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Mayor

In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as the means by which a mayor is elected or otherwise mandated. Depending on the system chosen, a mayor may be the chief executive officer of the municipal government, may simply chair a multi-member governing body with little or no independent power, or may play a solely ceremonial role. A mayor's duties and responsibilities may be to appoint and oversee municipal managers and employees, provide basic governmental services to constituents, and execute the laws and ordinances passed by a municipal governing body (or mandated by a state, territorial or national governing body). Options for selection of a mayor include direct election by the public, or selection by an elected governing council or board.

The term mayor shares a linguistic origin with the military rank of major, both ultimately derived from French majeur.

United Kingdom
In modern England and Wales, the position of mayor descends from the feudal lord's bailiff or reeve (see borough). The chief magistrate of London bore the title of portreeve for considerably more than a century after the Norman Conquest. This official was elected by popular choice, a privilege secured from King John. By the beginning of the 12th century, the title of portreeve gave way to that of mayor as the designation of the chief officer of London, followed around 1190 by that of Winchester. Other boroughs adopted the title later.

In the 19th century, the Municipal Corporations Act 1882, Section 15, regulated the election of mayors. The mayor was to be a fit person elected annually on 9 November by the council of the borough from among the aldermen or councilors or persons qualified to be such. His term of office was one year, but he was eligible for re-election. He might appoint a deputy to act during illness or absence, and such deputy must be either an alderman or councilor. A mayor who was absent from the borough for more than two months became disqualified and had to vacate his office. A mayor was ex officio a justice of the peace for the borough during his year of office and the following year. He received such remuneration as the council thought reasonable. These provisions have now been repealed.

In medieval Wales, the Laws of Hywel Dda codified the mayor (Latin: maior; Welsh: maer) as a position at the royal courts charged with administering the serfs of the king's lands. To maintain its dependence on and loyalty to the Crown, the position was forbidden to the leaders of the clan groups. A separate mayor, known as the "cow dung mayor" (maer biswail), was charged with overseeing the royal cattle. There were similar offices at the Scottish and Irish courts.

The office of mayor in most modern English and Welsh boroughs and towns did not in the 20th century entail any important administrative duties and was generally regarded as an honor conferred for local distinction, long service on the council, or for past services. The mayor was expected to devote much of his (or her) time to civic, ceremonial, and representational functions, and to preside over meetings for the advancement of the public welfare. The administrative duties of mayors were to act as returning officer at parliamentary elections and to chair the meetings of the council.

The mayor of a town council is officially known as "town mayor" (although in popular parlance, the word town is often dropped). The person is known as "mayor" regardless of gender; the partner of a mayor is sometimes known as the "mayoress". Since the 1974 local government reforms, mayors are also appointed to English local government districts which have borough status. This results in mayors of districts which include towns which also have separate mayors. In districts which do not have borough status, the role of civic leader is taken by the chairman of the council, who undertakes exactly the same functions as a mayor of a district with borough status.

Some cities in England have a Lord mayor.

In Scotland the post holders are known as convenors, provosts, or lord provosts depending on the local authority.

Directly elected mayors
Since reforms introduced in 2000, a number of English local authorities have directly elected mayors who combine the "civic" mayor role with that of leader of the council and have significantly greater powers than either.

Areas which now have directly elected mayors include cities, local government districts which cover several towns and rural areas, and since 2014 combined authority areas which include two or more local authority districts.

Continental Europe
The original Frankish mayors or majordomos were – like the Welsh meiri – lords commanding the king's lands around the Merovingian courts in Austrasia, Burgundy, and Neustria. The mayorship of Paris eventually became hereditary in the Pippinids, who later established the Carolingian dynasty.

In modern France, since the Revolution, a mayor (maire) and a number of mayoral adjuncts (adjoints au maire) are selected by the municipal council from among their number. Most of the administrative work is left in their hands, with the full council meeting comparatively infrequently. The model was copied throughout Europe in Britain's mayors, Italy's sindacos, most of the German states' burgomasters, and Portugal's presidents of the municipal chambers.

In Medieval Italy, the city-states who did not consider themselves independent principalities or dukedoms – particularly those of the Imperial Ghibelline faction – were led by podestàs.

The Greek equivalent of a mayor is the demarch (δήμαρχος).

Scandinavia
In Denmark all municipalities are led by a political official called borgmester, 'mayor'. The mayor of Copenhagen is however called overborgmester 'lord mayor'. In that city other mayors, borgmestre (plural), are subordinate to the lord mayor with different undertakings, like ministers to a prime minister. In other municipalities in Denmark there is only a single mayor.

In Norway and Sweden the mayoral title borgermester/borgmästare has now been abolished. Norway abolished it in 1937 as a title of the non-political top manager of (city) municipalities and replaced it with the title rådmann ('alderman' or 'magistrate'), which is still in use when referring to the top managers of the municipalities of Norway. The top elected official of the municipalities of Norway, on the other hand, has the title ordfører, which actually means 'word-bearer', i.e. 'chairperson' or 'president', an equivalent to the Swedish word ordförande.

In Sweden borgmästare was a title of the senior judge of the courts of the cities, courts which were called rådhusrätt, literally 'town hall court', somewhat of an equivalent to an English magistrates' court. These courts were abolished in 1971. Until 1965, these mayor judges on historical grounds also performed some administrative functions in the board of magistrates, in Swedish known collectively as magistrat. Until 1965 there were also municipal mayors (kommunalborgmästare), who had these non-political administrative roles in smaller cities without a magistrates' court or magistrat. This office was an invention of the 20th century as the smaller cities in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century subsequently lost their own courts and magistrates.

In the 16th century in Sweden, king Gustav Vasa considerably centralised government and appointed the mayors directly. In 1693 king Charles XI accepted a compromise after repeated petitions from the Estate of the Burgesses over decades against the royal mayor appointments. The compromise was that the burgesses in a city could normally nominate a mayor under the supervision of the local governor. The nominee was then to be presented to and appointed by the king, but the king could appoint mayors directly in exceptional cases. This was codified in the Instrument of Government of 1720 and on 8 July the same year Riksrådet ("the Council of the Realm") decided, after a petition from the said Estate, that only the city could present nominees, not the king or anyone else. Thus the supervision of the local governor and directly appointed mayors by the king ceased after 1720 (the so-called Age of Liberty). On 16 October 1723, it was decided after a petition that the city should present three nominees, of whom the king (or the Council of the Realm) appointed one. This was kept as a rule from then on in all later regulations and was also kept as a tradition in the 1809 Instrument of Government (§ 31) until 1965.

In Finland, there are two mayors, in Tampere and Pirkkala. Usually in Finland the highest executive official is not democratically elected, but is appointed to a public office by the city council, and is called simply kaupunginjohtaja 'city manager' or kunnanjohtaja 'municipal manager', depending on whether the municipality defines itself as a city. The term pormestari 'mayor', from Swedish borgmästare confusingly on historical grounds has referred to the highest official in the registry office and in the city courts (abolished in 1993) as in Sweden, not the city manager. In addition, pormestari is also an honorary title, which may be given for distinguished service in the post of the city manager. The city manager of Helsinki is called ylipormestari, which translates to 'chief mayor', for historical reasons. Furthermore, the term city manager may be seen translated as mayor.

Spain
The office of the Alcalde evolved during the Reconquista as new lands were settled by the expanding kingdoms of León and Castile. As fortified settlements in the area between the Douro and Tagus rivers became true urban centers, they gained, from their feudal lords or the kings of Leon and Castile, the right to have councils. Among the rights that these councils had was to elect a municipal judge (iudex in Latin and juez in Spanish). These judges were assisted in their duties by various assistant judges, called alcaldes, whose number depended on the number of parishes the town had. The title alcalde was borrowed from the Arabic al-qaḍi (قاضي), meaning 'the judge'.

The word alcalde originally was used for simple judges, as in Andalusian Arabic. Only later was it applied to the presiding municipal magistrate. This early use continued to be reflected in its other uses, such as alcaldes del crimen, the judges in the audiencias; Alcaldes de la Casa y Corte de Su Majestad, who formed the highest tribunal in Castile and also managed the royal court; alcaldes mayores, a synonym for corregidor; and alcaldes de barrio, who were roughly the equivalent of British parish constables. Because of this, the municipal alcalde was often referred to as an alcalde ordinario.

Armenia
Mayors in Armenia are the head of the executive branch of municipal government. Mayors are often elected by the respective city council and serve for a five-year term. The mayor heads the community administration, nominates members of the administration to various posts, and oversees the municipal budget.

Australia
In Australian councils, the mayor is generally the member of the council who acts as a ceremonial figurehead at official functions, as well as carrying the authority of the council between meetings. Mayoral decisions made between meetings are subject to council and may be confirmed or repealed if necessary. Mayors in Australia may be elected either directly through a ballot for the position of mayor at a local-government election, or alternatively may be elected from within the council at a meeting.

The civic regalia and insignia of local government have basically remained unaltered for centuries. For ceremonial occasions a mayor may wear robes, a mayoral chain and a mace. Mayors have the title of His/Her Worship whilst holding the position.

In councils where councillors are elected representing political parties, the mayor is normally the leader of the party receiving the most seats on council. In Queensland, the lord mayor and mayors are elected by popular vote at the general council election.

Bangladesh
Mayors in Bangladesh are elected every five years. They are very powerful in municipal government. The mayor is the highest-ranking official in municipal governments in Bangladesh.

Brazil
Every municipality in Brazil elects a mayor (Portuguese: prefeito/prefeita) and a vice-mayor (Portuguese: vice-prefeito/vice-prefeita) for a four-year term, acting as an executive officer with the city council (Portuguese: Câmara Municipal) functioning with legislative powers. The mayor can be re-elected and manage the city for two consecutive terms.

Mayoral elections in Brazil occur in two different ways: in municipalities with more than 200,000 inhabitants, the voting happens in a two-round system, like the presidential and gubernatorial elections. In municipalities with less than 200,000 inhabitants, the voting happens in a relative majority system (with only one round).

The Brazilian system works similarly to the mayor-council government in the United States.

Canada
The chief executives of boroughs (arrondissements) in Quebec are termed mayors (maires/mairesses in French). A borough mayor simultaneously serves as head of the borough council and as a regular councillor on the main city council. The scheduling of municipal elections in Canada varies by jurisdiction, as each province and territory has its own laws regarding municipal governance.

As is the practice in most Commonwealth countries, in Canada a mayor is addressed as His/Her Worship while holding office.

Reeve
In a few municipalities and townships in Ontario, the reeve is the elected head of the municipality, and the second-in-command is referred to as the deputy reeve. Historically, in some small townships, the title "reeve" was used instead of mayor. In some other municipalities, "mayor" and "reeve" were two separate offices, with the mayor retaining leadership powers while the reeve was equivalent to what other municipalities called an "at-large councillor". Today most municipalities in the province now designate their elected municipal government heads as mayors, but a small handful retain the position. This continues to be the case in the following municipalities and townships:
 * Howick Township, Huron County
 * North Huron Township, Huron County
 * Beckwith Township, Lanark County
 * Drummond/North Elmsley Township, Lanark County
 * Lanark Highlands, Lanark County
 * Montague Township, Lanark County
 * Tay Valley Township, Lanark County
 * Township of The Archipelago, Parry Sound District
 * Alberton Township, Rainy River District
 * Chapple Township, Rainy River District
 * La Vallee Township, Rainy River District
 * Morley Township, Rainy River District
 * Dorion Township, Thunder Bay District
 * Gilles Township, Thunder Bay District
 * Brethour Township, Timiskaming District
 * Casey Township, Timiskaming District
 * Chamberlain Township, Timiskaming District
 * Municipality of Charlton and Dack, Timiskaming District
 * Evaturel Township, Timiskaming District
 * Gauthier Township, Timiskaming District
 * Harley Township, Timiskaming District
 * Harris Township, Timiskaming District
 * Hilliard Township, Timiskaming District
 * Hudson Township, Timiskaming District
 * James Township, Timiskaming District
 * Kerns Township, Timiskaming District
 * Village of Thornloe, Timiskaming District

The reeve is also the chief elected official in most of Alberta's municipal districts.

The elected heads of rural municipalities (RM) in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are also referred to as a reeve.

Dominican Republic
The mayor of a municipality in the Dominican Republic is called indistinctly alcalde or síndico. The latter name is preferred to avoid confusing the title with the similar-sounding alcaide (lit. 'prison warden'). Such a person is the governor of the municipality whose township elected him (or her) by direct vote for a term of four years. The daily duties of the mayor's office are restricted to local governance, and as such, it is responsible for the coordination of waste collection, upkeep of public spaces (e.g., parks, undeveloped urban parcels, streets), traffic light control, sewage, and most public utilities. In practice, most of its duties are centered on minor street repairs (new or large road projects, like overpasses, bridges, pedestrian crossings, etc. are handled by the Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio de Obras Públicas), under the direct control of the central government. Subcontracting garbage collection and management, overseeing the use of public spaces, and arbitrating neighborhood land use disputes, which are managed by the National Property office (Oficina de Bienes Nacionales), is also controlled by the mayor's office. Water, electrical supply and public transportation coordination are handled by several central government offices, and as such, are not under the control of the mayor.

France
Mayors (maires) are elected for a six-year term by the municipal council, whose members are elected by direct universal suffrage in local elections held every six years.

Germany
In Germany, local government is regulated by state statutes. Nowadays only the mayors of the three city-states (Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen) are still elected by the respective city-state parliaments. In all the other states the mayors are now elected directly by the EU citizens living in that area. The post of mayor may be said to be a professional one, the mayor being the head of the local government, and requiring, in order to be eligible, training in administration. In big cities (details are regulated by state statutes) the official title is Oberbürgermeister (mayor). In these cities, a "simple" mayor is just a deputy responsible for a distinct task (e.g., welfare or construction works). Big cities are usually kreisfrei ('district-free'). That means that the city council also has the powers and duties of a rural district council. The leader of a rural district council is called Landrat ('land counsellor'). In that case, the chief mayor also has the duties and powers of a Landrat.

There are also some German states that allow smaller cities to have an Oberbürgermeister as well. In Saarland, for instance, every city with more than 35,000 inhabitants has one, and in Saxony-Anhalt every city with a population bigger than 25,000 has one. The term Oberbürgermeister is not used in the three city-states, where the mayors are simultaneously head of state governments, but Regierender Bürgermeister (Governing Mayor of Berlin), Erster Bürgermeister (First Mayor of the city-state of Hamburg) and Präsident des Senats und Bürgermeister (President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen) are used. However, the term Oberbürgermeister was used for the head of the state government of West Berlin until 1951 and was also used in East Berlin from 1948 to January 1991.

Greece
Mayors (δήμαρχοι, dēmarchoi, sing. δήμαρχος, dēmarchos) in Greece were previously elected every four years in local elections and are the head of various municipal governments in which the state is divided. Starting in 2014, mayors are elected for a five-year term. Local administration elections for the new, consolidated municipalities and peripheries will henceforth be held together with the elections for the European Parliament.

Local administration in Greece recently underwent extensive reform in two phases: the first phase, implemented in 1997 and commonly called the Kapodistrias Plan, consolidated the country's numerous municipalities and communities down to approximately 1000. The second phase, initially called Kapodistrias II but eventually called the Kallikratis Plan, was implemented in 2010, further consolidated municipalities down to 370, and merged the country's 54 prefectures, which were disbanded in favour of the larger 13 regions. The Kallikratian municipalities were designed according to several guidelines; for example, each island (except Crete) was incorporated into a single municipality, while the majority of small towns were consolidated so as to have an average municipal population of 25,000.

India
In India, the mayor is the first citizen of a city and the head of municipal corporation which is a local government of cities with a population over one million. They have a number of roles, both ceremonial and functional. In most Indian states mayors are elected indirectly among the corporators (who are directly elected by the people of their respective wards) of the municipal corporation, except in nine states: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Uttarakhand, where mayors are elected directly by the public.

Indonesia
In Indonesia, mayor (wali kota, formerly called walikotamadya and walikota) is a regional head of a city or town. A mayor has the same level as a regent (bupati), head of a regency (kabupaten). Basically, a mayor has the duty and authority to lead the implementation of the policies established by the region along with the city council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Kota, DPRD Kota; formerly called Tier 2-DPRD (DPRD Tingkat II)). A mayor is elected in a pair with a vice mayor through direct elections and is a political office. An exception is Special Capital Region of Jakarta, where mayoralty is a civil-service career position with limited authority and is designated by the governor. Their regions are called administration cities (kota administrasi).

Before 1999, there were administrative cities (kota administratif, [id]) which were headed by administrative mayors.

Iran
In Iran, the mayor is the executive manager of a city and is elected by the Islamic City Council. The mayor is elected for a four-year term.

Ireland
In the Republic of Ireland, the head of a borough corporation was called "mayor" from the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 until boroughs were abolished by the Local Government Reform Act 2014. City council chairs are "mayor" (or "lord mayor" in the cases of Dublin and of Cork). The Local Government Act 2001 allowed county councils to style their chairperson as "mayor" and some do so. Since 2000 there have been proposals for a directly elected mayor of the Dublin Metropolitan Area. The 2019 local elections included plebiscites in three areas on directly elected mayors, of which that for Mayor of Limerick was passed, with the first direct election due as part of the 2024 local elections.

Italy
In Italy, the mayor is called sindaco, or informally primo cittadino ('first citizen'). Every municipality (comune) has a mayor who represents the local government. The mayor is directly elected every five years by the inhabitants of the comune; the mayor cannot serve for more than two consecutive terms, except in municipalities of up to 5,000 inhabitants, those having a three consecutive terms limit.

The mayor is a member of the City council, the legislative body which checks the mayor's policy guidelines and is able to enforce his resignation by a motion of no confidence, and is entitled to appoint and release the members of the executive body (giunta).

Japan
Japan's Local-Autonomy Law of 1947 defines the structure of Japanese local governments, which were strengthened after World War II. It gives strong executive power to the mayor in local politics like strong mayors in large cities in the United States of America. The titles that are translated as mayor by the governments are those of the heads of cities shichō (市長), towns chōchō (町長), villages sonchō (村長), and Tokyo's special wards kuchō (区長) (The head of the Tokyo prefecture is the Governor (知事)).

A mayor is elected every four years by direct popular votes held separately from the assembly. A mayor can be recalled by a popular initiative but the prefectural and the national governments cannot remove a mayor from office. Towards the assembly the mayor prepares budgets, proposes local acts and may veto local acts approved by the assembly which can be overridden by two-thirds assembly support. A mayor can dissolve the assembly if the assembly passes a motion of no confidence or if the mayor thinks the assembly has no confidence in fact.

Kazakhstan
In Kazakhstan, the mayor is called akim, who is the head of an akimat, a municipal, district, or provincial government (mayorat), and serves as the presidential representative. Akims of provinces and cities are appointed to the post by the president on the advice of the prime minister. Meanwhile, the akims of other administrative and territorial units are appointed or elected to the post in an order defined by the president. The president may also dismiss akims from their posts. The akims' powers end upon the newly elected president of the republic taking office. Thus, the akims continue to fulfill their duties before the appointment of the corresponding akim by the President of Kazakhstan.

Malaysia
The mayor functions as the head of the local government of the cities in Malaysia. To date, there are 14 officially-recognised cities in the country.

In cities which lie within the jurisdiction of any one of the 13 Malaysian states, the mayor is appointed by the state government. Kuala Lumpur, the country's capital, is a notable exception, as it forms part of the Federal Territories which come under the purview of the Malaysian federal government, via the Ministry of Federal Territories. Thus, the mayor of Kuala Lumpur is selected by, and subordinate to, the Minister of Federal Territories.

Following the 2018 general election, which saw the country undergoing its first ever regime change, there have been calls to revive local government elections, which had been the practice in certain cities such as Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Ipoh and Melaka until their abolishment in 1965. The reinstatement of local government elections would lead to the mayoral position being elected, instead of being appointed as per the current system.

Malta
In Malta, the mayor (sindku) is the leader of the majority party in the local council. The members of the local councils are directly elected and collectively serve as a basic form of local government.

Moldova
The mayor of the municipality in Moldova is elected for four years. In Chișinău, the last mayoral elections had to be repeated three times because of the low rate of participation.

Nepal
Mayors in Nepal are elected every five years in the local elections. They are very powerful in municipal government. The mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government in Nepal.

Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the mayor (burgemeester) is the leader of the college of mayor and aldermen (College van Burgemeester en Wethouders), the municipal executive. In the Netherlands, burgemeesters are de facto appointed by the national cabinet, de jure by the monarch. Appointment is generally preceded by a selection procedure and nomination by the municipal council and king's commissioner (head of the provincial executive), and a nomination is only very rarely not followed by an appointment. Mayors preside over both the municipal executive and the legislative (gemeenteraad), although they can vote in the former and not in the latter. The title is sometimes translated as burgomaster, to emphasise the appointed, rather than elected, nature of the office. The appointment procedure was brought for discussion in the early 2000s (decade), as some of the political parties represented in parliament regarded the procedure as undemocratic. Generally, mayors in the Netherlands are selected from the established political parties, although since the late 2010s mayors without political affiliation have become more common. Alternatives proposed were direct election of the mayor by the people or official appointment by the municipal council (gemeenteraad). A constitutional change to allow for this failed to pass the Senate in March 2005, but succeeded in 2018.

New Zealand
Mayors in New Zealand are elected every three years in the local body elections.

Pakistan
In Pakistan, a city is headed by the district nazim (the word means 'administrator' in Urdu, but is sometimes translated as 'mayor') and assisted by the naib nazim, who is also speaker of the district council. The district nazim is elected by the nazims of union councils, union councillors and by tehsil nazims, who themselves are elected directly by the votes of the local public. Council elections are held every four years.

Philippines
In the Philippines, mayors (Punong Bayan / Punong Lungsod / Alkalde) are the head of a municipality or a city, with the vice mayor as the second-highest position in the city. They are elected every three years during the midterm and national elections, and they can serve up to three consecutive terms of office. , there are 1,635 mayors in the Philippines.

Poland
As of 30 April 2022, there are altogether 2477 municipalities (gmina) in Poland, including 1513 rural gminas, while the remaining 968 ones contain cities and towns. Among them, 666 towns are part of an urban-rural gmina while 302 cities and towns are standalone as an urban gmina. The latter group includes 107 cities (governed by a prezydent miasta), including 66 cities with powiat rights. 37 cities among the latter group are over 100,000, including 18 cities serving as a seat for voivode or voivodeship sejmik, informally called voivodeship cities.

All municipalities in Poland including cities and towns are governed under the mandatory mayor–council government system. Executive power is vested in an official called one of the following:
 * a city mayor (prezydent miasta)
 * a town mayor (burmistrz)
 * a wójt which is the equivalent office in a rural municipality (gmina wiejska)

They are elected by a two-round direct election for a five-year term concurrently with the five-year term of the municipal council and cannot serve in the latter or in any higher-level deliberative bodies: a county council, a voivodeship sejmik, the Parliament of Poland or the European Parliament. Citizens with a criminal record cannot run for mayor, but only if sentenced for intentional criminal offence prosecuted ex officio. The municipal/town/city council is the legislative, budget-making and oversight body. Mayor is obliged to appoint his deputy. A town or city mayor may be scrutinized or denied funding for his/her projects by the council, but is not politically responsible to it and does not require its confidence to remain in office; therefore, cohabitation is not uncommon. A recall referendum may however be triggered through a petition supported by at least 1/10 of eligible voters, but the turnout in the recall referendum must be at least 3/5 of the number of people voting in the original election in order for the referendum to be valid and binding. A town/city mayor can also be dismissed by the prime minister in case of persistent transgression of the law.

Town/city mayors manage the municipal estate, issue administrative decisions and minor regulations, and incur liabilities within limits set by the municipal council. They prepare and present the planned budget to the municipal council, subject to its acceptation and amendments. After the municipal council votes to accept the budget, the town/city mayor is responsible for its realization. Town/city mayors are heads of the town/city hall (office), the register office (the town/city mayor may appoint deputies for these specific tasks), as well as the parent authority for all public kindergartens and elementary schools in the municipality. They are also personally responsible for the emergency management and civil defense in a municipality. A municipality itself is responsible among others for public transport, water supply and treatment, and waste management. A town/city mayor has the legal capacity to act as employer for all the officials of a town/city hall. Town/city mayors in Poland have wide administrative and staffing authority: the only municipal executive official that the town/city mayor cannot appoint or dismiss is a city treasurer, who is appointed by the town/city council. Although they do not have in Poland power to veto city council resolutions, their position is relatively strong and should be classified as a mayor-council government.In a city with powiat rights, the city mayor also has the powers and duties of a powiat executive board and a starosta.

In addition, an office of quarter mayor (burmistrz dzielnicy) exists in the auxiliary units of the city of Warsaw, called quarters. In spite of remaining an integral part of the city as an entity, the quarters have a degree of autonomy legally guaranteed through a form of an own local self-government exercising some powers devolved by law from the city. Each of the 18 city quarters has an own council (rada dzielnicy) which elects an executive board (zarząd dzielnicy) headed by a quarter mayor (burmistrz dzielnicy), the latter elected by the council among several candidates nominated by the city mayor of Warsaw among the council's members, as opposed to a town or a city mayor, both elected under direct suffrage.

Portugal
In Portugal and many other Portuguese-speaking countries the mayor of a municipality is called the Presidente da Câmara Municipal ('President of the Municipal Chamber').

Romania
In Romania, the mayor of a commune, town or city is called primar. The primar is elected for a period of four years. In carrying out their responsibilities they are assisted by an elected local council (consiliu local). Bucharest has a general mayor (primar general) and six sector mayors (primar de sector), one for each sector. The responsibilities of the mayor and of the local council are defined by Law 215/2001 of the Romanian Parliament.

Russia
In Russia, the Мэр, from French maire (transliteration: mer – not to be confused with the NATO OF-3 rank Майор – English: major), is one of the possible titles of the head of the administration of a city or municipality. This title is equivalent to that of the head of a Russian rural district. Exceptionally, the mer of Moscow, Saint-Petersburg and Sevastopol are equivalent to governors in Russia, since these three federal cities are Russian federal subjects.

Except for the aforementioned three large cities, the governance system of a Russian municipality (city, county, district or town) is subordinate to the representative council of the federation in which it is located. The mer is either directly elected in municipal elections (citywide referendum) or is elected by the members of the municipality's representative council. Election by council members is now more widespread because it better integrates with the Russian federal three-level vertical governance structure:

 * 1) National government:
 * 2) President (executive)
 * 3) Federal Assembly
 * 4) Federation governments:
 * 5) Heads of federation (commonly governors)
 * 6) Regional representative councils
 * 7) Local governments:
 * 8) Heads of administration (who have the official title of mer, whether or not local law defines it as such)
 * 9) Local representative councils

The typical term of office of a mer in Russia is four years. The mer 's office administers all municipal services, public property, police and fire protection, and most public agencies, and enforces all local and state laws within a city or town.

According to Medialogy, the mer of Novosibirsk, Anatoly Lokot', is mentioned in the media more than any other Russian mayor. The mer of Kazan, Il'sur Metshin, is the most popular in Russia, scoring 76 out of 100, according to the Russian People's Rating of Mers.

The status of the post in Sevastopol is not legally recognized outside of the Russian Federation.

Serbia
In Serbia, the mayor is the head of the city or a town. The mayor acts on behalf of the city, and performs an executive function. The position of the mayor of Belgrade is important as the capital city is the most important hub of economics, culture and science in Serbia. Furthermore, the post of the mayor of Belgrade is the third most important position in the government after the prime minister and president. The Local Administration Act of 2007 establishes a mayor-council system for all municipalities, except city municipalities that are part of a city. The title of the mayor varies: the formal title of municipality heads is the President of Municipality (председник општине) while cities are headed by mayors (градоначелник); both are, however, called gradonačelnik in everyday parlance. The mayor is elected indirectly by the city council for a term of 4 years, without a term limit; previously, from 1990 to 2006 mayors were elected directly by voters in local elections alongside the municipal council.

Spain and Hispanic America
Alcalde is the most common Spanish term for the mayor of a town or city. It is derived from the al-qaḍi (قاضي), i.e., 'the (Sharia) judge', who often had administrative, as well as judicial, functions. Although the Castilian alcalde and the Andalusian qaḍi had slightly different attributes (the qaḍi oversaw an entire province, the alcalde only a municipality; the former was appointed by the ruler of the state but the latter was elected by the municipal council), the adoption of this term reflects how much Muslim society in the Iberian Peninsula influenced the Christian one in the early phases of the Reconquista. As Spanish Christians took over an increasing part of the Peninsula, they adapted the Muslim systems and terminology for their own use.

Today, it refers to the executive head of a municipal or local government, who usually does not have judicial functions. The word intendente is used in Argentina and Paraguay for the office that is analogous to a mayor.

In municipios and larger cities in Mexico, the chief executive is known as both alcalde or as presidente municipal ('municipal president'), with the latter being more widely used.

Sweden
The Swedish title borgmästare (burgomaster) was abolished in the court reform of 1971 when also the towns of Sweden were officially abolished.

Switzerland
The function and title for mayor vary from one canton to another. Generally, the mayor presides over an executive council of several members governing a municipality.

The title is:
 * In Italian: sindaco (Ticino), podestà (Grigioni)
 * In French: maire (Geneva, Jura, Bern), syndic (Vaud, Fribourg), président du conseil municipal (Valais), président du conseil communal (Neuchâtel)
 * In German: e.g. Stadtpräsident, Stadtammann, Gemeindepräsident, Gemeindeammann

Taiwan
In the Republic of China in Taiwan the mayor is the head of the city's government and its city's council, which is in charge of legislative affairs. The mayor and city council are elected separately by the city's residents.

Turkey
Mayors (belediye başkanı) in Turkey are elected by popular vote for five years alongside the municipal council. As a rule, there are municipalities in all province centers and district centers as well as towns (belde) which are actually villages with a population in excess of 2000. However, beginning by 1983, a new level of municipality was introduced in the Turkish administrative system. In big cities, metropolitan municipalities (Büyükşehir belediyesi) are established. (See metropolitan municipalities in Turkey) In a metropolitan municipality there may be several district municipalities (hence mayors). Mayors are elected in local elections.

Ukraine
In Ukraine the title "head of the city" (misky holova; unofficially the foreign adaptation mer also is present) was introduced in 1999. Since then, the post is elected by all residents of the city. Before that date, the post was elected by members of the city council only and was known as head of the city council, which ex officio also serves as the head of the executive committee. For the cities that carry special status such as Kyiv and Sevastopol, the head of the city was a matter of long debate and the post is regulated by special laws.

Since 2015 a post of starosta ('elder') has been implemented at the lower level of the administrative-territorial pyramid. Candidates to the post are also elected by members of the territorial community (hromada). The post is historical and existed in the territory of Ukraine during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

United States
The mayor is the municipal head of government, the maximum civil authority at the municipal level, in most United States municipalities (such as cities, townships, etc.). In the United States, there are several distinct types of mayors, depending on whether the system of local government is council-manager government or mayor-council government.

Under the council-manager government system, the mayor is a first among equals on the city council, which acts as a legislative body while executive functions are performed by the appointed manager. The mayor may chair the city council, but lacks any special legislative powers. The mayor and city council serve part-time, with day-to-day administration in the hands of a professional city manager. The system is most common among medium-sized cities from around 25,000 to several hundred thousand, usually rural and suburban municipalities.

Under the mayor-council system, the mayoralty and city council are separate offices. This system may be of two types, either a strong mayor system or a weak mayor system. Under the strong mayor system, the mayor acts as an elected executive with the city council exercising legislative powers. They may select a chief administrative officer to oversee the different departments. This is the system used in most of the United States' large cities, primarily because mayors serve full-time and have a wide range of services that they oversee. In a weak mayor or ceremonial mayor system, the mayor has appointing power for department heads but is subject to checks by the city council, sharing both executive and legislative duties with the council. This is common for smaller cities, especially in New England. Charlotte, North Carolina, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, are two notable large cities with a ceremonial mayor.

Many American mayors are styled "His Honor" or "Her Honor" while in office.

A 2014 analysis found no difference in performance between male and female mayors in the United States, and no evidence of a positive role model effect from female mayors inspiring future candidates. In 2016 author Mirya R. Holman wrote that female mayors "emphasize nurturer parent frames more frequently whereas male mayors emphasize strict father frames, but they discuss economic development at very similar levels".

Multi-tier local government
In several countries, where there is no local autonomy, mayors are often appointed by some branch of the national or regional government. In some cities, subdivisions such as boroughs may have their own mayors; this is the case, for example, with the arrondissements of Paris, Montreal, and Mexico City. In Belgium, Brussels is administratively one of the federation's three regions, and is subdivided, without the other regions' provincial level, into 19 rather small municipalities, with one, the City of Brussels, being the kingdom's capital, which each have an elected—formally appointed—burgomaster (i.e., mayor, responsible to his/her elected council); while Antwerp, the other major metropolitan area, has one large city (where the boroughs, former municipalities merged into it, elect a lower level, albeit with very limited competence) and several smaller surrounding municipalities, each under a normal burgomaster as in Brussels.

In the People's Republic of China, the mayor (市长) may be the administrative head of any municipality, provincial, prefecture-level, or county-level. The mayor is usually the most recognized official in cities, although the position is the second-highest-ranking official in charge after the local Communist Party secretary. In principle, the mayor (who also serves as the deputy Communist Party secretary of the city) is responsible for managing the city administration while the Communist Party secretary is responsible for general policy and managing the party bureaucracy, but in practice the roles blur, frequently causing conflict.

Acting mayor
Acting mayor is a temporary office created by the charter of some municipal governments.

In many cities and towns, the charter or some similar fundamental document provides that in the event of the death, illness, resignation, or removal from office of the incumbent mayor, another official will lead the municipality for a temporary period, which, depending on the jurisdiction, may be for a stated period of days or months until a special election can be held, or until the original end of the term to which the vacating mayor was elected.

Some cities may also provide for a deputy mayor to be temporarily designated as "acting mayor" in the event that the incumbent mayor is temporarily unavailable, such as for health reasons or out-of-town travel, but still continues to hold the position and is expected to return to the duties of the office. In this latter capacity, the acting mayor's role is to ensure that city government business can continue in the regular mayor's absence, and the acting mayor is not deemed to have actually held the office of mayor. In some jurisdictions, however, when a mayor resigns or dies in office, the mayor's successor is not considered to be an acting mayor but rather fully mayor in their own right.

The position of acting mayor is usually of considerably more importance in a mayor-council form of municipal government, where the mayor performs functions of day-to-day leadership, than it is in a council-manager or committee system forms of government, where the city manager or the local council's committees respectively provide day-to-day leadership and the position of mayor is either a largely or entirely ceremonial one.

Concepts

 * Acting (law)
 * Burgomaster
 * Sarpanch
 * World Mayor

Local government

 * Seat of government
 * Council–manager government
 * Mayor–council government

Historical

 * Schultheiß
 * Praefectus urbi

General references

 * Vol. I ; Vol.II
 * Vol. I ; Vol.II
 * Vol. I ; Vol.II

title: Mayor


text:
Unisphere

The Unisphere is a spherical stainless steel representation of the Earth at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, U.S. The globe was designed by Gilmore D. Clarke for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Commissioned to celebrate the beginning of the space age, the Unisphere was conceived and constructed as the theme symbol of the World's Fair. The theme of the World's Fair was "Peace Through Understanding", and the Unisphere represented the theme of global interdependence, being dedicated to "Man's Achievements on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe".

Clarke devised plans for the Unisphere while aboard an airplane in 1960. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation commissioner Robert Moses, who had already rejected two plans for iconic structures at the 1964 fair, approved Clarke's proposal in early 1961. After further refinements, the Unisphere was constructed by American Bridge Company, a division of U.S. Steel, from March to August 1963. Over 51 million people visited the Unisphere during the World's Fair, after which it became a permanent attraction of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. In the 1970s, the Unisphere was not maintained and became visibly dirty; it was restored in the early 1990s. The Unisphere was made a New York City designated landmark in 1995 and, after another period of disrepair, it was restored in the early 2010s.

The Unisphere measures 140 ft high and 120 ft in diameter. It sits atop a 20 ft tripod base with over 500 steel pieces representing the countries, as well as three steel rings representing the first artificial satellites orbiting Earth. Around the Unisphere is a reflecting pool measuring 310 ft in diameter, surrounded by 48 pairs of fountainheads.

History
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, a former ash dump in the New York City borough of Queens, was used for the 1939/1940 New York World's Fair. At the conclusion of the fair, it was used as a park. The Flushing Meadows site was selected in 1959 for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Gilmore David Clarke and Michael Rapuano, designers of the original World's Fair layout, were retained to tailor the original 1939 park layout for the new fair. New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses was president of the World's Fair Corporation, which leased the park from the city until 1967, after the fair's completion.

Planning
After the 1964 fair was announced, Moses wished to make a symbol that represented the fair's theme of "Peace Through Understanding", which would also have some "significance or meaning for the average person". The symbol would also celebrate the beginning of the space age. Moses first asked designer Walter Dorwin Teague to make a "Theme Center". Teague designed the center as a 170 ft inverted cone surrounded by a spiral, rising from a reflecting pool. Moses declined the proposal, calling it a "cross between a part of a brake engine and a bed spring, or should I say between a Malayan Tapir and a window shutter". Another proposal was devised by Paul Rudolph on behalf of the Portland Cement Association. This plan called for a saucer measuring 300 ft in diameter and tilted 18 degrees from the ground, with a restaurant, exhibits, educational and recreational facilities, and "planetary viewing stations". Moses also rejected Rudolph's proposal.

The idea for the Unisphere occurred in September 1960 as Clarke was doodling on an airplane from Ohio to New York. Clarke had sketched a metal armillary on the rear of an envelope. By the time he got to his office, Clarke had refined his plan into a revolving globe with rings of latitude and longitude. Clarke asked another architect working under his office, William S. Boice, to sketch the structure. Since the method of the sculpture's revolution had not yet been determined, Boice drew fountains to conceal the base. The Unisphere was conceptually designed in aluminum with metallic mesh continents. The globe would be tilted 23.5 degrees and would measure 160 ft across. Capital cities would be represented on the globe by three sizes of lights, with larger lights for capitals deemed more important. Clarke showed the plan to Moses, who approved of it.

Moses announced plans for the Unisphere in February 1961. The Unisphere would be erected at the site of the Perisphere of the 1939 World's Fair which was dismantled after the Fair, Moses commented that he "never understood" the Perisphere and its Trylon. According to Moses, the Unisphere "illustrates, symbolizes and embodies man's achievements on a shrinking globe in an expanding universe". The structure was to be constructed by American Bridge Company, a division of U.S. Steel. Further refinements were made by another of Clarke's architects, Peter Martecchini, who decided to place three columns at the globe's pedestal after playing with a rubber ball belonging to one of his sons. Martecchini developed a working model for a moving platform, composed of three pegs, each topped by a pair of metal disks and a toothed disk with a bolt, supporting a plywood platform. A model of the proposed work was unveiled in 1962.

Clarke's idea underwent a further refined industrial design in stainless steel by industrial designers at Peter Muller-Munk Associates. Some of the original design details were controversial. Several landmasses such as Cyprus and Crete had been left out of the original design, and the lights representing capital cities were criticized on the grounds that the process of selecting "important" capitals was subjective. U.S. Steel rejected the idea of a spinning globe due to high costs, though it did retain Martecchini's idea of a three-pointed pedestal. In addition, the globe was reduced from 150 to 120 ft after Clarke talked with U.S. Steel's board chairman Roger Blough, who said the globe would only be as high as a ten-story brick building outside his office. The final design was similar to the original, but the fountains were arranged differently.

Construction and World's Fair
Construction on the Unisphere started on March 6, 1963. The globe was built within 110 days, and the last landmass was installed on August 13, 1963. When the Unisphere was being built, Blough took credit for the structure. He did give an award to M. Legrain-Eiffel, whose grandfather Gustave Eiffel's company had designed and built the Eiffel Tower. The Unisphere was dedicated in early March 1964, and the base of the Unisphere hosted a dance ball the same month, attended by four hundred people. U.S. Steel constructed the Unisphere for free; as compensation, the company's name was placed on marketing materials throughout the fair.

The globe became the icon of the 1964 World's Fair. A special commemorative stamp issue was issued starting in April 1964, depicting fair attractions such as the Unisphere. The globe was also depicted on media and souvenirs promoting the fair. The Unisphere's popularity was also increased by the presence of fountainheads around the globe's base, which cooled down fair visitors on hot days. During the fair, dramatic lighting at night gave the effect of sunrise moving over the surface of the globe. Additionally, the capitals of nations were marked by lights. One of these lights is placed at the location of the Kahnawake First Nations reserve, which the Mohawk ironworkers requested to be placed there to honor their labor. Over the course of the fair, many of its 51 million visitors passed by the Unisphere.

1960s to 1990s
In March 1966, after the conclusion of the fair, U.S. Steel donated $100,000 to make the Unisphere a permanent attraction at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. These funds were allocated toward a lighting system for the globe, as well as a water-recirculation system for the pools. The park was reopened the next year following a major renovation, and the Unisphere was permanently retained as a park feature. At first, the park was lightly used, and a Newsday article in 1969 reported that the fountains at the Unisphere had been turned off. The globe was covered in grime by the 1970s, while the pools were shut off and tagged with graffiti. In 1978, the US Open tennis tournament was moved from the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. Parts of the park were repaired or expanded for the tournament, including the fountains of the Unisphere, which were reactivated in 1978 for the first time in ten years. In 1983, officials celebrated the 300th anniversary of Queens' founding at the base of the Unisphere.

Arne Abramowitz became administrator of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in 1986 and soon began planning a renovation of the park. The following year, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) announced an $80 million rehabilitation of the park. The renovation had been planned since the early 1980s but had been deferred due to a lack of funding. By this time, the city was shutting off the Unisphere's fountains during festivals to prevent people from wading into them. The restoration called for new mechanical systems, lighting, retaining walls, benches, paving, and trees to be installed in Unisphere Plaza at a cost of between $5.7 and $5.9 million. A second phase would landscape the surrounding grounds for $40 million. In 1989, a NYC Parks official observed that landmasses of countries like India and Vietnam would be lifted from their mountings on particularly windy days.

The grounds around the Unisphere were landscaped in 1992, but the renovation of the Unisphere itself was delayed due to a lack of money. Preservationists objected when some of the trees around the Unisphere, dating to the 1964 World's Fair, were removed and replaced with trees that were easier to maintain. The restoration of the Unisphere, which began in 1993, included numerous structural repairs and removal of grime accumulation on the steel. The fountains were replaced and new floodlighting was installed. Furthermore, two of the surrounding lawns were planted with rose gardens. As part of the park-wide renovation, the entrance of the Queens Museum, to the west, was relocated so it faced the Unisphere directly, rather than in the opposite direction. The restoration was completed in May 1994. Architectural critic Herbert Muschamp wrote that, while "nothing can compensate for the loss of context around this metallic centerpiece", the globe had started to gleam "with something like its former high spirits". That year, the Annual Building Awards in Queens gave the Unisphere an award for best rehabilitation.

In February 1995, several Queens residents petitioned to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to designate the Unisphere as an official city landmark. Although the structure was only thirty years old, one speaker said "its symbolism precedes its age". At the time, there were relatively few city landmarks in Queens compared to the total number of landmarks citywide, but other structures such as the Lewis H. Latimer House and Vander Ende–Onderdonk House were receiving landmark protection. The LPC designated the Unisphere as a landmark that May. Though the landmark status ensured the Unisphere's preservation, other relics of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs had become dilapidated or were being demolished at the same time.

2000s to present
The fountains at the Unisphere's base were shut off in 2001 due to citywide water restrictions; they were not reactivated until early 2003, seventeen months later. The pool around the globe was also drained because Mayor Michael Bloomberg had prohibited water from being used for ornamental purposes. By 2008, city officials planned to fix the pipes under the Unisphere. At the time, the fountains leaked excessively; to save money, NYC Parks only operated the fountains throughout the entire day whenever the US Open was being held. Due to concerns by city officials that people would wade into the pools, some officials had proposed several years prior that the Unisphere be surrounded by a fence or bushes, but former parks commissioner Henry Stern had expressed opposition to such proposals. Local media reported in 2009 that grass had begun to grow within the steel mass representing Antarctica. NYC Parks officials suspected that bird feces and an accumulation of leaves had contributed to an environment in which seeds could germinate.

The Unisphere's fountains were rededicated on August 12, 2010, after a $2 million restoration of the pumps, valves, and paintwork. The refurbished fountains operated daily during the summer for the first time in more than two decades. In the September 2010 Brooklyn–Queens tornadoes, the landmass representing Sri Lanka was blown off the Unisphere. The piece was reinstalled the following year. After the fountains were turned back on, visitors often played within the pool and fountains, especially after a neighboring set of fountains to the east broke down. This was despite the fact that people were technically not allowed to enter the pool and fountains. To prevent people from being hurt by the powerful fountainheads, NYC Parks added barricades, opened fire hydrants, and hired patrol officers to deter people from going into the pool area. Even so, some people still entered the pool area.

Globe

The Unisphere is the world's largest globe. It measures 120 ft in diameter, rises 140 ft, and weighs 700,000 lb. Including its 100 ST inverted tripod base, which is made of sturdy low-alloy steel, the Unisphere weighs 900,000 lb. The globe is constructed of Type 304L stainless steel. The continents on the globe are fabricated with a special texture-pattern by Rigidized Metals Corporation. The horizontal beams on the frame are meant to represent longitude lines. Over five hundred pieces of steel were used in the construction of the globe. The Unisphere is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees, which is Earth's normal tilt.

Three large orbit rings of stainless steel encircle the Unisphere at various angles. These orbit rings are believed to represent the tracks of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space; John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth; and Telstar, the first active communications satellite. The early design was to have a ring for each of a dozen satellites in place at the time of the World's Fair. This proved impractical, not only in the number of satellites but also in the height of their orbits and the fact that geostationary satellites had no orbit path. As a result, a symbolic number of three was chosen for aesthetic reasons. The three rings were connected with aircraft cable to the rest of the structure. Another proposal entailed having lights revolve around the satellite rings, but this idea was also decided against.

The landmasses of the Unisphere are made of metal sheets that are laid in contours. The shapes had to be placed at regular intervals while also accurately representing the globe, and could not be cross-braced or overly thick; furthermore, wind was trapped by the shapes' concave inner surfaces. As such, a stress transfer pattern was developed, and the meridians and parallels were varied in dimension, thereby making the Unisphere structurally stable as well as accurate in design. U.S. Steel's administrative vice president Austin J. Paddock said that some 670 mathematical equations needed to be solved simultaneously to determine the exact layout of the Unisphere. The shape of the steel sheets was devised using a computer. The surface area of the landmasses totals over 13000 ft2, effectively acting as a large sail.

Base
The Unisphere is centered in a 310 ft circular reflecting pool, with a floor of poured concrete surrounded by a bulkhead of granite and concrete. Forty-eight pairs of fountainheads, on the outer edge of the pool, are designed to obscure its tripod pedestal. Prior to the 1990s renovation, there were 48 single fountainheads. Two pumps in the pool recycle the water that is used in the fountainheads. The effect is meant to obscure the tripod supporting the Unisphere, making the globe appear as if it is floating in space. From the perimeter of the reflecting pool, the Unisphere is meant to depict the Earth as seen from 4000 mi away.

The Unisphere is built on a concrete foundation, which includes the piling ring that supported the Perisphere of the 1939 World's Fair. The marshy soil of Flushing Meadows needed special consideration during the original 1937 Perisphere construction. The Perisphere, and subsequently the Unisphere, employed a foundation of 528 pressure-creosoted Douglas fir piles of 95 to 100 ft in length. Before construction of the Unisphere, three piles were tested for structural integrity and all were found to be sound throughout their entire length. Six hundred additional piles were built specifically for the Unisphere.

Surroundings
Pathways radiate axially from the Unisphere to the north, northeast, southeast, and south. There are plaques facing the four major paths that extend from the Unisphere. The courts of the former Louis Armstrong Stadium, to the north, had been oriented along the same axis as the Unisphere. Additionally, a pair of promenades extend east of the Unisphere, with the Fountains of the Fairs between the paths. The entrance to the Queens Museum is directly west of the Unisphere, while the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is to the north and the New York State Pavilion is to the south.

Reception
When originally proposed, the Unisphere was negatively received by critics. The Village Voice quoted people who called it "probably one of the most uninspired designs we have ever seen", while Newsday opined that the globe was "deathly dull" and "looks like an ad for Western Union". Oculus magazine criticized the design as "a heavy, literal version of the ancient armillary sphere, with decoration by Rand McNally". Ralph Caplan wrote for Industrial Design that Moses's defense of the Unisphere was motivated by animosity toward the older structure. Progressive Architecture described it as "like the set for the 'spectacular' finale of a 1930s Warner Brothers musical". Walter McQuade wrote for The Nation that the Unisphere was a "bit of roadside inspirational decoration, a trite cartoon in iron" that portended badly for the 1964 World's Fair, while Bruno Zevi for Italian magazine L'Architettura cronache e storia called it a "silly idea" and petitioned U.S. President John F. Kennedy to prevent the Unisphere from being installed.

Only one positive criticism emerged when the globe was announced when the National Arts Club called it "one of the outstanding achievements in structural sculpture of this decade." Remarking on the initial negative reception of the Unisphere in 2010, The Wall Street Journal said that the Unisphere was perceived as a symbol of the "banal, corporate atmosphere" of the 1964 World's Fair. Despite the largely negative criticism of the Unisphere from architectural critics, it was positively received by the visitors. After the fair, the Unisphere remained a tourist attraction into the 21st century. The New York Times, in 2014, said the Unisphere was the only relic of the 1964 World's Fair that "was untarnished by time and enhanced by memory".

Symbolism and media
According to Smithsonian magazine, "The Unisphere became the space age logo of the fair, a steel Earth at the Ptolemaic hub of a Googie-style Jetsons universe", despite the overall limited success of the 1964 World's Fair. The Unisphere became an unofficial symbol of Queens after the World's Fair. In 1990, the office of the Queens borough president depicted the Unisphere in its insignia, and advertisements for Continental Airlines and Bloomingdale's also depicted the globe. By the mid-1990s, it was being shown in numerous commercials and as a part of several montages of New York City. One person interviewed by The New York Times, who depicted the Unisphere on her products, said that the Unisphere had become popular because "People have run out of symbols of New York".

The Unisphere has been used as a setting or backdrop for several films and TV episodes, notably the American sitcom The King of Queens; the television show CSI: NY; the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Spider-Man: Homecoming; and the movie Men in Black. The Unisphere has been shown frequently in music videos, in particular those from the New York hip-hop scene, such as A Tribe Called Quest's "Award Tour" and Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear".

Climbs
Several people have climbed the Unisphere throughout its history. In 1976, George Willig and Jerry Hewitt scaled the structure for a short documentary made by New York University student Paul Hornstein, who had wanted "to prove that we can do a full-scale, high-quality movie production on our own". A member of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion also climbed the Unisphere in September 2019 to hang a banner protesting the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires. At least two climbers have died after slipping from the Unisphere: a 23-year-old who fell from the side of the structure in 1976, and a man who fell into the globe in 1990.

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

title: Unisphere


text:
List of governors of Maryland

The governor of Maryland is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maryland and is the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and the constitutional powers of Maryland's governors make them among the most powerful governors in the United States.

The current governor is Democrat Wes Moore, who took office on January 18, 2023.

Governors
Maryland was one of the original Thirteen Colonies and was admitted as a state on April 28, 1788. Before it declared its independence, Maryland was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Under the constitution of 1776, governors were appointed by the General Assembly legislature to one-year terms. They could be reelected for two additional terms, though they must take four years off after leaving office. An 1838 constitutional amendment allowed for popular election of governors to three-year terms, though they could not succeed themselves. The 1851 constitution removed the term limit, and lengthened terms to four years, to commence on the second Wednesday of January following the election. Governors were limited to two consecutive terms beginning in 1948.

The office of lieutenant governor was created in 1864, abolished in 1867, and recreated in 1970. The lieutenant governor succeeds to the office of governor should it become vacant. In the original constitution, the first named of the Governor's Council would act as governor if it were vacant, until a new governor was selected; this was changed to the secretary of state in 1837. The 1867 constitution originally called for the General Assembly to immediately elect a new governor; if they were not in session, the president of the Senate would act as governor until one was elected.

title: List of governors of Maryland


text:
Pecos Bill

Pecos Bill is a fictional cowboy and folk hero in stories set during American westward expansion into the Southwest of Texas, New Mexico, Southern California, and Arizona. These narratives were invented as short stories in a book by Tex O'Reilly in the early 20th century and are an example of American folklore. Pecos Bill was a late addition to the larger than life characters, such as Paul Bunyan or John Henry.

History
The first known stories were published in 1917 by Edward O'Reilly for The Century Magazine, and collected and reprinted in 1923 in the book Saga of Pecos Bill. O'Reilly claimed they were part of an oral tradition of tales told by cowboys during the westward expansion and settlement of the southwest, including Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. But American folklorist Richard M. Dorson found that O'Reilly invented the stories as "folklore", and that later writers either borrowed tales from O'Reilly, or added further adventures of their own invention to the cycle.

Edward O'Reilly co-authored a cartoon strip with cartoonist Jack A. Warren, also known as Alonzo Vincent Warren, between 1929 and 1938. When O'Reilly died in 1946, Warren began a strip titled Pecos Pete. This was a story about "Pecos Bill", who had received a "lump on the naggan" that caused him amnesia. The cartoons originally were published in The Sun and were later syndicated. He also has a wife, named Slue-Foot Sue.

Pecos Bill made the leap to film in the 1948 Walt Disney animated feature Melody Time. He was portrayed by Steve Guttenberg in a 1985 episode of Tall Tales & Legends and by Patrick Swayze in Disney's 1995 film Tall Tale.

"Pecos Bill" was also the nickname of Civil War general William Shafter, although this was before O'Reilly created the legend. Shafter was considered a hero in Texas, and even had some legendary poetry written about how tough he was.

According to legend, Pecos Bill is responsible for creating many landmarks. One landmark he is said to have created is the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently, there was a drought in Texas that was so horrible, that Pecos rushed to California and lassoed up a storm cloud and brought it to Texas. It rained so much that the Gulf of Mexico was created. Another story is of him creating the Rio Grande River. He and his horse got stranded in the desert and needed water. So Pecos grabbed a stick and dug the Rio Grande River. One other landmark that he is responsible for is the Painted Desert. He apparently started shooting at a tribe of Indigenous Americans, and as they ran away, the ritual paint they had on them came off and painted the desert.

Description
According to the legend, Pecos Bill was born in Texas in the 1830s (or 1845 in some versions, the year of Texas's statehood). Pecos Bill's family decided to move out because his town was becoming "too crowded." Pecos Bill was traveling in a covered wagon as an infant when he fell out unnoticed by the rest of his family near the Pecos River (thus his nickname). He was taken in and raised by a pack of coyotes. Years later he was found by his real brother, who managed to convince him he was not a coyote.

He grew up to become a cowboy. Bill used a rattlesnake named Shake as a lasso and another snake as a little whip. His horse, Widow-Maker (also called Lightning), was so named because he was Texas's first and most notorious serial killer, leaving a trail of dead bodies clear across Texas (this is another version of how the Rio Grande was made). Dynamite was said to be his favorite food. It is also said Bill sometimes rode a cougar instead of a horse. On one of his adventures, Pecos Bill managed to lasso a twister. It was also said that he once wrestled the Bear Lake monster for several days until Bill finally defeated it.

Pecos Bill had a lover named Slue-Foot Sue, who rode a giant catfish down the Rio Grande. He was fishing with the pack when he saw her. Shake, Widow-Maker, and Slue-Foot Sue are as idealized as Pecos Bill.

After a courtship in which, among other things, Pecos Bill shoots all the stars from the sky except for one which becomes the Lone Star, Bill proposes to Sue. She insists on riding Widow-Maker before, during or after the wedding (depending on variations in the story). Widow-Maker, jealous of no longer having Bill's undivided attention, bounces Sue off; she lands on her bustle and begins bouncing higher and higher. Bill catches her, but then gets pulled with her. The town folks assumed both Bill and Sue were bounced away to another place or both ended up on the Moon where they stayed and were never seen again.

In Bowman's version of the story, Sue eventually recovers from the bouncing, but is so traumatized by the experience she never speaks to Pecos Bill ever again.

In a few other versions, Bill attempts, but fails, to lasso her, because of an interference by Widow-Maker who did not want her on his back again (or for that matter didn't want her coming between his and Bill's friendship), and she eventually hits her head on the Moon. After she has been bouncing for days, Pecos Bill realizes that she would eventually starve to death, so he lassos her with Shake the rattlesnake and brings her back down to Earth. Widow-Maker, realizing that what he did to her was wrong, apologizes and is forgiven.

In other versions, Sue could not stop bouncing, and Bill could not stop her from bouncing either, so Bill had to shoot her to put her out of her misery. Though it is said that Bill was married many times, he never loved the others as much as Sue, and the other relationships did not work out.

In the Melody Time version, Bill was apparently responsible for the California Gold Rush and M.F. Stephenson's famous "There's gold in them thar hills" phrase. He knocked out the gold fillings of a gang of rustlers when they tried to steal his cow, scattering the fillings across the landscape. Bill also creates the Lone Star long before he meets Sue. Additionally, in this version Sue gets stranded on the Moon due to Widow-Maker's interference in preventing Bill from lassoing her, after which a disheartened Bill leaves civilization to rejoin the coyotes, who now howl at the Moon in honor of Bill's sorrow for Sue.

In the more popular versions, including many children's books, Bill and Sue reunite, and get married happily ever after.

In a school story book (leveled reader), Bill finds a tornado and lassos it, and then they reunite.

In Laura Frankos' short story "Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods" (1998), Sue's bustle-ride deposits her in Russia, where she must fight a duel with Baba Yaga.

In the "Pecos Bill" episode of Tall Tales & Legends (1985), Sue is played by Rebecca De Mornay.

Sue does not figure in the 1995 Pecos Bill film Tall Tale; however, her fatal "bouncing to the Moon" story is briefly narrated by Patrick Swayze's Bill, with Sue substituted by a man named Lanky Hank.

Appearances

 * Melody Time in 1948, Pecos Bill was the final segment of this Disney animated anthology film. This version of the story serves to explain why coyotes howl at the Moon.
 * In the 1995 Disney film Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill portrayed by Patrick Swayze.
 * In the story The Death of Pecos Bill, Pecos Bill is in a bar when a so-called city boy walks in with gator-skin shoes and a gator-skin suit, otherwise trying to present himself in the manner of an outlaw cowboy. Pecos Bill found it amusing and laughed himself to death outside.
 * Pecos Bill appeared in a 1985 episode of Tall Tales & Legends portrayed by Steve Guttenberg.
 * Comedian Robin Williams recorded a children's audiobook version of the story, with music by Ry Cooder, for Rabbit Ears/Windham Hill, in 1988.
 * Pecos Bill appeared in the children's book The Great Texas Hamster Drive by Eric A. Kimmel.
 * Harold W. Felton authored three books of Pecos Bill tall tales.
 * Pecos Bill appears in the PBS puppet television show Between the Lions, where he lassos a tornado.
 * Slue-Foot Sue is the heroine of Laura Frankos' sketch "Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods", in the comedy-fantasy anthology Did You Say Chicks?!

title: Pecos Bill


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Hors d'oeuvre

An hors d'oeuvre (hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or they may be served before seating, such as at a reception or cocktail party. Formerly, hors d'oeuvres were also served between courses. There are two types of hors d'oeuvre from service point of view:

 * 1) General hors d'oeuvre
 * 2) Classical hors d'oeuvre

General hors d'oeuvres include cold preparations such as salad, cold meat, and fish. Classical hors d'oeuvres include fruit juice and soft drinks, grapefruit, shellfish cocktail, and so on.

Typically smaller than a main dish, an hors d'oeuvre is often designed to be eaten by hand.

Etymology
Hors d'œuvre in French literally means 'outside the work', that is "not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal". In practice, it is a dish which stands on its own as a snack or supports the main course. The French spelling is the same for singular and plural usage; in English, the typographic ligature $⟨œ⟩$ is usually replaced by the digraph $⟨oe⟩$, with the plural occasionally written "hors d ' " and pronounced.

Origins

A small number of food historians believe that the tradition may have begun in Russia, where small snacks of fish, caviar and meats were common after long travels. However, it may be that the custom originated in China, possibly coming through the Steppes, into Russia, Scandinavia, France and other European countries. The tradition may have reached Italy, Greece and the Balkan nations through Russia or Persia. Many national customs are related, including the Swedish smörgåsbord, Russian zakuska, middle eastern mezze, and Italian antipasto. During the Roman Period the meal practice was to have two main courses which were supplemented before the meal with small amounts of fish, vegetables, cheeses, olives and even stuffed dormice. These would be served at the start of the meal known as either gustatio or promulsis. The Greeks called the appetiser course propoma. As early as 500 CE, the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 83b) recounts the practice of feeding sweet desserts to a person before the main course of a meal in order to revive his strength and increase his appetite (Aramaic: מגרר גריר).

French service

During the Middle Ages formal French meals were served with entremets between the serving of plates. These secondary dishes could be either actual food dishes, or elaborate displays and even dramatic or musical presentations. In the 14th century, recipes for entremets were mostly made with meat, fish, pork and vegetables. By the 15th century the elaborate display and performances were served up between courses, and could be edible or displays of subjects relevant to the host, created in butter sculpture or other types of crafted work. With the introduction in the 17th century of service à la française, where all the dishes are laid out at once in very rigid symmetrical fashion, entremets began to change in meaning but were still mainly savoury. Along with this came elaborate silver and ceramic table displays as well as pièces montées. The entremets were placed between the other dishes within the main work of the meal.

At about this time in the 17th century, smaller dishes began to be served by being placed outside the main work of symmetrically placed dishes. These were known as hors d'oeuvre. Hors d'oeuvres were originally served as a canapé of small toasted bread with a savoury topping before a meal. The first mention of the food item was by François Massialot in 1691, mentioned in his book: Le cuisinier roial et bourgeois (The Royal and Bourgeois Cook) and explained as "Certain dishes served in addition to those one might expect in the normal composition of the feast". In the French publication Les plaisirs de la table, Edouard Nignon stated that hors d'oeuvres originated in Asia. He went on to state that the French considered hors-d'oeuvres to be superfluous to a well cooked meal. Service à la française continued in Europe until the early 19th century. After the 19th century the entremet would become almost exclusively a sweet dish or dessert with the British custom of the "savoury" being the only remaining tradition of the savoury entremet.

The style of formal dining changed drastically in the 19th century, becoming successive courses served one after the other over a period of time. Some traditional hors d'oeuvres would remain on the table throughout the meal. These included olives, nuts, celery and radishes. The changing, contemporary hors d'oeuvres, sometimes called "dainty dishes", became more complicated in preparation. Pastries, with meat and cream sauces among other elaborate items, had become a course served after the soup.

English savouries
As a result of French influence on the English language, "hors d'oeuvre" has become a commonly used term in English to refer to small dishes served before meals. The custom of the savoury course is of British origin and comes towards the end of the meal, before dessert or sweets or even after the dessert, in contrast to the hors d'oeuvre, which is served before the meal. The British favored the savoury course as a palate cleanser before drinking after the meal, which made the hors d'oeuvre before the meal unnecessary. The savoury is generally small, well spiced and often served hot, requiring cooking just before serving. In the Victorian and Edwardian periods, savouries included such toppings as fried oysters wrapped in bacon, and Scotch woodcock, which was a savoury made of scrambled eggs, ground black pepper and Gentleman's Relish on buttered toast, served hot. In France, cheese was often part of the savoury course or added with simple fruit as a dessert. A typical Edwardian dinner might consist of up to four courses that include two soups, two types of fish, two meats, ending with several savouries then sweets.

American appetisers and cocktail hors d'oeuvres

The term appetiser (American English: appetizer) is a synonym for hors d'oeuvre. It was first used in the United States and England simultaneously in 1860. Americans also use the term to define the first of three courses in a meal, an optional one generally set on the table before guests were seated. Drinks before dinner became a custom towards the end of the 19th century. As this new fashion caught on, the British took inspiration from the French to begin serving hors d'oeuvres before dinner. A cocktail party is considered a small gathering with mixed drinks and light snacks. Hors d'oeuvres may be served as the only food offering at cocktail parties and receptions, where no dinner is served afterward. After the end of prohibition in the United States, the cocktail party gained acceptance. Prior to the First World War, American dinner guests would be expected to enter the dining room immediately where drinks would be served at the table with appetisers. This changed by the 1920s, when hors d'oeuvres were served prior to a non-alcoholic cocktail; however, after the repeal of Prohibition in the United States, cocktail parties became popular with many different hors d'oeuvres meant as something to help counter the stronger drinks. It is the cocktail party that helped transfer the hors d'oeuvres from the formal dining table to the mobility of the serving tray. These appetisers passed around the cocktail party may also be referred to as canapés.

Preparation
In restaurants or large estates, hors d'oeuvres are prepared in a garde manger which is a cool room. Hors d'oeuvres are often prepared in advance. Some types may be refrigerated or frozen and then precooked and then reheated in an oven or microwave oven as necessary before serving.

Use

If there is an extended period between when guests arrive and when the meal is eaten, for example during a cocktail hour, these might serve the purpose of sustaining guests during the wait, in the same way that apéritifs are served as a drink before meals.

It is also an unwritten rule that the dishes served as hors d'oeuvres do not give any clue to the main meal. They are served with the main meal menu in view either in hot, room temperature or cold forms; when served hot they are brought out after all the guests arrive so that everyone gets to taste the dishes.

Hors d'oeuvres before a meal may be rotated by waiters or passed. Stationary hors d'oeuvres served at the table on a tray may be referred to as table hors d'oeuvres or as buffet-style. Passed hors d'oeuvres provided by servers are part of butler-style service. or butlered hors d'oeuvres.

Examples

Though any food served before the main course is technically an hors d'oeuvre, the phrase is generally limited to individual items, such as cheese or fruit. A glazed fig topped with mascarpone and wrapped with prosciutto is an hors d'oeuvre, and plain figs served on a platter may also be served as hors d'oeuvres. It could be pickled beets or anchovy eggs as topping over tomatoes as part of the initial "drinks" session such as of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. They are also served in the forms of dips, spreads, pastries, olives or nuts with or without a base of egg, cheese, meats, vegetables, seafood or breads. Single cold items served are smoked salmon, avocado pear, caviar, pâté, shellfish cocktails and melon with garnishes and decorations. Seasoned hot dishes served are of vegetables, meat, fish, egg, pasta, cheese, soufflés, tartlets, puff pastry or choux pastry.

 * Bruschetta
 * Canapés
 * Caviar
 * Charcuterie
 * Devilled eggs
 * Dumplings
 * Gherkin
 * Pigs in a blanket
 * Smoked egg
 * Spanakopita
 * Tongue toast

In the Americas
In Mexico, botanas refers to the vegetarian varieties commonly served in small portions in wine bars. In many Central American countries, hors d'oeuvres are known as bocas (lit. "mouthfuls"). Pasapalos (lit. "drink passer") is Venezuelan Spanish for an hors d'oeuvre.

In Asia

In Arabic, moqabbelat (مقبلات, "things which make one accept what is to come". From root قبل lit. "to accept") is the term for an hors d'oeuvre. In India, it is known as chaat, which is served throughout the day. Dahi puri is another snack from India which is especially popular from the city of Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra and in the Ahmedabad city of Gujarat state. Chaat is the snack food consumed separately and not part of main course meals.

Zensai (前菜) is Japanese for an hors d'oeuvre; commonly for western dishes, ōdoburu (オードブル), which is a direct transcription of hors d'oeuvre, is used. In Korea, banchan (반찬) is a small serving of vegetables, cereals or meats. Additional Korean terms for hors d'oeuvres include jeonchae (전채), meaning "before dish" or epita-ijeo (에피타이저), meaning "appetiser". In Vietnamese Đồ nguội khai vị ("cold plate first course") is the name for an hors d'oeuvre. In Mandarin, lěng pán 冷盘 ("cold plate") or qián cài 前菜 ("before dish") are terms used for hors d'oeuvres, which are served in steamer baskets or on small plates. Meze is a selection of small dishes served in Mediterranean cuisine, Middle Eastern cuisine, and Balkan cuisine. Mezedakia is a term for small mezes. Pembuka (lit. "opening") is Indonesian for an hors d'oeuvre. Yemekaltı is Turkish for an hors d'oeuvre. Caviar served in Iran is the traditional roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Seas.

In Europe

In England, devils on horseback is a hot hors d'oeuvre in different recipes, but in general they are a variation on angels on horseback, made by replacing oysters with dried fruit. The majority of recipes contain a pitted date (though prunes are sometimes used). Starter is a common colloquial term for an hors d'oeuvre in the UK, Ireland, and India. Crudités from France are a blend of salads of raw vegetables and the serving has a minimum of three vegetables of striking colors. Zakuski are hors d'oeuvres in Russian cuisine and other post-Soviet cuisines, served in the form of a buffet of cured meats and fishes. In Italian antipasto means it is served cold in the form of olive, cheese, pickled vegetables; other similar hors d'oeuvres can be found in the rest of Southern Europe under different names (entrada in Portuguese, entrante or entremés in Spanish). Voorgerecht in Dutch means the dish ('gerecht') before ('voor') the main course. Fattoush is a bread salad in Levantine cuisine made from toasted or fried pieces of pita bread (khubz 'arabi) combined with mixed greens and other vegetables. It belongs to the family of dishes known as fattat (plural) or fatta, which use stale flatbread as a base.

In the United States

In the United States the custom appears to have come from California, where a foreign saloon owner may have put out trays of simple hors d'oeuvres to serve his customers. This tradition soon became the 5-cent beer and free lunch in early America before prohibition ended the custom.

In the U.S., ' appetizers ', referring to anything served before a meal, is the most common term for hors d'oeuvres. Light snacks served outside of the context of a meal are called hors d'oeuvres (with the English-language pluralization).

Hawaii
In the Hawaiian language hors d'oeuvres and appetisers are called . Hawaiian culinary influences are very diverse due to the multiple ethnicities living in the islands. This diversity, along with the Americanization of entertaining in the mid 20th century led to the Hawaiian Cocktail and the pūpū (hors-d'oeuvre) served at the beginning of luaus. This invention of a faux Polynesian experience is heavily influenced by Don the Beachcomber, who is credited for the creation of the pūpū platter and the drink named the Zombie for his Hollywood restaurant. At Don's the food was traditional Cantonese cuisine served with a fancy presentation. The first pūpū platters were eggrolls, chicken wings, spare ribs as well as other Chinese-American foods. Eventually Trader Vic would create the Mai Tai in his restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Tiki bar would become an American cocktail tradition.

In Oceania

Hors d'oeuvres, also called amuse-bouches, served around bars in Australia are oysters and alsace foie gras. Appetisers in New Zealand are lamb skewer or blue cod sliders. In New Zealand the Māori call their snacks Kai Timotimo. Kiribati appetisers served include pastes made from chickpeas and eggplant, meat dishes with spices and wheat. Samoan foil chicken and roast pork, tidbits of meat in a smoky, spicy sauce are appetisers in Samoa. In Tonga, puu-puus or appetisers served are Waikiki shrimp and grilled pineapple with dipping sauce.

In other countries
Appetisers served in Kenya are raw and fresh vegetables and assorted dips with decorations. Before modern-day hors d'oeuvre were introduced from Europe into South Africa, starters served consisted of eastern fish sambals and cooked bone marrow served with bread.

title: Hors d'oeuvre


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Talk:Gramophone (disambiguation)

This is SSXVegeta@Msn.com, What does Gramophone mean? the first recording divice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.65.152.2 (talk) 10:00, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Hm, so is British English inferior to the American one? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.211.199.176 (talk) 12:47, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Phonograph record which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:00, 17 August 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Gramophone (disambiguation)


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County Line, Alabama

County Line is a town in Blount and Jefferson counties in the State of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population was 311.

Geography
County Line is located at 33°49'10.722" north, 86°43'45.433" west (33.819645, -86.729287), 1.3 mi east of Trafford.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.9 sqmi, all land.

Demographics
At the 2000 census, there were 257 people, 97 households, and 73 families in the town. The population density was 270.5 PD/sqmi. There were 106 housing units at an average density of 111.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 95.72% White, 2.72% Black or African American, and 1.56% from two or more races. 1.17% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 97 households 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. 23.7% of households were one person and 7.2% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 3.12.

The age distribution was 26.5% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% 65 or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 114.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.0 males.

The median household income was $35,625 and the median family income was $37,500. Males had a median income of $28,500 versus $21,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,621. About 13.8% of families and 17.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.4% of those under the age of eighteen and 9.1% of those sixty five or over.

Local government
County Line incorporated on August 27, 1957, as a town.

The town's government consists of a mayor and five city council members. As of December 2023, the mayor was Arthur E. "Buddy" Self.

title: County Line, Alabama


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Garden City, Alabama

Garden City is a town in Cullman and Blount counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population was 528. Garden City was founded by Johann Cullmann, namesake of Cullman County in 1873 after founding Cullman, Alabama. It was located in Blount County and was incorporated in 1878 (although other sources claim 1911). Cullman County was created in 1877. Garden City was annexed by Cullman County with a shift in county borders until 1901. After a lapse in its incorporation, it was re-incorporated in 1950.

Geography
Garden City is located near the southeastern border of Cullman County at 34°0'33.160" North, 86°44'53.372" West (34.009211, -86.748159). The Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior River forms the county line and the southeastern border of the town. U.S. Route 31 (1st Avenue) passes through the center of the town, leading north 13 mi to Cullman, the county seat, and south 39 mi to Birmingham.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 7.9 km2, of which 7.8 sqkm is land and 0.1 sqkm, or 0.84%, is water.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 564 people, 238 households, and 162 families residing in the town. The population density was 247.1 PD/sqmi. There were 255 housing units at an average density of 111.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 99.29% White, 0.53% from other races, and 0.18% from two or more races. 0.89% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 238 households, out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.9% were non-families. 28.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.5% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,000, and the median income for a family was $37,031. Males had a median income of $25,583 versus $20,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,793. About 7.4% of families and 10.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.8% of those under age 18 and 16.7% of those age 65 or over.

Climate
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Garden City has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.

title: Garden City, Alabama