title: Wilma Mankiller

text: Mankiller's first community development program as a grant writer was for Bell, Oklahoma. By requiring community members to donate their time and labor to lay 16 miles of pipe for a shared water system, build houses, or work on building rehabilitation, the grant involved the community in self-improvement. Working on the Bell project, Mankiller collaborated with Charlie Soap, who worked in the Indian Housing Authority and helped her supervise the venture. The success of the program led to its use as a model for other grant programs for her own and other tribes. In the midst of the Bell Project, in 1981, tribal chief Ross Swimmer promoted her as first director of a department she devised, the Community Development Department of the Cherokee Nation. Over the next three years, Mankiller raised millions of dollars for similar community development programs. Her approach was one of self-help, which allowed citizens to identify their problems and gain control of the challenges they faced. Impressed by her skill and results, Swimmer asked her to be his running mate for the next tribal election.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In 1983, Mankiller, a Democrat, was selected as a running mate by Ross Swimmer, a Republican, in a bid for Swimmer's third consecutive term as principal chief. Though they both wanted the tribe to become more self-sufficient, Swimmer felt the path was through developing tribal businesses, like hotels and agricultural enterprises. Mankiller wanted to focus on small rural communities, improving housing and health care. Their differences on policy were not a key problem in the election, but Mankiller's gender was. She was surprised by the sexism she faced, as in traditional Cherokee society, families and clans were organized matrilineally. Though traditionally women had not held titled positions in Cherokee government, they had a women's council which wielded considerable influence, and were responsible for training the tribal chief. She received death threats, her tires were slashed, and a billboard with her likeness was burned. Swimmer nevertheless remained steadfast. Swimmer won reelection against Perry Wheeler by a narrow margin, on the strength of absentee voters. Mankiller also won by absentee voters in a run-off election for the deputy chief post against Agnes Cowen and became the first woman elected deputy chief of the Cherokee Nation. Wheeler and Cowen demanded a recount and filed a suit with the Cherokee Judicial Appeals Tribunal and U. S. District Court alleging voting irregularities. Both tribal and federal courts ruled against Wheeler and Cowen.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: One of her main duties as deputy chief was to preside over the Tribal Council, the fifteen-member governing body for the Cherokee Nation. Though she assumed that the sexism of the campaign would end once the election was resolved, Mankiller quickly realized that she had little support in the council. Some members viewed her as a political enemy, while others discounted her because of her gender. She chose to avoid involvement in tribal legislation to minimize the hostility to her election, instead concentrating on areas of government that the council did not control. One of her first focus issues was on the full-blood/mixed-blood divide. Cherokees with non-Native ancestry had assimilated into American culture to a greater extent, while full-bloods maintained Cherokee language and culture. The two groups historically had been at odds, with much disagreement on development. By the time Mankiller was elected deputy, the mixed-blood faction focused on economic growth and favored non-Natives being hired to run Native businesses if they were more qualified. Full-bloods believed that such modernization would compromise Cherokee identity. Mankiller, who supported a middle-of-the-road approach, expanded the Cherokee Heritage Center and the Institute for Cherokee Literacy. She persuaded the tribal council to change the way that council members were elected so that rather than at-large candidates, potential members came from newly created districts. The change meant that urban areas with large populations no longer controlled the council membership.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In 1985, Chief Swimmer resigned when appointed assistant secretary of the US Bureau of Indian Affairs. Mankiller succeeded him as the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, when she was sworn into office on December 5, 1985. To appease her detractors on the council, she did not attend council meetings, and stressed the separation between the executive and legislative branches of the government. Almost immediately, the press coverage on Mankiller made her an international celebrity and improved the perception of Native Americans throughout the country. In articles such as a November 1985 interview in "People", Mankiller strove to show that Native cultural traditions of cooperation and respect for the environment made them role models for the rest of society. In an interview with "Ms.", she pointed out that Cherokee women had been valued members of their communities before mainstream society imposed patriarchy upon the tribe. In presenting her critiques of Reagan administration policies that might diminish tribal self-determination or threaten their culture, she built relationships with various power brokers. Because she lacked favor with the Tribal Council, she also used her access with the press to educate Cherokee voters on the goals of her administration and her desire to improve housing and health services. Within five months of becoming chief, Mankiller's celebrity status resulted in her election that year as American Indian Woman of the Year, an honor bestowed by the Oklahoma Federation of Indian Women, and her induction into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of New England and received a citation for leadership from Harvard University.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: By 1986, Mankiller and Charlie Soap's relationship had changed from a professional one to a personal one, leading to their engagement early in the year. Not wanting to provoke calls for her to step down, they kept the relationship private until their marriage in October. It nevertheless caused controversy, generating calls for Soap to resign from his position. He resigned, effective with the end of January 1987, which generated further criticism from Mankiller's opponents, who saw the delay as a tactic for Soap to qualify for retirement benefits. Initially, Mankiller's negative experiences dissuaded her from seeking re-election, but after her opponents tried to persuade her not to run, she entered the race with Soap's support. She persuaded voters that the tribe could cooperate with state and federal governments to negotiate favorable terms to improve their opportunities. Soap, as a full-blood Cherokee, was instrumental in taking her message to that faction and defusing the gender issue, by speaking in Cherokee with them about the traditional place of women in Cherokee society. Focusing on budget cuts by the Reagan White House, she highlighted how reductions in funding for low-income housing, health and nutrition programs, and educational initiatives were affecting the tribe. While she recognized that economic development was a priority, Mankiller stressed that business development had to be balanced by addressing social problems.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: Weeks before the election, Mankiller was hospitalized for her kidney disease. Her opponents argued that she was medically unfit to lead the tribe. Turnout was high and even though Mankiller won 45% of the vote, tribal law required 50% to avoid a run-off with Perry Wheeler. She won the run-off, but within a week one of her supporters, who had been elected to the Tribal Council, died. The tribal election committee voted to nullify the absentee ballots for the new council membership, and Mankiller petitioned the Judicial Appeals Tribunal, which required a recount including the absentee voters. The council recount gave Mankiller's administration the majority and the seat was filled by a supporter of her policies. Mankiller used the press surrounding her election to combat the negative stereotypes about Native people, stressing their cultural heritage and strengths. She was selected as Newsmaker of the Year by the Association for Women in Communications and as "Ms." magazine's Woman of the Year for 1987, and was featured in the article "Celebration of Heroes" in "Newsweek"′s July 1987 edition.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: One of Mankiller's first initiatives was to lobby for maintaining the operation of the Talking Leaves Job Corps Center, which the U.S. Department of Labor had placed on a list for closure. Officials agreed to suspend the closure if she could find a suitable location. She recommended that the job center be housed in the financially insolvent motel, but initially the Tribal Council denied her permission. She was able to reverse their decision by promising to take the issue directly to a vote of the tribal members. She also expanded community development programs, using the Bell Project model, and in 1987 the Kenwood Project won the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Certificate of National Merit. Announcing that the Cherokee government would not wholly fund the Heritage Center, she pressed the center to become more proactive in attracting tourists and generating income to pay for its own operational expenses. When the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 passed, Mankiller remained cautious about participating, though she acknowledged that other tribes had a right to do so. Concerned by research connecting gambling and crime, she did not endorse gaming for the Cherokee Nation. She also rejected requests for the tribe to store nuclear waste, given its potential to harm the environment. Eventually, she changed her stance and bingo parlors became a major revenue source for the tribe.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: Founding the Private Industry Council, Mankiller brought government and private businesses together to analyze ways to generate economic growth in northeastern Oklahoma. She established employment training opportunities and programs that offered financial and technical expertise to tribal members who wanted to start their own small enterprises. She also backed the creation of a tribal electronic harness and cabling company, construction of a hydroelectric plant and a horticultural operation. Another initiative launched soon after her installment was a claim of compensation from the U.S. government for misappropriating resources from the Arkansas River. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Choctaw Nation v. Oklahoma" that the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations owned the banks and riverbed of the Arkansas River. At issue was whether the tribes were entitled to be paid for the loss of access to coal, gas and oil deposits, which could no longer be extracted as the United States Army Corps of Engineers had rerouted the river during the construction of the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System. The Cherokee then sued the United States for compensation, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the tribe was entitled to it, though the claim was reversed by the Supreme Court. The three tribes filed a claim in the United States Court of Federal Claims in 1989 alleging "mismanagement of tribal trust resources".


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In December 1988, Mankiller's leadership was recognized with a national award bestowed by the Independent Sector, an umbrella group for non-profit organizations. The John W. Gardner Leadership Award recognized not only her community development projects, but also her administration of Cherokee Nation Industries, which had seen profits soar to over $2 million. In the middle of her first term, Mankiller was invited to the White House to meet with President Reagan to discuss Native peoples' grievances with his administration. Thinking that it was going to be a productive meeting, Mankiller, who had been chosen as one of the three spokespeople for the 16 invited chiefs, was disappointed that Reagan discounted their issues and merely reiterated his pledge for self-determination. Though she brushed off the meeting as a "photo opportunity" for the president, the publicity of the event further enhanced her image with the public. The most significant development in her first full term was the negotiation with the State of Oklahoma for tax sharing on businesses operating on Cherokee lands. The compact, signed by Governor David Walters and leadership of all of the Five Civilized Tribes except the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, allowed the chiefs to collect state taxes and retain a portion of the revenues.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In June 1990, Mankiller's kidney disease worsened and one of her kidneys failed. Her brother Don donated one of his kidneys, and she underwent a kidney transplant in July, returning to work within a few weeks. While she was in Boston recuperating from the transplant, she met with officials from Washington, D.C., and signed an agreement for the Cherokee Nation to participate in a project that allowed the tribe to self-govern and assume responsibility for the use of federal funds. This change in policy had come about because of allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Hearings on the matter resulted in amendments in 1988 to the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, to allow ten tribes to participate in a pilot program spanning five years. Tribes received block grants and were allowed to tailor the use of funds based on local needs. Further amendments in the early 1990s extended self-determination to the Indian Health Service. Mankiller welcomed the initiative, which reinforced intergovernmental cooperation and increased self-determination. During her first full administration, her government built new health clinics, created a mobile eye-care clinic and established ambulance services. They also created early education and adult education programs. Mankiller was recognized with an honorary degree from Yale University in 1990 and from Dartmouth College in 1991.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: Around the same time, the contentious relationship with the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians flared again. Under Swimmer, the Cherokee Nation had filed a lawsuit against the Keetoowah Band, which traditionally had allowed members to belong to both federally recognized tribes. Mankiller had hoped to reconcile the differences between the two tribes, but the tax compact created controversy. The Keetoowah Band refused to allow the Cherokee Nation to collect taxes from its members and began a policy of requiring their tribal members to withdraw from the Cherokee Nation, claiming to be the "true" tribe representing Cherokee people. Mankiller, whose administration had established a district court to deal with the problem of Indian country being in federal jurisdiction rather than falling under state or local law enforcement, began a practice in late 1990 of negotiating cross-deputation agreements with law enforcement agencies and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service. (Cross-deputation became formally authorized in April 1991). Raids conducted by county officials and Cherokee Marshals on 14 smoke shops licensed by the Keetoowah Band were carried out in the fall of 1990. Officials of the band failed to obtain a restraining order against the Cherokee Nation and took their grievance to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Unable to resolve the matter, the federal courts stepped in and ruled that the smoke shops of the Keetoowah Band were not exempt from state taxes.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In March 1991, Mankiller announced her candidacy for the next election and shortly thereafter was invited to meet with other Indian leaders at the White House with President George H. W. Bush. Bush's officials, unlike Reagan's, were receptive to input from tribal leaders, and Mankiller hoped that a new era of "government-to-government relationships" would follow. In the June election, she won 83% of the vote. One of her first actions was to participate in a conference on educational programs for Native Americans, where she strongly opposed centralizing Indian education. Similarly, she opposed legislation proposed by the Oklahoma House of Representatives to collect cigarette taxes on products sold at Indian smoke shops to non-Indians. In the continuing battle over compensation for the loss of access to mineral rights owned by the tribe in the Arkansas River, Mankiller estimated that one-third of her time as chief was spent on trying to obtain a settlement.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: During the school term of 1991–1992, Mankiller's administration revived the tribal Sequoyah High School in Tahlequah. Working with the American Association of University Women, she worked on a grant program to match Cherokee mentors with girls attending the boarding school. The mentors shadowed the girls through their schooling and provided guidance on career opportunities. She also focused on issues of identity throughout her second term. Mankiller worked with tribal registrar Lee Fleming and a staff member Richard Allen to document groups which claimed Cherokee heritage, and they compiled a list of 269 associations throughout the country. After the passage of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, which provided both civil and criminal penalties for non-Native artists who promoted their work as "Indian Art", the tribe had the ability to certify artisans who could not prove their ancestry. In two highly publicized cases, involving Willard Stone and Bert Seabourn, Stone was certified, but his family asked for his certification to be removed, and Seabourn was not certified as an artist, but instead as a "goodwill ambassador".


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: Mankiller was vocal in her disapproval of relaxing the rigorous Bureau of Indian Affairs' processes for tribal recognition, a stance for which she was frequently criticized. In 1993, she wrote to then-governor of Georgia Zell Miller, protesting the state recognition of groups claiming Cherokee and Muscogee (Creek) ancestry. She and other tribal leaders among the Five Civilized Tribes believed that the state recognition process could allow some groups to falsely claim Native heritage. During the congressional hearings on reform of the tribal recognition policies in Washington, D.C., Mankiller stated her opposition to any reform that would weaken the recognition process. During her tenure as chief, the Cherokee tribal council passed two resolutions to bar those without a Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood (CDIB) from enrolling in the tribe. The 1988 "Rules and Regulations of the Cherokee Registration Committee" required applicants to possess a federal certification that they had ancestry linking them to the Dawes Rolls. The 1992 "Act Relating to the Process of Enrolling as a Member of the Cherokee Nation" enacted the policy into law, effectively barring Cherokee Freedmen from citizenship. Mankiller had reaffirmed "Swimmer's order on CDIBs and voting. But in 2004, Lucy Allen, a Freedman descendant, took the matter to the Cherokee Supreme Court, and the court, in a split decision, said that the descendants of Freemen were, in fact, Cherokee, could apply to be enrolled, and should have the right to vote."


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In 1992, Mankiller endorsed Bill Clinton for president, but did not donate any money to his campaign. She was invited to take part in an economic conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, and participated in his transition team for the presidency. Thanks to her access to high-level officials, she became the "most influential Indian leader in the country". Her autobiography, "Mankiller: A Chief and Her People", published in 1993, became a national best-seller. Gloria Steinem said in a review, "As one woman's journey, Mankiller opens the heart. As the history of a people, it informs the mind. Together, it teaches us that, as long as people like Wilma Mankiller carry the flame within them, centuries of ignorance and genocide can't extinguish the human spirit". Steinem and Mankiller became close friends, and Steinem later married her partner in a ceremony at Mankiller Flats. In May, Mankiller received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Drury College; in June, she was honored with the American Association of University Women's Achievement Award; and in October was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. In 1994, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, as well as the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas. That same year, Mankiller was invited by Clinton to moderate the Nation-to-Nation Summit, in which leaders of all 545 federally recognized tribes in the United States were assembled to discuss a variety of topics. The summit provided a forum for tribal leaders and government officials to resolve issues concerning jurisdiction, law, resources and religious freedom. It was followed by a conference held in Albuquerque, which included the U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior. As a result of the two meetings, the Office of Indian Justice was established by the Department of Justice.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In 1995, Mankiller was diagnosed with lymphoma and chose not to run again, largely due to health problems. Because of the chemotherapy, Mankiller had to forgo the immunosuppressive drugs she had been taking since her transplant. When George Bearpaw was disqualified as a candidate, Joe Byrd succeeded her as Principal Chief. Mankiller refused to attend his inauguration, on the grounds that the disqualification of his rival was based on an expunged conviction of assault. Fearing that Byrd would fire the staff she had hired, Mankiller authorized severance packages for the workers in her final days in office. A lawsuit was filed by the new Chief on behalf of the Cherokee Nation against Mankiller, alleging embezzlement of tribal funds of $300,000 paid out to tribal officials and department heads who left at the end of her term in 1995. "Cherokee Nation v. Mankiller" was withdrawn by a vote of the tribal council. Reflecting on her chieftainship, Mankiller said, "We've had daunting problems in many critical areas, but I believe in the old Cherokee injunction to 'be of a good mind'. Today it's called positive thinking". When Mankiller left office, the population of the Cherokee Nation had increased from 68,000 to 170,000 citizens. The tribe was generating annual revenues of approximately $25 million from a variety of sources, including factories, retail stores, restaurants and bingo operations. She had secured federal assistance of $125 million annually to assist with education, health, housing and employment programs. Having obtained the tribe's grant for "self-governance", federal oversight of tribal funds was minimized.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: Byrd's administration became embroiled in a constitutional crisis, which he blamed on Mankiller, stating that her failure to attend his inauguration and lack of mentoring divided the tribe and left him without experienced advisors. His supporters also alleged that Mankiller was behind attempts to remove Byrd from office, an allegation she denied. She had remained silent on Byrd's administration until he accused her of heading a conspiracy. Two months after Byrd was accused of improperly using federal funds, and a month after he blamed his administration's issues on Mankiller, she went to Washington with her predecessor, Swimmer, to ask that the federal authorities allow the tribe to sort out their own problems. Despite calls from the US Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, for congressional intervention and Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe's desire for presidential action, Mankiller continued to maintain that the problem was one of inexperienced leadership, in which she did not want to be involved. When an independent group of legal analysts, known as the "Massad Commission", was assembled in 1997 to evaluate the problems in Byrd's administration, Mankiller, in spite of her ongoing health concerns, was called to testify. She reiterated at the hearings that she believed the problems stemmed from poor advisors and the Chief's lack of experience.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: After her term as chief, in 1996, Mankiller became a visiting professor at Dartmouth College, where she taught in the Native American Studies program. That year, she was honored with the Elizabeth Blackwell Award from Hobart and William Smith Colleges for her exemplary service to humanity. After a semester, she began traveling on a national lecture tour, speaking on health care, tribal sovereignty, women's rights and cancer awareness. She spoke to various civic organizations, tribal gatherings, universities and women's groups. In 1997, she received an honorary degree from Smith College. In 1998, President Clinton awarded Mankiller the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. Shortly after that, she had a second kidney failure and received a second transplant, from her niece, Virlee Williamson. As previously, she immediately returned to work, resuming her lecture tours and working simultaneously on four books. In 1999 Mankiller was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double-lumpectomy followed by radiation treatment. That same year, "The Reader's Companion to U.S. Women's History", co-edited by Mankiller, was published.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In 2002, Mankiller contributed to the book "That Takes Ovaries!: Bold Females and Their Brazen Acts", and in 2004, she co-authored "Every Day Is a Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women". The following year, she worked with the Oklahoma Breast Cancer Summit to encourage early screening and raise awareness on the disease. In 2006, when Mankiller, along with other Native American leaders, was asked to send a pair of shoes to the Heard Museum for the exhibit "Sole Stories: American Indian Footwear", she sent a simple pair of walking shoes. She chose the shoes because she had worn them all over the world, including trips from Brazil to China, and because they conveyed the normalcy of her life as well as her durability, steadfastness and determination. In 2007, Mankiller gave the Centennial Lecture in the Humanities for Oklahoma's 100th anniversary of statehood. After the lecture, she was honored with the inaugural Oklahoma Humanities Award by the Oklahoma Humanities Council. She continued her lecture tours and scholarship, and in September 2009 was named the first Sequoyah Institute Fellow at Northeastern State University.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In March 2010, her husband announced that Mankiller was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer. Mankiller died on April 6, 2010, from cancer at her home in rural Adair County, Oklahoma. About 1,200 people attended her memorial service at the Cherokee National Cultural Grounds in Tahlequah on April 10, including many dignitaries such as sitting Cherokee Chief Chad Smith, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, U.S. Congressman Dan Boren and Gloria Steinem. The ceremony included statements from Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as President Barack Obama. Mankiller was buried in the family cemetery, Echota Cemetery, in Stilwell, and a few days later was honored with a Congressional Resolution from the U.S. House of Representatives. She was posthumously presented with the Drum Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Five Civilized Tribes.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: Mankiller's papers are housed in the Western History Collection at the University of Oklahoma, in Norman. With 14 honorary doctorates, she left a permanent mark on both her state and the nation, through her work to build communities and stewardship of her tribe. Over the course of her three terms as Principal Chief, Mankiller reinvigorated the Cherokee Nation through community development projects where men and women work collectively for the common good. Under the national policy of Native American self-determination, Mankiller improved federal–tribal negotiations and helped create and shepherd the government-to-government relationship that the Cherokee Nation now enjoys with the U.S. federal government. She was an inspiration to Native and non-Native Americans and a role model for women and girls. "Prior to my election", Mankiller once said, "young Cherokee girls would never have thought that they might grow up and become chief". At the 2010 annual women's conference hosted by Women Empowering Women for Indian Nations (WEWIN) to promote and empower Indigenous women's leadership, for which Mankiller had been a founding board member, a scholarship was named in her honor to pay travel expenses for women to attend the gathering.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: A 2013 feature film, "The Cherokee Word for Water", tells the story of the Bell waterline project that helped launch Mankiller's political career and started her friendship with her future husband, Charlie Soap. In the film, Mankiller is portrayed by actress Kimberly Norris Guerrero, and Soap is portrayed by actor Moses Brings Plenty. The film, produced by Kristina Kiehl and Soap, was a dream that involved more than 20 years of planning and fundraising. It was important to Mankiller that the story of the resilience of Native people be the focus of the film. The Mankiller Foundation, named in her honor, which focuses on educational, community and economic development projects, was involved in the production. In 2015, the Cherokee Nation completed construction on an addition to the Wilma P. Mankiller Health Center, located in Stilwell, doubling its size and updating its equipment. The center, one of the busiest of the eight hospitals in the Cherokee Nation Health Services system, serves approximately 120,000 patients annually. In 2017 a documentary film, "Mankiller", produced by Valerie RedHorse Mohl, was released. Through interviews with those who knew her and archival records, the film tells the story of Mankiller's life and her time as Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. In 2018, Mankiller became one of the honorees in the first induction ceremony held by the National Native American Hall of Fame.


title: Wilma Mankiller

text: In 2021 it was announced that Mankiller, Maya Angelou, Sally Ride, Adelina Otero-Warren and Anna May Wong were each selected to have their likeness appear on a quarter-dollar coin as a part of the United States Mint's "American Women Quarters" Program.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 17th FIFA U-17 World Cup, a biennial international football tournament contested by men's under-17 national teams. Organised by FIFA, the tournament took place in India between 6 and 28 October 2017, after the country was awarded the hosting rights on 5 December 2013. The tournament marked the first time India have hosted a FIFA tournament and the first Asian country to host U-17 World Cup since United Arab Emirates in 2013. The attendance for this World Cup was a record 1,347,133 surpassing China's record in 1985 with 1,230,976.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The matches were played in six stadiums in six host cities around the country, with the final taking place at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. Twenty-three teams, besides the host India, managed to qualify for the tournament via participating in their various continental under-17 tournaments. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four for points, where the top two teams in each group along with the top four third placed teams would advance to the next round. These 16 teams will advance to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The reigning champions, Nigeria, failed to qualify, becoming the first title holders fail to qualify for the subsequent edition since Switzerland in 2009.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: England won the U-17 World Cup for the first time after coming back from a two-goal deficit and beating Spain 5–2 in the final. This made England the second nation, after Brazil in 2003, to win both of FIFA's male age-capped (U-20 and U-17) World Cups in the same calendar year. England has also become the third country, after Brazil and North Korea, to win both U-17 and U-20 World Cup in their respective gender tournaments on the same year, as North Korea had also won both U-17 and U-20 Women's World Cup the previous year. The official match ball used in the tournament was Adidas Krasava.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The bids for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup had to be submitted by 15 November 2013. On 28 May 2013 it was announced by FIFA that Azerbaijan, India, Republic of Ireland, and Uzbekistan would bid for the hosting rights.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: Finally, on 5 December 2013, FIFA announced that India had won the 2017 FIFA World Cup hosting rights.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: As host, India made their first ever appearance at the FIFA U-17 World Cup and their first appearance in the World Cup at any age level. As well as India, New Caledonia and Niger also made their first appearance in the FIFA U-17 World Cup.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The previous U-17 World Cup title holders, Nigeria, failed to qualify for this edition. In failing to qualify, Nigeria became the first nation since Switzerland in 2009 to fail to qualify for the next edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup after winning the previous edition.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: A total of 24 teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to India, the other 23 teams qualified from six separate continental competitions. Starting from 2017, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) will receive an additional spot (in total two spots), while UEFA will have five instead of six spots.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The six venues selected for the tournament were given major renovations prior to the FIFA U-17 World Cup. All the stadiums were given new bucket seats, new dressing rooms, new evacuation exits for fans, and new training grounds. Javier Ceppi, the Local Organising Committee director, stated that despite work starting slowly, things eventually became quicker. "It has been a long process in the last two and half years. In India, it takes time to start things but once things start it kind of picks its own pace and in terms of implementation I always say that India is a very good country when it comes to implementation."


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The official emblem for the tournament was launched on 27 September 2016 at a hotel in Goa during the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship. According to the press release from FIFA the emblem was designed "as a celebration of the country's richness and diversity of cultures, with the main elements of the Indian Ocean, the banyan tree, the kite and the starburst, which is an interpretation of the Ashoka Chakra, an integral part of the national identity."


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: Sales of tickets for the FIFA U-17 World Cup began on 16 May 2017 during a function in New Delhi. Carles Puyol was present during the ticket sales launch as special guest. General ticket sales officially began on 17 May 2017 at 19:11. The time was selected as a tribute to when Mohun Bagan defeated East Yorkshire Regiment in the IFA Shield in 1911, marking the first time an Indian football club defeated a British side in British India. Tickets for the tournament were sold in four phases: Phase one only sold tickets for categories 1 to 3 at each venue with a 60% discount while phase two allowed people to buy tickets for all categories, but only if you are a Visa card holder, at a 50% discount. Phase three allowed anyone to buy tickets with a 25% discount while phase four had tickets at full price. The attendance for matches breached the million mark in the final match of the Round of 16, which made India only the third nation after China and Mexico to register an attendance of over a million for the event. On 28 October 2017, in the 3rd place match-up between Brazil and Mali, India finally beat the existing record of 1,230,976 set in the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship edition in China The final attendance figures were 1,347,133.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The mascot is "Kheleo", a Himalayan Clouded Leopard. He wears a jersey with the colours of white, yellow, green and orange. The Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Vijay Goel, stated: "Kheleo is young, vibrant, enthustiatic and a perfect representation of our country. He will help us to involve kids in football in a fun way".


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The Theme Song for the 2017 U17 World Cup is called 'Kar Ke Dikhla De Goal' () which roughly translates to 'Show that you can score a goal', composed by Pritam and written by Amitabh Bhattacharya features Indian football legend Bhaichung Bhutia along with Kerala Blasters co-owner Sachin Tendulkar and singer Babul Supriyo, who had designed the Mohun Bagan kit half a decade back.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: After being awarded the hosting rights for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, eight locations were shortlisted: Bangalore, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Margao, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune. On 29 May 2015, Kochi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Guwahati were provisionally selected as host locations and was informed two more would be provisionally approved from the list of


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, New Delhi and Pune. On 27 October 2016, FIFA officially announced Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Margao, Navi Mumbai and New Delhi as the official host cities for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup was held on 7 July 2017 at the Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai, India. The draw was attended by former U-17 World Cup champions Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria) and former U-20 World Cup champions Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina), as well as India senior international Sunil Chhetri and badminton player P. V. Sindhu.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four teams, with hosts India being allocated to position A1. The rest of the teams were allocated into their respective pots based on a ranking which was built according to past performances during the last five FIFA U-17 World Cups. Importance was given to the most recent U-17 World Cups.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: FIFA's Referees' Committee selected 21 referees, representing all six confederations, to officiate at the U-17 World Cup: Seven from UEFA, four from CONMEBOL, three each from the AFC, CAF, and CONCACAF, and one from the OFC. Interestingly, no referee from host country India were selected to officiate.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: Each team's squad for the FIFA U-17 World Cup consisted of 21 players. Each participating national association had to confirm their final 21-player squad by 21 September 2017. A total of 504 players participated in the tournament. The squads were announced by FIFA on 26 September 2017.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, the match is determined by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time is played).


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: In the round of 16, the four third-placed teams were matched with the winners of groups A, B, C, and D. The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depend on which four third-placed teams qualified for the round of 16:


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. They were all sponsored by Adidas, except for the FIFA Fair Play Award.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: FIFA released the media licensing rights for the U-17 World Cup on 21 September 2017. In India, the official broadcaster was Sony TEN and Sony ESPN. In the United States, the tournament was broadcast on Fox Sports 2 while the United Kingdom had the tournament broadcast on Eurosport.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup was regarded as a success by the media, FIFA and the tournament organisers. Jaime Yarza, Head of FIFA Tournaments, said, "It's been a fantastic tournament with an overwhelming response of everybody involved. First and foremost, the fans have filled the stadiums in all the matches, showing fair play and respect, cheering on all the teams, and really loving the football they have seen. The figures speak for themselves: more than 1.2 million fans attended games at the stadiums. By the final matchday, we’re probably going to break the [attendance] record of all the other U-17 World Cups and we might even break the record for the U-20 World Cup, which is an amazing achievement. It really shows that India is a footballing nation in every sense. The hard work put in place during so many years has received a great response from everybody. It has been a very proud moment for all of us."


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The tournament was the most attended and highest scoring edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in history. It was also the highest attended men's age-group World Cup ever, surpassing the attendance record of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The attendance for this World Cup was a record 1,347,133 surpassing China's 1985 edition where it was 1,230,976, and the 2011 U-20 World Cup in Colombia which was attended by 1,309,929 people.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: The 177 goals scored during the tournament made it the highest scoring U-17 World Cup in history, surpassing the previous record of 172 during the 2013 edition in the United Arab Emirates. The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup also recorded the highest goal average of 3.40 per match since the tournament format was expanded from 16 teams to 24 teams in 2007.


title: 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup

text: In September 2017, India submitted a bid to host the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but lost to Poland. India was selected to host the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup by the FIFA Council on 15 March 2019.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The MOD states that its principal objectives are to defend the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and its interests and to strengthen international peace and stability. The MOD also manages day-to-day running of the armed forces, contingency planning and defence procurement.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The expenditure, administration and policy of the MOD are scrutinised by the Defence Select Committee, except for Defence Intelligence which instead falls under the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: During the 1920s and 1930s, British civil servants and politicians, looking back at the performance of the state during the First World War, concluded that there was a need for greater co-ordination between the three services that made up the armed forces of the United Kingdom: the Royal Navy, the British Army and the Royal Air Force. The formation of a united ministry of defence was rejected by the coalition government of David Lloyd George in 1921, but the Chiefs of Staff Committee was formed in 1923, for the purposes of inter-service co-ordination. As rearmament became a concern during the 1930s, Stanley Baldwin created the position of Minister for Co-ordination of Defence. Lord Chatfield held the post until the fall of Neville Chamberlain's government in 1940. His success was limited by his lack of control over the existing Service departments, and his lack of political influence.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: On forming his government in 1940, Winston Churchill created the office of Minister of Defence, to exercise ministerial control over the Chiefs of Staff Committee and to co-ordinate defence matters. The post was held by the Prime Minister of the day until Clement Attlee's government introduced the Ministry of Defence Act of 1946. After 1946, the three posts of Secretary of State for War, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Secretary of State for Air were formally subordinated to the new Minister of Defence, who had a seat in the Cabinet. The three service ministers — Admiralty, War, Air — remained in direct operational control of their respective services, but ceased to attend Cabinet.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: From 1946 to 1964, five Departments of State did the work of the modern Ministry of Defence: the Admiralty, the War Office, the Air Ministry, the Ministry of Aviation, and an earlier form of the Ministry of Defence. Those departments merged in 1964, and the defence functions of the Ministry of Aviation Supply were merged into the Ministry of Defence in 1971. The unification of all defence activities under a single ministry was motivated by a desire to curb interservice rivalries and followed the precedent set by the American National Security Act of 1947.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the professional head of the British Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The CDS is supported by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) who deputises and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the armed services aspect of the MOD through the Central Staff, working closely alongside the Permanent Secretary. They are joined by the professional heads of the three British armed services (Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force) and the Commander of Strategic Command. All personnel sit at OF-9 rank in the NATO rank system.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: Together the Chiefs of Staff form the Chiefs of Staff Committee with responsibility for providing advice on operational military matters and the preparation and conduct of military operations.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The Chief of Staff is supported by several Deputy Chiefs of the Defence Staff and senior officers at OF-8 rank.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: Additionally, there are a number of Assistant Chiefs of Defence Staff, including the Defence Services Secretary in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, who is also the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel).


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The Ministers and Chiefs of the Defence Staff are supported by several civilian, scientific and professional military advisors. The Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence (generally known as the Permanent Secretary) is the senior civil servant at the MOD. Their role is to ensure that it operates effectively as a government department and has responsibility for the strategy, performance, reform, organisation and the finances of the MOD.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The role works closely with the Chief of the Defence Staff in leading the organisation and supporting Ministers in the conduct of business in the Department across the full range of responsibilities.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 included £178 billion investment in new equipment and capabilities. The review set a defence policy with four primary missions for the Armed Forces:


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The review stated the Armed Forces will also contribute to the government's response to crises by being prepared to:


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The MOD comprises seven top-level budgets. The head of each organisation is personally accountable for the performance and outputs of their particular organisation. These are:


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: In addition, the MOD is responsible for the administration of the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: DEFCON contract conditions are numbered defence contract conditions in contracts issued by the MOD (not to be confused with DEFCON as used by the United States Armed Forces, which refers to a level of military "defense readiness condition").


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The Ministry of Defence is one of the United Kingdom's largest landowners, owning 227,300 hectares of land and foreshore (either freehold or leasehold) at April 2014, which was valued at "about £20 billion". The MOD also has "rights of access" to a further 222,000 hectares. In total, this is about 1.8% of the UK land mass. The total annual cost to support the defence estate is "in excess of £3.3 billion".


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The defence estate is divided as training areas & ranges (84.0%), research & development (5.4%), airfields (3.4%), barracks & camps (2.5%), storage & supply depots (1.6%), and other (3.0%). These are largely managed by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The headquarters of the MOD are in Whitehall and is known as MOD Main Building. This structure is neoclassical in style and was originally built between 1938 and 1959 to designs by Vincent Harris to house the Air Ministry and the Board of Trade. A major refurbishment of the building was completed under a Private Finance Initiative contract by Skanska in 2004. The northern entrance in Horse Guards Avenue is flanked by two monumental statues, "Earth" and "Water", by Charles Wheeler. Opposite stands the Gurkha Monument, sculpted by Philip Jackson and unveiled in 1997 by Queen Elizabeth II. Within it is the Victoria Cross and George Cross Memorial, and nearby are memorials to the Fleet Air Arm and RAF (to its east, facing the riverside).


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: Henry VIII's wine cellar at the Palace of Whitehall, built in 1514–1516 for Cardinal Wolsey, is in the basement of Main Building, and is used for entertainment. The entire vaulted brick structure of the cellar was encased in steel and concrete and relocated nine feet to the west and nearly deeper in 1949, when construction was resumed at the site after the Second World War. This was carried out without any significant damage to the structure.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: The most notable fraud conviction has been that of Gordon Foxley, Director of Ammunition Procurement at the Ministry of Defence from 1981 to 1984. Police claimed he received at least £3.5m in total in corrupt payments, such as substantial bribes from overseas arms contractors aiming to influence the allocation of contracts.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: A government report covered by "The Guardian" newspaper in 2002 indicated that between 1940 and 1979, the Ministry of Defence "turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public" and many of these tests "involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swathes of the population without the public being told." The Ministry of Defence claims that these trials were to simulate germ warfare and that the tests were harmless. However, families who have been in the area of many of the tests are experiencing children with birth defects and physical and mental handicaps and many are asking for a public inquiry. The report estimated these tests affected millions of people, including during one period between 1961 and 1968 where "more than a million people along the south coast of England, from Torquay to the New Forest, were exposed to bacteria including "E.coli" and "Bacillus globigii", which mimics anthrax." Two scientists commissioned by the Ministry of Defence stated that these trials posed no risk to the public. This was confirmed by Sue Ellison, a representative of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory at Porton Down who said that the results from these trials "will save lives, should the country or our forces face an attack by chemical and biological weapons."


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: In October 2009 the MOD was heavily criticised for withdrawing the bi-annual non-operational training £20m budget for the Territorial Army (TA), ending all non-operational training for 6 months until April 2010. The government eventually backed down and restored the funding. The TA provides a small percentage of the UK's operational troops. Its members train on weekly evenings and monthly weekends, as well as two-week exercises generally annually and occasionally bi-annually for troops doing other courses. The cuts would have meant a significant loss of personnel and would have had adverse effects on recruitment.


title: Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

text: In 2013 it was found that the Ministry of Defence had overspent on its equipment budget by £6.5bn on orders that could take up to 39 years to fulfil. The Ministry of Defence has been criticised in the past for poor management and financial control.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: Days of Being Wild is a 1990 Hong Kong drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai. Starring some of the best-known actors and actresses in Hong Kong, including Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau, Jacky Cheung and Tony Leung, the film marks the first collaboration between Wong and cinematographer Christopher Doyle, with whom he has since made six more films.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: It forms the first part of an informal trilogy, together with "In the Mood for Love" (2000) and "2046" (2004).


title: Days of Being Wild

text: Yuddy, a smooth-talking playboy seduces Li-zhen but is uninterested in pursuing a serious relationship with her. Li-zhen, who wants to marry him, is heartbroken and decides to leave. Yuddy moves on to a new relationship with vivacious cabaret dancer Mimi. His friend Zeb is also attracted to her but she doesn't reciprocate his feelings.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: Yuddy has a tense relationship with his adoptive mother, a former prostitute, after she reveals that he is adopted. He also doesn't approve of her choice of lovers much younger than her who he thinks are taking advantage of her. She initially refuses to reveal who his birth mother is but eventually relents and tells him that she lives in the Philippines.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: Li-zhen finds solace in Tide, a policeman who does his rounds near Yuddy's house. Tide dreams of becoming a sailor but he chooses to be a policeman to stay and look after his mother. Li-zhen talks about her failed love affair, her successful cousin's impending marriage and how she misses home. Li-zhen, who works at the ticket stall of a soccer stadium, promises Tide a free ticket to a match of his choice and Tide tells her to call him on a phone booth he passes every night if she ever needs anyone to talk to. Their near-romance is hinted at but never materializes. When his mother passes, Tide leaves to become a sailor.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: Meanwhile, Yuddy decides to find his birth mother and leaves for the Philippines, giving his car to Zeb and without informing Mimi. Mimi is distraught and resolves to follow him. Zeb, his love still unrequited, sells Yuddy's car to finance her trip and asks her to come back to him if she doesn't find Yuddy.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: Tide, now a sailor on a stopover in the Philippines, finds a drunk Yuddy passed out on the street and brings him to his hotel room. Yuddy doesn't recognise him but accepts his assistance. He gets into a fight at the railway station over payment for an American passport and stabs a man. Tide saves him and they escape aboard a train. Tide asks him if he remembers what happened on a particular date to an exact minute, referring to something he told Li-zhen at the start of their courtship. He says that he remembers and tells him it would be best to tell Li-zhen that he doesn't. Tide returns from a conversation with the train conductor to find Yuddy shot to death.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: A final sequence shows Mimi having arrived in the Philippines, Li-zhen closing up at the ticket stall and a phone at the booth ringing.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: "Days of Being Wild" grossed HK$9,751,942 in its Hong Kong run, a number that would become typical for a Wong Kar Wai film. With the starry cast, this figure was considered a disappointment. Still, the film was successful enough to warrant a parody ("The Days of Being Dumb", which also featured Tony Leung and Jacky Cheung), and now routinely tops Hong Kong critics' lists of the best local productions.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 7.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Days of Being Wild" uses a young man's struggle to come to terms with a family secret as the foundation for a beautifully filmed drama with a darkly dreamy allure." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 93 out of 100 based on 21 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Days of Being Wild

text: The film ranked at number three on the Hong Kong Film Awards Association (HKFAA)'s 2005 list of The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures. It placed at number 37 on the "Asian Cinema 100 List" at the 20th Busan International Film Festival in 2015.


title: Days of Being Wild

text: The film debuted on the Blu-ray format for the first time in the United States on March 23, 2021 in a collection of 7 Wong Kar-wai films by the Criterion Collection.


title: Play (airline)

text: Fly Play hf. (styled as PLAY) is an Icelandic low-cost airline headquartered in the country's capital of Reykjavík. It operates a fleet of Airbus A320neo family aircraft with a hub at Keflavík International Airport.


title: Play (airline)

text: In July 2019, two former WOW air executives, Arnar Már Magnússon and Sveinn Ingi Steinþórsson announced the formation of a new airline, tentatively named WAB air ("We Are Back"). Avianta Capital, an Irish investment fund owned by Aislinn Whittley-Ryan (daughter of Michael Kell Ryan, one of the founders of Ryanair) held a 75% stake; the remainder was held by Neo, a company founded by Magnússon and Steinþórsson. The company aimed to operate six aircraft to 14 destinations across Europe and the US, with a target of one million passengers in the first year. The new company applied for an air operator's certificate (AOC) from the Icelandic Transport Authority.


title: Play (airline)

text: In November 2019, WAB air rebranded as PLAY, and the hiring of operating staff was initiated. The airline announced that it would lease Airbus A321s configured with 200 passenger seats, and would start flights with two aircraft to six European destinations in the winter of 2019–2020. The airline's livery was also planned to be red. By late 2019, Play planned to initially serve six destinations in Europe, consisting of Alicante, Tenerife, London, Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin. There were plans to introduce flights to four North American destinations in the spring of 2020.


title: Play (airline)

text: Play originally planned to start operations with two Airbus A321 aircraft configured for 200 passenger seats and add four more aircraft by the summer of 2020. By November 2020, the company had received a landing permit for only three airports, consisting of London Stansted Airport, Gatwick Airport, and Dublin Airport.


title: Play (airline)

text: In April 2021, it was announced that Play had completed a pre-IPO private placement round with a total transaction size of six billion Icelandic króna (US $47 million) in new equity managed by Arctica Finance. Participating investors included Icelandic investment company Stodir and two Icelandic pension funds. It was also confirmed that Birgir Jónsson would replace Arnar Már Magnússon as CEO. In May 2021, the airline announced the registration of its AOC, as well as the acquisition of its first aircraft, an Airbus A321neo. Soon after, the airline began ticket sales for its first flights, the operations of which launched with its inaugural flight from Keflavík International Airport to London Stansted Airport on 24 June 2021. On the same day as its maiden flight, Play launched an initial public offering (IPO), seeking to raise at least 3.9–4.3 billion Icelandic króna (US $32 to 35 million), after which its shares would be traded on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Iceland. The IPO concluded on 25 June 2021 with an eight-fold oversubscription in the offering, with total subscriptions received for 33.8 billion Icelandic króna (US $274 million).


title: Play (airline)

text: In August 2021, Play applied to the United States Department of Transportation for the operation of flights between Keflavík and the US east coast starting in the summer of 2022. Its application was subsequently approved, and the airline on 16 December 2021 announced its first services to the United States with flights to Baltimore and Boston, launching in April and May 2022 respectively.


title: Play (airline)

text: Play operates to destinations in Europe and North America from its hub at Keflavík International Airport.


title: Play (airline)

text: Play's initial fleet consisted of three Airbus A321neo aircraft, all of which were formerly operated by defunct Mexican airline Interjet. In September 2021, the airline announced its first fleet expansion with orders for three Airbus A320neos and a fourth A321neo, adding to its existing fleet of three A321neos, with the aircraft to be delivered between late 2022 and early 2023. The airline also signed a letter of intent in August to receive two A320neos by early 2022, prior to any of the other aircraft that were already on order, with the agreement subsequently signed as a firm order in November 2021. In early 2022, Play specified that an Airbus A321neo it was due to receive in anticipation of its recently announced Orlando route would be the A321LR variant, for delivery during May 2022, and that it planned to operate a total of ten aircraft by early 2023. In May 2022, Play decided to halt delivery of their Airbus A321LR and cancel the planned Orlando route due to rising fuel costs. The airline instead replaced the A321LR with an A320neo, thereby planning to operate a fleet of three A320neos and three A321neos for summer 2022.


title: Marketplace

text: A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a "souk" (from the Arabic), "bazaar" (from the Persian), a fixed "mercado" (Spanish), or itinerant "tianguis" (Mexico), or "palengke" (Philippines). Some markets operate daily and are said to be "permanent" markets while others are held once a week or on less frequent specified days such as festival days and are said to be "periodic markets." The form that a market adopts depends on its locality's population, culture, ambient and geographic conditions. The term "market" covers many types of trading, as market squares, market halls and food halls, and their different varieties. Thus marketplaces can be both outdoors and indoors, and in the modern world, online marketplaces.


title: Marketplace

text: Markets have existed for as long as humans have engaged in trade. The earliest bazaars are believed to have originated in Persia, from where they spread to the rest of the Middle East and Europe. Documentary sources suggest that zoning policies confined trading to particular parts of cities from around 3000 BCE, creating the conditions necessary for the emergence of a bazaar. Middle Eastern bazaars were typically long strips with stalls on either side and a covered roof designed to protect traders and purchasers from the fierce sun. In Europe, informal, unregulated markets gradually made way for a system of formal, chartered markets from the 12th century. Throughout the medieval period, increased regulation of marketplace practices, especially weights and measures, gave consumers confidence in the quality of market goods and the fairness of prices. Around the globe, markets have evolved in different ways depending on local ambient conditions, especially weather, tradition, and culture. In the Middle East, markets tend to be covered, to protect traders and shoppers from the sun. In milder climates, markets are often open air. In Asia, a system of morning markets trading in fresh produce and night markets trading in non-perishables is common.


title: Marketplace

text: Today, markets can also be accessed electronically or on the internet through e-commerce or matching platforms. In many countries, shopping at a local market is a standard feature of daily life. Given the market's role in ensuring food supply for a population, markets are often highly regulated by a central authority. In many places, designated market places have become listed sites of historic and architectural significance and represent part of a town's or nation's cultural assets. For these reasons, they are often popular tourist destinations.


title: Marketplace

text: The term "market" comes from the Latin "mercatus" ("market place"). The earliest recorded use of the term "market" in English is in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" of 963, a work that was created during the reign of Alfred the Great (r. 871–899) and subsequently distributed, copied throughout English monasteries. The exact phrase was "", meaning "I desire that there be a market in the same town."


title: Marketplace

text: Markets have existed since ancient times. Some historians have argued that a type of market has existed since humans first began to engage in trade. Open air, public markets were known in ancient Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, the Land of Israel, Greece, Egypt and on the Arabian peninsula. However, not all societies developed a system of markets. The Greek historian Herodotus noted that markets did not evolve in ancient Persia.


title: Marketplace

text: Across the Mediterranean and Aegean, a network of markets emerged from the early Bronze Age. A vast array of goods were traded, including: salt, lapis lazuli, dyes, cloth, metals, pots, ceramics, statues, spears and other implements. Archaeological evidence suggests that Bronze Age traders segmented trade routes according to geographical circuits. Both produce and ideas travelled along these trade routes.


title: Marketplace

text: In the Middle East, documentary sources suggest that a form of bazaar first developed around 3000 BCE. Early bazaars occupied a series of alleys along the length of the city, typically stretching from one city gate to a different gate on the other side of the city. The bazaar at Tabriz, for example, stretches along 1.5 kilometres of street and is the longest vaulted bazaar in the world. Moosavi argues that the Middle Eastern bazaar evolved in a linear pattern, whereas the market places of the West were more centralised. The Greek historian Herodotus noted that in Egypt, roles were reversed compared with other cultures, and Egyptian women frequented the market and carried on trade, while the men remained at home weaving cloth. He also described The Babylonian Marriage Market.


title: Marketplace

text: In antiquity, markets were typically situated in the town's centre. The market was surrounded by alleyways inhabited by skilled artisans, such as metal-workers, leather workers and carpenters. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, but also prepared goods for sale on market days.


title: Marketplace

text: Across ancient Greece market places ("agorai") were to be found in most city states, where they operated within the "agora" (open space). Between 550 and 350 BCE, Greek stallholders clustered together according to the type of goods carried - fish-sellers were in one place, clothing in another and sellers of more expensive goods such as perfumes, bottles and jars were located in a separate building. The Greeks organised trade into separate zones, all located near the city centre and known as "stoa." A freestanding colonnade with a covered walkway, the stoa was both a place of commerce and a public promenade, situated within or adjacent to the agora. At the market-place ("agorai") in Athens, officials were employed by the government to oversee weights, measures, and coinage to ensure that the people were not cheated in market place transactions. The rocky and mountainous terrain in Greece made it difficult for producers to transport goods or surpluses to local markets, giving rise to the "kapēlos", a specialised type of retailer who operated as an intermediary purchasing produce from farmers and transporting it over short distances to the city markets.


title: Marketplace

text: In ancient Rome, trade took place in the forum. Rome had two forums; the Forum Romanum and Trajan's Forum. Trajan's Market at Trajan's forum, built around 100-110CE, was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with shops on four levels. The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shopfront. In antiquity, exchange involved direct selling via merchants or peddlers and bartering systems were commonplace. In the Roman world, the central market primarily served the local peasantry. Market stall holders were primarily local primary producers who sold small surpluses from their individual farming activities and also artisans who sold leather-goods, metal-ware and pottery. Consumers were made up of several different groups; farmers who purchased minor farm equipment and a few luxuries for their homes and urban dwellers who purchased basic necessities. Major producers such as the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates, obviating the producers' need to attend local markets. The very wealthy landowners managed their own distribution, which may have involved importing and exporting. The nature of export markets in antiquity is well documented in ancient sources and archaeological case studies.


title: Marketplace

text: At Pompeii multiple markets served the population of approximately 12,000. Produce markets were located in the vicinity of the Forum, while livestock markets were situated on the city's perimeter, near the amphitheatre. A long narrow building at the north-west corner of the Forum was some type of market, possibly a cereal market. On the opposite corner stood the macellum, thought to have been a meat and fish market. Market stall-holders paid a market tax for the right to trade on market days. Some archaeological evidence suggests that markets and street vendors were controlled by local government. A graffito on the outside of a large shop documents a seven-day cycle of markets; "Saturn’s day at Pompeii and Nuceria, Sun’s day at Atella and Nola, Moon’s day at Cumae ... etc." The presence of an official commercial calendar suggests something of the market's importance to community life and trade. Markets were also important centres of social life.


title: Marketplace

text: In early Western Europe, markets developed close to monasteries, castles or royal residences. Priories and aristocratic manorial households created considerable demand for goods and services - both luxuries and necessities and also afforded some protection to merchants and traders. These centres of trade attracted sellers which would stimulate the growth of the town. The "Domesday Book" of 1086 lists 50 markets in England, however, many historians believe this figure underestimates the actual number of markets in operation at the time. In England, some 2,000 new markets were established between 1200 and 1349. By 1516, England had some 2,464 markets and 2,767 fairs while Wales had 138 markets and 166 fairs.


title: Marketplace

text: From the 12th century, English monarchs awarded a charter to local Lords to create markets and fairs for a town or village. A charter protected the town's trading privileges in return for an annual fee. Once a chartered market was granted for specific market days, a nearby rival market could not open on the same days. Fairs, which were usually held annually, and almost always associated with a religious festival, traded in high value goods, while regular weekly or bi-weekly markets primarily traded in fresh produce and necessities. Although a fair's primary purpose was trade, it typically included some elements of entertainment, such as dance, music or tournaments. As the number of markets increased, market towns situated themselves sufficiently far apart so as to avoid competition, but close enough to permit local producers a round trip within one day (about 10 km). Some British open-air markets have been operating continuously since the 12th century.


title: Marketplace

text: A pattern of market trading using mobile stalls under covered arcades was probably established in Italy with the open loggias of Mercato Nuovo (1547) designed and constructed by Giovanni Battista del Tasso (and funded by the Medici family); Mercato Vecchio, Florence designed by Giorgio Vasari (1567) and Loggia del Grano (1619) by architect, Giulio Parigi.


title: Marketplace

text: Braudel and Reynold have made a systematic study of European market towns between the thirteenth and fifteenth century. Their investigation shows that in regional districts markets were held once or twice a week while daily markets were common in larger cities. Over time, permanent shops began opening daily and gradually supplanted the periodic markets, while peddlers or itinerant sellers continued to fill in any gaps in distribution.


title: Marketplace

text: During the Middle Ages, the physical market was characterised by transactional exchange. Shops had higher overhead costs, but were able to offer regular trading hours and a relationship with customers and may have offered added value services, such as credit terms to reliable customers. The economy was primarily characterised by local trading in which goods were traded across relatively short distances.


title: Marketplace

text: Beach markets, which were known in north-western Europe, during the Viking period, were primarily associated with the sale of fish. From around the 11th-century, the number and variety of imported goods sold at beach markets began to increase. giving consumers access to a broader range of exotic and luxury goods. Throughout the Medieval period, markets became more international. The historian, Braudel, reports that, in 1600, grain moved just 5–10 miles; cattle 40–70 miles; wool and wollen cloth 20–40 miles. However, following the European age of discovery, goods were imported from afar - calico cloth from India, porcelain, silk and tea from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World.


title: Marketplace

text: Across the boroughs of England, a network of chartered markets sprang up between the 12th and 16th centuries, giving consumers reasonable choice in the markets they preferred to patronise. A study on the purchasing habits of the monks and other individuals in medieval England, suggests that consumers of the period were relatively discerning. Purchase decisions were based on purchase criteria such as the consumer's perceptions of the range, quality, and price of goods. Such considerations informed decisions about where to make purchases and which markets to patronise.


title: Marketplace

text: As the number of charters granted increased, competition between market towns also increased. In response to competitive pressures, towns invested in developing a reputation for quality produce, efficient market regulation and good amenities for visitors such as covered accommodation. By the thirteenth century, counties with important textile industries were investing in purpose built halls for the sale of cloth. London's Blackwell Hall became a centre for cloth, Bristol became associated with a particular type of cloth known as "Bristol red", Stroud was known for producing fine woollen cloth, the town of Worsted became synonymous with a type of yarn; Banbury and Essex were strongly associated with cheeses.


title: Marketplace

text: In the market economy, goods are ungraded and unbranded, so that consumers have relatively few opportunities to evaluate quality prior to consumption. Consequently, supervision of weights, measures, food quality and prices was a key consideration. In medieval society, regulations for such matters appeared initially at the local level. The Charter of Worcester, written between 884 and 901 provided for fines for dishonest trading, amongst other things. Such local regulations were codified in 15th century England in what became known as the "Statute of Winchester." This document outlines the "Assizes" for 16 different trades, most of which were associated with markets - miller, baker, fisher, brewer, inn-keeper, tallow-chandler, weaver, cordwainer etc. For each trade, regulations covered such issues as fraud, prices, quality, weights and measures and so on. The assize was a formal codification of prior informal codes which had been practised for many years. The courts of assize were granted the power to enforce these regulations. The process of standardizing quality, prices and measures assisted markets to gain the confidence of buyers and made them more attractive to the public.


title: Marketplace

text: A sixteenth century commentator, John Leland, described particular markets as "celebrate," "very good" and "quik,” and, conversely, as “poore,” “meane,” and “of no price." Over time, some products became associated with particular places, providing customers with valuable information about the types of goods, their quality and their region of origin. In this way, markets helped to provide an early form of product branding. Gradually, certain market towns earned a reputation for providing quality produce. Today, traders and showmen jealously guard the reputation of these historic chartered markets. An 18th century commentator, Daniel Defoe visited Sturbridge fair in 1723 and wrote a lengthy description which paints a picture of a highly organised, vibrant operation which attracted large number of visitors from some distance away. "As for the people in the fair, they all universally eat, drink and sleep in their booths, and tents; and the said booths are so intermingled with taverns, coffee-houses, drinking-houses, eating-houses, cookshops &c, and all tents too, and so many butchers and higglers from all the neighbouring counties come in to the fair every morning, with beef, mutton, fowls, bread, cheese, eggs and such things; and go with them from tent to tent and from door to door, that there is no want of provision of any kind, either dress'd or undress'd."


title: Marketplace

text: In the Asia Minor, prior to the 10th century, market places were situated on the perimeter of the city. Along established trade routes, markets were most often associated with the caravanserai typically situated just outside the city walls. However, when the marketplace began to become integrated into city structures, it was transformed into a covered area where traders could buy and sell with some protection from the elements. Markets at Mecca and Medina were known to be significant trade centres in the 3rd century (CE) and the nomadic communities were highly dependent on them for both trade and social interactions. The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is often cited as the world's oldest continuously operating, purpose-built market; its construction began in 1455.


title: Marketplace

text: Dating the emergence of marketplaces in China is difficult. According to tradition, the first market was established by the legendary Shennongan or the “Divine Farmer” who arranged for markets to be held at midday. In other ancient sayings, markets originally developed around wells in the town or village centre. Scholars, however, question the reliability of traditional narratives unless backed by archaeological evidence.


title: Marketplace

text: The earliest written references to markets dates to the time of Qi Huanggong (ruled 685 to 643 BCE). Qi's Prime Minister, the great reformer, Guan Zhong, divided the capital into 21 districts (xiang) of which three were dedicated to farmers, three to hand-workers and three to businessmen, who were instructed to settle near the markets. Some of these early markets have been the subject of archaeological surveys. For instance, the market at Yong, the capital of the Qi state, measured 3,000 square metres and was an outdoor market.


title: Marketplace

text: According to the "Rites of Zhou", markets were highly organized and served different groups at different times of day; merchants at the morning market, every day people at the afternoon market and peddlers at the evening market. The marketplace also became the place were executions were carried out, rewards were published and decrees were read out.


title: Marketplace

text: During the Qin empire and the Han dynasty which followed it, markets were enclosed with walls and gates and strictly separated from residential areas. Vendors were arranged according to the type of commodity offered, and markets were strictly regulated with departments responsible for security, weights and measures, price-fixing and certificates.


title: Marketplace

text: Over time, specialised markets began to emerge. In Luoyang, during the Tang Dynasty, a metal market was known. Outside the city walls were sheep and horse markets. Marco Polo’s account of 13th century markets specifically mentions a silk market. He was also impressed by the size of markets. According to his account, the ten markets of Hangzhou, primarily a fish market, attracted 40,000 to 50,000 patrons on each of its three trading days each week.


title: Marketplace

text: In China, negative attitudes towards mercantile activity developed; merchants were the lowest class of society. High officials carefully distanced themselves from merchant classes. In 627, an edict prohibited those of rank five or higher from entering markets. One anecdote from the time of Empress Wu relates the tale of a fourth rank official who missed out on the opportunity for promotion after he was seen purchasing a steamed pancake from a market.


title: Marketplace

text: In Mesoamerica, a tiered system of traders developed independently. Extensive trade networks predated the Aztec empire by at least hundreds of years. Local markets where people purchased their daily necessities were known as "tianguis", while a "pochteca" was a professional merchant who travelled long distances to obtain rare goods or luxury items desired by the nobility. The system supported various levels of pochteca - from very high status through to minor traders who acted as a type of peddler to fill in gaps in the distribution system. Colonial sources also record Mayan market hubs at Acalan, Champotón, Chetumal, Bacalar, Cachi, Conil, Pole, Cozumel, Cochuah, Chauaca, Chichén Itzá as well as markets marking the edges of Yucatecan canoe trade such as Xicalanco and Ulua. The Spanish conquerors commented on the impressive nature of the local markets in the 15th century. The Mexica (Aztec) market of Tlatelolco was the largest in all the Americas and said to be superior to those in Europe.


title: Marketplace

text: There are many different ways to classify markets. One way is to consider the nature of the buyer and the market's place within the distribution system. This leads to two broad classes of market, namely retail market or wholesale markets. The economist, Alfred Marshall classified markets according to time period. In this classification, there are three types of market; "the very short period market" where the supply of a commodity remains fixed. Perishables, such as fruit, vegetables, meat and fish fall into this group since goods must be sold within a few days and the quantity supplied is relatively inelastic. The second group is the "short period market" where the time in which the quantity supplied can be increased by improving the scale of production (adding labor and other inputs but not by adding capital). Many non-perishable goods fall into this category. The third category is "the long-period market" where the length of time can be improved by capital investment.


title: Marketplace

text: Other ways to classify markets include its trading area (local, national or international); its physical format or its produce.


title: Marketplace

text: Markets may feature a range of merchandise for sale, or they may be one of many specialist markets, such as:


title: Marketplace

text: Markets generally have featured prominently in artworks, especially amongst the Dutch painters of Antwerp from the middle of the 16th century. Pieter Aertsen was known as the "great painter of the market." Both he and his nephew, Joachim Beuckelaer, painted market scenes, street vendors and merchants extensively. Elizabeth Honig argues that painters' interest in markets was in part due to the changing nature of the market system at that time. The public began to distinguish between two types of merchant, the which referred to local merchants including bakers, grocers, sellers of dairy products and stall-holders, and the , which described a new, emergent class of trader who dealt in goods or credit on a large scale. With the rise of a European merchant class, this distinction was necessary to separate the daily trade that the general population understood from the rising ranks of traders who operated on a world stage and were seen as quite distant from everyday experience.


title: Marketplace

text: During the 17th and 18th centuries, as Europeans conquered parts of North Africa and the Levant, European artists began to visit the Orient and painted scenes of everyday life. Europeans sharply divided peoples into two broad groups - the "European West" and the "East or Orient"; "us" and the "other". Europeans often saw Orientals as the photographic negative of Western civilisation; the peoples could be threatening- they were "despotic, static and irrational whereas Europe was viewed as democratic, dynamic and rational." At the same time, the Orient was seen as exotic, mysterious, a place of fables and beauty. This fascination with the other gave rise to a genre of painting known as "Orientalism." Artists focussed on the exotic beauty of the land - the markets and bazaars, caravans and snake charmers. Islamic architecture also became favourite subject matter, and the high vaulted market places features in numerous paintings and sketches.


title: Marketplace

text: Individual markets have also attracted literary attention. Les Halles was known as the "Belly of Paris", and was so named by author, Émile Zola in his novel "Le Ventre de Paris", which is set in the busy 19th century marketplace of central Paris. Les Halles, a complex of market pavilions in Paris, features extensively in both literature and painting. Giuseppe Canella (1788 - 1847) painted Les Halles et la rue de la Tonnellerie. Photographer, Henri Lemoine (1848 - 1924), also photographed Les Halles de Paris.


title: Marketplace

text: Markets have been known in parts of Africa for centuries. An 18th century commentator noted the many markets he visited in West Africa. He provided a detailed description of market activities at Sabi, in the Wydah, (now the part of the Republic of Benin):


title: Marketplace

text: In the Kingdom of Benin (modern Benin City), he commented on the exotic foods available for sale at a market there:


title: Marketplace

text: The sale of agricultural produce to the formal market is largely controlled by large corporations. Most small, local farmers sell their produce to the informal market, local communities and street vendors. The main wholesale market is the Horticultural market in Gaborone. The government made some attempts to build markets in the north of the country, but that was largely unsuccessful and most commercial buyers travel to Johannesburg or Tshwane for supplies.


title: Marketplace

text: Ethiopia is a major producer and exporter of grains and a number of wholesale markets assist with the distribution and export of such products. Important wholesale markets include: Nekemte in the East Welega zone, Jimma in the Jimma zone, Assela and Sagure in the Arsi zone, Bahir Dar and Bure in the Gojjam zone, Dessie and Kombolcha in the Wollo zone, Mekele in the Tigray region, Dire Dawa and Harar in the Oromia region, and Addis Ababa. Some of the major retail markets in Ethiopia include: Addis Mercato in Addis Ababa, the largest open air market in the country; Gulalle and Galan, both in Addis Ababa; Awasa Lake Fish Market in Awasa, the Saturday market Harar, and the Saturday market in Axum.


title: Marketplace

text: Ghanaian markets have survived in spite of sometimes brutal measures to eradicate them. In the late 1970s, the Ghanaian government used market traders as a scapegoat for its own policy failures which involved food shortages and high inflation. The government blamed traders for failing to observe pricing guidelines and vilified "women merchants". In 1979, the Makola market was dynamited and bulldozed, but within a week the traders were back selling fruit, vegetables and fish, albeit without a roof over their head.


title: Marketplace

text: Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has several major markets. Wakulima market is one of the region's largest markets, situated on Haile Selassie Avenue in Nairobi. Other markets in Nairobi are: Kariakor Market


title: Marketplace

text: Gikomba Market and Muthurwa market In Mombasa, Kongowea market is also a very large market with over 1500 stalls and covering 4.5 ha.


title: Marketplace

text: In Morocco, markets are known as souks, and are normally found in a city's Medina (old city or old quarter). Shopping at a produce market is a standard feature of daily life in Morocco. In the larger cities, Medinas are typically made up of a collection of souks built amid a maze of narrow streets and laneways where independent vendors and artisans tend to cluster in sections which subsequently become known for a particular type of produce - such as the silversmith's street or the textile district. In Tangiers, a sprawling market fills the many streets of the medina and this area is divided into two sections, known as the Grand Socco and the Petit Socco. The term 'socco' is a Spanish corruption of the Arabic word for souk, meaning marketplace. These markets sell a large variety of goods; fresh produce, cooking equipment, pottery, silverware, rugs and carpets, leather goods, clothing, accessories, electronics alongside cafes, restaurants and take-away food stalls. The Medina at Fez is the oldest, having been founded in the 9th century. The Medina at Fez has been named a World Heritage site. Today it is the main fresh produce market and is noted for its narrow laneways and for a total ban on motorized traffic. All produce is brought in and out of the marketplace by donkey or hand-cart. In Marrakesh, the main produce markets are also to be found in the Medina and a colourful market is also held daily in the Jemaa el-Fnaa (main square) where roaming performers and musicians entertain the large crowds that gather there. Marrakesh has the largest traditional Berber market in Morocco.


title: Marketplace

text: Namibia has been almost entirely dependent on South Africa for its fresh produce. Dominated by rolling plains and long sand dunes and an unpredictable rainfall, many parts of Namibia are unsuited to growing fruit and vegetables. Government sponsored initiatives have encouraged producers to grow fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes and grains The Namibian Ministry of Agriculture has recently launched a system of fresh produce hubs to serve as a platform for producers to market and distribute their produce. It is anticipated that these hubs will assist in curbing the number of sellers who take their produce to South Africa where it is placed on cold storage, only to be imported back into the country at a later date.


title: Marketplace

text: Fresh produce markets have traditionally dominated the South African food chain, handling more than half of all fresh produce. Although large, vertically integrated food retailers, such as supermarkets, are beginning to make inroads into the supply chain, traditional hawkers and produce markets have shown remarkable resilience. The main markets in Johannesburg are: Jozi Real Food Market, Bryanston Organic Market, Pretoria Boeremark specialising in South African delicacies, Hazel Food Market, Panorama Flea Market, Rosebank Sunday Market, Market on Main - a periodic arts market and Neighbourhood Markets.


title: Marketplace

text: The "Gambia is Good" initiative was established in 2004 with a view to encouraging a market for locally grown fresh produce rather than imported ones. The plan was designed to "stimulate local livelihoods, inspire entrepreneurship and reduce the environmental and social cost of imported produce."


title: Marketplace

text: A great deal of the produce trade is carried out informally on street corners and many shops are little more than market booths. However, dedicated open air and covered markets can be found in the larger towns. Notable markets include: the Serekunda Market in Gambia's largest city, Serekunda, which opens from early morning to late at night 7 days a week and trades in produce, live animals, clothing, accessories, jewellery, crafts, second hand goods and souvenirs; The Albert Market in the capital, Banjul which sells fresh produce, colourful, locally designed fabrics, musical instruments, carved wooden masks and other local products. Other interesting markets include: Bakau Fish Market in Bakau; Tanji Fish Market, Tanji, where brightly painted fishing boats bring in the fish from where it is immediately preserved using traditional methods and prepared for distribution to other West African countries; The Woodcarvers Market in Brikama which boasts the largest concentration of woodcarvers in the country; the Pottery Market in Basse Santa; the Atlantic Road Craft Market at Bakau and the Senegambia Craft Market at Bakau.


title: Marketplace

text: Produce markets in Asia are undergoing major changes as supermarkets enter the retail scene and the growing middle classes acquire preferences for branded goods. Many supermarkets purchase directly from producers, supplanting the traditional role of both wholesale and retail markets. In order to survive, produce markets have been forced to consider value adding opportunities and many retail markets now focus on ready-to-eat food and take-away food.


title: Marketplace

text: In China, the existence of street and wet markets has been known for centuries, however, many of these were restricted in the 1950s and 60s and only permitted to re-open in 1978. The distinction between wholesale and retail markets is somewhat ambiguous in China, since many markets serve both as distribution centres and retail shopping venues. To assist in the distribution of food, more than 9,000 wholesale produce markets operate in China. Some of these markets operate on a very large scale. For example, Beijing's Xinfadi Wholesale market, currently under renovation, is expected to have a footprint of 112 hectares when complete. The Beijing Zoo Market (retail market) is a collection of 12 different markets, comprising some 20,000 tenant stall-holders, 30,000 employees and more than 100,000 customers daily.


title: Marketplace

text: China is both a major importer and exporter of fruit and vegetables and is now the world's largest exporter of apples. In addition to produce markets, China has many specialised markets such as a silk market, clothing markets and an antiques market. China's fresh produce market is undergoing major change. In the larger cities, purchasing is gradually moving to online with door-to-door deliveries.


title: Marketplace

text: Hong Kong relies heavily imports to meet its fresh produce needs. Importers are consequently an important part of the distribution network, and some importers supply directly to retail consumers. Street markets in Hong Kong are held every day except on a few traditional Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year. Stalls opened at two sides of a street are required to have licenses issued by the Hong Kong Government. The various types of street markets include fresh foods, clothing, cooked foods, flowers and electronics. The earliest form of market was a Gaa si ("wet market"). Some traditional markets have been replaced by shopping centres, markets in municipal service buildings and supermarkets, while others have become tourist attractions such as Tung Choi Street and Apliu Street. The Central Market, Hong Kong is a grade II listed building.


title: Marketplace

text: Although the majority of markets in South Korea are wholesale markets, retail customers are permitted to make purchases in all of them. The Gwangjang Market is the nation's top market and is a popular tourist destination.


title: Marketplace

text: Taiwan meets most of its produce needs through local production. This means that the country has a very active network of wholesale and retail markets. According to the "Guardian" newspaper, Taiwan has "the best night market scene in the world and some of the most exciting street food in Asia."


title: Marketplace

text: In South Asia, especially Nepal, India and Bangladesh, a Haat (also known as "hat") refers to a regular rural produce market, typically held once or twice per week.


title: Marketplace

text: The marketing historian, Petty, has suggested that Indian marketplaces first arose during the Chola Dynasty (approx. 850 -1279CE) during a period of favourable economic conditions. Distinct types of markets were evident; "Nagaaram" (streets of shops, often devoted to specific types of goods; "Angadi" (markets) and "Perangadi" (large markets in the inner city districts).