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Newcastle Brown Ale

Newcastle Brown Ale is a brown ale, originally brewed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Launched in 1927 by Colonel Jim Porter after three years of development, the 1960 merger of Newcastle Breweries with Scottish Brewers afforded the beer national distribution and sales peaked in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. The beer underwent a resurgence in the late 1980s and early 1990s with student unions selling it. Brewing moved in 2005 from Newcastle to Dunston, Tyne and Wear, and in 2010 to Tadcaster. In 2017, the Heineken Brewery in Zoeterwoude, the Netherlands, also began production. As of 2019, it is brewed as well by Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California, and Chicago, Illinois, for the American market.

Newcastle Brown Ale is perceived in the UK as a working-man's beer, with a long association with heavy industry, the traditional economic staple of the North East of England. In export markets, it is seen as a trendy, premium import and is predominantly drunk by the young. It was one of the first beers to be distributed in a clear glass bottle and is most readily associated with this form of dispense in the UK.

Tyne Brewery, Newcastle
Newcastle Brown Ale was originally created by Lieutenant Colonel James ('Jim') Herbert Porter (b. 1892, Burton upon Trent), a third-generation brewer at Newcastle Breweries, in 1927. Porter had served in the North Staffordshire Regiment in the First World War, earning his DSO with Bar before moving to Newcastle. Porter had refined the recipe for Newcastle Brown Ale alongside chemist Archie Jones over a period of three years. When Porter actually completed the beer, he believed it to be a failure, as he had actually been attempting to recreate Bass ale. The original beer had an original gravity of 1060º and was 6.25 ABV, and it sold at a premium price of 9 shillings for a dozen pint bottles.

Newcastle Brown Ale went into production at Tyne Brewery in 1927, with Newcastle Breweries having occupied the site since 1890, with brewing on the site dating back to 1868.

The blue star logo was introduced to the Newcastle Brown Ale bottle in 1928, the year after the beer was launched. The five points of the star represent the five founding breweries of Newcastle.

After the merger of Scottish Brewers with Newcastle Breweries in 1960, Newcastle Brown Ale became a flagship brand of Scottish & Newcastle alongside McEwan's Export and Younger's Tartan Special.

By 1997, Scottish and Newcastle claimed that it was the most widely distributed alcoholic product in both pubs and off licences in the country.

Move to Federation Brewery, Gateshead
Despite investing £16.6 million in a new bottling plant at the Tyne Brewery in 1999, Scottish and Newcastle announced its closure on 22 April 2004, in order to consolidate the brewing of beer and ale in the Federation Brewery site in Dunston, Gateshead, which was to pass to them with their £7.2m purchase of the Federation Brewery. The purchase and consolidation at Dunston created the new brewing company, Newcastle Federation Breweries.

The last production run of Brown Ale in Newcastle came off the Tyne Brewery line in May 2005. Pre-production trial brews were conducted at Dunston to ensure no change occurred in its taste after the move.

The Tyne Brewery site was bought by a consortium of Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council, and the regional development agency One NorthEast, as part of the wider Newcastle Science City project. Demolition of the former brewery began on 8 March 2007. The triggering of the controlled demolition of the former Barrack Road bottling plant opposite St James' Park was ceremonially performed by Sir Bobby Robson on 22 June 2008.

Move to John Smith's Brewery, Tadcaster
Bottling of Newcastle Brown Ale moved to the John Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, in 2007.

Heineken bought Scottish and Newcastle in a joint deal with Carlsberg in 2008.

In 2010, Scottish and Newcastle closed the Dunston brewery, moving production of Brown Ale to the John Smiths Brewery in Tadcaster. The company cited the general fall in the market for beer, over-capacity in its plants in general, and the fact that the Dunston site was operating at just 60% capacity—despite the fact that sales of Newcastle Brown Ale had never been higher—as reasons for the closure.

In 2015, the caramel colouring, which has been used since the beer was launched, was removed for health reasons. Instead, roasted malt was used to darken the beer.

Move to Zoeterwoude Brewery, the Netherlands
In 2017, Heineken moved some production from the John Smith's Brewery, Tadcaster, to the Zoeterwoude Brewery in the Netherlands. The company claimed this would allow for shorter order lead times and faster transportation to the U.S. and allow distributors to purchase by the pallet rather than the container. In 2019, the company started making a different version in America and ceased importing Brown Ale from Europe. Newcastle Brown Ale is still brewed in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, for the UK and some EU markets, and also in the Netherlands for the export market. Lagunitas Brewing Company (a Heineken subsidiary) produces a product named Newcastle Brown Ale for the US domestic market. The recipe for this variation has a noticeably different taste compared to the original.

Production and distribution
Newcastle Brown Ale is brewed with pale malt and crystal malt. It has a lower hopping rate than traditional English bitters.

The beer is one of the United Kingdom's leading bottled ales and is in the top 20 highest-selling ales overall, selling around 100000 hL annually. At the time of brewing moving to Dunston in 2005, Newcastle Brown was being exported to 41 countries. At times, over half of the brewery's output is directed overseas to the U.S. In 2010, more than 640000 hL of the beer were sold in the United States, more than double the 2001 total. Newcastle Brown Ale is no longer available in the United States. A product labelled “Newcastle Brown Ale” is still sold but it is produced by Lagunitas Brewing Company and has little in common with the original product.

In Canada and France (Brittany), the beer is available in short and tall bottles and in cans. The beer is also available in British-themed pubs as a draught beer in Australia and New Zealand, brewed in the UK and imported by World Brands Australia Pty Ltd. The UK-brewed bottled, kegs, and cans are widely available in Australian liquor outlets as part of their international range. It is also popular in Canada, available on draught at many British-themed pubs.

Names and phrases
In 2000, the beer was renamed "Newcastle Brown" with the "Ale" being removed from the front label. This change, only in the UK, was due to market research claiming that the term "ale" was outdated and costing the company sales in the youth drinking markets. The older name was reinstated with no fanfare in 2004, when it was realised that the change had made no difference to sales.

In the North East, Newcastle Brown Ale is often given the nickname "Dog", alluding to the British euphemism of seeing a man about a dog. It is also known as Broon, "brown" pronounced in the Geordie dialect. Elsewhere in the UK, it is known as Newkie Brown.

Serving
Newcastle Brown Ale is traditionally sold in Britain in 1 imppt and, more recently, 550 ml bottles. Typically, the ale is consumed from a 12 impoz Wellington glass. This allows the drinker to regularly top-up the beer and thereby maintain a frothy "head". In the United States, it is sold in 12 USoz servings. In April 2010, Heineken USA introduced the Wellington glass, branded as the "Geordie Schooner," for Newcastle Brown Ale consumers in America. The glass features a nucleated base.

Association with the North East
Like many British breweries, Newcastle Brown is strongly associated with its local area, in this case north east England. While the name provides a lot of this, the sponsorship of Newcastle United and the depiction of the River Tyne in the blue star has helped ensure its association. Its local provenance gave the brand an association with "hardy, working class traditions and values".

Under European Union Protected Geographical Status laws introduced in 1992, the name Newcastle Brown Ale was registered as a Protected Geographical Indication in 2000. In 2007, this was removed when brewing of the beer moved away from its place of origin to Tadcaster in Yorkshire. The company was not obliged to make a formal application to cancel it, but not move its production outside the area designated in its PGI application years before.

The closure of S&N's Dunston brewery in 2010 left Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool as the only remaining significant volume brewery in the North East of England.

Special editions
When the Australian brewer Elders IXL launched a takeover bid for Scottish and Newcastle, locals of Newcastle began the "Keep Us on Top!" campaign. As a sign of solidarity, the Newcastle Brown label was inverted until the takeover was quashed.

In 2005, the last 3,000 bottles produced in Newcastle were given commemorative labels "121 years of brewing history, last bottles produced at Tyne Brewery April 2005." and given to the brewery staff.

In 2006, a special production run of 2.5 million bottles celebrated the career of Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer, who had recently broken the club's scoring record and was about to retire from football. The brewery produced the special editions featuring Newcastle United's black and white stripes and Shearer's portrait, in exchange for a donation to Shearer's testimonial match, and they went on sale from 17 April that year.

In 2007, a special edition was released to celebrate local rock band Maxïmo Park. The label was designed by the band and the beer released to coincide with the band's concert at Newcastle Metro Radio Arena on 15 December. Also in 2007, a special 80th anniversary themed bottle was distributed.

In 2013, Newcastle partnered with Taxi Magic to brew a Black Ale called Newcastle Cabbie as part of an Anti-Drunk Driving campaign.

Other Newcastle brands
Newcastle Exhibition is a draught pasteurised keg beer (4.3% ABV) first introduced in 1929 and commonly found around the Newcastle area.

Newcastle Amber Ale (1032 OG) was a light ale available until the 1980s. It was a diluted version of Exhibition. Amber Ale and a much stronger aged stock beer were formerly blended to create Newcastle Brown Ale. This method was discontinued sometime before the brand was moved to Dunston.

Newcastle Star was a strong bottled beer (7.5% ABV) available from 1999 to 2006.

In 2010, Heineken USA launched Newcastle Summer Ale in bottles. In 2011, Heineken USA launched Newcastle Werewolf (fall ale) and Winter IPA. In 2012, Heineken USA will introduce Newcastle Founders ale (an Extra Special Bitter style) as their spring seasonal.

In 2012, Summer Ale (4.4%) and Founder's Ale (4.8%) were launched in Tesco across the UK.

In winter 2012, Newcastle winter ale (5.2%) and Newcastle nocturnal ale (4.5%) were also launched in Tesco stores across the UK.

title: Newcastle Brown Ale


text:
Talk:List of English-language poets

Untitled
Note: this should be reviewed. I removed those who were obviously not English. Possibilities: 1. Divide into nationality: eg. English poets American poets Irish poets Australian poets. 2. Rename to "English language poets."

 * I certainly think there should be too distinct topics here: English poets and English language poets. The only slight difficulty comes with poets such as T. S. Eliot and Thom Gunn; the former being an American living and writing poetry in English in England, the latter being an American living and writing poetry in English in the States. And I have amended the first para so that not all poets are necessarily deceased... sjc

I removed a Jeff Harrison link. A web search turned up no references to this person's work as a poet. While certainly not all great poets may be lauded on the Web somewhere, without any further information than a name, the entry adds nothing here. -- April

The entry for John Wilkinson links to the wrong John Wilkinson - he's not a Tory MP!

Run for cover! Graeme is coming!
It's like a sort of pre-shock. Graeme adds a poet. Put your hands on the desk. Breathe normally. Exhale. Maybe he'll go away...

Bang! Graeme deletes an external link to a web page that seems to have nothing to do with poetry.

BANG! Graeme finds a poet listed twice. Run for cover! The big one is coming soon!

CRASH! Graeme makes a change so big, so deep, and so tall that your mother will not like it; she will not like it at all!

I'm done, now. You can all sit down.

--GraemeMcRae 00:16, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

cleanup
Dead Links have been removed, if you wrote this article please add full articles for each new link, don't just list names where no information exists and please put dates with the names. Thanks WayneRay 19:09, 15 April 2006 (UTC)WayneRay

Dead Red Links
I will be removing the dead red links on the article page and placing them in here. PLEASE do not add a name unless you have written an article about the person, Thanks WayneRay 16:42, 22 June 2006 (UTC)WayneRay

Category
Should this not be a category, rather than an article? MrMarmite 13:20, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Jim Burns
Please note there is a book illustrator Jim Burns born 1948 who is not the poet Jim burns born 1936. A number of poet references have been linked to the wrong person. I have removed the wrong Jim burns link from this list, but there are probably lots of mistaken links. Sandpiper (talk) 11:06, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Page title
This should be moved to "English-language poets". They are poets who wrote in the English language, not English poets. Likewise with any similarly titled pages. — 194.74.1.82 (talk) 16:49, 1 September 2011 (UTC)

English poets
Friends,

I find in this discussion that much has been said already regarding this article's relation to one about English poets; this article once was, it seems, titled as such, but that was rightly changed. The possibility of categorizing the poets in this list by nationality has apparently been discussed. But would the community look favorably upon a separate list-article for English poets, even with such an edition as that? There are lists already for American poets and Canadian poets; also, although the List of Portuguese-language poets is divided by nationality, there remains a separate list of Brazilian poets. Please let me know your thoughts on the matter.

Sincerely,

Twozenhauer (talk) 01:36, 17 August 2016 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:List of English-language poets


text:
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and integration among its member states.

The commission is composed of 56 member states, most of which are based in Europe, as well as a few outside of Europe. Its transcontinental Eurasian or non-European member states include: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Canada, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United States of America and Uzbekistan.

History
The commission was first proposed in London in the summer of 1946 by the Temporary Subcommission on the Reconstruction of Devastated Areas.

The commission was established by the Economic and Social Council on 28 March 1947 in order to "Initiate and participate in measures for facilitating concerted action for the economic reconstruction of Europe," as well as to "maintain and strengthen the economic relations of the European countries, both among themselves and with other countries of the world."

It was established at the request of the United Nations General Assembly who called on the Economic and Social Council to create the commission, as well as the Commission for Asia and the Far East, in order to "give effective aid to countries devastated by war."

ECE absorbed the function and resources of the European Central Inland Transport Organization upon its founding.

As the commission was established towards the beginning of the Cold War, it faced difficulties in achieving its mandate of economic reconstruction of Europe due to the Iron Curtain: separately the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation was established in 1948 in the west and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance in 1949 in the east. The work of the commission had to concern itself only with questions that were of common interest to East and West, as to not cause confrontation. However, since the fall of the Soviet Union, the economic commissions of the United Nations have been expanding their activities in the former Soviet republics.

Member states
The following are the member states of the commission, along with their date of admission:

Committee on Environmental Policy
The concern of UNECE with problems of the environment dates back at least to 1971, when the group of Senior Advisors to the UNECE governments on environmental issues was created which led to the establishment of the Committee on Environmental Policy, which now meets annually. The Committee provides collective policy direction in the area of environment and sustainable development, prepares ministerial meetings, develops international environmental law and supports international initiatives in the region. CEP works to support countries to enhance their environmental governance and transboundary cooperation as well as strengthen implementation of the UNECE regional environmental commitments and advance sustainable development in the region.

Its main aim is to assess countries' efforts to reduce their overall pollution burden and manage their natural resources, to integrate environmental and socioeconomic policies, to strengthen cooperation with the international community, to harmonize environmental conditions and policies throughout the region and to stimulate greater involvement of the public and environmental discussions and decision-making.

CEP is the overall governing body of UNECE environmental activities. The committee's work is based on several strategic pillars:
 * Providing the secretariat to the "Environment for Europe" process and participating in the regional promotion of Agenda 21;
 * Developing and carrying-out of UNECE Environmental Performance Reviews in the UNECE countries non-members of OECD;
 * Overseeing UNECE activities on environmental monitoring, assessment and reporting;
 * Increasing the overall effectiveness of UNECE multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and facilitating the exchange of experience on MEAs' implementation. See UNECE Espoo Convention, Aarhus Convention, Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes and Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.
 * Participating and/or facilitating the exchange of experience in a number of cross-sectoral activities undertaken under the leadership of UNECE (e.g. education for sustainable development, transport, health and environment, green building), or in partnership with other organizations (e.g. environment and security initiative, European environment and health process).

Committee on Forests and the Forest Industry
The first task of UNECE after the Second World War was to coordinate reconstruction effort in Europe. Timber was crucial for construction, and energy, but the forests had been heavily overcut and production and trade were at a standstill. The ECE Timber Committee emerged from the International Timber Conference held in 1947 in Mariánské Lázně in the former Czechoslovakia.

The main pillars of the committee's activities have been: the collection and publication of the best available statistics on forests, wood production and trade; the exchange of information on forest working techniques and training of forest workers; periodic surveys of the long-term outlook on forests; technical work on the rational use of wood; reviewing forest product markets; and share experiences on forest and forest sector policy.

Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Land Management
In 1947, UNECE set up a Panel on Housing Problems, which later evolved into the Committee on Human Settlements and after the reform in 2005/2006 into the Committee on Housing and Land Management. The committee is an intergovernmental body of all UNECE member States. It provides a forum for the compilation, dissemination and exchange of information and experience on housing, urban development, and land administration policies; and in areas such as Birmingham, a more fiscal issue-UK.

In 2020, the CUDHLM created the Forum of Mayors at the Palais des Nations, an event allowing mayors from the UNECE region to exchange their best practices on urban development, housing and land management. UNECE is the first UN Regional Economic Commission to implement such an initiative that facilitates the cooperation between the UN, Member States and cities.

Inland Transport Committee
The UNECE Transport Division has been providing secretariat services to the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). In addition to acting as secretariat to the World Forum, the Vehicle Regulations and Transport Innovations section serves as the secretariat of the Administrative Committee for the coordination of work, and of the administrative/executives committees of the three agreements on vehicles administered by the World Forum.

Among other things, ITC has produced:
 * 59 United Nations conventions concerning inland transport,
 * Trans-European North-South Motorways, Trans-European Railways and the Euro-Asia Transport Links projects
 * the TIR system (Transports Internationaux Routiers), a global customs transit facilitation solution
 * transport statistics methods.

The World Forum services three UN Agreements:
 * the 1958 Agreement on the approval/certification of Vehicles and its annexed UN Regulations,
 * the 1997 Agreement on Periodic Technical Inspections (PTI) and its annexed UN Rules,
 * and the 1998 Agreement on Global Technical Regulations and its annexed UN GTRs.

Statistical Division
The UNECE Statistical Division provides the secretariat for the Conference and its expert groups, and implements the statistical work programme of UNECE. The Conference brings together chief statisticians from national and international statistical organizations around the world, meaning that the word "European" in its name is no longer an accurate description of its geographical coverage. The Statistical Division helps member countries to strengthen their statistical systems, and coordinates international statistical activities in the UNECE region and beyond through the Conference and its Bureau, and the Database of International Statistical Activities. The Statistical Division develops guidelines and training materials on statistical methodology and practices, in response to demands from member countries. It works with different groups of specialists from national and international statistical organizations, and organizes meetings and online forums for statistical experts to exchange experiences on a wide range of topics. The UNECE Statistical Division also provides technical assistance to South-East European, East European, Caucasus and Central Asian countries.

The division also provides:

 * 1) On-line data on the 56 UNECE member countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America in both English and Russian, on economic, gender, forestry and transport statistics.
 * 2) A biennial overview of key statistics for member countries.
 * 3) A set of wikis to support collaboration activities and disseminate information about good practices.

UNECE conducted the in the 1990s in 23 member States, with over 150,000 participants, with hundreds of resulting scientific publications. This activity has hence continued in the form of the Generations and Gender Programme.

Sustainable Energy Division
The Sustainable Energy Division supports the UN's energy program, including security of energy supply, economics, and environmental protection, in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean electricity, natural gas, coal, and resource classification. It is the secretariat responsible for Committee on Sustainable Energy and various expert groups supporting access to affordable and clean energy for all, as well as help reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the energy sector in the region.

The Expert Group on Resource Management created the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources, the first widely accepted natural resource management system for classifying, managing, and reporting energy, mineral, and raw material resources in the world.

United Smart Cities (USC)
The United Smart Cities programme is a joint effort between UNECE and the Organization for International Economic Relations (OiER).

Numerous private business entities and other international and European agencies support the programme, including Environment Agency Austria (EAA), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), UN-Habitat, and the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP). The programme promotes areas of strategic smart city policy and development. The key focus areas as detailed by the programme are:

 * 1) Urban mobility
 * 2) Sustainable housing
 * 3) Clean energy
 * 4) Waste management
 * 5) Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

Secretariat
The ECE secretariat has been characterized as a "strong" secretariat. The ECE secretariat was led by Gunnar Myrdal in its first decade. Myrdal refused efforts by the Soviet Union to dictate what staff would be employed in the secretariat. During this period, the secretariat sought to promote European integration efforts.

Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
From 1982 to 2007 the IOS Press published the Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe  on behalf of the UNECE.


text:
ECE

Ece or ECE may refer to
 * Ece, a Turkish given name and surname
 * École centrale d'électronique
 * Early childhood education
 * East Coast Expressway, an interstate turnpike spanning across the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia
 * Educational Credential Evaluators
 * Einstein–Cartan–Evans theory
 * Excelsior College Examinations, an American standardized test
 * Explicit Congestion Notification Echo
 * United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
 * EuroCity-Express, a category of trains
 * Edge Consumer Electronics, networks of interconnected Consumer Electronics devices
 * Electrical and computer engineering
 * Electrical engineering
 * Computer engineering

title: ECE


text:
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD; French: Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement, BERD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies.

Initially focused on the countries of the former Eastern Bloc it expanded to support development in more than 30 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia. Similar to other multilateral development banks, the EBRD has members from all over the world (North America, Africa, Asia and Australia, see below), with the biggest single shareholder being the United States, but only lends regionally in its countries of operations. Headquartered in London, the EBRD is owned by 71 countries and two European Union institutions, the newest shareholder being Algeria since October 2021. Despite its public sector shareholders, it invests in private enterprises, together with commercial partners.

The EBRD is not to be confused with the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is owned by EU member states and is used to support EU policy. EBRD is also distinct from the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB).

History of the EBRD

Located in London, the EBRD was intended at its beginning to focus on the switch from centrally planned economy to market based economy in the Central and Eastern European countries by investing in the private sector, mainly banks, industries and businesses, and by promoting policies that would favor them. It was created as a result of the end of the Cold War because of particular issues regarding the international system in place, the historical and political context at the time. Furthermore, its recipient countries had to ensure that they would work towards "multi-party democracy and political pluralism" in which was considered as one of the main particularity of the EBRD distinguishing the latter from other financial institutions. Firstly, notably advocated by European political actors such as the French President Mitterrand in 1989, the idea of creating this financial institution involving the European countries started before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The reception of this proposition was mitigated depending on the country, for instance it received hostility from the British whereas the French were important proponents of the project and influenced the process. In January 1990, negotiations about the EBRD objectives, its lending policy regarding the public and private sectors, started and involved all the EU countries at the time, as well as various other European countries, non-European countries and representatives from the EU and the European Investment Bank. The Soviet Union was represented by its own delegation in the process and thus participated in the negotiations as well as the USA. Later on, because of dissensions on the political and economic objectives of the institution, the inclusion of the Soviet Union was threatened. Considered as short negotiations, the agreement (for reasons relating to the situation in Eastern Europe and to a wave of privatization across Europe) leading to its creation was signed on 29 May 1990 by actors such as 40 states as well as two European organizations and by March 1991 took its first effects as the bank was inaugurated. The creation of the EBRD has led to the financing of various projects in the years following its first operations, for instance there were twenty projects in 1992 in which the EBRD provided financing worth ECU 2.1 billion.

Governance
Divided between its headquarters located in London, and field offices located elsewhere, the European Bank for reconstruction and development is made of a three-tier structure composed of firstly, the president and the staff, secondly the Board of Governors and finally the Board of Directors. The bank’s structure has changed over time, because of concerns about competition within the institution. In fact, in the beginning of the 90s, there were two different banking divisions (on one side, the merchant banking related to the private sector and on the other side the development banking side working mostly with the public sector). Consequently, the two divisions came to be merged into a single one, substituting this structure with another one instead dividing the bank with seven policy and country regional sub-divisions.

Board of Governors
Representatives from each member state compose this board, they have authority power.

Board of directors
The Board of Directors consists of 23 members elected by the Board of Governors. These members can not be on the Board of Governors. Its function is to direct the general operations of the bank, notably:

 * Approve the budget;
 * In accordance with the Board of Governors, establishing policies and making other decisions, loans, investments;
 * Prepare the work of the Board of Governors;
 * Submit yearly for approval the audited accounts to the Board of Governors.

President
The EBRD is composed of many members with voting powers, from European and non-European states to the membership of other institutions such as the European Investment Bank, however depending on the geographical location of each member, voting rights differ. More precisely, European and other creditor members hold a majority voting power. At its beginning, the EBRD was owned by more than 40 members, in 2015 the number of countries owning it was 61. and as of March 2022, there were 71 countries as owners.

The following presidents have served the EBRD to date (as of March 2022).

 * Jacques Attali: April 1991 – June 1993
 * Jacques de Larosière: September 1993 – January 1998
 * Horst Köhler: September 1998 – April 2000
 * Jean Lemierre: July 2000 – July 2008
 * Thomas Mirow: July 2008 – July 2012
 * Suma Chakrabarti: July 2012 – July 2020
 * Odile Renaud-Basso: 2020 – present

Membership
To become a member of the bank, a country needs to fit the EBRD's Articles of Agreement. These Articles stipulate that a country can only become a Member State if it is a state in Europe or a non-European member of the IMF. Institutions like the European Union and the EIB also participate in the bank operations. Since its foundation the EBRD has almost doubled in membership size. The latest accessions to the bank are countries located in Africa.

Public banking
The EBRD is a public bank, meaning that public institutions such as states are shareholders in those institutions. More precisely, public financial institutions are controlled major predominantly by public authorities (more than 50%) whereas in institutions with public participations, public authorities aren't majority shareholders. Public banks were particularly involved in the economic transition of the former Soviet Republics and Central and Eastern European countries as private banks and other sources of financing didn't want to invest for reasons such as those countries’ macroeconomic difficulties as well as political reasons regarding the country’s stability for instance.

Relationship with the EIB
In the context of the EU’s investment banking, the EBRD and the EIB have been involved in a rivalry regarding the status of the “EU’s premier development bank”. Major criticism about the EBRD in this situation is related to the fact that non-EU countries are also important shareholders whereas the EIB is completely owned by the EU. More recently, another source of rivalry was about becoming the new “European Climate and Sustainable Development Bank (ECSDB).

Public Banks and the COVID-19 pandemic
More recently, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, public banks have had their influence and role increased as they have become important actors of the economic recovery response. As for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, it has committed €21 billion between 2020 and 2021 of activities. More precisely, its own package was established within the scope of the Resilience Framework, the Trade Facilitation Programme and the Vital Infrastructure Support Programme etc. In 2020 alone, it has invested €11 billion as part of 411 projects which corresponds to a 10% raison compared to 2019. 72% of its investments were received by the private sector. Moreover, because of this specific context, the EBRD focused some of its operations in sectors other than green investment meaning that it only focused 29% of its investment in this domain (compared to 46% in 2019).

Donors
According to the EBRD 2020 Sustainability Report, donors provided €589 million to support EBRD activities, taking the form of grants, loans and risk-mitigating instruments.

The EBRD funds come mainly from bilateral donors, from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF), the European Union (EU), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

Financial operations
According to the EBRD, the bank provides different direct financial instruments such as loans, equity investments and guarantees. It also works on the assistance of SMEs through the intermediary of other banks or investment and venture capital funds which are linked to the EBRD’s investments.

Steps leading to a loan
Each project is analysed, first by the EBRD management with the negotiations and the subsequent signing of a mandate letter drafting the important information about the project plan, the expected expenses as well as the responsibilities. Secondly, the project is to be finally reviewed by the management. Later on, it is submitted to the Board of Directors for approval. After being signed for both parties, it becomes legally binding. It leads to the transfer of funds from the EBRD to the client which will in the future start to repay the Bank’s loan.

Environmental sustainability
The EBRD is unique among development banks for two reasons. First, it was the first multilateral development bank to have an explicit environmental mandate in its charter (since 1995), and second, in that it will not finance thermal coal mining and coal-fired electricity generation due to their environmental impact.

The following table shows the development of investment volume into the Green Economy Transition (GET) approach, in support of the Paris climate goals.

The EBRD had pledged, prior to 2015 Paris Agreement, to dedicate above 40 per cent of its financing to green investment by 2020. This goal was accomplished for the first time in 2017. With Russia actually being the biggest donor to an NDEP Support Fund for the environments inside the bank, with total contributions amounting to €60 million. €5 million was donated by Russia in the same year of 2015.

Collaboration of the Bank with the European institutions and private actors
Not only involving the European institutions, the EBRD financed projects also implicate private actors such as firms as well as foreign investors in the process. As part of its lending policies, the EBRD mostly lends capital to the private sector as lending to the public sector is capped at 40% maximum.

Influencing
As a neoliberal institution, the EBRD participates in policy debates by publishing macroeconomic analysis as well as economic forecasts that are used by both governments and international financial institutions.

Mediation
More recently, other than its original lending role, the EBRD has played a mediating role in Europe, for instance in Moldova in 2013 and even in the Central Asian region (most notably in countries such as the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan for instance) by intervening as a third party in commercial disputes which has become one of its major areas of activities. As a mediating actor, the EBRD has managed to involve other actors such as businesses and Chambers of Commerce among others. Moreover, a regional forum on commercial mediation was established by the bank as part of its work, which has managed to involve various representatives from countries in Europe and Asia, such as judges and experts for instance.

The initial focus on transition economy
It is notable that one of the main objectives of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was to become a link between the European Union, its institutions and the countries it would focus on. As the recipients were previously centrally planned economies, the ERBD centered through its operations on working with the private sector, which was the principal target of central planning. Focusing on the integration and modernisation process, as part of its projects, the EBRD has notably invested in important sectors such as telecommunications in the Central and Eastern European countries.

To modern challenges
Since the 90s, recipients of EBRD financing have diversified, in fact, from mainly targeting EEC countries, the bank has moved to the Asian continent and increasingly focused on other countries such as China. More generally, Suma Chakrabarti, the EBRD president from 2012 to 2020, has pushed in the beginning of the 2010s for modernizing the Bank. Reforms encompassed the Bank's structure in itself, for instance by changing the management team, and its processes (for instance about policy dialogue or methodology regarding the concept of transition) in order for them to be more efficient.

Sustainable market economies
Since the 2000s, the focus has shifted towards the issue over sustainable market economies, notably in the context of the financial crisis of 2007 which harshly impacted population and their trust in financial institutions, democracy and free market. As a result, a rethinking of the concept of transition has taken place within the EBRD and has impacted the activities of the Bank. Furthermore, the concept of transition was reviewed in 2015. In fact, it led to the idea that the ideal market economy is made of a greatly competitive, resilient and integrated market and is complemented by a good governance system conducted by a well-functioning state which has to be environmental friendly and inclusive.

In Armenia, EBRD has been operating since 1986, investing over €2 billion in over 200 projects. More than 90% of these investments have been made in private enterprises. The bank's key areas of investment include the financial sector, SMEs, and sustainable infrastructure. They invest, engage in policy-making, and offer technical assistance in order to encourage these areas locally. The EBRD invests around €150 million in Armenia's economy every year. Its partner financial institutions lend approximately €100 million to local SMEs through a variety of programs that promote trade, green energy, and financial access.

Related to environment and climate change
Gradually, climate change and sustainable development became the focus point of the European Union, then consequently found its importance as one of the main challenges that the EBRD has to tackle. It became linked to the objective of forming sustainable market economies. In 2021, Anastassia Obydenkova research has indicated that positive evolutions have been made, for instance that carbon emission from some of the states benefiting from EBRD loans have decreased.

EBRD key achievements since 2020
Source:

Environment
The EBRD agreed a new green economy approach for 2021–2025 and adopted a target of becoming a majority green bank by 2025. It invested €3.2 billion in climate mitigation, climate adaptation and other activities related to environmental issues in 2020. Moreover, the EBRD signed up to the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles which represent the world’s first global guiding framework for banks, insurers, and investors to invest in the ocean economy in a sustainable way.

The EBRD also aims to support the corporate transition to decarbonisation, for instance in Poland (EV battery performance), in Turkey (elimination of plastics in single-use hygiene products), and in Ukraine (green supermarkets); and support green infrastructures.

Political and human rights standards
Linked to its objective of contributing to political transformation in the EBRD's country targets in which projects are financed, this institution contributes to political transformation in these same states. From the beginning of the negotiations that led to the creation of the EBRD, the question of democracy and human rights were included in the matter discussed. Those issues are clearly stated in the agreement.

The EBRD is devoted to strengthen its approach to human-rights and also to gender-based issues. For instance, it posted a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase in the number of projects it supports that promote gender inclusion. Moreover, the EBRD established a cross-departmental Human Rights Working Group and has developed internal human rights guidance.

COVID-19 response
The EBRD provided €802 million of support under the Vital Infrastructure Support Programme launched in April 2020, an emergency support programme for infrastructure providers which is part of its overall Solidarity Package response to COVID-19 adopted on 13 March 2020. The package delivered emergency liquidity and the EBRD invested more than €10 billion, both in 2019 and 2020.

Partnerships with NGOs
The EBRD has signed partnership agreements with Oxfam and Save the Children.

About the EBRD
In the 90s, the start of the EBRD actions have been considered as slow as the amount of money loaned was rather modest compared to what was available.

There have been criticism regarding potential conflict of interest as it appeared that instead of focusing on public interests, some bankers' operations were influenced by their clients' needs, contrary to the objective of the EBRD.

According to an economist named Branko Milanović, the analysis of global distribution of incomes has shown that the positive globalisation impact has mainly favoured the super-rich part of the population, thus deepening the inequalities of wealth concentration within the population. Furthermore, this uneven concentration is notably visible in the countries benefiting from the EBRD activities. This has led to a reflection over the idea of winners and losers regarding globalisation.

In contrast to the highlighted inclusion objective, concerns regarding inclusion, which notably involves gender equality, have been rather absent from the Bank's attributions until recently. For instance, a Strategic Gender Initiative was validated by the EBRD President in 2013 as well as various projects involving gender equality related objectives.

NGOs have criticised the EBRD on the lack of progress the EBRD makes in its main mission, the “transition towards open and democratic market economies.”

Regarding its investments
Inequality of the lending : most projects were related to the Visegrad countries that were the ones with the most developed private sectors meaning that the ERBD was underinvesting in the countries that were the most supposed to receive its participation. For instance, those countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland) were involved in 46% of the projects signed during the 1991–1993 period.

Environmentally harmful projects
Some NGOs have criticized the EBRD for financing projects they consider to be environmentally and socially harmful. Although it has increased its investments into energy efficiency and sustainable energy in recent years, these NGOs consider the bank continues to diminish the impacts of green investments by financing carbon-intensive development such as coal, oil and gas production, transportation and generation, motorways, and airports. Among the contested projects are the Ombla power plant in Croatia, the Kumtor Gold Mine in Kyrgyzstan, and the Šoštanj lignite power plant in Slovenia.

The Balkans
The EBRD's activities in the Balkans have attracted particular controversy and criticism, especially when they have centered on national parks or free-flowing rivers. This has often involved the completed or proposed construction of hydroelectric dams and road infrastructure. Indeed, a 2017 report alleged deficiencies in monitoring and mitigation measures that had been designed to lessen the environmental impact of dam projects financed by the EBRD, while, in March 2018, outdoor clothing label Patagonia helped launch The Dam Truth campaign, which directly requests international banks including the EBRD to "stop investing in the destruction of Europe's last wild rivers".

In 2011, the EBRD approved a €65 million loan to ELEM, the Macedonian electricity utility, for a dam at Boskov Most. The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention requested immediate suspension of the project, with reference to the high biodiversity of the area and its importance as a core reproductive area for the Balkan lynx, one of the most endangered mammals on the planet. In January 2017, the bank cancelled the loan saying the "conditions for disbursement were not met."

Again in North Macedonia, the EBRD was criticised by environmentalists after plans were announced to bisect National Park Galičica in the UNESCO Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Biosphere Reserve with an A3 express road, which would have required certain zones of protection in the national park to be downgraded. Scientists from North Macedonia and across the world signed a declaration in opposition to this and other projects proposed for the Ohrid-Prespa region, a message that was reinforced by a Joint Reactive Monitoring Mission from the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and the IUCN, which requested total cancellation of proposed A3 road sections. This recommendation was underlined by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session in Kraków. Eventually, in February 2018, the Republic of North Macedonia abandoned plans for the road, redirecting the EBRD's funds to other infrastructure projects.

Regarding the targeted countries
Even though, its major objectives is to push for democracy and respect of human rights, the EBRD has been accused of not working towards those goals by not applying enough pressure and even "holding its annual meetings in dictator-run countries". Furthermore, reports have highlighted the fact that an important part of the loans provided by the EBRD go to countries with authoritarian leaders as of the beginning of 2022, including states such as Belarus or Egypt among others, and this despite its major objective of promoting democracy.

2014 sanctions against Russia
The EBRD announced on 23 July 2014 that it would suspend new investment projects in Russia, following an earlier declaration by the European Council. The European Council declaration was made in the context of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. As of 2014 Russia has been the biggest funding recipient of all countries. In 2013, the Russian Federation received €1.8 billion for investments from the EBRD and 1 billion € from the EIB. Russia employed the funds to finance a variety of projects like pipeline valves, property acquisitions, and a loan to a hypermarket chain. Two Russian projects were awaiting funding from the EBRD: a €300 million plan for promoting energy efficiency, and a $180 million loan to lease agricultural and forestry equipment. The bank stated that it will continue to manage ongoing projects in Russia. Despite denying Russia new funds, the EBRD continues to insist on its 6.1% of ownership in the Moscow Stock Exchange, seeking profits from Russia with the privatisation of the Soviet economy.

Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector
Building Southern Gas Corridor, European countries and companies support gas export from Azerbaijan and contribute to finance Azerbaijan's government. The Aliyev regime is considered by many NGOs and watchdogs organizations as repressive and activists and journalists are regularly arrested on false charges and imprisoned. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) wrote in 2015, that "for more than a decade Azerbaijan has made shameless use of caviar diplomacy to charm European governments, its most important oil and gas clients". The EEC BankWatch warns that "Developing Shah Deniz stage 2 and the Southern Gas Corridor is likely to cement further the oppressive structures of the Aliyev government".

The EBRD has invested over 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in 177 projects in Azerbaijan. The EBRD approved three loans for the Shah Deniz gas field (US$200 million, US$250 million and US$100 million) as well as a US$500 million loan for the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP), and stated its financial support to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) could amount to EUR 1.2 billion.


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Yucatán

Yucatán (, also, , ;  ), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán (Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida.

It is located on the northern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Campeche to the southwest and Quintana Roo to the southeast, with the Gulf of Mexico off its northern coast.

Before the arrival of Spaniards, the peninsula was a very important region for the Maya civilization, which reached the peak of its development here, where the Maya founded the cities of Chichen Itza, Izamal, Motul, Mayapan, Ek' Balam, and Ichkanzihóo (also called T'ho), now Mérida.

After the Spanish conquest of Yucatán (early 16th to late 17th centuries), the Yucatán peninsula became a single administrative and political entity, the Captaincy General of Yucatán. Following Mexican independence in 1821 the local Governor proclaimed independence. Yucatán became part of the First Mexican Empire in December 1821. After the collapse of the Empire in March 1823, the first Republic of Yucatán (founded in May 1823) voluntarily negotiated annexation to the Federal Republic of United Mexican States on December 21, 1823. On March 16, 1841, as a result of cultural and political conflicts around the federal pact, Yucatán declared its independence from Mexico. forming a second Republic of Yucatán. Eventually on July 14, 1848, Yucatán was forced to rejoin Mexico. In 1858, in the middle of the Caste War of Yucatán, the state of Yucatán was divided for the first time, establishing Campeche as a separate state (officially in 1863). During the Porfiriato, in 1902, the state of Yucatán was divided again to form the Federal territory that later became the present state of Quintana Roo.

Etymology
Before the arrival of Spaniards in the Yucatán Peninsula, the name of this region was Mayab. In the Yucatec Maya language, mayab means "flat", and is the source of the word "Maya" itself.

The name Yucatán, also assigned to the peninsula, came from early explorations of the Conquistadors from Europe. Three different explanations for the origin of the name have been proposed.

The first two state that the name resulted from confusion between the Mayan inhabitants and the first Spanish explorers around 1517:
 * According to one of them, Spaniards gave the name of Yucatán to the region because the Maya answered their questions with the phrase uh yu ka t'ann, which in the Maya language means hear how they talk.
 * It is also said that it came from the answer of an indigenous Maya to the question of a Spanish explorer, who wanted to know the name of the region. The Maya probably replied Ma'anaatik ka t'ann which means in the Maya language I do not understand your speech or I do not understand you.

Probably the first person to propose the "I do not understand" version was the friar Toribio de Benavente Motolinía. In his book Historia de los indios de la Nueva España (History of the Indians of New Spain) he says "because talking with those Indians of the coast, whatever the Spanish asked the Indians responded: Tectetán, Tectetán which means I don't understand you, I don't understand you; they corrupted the word, and not understanding what the Indians said, they said: Yucatán is the name of this land; and the same happened in a place, a cape, which they also called Cape Cotoch; and Cotoch in that language means house."

The third proposed explanation comes from Bernal Díaz del Castillo. In his book Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España (True History of the Conquest of New Spain), he says Yucatá means "land of yucas", a plant that was cultivated by the Maya and was an important food source for them.

Pre-Columbian era

The origin of the first settlements has not been scientifically confirmed, although the presence of first humans in the area dates from the late Pleistocene or ice age (about 10,000–12,000 years), according to the findings in the Loltún caves and caverns of Tulum (Women of the Palms).

The first Maya moved to the Peninsula circa 250 CE, from the Petén (today northern Guatemala), to settle the southeastern peninsula in the modern Bacalar, Quintana Roo. In 525, the Chanés (Mayan tribe that preceded the Itza), moved to the east of the peninsula, founding Chichén Itzá, Izamal, Motul, Ek' Balam, Ichcaanzihó (modern Mérida) and Champotón. Later, Tutul Xiúes, Toltec descent, who came from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, settled in the region causing displacement of the Itza and Cocomes—a diversified branch of Itzá—and finally, after years and many battles, the League of Mayapan (composed of the Itza, the Xiús and Cocomes) was formed, which eventually disintegrated circa 1194, giving way to a period of anarchy and fragmentation into small domains which the Spanish conquistadors found in the 16th century.

Exploration by Spanish soldiers
In 1513, Juan Ponce de León had already conquered the island of Borinquén (now Puerto Rico) and had visited Florida. Antón de Alaminos, who was with Ponce de León on this latest discovery, suspected that west of Cuba they could find new land. Under their influence, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, supported by the governor of Cuba, organized an expedition commanded by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to explore the seas west of the island.

This expedition sailed from port of Ajaruco on February 8, 1517, to La Habana and after circling the island and sailing southwest by what is now known as the Yucatán Channel, the expedition made landfall at the Yucatán Peninsula on March 1. There are discrepancies about where the first explorers arrived. Some say it was in Isla Mujeres. Bernal Díaz del Castillo places it at Cabo Catoche, where they saw a great city which they named the «Gran Cairo».

Spanish conquest
The conquest of Yucatán was completed two decades after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire; by Francisco de Montejo "el Adelantado", his son Francisco de Montejo y León "el Mozo" and his nephew, Francisco de Montejo "el Sobrino". El Adelantado was in the expedition of Juan de Grijalva and was with Hernán Cortés in the third expedition that eventually became the Conquest of the Aztec Empire. He was subsequently appointed for the conquest of the Maya of Yucatán, but failed in his first attempt in 1527–28. In 1529 he was appointed Governor of Tabasco, with the order to pacify Tabasco and conquer Yucatán and Cozumel.

From Tabasco, Montejo led a new campaign to Yucatán from the west (1531–35) and failed again in his attempt for conquest. Circa 1535, after many bloody battles with the natives, he reached the complete pacification of the Province of Tabasco and began planning his new foray to Yucatán.

El Adelantado was appointed governor of Honduras and then of Chiapas. Therefore, he gave his son "El Mozo", the mission to consummate the conquest of Yucatán. Francisco de Montejo y León "el Mozo" founded the cities of San Francisco de Campeche on October 4, 1540, and Mérida on January 6, 1542 (in honor of Mérida, Extremadura). The city of Mérida was founded over the ruins of the Mayan city of Ichkanzihóo (T'ho) and the stones of old Mayan pyramids were used for the new buildings. Later, government powers were changed from Santa María de la Victoria, Tabasco, to Mérida on June 11, 1542. The newly founded Mérida was besieged by the Mayan troops of Nachi Cocom (overlord or 'Halach uinik' in Mayan language). It was a definitive battle for the Conquest of Yucatán. With that victory, the Spaniards consolidated their control of the western part of the peninsula.

Francisco de Montejo "El Adelantado" appointed his nephew, Francisco de Montejo "el Sobrino", to head the conquest of the eastern Yucatán, which was achieved after many bloody battles, ending with the foundation of the city of Valladolid on May 28, 1543.

Canek rebellion, during the colonial Yucatán
Oppressive policies of inequality and prejudice were imposed on the native Maya by the Spanish colonial government. In November 1761, Jacinto Canek, a Mayan from the town of Cisteil (now located in Yaxcabá Municipality), led an armed uprising against the government, which was quickly put down. Captured insurgents were taken to Mérida, where they were tried and tortured. As a warning to the population against rebellion, Cisteil was burned and covered with salt.

This abortive rebellion was not of great consequence to the colonial regime, but it marked the history of the peninsula and clearly delineated anti-colonial tensions in the region. The uprising was a precursor to the social upheaval that would explode less than a century later, as the Caste War. The Canek rebellion is remembered today as a symbol of the racial and social conflict that predominated for centuries in the Spanish colonies.

Yucatán in independent Mexico

Because of its geographical remoteness from the center of New Spain, especially from Mexico City, Yucatán was not militarily affected by the Mexican War of Independence, though the influence was felt in other ways. In 1820 Lorenzo de Zavala, member of Sanjuanistas (a group of creoles who met at the church of San Juan in downtown Mérida), created the Patriotic Confederation, which eventually divided into two groups: the supporters of the Spanish government under the Cádiz Constitution and another led by Zavala, which sought outright independence from Spain. Mariano Carrillo Albornoz then Governor of Yucatán, sent Zavala and Manuel García Sosa as deputies of the Cortes of Cádiz to Madrid, while the other liberals were imprisoned. While this was happening in Yucatán, the Plan of Iguala was proclaimed in the current state of Guerrero (at that time part of the Intendency of Mexico).

On September 15, 1821, in the Hall of Councils of the City of Mérida, Yucatán declared its independence from Spain. Almost immediately, Governor Juan María Echeverri sent two representatives to negotiate the incorporation of Yucatán into the Mexican Empire. The incorporation took place on November 2, 1821.

Republic of Yucatán
The Mexican Empire was quickly overthrown (1823) under the Plan of Casa Mata, and the provinces of the erstwhile empire became independent states. The first Republic of Yucatán, declared on May 29, 1823, joined the Federal Republic of the United Mexican States as the Federated Republic of Yucatán on December 23, 1823.

The second Republic of Yucatán emerged when the federal pact signed by Yucatán and endorsed in the Constitution of Yucatán of 1825 was broken by the centralist government of Mexico from 1835. In 1841 the state of Tabasco decreed its separation from Mexico and Miguel Barbachano, then governor of Yucatán, sent a commission headed by Justo Sierra O'Reilly to meet with Tabasco authorities to propose the creation of an independent federal republic from Mexico formed by the two states. The idea failed when Tabasco rejoined Mexico in 1842.

On August 22, 1846, Mexican interim president José Mariano Salas restored the 1824 constitution and federalism. Two years later, during the government of president José Joaquín de Herrera, Miguel Barbachano ordered the reinstatement of Yucatán to Mexico under the Constitution of Yucatán of 1825. A decisive factor for the reinstatement was the Caste War, which forced Yucatán to seek outside help. In 1852 due to internal struggles between opposing political factions, the Territory of Campeche was created. On April 29, 1863, during the government of Mexican President Benito Juárez, Campeche gained its current status as an independent state.

Flag of the Republic of Yucatán

The flag of Yucatán was raised on March 16, 1841. The period of the Republic of Yucatán was the only one in which the banner was officially used by the authorities of Yucatán.

Rodolfo Menéndez de la Peña, historian, describes the flag of Yucatán: "The flag of Yucatán was divided into two parts: green on left, the right, with three divisions, red up and down and white in the middle. In the green field highlighted, five stars, symbolizing the five departments that Yucatan was divided by decree of November 30, 1840: Mérida, Izamal, Valladolid, Tekax and Campeche."

The flag does not have official recognition in the state, however, it has a strong recognition among the people of the state. De facto state flag, in any case, according to a convention led by former president Ernesto Zedillo, is a white flag with the shield of the state in the middle.

Caste War
The Caste War of Yucatán was a conflict that lasted from 1847 to 1901. It began with the revolt of native Maya people led by Maya chiefs Jacinto Pat and Cecilio Chi, against the population of European descent called "Yucatecos", who had political and economic control. A lengthy war ensued between the Yucateco forces in the north-west of the Yucatán and the independent Maya in the south-east. It officially ended with the occupation of the Maya capital of Chan Santa Cruz by the Mexican army in 1901, although skirmishes with villages and small settlements that refused to acknowledge Mexican control continued for over another decade.

Adam Jones wrote: "This ferocious race war featured genocidal atrocities on both sides, with up to 200,000 killed."

Because of the conflict, on November 24, 1902, Yucatán had a second territorial division when Porfirio Díaz decreed the creation of the Federal Territory of Quintana Roo, with capital in the port of Payo Obispo (today Chetumal). In little more than half a century, Yucatán lost more than two thirds of its original territory.

The henequen industry

In the late 19th century, the henequen industry grew to unprecedented power in the Yucatan. The henequen grown in the Yucatan was used around the world for rope and twine, and became known as sisal rope, named after the seaside town of Sisal, from where the rope was shipped. Today Sisal is a sleepy fishing village, being rediscovered by locals and visitors as a beach location for vacation homes. The henequen industry provided financial autonomy to the isolated Yucatán. The fiber of the henequén plant (known as sosquil (maya: sos kí)) was manufactured into twine and rope, used in riggings, string, sacks, rugs, and many other items. It became the chief export item of the Yucatán, making many local families very wealthy. That wealth is today evident in the architecture of the colonial city of Mérida, as well as in the more than 150 haciendas that are spread throughout the Yucatán Peninsula.

Korean immigration to Mexico began in 1905. The first Korean migrants settled in Yucatán as workers in henequen plantations. Labour brokers began advertising in newspapers in the Korean port city of Incheon in 1904 for workers willing to go to Mexico to work on henequen plantations for four- or five-year contracts. A total of more than one thousand were recruited and departed from Incheon on board a British cargo ship on 4 April 1905, despite efforts by the Korean government to block their departure. Once their contracts were up, most settled in Mexico, either continuing to work on henequen plantations or moving to various cities in the country.

Hundreds of prosperous haciendas abounded in the state until the advent of synthetic products after World War II, the cultivation of henequén in other parts of the world and the self-serving actions of some of the leading henequen-growing families led to the gradual decline of the Yucatan's monopoly on the industry.

The great influx of wealth during that period from the henequen industry focused mainly on Mérida, the capital of Yucatán State. It allowed the city of Mérida to install street lights and a tram system even before Mexico City. It is said that in the early 20th century, the city had the largest number of millionaires per capita in the world. Today, Paseo de Montejo (inspired by the Parisian avenue Champs-Élysées), is lined with the elegant houses built during that time. These houses are mostly now renovated and serve as everything from private homes to banks, hotels and restaurants. Many of the haciendas today have also been renovated and now serve as private homes, event venues and upscale luxury hotels.

Late 20th century
Until the mid-20th century most of Yucatán's contact with the outside world was by sea; trade with the US and Cuba, as well as Europe and other Caribbean islands, was more significant than that with the rest of Mexico. In the 1950s Yucatán was linked to the rest of Mexico by railway, followed by highway in the 1960s, ending the region's comparative isolation. Today Yucatán still demonstrates a unique culture from the rest of Mexico, including its own style of food.

Commercial jet airplanes began arriving in Mérida in the 1960s, and additional international airports were built first in Cozumel and then in the new planned resort community of Cancún in the 1980s, making tourism a major force in the economy of the Yucatán Peninsula.

The first Maya governor of Yucatán, Francisco Luna Kan, was elected in 1976.

Today, the Yucatán Peninsula is a major tourism destination, as well as home to one of the largest indigenous populations in Mexico, the Maya people.

Geography
The State of Yucatán is located on the Yucatán Peninsula. It borders the states of Campeche to the southwest, Quintana Roo to the east and southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west. As a whole, the state is extremely flat with little or no topographic variation, with the exception of the Puuc hills, located in the southern portion of the state.

Languages
The most widespread indigenous language of Yucatán is Yucatec Maya, spoken natively by approximately 800,000 people in Yucatán and adjacent Quintana Roo and Campeche, especially in rural areas. The Spanish spoken in Yucatán has lexical and some phonological borrowing from Mayan and employs many words of Mayan origin, such as purux ("fat"), tuch ("navel") and wixar ("urinate").

Korean immigration
In 1905, 1,003 Korean immigrants, which included 802 men and 231 women and children, departed from the port of Chemulpo, Incheon aboard the ship Ilford to Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, Mexico. The journey took 45 days, after which they took a train to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. In the Veracruz port, another boat was taken to the port of Progreso with the final destination being the capital city of Mérida, Yucatan. They arrived in May 1905, with previously signed contracts for four years' work as indentured laborers on the Yucatán henequen haciendas. Many of these Koreans were distributed throughout the Yucatán in 32 henequen haciendas. The town of Motul, Yucatan, located in the heart of the henequen zone, was a destination for many of the Korean immigrants. Subsequently, in 1909, at the end of their contracts, they began a new stage in which they scattered even further. Thus, the majority of those who came were single men who made or remade their family lives with Yucatecan especially Maya women. While Korean girls were much more subject to marriages arranged by Korean parents, males had greater freedom when it came to making a family. This rapid intermarriage by Koreans, coupled with geographic dispersal, prevented the establishment of close social networks among these migrants and therefore provided the basis for Korean descendants among the Yucatan Peninsula. After that 1905 ship, no further entries of Koreans into Mexico were recorded until many years later, leading to a new community of Koreans with completely different characteristics from those who entered in 1905.

Government
The Constitution of Yucatán provides that the government of Yucatán, like the government of every other state in Mexico, consists of three powers: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.

Executive power rests in the governor of Yucatán, who is directly elected by the citizens, using a secret ballot, to a six-year term with no possibility of reelection. Legislative power rests in the Congress of Yucatán which is a unicameral legislature composed of 25 deputies. Judicial power is invested in the High Court of Justice of Yucatán and its district courts.

Municipalities
The State of Yucatán is divided into 106 municipalities, each headed by a municipal president (mayor). Usually municipalities are named after the city that serves as municipal seat; e.g. the municipal seat of the Municipality of Mérida is the City of Mérida.

Politics
The most recent local election in Yucatán was held on June 6, 2021.

Media
Newspapers of Yucatán include: Artículo 7, De Peso (Mérida), Diario de Yucatán, La I Noticias para Mí Mérida, Milenio Novedades (Antes El Mundo al Día), and ''Por Esto! (Yucatán).''

Food
Yucatecan food is its own unique style and is very different from what most people would consider Mexican food. It includes influences from the local Mayan culture, as well as Caribbean, European (Spanish), (North) African, and Middle Eastern cultures, as well as influence from the cuisine of other parts of Mexico.

There are many regional dishes. Some of them are:
 * Poc Chuc, a Mayan/Yucatecan version of barbecued pork.
 * Salbutes and Panuchos. Salbutes are soft, cooked tortillas with lettuce, tomato, turkey, and avocado on top. Panuchos feature fried tortillas filled with black beans and topped with turkey or chicken, lettuce, avocado and pickled onions. Habanero chiles accompany most dishes, either in solid or puréed form, along with fresh limes and corn tortillas.
 * Queso relleno, a "gourmet" dish featuring ground pork inside of a carved Edam cheese ball served with tomato sauce and gravy.
 * Pavo en Relleno Negro, a turkey meat stew cooked with a black paste made from roasted chiles, a local version of the mole de guajalote found throughout Mexico. The meat soaked in the black soup is also served in tacos, sandwiches and even in panuchos or salbutes and is usually referred to as "Relleno negro".
 * Sopa de Lima, a lime-flavored soup with meat (turkey, chicken, or pork), served with tortilla chips.
 * Papadzules, egg tacos covered in pumpkin seed sauce and tomatoes.
 * Cochinita Pibil, a marinated pork dish and by far the most renowned of Yucatecan food.
 * Xcatik, a type of chili.
 * Pavo en Relleno Blanco (or simply "Relleno Blanco"), a turkey stew almost like Pavo en Relleno Negro.
 * Xnipec, a fiery hot salsa or relish similar to pico de gallo, made with habanero chiles and Seville orange juice

Safety
the Mexican National Public Security System ranked Yucatán among the safest Mexican states. Mérida was awarded City of Peace in 2011. It is one of the two states the U.S. advises its citizens to exercise normal precautions, alongside neighbouring Campeche. Yucatán is the safest state in Mexico and Mérida was awarded City of Peace in 2011.

The Yucatán State Police is the law enforcement agency inside the state. The security in the interior of the state was praised multiple times by former president Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, local and foreign businessmen, as well as by governor Ivonne Ortega Pacheco.

Notable people

 * Bennetto Payne (1909–1987), professional boxer

title: Yucatán


text:
Pliny

Pliny may refer to:

People

 * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of Naturalis Historia (Pliny's Natural History)
 * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, writer, and Pliny the Elder's nephew and adopted son
 * Pliny Chase (1820–1886), American scientist, mathematician, and educator
 * Pliny Earle (disambiguation), several people
 * Pliny Fisk III (born 1944), co-founder and co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS)
 * Pliny Earle Goddard (1869–1928), American linguist and ethnologist
 * Pliny Norcross (1838–1915), Wisconsin politician
 * Pliny W. Williamson (1876–1958), New York politician

Places

 * Pliny, West Virginia, United States
 * Pliny Township, Minnesota, United States

Beers

 * Pliny the Elder, the flagship beer of the Russian River Brewing Company
 * Pliny the Younger (beer), a seasonal (February) beer of the Russian River Brewing Company

title: Pliny