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Australia Group

The Australia Group is a multilateral export control regime (MECR) and an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission) established in 1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in 1984) to help member countries to identify those exports which need to be controlled so as not to contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons.

The group, initially consisting of 15 members, held its first meeting in Brussels, Belgium, in June 1985. With the incorporation of India on January 19, 2018, it now has 43 members, including Australia, New Zealand, the European Commission, all 27 member states of the European Union, United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, India, Ukraine, and Argentina. The name comes from Australia's initiative to create the group. Australia manages the secretariat.

The initial members of the group had different assessments of which chemical precursors should be subject to export control. Later adherents initially had no such controls. Today, members of the group maintain export controls on a uniform list of 87 compounds, including several that are not prohibited for export under the Chemical Weapons Convention, but can be used in the manufacture of chemical weapons. Additionally, the Australia Group expanded its standardization of licensing and export controls to cover technology related to the manufacturing of chemical weapons or controlled components.

In 2002, the group took two important steps to strengthen export control. The first was the "no-undercut" requirement, which stated that any member of the group considering making an export to another state that had already been denied an export by any other member of the group must first consult with that member state before approving the export. The second was the "catch-all" provision, which requires member states to halt all exports that could be used by importers in chemical or biological weapons programs, regardless of whether the export is on the group's control lists. Delegations representing the members meet every year in Paris, France.

Sovereign states

 * 🇦🇷 Argentina (1993)
 * 🇦🇺 Australia (1985)
 * 🇦🇹 Austria (1989)
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium (1985)
 * 🇧🇬 Bulgaria (2001)
 * 🇨🇦 Canada (1985)
 * 🇭🇷 Croatia (2007)
 * 🇨🇾 Cyprus (2000)
 * 🇨🇿 Czech Republic (2004)
 * 🇩🇰 Denmark (1985)
 * 🇪🇪 Estonia (2004)
 * 🇫🇮 Finland (1991)
 * 🇫🇷 France (1985)
 * 🇩🇪 Germany (1985)
 * 🇬🇷 Greece (1985)
 * 🇭🇺 Hungary (1993)
 * 🇮🇸 Iceland (1993)
 * 🇮🇳 India (2018)
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland (1985)
 * 🇮🇹 Italy (1985)
 * 🇯🇵 Japan (1985)
 * 🇰🇷 South Korea (1996)
 * 🇱🇻 Latvia (2004)
 * 🇱🇹 Lithuania (2004)
 * 🇱🇺 Luxembourg (1985)
 * 🇲🇹 Malta (2004)
 * 🇲🇽 Mexico (2013)
 * 🇳🇱 Netherlands (1985)
 * 🇳🇿 New Zealand (1985)
 * 🇳🇴 Norway (1986)
 * 🇵🇱 Poland (1994)
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal (1985)
 * 🇷🇴 Romania (1995)
 * 🇸🇰 Slovakia (1994)
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia (2004)
 * 🇪🇸 Spain (1985)
 * 🇸🇪 Sweden (1991)
 * 🇨🇭 Switzerland (1987)
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey (2000)
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine (2005)
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom (1985)
 * 🇺🇸 United States (1985)

International organisations

 * 🇪🇺 European Commission (1985)

title: Australia Group


text:
Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of dance with its own vocabulary. Ballet has been influential globally and has defined the foundational techniques which are used in many other dance genres and cultures. Various schools around the world have incorporated their own cultures. As a result, ballet has evolved in distinct ways.

A ballet as a unified work comprises the choreography and music for a ballet production. Ballets are choreographed and performed by trained ballet dancers. Traditional classical ballets are usually performed with classical music accompaniment and use elaborate costumes and staging, whereas modern ballets are often performed in simple costumes and without elaborate sets or scenery.

Etymology
Ballet is a French word which had its origin in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance) which comes from Latin ballo, ballare, meaning "to dance", which in turn comes from the Greek "βαλλίζω" (ballizo), "to dance, to jump about". The word came into English usage from the French around 1630.

History

Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Under Catherine de' Medici's influence as Queen, it spread to France, where it developed even further. The dancers in these early court ballets were mostly noble amateurs. Ornamented costumes were meant to impress viewers, but they restricted performers' freedom of movement.

The ballets were performed in large chambers with viewers on three sides. The implementation of the proscenium arch from 1618 on distanced performers from audience members, who could then better view and appreciate the technical feats of the professional dancers in the productions.

French court ballet reached its height under the reign of King Louis XIV. Louis founded the Académie Royale de Danse (Royal Dance Academy) in 1661 to establish standards and certify dance instructors. In 1672, Louis XIV made Jean-Baptiste Lully the director of the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) from which the first professional ballet company, the Paris Opera Ballet, arose. Pierre Beauchamp served as Lully's ballet-master. Together their partnership would drastically influence the development of ballet, as evidenced by the credit given to them for the creation of the five major positions of the feet. By 1681, the first "ballerinas" took the stage following years of training at the Académie.

Ballet started to decline in France after 1830, but it continued to develop in Denmark, Italy, and Russia. The arrival in Europe of the Ballets Russes led by Sergei Diaghilev on the eve of the First World War revived interest in the ballet and started the modern era.

In the twentieth century, ballet had a wide influence on other dance genres, Also in the twentieth century, ballet took a turn dividing it from classical ballet to the introduction of modern dance, leading to modernist movements in several countries.

Famous dancers of the twentieth century include Anna Pavlova, Galina Ulanova, Rudolf Nureyev, Maya Plisetskaya, Margot Fonteyn, Rosella Hightower, Maria Tall Chief, Erik Bruhn, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Suzanne Farrell, Gelsey Kirkland, Natalia Makarova, Arthur Mitchell, and Jeanne Devereaux. Jeanne Devereaux performed as a prima ballerina for three decades and set a world's record by being able to execute 16 triple fouettes.

Styles
Stylistic variations and subgenres have evolved over time. Early, classical variations are primarily associated with geographic origin. Examples of this are Russian ballet, French ballet, and Italian ballet. Later variations, such as contemporary ballet and neoclassical ballet, incorporate both classical ballet and non-traditional technique and movement. Perhaps the most widely known and performed ballet style is late Romantic ballet (or Ballet blanc).

Classical ballet
Classical ballet is based on traditional ballet technique and vocabulary. Different styles have emerged in different countries, such as French ballet, Italian ballet, English ballet, and Russian ballet. Several of the classical ballet styles are associated with specific training methods, typically named after their creators (see below). The Royal Academy of Dance method is a ballet technique and training system that was founded by a diverse group of ballet dancers. They merged their respective dance methods (Italian, French, Danish and Russian) to create a new style of ballet that is unique to the organization and is recognized internationally as the English style of ballet. Some examples of classical ballet productions are: Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.

Romantic ballet
Romantic ballet was an artistic movement of classical ballet and several productions remain in the classical repertoire today. The Romantic era was marked by the emergence of pointe work, the dominance of female dancers, and longer, flowy tutus that attempt to exemplify softness and a delicate aura. This movement occurred during the early to mid-nineteenth century (the Romantic era) and featured themes that emphasized intense emotion as a source of aesthetic experience. The plots of many romantic ballets revolved around spirit women (sylphs, wilis, and ghosts) who enslaved the hearts and senses of mortal men. The 1827 ballet La Sylphide is widely considered to be the first, and the 1870 ballet Coppélia is considered to be the last. Famous ballet dancers of the Romantic era include Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, and Jules Perrot. Jules Perrot is also known for his choreography, especially that of Giselle, often considered to be the most widely celebrated romantic ballet.

Neoclassical ballet
Neoclassical ballet is usually abstract, with no clear plot, costumes or scenery. Music choice can be diverse and will often include music that is also neoclassical (e.g. Stravinsky, Roussel). Tim Scholl, author of From Petipa to Balanchine, considers George Balanchine's Apollo in 1928 to be the first neoclassical ballet. Apollo represented a return to form in response to Sergei Diaghilev's abstract ballets. Balanchine worked with modern dance choreographer Martha Graham, and brought modern dancers into his company such as Paul Taylor, who in 1959 performed in Balanchine's Episodes.

While Balanchine is widely considered the face of neoclassical ballet, there were others who made significant contributions. Frederick Ashton's Symphonic Variations (1946) is a seminal work for the choreographer. Set to César Franck's score of the same title, it is a pure-dance interpretation of the score.

Another form, Modern Ballet, also emerged as an offshoot of neoclassicism. Among the innovators in this form were Glen Tetley, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. While difficult to parse modern ballet from neoclassicism, the work of these choreographers favored a greater athleticism that departed from the delicacy of ballet. The physicality was more daring, with mood, subject matter and music more intense. An example of this would be Joffrey's Astarte (1967), which featured a rock score and sexual overtones in the choreography.

Contemporary ballet
This ballet style is often performed barefoot. Contemporary ballets may include mime and acting, and are usually set to music (typically orchestral but occasionally vocal). It can be difficult to differentiate this form from neoclassical or modern ballet. Contemporary ballet is also close to contemporary dance because many contemporary ballet concepts come from the ideas and innovations of twentieth-century modern dance, including floor work and turn-in of the legs. The main distinction is that ballet technique is essential to perform a contemporary ballet.

George Balanchine is considered to have been a pioneer of contemporary ballet. Another early contemporary ballet choreographer, Twyla Tharp, choreographed Push Comes To Shove for the American Ballet Theatre in 1976, and in 1986 created In The Upper Room for her own company. Both of these pieces were considered innovative for their melding of distinctly modern movements with the use of pointe shoes and classically trained dancers.

Today there are many contemporary ballet companies and choreographers. These include Alonzo King and his company LINES Ballet; Matthew Bourne and his company New Adventures; Complexions Contemporary Ballet; Nacho Duato and his Compañia Nacional de Danza; William Forsythe and The Forsythe Company; and Jiří Kylián of the Nederlands Dans Theater. Traditionally "classical" companies, such as the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, also regularly perform contemporary works.

The term ballet has evolved to include all forms associated with it. Someone training as a ballet dancer will now be expected to perform neoclassical, modern and contemporary work. A ballet dancer is expected to be able to be stately and regal for classical work, free and lyrical in neoclassical work, and unassuming, harsh or pedestrian for modern and contemporary work. In addition, there are several modern varieties of dance that fuse classical ballet technique with contemporary dance, such as Hiplet, that require dancers to be practised in non-Western dance styles.

Technical methods of ballet instruction
There are six widely used, internationally recognized methods to teach or study ballet. These methods are the French School, the Vaganova Method, the Cecchetti Method, the Bournonville method, the Royal Academy of Dance method (English style), and the Balanchine method (American style). Many more schools of technique exist in various countries.

Although preschool-age children are a lucrative source of income for a ballet studio, ballet instruction is generally not appropriate for young children. Initial instruction requires standing still and concentrating on posture, rather than dancing. Because of this, many ballet programs have historically not accepted students until approximately age 8. Creative movement and non-demanding pre-ballet classes are recommended as alternatives for children.

French method
The French method is the basis of all ballet training. When Louis XIV created the Académie Royale de Danse in 1661, he helped to create the codified technique still used today by those in the profession, regardless of what method of training they adhere to. The French school was particularly revitalized under Rudolf Nureyev, in the 1980s. His influence revitalized and renewed appreciation for this style, and has drastically shaped ballet as a whole. In fact, the French school is now sometimes referred to as Nureyev school. The French method is often characterized by technical precision, fluidity and gracefulness, and elegant, clean lines. For this style, fast footwork is often utilized in order to give the impression that the performers are drifting lightly across the stage. Two important trademarks of this technique are the specific way in which the port de bras and the épaulement are performed, more rounded than when dancing in a Russian style, but not as rounded as the Danish style.

Vaganova method
The Vaganova method is a style of ballet training that emerged from Russian ballet, created by Agrippina Vaganova. After retiring from dance in 1916, Vaganova turned to teaching at the Leningrad Choreographic School in 1921. Her training method is now internationally recognized and her book, The Fundamentals of Classical Dance (1934), is a classic reference. This method is marked by the fusion of the classical French style, specifically elements from the Romantic era, with the athleticism of the Italian method, and the soulful passion of Russian ballet. She developed an extremely precise method of instruction in her book Basic Principles of Russian Classical dance (1948). This includes outlining when to teach technical components to students in their ballet careers, for how long to focus on it, and the right amount of focus at each stage of the student's career. These textbooks continue to be extremely important to the instruction of ballet today.

The method emphasizes development of strength, flexibility, and endurance for the proper performance of ballet. She espoused the belief that equal importance should be placed on the arms and legs while performing ballet, as this will bring harmony and greater expression to the body as a whole.

Cecchetti method
Developed by Enrico Cecchetti (1850–1928), this method is one known internationally for its intense reliance of the understanding of anatomy as it relates to classical ballet. The goal of this method is to instill important characteristics for the performance of ballet into students so that they do not need to rely on imitations of teachers. Important components for this method is the emphasis of balance, elevations, ballon, poise, and strength.

This method espouses the importance of recognizing that all parts of the body move together to create beautiful, graceful lines, and as such cautions against thinking of ballet in terms of the arms, legs, and neck and torso as separate parts. This method is well known for eight port de bras that are utilized.

Bournonville method
The Bournonville method is a Danish method first devised by August Bournonville. Bournonville was heavily influenced by the early French ballet method due to his training with his father, Antoine Bournonville and other important French ballet masters. This method has many style differences that differentiate it from other ballet methods taught today. A key component is the use of diagonal épaulements, with the upper body turning towards the working foot typically. This method also incorporates very basic use of arms, pirouettes from a low développé position into seconde, and use of fifth position bras en bas for the beginning and end of movements.

The Bournonville method produces dancers who have beautiful ballon ("the illusion of imponderable lightness" ).

The Royal Academy of Dance method (RAD)

The Royal Academy of Dance method, also referred to as the English style of ballet, was established in 1920 by Genee, Karsavina, Bedells, E Espinosa, and Richardson. The goal of this method is to promote academic training in classical ballet throughout Great Britain. This style also spread to the United States, and is widely utilized still today. There are specific grade levels which a student must move through in order to complete training in this method. The key principle behind this method of instruction is that basic ballet technique must be taught at a slow pace, with difficulty progression often much slower than the rest of the methods. The idea behind this is if a student is to put in a large amount of effort into perfecting the basic steps, the technique learned in these steps allow a student to utilize harder ones at a much easier rate.

Balanchine method
Developed by George Balanchine at the New York City Ballet. His method draws heavily on his own training as a dancer in Russia. The technique is known for extreme speed throughout routines, emphasis on lines, and deep pliés. Perhaps one of the most well known differences of this style is the unorthodox positioning of the body. Dancers of this style often have flexed hands and even feet, and are placed in off-balance positions. Important ballet studios teaching this method are the Miami City Ballet, Ballet Chicago Studio company, and the School of American Ballet in New York.

Costumes

Ballet costumes play an important role in the ballet community. They are often the only survival of a production, representing a living imaginary picture of the scene.

Renaissance and Baroque
The roots of ballet go back to the Renaissance in France and Italy when court wear was the beginning of ballet costumes. Ballet costumes have been around since the early 15th century. Cotton and silk were mixed with flax, woven into semitransparent gauze to create exquisite ballet costumes.

17th century
During the 17th century, different types of fabrics and designs were used to make costumes more spectacular and eye catching. Court dress still remained for women during this century. Silks, satins and fabrics embroidered with real gold and precious stones increased the level of spectacular decoration associated with ballet costumes. Women's costumes also consisted of heavy garments and knee-long skirts which made it difficult for them to create much movement and gesture.

18th century
During the 18th century, stage costumes were still very similar to court wear but progressed over time, mostly due to the French dancer and ballet-master Jean-Georges Noverre (1727–1810) whose proposals to modernize ballet are contained in his revolutionary Lettres sur la danse et les ballets (1760). Noverre's book altered the emphasis in a production away from the costumes towards the physical movements and emotions of the dancers.

European ballet was centered in the Paris Opera. During this era, skirts were raised a few inches off the ground. Flowers, flounces, ribbons, and lace emphasized this opulent feminine style, as soft pastel tones in citron, peach, pink, and pistachio dominated the color range.

19th century

During the early 19th century, close-fitting body costumes, floral crowns, corsages, and jewels were used. Ideals of Romanticism were reflected through female movements.

Costumes became much tighter as corsets started to come into use, to show off the curves on a ballerina. Jewels and bedazzled costumes became much more popular.

20th century

During the 20th century, ballet costumes transitioned back to the influence of Russian ballet. Ballerina skirts became knee-length tutus, later on in order to show off their precise pointe work. Colors used on stage costumes also became much more vibrant. Designers used colors such as red, orange, yellow, etc. to create visual expression when ballet dancers perform on stage.

Ballet as a career
Professional dancers are generally not well paid, and earn less money than a typical worker. As of 2020, American dancers (including ballet and other dance forms) were paid an average of US$19 per hour, with pay somewhat better for teachers than for performers.

The job outlook is not strong, and the competition to get a job is intense, with the number of applicants vastly exceeding the number of job openings. Most jobs involve teaching in private dance schools.

Choreographers are paid better than dancers. Musicians and singers are paid better per hour than either dancers or choreographers, about US$30 per hour; however, full-time work is unusual for musicians.

Health effects
Teenage girl ballet dancers are prone to stress fractures in the first rib. Posterior ankle impingement syndrome (PAIS) most commonly affects people who perform repetitive plantar flexion, such as ballet dancers. Eating disorders are thought to be common, and a 2014 meta-analysis suggests that studies do indicate that ballet dancers are at higher risk than the general population for several kinds of eating disorders. In addition, some researchers have noted that intensive training in ballet results in lower bone mineral density in the arms.

Criticism
Most ballet choreography is written so that it can only be performed by a relatively young dancer. The structure of ballet – in which a (usually) male choreographer or director uses (mostly) women's bodies to express his artistic vision, has been criticized as harming women.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ballet


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User:F. Lee Horn

Forrest Lee Horn, CPT, INF, USA (Retired-Disabled)

Total of 19 years 1 month in the United States Army, until a near-fatal military parachuting accident in 1996 (six years on active duty, two years of which were in Vietnam). Trained as tank crewman, airborne-infantry officer, Insurgency-Counterinsurgency Operations Officer, Civil Affairs Officer, Helicopter Aircrewman, and Combat Medic. Some of the military assignments I have held: Special Operations Forces Officer (RVN), Counterinsurgency Team Commander (RVN), Infantry Company Commander (RVN), Military Instructor (John Fitzgerald Kennedy Special Warfare School, Fort Bragg, NC), Intelligence-Counterintelligence Officer (Fort Riley, KS).

BS/BA in Business, concurrent major in Social sciences, minors in Public speaking and Economics, Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA. Masters in Industrial Relations, secondary concentration in Organizational development, University of Cincinnati, Ohio. Extensive self-guided studies in Philosophy, Psychology, and Science (including Quantum physics, Genetics, Deep ecology, Chaos theory, etc.).

Total of 14 years in Human resources, primarily with General Electric and Exxon. Currently Senior Associate with Paradigm Associates, a Not-for-profit Life Coaching and Dispute resolution organization.

At considerable risk to my personal safety and peace of mind, I have either started or contributed significantly to Wikipedia articles in each of the following areas:

 * Alternative dispute resolution
 * Arbitration
 * Consilience
 * Conciliation
 * Dispute resolution
 * Geneva College
 * Group process consultation
 * Life Coaching
 * Mediation
 * Negotiation
 * Oligarchy
 * Paradigm shift
 * Special Operations Forces
 * United States Army
 * Vietnam War

/Mail

/Talk

title: User:F. Lee Horn


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User talk:F. Lee Horn

Lee, welcome to Wikipedia! You've obviously got some impressive experience and I hope you can be persuaded to keep putting it to good use here. --LMS

Thank you, Larry! I'll do my best, although it's taking me awhile to get the hang of NPV and the mechanics of writing and linking articles. (pained look) F. Lee Horn

Re for example the line in conciliation:

 * Organized under Dispute resolution, Subjects Auxilliary to Law, Law, and Applied Arts and Sciences

I don't really see how this is particularly useful. I don't like the idea that subjects are necessary organized under other subjects. Links should just point to each other, and we can let people decide how to hierarchicalize them themselves! Why can't we just create "see also" lines and leave it at that? --LMS

Not a problem. Consider them gone! :)

Wow--thanks! --LMS

Why "Wow?" I'm just trying to be as cooperative as I can. Hmmm. That wouldn't be some rather subtle sarcasm, would it??? ;)

Not at all! It's genuine amazement. --LMS

LOL! Amazing that *I* would comply so redily with what you asked, or that *anyone* on here would? (grin) F. Lee Horn

Could you check the minor revision I made to Special Operations Forces? I'm no expert in the area, but I was just trying to place the article into some context. --Robert Merkel

Robert...I couldn't see from the "view other changes" link where you had made any. Help? :) F. Lee Horn

 * Revision 2 contained my change, but you (I gather inadvertantly) overwrote in revision 3. Robert Merkel

 * I'm sorry, Robert! Please feel free to make any changes you feel are necessary. F. Lee Horn

Welcome to Wikipedia, Lee! You're working on so many new articles, it's just great. My dad retired after 40 years of working for the Army. He was a Certified Government Accountant, and was Assistant Comptroller at Fort Bragg for many years. So I grew up around Army brass. --Dmerrill

Dmerrill...thank you. Tell your dad I said hi. :) F. Lee Horn

Sorry to say, he passed in 2000. --Dmerrill

I'm sorry to hear that! This seems to be happening at an alarming rate lately. I keep looking over my shoulder just in case that tall guy in the black robe and carrying the scythe is there! :(

FLH - as soon as someone else makes any editing change not marked as a 'This change is a minor edit' the previous Recent Change disappears (because it is moved to the top of the list). I think that I popped in and added a note on Larry's page (noting the capitalization problem) pretty soon after you left your note for him. I was not signed in at the moment, so it was just an ip number (I'm at school and if I close my browser I lose my sign in - I'm doing syllabus stuff today and have the browser gets closed periodicallY). --MichaelTinkler

Perhaps that's it then. Like I told Larry Sanger, it's probably something simple that I don't yet understand about Wikipedia. Thank you for your interest, Michael. F. Lee Horn

Hi. How are you doing? As I know you are a Vietnam veteran, first of all, I would like to thank you for your service. Second, I would be very interested to hear your opinion on the present situation in Iraq. Since you were an officer involved in conducting counterinsurgency operations, I'm sure that you would have some interesting observations on the occupation and counterinsurgency currently being conducted in Iraq.

Main namespace cleanup
Heya, I've moved F. Lee Horn/Mail to User:F. Lee Horn/old-Mail. There's some edit history, so perhaps you want to keep it. Otherwise just delete it (or ask an admin to do so). --fvw *  19:44, 2004 Dec 14 (UTC)
 * Ditto for User:F. Lee Horn/old-Resume --fvw *  19:44, 2004 Dec 14 (UTC)
 * Speaking of your old userpages, I have history merged your main userpage, User:F. Lee Horn. Graham 87 08:47, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Ditto for your user talk page. Graham 87 10:17, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
 * And ditto for your old user subpages mentioned above. Graham 87 11:52, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

MfD nomination of User:F. Lee Horn/Resume
User:F. Lee Horn/Resume, a page you substantially contributed to, has been nominated for deletion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/User:F. Lee Horn/Resume and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes ( ~ ). You are free to edit the content of User:F. Lee Horn/Resume during the discussion but should not remove the miscellany for deletion template from the top of the page; such a removal will not end the deletion discussion. Thank you. Elucidate ( light up ) 22:35, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Invitation to join the Fifteen Year Society
Dear ,

I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Fifteen Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for fifteen years or more.

Best regards, Urhixidur (talk) 02:37, 9 June 2019 (UTC)

title: User talk:F. Lee Horn


text:
User:F. Lee Horn/Mail

If you're interested in knowing more about Paradigm Associates, Life Coaching, or related subjects, please email me at:

 * forrest_horn@hotmail.com

 * or visit: http://www.ParadigmAssociates.org

See also: User:F. Lee Horn

title: User:F. Lee Horn/Mail


text:
Trade credit

Trade credit is the loan extended by one trader to another when the goods and services are bought on credit. Trade credit facilitates the purchase of supplies without immediate payment. Trade credit is commonly used by business organizations as a source of short-term financing. It is granted to those customers who have a reasonable amount of financial standing and goodwill. (Kuveya, 2020)

There are many forms of trade credit in common use. Various industries use various specialized forms. They all have, in common, the collaboration of businesses to make efficient use of capital to accomplish various business objectives.

Trade credit is the largest use of capital for a majority of business-to-business (B2B) sellers in the United States and is a critical source of capital for a majority of all businesses. For example, Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, has used trade credit as a larger source of capital than bank borrowings; trade credit for Wal-Mart is 8 times the amount of capital invested by shareholders.

Most small businesses rely on trade credit to finance their operational costs, with 40% of U.S. businesses using trade credit for B2B transactions.

Open account credit
Open trade credit is the most common type, typically involving an invoice and a promissory note as primary documentation.

Installment credit
Repayment for trade credit is often done through equal installments, similar to standard loans or credit, with specific terms agreed upon.

Revolving credit lines
Traditional revolving credit allows borrowers to access credit multiple times until reaching a predetermined credit limit. Payments replenish available credit, allowing for repeated use over multiple time periods.

Consignment credit
Consignment credit involves one party (the consignee) selling goods provided by another party (the cosigner) at a lower cost. The consignee can profit from marking up the goods, while the cosigner benefits from the sale. Unsold goods can be returned within a specified timeframe.

Example
The operator of an ice cream stand may sign a franchising agreement, under which the distributor agrees to provide ice cream stock under the terms "net 60" with a ten percent discount on payment within 30 days, and a 20% discount on payment within 10 days. This means that the operator has 60 days to pay the invoice in full. If sales are good within the first week, the operator may be able to send a cheque for all or part of the invoice, and make an extra 20% on the ice cream sold. However, if sales are slow, leading to a month of low cash flow, then the operator may decide to pay within 30 days, obtaining a 10% discount, or use the money for another 30 days and pay the full invoice amount within 60 days.

If the ice cream distributor for its part were to receive trade credit from milk and sugar suppliers on terms of net 30 and 2% discount if paid within ten days, it would appear it were taking a loss or disadvantageous position in this web of trade credit balances. The ice cream distributor may be willing to do so if it has a substantial markup on the ingredients and other costs of production of the ice cream it sells to the operator, but there exists more than one reason to manage trade credit terms for the benefit of a business, and more than one way to do so. The ice cream distributor may be well-capitalized either from the owners' investment or from accumulated profits, and may be looking to expand his markets. They may be aggressive in attempting to locate new customers or to help them get established. It is not in their best interests for customers to go out of business from cash flow instabilities, so their financial terms aim to accomplish two things:

 * 1) Allow startup ice cream parlors the ability to mismanage their investment in inventory for a while, while learning their markets, without having a dramatic negative balance in their bank account which could put them out of business. This is in effect, a short-term business loan made to help expand the distributor's market and customer base.
 * 2) By tracking who pays, and when, the distributor can see potential problems developing and take steps to reduce or increase the allowed amount of trade credit he extends to prospering or exposure to losses from customers going bankrupt who would never pay for the ice cream delivered.

Alternatives
One alternative to straightforward trade credit is when a supplier offers to give product on consignment to a trader e.g. a gift shop. The terms of the arrangement mean that the original supplier retains ownership of the goods until the shop sells them. Trade credit has been identified as a critical source of short-term financing for listed manufacturing companies. A trade credit contract is a legally binding agreement between two parties that allows a buyer to purchase goods or services on account and pay the supplier at a later date

title: Trade credit


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Bern

Bern, or Berne , is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city". With a population of about 133,000, Bern is the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland, behind Zürich, Geneva, Basel and Lausanne. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000.

Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerland's cantons. The official language is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect, Bernese German. In 1983, the historic old town (in Altstadt) in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is notably surrounded by the Aare, a major river of the Swiss Plateau.

Although fortified settlements were established since antiquity, the medieval city proper was founded by the Zähringer ruling family, probably in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen. Bern was made a free imperial city in 1218 and, in 1353, it joined the Swiss Confederacy, becoming one of its eight early cantons. Since then, Bern became a large city-state and a prominent actor of Swiss history by pursuing a policy of sovereign territorial expansion. Since the 15th century, the city was progressively rebuilt and acquired its current characteristics. Bern was made the Federal City in 1848. From about 5,000 inhabitants in the 15th century, the city passed the 100,000 mark in the 1920s.

Etymology
The etymology of the name "Bern" is uncertain. According to the local legend, based on folk etymology, Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen, the founder of the city of Bern, vowed to name the city after the first animal he met on the hunt, and this turned out to be a bear. It has long been considered likely that the city was named after the Italian city of Verona, which at the time was known as Bern in Middle High German. The city was sometimes referred to as Bern im Üechtland to distinguish it from Verona. As a result of the finding of the Bern zinc tablet in the 1980s, it is now more common to assume that the city was named after a pre-existing toponym of Celtic origin, possibly *berna "cleft". The bear was the heraldic animal of the seal and coat of arms of Bern from at least the 1220s. The earliest reference to the keeping of live bears in the Bärengraben dates to the 1440s.

Early history

No archaeological evidence that indicates a settlement on the site of today's city centre prior to the 12th century has been found so far. In antiquity, a Celtic oppidum stood on the Engehalbinsel (peninsula) north of Bern, fortified since the second century BC (late La Tène period), thought to be one of the 12 oppida of the Helvetii mentioned by Caesar. During the Roman era, a Gallo-Roman vicus was on the same site. The Bern zinc tablet has the name Brenodor ("dwelling of Breno"). In the Early Middle Ages, a settlement in Bümpliz, now a city district of Bern, was some 4 km from the medieval city.

The medieval city is a foundation of the Zähringer ruling family, which rose to power in Upper Burgundy in the 12th century. According to 14th-century historiography (Cronica de Berno, 1309), Bern was founded in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen.

In 1218, after Berthold died without an heir, Bern was made a free imperial city by the Goldene Handfeste of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.

Old Swiss Confederacy
In 1353, Bern joined the Swiss Confederacy, becoming the eighth canton of the formative period of 1353 to 1481.

Bern invaded and conquered Aargau in 1415 and Vaud in 1536, as well as other smaller territories, thereby becoming the largest city-state north of the Alps. By the 18th century, it comprised most of what is today the canton of Bern and the canton of Vaud.

The city grew out towards the west of the boundaries of the peninsula formed by the river Aare. The Zytglogge tower marked the western boundary of the city from 1191 until 1256, when the Käfigturm took over this role until 1345. It was succeeded by the Christoffelturm (formerly located closer to the site of the modern-day railway station) until 1622. During the Thirty Years' War, two new fortifications – the so-called big and small Schanze (entrenchments) – were built to protect the whole area of the peninsula.

After a major blaze in 1405, the city's original wooden buildings were gradually replaced by half-timbered houses, and subsequently the sandstone buildings which came to be characteristic for the Old Town. Despite waves of pestilence that hit Europe in the 14th century, the city continued to grow, mainly due to immigration from the surrounding countryside.

During the 18th century, the city of Bern was at one point the largest shareholder in the South Sea Company, a British joint-stock company which was involved in the Atlantic slave trade. From 1689 to 3 March 1798 in the town was printed, in French, the biweekly newspaper Gazette de Berne, which reflected the opinions of Bern, usually hostile to the politics of Pre-revolutionary France.

Modern history
Bern was occupied by French troops in 1798 during the French Revolutionary Wars, when it was stripped of parts of its territories. It regained control of the Bernese Oberland in 1802, and following the Congress of Vienna of 1814, it newly acquired the Bernese Jura. At this time, it once again became the largest canton of the Confederacy as it stood during the Restoration and until the secession of the canton of Jura in 1979.

On 28 November 1848, a majority of the new Swiss Federal Assembly deputies chose Bern as the Federal City (seat of the government) of the newly-created Swiss federal state, ahead of Zürich and Lucerne. Bern was chosen as not to concentrate all the power in the economic powerhouse of Zürich, while Catholic and conservative Lucerne had been part of the Sonderbund during the war a year before. In addition, Bern had a more central location and was supported by the French-speaking cantons due to proximity to them. However, the constitution doesn't define Bern as official capital of Switzerland, but as the seat of government.

A number of congresses of the socialist First and Second Internationals were held in Bern, particularly during World War I when Switzerland was neutral; see Bern International.

The city's population rose from about 5,000 in the 15th century to about 12,000 by 1800 and to above 60,000 by 1900, passing the 100,000 mark during the 1920s. Population peaked during the 1960s at 165,000 and has since decreased slightly, to below 130,000 by 2000. As of September 2017, the resident population stood at 142,349, of which 100,000 were Swiss citizens and 42,349 (31%) resident foreigners. A further estimated 350,000 people live in the immediate urban agglomeration.

Topography
Bern lies on the Swiss plateau in the canton of Bern, slightly west of the centre of Switzerland and 20 km north of the Bernese Alps. The countryside around Bern was formed by glaciers during the most recent ice age. The two mountains closest to Bern are Gurten with a height of 864 m and Bantiger with a height of 947 m. The site of the old observatory in Bern is the point of origin of the CH1903 coordinate system at 46.95241°N, 7.43958°W.

The city was originally built on a hilly peninsula surrounded by the river Aare, but outgrew natural boundaries by the 19th century. A number of bridges have been built to allow the city to expand beyond the Aare.

Bern is built on very uneven ground. An elevation difference of up to 60 metres exists between the inner city districts on the Aare (Matte, Marzili) and the higher ones (Kirchenfeld, Länggasse).

Bern has an area,, of 51.62 km2. Of this area, 9.42 km2 or 18.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 17.21 km2 or 33.3% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 23.76 km2 or 46.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.08 km2 or 2.1% is either rivers or lakes, and 0.14 km2 or 0.3% is unproductive land.

Of the developed area of Bern, 3.1% consists of industrial buildings, 22.3% housing and other buildings, and 12.9% is devoted to transport infrastructure. Power and water infrastructure, as well as other special developed areas, made up 1.2% of the city, while another 6.5% consists of parks, green belts, and sports fields.

Of Bern's total land area, 32.8% is heavily forested. Of the agricultural land, 13.3% is used for growing crops and 4.4% is designated to be used as pasture. Local rivers and streams provide all the water in the municipality.

Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification, Bern has an oceanic climate (Cfb) closely bordering on a humid continental climate (Dfb).

The closest weather station near Bern is located in the municipality of Zollikofen, about 5 km north of the city centre. The warmest month for Bern is July, with a daily mean temperature of 18.3 C, and a daily maximum temperature of 24.3 C. The highest temperature recorded at Bern / Zollikofen is 37.0 C, recorded in August 2003. On average, a temperature of 25 C or above is recorded 40.7 days per year, and 6 days per year with a temperature of 30 C or above at Zollikofen, and the warmest day reaches an average of 32.1 C.

There are 103.7 days of air frost, and 22.3 ice days per year at Bern (Zollikofen) for the period of 1981–2010, as well as 14.1 days of snowfall, 36.7 days of snow cover per year and the average amount of snow measured per year is 52.6 cm. On average, January is the coldest month, with a daily mean temperature of -0.4 C, and a daily minimum temperature of −3.6 C. The lowest temperature ever recorded at Bern (Zollikofen) was -23.0 C, recorded in February 1929, and typically the coldest temperature of the year reaches an average of -12.8 C for the period of 1981–2010.

Subdivisions
The municipality is administratively subdivided into six districts (Stadtteile), each of which consists of several quarters (Quartiere).

Government

The Municipal Council (de: Gemeinderat, fr: conseil municipal) constitutes the executive government of the City of Bern and operates as a collegiate authority. It is composed of five councillors (Gemeinderat/-rätin, conseiller/conseillère municipal(e)), each presiding over a directorate (de: Direktion, fr: direction) comprising several departments and bureaus. The president of the executive department acts as mayor (de: Stadtpräsident, fr: Le Maire). In the mandate period 2021–2024 (Legislatur) the Municipal Council is presided by Stadtpräsident Alec von Graffenried. Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by the City Council are carried by the Municipal Council. The regular election of the Municipal Council by any inhabitant valid to vote is held every four years. Any resident of Bern allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the Municipal Council. Contrary to most other municipalities, the executive government in Bern is selected by means of a system of Proporz. The mayor is elected as such as well by public election while the heads of the other directorates are assigned by the collegiate. The executive body holds its meetings in the Erlacherhof, built by architect Albrecht Stürler after 1747.

, Bern's Municipal Council is made up of two representatives of the SP (Social Democratic Party), and one each of CVP (Christian Democratic Party), GFL (Grüne Freie Liste a.k.a. Green Free List, who is the newly elected mayor since 2017), and GB (Green Alliance of Bern), giving the left parties a very strong majority of four out of five seats. The last regular election was held on 29 November 2020.

Dr. Jürg Wichtermann is State Chronicler (Staatsschreiber) since 2008. He has been elected by the collegiate.

Parliament
The City Council (de: Stadtrat, fr: Conseil de ville) holds legislative power. It is made up of 80 members, with elections held every four years. The City Council decrees regulations and by-laws that are executed by the Municipal Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of proportional representation.

The sessions of the City Council are public. Unlike members of the Municipal Council, members of the City Council are not politicians by profession, and they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Bern allowed to vote can be elected as a member of the City Council. The parliament holds its meetings in the Stadthaus (Town Hall).

The last regular election of the City Council was held on 29 November 2020 for the mandate period (Legislatur, la législature) from 2021 to 2024. The City Council consist of 23 (-1) members of the Social Democratic Party (SP/PS) including two seats by the junior party JUSO, 11 (+3) Green Liberal Party (glp/pvl) including two member of its junior party jglp, 10 (+1) Green Alliance of Bern (GB), 8 (-1) The Liberals (FDP/PLR) including one seat by its junior partner JF / DL, 7 (-2) Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC), 7 (-1) Grüne Freie Liste (GFL) (Green Free List), 3 (+1) Junge Alternative (JA!) (or Young Alternatives), 3 (+1) Alternative Linke Bern (AL), 2 (-1) Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD), 2 (-) Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), 2 (-) Evangelical People's Party (EVP/PEV), 1 (-) Swiss Party of Labour (PdA), and 1 Grüne alternative Partei (GaP) (or Green alternative Party).

National Council
In the 2019 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the PS which received 28.7% (-5.6) of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party (25.2%, +7.9), the pvl (13.5%, +4.1), the UDC (9.5%, -2.9), PLR (4.2%, -2.8), and the BDP/PBD (7.0%). In the federal election a total of 49,030 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 56%.

In the 2015 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the PS which received 34.3% of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the Green Party (17.4%), the UDC (12.4%), and the FDP/PLR (9.9%), glp/pvl (9.4%), and the BDP/PBD (7.0%). In the federal election, a total of 48,556 voters were cast, and the voter turnout was 56.0%.

Twin and sister cities
The Municipal Council of the city of Bern decided against having twinned cities except for a temporary (during the UEFA Euro 2008) cooperation with the Austrian city Salzburg.

Population
Bern has a population of. About 34% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the 10 years between 2000 and 2010, the population changed at a rate of 0.6%. Migration accounted for 1.3%, while births and deaths accounted for −2.1%.

Most of the population speaks German (104,465 or 81.2%) as their first language, Italian is the second most common (5,062 or 3.9%) and French is the third (4,671 or 3.6%). There are 171 people who speak Romansh.

, the population was 47.5% male and 52.5% female. The population was made up of 44,032 Swiss men (35.4% of the population) and 15,092 (12.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 51,531 Swiss women (41.4%) and 13,726 (11.0%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality, 39,008 or about 30.3% were born in Bern and lived there in 2000. There were 27,573 or 21.4% who were born in the same canton, while 25,818 or 20.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 27,812 or 21.6% were born outside of Switzerland.

, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 15.1% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 65% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.9%.

, there were 59,948 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 49,873 married individuals, 9,345 widows or widowers and 9,468 individuals who are divorced.

, there were 67,115 private households in the municipality, and an average of 1.8 persons per household. There were 34,981 households that consist of only one person and 1,592 households with five or more people. , a total of 65,538 apartments (90.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 5,352 apartments (7.4%) were seasonally occupied and 1,444 apartments (2.0%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.2 new units per 1000 residents.

the average price to rent an average apartment in Bern was 1108.92 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$890, £500, €710 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 619.82 CHF (US$500, £280, €400), a two-room apartment was about 879.36 CHF (US$700, £400, €560), a three-room apartment was about 1040.54 CHF (US$830, £470, €670) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2094.80 CHF (US$1680, £940, €1340). The average apartment price in Bern was 99.4% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality,, was 0.45%.

Historic population
The historical population is given in the following chart:

Religion
From the, 60,455 or 47.0% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church, while 31,510 or 24.5% were members of the Catholic Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 1,874 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.46% of the population), there were 229 persons (or about 0.18% of the population) who belonged to the Christ Catholic Church, and there were 5,531 persons (or about 4.30% of the population) who belonged to another Christian religion. There were 324 persons (or about 0.25% of the population) who were Jewish, and 4,907 (or about 3.81% of the population) who were Muslim. There were 629 persons who were Buddhist, 1,430 persons who were Hindu and 177 persons who belonged to another religion. 16,363 (or about 12.72% of the population) belonged to no religion, are agnostic or atheist, and 7,855 persons (or about 6.11% of the population) did not answer the question. On 14 December 2014 the Haus der Religionen was inaugurated.

Main sights

The structure of Bern's city centre is largely medieval and has been recognised by UNESCO as a Cultural World Heritage Site. Perhaps its most famous sight is the Zytglogge (Bernese German for "Time Bell"), an elaborate medieval clock tower with moving puppets. It also has an impressive 15th century Gothic cathedral, the Münster, and a 15th-century town hall. Thanks to 6 km of arcades, the old town boasts one of the longest covered shopping promenades in Europe.

Since the 16th century, the city has had a bear pit, the Bärengraben, at the far end of the Nydeggbrücke to house its heraldic animals. The four bears are now kept in an open-air enclosure nearby, and two other young bears, a present by the Russian president, are kept in Dählhölzli zoo.

The Federal Palace (Bundeshaus), built from 1857 to 1902, which houses the national parliament, government and part of the federal administration, can also be visited.

Albert Einstein lived in a flat at the Kramgasse 49, the site of the Einsteinhaus, from 1903 to 1905, the year in which the Annus Mirabilis papers were published.

The Rose Garden (Rosengarten), from which a scenic panoramic view of the medieval town centre can be enjoyed, is a well-kept Rosarium on a hill, converted into a park from a former cemetery in 1913.

There are eleven Renaissance allegorical statues on public fountains in the Old Town. Nearly all the 16th-century fountains, except the Zähringer fountain, which was created by Hans Hiltbrand, are the work of the Fribourg master Hans Gieng. One of the more interesting fountains is the Kindlifresserbrunnen (Bernese German: Child Eater Fountain), which is claimed to represent a Jew, the Greek god Chronos, or a Fastnacht figure meant to frighten disobedient children.

Bern's most recent sight is the set of fountains in front of the Federal Palace. It was inaugurated on 1 August 2004.

The Universal Postal Union is situated in Bern.

Heritage sites of national significance
Bern is home to 114 Swiss heritage sites of national significance.

It includes the entire Old Town, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and many sites within and around it. Some of the most notable in the Old Town include the Cathedral which was started in 1421 and is the tallest cathedral in Switzerland, the Zytglogge and Käfigturm towers, which mark two successive expansions of the Old Town, and the Holy Ghost Church, which is one of the largest Swiss Reformed churches in Switzerland. Within the Old Town, there are eleven 16th-century fountains, most attributed to Hans Gieng, that are on the list.

Outside the Old Town the heritage sites include the Bärengraben, the Gewerbeschule Bern (1937), the Eidgenössisches Archiv für Denkmalpflege, the Kirchenfeld, Bern (after 1881), the Thunplatzbrunnen, the Federal Mint building, the Federal Archives, the Swiss National Library, the Historical Museum (1894), Alpine Museum, Museum of Communication and Natural History Museum.

Theatres

 * Bern Theatre
 * Narrenpack Theatre Bern
 * Schlachthaus Theatre
 * Tojo Theater
 * The Theatre on the Effinger-Street
 * Theatre am Käfigturm

Cinemas
Bern has several dozen cinemas. As is customary in German Switzerland, films are generally in German. Some films in select cinemas are shown in their original language with German and French subtitles.

Film festivals

 * shnit International Shortfilmfestival, held annually in early October.
 * Queersicht – gay and lesbian film festival, held annually in the second week of November.

Festivals

 * BeJazz Summer and Winter Festival
 * Buskers Bern Street Music Festival
 * Gurtenfestival
 * Internationales Jazzfestival Bern
 * Taktlos-Festival

Music events
The Musikpreis des Kantons Bern is an annual musical event where "Outstanding musicians which styles shape the Bern music scene" are honored.

Fairs

 * Zibelemärit – The Zibelemärit (onion market) is an annual fair held on the fourth Monday in November.
 * Bernese Fasnacht (Carnival)

Sports

Bern was the site of the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final, in which West Germany upset the Hungarian Golden Team 3–2. The football team BSC Young Boys is based in Bern at the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf, which also was one of the venues for the 2008 UEFA European Championship, in which it hosted three matches.

FC Breitenrain Bern, founded in 1994, also play in Bern.

SC Bern is the major ice hockey team of Bern which plays in the PostFinance Arena. They compete in the National League (NL), the highest league in Switzerland. The team has ranked highest in attendance for a European hockey team for more than a decade. PostFinance Arena was the main host of the 2009 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, including the opening game and the final of the tournament.

PostFinance Arena was also the host of the 2011 European Figure Skate Championships.

Bern Cardinals is the baseball and softball team of Bern, which plays at the Allmend.

Bern Grizzlies is the American football club in Bern (since 1985) and plays in the top level Nationalliga A (American football) at Athletics Arena Wankdorf. The Grizzlies have been Swiss Bowl champion six times.

Bern was a candidate to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, but withdrew its bid in September 2002 after a referendum was passed that showed that the bid was not supported by locals. Those games were eventually awarded to Vancouver, British Columbia.

RC Bern is the local rugby club (since 1972) and plays at the Allmend. The ladies team was founded in 1995.

The locality of Bremgartenwald was home to the Bremgarten Circuit, the Grand Prix motor racing course that at one time hosted the Swiss Grand Prix.

Bern Bears is an NGO Basketball Club since 2010 in city of Bern.

The Swiss Grand Prix was held on the Circuit Bremgarten street track from 1950 to 1954, with MotoGP also running their Swiss motorcycle Grand Prix from 1949 to 1954. The circuit eventually fell into disrepair after Switzerland banned motorports after the 1955 Le Mans Disaster, but they made an amendment in 2015 to host electric racing, which is how the Swiss ePrix happened in 2019.

Economy
, Bern had an unemployment rate of 3.3%. , there were 259 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 59 businesses involved in this sector. 16,413 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 950 businesses in this sector. 135,973 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 7,654 businesses in this sector.

the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 125,037. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 203, of which 184 were in agriculture and 19 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 15,476 of which 7,650 or (49.4%) were in manufacturing, 51 or (0.3%) were in mining and 6,389 (41.3%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 109,358. In the tertiary sector; 11,396 or 10.4% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 10,293 or 9.4% were in the movement and storage of goods, 5,090 or 4.7% were in a hotel or restaurant, 7,302 or 6.7% were in the information industry, 8,437 or 7.7% were the insurance or financial industry, 10,660 or 9.7% were technical professionals or scientists, 5,338 or 4.9% were in education and 17,903 or 16.4% were in health care.

, there were 94,367 workers who commuted into the municipality and 16,424 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 5.7 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 50.6% used public transport to get to work, and 20.6% used a private car.

Education
The University of Bern, whose buildings are mainly located in the Länggasse quarter, is located in Bern, as well as the University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule) and several vocations schools.

In Bern, about 50,418 or (39.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 24,311 or (18.9%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 24,311 who completed tertiary schooling, 51.6% were Swiss men, 33.0% were Swiss women, 8.9% were non-Swiss men and 6.5% were non-Swiss women.

The canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory kindergarten, followed by six years of primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower secondary school where the pupils are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower secondary pupils may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship.

During the 2009–10 school year, there were a total of 10,979 pupils attending classes in Bern. There were 89 kindergarten classes with a total of 1,641 pupils in the municipality. Of the kindergarten pupils, 32.4% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 40.2% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 266 primary classes and 5,040 pupils. Of the primary pupils, 30.1% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 35.7% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 151 lower secondary classes with a total of 2,581 pupils. There were 28.7% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 32.7% have a different mother language than the classroom language.

Bern is home to 8 libraries. These libraries include; the Schweiz. Nationalbibliothek/ Bibliothèque nationale suisse, the Universitätsbibliothek Bern, the Kornhausbibliotheken Bern, the BFH Wirtschaft und Verwaltung Bern, the BFH Gesundheit, the BFH Soziale Arbeit, the Hochschule der Künste Bern, Gestaltung und Kunst and the Hochschule der Künste Bern, Musikbibliothek. There was a combined total of 10,308,336 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 2,627,973 items were loaned out.

, there were 9,045 pupils in Bern who came from another municipality, while 1,185 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Public transport
Bern is served by a dense network of trains, trams, trolleybuses, and conventional motorbuses. The Bern S-Bahn is Switzerland's second busiest.

Bern is the centre of the Libero tariff network, which covers the cantons of Bern and Solothurn and includes the towns of Biel/Bienne, Solothurn, and Thun. The network allows easy and coordinated travel on all modes of public transport, such as trains, PostAuto buses, trams, buses (trolleybuses and motorbuses) and others, regardless of transport operator. Fares are based on the number of zones in a journey. The central part of Bern, (excluding Bümpliz, Betlehem, Bottigen, Brünnen, and Riedbach in the west of the municipality), is part of the fare zone 100.

The city is well served by railways, with the extensive S-Bahn network and many regional and international connections. Bern's central railway station (Bahnhof Bern) is Switzerland's second busiest station (164,800 passengers per weekday in 2022), and is the main transport hub in the region.

A funicular railway called the Marzilibahn leads from the Marzili district to the Federal Palace. With a length of 106 m, it is the second shortest public railway in Europe after the Zagreb funicular.

Road traffic
Several Aare bridges connect the old parts of the city with the newer districts outside of the peninsula.

Bern is well connected to other cities by several motorways (A1, A12, A6).

Airport
Bern Airport (colloquially called Bern-Belp or Belpmoos) located outside the city near the town of Belp, as of March 2021 mostly serves general aviation and charter flights. Zurich Airport, Geneva Airport and EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg serve as gateways for air traffic, all reachable in less than two hours by train or car from Bern.

Bicycle transport
The city has made efforts to make Bern the "bicycle capital" of Switzerland through the creation of better infrastructure, such as dedicated cycle paths. operates a bike-sharing system.

Public servants, the military and the church

 * Conrad Justinger (c. 1360–1438) – chronicler, magistrate and notary public of the city of Bern
 * Johann Jakob Grynaeus (1540–1617) – Protestant divine, a theologian of the school of Huldrych Zwingli
 * Robert Scipio, Freiherr von Lentulus (1714–1786) – military officer, in Austrian and later, Prussian service
 * Emmanuel Han (1801–1867) – military officer and philhellene, fought in the Greek War of Independence
 * Walter Breisky (1871–1944) – Austrian jurist, civil servant and politician
 * Rosalie Dreyer (1895–1987) – naturalized British nurse, pioneer in Britain's public-funded nursing service
 * August R. Lindt (1905–2000) – lawyer and diplomat, Chairman of UNICEF 1953–1954 and UN High Commissioner for Refugees 1956–1960
 * Marc Hodler (1918–2006) – lawyer, President of the International Ski Federation 1951–1998, exposed the 2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal
 * Hans Urwyler (1925–1994) – Christian minister of the New Apostolic Church
 * Kofi Annan (1938–2018 in Bern) – UN Secretary-General 1997–2006
 * Algirdas Paleckis (born 1971) – Lithuanian diplomat, politician and columnist

Politicians and the landed gentry

 * Adrian von Bubenberg (c. 1434–1479) – Bernese knight, military commander and 3-time mayor (Schultheiss) of Bern, hero of the Battle of Murten
 * Niklaus Dachselhofer (1595–1670) – Bernese politician, Schultheiss (mayor) of Bern 1636–1667
 * Christoph von Graffenried, 1st Baron of Bernberg (1661–1743) – founder of New Bern, North Carolina
 * Susanna Julie von Bondeli (1731–1778) – famous salonist and lady of letters, the salon became the center of intellectual life in Bern.
 * Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna of Russia (1781 – Elfenau, near Bern 1860) – German princess of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
 * Mikhail Bakunin (1814– 1876 in Bern) – Russian revolutionary anarchist.
 * Karl Schenk (1823–1895) – pastor, politician; served on the Swiss Federal Council 1863–1895
 * Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) – lived in Bern 1914–1917
 * Louise Elisabeth de Meuron (1882–1980) – aristocrat and eccentric personality in Bern
 * Dom Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza (born 1945) – claimant to the defunct Portuguese throne, as the head of the House of Braganza
 * Regula Rytz (born 1962) – politician, sociologist and historian
 * Ursula Wyss (born 1973) – economist and politician
 * Min Li Marti (born 1974), politician, publisher, sociologist and historian

Science and academia

 * Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777) – anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, bibliographer and poet
 * Carl Adolf Otth (1803–1839) – naturalist
 * Gustav Heinrich Otth (1806–1874) – mycologist
 * Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl (1823–1914) – entomologist who specialised in Orthoptera
 * Ludwig Fischer (1828–1907) – botanist, researched phanerogams and cryptogams
 * Adolph Francis Alphonse Bandelier (1840–1914) American archaeologist.
 * Emil Theodor Kocher (1841–1917) – physician and medical researcher, received the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on the thyroid
 * Arnold Klebs (1870–1943) – physician who specialized in the study of tuberculosis
 * Anna Tumarkin (1875–1951) – Russian-born, naturalized Swiss academic, the first woman to become a professor of philosophy at the University of Bern
 * Albert Einstein (1879–1955) – worked out his theory of relativity while living in Bern, employed as a patent examiner at the patent office
 * Ida Hoff (1880–1952) – pioneering doctor, a feminist activist, an early regular female motorist
 * Aimé Félix Tschiffely (1895–1954) – Swiss-born, Argentine professor, writer and equestrian adventurer
 * Hans Albert Einstein (1904–1973) – Swiss-American engineer and educator, the second child and first son of Albert Einstein
 * Friedrich Tinner (born 1937) – nuclear engineer connected with the proliferation of nuclear materials in Iran, Libya, and North Korea
 * Claudia Rosiny (born 1960) – German-Swiss academic in Dance and Media studies, a festival director and cultural manager
 * Daniel Mojon (born 1963) – ophthalmologist and ophthalmic surgeon, invented minimally-invasive strabismus surgery
 * Peter Jüni (born c. 1975) - scientific director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, works at St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto)

Writing and acting

 * Ulrich Boner or Bonerius (early 14th century) – German-speaking Swiss writer of fable
 * Hans von Rüte (died 1558) – Bernese dramatist and chronicler of the Swiss Reformation
 * Johann David Wyss (1743–1818) – author, best remembered for The Swiss Family Robinson
 * Charles Victor de Bonstetten (1745–1832) – liberal writer
 * Daniel Albert Wyttenbach (1746–1820) – German Swiss classical scholar
 * Johann Rudolf Wyss (1782–1830) – author, writer, and folklorist who wrote the words to the former Swiss national anthem
 * Charles Monnard (1790–1865) – historian and member of the Helvetic Society
 * Vincent O. Carter (1924–1983) – American writer, author of The Bern Book
 * Selma Urfer (1928–2013) – author, translator and actress
 * Liselotte Pulver (born 1929) – actress, well known for her hearty and joyful laughter
 * Bigna Francis-von Wyttenbach (1930–2021) – Swiss writer
 * Yves Rénier (1942–2021) – French actor, director, screenwriter and voice actor
 * Lukas Hartmann (born 1944) – children's writer, Switzerland's "first husband" in 2015
 * Yang Lian (born 1955) – Swiss-Chinese poet associated with the Misty Poets
 * Sibylle Canonica (born 1957) – actress, has appeared in more than forty films since 1981
 * Georges Delnon (born 1958) – theatre director, artistic director and professor
 * Sabine Timoteo (born 1975) – actress
 * Yangzom Brauen (born 1980) – actress, activist and writer
 * Cleo von Adelsheim (born 1987) – German-Chilean actress

Artists, painters and musicians

 * Niklaus Manuel Deutsch (c. 1484–1530) – artist, writer, mercenary and Reformed politician
 * Albrecht Kauw (1621–1681) – still-life painter, cartographer and a painter of vedute
 * Gabriel Lory the Elder (1763–1840) – Bernese landscape painter and illustrator
 * Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918) – painter of portraits, landscapes and genre paintings
 * Lisa Wenger (1858–1941) – painter and author of children's books
 * Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930) – artist associated with Art Brut
 * Bertha Zuricher (1869–1949) – author, painter and engraver
 * Volkmar Andreae (1879–1962) – conductor and composer
 * Eric Blom CBE (1888–1959) – British-naturalised music lexicographer, musicologist, music critic and music biographer
 * Klaus Huber (1924–2017) – composer and academic
 * Margrit Zimmermann (born 1927) – pianist, composer, conductor and music educator
 * Mani Matter (1936–1972) – singer-songwriter
 * Roland Zoss (born 1951) – songwriter and novelist, lives on the Aeolian Islands
 * Christine Lauterburg (born 1956) – singer, yodeler and actress
 * Patricia Kopatchinskaja (born 1977) – Moldovan-Austrian-Swiss violinist
 * Zora Slokar, (born 1980) horn player with Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana
 * Luca Hänni (born 1994) – singer-songwriter, dancer, and model, Swiss representative at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest
 * Giuseppe Bausilio (born 1997) – actor, dancer, and singer

Business

 * Johann Rudolf Tschiffeli (1716–1780) – agronomist, a wealthy merchant, economist, and lawyer
 * Franz Rudolf Frisching (1733–1807) – Bernese patrician, officer, politician, founded the Frisching Faience Manufactory
 * Rodolphe Lindt (1855–1909) – chocolate manufacturer, founded the Lindt chocolate factory
 * Marianne Alvoni (born 1964) – fashion designer

Sport

 * Elia Alessandrini (1997–2022), a footballer, prospect player for the Switzerland national football team, died from drowning in Oman
 * Philippe Marie Eugène, Count d'Ursel (1920–2017) was a Swiss-born Belgian alpine skier and a member of the Ursel family, competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics
 * Tanja Frieden (born 1976), a snowboarder and gold medallist at the 2006 Winter Olympics
 * Guerino Gottardi (born 1970), a retired Swiss-Italian footballer, almost 250 club caps
 * Otto Hess (1878–1926), a pitcher for the Cleveland Bronchos 1902 and 1904–08 and Boston Braves 1912–15
 * Maurizio Jacobacci (born 1963), an Italian-Swiss football manager and former player
 * Roman Josi (born 1990), a professional ice hockey player, selected to play for Switzerland at the 2010 Winter Olympics
 * Arnold Käch (1914–1998), a military officer, skier, ski official and writer
 * Christian Kauter (born 1947), a fencer, silver medallist in the team épée at the 1972 Summer Olympics and bronze medallist at the 1976 Summer Olympics
 * Dominik Märki (born 1990), a Swiss curler, living in Fayetteville, Arkansas, bronze medallist in the 2018 Winter Olympics
 * Jürg Marmet (1927–2013), a mountaineer, part of the first two-man Swiss team which climbed Mount Everest in 1956
 * Benoît Musy (1917–1956), a racing driver and motorcycle racer
 * Maja Neuenschwander (born 1980), a long-distance runner who competes in marathon races
 * Jennifer Oehrli (born 1989), a football goalkeeper, member of the Switzerland women's national football team
 * Mirjam Ott (born 1972), a retired curler, captain of the Swiss Olympic Curling Team
 * Kris Richard (born 1994), a racing driver
 * Markus Ryffel (born 1955), a former long-distance runner, silver medallist in the 5000 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics
 * Akira Schmid (born 2000), professional ice hockey goaltender with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League
 * Ernst Schmied (1924–2002), mountaineer, the second successful summiteer of Mount Everest in 1956
 * Esther Staubli (born 1979), a football referee, on the FIFA International Referees List since 2006
 * Willi Steffen (1925–2005), a former fighter pilot and international footballer, won 28 caps for his country
 * Christine Stückelberger (born 1947), a retired equestrian, gold medallist in dressage at the 1976 Summer Olympics compete at six Olympics: 1972, 1976, 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2000.
 * Alain Sutter (born 1968), a footballer, 351 club caps, 58 national team caps

title: Bern


text:
Arms control

Arms control is a term for international restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation and usage of small arms, conventional weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. Historically, arms control may apply to melee weapons (such as swords) before the invention of firearm. Arms control is typically exercised through the use of diplomacy which seeks to impose such limitations upon consenting participants through international treaties and agreements, although it may also comprise efforts by a nation or group of nations to enforce limitations upon a non-consenting country.

Enactment
Arms control treaties and agreements are often seen as a way to avoid costly arms races which could prove counter-productive to national aims and future peace. Some are used as ways to stop the spread of certain military technologies (such as nuclear weaponry or missile technology) in return for assurances to potential developers that they will not be victims of those technologies. Additionally, some arms control agreements are entered to limit the damage done by warfare, especially to civilians and the environment, which is seen as bad for all participants regardless of who wins a war.

While arms control treaties are seen by many peace proponents as a key tool against war, by the participants, they are often seen simply as ways to limit the high costs of the development and building of weapons, and even reduce the costs associated with war itself. Arms control can even be a way of maintaining the viability of military action by limiting those weapons that would make war so costly and destructive as to make it no longer a viable tool for national policy.

Enforcement
Enforcement of arms control agreements has proven difficult over time. Most agreements rely on the continued desire of the participants to abide by the terms to remain effective. Usually, when a nation no longer desires to abide by the terms, they usually will seek to either covertly circumvent the terms or to end their participation in the treaty. This was seen with the Washington Naval Treaty (and the subsequent London Naval Treaty ), where most participants sought to work around the limitations, some more legitimately than others. The United States developed better technology to get better performance from their ships while still working within the weight limits, the United Kingdom exploited a loop-hole in the terms, the Italians misrepresented the weight of their vessels, and when up against the limits, Japan left the treaty. The nations which violated the terms of the treaty did not suffer great consequences for their actions. Within little more than a decade, the treaty was abandoned. The Geneva Protocol has lasted longer and been more successful at being respected, but still nations have violated it at will when they have felt the need. Enforcement has been haphazard, with measures more a matter of politics than adherence to the terms. This meant sanctions and other measures tended to be advocated against violators primarily by their natural political enemies, while violations have been ignored or given only token measures by their political allies.

More recent arms control treaties have included more stringent terms on enforcement of violations as well as verification. This last has been a major obstacle to effective enforcement, as violators often attempt to covertly circumvent the terms of the agreements. Verification is the process of determining whether or not a nation is complying with the terms of an agreement, and involves a combination of release of such information by participants as well as some way to allow participants to examine each other to verify that information. This often involves as much negotiation as the limits themselves, and in some cases questions of verification have led to the breakdown of treaty negotiations (for example, verification was cited as a major concern by opponents of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, ultimately not ratified by the United States).

States may remain in a treaty while seeking to break the limits of that treaty as opposed to withdrawing from it. This is for two major reasons. To openly defy an agreement, even if one withdraws from it, often is seen in a bad light politically and can carry diplomatic repercussions. Additionally, if one remains in an agreement, competitors who are also participatory may be held to the limitations of the terms, while withdrawal releases your opponents to make the same developments you are making, limiting the advantage of that development.

Theory of arms control
Scholars and practitioners such as John Steinbruner, Jonathan Dean or Stuart Croft worked extensively on the theoretical backing of arms control. Arms control is meant to break the security dilemma. It aims at mutual security between partners and overall stability (be it in a crisis situation, a grand strategy, or stability to put an end to an arms race). Other than stability, arms control comes with cost reduction and damage limitation. It is different from disarmament since the maintenance of stability might allow for mutually controlled armament and does not take a peace-without-weapons-stance. Nevertheless, arms control is a defensive strategy in principle, since transparency, equality, and stability do not fit into an offensive strategy.

According to a 2020 study in the American Political Science Review, arms control is rare because successful arms control agreements involve a difficult trade-off between transparency and security. For arms control agreements to be effective, there needs to be a way to thoroughly verify that a state is following the agreement, such as through intrusive inspections. However, states are often reluctant to submit to such inspections when they have reasons to fear that the inspectors will use the inspections to gather information about the capabilities of the state, which could be used in a future conflict.

Pre-19th century
One of the first recorded attempts in arms control was a set of rules laid down in ancient Greece by the Amphictyonic Leagues. Rulings specified how war could be waged, and breaches of this could be punished by fines or by war.

In the 8th and 9th centuries AD, swords and chain mail armor manufactured in the Frankish empire were highly sought after for their quality, and Charlemagne (r. 768–814), made their sale or export to foreigners illegal, punishable by forfeiture of property or even death. This was an attempt to limit the possession and use of this equipment by the Franks' enemies, including the Moors, the Vikings and the Slavs.

The church used its position as a trans-national organization to limit the means of warfare. The 989 Peace of God (extended in 1033) ruling protected noncombatants, agrarian and economic facilities, and the property of the church from war. The 1027 Truce of God also tried to prevent violence between Christians. The Second Lateran Council in 1139 prohibited the use of crossbows against other Christians, although it did not prevent its use against non-Christians.

The development of firearms led to an increase in the devastation of war. The brutality of wars during this period led to efforts to formalize the rules of war, with humane treatment for prisoners of war or wounded, as well as rules to protect non-combatants and the pillaging of their property. However, during the period until the beginning of the 19th century few formal arms control agreements were recorded, except theoretical proposals and those imposed on defeated armies.

One treaty which was concluded was the Strasbourg Agreement of 1675. This is the first international agreement limiting the use of chemical weapons, in this case, poison bullets. The treaty was signed between France and The Holy Roman Empire

19th century
The 1817 Rush–Bagot Treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom was the first arms control treaty of what can be considered the modern industrial era, leading to the demilitarization of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain region of North America. This was followed by the 1871 Treaty of Washington which led to total demilitarization.

The industrial revolution led to the increasing mechanization of warfare, as well as rapid advances in the development of firearms; the increased potential of devastation (which was later seen in the battlefields of World War I) led to Tsar Nicholas II of Russia calling together the leaders of 26 nations for the First Hague Conference in 1899. The Conference led to the signing of the Hague Convention of 1899 that led to rules of declaring and conducting warfare as well as the use of modern weaponry, and also led to the setting up of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

1900 to 1945
A Second Hague Conference was called in 1907 leading to additions and amendments to the original 1899 agreement. A Third Hague Conference was called for 1915, but this was abandoned due to the First World War.

After the World War I, the League of Nations was set up which attempted to limit and reduce arms. However the enforcement of this policy was not effective. Various naval conferences, such as the Washington Naval Conference, were held during the period between the First and Second World Wars to limit the number and size of major warships of the five great naval powers.

The 1925 Geneva Conference led to the banning of chemical weapons being deployed against enemy nationals in international armed conflict as part of the Geneva Protocol. The 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact, whilst ineffective, attempted for "providing for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy".

Since 1945
After World War II, the United Nations was set up as a body to promote and to maintain international peace and security. The United States proposed the Baruch Plan in 1946 as a way to impose stringent international control over the nuclear fuel cycle and thereby avert a global nuclear arms race, but the Soviet Union rejected the proposal and negotiations failed. Following President Eisenhower's 1953 Atoms for Peace speech to the UN General Assembly, the International Atomic Energy Agency was set up in 1957 to promote peaceful uses of nuclear technology and apply safeguards against the diversion of nuclear material from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons.

Under the auspices of the United Nations, the Partial Test Ban Treaty, which aimed to end nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, underwater and in outer-space, was established in 1963. The 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed to prevent further spread of nuclear weapons technology to countries outside the five that already possessed them: the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, France and China. With the three main goals of establishing nonproliferation with inspections, nuclear arms reduction, and the right to use nuclear energy peacefully, this treaty initially met some reluctance from countries developing their own nuclear programs such as Brazil, Argentina and South Africa. Still, all countries with the exception of India, Israel, Pakistan and South Sudan decided to sign or ratify the document.

The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the United States and Soviet Union in the late 1960s/early 1970s led to further weapons control agreements. The SALT I talks led to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and an Interim Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement (see SALT I), both in 1972. The SALT II talks started in 1972 leading to agreement in 1979. Due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan the United States never ratified the treaty, but the agreement was honoured by both sides.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed between the United States and Soviet Union in 1987 and ratified in 1988, leading to an agreement to destroy all missiles with ranges from 500 to 5,500 kilometers. This came in the context of a revitalised peace movement during the previous decade which included huge demonstrations around the world for nuclear disarmament.

The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention was signed banning the manufacture and use of chemical weapons.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties were signed, as START I and START II, by the US and Soviet Union, further restricting weapons. This was further moved on by the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions, which was in turn superseded by the New START Treaty.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1996 banning all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes, but it has not entered into force due to the non-ratification of eight specific states.

In 1998 the United Nations founded the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). Its goal is to promote nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and the strengthening of the disarmament regimes in respect to other weapons of mass destruction, chemical and biological weapons. It also promotes disarmament efforts in the area of conventional weapons, especially landmines and small arms, which are often the weapons of choice in contemporary conflicts.

In addition to treaties focused primarily on stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons, there has been a recent movement to regulate the sale and trading of conventional weapons. As of December 2014, the United Nations is preparing for entry into force of the Arms Trade Treaty, which has been ratified by 89 nations. However, it is currently missing ratification by key arms producers such as Russia and China, and while the United States has signed the treaty it has not yet ratified it. The Treaty regulates the international trade in almost all categories of conventional weapons – from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships. Ammunition, as well as parts and components, are also covered.

More recently, the United Nations announced the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2020, following the 50th ratification or accession by member states.

List of treaties and conventions related to arms control
Some of the more important international arms control agreements follow:
 * Treaty of Versailles, 1919 – limited the size of the Germany's military after World War I
 * Washington Naval Treaty, 1922–1939 (as part of the naval conferences) – set limitations on construction of battleships, battlecruisers, and aircraft carriers as well as tonnage quotas on cruisers, destroyers, and submarines between the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, and Italy
 * Geneva Protocol, 1925 – prohibited the use of biological and chemical weapons against enemy nationals in international armed conflict
 * Antarctic Treaty, signed 1959, entered into force 1961 – prohibited military conflict in Antarctica
 * Partial Test Ban Treaty, signed and entered into force 1963 – prohibited nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere
 * Outer Space Treaty, signed and entered into force 1967 – prohibited deployment of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, in space
 * Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed 1968, entered into force 1970 – prohibited countries without nuclear weapons from acquiring them while committing nuclear-armed states to eventual disarmament
 * Seabed Arms Control Treaty, signed 1971, entered into force 1972 – prohibited underwater nuclear tests
 * Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), signed and ratified 1972, in force 1972–1977 – limited introduction of new intercontinental ballistic missile launchers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles
 * Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, signed and entered into force 1972, terminated following U.S. withdrawal 2002 – restricted anti-ballistic missiles
 * Biological Weapons Convention, signed 1972, entered into force 1975 – prohibited production of biological weapons
 * Threshold Test Ban Treaty, signed 1974, entered into force 1990 – limited nuclear weapons tests to 150 kilotons
 * SALT II signed 1979, never entered into force – limited production of long-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles
 * Environmental Modification Convention, signed 1977, entered into force 1978 – prohibited military use of environmental modification techniques
 * Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, signed 1980, entered into force 1983 – restricted certain conventional weapons such as landmines, incendiary weapons, and laser weapons as well as requiring clearance of unexploded ordnances.
 * Moon Treaty, signed 1979, entered into force 1984 – prohibits militarization of the Moon
 * Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), signed 1987, entered into force 1988, United States and Russia announced withdrawal 2019 – limited short-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles
 * Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, (CFE Treaty) signed 1990, entered into force 1992 – established limits on deployment of conventional military forces in Europe between NATO and the Warsaw Pact
 * Vienna Document, adopted 1990, updated 1992, 1994, 1999, 2011 – European agreement on confidence- and security-building measures such as prior notification of military force activities and inspections of military activities
 * Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty I (START I), signed 1991, entered into force 1994, expired 2009 (START I was a successor to the expired SALT agreements.) – provided limitations on strategic offensive arms
 * Chemical Weapons Convention, signed 1993, entered into force 1997 – prohibited production and stockpiling of chemical weapons
 * START II, signed 1993, ratified 1996 (United States) and 2000 (Russia), terminated following Russian withdrawal 2002 – prohibited intercontinental ballistic missiles with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles
 * Open Skies Treaty, signed 1992, entered into force 2002 – allowed unarmed reconnaissance flights between NATO and Russia
 * Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, signed 1996, has not entered into force. – prohibited nuclear weapons testing
 * Ottawa Treaty on anti-personnel landmines, signed 1997, entered into force 1999
 * Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), signed 2002, entered into force 2003, expires 2012 – limited nuclear warheads
 * International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, signed 2002 – limited proliferation of ballistic missiles
 * Convention on Cluster Munitions, signed 2008, entered into force 2010   – prohibits deployment, production, and stockpiling of cluster bombs
 * New START Treaty, signed by Russia and the United States April 2010, entered into force February 2011   – reduced strategic nuclear missiles by half
 * Arms Trade Treaty, concluded 2013, entered into force 24 December 2014 – regulates trade of conventional weapons
 * Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, signed 2017, entered into force January 2021 – prohibits nuclear weapons

Nuclear weapon-free zone treaties
Other treaties also envision the creation of NWFZ, among other objectives. These are the following:
 * Treaty of Tlatelolco (Latin America and the Caribbean), signed 1967, entered into force 1972
 * Treaty of Rarotonga (South Pacific), signed 1985, entered into force 1986
 * Treaty of Bangkok (Southeast Asia), signed 1995, entered into force 1997
 * Treaty of Pelindaba (Africa), signed 1996, entered into force 2009
 * Treaty of Semipalatinsk (Central Asia), signed 2006, entered into force 2008
 * Antarctic Treaty, signed 1959, entered into force 1961
 * Outer Space Treaty, signed and entered into force 1967
 * Seabed Arms Control Treaty, signed 1971, entered into force 1972

Treaties not entered into force

 * Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, signed 1996 – prohibits nuclear weapons testing

Proposed treaties

 * Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty – would prohibit all further production of fissile material
 * Nuclear weapons convention – would prohibit nuclear weapons

Export control regimes

 * Zangger Committee since 1971
 * Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) since 1974
 * Australia Group since 1985
 * Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), since 1987
 * Wassenaar Arrangement, since 1996

Nonbinding declarations

 * Ayacucho Declaration 1974

Arms control organizations
The intergovernmental organizations for arms control are the following:
 * International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
 * Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
 * Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which has other functions besides arms control
 * Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom)
 * Conference on Disarmament (CD)
 * United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
 * United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
 * the now disbanded United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), the successor to United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM)
 * failed proposal for Organisation for the Prohibition of Biological Weapons

There are also numerous non-governmental organizations that promote a global reduction in nuclear arms and offer research and analysis about U.S. nuclear weapons policy. Pre-eminent among these organizations is the Arms Control Association, founded in 1971 to promote public understanding of and support for arms control. Others include:

 * Federation of American Scientists (FAS)—founded in 1945 as the Federation of Atomic Scientists by veterans of the Manhattan Project.
 * Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament—a leading disarmament organization in the United Kingdom, founded in 1957.
 * Peace Action—formerly SANE (the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy), founded in 1957
 * Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR)—founded by Bernard Lown in 1961.
 * Council for a Livable World—founded in 1962 by physicist Leó Szilárd and other scientists who believed that nuclear weapons should be controlled and eventually eliminated.
 * Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)—founded in 1966.
 * Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)—founded in 1969 by faculty and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
 * Arms Control Association—founded in 1971.
 * Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation—founded in 1980 as a sister organization to the Council for a Livable World.
 * International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)—founded in 1981.
 * Alliance for Nuclear Accountability—a national network of organizations working to address issues of nuclear weapons production and waste cleanup, founded in 1987 as the Military Production Network.
 * Global Zero—founded in 2008.
 * T.M.C. Asser Instituut—founded in 1965.

title: Arms control


text:
Pole

Pole or poles may refer to:

People

 * Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland
 * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name
 * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist
 * Spot Poles (Spottswood Poles, 1887–1962), American baseball player
 * Pole Atanraoi-Reim (fl. from 1992), a Kiribati lawyer
 * Pole baronets, three titles in the UK

Astronomy and geography

 * Poles of astronomical bodies
 * Celestial pole, two points where the axis of rotation intersects the celestial sphere
 * Orbital pole, two points at the end of the orbital normal
 * North magnetic pole of Earth
 * South magnetic pole of Earth
 * Geographical pole, two points on Earth where its axis of rotation intersects its surface
 * North Pole
 * South Pole

Arts and entertainment

 * Pole (album), by Pole, 2003
 * Pole (Stockhausen), a 1970 composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen
 * Pole, a character in the game Yie Ar Kung-Fu
 * Jill Pole, a character in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series

Places

 * Pole, Lubusz Voivodeship, Poland
 * Pole, Botswana
 * Poles, former name of Hanbury Manor, Ware, England
 * Poles, a place in Highland council area, Scotland
 * Poles, former name of Hanbury Manor, Ware, England

Science and technology

 * Pole, or terminal (electronics)
 * Pole, in contact terminology of a switch
 * Pole (unit of length), or perch or rod, a unit of length of various historical definitions
 * Pole, either end of a magnet
 * Pole (complex analysis), a certain type of mathematical singularity
 * Pole, an element of perspective (geometry)
 * Pole and polar, in geometry
 * Prospective Outlook on Long-term Energy Systems (POLES), a world simulation model for the energy sector
 * POLE (gene), in humans

Objects

 * pole, a kind of stick or rod (disambiguation)
 * Chinese pole, a vertical pole used for acrobatics

title: Pole