Name and etymology.

The description of the country by the word "Argentina" has been found on a Venetian map in 1536.  In English, the name "Argentina" comes from the Spanish language; however, the naming itself is not Spanish, but Italian. "Argentina" (masculine "argentino") means in Italian "(made) of silver, silver coloured", probably borrowed from the Old French adjective "argentine" "(made) of silver" > "silver coloured" already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word "argentine" is the feminine form of "argentin" and derives from "argent" "silver" with the suffix "-in" (same construction as Old French "acerin" "(made) of steel", from "acier" "steel" + "-in", or "sapin" "(made) of fir wood", from OF "sap" "fir" + "-in"). The Italian naming "Argentina" for the country implies "Terra Argentina" "land of silver" or "Costa Argentina" "coast of silver". In Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said "l'Argentina".  The name "Argentina" was probably first

History.

Pre-Columbian era.

The earliest traces of human life in the area now known as Argentina are dated from the Paleolithic period, with further traces in the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Until the period of European colonization, Argentina was relatively sparsely populated by a wide number of diverse cultures with different social organizations, which can be divided into three main groups. The first group are basic hunters and food gatherers without development of pottery, such as the Selknam and Yaghan

Colonial era.

Europeans first arrived in the region with the 1502 voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. The Spanish navigators Juan Díaz de Solís and Sebastian Cabot visited the territory that is now Argentina in 1516 and 1526, respectively. In 1536 Pedro de Mendoza founded the small settlement of Buenos Aires, which was abandoned in 1541.  Further colonization efforts came from Paraguay—establishing the Governorate of the Río de la Plata—Peru and Chile. Francisco de Aguirre founded Santiago del Estero in 1553. Londres was founded in 1558; Mendoza, in 1561; San Juan, in 1562; San Miguel de Tucumán, in 1565. Juan de

Independence and civil wars.

Beginning a process from which Argentina was to emerge as successor state to the Viceroyalty, the 1810 May Revolution replaced the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros with the First Junta, a new government in Buenos Aires composed by locals. In the first clashes of the Independence War the Junta crushed a royalist counter-revolution in Córdoba, but failed to overcome those of the Banda Oriental, Upper Peru and Paraguay, which later became independent states.  Revolutionaries split into two antagonist groups: the Centralists and the Federalists—a move that would define Argentina's first decades of independence. The Assembly of the Year XIII appointed Gervasio Antonio de Posadas as Argentina's first Supreme Director.  On 9 July 1816, the Congress of Tucumán formalized the Declaration of Independence, which is now celebrated as Independence Day, a national holiday. One year later General Martín Miguel de Güemes stopped royalists on the

Rise of the modern nation.

Overpowering Urquiza in the 1861 Battle of Pavón, Bartolomé Mitre secured Buenos Aires predominance and was elected as the first president of the reunified country. He was followed by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento and Nicolás Avellaneda; these three presidencies set up the bases of the modern Argentine State.  Starting with Julio Argentino Roca in 1880, ten consecutive federal governments emphasized liberal economic policies. The massive wave of European immigration they promoted—second only to the United States'—led to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy that by 1908 had placed the country as the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world. Driven by this immigration wave and decreasing

Peronist years.

Perón created a political movement known as Peronism. He nationalized strategic industries and services, improved wages and working conditions, paid the full external debt and achieved nearly full employment. The economy, however, began to decline in 1950 because of over-expenditure. His highly popular wife, Eva Perón, played a central political role. She pushed Congress to enact women's suffrage in 1947, and developed an unprecedented social assistance to the most vulnerable sectors of society. However, her declining health did not allow her to run for the vice-presidency in 1951, and she died of cancer the following year. Perón was reelected in 1951, surpassing even his 1946 performance. In 1955 the Navy bombed the Plaza de Mayo

20th century.

The "Dirty War" () was part of Operation Condor which included participation of the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone. The Dirty War involved state terrorism in Argentina and elsewhere in the Southern Cone against political dissidents, with military and security forces employing urban and rural violence against left-wing guerrillas, political dissidents, and anyone believed to be associated with socialism or somehow contrary to the neoliberal economic policies of the regime. Victims of the violence in Argentina alone included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 left-wing activists and militants, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas and alleged sympathizers. Most were victims of

Modern era.

Raúl Alfonsín won the 1983 elections campaigning for the prosecution of those responsible for human rights violations during the "Proceso": the Trial of the Juntas and other martial courts sentenced all the coup's leaders but, under military pressure, he also enacted the Full Stop and Due Obedience laws, which halted prosecutions further down the chain of command. The worsening economic crisis and hyperinflation reduced his popular support and the Peronist Carlos Menem won the 1989 election. Soon after, riots forced Alfonsín

Geography.

With a mainland surface area of, Argentina is located in southern South America, sharing land borders with Chile across the Andes to the west; Bolivia and Paraguay to the north; Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east; and the Drake Passage to the south; for an overall land border length of. Its coastal border over the Río de la Plata and South Atlantic Ocean is long.  Argentina's highest point is Aconcagua in the Mendoza province ( above sea level), also the highest point in the Southern and Western Hemispheres. The lowest point is Laguna del Carbón in the "San Julián Great Depression" Santa Cruz province ( below sea level, also the lowest point in the Southern and Western Hemispheres, and the seventh lowest point on Earth)  The northernmost point is at the confluence of the Grande de San Juan and Río Mojinete rivers in Jujuy province; the southernmost is Cape San Pío in Tierra del Fuego province; the easternmost is northeast of Bernardo de Irigoyen, Misiones and the westernmost is within Los Glaciares National Park in Santa Cruz province. The maximum north–south distance is, while the maximum east–west one is.  Some of the major rivers are the Paraná, Uruguay—which join to form the Río de la Plata, Paraguay, Salado, Negro, Santa Cruz, Pilcomayo, Bermejo and Colorado. These rivers are discharged into the Argentine Sea, the shallow area of the Atlantic Ocean over the Argentine Shelf, an unusually wide continental platform. Its waters are influenced by two major ocean currents: the warm Brazil Current and the cold Falklands Current.

Biodiversity.

Argentina is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world hosting one of the greatest ecosystem varieties in the world: 15 continental zones, 2 marine zones, and the Antarctic region are all represented in its territory. This huge ecosystem variety has led to a biological diversity that is among the world's largest:  The original pampa had virtually no trees; some imported species like the American sycamore or eucalyptus are present along roads or in towns and country estates ("estancias"). The only tree-like plant native to the pampa is the evergreen Ombú. The

Climate.

In general, Argentina has four main climate types: warm, moderate, arid, and cold, all determined by the expanse across latitude, range in altitude, and relief features. Although the most populated areas are generally temperate, Argentina has an exceptional amount of climate diversity, ranging from subtropical in the north to polar in the far south. Consequently, there is a wide variety of biomes in the country, including subtropical rain forests, semi-arid and arid regions, temperate plains in the Pampas, and cold subantarctic in the south. The average annual precipitation ranges from in the driest parts of Patagonia to over in the westernmost parts

Politics.

In the 20th century, Argentina experienced significant political turmoil and democratic reversals. Between 1930 and 1976, the armed forces overthrew six governments in Argentina; and the country alternated periods of democracy (1912–1930, 1946–1955, and 1973–1976) with periods of restricted democracy and military rule. Following a transition that began in 1983, full-scale democracy in Argentina was reestablished. Argentina's democracy endured through the 2001–02 crisis and to the present day; it is regarded as more robust than both its pre-1983 predecessors and other democracies in Latin America.

Government.

Argentina is a federal constitutional republic and representative democracy. The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the Constitution of Argentina, the country's supreme legal document. The seat of government is the city of Buenos Aires, as designated by Congress. Suffrage is universal, equal, secret and mandatory.  The federal government is composed of three branches: The Legislative branch consists of the bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. The Congress makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties and has the power of the purse and of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government. The Chamber of Deputies represents the people and has 257 voting members elected to a four-year term. Seats are apportioned among the provinces by population every tenth year. ten provinces have

Provinces.

Argentina is a federation of twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. Provinces are divided for administration purposes into departments and municipalities, except for Buenos Aires Province, which is divided into partidos. The City of Buenos Aires is divided into communes.  Provinces hold all the power that they chose not to delegate to the federal government; they must be representative republics and must not contradict the Constitution. Beyond this they are fully autonomous: they enact their own constitutions, freely organize their local governments, and own and manage their natural and financial resources. Some provinces have bicameral legislatures, while others have unicameral ones.  During the War of Independence the main cities and their surrounding countrysides became provinces though the intervention of their cabildos. The Anarchy of the Year XX completed this process, shaping the original thirteen provinces. Jujuy seceded from Salta in

Foreign relations.

Foreign policy is handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, which answers to the President.  A middle power, Argentina bases its foreign policies on the guiding principles of non-intervention, human rights, self-determination, international cooperation, disarmament and peaceful settlement of conflicts.  The country is one of the G-15 and G-20 major economies of the world, and a founding member of the UN, WBG, WTO and OAS. In 2012 Argentina was elected again to a two-year non-permanent position on the United Nations Security Council and is participating in major peacekeeping operations in Haiti, Cyprus, Western Sahara and the Middle East.

Armed forces.

The President holds the title of commander-in-chief of the Argentine Armed Forces, as part of a legal framework that imposes a strict separation between national defense and internal security systems:  The National Defense System, an exclusive responsibility of the federal government, coordinated by the Ministry of Defense, and comprising the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Ruled and monitored by Congress through the Houses' Defense Committees, it is organized on the essential principle of legitimate self-defense: the repelling of any external military aggression in order to guarantee freedom of the people, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Its secondary missions include committing to multinational operations within the framework of the United Nations, participating in internal support missions, assisting friendly countries, and establishing a sub-regional defense system. Military service is voluntary, with enlistment age between 18 and 24 years old and no conscription. Argentina's defense has historically been one of the best equipped in the region, even managing its own weapon research facilities, shipyards,

Economy.

Benefiting from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, a diversified industrial base, and an export-oriented agricultural sector, the economy of Argentina is Latin America's third-largest, and the second largest in South America. It has a "very high" rating on the Human Development Index and a relatively high GDP per capita, with a considerable internal market size and a growing share of the high-tech sector. A middle emerging economy and one of the world's top developing nations, Argentina is a member of the G-20 major economies. Historically, however, its economic performance has been very uneven, with high economic growth alternating with severe recessions, income maldistribution and—in the recent decades—increasing poverty. Early in the 20th century Argentina achieved development, and became the world's seventh richest country. Although managing to keep a place among the top fifteen economies until mid-century, it suffered a long and steady decline, but it is still a high income country.  High inflation—a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades—has become a trouble once again, with an annual rate of 24.8% in 2017. To deter it and support the peso, the government imposed foreign currency control. Income distribution, having improved since 2002, is classified as "medium", although it is still considerably unequal.  Argentina ranks 85th out of 180 countries in the Transparency International's 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index, an improvement of 22 positions over its 2014 rankings. Argentina settled its long-standing debt default crisis in 2016 with the so-called vulture funds after the election of Mauricio Macri, allowing Argentina to enter capital markets for the first time in a decade.  Argentina government defaulted on May 22, 2020 by failing to pay a $ 500 million due date to its creditors. Negotiations for the restructuring of $ 66 billion of its debt continue.

Industry.

manufacturing accounted for 20.3% of GDP—the largest sector in the nation's economy. Well-integrated into Argentine agriculture, half of the industrial exports have rural origin.  With a 6.5% production growth rate, the diversified manufacturing sector rests on a steadily growing network of industrial parks (314 )  Córdoba is Argentina's major industrial centre, hosting metalworking, motor vehicle and auto parts manufactures. Next in importance are the Greater Buenos Aires area (food

Transport.

Argentina has the largest railway system in Latin America, with of operating lines, out of a full network of almost. This system links all 23 provinces plus Buenos Aires City, and connects with all neighbouring countries. There are four incompatible gauges in use; this forces virtually all interregional freight traffic to pass through Buenos Aires. The system has been in decline since the 1940s: regularly running up large budgetary deficits, by 1991 it was transporting 1,400 times less goods than it did in 1973. However, in recent years the system has experienced a greater degree of

Media and communications.

Print media industry is highly developed in Argentina, with more than two hundred newspapers. The major national ones include "Clarín" (centrist, Latin America's best-seller and the second most widely circulated in the Spanish-speaking world), "La Nación" (centre-right, published since 1870), "Página/12" (leftist, founded in 1987), the Buenos Aires Herald (Latin America's most prestigious English language daily, liberal, dating back to 1876), "La Voz del Interior" (centre, founded in 1904), and the "Argentinisches Tageblatt"

Science and technology.

Argentines have received three Nobel Prizes in the Sciences. Bernardo Houssay, the first Latin American recipient, discovered the role of pituitary hormones in regulating glucose in animals, and shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947. Luis Leloir discovered how organisms store energy converting glucose into glycogen and the compounds which are fundamental in metabolizing carbohydrates, receiving the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1970. César Milstein did extensive research in antibodies, sharing the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1984. Argentine research has led to treatments for heart diseases and several forms

Tourism.

Tourism in Argentina is characterized by its cultural offerings and its ample and varied natural assets. The country had 5.57 million visitors in 2013, ranking in terms of the international tourist arrivals as the

Demographics.

The 2010 census counted 40,117,096 inhabitants, up from 36,260,130 in 2001. Argentina ranks third in South America in total population, fourth in Latin America and 33rd globally. Its population density of 15 persons per square kilometer of land area is well below the world average of 50 persons. The population growth rate in 2010 was an estimated 1.03% annually, with a birth rate of 17.7 live births per 1,000 inhabitants and a mortality rate of 7.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. Since 2010, the crude net migration rate has ranged from below zero to up to four immigrants per 1,000 inhabitants per year.  Argentina is in the midst of a demographic transition to an older and slower-growing population. The proportion of people under 15 is 25.6%, a little below the world average of 28%, and the proportion of people 65 and older is relatively high at 10.8%. In Latin America this is second only to Uruguay and well above the world average, which is currently 7%. Argentina has one of Latin America's lowest population growth rates as well as a comparatively low infant mortality rate. Its birth rate of 2.3 children per woman is considerably below the high of 7.0 children born per woman in 1895, though still nearly twice as high as in Spain or Italy, which are culturally and demographically similar. The median age is 31.9 years and life expectancy at birth is 77.14 years.  In 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America, the second in the Americas, and the tenth worldwide to legalize same-sex marriage.

Ethnography.

As with other areas of new settlement, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Uruguay, Argentina is considered a country of immigrants. Argentines usually refer to the country as a "crisol de razas" (crucible of races, or melting pot).  Between 1857 and 1950 Argentina was the country with the second biggest immigration wave in the world, at 6.6 million, second only to the United States in the numbers of immigrants received (27 million) and ahead of other areas of new settlement like Canada, Brazil and Australia.  Strikingly, at those times, the national population doubled every two decades. This belief is endured in the popular saying ""los argentinos descienden de los barcos"" (Argentines descend from the ships). Therefore, most Argentines are descended from the 19th- and 20th-century immigrants of the great immigration wave to Argentina (1850–1955), with a great majority of these immigrants coming from diverse European countries, particularly Italy and Spain. The majority of Argentines descend from multiple European

Languages.

The "de facto" official language is Spanish, spoken by almost all Argentines. The country is the largest Spanish-speaking society that universally employs "voseo", the use of the pronoun "vos" instead of "tú" ("you"), which imposes the use of alternative verb forms as well.

Religion.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Although it enforces neither an official nor a state faith, it gives Roman Catholicism a preferential status.  According to a 2008 CONICET poll, Argentines were 76.5% Catholic, 11.3% Agnostics and Atheists, 9% Evangelical Protestants, 1.2% Jehovah's Witnesses, and 0.9% Mormons, while 1.2% followed other religions, including Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. These figures appear to have changed quite significantly in recent years: data recorded in 2017 indicated that Catholics made up 66% of the population, indicating a drop of 10.5% in nine years, and the nonreligious in the country

Urbanization.

Argentina is highly urbanized, with 92% of its population living in cities: the ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population. About 3 million people live in the city of Buenos Aires, and including the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area it totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world.  The metropolitan areas of Córdoba and Rosario have around 1.3 million inhabitants each.

Education.

The Argentine education system consists of four levels:  The Argentine state guarantees universal, secular and free-of-charge public education for

Health care.

Health care is provided through a combination of employer and labour union-sponsored plans ("Obras Sociales"), government insurance plans, public hospitals and clinics and through private health insurance plans. Health care cooperatives number over 300 (of which 200 are related to labour unions) and provide health care for half the population; the national INSSJP (popularly known as PAMI) covers nearly all of the five million senior citizens.  There are more than 153,000 hospital beds, 121,000 physicians and 37,000 dentists (ratios comparable to developed nations). The relatively high access to medical care has historically

Culture.

Argentina is a multicultural country with significant European influences. Modern Argentine culture has been largely influenced by Italian, Spanish and other European immigration from France, United Kingdom, and Germany among others. Its cities are largely characterized by both the prevalence of people of European descent, and of conscious imitation of American and European styles in fashion, architecture and design. Museums, cinemas, and galleries are abundant in all the large urban centres, as well as traditional establishments such as literary bars, or bars offering live music of a variety of genres although there are lesser elements of Amerindian and African influences, particularly in the fields of music and art. The other big influence is the gauchos and their traditional country lifestyle of self-reliance. Finally, indigenous American traditions have been absorbed into the general cultural milieu. Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato has reflected on the nature of the culture of Argentina as follows:

Literature.

Although Argentina's rich literary history began around 1550, it reached full independence with Esteban Echeverría's "El Matadero", a romantic landmark that played a significant role in the development of 19th century's Argentine narrative, split by the ideological divide between the popular, federalist epic of José Hernández' "Martín Fierro" and the elitist and cultured discourse of Sarmiento's masterpiece, "Facundo".  The Modernist movement advanced into the 20th century including exponents such as Leopoldo Lugones and poet Alfonsina Storni; it was followed by Vanguardism, with Ricardo Güiraldes's "Don Segundo Sombra" as an important reference.  Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina's most acclaimed writer and one of the foremost figures in the history of literature, found new ways of looking at the modern world in metaphor and philosophical debate and his

Music.

Tango, a "Rioplatense" musical genre with European and African influences, is one of Argentina's international cultural symbols. The golden age of tango (1930 to mid-1950s) mirrored that of jazz and swing in the United States, featuring large orchestras like those of Osvaldo Pugliese, Aníbal Troilo, Francisco Canaro, Julio de Caro and Juan d'Arienzo. After 1955, virtuoso Astor Piazzolla popularized "Nuevo tango", a subtler and more intellectual trend for the genre. Tango enjoys worldwide popularity nowadays with groups like Gotan Project, Bajofondo and Tanghetto.  Argentina developed strong classical music and dance scenes that gave rise to renowned artists such as Alberto Ginastera, composer; Alberto Lysy, violinist; Martha Argerich and Eduardo Delgado, pianists; Daniel Barenboim, pianist and symphonic orchestra director; José Cura and Marcelo Álvarez, tenors; and to ballet dancers Jorge Donn,

Theatre.

Buenos Aires is one of the great theatre capitals of the world, with a scene of international caliber centered on Corrientes Avenue, "the street that never sleeps", sometimes referred to as an intellectual Broadway in Buenos Aires. Teatro Colón is a global landmark for opera and classical performances; its acoustics are considered among the world's top five. Other important theatrical venues include Teatro General San Martín, Cervantes, both in Buenos Aires City; Argentino in La Plata, El Círculo in Rosario, Independencia in Mendoza, and Libertador in Córdoba. Griselda Gambaro, Copi, Roberto Cossa, Marco Denevi, Carlos Gorostiza, and Alberto Vaccarezza are a few of the most prominent Argentine playwrights.  Argentine theatre traces its origins to Viceroy Juan José de Vértiz y Salcedo's creation of the colony's first theatre, "La Ranchería", in 1783. In this stage, in 1786, a

Cinema.

The Argentine film industry has historically been one of the three most developed in Latin American cinema, along with those produced in Mexico and Brazil. Started in 1896; by the early 1930s it had already become Latin America's leading film producer, a place it kept until the early 1950s. The world's first animated feature films were made and released in Argentina, by cartoonist Quirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918.  Argentine films have achieved worldwide recognition: the country has won two Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, for "The Official Story" (1985) and "The Secret in Their Eyes" (2009), from seven nominations:  In addition, Argentine composers Luis Enrique Bacalov and Gustavo Santaolalla have been honored with Academy Awards for Best Original Score, and Armando Bó and Nicolás Giacobone shared in the Academy

Visual arts.

Some of the best-known Argentine painters are Cándido López and Florencio Molina Campos (Naïve style); Ernesto de la Cárcova and Eduardo Sívori (Realism); Fernando Fader (Impressionism); Pío Collivadino, Atilio Malinverno and Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós (Postimpressionism); Emilio Pettoruti (Cubism); Julio Barragán (Concretism and Cubism) Antonio Berni (Neofigurativism); Roberto Aizenberg and Xul Solar (Surrealism); Gyula Košice (Constructivism); Eduardo Mac Entyre (Generative art); Luis Seoane, "Carlos Torrallardona", "Luis Aquino", and "Alfredo Gramajo Gutiérrez" (Modernism); Lucio Fontana (Spatialism); Tomás Maldonado and

Architecture.

The colonization brought the Spanish Baroque architecture, which can still be appreciated in its simpler "Rioplatense" style in the reduction of San Ignacio Miní, the Cathedral of Córdoba, and the Cabildo of Luján. Italian and French influences increased at the beginning of the 19th century with strong eclectic overtones that gave the local architecture a unique feeling.  Numerous Argentine architects have enriched their own country's cityscape and those around the world: Juan

Sport.

"Pato" is the national sport, an ancient horseback game locally originated in the early 1600s and predecessor of horseball. The most popular sport is football. Along with Brazil and France, the men's national team is the only one to have won the most important international triplet: World Cup, Confederations Cup, and Olympic Gold Medal. It has also won 14 Copas América, 7 Pan American Gold Medals and many other trophies. Alfredo Di Stéfano, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi are among the best players in the game's history.  The country's women's field hockey team "Las Leonas", is one of the world's most successful with four Olympic medals, two World Cups, a World League and seven Champions Trophy. Luciana Aymar is recognized as the best female player in the history of the sport, being the only player to have received the FIH Player of the Year Award eight times.  Basketball is a very popular sport. The men's national team is the only one in the FIBA Americas zone that has won the quintuplet crown: World Championship, Olympic Gold Medal, Diamond Ball, Americas Championship, and Pan American Gold Medal. It has also conquered 13 South American Championships, and many other tournaments. Emanuel Ginóbili, Luis Scola, Andrés Nocioni, Fabricio Oberto, Pablo Prigioni, Carlos Delfino and Juan Ignacio Sánchez are a few of the country's most acclaimed players, all of them part of the NBA. Argentina hosted the

Cuisine.

Besides many of the pasta, sausage and dessert dishes common to continental Europe, Argentines enjoy a wide variety of Indigenous and Criollo creations, including "empanadas" (a small stuffed pastry), "locro" (a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd), "humita" and "mate".  The country has the highest consumption of red meat in the world, traditionally prepared as "asado",

National symbols.

Some of Argentina's national symbols are defined by law, while others are traditions lacking formal designation. The Flag of Argentina consists of three horizontal stripes equal in width and colored light blue, white and light blue, with the Sun of May in the centre of the middle white stripe. The flag was designed by Manuel Belgrano in 1812; it was adopted as a national symbol on 20 July 1816. The Coat of Arms, which represents the union of the provinces, came into use in 1813 as the seal

Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic (), is a country located mostly in the southern half of South America. Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, the country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. With a mainland area of, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the fourth largest in the Americas, the second largest in South America after Brazil, and the largest Spanish-speaking nation. The sovereign state is subdivided into twenty-three provinces (, singular "provincia") and one autonomous city ("ciudad autónoma"), Buenos Aires, which is the federal capital of the nation () as decided by Congress. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands (), and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Argentinien ( []) ist eine Republik im Süden Südamerikas. Es grenzt im Westen an Chile, im Norden an Bolivien und Paraguay, im Nordosten an Brasilien und Uruguay und wird im Osten durch den Atlantischen Ozean begrenzt.


Formation.

A profession arises when any trade or occupation transforms itself through ""the development of formal qualifications based upon education, apprenticeship, and examinations, the emergence of regulatory bodies with powers to admit and discipline members, and some degree of monopoly rights.""

Regulation.

Originally, any regulation of the professions was self-regulation through bodies such as the College of Physicians or the Inns of Court. With the growing role of government, statutory bodies have increasingly taken on this role, their members being appointed either by the profession or (increasingly) by government. Proposals for the introduction or enhancement of statutory regulation may be welcomed by a profession as protecting clients and enhancing its quality and reputation, or as restricting access to the profession and hence enabling higher fees to be charged. It may be resisted as limiting the members' freedom to innovate or to practice as in their professional judgement they consider best.  An example was in 12, when the British government proposed wide statutory regulation of psychologists. The inspiration for the change was a number of problems in the psychotherapy field, but there are various kinds of psychologist including many who have no clinical role and where the case for regulation was not so clear. Work psychology brought especial disagreement, with the British Psychological Society favoring statutory regulation of "occupational psychologists" and the Association of Business Psychologists resisting the statutory regulation of "business psychologists" – descriptions of professional activity which it may not be easy to distinguish.  Besides regulating access to a profession, professional bodies may set examinations of competence and enforce adherence to an ethical code. There may be several such bodies for one profession in a single country, an example being the accountancy bodies of the United Kingdom (ACCA, CAI, CIMA, CIPFA, ICAEW and ICAS), all of which have been given a Royal Charter, although their members are not necessarily considered to hold equivalent qualifications, and which operate alongside further bodies (AAPA, IFA, CPAA). Another example of a regulatory body that governs a profession is the Hong Kong Professional Teachers Union, which governs the conduct, rights, obligations and duties of salaried teachers working in educational institutions in Hong Kong.  The engineering profession is highly regulated in some countries (Canada and USA) with a strict licensing system for Professional Engineer that controls the practice but not in others (UK) where titles and qualifications are regulated Chartered Engineer but practice is not regulated.  Typically, individuals are required by law to be qualified by a local professional body before they are permitted to practice in that profession. However, in some countries, individuals may not be required by law to be qualified by such a professional body in order to practice, as is the case for accountancy in the United Kingdom (except for auditing and insolvency work which legally require qualification by a professional body). In such cases, qualification by the professional bodies is effectively still considered a prerequisite to practice as most employers and clients stipulate that the individual hold such qualifications before hiring their services. For example, in order to become a fully qualified teaching professional in Hong Kong working in a state or government-funded school, one needs to have successfully completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Education ("PGDE") or a bachelor's degree in Education ("BEd") at an approved tertiary educational institution or university. This requirement is set out by the Educational Department Bureau of Hong Kong, which is the governmental department that governs the Hong Kong education sector.

Autonomy.

Professions tend to be autonomous, which means they have a high degree of control of their own affairs: ""professionals are autonomous insofar as they can make independent judgments about their work"". This usually means ""the freedom to exercise their professional judgement.""  However, it also has other meanings. ""Professional autonomy is often described as a claim of professionals that has to serve primarily their own interests...this professional autonomy can only be maintained if members of the profession subject their activities and decisions to a critical evaluation by other members of the profession "" The concept of autonomy can therefore be seen to embrace not only judgement, but also self-interest and a continuous process of critical evaluation of ethics and procedures from within the profession itself.  One major implication of professional autonomy is the traditional ban on corporate practice of the professions, especially accounting, architecture, medicine, and law. This means that in many jurisdictions, these professionals cannot do business through regular for-profit corporations and raise capital rapidly through initial public offerings or flotations. Instead, if they wish to practice collectively they must form special business entities such as partnerships or professional corporations, which feature (1) reduced protection against liability for professional negligence and (2) severe limitations or outright prohibitions on ownership by non-professionals. The obvious implication of this is that all equity owners of the professional business entity must be professionals themselves. This avoids the possibility of a non-professional owner of the firm telling a professional how to do his or her job and thereby protects professional autonomy. The idea is that the "only" non-professional person who should be telling the professional what to do is the "client"; in other words, professional autonomy preserves the integrity of the two-party professional-client relationship. Above this client-professional relationship the profession requires the professional to use their autonomy to follow the rules of ethics that the profession requires. But because professional business entities are effectively locked out of the stock market, they tend to grow relatively slowly compared to public corporations.

Status and prestige.

Professions enjoy a high social status, regard and esteem conferred upon them by society. This high esteem arises primarily from the higher social function of their work, which is regarded as vital to society as a whole and thus of having a special and valuable nature. All professions involve technical, specialized and highly skilled work often referred to as ""professional expertise."" Training for this work involves obtaining degrees and professional qualifications (see Licensure) without which entry to the profession is barred (occupational closure). Updating skills through continuing education is required through training.

Power.

All professions have power. This power is used to control its own members, and also its area of expertise and interests. A profession tends to dominate, police and protect its area of expertise and the conduct of its members, and exercises a dominating influence over its entire field which means that professions can act monopolist, rebuffing competition from ancillary trades and occupations, as well as subordinating and controlling lesser but related trades. A profession is characterized by the power and high prestige it has in society as a whole. It is the power, prestige and value that society confers upon a profession that more clearly defines it. The power of professions has led to them being referred to as conspiracies against the laity. On the other hand, professionals acquire some of their power and authority in organizations from their expertise and knowledge. As such they can bend rules, reduce bureaucratic inertia and increase problem solving and adaptability.  Public Service as a Profession to Moderate Abuses of Power

Characteristics.

There is considerable agreement about defining the characteristic features of a profession. They have a "professional association, cognitive base, institutionalized training, licensing, work autonomy, colleague control... (and) code of ethics", to which Larson then also adds, "high standards of professional and intellectual excellence," (Larson, p. 221) that "professions are occupations with special power and prestige", (Larson, p.x) and that they comprise "an exclusive elite group," (Larson, p. 20) in all societies. Members of a profession have also been defined as "workers whose qualities of detachment, autonomy, and group allegiance are more extensive than those found among other groups...their attributes include a high degree of systematic knowledge; strong community orientation and loyalty; self-regulation; and a system of rewards defined and administered by the community of workers."  A profession has been further defined as: "a special type of occupation...(possessing) corporate solidarity...prolonged specialized training in a body of abstract knowledge, and a collectivity or service orientation...a vocational sub-culture which comprises implicit codes of behavior, generates an esprit de corps among members of the same profession, and ensures them certain occupational advantages...(also) bureaucratic structures and monopolistic privileges to perform certain types of work...professional literature, legislation, etc."  A critical characteristic of a profession is the need to cultivate and exercise professional "discretion" - that is, the ability to make case by case "judgements" that cannot be determined by an absolute rule or instruction.

References.

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A profession is an occupation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain. The term is a truncation of the term "liberal profession", which is, in turn, an Anglicization of the French term "profession libérale". Originally borrowed by English users in the 19th century, it has been re-borrowed by international users from the late 20th, though the (upper-middle) class overtones of the term do not seem to survive retranslation: "liberal professions" are, according to the European Union's Directive on Recognition of Professional Qualifications (2005/36/EC), "those practiced on the basis of relevant professional qualifications in a personal, responsible and professionally independent capacity by those providing intellectual and conceptual services in the interest of the client and the public".

Ein Beruf ist die im Rahmen einer arbeitsteiligen Wirtschaftsordnung aufgrund besonderer Eignung und Neigung systematisch erlernte, spezialisierte, meistens mit einem Qualifikationsnachweis versehene, dauerhaft und gegen Entgelt ausgeübte Betätigung eines Menschen. Der Begriff ist abzugrenzen vom umgangssprachlichen Ausdruck Job, der eine Erwerbstätigkeit bezeichnet, die nur vorübergehend ausgeübt wird oder nicht an eine besondere Eignung oder Ausbildung gebunden ist.


Discovery.

The first asteroid to be discovered, Ceres, was originally considered to be a new planet. This was followed by the discovery of other similar bodies, which, with the equipment of the time, appeared to be points of light, like stars, showing little or no planetary disc, though readily distinguishable from stars due to their apparent motions. This prompted the astronomer Sir William Herschel to propose the term "asteroid", coined in Greek as ἀστεροειδής, or "asteroeidēs", meaning'star-like, star-shaped', and derived from the Ancient Greek "astēr"'star, planet'. In the early second half of the nineteenth century, the terms "asteroid" and "planet" (not always qualified as "minor") were still used interchangeably.  Overview of discovery timeline:

Historical methods.

Asteroid discovery methods have dramatically improved over the past two centuries.  In the last years of the 18th century, Baron Franz Xaver von Zach organized a group of 24 astronomers to search the sky for the missing planet predicted at about 2.8 AU from the Sun by the Titius-Bode law, partly because of the discovery, by Sir William Herschel in 1781, of the planet Uranus at the distance predicted by the law. This task required that hand-drawn sky charts be prepared for all stars in the zodiacal band down to an agreed-upon limit of faintness. On subsequent nights, the sky would be charted again and any moving object would, hopefully, be spotted. The expected motion of the missing planet was about 30 seconds of arc per hour, readily discernible by observers.  The first object, Ceres, was not discovered by a member of the group, but rather by accident in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, director of the observatory of Palermo in Sicily. He discovered a new star-like object in Taurus and followed the displacement of this object during several nights. Later that year, Carl Friedrich Gauss used these observations

Manual methods of the 1900s and modern reporting.

Until 1998, asteroids were discovered by a four-step process. First, a region of the sky was photographed by a wide-field telescope, or astrograph. Pairs of photographs were taken, typically one hour apart. Multiple pairs could be taken over a series of days. Second, the two films or plates of the same region were viewed under a stereoscope. Any body in orbit around the Sun would move slightly between the pair of films. Under the stereoscope, the image of the body would seem to float slightly above the background of stars. Third, once a moving body was identified,

Computerized methods.

There is increasing interest in identifying asteroids whose orbits cross Earth's, and that could, given enough time, collide with Earth "(see Earth-crosser asteroids)". The three most important groups of near-Earth asteroids are the Apollos, Amors, and Atens. Various asteroid deflection strategies have been proposed, as early as the 1960s.  The near-Earth asteroid 433 Eros had been discovered as long ago as 1898, and the 1930s brought a flurry of similar objects. In order of discovery, these were: 1221 Amor, 1862 Apollo, 2101 Adonis, and finally 69230 Hermes, which approached within 0.005 AU of Earth in 1937. Astronomers began to realize

Terminology.

Traditionally, small bodies orbiting the Sun were classified as comets, asteroids, or meteoroids, with anything smaller than one meter across being called a meteoroid. Beech and Steel's 1995 paper proposed a meteoroid definition including size limits. The term "asteroid", from the Greek word for "star-like", never had a formal definition, with the broader term minor planet being preferred by the International Astronomical Union.  However, following the discovery of asteroids below ten meters in size, Rubin and Grossman's 2010 paper revised the previous definition of meteoroid to objects between 10 μm and 1 meter in size in order to maintain the distinction between asteroids and meteoroids. The smallest asteroids discovered (based on absolute magnitude "H") are with "H" = 33.2 and with "H" = 32.1 both with an estimated size of about 1 meter.  In 2006, the term "small Solar System body" was also introduced to cover both most minor planets and comets. Other languages prefer "planetoid" (Greek for "planet-like"), and this term is occasionally used in English especially for larger minor planets such as the dwarf planets as well as an alternative for asteroids since they are not star-like. The word "planetesimal" has a similar meaning, but refers specifically to the small building blocks of the planets that existed when the Solar System was forming. The term "planetule" was coined by the geologist William Daniel Conybeare to describe minor planets, but is not in common use. The three largest objects in the asteroid belt, Ceres, Pallas, and Vesta, grew to the stage of protoplanets. Ceres is a dwarf planet, the only one in the inner Solar System.  When found, asteroids were seen as a class of objects distinct from comets, and there was no unified term for the two until "small Solar System body" was coined in 2006. The main difference between an asteroid and a comet is that a comet shows a coma due to sublimation of near surface ices by solar radiation. A few objects have ended up being dual-listed because they were first classified as minor planets but later showed evidence of cometary

Formation.

It is thought that planetesimals in the asteroid belt evolved much like the rest of the solar nebula until Jupiter neared its current mass, at which point excitation from orbital resonances with Jupiter ejected over 99% of planetesimals in the belt. Simulations and a discontinuity in spin rate and spectral properties suggest that asteroids larger than approximately

Distribution within the Solar System.

Various dynamical groups of asteroids have been discovered orbiting in the inner Solar System. Their orbits are perturbed by the gravity of other bodies in the Solar System and by the Yarkovsky effect. Significant populations include:

Asteroid belt.

The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, generally in relatively low-eccentricity (i.e. not very elongated) orbits. This belt is now estimated to contain

Trojans.

Trojans are populations that share an orbit with a larger planet or moon, but do not collide with it because they orbit in one of the two Lagrangian points of stability, L4 and L5, which lie 60° ahead

Near-Earth asteroids.

Near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, are asteroids that have orbits that pass close to that of Earth. Asteroids that

Characteristics.

Size distribution.

Asteroids vary greatly in size, from almost for the largest down to rocks just 1 meter across. The three largest are very much like miniature planets: they are roughly spherical, have at least partly differentiated interiors, and are thought to be surviving protoplanets. The vast majority, however, are much smaller and are irregularly shaped; they are thought to be either battered planetesimals or fragments of larger bodies.  The dwarf planet Ceres is by far the largest asteroid, with a diameter of. The next largest are 4 Vesta and 2 Pallas, both with diameters of just over. Vesta is the only main-belt asteroid that

Largest asteroids.

Although their location in the asteroid belt excludes them from planet status, the three largest objects, Ceres, Vesta, and Pallas, are intact protoplanets that share many characteristics common to planets, and are atypical compared to the majority of irregularly-shaped asteroids. The fourth largest asteroid, Hygiea, appears nearly spherical although it may have an undifferentiated interior, like the majority of asteroids. Between them, the four largest asteroids constitute half the mass of the asteroid belt.  Ceres is the only asteroid with a fully ellipsoidal shape and hence the only one that is a dwarf planet. It has a much higher absolute magnitude than the other asteroids, of around 3.32, and may possess a surface layer of ice. Like the planets, Ceres is differentiated: it has a crust, a mantle and a core. No meteorites from Ceres have been found on Earth.  Vesta, too, has a differentiated interior, though it formed inside the Solar System's frost line, and so is devoid of water; its composition is

Rotation.

Measurements of the rotation rates of large asteroids in the asteroid belt show that there is an upper limit. Very few asteroids with a diameter larger than 100 meters have a rotation period smaller than 2.2 hours. For asteroids rotating

Composition.

The physical composition of asteroids is varied and in most cases poorly understood. Ceres appears to be composed of a rocky core covered by an icy mantle, where Vesta is thought to have a nickel-iron core, olivine mantle, and basaltic crust. 10 Hygiea, however, which appears to have a uniformly primitive composition of carbonaceous chondrite, is thought to be the largest undifferentiated asteroid. Most of the smaller asteroids are thought to be piles of rubble held together loosely by gravity, though the largest are probably solid. Some asteroids have moons or are co-orbiting binaries: Rubble piles, moons, binaries, and scattered asteroid families are thought to be the results of collisions that

Surface features.

Most asteroids outside the "big four" (Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, and Hygiea) are likely to be broadly similar in appearance, if irregular in shape. 50-km (31-mi) 253 Mathilde is a rubble pile saturated with craters with diameters the size of the asteroid's radius, and Earth-based observations of 300-km (186-mi) 511 Davida, one of the largest asteroids after the big four, reveal a similarly angular profile, suggesting

Color.

Asteroids become darker and redder with age due to space weathering. However evidence suggests most of

Classification.

Asteroids are commonly categorized according to two criteria: the characteristics of their orbits, and features of their reflectance spectrum.

Orbital classification.

Many asteroids have been placed in groups and families based on their orbital characteristics. Apart from the broadest divisions, it is customary to name a group of asteroids after the first member of that group to be discovered. Groups are relatively loose dynamical associations, whereas families are tighter and result from the catastrophic break-up of a large parent asteroid sometime in the past. Families are more common and easier to identify within the main asteroid belt, but several small families have been reported among the Jupiter trojans. Main belt families were first recognized by Kiyotsugu Hirayama in 1918 and are often called Hirayama families in his honor.  About 30–35% of the bodies in the asteroid belt belong to dynamical families each thought to have a common origin in a past collision between asteroids. A family has also been associated with the plutoid dwarf planet.

Quasi-satellites and horseshoe objects.

Some asteroids have unusual horseshoe orbits that are co-orbital with Earth or some other planet. Examples are 3753 Cruithne and. The first instance of this type of orbital arrangement was discovered between Saturn's moons Epimetheus and Janus.  Sometimes these horseshoe objects temporarily become quasi-satellites for a few decades or a few hundred years, before returning to their earlier status. Both Earth and Venus are known to have quasi-satellites.  Such objects, if associated with Earth or Venus or even hypothetically Mercury, are a special class of Aten asteroids. However, such objects could be associated with outer planets as well.

Spectral classification.

In 1975, an asteroid taxonomic system based on color, albedo, and spectral shape was developed by Clark R. Chapman, David Morrison, and Ben Zellner. These properties are thought to correspond to the composition of the asteroid's surface material. The original classification system had three categories: C-types for dark carbonaceous objects (75% of known asteroids), S-types for stony (silicaceous) objects (17% of known asteroids) and U for those that did not fit into either C or S. This classification has since been expanded to include many other asteroid types. The number of types continues to

Problems.

Originally, spectral designations were based on inferences of an asteroid's composition. However, the correspondence between spectral class and composition is not always very good, and a variety of classifications are in use. This has led to significant confusion. Although asteroids of different spectral classifications are likely to be composed of different materials, there are no assurances that asteroids within the same taxonomic class are composed of similar materials.

Naming.

A newly discovered asteroid is given a provisional designation (such as ) consisting of the year of discovery and an alphanumeric code indicating the half-month of discovery and the sequence within that half-month. Once an asteroid's orbit has been confirmed, it is given a number, and later may also be given a name (e.g. 433 Eros). The formal naming convention uses parentheses around the number (e.g. (433) Eros), but dropping the parentheses is quite common. Informally, it is common to drop the number altogether, or to drop it after the first mention when a name is repeated in running text. In addition, names can be proposed by the asteroid's discoverer, within guidelines established by the International Astronomical Union.

Symbols.

The first asteroids to be discovered were assigned iconic symbols like the ones traditionally used to designate the planets. By 1855 there were two dozen asteroid symbols, which often occurred in multiple variants.  In 1851, after the fifteenth asteroid (Eunomia) had been discovered, Johann Franz Encke made a major change in the upcoming 1854 edition of the "Berliner Astronomisches Jahrbuch" (BAJ, "Berlin Astronomical Yearbook"). He introduced a disk (circle), a traditional symbol for a star, as the generic symbol for an asteroid. The circle was then numbered in order of discovery to indicate a specific asteroid (although he assigned 1 to the

Exploration.

Until the age of space travel, objects in the asteroid belt were merely pinpricks of light in even the largest telescopes and their shapes and terrain remained a mystery. The best modern ground-based telescopes and the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope can resolve a small amount of detail on the surfaces of the largest asteroids, but even these mostly remain little more than fuzzy blobs. Limited information about the shapes and compositions of asteroids can be inferred from their light curves (their variation in brightness as they rotate) and their spectral properties, and asteroid sizes can be estimated by timing the lengths of star occulations (when an asteroid passes directly in front of a star). Radar imaging can yield good information about asteroid shapes and orbital and rotational parameters, especially for near-Earth asteroids. In terms of delta-v and propellant requirements, NEOs are more easily accessible than the Moon.  The first close-up photographs of asteroid-like objects were taken in 1971, when the "Mariner 9" probe imaged Phobos and Deimos, the two small moons of Mars, which are probably captured asteroids. These images revealed the irregular, potato-like shapes of most asteroids, as did later images from the Voyager probes of the small moons of the gas giants.  The first true asteroid to be photographed in close-up was 951 Gaspra in 1991, followed in 1993 by 243 Ida and its moon Dactyl, all of which were imaged by the "Galileo" probe en route to Jupiter.  The first dedicated asteroid probe was "NEAR Shoemaker", which photographed 253 Mathilde in 1997, before entering into orbit around 433 Eros, finally landing on its surface in 2001.  Other asteroids briefly visited by spacecraft en route to other destinations include 9969 Braille (by "Deep Space 1" in 1999), and 5535 Annefrank (by "Stardust" in 2002).  From September to November 2005, the Japanese "Hayabusa" probe studied 25143 Itokawa in detail and was plagued with difficulties, but returned samples of its surface to Earth on 13 June 2010.  The European "Rosetta" probe (launched in 2004) flew by 2867 Šteins in 2008 and 21 Lutetia, the third-largest asteroid visited to date, in 2010.  In September 2007, NASA launched the "Dawn" spacecraft, which orbited 4 Vesta from July 2011 to September 2012, and has been orbiting the dwarf planet 1 Ceres since 2015. 4 Vesta is the second-largest asteroid visited to date.  On 13 December 2012, China's lunar orbiter "Chang'e 2" flew within of the asteroid 4179 Toutatis on an extended mission.  The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the "Hayabusa2" probe in December 2014, and plans to return samples from 162173 Ryugu in December 2020.  In June 2018, the US National Science and Technology Council warned that America is unprepared for an asteroid impact event, and has developed and released the ""National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy Action Plan"" to better prepare.  In September 2016, NASA launched the OSIRIS-REx sample return mission to asteroid 101955 Bennu, which it reached in December 2018., the probe is in orbit around the asteroid.

Fiction.

Asteroids and the asteroid belt are a staple of science fiction stories. Asteroids play several potential roles in science fiction: as places human beings

Further reading.

"Further information about asteroids"

Asteroids are minor planets, especially of the inner Solar System. Larger asteroids have also been called planetoids. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not resolve into a disc in a telescope and was not observed to have characteristics of an active comet such as a tail. As minor planets in the outer Solar System were discovered that were found to have volatile-rich surfaces similar to comets, these came to be distinguished from the objects found in the main asteroid belt. In this article, the term "asteroid" refers to the minor planets of the inner Solar System, including those co-orbital with Jupiter.

Als Asteroiden (von ), Kleinplaneten oder Planetoiden werden astronomische Kleinkörper bezeichnet, die sich auf keplerschen Umlaufbahnen um die Sonne bewegen und größer als Meteoroiden (Millimeter bis Meter), aber kleiner als Zwergplaneten (ca. tausend Kilometer) sind.


History.

During the peak of the Cold War in 1950, Oscar Martay, a film officer of the Information Service Branch of the American High Commissioner for Germany stationed in Berlin, proposed the idea of a film festival in Berlin. The proposal was put through a committee including members of the Senate of Berlin and people from the German film industry on October 9, 1950. Through his efforts and influence, the American military administration was persuaded to assist and to give loans for the first years of the Berlin International Film Festival, which commenced in June 1951 with film historian Dr. Alfred Bauer as its first director, a position he would hold until 1976. Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" opened the first festival at the Titiana-Palast in Steglitz on June 6, 1951. The first festival ran from June 6–17th with Waldbühne being another festival venue.  The winners of the first awards in 1951 were determined by a West German panel, and there were five winners of the Golden Bear, divided by categories and genres. "Cinderella", which won the Golden Bear for a Music Film, also won the audience award. The FIAPF (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films) banned the awarding of jury prizes at the festival so between 1952 and 1955, the winners of the Golden Bear were determined by the audience members. In 1956, FIAPF formally accredited the festival and since then the Golden Bear has been awarded by an international jury.  The 20th edition of the festival in 1970 was cut short and awards not issued following controversy over the showing of Michael Verhoeven's film "o.k.". The following year, the festival was reformed and a new International Forum for New Cinema was created.  Bauer was succeeded by film journalist Wolf Donner in 1976, who gave German films higher priority. After his first Berlinale in June 1977, he successfully negotiated the shift of the festival from the June to February (February 22 – March 5, 1978), a change which has remained ever since. That festival, the 28th edition, saw the jury award the Golden Bear to Spain for its contribution to the festival rather than a specific film. The three Spanish films which were screened at the festival and won it were short film "Ascensor" directed by Tomás Muñoz and feature films "La palabras de Max" by Emilio Martínez Lázaro and "Las truchas" by José Luis García Sánchez. The 1978 festival also saw the start of the European Film Market.  After only three years in the role, Donner was followed by Moritz de Hadeln who held the position from 1980 until director Dieter Kosslick took over in 2001.  In 2000, the Theater am Potsdamer Platz, known as the Berlinale Palast during the festival, became the festival's principal venue. Since 2009, Friedrichstadt-Palast has also been used.  In June 2018, it was announced that Mariette Rissenbeek would serve as the new executive director alongside artistic director Carlo Chatrian. They assumed their posts after Kosslick's final edition in 2019. Rissenbeek became the first woman to lead the Berlinale.

Festival programme.

The festival is composed of seven different film sections. Films are chosen in each category by a section director with the advice of a committee of film experts. Categories include:  Competition: comprises feature-length films yet to be released outside their country of origin. Films in the Competition section compete for several prizes, including the top Golden Bear for the best film and a series of Silver Bears for acting, writing and production.  Panorama: comprises new independent and arthouse films that deal with "controversial subjects or unconventional aesthetic styles". Films in the category are intended to provoke discussion, and have historically involved themes such as LGBT issues.  Forum: comprises experimental and documentary films from around the world with a particular emphasis on screening works by younger filmmakers. There are no format or genre restrictions, and films in the Forum do not compete for awards.  Generation: comprises a mixture of short and feature-length films aimed at children and youths. Films in the Generation section compete in two sub-categories: Generation Kplus (aimed at those aged four and above) and Generation 14plus (aimed at those aged fourteen and above). Awards in the section are determined by three separate juries—the Children's Jury, the Youth Jury and an international jury of experts—, whose decisions are made independently of one another.  Perspektive Deutsches Kino: comprises a wide variety of German films, with an emphasis on highlighting current trends in German cinema. There are few entry requirements, enabling emerging filmmakers to display their work to domestic and international audiences.  Berlinale Shorts: comprises domestic and international short films, especially those that demonstrate innovative approaches to filmmaking. Films in the category compete for the Golden Bear for the best short film, as well as a jury-nominated Silver Bear.  Retrospective: comprises classic films previously shown at the Berlinale, with films collated from the Competition, Forum, Panorama and Generation categories. Each year, the Retrospective section is dedicated to important themes or filmmakers. The special Homage series similarly examines past cinema, with a focus on honouring the life work of directors and actors.  In addition to the seven sections, the Berlinale also contains several linked "curated special series", including the "Berlinale Special", "Gala Special", "Forum Expanded", and the "Homage". In 2020, "Culinary Cinema" was dropped while a new section called Encounters was established. Since 2002 a 50-second trailer opens the performances in all sections of the festival with the exception of the Retrospective.

Main competition jury presidents.

Since 1956, the jury of the Festival has been chaired by an internationally recognized personality of cinema.

Awards.

The Golden Bear (German: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival.  Golden Bear ("Goldener Bär)"  Silver Bear ("Silberner Bär") The Silver Bear was introduced in 1956 as an award for individual achievements in direction and acting, and for best short film.  In 1965 a special film award for the runner-up to the Golden Bear was introduced. Although its official name was the "Special Jury Prize" from 1965 to 1999, and has been the "Jury Grand Prix" since 2000, it is commonly known as the Silver Bear (just like the awards for individual achievements) as it is regarded as a second place award after the Golden Bear.  In 2002 a Silver Bear for best film music, and in 2008 an award for best screenplay.  Other awards at the Berlin International Film Festival

European Film Market.

The European Film Market (EFM) is one of three largest movie markets in the world. Started in 1978, it is the business centre during the time of the Berlinale. The EFM is the major venue for film producers, buyers, financiers, sales agents, and distributors. It is a professional trade event, so is open to registered industry insiders. In 2011, 400 companies registered and 6,982 market badges were issued; 1,532 buyers have registered.  The trade fair provides exhibition space for companies presenting their current line-up. It organizes over 1000 screenings of new films, which take place at movie theatres around Potsdamer Platz. In 2007, the CinemaxX and CineStar were used to showcase new productions. In 2010, the Astor Film Lounge showed market screenings in three dimensions using digital RealD technology.  The Berlinale Co-Production Market is a three-day networking platform for producers and financiers, as well as broadcasting and funding representatives who are participating in international co-productions. At the Berlinale Co-Production Market, producers can introduce selected projects and find co-production partners and/or financiers in one-on-one meetings.

Berlinale Talents.

Commencing in 2003, the Berlinale has partnered with the Berlinale Talents (previously Berlinale Talent Campus), which is a winter school for "up-and-coming filmmakers" that takes place at the same time as the festival. The Talent Campus accepts about 250 applicants each year; the attendees come from around the world, and represent all of the filmmaking professions.  The event runs six days during the Berlinale and features lectures and panel discussions with well-known professionals addressing issues in filmmaking. Workshops, excursions, personal tutoring, coaching, and training of participants from different fields of work are part of the programme.  The proceedings include presentations by distinguished experts, who have included Park Chan-wook, Frances McDormand, Stephen Frears, Dennis Hopper, Jia Zhangke, Walter Murch, Shah Rukh Khan, Joshua Oppenheimer, Anthony Minghella, Charlotte Rampling, Walter Salles, Ridley Scott, Raoul Peck, Tom Tykwer, Mike Leigh, Tilda Swinton, and Wim Wenders. Many of these presentations and lectures are archived, both as video recordings and as transcripts, on the Talent Campus' website.

The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale, is a film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of the "Big Three" alongside the Venice Film Festival in Italy and the Cannes Film Festival in France. Since 2019, Mariette Rissenbeek serves as the executive director of the festival, while Carlo Chatrian is the artistic director.

Die Internationalen Filmfestspiele Berlin, kurz Berlinale, sind ein jährlich in Berlin stattfindendes Filmfestival. Sie zählen neben denen von Cannes und Venedig zu den wichtigsten Filmfestivals und gelten als eines der weltweit bedeutendsten Ereignisse der Filmbranche.


General facts.

With about 480,000 active members and supporters the BUND is one of the biggest environmental organizations in Germany. It is also formally accredited by the Federal Republic of Germany and therefore has to be officially included if an encroachment into nature is being planned. In 2008, the organization gathered €14.32million from member fees, donations, and benefits.  The federal organization has its office located in Berlin and is represented by its president Hubert Weiger. There are 2,200 local groups and, like Germany itself, the BUND is divided into 16 state organisations. There are up to 20 working parties specialised such as in law, water, waste, health, forest, energy, and gene technology; everyone can participate. The working parties often include renowned scientist and participate in official parliament hearings, comment on new laws and develop ecologic concepts. Moreover, the expert knowledge is widely spread through workshops and brochures.  All members of the BUND under the age of 27 are automatically members of the youth organisation BUNDjugend.  The BUND logo symbolises the earth as a green ball held by two protecting hands.

History.

The BUND was founded on 20 July 1975, as a federation of already existing regional groups. The BUND's co-founders were Horst Stern, Bernhard Grzimek, Herbert Gruhl, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Hubert Weinzierl and 16 others including Bodo Manstein and Gerhard Thielcke.  The original name „Bund für Natur- und Umweltschutz Deutschland (BNUD)“ was changed in 1977 for better readability.  In 1989 the BUND became a member of Friends of the Earth International.  In 1990 five Associations were founded in East Germany.  BUND was founding member of the "Berlin Energy Table" which successfully pushed for a Referendum on the recommunalization of energy supply in Berlin in 2013. The referendum however failed to obtain a sufficient number of yes votes despite a strong majority amongst those that did vote.

Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND) is a German non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to preserving nature and protecting the environment. The name means "German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation". Its subtitle "Friends of the Earth Germany" indicates that BUND is a member organisation of the international network Friends of the Earth (FoE).

Der Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e. V. (Apronym BUND) ist eine nichtstaatliche Umwelt- und Naturschutzorganisation mit Sitz in Berlin. Er ist das deutsche Mitglied des internationalen Naturschutznetzwerkes Friends of the Earth.


Agronomic aspects.

Origin and cultivation.

The origin of the Bambara groundnut is West Africa and the region of cultivation is Sub-Saharan Africa's warm tropics. Bambara nut grows well any where groundnut (peanut) grows and so is vastly present from Kwara state and throughout the northern parts of Nigeria.

Importance.

Bambara groundnut represents the third most important grain legume in semi-arid Africa. “It is resistant to high temperature and is suitable for marginal soils where other leguminous crops cannot be grown”, thereby considered as a low-impact crop.  Bambara groundnut has nutritive value with 65% carbohydrate and 18% protein content. It is considered to be a neglected and underutilized food source in Benin.

Uses.

Culinary use.

The seeds are used for food and beverage because of their high protein content and for digestive system applications. The entire plant is known for soil improvement because of nitrogen fixation. In West Africa, the nuts are eaten as a snack, roasted and salted, processed into cake, or as a meal, boiled similar to other beans.  In South Eastern Nigeria, particularly in Enugu, the dried bambara beans are ground into a fine powder, then mixed with palm oil, water and pumpkin leaves and then poured into banana leaf wraps or 1 litre cellophane bags before being boiled into a kind of cakey pudding to make "okpa", a common breakfast food in Enugu, Nsukka and Ngwo Nigeria. In Niger State and upper Kwara state the Nupes and Yorubas have a delicacy called Sagidi, a meal sold in every Friday and Saturday market. Just like Groundnut Cake (Kulikuli cake), the Bambara nut is processed to Kangu cake starting from Kwara through northern Nigeria, Chad and Niger. During the rainy season in many parts of central Nigeria like Jos, the fresh bambara beans are cooked with their shells still on them. The beans are then eaten as a snack just like boiled groundnuts.

Soil requirements.

Optimal soils for Bambara groundnut production are sandy soils to prevent waterlogging. Optimal soil depth is between 50 and 100 cm, with a light soil texture. soil fertility should be low and soil pH is best suited between 5 and 6.5 and should not be lower than 4.3 or higher than 7.

Climate requirements.

The production is best suited between a latitude of 20° - 30°, i.e. the tropical wet and dry (Aw) and the subtropical dry summer (Cs) climate zones. Optimal temperature is between 19 °C and 30 °C. Temperatures below 16 °C and above 38 °C are not suited for the production of bambara groundnut. The bambara groundnut is very drought resistant. The minimal annual rainfall requirement is about 300 mm and optimal annual rainfall is between 750 mm and 1400 mm and should not exceed 3000 mm.

Cropping system.

The cropping system is semi-permanent and the Bambara groundnut can be cultivated as single crop or as intercrop. Best suited intercrops are sorghum, millet, maize, peanut, yams and cassava.  Bambara groundnut is mainly cultivated as intercrop, however the planting density varies between 6 and 29 plants per square meter. For woodland savannas of Côte d'Ivoire the highest yield is attainable with a plant density of 25 plants per square meter.

Production.

World production of "Vigna subterranea" increased from 29,800 tonnes in 2015. in 1972 to 79,155 tonnes

Physiology.

Growth.

The growth cycle is between (min-max) 90–170 days and under optimal conditions the cycle is about 120–150 days to pod maturity. Flowers appear 40–60 days after planting. 30 days after pollination the pod reaches maturity and during another 55 days the seeds fully develop. Every 30 days they are produced again.

Generative reproduction.

Generative reproduction is for the Bambara groundnut autogamous (self-fertilization) and cleistogamous (self-pollinating).

Vigna subterranea (also known by its common names: Bambara nut, Bambara-bean, Congo goober, earth pea, ground-bean, or hog-peanut) is a member of the family Fabaceae. The plant originated in West Africa (the Bambara people are found in southern Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Senegal). "Vigna subterranea" ripens its pods underground, much like the peanut (also called a "groundnut"). They can be eaten fresh or boiled after drying.

Die Bambara-Erdnuss ("Vigna subterranea"), im deutschen Sprachraum auch Erderbse oder "Angola-Erbse", sowie früher auch "Kriechender Erdbohrer" genannt, ist eine Pflanzenart, die zur Unterfamilie der Schmetterlingsblütler (Faboideae) innerhalb der Familie der Hülsenfrüchtler (Fabaceae oder Leguminosae) gehört. Diese Nutzpflanze ist nahe verwandt mit einer Reihe anderer „Bohnen“ genannter Feldfrüchte.