prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Where does the city situated where Kellyville Ridge is located?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Shreekhandpur
Shreekhandapur (Nepal Bhasa: खम्पू) is a city situated in the Dhulikhel municipality in Kavrepalanchowk district in Nepal This historical town is about 28 km east from Kathmandu  The city is located roughly at 1400m above sea level  The main attraction of Shreekhandapur is the temple of Swet Bhairav, located approximately 1 km northeast of the town  The name Shreekhandapur was originally given due to the presence of the tree Shreekhand  Its name during the Licchavi period was खम्पू which is still used predominantly by the Newar community living in this town 

History
Shreekhandapur is historically important city which was a major part of the trade route towards the southern part of the country  Merchants would have to go through this city before the invent of modern transportation  The city was incorporated in the kingdom of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah during his unification around 1820 Bikram Sambat  The various parts of the town have their own names as well 
The eastern part is referred to as bahatol, the part which has the Nasika temple towards north east is referred to as Nastol, the north west part is referred to as bhukhatol, the western part is referred to as basatol, and the middle part of the town is referred to as chaftol  The residents of chaftol were originally brought to Shreekhandapur from Bhaktapur and Lalitpur by Prithvi Narayan Shah to build economic foundation to this town during the unification of Nepal  Particularly, the Karmacharya's were from Bhaktapur and Dhunju's were from Lalitpur 

Festivals
Bisket Jatra is a major festival which is celebrated during the new year period based on the Bikram Sambat calendar  It is as important as the Dashain festival for the locals here in the city  A tree is brought from Bhaktapur and raised in the city for seven days to celebrate the festival  They carry the statue of Ganesh, Kumar, and Bhairav in specially made Chariot and take it around all parts of the town to celebrate the festival 
Gai Jatra is celebrated yearly by the locals to honor their late family members 

Transportation
The city is connected to the capital city Kathmandu through the Arniko Rajmarg 

Education
Shreekhandapur higher secondary school
Kathmandu University is located about 1 km towards east of the town
Passage 2:
Orosháza
Orosháza is a city situated in the westernmost part of Békés county, Hungary, on the Békés ridge bordered by the rivers Maros and Körös  Orosháza is an important cultural, educational and recreational centre of the region 

Main sights
The city's main attractions are the Orosháza-Gyopárosfürdő spa complex, the Szántó Kovács János Museum, the Darvas József Literary Memorial House, and the Town Art Gallery  The only museum in the country devoted to water wells is found in Orosháza  At the Rágyánszky Arboretum, more than 2000 plant species in 6000 varieties can be seen The Lutheran church, was built between 1777 and 1830 in late Baroque style  It is located in the centre of the town  The bell carried by the first settlers, who migrated from Zomba, is kept in front of the altar of the church 
A number of cultural and entertaining programmes are organised in the town every year 

Notable residents
The cantor Marcel Lorand was born in the city in 1912  He learned music with Béla Bartók and became the cantor of the Synagogue de la Paix in Strasbourg, France, in 1964  He died in 1988 
Júlia Goldman (b  1974), was born in Oroshaza and is noted as an "outstanding writer" of fantasy and adventure 
Gyula Gömbös, prime minister of Hungary was made an honorary citizen of the city in 1932 

Orosháza-Gyopárosfürdő spa complex
The Gyopárosfürdő dictrict of Orosháza is located 3 km from the city center  Gyopárosfürdő has been well known for its thermal water since 1869, which rises from a depth of 670 meters  Set in a 10-hectare park, the Orosháza-Gyopárosfürdő Thermal Spa, Park and Adventure Pools spa complex has 8 outdoor and 5 indoor pools, including adventure pools, thermal pools, children’s pools and even a 50-meter cold-water sports pool 
Official website: https://gyoparosfurdo-oroshaza hu/en

Gallery
Twin towns – sister cities
Orosháza is twinned with:
Passage 3:
Cachoeirinha
Cachoeirinha (lit  "Little Waterfall") is a city in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul  Cachoeirinha is an alternative for the people who want to be near Porto Alegre (capital of Rio Grande do Sul)  The city is situated at a strategic point in Rio Grande do Sul state  The city shares borders with Porto Alegre, Canoas, Esteio, Sapucaia do Sul, Gravataí and Alvorada  The city holiday is on May 15, the date on which the city declared its emancipation 

Municipal policy
The Executive of the Municipality of Cachoeirinha is represented by the mayor and his office of Secretary, following the model proposed by the Federal Constitution  Legislative Power is represented by the City Council, composed of 17 councilors elected to office for four years  The House vote enacts laws for the administration and the Executive, especially the municipal budget 

Population
One of Cachoeirinha's gaucho municipalities had higher population growth in the 1970s  As of 20, the city has 131,240 inhabitants and 43 9 square kilometers of land area 

Traditions
Traditions of the gaucho are celebrated by the Cachoeirinha Center Traditions  Rancho da Saudade holds popular events  The Creole round, held annually in the city, received the recognition of the Government of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, and is included in the official calendar  Rodeos held in Cachoeirinha attract people from various cities of Brazil 

Education
The city has 15 public schools and 8 private at the elementary level and one college 

External links
Cachoeirinha Mayor's Office (in Portuguese)
Passage 4:
Rancho Cucamonga, California
Rancho Cucamonga ( RAN-choh KOO-kə-MUNG-gə) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States  About 37 mi (60 km) east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the 28th most populous city in California  The city's seal, which centers on a cluster of grapes, alludes to the city's agricultural history including wine-making  The city's proximity to major transportation hubs, airports, and highways has attracted the business of several large corporations, including Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay, Big Lots, Mercury Insurance Group, Southern California Edison, and Amphastar Pharmaceuticals The city had a population of 174,453 according to the 2020 United States Census  The city experiences an average of 287 sunny days per year, compared to a national average of 205 days  Its climate is classified as warm Mediterranean, or Csa, under the Köppen climate classification system In 2017, the California Department of Education announced that all four high schools were named California Gold Ribbon Schools The Jack Benny Program popularized the city's name, in particular the word "Cucamonga" 

History
By 1200 AD, Kukamongan Native Americans had established a village settlement in the area around present-day Red Hill, near the city's western border, where Red Hill Country Club stands today  Kukamonga derives its name from a Tongva word meaning "sandy place " Anthropologists have determined that this cluster of settlers likely belonged to the Tongva people or Kich people, at one time one of the largest concentrations of Native American peoples on the North American continent  In the 18th century, following an expedition led by Gaspar de Portola, the land was incorporated into the Mission System  established by Father Junipero Serra and his group of soldiers and Franciscan friars  

After a half century of political jockeying in the region, the land finally came under the control of Juan Bautista Alvarado, governor of Mexico  On March 3, 1839, Alvarado granted 13,000 acres of land in the area called "Cucamonga" to Tubercio Tapia, a first-generation Spanish native of Los Angeles, successful merchant, and notorious smuggler  Tapia went on to establish the first winery in California on his newly deeded land  Rancho Cucamonga was purchased by John Rains and his wife in 1858  The Rains family's home, Casa de Rancho Cucamonga, was completed in 1860 and now appears on the National Register of Historic Places During the ensuing years the town prospered and grew  In 1887, irrigation tunnels were dug into Cucamonga Canyon by Chinese laborers and the Santa Fe Railroad was extended through the area  Among the town's economic mainstays was agriculture, including olives, peaches, citrus, and, most notably, vineyards  In 1913, the Pacific Electric Railway was extended through Rancho Cucamonga in an effort to improve crop transportation  Several landmarks in existence today pay tribute to the city's multicultural founding  In particular, Our Lady of Mt  Carmel remains as a relic of the area's Mexican agriculture laborers while the Chinatown House stands as a reminder of the Chinese immigrants who labored in constructing the area's infrastructure In 1977, the unincorporated communities of Alta Loma, Cucamonga, and Etiwanda voted to incorporate, forming the city of Rancho Cucamonga 

Grapeland
The former community of Grapeland, first settled in 1869, lay roughly between today's Victoria Groves Park and Central Park  There was a schoolhouse which also doubled as a church  In 1890 an irrigation district was formed and $200,000 in bonds were sold to pay for improvements  The Sierra Vista reservoir was built in 1886-87 by J L  Scofield as the focal point of a network of irrigation pipes   The system was unused, however, because the bond issue was declared illegal  "Orchards and vineyards began to die," The Daily Report newspaper reported in a retrospective  "Residents moved out  The post office closed in 1905  Homes, buildings were destroyed or abandoned " The reservoir remained unused until 1956, when the Fontana Union Water Company filled it with 5 million gallons of water  The local school district was merged with the Etiwanda district in 1901  In 1957 the settlement was practically deserted, but there were still rabbit-proof stone walls marking boundaries of previous citrus orchards 

Geography
Rancho Cucamonga is part of the Inland Empire and San Bernardino County, a region that lies inland from the Pacific coast and directly east of Los Angeles County  Rancho Cucamonga is located about 37 mi (60 km) east of Los Angeles, bordered by Upland to its west, Ontario to its south, the San Gabriel Mountains to its north and I-15 and Fontana to its east  The city sits atop an alluvial plain and views of Cucamonga Peak, one of the tallest peaks of the San Gabriel Mountains, are available from all points throughout the city  The city has a total area of 39 9 sq mi (103 km2), 99 95% of which is land and 0 05% water 

Climate
The city's climate is classified as hot-summer Mediterranean, or Csa, under the Köppen climate classification system  Yearly precipitation is 17 68 in (449 mm) and the city experiences an average of 287 sunny days per year, compared to a national average of 205 days 

Demographics
2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Rancho Cucamonga had a population of 165,269  The population density was 4,145 2 inhabitants per square mile (1,600 5/km2)  The racial makeup of Rancho Cucamonga was 102,401 (62 0%) White (42 7% Non-Hispanic White), 15,246 (9 2%) African American, 1,134 (0 7%) Native American, 17,208 (10 4%) Asian, 443 (0 3%) Pacific Islander, 19,878 (12 0%) from other races, and 8,959 (5 4%) from two or more races   There were 57,688 residents of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, of any race (34 9%) The census reported that 162,145 people (98 1% of the population) lived in households, 136 (0 1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 2,988 (1 8%) were institutionalized Out of a total of 54,383 households, 23,055 (42 4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 30,533 (56 1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 7,514 (13 8%) had a female householder with no husband present, and 3,257 (6 0%) had a male householder with no wife present, as well as 2,995 (5 5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships and 425 (0 8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships  9,956 households (18 3%) were made up of individuals, and 2,679 (4 9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 98   Over the 41,304 families (76 0% of all households), the average family size was 2 90 The age distribution of the city was as follows: 42,550 people (25 7%) under the age of 18, 17,365 people (10 5%) aged 18 to 24, 48,600 people (29 4%) aged 25 to 44, 43,710 people (26 4%) aged 45 to 64, and 13,044 people (7 9%) who were 65 years of age or older   The median age was 34 5 years  For every 100 females, there were 97 6 males   For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95 2 males There were 56,618 housing units at an average density of 1,420 1 per square mile (548 3/km2), of which 35,250 (64 8%) were owner-occupied, and 19,133 (35 2%) were occupied by renters  The homeowner vacancy rate was 1 6%; the rental vacancy rate was 5 2%   110,570 people (66 9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 51,575 people (31 2%) lived in rental housing units During 2009–2013, Rancho Cucamonga had a median household income of $77,835, with 6 9% of the population living below the federal poverty line 

2000
As of the 2000 census, there were 127,743 people, 40,863 households, and 31,832 families residing in the city   The population density was 1,317 0/km2 (3,411 4/mi2)   There were 42,134 housing units at an average density of 434 4/km2 (1,125 2/mi2)   The racial makeup of the city was 66 53% White, 9 00% Asian, 0 67% Native American, 5 99% African American, 0 27% Pacific Islander, 13 25% from other races, and 5 41% from a biracial or multiracial background  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 27 78% of the population There were 40,863 households, of which 44 7% had children under the age of 18   60 2% of households consist of a married couple living together   12 8% had a female householder with no husband present   22 1% were non-families  16 8% of all households were single-person and 4 1% had a person of 65 years of age or older   The average household size was 3 04 and the average family size was 3 44 In the city, the population spread was as follows: 29 9% were under the age of 18, 9 9% were from 18 to 24, 33 2% were from 25 to 44, 21 0% were from 45 to 64, and 6 1% were 65 years of age or older   The median age was 32 years  For every 100 females, there were 100 1 males   For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98 0 males The median income for a household in the city was $78,428 and the median income for a family was $91,240  Males had a median income of $50,288 versus $40,952 for females  The per capita income for the city was $23,702   About 4 9% of families and 7 1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7 6% of those under age 18 and 7 3% of those age 65 or over 

Economy
While most of the city's land area is devoted to residential areas, Rancho Cucamonga, like its neighbors Ontario and Fontana, is a major center for the logistics industry in Southern California  This is due to its proximity to two interstate highways and Ontario International Airport, and the space afforded by the large tracts of former agricultural land in the southern section of the city In the area around Milliken Avenue, between Archibald and Etiwanda Avenues, Foothill Boulevard, and Fourth Street, about seven square miles of land are primarily occupied by numerous massive distribution centers, and even more, smaller manufacturing companies  This area is ringed by office parks, mostly along Haven Avenue, and shopping strips, such as the Terra Vista Town Center (part of a nearly two-square-mile master-planned community in the center of the city), and malls, such as Victoria Gardens, and the Ontario Mills, across Fourth Street in Ontario The city is also home to a CMC Steel (formerly Gerdau, formerly TAMCO Steel) minimill, the only producer of long steel in California  This mill recycles ferrous scrap, such as junked cars and appliances, to produce rebar The city hosts LoanMart Field, (formerly known as The Epicenter), a minor-league baseball stadium, home of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes  The Quakes' mascot, Tremor, is a "Rallysaurus "

Victoria Gardens
Victoria Gardens is a lifestyle center near the eastern end of the city, at the intersection of Foothill and Day Creek Boulevards  Since the city had never developed a traditional commercial downtown like neighboring cities Ontario and Upland had, efforts were made in the design of Victoria Gardens to bring elements of more traditional and urban town design to what had historically been a suburban city  While retaining many characteristics of traditional shopping malls, such as large anchor stores, a food court, and vast parking lots and garages, the smaller stores are arranged as city blocks in a grid of two-lane streets, featuring lush landscaping and metered "teaser parking" in front of the stores, which open onto the sidewalk  There are two "Main Streets", which run from west to east across the center  Running from north to south between them is a pedestrian axis leading from one of the Macy's anchor stores, through a "town square" between a pair of mixed-use office buildings, to the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center, which contains the Lewis Playhouse (a 570-seat theater) and a branch of the city library  The east side of the development has Southern California's only Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World superstore; the 180,000-square-foot (17,000 m2) facility includes a Tracker Boat Center and the Islamorada Fish Company restaurant  There are restaurants throughout the center, both well-known chains and unique eateries, including California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, Fleming's, Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ Dining, Johnny Rockets, King's Fish House, Lucille's Bar-B-Que, N7 Creamery, P F  Chang's China Bistro, Richie's Diner, T G I  Friday's, and Yard House  The center features a 12-screen AMC Theatre 

Top employers
According to the city's 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the principal employers in the city are:

Government
Local government
Rancho Cucamonga is a General Law City, incorporated in 1977 under the "Council-Manager" form of local government  The four-member Council, plus the Mayor, City Clerk, and City Treasurer, are all elected at-large by the voters of the city  The Council then appoints the City Manager, who acts as the administrative head of the city government, and is responsible for the day-to-day operations, code enforcement, and the fiscal soundness of the municipal government  The council itself serves as a local legislative body  
The city's elections, which are plurality, are held on a Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years 
L  Dennis Michael has been the city's mayor since 2011, with John Gillison as the city manager According to a city Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's various funds had $278 3 million in revenues, $243 6 million in expenditures, $1,400 7 million in total assets, $492 1 million in total liabilities, and $583 3 million in cash and investments 

Politics
In the California State Legislature, Rancho Cucamonga is in the  23rd Senate District, represented by Republican Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, and in the  40th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Pilar Schiavo In the United States House of Representatives, Rancho Cucamonga is in California's  33rd congressional district, represented by Democrat Pete Aguilar In 2005, the non-partisan Bay Area Center for Voting Research ranked Rancho Cucamonga as the 28th most conservative city in the United States 

Law enforcement
Since incorporation in 1977, law enforcement services in Rancho Cucamonga City have been provided through a contract with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Rancho Cucamonga is also home to the Foothill Communities San Bernardino County Courthouse, which is housed in a building adjacent to the Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center, in a government complex located at Haven Avenue and Civic Center Drive in the city  The Civic Center houses the Rancho Cucamonga city hall, the city police department, and other local government offices 

Education
Schools
Rancho Cucamonga has multiple public K–12 schools, operating under several different school districts, within its borders: Alta Loma School District, Central School District, Cucamonga School District, Etiwanda School District, and Chaffey Joint Union High School District  Private schools include Upland Christian Academy  In addition, Rancho Cucamonga is the home to Chaffey College and satellite campuses of the University of La Verne, Cambridge College, University of Redlands, Everest College, and University of Phoenix, as well as the automotive trade school 
High Schools

Alta Loma High School
Etiwanda High School
Los Osos High School
Rancho Cucamonga High School

Libraries
The city of Rancho Cucamonga has two public libraries, with a combined total of over 200,000 volumes  The library at 7368 Archibald Avenue opened in 1994 and was remodeled in the summer of 2008  The Paul A  Biane library at 12505 Cultural Center Drive at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center opened in August 2006  In 2013, the Rancho Cucamonga Public Library was a recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Services, the nation's highest honor that can be bestowed on a Library or Museum 

Infrastructure
Rancho Cucamonga's location at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains has necessitated the use of numerous control channels and basins to reduce the seasonal flood danger from the several streams descending from the range  In past years, some of the city's roads were known for flooding  Hermosa Avenue, in particular, now features many high curbs and extra-large storm drain grates to reduce flooding 

Transportation
Rancho Cucamonga is served by Omnitrans bus service,  train service from Metrolink's Rancho Cucamonga station on the San Bernardino Line, and nearby Ontario International Airport, one of four major Los Angeles-area passenger airports with multiple daily flights by most domestic carriers as well as a major shipping hub for companies like UPS and FedEx 
Interstate 15 (I-15) and State Route 210 (SR-210) run through Rancho Cucamonga as well as the historic U S  Route 66 (as Foothill Boulevard) 
I-15 sits atop an elevated berm, and cuts a curve through the southeastern part of the city, isolating a mostly industrial area, a small shopping center, and several housing tracts from the larger part of the city  Further north, I-15 forms part of the northeastern border with neighboring Fontana before entering the Cajon Pass through the San Gabriel Mountains  I-15 provides connectivity with the High Desert, Nevada, and points north for the Inland Empire and much of Southern California 
SR-210 runs nearly straight east–west through the northern part of the city, roughly bisecting the residential communities of Alta Loma and Etiwanda, providing connection (in addition to I-10 and SR-60) from the San Gabriel Valley and points west to the San Bernardino area 

Utilities
Rancho Cucamonga receives natural gas from the Southern California Gas Company  The city's water supply and sewage are managed by the Cucamonga Valley Water District  Garbage collection is by Burrtec Disposal, phone service is from Frontier Communications and cable TV is provided by Charter Communications Electric power in Rancho Cucamonga is provided by Southern California Edison and the Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Utility, and the city is also home to the Reliant Energy Etiwanda Generating Station, on Etiwanda Avenue  This facility, one of five Reliant stations in California, is a natural gas-fired power plant, which began operation in 1963  At 640 MW (860,000 hp) net capacity, it is Reliant's second-highest capacity plant on the West Coast  It utilizes four steam turbine generators; of which units three and four remained active after turbines one and two, as well as a combustion turbine, were retired in 2003 and 2004, respectively  Several systems are in place to control gas emissions, and annually, over 900,000,000 US gal (750,000,000 imp gal; 3 4 GL) of recycled water are used for cooling On November 29, 2011, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency installed the first wind turbine in Rancho Cucamonga 

In popular culture
The name "Cucamonga" became well known to fans of Jack Benny's popular radio program, in which an announcer, voiced by Mel Blanc, would call out: "Train leaving on track five for Anaheim, Azusa and Cu-camonga!" This running gag became so well known that it eventually led to a statue of Benny in Cucamonga The city is the primary setting of the TV series Workaholics and the feature film Next Friday  Further mention of the city was made in the Netflix series Unsolved 
The city was claimed as the location where the "Flamin' Hot" flavor of Cheetos was created in the 1980s at the Frito-Lay factory Cucamonga is referenced in the Grateful Dead song "Pride of Cucamonga" on the From the Mars Hotel album, and in "Cucamonga" on Frank Zappa’s album Bongo Fury 

See also
List of people from Rancho Cucamonga, California
List of U S  cities with large Hispanic populations
Passage 5:
Witbank
Witbank (), officially Emalahleni, is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the Emalahleni Local Municipality  The name Witbank is Afrikaans for "white ridge", and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wagon transport drivers rested  The city is known for its coal-mining in the surrounding region 
Witbank was renamed to Emalahleni meaning the place of coal in 2006 by the government of Mpumalanga, matching the municipality 

History
Witbank was founded in 1890 and early attempts to exploit the coal deposits failed until the railway from Pretoria reached the area in 1894  It was proclaimed a town in 1903 and became a municipality in 1914 
There are many stories about the city and its origination but the top story would be the arrival of Winston Churchill at the nearby Transvaal and Delagoa Bay Colliery during his escape from Boer imprisonment in Pretoria, on his way to Delagoa Bay (later Lourenço Marques, and then Maputo, in Mozambique)  
Some local residents, loyal to the Crown, assisted him in hiding and making the final leg of his escape, thus gaining Witbank the consequent credit once the details of these events could be made known  The town has grown since then from a farming community into a business destination where companies such as Anglo American, BHP, Evraz, Eskom, Exxaro, Komatsu, the Renova Group, SABMiller, and Xstrata, among many others have found substantial returns on their investments 

Name change
On 3 March 2006, Witbank was officially renamed to Emalahleni, meaning place of coal matching the name of the municipality that contains it  A large number of signs to the town have already changed, but many still remain  Some landmarks bearing the name Witbank have remained, while others (such as the Witbank/Emalahleni dam) have been renamed 
Despite attempts by governing bodies to establish the use of the name, Emalahleni, for the city as well as for the district, locals still tend to call the city by its original name  Similarly to the anglicised pronunciation of Johannesburg, English-speaking residents pronounce the name as “wit•bank” and not as “vit•bunk” as in the original Afrikaans pronunciation, nor as “vit•bank” as English-speaking visitors are prone to say 

Transport
Witbank is located along the railway line linking Pretoria to Maputo and for many years served as the transport gateway to the Mozambiquean port  In recent years, this line has been under frequent threat of collapse due to underground coal fires in disused mines in the area 
Two national highways, the N4 from Pretoria and the N12 from Johannesburg, converge at Witbank and then continue to Komatipoort, on the border of Mozambique  Together, these routes form the Maputo Corridor, a strategically important alternative to the South African ports of Richards Bay and Durban on the Indian Ocean shores of the country 

Economy
Witbank is in a coal mining area with more than 22 collieries in the municipal radius  There are a number of power stations (such as the Duvha Power Station), as well as a steel mill (Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium Limited) nearby which all require coal  The farm land surrounding Witbank is fast being bought by investors, coal mining companies and real estate developers to accommodate the rapid growth of the city which is good for local businesses and residents  The region has the dirtiest air in the world due to the coal mining and plant power stations Likewise, the sustained growth of the commercial areas and suburbs has presented significant challenges to the municipal government  Potable water supplies, sewage treatment, electricity distribution, refuse collection and road maintenance are particularly affected, arousing sustained ire amongst the local residents  Relatively high summer rainfall since 2008 has caused significant damage to municipal roads, creating large numbers of potholes and leaving large amounts of debris on the road surfaces 

Demographics
The 2001 census found that Witbank had a population of 61,093, of which 50 6% were female and 49 4% male 
As of 2011 (Statistics South Africa) the city's population stood at 108,674 people 

Ethnic groups
According to the 2011 census the largest ethnic groups in Witbank were Black African at 48 1%, Whites at 46 8% and the remainder consisting of Coloureds (2 0%) and Asians (2 5%) 

Language
Among the white population, Witbank (like the rest of Mpumalanga) is mainly Afrikaans speaking  The Black population speak mostly isiZulu, isiSwati, and isiNdebele, and Asians mostly English  According to the 2001 census the largest languages in Witbank were: Afrikaans (48 8%), Zulu (23 1%), English (11 7%), Northern Sotho (5 2%) and Swazi (3 0%) 

Communities
To the west of the city, two large communities, Vosman and Kwa-Guqa (“the Place of Kneeling” in Zulu), and two smaller communities, Lynnville, Ackerville and Schoongesicht, are home to approximately 440,000 (in 2005) residents, predominantly black  While many of these residents aspire to relocate to the more spacious suburbs around the city center, generally this has only been affordable to a few thousand, due to the prices of the suburban real estate  There are now communities on the northwest side of the city that have been established at Pine Ridge (consisting predominantly of Indian residents), Klarinet and Siyanqoba  Pressure to develop the city's suburbs has been exacerbated by the gradual de-population of the surrounding colliery villages as well as the continued development of new coal-fired power stations in the area 

Tourism
As Witbank is en route to travellers  from the Gauteng province to the Kruger National Park, attempts have been made to capture some of the potential tourist spend  Apart from a few hotels, there are many guest houses  These vary from the utilitarian to the luxurious, and also cater for many of the business travellers visiting Witbank as well as those travelling to Mbombela, eSwatini and Mozambique  A casino complex is accessible within a few hundred meters from the N4 highway, providing two hotels, cinemas, ten-pin bowling and restaurants as well as the traditional gambling facilities  The Highveld Mall is built immediately next to the casino and is a retail hub for locals as well as for many residents of towns in the vicinity 

Witbank dam
The Witbank dam is reputed to be the largest municipal dam in South Africa  Once a thriving resort for camping, water-sports and animal viewing, the area has come under increasing criticism due to degradation of the facilities 

Notable people
Anneline Kriel, Miss World of 1974, was born and brought up in Witbank 
Jackson Mthembu, South  African politician born in Witbank
Hugh Masekela, international jazz artist was born in Witbank 
Lindiwe Ntshalintshali,  MEC for the Mpumalanga Department of Culture, Sports and Recreation  Former Deputy President of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA)
Francois Pienaar, Captain of 1995 Springbok rugby team who won the world cup 
Percy Tau, (born 13 May 1994) in Witbank is a South African professional footballer
Leon Labuschagne, para-Olympic gold medalist for discus and shotput

Sport
Witbank was the home town of the Mpumalanga Black Aces who are dissolved football team and used to be the home town of the Pumas provincial rugby union which has since moved to Mbombela 

See also
Roman Catholic Diocese of Witbank
Witbank Spurs F C  – A football club based in Witbank
Tshwane University of Technology - Witbank Campus (incl  Mabaleng Residence)
Witbank magistrate Court
Passage 6:
Geography of Thiruvananthapuram
The Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram is located in Thiruvananthapuram district in the state of Kerala  The city is located at 8 5°N 76 9°E﻿ / 8 5; 76 9 on the west coast, near the southern tip of mainland India  The city situated on the west coast of India, and is bounded by Arabian Sea to its west and the Western Ghats to its east  The city and the suburbs spans an area of 250 km2 (96 53 sq mi)  The average elevation of the city is 16 ft above sea level  The highest point within the city limits is the observatory  (60 metres (197 ft)) Agastya Mala, which has an elevation of 1,868 metres (6,129 ft) is only about 60 km from the city  The Ponmudi hill station which has an elevation of 1,100 metres (3,609 ft) is also near the city 

Geography
The district is situated between North latitudes at 8 17°–8 54° and East longitudes 76 41°–77 17°  The southernmost extremity, Parassala, is just 54 kilometres (34 mi) away from the southern peninsular tip of India, Cape Comorin (Kanya Kumari)  The district stretches 78 kilometres (48 mi) along the shores of the Arabian Sea on the west, Kollam district lies on the north with Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu on the east and south respectively Unlike the flat portion of the Kerala coast, at the northern coastal region cliffs are found adjacent to the Arabian Sea at Varkala  These tertiary sedimentary formation cliffs are considered as a unique geological feature  It is known among geologists as the "Varkala Formation" and a geological monument as declared by the Geological Survey of India 
The district can be divided into three geographical regions: Highlands, Midlands, and Lowlands  The Varkala, Chirayinkeezhu and Thiruvananthapuram taluks are in the midland and lowland regions, the Nedumangad taluk lies in the midland and highland regions, and the Neyyattinkara taluk stretches over all three 
The highland regions on the east and the northeast comprises the Western Ghats  This area is ideal for major cash crops like rubber, tea, cardamom and other spices  Timber trees like teak and rosewood are grown in this region  The Ghats maintain an average elevation of 814 metres (2,671 ft)  The part Agasthyarkoodam, which is the second-highest peak in the Western Ghats (1,869 m or 6,132 ft above sea level), lies in the district  The forests in the tail end of Western Ghats form the most diverse and unknown ecosystem in Peninsular India The midland region lying between the Western Ghats and lowlands is made up of small and tiny hills and valleys  This is an area of intense agricultural activities  This region is rich in produce such as paddy, tapioca, rubber, eucalyptus, spices and cashews  The lowlands are comparatively narrow, consisting of rivers, deltas and seashore  This area is densely covered with coconut trees  Water bodies cover about 55 25 km2 (21 3 sq mi), while forest area is estimated to be 498 61 km2 (193 sq mi) 

Forests
Thiruvananthapuram district has a reserve forest area of 495 1 km2 (191 sq mi) and vested forest area of 3 534 km2 (1 4 sq mi)  The forests are spread over three ranges: the Kulathupuzha range in the north, Palode range in the middle, and the Paruthipalli range in the south 
These forests may be broadly classified into three categories: Southern tropical wet evergreen forests, Southern tropical and semi-evergreen forests, and Southern tropical moist deciduous forests  Social forestry programmes are being implemented under the World Bank-aided Kerala Social Forestry Project, National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) and Rural Fuel Wood Schemes to assist small and marginal farmers 

Rivers
Among the three rivers in the district, the Neyyar (56 km or 35 mi), the southernmost river of the Kerala state, has its origin in the Agasthyamala, the second-highest peak in the Western Ghats  The Karamana river (67 km or 42 mi) originates from Vayuvanthol (Vazhuvanthol), another mountain in Western Ghats  The Vamanapuram River has its origin from Chemunji Mottai of the Western Ghats  There are 10 major back waters in the district  The major lakes are Veli, Kadinamkulam, Anchuthengu (Anjengo), Kaappil, Akathumuri and the Edava-Nadayara  Besides these, there is a fresh-water lake at Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram taluk, which has the potential to become the major water source of Thiruvananthapuram city in future 

Climate
The climate of Thiruvananthapuram district is generally hot tropical  The large forest reserves favourably affect the climate and induce rains  Cold weather is experienced in the mountain ranges, whereas lower down, the weather is bracing and is generally hot in the coastal regions  The mean maximum temperature is 95 °F (35 °C) and the mean minimum temperature is 69 °F (20 °C) 
As the district stretches from north to south with the Arabian Sea in the west side, the relative humidity is generally high  It rises up to about 95% during the South-West monsoon The total annual average rainfall in the district is about 1,500 mm (59 in) per annum  The southwest monsoon, from June to September is the principal rainy season  The district receives most of its annual rainfall in this season  The second rainy season is the Northeast monsoon  It is from October to November 
The district also gets thunderstorm rains in the pre-monsoon months of April and May December to February are the coolest months  The average temperature goes down to 69 °F (20 °C) in these months  It is generally considered as the winter season  The summer season starts in February and continues until May  The average temperature goes up to 95 °F (35 °C) in these months 

Seismology
The Geological Survey of India has identified Thiruvananthapuram as a moderately earthquake-prone urban centre and categorized the city in the Seismic III Zone 
Passage 7:
Kellyville Ridge, New South Wales
Kellyville Ridge is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia  Kellyville Ridge is located 41 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of City of Blacktown  It is part of Greater Western Sydney 

History
The suburb takes its name from the ridge, the main geographical feature of vertical significance in the northern part of the area  Kellyville Ridge is thought to be the area where the Castle Hill Rebellion (also known as the Second Battle of Vinegar Hill) took place, many roads and reserves are named after it in Kellyville and a memorial was placed in Castlebrook Lawn Cemetery in 1988  Kellyville Ridge was originally part of Kellyville and became a separate suburb when the area west of Windsor Road was renamed in 2002 

Heritage listings
Kellyville Ridge has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Merriville House and Gardens

Population
In the 2016 Census, there were 10,468 people in Kellyville Ridge  58 2% of people were born in Australia  The next most common countries of birth were India 8 3%, Philippines 4 0%, China 2 1%, Fiji 2 0% and England 1 9%  58 6% of people spoke only English at home  Other languages spoken at home included Punjabi 4 5%, Hindi 4 3%, Mandarin 2 6%, Tagalog 2 0% and Arabic 1 5%  The most common responses for religion were Catholic 29 7%, No Religion 15 4%, Anglican 10 1% and Hinduism 9 1% 

Growth
Kellyville Ridge is one of the fastest growing suburbs in Sydney  Population estimates by the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that Kellyville Ridge and surrounding neighborhoods had the largest growth in 2013–14 in Sydney  The area experienced one of metropolitan Sydney's fastest growth rates, with a 9 per cent increase in population in 12 months 

Commercial area
The Ponds Shopping Centre, opened on 30 May 2015, is the main shopping facility that services Kellyville Ridge  It is located on the western perimeter of the suburb at the intersection of The Ponds Boulevard and Riverbank Drive  It houses Woolworths plus other 25 specialty stores, cafes and restaurants  It also features a Medical and Dental Centre and a Priceline Pharmacy Stanhope Village is a shopping centre adjacent to the suburb, with Aldi, Coles, Kmart and other specialised retail, service, fashion and food outlets 
Alternative shopping is provided by the Rouse Hill Town Centre, located 1 kilometre away at Rouse Hill, where approximately 250 retail stores are available featuring Coles, Woolworths, Target, Big W and Reading Cinemas  Castle Towers, located 9 kilometres away, and Westpoint Blacktown, located 10 kilometres away, provide for other places of shopping 

Education
School located in Kellyville Ridge includes:

Kellyville Ridge Public School (Public Primary School, Corner of Greenwich St & Singleton Ave, Kellyville Ridge NSW 2155)Kellyville Ridge has the following public school catchment:

John Palmer Public School (Public Primary School, The Ponds) 
The Ponds High School (Public High School, The Ponds) 
Rouse Hill High School (Public High School, Rouse Hill) 

Transport
Road to Sydney CBD
Transport to the city is provided by the M2 and M7 motorway  Driving time to Sydney CBD is approximately 34 minutes by car 

Train to Sydney CBD via Parramatta
Kellyville Ridge is located within 8 minutes drive (5 2 km) to Schofields railway station and 10 minutes (6 km) to Quakers Hill railway station  Trip by train from these stations to Sydney CBD takes around 47 minutes  Both stations have free all-day commuters parking  The train services also stop at the busy business area of Parramatta, Westmead and Strathfield 

Buses to Sydney CBD
CDC NSW services take around 1 hour to Sydney CBD from Kellyville Ridge  The suburb is serviced by the 616X which travels through Kellyville Ridge 

Sydney Metro to Chatswood
The North West Rail Link which opened 26 May 2019 – now known as Sydney Metro Northwest – provides high frequency services to Kellyville Ridge, linking it to Sydney CBD in around 50 minutes, which will drop to 40 minutes on completion of the second stage of the project  The metro service passes through Norwest Business Park, Castle Hill, Epping, Macquarie Park and University, North Ryde, Chatswood, and North Sydney Kellyville Ridge is positioned in a strategic location surrounded by three railway stations sitting on its perimeters; Tallawong, Rouse Hill and Kellyville  Both Tallawong and Kellyville provide all-day commuter parking  CDC NSW route 663 and Busways route 731 connect Kellyville Ridge with the Rouse Hill metro station, whilst CDC NSW routes 603, 632 (from Merriville Road and Perfection Ave) and 651 (from Merriville T-way) connect to Kellyville station 

Buses to other business areas
CDC NSW provides services to Parramatta (603, 663, 665), Rouse Hill (603, 632, 651, 663, 665), Epping (651) and Pennant Hills (632) 
Busways provides services to Blacktown (731, 735) and Rouse Hill (731, 735) 

Entertainment
The Ettamogah Pub renovated in 2014 is located on the corner of Merriville & Windsor Roads  The hotel received from the Australian Hotel Association the award for Best Family Friendly Hotel in New South Wales 

Housing
Kellyville Ridge has gone under many new developments since 2002, with new estates developing quickly  There are also several medium-rise apartments on the southern side of the suburb, backing Windsor Road 
Passage 8:
Halkarni
Halkarni is a city situated in the south west corner of Maharashtra, TK: Gadhinglaj Taluka, Kolhapur district - 416506, India  The population of Halkarni is around 9,000  It is surrounded by hills  The distance between Gadhinglaj and Halkarni is about 20  km  Buggdikatti and  Terani  are  villages  surrounding it   A police  station  is situated  in  the village  for  the security  of people  There are  number  of  private  hospitals and medicals are available in  the village  A government  hospital  was  built  Water is  supplied to the  whole  village  through  a well  in  NAREWADI  village  through a pipeline  Farming  is the  main  occupation  of  the  villagers  They  have  a  side  business  of  selling  milk  cow or buffalo to  the  milk dairies  A Maharashtra state  electricity board (MSEB) substation  is  installed  outside  the village  Halkarni  is  connected  to  Gadahinglaj  via  state  transport  buses (ST buses)  Halkarni  is  also  connected  to Karnataka  via  Khanapur  through Karnataka  state  transport  buses   The  route  of  entering  in  Karnataka  from  Maharashra is  HALKARNI TO  SANKESHWAR 
Private  traveller  companies  came  to  exist  which  gives  services  to  reach  Mumbai and  Pune 

Language
Marathi being the state language is also spoken as a local language in Halkarni  Marathi is widely understood in Halkarni  English is also used in social communication 
Halkarni is popular for its market area  It is famous for tobacco powder (in Marathi called as Tapkir)  It is surrounded by Basarge, Khanapur, and there are many temples like Ramling, Virbhadra, laxmi, Hanuman, the Jain temple, etc 
The schools are in Halalkarni :
Halkarni Bhag High School, Halkarni  Now junior college is also started   
Urdu Vidya Mandir Halkarni, Now started Urdh High School    
Passage 9:
Lansing, Kansas
Lansing is a city in Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States   It is situated along the west side of the Missouri River and Kansas-Missouri state border   As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 11,239   It is the second most populous city of Leavenworth County and is a part of the Kansas City metropolitan area   The Lansing Correctional Facility (formerly the Kansas State Penitentiary), which includes the state's main maximum-security prison, is located in Lansing 

History
Lansing is named for James Lansing, a pioneer settler   Formerly William Lansing Taylor, James changed his name upon his enlistment in 1862 as a hospital steward in the 7th Kansas Cavalry   Following the Civil War, he earned a position at the new state penitentiary in Kansas as a hospital steward   He later resigned and opened a general mercantile store, which held the post office and an apothecary business, in the area called “Town of Progress”   “Doc Lansing”, as he became known, and his friend John C  Schmidt became co-owners of 90 acres (360,000 m2) of land that was platted into town lots in 1878; they named the area “Town of Lansing”   Lansing did not become an incorporated city until 1959 The Kansas State Penitentiary, later renamed the Lansing Correctional Facility in 1990, was authorized by the Kansas Constitution in 1859; it is the state's largest and oldest facility for detention and rehabilitation of male adult felons   With the opening of the coal mine at the prison the town became an important shipping point for this product Lansing was ranked 88 in the top 100 of Money Magazine's 2007 list of best places to live 

Geography
Lansing is located at 39°14′55″N 94°53′31″W (39 248689, -94 891880)   The city is situated along the western bank of the Missouri River which also marks the Kansas-Missouri state border   It is bordered by the city of Leavenworth to the north; Kansas City is less than a half-hour to the southeast   U S  Route 73 passes through the city 
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12 50 square miles (32 37 km2), of which, 12 39 square miles (32 09 km2) is land and 0 11 square miles (0 28 km2) is water 

Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters   According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Lansing has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps 

Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 11,265 people, 3,180 households, and 2,496 families living in the city  The population density was 909 2 inhabitants per square mile (351 0/km2)  There were 3,371 housing units at an average density of 272 1 per square mile (105 1/km2)  The racial makeup of the city was 80 2% White, 13 2% African American, 0 8% Native American, 2 0% Asian, 0 1% Pacific Islander, 0 8% from other races, and 2 8% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5 1% of the population 
There were 3,180 households, of which 41 9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62 4% were married couples living together, 11 8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4 3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 21 5% were non-families  18 1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 79 and the average family size was 3 15 
The median age in the city was 37 6 years  22 9% of residents were under the age of 18; 8 1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 31 2% were from 25 to 44; 29 3% were from 45 to 64; and 8 3% were 65 years of age or older  The gender makeup of the city was 59 4% male and 40 6% female 

2000 census
As of the U S  Census in 2000, there were 9,199 people, 2,435 households, and 1,913 families living in the city  The population density was 1,080 1 inhabitants per square mile (417 0/km2)  There were 2,548 housing units at an average density of 299 2 per square mile (115 5/km2)  The racial makeup of the city was 81 0% White, 12 5% Black or African American, 1 2% Native American, 1 3% Asian, 0 2% Pacific Islander, 1 3% from other races, and 2 6% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3 9% of the population 
There were 2,435 households, out of which 42 2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65 0% were married couples living together, 9 4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21 4% were non-families  18 4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older  The average household size was 2 79 and the average family size was 3 17 
In the city, the population was spread out, with 22 0% under the age of 18, 8 8% from 18 to 24, 38 5% from 25 to 44, 23 1% from 45 to 64, and 7 5% who were 65 years of age or older  The median age was 36 years  For every 100 females, there were 164 8 males  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 184 9 males 
The median income for a household in the city was $60,994, and the median income for a family was $65,639  Males had a median income of $36,326 versus $28,315 for females  The per capita income for the city was $21,655  About 1 9% of families and 2 4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1 5% of those under age 18 and 3 5% of those age 65 or over 

Education
The community is served by Lansing USD 469 public school district, and operates four schools with more than 2,000 students 
Lansing Elementary School, grades K–3
Lansing Intermediate School, grades 4–5
Lansing Middle School, grades 6–8
Lansing High School, grades 9–12

Notable people
John Bradford, member of Kansas House of Representatives 
Paul Ranous Greever, United States Representative from Wyoming born in Lansing 

See also
Lansing Man
Passage 10:
City of Blacktown
Blacktown City Council is a local government area in Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia  Established in 1906 as the Blacktown Shire and becoming the Municipality of Blacktown in 1961 before gaining city status in 1979, the City occupies an area of 246 9 square kilometres (95 3 sq mi) and has a population of 366,534, making it the second most populous local government area in Sydney The mayor of the Blacktown City Council is Cr  Tony Bleasdale, OAM, a member of the Australian Labor Party, who was elected on 9 October 2019 following the resignation of Stephen Bali, MP 

Suburbs and localities of the City of Blacktown
These are the suburbs and localities in the local government area:

History
The first road from Prospect to Richmond became known as the "Black Town Road" and in 1860 the Railway Department gave the name of "Black Town Road Station" to the railway station at the junction of the railway and the Black Town Road, with the name shortening to "Blacktown" by 1862  The Blacktown area was first incorporated on 6 March 1906 as the "Shire of Blacktown" alongside 132 other new shires across the state as a result of the passing of the Local Government (Shires) Act, 1905  The first five-member temporary council was appointed on 15 May 1906 and first met on 20 June in the Rooty Hill School of Arts  The Blacktown Shire became the "Municipality of Blacktown" on 17 June 1961 and was granted city status on 9 March 1979, becoming the "City of Blacktown" 

Blacktown Council Chambers and Civic Centre
In 1937 Blacktown council discussed the need for new Council Chambers, with the present arrangements seen as inadequate and unable to accommodate growing staff needs  In August 1938, the council discussed two schemes from architect Leslie J  Buckland for the new council chambers, with the scheme that created a new wing facing Flushcombe Road while retaining the old council chambers for other uses being the most favoured  Designed in the modernist Inter-war Functionalist style by Buckland and constructed by J  H  Abbey of Epping at a cost of £7,000, the Council Chambers were officially opened on 29 July 1939 by the Minister for Public Works and Local Government, Eric Spooner By the early 1960s, Blacktown Council resolved to develop a new council seat and 'civic centre' and an International style design by Parramatta architects, Leslie J  Buckland & Druce (George Harley, project architect), for a multi-storey administration building, a performance hall, library and basement parking was accepted at a cost of £500,000  Built of concrete and brick, with decorative facade panels and glass curtain walling, the Civic Centre was constructed by S  J  Wood & Co Lty Ltd, with A  S  Nicholson as the consulting engineer The foundation stone for the Civic Centre was laid by Premier of NSW, Bob Heffron, on 17 June 1961, on the same occasion marking the change of Blacktown from a Shire to a Municipality  The Civic Centre was officially opened on 25 October 1965 by the Minister for Local Government and Highways, Pat Morton, with the mayor, Alfred Ashley-Brown, declaring "It is my sincere wish we will as a council cherish the heritage which brings us here tonight – that this chamber will be a place wherein good government within our sphere of responsibility will be made manifest, and that all decisions which are made shall be for the good of the people of the Municipality of Blacktown"  On 10 April 1967, the old 1939 Council Chambers were transformed into the first Blacktown Municipal Library, which was later demolished and became the Max Webber Library from 1980 In 1984, with the Civic Centre being overcrowded and suffering from lack of space, the council approved significant extensions to the Civic Centre at a cost of $2,781,550 that added 2,000 square metres of office floor space and enabled the consolidation of all council departments in a single location  The extensions were constructed by McNamara Constructions Pty Limited 

Blacktown City Libraries
In 1947, Blacktown Shire Council formally adopted the Act 1939/ {{{4}}} (NSW), which had been passed to encourage (including financial subsidies) local governments to establish free public libraries, but no further action was taken due to a lack of finance  However it was not until the 1960s, with the significant growth in the area's population, the Council identified a clear need for a library service, and when the Civic Centre opened in 1965, council appointed the first Chief Librarian in 1966 and resolved to establish the first library in the old 1939 Council Chambers building on the opposite side of Flushcombe Road  The first Blacktown Municipal Library was officially opened on 10 April 1967 The Blacktown City Libraries service expanded with the opening of Library Branches at Lalor Park (1968), Mount Druitt (1977) and Riverstone (1978)  In 1979, Blacktown council commissioned a new Blacktown branch library, with the old library and 1939 Council Chambers building demolished and replaced by a new building designed by architects Allen Jack & Cottier, and constructed by R  W  Tims (Builders) Pty Ltd  On 31 October 1979, Council resolved to name this new library after the Town Clerk of Blacktown, Max Webber, and the Max Webber Library was officially opened by the Deputy Premier Jack Ferguson on 8 March 1980  A new branch library in Stanhope Gardens was officially opened on 7 August 2009, and was also named after a former Town Clerk as the Dennis Johnson Branch Library 

Demographics
At the 2016 census, there were 336,962 people resident in the Blacktown local government area, of these 49 7 per cent were male and 50 3 per cent were female  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2 8 per cent of the population, roughly equal to the NSW and Australian averages of 2 9 and 2 8 per cent respectively  The median age of people in the City of Blacktown was 33 years, which was significantly lower than the national median of 38 years  Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 22 8 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 9 0-10 3 per cent of the population  Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 52 3 per cent were married and 9 9 per cent were either divorced or separated Population growth in the City of Blacktown between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 6 47 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 10 82 per cent  At the 2016 census, the population in the local government area increased by 11 91 per cent  When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8 8 per cent, population growth in Blacktown local government area was in excess of 35% more than the national average  The median weekly income for residents within the City of Blacktown was generally on par with the national average At the 2016 census, the proportion of residents in the Blacktown local government area who stated their ancestry as Filipino, was in excess of six times the national average  The proportion of residents who stated a religious affiliation with Hinduism was in excess of three times the national average; the proportion of Catholics was 33 per cent above the national average; and the proportion of residents with no religion about half the national average  Meanwhile, as at the census date, the area was linguistically diverse, with Tagalog, Hindi, Punjabi, or Filipino languages spoken in households, and ranged from five times to eight times the national averages  Pacific Island languages such as Samoan and Tongan were also noticeable in the area 

Council
Current composition and election method
Blacktown City Council is composed of fifteen councillors elected proportionally as five separate wards, each electing three councillors  All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office  The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council and since 2016 has served a two-year term  The mayor from 2014 to 2019, Stephen Bali was required to stand down from council as a mayor and councillor by October 2019, due to the Local Government Amendment (Members of Parliament) Act, 2012 which requires state members of parliament to relinquish local government offices no more than two years after their election  With Bali's resignation on 9 October 2019, Cr Tony Bleasdale was elected Mayor The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:
The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election by ward, is:

Office-holders
Shire Presidents and Mayors
Shire/Town Clerks and General Managers
Coat of arms
After becoming a city in 1979, the council resolved to investigate and if possible obtain a coat of arms, making a request to the Chester Herald of Arms, Hubert Chesshyre  With the design completed by March 1981, Council resolved to adopt the Coat of Arms at its meeting on 1 April 1981 

Heritage listings
The City of Blacktown has a number of heritage-listed sites, including those on the New South Wales State Heritage Register:

Prospect, Upper Canal System
Prospect, Great Western Highway: Veteran Hall Remains
Prospect, Ponds Road: St Bartholomew's Anglican Church and Cemetery
Prospect, Reservoir Road: Former Great Western Road Alignment, Prospect
Prospect, Reservoir Road: Prospect Reservoir
Prospect, East of Reservoir: Prospect Reservoir Valve House
Prospect, 385 Reservoir Road: Royal Cricketers Arms Inn
Prospect, 23 Tarlington Place: Prospect Post Office

Sister cities
Blacktown City Council has sister city relations with the following cities:
 Porirua, Wellington Region, North Island, New Zealand, since 1984
 Suseong-gu, Daegu, South Korea, since 1994
 Liaocheng, Shandong, China, since 2003
 Liverpool Plains, New South Wales, Australia, since 2005
Context 3: Passage 1:
Yameen
Yameen is an American hip hop producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States  His most recent album, "Diamond is Unfadable" was released in 2017 on Rumble Pack Records 

Light of Love / Sound of Fire
In 2010, Yameen released an anime music video for his single, “Light of Love” featuring singer, Lady Alma  The video was a production of Daisuke Nakayama's Realthing studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo and directed by Jamie Vickers (Studio 4°C, Madhouse) “Light of Love” was a vertical slice of an intended full-featured television pilot called “The Sound of Fire,” consisting of characters such as the titular Yameen, Meca, Ichi-go and more featured in the video 
The video ends with the cast of characters sitting atop the iconic Hieroglyphics music group 3-eyed logo, a clear nod to Yameen's history as "StinkE" with the group 

SupremeEx
The recording alias "SupremeEx" is generally reserved for collaborative concept albums between Yameen and Tajai of Souls of Mischief / Hieroglyphics In 1998, SupremeEx released the instrumental-only affair, Destructor on retail cassette which originally caught the ear of Tajai and also lead to collaborations with Bobbito's Footworks, Electronic Arts / EA Sports and Eckō Unltd  clothing, among others  SupremeEx & Tajai began recording what would become their first project together, Projecto: 2501 that same year In 1999, SupremeEx and Tajai released Projecto: 2501 as the first album on Tajai's fledgling Hieroglyphics Imperium sub-imprint, Clear Label Records  The critically acclaimed EP - applauded for its imaginative use of story telling elements such as included trading cards, Enhanced CD and web-delivered content - featured guest artists Shing02, Low Budget (Hollertronix), Jay Biz (Hieroglyphics), DJ Nozawa & Major Terror  Additional content was also included on the Enhanced CD including a bonus MP3, computer wallpaper, videos in the studio recording "Projecto" and more In 2005, Rumble Pack Records released an all-new full-length album from SupremeEx & Tajai entitled, Nuntype  Again, building on the story-telling aspects the duo established on, "Projecto" Nuntype is an album about Chaos, Prophecy and Change with Tajai as a deity who wields the power of Creation  Guest artist included R&B crooner, Goapele on the album's single, "Meaning" Although never established as an official labelmate, nor indicative of the classic "Hiero sound", Yameen's roots as Stinke — the creator and curator of Hieroglyphics com between 1995 and 2001 — offer him a curious niche in helping broaden the Hiero discography 

StinkE (Web Developer)
Yameen, under his nom de web "StinkE," designed and coded many popular hiphop websites and was featured as one of URB magazine's "Next 100" people to watch in April 2001  His work with the music group Hieroglpyhics proved particularly ground-breaking In 1995 when the individual group members of Hieroglyphics were each released from their respective major record labels, Yameen's fansite caught the attention of Souls of Mischief member Tajai who made the website the official online destination of Hieroglyphics  Hieroglyphics com was one of the first websites from any music artist and was featured heavily in popular media of the time  Yameen as the site's webmaster engaged directly with the group's fanbase, fostering a vibrant and active online community at a time when most people did not have access to personal computers or the internet  This community-driven aspect is what allowed the Hieroglyphics to continue to flourish as independent artists without the need of a major label In 2013, Oakland, California mayor Jean Quan recognized the efforts of Yameen and Hieroglyphics com as "a pioneering entity in technology and innovation and shining example of a local, homegrown business with worldwide appeal and recognition" while officially establishing September 3 as "Hiero Day" in the city of Oakland, CA Yameen also coded websites for artists such as Aesop Rock, The Giant Peach, Murs, Mr  Len & more 

Discography
Solo albums
Never Knows Best (2008)
Never Knows More (2009)
Never Knows Encore (2010)
Come On & Go Off (2014)

SupremeEx albums
Destructor (1998)
Projecto: 2501 (2000)
Nuntype (2005)
Nuntype: The Instrumentals (2006)

Other appearances
March Madness 2000 (Videogame) (1999)
Some of the Coolest Rappers   Ecko Clothing Compilation (2000)
Sleeping Giant, mixtape by Tajai (2003)
Pre-emptive Hype 3 5 HipHopSite

External links
Official Artist Website
Yameen Discogs
SupremeEx Artist Website
Nuntype Website
Projecto: 2501 Website
Hieroglyphics Website
SupremeEx Discogs
Interview
Passage 2:
Right Back at It Again
"Right Back at It Again" is the second track and the first single from A Day to Remember's fifth album, Common Courtesy (2013)  In October 20, 2015, the song was featured in Activision rhythm-music game, Guitar Hero Live 

Music and lyrics
Vocalist, Jeremy McKinnon wrote the lyrics, while the music was written by McKinnon, former guitarist Tom Denney, guitarist Neil Westfall and producer Andrew Wade  "Right Back at It Again" almost wasn't included on the album as it was one of the excess songs the band had recorded, "we realised that it sounded great, so on it went "

Release and reception
"Right Back at It Again" was announced on October 7, 2013 to be broadcast as part of BBC Radio 1's Rock Show the following midnight, with the band calling the song their "brand new single"  The song impacted radio on November 11  "Right Back at It Again" charted at number 33 on the Alternative Songs chart, and at number 40 on the Modern Rock chart in the U S  McKinnon, Westfall and guitarist Kevin Skaff performed a surprise acoustic show for Warped Tour 2013 UK on November 17, and another acoustic set, this time at Banquet Records the following day, both in London; band played "Right Back at It Again" on both occasions Tamsyn Wilce for Alter the Press! noted that the way "Right Back at it Again" follows on from opening track "City of Ocala" "continues the catchy hardcore beats" that is present in all of the band's albums  Rock Sound's Andy Ritchie called the song "unmistakably the 'All I Want' of 'Common Courtesy'"  A music video for the song was released on 19 December 2013 
The music video was nominated for Best Video at the Kerrang! Awards 

Track listing
Promotional CD"Right Back at It Again" (alternative edit)
"Right Back at It Again" (active rock edit)

Personnel
Personnel per digital booklet 

Chart positions
Passage 3:
Form 8-K
Form 8-K is a very broad form used to notify investors in United States public companies of specified events that may be important to shareholders or the United States Securities and Exchange Commission  This is one of the most common types of forms filed with the SEC  After a significant event like bankruptcy or departure of a CEO, a public company generally must file a Current Report on Form 8-K within four business days to provide an update to previously filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and/or Annual Reports on Form 10-K  Form 8-K is required to be filed by public companies with the SEC pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended 

When Form 8-K is required
Form 8-K is used to notify investors of a current event  These types of events include:

signing, amending or terminating material definitive agreements not made in the ordinary course of business, bankruptcies or receiverships
mine shutdowns or violations of mine health and safety laws
consummation of a material asset acquisition or sale
results of operations and financial condition, creating certain financial obligations, such as incurrence of material debt
triggering events that accelerate material obligations (such as defaults on a loan)
costs associated with exit or disposal plans (layoffs, shutting down a plant, or material change in services or outlets)
material impairments
delisting from a securities exchange or failing to satisfy listing requirements
unregistered equity sales (private placements)
modifications to shareholder rights
change in accountants
determinations that previously issued financial statements cannot be relied upon
change in control
senior officer appointments and departures
director elections and departures
amendments to certificate/articles of incorporation or bylaws
changes in fiscal year
trading suspension under employee benefit plans
amendments or waivers of code of ethics
changes in shell company status
results of shareholder votes
disclosures applicable to issuers of asset-backed securities
disclosures necessary to comply with Regulation FD
other material events
certain financial statements and other exhibits Investors should always read any 8-K filings that are made by companies in which they are invested  These reports are often material to the company, and frequently contain information that will affect the share price 

Reading Form 8K
Typically an 8-K filing will only have two major parts: the name and description of the event and any exhibits that are relevant  The name and description of the event contains all the information that the company considers relevant to shareholders and the SEC  It is important to read this information, as it has been deemed "material" by the company  Any exhibits that are relevant may include financial statements, press releases, data tables, or other information that is referenced in the description of the event 

Form 8K Items
The 8-K items are defined in the following table 

Historical Form 8K Items
Prior to August 23, 2004, 8-K items were filed under different item numbers  Those historical items are displayed in the table below 
Passage 4:
Lotion play
Lotion play is a subset of the better known wet-and-messy fetish (WAM), which typically involves participants using food (such as pudding or whipped cream), mud, or paint as a lubricant to facilitate sexual activity   Lotion play uses lotion specifically for this purpose 
In Japan, lotion play (ローションプレイ, rōshon purei), also known as gookakke or gluekakke (a play on words from goo/glue and bukkake), is a popular fetish, a form of Japanese erotica and prostitution request involving the use of copious amounts of lubricant, which in the Japanese language is referred to by the French loanword "lotion" (ローション in Japanese)   Typically lotion play involves a participant rubbing lotion on another using their body, sexual intercourse in a pool or bath filled with lotion, or lotion being poured over the participants during sex 
Lotion is available in concentrated form, to be added to hot water   A one-gallon concentrate will typically yield 6-10 gallons of lotion (J-Lube Lotion Concentrate)   The main component in most lotion is polyacrylate  A similar effect can be achieved by dissolving powdered methyl cellulose in water 
Passage 5:
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon is a 2008 action-adventure video game in the Spyro series  It is the third and final installment in The Legend of Spyro trilogy and the sequel to The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (2007), marking the tenth anniversary of the game series  The game was released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and mobile 
Elijah Wood and Gary Oldman reprise their roles as Spyro and Ignitus, respectively, while Wayne Brady replaces Billy West as Sparx and Christina Ricci replaces Mae Whitman as Cynder from the previous game  It also features the voice talents of Blair Underwood as Hunter the Cheetah and Mark Hamill as Malefor, the Dark Master 
It is the end of the second Spyro continuity, with Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (2011) serving as the second reboot of the franchise after Vivendi Games merged with video game publisher Activision to form the Activision Blizzard holding company on July 10, 2008 

Gameplay
This is the first Spyro game that allows a player to fly at any time they want (free-fly mode)  The game also features a co-op mode with Cynder  The co-op feature allows players to have the option of completing the game as either Spyro or Cynder, along with giving them the power to switch between Spyro and Cynder  In previous titles of the Legend of Spyro series, Spyro must travel through the level and defeat enemies in a linear fashion  However, this time players explore larger areas and collect items in order to progress through the game 
Spyro retains his command of fire, electricity, ice and earth (all of which he now has access to from the start), while Cynder controls poison, fear, wind and shadow  Powers, that were given to her, when she was controlled by the Dark Master  Cynder is faster, yet weaker than Spyro 
Along with the standard power-ups that gems can cause, Spyro and Cynder can both equip pieces of Dragon-armor, that they'd find  They also have another feature called melee combos  The more times, the player hits the enemy, the more blue Gems the players will earn  Blue Gems will power up Spyro and Cynder, allowing them to upgrade moves  Along with Blue Gems, there are also Red gems, which restore lost health  The green gems will give the dragons their magic, allowing to charge their element attacks  The Fury Gems, known from previous titles, have been replaced by dark crystals, that can drain magic, if they're not destroyed  The Fury-Meter now goes up, depending on the number of times, Spyro or Cynder score attacks on enemies  In addition to normal enemies, there are elite enemies, which are enemies, that are stronger than normal ones  Their masks give them invincibility to normal attacks  The player must use an element of a designated color, that matches the of the mask, in order to knock the mask off  Once kicked off, normal attacks and other elemental powers will be allowed 

Plot
The game's story continues three years after the events of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night  Spyro and Cynder, now teenagers, are broken free of their crystalline prison by mysterious enemies known as Grublins  The two are tethered together with green energy chains created by the Dark Master before being carried away, while Sparx is found by Hunter of Avalar, who was watching them from the shadows  Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder find themselves in a dark, volcano-like area  When they try to leave, they find out they can't as they are chained to the platform they awoke on  After defeating several waves of Grublins and avoiding an earth Golem that attacks them soon after, Spyro and Cynder manage to escape the Catacombs with the help of Hunter, who is with Sparx  After reaching safety in Twilight Falls, Hunter reveals to Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx that the Dark Master, Malefor, had returned to the realm shortly after the events of The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night and has covered the land in darkness ever since 

Once they reach the Dragon City of Warfang, Spyro, Cynder and Hunter are separated as the city is under siege by Malefor's forces  After a long and fierce battle that ends in the siege driven back, the Golem returns and uses parts of the city to create an arm to replace the one it lost in the Catacombs  Spyro and Cynder defeat the Golem by destroying the Dark Crystal in its head, allowing Spyro, Cynder, and the Dragon Guardians to finally reunite  The victory is short-lived, as later that night, Malefor sends the citizens of Warfang a message: he has revived the Destroyer, an ancient creature whose purpose is to renew the world by bringing about its destruction  As they will be unable to catch up with the beast if they fly after it, the Fire Dragon Guardian Ignitus (the leader of the Dragon Guardians) hatches a plan to wait for it to circle back and attack before it can complete its circle  Passing underground is the only way to intercept it in time  Cynder and Spyro are able to open the gates to the underground Ruins of Warfang, which leads the attack forces to the canyon where the Destroyer will complete the Ring of Annihilation by destroying a nearby dam  They stall the Destroyer long enough to destroy its Dark Crystal heart  Despite this, the Destroyer manages to complete the Belt of Fire, and Ignitus orders everyone underground as he escorts Spyro and Cynder through the Belt of Fire  To get them to the Burned Lands, which will lead them to Malefor's lair, Ignitus sacrifices himself in the crossing  Overcome with grief, Spyro turns into his dark form and tries to go back and save him (which also threatens to harm Cynder with levitating rocks) but is stopped and comforted by Cynder  Cynder tells Spyro he's not alone and encourages him to continue the journey, as Ignitus wanted them to  
After getting through the Burned Lands and the Floating Islands, Spyro and Cynder arrive at Malefor's lair and confront him  Malefor taunts Spyro by telling him that the destiny of all purple dragons is to bring about the world's destruction, which Spyro denies  During the confrontation, the evil dragon gets rid of the green chain that tethered Spyro and Cynder together throughout their trials, then corrupts Cynder back to his cause; Cynder attacks Spyro, only to break free from Malefor's control when Spyro refuses to fight, stating that Cynder has left him nothing to fight for  Angered by this turn of events, Malefor binds Spyro and Cynder together once again to kill them both before beginning their airborne battle  As Spyro and Cynder fly after Malefor, the Destroyer completes its circle, marking the world's end  The three dragons fall into the volcano The Destroyer had entered, and after fighting with Malefor, Spyro and Cynder plummet into the center of the earth as they continue their battle  Malefor proclaims that he is eternal, unable to be defeated, but is then sealed away in the world's core by the spirits of the ancestors, and the green chain disappears soon after 
Despite Malefor's defeat, the world is still falling apart, as Spyro and Cynder wonder if this is indeed the end  Ignitus' spirit returns and gives Spyro hope  With the chain that bound them together broken with Malefor's defeat, Spyro tells Cynder to flee while he stops the catastrophe, but she refuses to leave him  As Spyro prepares to unleash a powerful Fury wave, Cynder verbally reveals that she loves him  Spyro's magic rebuilds the world, and the remaining Dragon Guardians, Hunter, Sparx, and the survivors emerge from underground into the setting sun as stars in the sky form into the figure of a dragon 
After the credits, the Chronicler speaks to someone that a new age is beginning, and with each new age, a worthy dragon is chosen to record the triumphs and failures of that era  His time is over, but the time of the new chronicler, Ignitus, has just begun  Before passing his mantle, the Chronicler informs Ignitus that though he has tried his best, he cannot find "any trace of Spyro" in the book that details dragons who have died  As Ignitus becomes the new Chronicler, he wonders where Spyro could be  Meanwhile, as the game closes, a glimpse of Spyro and Cynder can be seen flying together over the Valley of Avalar 

Reception
The game received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic 

Notes
Passage 6:
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc  is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California  It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios  Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world and was the top United States publisher in 2016 The company was founded as Activision, Inc  on October 1, 1979 in Sunnyvale, California, by former Atari game developers upset at their treatment by Atari in order to develop their own games for the popular Atari 2600 home video game console  Activision was the first independent, third-party, console video game developer  The video game crash of 1983, in part created by too many new companies trying to follow in Activision's footsteps without the expertise of Activision's founders, hurt Activision's position in console games and forced the company to diversify into games for home computers, including the acquisition of Infocom  After a management shift, with CEO Jim Levy replaced by Bruce Davis, the company renamed itself to Mediagenic and branched out into business software applications  Mediagenic quickly fell into debt, and the company was bought for around US$500,000 by Bobby Kotick and a small group of investors around 1991 
Kotick drastically revamped and restructured the company to get it out of debt: dismissing most of its staff, moving the company to Los Angeles, and reverting to the Activision name  Building on existing assets, the Kotick-led Activision pursued more publishing opportunities and, after recovering from its former financial troubles, started acquiring numerous studios and various types of intellectual property over the 1990s and 2000s, among these being the Call of Duty and Guitar Hero series  A holding company was formed as Activision's parent company to manage both its internal and acquired studios  In 2008, this holding company merged with Vivendi Games (the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment) and formed Activision Blizzard, with Kotick as its CEO  Within this structure, Activision manages numerous third-party studios and publishes all games besides those created by Blizzard 

History
Founding (1979)
In 1976, Warner Communications bought Atari, Inc  from Nolan Bushnell to help accelerate the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS or later the Atari 2600) to market by 1977  That same year, Atari began hiring programmers to create games for the system  Prior to Warner's acquisition, the company did not award bonus pay to programmers who worked on profitable games, nor credit the programmers publicly, to prevent them from being recruited by rival game companies  Warner Communication's management style was also different from Bushnell's  According to developer John Dunn, Warner management treated developers as engineers rather than creative staff, creating conflicts with staff  Atari's CEO Ray Kassar, named to that position following Warner's acquisition in 1978, was committed to keeping production costs minimal for Warner, according to David Crane, one of Atari's programmers In early 1979, Atari's marketing department circulated a memo listing the best-selling cartridges from the previous year to help guide game ideas  Crane noted that the games he was fully responsible for had brought in over $20 million for the company but he was still only receiving a $20,000 salary  Out of a development staff of thirty-five, four programmers (Crane, Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead), had produced games that had accounted for 60% of Atari's sales Crane, Kaplan, Miller, and Whitehead became vocal about the lack of recognition within the company and became known as the "Gang of Four"  The group met with Kassar in May 1979 to demand that the company treat developers as record labels treated musicians, with royalties and their names on game boxes  Kaplan, who called the others "the best designers for the [2600] in the world", recalled that Kassar called the four men "towel designers" and claimed that "anybody can do a cartridge" The four made the decision to soon leave Atari and start their own business, but were not sure how to go about it  In 1979, the concept of third-party developers did not exist, as software for video game consoles were published exclusively by makers of the systems for which the games were designed; thus the common thinking was that to make console games, one needed to make a console first  The four decided to create their own independent game development company  They were directed by their attorney to Jim Levy, who was at the time raising venture capital to get into the software business for early home computers  Levy listened to their plans, agreed with its direction, and helped the four to secure about $1 million in capital from Sutter Hill Ventures  They also checked with legal counsel on their plans to develop games for the Atari VCS, and included litigation fees in their capital investment By August, Crane and Miller had left Atari, with Whitehead joining them shortly after  Kaplan had also quit Atari in August, but initially decided not to join as he did not like the starting business plan; he came back later to join Activision that December  Activision was formally founded on October 1, 1979, with Levy serving as CEO  The company was initially named "Computer Arts, Inc " while they considered a better title  The founders had thought of the name VSync, Inc , but feared that the public would not understand or know how to say it  Levy suggested combining "active" and "television" to come up with Activision 

Early years (1980–1982)
Activision began working out of Crane's garage in the latter half of 1979, each programmer developing their own game that was planned for release in mid-1980, Dragster, Fishing Derby, Checkers, and Boxing  The four's knowledge of the Atari 2600, as well as software tricks for the system, helped them make their own games visually distinct from Atari-produced games  To further distinguish themselves, Activision's boxes were brightly colored and featured an in-game screenshot on the back cover  Instruction manuals for games devoted at least one page to credit the developer  Additionally, for nearly all of Activision's games through 1983, the instruction manuals included instructions for sending the company a photograph of a player's high scores to receive a patch in return Ahead of the release of the first four games, Activision obtained space at the mid-year 1980 Consumer Electronics Show to showcase their titles, and quickly obtained favorable press  The attention afforded to Activision worried Atari, as the four's departure had already created a major dent in their development staff  Atari initially tried to tarnish Activision's reputation by using industry press at CES to label those that took trade secrets as "evil, terrible people", according to Crane, and then later threatened to refuse to sell Atari games to retailers that also carried these Activision titles  By the end of 1980, Atari filed a formal lawsuit against Activision to try to stop the company, claiming the four had stolen trade secrets and violated non-disclosure agreements  The lawsuit was settled by 1982, with Activision agreeing to pay royalties to Atari but otherwise legitimizing the third-party development model  In 2003, Activision's founders were given the Game Developers Choice "First Penguin" award, reflecting their being the first successful third-party developer in the video game industry Following the first round of releases, each of the founders developed their own titles, about once a year, over the first few years of the company  While their 1980 games were modest hits, one of the company's first successful games was Kaboom!, released in 1981, which was Activision's first game to sell over a million units  Activision's breakout title was 1982's Pitfall!, created by Crane  More than four million copies of the game were sold  Near the end of 1982, Kaplan left Activision to work on the development of the Amiga personal computer as he wanted to be more involved in hardware development Total sales for Activision were estimated at $157 million and revenues at $60 million ahead of its June 1983 initial public offering; at this point Activision had around 60 employees  Danny Goodman stated in Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games in 1983, "I doubt that there is an active [Atari 2600] owner who doesn't have at least one Activision cartridge in his library"  The company completed its public offering in June 1983 on NASDAQ under the stock ticker AVSN 

The video game market crash (1983–1988)
The success of Activision, alongside the popularity of the Atari 2600, led to many more home consoles third-party developers as well as other home consoles  Activision produced some of its Atari games for the Intellivision and ColecoVision consoles, among other platforms  However, several new third-party developers also arose, attempting to follow the approach Activision had used but without the experience they had; according to Crane, several of these companies were founded with venture capital and hired programmers with little game design experience off the street, mass-publishing whatever product the developers had made  This was a contributing factor to the video game crash of 1983 For Activision, while they survived the crash, they felt its effects in the following years  These third-party developers folded, leaving warehouses full of unsold games, which savvy retailers purchased and sold at a mass discount ($5 compared to Activision's $40 manufacturer's suggested retail price)  While there was still a demand for Activision games, uneducated consumers were more drawn to the heavily discounted titles instead, reducing their income  Their quarterly revenue dropped from $50 million in mid-1983 to about $6–7 million by the end of 1984, according to Levy, and were forced to lay off staff, going from about 400 employees to 95 in that period  Because of this, Activision decided that they needed to diversify their games onto home computers such as the Commodore 64, Apple, and Atari 8-bit family to avoid completely going out of business like other third-party developers  There still was a drain of talent through 1985 from the crash  Miller and Whitehead left in 1984 due to the large devaluation of their stock and went to form Accolade With the video game crash making console game development a risky proposition, the company focused on developing for home computers with games like Little Computer People and Hacker, while Levy tried to keep expenditures in check as they recovered  Looking to expand further, Activision acquired, through a corporate merger, the struggling text adventure pioneer Infocom in June 1986  This acquisition was spearheaded by Levy, who was a big fan of Infocom's titles and felt the company was in a similar position as Activision  About six months after the "Infocom Wedding", Activision's board decided to replace Levy with Bruce Davis  Davis was against the purchase of Infocom from the start and was heavy-handed in its management, and even attempted to seek a lawsuit to recover their purchase from Infocom's shareholders  Crane also found Davis difficult to work with and was concerned with how Davis managed the closure of Imagic, one of the third-party development studios formed in Activision's success in 1981  Crane left Activision in 1986 and helped Garry Kitchen found Absolute Entertainment 

Mediagenic (1988–1991)
In 1988, Activision began involvement in software besides video games, such as business applications  As a result, Activision changed its corporate name to Mediagenic to better represent all of its activities Mediagenic consisted of four groups:

Activision: video game publisher for various platforms, notably the Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Amiga
Infocom: developer of interactive fiction games
Gamestar: initially an independent company but purchased by Activision in 1986  Specialized in sports video games
Ten Point O: business application softwareIn 1989, after several years of losses, Activision closed down the Infocom studios, extending to only 11 of the 26 employees an offer to relocate to Activision's Silicon Valley headquarters  Five of them accepted this offer Notably during this time, Mediagenic was known to have worked on the early version of a football game that would be the basis for Joe Montana Football  Sega of America's Michael Katz had been able to get Sega to pay Mediagenic around early 1990 to develop this into the branded version after securing the rights to Joe Montana's name, but was unaware of internal troubles that had been going on within the company, which had left the state of the game mostly unfinished  Katz and Sega were forced to take the incomplete game to Electronic Arts, which had been developing its own John Madden Football series for personal computers, to complete the game During this period Mediagenic, via Activision, secured the rights to distribute games from Cyan Worlds  The first game published by Activision from Cyan was The Manhole, on CD-ROM for personal computers, the first major game distributed in this format 

Purchase by Bobby Kotick (1991–1997)
Davis' management of Mediagenic failed to produce a profitable company; in 1991, Mediagenic reported a loss of $26 8 million on only $28 8 million of revenue and had over $60 million in debt  Cyan severed their contract with Activision, and turned to Broderbund for publishing, including what would become one of the most significant computer games of the 1990s, Myst 

Bobby Kotick had become interested in the value of the video game industry following the crash, and he and three other investors worked to buy Commodore International in an effort to gain access to the Amiga line of personal computers  After failing to complete purchase, the group bought a company that licensed Nintendo characters, and through Nintendo was directed to the failing Mediagenic  Kotick was drawn to buy out Mediagenic not for its current offerings but for the Activision name, given its past successes with Pitfall!, with hopes to restore Activision to its former glory  Crane said that Kotick has recognized the Activision brand name could be valued around $50 million and rather than start a new company and spend that amount to obtain the same reputation, he saw the opportunity to buy the failing Mediagenic at a bargain price and gain Activision's reputation with minimal cost  Kotick and additional investors bought Mediagenic for approximately $500,000 in 1991  This group of investors included real estate businessman Steve Wynn and Philips Electronics Kotick became CEO of Mediagenic on its purchase and made several immediate changes: He let go of all but 8 of the companies' 150 employees, performed a full restructuring of the company, developed a bankruptcy restructuring plan, and reincorporated the company in Los Angeles, California  In the bankruptcy plan, Kotick recognized that Mediagenic still had valuable assets, which included the Infocom library as well as its authoring tools to make games, Activision's distribution network, and licenses to develop on Nintendo and Sega home consoles  Kotick offset some debt by giving stock in the company to its distributors as to keep them vested in the company's success  Kotick also had the company reissue several of its past console and Infocom titles as compilations for personal computers  Kotick had also recognized the value of the Zork property from Infocom, and had the company develop a sequel, Return to Zork  Combined, these steps allowed Mediagenic to fulfill on the bankruptcy plan, and by the end of 1992, Kotick renamed Mediagenic to the original Activision name  The new Activision went public in October 1993, raising about $40 million, and was listed on NASDAQ under its new ticker symbol ATVI By 1995, Kotick's approach had met one promise he made to investors: that he would give them four years of 50% growth in revenues while remaining break-even  Reaching this goal, Kotick then set Activision on his second promise to investors, to develop high-demand games and make the company profitable by 1997 Activision published the first-person perspective MechWarrior in 1989, based on FASA's pen-and-paper game BattleTech  A sequel, MechWarrior 2, was released in 1995 after two years of delays and internal struggles, prompting FASA not to renew their licensing deal with Activision  To counter, Activision released several more games bearing the MechWarrior 2 name, which did not violate their licensing agreement  These included NetMech, MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy, and MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries  The entire MechWarrior 2 game series accounted for more than US$70 million in sales 
Activision procured the license to another pen-and-paper-based war game, Heavy Gear, in 1997  The video game version was well received by critics, with an 81 46% average rating on GameRankings and being considered the best game of the genre at the time by GameSpot  The Mechwarrior 2 engine was also used in other Activision games, including 1997's Interstate '76 and 1998's Battlezone 

Growth and acquisitions (1997–2008)
With several of its own successfully developed games helping to turn a profit, Kotick led Activision to start seeking acquisitions of video game development studios, guided by market surveys to determine what areas of content to focus on  It is estimated that between 1997 and 2008, Activision made 25 acquisitions, several for undisclosed amounts  Several of these came prior to 2001, in the midst of the Dot-com bubble, enabling the company to acquire studios at a lower valuation  On June 16, 2000, Activision reorganized as a holding company, Activision Holdings, to manage Activision and its subsidiaries more effectively  Activision changed its corporate name from "Activision, Inc " to "Activision Publishing, Inc ", while Activision Holdings took Activision's former "Activision, Inc " name  Activision Publishing became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, which in turn became the publicly traded company, with all outstanding shares of capital stock converted Some of the key acquisitions and investments made by Activision in this period include:

Raven Software: Raven was founded in 1990; because of their close proximity, Raven frequently collaborated with id Software, and one of the studio's early successes was the Heretic series using id's Doom engine  Around 1997, Raven's founders Brian and Steve Raffel felt the need to seek a parent company  They arranged a publishing deal with Activision in 1997, which not only served to provide Raven additional financial support, but also gave Activision the opportunity to work closely with id Software and gain business relationships with them  By the end of 1997, Activision acquired Raven as one of its first subsidiaries under Kotick  The acquisition price was $12 million 
Neversoft: Prior to its acquisition in 2000, Activision had arranged a development deal with Neversoft to re-develop Apocalypse, a title that failed to be completed within Activision  Subsequently, Activision had Neversoft work on a prototype for a skateboarding game, which would end up becoming the first in the Tony Hawk's series of skateboarding video games  Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was a critical success, leading Activision to acquire Neversoft in April 2000  After eight games, the series has brought in $1 6 billion 
Infinity Ward: After Electronic Arts released Medal of Honor: Allied Assault in 2002, several of the developers from 2015, Inc , disenchanted with their current contracts, left to form a new studio, Infinity Ward  Kotick himself provided the group with startup funding, as they were seeking to develop a similar title to Medal of Honor  Activision acquired the studio for $5 million in January 2003, and later publish their first title, Call of Duty, directly competing with Electronic Arts  The Call of Duty series has since seen nearly yearly releases and as of 2016 had sold more than 250 million units and brought in more than $12 billion in revenue 
Treyarch: The Santa Monica, California studio was founded in 1996  With the success of the first Tony Hawk game from Neversoft, Activision used Treyarch to assist in further Tony Hawk games as well as to develop titles using Activision's license of Marvel's Spider-Man  Activision acquired the studio in 2001 for about $20 million   Following the success of Call of Duty from Infinity Ward, Activision moved Treyarch to assist in the series' development, trading off each year' major release between the two studios 
Gray Matter Studios: While Gray Matter was originally founded in 1993 as Xatrix Entertainment, it was rebranded to Gray Matter in 1999 as they began work on Return to Castle Wolfenstein, in conjunction with Nerve Software and oversight by id Software who owned the Castle Wolfenstein IP  Activision, the game's publisher, acquired a portion of Gray Matter's stock during this time  Return to Castle Wolfenstein was a critical and financial success, and led Activision to acquire the remaining shares of Gray Matter in 2002 for about $3 2 million, with the intent to help Infinity Ward expand out the Call of Duty franchise  In 2005, Activision made the decision to merge the smaller Gray Matter into the larger Treyarch to put their combined talents towards Call of Duty 3 
RedOctane: Around 2005, Red Octane was co-developing Guitar Hero, a console game based on the arcade game GuitarFreaks, with Harmonix; Harmonix was developing the software while RedOctane developed the instrument controllers  Guitar Hero was a major success  Activision purchased RedOctane for nearly $100 million in June 2006  The series has since earned more than $2 billion in revenues 
Toys for Bob: Toys for Bob was founded by Paul Reiche III, Fred Ford, and Terry Falls in 1989 and gained success in developing the first two Star Control games, and later made film-to-video game adaptions  Activision purchased the studio in 2005, and had given them work on some of the Tony Hawk's games as well as other licensed properties  Following Activision's merger with Vivendi, Activision gained the Spyro intellectual property and assigned Toys for Bob to develop the series in a new direction, leading to the toys-to-life Skylanders series 

Merger with Vivendi Games (2008)
While Activision was highly successful with its range of developers and successful series, Kotick was concerned that they did not have a title for the growing massively multiplayer online market, which presented the opportunity for continued revenues from subscription models and microtransactions instead of the revenue from a single sale  Around 2006, Kotick contacted Jean-Bernard Lévy, the new CEO of Vivendi, a French media conglomerate  Vivendi had a games division, Vivendi Games, that was struggling to be viable at the time, but its principal feature was that it owned Blizzard Entertainment and its highly successful World of Warcraft game, which was drawing in $1 1 billion a year in subscription fees  Vivendi Games also owned Sierra Entertainment Lévy recognized Kotick wanted control of World of Warcraft, and offered to allow the companies to merge, but only if Lévy held the majority shares in the merged group, forcing Kotick to cede control  Kotick fretted about this decision for a while, according to friends and investors  During this time in 2006–2007, some of Activision's former successful properties began to wane, such as Tony Hawk's, so Activision bought RedOctane, the publisher of the Guitar Hero franchise  Kotick met with Blizzard's president Mike Morhaime, and learned that Blizzard also had a successful inroad into getting their games into China, a potentially lucrative market  Given this potential opportunity, Kotick agreed to the merger Activision's board signed on to the merger by December 2007  The merger was completed in July 2008  The new company was called Activision Blizzard and was headed by Kotick, while Vivendi maintained a 52% share in the company  The new company was estimated to be worth US$18 9 billion, ahead of Electronic Arts, which was valued at US$14 1 billion 

Post-merger developments (2009–present)
Activision Publishing remains a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard following the merger, and is responsible for developing, producing, and distributing games from its internal and subsidiary studios  Eric Hirshberg was announced as Activision Publishing's CEO in 2010 Activision Publishing established Sledgehammer Games in November 2009  Formed earlier in 2009 by Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey, former Visceral Games leads that had worked on Dead Space, Sledgehammer intended to develop a Call of Duty spin-off title fashioned after the gameplay in Dead Space  However, in early 2010, legal issues between Infinity Ward and Activision Blizzard led to several members of Infinity Ward leaving, and Activision assigned Sledgehammer to assist Infinity Ward in the next major Call of Duty title, Modern Warfare 3  Since then, Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch share development duties for the flagship series, with support from Raven and other studios as necessary 
In February 2010, Activision Blizzard reported significant losses in revenue stemming from a slow down in Guitar Hero sales and from its more casual games  Subsequently, Activision Publishing shuttered Red Octane, Luxoflux and Underground Development as well as laid off about 25% of the staff at Neversoft  Within the same year, Activision shuttered Budcat Creations in November 2010, and Bizarre Creations in February 2011 Hirshberg left the CEO position in March 2018 Into the 2020s, Activision put more focus on the Call of Duty franchise, including the release of the free-to-play Call of Duty: Warzone in 2020  By April 2021, the company had assigned all of its internal studios to work on some part of the Call of Duty franchise  This includes a new studio, Activision Mobile,  devoted to the Call of Duty Mobile title as reported in August 2021 In 2021, while all their employees were working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, Activision and its parent Activision Blizzard vacated their longtime headquarters building in Santa Monica and ended their lease with Boston Properties  In September 2021, they subleased a much smaller office space in Santa Monica at the Pen Factory (a former Paper Mate factory) from Kite Pharma, which had leased the space from Lincoln Property Company 

Studios
Activision Shanghai Studio in Shanghai, China, founded in 2009 
Beenox in Québec City, Québec, Canada, founded in May 2000, acquired on May 25, 2005 
Demonware in both Dublin, Republic of Ireland and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 2003, acquired in May 2007 
Digital Legends Entertainment in Barcelona, Spain, founded in May 2001, acquired on October 28, 2021 
High Moon Studios in Carlsbad, California, founded as Sammy Corporation in April 2001, acquired by Vivendi Games in January 2006 
Infinity Ward in Woodland Hills, California, founded in 2002, acquired in October 2003 
Radical Entertainment in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1991, acquired by Vivendi Games in 2005, laid off most staff in 2012 
Raven Software in Madison, Wisconsin, founded in 1990, acquired in 1997 
Sledgehammer Games in Foster City, California, founded on July 21, 2009 
Solid State Studios in Santa Monica, California, founded in 2021 
Toys for Bob in Novato, California, founded in 1989, acquired on May 3, 2005 
Treyarch in Santa Monica, California, founded in 1996, acquired in 2001 

Former studios
7 Studios in Los Angeles, California, founded in 1999, acquired in April 2009, closed in February 2011 
Beachhead Studio in Santa Monica, California, founded in February 2011 
Bizarre Creations in Liverpool, England, founded as Raising Hell Productions in 1987 and changed name in 1994, acquired on September 26, 2007, closed on February 18, 2011 
Budcat Creations in Iowa City, Iowa, founded in September 2000, acquired on November 10, 2008, closed in November 2010 
FreeStyleGames in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, founded in 2002, acquired on September 12, 2008, sold to Ubisoft on January 18, 2017, subsequently renamed Ubisoft Leamington 
Gray Matter Studios in Los Angeles, California, founded in the 1990s as Xatrix Entertainment, acquired in January 2002, merged into Treyarch in 2005 
Infocom in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded on June 22, 1979, acquired in 1986, closed in 1989 
Luxoflux in Santa Monica, California, founded in January 1997, acquired in October 2002, closed on February 11, 2010 
Massive Entertainment in Malmö, Sweden, founded in 1997, acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in 2002, sold to Ubisoft on November 10, 2008 
Neversoft in Los Angeles, California, founded in July 1994, acquired in October 1999, merged into Infinity Ward on May 3, 2014 and was officially made defunct on July 10, 2014 
RedOctane in Mountain View, California, founded in November 2005, acquired in 2006, closed on February 11, 2010 
Shaba Games in San Francisco, California, founded in September 1997, acquired in 2002, and closed on October 8, 2009 
Swordfish Studios in Birmingham, England, founded in September 2002, acquired by Vivendi Universal Games in June 2005, sold to Codemasters on November 14, 2008 
The Blast Furnace in Leeds, United Kingdom, founded in November 2011 as Activision Leeds, renamed in August 2012, closed in March 2014 
Underground Development in Redwood Shores, California, founded as Z-Axis in 1994, acquired in May 2002, closed on February 11, 2010 
Vicarious Visions in Menands, New York, founded in 1990, acquired in January 2005, moved to Blizzard Entertainment in January 2021  It was renamed to Blizzard Albany on April 12, 2022 
Wanako Games in Santiago, Chile, founded in 2005, acquired by Vivendi Games on February 20, 2007, sold to Artificial Mind and Movement on November 20, 2008 

Notable games published
See also
List of video game companies
Passage 7:
Intellivision Rocks
Intellivision Lives!  is a compilation of over 60 Intellivision video games, originally produced by Mattel Electronics and INTV Corporation between 1978 and 1990   Using original game code and software emulation, Intellivision Productions released the compilation on a Windows and Macintosh hybrid CD-ROM in December 1998  Additional versions were then released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube by Crave Entertainment  In 2010, Virtual Play Games released a Nintendo DS version  
Intellivision Productions later published Intellivision Rocks, which includes third-party games originally published by Activision and Imagic, as well as Intellivoice and ECS games 

Overview
Some games could not be included due to licensing (e g  Tron, BurgerTime, Masters of the Universe, Pac-Man,)   Others such as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Cloudy Mountain and Treasure of Tarmin use different titles to avoid the trademark   Licenses such as MLB, NFL, NBA, and The Electric Company were simply dropped from the titles   Also included were games never before released, such as King of the Mountain, Brickout, and Takeover In addition to the games, the Crave Entertainment releases have several unlockables, such as classic Intellivision commercials  The original Windows/Mac version is a resource for development history, unfinished prototypes, box art, overlays, instructions, hidden features, programmer biographies, and video interviews 

History and development
In June 1995, former Mattel Electronics programmers led by Keith Robinson started the Blue Sky Rangers Intellivision website   Blue Sky Rangers being a nickname given to the Mattel Electronics programmers in a TV Guide magazine article from the 1982 June 19 issue   The website provides the history of the Intellivsion games and credits the programmers and artists  It was well received with fans asking how the games can be played on their computers  In 1997 Intellivision Productions, Inc  was formed by former Mattel Electronics programmers Keith Robinson and Stephen Roney with the purchase of the rights to the Intellivision and its games At the same time, a student in Michigan named Carl Mueller Jr  was independently working on reverse engineering the Intellivision   With the help of Intellivision ROM dumps from Sean Kelly and then William Moeller and Scott Nudds, Carl was able to create the first Intellivision emulator that plays the games on a modern computer   Sean was fortunate to have two Intellivision prototype cartridges with standard 8-bit EPROMS as opposed to the more complex memory mapped ROMS used by standard cartridges   William and Scott were able to dump the Intellivision embedded executive control software and graphics ROMS, as well as build a cartridge reader to dump any Intellivision cartridge Carl's MS-DOS emulator and a Macintosh emulator created by Intellivisions Productions' Steve Roney would be used in the free Intellipack downloads so anyone could play select Intellivision games on their computers for the first time in 1997   The Intellivision for PC/Mac Volume 2 download, also of 1997, was the first release of Deep Pockets Super Pro Billiards, the last game programmed for the Intellivision in 1990 but unreleased by INTV Corporation   They would also be used to play the original Intellivision games in the Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac CD-ROM edition released in 1998 by Intellivision Productions 

PC and Macintosh system requirements
The PC/Mac edition was produced with Macromedia Director and may not be compatible with modern operating systems   The QuickTime videos, emulators, and Intellivision ROM image files are directly accessible on the CD-ROM 
The Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac v1 0 system requirements:
PC:  Pentium 90 MHz, Windows 95, 8MB RAM, 8x CD-ROM, QuickTime v3 0 or better
Mac:  Power Macintosh, OS7 5, 100 MHz, 16MB RAM, 8x CD-ROM, QuickTimeThe Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac v1 1 system requirements:
PC: Pentium 266 MHz, Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP, 32M RAM, 8X CD-ROM, 16-bit DirectX compatible sound & video cards, DirectX 7 or better, QuickTime v3 0 or better
Mac: Power Macintosh, OS 8/9/X, 120 MHz, 32M RAM, 8X CD-ROM, QuickTimeController functions are mapped to the computer keyboard; an extended keyboard is required to access both left and right Intellivision controllers   With Macintosh, USB game controllers could be used indirectly with a joystick to keyboard mapper utility   For PC, Intellivision Productions promoted the Gravis GamePad Pro game controller (game port version)   The MS-DOS emulator, directly accessible on the CD-ROM, also supported original Intellivision controllers through the INTV2PC Hand Controller Interface   INTV2PC is a parallel port adapter that accepts original Intellivision hand controllers   This feature although not promoted is documented in the INTVPC files on the CD-ROM   Modern intellivision emulators and USB controller adapters have since become available, compatible with the Intellivision Lives rom image files 
To play the games using real Intellivision controllers Intellivision Productions supported the use of a device called the Intellicart   The Intellicart is a RAM cartridge with an RS-232 interface that can accept a copy of an Intellivision ROM image file from a computer   Rather than play the Intellivision Lives! games through an emulator, they can be played on a real Intellivision through an Intellicart   Since that time modern Intellivision flash memory cartridges have been made that achieve the same result 
In 2002 an updated Intellivision Lives! PC/Mac v1 1 was made available by Intellivision Productions   Those that purchased the original could upgrade for a nominal fee   It added Windows 98/ME/2000/XP support with a native Windows emulator supporting DirectX sound, video, and game controllers 

Modern video game consoles
Realtime Associates developed the video game console editions published by Crave Entertainment for PlayStation 2 (2003), Xbox (2004), and GameCube (2004)   In these versions the games are accessed from a 3D "overworld" set in a circa 1980s pizza parlor; an inaccurate representation as the Intellivision games were originally designed for a home console  Games were also re-organised by genres rather than the original Mattel Electronics Networks used in the PC/Mac edition   Some games require two controllers, even to play single player In 2010 Virtual Play Games published Intellivision Lives! for the Nintendo DS handheld system, also developed by Realtime Associates  It features wireless, multiplayer support using a single game card  The Nintendo DS's touch screen emulates the Intellivision's 12-button keypad including an overlay image for each game   The Nintendo DS lacks a 16 direction pad used by some Intellivision games   This limitation was overcome, in Vectron for example, by mapping directional inputs to the touch screen   Only 10,000 copies of the Nintendo DS edition were ever released The Xbox version of Intellivision Lives! is fully forward compatible with the Xbox 360 console, and in 2008 Intellivision Lives! became available for purchase as a download through Xbox Live Game Marketplace's Xbox Originals 

Intellivision Rocks
Intellivision Rocks is the PC-only sequel to the original PC version of Intellivision Lives!  As with Intellivision Lives!, Intellivision Rocks is a collection of games which were originally found on the Intellivision, presented in emulated form  It mainly features 3rd-party games from Activision and Imagic  In addition, several unreleased games are included 

Reception
IGN said that Intellivision Lives! is "still blocky after all these years, sure   but these games really need the controller " GameSpot editors said that although the controller emulation is a little hard to handle, the collection does a fine job in delivering classic Intellivision games 
Passage 8:
Raven Software
Raven Software Corporation is an American video game developer based in Wisconsin and founded in 1990  In 1997, Raven made an exclusive publishing deal with Activision and was subsequently acquired by them  After the acquisition, many of the studio's original developers, largely responsible for creating the Heretic and Hexen: Beyond Heretic games, left to form Human Head Studios 

History
id Software
Raven Software was founded in 1990 by brothers Brian and Steve Raffel  Originally a three-person company, they were discovered by John Romero, co-founder of id Software, who collaborated with Raven to make games using their game engine beginning with ShadowCaster  Raven then started making games with id Software; the company even briefly moved to the same street as id Software  They used id's engines for many of their games, such as Heretic, Hexen: Beyond Heretic and Hexen II 
In 2005 and 2009, Raven developed two games from id's catalog: Quake 4 and Wolfenstein respectively 

Activision
The company was independent until 1997, when it was acquired by Activision for $12 million  They were still collaborating with id Software but at the same time developed other titles as well such as Soldier of Fortune in 2000, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy in 2003, X-Men Legends in 2004 and many more 
In August 2009, following poor performance and possible over-budget of Wolfenstein, the company made a major layoff of 30-35 staff, leaving two development teams  This was reduced to one after more layoffs in October 2010, after delays with Singularity; as many as 40 staff were released  Following the layoffs and after id Software was bought over by ZeniMax Media, Raven has since become a primary developer for the Call of Duty series In December 2021, Activision did not renew the contract of several members of the quality assurance (QA) department that were contract employees   One of the associate managers said that "valuable members" were fired although they "were promised, for months, that Activision was working towards a pay restructure to increase their wages"  Following these firings as well as other controversies revolving Activision Blizzard, a strike has been initiated  On January 21, 2022, Raven's QA team formed a union named the Game Workers Alliance with Communications Workers of America In May 2022, a group of quality assurance testers from Raven Software successfully organized a union known as the Game Workers Alliance, with the vote being 19 for and 3 against  In June 2022 Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated that the company would recognize the union and begin negotiations with it 

Games
In 2012, Raven began hiring employees for a game, and were announced as collaborating with Infinity Ward on Call of Duty: Ghosts in May 2013 On April 3, 2013 following the closure of LucasArts, Raven Software released the source code for Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy on SourceForge under the GPL-2 0-only license In April 2014, the company became lead developer of the now shutdown free-to-play Chinese Call of Duty title, Call of Duty: Online  The company also remade Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered In 2020, Raven Software collaborated with Infinity Ward on the game Call of Duty: Warzone  The company is considered the face of maintaining, updating and debugging the game as they regularly provide status updates and patch notes on Twitter and their official website (though it is unclear if they are the sole studio responsible behind-the-scenes) Raven developed Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War with Treyarch, which released on November 13, 2020 



ground_truth: on the Cumberland Plain

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: In modern history of Syria this kingdom lasted for only four months, this kingdom surrendered to who?

The following are given passages.
Context 2: Passage 1:
Arab Kingdom of Syria
The Arab Kingdom of Syria (Arabic: المملكة العربية السورية, al-Mamlakah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūrīyah) was a self-proclaimed, unrecognized constitutional monarchy existing briefly in the territory of historical Syria  It was announced on 5 October 1918 as a fully and independent Arab constitutional government with the permission of the British military  It gained de facto independence as an Emirate after the withdrawal of the British forces from OETA East on 26 November 1919, and was proclaimed as a Kingdom on 8 March 1920 
As a Kingdom it existed only a little over four months, from 8 March to 25 July 1920  During its brief existence, the kingdom was led by Sharif Hussein bin Ali's son Faisal bin Hussein  Despite its claims to the territory of Greater Syria, Faisal's government controlled a limited area and was dependent on Britain which, along with France, generally opposed the idea of a Greater Syria and refused to recognize the kingdom  The kingdom surrendered to French forces on 25 July 1920 

History
Foundations
The Arab Revolt and the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence were crucial factors in the foundation of the Arab Kingdom of Syria  In the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence promises of an Arab Kingdom were made by the British in return for an Arab uprising against the Ottomans : 209–215  As the British were promising independence, The French made the Sykes–Picot Agreement  Ultimately, the implementation of the Sykes–Picot Agreement would lead to the undermining and end of the Arab Kingdom of Syria  Despite the significance of the Arab Revolt to modern Arab countries formed in its wake, at the time there was significant distrust and even opposition to the idea of an Arab Kingdom or series of Arab Kingdoms 
This opposition was due in part to the heavy influence of the French and the British in facilitating the revolt and the establishment of what would be considered, by modern standards, puppet states : 185–191  The involvement of foreign powers in distributing large sums of money and military support to establish an empire that would be led by imperial aspirants, rather than legitimate Arab nationalists, was instrumental in the disintegration of the majority of the early Hashemite Kingdoms (Kingdom of Hejaz and Kingdom of Iraq)  Additionally, at the time, many Arabs expressed grave concerns that the family of the Sharif of Mecca, the Hashemites, could wrest control from the Ottoman Sultan, with whom their loyalty had rested for centuries : 187

Arab constitutional government
Near the end of World War I, the British Egyptian Expeditionary Force, under command of Edmund Allenby, captured Damascus on 30 September 1918  Shortly thereafter, on 3 October, Faisal entered the city : 30  The jubilation would be short lived, as Faisal would soon be made aware of the Sykes–Picot agreement  Faisal had come to expect an independent Arab kingdom in the name of his father but was soon told of the division of territory and how Syria fell under French protective power  Faisal saw this admission as a betrayal by the British, but believed the actual settlement would be worked out at a later date when the war had ended  There was some likelihood that by then the British would have changed their support for French pretensions in Syria 
On 5 October, with the permission of General Allenby, Faisal announced the establishment of a fully and absolutely independent Arab constitutional government : 34  Faisal announced it would be an Arab government based on justice and equality for all Arabs regardless of religion  The French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau found disconcerting the establishment of a semi-independent Arab state without international recognition and under the auspices of the British  Even reassurances by Allenby that all actions taken were provisional did not ease the looming tensions between the British, the French, and the Arabs  For Arab nationalists, and many of the Arabs who fought in the Arab Revolt, this independent state would be the realization of a long hard-fought goal 

Determining the status
After the war, at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, Faisal pushed for Arab independence  At the Conference, the victorious Allies decided what was to become of the defeated nations of the Central Powers, especially who was to control their territories, such as the Ottoman Empire's Middle East possessions  The status of the Arab lands in the Middle East was the subject of intense negotiations between the French and British  In May 1919, the French and British prime ministers met in Quai d’Orsay to decide between them their respective claims to territories or spheres of influence in the Middle East  The meeting determined that in return for a British guarantee of French control in Syria, the British would be given a mandate over Mosul and Palestine 
At about the same time, an American compromise resulted in an agreement to set up a commission to determine the wishes of the inhabitants  Though they initially supported the idea, Britain and France eventually backed out, leaving the King–Crane Commission of 1919 solely American : 268  The findings of the commission, not published until 1922 after the vote on the mandates in the League of Nations, indicated strong Arab support for an independent Arab state and opposition to a French presence 

Creation
These events in Europe led Syrian nationalist societies like al-Fatat (the Young Arab Society) to make preparations for a national congress  These Syrian nationalist societies advocated complete independence for an Arab Kingdom that united Arabs under Faisal  The King–Crane Commission encouraged efforts to unify, and hasty elections were called including representatives from all over the Arab lands, including Palestine and Lebanon, although French officials prevented many of their representatives from arriving  The first official session of the Syrian Congress was held on 3 June 1919 and al-Fatat member Hashim al-Atassi was elected its president : 17 When the King–Crane Commission arrived in Damascus on 25 June 1919, it was met with a flurry of leaflets saying "Independence or Death" 
On 2 July the Syrian National Congress in Damascus passed the Damascus Program, a series of resolutions calling for a completely independent constitutional monarchy with Faisal as king, asking for assistance from the United States, and rejecting any rights claimed by the French : 19  The resolutions defined the borders as 

on the north, the Taurus Range; on the south, a line running from Rafah to Al-Jauf and following the Syria-Hejaz border below 'Aqaba; on the east, the boundary formed by the Euphrates and Khabur rivers and a line stretching from some distance east of Abu-Kamal to some distance east of al-Jauf; on the west, the Mediterranean Sea 
Any hope that Faisal may have had that either the British or Americans would come to his aid and counter French moves quickly faded, especially after the Anglo-French Agreement for the withdrawal of British troops from Syria and the end of the British military government in Syria  The British withdrew from the region on 26 November 1919 In January 1920, Faisal was forced into an agreement with France which stipulated that France would uphold the existence of the Syrian state and would not station troops in Syria as long as the French government remained the only government supplying advisers, counselors and technical experts : 167  News of this compromise did not bode well with Faisal's vehemently anti-French and independence-minded supporters who immediately pressured Faisal to reverse his commitment, which he did  In the aftermath of this reversal, violent attacks against French forces took place and the Syrian Congress assembled in March 1920 to declare Faisal the king of Syria as well as to officially set up the Arab Kingdom of Syria with Hashim al-Atassi as Prime Minister and Yusuf al-'Azma as Minister of War and Chief of Staff 
This unilateral action was immediately repudiated by the British and French and the San Remo Conference was called by the Allied Powers in April 1920 to finalise the allocation of League of Nations mandates in the Middle East  This was in turn repudiated by Faisal and his supporters  After months of instability and failure to make good on the promises to the French, the commander of French forces General Henri Gouraud gave an ultimatum to King Faisal on 14 July 1920 declaring he surrender or fight : 215

Dissolution
Worried about the results of a long bloody fight with the French, King Faisal surrendered  However, Yusuf al-'Azma, the defense minister, ignored the King's order, and led a small army to confront the French advance into Syria  This army depended mainly on individual weapons and were no match to the French artillery  At the Battle of Maysalun, the Syrian army was easily defeated by the French, with General al-'Azma being killed during the battle  The loss led to the siege and capture of Damascus on 24 July 1920 and the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was put into effect thereafter 

Legacy
After surrendering to French forces, Faisal was expelled from Syria and went to live in the United Kingdom in August 1920  In August 1921 he was offered the crown of Iraq under the British Mandate of Iraq 
A pro-French government under the leadership of 'Alaa al-Din al-Darubi was installed one day after the fall of Damascus, on 25 July 1920 : 37  On 1 September 1920, General Gouraud divided the French mandate territory of Syria into several smaller states as part of a French scheme to make Syria easier to control 
The Kingdom, through its short and tumultuous existence, would become a subject of great inspiration to later Arab liberation movements  It would be the often-repeated story of an Arab people breaking out from their colonial bonds only to be castigated for their revolutionary fervor and for their resistance to the imperial powers  The symbolism of the fall of the Kingdom of Syria also imparted deep mistrust of European powers, who were seen as liars and oppressors 

Politics of Syria (1918–1920)
Heads of Government
King
Prime Ministers
Gallery
Passage 2:
Gouding
Gouding (Chinese: 句町) was a monarchical state that lasted approximately 400 years, from 111 BC to 316 AD, and was centered on Guangnan County in modern-day Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, China 

In December 2015, artifacts unearthed from Gouding were on display at the Guangnan Minorities Museum 

See also
Đông Sơn drums
Neighbouring kingdoms of Dian and Yelang 
Southward expansion of the Han dynasty
Zomia (geography)
Passage 3:
Modern history of Syria
The modern history of Syria begins with the termination of Ottoman control of Syria by French forces and the establishment of the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration during World War I  The short-lived Arab Kingdom of Syria emerged in 1920, which was however soon committed under the French Mandate, which produced the short-lived autonomous State of Aleppo, State of Damascus (later State of Syria), Alawite State and Jabal al-Druze (state); the autonomies were transformed into the Mandatory Syrian Republic in 1930  Syrian Republic gained independence in April 1946  The Republic took part in the Arab-Israeli War and remained in a state of political instability during the 1950s and 1960s 
The 8 March 1963 coup resulted in the installation of the National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority  The takeover was engineered by members of the Ba'ath Party led by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar  He was overthrown in early 1966 by Marxist-Leninist military dissidents of the party led by General Salah Jadid  Since the Arab Spring of 2011, Bashar al-Assad's government has been involved in the ongoing Syrian civil war 

Syria under the Mandate
OETA
The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a joint British and French military administration over Levantine and Mesopotamian provinces of the former Ottoman Empire between 1918 and 1920, set up following the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I  The administration ended following the assignment of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon and British Mandate for Palestine at the 19–26 April 1920 San Remo conference 

Initial civil administration
Following the San Remo conference in April 1920 and the defeat of King Faisal's short-lived monarchy in Syria at the Battle of Maysalun on 24 July 1920, the French general Henri Gouraud established civil administration in the territory  The mandate region was subdivided into six states  They were the states of Damascus (1920), Aleppo (1920), Alawites (1920), Jabal Druze (1921), the autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta (1921) (modern-day Hatay), and the State of Greater Lebanon (1920), which later became the modern country of Lebanon 
The drawing of those states was based in part on the sectarian make-up on the ground in Syria  However, nearly all the Syrian sects were hostile to the French mandate and to the division it created  This was best demonstrated by the numerous revolts that the French encountered in all of the Syrian states  Maronite Christians of Mount Lebanon, on the other hand, were a community with a dream of independence that was being realized under the French; therefore, Greater Lebanon was the exception to the newly formed states 

Syrian Federation (1922-24)
In July 1922, France established a loose federation between three of the states: Damascus, Aleppo, and the Alawite state under the name of the Syrian Federation (Fédération syrienne)  Jabal Druze, Sanjak of Alexandretta, and Greater Lebanon were not parts of this federation, which adopted a new federal flag (green-white-green with French canton)  On 1 December 1924, the Alawite state seceded from the federation when the states of Aleppo and Damascus were united into the State of Syria 

The Great Syrian Revolt
In 1925, a revolt in Jabal Druze led by Sultan Pasha el Atrash spread to other Syrian states and became a general rebellion in Syria  France tried to retaliate by having the parliament of Aleppo declare secession from the union with Damascus, but the voting was foiled by Syrian patriots 

First Syrian Republic
The red stars that represented the three districts of the republic (Damascus, Aleppo, and Deir ez Zor) 

1936 Independence treaty
In 1936, the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Independence was signed, a treaty that would not be ratified by the French legislature  However, the treaty allowed Jabal Druze, the Alawite (now called Latakia), and Alexandretta to be incorporated into the Syrian republic within the following two years  Greater Lebanon (now the Lebanese Republic) was the only state that did not join the Syrian Republic  Hashim al-Atassi, who was Prime Minister under King Faisal's brief reign (1918–1920), was the first president to be elected under a new constitution adopted after the independence treaty 

Separation of Hatay
In September 1938, France again separated the Syrian district of Alexandretta and transformed it into the Republic of Hatay  The Republic of Hatay joined Turkey in the following year, in June 1939  Syria did not recognize the incorporation of Hatay into Turkey and the issue is still disputed until the present time 

World War II and the founding of the UN
With the fall of France in 1940 during World War II, Syria came under the control of the Vichy Government until the British and Free French invaded and occupied the country in July 1941  Syria proclaimed its independence again in 1941 but it was not until 1 January 1944 that it was recognized as an independent republic 
On 27 September 1941, France proclaimed, by virtue of, and within the framework of the Mandate, the independence and sovereignty of the Syrian State  The proclamation said "the independence and sovereignty of Syria and Lebanon will not affect the juridical situation as it results from the Mandate Act  Indeed, this situation could be changed only with the agreement of the Council of the League of Nations, with the consent of the Government of the United States, a signatory of the Franco-American Convention of 4 April 1924, and only after the conclusion between the French Government and the Syrian and Lebanese Governments of treaties duly ratified in accordance with the laws of the French Republic Benqt Broms said that it was important to note that there were several founding members of the United Nations whose statehood was doubtful at the time of the San Francisco Conference and that the Government of France still considered Syria and Lebanon to be mandates Duncan Hall said "Thus, the Syrian mandate may be said to have been terminated without any formal action on the part of the League or its successor  The mandate was terminated by the declaration of the mandatory power, and of the new states themselves, of their independence, followed by a process of piecemeal unconditional recognition by other powers, culminating in formal admission to the United Nations  Article 78 of the Charter ended the status of tutelage for any member state: 'The trusteeship system shall not apply to territories which have become Members of the United Nations, relationship among which shall be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality '"On 29 May 1945, France bombed Damascus and tried to arrest its democratically elected leaders  While French planes were bombing Damascus, Prime Minister Faris al-Khoury was at the founding conference of the United Nations in San Francisco, presenting Syria's claim for independence from the French Mandate 
Continuing pressure from Syrian nationalist groups and British pressure forced the French to evacuate their last troops on 17 April 1946 

Republic of Syria 1946-1963
Syrian independence was acquired in 1946  Although rapid economic development followed the declaration of independence, Syrian politics from independence through the late 1960s was marked by upheaval  The early years of independence were marked by political instability 
In 1948, Syria was involved in the Arab-Israeli War with the newly created State of Israel  The Syrian army was pressed out of the Israeli areas, but fortified their strongholds on the Golan and managed to keep their old borders and occupy some additional territory  In July 1949, Syria was the last Arab country to sign an armistice agreement with Israel 
In March 1949, Syria's national government was overthrown by a military coup d'état led by Husni al-Zaim in a coup  Some authors claim involvement by the United States CIA Later that year Zaim was overthrown by his colleague Sami al-Hinnawi and Adib al-Shishakli  The latter undermined civilian rule and led to Shishakli's complete seizure of power in 1951  Shishakli continued to rule the country until 1955, when growing public opposition forced him to resign and leave the country  The national government was restored, but again to face instability, this time from abroad  After the overthrow of President Shishakli in a 1954 coup, continued political maneuvering supported by competing factions in the military eventually brought Arab nationalist and socialist elements to power  Between 1946 and 1956, Syria had 20 different cabinets and drafted four separate constitutions 
During the Suez Crisis of 1956, after the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Israeli troops, and the intervention of British and French troops, martial law was declared in Syria  Later Syrian and Iraqi troops were brought into Jordan to prevent a possible Israeli invasion  The November 1956 attacks on Iraqi pipelines were in retaliation for Iraq's acceptance into the Baghdad Pact  In early 1957 Iraq advised Egypt and Syria against a conceivable takeover of Jordan 
In November 1956 Syria signed a pact with the Soviet Union, providing a foothold for communist influence within the government in exchange for planes, tanks, and other military equipment being sent to Syria  This increase in the strength of Syrian military technology worried Turkey, as it seemed feasible that Syria might attempt to retake Iskenderon, a formerly Syrian city now in Turkey  On the other hand, Syria and the USSR accused Turkey of amassing its troops at the Syrian border  During this standoff, communists gained more control over the Syrian government and military  Only heated debates in the United Nations (of which Syria was an original member) lessened the threat of war 
Syria's political instability during the years after the 1954 coup, the parallelism of Syrian and Egyptian policies, and the appeal of Egyptian President Gamal Abdal Nasser's leadership in the wake of the Suez crisis created support in Syria for union with Egypt  On 1 February 1958, Syrian president Shukri al-Kuwatli and Nasser announced the merging of the two countries, creating the United Arab Republic, and all Syrian political parties, as well as the Communists therein, ceased overt activities 
The union was not a success, however  Following a military coup on 28 September 1961, Syria seceded, reestablishing itself as the Syrian Arab Republic  Instability characterised the next 18 months, with various coups culminating on 8 March 1963, in the installation by leftist Syrian Army officers of the National Council of the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), a group of military and civilian officials who assumed control of all executive and legislative authority  The takeover was engineered by members of the Arab Socialist Resurrection Party (Ba'ath Party), which had been active in Syria and other Arab countries since the late 1940s  The new cabinet was dominated by Ba'ath members 

Ba'athist Arab Republic of Syria 1963-today
First Ba'ath government
The Ba'ath takeover in Syria followed a Ba'ath coup in Iraq, the previous month  The new Syrian Government explored the possibility of federation with Egypt and with Ba'ath-controlled Iraq  An agreement was concluded in Cairo on 17 April 1963, for a referendum on unity to be held in September 1963  However, serious disagreements among the parties soon developed, and the tripartite federation failed to materialize  Thereafter, the Ba'ath governments in Syria and Iraq began to work for bilateral unity  These plans foundered in November 1963, when the Ba'ath government in Iraq was overthrown 
In May 1964, President Amin al-Hafiz of the NCRC promulgated a provisional constitution providing for a National Council of the Revolution (NCR), an appointed legislature composed of representatives of mass organisations—labour, peasant, and professional unions—a presidential council, in which executive power was vested, and a cabinet 

Second Ba'ath government
On 23 February 1966, a group of army officers carried out a successful, intra-party coup, imprisoned President Hafiz, dissolved the cabinet and the NCR, abrogated the provisional constitution, and designated a regionalist, civilian Ba'ath government on 1 March  The coup leaders described it as a "rectification" of Ba'ath Party principles  In June 1967 Israel captured and occupied the Golan Heights  The Six Day War had significantly weakened the radical socialist government established by the 1966 coup 
On 18 September 1970, during the events of Black September in Jordan, Syria tried to intervene on behalf of the Palestinian guerrillas  Hafez al-Assad sent in armored forces equivalent to a brigade, with tanks, some of them allegedly hastily rebranded from the regular Syrian army for the purpose  Other Syrian units were the 5th Infantry Division and Commandos  On 21 September, the Syrian 5th Division broke through the defenses of the Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade, and pushed it back off the ar-Ramtha crossroads  On 22 September, the Royal Jordanian Air Force began attacking Syrian forces, which were badly battered as a result  The constant airstrikes broke the Syrian force, and on the late afternoon of 22 September the 5th Division began to retreat  The swift Syrian withdrawal was a severe blow to Palestinian guerillas  Jordanian armored forces steadily pounded their headquarters in Amman, and threatened to break them in other regions of the Kingdom as well  Eventually, the Palestinian factions agreed to a cease-fire  King Hussein and Yasser Arafat attended the meeting of the Arab League in Cairo, where the hostilities briefly ended  The Jordanian-Palestinian Civil War shortly resumed, but without Syrian intervention 
By 1970 a conflict had developed between an extremist military wing and a more moderate civilian wing of the Ba'ath Party  The 1970 retreat of Syrian forces sent to aid the PLO during the "Black September" hostilities with Jordan reflected this political disagreement within the ruling Ba'ath leadership 

Ba'ath Party under Hafez al-Assad, 1970–2000
Power takeover
On 13 November 1970, Minister of Defense Hafez al-Assad effected a bloodless military coup, ousting the civilian party leadership and assuming the role of President 
Upon assuming power, Hafez al-Assad moved quickly to create an organizational infrastructure for his government and to consolidate control  The Provisional Regional Command of Assad's Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party nominated a 173-member legislature, the People's Council, in which the Ba'ath Party took 87 seats  The remaining seats were divided among "popular organizations" and other minor parties 
In March 1971, the party held its regional congress and elected a new 21-member Regional Command headed by Assad  In the same month, a national referendum was held to confirm Assad as president for a 7-year term  In March 1972, to broaden the base of his government, Assad formed the National Progressive Front, a coalition of parties led by the Ba'ath Party, and elections were held to establish local councils in each of Syria's 14 governorates  In March 1973, a new Syrian constitution went into effect followed shortly thereafter by parliamentary elections for the People's Council, the first such elections since 1962 

October War
On 6 October 1973, Syria and Egypt began the Yom Kippur War (also called the "Ramadan War" or "October War" because Syria and Egypt attacked during Muslim Ramadan holiday) by staging a surprise attack against Israel  Despite the element of surprise, Egypt and Syria lost their initial gains in a three-week-long warfare, and Israel continued to occupy the Golan Heights and the Sinai peninsula 

Intervention in Lebanon
In early 1976, the Lebanese Civil War was going poorly for the Maronite Christians, so the Lebanese President Elias Sarkis officially requested Syria intervene militarily  After receiving their first mandate from the Lebanese President, Syria was given a second mandate by the Arab League to intervene militarily in Lebanon  Syria sent 40,000 troops into the country to prevent the Christians from being overrun, but soon became embroiled in this war, beginning the 30 year Syrian presence in Lebanon  Over the following 15 years of civil war, Syria fought both for control over Lebanon, and as an attempt to undermine Israel in southern Lebanon, through extensive use of Lebanese allies as proxy fighters  Many saw the Syrian Army's presence in Lebanon as an occupation, especially following the end of the civil war in 1990, after the Syrian-sponsored Taif Agreement  Syria then remained in Lebanon until 2005, exerting a heavy-handed influence over Lebanese politics, that was deeply resented by many 
About one million Syrian workers came into Lebanon after the war ended to find jobs in the reconstruction of the country  Syrian workers were preferred over Palestinian Arabs and Lebanese workers because they could be paid lower wages, but some have argued that the Syrian government's encouragement of citizens entering its small and militarily dominated neighbor in search of work, was in fact an attempt at Syrian colonization of Lebanon  In 1994, under pressure from Damascus, the Lebanese government controversially granted citizenship to over 200,000 Syrians resident in the country 

Muslim Brotherhood uprising and Hama Massacre
On 31 January 1973, Assad implemented the new Constitution which led to a national crisis  Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the  president of Syria must be a Muslim, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama  They labeled Assad as the "enemy of Allah" and called for a jihad against his rule  Robert D  Kaplan has compared Assad's coming to power to "an untouchable becoming maharajah in India or a Jew becoming tsar in Russia—an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries " The authoritarian government was not without its critics, a serious challenge arose in the late 1970s from fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, who reject the basic values of the secular Ba'ath program and object to rule by the Alawis whom they consider heretical  From 1976 until its suppression in 1982, the arch-conservative Muslim Brotherhood led an armed insurgency against the government  In response to an attempted uprising by the brotherhood in February 1982, the government crushed the fundamentalist opposition centered in the city of Hama, leveling parts of the city with artillery fire and causing many thousands of dead and wounded  During the rest of Hafez al-Assad's reign, public manifestations of anti-government activity were very limited 

During Gulf War
Syria's 1990 participation in the U S -led multinational coalition aligned against Saddam Hussein marked a dramatic watershed in Syria's relations both with other Arab states and with the Western world  Syria participated in the multilateral Middle East Peace Conference in Madrid in October 1991, and during the 1990s engaged in direct, face-to-face negotiations with Israel  These negotiations failed, and there have been no further Syrian-Israeli talks since President Hafiz al-Assad's meeting with President Bill Clinton in Geneva in March 2000 

Internal power struggle
In what has become known as the 1999 Latakia incident, violent protests and armed clashes erupted following the 1998 People's Assembly's Elections  The violent events were an explosion of a long-running feud between Hafez al-Assad and his younger brother Rifaat, who previously attempted to initiate a coup against Hafez in 1984, but was eventually expelled from Syria  Two people were killed in fire exchanges of Syrian police and Rifaat's supporters during police crack-down on Rifaat's port compound in Latakia  According to opposition sources, denied by the government, the clashes in Latakia resulted in hundreds of dead and injured 

Drought in Syria
From 2006 to 2010, Syria experienced its worst drought in modern history  The drought resulted in a mass migration from the Syrian countryside into urban centers, which notably strained existing infrastructure already burdened by the influx of some 1 5 million refugees from Iraq  The drought itself has been linked to human caused global climate change  It has also been directly linked as a contributing factor to the socieoeconomic conditions that led to initial protests and uprising  Adequate water supply continues to be an issue in the ongoing civil war and the supply is frequently the target of military action 

Under Bashar al-Assad, 2000–present
The Damascus Autumn
Hafiz al-Assad died on 10 June 2000, after 30 years in power  Immediately following al-Assad's death, the Parliament amended the constitution, reducing the mandatory minimum age of the President from 40 to 34, which allowed his son, Bashar al-Assad, to become legally eligible for nomination by the ruling Ba'ath party  On 10 July 2000, Bashar al-Assad was elected president by referendum in which he ran unopposed, garnering 97 29% of the vote, according to Syrian government statistics Bashar, who speaks French and English and has a British-born wife, was said to have "inspired hopes" for reform, and a "Damascus Spring" of intense political and social debate took place from July 2000 to August 2001  The period was characterized by the emergence of numerous political forums or salons where groups of like minded people met in private houses to debate political and social issues  The phenomenon of salons spread rapidly in Damascus and to a lesser extent in other cities  Political activists, such as, Riad Seif, Haitham al-Maleh, Kamal al-Labwani, Riyad al-Turk, and Aref Dalila were important in mobilizing the movement  The most famous of the forums were the Riad Seif Forum and the Jamal al-Atassi Forum  The Damascus Spring ended in August 2001 with the arrest and imprisonment of ten leading activists who had called for democratic elections and a campaign of civil disobedience 

International and internal tensions
On 5 October 2003, Israel bombed a site near Damascus, claiming it was a terrorist training facility for members of Islamic Jihad  Islamic Jihad said the camp was not in use; Syria said the attack was on a civilian area  The Israeli action was condemned by European governments  The German Chancellor said it "cannot be accepted" and the French Foreign Ministry said "The Israeli operation… constituted an unacceptable violation of international law and sovereignty rules " The Spanish UN Ambassador Inocencio Arias called it an attack of "extreme gravity" and "a clear violation of international law "The United States Congress passed the Syria Accountability Act in December 2003, with the goal of ending what the U S  sees as Syrian involvement in Lebanon, Iraq, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction through international sanctions 
Ethnic tensions increased in Syria, following an incident in a football stadium in Al Qamishli, 30 people were killed and more than 160 were injured in days of clashes starting from 12 March  Kurdish sources indicated that Syrian security forces used live ammunition against civilians after clashes broke out at a football match between Kurdish fans of the local team and Arab supporters of a visiting team from the city of Deir al-Zor  The international press reported that nine people were killed on 12 March  According to Amnesty International hundreds of people, mostly Kurds, were arrested after the riots  Kurdish detainees were reportedly tortured and ill-treated  Some Kurdish students were expelled from their universities, reportedly for participating in peaceful protests In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated in Qamishli to protest the assassination of Sheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurds Renewed opposition activity occurred in October 2005 when activist Michel Kilo launched with leading opposition figures the Damascus Declaration, which criticized the Syrian government as "authoritarian, totalitarian and cliquish" and called for democratic reform On 6 September 2007 a Syrian facility was bombed in the Deir ez-Zor region  While no one claimed responsibility for this act, Syria accused Israel, which in turn declared that the indicated site was a nuclear facility with a military purpose  Syria denied the claim 
On 26 October 2008 helicopter-borne CIA paramilitary officers and United States Special Operations Forces carried out a raid to the Syrian territory from Iraq The Syrian government called the event a "criminal and terrorist" attack on its sovereignty, alleging all of the reported eight fatalities were civilians  An unnamed U S  military source, however, alleged that the target was a network of foreign fighters who travel through Syria to join the Iraqi insurgency against the United States-led Coalition in Iraq and the Iraqi government 

Syrian civil war
The Syrian civil war is an ongoing internal violent conflict in Syria  It is a part of the wider Arab Spring, a wave of upheaval throughout the Arab World  Public demonstrations across Syria began on 26 January 2011 and developed into a nationwide uprising  Protesters demanded the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, the overthrow of his government, and an end to nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule 
Since spring 2011, the Syrian government deployed the Syrian Army to quell the uprising, and several cities were besieged, though the unrest continued  According to some witnesses, soldiers, who refused to open fire on civilians, were summarily executed by the Syrian Army  The Syrian government denied reports of defections, and blamed armed gangs for causing trouble  Since early autumn 2011, civilians and army defectors began forming fighting units, which began an insurgency campaign against the Syrian Army  The insurgents unified under the banner of the Free Syrian Army and fought in an increasingly organized fashion; however, the civilian component of the armed opposition lacked an organized leadership 
The uprising has sectarian undertones, though neither faction in the conflict has described sectarianism as playing a major role  The opposition is dominated by Sunni Muslims, whereas the leading government figures are Alawites, affiliated with the Shia Islam  As a result, the opposition is winning support from the Sunni Muslim states, whereas the government is publicly supported by the Shia dominated Iran and the Lebanese Hizbullah 
According to various sources, including the United Nations, up to 13,470–19,220 people have been killed, of which about half were civilians, but also including 6,035–6,570 armed combatants from both sides and up to 1,400 opposition protesters  Many more have been injured, and tens of thousands of protesters have been imprisoned  According to the Syrian government, 9,815–10,146 people, including 3,430 members of the security forces, 2,805–3,140 insurgents and up to 3,600 civilians, have been killed in fighting with what they characterize as "armed terrorist groups " To escape the violence, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled the country to neighboring Jordan, Iraq and  Lebanon, as well to Turkey  The total official UN numbers of Syrian refugees reached 42,000 at the time, while unofficial number stood at as many as 130,000 
UNICEF reported that over 500 children have been killed, Another 400 children have been reportedly arrested and tortured in Syrian prisons  Both claims have been contested by the Syrian government  Additionally, over 600 detainees and political prisoners have died under torture  Human Rights Watch accused the government and Shabiha of using civilians as human shields when they advanced on opposition held-areas  Anti-government rebels have been accused of human rights abuses as well, including torture, kidnapping, unlawful detention and execution of civilians, Shabiha and soldiers  HRW also expressed concern at the kidnapping of Iranian nationals  The UN Commission of Inquiry has also documented abuses of this nature in its February 2012 report, which also includes documentation that indicates rebel forces have been responsible for displacement of civilians The Arab League, US, EU states, GCC states, and other countries have condemned the use of violence against the protesters  China and Russia have avoided condemning the government or applying sanctions, saying that such methods could escalate into foreign intervention  However, military intervention has been ruled out by most countries  The Arab League suspended Syria's membership over the government's response to the crisis, but sent an observer mission in December 2011, as part of its proposal for peaceful resolution of the crisis  The latest attempts to resolve the crisis has been made through the appointment of Kofi Annan, as a special envoy to resolve the Syrian crisis in the Middle East  Some analysts however have posited the partitioning the region into a Sunnite east, Kurdish north and Shiite/Alawite west 

See also
Politics of Syria
Foreign relations of Syria
Passage 4:
Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom
The Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom (traditional Chinese: 甘州回鶻; simplified Chinese: 甘州回鹘; pinyin: Gānzhōu Huíhú), also referred to as the Hexi Uyghurs, was established in 894 around Ganzhou in modern Zhangye  The kingdom lasted from 894 to 1036; during that time, many of Ganzhou's residents converted to Buddhism The Hexi Corridor, located within modern Gansu, was traditionally a Chinese inroad into Central Asia  From the 9th to 11th centuries this area was shared between the Ganzhou Uyghurs and the Guiyi Circuit  By the early 11th century both the Uyghurs and Guiyi Circuit were conquered by the Tangut people of the Western Xia dynasty The Ganzhou Uyghur rulers were descended from the House of Yaglakar 

History
There was a pre-existing community of Uyghurs at Ganzhou by 840 at the very latest In 874, remnant forces of the Tibetan Empire known as the Wenmo, Han Chinese slave soldiers under the Tibetan Empire, in Ganzhou drove out the Uyghurs Around the years 881 and 882, Ganzhou slipped from the control of the Guiyi Circuit 
In 894 the Uyghurs led by Pangteqin (Huaijian Khagan) established the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom in Ganzhou In 902 the Ganzhou Uyghurs sent military aid to Emperor Zhaozong of Tang In 910 the Ganzhou Uyghurs attacked the Kingdom of Jinshan (Guiyi) 
In 911 the Ganzhou Uyghurs attacked the Kingdom of Jinshan and forced them into an alliance as a lesser partner In 916 a Ganzhou Uyghur princess was married to Cao Yijin, governor of the Guiyi Circuit 
In 920 Huaijian Khagan became sickly 
In 924 Huaijian Khagan died and his sons Diyin and Renmei fought over the throne with Diyin coming out on top  They received a royal appointment from the Later Tang dynasty  The Khitans of the Liao dynasty offered to let the Ganzhou Uyghurs return to their former homeland on the Orkhon but they refused the offer In 925 Cao Yijin led an attack on the Ganzhou Uyghurs and defeated them 
In 926 Diyin died and Aduoyu succeeded him as Shunhua Khagan  Shunhua Khagan married Cao Yijin's daughter 
In 930 Cao Yijin visited the Ganzhou Uyghur court in Ganzhou 
In 933 Shunhua Khagan died and Jingqiong succeeded him 
In 961 the Ganzhou Uyghurs accepted the Song dynasty as suzerains In 975 Jingqiong died and Yeluohe Mili'e succeeded him 
In 983 Jingqiong died and Lusheng succeeded him 
In 1003 Lusheng died and Zhongshun Baode Khagan succeeded him  The Tanguts attacked the Ganzhou Uyghurs but were defeated In 1008 the Ganzhou Uyghurs and Tanguts engaged in combat and the Uyghurs emerged victorious  The Liao dynasty attacked the Ganzhou Uyghurs and defeated them In 1009 the Ganzhou Uyghurs captured Liangzhou 
In 1010 the Liao dynasty attacked the Ganzhou Uyghurs and defeated them In 1016 Zhongshun Baode Khagan died and Huaining Shunhua Khagan succeeded him 
In 1023 Huaining Shunhua Khagan died and Guizhong Baoshun Khagan succeeded him 
In 1026 the Ganzhou Uyghurs were defeated in battle by the Liao dynasty In 1028 the Ganhzhou Uyghurs were defeated by the Tanguts  Guizhong Baoshun Khagan died and Baoguo Khagan succeeded him 
In 1036 the Ganzhou Uyghur Kingdom was annexed by the Tanguts  After the destruction of their realm, the Ganzhou Uyghurs migrated and settled in Dunhuang (Shazhou) and Guazhou  The Guazhou Uyghurs surrendered to the Tanguts in 1030 and Shazhou surrendered in 1036  A record of a Huolasan Khan ruling in Shazhou in 1127 shows that the Uyghurs there retained some amount of autonomy in Western Xia  Another group that settled between Dunhuang and the Qaidam Basin came to be known as the Yellow Head Uyghurs  They practiced Buddhism and lived as pastoral nomads  In the 13th century they were called the Sali Uyghurs  Their descendants are today known as the Yugurs 

Religion
The Uyghurs of Ganzhou originally practiced Manichaeanism as their state religion but abandoned it for Buddhism at the end of the 10th century due to pressure from the Tanguts  Like the Tanguts, they sent Buddhist pilgrimages to Mount Wutai, but the real reason for the expeditions may have been to spy on the Liao dynasty  According to Hong Hao, a Song dynasty diplomat on his way to the Jurchen Jin dynasty, the Uyghurs of the Hexi Corridor still practiced Buddhism:

The Uighur believe mostly in Buddhism  They place the (Buddhist) sculptures in the hall  At each sacrifice, they must slaughter a lamb  Some drink alcohol merrily  Then they dip their finger into the blood of the lamb and dye the mouth of the Buddha with blood  Some hold the foot of the Buddha screaming, which was meant to show intimacy and respect for the Buddha  When chanting the Scripture, they wore Kasaya (the monk’s robe) and used the Indian language 

Modern era
The modern day descendants of the Ganzhou Uyghurs are known as the Yugur 

See also
Yugur
Turkic peoples
Timeline of the Turkic peoples (500–1300) 
Uyghur Khaganate
Qocho
Passage 5:
Omukama of Toro
The Omukama of Tooro is the name given to the king of Tooro, one of the East African kingdom of Tooro  The kingdom was founded in 1830 by Omukama Kaboyo Olimi l who was the son of Kyebambe lll Nyamutukura, the king of Bunyoro  Since that time, Tooro existed as an independent kingdom until 1967 when President Apollo Milton Obote banned all kingdoms in Uganda  The kingdoms were reinstated as cultural institutions in 1993 
The Omukama of Tooro and the other kings play a vital role in Ugandan politics as cultural leaders and agents of peace and stability in their respective kingdoms  Tooro and Bunyoro kingdoms enjoy a close relationship 

List of Abakama (Kings) of Tooro
The following is a list of the Abakama of Tooro, starting around 1800 AD:
Kaboyo Olimi I, (Kasunsu Nkwanzi) c  1830 - 1861
Kazaana Ruhaga l, c 1861- 1862
Nyaika Kasunga Kyebambe I, c  1862-1863 and c  1864 - 1874
Kato Rukidi I, 1863-64
Mukabirere Olimi II, c  1874 -1876
Mukarusa Kyebambe II, c  1876 - 1877
Isingoma Rukidi ll, c  1877
Rubuubi Kyebambe lll c  1878 and 1879
Kakende Nyamuyonjo c  1878 and 1881 - 1882
Katera Rujwenge, c 1878–1879 a period of Interregnum, 1880–1891; reverted to Bunyoro
Daudi Kasagama Kyebambe IV, 1891–1928
George David Kamurasi Rukidi III, 1929–1965
Patrick David Matthew Kaboyo Olimi III, 1966–1995 interrupted by the discontinuation by the Ugandan government, 1967–1993
Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV, 1995–present

See also
Omukama of Bunyoro
Kabaka of Buganda
Toro Kingdom
Passage 6:
Omukama of Bunyoro
Omukama wa Bunyoro  Translates to The King of Bunyoro is the title given to rulers of the East African kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara   The kingdom lasted as an independent state from the 16th to the 19th century  The Omukama of Bunyoro remains an important figure in Ugandan politics, especially among the Banyoro people of whom he is the titular head  He is closely related to the Omukama of Toro Kingdom 
The Royal Palace, called Ekikaali Karuziika, (Karuziika Palace) is located in Hoima  The current Omukama is Rukirabasaija Solomon Iguru I Gafabusa Amooti and his wife is Omugo (the Queen) Margaret Karunga Adyeri  As a cultural head, the King is assisted by his Principal Private Secretary, a Cabinet of 21 Ministers and  Orukurato (a Parliament) 

Constitutional recognition
In 1962, the United Kingdom granted independence to Uganda  In February 1966, Prime Minister Milton Obote suspended the constitution and seized power, abolishing all of the traditional kingdoms—including Bunyoro—in 1967  The Omukama (King) of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom was reinstated by Statute No  8 of 1993, enacted by the Parliament of Uganda after the monarchy had been abolished for many years  Unlike the pre-1967 Omukama, who was both titular head and a political figure of the government of Bunyoro, the Omukama today is a cultural leader above partisan politics, although the king remains the titular head of the Bunyoro regional government Article 246 of the 1995 Ugandan constitution provides:

Etymology of Omukama
Omukama means ‘the milker’, as the leader of the kingdom provides his citizens with food and wealth  The word comes from Runyoro-Rutooro omu- (singular human-being class prefix) and -kama ‘to milk’, which ultimately comes from Proto-Bantu kám ‘squeeze, wring’ 
In modern Runyoro-Rutooro, however, dropping the initial vowel of this word (mukama ‘boss, sir’) changes its meaning considerably 

History of the Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara dynasties
Babiito dynasty
The Bachwezi dynasty was followed by the Babiito dynasty of the current Omukama of Bunyoro-Kitara  Any attempt to pinpoint the dates of this, or any other dynasty before it, is pure conjecture; as there were no written records at the time  Modern day historians place the beginning of the Babiito dynasty at around the time of the invasion of Bunyoro by the Luo from the North  The first mubiito (singular) king was Isingoma Mpuga Rukidi I, whose reign is placed around the 14th century  To date, there have been a total of 27 Babiito kings of Bunyoro-Kitara 
Source: The official Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom website

List of Omukamas of the Babiito dynasty
Rukidi of Bunyoro, late fifteenth century
Ocaki of Bunyoro, late fifteenth/early sixteenth century
Oyo Nyiba of Bunyoro, early sixteenth century
Winyi I of Bunyoro, early sixteenth century
Olimi I of Bunyoro, mid sixteenth century
Nyabongo of Bunyoro, mid sixteenth century
Winyi II of Bunyoro, late sixteenth century/early seventeenth century
Olimi II of Bunyoro, mid seventeenth century
Nyarwa of Bunyoro, mid seventeenth century
Cwamali of Bunyoro, mid seventeenth century
Masamba of Bunyoro, late seventeenth century
Anabwani I of Bunyoro, late seventeenth century
Kyebambe I of Bunyoro, late seventeenth century
Winyi III of Bunyoro, early eighteenth century
Nyaika of Bunyoro, early eighteenth century
Kyebambe II of Bunyoro, early eighteenth century
Olimi III of Bunyoro, c  1710–1731
Duhaga of Bunyoro, 1731–c  1782
Olimi IV of Bunyoro, c  1782–1786
Nyamutukura Kyebambe III of Bunyoro, 1786–1835
Nyabongo II of Bunyoro, 1835–1848
Olimi V of Bunyoro, 1848–1852
Kyebambe IV of Bunyoro, 1852–1869
Kabalega of Bunyoro, 1869–1898
Kitahimbwa of Bunyoro, 1898–1902
Duhaga II of Bunyoro, 1902–1924
Winyi IV of Bunyoro, 1925–1967
Monarchy discontinued by the Ugandan government, 1967–1994
Solomon Iguru I, 1994–present
Passage 7:
Syrian National Congress
The Syrian National Congress, also called the Pan-Syrian Congress and General Syrian Congress (GSC), was convened in May 1919 in Damascus, Syria, after the expulsion of the Ottomans from Syria  The mission of the Congress was to consider the future of "Syria", by which was meant Greater Syria: present-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan  The Congress also intended to present Arab views to the American King-Crane Commission of inquiry  The Congress was considered the first national parliament in the modern history of Syria 
The Congress was attended by representatives from all parts of Greater Syria, including Lebanon and Palestine, and was headed by Hashim al-Atassi  Some participants showed support for King Faisal's demands, while others were beginning to question his willingness to make concessions to pro-Zionist groups  In its final report it pleaded that "there be no separation of the southern part of Syria, known as Palestine, nor of the littoral western zone, which includes Lebanon, from the Syrian country " The King-Crane Commission recommended "the unity of Syria be preserved" in response The  Congress declared an independent Arab Kingdom of Syria on March 8, 1920, proclaiming:
The full and absolute independence of our country Syria, including Palestine, within her natural boundaries, based on a civil, representative form of government, protection of the rights of minorities, and rejection of the claims of the Zionists to Palestine as a national homeland or place of immigration for the Jews 
The new state intended to included Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and portions of northern Mesopotamia  King Faisal was declared the head of state  At the same time Prince Zeid, Faisal's brother, was declared regent of Mesopotamia  Hashim al-Atassi was named Prime Minister and Yusuf al-'Azma became Minister of War and Chief of Staff 
The Congress continued during the short-lived life of the Kingdom until July 17, 1920, when the French gave Faisal an ultimatum to surrender or fight, and Faisal surrendered, bringing to an end the Kingdom and dissolving its institutions 

Gallery
See also
Elizabeth F  Thompson (2020)  How the west stole democracy from the Arabs: The Syrian Arab Congress of 1920 and the Destruction of its Historic Liberal-Islamic Alliance  Grove Atlantic  ISBN 978-0-8021-4820-9  OL 29824859M  Wikidata Q108862853 
Passage 8:
Herodian dynasty
The Herodian dynasty was a royal dynasty of Idumaean (Edomite) descent, ruling the Herodian Kingdom of Judea and later the Herodian Tetrarchy as a vassal state of the Roman Empire  The Herodian dynasty began with Herod the Great, who assumed the throne of Judea, with Roman support, bringing down the century-old Hasmonean Kingdom  His kingdom lasted until his death in 4 BCE, when it was divided among his sons as a tetrarchy, which lasted for about 10 years  Most of those tetrarchies, including Judea proper, were incorporated into Judaea Province from 6 CE, though limited Herodian de facto kingship continued until Agrippa I's death in 44 CE and nominal title of kingship continued until 92 CE, when the last Herodian monarch, Agrippa II, died and Rome assumed full power over his de jure domain 

History
Origin
During the time of the Hasmonean ruler John Hyrcanus (134–104 BCE), Judea conquered Edom (Idumea) and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism The Edomites were gradually integrated into the Judean nation, and some of them reached high-ranking positions  In the days of Alexander Jannaeus, the Edomite Antipas was appointed governor of Edom  His son Antipater, father of Herod the Great, was the chief adviser to Hasmonean Hyrcanus II and managed to establish a good relationship with the Roman Republic, who at that time (63 BCE) extended their influence over the region, following conquest of Syria and intervention in a civil war in Judea 
There are differing genealogies for the dynasty, depending on the source  According to Sextus Julius Africanus, Antipater's father was named Herod, and Epiphanius of Salamis writes that this Herod's father was named Antipas  It is Josephus who states that Antipas fathered Antipater, without further delineating his ancestry  This model is usually accepted by scholars 
Julius Caesar appointed Antipater to be procurator of Judea in 47 BCE and he appointed his sons Phasael and Herod to be governors of Jerusalem and Galilee respectively  Antipater was murdered in 43 BCE; however, his sons managed to hold the reins of power and were elevated to the rank of tetrarchs in 41 BCE by Mark Antony 

Rise to power
In 40 BCE, the Parthians invaded the eastern Roman provinces and managed to drive the Romans out of many areas  In Judea, the Hasmonean dynasty was restored under king Antigonus II Mattathias as a pro-Parthian monarch  Herod the Great, the son of Antipater the Idumaean and Cypros (possibly of Nabataean descent), managed to escape to Rome  After convincing the Roman Senate of his sincere intentions in favor of Romans he eventually was announced as king of the Jews by the Roman Senate Despite his announcement as king of the whole of Judea, Herod did not fully conquer it until 37 BCE  He subsequently ruled the Herodian kingdom as a vassal king for 34 years, crushing the opposition while also initiating huge building projects, including the harbor at Caesarea Maritima, the plaza surrounded by retaining walls at the Temple Mount, the Masada and the Herodium, among other fortresses and public works  Herod ruled Judea until 4 BCE; at his death, his kingdom was divided among his three sons as a tetrarchy 

Tetrarchies
Herod Archelaus, son of Herod and Malthace the Samaritan, was given the title of ethnarch and ruled over the main part of the kingdom: Judea proper, Idumea, and Samaria  He ruled for ten years until 6 CE, when he was "banished to Vienna in Gaul, where according to Cassius Dio, "Hist  Roma," lv  27—he lived for the remainder of his days " See also Census of Quirinius 
Philip, sometimes erroneously called Herod Philip II, was the son of Herod and his fifth wife Cleopatra of Jerusalem  He was given the title of tetrarch with jurisdiction over the northeast part of his father's kingdom: Iturea, Trachonitis, Batanaea, Gaulanitis, Auranitis, and Paneas  He ruled until his death in 34 CE 
Herod Antipas, another son of Herod and Malthace, was made a tetrarch of Galilee and Perea; he ruled there until he was exiled to Spain by emperor Caligula in 39 CE, according to Josephus  Herod Antipas is the person referenced in the Christian New Testament Gospels, playing a role in the death of John the Baptist and the trial of Jesus  The Gospel of Luke states that Jesus was first brought before Pontius Pilate for trial, since Pilate was the governor of Roman Judea, which encompassed Jerusalem where Jesus was arrested  Pilate initially handed him over to Antipas, in whose territory Jesus had been most active, but Antipas sent him back to Pilate's court 

Last rulers
Herod Agrippa was the grandson of Herod  Thanks to his friendship with Caligula, the emperor appointed him ruler with the title of king over the territories of Philip in 37 CE, which were after Philip's death in 34 CE shortly part of the Roman province of Syria, and in 40 CE he was given the territories of Herod Antipas  In 41 CE, Emperor Claudius added to his territory the parts of Judea province that previously belonged to Herod Archelaus  Thus Agrippa I practically re-united his grandfather's kingdom under his rule  Agrippa died in 44 CE 
Agrippa's son Herod Agrippa II was appointed a tetrarch of Chalcis and later king of the territories previously ruled by Philip  He actively participated in the quelling of the Great Revolt of Judea on the Roman side  Agrippa II was the last of the Herodians; with his death in c  92 or 100 CE the dynasty was extinct, and the kingdom became fully incorporated into the Roman province of Judaea 
In addition, Herod of Chalcis ruled as king of Chalcis, and his son, Aristobulus of Chalcis, was tetrarch of Chalcis and king of Armenia Minor 

List of Herodian rulers (47 BCE – 100 CE)
Antipater the Idumaean (Procurator of Judaea) 47–44 BCE
Herod the Great
Governor of Galilee 47–44 BCE
Tetrarch of Galilee 44–40 BCE
Elected king of all Judaea by the Roman Senate 40 BCE, reigned 37–4 BCE
Phasael (Governor of Jerusalem) 47–40 BCE
Pheroras (Governor of Perea) 20–5 BCE
Herod Archelaus (Ethnarch of Judaea) 4 BCE – 6 CE
Herod Antipas (Tetrarch of Galilee) 4 BCE – 39 CE
Philip the Tetrarch (Tetrarch of Batanaea) 4 BCE – 34 CE
Salome I (Tetrach of Jabneh) 4 BCE – 10 CE
Tigranes V of Armenia (King of Armenia) 6–12 CE
Herod Agrippa
King of Batanaea 37–41 CE
King of Galilee 40–41 CE
King of all Judaea 41–44 CE, previously Judaea (Roman province), given to him by Claudius, and reinstated as a province after his death 
Herod of Chalcis (King of Chalcis) 41–48 CE
Herod Agrippa II
Tetrarch of Chalcis 48–53 CE
King of Batanaea 53–100 CE
Aristobulus of Chalcis
King of Armenia Minor 55–72 CE
Tetrarch of Chalcis 57–92 CE
Tigranes VI of Armenia (King of Armenia) 58–61 CE
Gaius Julius Alexander (King of Cetis) 58–72 CE

Herodian dynasty in later culture
Literature
Novels
Hordos u-Miryam (1935), a Hebrew novel by Aaron Orinowsky
Mariamne (1967), a Swedish novel by Pär Lagerkvist
Claudius the God (1934), an English novel by Robert Graves, features Herod Agrippa I as an important character

Plays
Herod appears in some cycles of the Mystery Plays, played as an over the top villain   Such portrayals were still in folk memory in William Shakespeare's time, for Hamlet instructs the players not to "out-Herod Herod" (Act 3, Scene 2) 
Marianna (1565), an Italian drama by Lodovico Dolce
Mariam, the Faire Queene of Jewry (1613) an English drama by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary
Herod and Antipater, with the Death of Faire Mariam (1622), an English drama by Gervase Markham and William Sampson
Mariamne (1636), a French drama by François Tristan l'Hermite
La mort des enfants d’Hérode; ou, Suite de Mariamne (1639), a French drama by Gathier de Costes de la Calprenède
Herod and Mariamne (1673), an English drama by Samuel Pordage
La Mariamne (1696), an Italian opera by Giovanni Maria Ruggeri (mus ) and Lorenzo Burlini (libr )
Mariamne (1723), a French drama by Elijah Fenton
Herod features in two 18th century French plays on Mariamne, by Nadal and Voltaire 
Herodes und Mariamne (1850), a German drama by Christian Friedrich Hebbel
Myriam ha-Hashmonayith (1891), a Yiddish drama by Moses Seiffert
Tsar Irod I tsaritsa Mariamna (1893), a Russian drama by Dmitri Alexandrov
Herod and Mariamne (1938), an English drama by Clemence Dane

Poetry
Herod and Mariamne (1888), an English poem by Amelie Rives
Mariamne (1911), an English poem by Thomas Sturge Moore

Movies
The King of Kings (1927) by Cecil B  DeMille
Salome (1953) by William Dieterie
King of Kings (1961) by Nicholas Ray
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) by George Stevens, David Lean, Jean Nugelesco
Herod the Great (1959) (Italy) by Victor Tourjansky

Figurative arts
Painting
Mariamne Leaving the Judgment Seat of Herod (1887), a painting by John William Waterhouse

Performing arts
Music
Herod’s Lament for Mariamne (1815), an English song by Isaac Nathan (mus ) and George Byron (libr )
Herodes und Mariamne (1922), incidental music by Karol Rathaus
Lied der Mariamne (ohne Worte) (1927), incidental music by Mikhail Gnesin

Ballet
La Marianna (1785), an Italian ballet by Giuseppe Banti (chor )

Opera
Marianne (1796), opera in French with music by Nicolas Dalayrac and a libretto of Benoît-Joseph Marsollier
Hérodiade (1881), opera in French by Jules Massenet after Gustave Flaubert's play Hérodias (1877)
Salome (1905), opera in German by Richard Strauss after Oscar Wilde's play's Salome

Family tree of the Herodian dynasty
See also
Hasmonean dynasty
History of ancient Israel and Judah#Roman occupation
Herod's Temple
Herodian coinage
Herodian kingdom
Kings of Israel and Judah
Kings of Judah
List of High Priests of Israel
Promagistrate
Siege of Jerusalem (37 BC)



ground_truth: French

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What form of play does Yameen and Activision have in common?

The following are given passages.
Context 4: On December 6, 2012, Danny Strong announced that he would be writing the third and fourth films  On February 15, 2013, Lionsgate confirmed the script for Part 1 was written by Strong, giving him permission to write Part 2  Later in August, Hemsworth confirmed that shooting of the film would begin in September 2013 The film's production began on September 16, 2013, in Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles  Studio Babelsberg co-produced and oversaw production services for the film 

Casting
On August 26, 2013, it was announced that actress Stef Dawson had joined the cast and would portray Annie Cresta  Lionsgate announced on September 13, 2013, that Julianne Moore had joined the cast of both Mockingjay's parts to play President Alma Coin  Over the next month, Patina Miller, Mahershala Ali, Wes Chatham, and Elden Henson joined the cast as Commander Paylor, Boggs, Castor, and Pollux, respectively  There was a casting call for extras on September 23  Robert Knepper was cast as Antonius, a character who does not appear in the books and is an addition to the adaptation  Knepper has stated that during his audition he knew that the lines he received were not what he would end up doing, adding that "they [Lionsgate] are so secretive about this " Wyatt Russell was originally offered a role in both parts of Mockingjay, but his father Kurt confirmed in September 2013 that he turned down the offer to star in 22 Jump Street 

Filming
Shooting began on September 23, 2013 in Atlanta and concluded on June 20, 2014 in Berlin  Part 1 was filmed back-to-back with Part 2  In mid-October, the crews were spotted filming in Rockmart  The crew and cast took a break to promote The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and filming resumed on December 2, 2013  On December 14, 2013, shooting took place at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia  On December 18, shooting began at Caldwell Tanks in Newnan, Georgia Philip Seymour Hoffman died on February 2, 2014  Lionsgate released a statement stating that Hoffman had completed filming most of his scenes prior to his death  A dedication to him appears ahead of the closing credits 
On April 18, 2014, producer Nina Jacobson announced that filming in Atlanta had just wrapped up, followed by director Francis Lawrence announcing the next day about moving production to Europe  It was announced that they would be filming battle scenes in Paris and at Berlin Tempelhof Airport in Berlin  They began filming in the streets of Paris and in the city of Ivry-sur-Seine on May 7, where Lawrence and Hemsworth were spotted during the filming of some scenes among extras On May 9, it was reported that filming was taking place in Noisy le Grand, Paris where Lawrence, Hemsworth, Hutcherson, and Claflin were spotted on the set which re-created the world of Panem  It is the same location where Brazil was filmed in 1984 

Costumes
Christian Cordella, a costume illustrator on the first movie, returned to sketch the outfits for District 13 

Music
The music was created to convey the dark feel of the film  On October 9, 2014, it was revealed that the Trinity School boys' choir recorded tracks for the score, written by James Newton Howard  Jennifer Lawrence performed the film's version of the song "The Hanging Tree", originally featured in the novel, but was not thrilled about having to sing and cried the day of the performance  As of the evening of November 25, 2014, the song was #4 on the Apple's iTunes top 150 list  "The Hanging Tree" also peaked at #1 in Austria and Hungary and peaked at #12 on Billboard Hot 100 in the U S 

Score
Marketing
Tim Palen, the head of marketing for Lionsgate said, "When we started, we decided to look at this as one big movie that's eight hours long  Otherwise, it's going to be kind of overwhelming to do a new campaign for each movie " He also added that he saw the biggest potential in international growth and that they matched Iron Man 3 domestically, but were aiming to improve internationally for the two Mockingjay films  He revealed in an interview with Variety that there would be reveals of the marketing campaign at the Cannes Film Festival in May and San Diego Comic Con in July On May 14, 2014 TheHungerGamesExclusive com was launched  It featured three stills from the movie, featuring Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jeffrey Wright with an additional behind-the-scenes still of director Francis Lawrence and Mahershala Ali  The website also featured other content, including a short GIF image of Julianne Moore as President Coin and a video interview with Moore  There was also an in-depth interview with director Francis Lawrence, producer Nina Jacobson and screenwriter Peter Craig  A page from the script of Part 1 was also released in addition to a motion poster, with the tagline, "Fire burns brighter in the darkness "On May 17, 2014, while principal photography was underway in Paris, some of the cast and crew including Lawrence, Hutcherson, Hemsworth, Claflin, Moore, Sutherland, Lawrence, and Jacobson attended the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for a photo shoot and party bash to excite international investors  Co-chairman of Lionsgate Rob Friedman said in response to why they would incur such big expense even though the film isn't actually playing at the festival that it was convenient as the cast were in Europe already and that "it's a big opportunity for our international distributors to actually hear what the worldwide plans are for the film, which opens in November  Cannes is the best publicity opportunity from an international penetration perspective "Kabam announced their partnership with Lionsgate to create a mobile game based on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, to tie in with the film's release  Kabam produced an exclusive role playing, card collection mobile game  In the game, players assume the identity of District members sent on a mission in order to build their alliance, liberate their District, and rebuild Panem  "Lionsgate has an unparalleled track record of developing and producing blockbuster movie franchises like The Hunger Games," said Kabam Chief Operating Officer Kent Wakeford  "Partnering with Lionsgate, Kabam will build a mobile game that's as much fun to play as the movie is to watch  The game will be developed in Kabam's China studio, the same place where the hit film-based game The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was created and went on to generate more than $100 million in revenue during its first year "The film was not listed on the schedule for San Diego Comic-Con International 2014, which raised questions on their absence by fans and the press  Lionsgate announced on July 18, 2014, a week before the event, that the film would have a presence at the convention  Lionsgate partnered up with Samsung to debut the (including the viral videos which were considered 'teasers', third) teaser trailer on Samsung's new Galaxy Tab S at a special event on Friday, July 25, which was being hosted off-site at the Hard Rock Hotel  The partnership allowed Samsung users to view the trailer before the online release, download the first two movies for free as well as be given a free complimentary ticket to the movie  On July 28, the teaser trailer officially debuted online through the movie's official Facebook page and YouTube account   Within minutes, #MockingjayTeaserTrailerToday, #OurLeadertheMockingjay, and #OfficialTeaserTrailer became trending topics worldwide on Twitter  A full worldwide official trailer was released on September 15 

Viral marketing
A viral marketing campaign began on June 21, 2014, with the return of TheCapitol PNOn June 25, TheCapitol PN viral site released a video titled "President Snow's Address - 'Together As One'" featuring a speech by Donald Sutherland, in character as President Snow addressing the citizens of Panem and warning them that if they fight the system, they will be the ones to face the repercussions  The video also briefly features Josh Hutcherson, in character as Peeta Mellark, who at the final events of the previous film was taken hostage by the Capitol  The video went viral on YouTube becoming the most watched trailer during the last week of June in the US while trending as the most "Popular Video on YouTube" in Australia and Canada  The video, billed as a teaser trailer, was attached to screenings of Transformers: Age of Extinction beginning June 28 Two weeks later on July 9, Capitol TV released a second viral video titled 'President Snow's Address — Unity' featuring again another speech by President Snow with Peeta Mellark standing beside him, but this time accompanied by Jena Malone in character as Johanna Mason, who was also captured by the Capitol at the end of the previous film, and a group of peacekeepers  The speech was interrupted by Jeffrey Wright, in character as Beetee Latier, a technician from District 13, to announce that "the Mockingjay lives " Within minutes, #TheMockingjayLives and '#2 - Unity' became the top two trending topics worldwide on Twitter  The video, billed as the second teaser trailer for the film, was played with screenings of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes On July 24, shortly before the trailer's official release, a teaser poster for the movie was posted on The Capitol's Instagram account, but was quickly deleted  Shortly after the removal of the poster, the account issued an apology "[for the] technical issues", presenting the poster's posting as a hack from the District 13 rebellions On August 6, after few clues given on the official Facebook page, www district13 co in was launched  The website introduced new posters for the District 13 characters including Beetee, Coin, Plutarch, Finnick, Haymitch and Effie 

Political ramifications
On November 20, 2014, some showings were reportedly canceled in Thailand because protestors were using the three-finger salute at demonstrations against the country's military government On November 24, 2014, it was reported that in relation to the Ferguson unrest following the shooting of Michael Brown, a protester had scrawled graffiti reading "If we burn, you burn with us" on an arch in St  Louis, Missouri On September 11, 2015, some Catalan pro-independence protesters used the three-finger salute at the Free Way to the Catalan Republic against Spain's government 

Release
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 was released on November 19, 2014, in 9 territories including France, Greece, Scandinavia and Brazil, and then expanded to a further 59 on November 20, 2014, including the UK, Germany, Australia, Italy, Mexico and South Korea  With 17 more released on November 21, 2014, including the United States, the total launch was in 85 markets, making it the biggest release of the year and Lionsgate's widest release ever  This was surpassed by its sequel across 87 markets in 2015  The film was released in China on February 8, 2015, in 2D and 3D, making it the first film in the franchise to be released in 3D in any territory and debuted in more than 4,000 screens   Director Francis Lawrence stated: "we recently saw the 3-D version of Mockingjay – Part 1 before its release in China, and the new level of immersion was really fantastic " The film was dedicated to the memory of Philip Seymour Hoffman 

Home video
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 was released on Digital HD on February 17, 2015, and was followed by a Blu-ray/DVD release on March 6, 2015  It topped the home video sales chart for two consecutive weeks despite facing competition from Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb  The film's home video sales earned a $73 1 million with 4 5 million copies sold, making it the fifth best-selling title of 2015  The entire Hunger Games series was released on 4K UHD Blu-Ray on November 8, 2016 

Reception
Box office
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 grossed $337 1 million in the USA & Canada, and $418 2 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $755 4 million against $125 million budget ($190 million including promotion and advertising costs)  Calculating in all expenses, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $211 61 million  Worldwide, it is the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2014  Its worldwide opening of $273 8 million is the sixteenth-largest of all time, the second-largest opening of 2014 behind Transformers: Age of Extinction ($302 1 million), and the largest among The Hunger Games franchise 

North America
In the U S  and Canada, the film was released across 3,200 theaters on Thursday night, November 20, 2014, and was widened to 4,151 theaters on Friday, November 21, 2014  The film earned $17 million from Thursday night previews which is the biggest of 2014 but was lower than its two predecessors  It earned $55 million in its opening day which is the largest opening day of 2014 and the sixth-largest in November but nevertheless still lower than its predecessors  It is the fifteenth film to debut on Friday with $50 million or more, and the nineteenth film to earn $50 million or more in a single day  The film topped the box office in its opening weekend with $121 9 million, and became the biggest opening of 2014 surpassing the $100 million record of Transformers: Age of Extinction as well as becoming the fifteenth-largest,  the 28th film to debut atop with over $100 million, and the only franchise to have three films earn over $100 million in a weekend  Its opening weekend is also the sixth-largest of November  Its opening weekend gross was still relatively lower than the openings of The Hunger Games ($152 million) and Catching Fire ($158 million)  In its second weekend the film remained at the summit earning $56 9 million and set a record for the third-highest 5-day Thanksgiving gross with $82 6 million behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($109 9 million) and Frozen ($93 6 million) and the fifth-highest 3-day Thanksgiving gross with $56 9 million  The film topped the box office for three consecutive weekends before being overtaken by Exodus: Gods and Kings in its fourth weekend  The film passed the $300 million mark in its 6th weekend (37 days later) and became the second film of 2014 to earn over $300 million at the box office after Guardians of the Galaxy  On Wednesday, January 21, 2015, sixty-one days after its initial release, the film surpassed Guardians of the Galaxy and became the highest-grossing film of 2014 in North America until it was surpassed by American Sniper in the next two months It earned $337 1 million at the North American box office making it the third-highest-grossing film in The Hunger Games franchise, the second-highest-grossing film of 2014 (behind American Sniper), the fourth-highest-grossing science fiction film based on a book, the fourth-highest-grossing young-adult adaptation  and the 36th-highest-grossing film in North America  It is also the first film to cross the $300 million mark without 3D or IMAX since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and also the highest-grossing non-3D, non IMAX film since Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) 

Outside North America
Outside North America, Mockingjay – Part 1 was also released on the same day in 85 other markets, with the notable exceptions of China, Japan, and India, making it the widest release of any film in 2014  The film earned over $33 million in two days (Wednesday–Thursday) and $67 5 million in three days (Wednesday–Friday) from 17,000 screens  In its opening weekend overseas, the film earned $154 3 million from 17,963 screens in 85 markets which is 4% higher than Catching Fire  The film remained at number one in its second and third weekend overseas earning $67 million and $32 9 million, respectively  In its fourth weekend, the film fell to number two as a result of being overtaken by The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies The film's top openings occurred in the UK, Ireland and Malta ($19 9 million), Germany ($13 7 million), Mexico ($12 1 million), Russia and the CIS ($11 1 million), France ($10 5 million), Australia ($10 1 million), Brazil ($8 8 million) and India ($5 1 million)  The film also grossed $3 9 million in the Philippines  In China, where the film was released over two and a half months later—on February 8, 2015, it had a strong opening day with $9 87 million and went on to earn $31 4 million through its opening week, which is more than what Catching Fire earned through its entire run  The film had an unsuccessful opening in Japan with $500,000 debuting at eighth place at the Japanese box office and ended up making a mere $1 6 million after its run It became the highest-grossing Hunger Games film of all time in 31 countries including Brazil, Italy, Chile, Venezuela, Central America, and Portugal 

Critical response
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise aimed at its political subtext and acting performances (particularly that of Lawrence), but criticism for its lack of action and the makers' splitting the source material for two separate adaptations  Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 69% approval rating, based on 304 reviews, with an average score of 6 3/10  The site's consensus reads: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 sets up the franchise finale with a penultimate chapter loaded with solid performances and smart political subtext, though it comes up short on the action front " The film holds a Metacritic score of 64 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews"  Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an "A−" grade, indicating positive reactions from paying viewers Cath Clarke of Time Out gave the film four out of five stars  She praised the politics as "tensely gripping" and felt it had a lot to say about the "ethical ambiguities of war " She praised Lawrence's performance as "strong, smart, stubborn, angry and full of heart" and noted it had grown "deeper and darker " Kevin Harley, who reviewed the film for Total Film, also awarded the film four out of five stars  He felt the film held up due to Lawrence's performance and solid supporting cast  He also offered praise to the action scenes and diverse story telling  He concluded that the movie was "gutsy" and managed to successfully divide the novel into a film "less on scraps than strategy" and "less on action than debates" though he noted this threatened to "distance viewers "Robbie Collin awarded the film three out of five stars  In his review for The Telegraph, he praised the film for being "intense, stylish, topical, well-acted" and declared that it "remains one of the most fascinating, vividly realised fantasy landscapes in recent cinema " Despite praising Lawrence and Hoffman's performance, he felt that it was overcrowded with "two hours of preamble with no discernible payoff " He concluded that the film "fell short" and "could not be called satisfying " Henry Barnes of The Guardian also gave the film three out of five stars  He felt it offered "thrills" despite "lacking a solid structure" and featured "limp special effects " He was also critical of the "creaky script" and felt it lacked some of the "terror" of the previous installments, but praised Lawrence for her performance Todd McCarthy, who reviewed the film for The Hollywood Reporter, felt the installment was "disappointingly bland and unnecessarily protracted " He was critical of the film's leisurely pace and noted it felt "like a manufactured product through and through, ironic and sad given its revolutionary theme " Richard Corliss of Time felt the film was a placeholder for the second installment and noted "Lawrence isn't given much opportunity to do anything spectacularly right here "

Accolades
Sequel
On July 10, 2012, Lionsgate announced that the second part of the Mockingjay adaptation was set for a release on November 20, 2015   Francis Lawrence announced that he would return to direct the final part as well 
Passage 7:
The Hunger Games (film series)
The Hunger Games film series is composed of science fiction dystopian adventure films, based on The Hunger Games trilogy of novels by American author Suzanne Collins  The films are distributed by Lionsgate and produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik  The series feature an ensemble cast including Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, and Donald Sutherland as President Snow 
The first three films set various box office records  The Hunger Games (2012) set records for the opening day and the biggest opening weekend for an original IP  Catching Fire (2013) set the record for biggest opening weekend of November  Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) had the largest opening day and weekend of 2014  The films, including Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), were praised for their themes and Lawrence's performance 
The Hunger Games is the 21st-highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over US$2 97 billion worldwide 
A prequel film, titled The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, based on the eponymous novel, is set to be released on November 17, 2023 

Background
Following the release of Suzanne Collins's novel The Hunger Games, on September 14, 2008, Hollywood film studios began looking to adapt the book into film  In March 2009, Color Force, an independent studio founded by producer Nina Jacobson, bought the film rights to the book : 12  She then sought out production company Lionsgate to help her produce the film  Collins was also attached to adapt the novel; she began the first draft after completing the third novel in the series, Mockingjay (2010)  The search for a director began in 2010 with three directors in the running; David Slade, Sam Mendes, and Gary Ross  Ross was ultimately chosen to direct  By the time Collins had finished the script, Ross decided to go through the script with Collins and screenwriter Billy Ray 
In October 2010, scripts were sent to the actors, and casting occurred between March and May 2011  The first role cast was of the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen  As many as thirty actresses were in talks to play the part, with Jennifer Lawrence, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin, and Chloë Grace Moretz being mentioned most  The role was given to Lawrence The roles of Peeta Mellark, Katniss' fellow tribute, and Gale Hawthorne, her best friend, began casting later that month  Top contenders for Peeta included Josh Hutcherson, Alexander Ludwig (later cast as Cato), Hunter Parrish, Evan Peters, and Lucas Till  Contenders for Gale included Robbie Amell, Liam Hemsworth, David Henrie, and Drew Roy  On April 4, it was reported that Hemsworth had been cast as Gale, and Hutcherson had been cast as Peeta 

Films
The Hunger Games (2012)
Every year, in the ruins of what was once North America, the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of the 12 districts to send a boy and girl tribute between the ages of 12 and 18 to compete in the Hunger Games: a nationally televised event in which the 'tributes' fight each other to the death until one survivor remains  When Primrose Everdeen is "reaped," her older sister Katniss volunteers in her place as tribute to enter the games and is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts and knowledge when she's pitted against highly trained and fierce "tributes" from all of the other districts and has to think quickly on her feet to survive 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Along with fellow District 12 victor Peeta Mellark, Katniss Everdeen returns home safely after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games  Winning means that they must leave their loved ones behind and embark on a Victory Tour throughout the districts for a couple of days  Along the way Katniss senses a rebellion simmering upon the Capitol - one that she and Peeta may have sparked  - but the Capitol is still under control as President Snow prepares for the 75th Hunger Games - the Third Quarter Quell in which past victors will be reaped - that could change Panem forever 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (2014–2015)
Part 1 (2014)
Following her rescue from the devastating Quarter Quell, Katniss Everdeen awakes in the complex beneath the supposedly destroyed District 13  Her home, District 12, has been reduced to rubble by the Capitol  Peeta Mellark was kidnapped by the Capitol and is now brainwashed and being held captive by President Snow  Snow wants Peeta to forget everything he had loved about Katniss  At the same time, Katniss also learns about a secret rebellion spreading throughout Panem - a rebellion that places her at the center of attention, and compels her to turn the tables on President Snow 

Part 2 (2015)
Realizing the stakes are no longer just for survival, Katniss Everdeen teams up with her closest friends, Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, and Finnick Odair, on the ultimate mission for peace  Together, they leave District 13, to liberate citizens from a war that tears Panem apart more than ever  President Snow becomes obsessed with destroying Katniss Everdeen and everyone and everything she loves  Ahead lie mortal traps, dangerous enemies, and moral choices that will determine the future of millions 

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
In August 2017, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer expressed interest in spin-offs of The Hunger Games, with intentions to create a writers room to explore the concept  In June 2019, Chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Joe Drake, announced that the company is communicating and working closely with Suzanne Collins in options to adapt the prequel to the original trilogy, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which was released on May 19, 2020 By April 2020, a film adaptation was announced to be officially in development  Francis Lawrence will return as director, with a script written by Michael Arndt, from a story adaptation by Suzanne Collins  Nina Jacobson will return as producer, alongside Brad Simpson  The project will be developed by Color Force, and distributed by Lionsgate  In August 2021, Drake stated that the film was expected to start production during the first half of 2022 for a projected late 2023 or early 2024 release date, and was reportedly in pre-production  In April 2022, it was revealed that the film would be released on November 17, 2023  In June 2022, filming for the film began in Berlin with Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler shooting their roles 

Cast and crew
Additional crew
Production
Development
Filming for the franchise began on May 23, 2011, and finished on June 20, 2014 : 138 Suzanne Collins and Louise Rosner acted as executive producers on the first two films  Other executive producers of the first film include Robin Bissell and Shantal Feghali  Co-producers are Diana Alvarez, Martin Cohen, Louis Phillips, Bryan Unkeless, and Aldric La'auli Porter  Color Force and Lionsgate collaborated on all four films  It was announced on November 1, 2012, that the studio had decided to split the final book, Mockingjay (2010), into two films: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), much like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) and 2 (2011), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and 2 (2012) 

Directors
Gary Ross directed the first film (The Hunger Games), and despite initially stating otherwise on April 10, 2012, Lionsgate announced that Ross would not return to direct the sequel  On April 19, 2012, it was confirmed that Francis Lawrence would direct the sequel instead, and on November 1, 2012, it was confirmed that Lawrence would return and direct the final two films in the series, based on the novel Mockingjay 

Scripts
Suzanne Collins began adapting the first book to film after she finished writing Mockingjay  Collins had experience in writing screenplays after writing Clifford's Puppy Days and other children's television shows  When Gary Ross was announced as director for the film in 2010, he began to work with Collins and veteran writer Billy Ray to bring the novel to life  After Francis Lawrence took over as director, he brought in Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt to write the script for Catching Fire  The final two films of the series were written by Danny Strong and Peter Craig 

Casting
Once the three leads were cast, casting shifted to the other tributes  Jack Quaid was cast as Marvel, Leven Rambin as Glimmer, Amandla Stenberg as Rue, and Dayo Okeniyi as Thresh  Alexander Ludwig (who auditioned for Peeta) was cast as Cato, Isabelle Fuhrman (who auditioned for Katniss) as Clove, and Jacqueline Emerson as Foxface  Following the casting of tributes, the adult cast began to come together  Elizabeth Banks was cast as Effie Trinket, the District 12 escort  Woody Harrelson was cast as Haymitch Abernathy, District 12's mentor  Lenny Kravitz was cast as Cinna, Katniss' stylist  Wes Bentley was cast as game maker Seneca Crane  Stanley Tucci was cast as Caesar Flickerman, Panem's celebrity host  Donald Sutherland was cast as Coriolanus Snow, Panem's president  Willow Shields was cast as Primrose Everdeen, Katniss' younger sister In July 2012, the cast for the second film was announced  Jena Malone would play Johanna Mason  Philip Seymour Hoffman would play Plutarch Heavensbee, Sam Claflin would play Finnick Odair  It was later announced that Jeffrey Wright was cast as Beetee, Alan Ritchson as Gloss, Lynn Cohen as Mags, and Amanda Plummer as Wiress 
In August and September 2013, it was revealed that Stef Dawson would play Annie Cresta, Natalie Dormer would play Cressida, Evan Ross would play Messalla, and Julianne Moore would play President Alma Coin in the final two films 
In May 2022, it was announced that Tom Blyth was cast as the younger version of Coriolanus Snow in the prequel film  Later the same month, Rachel Zegler was cast in the role of Lucy Gray Baird  The following month, Josh Andrés Rivera, Hunter Schafer and Jason Schwartzman were cast in the roles of Sejanus Plinth, Tigris Snow and Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman  respectively 

Filming
Principal photography for The Hunger Games began on May 24, 2011, and concluded on September 15, 2011  Charlotte, NC was used for the Capitol scenes  An abandoned village in Hickory, NC was the filming location for District 12  The arena scenes were filmed on the outskirts of Wilmington, NC Principal photography for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire began on September 10, 2012, in Atlanta, Georgia and concluded in April 2013  In November 2012, production moved to Hawaii to film the arena scenes  Filming took a Christmas break before filming resumed for two weeks in mid-January  In March 2013, the film went back to Hawaii for re-shoots  Atlanta was used for all Capitol scenes  Hawaii for the arena scenes, and Oakland, New Jersey, for District 12 scenes 
Principal photography for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay began on September 23, 2013 and concluded on June 20, 2014  Majority of filming for the Mockingjay films was filmed in soundstages in a studio in Atlanta, until April 18, 2014  Production then moved to Paris, with filming beginning there on May 5, 2014 
Philip Seymour Hoffman, who portrays Plutarch Heavensbee, died on February 2, 2014  At the time of his death, he had completed filming his scenes for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and had a week left of shooting for Part 2  Lionsgate released a statement stating that, since the majority of Hoffman's scenes were completed, the release date for Part 2 would not be affected 

Reception
Box office performance
All the Hunger Games films finished first at the North American box office during both their opening and second weekend  In North America, The Hunger Games film series is the second highest-grossing film series based on young adult books, after the Harry Potter series, earning over $1 4 billion  Worldwide, it is the third highest-grossing film series based on young-adult books after the film series of Harry Potter and The Twilight Saga, respectively, having grossed over $2 9 billion  In North America, it is the eighth highest-grossing film franchise of all time  Worldwide, it is currently (11 April 2022) the 21st highest-grossing film franchise of all time 

Critical and public response
Each  installment of the Hunger Games series received positive reviews from critics  The first two installments (notably the second) were critically acclaimed, while the last two films were met with generally positive  responses from critics  All The Hunger Games films received a "Fresh Rating" (>60%) on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, with the first two films receiving a "Certified Fresh" rating (>75%) 

Accolades
Music
Soundtracks
Singles
"Safe & Sound"
"Eyes Open"
"Atlas"
"We Remain"
"Elastic Heart"
"Who We Are"
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
"Meltdown"
"All My Love"
"Yellow Flicker Beat"
"The Hanging Tree"

See also
Battle Royale (film)
Battle royale genre



ground_truth: video game