title: Brentford

text: Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross.


title: Brentford

text: Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings which mark the start of the M4 corridor; in transport it also has two railway stations and Boston Manor Underground station on its north-west border with Hanwell. Brentford has a convenience shopping and dining venue grid of streets at its centre. Brentford at the start of the 21st century attracted regeneration of its little-used warehouse premises and docks including the re-modelling of the waterfront to provide more economically active shops, townhouses and apartments, some of which comprises Brentford Dock. A 19th and 20th centuries mixed social and private housing locality: New Brentford is contiguous with the Osterley neighbourhood of Isleworth and Syon Park and the Great West Road which has most of the largest business premises.


title: Brentford

text: The name is recorded as "Breguntford" in 705 in an Anglo-Saxon charter and means 'ford over the River Brent'.


title: Brentford

text: The name of the river derives from *"brigant-", a Brythonic word, meaning "high" or "elevated" (possibly in a holy sense). The river may also have been associated with the goddess Brigantia. The suffix '-ford' is Old English. The ford was most likely located where the main road crossed the river. New Brentford is recorded as "Newe Braynford" in 1521 and was previously known as "Westbraynford". Old Brentford is recorded as "Old Braynford" in 1476 and was previously known as "Estbraynford".


title: Brentford

text: The settlement pre-dates the Roman occupation of Britain, and thus pre-dates the founding of nearby London. Many pre-Roman artefacts have been excavated in and around the area in Brentford known as 'Old England'. Bronze Age pottery and burnt flints have been found in separate sites in Brentford. The quality and quantity of the artefacts suggests that Brentford was a meeting point for pre-Romanic tribes. One well known Iron Age piece from about 100 BC – AD 50 is the Brentford horn-cap – a ceremonial chariot fitting that formed part of local antiquarian Thomas Layton's collection, now held by the Museum of London. The Celtic knot pattern (the 'Brentford Knot') on this item has been copied for use on modern jewellery.


title: Brentford

text: Brentford is the first point on the tidal portion of the River Thames which was easily fordable by foot (this was before dredging took place). Partly for this reason it has been suggested that Julius Cæsar crossed the Thames here during his invasion of Britain in 54 BC, and the Brentford Monument outside the County Court asserts that a battle took place here at this time between Cæsar's forces and Cassivellaunus. In his own account, Cæsar writes that he crossed the river from the sea, and Brentford is this distance from his supposed landing beach. He further states that the river bank was protected by sharp stakes. During the building of Brentford Dock many such oak stakes were discovered. Dredging the river uncovered so many more that they had to be removed, for they were a hazard to navigation. Although Cæsar's descriptions are compelling, there has been no archaeological proof that this was the spot where he and his army had to fight to cross. It must also be kept in mind that Julius Cæsar's own accounts suffered in some part to his embellishment of the facts.


title: Brentford

text: Historically part of Middlesex, in the south-eastern corner of Elthorne Hundred, it has formed part of Greater London since 1965.


title: Brentford

text: In November 1642 a Royalist army advancing on London overcame a much smaller Parliamentarian force in battle at Brentford. The town was ransacked in the immediate aftermath of the engagement.


title: Brentford

text: The building of Brentford Dock was started in 1855 and it was formally opened in 1859. The dock yard is now a Marina and housing estate.


title: Brentford

text: A notable family from Brentford was the 18th-/19th-century architectural father and son partnership, the Hardwicks. Thomas Hardwick Senior (1725–1798) and Thomas Hardwick Junior (1752–1829) were both from Brentford and are buried in the old church of St Laurence. Hardwick Senior was the master mason for the Adam Brothers during the construction of Syon House. Hardwick Junior assisted in the building of Somerset House and was known for his designs of churches in the capital. He was also a tutor of J. M. W. Turner and he helped start Turner's illustrious career in art. Both father and son did a great deal of remodelling and rebuilding on the church of St Laurence.


title: Brentford

text: The road which is now Brentford High Street served as the main road to the South West of Britain for many centuries, and even now, the M4 motorway and the Great West Road pass approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the original main road through Brentford.


title: Brentford

text: Brentford developed around the ancient boundary between the parishes of Ealing and Hanwell. It was divided between the chapelry of Old Brentford to the east in Ealing and the chapelry of New Brentford in Hanwell to the west. Of the two areas, Old Brentford was significantly larger.


title: Brentford

text: New Brentford was first described as the county town of Middlesex in 1789, on the basis that it was the location of elections of knights for the shire (or Members of Parliament (MPs)) from 1701. In 1795 New Brentford (as it was then) was "considered as the county-town; but there is no town-hall or other public building" causing confusion that remains to this day (see county town of Middlesex).


title: Brentford

text: The borough of Hounslow was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, by the merger of the areas of the Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick, the Municipal Borough of Heston and Isleworth and Feltham Urban District of Middlesex.


title: Brentford

text: In Brentford, those who ethnically identify as BAME (Black, Asian and minority Ethnic) was 33.9% in the Brentford ward and 34.2% in the Syon ward at the 2011 UK census. The median age of the population was 32 years in Brentford ward and 34 years in Syon ward. Both wards have about equal proportions of household types, with flats/maisonettes/apartments forming a majority in both wards.


title: Brentford

text: Syon House, the Greater London residence of the Duke of Northumberland, is a large mansion and park in "Syon" ward, described above, that has long been shared with Isleworth. Some of its seasonally marshy land is now a public nature reserve. The estate has a hotel (Hilton London Syon Park), visitor centre and garden centre.


title: Brentford

text: Syon Abbey, demolished and replaced (with reworked gatehouses) by the newer mansion, had the largest abbey church in England in the Middle Ages.


title: Brentford

text: The location of Syon Abbey in the park was unknown until archeological investigations in the grounds in 2003 (for the television series "Time Team") and 2004 revealed the foundations of the abbey church. It was larger than Westminster Abbey is now, but no above-ground structure remains. There were complex reasons for its destruction.


title: Brentford

text: The London Butterfly House in Syon Park was an like a large glasshouse containing a butterfly zoo. Visitors could see butterflies and moths flying about, feeding, and emerging from chrysalises. There was also a colony of large ants (kept with the butterflies), a small tropical bird aviary, and a small gallery of reptiles, amphibians, insects and spiders. The lease on the current site expired in October 2007 and the Butterfly House closed on 28 October.


title: Brentford

text: Syon Park House (demolished in 1953, and not to be confused with Syon House itself) housed the 'Syon Park Academy' where the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was educated between the ages of 10 and 12 before moving on to Eton. A Royal Mail depot stands on the site now. This may also be the site of the dwelling where Pocahontas lived in Brentford End between 1616 and 1617.


title: Brentford

text: In 1909 a monument was made out of two stone pillars that used to support lamps on the old Brentford bridge over the Grand Union Canal. The monument originally stood at the end of Ferry Lane; after being covered in coal unloaded from boats, it was moved further up the lane in 1955. In 1992 it was moved again to its present site at the junction of Brentford High Street and Alexandra Road, outside the County Court. The monument commemorates four major events in Brentford's history: the supposed crossing of the Thames by Julius Caesar in 54 BC; the council of Brentford by King Offa of Mercia in 781; the defeat of King Canute by King Edmund Ironside at the first Battle of Brentford in 1016; and the second Battle of Brentford in 1642.


title: Brentford

text: Built in 1868 from Kentish ragstone, Saint Paul's Church is one of Brentford's two current Anglican parish churches, and a distinct landmark. Its spire is clearly visible. The architect was H. Francis and James Montgomrey was a principal subscriber and chairman of the building committee. In 1959 and 1961 the parishes of the nearby churches of Saint George and Saint Lawrence were amalgamated with Saint Paul.


title: Brentford

text: Inside the church is a painting by local artist Johann Zoffany called "Christ's Last Supper". It was originally intended to be installed in St Anne's Church, Kew, but the local people objected, and therefore in 1887 it was installed in Saint George's Church instead. When that church was closed in 1959, the painting was transferred to its present location in Saint Paul's Church.


title: Brentford

text: Brentford's other Anglican parish church, Saint Faith's, is a comparatively recent building, dating from 1906 to 1907. Designed in Gothic Revival style, by G F Bodley and D G Hare, it was described by the poet John Betjeman:


title: Brentford

text: There has been a church on the site of Brentford's former parish church of Saint Lawrence since the 12th century, but the tower dates from the 15th century, and the remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1764 from brick. There were a number of interesting monuments in the church, including one dedicated to a Maurice de Berkeley, dating from 1189, who was buried in the original church. The church was closed in 1961 and the monuments removed, and the parish was united with Saint Paul's. The church has now been in a derelict state for more than half a century but the graveyard still holds the Ronalds vault where Hugh Ronalds and numerous members of his family are buried. A war memorial stood outside the church until 2009, when it was moved to Brentford Library.


title: Brentford

text: The church, opened in 1866, was built for Irish railway construction workers, by an architect named Jackman.


title: Brentford

text: An unconsecrated chapel was built from subscriptions raised from 57 prominent inhabitants on the site in 1762; previously the parish was part of Ealing. The old chapel was demolished in 1886 and eventually replaced by the current building designed by A. W. Blomfield. The painting of the Last Supper by Zoffany was transferred to the new church. It was closed in 1959 and used as the home for the Musical Museum from 1963 until the Museum moved to new premises. It is now (2017) being converted into flats.


title: Brentford

text: Gunnersbury Park Museum is in Gunnersbury House, narrowly in Gunnersbury (the north-west of Chiswick) containing artefacts and former furnishings of the Rothschild family, who were culturally and financially pre-eminent across France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and North America.


title: Brentford

text: Kew Gardens is visible from the scattering of high rise buildings towering over the town and some of the mid rise ones.


title: Brentford

text: The Weir public house, formerly 'The White Horse', was where the artist J. M. W. Turner lived for one year at the age of ten. He is regarded as having started his interest in painting while living there. Later he lived in Isleworth and Twickenham.


title: Brentford

text: Brentford Dock came to single use and engineered enlargement as a freight terminus of the Great Western Railway. It was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and built between 1855 and 1859 at the confluence of the River Thames and River Brent – part of the land was James Montgomrey’s Montgomrey's Wharf. A spur line from the GWR at Southall was constructed to the Brentford Dock railway station to facilitate easy transferral of freight from lighters and barges on the Thames to GWR-served destinations in the west of the country. The dock was redeveloped as residential accommodation from the early 1970s, and little industrial archaeology remains. However, Dock Road still retains some of its original fan pattern cobblestone road bed and examples of Brunel's broad-gauge 'bridge section' rail can be seen there.


title: Brentford

text: The "Brentford Dock" flats (originally named the "Tiber Estate") were built alongside formerly important transport infrastructure as Brentford is the terminus of the Grand Union Canal, originally the Grand Junction Canal. This waterway is still in use for leisure traffic as part of the Grand Union Canal.


title: Brentford

text: Brentford Public Library is a Carnegie library, built by the architect Nowell Parr and opened in 1904. Outside the library is the Brentford War Memorial, accompanied by three smaller war memorials. There is also Jim Pooley's bench honouring Robert Rankin's writing connection with the borough.


title: Brentford

text: Brentford Baths (1896), also by the architect Nowell Parr, is a Grade II listed example of late Victorian architecture.


title: Brentford

text: The London Museum of Water & Steam houses the world's largest working beam engine, and its narrow cuboid tower is an emblem of the town.


title: Brentford

text: The Musical Museum houses a large collection of mechanical musical instruments, such as player pianos and a Wurlitzer organ.


title: Brentford

text: The Butts Estate, a Georgian square and associated conservation area, contains several Grade II listed buildings some dating back to 1680.


title: Brentford

text: Griffin Park is the former home of Brentford F.C. and Chelsea Football Club Reserves, plus (from 2002 until 23 September 2005 it was the home of the London Broncos rugby league club – subsequently they were renamed Harlequins RL and transferred to The Stoop).


title: Brentford

text: Brentford F.C. are a professional English football club based in Brentford. They currently play in the Premier League.


title: Brentford

text: It was founded in 1889 by members of the defunct Brentford Rowing Club and play their home games at the Gtech Community Stadium, having played at Griffin Park between 1904 and 2020. The club has a long-standing rivalry with near neighbours, Fulham. The Stadium is also used by Premiership Rugby side London Irish.


title: Brentford

text: The phrase 'like two kings of Brentford' refers to former enemies who are now good friends. It appears in:


title: Brentford

text: Brentford's industrial status and the Great West Road are notable facets of Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel "Brave New World". Set in London in AD 2540 (632 A.F.—"After Ford"), the influential dystopia anticipates changes in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that combine to change society profoundly.


title: Brentford

text: "The Brentford Trilogy", a (ten-book) series of "far-fetched fiction" novels by Robert Rankin, humorously chronicle the lives of a couple of drunken middle-aged layabouts, Jim Pooley and John Omally, who confront the forces of darkness in the environs of western Greater London, usually with the assistance of large quantities of beer from their favourite public house, The Flying Swan. Several of Rankin's other books are also set in or reference Brentford.


title: Sanyo

text: , stylized as SANYO, is a Japanese electronics company and formerly a member of the "Fortune" Global 500 whose headquarters was located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo had over 230 subsidiaries and affiliates, and was founded by Toshio Iue in 1947.


title: Sanyo

text: On December 21, 2009, Panasonic completed a 400 billion yen ($4.5 billion) acquisition of a 50.2% stake in Sanyo, making Sanyo a subsidiary of Panasonic. In April 2011, Sanyo became a wholly owned subsidiary of Panasonic, with its assets integrated into the latter's portfolio.


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo was founded when Toshio Iue the brother-in-law of Konosuke Matsushita and also a former Matsushita employee, was lent an unused Matsushita plant in 1947 and used it to make bicycle generator lamps. Sanyo was incorporated in 1949; in 1952 it made Japan's first plastic radio and in 1954 Japan's first pulsator-type washing machine. The company's name means "three oceans" in Japanese, referring to the founder's ambition to sell their products worldwide, across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.


title: Sanyo

text: In 1969 Howard Ladd became the Executive Vice President and COO of Sanyo Corporation. Ladd introduced the Sanyo brand to the United States in 1970. The ambition to sell Sanyo products worldwide was realized in the late 1970s after Sanyo introduced home audio equipment, car stereos and other consumer electronics to the North American market. The company embarked on a heavy television-based advertising campaign.


title: Sanyo

text: Ladd negotiated a purchase of the Fisher Electronics audio equipment manufacturer by Sanyo in May 1977. Under Ladd’s leadership, the Fisher Corporation under Sanyo grew to be a multi-million dollar leader in the consumer electronics industry. The new, profitable Fisher Corporation moved its headquarters from New York to Ladd's Los Angeles. Ladd was named President and CEO of the combined Sanyo / Fisher Corporation in 1977, serving until 1987.


title: Sanyo

text: Ladd was instrumental at Sanyo in promoting Quadraphonic sound audio equipment for the American market, producing 4-channel audio equipment in both SQ and Matrix formats. He said "we make all kinds of quadrasonic equipment because this is the business we're in... let the consumer buy the kind of software he prefers and we'll provide him the hardware to play it on".


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo realized tremendous growth during Ladd's tenure in the 1970s; annual sales grew from $71.4 million () in 1972 to $855 million () in 1978.


title: Sanyo

text: After a fairly slow selling line in their own V-Cord video format, Sanyo adopted Sony's Betamax video cassette format around 1977 with initial success, including SuperBeta and Beta Hi-Fi models. From around 1984 onwards production switched entirely to VHS.


title: Sanyo

text: In 1976 Sanyo expanded their North American presence with the purchase of Whirlpool Corporation's television business, Warwick Electronics, which manufactured televisions for Sears.


title: Sanyo

text: In 1986, Sanyo's U.S. affiliate merged with Fisher to become Sanyo Fisher (U.S.A.) Corporation (later renamed Sanyo Fisher Company). The mergers made the entire organization more efficient, but also resulted in the departure of certain key executives, including Ladd, who had first introduced the Sanyo name to the United States in the early 1970s.


title: Sanyo

text: In 1982, Sanyo started selling the MBC-1000 series of CP/M computers. In 1983 it introduced the MBC-550 PC, the lowest-cost IBM PC compatible personal computer available at the time, but its lack of full compatibility drove Sanyo from the market and no follow-on models were released.


title: Sanyo

text: An article on "Sanyo Style" written in 1992 described that Sanyo utilizes an extensive socialization process for new employees, so that they will be acclimatized to Sanyo's corporate culture. New employees take a five-month course during which they eat together and sleep together in accommodation. They learn everything from basic job requirements to company expectations for personal grooming and the appropriate way in which to dress for their co-workers and superiors.


title: Sanyo

text: Technologically Sanyo has had good ties with Sony, supporting the Betamax video format from invention until the mid-1980s (the best selling video recorder in the UK in 1983 was the Sanyo VTC5000), while producing the VHS video format at the same time for the Fisher brand during the early 1980s, and later being an early adopter of the highly successful Video8 camcorder format. More recently, though, Sanyo decided against supporting Sony's format, the Blu-ray Disc, and instead gave its backing to Toshiba's HD DVD. This was ultimately unsuccessful, however, as Sony's Blu-ray triumphed.


title: Sanyo

text: In North America, Sanyo manufactured CDMA cellular phones exclusively for Sprint's Sprint PCS brand in the United States, and for Bell Mobility in Canada.


title: Sanyo

text: The 2004 Chūetsu earthquake severely damaged Sanyo's semiconductor plant and as a result Sanyo recorded a huge financial loss for that year. The 2005 fiscal year financial results saw a 205 billion yen net income loss. The same year the company announced a restructuring plan called the Sanyo Evolution Project, launching a new corporate vision to make the corporation into an environmental company, plowing investment into strong products like rechargeable batteries, solar photovoltaics, air conditioning, hybrid car batteries and key consumer electronics such as the Xacti camera, projectors and mobile phones.


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo posted signs of recovery after the announcement of positive operating income of 2.6 billion yen. Sanyo remains the world number one producer of rechargeable batteries. Recent product innovations in this area include the Eneloop Low self-discharge NiMH battery, a "hybrid" rechargeable NiMH (Nickel-metal hydride battery) which, unlike typical NiMH cells, can be used from-the-package without an initial recharge cycle and retain a charge significantly longer than batteries using standard NiMH battery design. The Eneloop line competes against similar products such as Rayovac's "Hybrid Rechargeable" line.


title: Sanyo

text: Tomoyo Nonaka, a former NHK anchorwoman who was appointed chairwoman of the company, stepped down in March 2007. The President, Toshimasa Iue, also stepped down in April of that year; Seiichiro Sano was appointed to head the company effective April 2007.


title: Sanyo

text: In October 2007, Sanyo cancelled a 110 billion yen sale of its semiconductor business, blaming the global credit crisis for the decision and stating that after exploring its other options, it had decided to keep the business and develop it as part of its portfolio.


title: Sanyo

text: On November 2, 2008, Sanyo and Panasonic announced that they have agreed on the main points of a proposed buyout that would make Sanyo a subsidiary of Panasonic. They became a subsidiary of Panasonic on December 21, 2009.


title: Sanyo

text: On July 29, 2010, Panasonic reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares of Panasonic Electric Works and Sanyo shares for $9.4 billion.


title: Sanyo

text: By March 2012, parent company Panasonic plans to terminate the Sanyo brand, however it will remain on some of the products where the Sanyo brand still holds value to consumers.


title: Sanyo

text: In August 2013, a 51% majority stake in Chinese company Hefei Royalstar Sanyo, a 2000 joint venture between Japanese Sanyo and Chinese government investment company Hefei, was purchased by American multinational manufacturer Whirlpool Corporation for $552 million.


title: Sanyo

text: The Sanyo HIT (Heterojunction with Intrinsic Thin layer) solar cell is composed of a mono thin crystalline silicon wafer surrounded by ultra-thin amorphous silicon layers.


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo Energy opened its solar module assembly plants in Hungary and in Mexico in 2004, and in 2006 it produced solar modules worth $213 million. In 2007, Sanyo completed a new unit at its solar module plant in Hungary that was to triple its annual capacity to 720,000 units in 2008.


title: Sanyo

text: Plans to expand production were based on rising demands for Sanyo Hungary products, whose leading markets are Germany, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia. The plant at Dorog, outside Budapest, became Sanyo's largest solar module production facility in the world. Germany, Italy, Spain and the Scandinavian countries. The plant at Dorog, outside Budapest, will be Sanyo Electric's largest facility producing solar modules in the entire world.


title: Sanyo

text: In late September 2008, Sanyo announced its decision to build a manufacturing plant for solar ingots and wafers (the building blocks for silicon solar cells) in Inagi, Japan. The plant began operating in October 2009 and was to reach its full production capacity of 70 megawatts (MW) of solar wafers per year by April 2010. Sanyo and Nippon Oil decided to launch a joint company, known as Sanyo Eneos Solar Co., Ltd., for the production and sale of thin-film solar panels. The new joint company began production and sales at an initial scale of 80 MW, while gradually increasing its production capacity. For this joint project, Sanyo drew on its solar cell technologies, based on the technology acquired through the development of the HIT solar cell.


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo pioneered the production of nickel cadmium batteries in 1964, nickel metal hydride batteries (NiMh) in 1990, lithium-ion batteries in 1994, and lithium polymer batteries in 1999. In 2000, it acquired Toshiba's NiMh business, including the Takasaki factory. Since the acquisition of Sanyo by Panasonic, ownership of the Takasaki factory was transferred to the FDK Corporation.


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo supplies NiMh batteries to Honda, Ford, Volkswagen and PSA Peugeot Citroen. Sanyo is developing NiMH batteries for hybrid electric vehicles with the Volkswagen group, while their lithium-ion batteries for plug-in HEV will also be housed in Suzuki fleet vehicles.


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo planned to raise monthly production of NiMH batteries for hybrid vehicles from 1 million units to up to 2.5 million by the end of fiscal 2005.


title: Sanyo

text: Panasonic reintroduced the Sanyo brand in India, with the launch of Sanyo LED TV range on August 8, 2016. On July 11, 2017, Sanyo launched its range of smart TVs on Amazon Prime Day. In August 2017, Sanyo unveiled its NXT range of LED televisions exclusively on Flipkart. In December 2017, Sanyo introduced its first 4K smart TV range in India.


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo worked with Energy Efficiency Services Limited to develop a 1.5-ton inverter air conditioner (AC) with an Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) of 5.2. Distribution of these air conditioners began in September 2017.


title: Sanyo

text: Though founded in Japan, Sanyo has sold TVs in America for over 50 years; Sanyo TV USA was headquartered in San Diego, California with facilities located in Tijuana, Mexico. Because of its relatively high price compared to competitors, Sanyo competes on quality and value.


title: Sanyo

text: Many of Sanyo's television sets offer MHL compatibility along with Roku-ready branding via HDMI, meaning the TVs are compatible with Roku's MHL-specific streaming stick. Sometimes included with purchase, such as with the Sanyo FVF5044, this stick enables video streaming and other online functions as an affordable alternative to certain smart TVs; the TV's original remote is capable of browsing the service. Multiple models also have USB ports which allow for immediate photo sharing directly off the stick without any additional software/upgrades.


title: Sanyo

text: In October 2014, Panasonic announced its intent to transfer the Sanyo TV unit to Funai in the US market in return for annual royalty payments. Funai is a major Walmart supplier that also supplies Philips and Emerson TV sets to the retail chain. Consumer Reports commented in 2018 that Sanyo TVs "seem to turn up mostly in Walmart stores, almost as a private label for the retailer."


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo is also known for its thermal management sector, Sanyo Denki, which makes high speed, large airflow, high static pressure DC fans sold under the moniker "San Ace", a product line mainly geared towards the enterprise market. As of October 2020, Sanyo Denki holds the world record for both rotational speed and static pressure of various dimensions and models. Some notable records are:


title: Sanyo

text: Sanyo was the primary sponsor of the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League in Australia from 2000 to 2012. In Formula One, the company backed Benetton from 1989 to 1995, Williams from 1995 to 1997 and Stewart Grand Prix from 1997 to 1999. In the football sponsored the Argentinian club River Plate from 1992 until 1995 and the brazilian Coritiba from 1995 until 1999.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The 2022 South Australian state election was held on 19 March 2022 to elect members to the 55th Parliament of South Australia. All 47 seats in the House of Assembly (the lower house, whose members were elected at the 2018 election), and half the seats in the Legislative Council (the upper house, last filled at the 2014 election) were up for re-election.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The one-term incumbent minority Liberal government, led by Premier Steven Marshall, was defeated by the opposition Labor Party, led by Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas, in a landslide. Marshall conceded to Malinauskas about three hours after the polls closed. It is the first time since 1982, and only the fourth time since 1933, that a sitting government in South Australia has been defeated after a single term.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Labor won 27 seats in the lower house, while the Liberals retained 16 seats—with the remaining four seats won by independents. The new ministry was sworn in two days after the election, and Malinauskas became the state's 47th Premier.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: In the 22-seat upper house where 11 seats were up for election, the result was five Labor, four Liberal, one Green, and one One Nation, for a total of nine Labor government seats, eight Liberal opposition seats, with five crossbenchers—two Green, two SA-Best, and one One Nation. Consequently, the new Labor government would require an additional three non-government votes to pass legislation; however, the Liberal upper house President was unexpectedly re-elected to the Presidency, which gave the Labor government nine of 21 seats during votes on the floor, meaning that only an additional two non-government votes are required to pass legislation.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Like federal elections, South Australia has compulsory voting, uses full-preference instant-runoff voting for single-member electorates in the lower house, and optional preference single transferable voting in the proportionally represented upper house. The election was conducted by the Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA), an independent body answerable to Parliament.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The final result was 5 Labor, 4 Liberal, 1 Green, and 1 One Nation, for a total of 9 Labor government seats, 8 Liberal opposition seats, with 5 crossbenchers — 2 Green, 2 SA-Best, and 1 One Nation.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: With the Liberal upper house President unexpectedly re-elected to the Presidency, this gives the Labor government nine of 21 seats during votes on the floor, meaning that only an additional two non-government votes are required to pass legislation.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: In the House of Assembly at the 2018 election, the Liberal opposition formed a two-seat majority government with 25 of 47 seats. The former 16-year four-term Labor government went in to opposition with 19 seats. The crossbench was represented by 3 independents: Frances Bedford, Troy Bell and Geoff Brock. The Liberals won 51.9% of the statewide two-party-preferred vote, which was actually a slight swing toward Labor.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The Liberal Party's already slender majority was further reduced when in, February 2020, Sam Duluk, the member for Waite, had his Liberal membership suspended due to his personal conduct at a 2019 Christmas party, which led to him being charged with assault by police. Duluk was found not guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court in August 2021, though he remained on the crossbench as an independent.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: In February 2021, Fraser Ellis, the Liberal member for Narungga, was charged by the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) with 23 counts of deception, relating to 78 fraudulent claims over the alleged misuse of a travel allowance totalling more than $18,000. The ICAC charges led to Ellis resigning from the Liberal Party and moving to the crossbench as an independent, which officially transitioned the Liberals into a minority government. Later that year, Dan Cregan, the Liberal member for Kavel, resigned from the party to sit as an independent, citing the government's failure to manage population growth in the Adelaide Hills. Several days after his resignation from the party, Cregan was elected as Speaker of the House of Assembly after a ballot, as the government's preferred candidate lacked sufficient support in the Assembly.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Though in minority, the government did not fall, as it never lost a vote on confidence or supply; in any event, Ellis and other independents had stated they would support the Marshall government on such matters.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: After the 2018 election, the numbers in the Legislative Council were 8 Liberal, 8 Labor, 2 SA Best, 2 Greens, 1 Conservative and 1 Advance SA. Conservative MLC Dennis Hood, who had been elected as a Family First MLC in 2014, defected to the Liberals nine days after the 2018 state election. In 2020, John Dawkins was expelled from the Liberal Party for breaking party rules by nominating himself for President of the Legislative Council. The 22 seat upper house composition before the 2022 election was therefore 8 Liberal, 8 Labor, 2 SA Best, 2 Greens, 1 Advance SA, and 1 independent.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Of these members: 4 Liberal, 4 Labor, 2 SA Best and 1 Green have terms which continue until 2026; and 4 Liberal, 4 Labor, 1 Green, 1 Advance SA and 1 independent were up for re-election in 2022, though the independent Dawkins did not contest the election.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Labor campaigned extensively on improving the state's healthcare infrastructure, pledging to increase the amount of ambulances, hospital beds, nurses and doctors in order to combat long-standing overcrowding of hospitals and ramping of ambulances, which Labor stated to have greatly intensified during Marshall's Liberal administration. To this end, Labor promised to cancel the construction of a basketball stadium for which $662 million had been budgeted in the previous state budget, and reallocate the basketball stadium funds to their healthcare plan.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: As part of an effort to secure the electoral district of Kavel, Labor also promised to build a new hospital in Mount Barker. The MP for Kavel, Dan Cregan, had resigned from the Liberals in October 2021 to become an independent, citing insufficient government investment in the district; among Cregan's demands included the construction of a new hospital.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The Australian Christian Lobby campaigned for SA election candidates who opposed late-term abortions and who promote more socially conservative policies.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Pauline Hanson's One Nation ran in its first South Australian election since 2006. The newly formed Family First Party (which is different from the previous Family First Party), the Australian Family Party and Sustainable Australia ran for the first time as well.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: To produce "fair" electoral boundaries, the Electoral Commission of South Australia (ECSA) has been required following the1989 election to redraw boundaries after each election through a "fairness clause" in the state constitution, with the objective that the party which receives over 50 percent of the statewide two-party vote at the forthcoming election should win the two-party vote in a majority of seats in terms of the two-party-preferred vote calculated in all seats regardless of any differing two-candidate-preferred vote. As it was interpreted from 1991 to 2016, the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission (EDBC) drew boundaries to try and ensure that the party winning the majority of the state-wide two-party preferred vote would also win a majority of the seats in the House of Assembly; however, the Weatherill government repealed the fairness provision in 2017 so that it was no longer the second criteria for redistributions after equality.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Yet the 2020 redistribution showed that the fairness criteria has not been removed from South Australian redistributions. The EDBC ruled that it could still consider fairness under a general provision that permits the Commission to "have regard to any other matters it thinks relevant". Having been legislatively required in the past, fairness will continue to be allowed as a matter for consideration in the future.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission released a new draft redistribution in August 2020, as calculated from the 27 Liberal−20 Labor seat count by two-party vote as recorded in all 47 seats at the 2014 state election. The net change proposed retained a 27 Liberal−20 Labor notional seat count on a TPP basis when not considering elected independents.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The pendulum below shows the post-redistribution margins, in percentage points, calculated by ABC’s Antony Green, taking into account seats held by independents who are contesting their current seats at the next election, which differ somewhat to the margins calculated by the South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission that does not take into account currently elected independents. The EDBC is the only redistribution authority in Australia that is required to examine voting patterns in drawing electoral boundaries, and in doing so, assume that the proportion of each party's vote in the declaration vote (postal, pre-poll and absent votes) is evenly distributed across the whole of each former electorate. Antony Green's margin estimates are more accurately calculated using declaration votes from the redistributed polling booths.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The last state election was held on 17 March 2018 to elect members for the House of Assembly and half of the members in the Legislative Council. In South Australia, section 28 of the Constitution Act 1934, as amended in 2001, directs that parliaments have fixed four-year terms, and elections must be held on the third Saturday in March every four years unless this date falls the day after Good Friday, occurs within the same month as a Commonwealth election, or the conduct of the election could be adversely affected by a state disaster. Section 28 also states that the Governor may also dissolve the Assembly and call an election for an earlier date if the government has lost the confidence of the Assembly or a bill of special importance has been rejected by the Legislative Council. Section 41 states that both the Council and the Assembly may also be dissolved simultaneously if a deadlock occurs between them. As none of these possibilities eventuated, the election was held on its proper date of 19 March 2022.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The Electoral (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2013 introduced set dates for writs for general elections in South Australia. The writ sets the dates for the close of the electoral roll and the close of nominations for an election. The Electoral Act 1985 requires that, for a general election, the writ be issued 28 days before the date fixed for polling (S47(2a)) and the electoral roll be closed at 12 noon, 6 days after the issue of the writ (S48(3(a)(i). The close of nominations will be at 12 noon 3 days after the close of rolls (Electoral Act 1985 S48(4)(a) and S4(1)).


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: ABC News election analyst Antony Green projected that Labor would win a majority at 8:06 PM ACST on 19 March 2022, two hours after the polls closed. This defied a number of suggestions of a hung parliament. Marshall conceded defeat to Malinauskas an hour later.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: Labor took seven seats off the Liberals, including two seats that had never been held by Labor before this election, Davenport and Waite. Davenport had been in the hands of the Liberals and their predecessors, the Liberal and Country League, since its creation in 1970. Waite and its predecessor seat, Mitcham, had been held by non-Labor parties or conservative independents since the introduction of single-member seats in 1938. Additionally, the Liberals suffered large swings in previously safe seats such as Bragg, Morphett, and Hammond.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The Liberals were reduced to their smallest presence in the lower house since 2006 This came mainly due to losing many of the gains they had made in Adelaide four years earlier. The Liberals had won power in 2018 mainly on the strength of winning 16 of Adelaide's 33 seats, their best showing since taking all but nine of the capital's seats in their 1993 landslide. In 2022, all seven of their losses to Labor were in metropolitan seats. Labor had spent all but 16 years since the end of the Playmander in government due to its traditional dominance of Adelaide. South Australia is one of the most centralised states in Australia; Adelaide is home to over three-quarters of the state's population.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: To a greater extent than other state capitals, Adelaide is decisive in deciding state election outcomes. Since the end of the Playmander and the introduction of one vote one value legislation in 1975, most elections have seen Labor win most of the metropolitan seats, with most of the Liberal vote locked up in safe rural seats. Even when the Liberals won majorities of the two-party preferred vote in 1989, 2002, 2010 and 2014, Labor clung to or won government because most of the Liberal majority was wasted on massive landslides in their rural heartland.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: The 2022 election saw more of the same. All three of the Liberals' safe seats (>10 percent 2PP) were rural, while all but four of their non-safe seats (<10 percent 2PP) and all but three of their marginal seats (<7 percent 2PP) were urban. One of those marginal seats belonged to Marshall, who was nearly defeated in his own seat of Dunstan after suffering a swing of almost seven percent.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: On 20 March 2022, Marshall announced he would resign as leader of the Liberals at a later date, but intended to remain the member for Dunstan.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: On 21 March 2022 Malinauskas was formally sworn as Premier by the Governor of South Australia, with Susan Close as his deputy.


title: 2022 South Australian state election

text: In April 2022, it was "formally confirmed" at by the end of April that a One Nation member won a seat within the South Australia legislative council (upper house) making history.


title: First Cow

text: First Cow is a 2019 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt, from a screenplay by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond based on Raymond's 2004 novel "The Half-Life". It stars John Magaro, Orion Lee, Toby Jones, Ewen Bremner, Scott Shepherd, Gary Farmer and Lily Gladstone. It also features René Auberjonois in one of his final film roles.


title: First Cow

text: The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019, and was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. It was theatrically released by A24 in the United States on March 6, 2020, and released on VOD platforms on July 10, 2020, to acclaim from critics. It won Best Film at the 2020 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and was named one of the ten best films of 2020 by the National Board of Review.


title: First Cow

text: In the present, a woman walking her dog on the riverside discovers two skeletons lying together in a shallow grave.


title: First Cow

text: In 1820, Otis "Cookie" Figowitz is a quiet chef traveling in Oregon Country with a group of loud and aggressive fur trappers who harass him for not finding them enough food. One night, he comes across King-Lu, a Chinese immigrant on the run for killing a Russian man. Cookie allows Lu to hide in his tent for the night and watches him escape across the river the next day.


title: First Cow

text: Cookie's group reaches a fort and Lu finds him there, babysitting an infant in the middle of a bar fight, and invites him to his house. Cookie moves in, and learns Lu is thinking about starting a farm, while Cookie talks about opening a bakery or hotel in San Francisco.


title: First Cow

text: Meanwhile, the outpost's first milk cow has arrived; her mate and calf died on the journey. She is left unattended at night just outside the house of the wealthiest English trader in town, the Chief Factor. Lu laments that poor men don't stand a chance to get ahead without some kind of fortune or committing a crime. Cookie reminisces about his days as a baker's assistant in Boston and tells Lu that he could use some of the cow's milk to make baked goods. They sneak onto the Chief Factor's property at night, Cookie milking the cow and Lu keeping watch from a tree. They manage to get enough milk to bake a batch of buttermilk biscuits. Cookie is unsatisfied with the result, wishing it could be sweeter, but Lu points out they are far better than anything on the outpost and suggests they could make a fortune. Cookie refines his recipe and adds honey.


title: First Cow

text: They take their first batch of sweet oily cakes to market. When asked the recipe, Lu claims it's a "Chinese secret." The first few men to try them excitedly ask for more, and a bidding war erupts for the last cake. Word spreads and the men line up day after day as they run out. One day, a big man shoves a slight man aside for the last cake, and Lu does not object, only caring for the money. As they get richer, they decide it's safer to store their money in a tree than to take it to a bank.


title: First Cow

text: The Chief Factor tries their cakes and asks Cookie to bake a clafoutis, the favorite of a captain he wants to impress at their next meeting. Lu and Cookie proudly deliver the clafoutis and observe as the Chief Factor offers tea with cream to the captain, remarking that despite his cow's good breeding, it is producing very little milk. He takes the captain, the chief, Cookie and Lu to see the cow, which recognizes Cookie and nuzzles him. Cookie urges Lu to leave town now, sensing the danger, but Lu persuades him they don't have enough to get to San Francisco and start their business, so they go back the next night to milk the cow once again.


title: First Cow

text: A man at the Chief Factor's estate comes out to fetch a cat, and the tree branch breaks before Cookie hears Lu's warning call. They run as the alarm is raised, and after the captain sees the pail and stool and informs the Chief Factor his cow was being milked, they send their men to kill Lu and Cookie. When they reach a river, Lu jumps, but Cookie hides, then falls down a hill. Cookie wakes up in a shack, helped by an elderly Native American couple. He says he needs to find his friend and soon leaves.


title: First Cow

text: Lu trades his buttons to hire a canoe to go downstream in search of Cookie, and returns to the shack, hiding from the Chief Factor's men rummaging through the destruction. He retrieves their money from the tree. Cookie returns to the shack, walking by the cow on the Factor's estate, now surrounded by a fence. He is spied by the slight man Lu ignored in line at the market, who follows with a rifle.


title: First Cow

text: Cookie finds Lu at the shack, and Lu suggests they catch the next boat south. Cookie can't keep up through the woods and he lies down, clearly fatigued. Lu tells Cookie they will be safe and promises to keep watch, then lies beside him, reassures him, and closes his eyes.


title: First Cow

text: In October 2018, it was announced that Kelly Reichardt would direct the film, from a screenplay she wrote alongside Jonathan Raymond. Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, Scott Rudin and Eli Bush would produce the film under their FilmScience and Scott Rudin Productions banners, respectively, while A24 would distribute.


title: First Cow

text: In November 2018, René Auberjonois was cast in the film. In March 2019, it was announced that John Magaro had joined the cast.


title: First Cow

text: "First Cow" had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019. It screened at the New York Film Festival on September 28, 2019. Although it was released in four U.S. theaters on March 6, 2020, the film was pulled from release by A24 on March 15, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released for purchase on VOD platforms on July 10, 2020, and became available to rent on July 21.


title: First Cow

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average score of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""First Cow" finds director Kelly Reichardt revisiting territory and themes that will be familiar to fans of her previous work—with typically rewarding results." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: First Cow

text: A. A. Dowd and Katie Rife of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a positive review, praising its simplicity and precise storytelling.


title: First Cow

text: At the end of 2020, 119 film critics included the film on their top-ten lists, with 18 ranking it first and 20 ranking it second.


title: Son of Batman

text: Son of Batman is a 2014 American animated superhero film which is the 19th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and the third film in the DC Animated Movie Universe. It is an adaptation of Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert's 2006 "Batman and Son" storyline.<ref name="http://www.flickeringmyth.com"></ref> The film was released as a digital download on April 22, 2014, and was released on physical media May 6.<ref name="http://www.tvguide.com"></ref>


title: Son of Batman

text: At the headquarters of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul grooms Damian Wayne, the young son of his daughter, Talia, and Batman, to succeed him. The League is ambushed by a group of assassins led by Slade Wilson, Ra's al Ghul's initial choice for successor before Damian's birth; Ra's is defeated and fatally injured by Slade, dying before he can heal his injuries with the Lazarus Pit. After the incident, Talia takes Damian to Gotham City to meet his father and remain in his care while she and the League deal with Slade. The aggressive, highly independent Damian objects and frequently disobeys his father's orders in an attempt to seek out Slade and avenge Ra's himself. After he is accosted by Nightwing for sneaking out and brutally attacking an associate of Slade's, Batman berates Damian for his recklessness and willingness to kill. Batman then has Damian don the mantle of Robin in order to teach him discipline.


title: Son of Batman

text: Slade, now calling himself Deathstroke, captures Talia as well as Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a scientist previously working with Ra's. Commissioner Gordon warns Batman about an abandoned stadium believed to house Deathstroke's men; after infiltrating the stadium, Batman and Damian attempt to question Langstrom, who initially refuses to leave as Deathstroke is holding his family hostage. When Damian becomes violently impatient and inadvertently alerts the enemy to their arrival, the groups is confronted by a swarm of Man-Bats, which Langstrom explains is part of Deathstroke's plan to create superhuman, flight-capable assassins. While Nightwing works with Langstrom on an antidote for the Man-Bats, Batman and Damian set off to rescue Langstrom's family. Batman deduces that Talia has been abducted and while rescuing Langstrom's family, Damian is relayed her location via a ransom video given to Langstrom's daughter.


title: Son of Batman

text: Nightwing learns that Deathstroke is operating in an oil rig off the Scottish coast, and while Batman is distracted, Damian goes to the rig alone to rescue his mother. He finds Deathstroke and Talia in an underwater base with a swarm of Man-Bats and another Lazarus Pit, which Deathstroke intends to sell for profit. Deathstroke attempts to kill Damian, mortally wounding Talia as she shields her son from a gunshot. Batman arrives to assist and heals Talia in the Lazarus Pit, while Nightwing and Langstrom cure the Man-Bats.


title: Son of Batman

text: After a brutal fight, Damian manages to defeat Deathstroke, but refuses to kill him because it is not what his father would do. The underwater base is destroyed when the Man-Bats, overwhelmed by sonar devices placed by Batman, break the glass elevator shaft and flood the base. Batman, Talia and Damian escape to safety, but the unconscious Deathstroke is left behind. Discussing what to do with Damian now that Deathstroke has been neutralized, Batman believes that Damian should stay with him and remain as Robin while Talia still wishes to recreate the League with Batman and Damian at her side. Talia relents and allows Damian to stay in Gotham with his father, but states her intention to return for him someday.


title: Son of Batman

text: The soundtrack to "Son of Batman" was released on May 20, 2014, with music composed by Frederik Wiedmann.


title: Son of Batman

text: The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of , with an average score of , based on reviews. IGN gave the film a rating of 7.5 out of 10, saying that ""Son of Batman" finds the humor amidst the more adult-oriented action elements in this latest DC animated adventure". On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of based on votes, with an average rating of . Common Sense Media gave the film a 4 star rating out of 5, saying that "violent and noirish Batman is engaging but cynical". Conversely, Brian Lowry of Variety stated that "at times this feels like a sitcom premise — a chop-socky "Full House", or maybe, "Full Cave". Tommy Cook for Collider.com also gave the film a negative review: "Striving for the dark edge of what I guess people expect from a "Batman" movie while still maintaining that Saturday morning toon sheen, the film feels mass produced to appeal to all (give the adults – gore; the kids – a spunky child sidekick); however in the effort to appease everyone, "SoB" in fact caters to none".


title: American kestrel

text: The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), also called the sparrow hawk, is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. It has a roughly two-to-one range in size over subspecies and sex, varying in size from about the weight of a blue jay to a mourning dove. It also ranges to South America and is a well-established species that has evolved into 17 subspecies adapted to different environments and habitats throughout the Americas. It exhibits sexual dimorphism in size (females being moderately larger) and plumage, although both sexes have a rufous back with noticeable barring. Its plumage is colorful and attractive, and juveniles are similar in plumage to adults.


title: American kestrel

text: The American kestrel usually hunts in energy-conserving fashion by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush, though it also hunts from the air. It sometimes hovers in the air with rapid wing beats while homing in on prey. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds (e.g. sparrows). This broad diet has contributed to its wide success as a species. It nests in cavities in trees, cliffs, buildings, and other structures. The female lays three to seven eggs, which both sexes help to incubate.


title: American kestrel

text: Its breeding range extends from central and western Alaska across northern Canada to Nova Scotia, and south throughout North America, into central Mexico and the Caribbean. It is a local breeder in Central America and is widely distributed throughout South America. Most birds breeding in Canada and the northern United States migrate south in the winter. It is an occasional vagrant to Western Europe.


title: American kestrel

text: Based on appearance and behavior it was for many years considered a member of the primarily European and African kestrel clade within the genus "Falco", but DNA analysis shows the American kestrel to actually be genetically more closely related to the larger American falcons such as the aplomado, peregrine, and prairie falcons. Though the species has not been renamed as a result of these genetic analyses, it is not actually a kestrel in the phylogenetic sense. Instead, a process of convergent evolution to fit a similar small prey niche in the ecosystem as the true kestrels have left it with similar physical characteristics and hunting methods.


title: American kestrel

text: The American kestrel is a common bird used in falconry, especially by beginners. Though not as strong a flyer as many other, larger falcons, proper training and weight control by the falconer allows many American kestrels to become effective hunters of birds in the size range of sparrows and starlings, with occasional success against birds up to approximately twice their own weight.


title: American kestrel

text: Under traditional classification, the American kestrel is the smallest raptor in America. The American kestrel is sexually dimorphic, although there is some overlap in plumage coloration between the sexes. The bird ranges from in length with a wingspan of . The female kestrel is larger than the male, though less so than larger falcons, being typically about 10% to 15% larger within a subspecies. The more northern subspecies tend to larger sizes (northern hemisphere), with a large northern female being about twice the size of a small southern male. The male typically weighs , and the female . In standard measurements, the wing bone is long, the tail is and the tarsus is .


title: American kestrel

text: Physically, American kestrels are leaner and less muscular than larger falcons. The pectoral flight muscles of the American kestrel make up only about 12% of its body weight, as compared to about 20% for the strongest flying falcons such as the peregrine. The wings are moderately long, fairly narrow, and taper to a point. Their less muscular body type is adapted to energy-conserving ambush hunting, rather than spending large amounts of energy-consuming time on the wing and getting into long tail-chases of bird prey. For their size, they have strong talons and beaks, and can swiftly dispatch prey. Their lean build and energy-conserving strategy allow a lower daily food intake than if they were more strongly muscled, yet with enough strength to commonly take bird prey as large as themselves, and occasionally larger. The success of this body style and hunting strategy is reflected in the high success of the species in densely populating a large range throughout the Americas. The flight of the American kestrel is not so dramatic and swift as more muscular falcons such as merlins and peregrines, but their efficient adaptation to a broader diet of more available smaller prey, and need for less food per day, has resulted in there being many more of them.


title: American kestrel

text: In contrast to many other raptor species, the sexes differ more in plumage than in size. Males have blue-grey wings with black spots and white undersides with black barring. The back is rufous, with barring on the lower half. The belly and flanks are white with black spotting. The tail is also rufous, with a white or rufous tip and a black subterminal band. The back and wings of the female American kestrel are rufous with dark brown barring. The undersides of the females are creamy to buff with heavy brown streaking. The tail is noticeably different from the male's, being rufous in color with numerous narrow dark black bars. Juveniles exhibit coloration patterns similar to the adults'. In both sexes, the head is white with a bluish-grey top. There are also two narrow, vertical black facial markings on each side of the head, while other falcons have one. Two black spots (ocelli) can be found on each side of the white or orangish nape. The function of these spots is debated, but the most commonly accepted theory is that they act as "false eyes", and help to protect the bird from potential attackers.


title: American kestrel

text: The American kestrel has three basic vocalizations – the "klee" or "killy", the "whine", and the "chitter". The "klee" is usually delivered as a rapid series – "klee, klee, klee, klee" when the kestrel is upset or excited. This call is used in a wide variety of situations and is heard from both sexes, but the larger females typically have lower-pitched voices than the males. The "whine" call is primarily associated with feeding but is also uttered during copulation. The "chitter" is used in activities that involve interaction between male and female birds, including courtship feeding, copulation, and the feeding of nestlings. Nestlings can produce calls similar to those of adults at 16 days old.


title: American kestrel

text: Until the sixth edition of the AOU Checklist of North American Birds was published by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1983, the most commonly used name for the American kestrel was the "sparrow hawk". This was due to a mistaken connection with the Eurasian sparrowhawk in the genus "Accipiter". The sixth edition of the AOU Checklist corrected this, officially renaming the bird "American kestrel". Several other colloquial names for the kestrel are also in use, including "grasshopper hawk", due to its diet, and "killy hawk", due to its distinct call.


title: American kestrel

text: As noted in the introduction, DNA analysis shows the American kestrel to actually be genetically more closely related to the larger American falcons than to the true kestrels. However, based on its physical similarity to the kestrels and the established nature of the name American kestrel, there has been little impetus to change its name. This could change in the future if continued genetic research more precisely determines the evolutionary history of the American kestrel within the genus "Falco". The entire genus is actually a set of species so closely related that most or all can be hybridized by artificial insemination. Significant natural hybridization of species has occurred in the past during the evolution of this closely related set of species, such that precise evolutionary genetic analysis as to which species are more basal to other species or to the genus as a whole is difficult to render.


title: American kestrel

text: The American kestrel's scientific name, "Falco sparverius", was given by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work "Systema Naturae". The genus refers to the falcate, or hooked, shape of the beak, and the specific name means "pertaining to a sparrow", referring to the bird's small size and hunting of sparrows as a typical prey.


title: American kestrel

text: Seventeen subspecies of the American kestrel are recognized, generally based upon plumage, size, and vocalizations:


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels are found in a wide variety of habitats, including grasslands, meadows, deserts and other open to semi-open regions. They can also be found in both urban and suburban areas. A kestrel's habitat must include perches, open space for hunting, and cavities for nesting (whether natural or man-made). The American kestrel is able to live in very diverse conditions, ranging from above the Arctic Circle, to the tropics of Central America, to elevations of over in the Andes Mountains. The bird is distributed from northern Canada and Alaska to the southernmost tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego. It is the only kestrel found in the Americas, though as mentioned above this classification is genetically inaccurate. It has occurred as a vagrant in the UK, Denmark, Malta and the Azores.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels in Canada and the northern United States typically migrate south in the winter, some of them converging with resident kestrels of smaller size in Mexico, sometimes going as far as Central America and the Caribbean. Birds that breed south of about 35° north latitude are usually year-round residents. Migration also depends on local weather conditions. American Kestrels breeding at lower latitudes – below 48ºN to be precise – arrive earlier after warmer springs, whereas birds from higher latitudes return to their breeding grounds at the same time each year. These patterns suggest that short-distance migrants are better able to cope with climate change. Wintering kestrels' choice of habitat varies by sex. Females are found in open areas more often than males during the non-breeding season. A common explanation for this behavior is that the larger females who are bigger than the males arrive at the preferred habitat first and exclude males from their territory.


title: American kestrel

text: The American kestrel is not long-lived, with a lifespan of <5 years for wild birds. The oldest banded wild bird was 11 years and 7 months, while captive kestrels can live up to 14–17 years. In a study, humans accounted for 43.2% of 1,355 reported deaths, which included direct killing and roadkills, while predation (including by larger birds of prey) accounted for 2.8%. This statistic is likely biased, however, as reported deaths are usually found near or in areas populated by humans.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels feed largely on small animals such as grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, beetles, lizards, mice, voles, shrews, frogs, and small birds. The kestrel has also been reported to have killed scorpions, snakes, bats, and squirrels. The kestrel is able to maintain high population densities, at least in part because of the broad scope of its diet. The American kestrel's primary mode of hunting is by perching and waiting for prey to come near. The bird is characteristically seen along roadsides or fields perched on objects such as trees, overhead power lines, or fence posts. It also hunts by kiting, hovering in the air with rapid wing beats and scanning the ground for prey. Other hunting techniques include low flight over fields, or chasing insects and birds in the air.


title: American kestrel

text: Prey is most often caught on the ground, though occasionally they take birds in flight. Before striking, the kestrel characteristically bobs its head and tail, then makes a direct flight toward the prey to grab it in its talons. Much like the red-tailed hawk, American kestrels conserve energy in a hunt and pick their attacks with care as to position and odds of success. During the breeding season, the bird will carry large prey back to its mate or young. One study found that an American kestrel pair "foraged in ways that minimized the costs of energy acquisition in its particular situation". For example, if the success rate for catching prey decreases significantly in a particular area, the bird will move to a different area.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels are sexually mature by their first spring. In migratory populations, the males arrive at the breeding ground before females, then the female selects a mate. Pair bonds are strong, often permanent. Pairs usually use previous nesting sites in consecutive years. This gives birds an advantage over younger or invading individuals, as they would already be familiar with the hunting grounds, neighbors, predators, and other features of the site. Males perform elaborate dive displays to advertise their territory and attract a mate. These displays consist of several climbs and dives, with three or four "klee" calls at their peaks. Females are promiscuous for about one to two weeks after their arrival at the nesting site. This is thought to stimulate ovulation. Food transfers from the male to the female occur from about four to five weeks prior to egg laying to one to two weeks after.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels are cavity nesters, but they are able to adapt to a wide variety of nesting situations. They generally prefer natural cavities (such as in trees) with closed tops and tight-fitting entrances that provide for maximum protection of the eggs and young. Kestrels occasionally nest in holes created by large woodpeckers, or use the abandoned nests of other birds, such as red-tailed hawks, merlins, and crows. They have been recorded nesting on cliff ledges and building tops, as well as in abandoned cavities in cactuses. American kestrels also commonly utilize nesting boxes.


title: American kestrel

text: Three to seven eggs (typically four or five) are laid approximately 24–72 hours apart. (Two supernormal clutches of eight eggs and one of nine have been documented. One egg in one of the eight-egg clutches hatched as did one egg in the nine-egg clutch.)


title: American kestrel

text: The average egg size is , 10% larger than average for birds of its body size. The eggs are white to cream in color with brown or grey splotching. Incubation usually lasts 30 days and is mainly the responsibility of the female, although the male incubates 15–20% of the time. Eggs that are lost are typically replaced in 11–12 days. Hatching takes place over three to four days. Hatchlings are altricial, and are only able to sit up after five days. They grow rapidly, reaching an adult weight after 16–17 days. After 28–31 days, their wings have developed and they are able to leave the nest.


title: American kestrel

text: The young adult kestrels may breed from a year old, and the species has approximately a three to five-year life expectancy in the wild.


title: American kestrel

text: In ecological terms, the reproductive pattern of the American kestrel leans towards a small bird ""r" selection" strategy. In "r"/"K" selection theory, selective pressures are hypothesized to drive evolution in one of two generalized directions: "r" or "K" selection. "R"-selected species are those that place an emphasis on a high growth rate, typically exploiting less-crowded ecological niches, and produce many offspring, each of which has a relatively low probability of surviving to adulthood (i.e., high "r", low "K"). By contrast, "K"-selected species display traits associated with living at densities close to carrying capacity, and typically are strong competitors in such crowded niches that invest more heavily in fewer offspring, each of which has a relatively high probability of surviving to adulthood (i.e., low "r", high "K"). Between these two extremes, the American kestrel is one of the few raptor species that lean towards being "r"-selected. They are able to breed at one year old, have few non-breeding adults in the population, and have larger broods. Their population growth rate is high relative to larger raptors, which typically lean towards being "K"-selected.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels are often useful in scientific studies on animal physiology, and are typically captured using the bal-chatri method or raised in nest boxes for experiments. Kestrel metabolic rate has been found to increase in response to rainfall, and at ambient temperatures below about 25 °C. Kestrel metabolic responses to weather and temperature do not vary, however, with sex. Kestrels will increase their oxygen consumption, and therefore their metabolic rate in cold and wet conditions to counteract heat loss.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels' response to environmental stress is measured as blood concentration of corticosterone (CORT,) a hormone produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis that releases stored energy for essential body functions. Extended periods of elevated blood CORT levels may direct metabolic energy away from growth and reproduction. Thus, high levels of traffic disturbance and human development surrounding American kestrel nests are found to increase stress hormones leading to reproductive failure. Among successful nests, however, nestlings do not typically experience a higher stress response to environmental human disturbance, suggesting that they can tolerate a considerable degree of human activity near the nest.


title: American kestrel

text: Since American kestrels are carnivores, toxic chemical runoff ingested by their prey can concentrate at high levels in their blood. Wild kestrels are subject to immunomodulation, or an altered immune response, to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a group of industrial flame retardants that may leach from factories into the environment. When PBDEs accumulate in body tissues of kestrels, the T-cell mediated immune response decreases in efficiency. As a result, kestrels that ingest PBDEs may not respond sufficiently to viruses or other invading microorganisms. In addition, certain PBDEs may suppress the growth and development of the spleen and bursa in American kestrels.


title: American kestrel

text: While PBDEs can affect immune response and suppress growth of certain organs, they can also affect the thyroid system of American Kestrels. Exposure to PBDEs "in vivo" can alter the thyroid system and retinol concentrations in kestrels. This leads to oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, and changes in glutathione metabolism. These systems are important in early development, growth, regulation of metabolism, thermoregulation, and reproduction. Oxidative stress is also known to contribute to cancers and neurological diseases.


title: American kestrel

text: Exposure to PCBs might also affect American Kestrel reproduction. It was found that PCBs affect the function of carotenoids in kestrels. This led to changes in coloration, especially during breeding season for adults. PCB-exposed males where duller and contributed less to egg incubation than unexposed males. PCB-exposed females kept their color longer than they should have. Normally, loss in color is associated with carotenoids being directed to ovaries to help in egg development. PCB-exposed females retained their colors longer, suggesting the PCBs made them less prepared for reproduction. The same females also had significant delays in egg laying. Offspring also showed higher incidence of developmental problems and decreased reproductive success.


title: American kestrel

text: PCBs have also been found to affect eye color in American Kestrels. Eye color in kestrels is known to vary with age and sex, however, when exposed to PCBs, color patterns were suppressed regardless of age and sex. While it is unknown what role eye color plays in visual acuity, this maybe be of greater concern to birds like kestrels who rely heavily on vision for hunting.


title: American kestrel

text: PDBEs were linked to changes in breeding behavior in kestrels as well. Different levels of PDBE exposure were linked to different changes in behavior as well. Overall, PDBE exposure led to changes in behaviors that strengthen the bond between a breeding pair. Such behaviors include frequent copulation, food transfers, male posturing, nest box inspection, and specific mating calls (7). High exposure levels led to increases in some behaviors and decreases in some, whereas low exposure caused decreases in almost all behaviors observed. PDBE exposure also altered the timing of these behaviors, often delaying them by several days when compared to the control group.


title: American kestrel

text: American Kestrels have also been used extensively in toxicology research. Fenthion is a common pesticide that is used to kill insects such as flies and gnats. It was also found that kestrels are highly susceptible to secondary fenthion poisoning. When 14 kestrels were presented with live sparrows who had come into contact with a fenthion solution, all 14 died within 3 days after consuming the sparrows.


title: American kestrel

text: Diphacinone is another common pesticide that is often used to kill rodents and is thought to be related to secondary poisoning in birds of prey. When kestrels were orally dosed with diphacinone, blood clotting rates significantly decreases. Kestrels were also found to be 20 to 30 times more sensitive to secondary poisoning from diphacinone than other birds like Northern bobwhite and mallard ducks.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels can also be significantly influenced by air contaminants. When exposed to common gaseous pollutants such as benzene, toluene, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide, significant changes to the thyroid systems were observed. Higher levels of thyroid activity indicate that exposure to these gases leads to a loss of inhibition of thyroid glands in kestrels. However, there were no changes to immune function or food consumption.


title: American kestrel

text: The American kestrel is likely the most abundant falcon in North America, although its total population is difficult to quantify, as local populations can change quickly due to resource availability. Count data from the USGS Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) indicate that the North American breeding population is experiencing long-term and gradual but sustained declines, with some regions, such as New England and coastal California, exhibiting more rapid declines. Count data from raptor migration corridors also indicate regional population declines and largely corroborate BBS data. The North American population has been estimated at 1.2 million pairs, with the Central and South American populations being as large. A smaller estimate is 236,000 birds wintering in North America. A population increase occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries, probably due to deforestation for agriculture. The resulting pastures provided an ideal habitat for kestrels.


title: American kestrel

text: The southeastern U.S. subspecies ("Falco sparverius paulus") has declined 82% since 1940 due to a decrease in nest site availability. This decline is a result of longleaf pines being cleared for agricultural fields. Despite this, the American kestrel is classed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.


title: American kestrel

text: The Peregrine Fund, a leading non-profit organization advancing research and conservation of birds of prey worldwide, launched the American Kestrel Partnership in 2012. The American Kestrel Partnership developed and maintains a web-based network for citizen and professional scientists to enter, manage, and consolidate data from kestrel nest box monitoring programs in the Western Hemisphere. The database is being used by researchers to model and understand relationships between kestrel nesting parameters (e.g., phenology, occupancy, survival, productivity, and nestling weight and exposure to environmental toxins) and environmental factors, such as land use, landscape composition and configuration, climate conditions (e.g., drought), and point sources of environmental toxins. Each breeding season, the American Kestrel Partnership features a live-streaming video feed from the nest box located at The Peregrine Fund's campus in Boise, Idaho.


title: American kestrel

text: One important use of American kestrels is in falconry. It is often considered a beginner's bird, though the careful weight control needed to maintain the kestrel's desire to aggressively hunt takes skill. Falconers experienced in extracting the best performance the species is capable of, report they are highly reliable on the normal game of sparrows and starlings. More aggressive individuals are sometimes capable of capturing prey up to approximately twice their own body weight, allowing the occasional capture of true game birds such as quail and dove. However, most falconers interested in the reliable taking of such game do prefer larger falcons or hawks. The advantage the American kestrel offers the experienced falconer is its suitability to simple and urban falconry not requiring large tracts of land or the use of hunting dogs. This form of falconry is sometimes referred to as "micro-falconry" or "micro-hawking." The other small raptor species commonly used in micro-falconry are the merlin, the sharp-shinned hawk (the smallest accipiter), and the European kestrel (a true kestrel).


title: American kestrel

text: Hawking with the American kestrel requires adapting to the strengths and weaknesses of the bird. It is a tiny falcon, and even for its size, it is less muscular than other small falcons such as the athletic and swift merlin. It is more adapted to ambush hunting and short chases than to the longer aerial chases larger falcons often adopt. Used within its limits, it is effective. Experienced falconer Matthew Mullenix, author of the book "American Kestrels in Modern Falconry", in an article comparing kestrels to merlins, summed their abilities up as follows:


title: American kestrel

text: 1. "Kestrels are thin-winged, flat-chested, under-powered and lack acceleration compared to merlins. I say that with much affection for them and with thousands of kestrel kills to prove these are not necessarily damning differences. Comparing a red-tailed hawk to a Harris' or goshawk will conjure equally negative points of fact, yet we all know how good trained red-tails can be!"


title: American kestrel

text: 2. "The chief variable to choosing between a kestrel and a merlin may be your hawking land. If you live in open country or have access at least to good pasture for cattle, a merlin can excel there. If you plan to hunt mostly in town or suburb, and especially if you plan to hawk from a car, I'd recommend the kestrel. The consideration coming in at close second is your intended quarry. To snipe, dove, quail and open-country sparrows, merlins are best suited. For most blackbirds (Icteridea), either falcon can prove effective. Starlings in close are extremely vulnerable to kestrels, but in the open are best prey for merlins. The same holds true for house sparrows, with this exception: sparrows in thick cover are better quarry for kestrels. This is the slip for which I feel the American kestrel is perfect."


title: American kestrel

text: 3. "Once committed to an attack, trained kestrels tend to follow through to the end. They will stoop into cover, chase birds on foot, bind to quarry twice their size, and never let go voluntarily. They have small feet, but as written elsewhere, also have the strongest feet for their size. It is a simple fact that American kestrels hold starlings better than merlins, on average, and will gladly tackle larger quarry than will any jack (male merlin)."


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels do not train so easily as some larger falcons (particularly the peregrine falcon) in the art of "waiting on" to perform a diving stoop on flushed prey. However, some individual kestrels do master this skill. Falconers sometimes train them to climb to a stooping position with tidbits on kites or balloons that the kestrels learn to climb after. More common hunting techniques are to "slip" them after spotted game from the fist, or to release them from a vehicle window close to spotted quarry. These techniques are more of a natural fit to the kestrel's ambushing methods in the wild.


title: American kestrel

text: Falconers using the American kestrel should be alert to protect the falcon from larger predators that may attack the kestrel, particularly if it is distracted on the ground with captured prey. Domestic cats and dogs are the greatest threat to attack the falcon on the ground, but the Cooper's hawk is well known to boldly attack kestrels. This mid-sized American accipiter has sufficient size and strength to carry the kestrel away, though falconers have reported often being successful in recovering the kestrel unharmed by acting quickly to intimidate the larger hawk into releasing the kestrel.


title: American kestrel

text: American kestrels are bred in captivity for use in falconry and are among the easier falcons to breed. They are also sufficiently common that "passage" birds in their first year are relatively easy to trap. Wild-caught kestrels "tame down" fairly quickly. They will usually be eating from a falconer's hand the day after capture, be training within a week, and be ready to hunt in three to five weeks. A very tame American kestrel will allow itself to be picked up around the body with one hand while accepting tidbits from the other hand. Such tameness is very useful when checking or treating the bird for injury or illness.


title: American kestrel

text: Migratory raptors native to the United States are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, so American kestrels are illegal to possess without a permit (such as a falconry permit) in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.


title: Unleavened bread

text: Unleavened bread is any of a wide variety of breads which are prepared without using rising agents such as yeast. Unleavened breads are generally flat breads; however, not all flat breads are unleavened. Unleavened breads, such as the tortilla and roti, are staple foods in Central America and South Asia, respectively. Unleavened sacramental bread plays a major part in Christian liturgy and Eucharistic theology.


title: Unleavened bread

text: Unleavened breads have symbolic importance in Judaism and Christianity. Jews and Christians consume unleavened breads such as matzo during Passover & Eucharist respectively, as commanded in Exodus 12:18. Per the Torah Old Testament, the newly emancipated Israelites had to leave Egypt in such a hurry that they could not so much as spare time for their breads to rise; as such, bread which before it can rise is eaten as a reminder.


title: Unleavened bread

text: Canon Law of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church mandates the use of unleavened bread for the Host, and unleavened wafers for the communion of the faithful. Some Protestant churches tend to follow the Latin Catholic practice, whereas others use either unleavened bread or wafers or ordinary (leavened) bread, depending on the traditions of their particular denomination or local usage.


title: Unleavened bread

text: On the other hand, most Eastern Churches explicitly forbid the use of unleavened bread (Greek: "azymos artos") for the Eucharist. Eastern Christians associate unleavened bread with the Old Testament and allow only for bread with yeast, as a symbol of the New Covenant in Christ's blood. Indeed, this usage figures as one of the three points of contention that traditionally accounted as causes (along with the issues of Petrine supremacy and the "filioque" in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) of the Great Schism of 1054 between Eastern and Western churches.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Arkhangelsk Oblast (, "Arkhangelskaya oblast") is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea. Arkhangelsk Oblast also has administrative jurisdiction over the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO). Including the NAO, Arkhangelsk Oblast has an area of 587,400 km. Its population (including the NAO) was 1,227,626 as of the 2010 Census.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: The city of Arkhangelsk, with a population of 301,199 as of the 2021 Census, is the administrative center of the oblast. The second largest city is the nearby Severodvinsk, home to Sevmash, a major shipyard for the Russian Navy. Among the oldest populated places of the oblast are Kholmogory, Kargopol, and Solvychegodsk; there are a number of Russian Orthodox monasteries, including the Antoniev Siysky Monastery and the World Heritage Site of the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Plesetsk Cosmodrome is one of three spaceports in Russia (the other two are Kapustin Yar in Astrakhan Oblast and Yasny in Orenburg Oblast).


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Arkhangelsk Oblast, which includes the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, borders Kirov Oblast, Vologda Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, the Komi Republic, and the White, Pechora, Barents and Kara seas. Cape Fligely in Franz Josef Land (the northernmost point of Russia, Europe and Eurasia) and Cape Zhelaniya in Novaya Zemlya (the easternmost point of Europe) are both located within Arkhangelsk Oblast. Mount Kruzenshtern is the highest point of the oblast.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Arkhangelsk Oblast is located on the East European Plain, and most of it represents forested hilly landscape. The north-eastern part belongs to the Timan Ridge, a highland mostly situated east from the oblast. The Nenets Autonomous Okrug is essentially a flat tundra (Bolshezemelskaya Tundra) with several hill chains like Pay-Khoy Ridge. The Arctic islands including Novaya Zemlya and Franz Joseph Land are mountainous with glaciers and eternally snow-covered. This region has a genetically distinct population of polar bears associated with the Barents Sea area.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Almost all of the area of the Oblast belongs to the basin of the Arctic Ocean, with the major rivers being the (from west to east) Onega River, the Northern Dvina (with the major tributaries the Vychegda, the Vaga, and the Pinega), Kuloy River, Mezen River, and Pechora Rivers. A minor area in the west of the Oblast, most notably the basin of the Ileksa River, drains into the Lake Onega and eventually to the Baltic Sea. A very minor area in Kargopolsky District in the south-west of the Oblast drains into the Kema River which belongs to the basin of the Caspian Sea. The area in the Onega River basin containing the biggest lakes in the oblast, such as Lake Lacha, Lake Kenozero, Lake Undozero, and Lake Kozhozero. The tundra of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug also contains a number of bigger lakes. The river basin of the Pinega is characteristic of the karst, with a number of caves in the region.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: The White Sea coast within the Oblast is split into the Onega Bay (where the Onega is the major tributary), the Dvina Bay (the Northern Dvina), and the Mezen Bay (comprising the Mezen and the Kuloy). The Solovetsky Islands, as well as a number of smaller islands, are located in Onega Bay. Onega Bay and the Dvina Bay are separated by the Onega Peninsula. The Mezen Bay is separated from the main body of the White Sea by Morzhovets Island. Other major islands in the oblast include Shogly, Zhizgin, Yagry, Lyasomin, Layda, Nikolskiy, and Mudyugskiy islands.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Almost all of the oblast is covered by taiga, the coniferous forest dominated by pine, spruce, and larch. Large areas in the middle of taiga are devoid of trees and covered by swamps. In the floodplains of the rivers, there are meadows.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: A number of areas in Arkhangelsk Oblast have been designated as protected natural areas. These are subdivided into national parks, nature reserves (zapovedniks), and zakazniks of the federal level. The following protected areas have been designated,


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Kenozersky and Vodlozersky National Parks have the status of UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. In addition, there are two protected areas in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, adjacent to each other: Nenetsky Nature Reserve and Nenetsky Zakaznik.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: The area of Arkhangelsk Oblast has been settled by Finnic, Ugric and Samoyed peoples since prehistoric times, and most of the toponyms in the region are in fact Finno-Ugric. It was subsequently colonized by the Novgorod Republic. Kargopol was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1146, Shenkursk was mentioned in 1315, and Solvychegodsk was founded in the 14th century.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: By the 13th century the Novgorodian merchants had already reached the White Sea, attracted to the area for fur trading. The Novgorodians penetrated the area using the waterways, and this is why most of the ancient (as well as the modern) settlements were located into the main river valleys. The main historical areas of the Arkhangelsk region were Poonezhye () along the Onega, the Dvina Land along the Northern Dvina, Pinezhye () along the Pinega, Mezen Lands along the Mezen, and Pomorye () on the White Sea coast.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: The main waterway was the Northern Dvina, and Novgorod merchants used the Volga and its tributary, the Sheksna, along the Slavyanka River into Lake Nikolskoye, then the boats were taken by land to Lake Blagoveshchenskoye, from there downstream along the Porozovitsa River into Lake Kubenskoye and further to the Sukhona and the Northern Dvina. Portages from the Northern Dvina Basin led further to the Mezen and the Pechora.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: After the fall of Novgorod in 1478, all these lands became a part of the Great Duchy of Moscow. Until 1703, the Northern Dvina served as the main export trading route of Muscovy. The local centers were Veliky Ustyug and Kholmogory; however, during the 17th century, Kholmogory lost its significance, and its role was gradually replaced by Arkhangelsk.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: In 1708, when the governorates were established by Tsar Peter the Great, Arkhangelsk became the seat of one of the seven governorates of the Russian Empire.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: At the same time, Arkhangelsk lands were one of the most remote areas in Russia. This fact was attractive for monks fleeing the crowds. In 1436, Solovetsky Monastery was founded, and it quickly became one of the richest and most influential Russian monasteries. Other monasteries followed. For instance, Kozheozersky Monastery, founded in 1552, still remains one of the most remote Russian Orthodox monasteries. After the great schism in the Russian Orthodox Church in 1653, the area attracted many Old Believers, who were persecuted by the state. Most would later flee to even more remote locations such as Siberia.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: In 1703, with the construction of St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, which lacked St. Petersburg's geographical proximity to Europe and the non-freezing harbour of Murmansk, lost its significance as the main trading harbour of the Russian Empire. However, in the early 20th century Arkhangelsk was an important starting point for Russian Arctic expeditions. For instance, in the 1830s Pyotr Pakhtusov sailed twice from Arkhangelsk to investigate and map Novaya Zemlya.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: In 1918 and 1919, Arkhangelsk Governorate became one of the most active battlegrounds of the Civil War in Russia. On August 2, 1918, Arkhangelsk was occupied by British and American troops, allied with the White movement. Administratively, they established the Northern Oblast with the center in Arkhangelsk. This episode of the Civil War is known as the North Russia Intervention. The troops advanced to the south, occupied the station of Obozerskaya in September 1918, and moving along the Northern Dvina and the Vaga Rivers. The southernmost points occupied by the allies were Shenkursk and Verkhnyaya Toyma. The allies were hoping that the Aleksandr Kolchak's forces would move in the direction of Kotlas, however, the White Army was unable to advance in this direction. In January 1919, after the Battle of Shenkursk, the allied forces were driven out of the Shenkursk area. Battles around the station of Plesetskaya followed. On February 20, 1920, the Red Army entered Arkhangelsk. By that time, all allied troops were already evacuated.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: In the 1930s, the Soviets carried out the same experiments in economics as elsewhere in Soviet Union. The peasants and fishermen were forcibly organized into collective farms. These were heavily subsidized, which eventually brought the agriculture to the collapse in the 1990s, when the subsidies stopped. Arkhangelsk Oblast was and remains attractive as an area for exile, forcible resettlement, and prison camps. Actually, the first prison camp, Solovki Prison Camp, was created in 1920 on the premises of the former Solovetsky Monastery. Novaya Zemlya from the 1950s, when its population (mostly the Nenets) was strongly recommended to leave, became the military ground for nuclear bomb testing.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: In 1932, the icebreaker "Sibiryakov" under the command of Vladimir Voronin, sailing from Arkhangelsk, crossed the Northern Sea Route in a single navigation.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: Arkhangelsk Oblast proper was established in 1937. Before 1991, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: the first secretary of the Arkhangelsk Oblast CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). In 1991 the CPSU lost all power. The head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor, came to be elected or appointed.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: The economic crisis of 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, struck Arkhangelsk Oblast very badly. Although there remains a strong demand for timber, the basis of the oblast's economy, the population of Arkhangelsk Oblast has steadily declined, especially in rural areas. Many villages either have been deserted, or are on the verge of disappearing.


title: Arkhangelsk Oblast

text: During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Arkhangelsk CPSU Committee (who in reality had the highest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Oblast administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.