron Building to add to their landmark series. The subsequent New York City set, introduced in 2015, also included the building.


title: Flatiron Building

text: The Flatiron Building was also the subject of a book, "The Flatiron: The New York Landmark and the Incomparable City that Arose With It", published in 2010 and written by Alice Sparberg Alexiou.


title: Metro Exodus

text: Metro Exodus is a first-person shooter video game developed by 4A Games and published by Deep Silver. It is the third installment in the "Metro" video game trilogy based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's novels, following the events of "Metro 2033" and "". It released in 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Stadia and in 2020 for Amazon Luna. A Linux and macOS conversion was released in 2021. An enhanced version of the game released for Microsoft Windows on 6 May 2021, and was later released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on 18 June 2021. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics and sold 6 million units by February 2022.


title: Metro Exodus

text: "Metro Exodus" is a first-person shooter game with survival horror and stealth elements. Set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of the former Russian Federation and Republic of Kazakhstan, the player must cope with the new hazards and engage in combat against mutated creatures as well as hostile humans. The player wields an arsenal of hand-made weaponry which can be customised through scavenging materials and a crafting system. The game features a mixture of linear levels and sandbox environments. It also includes a dynamic weather system, a day-night cycle, and environments that change along with the seasons as the story progresses. It is set over the course of one whole in-game year.


title: Metro Exodus

text: "Metro Exodus" is set in the year 2035, one year after the events of "", on a post-apocalyptic Earth that has been devastated by a nuclear war. The game continues the story from "Metro: Last Light"s "Redemption" ending. Similar to the previous two entries, the player assumes the role of Artyom, who flees the Moscow Metro and sets off on a continent-spanning journey with his allies to the far east, on a locomotive called the "Aurora". The story takes place over the course of one year, starting with a harsh nuclear winter in the Metro. Another major character, returning from the previous game and the book "Metro 2035", is Anna - who is now Artyom's wife. Miller, Anna's father and leader of the Spartan Order, also returns from previous games and novels.


title: Metro Exodus

text: After , Artyom becomes disillusioned with the constant infighting and corruption within the Metro and leaves the Spartan Order. He soon becomes obsessed with proving that other human survivors exist outside of Moscow and makes numerous dangerous expeditions to the surface, much to Anna's concern and Miller's frustration. However, on one such expedition with Anna, they witness a working train running on the surface. Before they can follow it, they are captured by Hansa soldiers, along with a group of people who claim to be from outside of Moscow. The Hansa soldiers execute the other prisoners, and Artyom is shot and left for dead, taking Anna to their base. Surviving the gunshot, Artyom follows the soldiers to rescue Anna, and in the process inadvertently destroys a signal jammer that was blocking all communications going in and out of Moscow. Radio transmissions from all over the world begin to be picked up, and Artyom and Anna realise humanity has not gone extinct. They escape by stealing one of Hansa's locomotives, the "Aurora", with the aid of a defected Hansa train engineer called Yermak.


title: Metro Exodus

text: As the train leaves, the Spartan Order moves in to retake it and are shocked and confused at Artyom and Anna's presence. Knowing that Hansa will have all of them put to death for knowing the truth, Miller concludes that the Spartans' best chance of survival is to flee Moscow. Once outside the city, he reveals to the others that while many of Russia's cities were bombed, the war did not end and NATO proceeded to occupy what was left of the nation. To prevent NATO from attacking Moscow, the Russian leadership decided to secretly jam all communications to make the outside world believe nobody had survived. They then receive a radio broadcast from Moscow Defense Command calling for survivors to rally at the "Ark", located at Mount Yamantau. Miller decides to head there, believing that the Ark is where the Russian government has rebuilt itself.


title: Metro Exodus

text: After crossing the cult-controlled Volga River, the Spartans reach the Yamantau base. They discover the base's service and construction crew have devolved into cannibals who lure survivors in with the false promise of safety. Artyom and the Spartans manage to fight their way out and escape, but Miller's faith in Russia is shattered when he discovers that the government never took refuge in Yamantau, nor survived the war, and thus the Spartans are left wondering what to do next. Using a map they recovered from Yamantau, they decide to travel to a satellite communication center near the Caspian Sea in the hopes of gaining access to a satellite to find habitable land to settle. At the dried up remains of the Caspian Sea, the Spartans steal water and fuel from the local bandits while obtaining an updated satellite map.


title: Metro Exodus

text: As the Spartans continue on their journey, Anna begins to cough up blood, fearing the cause was accidentally breathing poison gas during the journey. They decide to scout a nearby taiga forest valley to see if it is suitable to settle. While scouting the forest, Artyom is caught between two rival survivor factions, and he discovers that the dam protecting the valley from radiation is on the verge of failing, making the area uninhabitable. Artyom returns to the train to learn Anna's condition has worsened. The Spartans detour to the heavily-irradiated city of Novosibirsk, the closest location where an antidote may be found.


title: Metro Exodus

text: Miller and Artyom decide to head into the city alone to search for the antidote despite the risk. They enter the Novosibirsk Metro and find a young boy named Kirill, one of the last of the Novosibirsk survivors, who explains that his father left on a mission to obtain a map marking the location of a clean, habitable area. Miller and Artyom split up, with Miller going to find the map and Artyom searching for the antidote. He manages to recover the antidote, but is gravely wounded by a mutant and absorbs a heavy dose of radiation. Artyom, Miller, and Kirill return to the train with the map and the antidote, but Miller dies of radiation poisoning on the way back after using a dose of anti-radiation serum meant for himself to save Artyom. The rest of the Spartans donate their own blood to give Artyom a critical blood transfusion. Anna is cured with the antidote and with the map, the Spartans settle on the shores of Lake Baikal, which is completely free from radiation.


title: Metro Exodus

text: Artyom's ultimate fate depends on the choices the player made during the journey; In the bad ending, Artyom dies from the radiation poisoning, and the Spartans and a grieving Anna hold a funeral for him and Miller while Artyom's and Miller's spirits awaken on a dilapidated version of the "Aurora", remaining in the ghostly purgatory for eternity. In the good ending, Artyom survives. Miller is buried and Artyom is selected to take his place as leader of the Spartan Order. Now with a home free from radiation, Artyom decides to return to Moscow and reveal the truth of the world to the survivors of the Metro.


title: Metro Exodus

text: While Artyom goes to find the cure for Anna's illness in Novosibirsk, Miller begins retracing the steps of Kirill's father Colonel Vyacheslav (Slava) Khlebnikov to find the satellite map. One year prior, Khlebnikov works as a soldier protecting the Novosibirsk Metro while raising Kirill. Meanwhile, the Novosibirsk Metro government, OSKOM, makes plans to evacuate the Metro but there isn't enough anti-radiation serum to protect the entire population. As a result, OSKOM begins forcibly confiscating serum from the populace, causing civil unrest. Civil war soon breaks out in the Metro, forcing Khlebnikov to defend OSKOM headquarters from the rebels. However, General Anatoliy Vinogradov (Tolya) deploys poison gas during the battle, killing almost everybody in the station. When Khlebnikov confronts him, Vinogradov (Tolya) reveals that OSKOM leadership has already taken what serum is left and fled, deciding to flood the Metro with poison gas to mercy kill the rest of the population. However, bitter that he was left behind, Vinogradov (Tolya) orders his men to destroy the OSKOM evacuation train before committing suicide. With no other choice, Khlebnikov descends into a mutant-infested bunker to retrieve the map leading to Lake Baikal. He finds the map, but succumbs to radiation poisoning after losing his serum dose. In the present, Miller enters the bunker and finds Khlebnikov's body and the map. He assures Khlebnikov that he did not die in vain, and promises to get Kirill out of Novosibirsk before leaving.


title: Metro Exodus

text: After the Spartan Order settles in Lake Baikal, one of the Spartans, former U.S. Marine guard Samuel "Sam" Taylor, decides to find a way to return to his home in San Diego to see if his father survived the nuclear war. Parting ways with the Spartan Order, Sam travels to the port city of Vladivostok where he meets Captain Eduard "Ed" Baranov. Baranov points Sam to an intact nuclear submarine, the "Mayflower", which can take Sam back to the United States. However, Sam and Ed are separated by a mutant attack and Sam is apprehended by men working for Tom, a fellow American. Tom explains that he was an arms dealer who was stranded in Russia after the nuclear bombs fell, and asks Sam to find Ed since he is the only person who knows how to refuel the "Mayflower". Ed does not trust Tom's intentions with the "Mayflower", especially since it is still armed with nuclear missiles and his crew has gone missing, but Sam convinces him to negotiate a deal with Tom. Sam and Ed travel to a nearby abandoned naval base to recover the fuel rods needed to power the "Mayflower". However, Ed is still mistrustful of Tom, and he asks Sam to use the opportunity to sabotage the "Mayflower", even if it means sacrificing his chance to return home. Suddenly, Tom's lieutenant Klim betrays him and attacks the "Mayflower", forcing Sam, Ed, and Tom to work together. Sam kills Klim and the "Mayflower" begins to sail out of port. Sam then has the choice of sabotaging the "Mayflower" or leaving it intact.


title: Metro Exodus

text: If Sam does not sabotage the "Mayflower", Tom takes him to San Diego as promised with the firepower of the "Mayflower" at his command. If Sam sabotages the "Mayflower", the submarine explodes and sinks, killing both Ed and Tom. Sam remains in Vladivostok, but is happy knowing nobody can use the nuclear weapons the "Mayflower" was carrying and resolves to find another way back home.


title: Metro Exodus

text: "Metro Exodus" is developed by 4A Games. Development of the game began in 2014 at 4A Games' studios in Malta and Kyiv. The game uses the 4A Engine. "Metro Exodus" was announced on 11 June 2017 at Microsoft's press conference during E3 2017. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 15 February 2019, followed by a Stadia version on 19 November 2019, as part of that system's launch. On 14 April 2021, a Linux and macOS conversion was released. The first expansion pack, "The Two Colonels", was released on 20 August 2019, followed by the second expansion, titled "Sam's Story", on 11 February 2020. On 6 May 2021, an Enhanced version of the game was released on Windows 10 and was later released on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S on 18 June 2021.


title: Metro Exodus

text: On 28 January 2019, it was announced that the PC release would be exclusive to the Epic Games Store for one year, with the publisher citing the platform's more favourable revenue split. The game's pre-sales were discontinued on Steam following the announcement, with existing Steam digital purchases still being fulfilled. The decision caused controversy, and resulted in a large number of players calling for a boycott of the game and review bombing the franchise's previous games on Steam. The physical retail editions of the game, previously announced for Steam, were also changed to use Epic Games Store, despite many copies already being preordered by customers.


title: Metro Exodus

text: One of the game's developers was criticised in the gaming press for stating on a forum that if "Metro Exodus" did not sell well on the Epic Games Store, its sequels may become console exclusives. 4A Games released a statement that these views did not represent those of the company.


title: Metro Exodus

text: "Metro Exodus" was released to "generally favourable" reviews, according to the review aggregator Metacritic.


title: Metro Exodus

text: "IGN" praised the slow pacing of the game, saying it stood out from other first-person shooters, "This is not a run-and-gun experience; it’s a stay-low-and-go-slow crawl through some of the most atmospheric and detail-rich settings I’ve ever experienced in a story-driven shooter". While praising the weapon modding system, "GameSpot" criticized the player movement, feeling it was out of place in an open world setting, "Navigating isn't entirely enjoyable whether it be because of the sluggish rowboats in the Volga or empty lands of the Caspian. It sometimes feels as if Metro's methodical movement was thrown into much larger spaces it wasn't meant for". "GamesRadar+" praised the gameplay and appreciated the open overground environments compared to previous titles as a refreshing take on the series, summarizing their review by saying it was "one of the best shooters ... played in years".


title: Metro Exodus

text: In its release month, "Metro: Exodus" claimed the second spot on the UK's sales charts. "Metro: Exodus" also sold 50% more copies than its predecessor, "". In Japan, approximately 17,513 physical units for PS4 were sold during its launch week, making "Metro: Exodus" the 7th best-selling game of any format. The game debuted at the number one position on the weekly Switzerland retail charts.


title: Metro Exodus

text: Up to the end of its release quarter on 31 March 2019, the game generated €58 million for publisher Deep Silver.<ref name="Embracer Group FY19/20 Q4 webcast"></ref> After the release on Steam on 15 February 2020, the game sold more than 200,000 copies within a couple of days. By February 2022, the game had sold 6 million units.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Basque Country (; ; ) is the name given to the home of the Basque people. The Basque country is located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. "Euskal Herria" is the oldest documented Basque name for the area they inhabit, dating from the 16th century.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: It comprises the Autonomous Communities of the Basque Country and Navarre in Spain and the Northern Basque Country in France. The region is home to the Basque people (), their language (), culture and traditions. The area is neither linguistically nor culturally homogeneous, and certain areas have a majority of people who do not consider themselves Basque, such as the south of Navarre. The concept is still highly controversial, and the Supreme Court of Navarre has ruled against scholarly books that include the Navarre community within the Basque Country area.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The name in Basque is "Euskal Herria". The name is difficult to accurately translate into other languages due to the wide range of meanings of the Basque word "herri". It can be translated as "nation; country, land; people, population" and "town, village, settlement". The first part, "Euskal", is the adjectival form of "Euskara" "the Basque language". Thus a more literal translation would be "country/nation/people/settlement of the Basque language", a concept difficult to render into a single word in most other languages.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The two earliest references (in various spelling guises) are in Joan Perez de Lazarraga's manuscript, dated around 1564–1567 as and and ('in the Basque Country') and "Heuscal-Herrian" in Joanes Leizarraga's Bible translation, published in 1571.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The term Basque Country refers to a collection of regions inhabited by the Basque people, known as "Euskal Herria" in Basque language, and it is first attested as including seven traditional territories in Axular's literary work "Gero" (he goes on to suggest that Basque language is spoken "in many other places"), in the early 17th century. Some Basques refer to the seven traditional districts collectively as "Zazpiak Bat", meaning "The Seven [are] One", a motto coined in the late 19th century.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Northern Basque Country, known in Basque as "Iparralde" (literally, "the northern part"), is the part of the Basque Country that lies entirely within France, specifically as part of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques "département" of France. As such it is usually known as French Basque Country ("Pays basque français" in French). In most contemporary sources, it is defined as covering the arrondissement of Bayonne and the cantons of Mauléon-Licharre and Tardets-Sorholus, but sources disagree on the status of the village of Esquiule. Within these conventions, the area of Northern Basque Country (including the of Esquiule) is .


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: This summary presentation suggests difficulty in justifying the inclusion of a few communes in the lower Adour region. Jean Goyhenetche suggests it would be more accurate to depict the region as the reunion of five entities: Labourd, Lower Navarre, Soule but also Bayonne and Gramont.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Southern Basque Country, known in Basque as "Hegoalde" (literally, "the southern part"), is the part of the Basque region that lies completely within Spain. It is frequently known as Spanish Basque Country ("País Vasco español" in Spanish). It is the largest and most populated part of the Basque Country. It includes two main regions: the Basque Autonomous Community (Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital) and the Chartered Community of Navarre (capital city Pamplona).


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Basque Autonomous Community (7,234 km²) consists of three provinces, specifically designated "historical territories":


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Chartered Community of Navarre (10,391 km²) is a single-province autonomous community. Its name refers to the charters, the "Fueros of Navarre". The Spanish Constitution of 1978 states that Navarre may become a part of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country if it is so decided by its people and institutions (the "Disposicion transitoria cuarta" or "Fourth Transitory Provision"). To date, there has been no implementation of this law. Despite demands for a referendum by minority leftist forces and Basque nationalists in Navarre, it has been opposed by mainstream Spanish parties and the Navarrese People's Union, which was the ruling party until 2015. The Union has repeatedly asked for an amendment to the Constitution to remove this clause.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: In addition to those, two enclaves located outside of the respective autonomous community are often cited as being part of both the Basque Autonomous Community and also the Basque Country (greater region).


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Basque Country region is dominated by a warm, humid and wet oceanic climate. The coastal area is part of Green Spain and by extension, the climate is similary for Bayonne and Biarritz as well. Inland areas in Navarre and the southern regions of the autonomous community are transitional, with continental mediterranean climate, with somewhat wider temperature swings between seasons. The list only sources locations in Spain, but Bayonne/Biarritz have a very similar climate to nearby Hondarribia on the Spanish side of the border. The values do not apply to San Sebastián, since its weather station is at a higher elevation than the urban core, where temperatures are higher year-round and similar to those in Bilbao and Hondarribia.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: According to some theories, Basques may be the least assimilated remnant of the Paleolithic inhabitants of Western Europe (specifically those of the Franco-Cantabrian region known as Azilian) to the Indo-European migrations. Basque tribes were mentioned by Greek writer Strabo and Roman writer Pliny, including the Vascones, the Aquitani, and others. There is considerable evidence to show their Basque ethnicity in Roman times in the form of place-names, Caesar's reference to their customs and physical make-up, the so-called Aquitanian inscriptions recording names of people and gods (approx. 1st century, see Aquitanian language), etc.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Geographically, the Basque Country was inhabited in Roman times by several tribes: the Vascones, the Varduli, the Caristi, the Autrigones, the Berones, the Tarbelli, and the Sibulates. Some ancient place-names, such as Deba, Butrón, Nervión, Zegama, suggest the presence of non-Basque peoples at some point in protohistory. The ancient tribes are last cited in the 5th century, after which track of them is lost, with only Vascones still being accounted for, while extending far beyond their former boundaries, e.g. in the current lands of Álava and most conspicuously around the Pyrenees and Novempopulania.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The territory of the Cantabri encompassed probably present-day Biscay, Cantabria, Burgos and at least part of Álava and La Rioja, i.e. to the west of Vascon territory in the Early Middle Ages, but the ethnic nature of this people, often at odds with and finally overcome by the Visigoths, is not certain. The Vascones around Pamplona, after much fighting against Franks and Visigoths, founded the Kingdom of Pamplona (824), inextricably linked to their kinsmen the Banu Qasi.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: All other tribes in the Iberian Peninsula had been, to a great extent, assimilated by Roman culture and language by the end of the Roman period or early period of the Early Middle Ages, while ethnic Basques inhabited well east into the lands of the Pyrenees (Pallars, Val d'Aran) from the 8th to the 11th century.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: In the Early Middle Ages (up to the 9th century) the territory between the Ebro and Garonne rivers was known as Vasconia, a blurred ethnic area and polity struggling to fend off the Frankish feudal authority from the north and the pressure of the Iberian Visigoths and Andalusi Cordovans from the south.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: By the turn of the millennium, a receding Carolingian royal authority and establishing feudalism left Vasconia (to become Gascony) fragmented into a myriad of counties and viscounties, e.g. Fezensac, Bigorre, Astarac, Béarn, Tartas, Marsan, Soule, Labourd, etc., out of former tribal systems and minor realms (County of Vasconia), while south of the Pyrenees, besides the above Kingdom of Pamplona, Gipuzkoa, Álava and Biscay arose in the current lands of the Southern Basque Country from the 9th century onward.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: These westerly territories pledged intermittent allegiance to Navarre in their early stages, but were annexed to the Kingdom of Castile at the end of the 12th century, so depriving the Kingdom of Navarre of direct access to the ocean. In the Late Middle Ages, important families dotting the whole Basque territory came to prominence, often quarreling with each other for power and unleashing the bloody War of the Bands, only stopped by royal intervention and the gradual shift of power from the countryside to the towns by the 16th century. Meanwhile, the viscounties of Labourd and Soule under English suzerainty were finally incorporated to France after the Hundred Years' War, with Bayonne remaining the last Plantagenet stronghold up to 1453.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: In Navarre, the civil wars between the Agramont and the Beaumont confederacies paved the way for the Spanish conquest of the bulk of Navarre from 1512 to 1524. The independent Navarre north of the Pyrenees was largely absorbed by France in 1620, despite the fact that King Henry III of Navarre had decreed Navarre's permanent independence from France (31 December 1596). In the decades after the Spanish annexation, the Basque Country went through increased religious, ideological and national homogenization, encouraged by new national ideas embraced by the rising Spanish and French absolutist monarchies during the Renaissance.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: From 1525, witchcraft allegations originating in a number of Pyrenean valleys on the rearguard of the Lower Navarre front and recent theatre of war (Salazar, Roncal, Burguete, etc.) were followed by the intervention of newly reformed and recent institutions, such as Spain's central tribunal Inquisition, the (Navarrese) Royal Tribunals, and the Diocesan Tribunal, who organized a series of trials for alleged witchcraft and heretical practices. In the heat of the Wars of Religion and the struggle for Navarre, persecution came to a head in the hysteria of the 1609–1611 Basque witch trials on both sides of the Spanish-French border, easing afterwards.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: In the French Basque Country, its provinces underwent an ever-shrinking self-government status until the French Revolution, when the traditional provinces were reshaped to form the current Basses-Pyrénées department along with Béarn. In the Southern Basque Country, the regional Charters were upheld until the Carlist Wars, when the Basques supported heir-apparent Carlos and his descendants to the cry of "God, Fatherland, King" (The Charters were finally abolished in 1876). The ensuing centralized "status quo" bred dissent and frustration in the region, giving rise to Basque nationalism by the end of the 19th century, influenced by European Romantic nationalism.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Since then, attempts were made to find a new framework for self-empowerment. The occasion seemed to have arrived on the proclamation of the 2nd Spanish Republic in 1931, when a draft statute was drawn up for the Southern Basque Country (Statute of Estella), but was discarded in 1932. In 1936 a short-lived statute of autonomy was approved for the Gipuzkoa, Álava and Biscay provinces, but war prevented any progress. After Franco's dictatorship, a new statute was designed that resulted in the creation of the current Basque Autonomous Community and Navarre, with a limited self-governing status, as settled by the Spanish Constitution. However, a significant part of Basque society is still attempting higher degrees of self-empowerment (see Basque nationalism), sometimes by acts of violence (ETA's permanent ceasefire in 2010). The French Basque Country, meanwhile, lacks any political or administrative recognition whatsoever, while a majority of local representatives have lobbied to create a Basque department, to no avail.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Basque Country has a population of approximately 3 million as of early 2006. The population density, at about 140/km² (360/sq. mile) is above average for both Spain and France, but the distribution of the population is fairly unequal, concentrated around the main cities. A third of the population is concentrated in the Greater Bilbao metropolitan area, while most of the interior of the French Basque Country and some areas of Navarre remain sparsely populated: density culminates at about 500/km² for Biscay but falls to 20/km² in the northern inner provinces of Lower Navarre and Soule.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: A significant majority of the population of the Basque country live inside the Basque Autonomous Community (about 2,100,000, or 70% of the population) while about 600,000 live in Navarre (20% of the population) and about 300,000 (roughly 10%) in Northern Basque Country.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: José Aranda Aznar writes that 30% of the population in the Basque Country Autonomous Community were born in other regions of Spain and that 40% of the people living in that territory do not have a single Basque parent.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Most of these peoples of Galician and Castilian stock arrived in the Basque Autonomous Community in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, as the region became more and more industrialized and prosperous and additional workers were needed to support the economic growth. Descendants of immigrants from other parts of Spain have since been considered Basque for the most part, at least formally.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Over the last 25 years, some 380,000 people have left the Basque Autonomous Community, of which some 230,000 have moved to other parts of Spain. While certainly many of them are people returning to their original homes when starting their retirement, there is also a sizable tract of Basque natives in this group who have moved due to a Basque nationalist political environment (including ETA's killings) which they perceive as overtly hostile. These have been quoted to be as high as 10% of the population in the Basque Community.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Various Romani groups existed in the Basque Country and some still exist as ethnic groups. These were grouped together under the generic terms "ijituak" (Gypsies) and "buhameak" (Bohemians) by Basque speakers.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: In the Middle Ages, many Franks settled along the Way of Saint James in Navarre and Gipuzkoa and to a lesser extent in Bizkaia. This process also happened in Northern Castile. They were all collectively called Franks because most of them came from French regions (Normans, Bretons, Burgundians, Aquitanians etc.) but an important minority of them were in fact of German, Dutch, Italian, English and Swiss stock. Some were also from even more distant lands such as Poland or Denmark. Due to this migration, Gascon was spoken in the centre of Donostia-San Sebastián, until the beginning of the 20th century. Navarre also held Jewish and Muslim minorities but these were expelled or forced to assimilate after the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. One of the notable members of such minorities was Benjamin of Tudela.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Much as has been the case for Spain's two other major economic poles (Madrid and Catalonia), the Basque Country received significant immigration from other poorer regions of Spain, due to its higher level of economic development and early industrialization. During the second half of the 20th century, such immigrants were commonly referred to by some Basques as , a derogatory term which is less used today.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Since the 1980s, as a consequence of its considerable economic prosperity, the Basque Country has received an increasing number of immigrants, mostly from Eastern Europe, North Africa, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and China, settling mostly in the major urban areas. Nevertheless, foreign immigrant population is surprisingly lower in the Basque country than in Madrid and Catalonia, despite having similar GDP per capita and significantly lower levels of unemployment.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Currently, the predominant languages in the Spanish and French Basque Countries are Spanish and French, respectively. In the historical process of forging themselves as nation-states, both the Spanish and French governments have tried more or less intensely to discourage the use of Basque and its linguistic identity. The language chosen for public education is the most obvious expression of this phenomenon, something which surely had an effect on the current status of Basque.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Despite being spoken in a relatively small territory, the rugged features of the Basque countryside and the historically high population density resulted in a heavy dialectal fragmentation throughout history, which increased the value of both Spanish and French respectively as lingua francas. In this regard, the current Standard form of Basque was only introduced in the late 1960s, which helped Basque move away from being perceived – even by its own speakers – as a language unfit for educational purposes.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: While the French Republic has historically attempted to absorb ethnic minority groups – including the French Basques – into a linguistically unified state, Spain in turn has accepted intermittently in its history some degree of linguistic, cultural, and political autonomy to the Basques. Altogether there was a gradual language shift towards Spanish language in the Basque-speaking areas of the Spanish Basque Country, a phenomenon initially restricted to the upper urban classes, but progressively reaching the lower classes. Western Biscay, most of Alava and southern Navarre have been Spanish-speaking (or Romance-speaking) for centuries.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: But under the regime of Francisco Franco, the government attempted to suppress Basque nationalism and limit the uses of the Basque language. Even the activities of the Euskaltzaindia (Basque Language Academy) were severely curtailed. In general, during these years, cultural activity in Basque was limited to folkloric issues and the Roman Catholic Church, while a higher, yet still limited degree of tolerance was granted to Basque culture and language in Álava and Navarre, since both areas mostly supported Francoist troops during the war.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: Nowadays, the Basque Autonomous Community enjoys some cultural and political autonomy and Basque is an official language along with Spanish. Basque is favoured by a set of language policies sponsored by the Basque regional government which aim at the generalization of its use. However, the actual implementation of this official status is patchy and problematic, relying ultimately on the will of the different administrative levels to enforce it—Justice, Health, Administration. It is spoken by approximately a quarter of the total Basque Country, its stronghold being the contiguous area formed by Gipuzkoa, northern Navarre and the Pyrenean French valleys. It is not spoken natively in most of Álava, western Biscay and the southern half of Navarre. Of a total estimation of some 650,000 Basque speakers, approximately 550,000 live in the Spanish Basque country, the rest in the French.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The Basque education system in Spain has three types of schools differentiated by their linguistic teaching models: A, B and D. Model D, with education entirely in Basque, and Spanish as a compulsory subject, is the most widely chosen model by parents. In Navarre, there is an additional G model, with education entirely in Spanish.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The ruling anti-Basque conservative government of "Unión del Pueblo Navarro" opposes Basque nationalist attempts to provide education in Basque through all Navarre (which would include areas where it is not traditionally spoken). Basque language teaching in the public education network is therefore limited to the Basque speaking north and central regions. In the central region, Basque teaching in the public education network is fairly limited, and part of the existing demand is served via private schools or ikastolak. In southern and some central areas this policy has resulted in schoolchildren having to travel sometimes for hours every day in order to attend education provided in the historic language of Navarre, largely relying on public subscription (yearly festival Nafarroa Oinez, solidarity from the ikastola network, donations, etc.) or receiving as a result no allowances for school meals. Even in northern Basque or mixed language areas, allegations raised by Basque speaker associations point regularly to a conspicuous disregard for recognised language rights, e.g. virtual non-existence of Basque language medical assistance across areas where the vast majority is Basque speaking, insufficient Basque speaking librarians, no broadcasting permission in the last 20 years (as of 2013) for the only Basque language radio in Pamplona, Spanish monolingual signalization and even removal of bilingual one, etc. Spanish is or can be spoken in Navarre by the entire population, with few exceptions in remote rural areas.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The European Commission for Regional or Minority Languages to which Spain is signatory has issued a number of recommendations in order to guarantee a real official status for Basque language (2004), e.g. the suppression of the administrative linguistic divides of Navarre for considering it an obstacle to the normal use of Basque and discriminating against Basque speakers, the filing of the case against newspaper Euskaldunon Egunkaria and restitution to its normal operation, as well as guarantees to prisoners of receiving and sending correspondence in Basque, to mention but a few.


title: Basque Country (greater region)

text: The situation of the Basque language in the French Basque Country is vulnerable (as rated by Unesco). The pressure of French as a well-established mainstream language and different administrative obstacles to the consolidation of Basque-language schooling make the language's future prospects uncertain. On 14 June 2013, pointing to the 1850 Falloux act and declaring thereafter that French is the official language of France, the regional subprefect declared illegal the Hendaye council's subsidies to finance a new building for a Basque-language school. On 6 November 2013, the Basque language school network in the French Basque Country, Seaska, bitterly criticized the French state before UNESCO for not complying with its international commitments and actually failing to accept minorities by violating their linguistic rights. In November 2013, France decided not to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.