title: Inuit

text: The Inuit hunted sea animals from single-passenger, seal-skin covered boats called "qajaq" (Inuktitut syllabics: "ᖃᔭᖅ") which were extraordinarily buoyant, and could be righted by a seated person, even if completely overturned. Because of this property, the design was copied by Europeans and Americans who still produce them under the Inuit name kayak.


title: Inuit

text: Inuit also made "umiaq" ("woman's boat"), larger open boats made of wood frames covered with animal skins, for transporting people, goods, and dogs. They were long and had a flat bottom so that the boats could come close to shore. In the winter, Inuit would also hunt sea mammals by patiently watching an "aglu" (breathing hole) in the ice and waiting for the air-breathing seals to use them. This technique is also used by the polar bear, who hunts by seeking holes in the ice and waiting nearby.


title: Inuit

text: In winter, both on land and on sea ice, the Inuit used dog sleds ("qamutik") for transportation. The "husky" dog breed comes from the Siberian Husky. These dogs were bred from wolves, for transportation. A team of dogs in either a tandem/side-by-side or fan formation would pull a sled made of wood, animal bones, or the baleen from a whale's mouth and even frozen fish, over the snow and ice. The Inuit used stars to navigate at sea and landmarks to navigate on land; they possessed a comprehensive native system of toponymy. Where natural landmarks were insufficient, the Inuit would erect an "inukshuk". Also, Greenland Inuit created Ammassalik wooden maps, which are tactile devices that represent the coast line.


title: Inuit

text: Dogs played an integral role in the annual routine of the Inuit. During the summer they became pack animals, sometimes dragging up to of baggage and in the winter they pulled the sled. Yearlong they assisted with hunting by sniffing out seals' holes and pestering polar bears. They also protected the Inuit villages by barking at bears and strangers. The Inuit generally favored, and tried to breed, the most striking and handsome of dogs, especially ones with bright eyes and a healthy coat. Common husky dog breeds used by the Inuit were the Canadian Eskimo Dog, the official animal of Nunavut, ("Qimmiq"; Inuktitut for dog), the Greenland Dog, the Siberian Husky and the Alaskan Malamute. The Inuit would perform rituals over the newborn pup to give it favorable qualities; the legs were pulled to make them grow strong and the nose was poked with a pin to enhance the sense of smell.


title: Inuit

text: Inuit industry relied almost exclusively on animal hides, driftwood, and bones, although some tools were also made out of worked stones, particularly the readily worked soapstone. Walrus ivory was a particularly essential material, used to make knives. Art played a big part in Inuit society and continues to do so today. Small sculptures of animals and human figures, usually depicting everyday activities such as hunting and whaling, were carved from ivory and bone. In modern times prints and figurative works carved in relatively soft stone such as soapstone, serpentinite, or argillite have also become popular.


title: Inuit

text: Traditional Inuit clothing and footwear is made from animal skins, sewn together using needles made from animal bones and threads made from other animal products, such as sinew. The anorak (parka) is made in a similar fashion by Arctic peoples from Europe through Asia and the Americas, including the Inuit. The hood of an "amauti", (women's parka, plural "amautiit") was traditionally made extra-large with a separate compartment below the hood to allow the mother to carry a baby against her back and protect it from the harsh wind. Styles vary from region to region, from the shape of the hood to the length of the tails. Boots ("mukluk" or "kamik"), could be made of caribou or seal skin, and designed for men and women.


title: Inuit

text: During the winter, certain Inuit lived in a temporary shelter made from snow called an "igloo", and during the few months of the year when temperatures were above freezing, they lived in tents, known as "tupiq", made of animal skins supported by a frame of bones or wood. Some, such as the Siglit, used driftwood, while others built sod houses.


title: Inuit

text: The Inuit also used the Cape York Meteorite as a primary resource of Iron, using a technique called cold forging, which consisted in slicing a piece of the meteorite and giving it shape by smashing it with rocks until getting the desired shape, for example tools for fishing. They used this meteorite for centuries until Robert E. Peary sold it to the American Natural History Museum in 1883.


title: Inuit

text: The division of labor in traditional Inuit society had a strong gender component, but it was not absolute. The men were traditionally hunters and fishermen, and the women took care of the children, cleaned the home, sewed, processed food, and cooked. However, there are numerous examples of women who hunted, out of necessity or as a personal choice. At the same time, men, who could be away from camp for several days at a time, would be expected to know how to sew and cook.


title: Inuit

text: The marital customs among the Inuit were not strictly monogamous: many Inuit relationships were implicitly or explicitly sexual. Open marriages, polygamy, divorce, and remarriage were known. Among some Inuit groups, if there were children, divorce required the approval of the community and particularly the agreement of the elders. Marriages were often arranged, sometimes in infancy, and occasionally forced on the couple by the community.


title: Inuit

text: Marriage was common for women at puberty and for men when they became productive hunters. Family structure was flexible: a household might consist of a man and his wife (or wives) and children; it might include his parents or his wife's parents as well as adopted children; it might be a larger formation of several siblings with their parents, wives and children; or even more than one family sharing dwellings and resources. Every household had its head, either an elder or a particularly respected man.


title: Inuit

text: There was also a larger notion of community as, generally, several families shared a place where they wintered. Goods were shared within a household, and also, to a significant extent, within a whole community.


title: Inuit

text: One of the customs following the birth of an infant was for an "Angakkuq" (shaman) to place a tiny ivory carving of a whale into the baby's mouth, in hopes this would make the child good at hunting. Loud singing and drumming were also customary at birth.


title: Inuit

text: Virtually all Inuit cultures have oral traditions of raids by other indigenous peoples, including fellow Inuit, and of taking vengeance on them in return, such as the Bloody Falls massacre. Western observers often regarded these tales as generally not entirely accurate historical accounts, but more as self-serving myths. However, evidence shows that Inuit cultures had quite accurate methods of teaching historical accounts to each new generation. In northern Canada, historically there were ethnic feuds between the Dene and the Inuit, as witnessed by Samuel Hearne in 1771. In 1996, Dene and Inuit representatives participated in a healing ceremony to reconcile the centuries-old grievances.


title: Inuit

text: The historic accounts of violence against outsiders make it clear that there was a history of hostile contact within the Inuit cultures and with other cultures. It also makes it clear that Inuit nations existed through history, as well as confederations of such nations. The known confederations were usually formed to defend against a more prosperous, and thus stronger, nation. Alternately, people who lived in less productive geographical areas tended to be less warlike, as they had to spend more time producing food.


title: Inuit

text: Justice within Inuit culture was moderated by the form of governance that gave significant power to the elders. As in most cultures around the world, justice could be harsh and often included capital punishment for serious crimes against the community or the individual. During raids against other peoples, the Inuit, like their non-Inuit neighbors, tended to be merciless.


title: Inuit

text: A pervasive European myth about Inuit is that they killed elderly (senicide) and "unproductive people", but this is not generally true. In a culture with an oral history, elders are the keepers of communal knowledge, effectively the community library. Because they are of extreme value as the repository of knowledge, there are cultural taboos against sacrificing elders.


title: Inuit

text: In Antoon A. Leenaars' book "Suicide in Canada" he states that "Rasmussen found that the death of elders by suicide was a commonplace among the Iglulik Inuit".


title: Inuit

text: According to Franz Boas, suicide was "not of rare occurrence" and was generally accomplished through hanging. Writing of the Labrador Inuit, Hawkes (1916) was considerably more explicit on the subject of suicide and the burden of the elderly:


title: Inuit

text: When food is not sufficient, the elderly are the least likely to survive. In the extreme case of famine, the Inuit fully understood that, if there was to be any hope of obtaining more food, a hunter was necessarily the one to feed on whatever food was left. However, a common response to desperate conditions and the threat of starvation was infanticide. A mother abandoned an infant in hopes that someone less desperate might find and adopt the child before the cold or animals killed it. The belief that the Inuit regularly resorted to infanticide may be due in part to studies done by Asen Balikci, Milton Freeman and David Riches among the Netsilik, along with the trial of Kikkik. Other recent research has noted that "While there is little disagreement that there were examples of infanticide in Inuit communities, it is presently not known the depth and breadth of these incidents. The research is neither complete nor conclusive to allow for a determination of whether infanticide was a rare or a widely practiced event." There is no agreement about the actual estimates of the frequency of newborn female infanticide in the Inuit population. Carmel Schrire mentions diverse studies ranging from 15 to 50% to 80%.


title: Inuit

text: Anthropologists believed that Inuit cultures routinely killed children born with physical defects because of the demands of the extreme climate. These views were changed by late 20th century discoveries of burials at an archaeological site. Between 1982 and 1994, a storm with high winds caused ocean waves to erode part of the bluffs near Barrow, Alaska, and a body was discovered to have been washed out of the mud. Unfortunately, the storm claimed the body, which was not recovered. But examination of the eroded bank indicated that an ancient house, perhaps with other remains, was likely to be claimed by the next storm. The site, known as the "Ukkuqsi archaeological site", was excavated. Several frozen bodies (now known as the "frozen family") were recovered, autopsies were performed, and they were re-interred as the first burials in the then-new Imaiqsaun Cemetery south of Barrow. Years later another body was washed out of the bluff. It was a female child, approximately 9 years old, who had clearly been born with a congenital birth defect. This child had never been able to walk, but must have been cared for by family throughout her life. She was the best preserved body ever recovered in Alaska, and radiocarbon dating of grave goods and of a strand of her hair all place her back to about 1200 CE.


title: Inuit

text: During the 19th century, the Western Arctic suffered a population decline of close to 90%, resulting from exposure to new diseases, including tuberculosis, measles, influenza, and smallpox. Autopsies near Greenland reveal that, more commonly pneumonia, kidney diseases, trichinosis, malnutrition, and degenerative disorders may have contributed to mass deaths among different Inuit tribes. The Inuit believed that the causes of the disease were of a spiritual origin.


title: Inuit

text: Canadian churches and, eventually, the federal government ran the earliest health facilities for the Inuit population, whether fully segregated hospitals or "annexes" and wards attached to settler hospitals. These "Indian hospitals" were focused on treating people for tuberculosis, though diagnosis was difficult and treatment involved forced removal of individuals from their communities for in-patient confinement in other parts of the country.


title: Inuit

text: Dr. Kevin Patterson, a physician, wrote an op-ed in The Globe and Mail: "In October (2017) the federal Minister of Indigenous Services, Jane Philpott, announced that in 2015 tuberculosis... Was 270 times... More common among the Canadian Inuit than it is among non-indigenous southern Canadians." The Canadian Medical Association Journal published in 2013 that "tuberculosis among Canadian Inuit has dramatically increased since 1997. In 2010 the incidence in Nunavut... Was 304 per 100,000— more than 66 times the rate seen in the general population.


title: Inuit

text: Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit or Inuit traditional laws are anthropologically different from Western law concepts. Customary law was thought non-existent in Inuit society before the introduction of the Canadian legal system. In 1954, E. Adamson Hoebel concluded that only "rudimentary law" existed amongst the Inuit. No known Western observer before 1970 was aware that any form of governance existed among any Inuit, however, there was a set way of doing things that had to be followed:


title: Inuit

text: If an individual's actions went against the tirigusuusiit, maligait or piqujait, the angakkuq (shaman) might have to intervene, lest the consequences be dire to the individual or the community.


title: Inuit

text: The environment in which the Inuit lived inspired a mythology filled with adventure tales of whale and walrus hunts. Long winter months of waiting for caribou herds or sitting near breathing holes hunting seals gave birth to stories of mysterious and sudden appearance of ghosts and fantastic creatures. Some Inuit looked into the "aurora borealis", or northern lights, to find images of their family and friends dancing in the next life. However, some Inuit believed that the lights were more sinister and if you whistled at them, they would come down and cut off your head. This tale is still told to children today. For others they were invisible giants, the souls of animals, a guide to hunting and as a spirit for the "angakkuq" to help with healing. They relied upon the "angakkuq" (shaman) for spiritual interpretation. The nearest thing to a central deity was the Old Woman ("Sedna"), who lived beneath the sea. The waters, a central food source, were believed to contain great gods.


title: Inuit

text: The Inuit practiced a form of shamanism based on animist principles. They believed that all things had a form of spirit, including humans, and that to some extent these spirits could be influenced by a pantheon of supernatural entities that could be appeased when one required some animal or inanimate thing to act in a certain way. The "angakkuq" of a community of Inuit was not the leader, but rather a sort of healer and psychotherapist, who tended wounds and offered advice, as well as invoking the spirits to assist people in their lives. Their role was to see, interpret and exhort the subtle and unseen. "Angakkuit" were not trained; they were held to be born with the ability and recognized by the community as they approached adulthood.


title: Inuit

text: Inuit religion was closely tied to a system of rituals integrated into the daily life of the people. These rituals were simple but held to be necessary. According to a customary Inuit saying, "The great peril of our existence lies in the fact that our diet consists entirely of souls".


title: Inuit

text: By believing that all things, including animals, have souls like those of humans, any hunt that failed to show appropriate respect and customary supplication would only give the liberated spirits cause to avenge themselves.


title: Inuit

text: The harshness and unpredictability of life in the Arctic ensured that Inuit lived with concern for the uncontrollable, where a streak of bad luck could destroy an entire community. To offend a spirit was to risk its interference with an already marginal existence. The Inuit understood that they had to work in harmony with supernatural powers to provide the necessities of day-to-day life.


title: Inuit

text: In total there are about 148,000 Inuit living in four countries, Canada, Greenland, Denmark and the United States.


title: Inuit

text: , there were 65,025 people identifying as Inuit living in Canada. This was up 29.1% from the 2006 Canadian census. Close to three-quarters (72.8%) of Inuit lived in one of the four regions comprising Inuit Nunangat (Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Inuvialuit Settlement Region). From 2006 to 2016, the Inuit population grew by 20.1% inside Inuit Nunangat.


title: Inuit

text: The largest population of Inuit in Canada live in Nunavut with 30,140 Inuit out of a total population of 35,580 residents. Between 2006 and 2016, the Inuit population of Nunavut grew by 22.5%. In Nunavut, the Inuit population forms a majority in all communities and is the only jurisdiction of Canada where Aboriginal peoples form a majority.


title: Inuit

text: , there were 13,945 Inuit living in Quebec. The majority, about 11,795, live in Nunavik. The Inuit population of Nunavik grew 23.3% between the 2006 and 2016 censuses. This was the fastest growth among all four regions of Inuit Nunangat.


title: Inuit

text: , there were 4,080 Inuit living in the Northwest Territories. The majority, 3,110, live in the six communities of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Inuit population growth in the region was largely flat between 2006 and 2016.


title: Inuit

text: Outside of Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit population was 17,695 . This was a growth of 61.9% between the 2006 and 2016 censuses. The highest populations of Inuit outside of Inuit Nunangat lived in the Atlantic provinces (30.6%) with 23.5% lived in Newfoundland and Labrador. A further 21.8% outside of Inuit Nunangat lived in Ontario, 28.7% lived in the western provinces, 12.1% lived in Quebec, while 6.8% lived in the Northwest Territories (not including the Inuvialuit region) and Yukon.


title: Inuit

text: Included in the population of Newfoundland and Labrador outside of Inuit Nunangat is the unrecognized Inuit territory of NunatuKavut where about 6,000 NunatuKavut people (Labrador Metis or Inuit-metis) reside in southern Labrador.


title: Inuit

text: According to the 2018 edition of the "CIA World Factbook", the Inuit population of Greenland is 88% (50,787) out of a total of 57,713 people. Like Nunavut, the population lives throughout the habitable areas of the region.


title: Inuit

text: The population size of Greenlandic people in Denmark varies from source to source between 15,000 and 20,000. According to 2015 figures from Statistics Denmark there are 15,815 people residing in Denmark of Greenlandic Inuit ancestry. Most travel to Denmark for educational purposes, and many remain after finishing their education, which results in the population being mostly concentrated in the big 4 educational cities of Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, and Aalborg, which all have vibrant Greenlandic communities and cultural centers (Kalaallit Illuutaat).


title: Inuit

text: According to the 2000 United States Census there were a total of 16,581 Inuit/Inupiat living throughout the country. The majority, about 14,718, live in the state of Alaska. According to 2019-based U.S. Census Bureau data, there are 700 Alaskan Natives in Seattle, many of whom are Inuit and Yupik, and almost 7,000 in Washington state.


title: Inuit

text: The Inuit Circumpolar Council is a United Nations-recognized non-governmental organization (NGO), which defines its constituency as Canada's Inuit and Inuvialuit, Greenland's Kalaallit Inuit, Alaska's Inupiat and Yup'ik, and Russia's Siberian Yupik, despite the last two neither speaking an Inuit dialect or considering themselves "Inuit". Nonetheless, it has come together with other circumpolar cultural and political groups to promote the Inuit and other northern people in their fight against ecological problems such as climate change which disproportionately affects the Inuit population. The Inuit Circumpolar Council is one of the six group of Arctic indigenous peoples that have a seat as a so-called "Permanent Participant" on the Arctic Council, an international high level forum in which the eight Arctic Countries (USA, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland) discuss Arctic policy. On 12 May 2011, Greenland's Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist hosted the ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council, an event for which the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Nuuk, as did many other high-ranking officials such as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. At that event they signed the Nuuk Declaration.


title: Inuit

text: While Inuit Nunangat is within Canada, and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami oversees only the four official regions, there remains NunatuKavut in southern Labrador. NunatuKavummuit retain a treaty with the Crown since 1765, and the NunatuKavut Community Council (NCC) oversees governance in this region.


title: Inuit

text: The Inuvialuit are western Canadian Inuit who remained in the Northwest Territories when Nunavut split off. They live primarily in the Mackenzie River delta, on Banks Island, and parts of Victoria Island in the Northwest Territories. They are officially represented by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and, in 1984, received a comprehensive land claims settlement, the first in Northern Canada, with the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.


title: Inuit

text: The TFN worked for ten years and, in September 1992, came to a final agreement with the Government of Canada. This agreement called for the separation of the Northwest Territories into an eastern territory whose Aboriginal population would be predominately Inuit, the future Nunavut, and a rump Northwest Territories in the west. It was the largest land claim agreement in Canadian history. In November 1992, the "Nunavut Final Agreement" was approved by nearly 85% of the Inuit of what would become Nunavut. As the final step in this long process, the "Nunavut Land Claims Agreement" was signed on May 25, 1993, in Iqaluit by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and by Paul Quassa, the president of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, which replaced the TFN with the ratification of the Nunavut Final Agreement. The Canadian Parliament passed the supporting legislation in June of the same year, enabling the 1999 establishment of Nunavut as a territorial entity.


title: Inuit

text: In 1953, Denmark put an end to the colonial status of Greenland and granted home rule in 1979 and in 2008 a self-government referendum was passed with 75% approval. Although still a part of the Kingdom of Denmark (along with Denmark proper and the Faroe Islands), Greenland, known as Kalaallit Nunaat in the Greenlandic language, maintains much autonomy today. Of a population of 56,000, 80% of Greenlanders identify as Inuit. Their economy is based on fishing and shrimping.


title: Inuit

text: The Thule people arrived in Greenland in the 13th century. There they encountered the Norsemen, who had established colonies there since the late 10th century, as well as a later wave of the Dorset people. Because most of Greenland is covered in ice, the Greenland Inuit (or Kalaallit) only live in coastal settlements, particularly the northern polar coast, the eastern Amassalik coast and the central coasts of western Greenland.


title: Inuit

text: The Inuit of Alaska are the Iñupiat who live in the Northwest Arctic Borough, the North Slope Borough and the Bering Strait region. Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the United States, is in the Inupiat region. Their language is Iñupiaq.


title: Inuit

text: A genetic study published in "Science" in August 2014 examined a large number of remains from the Dorset culture, Birnirk culture and the Thule people. Genetic continuity was observed between the Inuit, Thule and Birnirk, who overwhelmingly carried the maternal haplogroup A2a and were genetically very different from the Dorset. The evidence suggested that the Inuit descend from the Birnirk of Siberia, who through the Thule culture expanded into northern Canada and Greenland, where they genetically and culturally completely replaced the indigenous Dorset people some time after 1300 AD.


title: Inuit

text: Inuit art, carving, print making, textiles and Inuit throat singing, are very popular, not only in Canada but globally, and Inuit artists are widely known. Canada has adopted some of the Inuit culture as national symbols, using Inuit cultural icons like the inuksuk in unlikely places, such as its use as a symbol at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Respected art galleries display Inuit art, the largest collection of which is at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Their traditional New Year is called "Quviasukvik".


title: Inuit

text: Some Inuit languages, such as Inuktitut, appear to have a more secure future in Quebec and Nunavut. There are a number of Inuit, even those who now live in urban centres such as Ottawa, Montreal and Winnipeg, who have experienced living on the land in the traditional life style. People such as Legislative Assembly of Nunavut member, Levinia Brown and former Commissioner of Nunavut and the NWT, Helen Maksagak were born and lived the early part of their life "on the land". Inuit culture is alive and vibrant today in spite of the negative impacts of recent history.


title: Inuit

text: An important biennial event, the Arctic Winter Games, is held in communities across the northern regions of the world, featuring traditional Inuit and northern sports as part of the events. A cultural event is also held. The games were first held in 1970, and while rotated usually among Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, they have also been held in Schefferville, Quebec, in 1976, in Slave Lake, Alberta, and a joint Iqaluit, Nunavut-Nuuk, Greenland staging in 2002. In other sporting events, Jordin Tootoo became the first Inuk to play in the National Hockey League in the 2003–2004 season, playing for the Nashville Predators.


title: Inuit

text: Although Inuit life has changed significantly over the past century, many traditions continue. "Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit", or traditional knowledge, such as storytelling, mythology, music, and dancing remain important parts of the culture. Family and community are very important. The Inuktitut language is still spoken in many areas of the Arctic and is common on radio and in television programming.


title: Inuit

text: Well-known Inuit politicians include Premier of Nunavut, Peter Taptuna, Nancy Karetak-Lindell, former MP for the riding of Nunavut, and Kuupik Kleist, Prime Minister of Greenland. Leona Aglukkaq, former MP, was the first Inuk to be sworn into the Canadian Federal Cabinet as Health Minister in 2008. In May 2011 after being re-elected for her second term, Ms. Aglukkaq was given the additional portfolio of Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. In July 2013 she was sworn in as the Minister of the Environment.


title: Inuit

text: Visual and performing arts are strong features of Inuit culture. In 2002 the first feature film in Inuktitut, "", was released worldwide to great critical and popular acclaim. It was directed by Zacharias Kunuk, and written, filmed, produced, directed, and acted almost entirely by the Inuit of Igloolik. In 2009, the film "Le Voyage D'Inuk", a Greenlandic-language feature film, was directed by Mike Magidson and co-written by Magidson and French film producer Jean-Michel Huctin. One of the most famous Inuit artists is Pitseolak Ashoona. Susan Aglukark is a popular singer. Mitiarjuk Attasie Nappaaluk worked at preserving Inuktitut and wrote one of the first novels ever published in that language. In 2006, Cape Dorset was hailed as Canada's most artistic city, with 23% of the labor force employed in the arts. Inuit art such as soapstone carvings is one of Nunavut's most important industries. Ada Eyetoaq was an Inuit artist who made miniature sculptures out of soapstone.


title: Inuit

text: Recently, there has been an identity struggle among the younger generations of Inuit, between their traditional heritage and the modern society which their cultures have been forced to assimilate into in order to maintain a livelihood. With current dependence on modern society for necessities, (including governmental jobs, food, aid, medicine, etc.), the Inuit have had much interaction with and exposure to the societal norms outside their previous cultural boundaries. The stressors regarding the identity crisis among teenagers have led to disturbingly high numbers of suicide.


title: Inuit

text: A series of authors have focused upon the increasing myopia in the youngest generations of Inuit. Myopia was almost unknown prior to the Inuit adoption of Western culture. Principal theories are the change to a Western style diet with more refined foods, and extended education.


title: Inuit

text: David Pisurayak Kootook was awarded the Meritorious Service Cross, posthumously, for his heroic efforts in a 1972 plane crash. Other notable Inuit include the freelance journalist Ossie Michelin, whose iconic photograph of the activist Amanda Polchies went viral after the 2013 anti-fracking protests at Elsipogtog First Nation.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track can go up to , and in prior events reaching before track modifications. Racing teams must balance the demands of speed with the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without mechanical failure.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The race is organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). It is held on the Circuit de la Sarthe, composed of closed public roads and dedicated sections of a racing track. The event represents one leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, with the other events being the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The 24 Hours of Le Mans was frequently part of the World Sportscar Championship from 1953 until that series' final season in 1992. In 2011, it was a part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Since 2012, the race has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. In World Endurance Championship's super-season of May 2018 to June 2019, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was both the second and the last round of the season.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Launched when Grand Prix motor racing was the dominant form of motorsport throughout Europe, Le Mans was designed to present a different test. Instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines, the 24 Hours of Le Mans would concentrate on the ability of manufacturers to build sporty yet reliable cars. This encouraged innovation in producing reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, because endurance racing requires cars that last and spend as little time in the pits as possible.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: At the same time, the layout of the track required cars with better aerodynamics and stability at high speeds. While this was shared with Grand Prix racing, few tracks in Europe had straights of a length comparable to the Mulsanne. Additionally, because the road is public and thus not as meticulously maintained as permanent racing circuits, racing puts more strain on the parts, increasing the importance of reliability.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The oil crisis in the early 1970s led organizers to adopt a fuel economy formula known as Group C that limited the amount of fuel each car was allowed. Although it was later abandoned, fuel economy remains important as new fuel sources reduce the time spent during pit stops. Such technological innovations have had a trickle-down effect and can be incorporated into consumer cars. This has also led to faster and more exotic supercars as manufacturers seek to develop faster road cars in order to develop them into even faster GT cars.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Additionally, hybrid systems (flywheel, super-capacitor, battery coupled with both petrol and diesel) have been championed in the LMP category as rules have been changed to their benefit and to further push efficiency.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The race is held in June, leading to very hot conditions for drivers, particularly in closed vehicles with poor ventilation; rain is commonly seen. The race begins in mid-afternoon and finishes the following day at the same hour the race started the previous day.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Modern competitors often cover well over 5,000 km. The record is 2010's , six times the length of the Indianapolis 500, or about 18 times longer than a Formula One "Grand Prix". Drivers and racing teams strive for speed and avoiding mechanical damage, as well as managing the cars' consumables, primarily fuel, tires, and braking materials. It also tests endurance, with drivers frequently racing for over two hours before a relief driver can take over during a pit stop while eating and resting. Current regulations mandate that three drivers share each competing vehicle.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Competing teams race in groups called "classes", or cars of similar specification, while competing simultaneously for outright placing amongst all classes. Originally, the race showcased cars as they were sold to the general public, then called "Sports Cars", in contrast with the specialised racing cars used in Grand Prix motor racing. Over time, the competing vehicles evolved away from their publicly available road car roots. Today, the race comprises two classes: prototypes and Grand Touring cars (similar to sports cars sold to the public). These are further broken down into two sub-classes: constructors' prototypes, privateer prototypes, and two subclasses of GT cars.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Competing teams have had a wide variety of organizations, ranging from competition departments of road car manufacturers (eager to prove the supremacy of their products) to professional motor racing teams (representing their commercial backers, some of which are also car manufacturers who want to win without paying for their own teams) to amateur teams (racing as much to compete in the famous race as to claim victory for their commercial partners).


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The race was the part of the World Sportscar Championship in every season from its inception in 1953 except the 1956, 1975-1979 and 1989-1990 seasons. However, Le Mans has always had a stronger reputation than the World Championship and is a round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The race is also known as a leg of the informal Triple Crown of Motorsport which links Formula One, IndyCar, and sports car racing to represent a career achievement for drivers. Additionally, it is seen as a leg of the Triple Crown of endurance racing, which links the three largest sports car races together, with 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Daytona forming the other legs. Since 1998, the American Le Mans Series (now the IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship) has held an endurance race, along with the 12 hours of Sebring, every year called "Petit Le Mans", as a 10-hour American version. In 2014, the Weathertech Sports Car Championship (a merger of the races at Sebring; Petit Le Mans in Braselton, Georgia; the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen in Watkins Glen, New York; and the Rolex Sports Car Series' 24 Hours of Daytona) held all four major American endurance classics in preparation for teams to race at Le Mans.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The race has approximately 60 competitors. Each car was required to have at least two seats. However, recently cars only need to have space to accommodate a second seat in the cockpit rather than the seat itself. Two doors are allowed; open cockpit cars do not require doors. Since 2014, all cars in the premier LMP1 category must have a roof due to safety concerns, with open-cockpit cars only permitted in the slightly slower LMP2 category. Since 2017, all prototype cars, LMP1 or LMP2, must have closed cockpits.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Although all cars compete at the same time, there are separate classes. A prize is awarded to the winner of each class and the overall winner. The number of classes has varied over the years, but there are now four. Custom-built Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) are the top two classes, LMP1 and LMP2, divided by speed, weight, and power output.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: For LMP2, teams are obliged to run one of four approved chassis – ORECA, Ligier, Dallara, or Multimatic/Riley – mated with a standard 4.2-litre Gibson V8 engine. LMP1 teams are subject to no such restrictions. Their extra power, lower weight, and more complex aerodynamics result in much quicker lap times; LMP1 cars also may use hybrid technology.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: From 2011, the next two classes are production-based grand tourer (GT) classes, GT Endurance Pro and GT Endurance AM. Both of these classes use the LM GTE, or "Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance" regulations. Although the top class is the most likely to be the overall winner, lower classes have won on occasion due to better reliability.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Concept cars intended to test new automotive technologies may participate in the race under the "Garage 56" banner. Such entries are classified in the race results, though are not expected to be competitive as their sole focus is to demonstrate experimental features.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The program debuted in 2012 with the DeltaWing, an unusual rocket-shaped car fielded by All-American Racers and supported by Nissan. The DeltaWing concept showed promise, delivering nearly LMP2-level performance while only consuming 48% of the fuel, but retired after a collision with an LMP1 car six hours into the race.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2013, Garage 56 was given to the Swiss-designed hydrogen-fueled GreenGT H2, which was to be the first car without an internal combustion engine to compete at Le Mans. However, the car was pronounced unfit to take part in the race by the team a few days before the race. In 2016, the H2 went on to complete a single demonstration lap at Le Mans.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The Nissan ZEOD RC, a hybrid electric car based on the DeltaWing's design, took the Garage 56 slot in 2014. Despite an early retirement from the race after only 23 minutes due to a gearbox issue, the ZEOD RC achieved its goals of hitting a top speed of 186 mph, and completing the first ever lap of Le Mans using exclusively electric power at racing speed.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2015, the Garage 56 program took a break as all applications that year were deemed unfit by the ACO.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Financial problems forced Welter Racing to cancel its 2017 Garage 56 run with the Green4U Panoz Racing GT-EV, a biomethane-fuel prototype featuring a 3-cylinder 1.2-liter engine fueled by biomethane stored in cryogenic tanks. Welter Racing went on to develop the car with hopes of entering the car in 2018 and 2019, but ultimately did not compete due to complex issues with the car in 2018, and due to Don Panoz's death suspending the program in 2019. The 2019 slot was also eyed by UK-based constructor Perrinn with the Project 424, an LMP1-based electric-powered car with an autonomous driving mode; however, this did not come to pass, and Garage 56 was left empty in both 2018 and 2019 due to the ACO deeming none of the applications sufficiently mature.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: 2020 saw Frederic Sausset attempting to return to Garage 56 under the SRT41 banner by fielding a specially modified Oreca 07 LMP2 car with a lineup of three disabled drivers; however, the attempt was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The SRT41 program was delayed to 2021, which saw Garage 56 successfully making a return for the first time in five years. Two of the drivers were paralyzed from the waist down.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2022, Garage 56 was once again empty. For 2023, a NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen stock car with a hybrid powertrain fielded by Hendrick Motorsports will be the Garage 56 entry.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Initially, there were no rules on the number of car drivers or how long they could drive. Although almost all teams used two drivers in the early decades, some Le Mans drivers such as Pierre Levegh and Eddie Hall attempted to run the race solo, hoping to save time by not having to change drivers. This practice was later banned. Until the 1980s, there were teams in which only two drivers competed, but by the end of the decade, the rules were changed to stipulate that at least three drivers must drive each car.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: By the 1990s, due to the speeds of the cars and the strain it puts on drivers, additional rules to reduce driver fatigue mandated that drivers could not drive for over 240 minutes over 6 hours and that no one driver could run for over 14 hours total. With careful management of driver stints, this makes it possible to complete the race with only two drivers (as Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper MacNeil did in 2014), although the vast majority of teams still continue to use three drivers.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2017, the driving time rules were further changed. If necessary, officials may require a drive time limit of 80 minutes of consecutive time behind the wheel and a minimum 30-minute rest break. The rule applies only if the air temperature is at least 32 Celsius (89.6 F).


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Although it has been a part of the World Sportscar Championship for most of its existence, the race has had different regulations for safety and competition reasons partly due to its length. For many decades, cars had to run at least an hour into the race before they could refill fluids for the car, such as oil or coolant, except for fuel. This was an attempt by the ACO to help increase efficiency and reliability. Those who could not last the first hour without replacing lost fluids risked disqualification.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Another rule unique to Le Mans is that cars must be switched off while refueling in the pits. Not only is this safer and less of a fire hazard, but it is also another test of reliability, as cars with the guaranteed ability to restart many times under race conditions are harder to make. Another element of this rule is that mechanics are not allowed to work on the car while it is being refuelled (other than helping a driver in or out of the car), which has led teams to adapt innovative ways to decrease the time of these lengthy pit stops. Drivers can get out of the car and be replaced by another driver during refuelling. Those rules are also applied in the FIA World Endurance Championship.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: There are various long-standing traditions at Le Mans, including the waving of the French tricolor to start the race. This is usually followed by a fly-over featuring jets trailing blue, white, and red smoke. A similar flag tradition is track marshals waving safety flags during the race's final lap, congratulating the winners and other finishers.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Le Mans was the venue for the first televised instance of a winning driver celebrating by spraying champagne instead of drinking it. When Dan Gurney won the race with co-driver A. J. Foyt, the two drivers mounted the victory podium, and Gurney was handed a magnum of champagne. Looking down, he saw Ford CEO Henry Ford II, team owner Carroll Shelby and their wives, as well as several journalists who had predicted disaster for the high-profile duo. Gurney shook the bottle and sprayed everyone nearby. Gurney autographed and gave the bottle of champagne to "Life" photographer Flip Schulke, who used it as a lamp for years before returning it to Gurney.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The first race was held on 26–27 May 1923 and has since been run annually in June with exceptions in 1956, when the race was held in July; 1968, when it was held in September due to nationwide political turmoil in May; 2020, when it was moved to 19–20 September due to the COVID-19 outbreak & 2021, when it was moved to 21–22 August. The race has been cancelled ten times—in 1936 (a labour strike during the Great Depression) and between 1940 and 1948 (World War II).


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The race usually takes place on the second weekend of June, with qualifying and practice taking place on the Wednesday and Thursday before the race, following a car inspection on Monday and Tuesday. Currently, these sessions are held in the evening, with two separate two-hour sessions held each night. Friday serves as a day of rest, and a parade of all the drivers through Le Mans is held.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Test days held at the end of April or beginning of May served as a pre-qualification weeding out the slowest cars. However, in 2005 the exorbitant cost of transporting cars to and from Le Mans led organizers to move the test day to the first weekend of June. Pre-qualification was eliminated in 2000, meaning that all competitors invited to the test would be allowed into the race.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Since 2001 the Le Mans Legend races have also been part of the schedule, usually running exhibition races during qualifying days, a few hours prior to the sessions for the Le Mans entrants.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Until 2008, the race started at 16:00 on Saturday (though in 1968, the race started at 14:00 due to the lateness of the race on the calendar). In 1984 and 2007, the start time was moved ahead to 15:00 due to the conflicting election). In 2006, the ACO scheduled a 17:00 start time on Saturday, 17 June, to maximise television coverage between the World Cup games. Fourteen years later, the race began at 14:30 because of the race being in September. The next year saw the race move to mid-August and began at 16:00. From 2009, when the race took place from 13 to 14 June, to 2019 & since 2022, it starts at 15:00 local time (CEST, 13:00 UT).


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Initially, the car that covered the greatest distance from its starting position was the winner. This is known to have caught out the Ford team in . With a dominant 1–2 lead, the two cars slowed to allow for a photo opportunity at the finish line, with Ken Miles slightly ahead of Bruce McLaren. However, since McLaren's car had started much farther back on the grid than Miles's, McLaren's car had covered the greatest distance over the 24 hours. With the margin of victory determined to be eight metres, McLaren and his co-driver, Chris Amon, were declared the winners. The decision cost Miles and Denny Hulme a victory. Miles had already won the other two endurance races at Sebring and Daytona. With a win at Le Mans, he would have become the first man to win all three and the first to win them all in the same year.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The "greatest distance" rule was modified with the introduction of a rolling start in 1971. Now, the car that completes the greatest distance as of the final lap's completion – where "greatest distance" is measured by the start/finish line for all competitors – wins. When two cars finish the same number of laps, their finishing order is determined by the faster overall completion time. This rule was used in the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans to determine the race winner. The top two finishers completed 355 laps, with only 13 seconds difference between them.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Although "greatest distance run" determines the provisional order of finishers, additional requirements must be met for a car to be classified.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: All classification requirements hold except in exceptional circumstances, as determined by the race stewards.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The race traditionally began with what became known as the "Le Mans start", in which cars were lined up along the length of the pits. Until 1962, cars lined up by engine capacity. Beginning in 1963, qualifying times determined the lineup. The starting drivers stood on the opposite side of the front stretch. When the French flag dropped to signify the start, the drivers ran across the track, entered and started their cars without assistance, and drove away. This became a safety issue in the late 1960s when some drivers ignored their safety harnesses, then a recent invention. This led to drivers running the first few laps either improperly harnessed due to attempting to do it while driving or sometimes not even harnessed at all, leading to several deaths when cars were involved in accidents due to the bunched field at the start.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: This starting method inspired Porsche to locate the ignition key switch to the left of the steering wheel. In a left-hand drive car, this allowed the driver to use his left hand to start the engine and his right hand to put the transmission into gear, which in turn shaves off a few tenths of a second.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Stirling Moss developed another method for speeding up the start. His car was waiting with first gear already engaged. He switched the starter on when he jumped in without depressing the clutch. The starter motor immediately jerked the car forward, but the engine did not start due to low RPM. After a few seconds of motion, he pushed the clutch down, allowing the engine to speed up and start while the car was moving.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Feeling this type of start was unsafe, in the race, Jacky Ickx opposed it by walking across the track while his competitors ran. Although he was nearly hit by a faster competitor's car while walking, Ickx took the time to fasten his safety belts before pulling away. Privateer John Woolfe died in an accident on the first lap of that race; Ickx won.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The traditional Le Mans start was changed for . Cars were still lined up along the pit wall, but the drivers were already inside and strapped in. At the dropping of the French tricolor, the drivers started their engines and drove away.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Since 1971, when that method was done away with, a rolling start (sometimes known as an "Indianapolis start") begins the race. Cars do one formation lap behind the safety car; when that car returns to pits, the starter waves the French flag to start the race.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The circuit on which the 24 Hours of Le Mans is run is named the Circuit de la Sarthe, after the department that Le Mans is within. It consists of both permanent track and public roads temporarily closed for the race. Since 1923, the track has been extensively modified, mostly for safety reasons, and now is in length. Although it initially entered the town of Le Mans, the track was cut short to better protect spectators. This led to the creation of the Dunlop Curve and Tertre Rouge corners before rejoining the old circuit on the Mulsanne. Another major change was on the Mulsanne itself in 1990 when the FIA decreed that it would no longer sanction any circuit that had a straight longer than . To comply with this, two chicanes were added to the straight. The addition of the chicanes was further influenced by the fact that the speed of WM P88-Peugeot French driver Roger Dorchy had been timed at during the 1988 race.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The public sections of the track differ from the permanent circuit, especially in comparison with the Bugatti Circuit which is inside the Circuit de la Sarthe. Due to heavy traffic, the public roads are not as smooth or well kept. They also offer less grip because of the lack of soft-tyre rubber laid down from racing cars, though this only affects the first few laps of the race. The roads are closed only within a few hours of the practice sessions and the race before being opened again almost as soon as the race is finished. Workers have to assemble and dismantle safety barriers every year for the public sections.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The 24 Hours of Le Mans was first run on 26 and 27 May 1923, through public roads around Le Mans. Originally planned to be a three-year event awarded the Rudge-Whitworth Triennial Cup, with a winner being declared by the car which could go the farthest distance over three consecutive 24-hour races, this idea was abandoned in 1928. Overall winners were declared for every year depending on who covered the farthest distance by the time 24 hours were up. The early races were dominated by French, British, and Italian drivers, teams, and cars, with Bugatti, Bentley, and Alfa Romeo being the top brands. Innovations in car design began appearing at the track in the late 1930s, with Bugatti and Alfa Romeo running highly aerodynamic bodywork to run down the Mulsanne Straight at faster speeds. The race was cancelled in 1936 due to general strikes in France, and the outbreak of World War II in 1939 resulted in a ten-year hiatus.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Following the reconstruction of circuit facilities, the race was resumed in 1949 with renewed interest from major automobile manufacturers. 1949 was also Ferrari's first victory, the 166MM of Luigi Chinetti and Peter Mitchell-Thomson. After the formation of the World Sportscar Championship in 1953, of which Le Mans was a part, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and many others began sending multiple cars backed by their respective factories to compete for overall wins against their competitors. This competitiveness sometimes resulted in tragedy, as in the 1955 Le Mans disaster during the race in which Pierre Levegh's car crashed into a crowd of spectators, killing more than 80 people. The incident led to the widespread introduction of safety measures, not only at the circuit but elsewhere in the motorsport world. The entire pit complex was razed and rebuilt further back following the accident, allowing the pit straight to be widened. However, there was still no barrier between the track and the pit lane. Safety standards improved, but the cars got faster. The move from open-cockpit roadsters to closed-cockpit coupés resulted in speeds of over on the Mulsanne. Ford entered the picture with the GT40, finally ending Ferrari's dominance with four straight wins (1966–1969) before the 1960s ended and the cars and the race changed substantially.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: For the new decade, the race took a turn towards more extreme speeds and automotive designs. These extreme speeds led to the replacement of the typical standing "Le Mans start" with a rolling "Indianapolis start". Although production-based cars still raced, they were now in the lower classes while purpose-built sportscars became the norm. The Porsche 917, 935, and 936 were dominant throughout the decade, but a resurgence by French manufacturers Matra-Simca and Renault saw the first victories for the nation since the 1950 race. This decade is also remembered for strong performances from many privateer constructors, with two scoring the only victories for a privateer in the decade. John Wyer's Mirage won in , while Jean Rondeau's self-titled chassis took .


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The rest of the 1980s was known for the dominance by Porsche under the new Group C race car formula that encouraged fuel efficiency. Originally running the effective 956, it was later replaced by the 962. Both chassis were affordable enough for privateers to purchase them en masse, leading to the two model types winning six years in a row. Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz returned to sports car racing, with Jaguar being the first to break Porsche's dominance with victories in 1988 and 1990 (with the XJR-9 and Jaguar XJR-12 respectively). Mercedes-Benz won in 1989, with what was seen as the latest incarnation of the elegant "Silver Arrows", the Sauber C9, while an influx of Japanese manufacturer interest saw prototypes from Nissan and Toyota. In 1988 too, a WM Peugeot set up a new record speeding at in the "Ligne Droite des Hunaudières", famous for its long straight. Mazda would be the first Japanese manufacturer to succeed, with their unique rotary-powered 787B winning in 1991.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 1992 and 1993, Peugeot dominated the race with its Peugeot 905 as the Group C formula and World Sportscar Championship were fading in participation.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The circuit would also undergo one of its most notable changes in , when the 5 km long Mulsanne was modified to include two chicanes in order to stop speeds of more than from being reached. This began the ACO's trend to slow the cars on various portions of the track. However, speeds over are still regularly reached at various points on a lap.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Following the demise of the World Sportscar Championship, Le Mans saw a resurgence of production-based grand tourer cars. Thanks to a loophole in the rules, Porsche succeeded in convincing the ACO that a Dauer 962 Le Mans supercar was a production car, allowing Porsche to race their Porsche 962 for one final time, dominating the field. Although the ACO attempted to close the loophole for 1995, newcomer McLaren would win the race in their supercar's first appearance thanks to the reliability of the BMW V12 powered F1 GTR, beating faster yet more trouble-prone prototypes. The trend would continue through the 1990s as more exotic supercars were built in order to skirt the ACO's rules regarding production-based race cars, leading to Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan, Panoz, and Lotus entering the GT categories. This culminated in the event, in which these GT cars were faced with the Le Mans Prototypes of BMW, Audi, Toyota and Ferrari. BMW would survive with the victory, their first and only overall Le Mans win to date. At the same time, Mercedes left sportscar racing indefinitely following three catastrophic though non-fatal crashes stemming from severe aerodynamic flaws with their CLR.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: This strong manufacturer influence led the ACO to lend the Le Mans name to a sports car series in the United States in 1999, known as the American Le Mans Series, which ran until the end of the 2013 season after which it merged with Grand-Am to form the United SportsCar Championship.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Many major automobile manufacturers withdrew from sports car racing after 1999 due to the high cost. Only Cadillac and Audi remained, and Audi easily dominated with the R8. Cadillac pulled out three years later, and attempts by Panoz, Chrysler, and MG to beat Audi all fell short. After three victories in a row, Audi provided engine, team staff, and drivers to Bentley, a corporate partner, which had returned in 2001. In 2003, the factory Bentley Speed 8s beat privateer Audis. The Chevrolet Corvette Racing Team and their C5-R won several times in the GTS class, finishing 1st and 2nd in 2001, 2002, and 2004. They finished 2nd and 3rd in 2003 behind Ferrari.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: At the end of 2005, after five overall victories for the R8, and six to its V8 turbo engine, Audi took on a new challenge by introducing a diesel engined prototype known as the R10 TDI. Although not the first diesel to race, it was the first to win at Le Mans. This era saw other alternative fuel sources used, including bio-ethanol. At the same time, Peugeot decided to follow Audi's lead and pursue a diesel entry in 2007 with their 908 HDi FAP. In the 2008 race between the Audi R10 TDI and the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, the Audi won by a margin of fewer than 10 minutes. For the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans, Peugeot introduced a new energy-recovery system similar to the KERS used in Formula One. Aston Martin entered the LMP1 category, but still raced in GT1 with private teams. Audi returned with the new R15 TDI, but Peugeot prevailed in its first overall win since 1993.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The 2010 running reaffirmed the race as a test of endurance and reliability. Peugeot chose overall speed in adjusting their cars and engines to adhere to the 2010 regulations, while Audi chose reliability. All four Peugeots had retired at the end of the race, three due to engine failure, while Audi finished 1–2–3.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The 2011 and 2012 races were marred by a series of accidents. In 2011, the Audi driven by Allan McNish crashed heavily in the first hour, barrel rolling into a tire wall shortly after the Dunlop Bridge. At night, the defending race-winning Audi driven by Mike Rockenfeller crashed similarly between the Mulsanne and Indianapolis corners. Neither driver was injured, nor were any spectators. The third Audi entry was driven by Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer won the race. The 2012 race saw two factory Toyotas replace Peugeot, which had withdrawn earlier, but one flipped at Mulsanne Corner. Driver Anthony Davidson suffered two broken vertebrae but could exit the car himself. Shortly after sunset, the other Toyota retired with mechanical difficulties, giving Audi another victory.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2011, the race became the premier round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, attempting to make a world championship for endurance racing again. In 2012, the race became the centerpiece of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the successor to the ILMC. The 2012 event was the first time the race was won by a hybrid electric vehicle, which was the Audi R18 e-tron quattro.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Regulations were changed for 2014, notably with a requirement that all LMP1 cars must be closed-cockpit, some changes to the hybrid system, and the introduction of the slow zone system.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Porsche returned to Le Mans in 2014 with a new factory LMP1 program, and Nissan returned to run an LMP1 program in 2015. Audi withdrew from racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 and Nissan after only one attempt in 2015.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Porsche won the race in 2015, 2016, and 2017 with its hybrid 919, and remains the most successful manufacturer at Le Mans, with 19 overall victories.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2017, changes were made to the LMP2 regulations on cockpit and chassis, meaning all prototype cars must be closed-cockpit.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2018, Toyota won their first Le Mans with Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima driving. Toyota won the race again in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: 2021 saw the introduction of the Hypercar class, a class which allows for Le Mans Hypercars and from 2023 onwards also LMDh cars to participate. 2021 saw the race once again being postponed, this time to August. For 2021 and 2022, non-hybrid LMP1 cars were allowed to participate as "grandfathered" LMP1 cars, although only Alpine would make use of this. Other entries in the hypercar class were Toyota and privateer team Glickenhaus. The new Hypercar regulations allowed manufacterers more freedom with the design, leading to cars such as the wingless Peugeot 9X8 which will enter in 2022. The LMP2 regulations were extended to 2024 with the next generation LMP2 cars, which are also used as chassis for the LMDh cars, is said to be introduced in 2025. 2025 will likely also see the introduction of hydrogen powered prototypes which will race for the overall victory.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Le Mans has seen many innovations in automotive design to counteract the circuit's difficulties. These have either been dictated by rules or have been attempts by manufacturers to outwit the competition. Some innovations were incorporated into the everyday automobile.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: One of the keys to Le Mans is top speed due to the long straights that dominate the circuit. This has meant cars have attempted to achieve the maximum speeds possible instead of relying on downforce for the turns. While early competitors' cars were street cars with their bodywork removed to reduce weight, innovators like Bugatti developed cars that saw the beginnings of aerodynamics. Nicknamed "tanks" due to their similarity to military tanks in World War I, these cars used simple curves to cover all the car's mechanical elements and increase top speed. Once Le Mans returned after World War II, most manufacturers would adopt closed bodies streamlined for better aerodynamics. A notable example of the changes brought about by aerodynamics are the 1950 entries by Briggs Cunningham. Cunningham entered two 1950 Cadillac Coupe de Villes, one nearly stock and the other completely rebodied in a streamlined aluminum shape developed by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation that looked so unusual that it was nicknamed "Le Monstre" by the French press. The smoothing of body shapes and fairing-in of various parts of the machine brought about by the continual search for reduction of aerodynamic drag led to a separation from Grand Prix cars, which rarely had large bodywork.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: As the years went on, bodywork became all-enveloping, while at the same time lighter. The larger bodywork with spoilers was able to provide more downforce for the turns without increasing the drag, allowing cars to maintain high speeds. Extended bodywork would usually concentrate on the car's rear, usually being termed "long tail". The bodywork also began to cover the cockpit for less drag. However, open cockpits would come and go over the years as rules varied. Aerodynamics reached its peak in 1989 before the Mulsanne Straight was modified. During the race, the crew of a Peugeot powered WM prototype taped over the engine openings, allowing Roger Dorchy to set a recorded speed of down the Mulsanne in a publicity stunt. However, the car was almost undrivable elsewhere on the circuit. The engine was soon destroyed from a lack of cooling. However, for the event, the Mercedes-Benz C9 reached under qualifying conditions.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: A wide variety of engines have competed at Le Mans in attempts to achieve greater speed and have better fuel economy and spend less time in the pits. Engine sizes have also varied greatly, with the smallest engines being a mere 569 cc (Simca Cinq) and the largest upwards of 8,000 cc (SRT Viper GTS-R). Supercharging was an early innovation for increasing output, first being raced in , while turbocharging would not appear until .


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: The first car to enter without an engine run by pistons would be in , when Rover partnered with British Racing Motors to run a gas turbine with mixed success, repeating in . The American Howmet Corporation would attempt to rerun a turbine in with even less success. Although the engines offered great power, they were hot and not fuel-efficient.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Another non-piston engine that would appear would be a Wankel engine, otherwise known as the rotary engine. Run entirely by Mazda since its introduction in 1970, the compact engine would also suffer from fuel economy problems like the turbine had, yet would see the success that the turbine lacked. After many years of development, Mazda finally succeeded in being the only winner of the race not to have a piston-powered engine, taking the event with the 787B.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Alternative fuel sources would also play a part in more normal engine designs, with the first non-gasoline car appearing in . The Delettrez Special would be powered by a diesel engine. In contrast, a second diesel would appear in the form of the M.A.P. the following year. Although diesel would appear at other times over the race existence, it would not be until 2006 when a prominent manufacturer, Audi, would invest in diesel and finally succeed, with the R10 TDI.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Ethanol fuel appeared in 1980 in a modified Porsche 911, leading to a class win. Alternative biological fuel sources returned again in with Team Nasamax's DM139-Judd. In 2008, biofuels (10% ethanol for petrol engines and biodiesel for diesel engines) were allowed. Audi was the first to use next-generation 10% BTL biodiesel developed by Shell and manufactured from biomass.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Beginning in 2009, new regulations allowed hybrid vehicles with either KERS or TERS (Kinetic/Thermal Energy Recovery System) setups. However, only electrical (i.e., batteries) energy storage was allowed, ruling out flywheel-based energy recovery. Cars with KERS were allowed to race in 2009 under specific classification rules. Since 2010, they have competed for points and the championship. In 2012 the first KERS-equipped car won; the Audi R18 e-tron with a flywheel hybrid system by Williams Hybrid Power activated and drove the front wheels. This was only allowed in certain zones after the car had accelerated to at least 120 km/h to cancel out the acceleration advantage that four-wheelers could gain out of corners. In the same year, Toyota also started with a hybrid car, the TS030, which used KERS to power its rear wheels, meaning its usage was not restricted.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2025, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest is planning to introduce a hydrogen-electric prototype class. This class will be a one-design class with a chassis provided by Red Bull Advanced Technologies-Oreca and a powertrain supplied by GreenGT. The development of the hydrogen fuel cells powering the cars will be left to the teams themselves. According to the ACO's president Pierre Fillon, there is also a possibility of the cars being powered by a hydrogen combustion engine. The performance of the class is expected to be competitive with the top Hypercar class.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: With increased speeds around the track, brakes become a key issue for teams attempting to safely bring their cars down to a slow enough speed to make the Mulsanne Corner turn. Disc brakes were first seen in 1953 when the Jaguar C-Type raced at Le Mans. In 1955 the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR introduced the air brake using a large opening hood on the rear of the car. Ford used a quick change brake rotor in 1966 to achieve their first victory at Le Mans.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In the 1980s, anti-lock braking systems became standard on most Group C cars as a safety measure, making it less likely that cars lose control at high speeds. By the late 1990s, reinforced carbon-carbon brakes were adopted for better stopping power.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Over the years, many manufacturers have managed to take the overall win, while even more have taken class wins. The most successful marque in the history of the race is Porsche, which has taken nineteen overall victories, including seven in a row from 1981 to 1987 and 107 class victories. Audi is next with thirteen wins, and Ferrari follows with nine, also including six in a row from 1960 to 1965. Since 2000 Audi has dominated the event, winning 13 times in 15 years of participation. Audi and Team Joest have had two hat-tricks, the first being in 2000, 2001, and 2002. Jaguar has seven wins. In contrast, Bentley, Alfa Romeo, and Ford all won four races in a row, with Bentley recording two additional victories in other years. In 2018, Toyota became only the second Japanese marque to win, following Mazda in 1991. Mazda is also the only company to win with a rotary engine. After Porsche's total of 107 class victories, Ferrari has 37, and Aston Martin, Audi, and Chevrolet each have 14.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Three drivers stand apart for their number of victories. Initially, Jacky Ickx held the record at six, scoring victories between 1969 and , earning him honorary citizenship to the town of Le Mans. His frequent racing partner, Derek Bell, trailing by a single win, with five. However, Dane Tom Kristensen has beaten this record with nine wins between and 2013, including six in a row. Three-time winner Woolf Barnato ( to ), Luis Fontés (1935), American racing legend A. J. Foyt (1967), Nico Hülkenberg (2015), and Fernando Alonso (2018-2019) are the only drivers to have won every Le Mans in which they participated.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Henri Pescarolo won the race four times, and holds the record for the most Le Mans appearances at 33. Japan's Yojiro Terada was active as a driver until 2008, and holds the record for the most Le Mans starts without an overall win. Claude Ballot-Léna holds the most class victories other than Kristensen with seven wins in GT class cars between 1970 and 1986. Graham Hill is the only driver to win the so-called "Triple Crown of Motorsport", winning the Indianapolis 500 (1966), Monaco Grand Prix (1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969), and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1972).


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Le Mans has seen many fatal accidents due partly to the very high-speed nature of all variants of the track throughout history. The largest one was in 1955 when 83 spectators and driver Pierre Levegh were killed. In the wake of the disaster, many races were cancelled, including the Grand Prix races in Germany, Spain, and Switzerland (the latter as a part of a blanket ban on motorsport round-track races that was maintained until 2018). The accident led to safety regulations in all motorsports for both driver and spectator protection.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Almost all decades in which Le Mans has been run have seen their fair share of horrific accidents, such as in 1972 when Swede Jo Bonnier was catapulted into a forest surrounding the circuit after hitting a privately entered Ferrari near the Indianapolis section; Bonnier was killed instantly. The 1980s was a decade where some of the race's worst-ever accidents occurred. Although Armco barriers had been installed along the straight in 1969, there were still no chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight. In this place, almost all of the worst accidents occurred during that time. The prototypes, most of which were equipped with very powerful turbocharged engines in those days, were capable of doing more than before reaching the kink and would still be doing the same kind of speeds at the end of the straight – and even through the kink, which was a flat-out bend for all the cars on the track. In , Belgian Thierry Boutsen crashed horrifically on the Mulsanne Straight in his WM-Peugeot, killing a marshal. In the same race, Frenchman Jean-Louis Lafosse was also killed on the Mulsanne Straight when his Rondeau suffered a suspension failure, steered very suddenly to the right, and slammed into the Armco barrier on the driver's side at extreme speeds. The 1984 race saw British privateer John Sheldon crashing at more than at the Mulsanne Kink; his Aston Martin V8 powered Nimrod tore through the Armco barriers into the trees. The resulting explosion was so violent that the woods next to the track caught fire. Although Sheldon survived with severe burns, a track marshal was killed; two others were also severely injured. Sheldon's teammate, American Drake Olson in the second Nimrod-Aston Martin, who was following him down the straight, crashed heavily after running over Sheldon's bodywork; he went into severe shock but survived with minor injuries. The field was under the safety car for over an hour while the crash site was cleared, and the destroyed Armco barriers were replaced.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 1985, a similar accident befell Briton Dudley Wood in a Porsche 962 during practice. The impact of the car against the Armco, considering Wood was doing more than , was so hard that it cracked the engine block. Wood survived without injury. Also, in 1985, John Nielsen flipped his Sauber-Mercedes while going over the Mulsanne hump at more than . The car landed on its roof and was destroyed, but Nielsen escaped without injury. In , Jo Gartner drove a Porsche 962C into the Mulsanne barriers and was killed instantly after the car rolled multiple times, vaulted some Armco barriers, and knocked down a telegraph pole. Moreover, in 1987, American Price Cobb crashed a works Porsche 962C after slipping on oil during Wednesday practice. The fuel tank exploded and the car burned to the ground, but Cobb escaped without injury.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Gartner's fatal accident remained the most recent death in the race until Allan Simonsen's crash in 2013. However, there was one fatality during a practice session in 1997 (Sebastien Enjolras).


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 1999, the Mercedes-Benz CLRs suffered from aerodynamic instability leading to airborne cars. After initially happening at the Le Mans test day, Mercedes claimed to have solved the problem, only for it to occur again at warmup. Mark Webber was the unlucky driver whose car flipped on both occasions. The last and most damaging accident occurred during the race itself when Peter Dumbreck's CLR became airborne, flying over the safety fencing and landing in the woods several metres away. No drivers were severely hurt in any of the three accidents. However, Mercedes-Benz withdrew its remaining entry and ended its entire sportscar programme.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2011, two horrific accidents occurred to two of the three factory Audis in the LMP1 class. Near the end of the first hour, the No. 3 car driven by Allan McNish collided with one of the Ferrari GT cars, resulting in McNish's car smashing into the tyre wall and being thrown into the air at the Dunlop chicanes, resulting in pieces of bodywork flying over and nearly hitting many photographers on the other side of the barrier. In the eleventh hour of the race, another accident occurred to the No. 1 car driven by Mike Rockenfeller when he had contact with another Ferrari GT car. In the runup to Indianapolis corner, Rockenfeller's Audi was sent into the outside barrier at over . Only the main cockpit safety cell of the car remained, along with major damage being done to the barriers that needed to be repaired before the race was resumed. Audi had switched to a closed-cockpit car starting in 2011, a decision credited for the fact that neither driver was injured. The 2014 regulations required all cars to be closed-cockpit due to the 2011 accident.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2012, Anthony Davidson, driving for the returning Toyota team in a Toyota TS030 Hybrid, collided with a Ferrari 458 GT2 of Piergiuseppe Perazzini, and became airborne before crashing into the tyre barrier of the Mulsanne Corner at high speed. The Ferrari also ended up in the barrier, flipping and coming to a halt on its roof. Davidson suffered broken vertebrae.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2013, Dane Allan Simonsen died after crashing into the barriers at Tertre Rouge. When the car collided with the guard rail, a mature tree had been touching the barrier, thereby preventing the guard rail from performing its safety function.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Motors TV covered the Le Mans 24 Hours in its entirety in 2006 and 2007, including coverage of the scrutineering, qualifying, driver parade, warmup, and race. In the United States, FOX owned SPEED Channel, followed by Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2 aired complete race coverage live either on-air or online through a combination of coverage from the French host broadcaster and its own pit reporting crew for several years. That deal ended after the 2017 season. A United States television deal was not done for the 2018–19 WEC Super Season because of a renegotiation of its European contract.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: In 2008, Eurosport secured a multi-year deal to show the entire race, including the qualifying and the motorcycle race. Every hour of the 2008 race was broadcast in segments on the main channel and Eurosport 2. However, a couple of hours were missed in recent years due to scheduling clashes with other sporting events. In addition, Eurosport provided live streaming on its website to subscribers. Since 2009, Eurosport and Eurosport 2 have covered all the action, and beginning in 2018, Eurosport gained United States broadcast rights for the World Endurance Championship for the race only on Motor Trend, a channel also owned by Eurosport's parent company. Qualifying and practices aired on a direct-to-consumer streaming platform from Motor Trend magazine. In Australia in 2012, Ten Sport showed the race live and in full online.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Since 2001, the ACO has allowed the "Le Mans Legend" event to participate on the full Circuit de la Sarthe. These exhibition races involve classic cars that had previously run at Le Mans or are similar to those. Each year, a particular era of cars may participate, with the featured era changing from year to year. Though most drivers in this event are amateurs, some noted professional drivers have appeared to race cars they had previously run, such as Stirling Moss and Derek Bell.


title: 24 Hours of Le Mans

text: Starting in 2002, the "Le Mans Classic" has been held as a biennial event on the full circuit in July. The races take place over a full 24-hour day/night cycle, with starts on set times allowing cars from the same era to compete simultaneously. A team typically consists of a car in each class. The team with the most points accumulated over five or six classes is declared the overall winner. The classes are based on the era in which the cars would have competed. The exact class requirements are re-evaluated for every event since the age for the youngest entries is shifted by two years for each event. In the first event, five classes ran more short races; later events have featured six classes running fewer but longer races. Drivers are required to have an FIA International Competition license. This event also includes a large Concours d'Elegance and auction.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: Ian David Karslake Watkins (born 30 July 1977) is a Welsh convicted sex offender and former singer, songwriter, and musician. He achieved prominence as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Lostprophets. In 2013, he was sentenced to 29 years of imprisonment for multiple sexual offences, including the sexual assault of young children and babies, a sentence later augmented by ten months for being found guilty of having a mobile phone in prison. Lostprophets disbanded shortly thereafter and the other members formed the band No Devotion, with American singer Geoff Rickly.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: Ian David Karslake Watkins was born on 30 July 1977 in Merthyr Tydfil. He later moved to Pontypridd, where he attended Hawthorn High School with future Lostprophets bandmate Mike Lewis. He gained a first-class honours degree in graphic design from the University of Wales, Newport.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: Lewis' and Watkins's mutual enjoyment of rock and metal music strengthened their friendship, leading them to form a group as teenagers in 1991 called Aftermath, a thrash metal band that played in a shed in Watkins's garden. Whilst spending time in the local Ynysangharad Park, where (17 years later) Lostprophets would headline The Full Ponty festival, Watkins was introduced to future bandmate Lee Gaze through a mutual friend. Having abandoned Aftermath, which made two live appearances in its lifespan of two years, Watkins and Gaze decided to form a new band called Fleshbind, based on their American hardcore punk influences. The band played several shows, including one supporting Feeder in London, but the group was short-lived.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: Watkins reunited with Mike Lewis as a drummer in a hardcore band called Public Disturbance, formed in 1995. By this time, Watkins and Gaze had left Fleshbind to create their own band, Lost Prophets, who made their live debut in May 1997 alongside Public Disturbance, with Watkins as the lead vocalist. In 1998, Watkins left Public Disturbance to concentrate on the newly named lostprophets (all lower-case letters).


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: In 2003, Watkins was featured on the Hoobastank song "Out of Control" along with Jamie Oliver, who was by then a member of Lostprophets.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: On New Year's Eve 2008, Watkins took part in a concert for Kidney Wales Foundation and stated that his reasons for being involved were as a result of his mother needing a kidney transplant: "Having that direct experience is why I wanted to get more involved with Kidney Wales and organise a fundraising concert on New Year's Eve." The concert featured Welsh bands the Blackout, Kids in Glass Houses, and Attack! Attack!


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: Watkins was also featured on the Blackout's song "It's High Tide Baby!" from their debut studio album "We Are the Dynamite" (2007), and also accompanied them on tour.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: In 2009, Watkins started a remixing side project called "L'Amour La Morgue". He released 17 remixes by artists such as the Killers, Beyoncé, Young Guns, Magic Wands, Tears for Fears, and Bring Me the Horizon. He also released a free mixtape, which was available online, along with a free download of a song that was premiered at a fashion show in 2008.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: Lostprophets released five studio albums: "The Fake Sound of Progress" (2000), "Start Something" (2004), "Liberation Transmission" (2006), "The Betrayed" (2010), and "Weapons" (2012). They toured extensively in Europe and America, playing shows such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: On 19 December 2012, Watkins was charged at Cardiff magistrates court with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a one-year-old girl and possession and/or distribution of indecent images of children and "extreme animal pornography". He was remanded in custody, as were his two female co-accused. His barrister said Watkins would deny the accusations. On 31 December, he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court via video link from HM Prison Parc in Bridgend, and was remanded in custody until 11 March 2013. The case was adjourned until May, with the trial date set for 15 July. At a hearing on 3 June, he denied the charges via a video link.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: On 6 June, it was announced that the trial would start on 25 November and was expected to last a month. A previous application for the court venue to be moved outside Wales was denied. On 26 November, Watkins pleaded guilty to attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13, but not guilty to rape. This was accepted by the prosecution. He further pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault involving children; six counts of taking, making, or possessing indecent images of children; and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal. His victims included a baby boy, and he sent a text message to the mother of one victim that said, "If you belong to me, so does your baby." The South Wales Police investigation into Watkins, codenamed "Operation Globe", required the co-operation of GCHQ to decrypt a hidden drive on his laptop, which was found to contain video evidence of his abuses. On 27 November, the day after his guilty plea had been accepted by the prosecution, Watkins referred to his sex offences as "mega lolz" in a recorded phone call to a female fan made from HM Prison Parc.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: A sentencing hearing was held at Cardiff on 18 December 2013. In mitigation, Watkins's barrister, Sally O'Neill QC, said that Watkins had no recollection of the case involving the attempted rape, but had "belatedly realised the gravity of what happened" after having developed an "obsession" with videoing himself having sex. Justice John Royce sentenced Watkins to 29 years in prison, with eligibility to apply for parole after serving two thirds of his prison term, followed by six years of supervised release. His two co-defendants, the mothers of his victims, received sentences of 14 and 17 years imprisonment. The judge said the case "plunged into new depths of depravity". A senior investigating officer on the case described Watkins as a "committed, organised paedophile" and "potentially the most dangerous sex offender" he had ever seen.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: Watkins was transferred from HM Prison Parc, where he had been incarcerated while on remand, to HM Prison Wakefield to begin serving his sentence. In order to be closer to his mother after she had a kidney transplant, he was transferred to HM Prison Long Lartin on 25 January 2014. He was subsequently transferred to HM Prison Rye Hill. On 9 October 2017, Watkins was accused of grooming a young mother from prison. As of March 2018, he is back at Wakefield.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation report published in summer 2016 said that three detectives from the South Wales force should face disciplinary action after they failed to act on earlier allegations of abuse by Watkins from 2008 onward.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: A further IPCC report, published in August 2017, found that police had failed a number of times from 2008 to 2012 to act on reports of Watkins' behaviour, quoting a detective who said that Watkins had "a number of fans and ex-girlfriends making allegations that when investigated are false". The report concluded:


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said his force "entirely accepts and regrets" the findings of the report.


title: Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

text: In March 2018, Watkins was found with a mobile phone. He was accused of using the phone to maintain contact with a girlfriend outside of prison, but denied the charge, claiming it did not belong to him but to two inmates who forced him to hide it for them; he refused to give their names, citing fear of violent retribution. A charger for the phone was also found in his cell. Watkins claimed he still received fan mail from Lostprophets fans and that the men wanted him to help them take advantage of the women writing in as a "revenue stream". After a five-day trial at Leeds Crown Court in August 2019, he was convicted and sentenced to an additional ten months' imprisonment.


title: Republics of Russia

text: The republics of Russia are 22 territories in the Russian Federation that each constitute a federal subject, the highest-level administrative division of Russian territory. They are one of several types of federal subject in Russia. The republics were originally created as nation states for ethnic minorities. The indigenous ethnic group that gives its name to the republic is referred to as the "titular nationality". However, due to centuries of Russian migration, each nationality is not necessarily a majority of a republic's population.


title: Republics of Russia

text: Formed in the early 20th century by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks after the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, republics were meant to be nominally independent regions of Soviet Russia with the right to self-determination. Lenin's conciliatory stance towards Russia's minorities made them allies in the Russian Civil War and with the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922 the regions became Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSR), a third order of autonomy, subordinate to a union republic. While officially autonomous, ASSRs were in practice hypercentralized and largely under the control of the Soviet Union and its leadership. Throughout their history the ASSRs experienced varying periods of Russification and cultural revival depending on who led the country. The 1980s saw an increase in the demand of autonomy as the Soviet Union began large scale reforms of its centralized system. In 1990 the ASSRs declared their sovereignty and renounced their status as autonomous republics. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Russia became independent. The current day republics were established with the signing of the Federation Treaty in 1992, which gave them substantial rights and autonomy.


title: Republics of Russia

text: Republics differ from other subjects in that they have more powers devolved to them. Republics have their own constitutions, official languages, and national anthems. Due to this, Russia is an asymmetrical federation as the other subjects do not have these rights. Powers vary between republics and largely depend on their economic power. Through the signing of bilateral treaties with the federal government, republics had extensive authority over their economies, internal policies, and even foreign relations in the 1990s. However, at the turn of the century, Vladimir Putin's centralization reforms steadily eradicated all autonomy the republics had with the exception of Chechnya. The bilateral agreements were abolished and in practice all power rests with the federal government. With the termination of the final bilateral treaty in 2017, some commentators expressed that Russia ceased to be a federation.


title: Republics of Russia

text: In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine and established the Republic of Crimea, however, it remains internationally recognized as Ukraine's Autonomous Republic of Crimea. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia declared the annexation of four partially-occupied Ukrainian regions, claiming the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as republics. These also remain internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.


title: Republics of Russia

text: The republics were established in early Soviet Russia after the collapse of the Russian Empire. On 15 November 1917, Vladimir Lenin issued the Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia, giving Russia's minorities the right to self-determination. This declaration, however, was never truly meant to grant minorities the right to independence and was only used to garner support among minority groups for the fledgling Soviet state in the ensuing Russian Civil War. Attempts to create independent states using Lenin's declaration were suppressed throughout the civil war by the Bolsheviks. When the Soviet Union was formally created on 30 December 1922, the minorities of the country were relegated to Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSR), which had less power than the union republics and were subordinate to them. In the aftermath of the civil war the Bolsheviks began a process of delimitation in order to draw the borders of the country. Through Joseph Stalin's theory on nationality, borders were drawn to create national homelands for various recognized ethnic groups. Early republics like the Kazakh ASSR and the Turkestan ASSR in Central Asia were dissolved and split up to create new union republics. With delimitation came the policy of indigenization which encouraged the de-Russification of the country and promotion of minority languages and culture. This policy also affected ethnic Russians and was particularly enforced in ASSRs where indigenous people were already a minority in their own homeland, like the Buryat ASSR. Language and culture flourished and ultimately institutionalized ethnicity in the state apparatus of the country. Despite this, the Bolsheviks worked to isolate the country's new republics by surrounding them within Russian territory for fear of them seeking independence. In 1925 the Bashkir ASSR lost its border with the future Kazakh SSR with the creation of the so-called "Orenburg corridor", thereby enclaving the entire Volga region. The Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast lost access to the Barents Sea and became an enclave on 15 July 1929 prior to being upgraded to the Komi ASSR in 1936.


title: Republics of Russia

text: By the 1930s the mood shifted as the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin stopped enforcing indigenization and began purging non-Russians from government and intelligentsia. Thus, a period of Russification set in. Russian became mandatory in all areas of non-Russian ethnicity and the Cyrillic script became compulsory for all languages of the Soviet Union. The constitution stated that the ASSRs had power to enforce their own policies within their territory, but in practice the ASSRs and their titular nationalities were some of the most affected by Stalin's purges and were strictly controlled by Moscow. From 1937, the "bourgeois nationalists" became the "enemy of the Russian people" and indigenization was abolished. On 22 June 1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union, forcing it in to the Second World War, and advanced deep in to Russian territory. In response, Stalin abolished the Volga German ASSR on 7 September 1941 and exiled the Volga Germans to Central Asia and Siberia. When the Soviets gained the upper hand and began recapturing territory in 1943, many minorities of the country began to be seen as German collaborators by Stalin and were accused of treason, particularly in southern Russia. Between 1943 and 1945 ethnic Balkars, Chechens, Crimean Tatars, Ingush,


title: Republics of Russia

text: and Kalmyks were deported "en masse" from the region to remote parts of the country. Immediately after the deportations the Soviet government passed decrees that liquidated the Kalmyk ASSR on 27 December 1943, the Crimean ASSR on 23 February 1944, the Checheno-Ingush ASSR on 7 March 1944, and renamed the Kabardino-Balkar ASSR the Kabardian ASSR on 8 April 1944. After Stalin's death on 5 March 1953 the new government of Nikita Khrushchev sought to undo his controversial legacy. During his Secret speech on 25 February 1956 Khrushchev rehabilitated Russia's minorities. The Kabardino-Balkar ASSR and the Checheno-Ingush ASSR were restored on 9 January 1957 while the Kalmyk ASSR was restored on 29 July 1958. The government, however, refused to restore the Volga German ASSR and the Crimean ASSR, the latter of which was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR on 19 February 1954.