title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: "Galdr" is another Heathen practice involving chanting or singing. As part of a "galdr" ceremony, runes or rune poems are also sometimes chanted, in order to create a communal mood and allow participants to enter into altered states of consciousness and request communication with deities. Some contemporary "galdr" chants and songs are influenced by Anglo-Saxon folk magical charms, such as "Æcerbot" and the "Nine Herbs Charm". These poems were originally written in a Christian context, although practitioners believe that they reflect themes present in pre-Christian, shamanistic religion, and thus re-appropriate and "Heathanise" them for contemporary usage.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Some Heathens practice forms of divination using runes; as part of this, items with runic markings on them might be pulled out of a bag or bundle, and read accordingly. In some cases, different runes are associated with different deities, one of the nine realms, or aspects of life. It is common for Heathens to utilize the Common Germanic Futhark as a runic alphabet, although some practitioners instead adopt the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc or the Younger Futhark. Some non-Heathens also use runes for divinatory purposes, with books on the subject being common in New Age bookstores. Some Heathens practice magic, but this is not regarded as an intrinsic part of Heathenry because it was not a common feature of pre-Christian rituals in Iron Age and Early Medieval Germanic Europe.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Different Germanic Neopagan groups celebrate different festivals according to their cultural and religious focus. The most widely observed Heathen festivals are Winter Nights, Yule, and Sigrblót, all of which were listed in his "Heimskringla" and are thus of ancient origin. The first of these marks the start of winter in northern Europe, while the second marks Midwinter, and the last marks the beginning of summer. Additional festivals are also marked by Heathen practice throughout the year. These often include days which commemorate individuals who fought against the Christianization of northern Europe, or who led armies and settlers into new lands. Some Heathen groups hold festivals dedicated to a specific deity.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Some Heathens celebrate the eight festivals found in the Wheel of the Year, a tradition that they share with Wiccans and other contemporary Pagan groups. Others celebrate only six of these festivals, as represented by a six-spoked Wheel of the Year. The use of such festivals is criticized by other practitioners, who highlight that this system is of modern, mid-20th century origin and does not link with the original religious celebrations of the pre-Christian Germanic world.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Heathen festivals can be held on the same day each year, however are often celebrated by Heathen communities on the nearest available weekend, so that those practitioners who work during the week can attend. During these ceremonies, Heathens often recite poetry to honor the deities, which typically draw upon or imitate the Early Medieval poems written in Old Norse or Old English. Mead or ale is also typically drunk, with offerings being given to deities, while fires, torches, or candles are often lit. There are also regional meetings of Heathens known as "Things". At these, religious rites are performed, while workshops, stalls, feasts, and competitive games are also present. In the U.S., there are two national gatherings, Althing and Trothmoot.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: The question of race represents a major source of division among Heathens, particularly in the United States. Within the Heathen community, one viewpoint holds that race is entirely a matter of biological heredity, while the opposing position is that race is a social construct rooted in cultural heritage. In U.S. Heathen discourse, these viewpoints are described as the "folkish" and the "universalist" positions, respectively. These two factions—which Kaplan termed the "racialist" and "nonracialist" camps—often clash, with Kaplan claiming that a "virtual civil war" existed between them within the American Heathen community. The universalist and folkish division has also spread to other countries, although has had less impact in the more ethnically homogeneous Iceland. A 2015 survey revealed a greater number of Heathens subscribed to universalist ideas than folkish ones.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Contrasting with this binary division, Gardell divides Heathenry in the United States into three groups according to their stances on race: the "anti-racist" group which denounces any association between the religion and racial identity, the "radical racist" faction which sees it as the natural religion of the Aryan race that should not be followed by members of any other racial group, and the "ethnic" faction which seeks a middle-path by acknowledging the religion's roots in northern Europe and its connection with those of northern European heritage. The religious studies scholar Stefanie von Schnurbein adopted Gardell's tripartite division, although referred to the groups as the "a-racist", "racial-religious", and "ethnicist" factions respectively.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Exponents of the universalist, anti-racist approach believe that the deities of Germanic Europe can call anyone to their worship, regardless of ethnic background. This group rejects the folkish emphasis on race, believing that even if unintended, it can lead to the adoption of racist attitudes toward those of non-northern European ancestry. Universalist practitioners such as Stephan Grundy have emphasized the fact that ancient northern Europeans were known to marry and have children with members of other ethnic groups, and that in Norse mythology the Æsir also did the same with Vanir, Jötun, and humans, thus using such points to critique the racialist view. Universalists welcome practitioners of Heathenry who are not of northern European ancestry; for instance, there are Jewish and African American members of the U.S.-based Troth, while many of its white members have spouses from different racial groups. While sometimes retaining the idea of Heathenry as an indigenous religion, proponents of this view have sometimes argued that Heathenry is indigenous to the land of northern Europe, rather than indigenous to any specific race. Universalist Heathens often express frustration that some journalists depict Heathenry as an intrinsically racist movement, and use their online presence to stress their opposition to far-right politics.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Folkish practitioners deem Heathenry to be the indigenous religion of a biologically distinct race, which is conceptualised as being "white", "Nordic", or "Aryan". Some practitioners explain this by asserting that the religion is intrinsically connected to the collective unconscious of this race, with prominent American Heathen Stephen McNallen developing this into a concept which he termed "metagenetics". McNallen and many others in the "ethnic" faction of Heathenry explicitly deny that they are racist, although Gardell noted that their views would be deemed racist under certain definitions of the word. Gardell considered many "ethnic" Heathens to be ethnic nationalists, and many folkish practitioners express disapproval of multiculturalism and the mixture of different races in modern Europe, advocating racial separatism. This group's discourse contains much talk of "ancestors" and "homelands", concepts that may be very vaguely defined. Ethno-centrist Heathens are heavily critical of their universalist counterparts, often declaring that the latter have been misled by New Age literature and political correctness. Those adopting the "ethnic" folkish position have been criticized by both universalist and ethno-centrist factions, the former deeming "ethnic" Heathenry a front for racism and the latter deeming its adherents race traitors for their failure to fully embrace white supremacism.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Some folkish Heathens are white supremacists and explicit racists, representing a "radical racist" faction that favours the terms "Odinism", "Wotanism", and "Wodenism". These individuals inhabit "the most distant reaches" of modern Paganism, according to Kaplan. The borders between this form of Heathenry and National Socialism (Nazism) are "exceedingly thin", with its adherents having paid tribute to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, claimed that the white race is facing extinction at the hands of a Jewish world conspiracy, and rejected Christianity as a creation of the Jews. Many in the inner circle of The Order, a white supremacist militia active in the U.S. during the 1980s, called themselves Odinists, and various racist Heathens have espoused the Fourteen Words slogan developed by the Order member David Lane. Some white supremacist organisations, such as the Order of Nine Angles and the Black Order, combine elements of Heathenism with Satanism, although other racist Heathens, such as Wotansvolk's Ron McVan, reject the integration of these differing religions.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: During the late 18th and 19th centuries, German Romanticism focused increasing attention on the pre-Christian belief systems of Germanic Europe, with various Romanticist intellectuals expressing the opinion that these ancient religions were "more natural, organic and positive" than Christianity. Such an attitude was promoted by the scholarship of Romanticist intellectuals like Johann Gottfried Herder, Jacob Grimm, and Wilhelm Grimm. This development went in tandem with a growth in nationalism and the idea of the "volk", contributing to the establishment of the Völkisch movement in German-speaking Europe. Criticising the Jewish roots of Christianity, in 1900 the Germanist Ernst Wachler published a pamphlet calling for the revival of a racialized ancient German religion. Other writers such as Ludwig Fahrenkrog supported his claims, resulting in the formation of both the Bund für Persönlichkeitskultur (League for the Culture of the Personality) and the Deutscher Orden in 1911 and then the Germanische-Deutsche Religionsgemeinschaft (Germanic-German Religious Community) in 1912.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Another development of Heathenry emerged within the occult völkisch movement known as Ariosophy. One of these völkisch Ariosophists was the Austrian occultist Guido von List, who established a religion that he termed "Wotanism", with an inner core that he referred to as "Armanism". List's Wotanism was based heavily on the "Eddas", although over time it was increasingly influenced by the Theosophical Society's teachings. List's ideas were transmitted in Germany by prominent right-wingers, and adherents to his ideas were among the founders of the Reichshammerbund in Leipzig in 1912, and they included individuals who held key positions in the Germanenorden. The Thule Society founded by Rudolf von Sebottendorf developed from the Germanenorden, and it displayed a Theosophically influenced interpretation of Norse mythology.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: In 1933, the eclectic German Faith Movement ("Deutsche Glaubensbewegung") was founded by the religious studies scholar Jakob Wilhelm Hauer, who wanted to unite these disparate Heathen groups. While active throughout the Nazi era, his hopes that his "German Faith" would be declared the official faith of Nazi Germany were thwarted. The Heathen movement probably never had more than a few thousand followers during its 1920s heyday, however it held the allegiance of many middle-class intellectuals, including journalists, artists, illustrators, scholars, and teachers, and thus exerted a wider influence on German society.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: The völkisch occultists—among them Pagans like List and Christians like Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels—"contributed importantly to the mood of the Nazi era". Few had a direct influence on the Nazi Party leadership, with one prominent exception: Karl Maria Wiligut was both a friend and a key influence on the Schutzstaffel (SS) leader Heinrich Himmler. Wiligut professed ancestral-clairvoyant memories of ancient German society, proclaiming that "Wotanism" was in conflict with another ancient religion, "Irminenschaft", which was devoted to a messianic Germanic figure known as Krist, who was later wrongly transformed into the figure of Jesus. Many Heathen groups disbanded during the Nazi period, and they were only able to re-establish themselves after World War II, in West Germany, where freedom of religion had been re-established. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, there was a social stigma surrounding völkisch ideas and groups, along with a common perception that the mythologies of the pre-Christian Germanic societies had been tainted through their usage by the Nazi administration, an attitude that to some extent persisted into the 21st century.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: The völkisch movement also manifested itself in 1930s Norway within the milieu surrounding such groups as the Ragnarok Circle and Hans S. Jacobsen's "Tidsskriftet Ragnarok" journal. Prominent figures involved in this milieu were the writer Per Imerslund and the composer Geirr Tveitt, although it left no successors in post-war Norway. A variant of "Odinism" was developed by the Australian Alexander Rud Mills, who published "The Odinist Religion" (1930) and established the Anglecyn Church of Odin. Politically racialist, Mills viewed Odinism as a religion for what he considered to be the "British race", and he deemed it to be in a cosmic battle with the Judeo-Christian religion. Having formulated "his own unique blend" of Ariosophy, Mills was heavily influenced by von List's writings. Some of Heathenry's roots have also been traced back to the "back to nature" movement of the early 20th century, among them the Kibbo Kift and the Order of Woodcraft Chivalry.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: In the early 1970s, Heathen organisations emerged in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Iceland, largely independently from each other. This has been partly attributed to the wider growth of the modern Pagan movement during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the development of the New Age milieu, both of which encouraged the establishment of new religious movements intent on reviving pre-Christian belief systems. Further Heathen groups then emerged in the 1990s and 2000s, many of which distanced themselves from overtly political agendas and placed a stronger emphasis on historical authenticity than their 1960s and 1970s forebears.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Heathenry emerged in the United States during the 1960s. In 1969 the Danish Heathen Else Christensen established the Odinist Fellowship at her home in the U.S. state of Florida. Heavily influenced by Mills' writings, she began publishing a magazine, "The Odinist", which placed greater emphasis on right-wing and racialist ideas than theological ones. Stephen McNallen first founded the Viking Brotherhood in the early 1970s, before creating the Asatru Free Assembly in 1976, which broke up in 1986 amid widespread political disagreements after McNallen's repudiation of neo-Nazis within the group. In the 1990s, McNallen founded the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA), an ethnically oriented Heathen group headquartered in California. Meanwhile, Valgard Murray and his kindred in Arizona founded the Ásatrú Alliance (AA) in the late 1980s, which shared the AFA's perspectives on race and which published the "Vor Tru" newsletter. In 1987, Stephen Flowers and James Chisholm founded The Troth, which was incorporated in Texas. Taking an inclusive, non-racialist view, it soon grew into an international organisation.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: In Iceland, the influence of pre-Christian belief systems still pervaded the country's cultural heritage into the 20th century. There, farmer Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson founded the Heathen group Ásatrúarfélagið in 1972, which initially had 12 members. Beinteinsson served as "Allsherjargodi" (chief priest) until his death in 1993, when he was succeeded by Jormundur Ingi Hansen. As the group expanded in size, Hansen's leadership caused schisms, and to retain the unity of the movement, he stepped down and was replaced by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson in 2003, by which time Ásatrúarfélagið had accumulated 777 members and played a visible role in Icelandic society. In England, the British Committee for the Restoration of the Odinic Rite was established by John Yeowell in 1972. In 1992, Mark Mirabello published "Odin Brotherhood", which claimed the existence of a secret society of Odinists; most British Heathens doubt its existence.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: In Sweden, the first Heathen groups developed in the 1970s; early examples included the Breidablikk-Gildet (Guild of Breidablikk) founded in 1975 and the Telge Fylking founded in 1987, the latter of which diverged from the former by emphasising a non-racialist interpretation of the religion. In 1994, the Sveriges Asatrosamfund (Swedish Asatru Assembly) was founded, growing to become the largest Heathen organisation in the country. The first Norwegian Heathen group, Blindern Åsatrulag, was established as a student group at the University of Oslo in the mid-1980s, while the larger Åsatrufellesskapet Bifrost was established in 1996; after a schism in that group, the Foreningen Forn Sed, now Forn Sed Norge, was formed in 1998. In Denmark, a small group was founded near to Copenhagen in 1986, however a wider Heathen movement would not appear until the 1990s, when a group calling itself Forn Siðr developed.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: In Germany, various groups were established that explicitly rejected their religion's völkisch and right-wing past, most notably Rabenclan (Raven's Clan) in 1994 and Nornirs Ætt (Kin of the Norns) in 2005. Several foreign Heathen organisations also established a presence in the German Heathen scene; in 1994 the Odinic Rite Deutschland (Odinic Rite Germany) was founded, although it later declared its independence and became the Verein für germanisches Heidentum (VfgH; Society for Germanic Paganism), while the Troth also created a German group, Eldaring, which declared its independence in 2000. The first organised Heathen groups in the Czech Republic emerged in the late 1990s. From 2000 to 2008, a Czech Heathen group that adopted a Pan-Germanic approach to the religion was active under the name of Heathen Hearts from Biohaemum.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Heathen influences were apparent in forms of black metal from the 1990s, where lyrics and themes often expressed a longing for a pre-Christian "Northern past"; the mass media typically associated this music genre with Satanism. The Pagan metal genre—which emerged from the fragmentation of the extreme metal scene in northern Europe during the early 1990s—came to play an important role in the North European Pagan scene. Many musicians involved in Viking metal were also practicing Heathens, with many metal bands embracing the heroic masculinity embodied in Norse mythological figures like Odin and Thor. Heathen themes also appeared in the neofolk genre. From the mid-1990s, the Internet greatly aided the propagation of Heathenry in various parts of the world. That decade also saw the strong growth of racist Heathenry among those incarcerated within the U.S. prison system as a result of outreach programs established by various Heathen groups, a project begun in the 1980s. During this period, many Heathen groups also began to interact increasingly with other ethnic-oriented Pagan groups in Eastern Europe, such as Lithuanian Romuva, and many joined the World Congress of Ethnic Religions upon its formation in 1998.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Adherents of Heathenry can be found in Europe, North America, and Australasia, with more recent communities also establishing in Latin America. They are mostly found in those areas with a Germanic cultural inheritance, although they are present in several other regions. In 2007, the religious studies scholar Graham Harvey stated that it was impossible to develop a precise figure for the number of Heathens across the world. A self-selected census in 2013 found 16,700 members in 98 countries, the bulk of whom lived in the United States. In 2016, Schnurbein stated that there were probably no more than 20,000 Heathens globally.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Schnurbein noted that, while there were some exceptions, most Heathen groups were 60–70% male in their composition. On the basis of his sociological research, Joshua Marcus Cragle agreed that the religion contained a greater proportion of men than women, but observed that there was a more even balance between the two in northern and western Europe than in other regions. He also found that the Heathen community contained a greater percentage of transgender individuals, at 2%, than is estimated to be present in the wider population. Similarly, Cragle's research found a greater proportion of LGBT practitioners within Heathenry (21%) than wider society, although noted that the percentage was lower than in other forms of modern Paganism. Cragle also found that in every region except Latin America, the majority of Heathens were middle-aged, and that most were of European descent.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Many Heathens cite a childhood interest in German folk tales or Norse myths as having led them to take an interest in Heathenry; others have instead attributed their introduction to depictions of Norse religion in popular culture. Some others claim to have involved themselves in the religion after experiencing direct revelation through dreams, which they interpret as having been provided by the gods. As with other religions, a sensation of "coming home" has also been reported by many Heathens who have converted to the movement, however Calico thought such a narrative was "not characteristic" of most U.S. Heathens. Pizza suggested that, on the basis of her research among the Heathen community in the American Midwest, that many Euro-American practitioners were motivated to join the movement both out of a desire to "find roots" within historical European cultures and to meet "a genuine need for spiritual connections and community".


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: Cragle's 2015 survey indicated that 45% of Heathens had been raised as Christians, although 21% had previously had no religious affiliation or been atheists or agnostics. Practitioners typically live within Christian majority societies, however often state that Christianity has little to offer them. In referring to Heathens in the U.S., Snook, Thad Horrell, and Kristen Horton noted that practitioners "almost always formulate oppositional identities" to Christianity. Through her research, Schnurbein found that during the 1980s many Heathens in Europe had been motivated to join the religion in part by their own anti-Christian ethos, but that this attitude had become less prominent among the Heathen community as the significance of the Christian churches had declined in Western nations after that point. Conversely, in 2018 Calico noted that a "deep antipathy" to Christianity was still "quite close to the surface for many American Heathens", with anti-Christian sentiment often being expressed through humor in that community. Many Heathens are also involved in historical reenactment, focusing on the early medieval societies of Germanic Europe; others are critical of this practice, believing that it blurs the boundary between real life and fantasy. Some adherents also practice Heathenry in tandem with other Pagan religions, such as Wicca or Druidry, but many others look unfavorably on such religions for being too syncretic.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: The United States likely contains the largest Heathen community in the world. While deeming it impossible to calculate the exact size of the Heathen community in the U.S., in the mid-1990s the sociologist Jeffrey Kaplan estimated that there were around 500 active practitioners in the country, with a further thousand individuals on the periphery of the movement. He noted that the overwhelming majority of individuals in the American Heathen community were white, male, and young. Most had at least an undergraduate degree, and worked in a mix of white collar and blue collar jobs.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: The Pagan Census project led by Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach, and Leigh S. Shaffer gained 60 responses from Heathens in the U.S. Of these respondents, 65% were male and 35% female, which Berger, Leach, and Shaffer noted was the "opposite" of the female majority trend within the rest of the country's Pagan community. The majority had a college education, but were generally less well educated than the wider Pagan community, and also had a lower median income. From her experience within the community, Snook concurred that the majority of American Heathens were male, adding that most were white and middle-aged, but believed that there had been a growth in the proportion of female Heathens in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. Subsequent assessments have suggested a larger support base; 10,000 to 20,000 according to McNallen in 2006, and 7,878 according to the 2014 census. In 2018, the scholar of religion Jefferson F. Calico suggested that it was likely there were between 8000 and 20,000 Heathens in the U.S.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 300 people registered as Heathen in England and Wales. Many Heathens followed the advice of the Pagan Federation (PF) and simply described themselves as "Pagan", while other Heathens did not specify their religious beliefs. In the 2011 census, 1,958 people self-identified as Heathen in England and Wales.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: By 2003, the Icelandic Heathen organisation Ásatrúarfélagið had 777 members, by 2015, it reported 2,400 members, and by January 2017 it claimed 3,583 members, constituting just over 1% of the Icelandic population. In Iceland, Heathenry has an impact larger than the number of its adherents. Based on his experience researching Danish Heathens, Amster stated that while it was possible to obtain membership figures of Heathen organisations, it was "impossible to estimate" the number of unaffiliated solo practitioners. Conversely, in 2015, Gregorius estimated that there were at most a thousand Heathens in Sweden—both affiliated and unaffiliated—however observed that practitioners often perceived their numbers as being several times higher than this. Although noting that there were no clear figures available for the gender balance within the community, he cited practitioners who claim that there are more men active within Swedish Heathen organisations. Schnurbein observed that most Heathens in Scandinavia were middle-class professionals aged between thirty and sixty.


title: Heathenry (new religious movement)

text: There are a small number of Heathens in Poland, where they have established a presence on social media. The majority of these Polish Heathens belong to the non-racist wing of the movement. There are also a few Heathens in the Slovenian Pagan scene, where they are outnumbered by practitioners of Slavic Native Faith. Exponents of Heathenry are also found on websites in Serbia. In Russia, several far-right groups merge elements from Heathenry with aspects adopted from Slavic Native Faith and Russian Orthodox Christianity. There are also several Heathens in the Israeli Pagan scene.


title: Momo Hirai

text: , known mononymously as Momo (; ), is a Japanese singer, rapper and dancer based in South Korea. She is one of the three Japanese members of South Korean girl group Twice under JYP Entertainment.


title: Momo Hirai

text: Momo Hirai was born in Kyōtanabe, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. She began dancing at the age of three, together with her elder sister, Hana.


title: Momo Hirai

text: Momo gained exposure to the South Korean music industry early, appearing in a music video for Lexy in 2008 and on the talent show "Superstar K" in 2011. Momo and her sister were originally spotted by JYP Entertainment in an online video in 2012. They were both asked to audition, although only Momo was successful, prompting her to move to South Korea in April 2012. Before joining Twice, she danced in a number of music videos as a "trainee". In 2015, Momo participated in the South Korean reality television show "Sixteen", created by JYP Entertainment and co-produced by Mnet. She was initially eliminated in the show but was brought back at the end to become part of the final lineup girl group Twice.


title: Momo Hirai

text: In October 2015, Momo officially debuted as a member of Twice with the release of their first extended play (EP), "The Story Begins", and its lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh".


title: Momo Hirai

text: In Gallup Korea's annual music poll for 2018, Momo was voted the 20th most popular idol in South Korea. She has been one of the most popular non-Korean K-pop stars since her debut, and the "Chosun Ilbo" credits her popularity with helping improving relations between South Korea and Japan. Known for her physical fitness and body movements, she was nicknamed "Dance Machine" and is considered Twice's best dancer. In 2019, Momo received attention on Twitter after a video trailer of her was released and ranked as the tenth most popular female K-pop idol in a survey of soldiers completing mandatory military service in South Korea. In 2022, Momo was appointed as the brand muse of Wonjungyo, a cosmetic brand supervised by Wonjungyo, who is in charge of Twice's makeup.


title: Momo Hirai

text: All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise.


title: Construction

text: Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations, and comes from Latin "constructio" (from "com-" "together" and "struere" "to pile up") and Old French "construction". To construct is the verb: the act of building, and the noun is construction: how something is built, the nature of its structure.


title: Construction

text: In its most widely used context, construction covers the processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design, and continues until the asset is built and ready for use; construction also covers repairs and maintenance work, any works to expand, extend and improve the asset, and its eventual demolition, dismantling or decommissioning.


title: Construction

text: The construction industry contributes significantly to many countries’ gross domestic products (GDP). Global expenditure on construction activities was about $4 trillion in 2012. Today, expenditure on the construction industry exceeds $11 trillion a year, equivalent to about 13 percent of global GDP. This spending was forecast to rise to around $14.8 trillion in 2030.


title: Construction

text: Although the construction industry promotes economic development and brings many non-monetary benefits to many countries, it is one of the most hazardous industries. For example, about 20% (1,061) of US industry fatalities in 2019 happened in construction.


title: Construction

text: The first huts and shelters were constructed by hand or with simple tools. As cities grew during the Bronze Age, a class of professional craftsmen, like bricklayers and carpenters, appeared. Occasionally, slaves were used for construction work. In the Middle Ages, the artisan craftsmen were organized into guilds. In the 19th century, steam-powered machinery appeared, and, later, diesel- and electric-powered vehicles such as cranes, excavators and bulldozers.


title: Construction

text: Fast-track construction has been increasingly popular in the 21st century. Some estimates suggest that 40% of construction projects are now fast-track construction.


title: Construction

text: The industry can also be classified into sectors or markets. For example, "Engineering News-Record" ("ENR"), a US-based construction trade magazine, has compiled and reported data about the size of design and construction contractors. In 2014, it split the data into nine market segments: transportation, petroleum, buildings, power, industrial, water, manufacturing, sewer/waste, telecom, hazardous waste, and a tenth category for other projects. "ENR" used data on transportation, sewer, hazardous waste and water to rank firms as heavy contractors.


title: Construction

text: The Standard Industrial Classification and the newer North American Industry Classification System classify companies that perform or engage in construction into three subsectors: building construction, heavy and civil engineering construction, and specialty trade contractors. There are also categories for professional services firms (e.g., engineering, architecture, surveying, project management).


title: Construction

text: Building construction is the process of adding structures to areas of land, also known as real property sites. Typically, a project is instigated by or with the owner of the property (who may be an individual or an organisation); occasionally, land may be compulsorily purchased from the owner for public use.


title: Construction

text: Residential construction may be undertaken by individual land-owners (self-build), by specialist housebuilders, by property developers, by general contractors, or by providers of public or social housing (e.g.: local authorities, housing associations). Where local zoning or planning policies allow, mixed-use developments may comprise both residential and non-residential construction (e.g.: retail, leisure, offices, public buildings, etc.).


title: Construction

text: Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources must conform to local building authority regulations and codes of practice. Materials readily available in the area generally dictate the construction materials used (e.g.: brick versus stone versus timber). Costs of construction on a per square meter (or per square foot) basis for houses can vary dramatically based on site conditions, access routes, local regulations, economies of scale (custom-designed homes are often more expensive to build) and the availability of skilled tradespeople.


title: Construction

text: Depending upon the type of building, non-residential building construction can be procured by a wide range of private and public organisations, including local authorities, educational and religious bodies, transport undertakings, retailers, hoteliers, property developers, financial institutions and other private companies. Most construction in these sectors is undertaken by general contractors.


title: Construction

text: Civil engineering covers the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, tunnels, airports, water and sewerage systems, pipelines, and railways. Some general contractors have expertise in civil engineering; civil engineering contractors are firms dedicated to work in this sector, and may specialise in particular types of infrastructure.


title: Construction

text: Industrial construction includes offshore construction (mainly of energy installations: oil and gas platforms, wind power), mining and quarrying, refineries, breweries, distilleries and other processing plants, power stations, steel mills, warehouses and factories.


title: Construction

text: Some construction projects are small renovations or repair jobs, like repainting or fixing leaks, where the owner may act as designer, paymaster and laborer for the entire project. However, more complex or ambitious projects usually require additional multi-disciplinary expertise and manpower, so the owner may commission one or more specialist businesses to undertake detailed planning, design, construction and handover of the work. Often the owner will appoint one business to oversee the project (this may be a designer, a contractor, a construction manager, or other advisors); such specialists are normally appointed for their expertise in project delivery, and will help the owner define the project brief, agree on a budget and schedule, liaise with relevant public authorities, and procure the services of other specialists (the supply chain, comprising subcontractors). Contracts are agreed for the delivery of services by all businesses, alongside other detailed plans aimed at ensuring legal, timely, on-budget and safe delivery of the specified works.


title: Construction

text: Design, finance, and legal aspects overlap and interrelate. The design must be not only structurally sound and appropriate for the use and location, but must also be financially possible to build, and legal to use. The financial structure must be adequate to build the design provided, and must pay amounts that are legally owed. Legal structures integrate design with other activities, and enforce financial and other construction processes.


title: Construction

text: These processes also affect procurement strategies. Clients may, for example, appoint a business to design the project, after which a competitive process is undertaken to appoint a lead contractor to construct the asset (design–bid–build); they may appoint a business to lead both design and construction (design-build); or they may directly appoint a designer, contractor and specialist subcontractors (construction management). Some forms of procurement emphasize collaborative relationships (partnering, alliancing) between the client, the contractor, and other stakeholders within a construction project, seeking to ameliorate often highly competitive and adversarial industry practices.


title: Construction

text: When applicable, a proposed construction project must comply with local land-use planning policies including zoning and building code requirements. A project will normally be assessed (by the 'authority having jurisdiction, AHJ, typically the municipality where the project will be located) for its potential impacts on neighbouring properties, and upon existing infrastructure (transportation, social infrastructure, and utilities including water supply, sewerage, electricity, telecommunications, etc.). Data may be gathered through site analysis, site surveys and geotechnical investigations. Construction normally cannot start until planning permission has been granted, and may require preparatory work to ensure relevant infrastructure has been upgraded before building work can commence. Preparatory works will also include surveys of existing utility lines to avoid damage-causing outages and other hazardous situations.


title: Construction

text: Some legal requirements come from "malum in se" considerations, or the desire to prevent indisputably bad phenomena, e.g. explosions or bridge collapses. Other legal requirements come from "malum prohibitum" considerations, or factors that are a matter of custom or expectation, such as isolating businesses from a business district or residences from a residential district. An attorney may seek changes or exemptions in the law that governs the land where the building will be built, either by arguing that a rule is inapplicable (the bridge design will not cause a collapse), or that the custom is no longer needed (acceptance of live-work spaces has grown in the community).


title: Construction

text: During the construction of a building, a municipal building inspector usually inspects the ongoing work periodically to ensure that construction adheres to the approved plans and the local building code. Once construction is complete, any later changes made to a building or other asset that affect safety, including its use, expansion, structural integrity, and fire protection, usually require municipality approval.


title: Construction

text: Depending on the type of project, mortgage bankers, accountants, and cost engineers may participate in creating an overall plan for the financial management of a construction project. The presence of the mortgage banker is highly likely, even in relatively small projects since the owner's equity in the property is the most obvious source of funding for a building project. Accountants act to study the expected monetary flow over the life of the project and to monitor the payouts throughout the process. Professionals including cost engineers, estimators and quantity surveyors apply expertise to relate the work and materials involved to a proper valuation.


title: Construction

text: Financial planning ensures adequate safeguards and contingency plans are in place before the project is started, and ensures that the plan is properly executed over the life of the project. Construction projects can suffer from preventable financial problems. Underbids happen when builders ask for too little money to complete the project. Cash flow problems exist when the present amount of funding cannot cover the current costs for labour and materials; such problems may arise even when the overall budget is adequate, presenting a temporary issue. Cost overruns with government projects have occurred when the contractor identified change orders or project changes that increased costs, which are not subject to competition from other firms as they have already been eliminated from consideration after the initial bid. Fraud is also an occasional construction issue.


title: Construction

text: Large projects can involve highly complex financial plans and often start with a conceptual cost estimate performed by a building estimator. As portions of a project are completed, they may be sold, supplanting one lender or owner for another, while the logistical requirements of having the right trades and materials available for each stage of the building construction project carry forward. Public–private partnerships (PPPs) or private finance initiatives (PFIs) may also be used to help deliver major projects. According to McKinsey in 2019, the "vast majority of large construction projects go over budget and take 20% longer than expected".


title: Construction

text: A construction project is a complex net of construction contracts and other legal obligations, each of which all parties must carefully consider. A contract is the exchange of a set of obligations between two or more parties, and provides structures to manage issues. For example, construction delays can be costly, so construction contracts set out clear expectations and clear paths to manage delays. Poorly drafted contracts can lead to confusion and costly disputes.


title: Construction

text: At the start of a project, legal advisors seek to identify ambiguities and other potential sources of trouble in the contract structures, and to present options for preventing problems. During projects, they work to avoid and resolve conflicts that arise. In each case, the lawyer facilitates an exchange of obligations that matches the reality of the project.


title: Construction

text: Design-bid-build is the most common and well-established method of construction procurement. In this arrangement, the architect, engineer or builder acts for the client as the project coordinator. They design the works, prepare specifications and design deliverables (models, drawings, etc.), administer the contract, tender the works, and manage the works from inception to completion. In parallel, there are direct contractual links between the client and the main contractor, who, in turn, has direct contractual relationships with subcontractors. The arrangement continues until the project is ready for handover.


title: Construction

text: Design-build became more common from the late 20th century, and involves the client contracting a single entity to provide design and construction. In some cases, the design-build package can also include finding the site, arranging funding and applying for all necessary statutory consents. Typically, the client invites several D&B contractors to submit proposals to meet the project brief and then selects a preferred supplier. Often this will be a consortium involving a design firm and a contractor (sometimes more than one of each). In the United States, departments of transportation usually use design-build contracts as a way of progressing projects where states lack the skills or resources, particularly for very large projects.


title: Construction

text: In a construction management arrangement, the client enters into separate contracts with the designer (architect or engineer), a construction manager, and individual trade contractors. The client takes on the contractual role, while the construction or project manager provides the active role of managing the separate trade contracts, and ensuring that they complete all work smoothly and effectively together. This approach is often used to speed up procurement processes, to allow the client greater flexibility in design variation throughout the contract, to enable the appointment of individual work contractors, to separate contractual responsibility on each individual throughout the contract, and to provide greater client control.


title: Construction

text: In the industrialized world, construction usually involves the translation of designs into reality. Most commonly (i.e.: in a design-bid-build project), the design team is employed by (i.e. in contract with) the property owner. Depending upon the type of project, a design team may include architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, structural engineers, fire protection engineers, planning consultants, architectural consultants, and archaeological consultants. A 'lead designer' will normally be identified to help coordinate different disciplinary inputs to the overall design. This may be aided by integration of previously separate disciplines (often undertaken by separate firms) into multi-disciplinary firms with experts from all related fields, or by firms establishing relationships to support design-build processes.


title: Construction

text: The increasing complexity of construction projects creates the need for design professionals trained in all phases of a project's life-cycle and develop an appreciation of the asset as an advanced technological system requiring close integration of many sub-systems and their individual components, including sustainability. For buildings, building engineering is an emerging discipline that attempts to meet this new challenge.


title: Construction

text: Traditionally, design has involved the production of sketches, architectural and engineering drawings, and specifications. Until the late 20th century, drawings were largely hand-drafted; adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) technologies then improved design productivity, while the 21st-century introduction of building information modeling (BIM) processes has involved the use of computer-generated models that can be used in their own right or to generate drawings and other visualisations as well as capturing non-geometric data about building components and systems.


title: Construction

text: On some projects, work on-site will not start until design work is largely complete; on others, some design work may be undertaken concurrently with the early stages of on-site activity (for example, work on a building's foundations may commence while designers are still working on the detailed designs of the building's internal spaces). Some projects may include elements that are designed for off-site construction (see also prefabrication and modular building) and are then delivered to the site ready for erection, installation or assembly.


title: Construction

text: Once contractors and other relevant professionals have been appointed and designs are sufficiently advanced, work may commence on the project site. Typically, a construction site will include a secure perimeter to restrict unauthorised access, site access control points, office and welfare accommodation for personnel from the main contractor and other firms involved in the project team, and storage areas for materials, machinery and equipment. According to the "McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction's" definition, construction may be said to have "started" when the first feature of the permanent structure has been put in place, such as pile driving, or the pouring of slabs or footings.


title: Construction

text: Commissioning is the process of verifying that all subsystems of a new building (or other assets) work as intended to achieve the owner's project requirements and as designed by the project's architects and engineers.


title: Construction

text: A period after handover (or practical completion) during which the owner may identify any shortcomings in relation to the building specification ('defects'), with a view to the contractor correcting the defect.


title: Construction

text: Maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, governmental, and residential installations.


title: Construction

text: Demolition is the discipline of safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for reuse purposes (recycling - see also circular economy).


title: Construction

text: The output of the global construction industry was worth an estimated $10.8 trillion in 2017, and in 2018 was forecast to rise to $12.9 trillion by 2022, and to around $14.8 trillion in 2030. As a sector, construction accounts for more than 10% of global GDP (in developed countries, construction comprises 6-9% of GDP), and employs around 7% of the total employed workforce around the globe (accounting for over 273 million full- and part-time jobs in 2014). Since 2010, China has been the world's largest single construction market. The United States is the second largest construction market with a 2018 output of $1.581 trillion.


title: Construction

text: In the United States in February 2020, around $1.4 trillion worth of construction work was in progress, according to the Census Bureau, of which just over $1.0 trillion was for the private sector (split roughly 55:45% between residential and nonresidential); the remainder was public sector, predominantly for state and local government.


title: Construction

text: Construction is a major source of employment in most countries; high reliance on small businesses, and under-representation of women are common traits. For example:


title: Construction

text: According to McKinsey research, productivity growth per worker in construction has lagged behind many other industries across different countries including in the United States and in European countries. In the United States, construction productivity per worker has declined by half since the 1960s.


title: Construction

text: Some workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers; they may be skilled tradespeople; or they may be supervisory or managerial personnel. Under safety legislation in the United Kingdom, for example, construction workers are defined as people "who work for or under the control of a contractor on a construction site"; in Canada, this can include people whose work includes ensuring conformance with building codes and regulations, and those who supervise other workers.


title: Construction

text: Laborers comprise a large grouping in most national construction industries. In the United States, for example, in May 2021 the construction sector employed just over 7.5 million people, of whom just over 820,000 were laborers, while 573,000 were carpenters, 508,000 were electricians, 258,000 were equipment operators and 230,000 were construction managers. Like most business sectors, there is also substantial white-collar employment in construction - 681,000 US workers were recorded by the United States Department of Labor as in 'office and administrative support occupations' in May 2021.


title: Construction

text: Large-scale construction requires collaboration across multiple disciplines. A project manager normally manages the budget on the job, and a construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or architect supervises it. Those involved with the design and execution must consider zoning requirements and legal issues, environmental impact of the project, scheduling, budgeting and bidding, construction site safety, availability and transportation of building materials, logistics, and inconvenience to the public, including those caused by construction delays.


title: Construction

text: There are many routes to the different careers within the construction industry. There are three main tiers of construction workers based on educational background and training, which vary by country:


title: Construction

text: Unskilled and semi-skilled workers provide general site labor, often have few or no construction qualifications, and may receive basic site training.


title: Construction

text: Skilled tradespeople have typically served apprenticeships (sometimes in labor unions) or received technical training; this group also includes on-site managers who possess extensive knowledge and experience in their craft or profession. Skilled manual occupations include carpenters, electricians, plumbers, ironworkers, heavy equipment operators and masons, as well as those involved in project management. In the UK these require further education qualifications, often in vocational subject areas, undertaken either directly after completing compulsory education or through "on the job" apprenticeships.


title: Construction

text: Professional, technical and managerial personnel often have higher education qualifications, usually graduate degrees, and are trained to design and manage construction processes. These roles require more training as they demand greater technical knowledge, and involve more legal responsibility. Example roles (and qualification routes) include:


title: Construction

text: Construction is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, incurring more occupational fatalities than any other sector in both the United States and in the European Union. In the US in 2019, 1,061, or about 20%, of worker fatalities in private industry occurred in construction. In 2017, more than a third of US construction fatalities (366 out of 971 total fatalities) were the result of falls; in the UK, half of the average 36 fatalities per annum over a five-year period to 2021 were attributed to falls from height. Proper safety equipment such as harnesses, hard hats and guardrails and procedures such as securing ladders and inspecting scaffolding can curtail the risk of occupational injuries in the construction industry. Other major causes of fatalities in the construction industry include electrocution, transportation accidents, and trench cave-ins.


title: Construction

text: Other safety risks for workers in construction include hearing loss due to high noise exposure, musculoskeletal injury, chemical exposure, and high levels of stress. Besides that, the high turnover of workers in construction industry imposes a huge challenge of accomplishing the restructuring of work practices in individual workplaces or with individual workers. Construction has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to identify and provide intervention strategies regarding occupational health and safety issues.


title: Construction

text: Sustainability is an aspect of “green building", defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction."


title: Saint Christopher

text: Saint Christopher (, "Ágios Christóphoros") is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively under the emperor Maximinus Daia (reigned 308–313). There appears to be confusion due to the similarity in names "Decius" and "Daia". Churches and monasteries were named after him by the 7th century.


title: Saint Christopher

text: One day he carried a child, who was unknown to him, across a river before the child revealed himself as Christ. Therefore, he is the patron saint of travelers, and small images of him are often worn around the neck, on a bracelet, carried in a pocket, or placed in vehicles by Christians.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Probably the most important source of the historicity of Christophorus is a stone inscription published by Louis Duchesne in 1878.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The copy of the stone inscription and the first publication took place on 7 April 1877 by Matthieu Paranikas in the "Anatolia" magazine in Constantinople.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The inscription bears witness to the laying of the foundation stone, the construction and the consecration of a church in the name of ‘Saint Christopher’s Martyrdom.’


title: Saint Christopher

text: The inscription also bears witness to the chronological dates from the laying of the foundation stone to the consecration of the church; the construction of this Christophorus church dates back exactly to the time of the 4th Ecumenical Council, the Council of Chalcedon.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The inscription also mentions the names of the state ministers of the Byzantine Empire and those church ministers who were involved in the laying of the foundation stone, the construction or the consecration of the church.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Not far from the Church of St Christopher, which was under construction at the time, was the Basilica of St Euphemia, in which the Council took place; the consuls Protogenes and Sporacius, mentioned in the stone inscription, are mentioned in the Council Acts.


title: Saint Christopher

text: This inscription attests to the veneration of Christophorus in the 5th century in Chalcedony and, consequently, the existence of Christophorus, who probably in the period of the Great Persecution in the 4th century suffered the martyrdom.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Then for the year 553 a bishop of Arkadiopolis in Lydia is testified, who had taken the name Christophorus. A nunnery in Galatia was consecrated to Saint Christopher around the year 600.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Epics about the life and death of Saint Christopher first appeared in Greece in the 6th century and had spread to France by the 9th century. The 11th-century bishop and poet Walter of Speyer gave one version, but the most popular variations originated from the 13th-century "Golden Legend".


title: Saint Christopher

text: According to the legendary account of his life Christopher was initially called . He was a Canaanite, 5 cubits () tall and with a fearsome face. While serving the king of Canaan, he took it into his head to go and serve "the greatest king there was". He went to the king who was reputed to be the greatest, but one day he saw the king cross himself at the mention of the devil. On thus learning that the king feared the devil, he departed to look for the devil. He came across a band of marauders, one of whom declared himself to be the devil, so Christopher decided to serve him. But when he saw his new master avoid a wayside cross and found out that the devil feared Christ, he left him and enquired from people where to find Christ. He met a hermit who instructed him in the Christian faith. Christopher asked him how he could serve Christ. When the hermit suggested fasting and prayer, Christopher replied that he was unable to perform that service. The hermit then suggested that because of his size and strength Christopher could serve Christ by assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where they were perishing in the attempt. The hermit promised that this service would be pleasing to Christ.


title: Saint Christopher

text: After Christopher had performed this service for some time, a little child asked him to take him across the river. During the crossing, the river became swollen and the child seemed as heavy as lead, so much that Christopher could scarcely carry him and found himself in great difficulty. When he finally reached the other side, he said to the child: "You have put me in the greatest danger. I do not think the whole world could have been as heavy on my shoulders as you were." The child replied: "You had on your shoulders not only the whole world but Him who made it. I am Christ your king, whom you are serving by this work." The child then vanished.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Christopher later visited Lycia and there comforted the Christians who were being martyred. Brought before the local king, he refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods. The king tried to win him by riches and by sending two beautiful women to tempt him. Christopher converted the women to Christianity, as he had already converted thousands in the city. The king ordered him to be killed. Various attempts failed, but finally Christopher was beheaded.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates Christopher of Lycea (or Lycia) with a Feast Day on May 9. The liturgical reading and hymns refer to his imprisonment by Decius who tempts Christopher with harlots before ordering his beheading. The Kontakion in the Fourth Tone (hymn) reads:


title: Saint Christopher

text: Thou who wast terrifying both in strength and in countenance, for thy Creator's sake thou didst surrender thyself willingly to them that sought thee; for thou didst persuade both them and the women that sought to arouse in thee the fire of lust, and they followed thee in the path of martyrdom. And in torments thou didst prove to be courageous. Wherefore, we have gained thee as our great protector, O great Christopher.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 25 July. The Tridentine Calendar commemorated him on the same day only in private Masses. By 1954 his commemoration had been extended to all Masses, but it was dropped in 1970 as part of the general reorganization of the calendar of the Roman rite as mandated by the motu proprio, "Mysterii Paschalis". His commemoration was described to be not of Roman tradition, in view of the relatively late date (about 1550) and limited manner in which it was accepted into the Roman calendar, but his feast continues to be observed locally.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The Museum of Sacred Art at Saint Justine's Church (Sveta Justina) in Rab, Croatia claims a gold-plated reliquary holds the skull of St. Christopher. According to church tradition, a bishop showed the relics from the city wall in 1075 in order to end a siege of the city by an Italo-Norman army.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Devotional medals with St. Christopher's name and image are commonly worn as pendants, especially by travelers, to show devotion and as a request for his blessing. Miniature statues are frequently displayed in automobiles. In French a widespread phrase for such medals is "Regarde St Christophe et va-t-en rassuré" ("Look at St Christopher and go on reassured", sometimes translated as "Behold St Christopher and go your way in safety"); Saint Christopher medals and holy cards in Spanish have the phrase "Si en San Cristóbal confías, de accidente no morirás" ("If you trust St. Christopher, you won't die in an accident").


title: Saint Christopher

text: St. Christopher is a widely popular saint, especially revered by athletes, mariners, ferrymen, and travelers. He is revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. He holds patronage of things related to travel and travelers—against lightning and pestilence—and patronage for archers; bachelors; boatmen; soldiers; bookbinders; epilepsy; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; a holy death; mariners; market carriers; motorists and drivers; sailors; storms; surfers; toothache; mountaineering; and transportation workers.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Christopher is the patron saint of many places, including: Baden, Germany; Barga, Italy; Brunswick, Germany; Mecklenburg, Germany; Rab, Croatia; Roermond, the Netherlands; Saint Christopher's Island (Saint Kitts); Toses, Catalonia, Spain; Mondim de Basto, Portugal; Agrinio, Greece; Vilnius, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; Havana, Cuba; San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic; Paete, Laguna, Philippines; and Tivim, Goa, India.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Because St. Christopher offered protection to travelers and against sudden death, many churches placed images or statues of him, usually opposite the south door, so he could be easily seen. He is usually depicted as a giant, with a child on his shoulder and a staff in one hand. In England, there are more wall paintings of St. Christopher than of any other saint; in 1904, Mrs. Collier, writing for the British Archaeological Association, reported 183 paintings, statues, and other representations of the saint, outnumbering all others except for the Virgin Mary.


title: Saint Christopher

text: In the Eastern Orthodox Church, certain icons covertly identify Saint Christopher with the head of a dog. Such images may carry echoes of the Egyptian dog-headed god, Anubis. Christopher pictured with a dog's head is not generally supported by the Orthodox Church, as the icon was proscribed in the 18th century by Moscow.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The roots of that iconography lie in a hagiographic narrative set during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian, which tell of a man named "Reprebus", "Rebrebus" or "Reprobus" (the "reprobate" or "scoundrel") being captured by Roman forces fighting against tribes dwelling to the west of Egypt in Cyrenaica and forced to join the Roman "numerus Marmaritarum" or "Unit of the Marmaritae", which suggests an otherwise-unidentified "Marmaritae" (perhaps the same as the Marmaricae Berber tribe of Cyrenaica). He was reported to be of enormous size, with the head of a dog instead of a man, both apparently being typical of the Marmaritae. He and the unit were later transferred to Syrian Antioch, where bishop Peter of Attalia baptised him and where he was martyred in 308. It has also been speculated that this Byzantine depiction of St. Christopher as dog-headed may have resulted from a misreading of the Latin term "Cananeus" (Canaanite) as "caninus", that is, "canine". Roman writer Pliny the Elder also reported that the “Cynamolgi (or Cynocephali), of ‘Ethiopia’ were men with the heads of dogs.” Pliny’s work was a well respected compendium of Roman science - The Natural Historica- during the first century A.D. In it, there is reported accepted “knowledge” about people from the area of Western Egypt (Cyrenaica). Pliny notes that these “dog-headed men” resided in “Ethiopia” -a name used to encapsulate areas of Africa West and South of Alexandrian Egypt by contemporary Romans. It’s more likely that the iconography roots lie in a narrative of a “Rebrebus/Rebrebus/ or Reprobus” captured out of “West Egypt” (a Cynocephali of Cyrenaica) and matching the current cultural belief that men (tall, strong, reprobates) from that area simply had dog heads.


title: Saint Christopher

text: According to the medieval Irish Passion of St. Christopher, "This Christopher was one of the Dog-heads, a race that had the heads of dogs and ate human flesh." It was commonly accepted at the time that there were several types of races, the Cynocephalus, or dog-headed people, being one of many believed to populate the world.


title: Saint Christopher

text: The German bishop and poet Walter of Speyer portrayed St. Christopher as a giant of a cynocephalic species in the land of the Chananeans who ate human flesh and barked. Eventually, Christopher met the Christ child, regretted his former behavior, and received baptism. He, too, was rewarded with a human appearance, whereupon he devoted his life to Christian service and became an athlete of God, one of the soldier saints.


title: Saint Christopher

text: In the Late Middle Ages, a claimed large tooth of St. Christopher was delivered to the church in Vercelli. Pilgrims came from all over Europe to look at this relic until the end of 18th century when a naturalist determined it was a tooth of hippopotamus. Since then, the tooth has been removed from the altar and forbidden to be venerated.


title: Saint Christopher

text: Numerous places are named for the saint, including Saint Christopher Island, the official name of the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts, and St. Christopher Island in Antarctica. Many places are named after the saint in other languages, including Saint-Christophe, a common place name, particularly in France; San Cristóbal; and São Cristóvão.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus () is a part of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus is located below the thalamus and is part of the limbic system. In the terminology of neuroanatomy, it forms the ventral part of the diencephalon. All vertebrate brains contain a hypothalamus. In humans, it is the size of an almond.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus is responsible for regulating certain metabolic processes and other activities of the autonomic nervous system. It synthesizes and secretes certain neurohormones, called releasing hormones or hypothalamic hormones, and these in turn stimulate or inhibit the secretion of hormones from the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus controls body temperature, hunger, important aspects of parenting and maternal attachment behaviours, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and circadian rhythms.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus is divided into 3 regions (supraoptic, tuberal, mammillary) in a parasagittal plane, indicating location anterior-posterior; and 3 areas (periventricular, medial, lateral) in the coronal plane, indicating location medial-lateral. Hypothalamic nuclei are located within these specific regions and areas. It is found in all vertebrate nervous systems. In mammals, magnocellular neurosecretory cells in the paraventricular nucleus and the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus produce neurohypophysial hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin. These hormones are released into the blood in the posterior pituitary. Much smaller parvocellular neurosecretory cells, neurons of the paraventricular nucleus, release corticotropin-releasing hormone and other hormones into the hypophyseal portal system, where these hormones diffuse to the anterior pituitary.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus is highly interconnected with other parts of the central nervous system, in particular the brainstem and its reticular formation. As part of the limbic system, it has connections to other limbic structures including the amygdala and septum, and is also connected with areas of the autonomous nervous system.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus receives many inputs from the brainstem, the most notable from the nucleus of the solitary tract, the locus coeruleus, and the ventrolateral medulla.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Several hypothalamic nuclei are sexually dimorphic; i.e., there are clear differences in both structure and function between males and females. Some differences are apparent even in gross neuroanatomy: most notable is the sexually dimorphic nucleus within the preoptic area, in which the differences are subtle changes in the connectivity and chemical sensitivity of particular sets of neurons. The importance of these changes can be recognized by functional differences between males and females. For instance, males of most species prefer the odor and appearance of females over males, which is instrumental in stimulating male sexual behavior. If the sexually dimorphic nucleus is lesioned, this preference for females by males diminishes. Also, the pattern of secretion of growth hormone is sexually dimorphic; this is why in many species, adult males are visibly distinct sizes from females.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Other striking functional dimorphisms are in the behavioral responses to ovarian steroids of the adult. Males and females respond to ovarian steroids in different ways, partly because the expression of estrogen-sensitive neurons in the hypothalamus is sexually dimorphic; i.e., estrogen receptors are expressed in different sets of neurons.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Estrogen and progesterone can influence gene expression in particular neurons or induce changes in cell membrane potential and kinase activation, leading to diverse non-genomic cellular functions. Estrogen and progesterone bind to their cognate nuclear hormone receptors, which translocate to the cell nucleus and interact with regions of DNA known as hormone response elements (HREs) or get tethered to another transcription factor's binding site. Estrogen receptor (ER) has been shown to transactivate other transcription factors in this manner, despite the absence of an estrogen response element (ERE) in the proximal promoter region of the gene. In general, ERs and progesterone receptors (PRs) are gene activators, with increased mRNA and subsequent protein synthesis following hormone exposure.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Male and female brains differ in the distribution of estrogen receptors, and this difference is an irreversible consequence of neonatal steroid exposure. Estrogen receptors (and progesterone receptors) are found mainly in neurons in the anterior and mediobasal hypothalamus, notably:


title: Hypothalamus

text: In neonatal life, gonadal steroids influence the development of the neuroendocrine hypothalamus. For instance, they determine the ability of females to exhibit a normal reproductive cycle, and of males and females to display appropriate reproductive behaviors in adult life.


title: Hypothalamus

text: In primates, the developmental influence of androgens is less clear, and the consequences are less understood. Within the brain, testosterone is aromatized (to estradiol), which is the principal active hormone for developmental influences. The human testis secretes high levels of testosterone from about week 8 of fetal life until 5–6 months after birth (a similar perinatal surge in testosterone is observed in many species), a process that appears to underlie the male phenotype. Estrogen from the maternal circulation is relatively ineffective, partly because of the high circulating levels of steroid-binding proteins in pregnancy.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Sex steroids are not the only important influences upon hypothalamic development; in particular, pre-pubertal stress in early life (of rats) determines the capacity of the adult hypothalamus to respond to an acute stressor. Unlike gonadal steroid receptors, glucocorticoid receptors are very widespread throughout the brain; in the paraventricular nucleus, they mediate negative feedback control of CRF synthesis and secretion, but elsewhere their role is not well understood.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus has a central neuroendocrine function, most notably by its control of the anterior pituitary, which in turn regulates various endocrine glands and organs. Releasing hormones (also called releasing factors) are produced in hypothalamic nuclei then transported along axons to either the median eminence or the posterior pituitary, where they are stored and released as needed.


title: Hypothalamus

text: In the hypothalamic–adenohypophyseal axis, releasing hormones, also known as hypophysiotropic or hypothalamic hormones, are released from the median eminence, a prolongation of the hypothalamus, into the hypophyseal portal system, which carries them to the anterior pituitary where they exert their regulatory functions on the secretion of adenohypophyseal hormones. These hypophysiotropic hormones are stimulated by parvocellular neurosecretory cells located in the periventricular area of the hypothalamus. After their release into the capillaries of the third ventricle, the hypophysiotropic hormones travel through what is known as the hypothalamo-pituitary portal circulation. Once they reach their destination in the anterior pituitary, these hormones bind to specific receptors located on the surface of pituitary cells. Depending on which cells are activated through this binding, the pituitary will either begin secreting or stop secreting hormones into the rest of the bloodstream.


title: Hypothalamus

text: In the hypothalamic-neurohypophyseal axis, neurohypophysial hormones are released from the posterior pituitary, which is actually a prolongation of the hypothalamus, into the circulation.


title: Hypothalamus

text: It is also known that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) hormones are related to certain skin diseases and skin homeostasis. There is evidence linking hyperactivity of HPA hormones to stress-related skin diseases and skin tumors.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus coordinates many hormonal and behavioural circadian rhythms, complex patterns of neuroendocrine outputs, complex homeostatic mechanisms, and important behaviours. The hypothalamus must, therefore, respond to many different signals, some of which are generated externally and some internally. Delta wave signalling arising either in the thalamus or in the cortex influences the secretion of releasing hormones; GHRH and prolactin are stimulated whilst TRH is inhibited.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Olfactory stimuli are important for sexual reproduction and neuroendocrine function in many species. For instance if a pregnant mouse is exposed to the urine of a 'strange' male during a critical period after coitus then the pregnancy fails (the Bruce effect). Thus, during coitus, a female mouse forms a precise 'olfactory memory' of her partner that persists for several days. Pheromonal cues aid synchronization of oestrus in many species; in women, synchronized menstruation may also arise from pheromonal cues, although the role of pheromones in humans is disputed.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Peptide hormones have important influences upon the hypothalamus, and to do so they must pass through the blood–brain barrier. The hypothalamus is bounded in part by specialized brain regions that lack an effective blood–brain barrier; the capillary endothelium at these sites is fenestrated to allow free passage of even large proteins and other molecules. Some of these sites are the sites of neurosecretion - the neurohypophysis and the median eminence. However, others are sites at which the brain samples the composition of the blood. Two of these sites, the SFO (subfornical organ) and the OVLT (organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis) are so-called circumventricular organs, where neurons are in intimate contact with both blood and CSF. These structures are densely vascularized, and contain osmoreceptive and sodium-receptive neurons that control drinking, vasopressin release, sodium excretion, and sodium appetite. They also contain neurons with receptors for angiotensin, atrial natriuretic factor, endothelin and relaxin, each of which important in the regulation of fluid and electrolyte balance. Neurons in the OVLT and SFO project to the supraoptic nucleus and paraventricular nucleus, and also to preoptic hypothalamic areas. The circumventricular organs may also be the site of action of interleukins to elicit both fever and ACTH secretion, via effects on paraventricular neurons.


title: Hypothalamus

text: It is not clear how all peptides that influence hypothalamic activity gain the necessary access. In the case of prolactin and leptin, there is evidence of active uptake at the choroid plexus from the blood into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Some pituitary hormones have a negative feedback influence upon hypothalamic secretion; for example, growth hormone feeds back on the hypothalamus, but how it enters the brain is not clear. There is also evidence for central actions of prolactin.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Findings have suggested that thyroid hormone (T4) is taken up by the hypothalamic glial cells in the infundibular nucleus/ median eminence, and that it is here converted into T3 by the type 2 deiodinase (D2). Subsequent to this, T3 is transported into the thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-producing neurons in the paraventricular nucleus. Thyroid hormone receptors have been found in these neurons, indicating that they are indeed sensitive to T3 stimuli. In addition, these neurons expressed MCT8, a thyroid hormone transporter, supporting the theory that T3 is transported into them. T3 could then bind to the thyroid hormone receptor in these neurons and affect the production of thyrotropin-releasing hormone, thereby regulating thyroid hormone production.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus functions as a type of thermostat for the body. It sets a desired body temperature, and stimulates either heat production and retention to raise the blood temperature to a higher setting or sweating and vasodilation to cool the blood to a lower temperature. All fevers result from a raised setting in the hypothalamus; elevated body temperatures due to any other cause are classified as hyperthermia. Rarely, direct damage to the hypothalamus, such as from a stroke, will cause a fever; this is sometimes called a "hypothalamic fever". However, it is more common for such damage to cause abnormally low body temperatures.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The hypothalamus contains neurons that react strongly to steroids and glucocorticoids – (the steroid hormones of the adrenal gland, released in response to ACTH). It also contains specialized glucose-sensitive neurons (in the arcuate nucleus and ventromedial hypothalamus), which are important for appetite. The preoptic area contains thermosensitive neurons; these are important for TRH secretion.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Oxytocin secretion in response to suckling or vagino-cervical stimulation is mediated by some of these pathways; vasopressin secretion in response to cardiovascular stimuli arising from chemoreceptors in the carotid body and aortic arch, and from low-pressure atrial volume receptors, is mediated by others. In the rat, stimulation of the vagina also causes prolactin secretion, and this results in pseudo-pregnancy following an infertile mating. In the rabbit, coitus elicits reflex ovulation. In the sheep, cervical stimulation in the presence of high levels of estrogen can induce maternal behavior in a virgin ewe. These effects are all mediated by the hypothalamus, and the information is carried mainly by spinal pathways that relay in the brainstem. Stimulation of the nipples stimulates release of oxytocin and prolactin and suppresses the release of LH and FSH.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Cardiovascular stimuli are carried by the vagus nerve. The vagus also conveys a variety of visceral information, including for instance signals arising from gastric distension or emptying, to suppress or promote feeding, by signalling the release of leptin or gastrin, respectively. Again this information reaches the hypothalamus via relays in the brainstem.


title: Hypothalamus

text: In addition hypothalamic function is responsive to—and regulated by—levels of all three classical monoamine neurotransmitters, noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), in those tracts from which it receives innervation. For example, noradrenergic inputs arising from the locus coeruleus have important regulatory effects upon corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) levels.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The extreme lateral part of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus is responsible for the control of food intake. Stimulation of this area causes increased food intake. Bilateral lesion of this area causes complete cessation of food intake. Medial parts of the nucleus have a controlling effect on the lateral part. Bilateral lesion of the medial part of the ventromedial nucleus causes hyperphagia and obesity of the animal. Further lesion of the lateral part of the ventromedial nucleus in the same animal produces complete cessation of food intake.


title: Hypothalamus

text: The medial zone of hypothalamus is part of a circuitry that controls motivated behaviors, like defensive behaviors. Analyses of Fos-labeling showed that a series of nuclei in the "behavioral control column" is important in regulating the expression of innate and conditioned defensive behaviors.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Exposure to a predator (such as a cat) elicits defensive behaviors in laboratory rodents, even when the animal has never been exposed to a cat. In the hypothalamus, this exposure causes an increase in Fos-labeled cells in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus, the dorsomedial part of the ventromedial nucleus, and in the ventrolateral part of the premammillary nucleus (PMDvl). The premammillary nucleus has an important role in expression of defensive behaviors towards a predator, since lesions in this nucleus abolish defensive behaviors, like freezing and flight. The PMD does not modulate defensive behavior in other situations, as lesions of this nucleus had minimal effects on post-shock freezing scores. The PMD has important connections to the dorsal periaqueductal gray, an important structure in fear expression. In addition, animals display risk assessment behaviors to the environment previously associated with the cat. Fos-labeled cell analysis showed that the PMDvl is the most activated structure in the hypothalamus, and inactivation with muscimol prior to exposure to the context abolishes the defensive behavior. Therefore, the hypothalamus, mainly the PMDvl, has an important role in expression of innate and conditioned defensive behaviors to a predator.


title: Hypothalamus

text: Likewise, the hypothalamus has a role in social defeat: Nuclei in medial zone are also mobilized during an encounter with an aggressive conspecific. The defeated animal has an increase in Fos levels in sexually dimorphic structures, such as the medial pre-optic nucleus, the ventrolateral part of ventromedial nucleus, and the ventral premammilary nucleus. Such structures are important in other social behaviors, such as sexual and aggressive behaviors. Moreover, the premammillary nucleus also is mobilized, the dorsomedial part but not the ventrolateral part. Lesions in this nucleus abolish passive defensive behavior, like freezing and the "on-the-back" posture.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Statistics Canada conducts a country-wide census that collects demographic data every five years on the first and sixth year of each decade. The 2021 Canadian Census enumerated a total population of 36,991,981, an increase of around 5.2 percent over the 2016 figure. Between 2011 and May 2016, Canada's population grew by 1.7 million people, with immigrants accounting for two-thirds of the increase. Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth. The main driver of population growth is immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world, driven mainly by economic policy and, to a lesser extent, family reunification. In 2021, a total of 405,330 immigrants were admitted to Canada, mainly from Asia. New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees, accounting for over 10 percent of annual global refugee resettlements.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The Canada 2021 Census had a total population count of 36,991,981 individuals, making up approximately 0.5% of the world's total population. A population estimate for 2022 put the total number of people in Canada at 38,232,593.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The vast majority of Canadians are positioned in a discontinuous band within approximately 300 km of the southern border with the United States; the most populated province is Ontario, followed by Quebec and British Columbia.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The total fertility rate is the number of children born in a specific year cohort to the total number of women who can give birth in the country.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: In 1971, the birth rate for the first time tipped below replacement and since then has not rebounded.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The current fertility rate of Canada is 1.57 children per woman. The total birth rate is 10.17 births/1,000 population in 2022.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The average family size in Canada has shifted more towards either childless couples or couples who have either 1 to 2 children at a maximum.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/World Bank, the population in Canada increased from 1990 to 2008 with 5.6 million and 20.4% growth in population, compared to 21.7% growth in the United States and 31.2% growth in Mexico. According to the OECD/World Bank population statistics, for the same period the world population growth was 27%, a total of 1,423 million people. However, over the same period, the population of France grew by 8.0%. And from 1991 to 2011, the population of the UK increased by 10.0%.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: All citizens of Canada are classified as "Canadians" as defined by Canada's nationality laws. "Canadian" as an ethnic group has since 1996 been added to census questionnaires for possible ancestral origin or descent. "Canadian" was included as an example on the English questionnaire and "Canadien" as an example on the French questionnaire. "The majority of respondents to this selection are from the eastern part of the country that was first settled. Respondents generally are visibly European (Anglophones and Francophones) and no longer self-identify with their ethnic ancestral origins. This response is attributed to a multitude or generational distance from ancestral lineage.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: According to the 2021 Canadian census, over 450 "ethnic or cultural origins" were self-reported by Canadians. The major panethnic groups chosen were; European (), North American (), Asian (), North American Indigenous (), African (), Latin, Central and South American (), Caribbean (), Oceanian (), and Other (). Statistics Canada reports that 35.5% of the population reported multiple ethnic origins, thus the overall total is greater than 100%.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The country's ten largest self-reported specific ethnic or cultural origins in 2021 were Canadian (accounting for 15.6 percent of the population), followed by English (14.7 percent), Irish (12.1 percent), Scottish (12.1 percent), French (11.0 percent), German (8.1 percent), Chinese (4.7 percent), Italian (4.3 percent), Indian (3.7 percent), and Ukrainian (3.5 percent).


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Of the 36.3 million people enumerated in 2021 approximately 25.4 million reported being "white", representing 69.8 percent of the population. The indigenous population representing 5 percent or 1.8 million individuals, grew by 9.4 percent compared to the non-Indigenous population, which grew by 5.3 percent from 2016 to 2021. One out of every four Canadians or 26.5 percent of the population belonged to a non-White and non-Indigenous visible minority, the largest of which in 2021 were South Asian (2.6 million people; 7.1 percent), Chinese (1.7 million; 4.7 percent) and Black (1.5 million; 4.3 percent).


title: Demographics of Canada

text: As data is completely self-reported, and reporting individuals may have varying definitions of "Ethnic origin" (or may not know their ethnic origin), these figures should not be considered an exact record of the relative prevalence of different ethno-cultural ancestries but rather how Canadians self-identify.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The most common ethnic origins per province are as follows in 2006 (total responses; only percentages 10% or higher shown; ordered by percentage of "Canadian"):


title: Demographics of Canada

text: "Italics" indicates either that this response is dominant within this province, or that this province has the highest ratio (percentage) of this response among provinces.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Note: Indigenous population decline between 1991 and 1996 censuses attributed to change in criteria in census count; "the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples used a more restrictive definition of Aboriginal".


title: Demographics of Canada

text: "Note: Other Indigenous and mixed Indigenous groups are not listed as their own, but they are all accounted for in total Indigenous"


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Statistics Canada projects that visible minorities will make up between 38.2% and 43.0% of the total Canadian population by 2041, compared with 26.5% in 2021. Among the working-age population (15 to 64 years), meanwhile, visible minorities are projected to represent between 42.1% and 47.3% of Canada's total population, compared to 28.5% in 2021.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: The question on knowledge of languages allows for multiple responses, and first appeared on the 1991 Canadian census. The following figures are from the 1991 Canadian census, 2001 Canadian census, 2011 Canadian census, and the 2021 Canadian census.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population. This represents the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world, while the proportion represents one of the highest ratios for industrialized Western countries.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Since confederation in 1867 through to the contemporary era, decadal and demi-decadal census reports have detailed immigration statistics. During this period, the highest annual immigration rate in Canada occurred in 1913, when 400,900 new immigrants accounted for 5.3 percent of the total population, while the greatest number of foreign-born individuals admitted to Canada in single year occurred in 2021, with 405,330 new immigrants accounting for 1.1 percent of the total population.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Statistics Canada projects that immigrants will represent between 29.1% and 34.0% of Canada's population in 2041, compared with 23.0% in 2021, while the Canadian population with at least one foreign born parent (first and second generation persons) could rise to between 49.8% and 54.3%, up from 44.0% in 2021.


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Statistics Canada (StatCan) grouped responses to the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) question on religion into nine core religious categories – Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Traditional (Aboriginal) Spirituality, other religions and no religious affiliation. Among these, of Canadians were self-identified as Christians in 2011. The remaining of the top 5 largest categories were of Canadians with no religious affiliation at , Canadian Muslims at , Canadian Hindus at , and Sikhs at .


title: Demographics of Canada

text: Within the 2011 NHS results, StatCan further subcategorized Christianity in nine groups of its own – Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Christian Orthodox, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, United Church and Other Christian. Among these, of Canadians were self-identified as Catholic in 2011. The second and third-largest ungrouped subcategories of Christian Canadians were United at and Anglican at , while of Christians were grouped into the Other Christian subcategory comprising numerous denominations.


title: VTuber

text: A , or , is an online entertainer who uses a virtual avatar generated using computer graphics. Real-time motion capture software or technology are often—but not always—used to capture movement. The digital trend originated in Japan in the mid-2010s, and has become an international online phenomenon in the early 2020s. A majority of VTubers are English and Japanese-speaking YouTubers or live streamers who use avatar designs. By 2020, there were more than 10,000 active VTubers. Although the term is an allusion to the video platform YouTube, they also use websites such as Niconico, Twitch, and Bilibili.


title: VTuber

text: The first entertainer to use the phrase "virtual YouTuber", Kizuna AI, began creating content on YouTube in late 2016. Her popularity sparked a VTuber trend in Japan, and spurred the establishment of specialized agencies to promote them, including major ones such as Hololive Production, Nijisanji and VShojo. Fan translations and foreign-language VTubers have marked a rise in the trend's international popularity. Virtual YouTubers have appeared in domestic advertising campaigns, and have broken livestream-related world records.


title: VTuber

text: Virtual YouTubers (although more commonly referred to as VTubers) are online entertainers who are typically YouTubers or live streamers. They use avatars created with programs such as Live2D, portraying characters designed by online artists. VTubers are not bound by physical limitations, and many of them engage in activities that are unconstrained by their real-world identity.


title: VTuber

text: VTubers often portray themselves as a kayfabe character, not unlike professional wrestling; Mace, a WWE wrestler who himself began streaming on Twitch as a VTuber in 2021, remarked that the two professions were "literally the same thing".


title: VTuber

text: VTubers are associated with Japanese popular culture and aesthetics, such as anime and manga, and moe anthropomorphism with human or non-human traits. Some VTubers use anthropomorphic avatars, non-human characters such as animals.