title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: Firefly appeared in the Sunbow "" animated series, voiced by Gregg Berger. Firefly was first seen in the "Revenge of Cobra" miniseries, and later appeared throughout the first season, where he maintained his role as a saboteur and mercenary. In at least one episode, he is shown to be almost paranoid about concealing his identity, going so far as to threaten captives' lives if they turn to look at him despite the fact that he is wearing a mask; and becoming mildly enraged when Cobra Commander refers to him by his codename (acting as though he had just been addressed by his real name). He has important underworld contacts, which Cobra Commander is forced to turn to after he goes broke. Firefly is absent for most of the second season but appeared in the episode "Into Your Tent I Will Silently Creep", in which he is involved in one of Cobra Commander's plots to kill Serpentor.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: He also appears in the "", but only for a short time. After the cartoon switched production companies from Sunbow/Marvel to DIC Entertainment, Firefly made no further appearances.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: Firefly is featured in a toy line based on "" as a civilian turned into one of Cobra's Venomised troops.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: Firefly has a major role in the "" cartoon, joining the G.I. Joe Team at the beginning of the second season. He is shown to use fire-based weapons in battle. Throughout the first half of the season, it is hinted that there is a spy amongst the Joes. This is eventually revealed to be Firefly, who traps the team and turns them over to Cobra. Firefly's former commander Lt. Stone attempts to convince him it is not too late to side with the Joes, but Firefly is insulted by the offer. He shaves his head as a sign of his loyalty to Cobra, and after a climactic battle with Lt. Stone, leaves with Cobra Commander.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: In "Ice", Firefly reappears wearing a costume reminiscent to both his Sigma 6 suit and his appearance in "A Real American Hero." In the episode, he fights Snake Eyes at a Terrordrome base in Antarctica. After Snake Eyes was accidentally frozen, Firefly captures Snake Eyes and makes off with Snake Eyes before the Antarctic Terrordrome base explodes.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: In "Assault", Firefly fights Stone again and is defeated. Firefly escapes the collapsing base and tells Stone that he should leave.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: Firefly had a brief appearance in "" where he uses a portable rocket launcher to fire a projectile into the United Nations building. However, the device was only a holographic transmitter that allowed Cobra Commander to relay his demands to world leaders.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: Firefly first appears in the "" episode "Fire Fight" voiced by Peter MacNicol. Reimagined as a pyromaniacal arsonist who talks to fire like a lover, Firefly covers his face in "Renegades" not to obscure his identity, but to hide disfiguring burns across his body. Baroness and Doctor Mindbender send Firefly to terrorize the town of Green Ridge, after it wins a court order to prevent Cobra's dam construction. Firefly tries to burn down the mayor's home, but is thwarted by Duke, Roadblock, Barbecue, and Tunnel Rat. Firefly is then ordered to destroy the entire town. Firefly blows up the only bridge into Green Ridge, causing the Joes to flee via the dam. Duke and Snake Eyes confront Firefly near his helicopter, but he vanishes. As Roadblock then uses the helicopter to blow up the dam, Firefly reapperas, causing the helicopter to crash into a cliff. It is not known if Firefly survives or not.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: Ray Stevenson portrays Firefly in "", the sequel to "". Stevenson revealed in an interview to Total Films that Firefly is an ex-Joe. His codename in this version stems from his trademark weapon system, insectoid robot drones which he uses to surreptitiously deliver explosive charges. During production of the film, the character was not supposed to wear his trademark camouflaged mask, but Stevenson, who researched the character and became a fan of the original Firefly, lobbied to be shown wearing it in some scenes.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: In the film, Firefly helps Storm Shadow break Cobra Commander out of prison. He later fights Roadblock, and mocks him as he prepares to kill him. He is then hit by a car driven by Flint, and escapes. While trying to activate a destructive satellite for Cobra Commander, Firefly is attacked by Roadblock, who defeats him in a gun and hand-to-hand combat battle. He attempts to send his firefly drones at Roadblock, who then causes Firefly's drones to explode on Firefly, killing him.


title: Firefly (G.I. Joe)

text: In the video game "", Firefly, voiced by Matthew Moy, is the second boss who is fought towards the end of the "Desert Jewel" act.


title: Human migration

text: Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to another (external migration), but internal migration (within a single country) is also possible; indeed, this is the dominant form of human migration globally. Migration is often associated with better human capital at both individual and household level, and with better access to migration networks, facilitating a possible second move. It has a high potential to improve human development, and some studies confirm that migration is the most direct route out of poverty.Age is also important for both work and non-work migration. People may migrate as individuals, in family units or in large groups. There are four major forms of migration: invasion, conquest, colonization and emigration/immigration.


title: Human migration

text: Persons moving from their home due to forced displacement (such as a natural disaster or civil disturbance) may be described as displaced persons or, if remaining in the home country, internally-displaced persons. A person who seeks refuge in another country can, if the reason for leaving the home country is political, religious, or another form of persecution, make a formal application to that country where refuge is sought and is then usually described as an asylum seeker. If this application is successful, this person's legal status becomes refugee.


title: Human migration

text: In contemporary times, migration governance has become closely associated with state sovereignty. States retain the power of decide on the entry and stay of non-nationals because migration directly affects some of the defining elements of a state.


title: Human migration

text: Depending on the goal on food is good and reason for relocation, people who migrate can be divided into three categories: migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Each category is defined broadly as the mixed circumstances that motivate a person to change their location.


title: Human migration

text: As such, "migrants" are traditionally described as persons who change the country of their residence for general reasons and purposes. These purposes may include the search for better job opportunities or healthcare needs. This term is the most generally defined one as anyone changing their geographic location permanently can be considered a migrant.


title: Human migration

text: Contrast, "refugees" are not defined and described as persons who do not willingly relocate. The reasons for the refugees' migration usually involve war actions within the country or other forms of oppression, coming either from the government or non-governmental sources. Refugees are usually associated with people who must unwillingly relocate as fast as possible; hence, such migrants will likely relocate undocumented.


title: Human migration

text: Asylum seekers are associated with persons who also leave their country unwillingly, yet, who also do not do so under oppressing circumstances such as war or death threats. The motivation to leave the country for asylum seekers might involve an unstable economic or political situation or high rates of crime. Thus, asylum seekers relocate predominantly to escape the degradation of the quality of their lives.


title: Human migration

text: Nomadic movements usually are not regarded as migrations, as the movement is generally seasonal, there is no intention to settle in the new place, and only a few people have retained this form of lifestyle in modern times. Temporary movement for travel, tourism, pilgrimages, or the commute is also not regarded as migration, in the absence of an intention to live and settle in the visited places.


title: Human migration

text: The World Bank has published three editions of its "Migration and Remittances Factbook", beginning in 2008, with a second edition appearing in 2011 and a third in 2016. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has published ten editions of the "World Migration Report" since 1999. The United Nations Statistics Division also keeps a database on worldwide migration. Recent advances in research on migration via the Internet promise better understanding of migration patterns and migration motives.


title: Human migration

text: Structurally, there is substantial South-South and North-North migration; in 2013, 38% of all migrants had migrated from developing countries to other developing countries, while 23% had migrated from high-income OECD countries to other high-income countries. The United Nations Population Fund says that "while the North has experienced a higher absolute increase in the migrant stock since 2000 (32 million) compared to the South (25 million), the South recorded a higher growth rate. Between 2000 and 2013, the average annual rate of change of the migrant population in developing regions (2.3%) slightly exceeded that of the developed regions (2.1%)."


title: Human migration

text: Substantial internal migration can also take place within a country, either seasonal human migration (mainly related to agriculture and tourism to urban places), or shifts of the population into cities (urbanisation) or out of cities (suburbanisation). However, studies of worldwide migration patterns tend to limit their scope to international migration.


title: Human migration

text: Almost half of these migrants are women, one of the most significant migrant-pattern changes in the last half-century. Women migrate alone or with their family members and community. Even though female migration is largely viewed as an association rather than independent migration, emerging studies argue complex and manifold reasons for this.


title: Human migration

text: Besides these rankings, according to absolute numbers of migrants, the "Migration and Remittances Factbook" also gives statistics for top immigration destination countries and top emigration origin countries according to percentage of the population; the countries that appear at the top of those rankings are entirely different than the ones in the above rankings and tend to be much smaller countries.


title: Human migration

text: The impacts of human migration on the world economy have been largely positive. In 2015, migrants, who constituted 3.3% of the world population, contributed 9.4% of global GDP.


title: Human migration

text: At a microeconomic level, the value of a human mobility is largely recognized by firms. A 2021 survey by the Boston Consulting Group found that 72% of 850+ executives across several countries and industries believed that migration benefited their countries, and 45% considered globally diverse employees a strategic advantage.


title: Human migration

text: According to the Centre for Global Development, opening all borders could add $78 trillion to the world GDP.


title: Human migration

text: Remittances (funds transferred by migrant workers to their home country) form a substantial part of the economy of some countries. The top ten remittance recipients in 2018.


title: Human migration

text: In addition to economic impacts, migrants also make substantial contributions in sociocultural and civic-political life. Sociocultural contributions occur in the following areas of societies: food/cuisine, sport, music, art/culture, ideas and beliefs; civic-political contributions relate to participation in civic duties in the context of accepted authority of the State. It is in recognition of the importance of these remittances that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 targets to substantially reduce the transaction costs of migrants remittances to less than 3% by 2030.


title: Human migration

text: The distinction between "involuntary" (fleeing political conflict or natural disaster) and "voluntary migration" (economic or labour migration) is difficult to make and partially subjective, as the motivators for migration are often correlated. The World Bank estimated that, as of 2010, 16.3 million or 7.6% of migrants qualified as refugees. This number grew to 19.5 million by 2014 (comprising approximately 7.9% of the total number of migrants, based on the figure recorded in 2013). At levels of roughly 3 percent the share of migrants among the world population has remained remarkably constant over the last 5 decades.


title: Human migration

text: Voluntary migration is based on the initiative and the free will of the person and is influenced by a combination of factors: economic, political and social: either in the migrants` country of origin (determinant factors or "push factors") or in the country of destination (attraction factors or "pull factors").


title: Human migration

text: "Push-pull factors" are the reasons that push or attract people to a particular place. "Push" factors are the negative aspects(for example wars) of the country of origin, often decisive in people's choice to emigrate. The "pull" factors are the positive aspects of a different country that encourages people to emigrate to seek a better life. For example, the government of Armenia periodically gives incentives to people who will migrate to live in villages close to the border with Azerbaijan. This is an implementation of a push strategy, and the reason people don't want to live near the border is security concerns given tensions and hostility because of Azerbaijan.


title: Human migration

text: Although the push-pull factors are opposed, both are sides of the same coin, being equally important. Although specific to forced migration, any other harmful factor can be considered a "push factor" or determinant/trigger factor, such examples being: poor quality of life, lack of jobs, excessive pollution, hunger, drought or natural disasters. Such conditions represent decisive reasons for voluntary migration, the population preferring to migrate in order to prevent financially unfavorable situations or even emotional and physical suffering.


title: Human migration

text: There exist contested definitions of forced migration. However, the editors of a leading scientific journal on the subject, the "Forced Migration Review", offer the following definition: Forced migration refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (displaced by conflict) as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects. These different causes of migration leave people with one choice, to move to a new environment. Immigrants leave their beloved homes to seek a life in camps, spontaneous settlement, and countries of asylum.


title: Human migration

text: By the end of 2018, there were an estimated 67.2 million forced migrants globally25.9 million refugees displaced from their countries, and 41.3 million internally displaced persons that had been displaced within their countries for different reasons.


title: Human migration

text: Numerous causes impel migrants to move to another country. For instance, globalization has increased the demand for workers in order to sustain national economies. Thus one category of economic migrants – generally from impoverished developing countries – migrates to obtain sufficient income for survival.


title: Human migration

text: Such migrants often send some of their income homes to family members in the form of economic remittances, which have become an economic staple in a number of developing countries. People may also move or are forced to move as a result of conflict, of human-rights violations, of violence, or to escape persecution. In 2013 it was estimated that around 51.2 million people fell into this category. Other reasons people may move include to gain access to opportunities and services or to escape extreme weather. This type of movement, usually from rural to urban areas, may be classed as internal migration. Sociology-cultural and ego-historical factors also play a major role. In North Africa, for example, emigrating to Europe counts as a sign of social prestige. Moreover, many countries were former colonies. This means that many have relatives who live legally in the (former) colonial metro pole and who often provide important help for immigrants arriving in that metropole.


title: Human migration

text: Relatives may help with job research and with accommodation. The geographical proximity of Africa to Europe and the long historical ties between Northern and Southern Mediterranean countries also prompt many to migrate.


title: Human migration

text: Whether a person decides to move to another country depends on the relative skill premier of the source and host countries. One is speaking of positive selection when the host country shows a higher skill premium than the source country. On the other hand, negative selection occurs when the source country displays a lower skill premium. The relative skill premia define migrants selectivity. Age heaping techniques display one method to measure the relative skill premium of a country.


title: Human migration

text: A number of theories attempt to explain the international flow of capital and people from one country to another.


title: Human migration

text: Recent academic output on migration comprises mainly journal articles. The long-term trend shows a gradual increase in academic publishing on migration, which is likely to be related to the general expansion of academic literature production, and the increased prominence of migration research.


title: Human migration

text: Migration and its research have further changed with the revolution in information and communication technologies.


title: Human migration

text: This migration theory states that the main reason for labour migration is wage difference between two geographic locations. These wage differences are usually linked to geographic labour demand and supply. It can be said that areas with a shortage of labour but an excess of capital have a high relative wage while areas with a high labour supply and a dearth of capital have a low relative wage. Labour tends to flow from low-wage areas to high-wage areas. Often, with this flow of labour comes changes in the sending and the receiving country. Neoclassical economic theory best describes transnational migration because it is not confined by international immigration laws and similar governmental regulations.


title: Human migration

text: Dual labour market theory states that pull factors in more developed countries mainly cause migration. This theory assumes that the labour markets in these developed countries consist of two segments: the primary market, which requires high-skilled labour, and the secondary market, which is very labour-intensive, requiring low-skilled workers. This theory assumes that migration from less developed countries into more developed countries results from a pull created by a need for labour in the developed countries in their secondary market. Migrant workers are needed to fill the lowest rung of the labour market because the native labourers do not want to do these jobs as they present a lack of mobility. This creates a need for migrant workers. Furthermore, the initial dearth in available labour pushes wages up, making migration even more enticing.


title: Human migration

text: This theory states that migration flows and patterns can't be explained solely at the level of individual workers and their economic incentives but that wider social entities must also be considered. One such social entity is the household. Migration can be viewed as a result of risk aversion from a household that has insufficient income. In this case, the household needs extra capital that can be achieved through remittances sent back by family members who participate in migrant labour abroad. These remittances can also have a broader effect on the economy of the sending country as a whole as they bring in capital. Recent research has examined a decline in US interstate migration from 1991 to 2011, theorising that the reduced interstate migration is due to a decline in the geographic specificity of occupations and an increase in workers' ability to learn about other locations before moving there, through both information technology and inexpensive travel. Other researchers find that the location-specific nature of housing is more important than moving costs in determining labour reallocation.


title: Human migration

text: Relative deprivation theory states that awareness of the income difference between neighbours or other households in the migrant-sending community is essential in migration. The incentive to migrate is a lot higher in areas with a high level of economic inequality. In the short run, remittances may increase inequality, but in the long run, they may decrease it. There are two stages of migration for workers: first, they invest in human capital formation, and then they try to capitalise on their investments. In this way, successful migrants may use their new capital to provide better schooling for their children and better homes for their families. Successful high-skilled emigrants may serve as an example for neighbours and potential migrants who hope to achieve that level of success.


title: Human migration

text: World-systems theory looks at migration from a global perspective. It explains that interaction between different societies can be an important factor in social change. Trade with one country, which causes an economic decline in another, may create incentive to migrate to a country with a more vibrant economy. It can be argued that even after decolonisation, the economic dependence of former colonies remains on mother countries. However, this view of international trade is controversial, and some argue that free trade can reduce migration between developing and developed countries. It can be argued that the developed countries import labour-intensive goods, which causes an increase in the employment of unskilled workers in the less developed countries, decreasing the outflow of migrant workers. Exporting capital-intensive goods from rich countries to developing countries also equalises income and employment conditions, thus slowing migration. In either direction, this theory can be used to explain migration between countries that are geographically far apart.


title: Human migration

text: Based on the history of human migration osmosis theory studies the evolution of its natural determinants. In this theory migration is divided into two main types: simple and complicated. The simple migration is divided, in its turn, into diffusion, stabilisation and concentration periods. During these periods, water availability, adequate climate, security and population density represent the natural determinants of human migration. The complicated migration is characterised by the speedy evolution and the emergence of new sub-determinants, notably earning, unemployment, networks, and migration policies. Osmosis theory explains analogically human migration by the biophysical phenomenon of osmosis. In this respect, the countries are represented by animal cells, the borders by the semipermeable membranes and the humans by ions of water. According to the theory, according to the osmosis phenomenon, humans migrate from countries with less migration pressure to countries with high migration pressure. To measure the latter, the natural determinants of human migration replace the variables of the second principle of thermodynamics used to measure the osmotic pressure.


title: Human migration

text: A number of social scientists have examined immigration from a sociological perspective, paying particular attention to how immigration affects and is affected by, matters of race and ethnicity, as well as social structure. They have produced three main sociological perspectives:


title: Human migration

text: More recently, as attention has shifted away from countries of destination, sociologists have attempted to understand how transnationalism allows us to understand the interplay between migrants, their countries of destination, and their countries of origins. In this framework, work on social remittances by Peggy Levitt and others has led to a stronger conceptualisation of how migrants affect socio-political processes in their countries of origin.


title: Human migration

text: Political scientists have put forth a number of theoretical frameworks relating to migration, offering different perspectives on processes of security, citizenship, and international relations. The political importance of diasporas has also become a growing field of interest, as scholars examine questions of diaspora activism, state-diaspora relations, out-of-country voting processes, and states' soft power strategies. In this field, the majority of work has focused on immigration politics, viewing migration from the perspective of the country of destination. With regard to emigration processes, political scientists have expanded on Albert Hirschman's framework on '"voice" vs. "exit" to discuss how emigration affects the politics within countries of origin.


title: Human migration

text: Certain laws of social science have been proposed to describe human migration. The following was a standard list after Ernst Georg Ravenstein's proposal in the 1880s:


title: Human migration

text: Lee's laws divide factors causing migrations into two groups of factors: push and pull factors. Push factors are things that are unfavourable about the area that one lives in, and pull factors are things that attract one to another area.


title: Human migration

text: The modern field of climate history suggests that the successive waves of Eurasian nomadic movement throughout history have had their origins in climatic cycles, which have expanded or contracted pastureland in Central Asia, especially Mongolia and to its west the Altai. People were displaced from their home ground by other tribes trying to find land that essential flocks could graze, each group pushing the next further to the south and west, into the highlands of Anatolia, the Pannonian Plain, into Mesopotamia, or southwards, into the rich pastures of China. Bogumil Terminski uses the term "migratory domino effect" to describe this process in the context of Sea People invasion.


title: Human migration

text: The theory is that migration occurs because individuals search for food, sex and security outside their usual habitation; Idyorough (2008) believes that towns and cities are a creation of the human struggle to obtain food, sex and security. To produce food, security and reproduction, human beings must, out of necessity, move out of their usual habitation and enter into indispensable social relationships that are cooperative or antagonistic. Human beings also develop the tools and equipment to interact with nature to produce the desired food and security. The improved relationship (cooperative relationships) among human beings and improved technology further conditioned by the push and pull factors all interact together to cause or bring about migration and higher concentration of individuals into towns and cities. The higher the technology of production of food and security and the higher the cooperative relationship among human beings in the production of food and security and the reproduction of the human species, the higher would be the push and pull factors in the migration and concentration of human beings in towns and cities. Countryside, towns and cities do not just exist, but they do so to meet the basic human needs of food, security and the reproduction of the human species. Therefore, migration occurs because individuals search for food, sex and security outside their usual habitation. Social services in the towns and cities are provided to meet these basic needs for human survival and pleasure.


title: Human migration

text: By their very nature, international migration and displacement are transnational issues concerning the origin and destination States and States through which migrants may travel (often referred to as “transit” States) or in which they are hosted following displacement across national borders. And yet, somewhat paradoxically, the majority of migration governance has historically remained with individual states. Their policies and regulations on migration are typically made at the national level. For the most part, migration governance has been closely associated with State sovereignty. States retain the power of deciding on the entry and stay of non-nationals because migration directly affects some of the defining elements of a State. Comparative surveys reveal varying degrees of openness to migrants across countries, considering policies such as visa availability, employment prerequisites, and paths to residency.


title: Human migration

text: Bilateral and multilateral arrangements are features of migration governance at an international level. There are several global arrangements in the form of international treaties in which States have reached an agreement on the application of human rights and the related responsibilities of States in specific areas. The 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) are two significant examples notable for being widely ratified. Other migration conventions have not been so broadly accepted, such as the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which still has no traditional countries of destination among its States parties. Beyond this, there have been numerous multilateral and global initiatives, dialogues and processes on migration over several decades. The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (Global Compact for Migration) is another milestone, as the first internationally negotiated statement of objectives for migration governance striking a balance between migrants' rights and the principle of States' sovereignty over their territory. Although it is not legally binding, the Global Compact for Migration was adopted by consensus in December 2018 at a United Nations conference in which more than 150 United Nations Member States participated and, later that same month, in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), by a vote among the Member States of 152 to 5 (with 12 abstentions).


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Yakuza is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Sega for the PlayStation 2. It was released in 2005 in Japan and in September 2006 internationally. The story follows Kazuma Kiryu, a yakuza member who spent ten years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After being released, he learns that the criminal underworld is searching for 10 billion yen that has been stolen from the Tojo clan. He comes across an orphan named Haruka who is being targeted by the clan. She is believed to have the key to their lost money and Kiryu resolves to protect her. The game takes place in Kamurocho, a realistic recreation of Tokyo's Kabukicho district.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: "Yakuza" takes place in an open world and makes use of role-playing elements. The player gains experience from combat which is used to improve Kiryu's fighting capabilities. In order to finance the game's expensive production, Sega contracted a tie-in campaign with famous Japanese companies. A sequel, "Yakuza 2" was released in Japan in 2006. The game, along with its sequel, received an HD remaster, released in Japan in 2012. A remake of the first game, "Yakuza Kiwami", was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in 2016, and later ported to Windows and Xbox One.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The critical reception was mostly positive. Although some criticized its clunky mechanics, the game was received well for its presentation and story. "Yakuza" was a commercial success, having sold over 1 million units on PS2. It went on to spawn an entire franchise of games.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: "Yakuza" is a third-person open world action-adventure game where the player controls Kazuma Kiryu in the city of Kamurocho. The game also incorporates role-playing elements. With the experience gained from combat, the player can level up Kiryu's attributes and increase his fighting capabilities in order to perform Heat actions which greatly damage his enemies. "Yakuza" utilizes quick time events during the fights.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: While Kamurocho's map shows the linear path to continue the main story, the player may take on missions and side quests found around the city. The game is composed of three interconnected modes called Event, Adventure and Battle. In Encounter Battles, the player randomly encounters foes. Winning these battle nets some cash, which can be used to purchase equipment or healing items. Items can be bought in shops based on real life stores and are divided into multiple real companies.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The Battle Mode includes the Underground Arena which is located in Kamurocho's Purgatory area. Cutscenes are enabled after completing specific actions or beating a certain character during the Adventure Mode. They also introduce the chapter's objectives. Various minigames are available within 'Adventure Mode' in the form of arcade machines scattered throughout the game world. These include a claw crane, a batting cage, a casino (Baccarat (card game), blackjack and roulette), toba, and pachislot.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The game follows the story of Kazuma Kiryu (Darryl Kurylo/Takaya Kuroda), a yakuza whose life changes when his boss, Sohei Dojima, attempts to rape Kiryu's childhood friend, Yumi Sawamura (Eliza Dushku/Miyako Uesaka). When Dojima is murdered by Kiryu's best friend and fellow yakuza, Akira Nishikiyama (Michael Rosenbaum/Kazuhiro Nakaya), Kiryu accepts blame for the murder, and is imprisoned for ten years. During his incarceration, Kiryu is expelled from his organization, the Tojo Clan, and Yumi goes missing. After his release, he learns that ten billion yen has been stolen from the Tojo Clan's private bank, and that the entire Japanese underworld is now searching for the lost wealth.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Kiryu asks his former captain and adopted father, Shintaro Kazama (Roger L. Jackson/Tetsuya Watari), about Yumi's disappearance, but Nishikiyama, who now controls his own gang, shoots Kazama after he reveals that Yumi was connected to the lost money. Kiryu manages to escape from the Tojo, who now regard him as an enemy and put a contract out on his life. His escape is aided by a detective named Makoto Date (Bill Farmer/Kazuhiro Yamaji), who had been investigating Kiryu ever since the death of Dojima, and is now investigating the murder of Third Chairman Masaru Sera (Alan Dale/Ryuji Mizuki), the former Tojo Clan leader whose death has triggered a war between Kazama, Nishikiyama, and an ambitious yakuza boss, Futoshi Shimano (Michael Madsen/Naomi Kusumi).


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: In his search for Yumi, Kiryu finds an orphan named Haruka Sawamura (Debi Derryberry/Rie Kugimiya) who is searching for her mother, Mizuki, who Date identifies as Yumi's younger sister. Haruka is also targeted by the yakuza, who believe that her pendant, which Yumi gave to her for safekeeping, is the key to the missing ten billion. Kazuma is forced to protect her from not just Shimano and Nishikiyama, but also Goro Majima (Mark Hamill/Hidenari Ugaki), Shimano's sadomasochistic lieutenant, as well as the Omi Alliance, a rival yakuza organization, the Snake Flower Triad, led by Kiryu's old enemy Lau Ka Long (James Horan/Shinichi Takizawa), and the MIA, a mysterious group with ties to the Japanese government.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Eventually, Kiryu learns from Kazama that Haruka is actually Yumi's daughter, and that "Mizuki" is Yumi under an assumed identity. Yumi suffered amnesia after she was attacked by Dojima, but recovered and married Kyohei Jingu (Robin Atkin Downes/Hiroaki Yoshida), an ambitious politician who allied himself with Sera. After accidentally killing a journalist who had tried to blackmail him with evidence that he committed adultery, Jingu asked Sera to have Yumi and Haruka murdered. Kazama saved the pair and persuaded Sera to turn on Jingu, having learned that the latter was using the clan to launder ten billion yen for his own purposes. It is then revealed that Kazama, Yumi and Sera robbed the ten billion yen so that Jingu wouldn't use it to bribe the clan. Shimano ambushes them but Kiryu defeats him; however, Shimano mortally wounds Kazama with a grenade and his ally, Omi Alliance lieutenant Yukio Terada (Gregg Berger/Kenji Nomura), then shoots him dead in revenge. Before dying, Kazama confesses to Kiryu that he killed his parents when he was young and that he in fact operated the Sunflower Orphanage Kiryu grew up in.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Armed with the knowledge of the money's location, Kiryu and Haruka head to Millennium Tower, where they meet Yumi, who has recovered her memories and now intends to destroy the money with a bomb. Jingu arrives with the MIA and the Omi Alliance, revealing that he intends to destroy the Tojo Clan and ally himself with the Alliance to control Japan. Kiryu subdues him and his men, but Nishikiyama, revealed to be cooperating with Jingu after the latter bribed him, arrives to challenge Kiryu and take the money for himself. Kiryu defeats him. Jingu appears and shoots Yumi before a remorseful Nishikiyama stabs him and detonates the bomb by shooting at it, killing them both and destroying the entire floor in the process. Yumi then dies in Kiryu's arms, and with her, Nishiki and Kazama now dead, Kiryu decides to return to prison, but Date talks him out of it by reminding him that he is the only one who can take care of Haruka now. The Tojo Clan asks Kiryu to assume the role of Fourth Chairman in accordance with Sera's will, to which Kiryu complies but he retires instead mere hours later and names Terada as the new Chairman to rebuild the clan. The story ends with Kiryu beginning a new life as a civilian with Haruka as his newly-adopted daughter.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The game was first hinted at in August 2005 as "Project J." Later that month, details were announced. Producer Toshihiro Nagoshi explained "For a while now, I've wanted to create a powerful, gritty drama where you feel the sense of humanity," Nagoshi explained. "After a lot of thought, this is the product that we've arrived at." The budget of the game was 2.4 billion yen (approx. $21 million). Nagoshi chose the focus on yakuzas due to the amount of violence the subject tends to incorporate. This was also done in order to attract more gamers with this theme, believing there were less gamers during the time the game was made.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Most of the team members are from different backgrounds, such as developers that have their roots in the arcade with titles such as "Virtua Fighter 3" and "Super Monkey Ball", as well as team members having experience in novel console titles like "Panzer Dragoon" and "Jet Set Radio". The team members all felt that they went against their careers considering that the new game didn't match anything they had previously done. Nagoshi felt that this was an advantage, making them all play on even playing field. Anything that was done had to go through Nagoshi first, since only he had a concrete idea of how the game is going to end up.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: During development, the team researched hostess clubs, which are prominently featured in the story, even attending hostess clubs themselves, including Roppongi and Kabukicho. The fictional setting of Kamurocho in the game was closely based on the red-light district of Kabukicho in Tokyo. The development team wanted to accurately portray yakuza, especially such as their obsession with "jingi", their code of honor. Originally the game had scenes where pinky fingers were cut off, a traditional punishment, but these scenes were removed so that CERO would give "Yakuza" a favorable rating. Though using the gameplay schematics of one of Nagoshi's earlier titles, "SpikeOut", as basis for the combat, "Yakuza" utilized an entirely new engine crafted for the game. Some of the software used to help develop the game were Autodesk Softimage.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The game's development team was divided into two groups: one writing the main plot and the other writing the subplots. Novelist Hase Seishu was the lead writer of the central plot. Seishu was brought on board two years before the game development started. Seishu had been a gamer since the days of "Space Invaders", but over the past four or five years, he had lost interest, as he was less concerned with 3D visuals and gameplay than he was with story. "Yakuza" caught his attention, and he decided to accept the project even though it came at the busiest point of his professional writing career. Nagoshi wanted players to get enjoyment from merely walking through Kamurocho. Nagoshi reveals that the game's title, which translates to "Like a Dragon," was his creation; Nagoshi felt that dragons have a strong image, which would evoke Kazuma's strength and manliness.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Although Sega did have a plot in mind when they approached Seishu, they hoped that he could add realism and emotional weight to the scenes. Under Seishu's direction, the ages of Makoto Date and Kazuma Kiryu were modified. Writing the subplots did not prove challenging, as there was not a strict pattern to follow. The team wanted all subplots to keep the feeling from the main storyline. Several ideas did not make it into the game because the staff members found them silly. One subplot that made the final cut, which involves a man who tried to commit suicide when he was rejected by a girl, was nearly removed from this game for this reason.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: In localizing the game, Sega funded an aggressive web and print advertising campaign, as well as an English voice cast composed almost entirely of cult performers like Michael Madsen, Eliza Dushku and Mark Hamill. Localization producer Kevin Frane recalls "When we released the original Yakuza, we knew that the game had been a hit in Japan, and we wanted to make sure that we put our best foot forward in releasing a new and unique product to the Western market that would draw just as much acclaim." However, technical limitations of the format made it impossible for the team to include both audio tracks on the disc. Scott A. Steinberg at Sega of America commented "in bringing the game to the U.S. market, we wanted to ensure that the subtle nuances of the game were brought to life." English voice actor Darryl Kurylo said that he wanted to sound as good as possible after being impressed by the characterization of Kiryu and the lines he had to give. However, he regrets some lines were lost in translation of the original game. Nevertheless, Kurylo enjoyed the experience to the point of playing the game multiple times alongside his son. In order to fit the lipsyncing from the original Japanese game, Kurylo often had to say a line in different styles. Kurylo still found more fun when doing the yells for the fight scenes.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: There were also problems with promoting "Yakuza" before its English release. Frane added that the first trailer for the game "was constructed using an old scratch track [an unfinished soundtrack]. This made the rounds fairly quickly across gaming fan sites, highlighting what was considered poor quality, but this trailer actually wasn't at all representative of the voice quality of the finished product. The damage had already been done, though, for the most part, and so a lot of fans probably still don't realize that."


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The "Ryū ga Gotoku & Ryū ga Gotoku 2 Original Sound Track" (HCV-287) dual-disc boxset was published by Wave Master in Japan on January 25, 2007. The music was composed by Hidenori Shoji, Sachio Ogawa, Keitaro Hanada, Fumio Ito, Yuri Fukuda. The closing theme is John Newton's rendition of "Amazing Grace", a classic hymn sung in English by Eri Kawai; additional performers are Makotch (vocals), Yuri (chorus) and Tomica (chorus).


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: In order to both support the game's expensive production, including making Kamurocho a realistic recreation of Tokyo's Kabukicho, Sega contracted a tie-in campaign with famous Japanese companies. As a result, some in-game locations, such as the Don Quijote discount store and the Club Sega game centers are modeled after the real life buildings.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Sega also used product placement, and introduced ads within the game. This includes a collaboration with the Japanese Suntory group which advertises in-game with ad banners, Boss Coffee ads and vending machines are also visible in Kamurocho; cans are purchasable within Kamurocho stores. Since the group produces local drinks and is a distributor of foreign alcohols, all brands appearing in Kamurocho's bars and pubs, being Whiskey, Jack Daniel's Bourbon or Carlsberg Beer, are real brands of Suntory. In promoting the game, Sega hired Takashi Miike. A member from the team had previously worked with Toei Company on V-cinema. Sega approached many companies to try to secure product placement, like car companies and fashion companies. But because of the mature nature of the Yakuza game, they were rejected by most of them. The whiskey distributor Suntory accepted, however, since they felt the game's demographic meshed nicely with the whiskey-drinking demographic.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: Other product placements include Shogakukan's "Sabra" magazine, Fujisankei Communications Group's "" magazine and Panini Group's World Club Cup stickers. The latter appears in a TV ad, together with a Suntory drink and a Sega mahjong game, which is displayed in the Kamurocho theater wall screen. Sega's "" crane game machines are included as a minigame, and arcade cabinets of "Virtua Fighter 4" and "SpikeOut" can be seen in the Club Sega game centers.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: As part of the pre-ordering campaign, the Japanese first edition was bundled with two limited items, a Tojo Clan lapel pin replica (特製ピンバッジ, "tokusei pin baju", lit. "deluxe pin badge") and a monography called "Kamutai Magazine" (December 2005 issue). The original PlayStation 2 the Best edition (SLPM-74234) included a bonus DVD with the trailer of "Yakuza 2", while the reprint (SLPM-74253) which was released during the production of the spin-off was repackaged with a rose cover art instead of white (a.k.a. リパッケージ版, "ripakkeji han" lit. "repackage edition") and a bonus DVD with the trailer of "Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!", a voice cast message and a 20-minute producer interview.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: There were no special editions of the game released outside Japan, but Sega Europe and America did use online marketing. A flash game, "CodeYakuza.com", was created and an English subtitled version of the game's 2006 live-action adaption directed by Takashi Miike, "Like a Dragon: Prologue", was freely downloadable on the game's official website.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: On November 1, 2012, a PlayStation 3 HD remaster of the Japanese original version of "Yakuza" and "Yakuza 2" titled was released in Japan. This "HD edition" features both game remasters bundled in a single Blu-ray disc and later as a downloadable title on the Japanese PlayStation Store.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: On December 11, 2014, this "HD edition" was re-released in the budget range "PlayStation 3 the Best" dedicated to best sellers on the Japanese domestic market. Simultaneously to this Blu-ray re-release, an 18.1GB downloadable version was also made available for purchase on the Japanese PlayStation Store. The HD edition was later released for Wii U on August 8, 2013 in Japan. This Wii U release is notable for being the first port of the PlayStation-exclusive "Yakuza" series on a non-Sony platform.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The game was heavily acclaimed in Japan for combining innovative gameplay with cinema-like story telling and character development on the back of Japan's criminal underground. "Yakuza" received generally positive reviews among Western critics earning a 75 out of 100 in Metacritic. "IGN" praised its combat system and sense of style but criticized its tedious gameplay. "Newtype USA" called it "the adult-themed spiritual successor to the Dreamcast's Shenmue series" and found that the fighting system would interest many players. GamePro similarly compared it with "Shenmue" based on the amount of subscenarios. 1UP.com saw the potential of the fighting as it often earned the player money which can be used to buy items in the city. GameRevolution criticized the number of random encounters which resulted in a large amount of loading times. He also criticized the simplicity of the fighting system and few notable issues with GameTrailers agreeing on the difficulty in centering on an enemy. The amount of sidequests available received generally favorable response.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The game has been praised for the design of the city. 1Up.com wrote it was an "incredibly realistic and accurate portrayal of Tokyo's Kabuki-cho district", while IGN thought "the city actually feels alive." However, "GameRevolution" complained there is not much not to do in the streets "besides look for people who want to talk to you and begin missions". Delivery of the English voice acting was also praised. GameRevolution also praised it as "From an audio/video standpoint, Yakuza is exceptionally well-produced. Although the cut-scenes are all use the in-game engine, the complicated facial expressions are shockingly intricate and colorful, while some of the floral tattoos look too good to be true." UGO Networks praised the seriousness of the story as the game "respects and appreciates yakuza culture and its often forgotten roots in the samurai tradition/bushido code" and thus lamented the lack of the Japanese audio. GameTrailers also wished for a Japanese audio option, despite noting the English dub did a fine job. GameZone called it an "epic story that will keep you exploring the world filled with criminals and Kazuma's only friends who will help him along the way." Eurogamer also commented on the narrative praising the contrast between Kiryu's kindness and Nishikiyama's brooding.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: The game sold 232,650 units in Japan during 2005. In 2006 it shipped 345,323 units. Due to its commercial success on the Japanese market, "Yakuza" had a PlayStation 2 the Best edition on October 26, 2006, and an exceptional reprint on December 6, 2007. In contrast, this Asian long seller title never had a Platinum or Greatest Hits re-release on the western markets. The PS2 version had sold over 1 million copies.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: According to Toshihiro Nagoshi "[Ryu ga Gotoku was successful] because there were only a few titles which directly portray original Japanese culture. Also, there is no other title which attempts to represent such a Japanese world view with a big budget title." The game was also recognized for excellence in the 2007 Japan Game Awards.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: A sequel, titled "Yakuza 2", was released in Japan on December 7, 2006, Sega promising an improved fighting system and further exploration. Nagoshi commented on some of his goals with" Yakuza 2" being providing a deeper dramatic storyline over what was found in the original, the game also has some themes that were not in the original, including an adult love story.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: A remake of "Yakuza", titled "", was released on January 21, 2016 in Japan for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. "Kiwami" improved the resolution, framerate, textures and loading times compared to the original game, and additional content was added to resolve some of the more confusing plot points and establish connections to the prequel title "Yakuza 0".


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: "Yakuza" was the first and (until the release of "Judgment") only game in the series to feature an English dub. The original game's localization and English dub, and the lack of Japanese audio as an option, has been retrospectively highlighted by critics as a perceived flaw of the game's original Western release. In particular, the dub has been criticized for the perceived poor quality of its voice acting, and the excessive use of profanity in its script, which was seen by some as an inappropriate attempt to appeal to the Western market. An unofficial undub patch, which also revised the game's English script, was created by a fan as a result of the English dub's poor reception.


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: In 2006, Takeshi Miyasaka directed a prequel "" (龍が如く 〜序章〜, "ryu ga gotoku -joshou-") with mixed martial artist and puroresu wrestler Masakatsu Funaki as Kazuma Kiryu. A film adaptation "Like a Dragon" (龍が如く 劇場版, "ryu ga gotoku: gekijoban") was directed by Takashi Miike in 2007. Kazuma Kiryu's role is played by actor Kazuki Kitamura, known outside of Japan for his roles in Shohei Imamura's "The Eel", Takeshi Miike's "Dead or Alive" and Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill".


title: Yakuza (video game)

text: In September 2020, it was reported that Sega was developing a live-action adaptation for the video game with 1212 Entertainment and Wild Sheep Content. Erik Barmack, Roberto Grande and Joshua Long are set to produce the film.


title: The Big Read

text: The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey was the biggest single test of public reading taste to date, and culminated with several programmes hosted by celebrities, advocating their favourite books.


title: The Big Read

text: The BBC started the Big Read with the goal of finding the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS, and telephone. The show attracted controversy for adopting an allegedly sensationalist approach to literature, but supporters praised it for raising the public awareness of reading. The British public voted originally for any novel that they wished. From this, a list of 200 was drawn up, with the highest 21 then put forward for further voting, on the provision that only one book per author was permitted in the top 21. As the poll was based on novels, the plays of William Shakespeare were not part of the survey.


title: The Big Read

text: In the first stage, all four extant Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling were among the 25 leaders. So were both Middle-earth novels by J. R. R. Tolkien. The second stage featured 21 books by distinct authors: the top 25 with Rowling represented only by her fourth volume, "Goblet of Fire", and Tolkien only by "The Lord of the Rings". Those two novels finally placed fifth and first; the other preliminary leaders by Rowling and Tolkien nominally led the also-rans in ranks 22–25.


title: Mother

text: A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestational surrogacy.


title: Mother

text: An adoptive mother is a female who has become the child's parent through the legal process of adoption. A biological mother is the female genetic contributor to the creation of the infant, through sexual intercourse or egg donation. A biological mother may have legal obligations to a child not raised by her, such as an obligation of monetary support. A putative mother is a female whose biological relationship to a child is alleged but has not been established. A stepmother is a woman who is married to a child's father and they may form a family unit, but who generally does not have the legal rights and responsibilities of a parent in relation to the child.


title: Mother

text: A father is the male counterpart of a mother. Women who are pregnant may be referred to as expectant mothers or mothers-to-be, though such appellations are less readily applied to (biological) fathers or adoptive parents. The process of becoming a mother has been referred to as "matrescence".


title: Mother

text: The adjective "maternal" refers to a mother and comparatively to "paternal" for a father. The verb "to mother" means to procreate or to sire a child, or to provide care for a child, from which also derives the noun "mothering". Related terms of endearment are "mom" ("mama", "mommy"), "mum" ("mummy"), "mumsy", "mamacita" ("ma", "mam") and "mammy". A female role model that children can look up to is sometimes referred to as a "mother-figure".


title: Mother

text: Biological motherhood for humans, as in other mammals, occurs when a pregnant female gestates a fertilized ovum (the "egg"). A female can become pregnant through sexual intercourse after she has begun to ovulate. In well-nourished girls, menarche (the first menstrual period) usually takes place around the age of 12 or 13.


title: Mother

text: Typically, a fetus develops from the viable zygote, resulting in an embryo. Gestation occurs in the woman's uterus until the fetus (assuming it is carried to term) is sufficiently developed to be born. In humans, gestation is often around 9 months in duration, after which the woman experiences labor and gives birth. This is not always the case, however, as some babies are born prematurely, late, or in the case of stillbirth, do not survive gestation. Usually, once the baby is born, the mother produces milk via the lactation process. The mother's breast milk is the source of antibodies for the infant's immune system, and commonly the sole source of nutrition for newborns before they are able to eat and digest other foods; older infants and toddlers may continue to be breastfed, in combination with other foods, which should be introduced from approximately six months of age.


title: Mother

text: Childlessness is the state of not having children. Childlessness may have personal, social or political significance. Childlessness may be voluntary childlessness, which occurs by choice, or may be involuntary due to health problems or social circumstances. Motherhood is usually voluntary, but may also be the result of forced pregnancy, such as pregnancy from rape. Unwanted motherhood occurs especially in cultures which practice forced marriage and child marriage.


title: Mother

text: "Mother" can often apply to a woman other than the biological parent, especially if she fulfills the main social role in raising the child. This is commonly either an adoptive mother or a stepmother (the biologically unrelated partner of a child's father). The term "othermother" or "other mother" is also used in some contexts for women who provide care for a child not biologically their own in addition to the child's primary mother.


title: Mother

text: Adoption, in various forms, has been practiced throughout history, even predating human civilization. Modern systems of adoption, arising in the 20th century, tend to be governed by comprehensive statutes and regulations. In recent decades, international adoptions have become more and more common.


title: Mother

text: Adoption in the United States is common and relatively easy from a legal point of view (compared to other Western countries). In 2001, with over 127,000 adoptions, the US accounted for nearly half of the total number of adoptions worldwide.


title: Mother

text: A surrogate mother is a woman who bears a child that came from another woman's fertilized ovum on behalf of a couple unable to give birth to children. Thus the surrogate mother carries and gives birth to a child that she is not the biological mother of. Surrogate motherhood became possible with advances in reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization.


title: Mother

text: Not all women who become pregnant via in vitro fertilization are surrogate mothers. Surrogacy involves both a genetic mother, who provides the ovum, and a gestational (or surrogate) mother, who carries the child to term.


title: Mother

text: The possibility for lesbian and bisexual women in same-sex relationships to become mothers has increased over the past few decades due to technological developments. Modern lesbian parenting originated with women who were in heterosexual relationships who later identified as lesbian or bisexual, as changing attitudes provided more acceptance for non-heterosexual relationships. Other ways for such women to become mothers is through adopting, foster parenting or in vitro fertilization.


title: Mother

text: Transgender women may have biological children with a partner by utilizing their sperm to fertilize an egg and form an embryo. For transgender women, there is currently no accessible way to carry a child. However, research is being done on uterus transplants, which could potentially allow transgender women to carry and give birth to children through Caesarean section. Other types of motherhood include adoption or foster parenting. However, adoption agencies often refuse to work with transgender parents or are reluctant to do so.


title: Mother

text: Regarding women in the workforce, mothers are said to often follow a "mommy track" rather than being entirely "career women". Mothers may be stay at home mothers or working mothers. In recent decades there has been an increase in stay at home fathers too. Social views on these arrangements vary significantly by culture: in Europe for instance, in German-speaking countries there is a strong tradition of mothers exiting the workforce and being homemakers. Mothers have historically fulfilled the primary role in raising children, but since the late 20th century, the role of the father in child care has been given greater prominence and social acceptance in some Western countries. The 20th century also saw more and more women entering paid work. Mothers' rights within the workforce include maternity leave and parental leave.


title: Mother

text: The social role and experience of motherhood varies greatly depending upon location. Mothers are more likely than fathers to encourage assimilative and communion-enhancing patterns in their children. Mothers are more likely than fathers to acknowledge their children's contributions in conversation. The way mothers speak to their children ("motherese") is better suited to support very young children in their efforts to understand speech (in context of the reference English) than fathers.


title: Mother

text: Since the 1970s, in vitro fertilization has made pregnancy possible at ages well beyond "natural" limits, generating ethical controversy and forcing significant changes in the social meaning of motherhood. This is, however, a position highly biased by Western world locality: outside the Western world, in-vitro fertilization has far less prominence, importance or currency compared to primary, basic healthcare, women's basic health, reducing infant mortality and the prevention of life-threatening diseases such as polio, typhus and malaria.


title: Mother

text: Traditionally, and still in most parts of the world today, a mother was expected to be a married woman, with birth outside of marriage carrying a strong social stigma. Historically, this stigma not only applied to the mother, but also to her child. This continues to be the case in many parts of the developing world today, but in many Western countries the situation has changed radically, with single motherhood being much more socially acceptable now. For more details on these subjects, see Legitimacy (family law) and single parent.


title: Mother

text: The total fertility rate (TFR), that is, the number of children born per woman, differs greatly from country to country. The TFR in 2013 was estimated to be highest in Niger (7.03 children born per woman) and lowest in Singapore (0.79 children/woman).


title: Mother

text: In the United States, the TFR was estimated for 2013 at 2.06 births per woman. In 2011, the average age at first birth was 25.6 and 40.7% of births were to unmarried women.


title: Mother

text: A "maternal death" is defined by WHO as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes".


title: Mother

text: In 2006, the organization Save the Children has ranked the countries of the world, and found that Scandinavian countries are the safest places to give birth, whereas countries in sub-Saharan Africa are the least safe to give birth. This study argues a mother in the bottom ten ranked countries is over 750 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth, compared to a mother in the top ten ranked countries, and a mother in the bottom ten ranked countries is 28 times more likely to see her child die before reaching their first birthday.


title: Mother

text: The most recent data suggests that Italy, Sweden and Luxembourg are the safest countries in terms of maternal death and Afghanistan, Central African Republic and Malawi are the most dangerous.


title: Mother

text: Childbirth is an inherently dangerous and risky process, subject to many complications. The "natural" mortality rate of childbirth—where nothing is done to avert maternal death—has been estimated as being 1500 deaths per 100,000 births. Modern medicine has greatly alleviated the risk of childbirth. In modern Western countries the current maternal mortality rate is around 10 deaths per 100,000 births.


title: Mother

text: Nearly all world religions define tasks or roles for mothers through either religious law or through the glorification of mothers who served in substantial religious events. There are many examples of religious law relating to mothers and women.


title: Mother

text: Major world religions which have specific religious law or scriptural canon regarding mothers include: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Some examples of honoring motherhood include the Madonna or "Blessed Virgin Mother Mary" for Catholics, and the multiple positive references to active womanhood as a mother in the Book of Proverbs.


title: Mother

text: History records many conflicts between mothers and their children. Some even resulted in murder, such as the conflict between Cleopatra III of Egypt and her son Ptolemy X.


title: Mother

text: In modern cultures, matricide (the killing of one's mother) and filicide (the killing of one's son or daughter) have been studied but remain poorly understood. Psychosis and schizophrenia are common causes of both, and young, indigent mothers with a history of domestic abuse are slightly more likely to commit filicide. Mothers are more likely to commit filicide than fathers when the child is 8 years old or younger. Matricide is most frequently committed by adult sons.


title: Mother

text: In the United States in 2012, there were 130 matricides (0.4 per million people) and 383 filicides (1.2 per million), or 1.4 incidents per day.


title: Mother

text: Throughout history, mothers have been depicted in a variety of art works, including paintings, sculptures and written texts, that have helped define the cultural meaning of ‘mother’, as well as ideals and taboos of motherhood.


title: Mother

text: Paintings of mothers with their children have a long tradition in France. In the 18th century, these works embodied the Enlightenment's preoccupation with strong family bonds and the relation between mothers and children.


title: Mother

text: At the end of the nineteenth century, Mary Cassatt was a painter well known for her portraits of mothers.


title: Mother

text: American poet, essayist and feminist Adrienne Rich has noted “the disjuncture between motherhood as patriarchal institution and motherhood as complexly and variously lived experience”. The vast majority of works depicting motherhood in western art history have been created by artists who are men, with very few having been created by women or mothers themselves, and these often focus on the “institution of motherhood” rather than diverse lived experiences. At the same time, art concerning motherhood has been historically marginalized within the feminist art movement, though this is changing with an increasing number of feminist publications addressing this topic.


title: Mother

text: The institution of motherhood in western art is often depicted through “the myth of the all-loving, all-forgiving and all-sacrificing mother” and related ideals. Examples include works featuring the Virgin Mary, an archetypal mother and a key historical basis for depictions of mothers in western art from the European Renaissance onwards. Mothers depicted in dominant art works are also primarily white, heterosexual, middle class and young or attractive.


title: Mother

text: These ideals of motherhood have been challenged by artists with lived experience as mothers. An example in western contemporary art is Mary Kelly’s "Post-Partum Document". Bypassing typical themes of tenderness or nostalgia, this work documents in extensive detail the challenges, complexities and day-to-day realities of the mother-child relationship. Other artists have addressed similar aspects of motherhood that fall outside dominant ideals, including maternal ambivalence, desire, and the pursuit of self-fulfillment.   While the ideal of maternal self-sacrifice and the ‘good mother’ forms an important part of many works of art relating to the Holocaust, other women’s Holocaust and post-Holocaust art has engaged more deeply with mothers’ trauma, taboos, and the experiences of second and third-generation Holocaust survivors. For example, works by first-generation survivors of the Holocaust such as Ella Liebermann-Shiber and Shoshana Neuman have depicted mothers abandoning and suffocating their children in an effort to stay alive themselves.


title: Mother

text: Increasingly diverse representations of motherhood can be found in contemporary works of art. Catherine Opie’s self-portrait photographs, including of herself nursing, reference the existing Virgin Mary archetype while subverting its norms around sexuality by centering her identity as a lesbian. Rather than attempting to make her experience of motherhood fit into existing norms, Opie’s photographs are “non-traditional and non-apologetic representations”.


title: Mother

text: In her 2020 photography collection, Solana Cain explored the meaning of joy for Black mothers to challenge the lack of images in mainstream media that represent Black motherhood. Renee Cox’s "Yo Mama" series of nude self-portraits challenge historical representations of both the black female body and of maternity and slavery in the US, the latter of which is often characterized by the “extreme passivity and devalued love” typically associated with motherhood.


title: Mother

text: The proverbial "first word" of an infant often sounds like "ma" or "mama". This strong association of that sound with "mother" has persisted in nearly every language on earth, countering the natural localization of language.


title: Mother

text: The modern English word is from Middle English moder, from Old English mōdor, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr (cf. East Frisian muur, Dutch moeder, German Mutter), from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (cf. Irish máthair, Tocharian A mācar, B mācer, Lithuanian mótė). Other cognates include Latin māter, Greek μήτηρ, Common Slavic *mati (thence Russian мать (mat’)), Persian مادر (madar), and Sanskrit मातृ (mātṛ).


title: Mother

text: In zoology, particularly in mammals, a mother fills many similar biological functions as a human mother.


title: Mother

text: The behavior and role of mothers in non-human species is most similar in species most closely related to humans. This means great apes are most similar, then the broader superfamily of all apes, then all primates.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl is notable for his "Kon-Tiki" expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000 km (5,000 mi) across the Pacific Ocean in a hand-built raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands. The expedition was designed to demonstrate that ancient people could have made long sea voyages, creating contacts between societies. This was linked to a diffusionist model of cultural development.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl made other voyages to demonstrate the possibility of contact between widely separated ancient peoples, notably the "Ra II" expedition of 1970, when he sailed from the west coast of Africa to Barbados in a papyrus reed boat. He was appointed a government scholar in 1984.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: He died on 18 April 2002 in Colla Micheri, Italy, while visiting close family members. The Norwegian government gave him a state funeral in Oslo Cathedral on 26 April 2002.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In May 2011, the Thor Heyerdahl Archives were added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register. At the time, this list included 238 collections from all over the world. The Heyerdahl Archives span the years 1937 to 2002 and include his photographic collection, diaries, private letters, expedition plans, articles, newspaper clippings, and original book and article manuscripts. The Heyerdahl Archives are administered by the Kon-Tiki Museum and the National Library of Norway in Oslo.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl was born in Larvik, Norway, the son of master brewer Thor Heyerdahl (1869–1957) and his wife, Alison Lyng (1873–1965). As a young child, Heyerdahl showed a strong interest in zoology, inspired by his mother, who had a strong interest in Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He created a small museum in his childhood home, with a common adder ("Vipera berus") as the main attraction.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: He studied zoology and geography at the faculty of biological science at the University of Oslo. At the same time, he privately studied Polynesian culture and history, consulting what was then the world's largest private collection of books and papers on Polynesia, owned by Bjarne Kroepelien, a wealthy wine merchant in Oslo. (This collection was later purchased by the University of Oslo Library from Kroepelien's heirs and was attached to the Kon-Tiki Museum research department.)


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: After seven terms and consultations with experts in Berlin, a project was developed and sponsored by Heyerdahl's zoology professors, Kristine Bonnevie and Hjalmar Broch. He was to visit some isolated Pacific island groups and study how the local animals had found their way there.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: On the day before they sailed together to the Marquesas Islands in 1936, Heyerdahl married Liv Coucheron-Torp (1916–1969), whom he had met at the University of Oslo, and who had studied economics there. He was 22 years old and she was 20 years old. Eventually, the couple had two sons: Thor Jr. and Bjørn. The marriage ended in divorce shortly before the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition, which Liv had helped to organize.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: After the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, he served with the Free Norwegian Forces from 1944, in the far north province of Finnmark.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In 1949, Heyerdahl married Yvonne Dedekam-Simonsen (1924–2006). They had three daughters: Annette, Marian, and Helene Elisabeth. They were divorced in 1969. Heyerdahl blamed their separation on his being away from home and differences in their ideas for bringing up children. In his autobiography, he concluded that he should take the entire blame for their separation.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In 1991, Heyerdahl married Jacqueline Beer (born 1932) as his third wife. They lived in Tenerife, Canary Islands, and were very actively involved with archaeological projects, especially in Túcume, Peru, and Azov until his death in 2002. He had still been hoping to undertake an archaeological project in Samoa before he died.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In 1936, on the day after his marriage to Liv Coucheron Torp, the young couple set out for the South Pacific Island of Fatu Hiva. They nominally had an academic mission, to research the spread of animal species between islands, but in reality they intended to "run away to the South Seas" and never return home.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Aided by expedition funding from their parents, they nonetheless arrived on the island lacking "provisions, weapons or a radio". Residents in Tahiti, where they stopped en route, did convince them to take a machete and a cooking pot.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: They arrived at Fatu Hiva in 1937, in the valley of Omo‘a, and decided to cross over the island's mountainous interior to settle in one of the small, nearly abandoned, valleys on the eastern side of the island. There, they made their thatch-covered stilted home in the valley of Uia.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Living in such primitive conditions was a daunting task, but they managed to live off the land, and work on their academic goals, by collecting and studying zoological and botanical specimens. They discovered unusual artifacts, listened to the natives' oral history traditions, and took note of the prevailing winds and ocean currents.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: It was in this setting, surrounded by the ruins of the formerly glorious Marquesan civilization, that Heyerdahl first developed his theories regarding the possibility of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact between the pre-European Polynesians, and the peoples and cultures of South America.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Despite the seemingly idyllic situation, the exposure to various tropical diseases and other difficulties caused them to return to civilisation a year later. They worked together to write an account of their adventure.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: The events surrounding his stay on the Marquesas, most of the time on Fatu Hiva, were told first in his book "På Jakt etter Paradiset" ("Hunt for Paradise") (1938), which was published in Norway but, following the outbreak of World War II, was never translated and remained largely forgotten. Many years later, having achieved notability with other adventures and books on other subjects, Heyerdahl published a new account of this voyage under the title "Fatu Hiva" (London: Allen & Unwin, 1974). The story of his time on Fatu Hiva and his side trip to Hivaoa and Mohotani is also related in "Green Was the Earth on the Seventh Day " (Random House, 1996).


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In 1947 Heyerdahl and five fellow adventurers sailed from Peru to the Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia in a pae-pae raft that they had constructed from balsa wood and other native materials, christened the "Kon-Tiki". The "Kon-Tiki" expedition was inspired by old reports and drawings made by the Spanish Conquistadors of Inca rafts, and by native legends and archaeological evidence suggesting contact between South America and Polynesia. The "Kon-Tiki" smashed into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotus on 7 August 1947 after a 101-day, 4,300-nautical-mile (5,000-mile or 8,000 km) journey across the Pacific Ocean. Heyerdahl had nearly drowned at least twice in childhood and did not take easily to water; he said later that there were times in each of his raft voyages when he feared for his life.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: "Kon-Tiki" demonstrated that it was possible for a primitive raft to sail the Pacific with relative ease and safety, especially to the west (with the trade winds). The raft proved to be highly manoeuvrable, and fish congregated between the nine balsa logs in such numbers that ancient sailors could have possibly relied on fish for hydration in the absence of other sources of fresh water. Other rafts have repeated the voyage, inspired by "Kon-Tiki".


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl's book about "" has been translated into 70 languages. The documentary film of the expedition entitled "Kon-Tiki" won an Academy Award in 1951. A dramatised version was released in 2012, also called "Kon-Tiki", and was nominated for both the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Golden Globe Awards. It was the first time that a Norwegian film was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Anthropologists continue to believe that Polynesia was settled from west to east, based on linguistic, physical, and genetic evidence, migration having begun from the Asian mainland. There are controversial indications, though, of some sort of South American/Polynesian contact, most notably in the fact that the South American sweet potato is served as a dietary staple throughout much of Polynesia. Blood samples taken in 1971 and 2008 from Easter Islanders without any European or other external descent were analysed in a 2011 study, which concluded that the evidence supported some aspects of Heyerdahl's hypothesis. This result has been questioned because of the possibility of contamination by South Americans after European contact with the islands. However, more recent DNA work (after Heyerdahl's death) contradicts the post-European-contact contamination hypothesis, finding the South American DNA sequences to be far older than that. Heyerdahl had attempted to counter the linguistic argument with the analogy that he would prefer to believe that African-Americans came from Africa, judging from their skin colour, and not from England, judging from their speech.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl claimed that in Incan legend there was a sun-god named Con-Tici Viracocha who was the supreme head of the mythical fair-skinned people in Peru. The original name for Viracocha was "Kon-Tiki" or "Illa-Tiki", which means "Sun-Tiki" or "Fire-Tiki".


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Kon-Tiki was high priest and sun-king of these legendary "white men" who left enormous ruins on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The legend continues with the mysterious bearded white men being attacked by a chief named Cari, who came from the Coquimbo Valley. They had a battle on an island in Lake Titicaca, and the fair race was massacred. However, Kon-Tiki and his closest companions managed to escape and later arrived on the Pacific coast. The legend ends with Kon-Tiki and his companions disappearing westward out to sea.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: When the Spaniards came to Peru, Heyerdahl asserted, the Incas told them that the colossal monuments that stood deserted about the landscape were erected by a race of white gods who had lived there before the Incas themselves became rulers. The Incas described these "white gods" as wise, peaceful instructors who had originally come from the north in the "morning of time" and taught the Incas' primitive forebears architecture as well as manners and customs. They were unlike other Native Americans in that they had "white skins and long beards" and were taller than the Incas. The Incas said that the "white gods" had then left as suddenly as they had come and fled westward across the Pacific. After they had left, the Incas themselves took over power in the country.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl said that when the Europeans first came to the Pacific islands, they were astonished that they found some of the natives to have relatively light skins and beards. There were whole families that had pale skin, hair varying in colour from reddish to blonde. In contrast, most of the Polynesians had golden-brown skin, raven-black hair, and rather flat noses. Heyerdahl claimed that when Jacob Roggeveen discovered Easter Island in 1722, he supposedly noticed that many of the natives were white-skinned. Heyerdahl claimed that these people could count their ancestors who were "white-skinned" right back to the time of Tiki and Hotu Matua, when they first came sailing across the sea "from a mountainous land in the east which was scorched by the sun". The ethnographic evidence for these claims is outlined in Heyerdahl's book "Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island".


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl proposed that Tiki's neolithic people colonised the then uninhabited Polynesian islands as far north as Hawaii, as far south as New Zealand, as far east as Easter Island, and as far west as Samoa and Tonga around 500 AD. They supposedly sailed from Peru to the Polynesian islands on "pae-paes"—large rafts built from balsa logs, complete with sails and each with a small cottage. They built enormous stone statues carved in the image of human beings on Pitcairn, the Marquesas, and Easter Island that resembled those in Peru. They also built huge pyramids on Tahiti and Samoa with steps like those in Peru.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: But all over Polynesia, Heyerdahl found indications that Tiki's peaceable race had not been able to hold the islands alone for long. He found evidence that suggested that seagoing war canoes as large as Viking ships, and lashed together two by two, had brought Stone Age Northwest American Indians to Polynesia around 1100 , and they mingled with Tiki's people. The oral history of the people of Easter Island, at least as it was documented by Heyerdahl, is completely consistent with this theory, as is the archaeological record he examined (Heyerdahl 1958).


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In particular, Heyerdahl obtained a radiocarbon date of 400 for a charcoal fire located in the pit that was held by the people of Easter Island to have been used as an "oven" by the "Long Ears, " which Heyerdahl's Rapa Nui sources, reciting oral tradition, identified as a white race that had ruled the island in the past (Heyerdahl 1958).


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl further argued in his book "American Indians in the Pacific" that the current inhabitants of Polynesia migrated from an Asian source, but via an alternative route. He proposes that Polynesians travelled with the wind along the North Pacific current. These migrants then arrived in British Columbia. Heyerdahl called contemporary tribes of British Columbia, such as the Tlingit and Haida, descendants of these migrants. Heyerdahl claimed that cultural and physical similarities existed between these British Columbian tribes, Polynesians, and the Old World source.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl's theory of Polynesian origins has not gained acceptance among anthropologists. Physical and cultural evidence had long suggested that Polynesia was settled from west to east, migration having begun from the Asian mainland, not South America. In the late 1990s, genetic testing found that the mitochondrial DNA of the Polynesians is more similar to people from south-east Asia than to people from South America, showing that their ancestors most likely came from Asia.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Anthropologist Robert Carl Suggs included a chapter titled "The Kon-Tiki Myth" in his 1960 book on Polynesia, concluding that "The "Kon-Tiki" theory is about as plausible as the tales of Atlantis, Mu, and 'Children of the Sun.' Like most such theories, it makes exciting light reading, but as an example of scientific method it fares quite poorly."


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Anthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis also criticised Heyerdahl's theory in his 2009 book "The Wayfinders", which explores the history of Polynesia. Davis says that Heyerdahl "ignored the overwhelming body of linguistic, ethnographic, and ethnobotanical evidence, augmented today by genetic and archaeological data, indicating that he was patently wrong."


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: A 2009 study by the Norwegian researcher Erik Thorsby suggested that there was some merit to Heyerdahl's ideas and that, while Polynesia was colonised from Asia, some contact with South America also existed. Some critics suggest, however, that Thorsby's research is inconclusive because his data may have been influenced by recent population contact.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: However, a 2014 research project indicates that the South American component of the Easter Island people's genomes pre-dates European contact. The research team, including Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas (from the Natural History Museum of Denmark), analysed the genomes of 27 native Rapanui people and found that their DNA was on average 76 per cent Polynesian, 8 per cent Native American and 16 per cent European. Analysis showed that "although the European lineage could be explained by contact with white Europeans after the island was 'discovered' in 1722 by Dutch sailors, the South American component was much older, dating to between about 1280 and 1495, soon after the island was first colonised by Polynesians in around 1200." Together with ancient skulls found in Brazil – with solely Polynesian DNA – this does suggest some pre-European-contact travel to and from South America from Polynesia.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: A study based on over one hundred Rapanui DNA sequences published in Nature in July 2020 showed that a genetic contact event occurred, circa 1200 AD, between Polynesian individuals and a Native American group most closely related to the indigenous inhabitants of present-day Colombia.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In 1955–1956, Heyerdahl organised the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island. The expedition's scientific staff included Arne Skjølsvold, Carlyle Smith, Edwin Ferdon, Gonzalo Figueroa and William Mulloy. Heyerdahl and the professional archaeologists who travelled with him spent several months on Easter Island investigating several important archaeological sites. Highlights of the project include experiments in the carving, transport and erection of the notable moai, as well as excavations at such prominent sites as Orongo and Poike. The expedition published two large volumes of scientific reports ("Reports of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island and the East Pacific") and Heyerdahl later added a third ("The Art of Easter Island"). Heyerdahl's popular book on the subject, "Aku-Aku" was another international best-seller.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In "Easter Island: The Mystery Solved" (Random House, 1989), Heyerdahl offered a more detailed theory of the island's history. Based on native testimony and archaeological research, he claimed the island was originally colonised by Hanau eepe ("Long Ears"), from South America, and that Polynesian Hanau momoko ("Short Ears") arrived only in the mid-16th century; they may have come independently or perhaps were imported as workers. According to Heyerdahl, something happened between Admiral Roggeveen's discovery of the island in 1722 and James Cook's visit in 1774; while Roggeveen encountered white, Indian, and Polynesian people living in relative harmony and prosperity, Cook encountered a much smaller population consisting mainly of Polynesians and living in privation.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl notes the oral tradition of an uprising of "Short Ears" against the ruling "Long Ears." The "Long Ears" dug a defensive moat on the eastern end of the island and filled it with kindling. During the uprising, Heyerdahl claimed, the "Long Ears" ignited their moat and retreated behind it, but the "Short Ears" found a way around it, came up from behind, and pushed all but two of the "Long Ears" into the fire. This moat was found by the Norwegian expedition and it was partly cut down into the rock. Layers of fire were revealed but no fragments of bodies.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: As for the origin of the people of Easter Island, DNA tests have shown a connection to South America. But critics conjecture that this was a result of recent events. Still, whether this is inherited from a person coming in later times is hard to know. If the story that almost all Long Ears were killed in a civil war is true, as the islanders' story goes, it would be expected that the statue-building South American bloodline would have been nearly utterly destroyed, leaving for the most part the invading Polynesian bloodline.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In 1969 and 1970, Heyerdahl built two boats from papyrus and attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco in Africa. Based on drawings and models from ancient Egypt, the first boat, named "Ra" (after the Egyptian Sun god), was constructed by boat builders from Lake Chad using papyrus reed obtained from Lake Tana in Ethiopia and launched into the Atlantic Ocean from the coast of Morocco. The Ra crew included Thor Heyerdahl (Norway), Norman Baker (US), Carlo Mauri (Italy), Yuri Senkevich (USSR), Santiago Genovés (Mexico), Georges Sourial (Egypt), and Abdullah Djibrine (Chad). Only Heyerdahl and Baker had sailing and navigation experience. Genovés would go on to head the Acali Experiment.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: After a number of weeks, "Ra" took on water. The crew discovered that a key element of the Egyptian boatbuilding method had been neglected, a tether that acted like a spring to keep the stern high in the water while allowing for flexibility. Water and storms eventually caused it to sag and break apart after sailing more than 6,400 km (4,000 miles). The crew was forced to abandon Ra, some hundred miles (160 km) before the Caribbean islands, and was saved by a yacht.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: The following year, 1970, a similar vessel, "Ra II", was built from Ethiopian papyrus by Bolivian citizens Demetrio, Juan and José Limachi of Lake Titicaca, and likewise set sail across the Atlantic from Morocco, this time with great success. The crew was mostly the same; though Djibrine had been replaced by Kei Ohara from Japan and Madani Ait Ouhanni from Morocco. The boat became lost and was the subject of a United Nations search and rescue mission. The search included international assistance including people as far afield as Loo-Chi Hu of New Zealand. The boat reached Barbados, thus demonstrating that mariners could have dealt with trans-Atlantic voyages by sailing with the Canary Current. The "Ra II" is now in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: The book "The Ra Expeditions" and the film documentary "Ra" (1972) were made about the voyages. Apart from the primary aspects of the expedition, Heyerdahl deliberately selected a crew representing a great diversity in race, nationality, religion and political viewpoint in order to demonstrate that, at least on their own little floating island, people could co-operate and live peacefully. Additionally, the expedition took samples of marine pollution and presented its report to the United Nations.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl built yet another reed boat in 1977, "Tigris", which was intended to demonstrate that trade and migration could have linked Mesopotamia with the Indus Valley civilization in what is now Pakistan and western India. Tigris was built in Al Qurnah Iraq and sailed with its international crew through the Persian Gulf to Pakistan and made its way into the Red Sea.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: After about five months at sea and still remaining seaworthy, the "Tigris" was deliberately burnt in Djibouti on 3 April 1978 as a protest against the wars raging on every side in the Red Sea and Horn of Africa. In his Open Letter to the UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, Heyerdahl explained his reasons:


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Today we burn our proud ship ... to protest against inhuman elements in the world of 1978 ... Now we are forced to stop at the entrance to the Red Sea. Surrounded by military airplanes and warships from the world's most civilised and developed nations, we have been denied permission by friendly governments, for reasons of security, to land anywhere, but in the tiny, and still neutral, Republic of Djibouti. Elsewhere around us, brothers and neighbours are engaged in homicide with means made available to them by those who lead humanity on our joint road into the third millennium.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: To the innocent masses in all industrialised countries, we direct our appeal. We must wake up to the insane reality of our time ... We are all irresponsible, unless we demand from the responsible decision makers that modern armaments must no longer be made available to people whose former battle axes and swords our ancestors condemned.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Our planet is bigger than the reed bundles that have carried us across the seas, and yet small enough to run the same risks unless those of us still alive open our eyes and minds to the desperate need of intelligent collaboration to save ourselves and our common civilisation from what we are about to convert into a sinking ship.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: In the years that followed, Heyerdahl was often outspoken on issues of international peace and the environment.


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: The "Tigris" had an 11-man crew: Thor Heyerdahl (Norway), Norman Baker (US), Carlo Mauri (Italy), Yuri Senkevich (USSR), Germán Carrasco (Mexico), Hans Petter Bohn (Norway), Rashad Nazar Salim (Iraq), Norris Brock (US), Toru Suzuki (Japan), Detlef Soitzek (Germany), and Asbjørn Damhus (Denmark).


title: Thor Heyerdahl

text: Heyerdahl made four visits to Azerbaijan in 1981, 1994, 1999 and 2000. Heyerdahl had long been fascinated with the rock carvings that date back to about at Gobustan (about 30 miles/48 km west of Baku). He was convinced that their artistic style closely resembled the carvings found in his native Norway. The ship designs, in particular, were regarded by Heyerdahl as similar and drawn with a simple sickle-shaped line, representing the base of the boat, with vertical lines on deck, illustrating crew or, perhaps, raised oars.