title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: This hilly region is traversed many mountain streams, called gaves: among these include the Gave de Pau, the the Gave d'Ossau or the Gaves réunis, on the border of Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Ossau Valley, one of the three valleys of Béarn, extends from the suburbs of Pau to Col du Pourtalet to the Spanish border. Glacial lakes, its fauna and flora exceptional explain its integration into the Pyrénées National Park.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Belonging to the Massif Central, Limousin also has a marked relief, with its high plateaux and some hedgerow eroded peaks that dominate green valleys and forests of oak and chestnut trees. Limousin plateau, cut by the valleys of the Vienne (who waters his capital, Limoges) Isle, Vézère or the picturesque Corrèze, with its cashed reliefs, hardly exceeds 500 meters. It marks the watershed line between the Loire basin to the north (the sources of the Briance, the , the or the Gorre), the basin south of the Dordogne (sources of Dronne, of Isle and of Auvézère) and maritime watershed of the Charente, in the west.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The mountains of Limousin, which include a series of small mountains (Mont Fayat, Monedières Hills, Mont de Châlus) peak at Mont Bessou (976 m), in Corrèze. Further north, the mountains of Marche, which are divided into mountains of monts de Guéret, mont d'Ambazac and monts de Blond, are more like high wooded hills dotted with pastures, as real peaks. They culminate in Signal de Sauvagnac (701 m), in Haute-Vienne. Southwest of Limousin and Périgord northwest since 1998 are integrated to the Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The northern part of the region, which corresponds to the Haut-Poitou history, is organised around a tray agricultural and viticultural (vineyard of Haut-Poitou) irrigated by the Vienne, Clain or the Gartempe, which form so little valleys, often lined with oak forests. Further south, the Niortais this open landscapes (openfields) in grain dominant, but also rich wetland areas such as the Marais Poitevin, a legacy of an old marine gulf filled with alluvium, which is divided into wet marshes (we speaks more readily of "Green Venice") and marshes dried up, converted into mixed farming. Niort, on the Sèvre Niortaise, main town of the Haut-Poitou outside Poitiers, is like a door of this "Green Venice" much of which belongs to the parc naturel régional du Marais poitevin, established in 1979, classified "Grand site de France".


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Further south lie the Charentes, which correspond to the former provinces of Aunis, Angoumois and Saintonge. Aunis is not unlike the landscape of Niortais, with large marshes that extend from either side of La Rochelle and Rochefort (Baie d'Yves, marais de Rochefort, Broue and Brouage) but also the islands of Ré and Aix, with varied landscapes where pine forests mingle, sandy beaches or the curious lagoon of Fier d'Ars, the sands in constant motion, which houses a bird sanctuary. The interior of the territory is marked by the presence of a rich plain cereal evoking the Beauce by its open relief on the horizon. At the center of this space, the city of Surgères remained a pastureland where dairy farming has retained its importance: the small city is thus a production centers butter, Beurre de Charentes-Poitou.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The Angoumois forms a transitional space between the coastal plains of Aunis, large "champagne" of Saintonge and Limousin plateau. Dotted with small hills, he seems to live to the rhythm of the Charente, real artery watering its major cities, Angoulême, Cognac and Jarnac. Great wine region, internationally renowned alcohol is produced there, cognac, and a water spirits called Pineau des Charentes. The western quarter of Charentes consists of Saintonge, organised territory around the towns of Saintes, the first capital of Aquitaine in Roman times, and Royan.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: In continuation of the Angoumois, the Dordogne approximately corresponds to the former province of Périgord. Taking its name from the river of the same name, which flows Bergerac but not its prefecture, Périgueux (the edge of the Isle), the area with varied landscapes has a large afforestation rate (45%) making it the third most wooded department France. The great forests of oak and chestnut trees of green Périgord, organised around Nontron, meet the great grain fields of the White Périgord, nicknamed "the breadbasket of the Périgord", the oak, walnut and black Périgord truffle, around Sarlat-la-Caneda and vineyards of Bergerac or purple Périgord, which produces Bergerac, monbazillac or pécharmant.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The Gironde estuary, which acts as a link between Saintonge, , Médoc and western Guyenne, is in itself a world apart. Wild largest estuary in Europe, being classified in the marine park with the "Pertuis charentais", it is lined with large marshes ("Petite Camargue" and hillsides which produces most of the great Bordeaux wines from the Côtes-de-Bordeaux and Côtes-de-Bourg on the right bank to the great wines of the left bank Médoc (Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien. The vineyards of Bordeaux, with international reputation, has done for centuries the reputation of the region. His productions are exported worldwide.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Farther south lies the vast plain Landes (south of Gironde and Landes), which begins near Bordeaux and go to the Pyrénées. Largely occupied by the Landes forest, it is also a major agricultural area (maize farming) and hosts a spa of international reputation, Dax, also the capital of Chalosse, important breeding ground.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The coastline subject to severe erosion, remained very wild. Some resorts have been built in the dunes from Soulac-sur-Mer in the north of the Gironde, via Lacanau, Hourtin, Biscarrosse, Mimizan and Capbreton, without forgetting those bordering the Bay of Arcachon: Arcachon, Andernos-les-Bains, Lège-Cap-Ferret, . This vast lagoon, wide open ocean, houses since 2014 the marine natural park of Arcachon basin.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Eastern Guyenne corresponds in part to the department of Lot-et-Garonne. Rich agricultural and farming area watered by both the Lot and the Garonne, it is famous for its "pruneaux", who took the name of its capital, Agen (nearly 8000 hectares of land are dedicated to Ente plum orchards) while Marmande is famous for its tomatoes. The mild climate explains that also cultivated tobacco, as well as strawberries ("gariguettes") and vines, used to produce the Côtes du marmandais the buzet or Côte de Brulhois, that relate to the broad vineyard of the Southwest. But the real glory of this land is Armagnac, a famous brandy, exported around the world. Its vineyards cover some of the departments of Lot-et-Garonne, Landes but also the Gers (in the neighbouring region of Occitania). It also produces the floc de Gascogne, with delicate floral accents.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The extreme south of the region consists of two territories in strong identity, the Basque Country (Northern Basque Country or "Iparralde") and Béarn. The first, which is organised around Bayonne, Biarritz, Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Labourd) Mauléon-Licharre (Soule) and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (Lower Navarre) has its warm and humid climate its green side, the Atlantic rains from butter against the Pyrenean barrier. The coast, with both high-end and family resorts, is a popular holiday resort. The interior is more rural and retains a strong agricultural tradition, and is a solid wine region, symbolised by the vineyard Irouléguy but also by traditional liquors such as izarra and patxaran, eau-de-vie characteristic of Navarre .


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Anchored in the heart of the Pyrenees, the Béarn opposes its Gascon traditions. It has a succession of gently accented hills and valleys (that of Pau river, where the capital is located, Pau, and others named Orthez and Navarrenx, being the most populated), it comprises the Aspe, the and Ossau valleys along with the Col du Soulor. Agriculture will always be prominent, as viticulture (jurançon, Madiran) even if the aeronautical and petrochemical sectors are also represented. The main ski resorts in the area, such as , Gourette, , and are concentrated in the Béarn area.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: In 2008, the region Aquitaine made a survey on the languages in the region, and gave the following results.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The region Nouvelle-Aquitaine essentially has a more or less altered oceanic climate. We distinguish the Aquitaine oceanic climate, which concerns most of the territory (Charentes to Landes), the Paris oceanic climate (Poitou), Limousin oceanic climate, tinged with semi-continental influences (Limousin) and basque microclimate, wetter (western half of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and southern Landes). The Pyrenees has a specific climate that varies with altitude: the Pyrenean climate, which is a variation of mountain climate.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: In the north of the region, the Paris oceanic climate is marked by moderate rainfall, warm summers and cool winters, but moderately so. The Seuil du Poitou acts as a relative climatic barrier and regions further south belong to the Aquitaine oceanic climate area. Coastal areas are wetter overall, with moderate rainfall spread throughout the year, except for the summer months, where droughts are not uncommon. Summer, which is relatively warm, is tempered by sea breezes, and winters are cool-mild. Frosts and snow are unusual. Sunshine is quite high, with around 2,000 to 2,200 hours per year, which is comparable to some Mediterranean regions (Perpignan). Summer precipitation often take the form of thunderstorms, possibly violent, while winter is sometimes marked by storms, some of which have marked the area with their exceptional: Martin in 1999 (record of 198 km / h in Saint-Denis-d'Oléron), Klaus in 2009 (172 km / h to Biscarrosse) and Xynthia in 2010 (160 km / h on the Île de Ré).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The climate in Angoumois and Limousin is wetter and cooler, remains temperate with warm spring and has relatively warm summers, with variations due to altitude. The annual sunshine averages at 1850 hours. The climate of the Basque country and southern Landes is marked by its warm summers, mild winters but especially by its high rainfall, with Atlantic depressions that hit the Pyrenean foothills. This Microclimate explains the presence of lush vegetation and the green aspect of the region. Fogs are not rare, but usually dissipate very quickly.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: As for the Pyrenean climate, suboceanic trend Béarn, it is subject to frequent "cap effect" when the north-west of disturbances abut against the Pyrenean mountains. Valley bottoms, true "funnels clouds" are particularly watered. The winter snow is important above 1200 meters. Pau valley has a microclimate, however, marked by strong sunlight (about 1900 hours a year) but high rainfall (1100 mm per year) and a near absence of frost in winter. Rainfall is usually brief there, but regular, and spread throughout the year.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a region of transit between the Paris Basin (including Île-de-France) and the Iberian Peninsula, but also between the Rhône Valley and the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions (noon Toulouse). This situation implies several years developing roads and major highways, especially in the context of the road Estuaries, but also the high-speed Paris-Bordeaux-Toulouse-Spain, which should help significantly shorten rail journeys.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Many roads and highways in the region radiate from Bordeaux and just attach to its peripheral belt (Bordeaux ring road or A630). The main lines used for reinforcing roads and highways are in addition some terminal bonds designed to streamline access to two major resorts in the area, Arcachon (via Highway A660) and Royan (by via the N150, partly making 2X2 routes).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The A10 autoroute (the "Aquitaine") is the major artery between Bordeaux and Paris, commissioned in 1981. It is part of to the network of "autoroutes du Sud de la France" and provides access to several cities: Saintes, Niort or Poitiers. From Saintes, highway A837 allows drivers to reach the town of Rochefort. Further north, in Niort, an interchange provides access to the A83 motorway, the Vendée and Nantes (Pays de la Loire). The N10 is the main road of the Charente and an important road for connecting between Bordeaux and Poitiers including Angoulême.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Connecting the east of Bordeaux (Libourne) to Greater Lyon, the A89 motorway (called "La transversale") irrigates the eastern part of the region, facilitating travel between the cities of Bordeaux and Périgueux, Brive-la-Gaillarde, Tulle and Ussel. A little further south, the D936, which roughly follows the course of the Dordogne, is grafted on the Bordeaux ring road via an interchange at the municipalities of Cenon and Floirac. It gives access to the towns of Branne, Castillon-la-Bataille and Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (Gironde) and Bergerac (Dordogne).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Southwest of Bordeaux, the A63 is a major focus of the regional motorway network. Forming a large artery almost straight through the vast expanses of flat Landes de Gascogne, it crosses the south of Gironde and Landes (passes near Dax but avoids the prefecture, Mont-de-Marsan) before joining Bayonne and the Basque Country, to Irun, on the Spanish border, the main border crossing. The other border crossings, less frequented but less direct, are the Somport tunnel and Col du Pourtalet.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The Basque Country and Béarn are also served by a road parallel to the Pyrenees, which facilitates access to Toulouse and the Mediterranean regions: the A64, called "La Pyrénéenne". It starts from Briscous (in the outskirts of Bayonne), continues to Pau before reaching Tarbes in the neighbouring region of Occitania) and the Toulouse ring road.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The eastern region is well served by the A20 north–south axis between Paris and Toulouse and opens up Limousin. It thus goes through La Souterraine, Limoges and Brive-la-Gaillarde. Another important way, the European route E603 connects Limoges to Angoulême and Saintes. It represents one of the key elements of the road Central Europe Atlantic important channel of communication between the Rhône Valley and the Atlantic coast, which is divided into multiple plots at Angoulême and Saintes (Bordeaux, Royan and La Rochelle).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The regional rail network is organised around the main towns: Bordeaux, Limoges, Poitiers, La Rochelle and Bayonne. The main line is the one between Paris and Madrid via Poitiers, Bordeaux and Hendaye; then comes the line Lille-Brive-la-Gaillarde, which serves Limoges, both served by TGV trains. Other lines are served mostly by the TER network of TER Nouvelle-Aquitaine.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The largest station in the region is Bordeaux-Saint-Jean, which accommodates 10 million passengers per year; then comes Limoges-Bénédictins station and its 2.5 million passengers. Poitiers has two stations: Poitiers station and Futuroscope station which serves the technology park Futuroscope. Angoulême station sees around 1.45 million passengers per year; Agen station links the Occitania region; Pau station, Dax station.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The implementation of the LGV Sud Europe Atlantique, which is part of a priority program initiated by the state.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Another important project for the region, the LGV Bordeaux–Spain extends of the South Europe Atlantic TGV line to connect with the Basque Y (high-speed line linking the Spanish cities of Bilbao, Vitoria, San Sebastian and Irun). It is part of the great South West Rail project and should facilitate regional connections between Bordeaux, Mont-de-Marsan, Dax, Bayonne, long-distance connections between the south of the region and Île-de-France, as well as international links to Spain (including Madrid).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The LGV Bar project between Poitiers and Limoges is part of this context, and should significantly shorten travel between the two cities (from just over an hour and a half to 45 minutes), facilitate interregional connections and access to Île-de-France. This project is one of the links of "Transline project" (Transversal Auvergne Atlantic Alpes), still under study.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The region benefits from the presence of several airport infrastructure. The main airport is Bordeaux-Merignac, world class, which hosts nearly four and a half million passengers per year and offers flights to many destinations; It is the seventh metropolitan France Airport (fifth if we except the Paris airports).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The second airport is Biarritz-Anglet-Bayonne, third is Pau Pyrénées Airport, then Limoges-Bellegarde, and Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The airport of La Rochelle - Île de Ré offers flights to several French and European cities. Smaller, airports Poitiers-Biard, Brive Dordogne, Agen-La Garenne and Périgueux-Bassillac offer mainly domestic flights. Airports Angoulême-Cognac and Rochefort-Charente-Maritime are only turned to business flights in the absence of regular commercial lines.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Cruise ships mostly dock in the ports of La Rochelle (terminal La Pallice), Verdon-sur-Mer (shuttles for Royan), Pauillac, Bordeaux and Bayonne.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Many marinas are open to smaller boats. The main ones are those of La Rochelle (4800 rings), Arcachon (2600 rings), Port-Médoc (1200 rings), Royan (1000 rings), of Capbreton (950 rings), Hendaye (800 rings), Saint-Denis-d'Oléron (750 rings) and Anglet-Biarritz (425 rings).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: River transport is active on several rivers in the region: Charente (mainly between Rochefort and Angoulême), Gironde estuary, Garonne, Dordogne, Lot, Baise and Adour.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Landmark river tourism, the Canal de Garonne is an extension of the Canal du Midi (which together form the "Canal des Deux-Mers" between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean). It passes including Agen (Agen aqueduct) and continues until Castets-en-Dorthe (Gironde).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The entire watershed of the Dordogne is classified as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO since 11 July 2012 with the co-ordination structure Institution of regional public Dordogne basin. The basin of the Dordogne is one of the few places in France where the presence of eight migratory fish species proved with Atlantic salmon, sea trout, river lamprey, sea lamprey, Allis shad, shad feigned, eel, and sturgeon in Europe. Other species associated with water, such as the common otter and the European mink, or the penny whistle swimming, are also present.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Two water agencies (Adour-Garonne and Loire-Bretagne) are involved in water management in the region.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 177.0 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 7.5% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 26,500 euros or 88% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 101% of the EU average.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The economy of the region is based on several pillars: diversified agriculture, a set of famous vineyards (Bordeaux wine, brandies of Cognac and Armagnac), but also a decisive role in the industry sectors aerospace, defence, biotechnology, chemistry and more generally for scientific research, relying on a network of universities and Grandes Ecoles.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Nouvelle-Aquitaine can also count on a large image and digital sector ("Campus de l'Image" of Angoulême, future "Cité Numérique" of Bègles), a dense network of small and medium enterprises, the presence in its territory of large agribusiness as well as a port network including three major commercial ports being balanced due to their geographical position (Grand Port maritime de La Rochelle in the north, Grand Port maritime de Bordeaux and port of Bayonne in the south).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: An important rural Region, Nouvelle-Aquitaine has a varied agriculture. Cattle breeding (regional races: Limousin, Bordelais, Parthenais, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Gasconne, Bazadais and Béarnais) is predominant in the Bressuirais and Confolentais grove and in the Aunisienne plain, on the high Limousin plateau, in the Bazadaises and Chalossiennes Hills and is used both in the production of meat to milk production. There are also two other bovine regional breeds do not belong to the list of official French breeds (Marinelandaise and Betizu) endangered. The area has many quality labels ("Veau fermier élevé sous la mère", Limousin beef ...).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Goats (regional breeds: Poitevine, Pyrenees and Massif Central) are mainly concentrated in the north of the region (Charente, Charente-Maritime, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne) and are used for cheese production (chabichou, mothais sur feuille, jonchée). Some departments complement this area (Corrèze and Dordogne with a part of the production of Rocamadour AOC). Sheep farming (regional races: Basque-béarnaise, Landes, limousine, manech black head, red head and Xaxi Ardia) is well represented in the Limousin (Limousin lamb) the Charentes (lamb Poitou-Charentes), the Médoc (Pauillac lamb) and the Basque and Bearn Pyrenees.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Pig farming, which represents a significant part of the agri-food sector is distributed throughout the region (regional races: black ass Limousin, Gascon pork pie black Basque) and is guaranteed by the label "porc du Sud-Ouest ". The pigs in the region are used to produce many meat products, starting with the famous Bayonne ham. Many farms have also specialised in poultry production including yellow chicken Saint-Sever and poultry of Sèvres val (regional races Barbezieux, Limousin, Gascony, Landes and Marans) and fat waterfowl (mule ducks and geese), primarily designed for the production of foie gras and confit. Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the first European region for foie gras (more than half the French production). The label "Canard à foie gras du Sud-Ouest" occupies a large part of the region.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The region is the birthplace of many other breeds (regional donkey breeds: the Pyrenees and Poitou, regional equine: Poitevin mule, Landais and Pottock).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The area is also an important oyster production center, with oysters " de Claires" from Marennes-Oléron (in the estuary of the Seudre) and those of Arcachon and Cap Ferret and a stronghold of the mussel with mussels from Aiguillon Bay (near La Rochelle) and mussel Boyardville and Port-des-Barques.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Viticulture is a key sector of the local economy, the region with the presence of some of the most prestigious French vineyards: vineyards of Bordeaux, Bergerac, Cognac (production of Cognac and Pineau des Charentes) and partially, Armagnac (production of Armagnac and Floc de Gascogne), Southwest vineyards in the valleys of the Garonne and Lot, vineyard slopes of the Pyrenees (jurançon, irouléguy) and vineyards of Haut-Poitou. The vineyards of the Limousin, formerly prolific now confidential, but continues to provide quality wines (vineyards Verneuil-sur-Vienne and Correze vineyard, including giving the wine country and the Correze "vin paillé" of Queyssac-les-Vignes).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The region plays a vital role for cereal crops (wheat), herbage and oil (corn, sunflower), which bloom in the valleys of the Adour, Charente and the Garonne. Large agricultural cooperatives are located in the area: Lur Berri, Maïsadour, or Natea Charentes Alliance.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Tobacco production remains important in Langon area around La Réole, Auros, Monségur and Bazas (Gironde) in Bergerac, in Dordogne and in the Lot-et-Garonne. Mixed farming has led to the establishment of more localised cultures, but nevertheless considered: Périgord walnuts, Limousin apples, strawberries valleys of the Dordogne and Lot, Charentais melons hillsides, beans ("mojhettes") of val d'Arnoult and the Marais Poitevin, the Marmande tomatoes, peppers from Landes and the Basque Country, the Espelette pepper.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The agri-food sector is characterised by the presence of several national brands and international production sites, including Madrange (Limoges), Blédina (Brive-la-Gaillarde), Marie (Airvault and Mirebeau) Senoble (Aytré, near La Rochelle ), Lu (Cestas, near Bordeaux) Cémoi (Bègles, near Bordeaux), Charal (Égletons, in Corrèze), Valade Group (Lubersac, in Corrèze) or Lindt & Sprüngli (Oloron-Sainte-Marie). Labeyrie headquartered in Came in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Delpeyrat in Mont-de-Marsan, in the Landes.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The timber industry consists of two main types of activities that mainly use the wood of the Landes forest and secondarily of the Dordogne, Creuse, Corrèze and Haute-Vienne. The primary processing industries (pulp, sawing, slicing, etc.) are very often the result of large companies to perform operations that require large investments. The secondary processing industries (paper / cardboard, furniture, woodwork and plywood, etc.) do not require as many resources. They are more dispersed geographically and in the hands of smaller-scale undertakings or craft.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The region is a major international center in the field of aeronautics and space industry. Together with the neighbouring region Occitania, it belongs to the Aerospace Valley world-class industry cluster. The regional aerospace sector is closely linked to the defence sector, leading to talk of industry "ASD" (aeronautics, space and defence).


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The regional aircraft industry is a world leader for business aircraft, high-tech batteries, high performance composite materials, landing gear systems and turbines for helicopters, the European leader for military aircraft, cockpit equipment and systems, ground tests and flight, launchers, solid propulsion, airborne radars and systems, weapons systems deterrence, atmospheric re-entry technology and national leader in the interior design of 'business aircraft, aircraft maintenance, UAV systems.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The main sites are located in the city of Bordeaux, but also in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques and in Vienne. Of these, Dassault Aviation has five establishments in Mérignac (final assembly and commissioning flight Rafale and Falcon), Martignas-sur-Jalle (wing civilian and military aircraft), Biarritz (composites and assembly of structures), Cazaux (integration and armament test) and Poitiers (production of military aircraft canopy). Thales Group has two sites near Bordeaux: Pessac (aircraft embedded systems: mission computers, airborne radars combat and surveillance, unmanned aerial systems) and Hailsham (design and development of cockpit systems for major aircraft manufacturers in the world ). Airbus Defence and Space (development and production of Ariane launchers and of ballistic missiles for the French nuclear force) is located in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles. Safran has two major production facilities in the region: Turbomeca (world leader in helicopter turbines) near Pau and Snecma (maintenance and repair of military engines) in Châtellerault.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The region is also home to several military airbases, including a command center of the French Air Force. It also hosts major defence-related facilities such as the Megajoule laser and the main rocket testing facility of the Direction générale de l'armement.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The pharmaceutical and parachemical industry is particularly well represented in the city of Bordeaux: Sanofi has three sites on the outskirts of Bordeaux, Ambarès-et-Lagrave (production) Floirac (IT) and Saint-Loubès (logistics); Meda Pharma Group is located in Mérignac; The Merck Group operates a production unit in Martillac. Finally, CEVA Animal Health in Libourne.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: In Agen, there is the UPSA Company (scientific pharmacology Union applied), sold to the US group Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) in 1994. Two factories and a logistics platform allow the market to deliver the full range of analgesics from aspirin and paracetamol to morphine. Since 1994, the US group has invested regularly in its two Agenais units that deliver half of their export production.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Limoges, long specialised in manufacturing and luxury (shoes, porcelain ...), is now a major cluster in the field of ceramics research (European Ceramics Pole). Legrand, French industrial group historically based in Limoges in the Limousin, is a world leader in products and systems for electrical installations and information networks. Ester Technology Park, is a business and research center that develops north of the city on several areas: ceramics; materials and surface treatments; electronics, optics and telecommunications; Health biotechnology; water and environment; Engineering in association with the University of Limoges.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: The oil and gas industry is also represented in the region, with the Lacq gas field near Pau, which was France's main source of natural gas in the 1970s.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Tourism is an important sector in a region with significant assets, starting with a mild and sunny climate, famous vineyards (wine tourism) and many heritage sites, some of international renown. Its wide ocean frontage, stormed by thousands of vacationers - and surfers - every summer is characterised by sandy beaches that often stretch to the horizon. Indirect consequence of increasingly popular for water sports, many surf-related brands (mainly clothing and equipment) are present in the region, earning him the nickname "Glissicon Valley" in reference to Silicon Valley: Rip Curl, Billabong, Quiksilver, O'Neill.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: In the northern part of the coast, the Charente archipelago consists mainly islands of Ré, Oléron and Aix, where alternate sheltered coves and beaches opening onto the open sea. The aunisiennes coast, near La Rochelle, greet some family seaside resorts such as Châtelaillon-Plage or Fouras. Further south, in the heart of the Côte de Beauté (Coast of Beauty), Royan is one of three major seaside resorts in the region. She has five beaches, not to mention those of neighbouring towns and the Côte Sauvage (Wild Coast) of the peninsula of Arvert, Mecca of surfing and board sports.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Beyond the Gironde estuary begins the Côte d’Argent (Silver Coast), large expanse of almost straight sand bordered by pine trees and large lakes Landes, punctuated by small resorts such as Soulac-sur-Mer, Vendays-Montalivet (famous for its naturist center) Hourtin, Lacanau, Biscarrosse, Mimizan, Hossegor or Capbreton. The Bassin d'Arcachon, which forms an indentation between Gironde and Landes coast, focuses on Arcachon, another seaside resort, nestled in the heart of the pine forest. It faces the Cap Ferret, beaten by the waves of the ocean. In continuation of the Côte d'Argent, the Basque coast is structured around Biarritz, Mecca of seaside tourism, Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye, and is famous for its eroded cliffs and powerful rollers which make it a favourite spot for surfers.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Winter sports enthusiasts are in the Pyrenean several stations where to practice skiing, snowboarding and snowblade. The main ones are Gourette, Artouste, La Pierre Saint-Martin, Issarbe, Le Somport, Iraty or Somport-Candanchu.


title: Nouvelle-Aquitaine

text: Many spas are located in the region, starting with Dax, but also Eaux-Bonnes, Eugénie-les-Bains, Saint-Paul-lès-Dax, Salies-de-Béarn, Cambo-les-Bains, Jonzac, Saujon, Rochefort, La Roche-Posay or Évaux-les-Bains.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine, sold under the brand name Zantac among others, is a medication used to decrease stomach acid production. It is commonly used in treatment of peptic ulcer disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and Zollinger–Ellison syndrome. It can be given by mouth, injection into a muscle, or injection into a vein. In September 2019, the probable carcinogen "N"-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was discovered in ranitidine products from a number of manufacturers, resulting in recalls. In April 2020, ranitidine was withdrawn from the United States market and suspended in the European Union and Australia due to these concerns.


title: Ranitidine

text: Common side effects include headaches and pain or burning if given by injection. Serious side effects may include liver problems, a slow heart rate, pneumonia, and the potential of masking stomach cancer. It is also linked to an increased risk of "Clostridium difficile" colitis. Ranitidine is an H histamine receptor antagonist that works by blocking histamine, thus decreasing the amount of acid released by cells of the stomach.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine was discovered in England in 1976, and came into commercial use in 1981. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication. In 2020, it was the 177th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 3million prescriptions.


title: Ranitidine

text: For ulcer treatment, a night-time dose is especially important, as the increase in gastric and duodenal pH promotes healing overnight, when the stomach and duodenum are empty. Conversely, for treating acid reflux, smaller and more frequent doses are more effective.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine was originally administered long-term for acid-reflux treatment, sometimes indefinitely. For some, though, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have taken over this role. In addition, in children, a fairly rapid tachyphylaxis can develop within six weeks of initiation of treatment, further limiting its potential for long-term use.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine is contraindicated for people with acute porphyria in the past, because links may exist between taking ranitidine and acute porphyria.


title: Ranitidine

text: Rare reports have been made of ranitidine causing malaise, dizziness, somnolence, insomnia, and vertigo. In severely ill, elderly patients, cases of reversible mental confusion, agitation, depression, and hallucinations have been reported.


title: Ranitidine

text: Arrhythmias such as tachycardia, bradycardia, atrioventricular block, and premature ventricular beats have also been reported.


title: Ranitidine

text: All drugs in the H receptor blocker class of medicines have the potential to cause vitamin B deficiency, secondary to a reduction in food-bound vitamin B absorption. Elderly patients taking H receptor antagonists are more likely to require B supplementation than those not taking such drugs. H blockers may also reduce the absorption of drugs (azole antifungals, calcium carbonate) that require an acidic stomach. In addition, multiple studies suggest the use of H receptor antagonists such as ranitidine may increase the risk of infectious diarrhoea, including traveller's diarrhoea and salmonellosis. A 2005 study found that by suppressing acid-mediated breakdown of proteins, ranitidine may lead to an elevated risk of developing food or drug allergies, due to undigested proteins then passing into the GI tract, where sensitisation occurs. Patients who take these agents develop higher levels of immunoglobulin E against food, whether they had prior antibodies or not. Even months after discontinuation, an elevated level of IgE in 6% of patients was still found in the study.


title: Ranitidine

text: Cholestatic hepatitis, liver failure, hepatitis, and jaundice have been noted, and require immediate discontinuation of the drug. Blood tests can reveal an increase in liver enzymes or eosinophilia, although in rare instances, severe cases of hepatotoxicity may require a liver biopsy.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine and other histamine H receptor antagonists may increase the risk of pneumonia in hospitalised patients. They may also increase the risk of community-acquired pneumonia in adults and children.


title: Ranitidine

text: Thrombocytopenia is a rare but known side effect. Drug-induced thrombocytopenia usually takes weeks or months to appear, but may appear within 12 hours of drug intake in a sensitised individual. Typically, the platelet count falls to 80% of normal, and thrombocytopenia may be associated with neutropenia and anemia.


title: Ranitidine

text: Rash, including rare cases of erythema multiforme, and rare cases of hair loss and vasculitis have been seen.


title: Ranitidine

text: Relief of symptoms due to the use of ranitidine does not exclude the presence of a gastric malignancy. In addition, with kidney or liver impairment, ranitidine must be used with caution. It should be avoided in patients with porphyria, as it may precipitate an attack.


title: Ranitidine

text: In children, the use of gastric acid inhibitors has been associated with an increased risk for development of acute gastroenteritis and community-acquired pneumonia. A cohort analysis including over 11,000 neonates reported an association of H blocker use, and an increased incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) neonates. In addition, about a six-fold increase in mortality, necrotizing enterocolitis, and infection such as sepsis, pneumonia, urinary tract infection was reported in patients receiving ranitidine in a cohort analysis of 274 VLBW neonates.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine may return a false positive result with some commercial urine drug screening kits for testing for drugs of abuse.


title: Ranitidine

text: In September 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) learned that some ranitidine medicines, including some products sold under the brand name Zantac, contained a nitrosamine impurity called "N"-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), classified as a probable human carcinogen, at low levels. Health Canada announced that it was assessing NDMA in ranitidine and requested that manufacturers stop the distribution of ranitidine products in Canada until the NDMA levels in the products are found to be safe. Health Canada announced that ranitidine drugs were being recalled by Sandoz Canada, Apotex Inc., Pro Doc Limitée, Sanis Health Inc., and Sivem Pharmaceuticals ULC. The European Medicines Agency started a European Union-wide review of ranitidine medicines at the request of the European Commission.


title: Ranitidine

text: In October 2019, the U.S. FDA observed that a third-party laboratory was using higher temperatures in its tests to detect nitrosamine impurities. The NDMA was generated by the added heat, but the higher temperatures are recommended for using a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry method to test for NDMA in valsartan and angiotensin II receptor blockers. The FDA stated that it recommends using a liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) testing protocol to test samples of ranitidine. Its LC-HRMS testing method does not use elevated temperatures, and has shown the presence of much lower levels of NDMA in ranitidine medicines than were reported by the third-party laboratory. International regulators using similar LC-MS testing methods have also shown the presence of low levels of NDMA in ranitidine samples. The FDA provided additional guidance about using another LC-MS method based on a triple-quadrupole MS platform.


title: Ranitidine

text: In September 2019, Sandoz issued a "precautionary distribution stop" of all medicines containing ranitidine, followed a few days later by a recall of ranitidine hydrochloride capsules in the United States. The Italian Medicines Agency recalled all ranitidine that uses an active pharmaceutical ingredient from Saraca Laboratories. The Federal Union of German Associations of Pharmacists ("Arzneimittelkommission der Deutschen Apotheker") published a list of recalled products, as did the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia.


title: Ranitidine

text: In November 2019, the FDA stated that its tests found levels of NDMA in ranitidine and nizatidine that are similar to those that one may typically ingest with common foods such as grilled or smoked meats. The FDA also stated that its simulated gastric fluid model tests and simulated intestinal fluid model tests indicated that NDMA is not formed when exposed to acid in the stomach with a normal diet. The FDA advised companies to recall their ranitidine if testing shows levels of NDMA above the acceptable daily intake (96 nanograms per day or 0.32 parts per million for ranitidine). At the same time, it indicated that some levels of NDMA found in medicines still exceeded the agency's acceptable levels.


title: Ranitidine

text: In December 2019, the FDA asked manufacturers of ranitidine and nizatidine products to expand their NDMA testing to include all lots of the medication before making them available to consumers.


title: Ranitidine

text: In April 2020, new FDA testing and evaluation prompted by information from third-party laboratories confirmed that NDMA levels increase in ranitidine even under normal storage conditions, and NDMA has been found to increase significantly in samples stored at higher temperatures, including those at which the product may be exposed during distribution and handling by consumers. The testing also showed that the level of NDMA increases as ranitidine medication ages. These conditions may raise the NDMA level above the acceptable daily intake limit.


title: Ranitidine

text: Some evidence indicates that NDMA may form from the degradation of ranitidine itself with increasing levels seen over its shelf life. Whether NDMA can also be formed from ranitidine inside the body is unclear. Some studies suggest that it can, while others do not. Given the uncertainties, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended a precautionary suspension of these medicines in the EU.


title: Ranitidine

text: In August 2020, the EMA provided guidance to marketing authorization holders for avoiding the presence of nitrosamine impurities and asked them to review all chemical and biological human medicines for the presence of nitrosamines and to test the products at risk. In September 2020, the FDA issued guidance about the control of nitrosamine impurities in human drugs. An implementation plan was issued in February 2021.


title: Ranitidine

text: In September 2019, Apotex recalled all over-the-counter ranitidine tablets sold in the United States at Walmart, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. These retailers, along with CVS, removed Zantac and some generics from their shelves.


title: Ranitidine

text: On 8 October 2019, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency of the United Kingdom (UK) issued a drug alert for ranitidine "... to proactively communicate the recall to hospitals, pharmacies, dispensing practices, retailers and wholesalers in the UK." This included all Zantac-branded preparations, along with all generic preparations of ranitidine from Teva UK Limited, Rosemont Pharmaceuticals Limited, Omega Pharma Limited and Galpharm International Limited, Perrigo Company plc, Creo Pharma Limited and Tillomed Laboratories Limited, OTC Concepts Ltd, Relonchem Ltd, Noumed Life Sciences Ltd, and Medreich Plc., Accord Healthcare, Medley Pharma Limited, and Medreich Plc.


title: Ranitidine

text: On 15 October 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom issued a supply distribution alert (SDA/2019/005) for all oral formulations of ranitidine.


title: Ranitidine

text: In October 2019, Sanofi recalled all over-the-counter Zantac in the United States and Canada, Perrigo issued a worldwide recall of ranitidine, Dr. Reddy's issued a recall of all ranitidine products in the United States, and


title: Ranitidine

text: In November 2019, Aurobindo Pharma, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, American Health Packaging, Golden State Medical Supply, and Precision Dose recalled some lots of ranitidine tablets, capsules, and syrup.


title: Ranitidine

text: In January 2020, Appco Pharma LLC and Northwind Pharmaceuticals recalled some lots of ranitidine tablets and capsules.


title: Ranitidine

text: In February 2020, American Health Packaging recalled some lots of ranitidine tablets manufactured by Amneal Pharmaceuticals.


title: Ranitidine

text: In April 2020, the FDA requested a manufacturer's market withdrawal of ranitidine, meaning that ranitidine products would not be available for prescription or over-the-counter sale in the U.S.


title: Ranitidine

text: In April 2020, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency recommended the suspension of all ranitidine medicines in the European Union because of the presence of low levels of NDMA. In June 2020, a ranitidine manufacturer requested a re-examination of the CHMP's April 2020 opinion.


title: Ranitidine

text: In December 2020, the EMA confirmed its recommendation to suspend all ranitidine medicines in the European Union. The UK National Health Service (NHS) Web site said "Ranitidine is not currently available in the UK or globally... It's not yet known whether it will be available again in future".


title: Ranitidine

text: On 1 July 2021 Solara Active Pharma Sciences, which supplies ranitidine active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), said that it had mitigated the risks of the formation of NDMA during the manufacturing of ranitidine API. The company was granted a revised certificate by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare, which proves that the API complies with European rules. in October 2021 Accord Healthcare was considering the possible reintroduction of ranitidine, but GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, and Teva said they had no plans to reintroduce the drug.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine is a competitive, reversible inhibitor of the action of histamine at the histamine H receptors found in gastric parietal cells. This results in decreased gastric acid secretion and gastric volume, and reduced hydrogen ion concentration.


title: Ranitidine

text: Half-life elimination: With normal renal function, ranitidine taken orally has a half-life of 2.5–3.0 hours. If taken intravenously, the half-life is generally 2.0–2.5 hours in a patient with normal creatinine clearance.


title: Ranitidine

text: Excretion: The primary route of excretion is the urine. In addition, about 30% of the orally administered dose is collected in the urine as unabsorbed drug in 24 hours.


title: Ranitidine

text: In the elderly population, the plasma half-life of ranitidine is prolonged to 3–4 hours secondary to decreased kidney function causing decreased clearance.


title: Ranitidine

text: In general, studies of pediatric patients (aged one month to 16 years) have shown no significant differences in pharmacokinetic parameter values in comparison to healthy adults, when correction is made for body weight.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine was first prepared in England as AH19065 by John Bradshaw in the summer of 1977 in the Ware research laboratories of Allen and Hanburys, part of the larger Glaxo organisation. Its development was a response to the first in class histamine H receptor antagonist, cimetidine, developed by Sir James Black at Smith, Kline and French, and launched in the United Kingdom as Tagamet in November 1976. Both companies eventually merged as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), following a sequence of mergers and acquisitions, starting with the integration of Allen and Hanbury's Ltd and Glaxo to form Glaxo Group Research in 1979, and ultimately with the merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham in 2000. Ranitidine was the result of a rational drug-design process using what was by then a fairly refined model of the histamine H receptor and quantitative structure-activity relationships.


title: Ranitidine

text: Glaxo refined the model further, by replacing the imidazole ring of cimetidine with a furan ring with a nitrogen-containing substituent, and in doing so developed ranitidine. Ranitidine was found to have a far-improved tolerability profile (i.e. fewer adverse drug reactions), longer-lasting action, and 10 times the activity of cimetidine. Ranitidine has 10% of the affinity that cimetidine has to CYP450, so it causes fewer side effects, but other H blockers famotidine and nizatidine have no CYP450 significant interactions.


title: Ranitidine

text: Ranitidine was introduced in 1981, and was the world's biggest-selling prescription drug by 1987. Subsequently, it was largely superseded by the more effective proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) class of drugs, with omeprazole becoming the biggest-selling drug for many years. When omeprazole and ranitidine were compared in a study of 144 people with severe inflammation and erosions or ulcers of the oesophagus, 85% of those treated with omeprazole healed within eight weeks, compared with 50% of those given ranitidine. In addition, the omeprazole group reported earlier relief of heartburn symptoms.


title: Ranitidine

text: In September 2019, the probable carcinogen "N"-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was discovered in ranitidine products from a number of manufacturers, resulting in recalls; in April 2020, it was withdrawn from the United States market and suspended in Europe and Australia.


title: Ranitidine

text: Preparations of ranitidine products include oral tablets (75, 150, and 300 mg), effervescent tablets, and syrups, and injectable solutions; with doses of specific ranitidine product preparations are available over-the-counter (OTC) in various countries. In the United Kingdom, only the lowest-strength, 75-mg tablet is available to purchase without a prescription. In Australia, packs containing seven or 14 doses of the 150-mg tablet are available in supermarkets, small packs of 150-mg and 300-mg tablets are schedule 2 pharmacy medicines. Larger doses and pack sizes require a prescription. In the United States, 75- and 150-mg tablets are available OTC. Since 2017, Zantac is marketed in the U.S. by Sanofi. In India, it is sold under the brand name Rantac OD.


title: Electronic funds transfer

text: Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the electronic transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems, without the direct intervention of bank staff.


title: Electronic funds transfer

text: According to the United States Electronic Fund Transfer Act of 1978 it is "a funds transfer initiated through an electronic terminal, telephone, computer (including on-line banking) or magnetic tape for the purpose of ordering, instructing, or authorizing a financial institution to debit or credit a consumer's account".


title: Electronic funds transfer

text: EFT transactions are known by a number of names across countries and different payment systems. For example, in the United States, they may be referred to as "electronic checks" or "e-checks". In the United Kingdom, the term "bank transfer" and "bank payment" are used, in Canada, "e-transfer" is used, while in several other European countries "giro transfer" is the common term.


title: Tongue-in-cheek

text: The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott in his 1828 "The Fair Maid of Perth".


title: Tongue-in-cheek

text: The physical act of putting one's tongue into one's cheek once signified contempt. For example, in Tobias Smollett's "The Adventures of Roderick Random," which was published in 1748, the eponymous hero takes a coach to Bath and on the way apprehends a highwayman. This provokes an altercation with a less brave passenger:


title: Tongue-in-cheek

text: It is not clear how Scott intended readers to understand the phrase. The more modern ironic sense appeared in the 1842 poem "The Ingoldsby Legends" by the English clergyman Richard Barham, in which a Frenchman inspects a watch and cries:


title: Tongue-in-cheek

text: The ironic usage originates with the idea of suppressed mirth—biting one's tongue to prevent an outburst of laughter.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: The only official flag for Northern Ireland is the Union Flag, the flag of the United Kingdom; there is no official local flag that represents only Northern Ireland. The flying of various flags in Northern Ireland is a significant sectarian issue, with different communities identifying with different flags.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: The Ulster Banner was used by the Northern Irish government from 1953 until the government and parliament were abolished in 1973. Since then, it has had no official status. However, it is still used as the flag of Northern Ireland by both loyalists and unionists and to represent Northern Ireland internationally in some sporting competitions, like the Commonwealth Games.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: The Saint Patrick's Saltire represents Northern Ireland indirectly as Ireland in the Union Flag. It is sometimes flown during Saint Patrick's Day parades in Northern Ireland and is used to represent Northern Ireland during some royal events.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: In recent years, there have been calls for a new, neutral flag for Northern Ireland, most recently as a recommendation by the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition in December 2021.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: The Ulster Banner, also known as the Red Hand Flag or the Ulster Flag (not to be confused with the provincial Flag of Ulster), was the flag that was granted a royal warrant for use to the Government of Northern Ireland in 1924. In common with other British flags, any civic status of the flag was not defined in law.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: The Government of Northern Ireland was granted arms by royal warrant and had the right to display these arms on a flag or banner. This right was exercised for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 when the banner was flown for the first time over Parliament Buildings in honour of Elizabeth's visit. Also during her visit, on July 1, 1953, the Minister for Home Affairs announced that, while the Union Flag was the only standard officially recognised, those who wished to have a distinctive Ulster symbol might use the banner. When the Parliament of Northern Ireland was dissolved by the British government under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, the flag ceased to be used by a body with a royal warrant but remains the only flag which represents Northern Ireland at international level in sport.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: Since the Northern Ireland government and parliament were abolished in 1972, the use of the Ulster Banner among loyalists has increased.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: There are various practices for the flying of flags by public bodies in Northern Ireland. The Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 2000 requires that the Union Flag be flown over specified government buildings including Parliament Buildings and state offices on specified "named days" (honouring, for example Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday).


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: The regulations also provide that, on the occasion of a visit to a government building by the British Monarch, the Royal Standard shall be flown, and the Union Flag can be flown, and on state visits from other heads of state the Union Flag and the national flag of the country of the visitor can be flown. The regulations prohibit any flags being flown from the relevant buildings except as expressly permitted by the regulations.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: When flags representing the "Home Countries" of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are flown at official ceremonies, Northern Ireland is sometimes represented by the Saint Patrick's Cross, for instance on the barge "Gloriana" during the 2012 Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. In May 2016 the Ulster Banner was flown from horseback during the Musical Ride of the Household Cavalry at the Queen's 90th birthday celebration at Windsor, alongside the flags of England, Scotland and Wales.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: Other regulations exist for other public bodies in Northern Ireland. Use of flags by the Police Service of Northern Ireland is governed by the Police Emblems and Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002, which provides that no flag shall be used by the service other than its own flag.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: Legislation relating to flag flying does not apply to district council buildings, and district councils follow a range of practices varying from flying the Union Flag on a number of council buildings every day of the year as at Lisburn, to flying no flags on any building, flying only the council flag or flying flags on the designated days in the same way as government buildings.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: In 2004, Belfast City Council commissioned a study on the flying of the Union Flag which noted that the Ulster Banner was flown alongside it by three unionist-controlled district councils at that time: Ards, Carrickfergus and Castlereagh. These councils have since been replaced.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: In Northern Ireland, some members from each of the unionist and nationalist communities use flags to declare their political allegiances and to mark territory. Unionists and loyalists fly the Union Flag and Ulster Banner to show their support for the union and/or their allegiance to Northern Ireland. Irish nationalists and republicans fly the Irish tricolour to show their support for a United Ireland.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: After the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, flags continue to be a source of disagreement in Northern Ireland. The Agreement states that:


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: Nationalists pointed to this to argue that the use of the Union Flag for official purposes should be restricted, or that the Irish tricolour should be flown alongside the British flag on government buildings. Sinn Féin ministers in the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive instructed that the Union Flag was not to fly from buildings operated by their respective departments. This power was removed from ministers by virtue of the Flag Regulations (Northern Ireland) Order 2000, mentioned above.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: All signatories to the Good Friday Agreement also declare their acceptance of the "principle of consent" (i.e. that there will be no change to the constitutional position of Northern Ireland unless a majority votes for it), and Unionists argued that this provision amounts to recognising that the Union Flag is the only legitimate official flag in Northern Ireland. The problem was discussed in detail and various proposals made including suggestions for a new flag.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: In 2013, US diplomat Richard N. Haass chaired talks between the political parties in Northern Ireland dealing with, among other things, the issue of flags. The resulting draft proposals, which were not agreed to by the parties, included the idea of a new flag for Northern Ireland, and the possibility of a "circumscribed role for the sovereign flag of Ireland in conjunction with the Union flag."


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: In December 2021, the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition published its final report which included a recommendation that a new "Civic Flag for Northern Ireland" should be adopted and be flown at buildings of the Northern Ireland Executive, Northern Ireland Assembly and local district councils in Northern Ireland. The commissions suggested that the design for the new flag should incorporate expressions of Britishness and Irishness and should also represent the diversity of the community in Northern Ireland. However, it was only floated as a possibility, with no apparent political will to explore the idea further.


title: Flag of Northern Ireland

text: The Ulster Banner is used to represent the Northern Ireland team at the Commonwealth Games, to represent golfers on the PGA Tour, and by FIFA to represent the Northern Ireland national football team.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Kenneth Michael Stabler (December 25, 1945 – July 8, 2015) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Nicknamed "Snake", he played college football at Alabama and was selected by the Raiders in the second round of the 1968 NFL Draft. During his 10 seasons in Oakland, Stabler received four Pro Bowl selections and was named Most Valuable Player in 1974. Stabler also helped the Raiders win their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XI. He was posthumously inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler became a highly touted football player at Foley High School in Foley, Alabama. He led Foley to a win–loss record of 29–1 over his high school football career—the only loss coming against Vigor High School. He was an all-around athlete in high school, averaging 29 points a game in basketball and excelling enough as a left-handed pitcher in baseball to receive minor-league contract offers from the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. He was an all-American athlete. During his high school career, he earned his nickname "Snake" from his coach following a long, winding touchdown run.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler was recruited by head coach Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Due to NCAA regulations at the time, freshmen were ineligible to play on the varsity in the University Division. Stabler was on the freshman team in 1964, when the Crimson Tide won the National Championship with quarterbacks Joe Namath and Steve Sloan. Despite being named National Champions, Alabama lost their bowl game, falling to the Texas Longhorns in 1965 Orange Bowl.


title: Ken Stabler

text: As a sophomore in 1965, Stabler was used sparingly as a back-up to Sloan at quarterback, following Namath's departure to the AFL. That year, the Crimson Tide won their second consecutive National Championship, finishing the season with a record of 9–1–1. The team defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl, 39–28.


title: Ken Stabler

text: As a junior in 1966, he took over the starting quarterback position. He led the team to an undefeated, 11–0 season which ended in a 34–7 rout of Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. Despite the unblemished record, Alabama was snubbed by the polls, finishing third behind Notre Dame and Michigan State, neither of which played in a bowl.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Expectations were high in Stabler's senior season, though those expectations would not be completely fulfilled. The offense often struggled in 1967, and the defense's performance slipped. During the season, Bryant kicked Stabler off the team for cutting class and partying, though he was given a second chance. The Tide finished with an 8–2–1 record, including a loss to rival Tennessee. Though the season was lackluster, Stabler would provide a memorable moment in the Iron Bowl. Trailing 3–0 in a game drenched by rain, Stabler scampered through the mud for a 47-yard, game-winning touchdown which gave the Tide a 7–3 victory over rival Auburn at Legion Field. The play is commonly referred to as the "Run in the Mud" in Alabama football lore.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler was selected in the second round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Oakland Raiders, the reigning AFL champions. He was the fifth quarterback taken, after Greg Landry, Eldridge Dickey, Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban, and Mike Livingston. He was also drafted to play baseball by the New York Yankees in 1966, the New York Mets in 1967, and the Houston Astros in 1968.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler signed a two-year contract with the Raiders in March 1968. In November, the Raiders sent Stabler to Spokane, Washington, to play for the Spokane Shockers of the Continental Football League. He played in two games for the Shockers before being recalled by the Raiders in late November. In July 1969, Stabler left the Raiders. However, in November 1969, Stabler said "I'll be back in pro football come June." In January 1970, it was reported that Stabler and Raiders head coach John Madden agreed that Stabler would return to the Raiders for training camp in July. Stabler made his first regular season appearance as a Raider in 1970. He first attracted attention in the NFL in a 1972 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After entering the game in relief of a flu-ridden Daryle Lamonica, he scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard scramble. The Steelers, however, came back to win on a controversial, deflected pass from Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris, later known in football lore as the Immaculate Reception.


title: Ken Stabler

text: After having severe knee injuries, Stabler became less a scrambling quarterback and more a classic, drop-back passer, known for accurate passes and an uncanny ability to lead late, come-from-behind drives. During the peak of his career, he had a receiving corps consisting of sprinter Cliff Branch, sure handed receiver Fred Biletnikoff, and tight end Dave Casper. All three of Stabler's receivers would ultimately end up in the Hall of Fame. The Raiders' philosophy was to pound teams with their running game (aided by multiple-time Pro Bowler Marv Hubbard at fullback, and Clarence Davis at tailback), then stretch them with their long passing game. Although Stabler lacked remarkable arm strength, he was a master of the long pass to Branch, and accurate on intermediate routes to Biletnikoff and Casper. As a starter in Oakland, Stabler was named AFC player of the year in 1974 and 1976, and was the NFL's passing champion in . In January 1977, he guided the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory, a decisive 32–14 win over the Minnesota Vikings at the Rose Bowl.


title: Ken Stabler

text: In the 1977 AFC playoffs against the Baltimore Colts on Christmas Eve, Stabler completed a legendary fourth quarter pass to Casper to set up a game-tying field goal by Errol Mann. This play, dubbed the "Ghost to the Post," sent the game to double overtime, which the visiting Raiders won 37–31, after Stabler threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Casper. In the second game of 1978 on September 10, the Holy Roller (Immaculate Deception) Game saw Oakland win 21–20 at San Diego after a fourth quarter forward fumble by Stabler was caught and forward-fumbled by two other players to score a touchdown and win the game. This caused the Ken Stabler Rule to be enacted in , permitting only the fumbling player to recover the ball during a fourth down play, or during any down played after the two-minute warning in a half or overtime.


title: Ken Stabler

text: After subpar 1978 and 1979 seasons in which the Raiders failed to make the playoffs and saw the departure of many team leaders from the Super Bowl run: Clarence Davis, Skip Thomas, George Atkinson, Fred Biletnikoff, Willie Brown, and head coach John Madden, Stabler was traded in March 1980 to the Oilers for Dan Pastorini. He left as the Raiders' all-time leader in completions (1,486), passing yards (19,078), and touchdown passes (150). The Oilers saw Stabler as the missing ingredient that could finally get them past the rival Steelers and into the Super Bowl. Houston lacked the exceptional talent on offense that Stabler had thrived with in Oakland, as Earl Campbell and Casper—who was also acquired in a trade from the Raiders—were the few potent weapons they had. Meanwhile, Pastorini lost the starting job in Oakland to Jim Plunkett after an injury, and Plunkett then led the Raiders to a win in Super Bowl XV, which included a playoff win over the Oilers in the wild card game. Houston head coach Bum Phillips was fired shortly after the season, succeeded by defensive coordinator Ed Biles.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Without the popular head coach that rejuvenated an otherwise woeful Houston franchise, Stabler did not report to training camp in 1981 and announced his retirement through his agent on July 23. After five weeks and an injury to projected starter Gifford Nielsen, he returned to the Oilers in late August and signed a two-year contract. He had a mediocre season, as Houston went 7–9 and missed the playoffs.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Released by the Oilers after the season, Stabler re-joined Phillips in New Orleans in late August. (Dave Wilson had a season-ending knee injury on August 12.) In mid-September, the Saints traded longtime starter Archie Manning for offensive tackle Leon Gray. By this time, however, the 37-year-old Stabler was past his prime and the Saints were still a fairly dismal franchise. The first year was interrupted by a two-month players' strike; New Orleans was 4–5 and narrowly missed the expanded playoffs. The 1983 season was his best as a Saint. He started 14 games, and while the team's record in those games was only 7–7, Stabler was the starter for the final game of the season, in New Orleans, against the division rival Los Angeles Rams. Had the Saints won that game, they would have finished 9–7 and reached their first trip to the playoffs. But the Rams pulled out the victory late in the 4th quarter, 26–24. The Saints then acquired New York Jets veteran Richard Todd, who like Stabler played for Bryant at Alabama, before the 1984 season and Stabler retired in the middle of that season, in late October.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler was the fastest to win 100 games as a starting quarterback, having done so in 150 games, which bettered Johnny Unitas' previous mark of 153 games. Since then, only Terry Bradshaw in 147 games, Joe Montana in 139 games, and Tom Brady in 131 games have reached 100 wins more quickly.


title: Ken Stabler

text: In the early part of 1974, Stabler and several NFL stars agreed to join the newly created World Football League. He signed a contract to play for the Birmingham Americans. "I'm as happy as can be. Getting with a super organization and the financial benefits were key factors, but the biggest thing to me is getting back home. Getting to play before the people in the South is where it's at for me. In two years I'll be in Birmingham if I have to hitchhike," he said. "If I can do for the WFL what Joe Namath did for the AFL, I will feel that I have really accomplished something. I was born in the South and raised in the South and played football in the South. Oakland could have offered me as much money as Birmingham but they couldn't have let me play in the South." The WFL folded midway through the 1975 season, and Stabler remained in the NFL without ever playing in the WFL.


title: Ken Stabler

text: The Professional Football Researchers Association named Stabler to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2014


title: Ken Stabler

text: At the 2016 NFL Honors, it was announced that Stabler had been selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was officially inducted on August 6, 2016.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Following his retirement as a player, Stabler worked as a color commentator, first on CBS NFL telecasts, and then on radio with Eli Gold for Alabama football games. Stabler left before Alabama's 2008 season and was replaced by Phil Savage.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler served as chairman of the XOXO Stabler Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission "to raise funds, build awareness and hope for a variety of charitable causes." Stabler's celebrity golf tournaments in Point Clear, Alabama have raised nearly $600,000 for charitable partner The Ronald McDonald House of Mobile, which serves families of seriously ill and injured children receiving medical treatment at local hospitals.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler was married three times: to Isabel Clarke from 1968 to 1973, to Debbie Fitzsimmons from 1975 to 1978, and to Rose Molly Burch from 1984 to 2009.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler had three daughters, Kendra Stabler Moyes, Alexa Stabler-Adams and Marissa Leigh Stabler. In 2017, Alexa Stabler-Adams was certified by the NFLPA as a sports agent.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Renowned for being cool and cerebral on the field, Stabler was equally legendary for his off-field exploits; he wrote in his 1986 autobiography "Snake", "The monotony of [training] camp was so oppressive that without the diversions of whiskey and women, those of us who were wired for activity and no more than six hours sleep a night might have gone berserk." Stabler told stories of drunk Raiders teammates pointing guns at him, and bailing out a teammate from jail who was wearing nothing but blue cowboy boots and his Super Bowl ring. "We were the only pro team who traveled with its own bail bondsman," he said.


title: Ken Stabler

text: Stabler died of colon cancer on July 8, 2015, at the age of 69. He had been diagnosed with the disease in February 2015. After some initial confusion when "The Tuscaloosa News" leaked a draft obituary for Stabler before word of his death could be confirmed, his family confirmed his death in a statement issued on July 9.


title: Ken Stabler

text: In February 2016, "The New York Times" reported that researchers at Boston University discovered high Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in Stabler's brain after his death. He was buried at Pine Rest Cemetery in Foley, Alabama.


title: Colter Wall

text: Colter Wall (born June 27, 1995) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for his deep, gruff baritone and narrative songwriting, Wall's music encompasses country, folk, and western styles. His self-titled debut album was released in May 2017, and his second album "Songs of the Plains" in October 2018. His third album, "Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs", was released in August 2020.


title: Colter Wall

text: Colter Wall was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, on June 27, 1995, the son of Tami and politician Brad Wall. His father served as the 14th premier of Saskatchewan. He has an older sister named Megan and a younger sister named Faith. He attended Swift Current Comprehensive High School and graduated in 2013. He then studied at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. He made demos of his songs while he was a student, and in 2015, he decided to take a break from his studies at the university to focus on his music career when his first EP was released.


title: Colter Wall

text: Wall recorded a seven-song EP, "Imaginary Appalachia", with Jason Plumb as producer in 2015 at Studio One in Regina, Saskatchewan. He collaborated on the EP with other artists from Regina such as Belle Plaine and The Dead South. He described his music as a blend of blues, folk and Americana. The EP was released on March 9, 2015, and "The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie" was released as his first single. His music gained more attention in late 2015 when professional wrestler Brock Lesnar mentioned him as a favorite artist during an interview with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Songs from the album were featured in the television show "Dog the Bounty Hunter", and the films "Hell or High Water" and "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri". The track used in the films, "Sleeping on the Blacktop", gained more than a million streams on Spotify.


title: Colter Wall

text: In 2016, Wall opened for Lucinda Williams at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. He was signed to Rick Rubin's American Songs publishing company.


title: Colter Wall

text: His first full-length album, self-titled "Colter Wall", was produced by Dave Cobb at the RCA Studio A in Nashville. Wall was accompanied by Cobb on acoustic guitar, Chris Powell on drums, Mike Webb on piano, and Robby Turner on pedal steel. The album was released on May 12, 2017 and according to Wall, most of the songs on the album are autobiographical.


title: Colter Wall

text: His second album, "Songs of the Plains", was announced in July 2018 and was released on October 12, 2018.


title: Colter Wall

text: In June 2020, Wall announced his third album, "Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs" which was released on August 28 with independent label, La Honda Records.


title: Colter Wall

text: Three of Wall's songs are featured in the fourth season of the Paramount series "Yellowstone", including a rendition of Rex Allen's 1951 classic "Cowpoke", plus Wall's own "Plain to See Plainsman" and "Sleeping on the Blacktop".


title: Colter Wall

text: Wall was familiar with country music growing up, as country artists such as Johnny Cash were played at home. He started learning guitar at the age of 13, playing music of rock bands such as AC/DC and Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Later he became interested in old blues artists, and then started to listen to folk music. According to Wall, he first heard Bob Dylan's song "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" around grade 10 or 11 (aged 15 or 16), and he was inspired to start writing and singing songs instead of only playing guitar. Other early musical influences he cited include Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and he had also expressed interest in country singers such as Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Hank Williams. He also covered Marty Robbins’ hit Big Iron on his album Western Swing & Waltzes and Other Punchy Songs.


title: Iron Guard

text: The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly anti-democratic, anti-capitalist, anti-communist, and anti-Semitic. It differed from other European right-wing movements of the period due to its spiritual basis, as the Iron Guard was deeply imbued with Romanian Orthodox Christian mysticism.


title: Iron Guard

text: In March 1930, Codreanu formed the Iron Guard as a paramilitary branch of the Legion, which in 1935 changed its official name to the "Totul pentru Țară" party—literally, Everything for the Country Party. It existed into the early part of the Second World War, during which time it came to power. Members were called Legionnaires or Greenshirts because of the predominantly green uniforms they wore.


title: Iron Guard

text: When Marshal Ion Antonescu came to power in September 1940, he brought the Iron Guard into the government, creating the National Legionary State. In January 1941, following the Legionnaires' rebellion, Antonescu used the army to suppress the movement, destroying the organization; its commander, Horia Sima, along with other leaders, escaped to Germany.


title: Iron Guard

text: Founded by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu on 24 June 1927, as the "Legion of the Archangel Michael", and led by him until his assassination in 1938, followers of the movement continued to be widely referred to as "legionnaires" (sometimes "legionaries"; ) and led to the organization of the "Legion" or the "Legionary Movement", despite various changes of the (intermittently banned) organization's name.


title: Iron Guard

text: In March 1930, Codreanu formed the "Iron Guard" ("Garda de Fier") as a paramilitary political branch of the Legion; this name eventually came to refer to the Legion itself. Later, in June 1935, the Legion changed its official name to the "Totul pentru Țară" party, literally meaning "Everything For the Country" party.


title: Iron Guard

text: The name of the League appears to have been inspired by the Black Hundreds, an anti-Semitic group in the Russian Empire (particularly the regions bordering Romania) that often used the name of the archangel.


title: Iron Guard

text: In 1927, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu left the number two position (under A.C. Cuza) in the Romanian political party known as the National-Christian Defense League (NCDL), and founded the Legion of the Archangel Michael.


title: Iron Guard

text: The Legion differed from other fascist movements in that it had its mass base among the peasantry and students, rather than among military veterans. However, the legionnaires shared the general fascist "respect for the war veterans". Romania had a very large "intelligentsia" relative to the general population with 2.0 university students per one thousand of the population compared to 1.7 per one thousand of the population in far wealthier Germany, while Bucharest had more lawyers in the 1930s than did the much larger city of Paris. Even before the worldwide Great Depression, Romanian universities were producing far more graduates than the number of available jobs and the Great Depression in Romania had further drastically limited the opportunities for employment by the "intelligentsia", who turned to the Iron Guard out of frustration. Many Orthodox Romanians, having obtained a university degree, which they expected to be their ticket to the middle class, were enraged to find that the jobs they were hoping for did not exist, and came to embrace the Legion's message that it was the Jews who were blocking them from finding the middle-class employment they wanted.


title: Iron Guard

text: Beyond that, Romania had traditionally been dominated by a Francophile elite, who preferred to speak French over Romanian in private and who claimed that their policies were leading Romania to the West with the National Liberal Party, in particular, maintaining that their economic policies were going to industrialize Romania. The national Great Depression seemed to show the literal bankruptcy of these policies and many of the younger Romanian "intelligentsia", especially university students, were attracted by the Iron Guard's glorification of "Romanian genius" and its leaders who boasted that they were proud to speak Romanian. The Romanian-born Israeli historian Jean Ancel wrote from the mid-19th century onward, that Romanian "intelligentsia" had a "schizophrenic attitude towards the West and its values".


title: Iron Guard

text: Romania had been a strongly Francophile country starting in 1859 when the United Principalities came into being, giving Romania effective independence from the Ottoman Empire (an event largely made possible by French diplomacy which pressured the Ottomans on behalf of the Romanians), and from that time onwards, most of the Romanian "intelligentsia" professed themselves believers in French ideas about the universal appeal of democracy, freedom and human rights, while at the same time holding antisemitic views about Romania's Jewish minority. Despite their antisemitism, most of the Romanian "intelligentsia" believed that France was not only Romania's "Latin sister", but also a "big Latin sister" that would guide its "little Latin sister" Romania along the correct path. Ancel wrote that Codreanu was the first significant Romanian to reject not only the prevailing Francophilia of the "intelligentsia", but also the entire framework of universal democratic values, which Codreanu claimed were "Jewish inventions" designed to destroy Romania.


title: Iron Guard

text: In contrast to the traditional idea that Romania would follow the path of its "Latin sister" France, Codreanu promoted a xenophobic, exclusive ultra-nationalism, where Romania would follow its own path and rejected the French ideas about universal values and human rights. In a marked departure from the traditional ideas held by the elite about making Romania into the modernized and Westernized "France of Eastern Europe", the Legion demanded a return to the traditional Eastern Orthodox values of the past and glorified Romania's peasant culture and folk customs as the living embodiment of "Romanian genius."


title: Iron Guard

text: The leaders of the Iron Guard often wore traditional peasant costumes with crucifixes and bags of Romanian soil around their necks to emphasise their commitment to authentic Romanian folk values, in marked contrast to Romania's Francophile elite who preferred to dress in the style of the latest fashions of Paris. The fact that many members of Romania's elite were often corrupt and that very little of the vast sums of money generated by Romania's oil found its way into the pockets of ordinary people, further enhanced the appeal of the Legion who denounced the entire elite as irredeemably corrupt.


title: Iron Guard

text: With Codreanu as a charismatic leader, the Legion was known for skillful propaganda, including a very capable use of spectacle. Utilizing marches, religious processions, patriotic and partisan hymns and anthems, along with volunteer work and charitable campaigns in rural areas, in support of anti-communism, the League presented itself as an alternative to corrupt parties. Initially, the Iron Guard hoped to encompass any political faction, regardless of its position on the political spectrum, that wished to combat the rise of communism in the USSR.


title: Iron Guard

text: The Iron Guard was purposely anti-Semitic, promoting the idea that "Rabbinical aggression against the Christian world"—which manifested through Freemasonry, Freudianism, homosexuality, atheism, Marxism, Bolshevism, and the civil war in Spain"—were undermining society.


title: Iron Guard

text: The Vaida-Voevod government outlawed the Iron Guard in January 1931. On 10 December 1933, the Romanian Liberal Prime Minister Ion Duca banned the Iron Guard. After a brief period of arrests, beatings, torture and even killings (twelve members of the Legionary Movement were murdered by the police force), Iron Guard members retaliated on 29 December 1933, by assassinating Duca on the platform of Sinaia railway station.


title: Iron Guard

text: In the 1937 parliamentary elections the Legion came in third with 15.5% of the vote, behind the National Liberal and the National Peasant Parties. King Carol II strongly opposed the Legion's political aims and successfully kept them out of government until he himself was forced to abdicate in 1940. During this period, the Legion was generally on the receiving end of persecution. On 10 February 1938, the king dissolved the government and initiated a royal dictatorship.


title: Iron Guard

text: Codreanu advised the Legion to accept the new regime. However, Interior Minister Armand Călinescu did not trust Codreanu and ordered him arrested on 16 April. Realizing that the government was looking for an excuse to have him executed, Codreanu ordered the Legion's acting commander, Horia Sima, to take no action unless there was evidence that he was in immediate danger. However, Sima, who was known for his violent streak, launched a wave of terrorist activity in autumn. Codreanu got wind of this and ordered the violence to end.


title: Iron Guard

text: The order came too late. On the night of 29–30 November 1938, Codreanu and several other legionnaires were strangled to death by their Gendarmerie escort, purportedly during an attempt to escape from prison. It is generally agreed that there was no such escape attempt, and that Codreanu and the others were killed on the king's orders, probably in reaction to the 24 November 1938 murder by legionnaires of a relative (some sources say a "friend") of Călinescu. In the aftermath of Carol's decision to crush the Iron Guard, many members of the Legion fled into exile in Germany, where they received both material and financial support from the NSDAP, especially from the SS and Alfred Rosenberg's Foreign Political Office.


title: Iron Guard

text: For much of the interwar period, Romania was in the French sphere of influence, and in 1926 Romania signed a treaty of alliance with France. Following the Remilitarization of the Rhineland in March 1936, Carol started to move away from the traditional alliance with France as the fear grew within Romania that the French would do nothing in the event of German aggression in Eastern Europe, but Carol's regime was still regarded as essentially pro-French. From the German viewpoint, the Iron Guard was regarded as far preferable to King Carol. The royal dictatorship lasted just over one year. On 7 March 1939, a new government was formed with Călinescu as prime minister; on 21 September 1939, he, in turn was assassinated by legionnaires avenging Codreanu. Călinescu favored a foreign policy where Romania would maintain a pro-Allied neutrality in World War II, and as such, the SS had a hand in organizing Călinescu's assassination. Further rounds of mutual carnage ensued.


title: Iron Guard

text: In addition to the conflict with the king, an internal battle for power ensued in the wake of Codreanu's death. Waves of repression almost eliminated the Legion's original leadership by 1939, promoting second-rank members to the forefront. According to a secret report filed by the Hungarian political secretary in Bucharest in late 1940, three main factions existed: the group gathered around Sima, a dynamic local leader from the Banat, which was the most pragmatic and least Orthodox in its orientation; the group composed of Codreanu's father, Ion Zelea Codreanu, and his brothers (who despised Sima); and the Moța-Marin group, which wanted to strengthen the movement's religious character.


title: Iron Guard

text: After a long period of confusion, Sima, representing the Legion's less radical wing, overcame all competition and assumed leadership, being recognised as such on 6 September 1940 by the Legionary Forum, a body created at his initiative. On 28 September the elder Codreanu stormed the Legion headquarters in Bucharest (the Green House) in an unsuccessful attempt to install himself as leader. Sima was close to SS "Volksgruppenführer" Andreas Schmidt, a "volksdeutsch" (ethnic German) from Romania, and through him become close to Schmidt's father-in-law, the powerful Gottlob Berger who headed the SS Main Office in Berlin. The British historian Rebecca Haynes has argued that financial and organizational support from the SS was an important factor in Sima's rise.


title: Iron Guard

text: In the first months of World War II, Romania was officially neutral. However the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 23 August 1939, initially a secret document, stipulated, among other things, Soviet "interest" in Bessarabia. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on 1 September, joined by the Soviet Union on 17 September, Romania granted refuge to members of Poland's fleeing government and military. Even after the assassination of Călinescu on 21 September, King Carol tried to maintain neutrality, but the later French surrender to Germany and the British retreat from Europe rendered them unable to fulfil their assurances to Romania. A lean toward the Axis powers was probably inevitable.


title: Iron Guard

text: This political alignment was obviously favourable to the surviving legionnaires, and became even more so after France fell in May 1940. Sima and several other legionnaires who had taken refuge in Germany began slipping back into Romania. A month after the fall of France, Carol restructured his regime's single party, the National Renaissance Front, into the more overtly totalitarian "Party of the Nation," and invited a number of legionnaires to take part in the restructured government. On 4 July, Sima and two other leading legionnaires joined the government of Ion Gigurtu. However, they resigned after only a month due to mounting pressure for Carol to abdicate.


title: Iron Guard

text: The Second Vienna Award, which forced Romania to cede much of northern Transylvania to Hungary, angered Romanians of all political shades and all but destroyed Carol politically. Despite this, a legionnaire coup on 3 September failed.


title: Iron Guard

text: At the 1927 and the 1931 elections the movement stood for the Chamber of Deputies as Legion of the Archangel Michael. In 1932 it stood as the Codreanu Group, winning five of the 387 seats. It did not compete in the 1928 election and was banned in 1933. At the 1937 election it stood as Everything for the Country Party, winning 66 of the 387 seats. At the 1939 election, all opposition parties were banned.


title: Iron Guard

text: More or less out of desperation, King Carol II named General (later Marshal) Ion Antonescu as prime minister, partly because of the general's close ties with the Legion. Unknown to Carol, however, Antonescu had secretly reached an agreement with other political figures to force out the king. Amid popular outrage at the Second Vienna Award, Carol's position became untenable, and he was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Michael, who quickly confirmed Antonescu's dictatorial powers and granted him the title of "Conducător" (leader) of Romania.


title: Iron Guard

text: Although Antonescu was an archnationalist and authoritarian, his first preference was to form a government of national unity, in which all parties would have accepted him as dictator. However, with the exception of the Legion, the other parties at least wanted to maintain the appearance of parliamentary rule. The Legion, in contrast, fully supported Antonescu's vision of an ultranationalist and authoritarian regime. With this in mind, Antonescu formed an alliance with the Legion on 15 September. As part of the deal, Romania was proclaimed a "National Legionary State," with the Legion as the country's only legal party. Antonescu became the Legion's honorary leader. Sima became deputy premier, and four other legionnaires joined Sima in the cabinet. The Iron Guard was the only Fascist movement outside Germany and Italy to come to power without foreign assistance.


title: Iron Guard

text: Once in power, from 14 September 1940 until 21 January 1941, the Legion ratcheted up the level of already harsh anti-Semitic legislation and pursued, with impunity, a campaign of pogroms and political assassinations. On 27 November 1940 more than 60 former dignitaries or officials were executed in Jilava prison while awaiting trial. The following day, historian and former prime minister Nicolae Iorga and economic theorist Virgil Madgearu were assassinated; assassination attempts were made on former prime ministers and Carol supporters Constantin Argetoianu, Guță Tătărescu and Ion Gigurtu, but they were freed from the hands of the Legionary police and put under military protection.


title: Iron Guard

text: As a paramilitary force, the Iron Guard had no shortage of firearms while in power. At the start of 1941, in Bucharest alone, the Legionnaires had 5,000 guns (rifles, revolvers and machine guns) as well as numerous hand grenades. The Legion also possessed a small, mostly symbolic armored force of four vehicles: two police armored cars and two Renault UE Chenillettes from the Malaxa factory. The Malaxa factory had been licence-producing these French armored vehicles since mid-1939, and aside from the two such machines, the factory also supplied the Legion with machine guns and rifles. For transport, the Legion possessed almost 200 trucks in Bucharest alone.


title: Iron Guard

text: Once in power, Sima and Antonescu quarreled bitterly. According to historian Stanley G. Payne, Antonescu intended to create a situation analogous to that of Francisco Franco's regime in Spain, in which the Legion would be subordinated to the state. He demanded that Sima cede overall leadership of the Legion to him, but Sima refused.


title: Iron Guard

text: Sima demanded that the government follow the 'legionary spirit', and all major offices be held by legionaries. Other groups were to be dissolved. Economic policy, said Sima, should be coordinated closely with Germany. Antonescu rejected Sima's demands and was alarmed by the Iron Guard's death squads. He decided to bide his time until he had a chance to destroy the Legion once and for all. On 14 January 1941, after securing approval in person from Hitler, and with support of the Romanian army and other political leaders, Antonescu moved in. The Guard started a last-ditch coup attempt but in a three-day civil war, Antonescu won decisively with support from the Romanian and German armies. During the run-up to the coup attempt, different factions of the German government backed different sides in Romania with the SS supporting the Iron Guard while the military and the "Auswärtiges Amt" supported General Antonescu. Baron Otto von Bolschwing of the SS who was stationed at the German embassy in Bucharest played a major role in smuggling arms for the Iron Guard.


title: Iron Guard

text: During the crisis, members of the Iron Guard instigated a deadly pogrom in Bucharest. Particularly gruesome was the murder of dozens of Jewish civilians in the Bucharest slaughterhouse. The perpetrators hanged the Jews from meat hooks, then mutilated and killed them in a vicious parody of kosher slaughtering practices. The American ambassador to Romania Franklin Mott Gunther who toured the meat-packing plant where the Jews were slaughtered with the placards reading "Kosher meat" on them reported back to Washington: "Sixty Jewish corpses were discovered on the hooks used for carcasses. They were all skinned...and the quantity of blood about was evidence that they had been skinned alive". Gunther wrote he was especially shocked that one of the Jewish victims hanging on the meat hooks was a 5-year-old girl. Sima and other legionnaires were helped by the Germans to escape to Germany.


title: Iron Guard

text: During the rebellion and pogrom, the Iron Guard killed 125 Jews, while 30 soldiers died in the confrontation with the rebels. Following it, the Iron Guard movement was banned and 9,000 of its members were imprisoned. On 22 June 1941, the Iron Guards imprisoned in Iași since January by the Antonescu regime were released from prison and organized and armed by the police as part of the preparations for the Iași pogrom. When it came to killing Jews, the Antonescu regime and the Iron Guard were capable of finding common ground despite the failed coup in January 1941. When the pogrom began in Iași on 27 June 1941, the Iron Guards armed with crow-bars and knives played a prominent role in leading the mobs that slaughtered Jews on the streets of Iași in one of the bloodiest pogroms ever in Europe.