title: IU (singer)

text: As of August 2022, IU has donated a total of since her debut. IU has donated all the proceeds from her fan meetings since 2011. Since February 2012, IU has been an ambassador for South Korea's National Police Agency in their anti-bullying campaigns in schools; she was made an honorary member of the police force in 2013 before being promoted to an honorary senior police officer in 2014 for a two-year term. In 2015, and later in 2018, 2019 and 2020, IU donated ₩100 million to the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation, requesting it be used to assist underprivileged children. She has also volunteered for the organization. IU established a scholarship at her high school alma-mater in 2016 after regularly donating there for several years. The scholarship, dubbed the "IU Scholarship", is designed to help four graduates from families needing financial aid.


title: IU (singer)

text: In 2018, IU provided ₩20 million in financial aid to five college students, helping to cover their room and board. That same year, IU participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge, an Internet challenge designed to promote Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) awareness. In 2019, after playing Lee Ji-an in the hit drama "My Mister" the year before, IU donated ₩50 million to the Deaf Senior Citizens Support Center, inspired by her role where she had to learn sign language. She also donated ₩10 million through Seocho District Office for those in vulnerable social groups and elderly living alone, ₩100 million to celebrate her 11th anniversary, and other ₩100 million at the end of the year to the Korean Foundation for Support of the Senior Citizen. Her philanthropy efforts earned her a mention in "Forbes" "Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy: Catalysts For Change", being the youngest to have made the list.


title: IU (singer)

text: During COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Korean Medical Association said that IU donated 3,000 pieces of medical protective clothing, worth ₩100 million, and about 4,600 cooling vests, worth ₩100 million for nurses, according to the Korean Nurses Association. In August 2020, she donated ₩100 million to the Korea Disaster Relief Association to help the victims of floods.


title: IU (singer)

text: In May 2021, she donated ₩10 million to Yangpyeong county to aid single parent families and grandparents raising grandchildren. On her birthday, May 16, 2021, she donated a total of ₩500 million to the Korea Pediatric Cancer Foundation, the Korean Single Mothers and Families Association, the Comprehensive Support Center for Elderly Living Alone, the Child Welfare Association, the Yeouldol Association, and the Purme Foundation, to fund the treatment of children and adolescents with rare diseases and to support single-parent families, the elderly living alone, and children in difficult financial situations. For the 13th anniversary of her debut on September 18, 2021, she donated ₩850 million of products, from winter coats and bedding sets, to water bottles for 20 COVID-19 clinics in Seoul. On December 24, 2021, the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation said that IU donated ₩100 million. The donation will be used for the Dream Tree Scholarship to support tuition for prospective college students among low-income grandchild families and single-parent families.


title: IU (singer)

text: In March 2022, IU donated to Hope Bridge Disaster Relief Association to help residents affected by the Uljin and Samcheok wildfires and her donation will be used to support temporary housing for forest fire victims. In honor of Children's Day, IU donated to the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation, which will be used to support children from low-income single-parent families and grandparents, and to renovate facilities dedicated to children. On her birthday, May 16, 2022, IU donated a total of to The Snail of Love, Korean Single Mothers Family Association, Eden Iville, and Changwon Social Welfare Corporation. In May, IU donated to Yangpyeong-gun in honor of Family Month to "empower the children of the low-income and vulnerable classes". In August, IU donated to the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association to help those affected by the 2022 South Korean floods. In September, to commemorate her 14th career anniversary, she donated both to the Asan Social Welfare Foundation and the Seoul Metropolitan City Welfare Association under IUaena, a combination of her and her fandom's names.


title: IU (singer)

text: IU is one of the highest-earning celebrities in South Korea, with endorsements attributing to a proportion of her income. Over the course of her career, she has endorsed various products that ranged from electronics to clothing and cosmetics. Her breakthrough in 2010 earned her the first three endorsement deals she had with Crown Confectionery's MyChew candy, Crown Bakery and clothing brand Y'sb. Among her first endorsements that year were also video games. When developer Ntreev Soft had chosen IU to endorse MMORPG "Alicia: The Story of My Horse and I", they cited her "simple and innocent" image had complemented with the game's vibe, and featured her in the soundtrack. IU announced the player introductions for the Global StarCraft II League — she later performed at the finals of the league in 2011. In 2012–13, she was a spokesmodel for "Aion" and an in-game model was designed in her honor.


title: IU (singer)

text: IU has continuously been featured by Samsung for their advertisements for products such as Anycall, Galaxy S II, Wave 3, and Samsung Card in 2018–19. Samsung also added a feature to have her voice for the Celeb Alarm in late-December 2019. Additionally, IU was the ambassador for Expo 2012 held in Yeosu. Following the release of "A Flower Bookmark", she participated in Sony Korea's promotional campaign for its MDR-series headphones with You Hee-yeol and continued to be a representative for the brand's audio products through 2015. IU has modeled for clothing brands Unionbay and Le Coq Sportif from 2011, the SK Planet online store 11st, G by GUESS with Yoo Seung-ho, Elite with Infinite, SBENU with Song Jae-rim, and J.Estina jewelry. Gucci appointed IU as their brand ambassador for South Korea in February 2020, and later as global brand ambassador in March 2022, she has posed with their clothing in numerous pictorials. Later in July 2021, New Balance also announced IU as their global brand ambassador and started partnering for its "We Got Now" campaign. As for cosmetic brands, IU has endorsed The Saem, Qdsuh in China, ISOI, and CNP Cosmetics. After IU returned to endorse Unionbay in 2015 with Lee Hyun-woo and ISOI selected her as a model for two years, the two entities sponsored "The Producers", in which IU had a leading role, through product placement.


title: IU (singer)

text: In April 2022, IU was selected as an advertising model by Woori Financial Group, owner of one of the four largest banks in South Korea, for her influence across various generations. That same month, the MAU (monthly active users) using its services increased by 100,000, reaching 5.8 million users. The next month, it exceed 6 million users, for an increase of about 500,000. A spokesperson of Woori said that they believed it was an effect of IU's endorsement. Other endorsements include S-Oil, Homeplus, Nongshim's products, fast-food chain Mexicana Chicken, and Jeju Samdasoo and Binggrae Banana Flavored Milk both in mid-2020. In November 2014, HiteJinro announced that IU had become the spokesperson for Chamisul soju. They renewed a contract with her in December 2015.


title: IU (singer)

text: "South China Morning Post" estimated her net worth to be around US$31–45 million, making her the wealthiest female Korean idol singer.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popular music. With his younger brothers, fraternal twins Robin and Maurice Gibb, he formed a songwriting partnership beginning in 1955. He has lived in Britain, Australia, and the United States, holding dual UK–US citizenship, the latter since 2009.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Born in Douglas on the Isle of Man, Gibb was raised in Manchester, where he took part in the skiffle craze. In 1955, he formed his first band, the Rattlesnakes, which evolved into the Bee Gees in 1960, after the Gibb family had moved to Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. They later returned to England, where they achieved worldwide fame, then moved to the United States in 1975. Well-known for his wide vocal range, Gibb's most notable vocal trait is a far-reaching high-pitched falsetto. As a songwriter, he shares with John Lennon and Paul McCartney the record for most consecutive "Billboard" Hot 100 number ones, each having six. In total, he has written or co-written sixteen "Billboard" Hot 100 number ones. "Guinness World Records" lists Gibb as the second most successful songwriter in history, behind McCartney.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb's career has spanned over 60 years. In 1994, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with his brothers. In 1997, as a member of the Bee Gees, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. He is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. In 2007, "Q" magazine ranked him number 38 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers". Gibb was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2002 New Year Honours for services to music and entertainment, and a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to music and charity. He was also made an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia on 27 January 2022, in the 2022 Special Honours, for eminent service to the performing arts as a musician, songwriter, and record producer, to the advancement of Australian music artists, and to philanthropy.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Barry Alan Crompton Gibb was born at Jane Crookall Maternity Home in Douglas, Isle of Man, on 1 September 1946, to Hugh Gibb (15 January 1916 – 6 March 1992), a drummer, and Barbara Gibb (17 November 1920 – 12 August 2016) (née Pass). He has English, Irish, and Scottish ancestry. Gibb's grandfather Hugh Gibb Sr. was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1892. He has an older sister, Lesley Evans. His second name, "Alan", was after his father's youngest brother who died in infancy. According to Hugh Gibb, in a mix of fact and fiction, his third name, "Crompton", was given to honour the Gibbs' ancestor Sir Isaac Crompton (actually Samuel Crompton).


title: Barry Gibb

text: When Gibb was born, his father was busy as a musician working at various hotels in Douglas, while his mother stayed at home looking after the children. Later, the Gibbs moved to Chapel House on Strang Road. When he was almost two years old, he was badly scalded. His mother had just made tea which she had put on the table; he climbed up and pulled the teapot down and got the tea all over him. He was in Nobles Hospital for about two and a half months. Gibb later commented on that incident:


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1949, the Gibb family relocated to 50, St. Catherine's Drive. Later that year, on 22 December, Gibb's two younger brothers Robin and Maurice were born. When the twins were young, the family moved to Smedley Cottage, Spring Valley, also in Douglas.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb started school on 4 September 1951, three days after his fifth birthday, attending Braddan school.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1952, the Gibb family relocated to 43 Snaefell Road, Willaston, which became their home for the next two years. The same year, he went to Tynwald Street Infants School. On his seventh birthday in 1953, he went to Desmesne Road Boys School.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1955, Gibb formed the skiffle group the Rattlesnakes, consisting of himself on vocals and guitar, Robin and Maurice on vocals and friends/neighbours Paul Frost and Kenny Horrocks also providing vocals. By 1957, the Rattlesnakes played songs by Cliff Richard. Paul Anka, Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers. Gibb said that their first song played was Paul Anka's "I Love You, Baby", however, in 1968, he remembered it as the Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie". The Rattlesnakes' first professional gig took place on 28 December 1957 in the Gaumont Cinema. Around 1958, Gibb's guitar was accidentally broken by Frost, who described the guitar as "broken in the middle". By May 1958 when the Gibbs moved to Northern Grove it signalled the departure of Frost and Horrocks. The brothers later changed the name of the group to Wee Johnny Hayes and the Blue Cats. Under that name, they performed regularly in "Minor 15", a talent contest for under-fifteens held on Thursday nights from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at Princess Club in Chorlton.


title: Barry Gibb

text: At the beginning of August 1958, the Gibb family set sail for Australia as part of an assisted migration scheme from Southampton on the ship "Fairsea". Also aboard was Red Symons, future guitarist of Skyhooks, as well as Kylie Minogue's parents. The group later made a new group called the Bee Gees. In 1959, the brothers began singing between races at the Redcliffe Speedway to earn money. Their vocal talent brought them to the attention of Bill Gates, a radio deejay. Gates was also interested in Gibb's original material including "Let Me Love You" and "(Underneath the) Starlight of Love". After hearing those songs, Gates asked Gibb for more original material. Gibb quit school in September 1961 and the Gibbs moved to Surfers Paradise. The brothers spent the summers of 1961 and 1962 performing at hotels and clubs in the Gold Coast area. By September 1962, Gibb managed to audition songs to Col Joye. The Gibb family moved to Sydney at the start of 1963.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Around the same time, the Bee Gees were signed to Festival but they were assigned to Leedon. Their first single, "The Battle of the Blue and the Grey" was written by Gibb. All of the Bee Gees' singles from 1963 to 1966 were written by Gibb. In July 1963, Lonnie Lee, one of Australia's top recording stars of the time, recorded what is said to be the first rock and roll recording of a Barry Gibb song. Recorded on Leedon Records and named "I'd Like To Leave If I May", radio preferred the flip side. Also between 1963 and 1966, Gibb's songs were recorded by numerous other Australian recording artists including Trevor Gordon, Noeleen Batley, Anne Shelton, April Byron, Ronnie Burns and Lori Balmer. One of them is his composition "One Road" which hit No. 2 in Australia New South Wales Chart and No. 32 on the Kent Music Report charts for Jimmy Little in 1964. Another of his compositions, "I Just Don't Like to Be Alone" by Bryan Davies, reached No. 25 on the New South Wales chart in 1964.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1966, Gibb won the annual Radio 5KA award for the best composition of the year, "I Was a Lover, A Leader of Men".


title: Barry Gibb

text: The Bee Gees returned to the United Kingdom in early 1967. On 24 February, the group passed a live audition with Robert Stigwood and later signed to Robert Stigwood Organization also the same day that "Spicks and Specks" was released by Polydor as a single in the United Kingdom. Stigwood became the manager of the Bee Gees. Colin Petersen, drummer, and Vince Melouney, lead guitarist, later joined the group. The result was their first international LP "Bee Gees' 1st". The second single from the album "To Love Somebody" – on which Gibb provided the lead vocal – has become a standard, covered by hundreds of artists consistently throughout the years since.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Around the same time, the Gibb brothers contributed backing vocals on the track "Cowman, Milk Your Cow" a song written by Gibb and Robin sung by singer Adam Faith.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1967, Gibb was in The Speakeasy Club, a nightclub in London where he was introduced by Pete Townshend to John Lennon. Lennon was still wearing his outfit for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" photo shoot earlier that day on 30 March 1967; after a couple of scotch and cokes, Townshend said to Gibb, "Do you want to meet John?" and he led Gibb across to a room where Lennon was holding court and Townshend said, "John. This is Barry Gibb, from the group the Bee Gees" to which Lennon replied, "Howyadoin'"."So I met John Lennon's back", Gibb says with a laugh, "I didn't meet his front". Gibb earlier said in 2010 about the meeting, "It was virtually a closed club and you went downstairs and there was a coffin and if you were someone they knew and you were supposed to go in, the wall would turn around... and in you would go. There would be [Rolling] Stones lying around all over the place. It was one of those days when I met John Lennon – from the back. It was Pete Townshend who introduced me... [Lennon said], 'Pleased to meet you', and he carried on talking to his guest."


title: Barry Gibb

text: After many stresses on their personal and professional lives, both Barry and Robin collapsed from nervous exhaustion on a flight from Australia to Turkey in 1967. On 23 December 1967, Barry and Robin left England for Australia. As Gibb explained: "But due to time difference we arrived on Christmas Day, we missed Christmas Eve altogether!". The pair celebrated Christmas with their manager Robert Stigwood's family as Gibb said: "We went on to Sydney".


title: Barry Gibb

text: At the end of 1967, fame was taking its toll and the group were at odds with each other. At the start of 1968, the Gibbs were vying for influence in determining the musical direction of the group, creating tension in the studio and on stage. Also in 1968, to promote "Horizontal" the group made their first appearance on U.S. television on "The Smothers Brothers Show" as well as "The Ed Sullivan Show". The group later filmed a TV special "Frankie Howerd Meets the Bee Gees" with Frankie Howerd. His 1968 composition "Only One Woman" (UK No. 5) was the Marbles' most successful single up to date. The Bee Gees were invited by Hollywood manager Lee Hazlewood at his party alongside the members of the Monkees and Honey Ltd. The photos from that event were leaked, and two of the pictures showing Gibb was talking to actress Angela Cartwright, and the other, is Gibb who was shown playing guitar and the members of Honey Ltd. sing along.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1969, the Bee Gees released "First of May" as the A-side, with the flip side being "Lamplight" on which Robin sang the lead. Robert Stigwood chose "First of May" to be the A-side. No other songs were released from the album "Odessa". Shortly after Robin announced his solo plans, the Bee Gees released their first single without him, "Tomorrow Tomorrow". Barry also worked with Samantha Sang, co-writing and producing two songs "The Love of a Woman" and the B-side "Don't Let It Happen Again" released on Parlophone. He also produced songs for P.P. Arnold including "Bury Me Down By the River" (released as a single) which were originally recorded by the Bee Gees for their 1970 album. In the summer of 1969, Petersen left the group which now only featured Barry and Maurice as the Bee Gees. Pentangle drummer Terry Cox replaced Petersen to complete another 12 songs, but only five songs were released in the album.


title: Barry Gibb

text: The film "Cucumber Castle", featuring only two Bee Gees after originally including Petersen, aired on BBC2 on 26 December 1970. When the group announced that they had split at the start of December 1969, Gibb spent January 1970 writing songs to record the following month.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In February 1970, he started to record his first solo album, "The Kid's No Good"; he released his first solo single, "I'll Kiss Your Memory", but the rest of the songs that were supposed to be on the album were never released and only appeared in bootlegs. "I'll Kiss Your Memory" was not charted in either the U.K. or U.S. but reached No. 16 in Netherlands in five weeks. Another country ballad "This Time" was chosen as the B-side. Bruce Eder of AllMusic stated that the songs on "The Kid's No Good" were of country and sentimental numbers.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In April 1970 the album "Cucumber Castle" was released four months after the break-up, featuring only Barry and Maurice, as Robin was working on his solo career. For the first time as a solo artist, he appeared on the panel of judges and performed "One Bad Thing" and "The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" on "Miss Teen Princess of the World" pageant in Germany in June, his reaction was "I've not appeared on stage for at least a year and three months, and I really miss people". In July 1970, Gibb travelled to Australia to act as compere for "Go-Set", and on that occasion, he gave an interview on the magazine which revealed that sixteen months after the Bee Gees' break-up, but he was still not ready to argue with his brothers, "Obviously, we're still brothers, but we are no longer as a group".


title: Barry Gibb

text: "One Bad Thing", which he considered as the second single from his debut album and Atco pressed some copies of it in August 1970 with "The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" as the B-side. and was distributed to the radio stations in Canada and elsewhere but was not continued and it was decided to focus on a new Bee Gees release (in favour of the Bee Gees' reunion single "Lonely Days") and was released around August. While Polydor planned to release "One Bad Thing" by 2 October. (elsewhere except North America and Canada) Gibb claimed that not only had he been focusing on writing and recording songs, but he had still hoped to be an actor, "I have already had offers to play different parts but, without appearing swell headed, I haven't found the right part yet". "One Bad Thing" was later given by Gibb to his friend Ronnie Burns, a singer from Australia, and later released it as a single on Festival Records.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In August 1970, the Bee Gees reunited and recorded together again, writing "Lonely Days" and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" at their first reunion session. Two of Gibb's singles were omitted after the group had reunited, "One Bad Thing / The Day Your Eyes Meet Mine" was withdrawn at the last minute in the US while Polydor planned to release "One Bad Thing" (2 October 1970).


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1971, the group released "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" which was their first American No. 1 hit. In October 1971, Gibb recorded three songs for his fan club called "Barry Gibb Fan Club"; one of the songs, "King Kathy" was released as a single on Lyntone Records. Gibb had remained a constant creative force for the group and, by 1972, had set aside the idea of a parallel solo career and was ready to devote full attention to the band. "To Whom It May Concern" was the last album recorded fully at IBC Studios and their last album arranged by Bill Shepherd who had worked with the group since 1964. Also in 1972, Gibb moved to Los Angeles to record in the Record Plant studio. In 1973, the Bee Gees moved to Robert Stigwood's RSO Records and released their first singles for Stigwood, "Saw a New Morning" and "Life in a Tin Can". Stigwood was not ready to give up on the group, but he did not believe in the musical direction they were taking. At the suggestion of Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun of Atlantic Records, Stigwood sent them to work with Atlantic producer and arranger Arif Mardin who produced the next Bee Gees album in 1974. After a United States tour early in 1974, the group started to perform at small clubs in England.


title: Barry Gibb

text: At the start of 1975, the group moved to Miami at the suggestion of Eric Clapton to work on their new album with R&B producer Arif Mardin in Criteria Studios. The first song featuring Gibb's falsetto was 1975's "Nights on Broadway". In 1976, Gibb wrote "I Just Want to Be Your Everything", his brother Andy Gibb's first US No. 1, and provided backup vocals.


title: Barry Gibb

text: During 1976, Gibb met with Vince Melouney and wrote two songs, "Let It Ride" and "Morning Rain", that were never recorded. In November 1977, the film "Saturday Night Fever" was released and its soundtrack became the best-selling soundtrack of all time. During 1977, Gibb co-wrote "Emotion", the song remains Samantha Sang's best-known hit. Gibb and Galuten wrote "Save Me, Save Me" originally recorded by the group Network and later covered by Frankie Valli, Dusty Springfield, Rare Earth, and Teri DeSario. The film "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", featuring Gibb as Mark Henderson was shown in July 1978. Andy's third single, "Shadow Dancing", which was credited to all four Gibb brothers, was also a US No. 1 single. In 1978, Gibb wrote a title song to order for their manager Robert Stigwood's film and stage musical "Grease" and was later recorded by singer Frankie Valli and reached No. 1 in the US. The song contains guitar work by Peter Frampton. In February 1978, he provided background vocals for his composition "Ain't Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You" which featured Teri DeSario on vocals.


title: Barry Gibb

text: After the Bee Gees' successful 1979 Spirits Having Flown Tour to promote the album of the same name, he wrote, produced, and sang on almost all of the songs on Andy Gibb's final album, "After Dark", released at the start of 1980.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In September 1980, Gibb produced the three new songs on Andy Gibb's first compilation album, "Andy Gibb's Greatest Hits". In October 1980, Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" was released, produced by the Gibb-Galuten-Richardson team. the lead off single, Woman In Love was released in August and within 5 weeks was #1 on the US charts. The two songs of which were vocal duets between Streisand and Gibb are "Guilty" a U.S. Top 5, and "What Kind of Fool" also reached the Top 10 in the U.S. and reached No. 1 on the US Adult contemporary chart. In 1981, the Bee Gees released "Living Eyes". Songs from the album were not disco and the album was not a commercial success. In 1982, Clive Davis asked Gibb to write for Dionne Warwick, who was on his Arista label. Barry produced Warwick's "Heartbreaker". The songs were all written by Gibb except "Our Day Will Come". In August 1983, after Gibb met Kenny Rogers who asked for some songs, Gibb recorded his first demo for Rogers entitled "Eyes That See in the Dark". At that time, Robin was working on his "How Old Are You?" album with Maurice playing instruments. The other songs intended for Kenny Rogers were written in late 1982, then at the start of 1983, Barry continued to record the demos until April 1983, while also recording songs with the Bee Gees for the film "Staying Alive". In August 1983, he produced Rogers' new album "Eyes That See in the Dark", which includes the song "Islands in the Stream" by Rogers and Dolly Parton which became one of the best-selling singles in country music.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In August 1983, Irving Azoff signed Gibb to the MCA Records for North America. Gibb was signed for a few million dollars to a multi-album deal. Polydor still had rights to Gibb's songs outside North America. In September 1984, his album "Now Voyager" was released. Two singles from the album included "Shine, Shine", a US Top 40 single that reached the Top 10 in their Adult contemporary charts, and "Fine Line" which was less successful, only reaching No. 50 on the dance charts. The film "Now Voyager" starring Gibb was directed by Storm Thorgerson, in which Gibb is the protagonist, with actor Michael Hordern as his guide through a confusing world between life and death. The film includes a music video on most of the songs on "Now Voyager". A video for "Fine Line" featuring Gibb without his trademark beard and was filmed in black and white.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 1985, Gibb started to record demos for Diana Ross, for her album "Eaten Alive". In the same year, he co-wrote most of the songs on Robin Gibb's album "Walls Have Eyes".


title: Barry Gibb

text: In late 1985 and early 1986, he wrote new songs for his next album, though his third album "Moonlight Madness" was not released and most of the songs on that album was later released in 1988. Producer Randy Jackson plays bass on all of the tracks. Gibb co-wrote three songs for Swedish singer Carola on her album "Runaway". Also in 1985, he joined the short-lived supergroup the Bunburys with David English.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In early 1987, the Bee Gees started to record their first album in six years. In June and July 1987, Gibb and Maurice produced Andy Gibb's four new songs; one of them is "Arrow Through the Heart" which was released in 2010. In 1987, Gibb co-wrote "Up the Revolution" by Elton John. And in 1988, Gibb recorded two new songs for the "Hawks" film. In September 1988, the film soundtrack of the film was released by Polydor only in the U.K. The songs were all performed by Gibb except "Chain Reaction" (Diana Ross). The single from the soundtrack, "Childhood Days", reached only No. 60 in Germany.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Around 1990, the Bee Gees recorded "High Civilization". In September 1990, Gibb played guitar and produced "Born to Be Loved by You" by Kelli Wolfe, which was released as an unreleased B-side in August 1993. Around 1992, Gibb played guitar on Lulu's "Let Me Wake Up in Your Arms", released in 1993. In 1993, the Bee Gees recorded and released "Size Isn't Everything". In 1994, the Bee Gees and Polydor planned a tour to promote "Size Isn't Everything", but it was off in February, due to Gibb's trouble with arthritis in the back, right hand and right knee. Gibb co-wrote "I Will Be There", which was recorded as a demo for Tina Turner and released on Turner's album "Twenty Four Seven". In 2001, Gibb co-wrote "I Cannot Give You My Love" with Ashley Gibb, which was intended for Cliff Richard. In September 2001, the Bee Gees re-recorded "Islands in the Stream", which became their last session as a group, as Gibb did not seem to be present on the session in Middle Ear Studios, Miami Beach, Florida. In 2002, Gibb and Michael Jackson recorded "All In Your Name". Also in 2002, Gibb sings background vocals on Michael Bublé's version of the 1971 song "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart".


title: Barry Gibb

text: Maurice died suddenly on 12 January 2003. Ten months later, in November of that year, Gibb produced and contributed background vocals and guitar to two songs performed by Cliff Richard, "I Cannot Give You My Love" and "How Many Sleeps?"; Maurice's keyboard work from a 2001 demo version was included in this 2003 version. On 2 May 2004, Barry and Robin Gibb received the CBE award at Buckingham Palace; their nephew Adam accepted his father Maurice's posthumous award. Also in 2004, Gibb co-wrote and sang background vocals on his son Steve Gibb's solo single "Living in the Rain". In January 2005, along with many artists, Gibb and his brother Robin recorded vocal parts for the charity single "Grief Never Grows Old" on behalf of victims of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004. In April and May 2005, Barbra Streisand recorded songs for her new album produced by Gibb. In August 2006, two Gibb singles, "Doctor Mann" and "Underworld", were released on iTunes. "Underworld" was featured on the film soundtrack of "Arctic Tale" but not in the film. On 7 December 2006, Gibb joined 4,500 other musicians in a full-page advertisement in the "Financial Times" newspaper, calling for the British Government to extend the existing 50-year copyright protection of sound recordings in the United Kingdom. The fair play for musicians advertisement proposed that the copyright be extended to the American standard of 95 years and was a direct response to the Gowers Review (published by the British Government on 6 December 2006), which recommended the retention of the 50-year protection for sound recordings.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 2007, "Drown On the River" was released as a single on iTunes. The song later appeared on the soundtrack of "Deal". Also in the same year, Gibb sang background vocals on Jamie Jo's song "U Turn Me On" and wrote the theme music for ITV's "Grease Is the Word". Also in 2007 Gibb appeared as a mentor in season six of "American Idol". On 14 March 2009, Gibb teamed with Olivia Newton-John to present the one-hour finale performance at a star-studded 12-hour live concert at Sydney's Sydney Cricket Ground, part of Sound Relief, a fundraiser to aid victims of the February 2009 Victorian Bushfires that devastated large tracts of heavily wooded and populated south-eastern Australia, where the Gibb family once lived. The concert was televised live nationally across Australia on the Max TV cable network. On 10 July 2009, Gibb was made a Freeman of the Borough of Douglas (Isle of Man). The award was also bestowed upon his brother Robin and posthumously upon his brother Maurice. In late 2009, Barry and Robin announced plans to record and perform together once again as the Bee Gees.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In 2010, Gibb withdrew from a planned appearance on the Gorillaz album "Plastic Beach" which was released in March. In December 2011, his two songs, "Grey Ghost" and "Daddy's Little Girl" were released. On 21 February 2012, Gibb performed his first solo concert in the U.S. at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe in Florida. He sang "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" with Maurice's daughter, Samantha Gibb, who is a singer in her own band. Barry's son Steve was also on stage as lead guitarist and sang a Maurice composition, "On Time". On 20 May 2012, Robin Gibb died, making Barry the sole surviving Gibb brother.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb made his debut performance at the Grand Ole Opry on 27 July 2012, performing three songs with Ricky Skaggs. Skaggs later recorded "Soldier's Son" on which Gibb added vocals for Skaggs' album "Music to My Ears" released in 2012.


title: Barry Gibb

text: He commenced a world tour in 2013 in Australia called Mythology Tour, featuring the Bee Gees anthology set album of the same name. He was joined on stage by his son Steve and Maurice's daughter Samantha. On that tour, for the first time on stage, Gibb performed "Playdown" (1966), "Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You" (1967), "I Started a Joke" (1969) and "With the Sun in My Eyes" (1968). Also, for the first time, the music video of the Bee Gees' 2001 song "Technicolor Dreams", written by Gibb, was shown before the show began. This short tour inspired Festival Records to release a box set of the Bee Gees' three Australian albums, "The Festival Albums Collection, 1965–1967", and a 'best of' compilation of the group's Australian era songs titled "Morning of My Life".


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 27 October 2013, Gibb appeared at the Country Music Hall of Fame with Kenny Rogers and Bobby Bare; Gibb performed "Islands in the Stream" with Kelly Lang. In October, Gibb performed at the Grand Ole Opry for the second time with Ricky Skaggs. On 21 December 2013, Barry Gibb made a surprise appearance on the US television show "Saturday Night Live" at the end of the "Barry Gibb Talk Show" skit with Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake and Madonna. Also appearing that night was Sir Paul McCartney who shared the stage with Gibb during the closing credits where they embraced each other.


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 27 January 2014, Gibb appeared on the American television show "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" to announce the start of his first solo tour of the US. He performed "You Should Be Dancing" with help from Fallon's backing band, the Roots. Gibb and Fallon sang some Everly Brothers songs, including "Bye Bye Love" and "Wake Up Little Susie". Gibb also sang "To Love Somebody" as a bonus online performance. On 28 January, Gibb was interviewed by CNN about his brothers and, in that same interview, Gibb talked about Justin Bieber, saying he is "heading for a brick wall". In a "Mirror" interview with Gibb on 11 July 2014 he said he was still mourning following the death of Robin and credits his wife Linda and Paul McCartney for helping him to recover. Gibb appeared on a McCartney tribute album, "The Art of McCartney", released on 18 November 2014 performing "When I'm Sixty-Four". Gibb's friend, country singer TG Sheppard, said in an interview with Gary James that Gibb just moved to Nashville and was going into country music.


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 8 February 2015 at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Gibb, along with the group Pentatonix, presented the category of Best Pop Vocal Album. On 26 March 2015, Gibb was one of the headlining acts on a music festival called the Hard Rock Rising Miami Beach Global Music Festival alongside Andrea Bocelli, Gloria Estefan, Flo Rida, Jon Secada and Wyclef Jean.


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 26 June 2016, Gibb was scheduled to perform the "legend" spot at the Glastonbury Festival in England, but pulled out due to a family illness. He did, however, appear with Coldplay as a guest performer singing "To Love Somebody" and "Stayin' Alive".


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 28 June 2016, it was announced that Gibb had signed to Columbia Records and would release his second solo album, "In the Now", on 7 October 2016. The album is Gibb's first album with all new material since the Bee Gees' final studio album, "This Is Where I Came In" (2001). "In the Now" was co-written by his sons Stephen and Ashley and was produced with John Merchant.


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 25 June 2017, Gibb performed the "legend" spot at the Glastonbury Festival in England. He also joined Coldplay on stage during the same festival in 2016.


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 6 November 2020, Gibb announced his latest album entitled "Greenfields" which is a duets album featuring country artists Dolly Parton, Little Big Town, Alison Krauss and others. The album contains 11 Bee Gees tracks and one unreleased Barry Gibb track, re-imagined as country songs. The song "Words of a Fool" featuring Jason Isbell was released the same day as a preview. The song was originally written by Gibb in 1986 for an unreleased album.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb's first marriage was to Maureen Bates, whom he married on 22 August 1966 when he was 19 years old. The couple lived together for only a short time and were divorced in July 1970.


title: Barry Gibb

text: During the taping of the BBC's "Top of the Pops" in London, Gibb met the former Miss Edinburgh, Linda Gray. On 1 September 1970 (his 24th birthday), Gibb married Gray. Together, they have five children – Stephen (born 1973), Ashley (born 1977), Travis (born 1981), Michael (born 1984) and Alexandra (born 1991) – and seven grandchildren.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In his 11 July 2014 interview with "The Mirror", Gibb said he became friends with Michael Jackson: "He would come to Miami and stay in our house. He'd sit in the kitchen and watch the fans outside his hotel on TV, just giggling – 'Hee hee!' He lived upstairs for a while, right before his child-molestation trial. We never discussed the case. We would just sit around and write and get drunk. Michael liked wine – there were a few nights when he just went to sleep on the floor", adding that he misses Jackson.


title: Barry Gibb

text: In January 2006, Gibb purchased the former home of country singers Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash in Hendersonville, Tennessee, US intending to restore it and turn it into a songwriting retreat. The house was destroyed by fire on 10 April 2007 while under renovation.


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 10 July 2009, Gibb was made a Freeman of the Borough of Douglas (Isle of Man). The award was also bestowed upon his brother Robin and posthumously upon his brother Maurice. Also in 2009, Gibb and his wife became U.S. citizens, while retaining their UK citizenship. Gibb has homes in Miami, Florida, and Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.


title: Barry Gibb

text: On 25 June 2019, "The New York Times Magazine" listed Barry Gibb among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb's influences when he was in the Rattlesnakes were Tommy Steele, the Mills Brothers, the Everly Brothers, Paul Anka and Cliff Richard. The Bee Gees acknowledged that they would sing in the style of the Everlys and then add a third harmony; the result was "New York Mining Disaster 1941" (1967). When Gibb heard Roy Orbison's song "Crying", he said: "That was it. To me that was the voice of God."


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb also praises the vocal skills of Frankie Valli as one of his influences: "Frankie Valli has become one of the hallmark voices of our generation. He created a style that we all still strive to emulate." Gibb was also influenced by country music as his songs on the 1970 unreleased "The Kid's No Good" show: "Country music always inspired us. I love Nashville and I love this music. Since my brothers passed, I've been able to be self-indulgent. I've been able to go where I love the music".


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb had a highly successful career as a member of the Bee Gees, a group near the top of the all-time top-sellers list. When the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, their citation read 'Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees.' The trio's contribution to "Saturday Night Fever" pushed the film's soundtrack past the 40 million mark in sales. It reigned as the top-selling album until Michael Jackson's "Thriller". They are the only group in pop history to write, produce and record six straight No. 1 hits. They have also had 16 Grammy nominations and nine Grammy wins.


title: Barry Gibb

text: The three Gibb brothers were appointed Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2002. On 2 May 2004, Barry and Robin received their awards at Buckingham Palace, along with their nephew Adam, who collected the award on behalf of his father Maurice, who had died in January 2003.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb was also awarded a knighthood in the 2018 New Year Honours. He was also made an Honorary Companion of the Order of Australia on 27 January 2022 in the 2022 Special Honours for eminent service to the performing arts as a musician, songwriter and record producer, to the advancement of Australian music artists and to philanthropy.


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb is also a prolific and successful songwriter and a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. In 1977, Gibb saw five of his songs simultaneously enter the Top Ten of the "Billboard" Hot 100 and, for one week in March, four of the top five songs were written by him. His songs were No. 1 for 27 out of 37 weeks from 24 December 1977 to 2 September 1978. Gibb also holds a very unusual record, in that he is the only songwriter in history to write four successive US No. 1 hits: in 1978, the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" was replaced at number one by Andy's single, "Love Is Thicker Than Water", followed by the Bee Gees' "Night Fever" for their longest run, seven weeks. This was then replaced by the Bee Gee's "If I Can't Have You", recorded by Yvonne Elliman. He is the only male artist to have 10 songs on the 600 biggest songs of the Hot 100 Billboard in its history, having co-written, co-produced or performed them.


title: Barry Gibb

text: As a songwriter, Gibb has had No. 1 songs in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, when "Islands in the Stream" became No. 1 in the UK as the Comic Relief single for 2009. His compositions for the Bee Gees have been recorded by numerous artists, including José Feliciano, Celine Dion, Al Green, Wyclef Jean, Janis Joplin, Jimmy Little, Barry Manilow, Olivia Newton-John, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand, Samantha Sang, Tina Turner, Conway Twitty, Frankie Valli, Luther Vandross, Sarah Vaughan, Jennifer Warnes, Dionne Warwick and Andy Williams. Australian musician David Campbell, praising Gibb, compared the Beach Boys and the Bee Gees: 'And like Brian Wilson, Barry Gibb's melodies made the songs timeless.'


title: Barry Gibb

text: Gibb's solo songs have been recorded by number of artists, including Lou Reizner, Samantha Sang, P. P. Arnold, Ronnie Burns, Jerry Vale and many others. As a record producer, Gibb produced albums for Andy Gibb, Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers, and Diana Ross.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino (; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino (), is the fifth-smallest country in the world and a European microstate in Southern Europe enclaved by Italy. Located on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains, San Marino covers a land area of just over , and has a population of 33,562.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino is a landlocked country; however, its northeastern end is within of the Italian city of Rimini on the Adriatic coast. The nearest airport is also in Italy. The country's capital city, the City of San Marino, is located atop Monte Titano, while its largest settlement is Dogana within the largest municipality of Serravalle. San Marino's official language is Italian.


title: San Marino

text: The country derives its name from Saint Marinus, a stonemason from the then-Roman island of Rab in present-day Croatia. Born in AD 275, Marinus participated in the rebuilding of Rimini's city walls after their destruction by Liburnian pirates. Marinus then went on to found an independently ruled monastic community on Monte Titano in AD 301; thus, San Marino lays claim to being the oldest extant sovereign state, as well as the oldest constitutional republic.


title: San Marino

text: Uniquely, San Marino's constitution dictates that its democratically elected legislature, the Grand and General Council, must elect two heads of state every six months. Known as captains regent, the two heads of state serve concurrently and hold equal powers until their term expires after six months.


title: San Marino

text: The country's economy is mainly based on finance, industry, services, retail, and tourism. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world in GDP per capita, with a figure comparable to the most developed European regions. Its health care system ranks 3rd in the World Health Organization first ever analysis of the world's health systems. Despite this fact, ranking 44th, its Human Development Index score is the lowest in Western Europe. Among the European microstates, San Marino is the only Summer Olympics Games medals winner.


title: San Marino

text: Saint Marinus left the island of Rab in present-day Croatia with his lifelong friend Leo, and went to the city of Rimini as a stonemason. After the Diocletianic Persecution following his Christian sermons, he escaped to the nearby Monte Titano, where he built a small church and thus founded what is now the city and state of San Marino.


title: San Marino

text: The official founding date is 3 September 301 AD. In 1320, the community of Chiesanuova chose to join the country. In 1463, San Marino was extended with the communities of Faetano, Fiorentino, Montegiardino, and Serravalle, after which the country's borders have remained unchanged.


title: San Marino

text: In 1503, Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, occupied the Republic for six months until his father's successor, Pope Julius II, intervened and restored the country's independence.


title: San Marino

text: On 4 June 1543, Fabiano di Monte San Savino, nephew of the later Pope Julius III, attempted to conquer the republic, but his infantry and cavalry failed as they got lost in a dense fog, which the Sammarinese attributed to Saint Quirinus, whose feast day it was.


title: San Marino

text: After the Duchy of Urbino was annexed by the Papal States in 1625, San Marino became an enclave within the Papal States, something which led to its seeking the formal protection of the Papal States in 1631, but this never equalled a "de facto" Papal control of the republic.


title: San Marino

text: The country was occupied on 17 October 1739 by the legate (Papal governor) of Ravenna, Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, but independence was restored by Pope Clement XII on 5 February 1740, the feast day of Saint Agatha, after which she became a patron saint of the republic.


title: San Marino

text: The advance of Napoleon's army in 1797 presented a brief threat to the independence of San Marino, but the country was saved from losing its liberty by one of its regents, Antonio Onofri, who managed to gain the respect and friendship of Napoleon. Due to Onofri's intervention, Napoleon, in a letter delivered to Gaspard Monge, scientist and commissary of the French Government for Science and Art, promised to guarantee and protect the independence of the Republic, even offering to extend its territory according to its needs. The offer was declined by the regents, fearing future retaliation from other states' revanchism.


title: San Marino

text: During the later phase of the Italian unification process in the 19th century, San Marino served as a refuge for many people persecuted because of their support for unification, including Giuseppe Garibaldi and his wife Anita. Garibaldi allowed San Marino to remain independent. San Marino and the Kingdom of Italy signed a Convention of Friendship in 1862.


title: San Marino

text: The government of San Marino made United States President Abraham Lincoln an honorary citizen. He wrote in reply, saying that the republic proved that "government founded on republican principles is capable of being so administered as to be secure and enduring."


title: San Marino

text: During World War I, when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on 24 May 1915, San Marino remained neutral and Italy adopted a hostile view of Sammarinese neutrality, suspecting that San Marino could harbour Austrian spies who could be given access to its new radiotelegraph station. Italy tried to forcibly establish a detachment of Carabinieri in the republic and then cut the republic's telephone lines when it did not comply. Two groups of ten volunteers joined Italian forces in the fighting on the Italian front, the first as combatants and the second as a medical corps operating a Red Cross field hospital. The existence of this hospital later caused Austria-Hungary to suspend diplomatic relations with San Marino.


title: San Marino

text: After the war, San Marino suffered from high rates of unemployment and inflation, leading to increased tensions between the lower and middle classes. The latter, fearing that the moderate government of San Marino would make concessions to the lower class majority, began to show support for the Sammarinese Fascist Party (, PFS), founded in 1922 and styled largely on their Italian counterpart. PFS rule lasted from 1923 to 1943, and during this time they often sought support from Benito Mussolini's fascist government in Italy.


title: San Marino

text: During World War II, San Marino remained neutral, although it was wrongly reported in an article from "The New York Times" that it had declared war on the United Kingdom on 17 September 1940. The Sammarinese government later transmitted a message to the British government stating that they had not declared war on the United Kingdom.


title: San Marino

text: On 28 July 1943, three days after the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, PFS rule collapsed and the new government declared neutrality in the conflict. The PFS regained power on 1 April 1944, but kept neutrality intact. Despite that, on 26 June 1944, San Marino was bombed by the Royal Air Force, in the belief that San Marino had been overrun by German forces and was being used to amass stores and ammunition. The Sammarinese government declared on the same day that no military installations or equipment were located on its territory, and that no belligerent forces had been allowed to enter. San Marino accepted thousands of civilian refugees when Allied forces went over the Gothic Line. In September 1944, it was briefly occupied by German forces, who were defeated by Allied forces in the Battle of San Marino.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino had the world's first democratically elected communist government – a coalition between the Sammarinese Communist Party and the Sammarinese Socialist Party, which held office between 1945 and 1957. This broke the theme among other Marxist-Leninist states of state atheism, becoming the first (and only) Communist theocracy as well.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino is the world's smallest republic, although when Nauru gained independence in 1968 it challenged that claim. Nauru's land mass is only , but its jurisdiction over its surrounding waters covers , an area thousands of times greater than the territory of San Marino. San Marino became a member of the Council of Europe in 1988 and of the United Nations in 1992. It is not a member of the European Union, although it uses the euro as its currency (despite not legally being part of the Eurozone). Before the introduction of the euro, the country's currency was the Sammarinese lira.


title: San Marino

text: As of June 2020, San Marino had the highest death rate per capita of any country, due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2021, the nation received headlines for using the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine rather than vaccines approved by the EU following a slow rollout for the latter vaccines.


title: San Marino

text: At the 2020 Summer Olympics, San Marino became the smallest country to earn an Olympic medal when Alessandra Perilli won a bronze medal in women's trap. They later won another medal, this one silver, with Perilli's and Gian Marco Berti's performance in the mixed trap shooting event.


title: San Marino

text: On 7 March 2022, during the Russia-Ukraine War, the Russian Kremlin released a list of countries, via Twitter, who it considered "unfriendly" to Russia. San Marino was included in the list, alongside numerous well known Russian adversaries such as the United States and countries in the European Union. The motivation for including San Marino as an "unfriendly" nation was unclear and gained substantial attention on the Internet.


title: San Marino

text: On 31 August 2022, San Marino officials voted to legalize abortion in the republic, "one of the last European states to have had the procedure outlawed under all circumstances". 32 members of the legislature approved the bill while 10 abstained and 7 rejected. The public health system is promised to cover the cost of the abortion procedure.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino is an enclave surrounded by Italy in Southern Europe, on the border between the regions of Emilia Romagna and Marche and about from the Adriatic coast at Rimini. Its hilly topography, with no substantial naturally flat ground, is part of the Apennine mountain range. The highest point in the country, the summit of Monte Titano, is above sea level; the lowest, the Ausa River (ending in the Marecchia), is . San Marino has no still or contained bodies of water of any significant size.


title: San Marino

text: It is one of only three countries in the world to be completely enclosed by another country (the others being Vatican City, also enclosed by Italy, and Lesotho, enclosed by South Africa). It is the third smallest country in Europe, after Vatican City and Monaco, and the fifth-smallest country in the world.


title: San Marino

text: The terrestrial ecoregion of Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests lies within San Marino's territory. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 0.01/10, ranking it last globally out of 172 countries.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino lies between an oceanic climate and a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: "Cfb and Cfa"), with some continental influences. It has warm to hot summers and cool winters, typical of inland areas of the central Italian Peninsula. Precipitation is scattered throughout the year with no real dry month. Snowfalls are common and heavy almost every winter, especially above of altitude.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino has the political framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic: the captains regent are both heads of state and heads of government, and there is a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Grand and General Council. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino is considered to have the earliest written governing documents still in effect, as the Statutes of 1600 are still at the core of its constitutional framework.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino was originally led by the Arengo, initially formed from the heads of each family. In the 13th century, power was given to the Grand and General Council. In 1243, the first two captains regent were nominated by the council. Still today, Captains Regent are elected every six months by the council.


title: San Marino

text: The legislature of the republic is the Grand and General Council (). The council is a unicameral legislature with 60 members. There are elections every five years by proportional representation in all nine administrative districts. These districts (townships) correspond to the old parishes of the republic. All citizens 18 years or older are eligible to vote.


title: San Marino

text: Besides general legislation, the Grand and General Council approves the budget and elects the captains regent, the State Congress (composed of ten secretaries with executive power), the Council of Twelve (which forms the judicial branch during the period of legislature of the council), the Advising Commissions, and the Government Unions. The council also has the power to ratify treaties with other countries. The council is divided into five different Advising Commissions consisting of fifteen councilors who examine, propose, and discuss the implementation of new laws that are on their way to being presented on the floor of the council.


title: San Marino

text: Every six months, the council elects two captains regent to be the heads of state. The captains are chosen from opposing parties so that there is a balance of power. They serve a six-month term. The investiture of the captains regent takes place on 1 April and 1 October in every year. Once this term is over, citizens have three days in which to file complaints about the captains' activities. If they warrant it, judicial proceedings against the ex-head(s) of state can be initiated.


title: San Marino

text: The practice of having two heads of state, like Roman consuls, chosen in frequent elections, is derived directly from the customs of the Roman Republic. The council is equivalent to the Roman Senate; the captains regent, to the consuls of ancient Rome. It is thought the inhabitants of the area came together as Roman rule collapsed to form a rudimentary government for their own protection from foreign rule.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino is a multi-party democratic republic. A new election law in 2008 raised the threshold for small parties entering Parliament, causing political parties to organise themselves into two alliances: the right-wing Pact for San Marino, led by the San Marinese Christian Democratic Party; and the left-wing Reforms and Freedom, led by the Party of Socialists and Democrats, a merger of the Socialist Party of San Marino and the former communist Party of Democrats. The 2008 general election was won by the Pact for San Marino with 35 seats in the Grand and General Council against Reforms and Freedom's 25.


title: San Marino

text: On 1 October 2007, Mirko Tomassoni was elected as captain regent, making him the first disabled person elected to that office.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino has had more female heads of state than any other country: 15 as of October 2014, including three who served twice. With regard to the legal profession, while the Order of Lawyers and Notaries of the Republic of San Marino () exists, there is no clear indication as to how demographic groups have fared in the legal field.


title: San Marino

text: On 1 April 2022, 58-year-old Paolo Rondelli was elected as one of the two captains regent, its heads of state. He had previously been the Ambassador to the United States and is the world's first openly gay head of state.


title: San Marino

text: The largest settlement of the Republic is Dogana, which is not an autonomous ", but rather belongs to the Castello of Serravalle.


title: San Marino

text: In a similar way to an Italian ', each ' includes a main settlement, called ', which is the seat of the ', and some even smaller localities known as ".


title: San Marino

text: The republic is made up of 43 parishes named "curacies" (): Cà Berlone, Cà Chiavello, Cà Giannino, Cà Melone, Cà Ragni, Cà Rigo, Cailungo, Caladino, Calligaria, Canepa, Capanne, Casole, Castellaro, Cerbaiola, Cinque Vie, Confine, Corianino, Crociale, Dogana, Falciano, Fiorina, Galavotto, Gualdicciolo, La Serra, Lesignano, Molarini, Montalbo, Monte Pulito, Murata, Pianacci, Piandivello, Poggio Casalino, Poggio Chiesanuova, Ponte Mellini, Rovereta, San Giovanni sotto le Penne, Santa Mustiola, Spaccio Giannoni, Teglio, Torraccia, Valdragone, Valgiurata and Ventoso.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino's military forces are among the smallest in the world. National defence is, by arrangement, the responsibility of Italy's armed forces. Different branches have varied functions, including performing ceremonial duties, patrolling borders, mounting guard at government buildings, and assisting police in major criminal cases. The police are not included in the military of San Marino.


title: San Marino

text: Once at the heart of San Marino's army, the Crossbow Corps is now a ceremonial force of approximately 80 volunteers. Since 1295, the Crossbow Corps has provided demonstrations of crossbow shooting at festivals. Its uniform design is medieval. While still a statutory military unit, the Crossbow Corps has no military function today.


title: San Marino

text: The Guard of the Rock is a front-line military unit in the San Marino armed forces, a state border patrol, with responsibility for patrolling borders and defending them. In their role as Fortress Guards they are responsible for guarding the Palazzo Pubblico in San Marino City, the seat of national government.


title: San Marino

text: In this role they are the forces most visible to tourists, and are known for their colourful ceremony of Changing the Guard. Under the 1987 statute the Guard of the Rock are all enrolled as "Criminal Police Officers" (in addition to their military role) and assist the police in investigating major crime. The uniform of the Guard of the Rock is a distinctive red and green.


title: San Marino

text: The Guard of the Grand and General Council commonly known as The Guard of the council or locally as the "Guard of Nobles", formed in 1741, is a volunteer unit with ceremonial duties. Due to its striking blue, white, and gold uniform, it is perhaps the best-known part of the Sammarinese military, and appears on countless postcard views of the republic. The functions of the Guard of the council are to protect the captains regent, and to defend the Grand and General Council during its formal sessions. They also act as ceremonial bodyguards to government officials at both state and church festivals.


title: San Marino

text: In former times, all families with two or more adult male members were required to enroll half of them in the Company of Uniformed Militia. This unit remains the basic fighting force of the armed forces of San Marino, but is largely ceremonial. It is a matter of civic pride for many Sammarinese to belong to the force, and all citizens with at least six years residence in the republic are entitled to enroll.


title: San Marino

text: The uniform is dark blue, with a kepi bearing a blue and white plume. The ceremonial form of the uniform includes a white cross-strap, and white and blue sash, white epaulets, and white decorated cuffs.


title: San Marino

text: Formally this is part of the Army Militia, and is the ceremonial military band of San Marino. It consists of approximately 60 musicians. The uniform is similar to that of the Army Militia. Military Ensemble music accompanies most state occasions in the republic.


title: San Marino

text: Established in 1842, the Gendarmerie of San Marino is a militarised law enforcement agency. Its members are full-time and have responsibility for the protection of citizens and property, and the preservation of law and order.


title: San Marino

text: The entire military corps of San Marino depends upon the co-operation of full-time forces and their retained (volunteer) colleagues, known as the , or Voluntary Military Force.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino is a developed country, and although it is not a European Union member it is allowed to use the euro as its currency by arrangement with the Council of the European Union; it is also granted the right to use its own designs on the national side of the euro coins. Before the euro, the Sammarinese lira was pegged to, and exchangeable with, the Italian lira. The small number of Sammarinese euro coins, as was the case with the lira before it, are primarily of interest to coin collectors.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino's per capita GDP and standard of living are comparable to that of Italy. Key industries include banking, electronics, and ceramics. The main agricultural products are wine and cheese. San Marino imports mainly staple goods from Italy.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino's postage stamps, which are valid for mail posted in the country, are mostly sold to philatelists and are a significant source of income. San Marino is no longer a member of the Small European Postal Administration Cooperation.


title: San Marino

text: It has the world's highest rate of car ownership, being one of two countries with more vehicles than people, alongside Andorra.


title: San Marino

text: The corporate profits tax rate in San Marino is 17%, capital gains are subject to a five percent tax, and active interest is subject to an 11% withholding tax. Several benefits apply to new businesses, which can strongly reduce the amount of taxes to be paid.


title: San Marino

text: The personal income tax (IGR, ) was introduced in 1984 and it was heavily reformed in 2013 with the goal of increasing fiscal revenue. The nominal tax rate ranges from 9% for an annual revenue below €10,000 to 35% for revenues above €80,000.


title: San Marino

text: In 1972, a value-added tax (VAT) system was introduced in Italy, and an equivalent tax was introduced also in San Marino, in accordance with the 1939 friendship treaty. However, this tax is not a standard value-added tax, but rather it is an import tax, thus, it is levied only on imported goods and raw resources. For this reason it is locally best known as single stage tax (), as it is only applied one time during importation, while VAT is applied at every exchange. Furthermore, while VAT also applies to services, the import tax only applies on physical goods. Another important difference is that while VAT is computed on the final price paid by the consumer, the import tax is levied on the importation cost paid by the company, which is generally much lower.


title: San Marino

text: Under the European Union customs agreement, San Marino import tax is considered equivalent to the European VAT system. A separate tax on services, with a rate of 3%, has been introduced in 2011. The introduction of a true VAT system, not dissimilar from the European one, is under development.


title: San Marino

text: Because San Marino's tax rate is lower than surrounding Italy's, many businesses choose to be based in San Marino to avoid the higher rates. San Marino boasts a corporate rate 6% lower than Italy (23%) and 4% lower than the EU average (21.3%). This has made San Marino the tax haven of choice for many wealthy Italians and businesses.


title: San Marino

text: The tourism sector contributes over 22% of San Marino's GDP, with approximately 2 million tourists having visited in 2014.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino and Italy have engaged in conventions since 1862, dictating some economic activities in San Marino's territory.


title: San Marino

text: Cultivation of tobacco and production of goods which are subject to Italy's government monopoly are forbidden in San Marino. Direct import is forbidden; all goods coming from a third party have to travel through Italy before reaching the country. Although it is allowed to print its own postal stamps, San Marino is not allowed to coin its own currency and is obliged to use Italy's mint; the agreement does not affect the right of the Republic of San Marino to continue to issue gold coins denominated in Scudi (the legal value of 1 gold Scudo is 37.50 euros). Gambling is legal and regulated; however, casinos were outlawed prior to 2007. There is one legally operating casino.


title: San Marino

text: In exchange for these limitations, Italy provides San Marino with an annual stipend, provided at cost, of sea salt (not more than 250 tonnes per year), tobacco (40 tonnes), cigarettes (20 tonnes) and matches (unlimited amount).


title: San Marino

text: At the border there are no formalities with Italy. However, at the tourist office visitors can purchase officially cancelled souvenir stamps for their passports.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino has a population of approximately 33,000, with 4,800 foreign residents, most of whom are Italian citizens. Another 12,000 Sammarinese live abroad (5,700 in Italy, 3,000 in the US, 1,900 in France and 1,600 in Argentina).


title: San Marino

text: The first census since 1976 was conducted in 2010. Results were expected by the end of 2011; however, 13% of families did not return their forms.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino is a predominantly Catholic state, though Catholicism is not an established religion. Over 97% of the population profess the Catholic faith, and approximately half of those regularly attend church. There is no episcopal see in San Marino, although its name is part of the present diocesan title. Historically, the various parishes in San Marino were divided between two Italian dioceses, mostly in the Diocese of Montefeltro, and partly in the Diocese of Rimini. In 1977, the border between Montefeltro and Rimini was readjusted so that all of San Marino fell within the diocese of Montefeltro. The bishop of Montefeltro-San Marino resides in Pennabilli, in Italy's province of Pesaro e Urbino. The country's high Roman Catholic majority can mainly be brought back to the country's founding, where Saint Marinus set up the first fortress to protect Christians from Roman persecution. The small state's culture has primarily remained Catholic ever since.


title: San Marino

text: There is a provision under the income tax rules that taxpayers have the right to request the allocation of 0.3% of their income tax to the Catholic Church or to charities.


title: San Marino

text: The Diocese of San Marino-Montefeltro was until 1977 the historic diocese of Montefeltro. It is a suffragan of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia. The diocese includes all the parishes of San Marino. The earliest mention of Montefeltro, as "Mona Feretri", is in the diplomas by which Charlemagne confirmed the donation of Pepin. The first known bishop of Montefeltro was Agatho (826), whose residence was at San Leo. Under Bishop Flaminios Dondi (1724) the see was again transferred to San Leo, but later it returned to Pennabilli. The historic diocese was a suffragan of the archdiocese of Urbino. Since 1988, there is formally an apostolic nunciature to the republic, but it is vested in the nuncio to Italy.


title: San Marino

text: There has been a Jewish presence in San Marino for at least 600 years. The first mention of Jews in San Marino dates to the late 14th century, in official documents recording the business transactions of Jews. There are many documents throughout the 15th to 17th centuries describing Jewish dealings and verifying the presence of a Jewish community in San Marino. Jews were permitted official protection by the government.


title: San Marino

text: During World War II, San Marino provided a haven for more than 100,000 Jews and other Italians (approximately 10 times the Sammarinese population at the time) from Nazi persecution. , few Jews remain. In 2019, a building was inaugurated as the 'Chapel of three religions', the first-ever building of its kind devoted to interfaith dialogue.


title: San Marino

text: There are of roads in the country, the main road being the San Marino Highway. Authorities license private vehicles with distinctive Sammarinese license plates, which are white with blue figures and the coat of arms, usually a letter followed by up to four numbers. Many vehicles also carry the international vehicle identification code (in black on a white oval sticker), which is "RSM".


title: San Marino

text: There are no public airports in San Marino, but there is a small private airstrip located in Torraccia. Most tourists who arrive by air land at Federico Fellini International Airport (close to the Italian city of Rimini), then make the transfer by bus.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino public transport comprises eight local bus lines entirely within San Marino. Cross-border connection to Rimini is available across a highway bridge in Rovereta.


title: San Marino

text: There is a regular bus service between Rimini and the city of San Marino that is popular with both tourists and workers commuting to San Marino from Italy. This service stops at approximately 20 locations in Rimini and within San Marino, with its two terminus stops at Rimini railway station and San Marino coach station.


title: San Marino

text: A limited licensed taxi service operates nationwide. There are seven licensed taxi companies operating in the republic, and Italian taxis regularly operate within San Marino when carrying passengers picked up in Italian territory.


title: San Marino

text: There is a aerial tramway connecting the City of San Marino on top of Monte Titano with Borgo Maggiore, a major town in the republic, with the second largest population of any Sammarinese settlement. From here a further connection is available to the nation's largest settlement, Dogana, via the local bus service.


title: San Marino

text: Two aerial tramway cars (gondolas) operate, with service provided at roughly 15-minute intervals throughout the day. A third vehicle is available on the system, a service car for the use of engineers maintaining the tramway.


title: San Marino

text: Today, there is no railway in San Marino, but for a short period before World War II, it had a single narrow-gauge line called the Ferrovia Rimini–San Marino which connected the country with the Italian rail network at Rimini. Because of the difficulties in accessing the capital, City of San Marino, with its mountain-top location, the terminus station was planned to be located in the village of Valdragone, but was extended to reach the capital through a steep and winding track comprising many tunnels. The railway was opened on 12 June 1932.


title: San Marino

text: An advanced system for its time, it was an electric railway, powered from overhead cables. It was well built and had a high frequency of passengers, but was almost completely destroyed during World War II. Many facilities such as bridges, tunnels, and stations remain visible today, and some have been converted to parks, public footpaths, or traffic routes. Debate continues on whether the line should be restored, as Rimini is the nearest bigger city and has access to the Adriatic sea, the Italian railway network, and the Federico Fellini International Airport.


title: San Marino

text: The Three Towers of San Marino are located on the three peaks of Monte Titano in the capital. They are depicted on both the flag of San Marino and its coat of arms. The three towers are: "Guaita", the oldest of the three (it was constructed in the 11th century); the 13th-century "Cesta", located on the highest of Monte Titano's summits; and the 14th-century "Montale", on the smallest of Monte Titano's summits, still privately owned.


title: San Marino

text: The (University of the Republic of San Marino) is the main university, which includes the "Scuola Superiore di Studi Storici di San Marino" (Graduate School of Historical Studies), a distinguished research and advanced international study centre governed by an international Scientific Committee coordinated by the emeritus historian Luciano Canfora. Other important institutes are the (Sammarinese Musical Institute) and the Akademio Internacia de la Sciencoj San Marino or (International Academy of Sciences San Marino). The latter is known for adopting Esperanto as the language for teaching and for scientific publications; further, it makes wide use of electronic educational technology (also called e-learning).


title: San Marino

text: Italian author Umberto Eco had attempted to create a "university without physical structures" in San Marino.


title: San Marino

text: In San Marino football is the most popular sport. Basketball and volleyball are also popular. The three sports have their own federations, the San Marino Football Federation, the San Marino Basketball Federation and the San Marino Volleyball Federation.


title: San Marino

text: The San Marino national football team has had little success, being made up of part-timers, such as local plumbers and farmers. Never qualifying for a major tournament, and recording only one win in over 25 years of its history, a 1–0 victory in 2004 against Liechtenstein. They have drawn four more, with their most notable result being a 1993 0–0 draw with Turkey during the European qualifiers for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In the same qualifying competition Davide Gualtieri scored a goal 8.3 seconds into a match against England; this goal held the record for the fastest in international football until 2016. San Marino has a club in the Italian league system called A.S.D.V. San Marino and a domestic amateur league, the Campionato Sammarinese, whose teams also participate in European club competitions. Together with Italy, San Marino held the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, with teams playing at the Stadio Olimpico in Serravalle. With Italy being the sole automatic qualifiers, the Sammarinese team was not participating in the final tournament.


title: San Marino

text: A Formula One race, the San Marino Grand Prix, was named after the state, although it did not take place there. Instead, it was held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in the Italian town of Imola, about northwest of San Marino. Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna suffered fatal accidents a day apart during the 1994 Grand Prix. This international event was removed from the calendar in 2007, although the circuit has since returned to the calendar as the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.


title: San Marino

text: The San Marino and Rimini's Coast motorcycle Grand Prix was reinstated in the schedule in 2007 and takes place at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, as does San Marino's round of the World Superbike Championship.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino has a professional baseball team which plays in Italy's top division. It has participated in the European Cup tournament for the continent's top club sides several times, hosting the event in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2007. It won the championship in 2006, 2011 and 2014.


title: San Marino

text: Shooting is also very popular in San Marino, with many shooters having taken part in international competitions and the Olympic Games. San Marino is also the smallest country to have ever won an Olympic medal, having won one silver and a bronze in shooting in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Despite their small population, they got their silver in a team event losing the gold medal match to Spain 41–40.


title: San Marino

text: The cuisine of San Marino is extremely similar to Italian, especially that of the adjoining Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions, but it has a number of its own unique dishes and products. Its best known is probably the "Torta Tre Monti" ("Cake of the Three Mountains" or "Cake of the Three Towers"), a wafer layered cake covered in chocolate depicting the Three Towers of San Marino. The country also has a small wine industry.


title: San Marino

text: The site San Marino: Historic Centre and Mount Titano became part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2008. The decision was taken during the 32nd Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee composed of 21 Countries convened in Québec, Canada.


title: San Marino

text: The country has a long and rich musical tradition, closely linked to that of Italy, but which is also highly independent in itself. A well-known 17th-century composer is Francesco Maria Marini. The pop singer Little Tony achieved considerable success in the United Kingdom and Italy in the 1950s and 1960s.


title: San Marino

text: San Marino has taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest eleven times, achieving three final qualifications to date (with then-three, eventually four-time contestant and San Marino native Valentina Monetta with "Maybe" in 2014, Turkish singer Serhat with "Say Na Na Na" who achieved 19th place in the final in 2019 and Italian singer Senhit along with American rapper Flo Rida who qualified for the 2021 final with the song "Adrenalina").


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to 1998. He founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001, leading it to election victories in 2002, 2007, and 2011 general elections before being required to stand down upon his election as president in 2014. He later returned to the AKP leadership in 2017 following the constitutional referendum that year. Coming from an Islamist political background and self-describing as a conservative democrat, he has promoted socially conservative and populist policies during his administration.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Following the 1994 local elections, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul as the candidate of the Islamist Welfare Party. He was later stripped of his position, banned from political office, and imprisoned for four months for inciting religious hatred, due to his recitation of a poem by Ziya Gökalp. Erdoğan subsequently abandoned openly Islamist politics, establishing the moderate conservative AKP in 2001, which he went on to lead to a landslide victory in 2002. With Erdoğan still technically prohibited from holding office, the AKP's co-founder, Abdullah Gül, instead became prime minister, and later annulled Erdoğan's political ban. After winning a by-election in Siirt in 2003, Erdoğan replaced Gül as prime minister, with Gül instead becoming the AKP's candidate for the presidency. Erdoğan led the AKP to two more election victories in 2007 and 2011.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Reforms made in the early years of Erdoğan's tenure as prime minister granted Turkey the start of EU membership negotiations. Furthermore, Turkey experienced an economic recovery from the economic crisis of 2001 and saw investments in infrastructure including roads, airports, and a high-speed train network. He also won two successful constitutional referendums in 2007 and 2010. However, his government remained controversial for its close links with Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen movement (since designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish state) with whom the AKP was accused of orchestrating purges against secular bureaucrats and military officers through the "Balyoz" and "Ergenekon" trials. In late 2012, his government began peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present). The ceasefire broke down in 2015, leading to a renewed escalation in conflict. Erdoğan's foreign policy has been described as Neo-Ottoman and has led to the Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, with its focus on preventing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from gaining ground on the Syria–Turkey border during the Syrian Civil War.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: In the more recent years of Erdoğan's rule, Turkey has experienced democratic backsliding and corruption. Starting with the anti-government protests in 2013, his government imposed growing censorship on the press and social media, temporarily restricting access to sites such as YouTube, Twitter and Wikipedia. This stalled negotiations related to Turkey's EU membership. A US$100 billion corruption scandal in 2013 led to the arrests of Erdoğan's close allies, and incriminated Erdoğan. After 11 years as head of government (Prime Minister), Erdoğan decided to run for president in 2014. At the time, the presidency was a somewhat ceremonial function. Following the 2014 elections, Erdoğan became the first popularly elected president of Turkey. The souring in relations with Gülen continued, as the government proceeded to purge his supporters from judicial, bureaucratic and military positions. A failed military coup d'état attempt in July 2016 resulted in further purges and a state of emergency that lasted until 2018. The government claimed that the coup leaders were linked to Gülen, but he has denied any role in it. Erdoğan's rule has been marked with increasing authoritarianism, expansionism, censorship and banning of parties or dissent.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan supported the 2017 referendum which changed Turkey's parliamentary system into a presidential system, thus setting for the first time in Turkish history a term limit for the head of government (two full five-year terms). This new system of government formally came into place after the 2018 general election, where Erdoğan became an executive president. His party however lost the majority in the parliament and is currently in a coalition (People's Alliance) with the Turkish nationalist MHP. Erdoğan has since been tackling, but also accused of contributing to, the Turkish currency and debt crisis of 2018, which has caused a significant decline in his popularity and is widely believed to have contributed to the results of the 2019 local elections, in which his party lost power in large cities such as Ankara and Istanbul to opposition parties for the first time in 15 years.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: According to historian M. Hakan Yavuz, Erdoğan was born in Güneysu, Rize and later his family moved to Kasımpaşa, a poor neighborhood of Istanbul. Erdoğan's family is originally from Adjara, a region in Georgia. His parents were Ahmet Erdoğan (1905–88) and Tenzile Erdoğan (née Mutlu; 1924–2011).


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan spent his early childhood in Rize, where his father was a captain in the Turkish Coast Guard. His summer holidays were mostly spent in Güneysu, Rize, where his family originates. Throughout his life he often returned to this spiritual home, and in 2015 he opened a vast mosque on a mountaintop near this village. The family returned to Istanbul when Erdoğan was 13 years old.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: As a teenager, Erdoğan's father provided him with a weekly allowance of 2.5 Turkish lira, less than a dollar. With it, Erdoğan bought postcards and resold them on the street. He sold bottles of water to drivers stuck in traffic. Erdoğan also worked as a street vendor selling simit (sesame bread rings), wearing a white gown and selling the simit from a red three-wheel cart with the rolls stacked behind glass. In his youth, Erdoğan played semi-professional football at a local club. Fenerbahçe wanted him to transfer to the club but his father prevented it. The stadium of the local football club in the district where he grew up, Kasımpaşa S.K. is named after him.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan is a member of the Community of İskenderpaşa, a Turkish Sufistic community of Naqshbandi tariqah.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan graduated from Kasımpaşa Piyale primary school in 1965, and İmam Hatip school, a religious vocational high school, in 1973. The same educational path was followed by other co-founders of the AKP party. One quarter of the curriculum of İmam Hatip schools involves study of the Qurʼān, the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the Arabic language. Erdoğan studied the Qurʼān at an İmam Hatip, where his classmates began calling him ""hoca"" ("Muslim teacher").


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan attended a meeting of the nationalist student group National Turkish Student Union ("Milli Türk Talebe Birliği)", who sought to raise a conservative cohort of young people to counter the rising movement of leftists in Turkey. Within the group, Erdoğan was distinguished by his oratorical skills, developing a penchant for public speaking and excelling in front of an audience. He won first place in a poetry-reading competition organized by the Community of Turkish Technical Painters, and began preparing for speeches through reading and research. Erdoğan would later comment on these competitions as "enhancing our courage to speak in front of the masses".


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan wanted to pursue advanced studies at Mekteb-i Mülkiye, but Mülkiye accepted only students with regular high school diplomas, and not İmam Hatip graduates. Mülkiye was known for its political science department, which trained many statesmen and politicians in Turkey. Erdoğan was then admitted to Eyüp High School, a regular state school, and eventually received his high school diploma from Eyüp.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: According to his official biography, he subsequently studied Business Administration at the Aksaray School of Economics and Commercial Sciences (), now known as Marmara University's Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences. According to the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the website of the presidency, he shall have graduated in 1981 but the Marmara University was established only in 1982. Several sources dispute that he graduated, since a graduation certificate has never been presented.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan married Emine Gülbaran (b. 1955, Siirt) on 4 July 1978. They have two sons, Ahmet Burak (b. 1979) and Necmettin Bilal (b. 1981), and two daughters, Esra (b. 1983) and Sümeyye (b. 1985). His father, Ahmet Erdoğan, died in 1988 and his mother, Tenzile Erdoğan, died in 2011 at the age of 87.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan has a brother, Mustafa (b. 1958), and a sister, Vesile (b. 1965). From his father's first marriage to Havuli Erdoğan (d. 1980), he had two half-brothers: Mehmet (1926–1988) and Hasan (1929–2006).


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: In 1976, Erdoğan engaged in politics by joining the National Turkish Student Union, an anti-communist action group. In the same year, he became the head of the Beyoğlu youth branch of the Islamist National Salvation Party (MSP), and was later promoted to chair of the Istanbul youth branch of the party.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Holding this position until 1980, he served as consultant and senior executive in the private sector during the era following the 1980 military coup when political parties were closed down.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: In 1983, Erdoğan followed most of Necmettin Erbakan's followers into the Islamist Welfare Party. He became the party's Beyoğlu district chair in 1984, and in 1985 he became the chair of the Istanbul city branch. Erdoğan entered the parliamentairy by-elections of 1986 as a 6th district candidate of Istanbul, but gained no seat as his party ended as the fifth largest party in the by-elections. Three years later, Erdoğan ran for mayor of Beyoğlu district. He finished second in the election with 22.8% of the votes. Erdoğan was elected to parliament in 1991, but was barred from taking his seat due to preferential voting.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: In the local elections of 1994, Erdoğan ran as a candidate for Mayor of Istanbul. He was a 40-year-old dark horse candidate who had been mocked by the mainstream media and treated as a country bumpkin by his opponents. He won the election with 25.19% of the popular vote, making it the first time a mayor of Istanbul got elected from his political party.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: He was pragmatic in office, tackling many chronic problems in Istanbul including water shortage, pollution and traffic chaos. The water shortage problem was solved with the laying of hundreds of kilometers of new pipelines. The garbage problem was solved with the establishment of state-of-the-art recycling facilities. While Erdoğan was in office, air pollution was reduced through a plan developed to switch to natural gas. He changed the public buses to environmentally friendly ones. The city's traffic and transportation jams were reduced with more than fifty bridges, viaducts, and highways built. He took precautions to prevent corruption, using measures to ensure that municipal funds were used prudently. He paid back a major portion of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality's two-billion-dollar debt and invested four billion dollars in the city. He also opened up City Hall to the people, gave out his e-mail address and established municipal hot lines.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan initiated the first roundtable of mayors during the Istanbul conference, which led to a global, organized movement of mayors. A seven-member international jury from the United Nations unanimously awarded Erdoğan the UN-Habitat award.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: In December 1997 in Siirt, Erdoğan recited a poem from a work written by Ziya Gökalp, a pan-Turkish activist of the early 20th century. His recitation included verses translated as "The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers..." which are not in the original version of the poem. Under article 312/2 of the Turkish penal code his recitation was regarded by the judge as an incitement to violence and religious or racial hatred. In his defense, Erdoğan said that the poem was published in state-approved books. How this version of the poem ended up in a book published by the Turkish Standards Institution remained a topic of discussion.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan was given a ten-month prison sentence. He was forced to give up his mayoral position due to his conviction. The conviction also stipulated a political ban, which prevented him from participating in elections. He had appealed for the sentence to be converted to a monetary fine, but it was reduced to 4 months instead (24 March 1999 to 27 July 1999).


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: He was transferred to Pınarhisar prison in Kırklareli. The day Erdoğan went to prison, he dropped an album called "This Song Doesn't End Here". The album features a tracklist of seven poems and became the best-selling album of Turkey in 1999, selling over one million copies.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: In 2013, Erdoğan visited the Pınarhisar prison again for the first time in fourteen years. After the visit, he said "For me, Pınarhisar is a symbol of rebirth, where we prepared the establishment of the Justice and Development Party".


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: Erdoğan was member of political parties that kept getting banned by the army or judges. Within his Virtue Party, there was a dispute about the appropriate discourse of the party between traditional politicians and pro-reform politicians. The latter envisioned a party that could operate within the limits of the system, and thus not getting banned as its predecessors like National Order Party, National Salvation Party and Welfare Party. They wanted to give the group the character of an ordinary conservative party with its members being Muslim Democrats following the example of the Europe's Christian Democrats.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: When the Virtue Party was also banned in 2001, a definitive split took place: the followers of Necmettin Erbakan founded the Felicity Party (SP) and the reformers founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP) under the leadership of Abdullah Gül and Erdoğan. The pro-reform politicians realized that a strictly Islamic party would never be accepted as a governing party by the state apparatus and they believed that an Islamic party did not appeal to more than about 20 percent of the Turkish electorate. The AK party emphatically placed itself as a broad democratic conservative party with new politicians from the political center (like Ali Babacan and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu), while respecting Islamic norms and values, but without an explicit religious program. This turned out to be successful as the new party won 34% of the vote in the general elections of 2002. Erdoğan became prime minister in March 2003 after the Gül government ended his political ban.


title: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

text: The elections of 2002 were the first elections in which Erdoğan participated as a party leader. All parties previously elected to parliament failed to win enough votes to re-enter the parliament. The AKP won 34.3% of the national vote and formed the new government. Turkish stocks rose more than 7% on Monday morning. Politicians of the previous generation, such as Ecevit, Bahceli, Yılmaz and Çiller, resigned. The second largest party, the CHP, received 19.4% of the votes. The AKP won a landslide victory in the parliament, taking nearly two-thirds of the seats. Erdoğan could not become Prime Minister as he was still banned from politics by the judiciary for his speech in Siirt. Gül became the Prime Minister instead. In December 2002, the Supreme Election Board canceled the general election results from Siirt due to voting irregularities and scheduled a new election for 9 February 2003. By this time, party leader Erdoğan was able to run for parliament due to a legal change made possible by the opposition Republican People's Party. The AKP duly listed Erdoğan as a candidate for the rescheduled election, which he won, becoming Prime Minister after Gül handed over the post.