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Alice Springs

Alice Springs (Mparntwe ) is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; the third largest settlement after Darwin and Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (Alice Gillam Bell), wife of the telegraph pioneer Sir Charles Todd. Known colloquially as The Alice or simply Alice, the town is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre. It is nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.

The area is also known locally as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte, who have lived in the Central Australian desert in and around what is now Alice Springs for tens of thousands of years.

Alice Springs had an urban population of 25,912 in August 2021. The town's population accounts for approximately 10 per cent of the population of the Northern Territory.

The town straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. The surrounding region is known as Central Australia, or the Red Centre, an arid environment consisting of several deserts. Temperatures in Alice Springs can vary, with an average maximum in summer of 35.6 C and an average minimum in winter of 5.1 C.

Traditional owners
The Arrernte people are the traditional owners of the Alice Springs area and surrounding MacDonnell Ranges. They have lived in the area for at least 30,000 years. The traditional name for the township area is Mparntwe. Mparntwe is Arrernte for "watering place", referencing Atherreyurre, a waterhole in the Todd River at Old Telegraph Station (known as Alice Springs). Mparntwe refers to the majority of the Alice Springs township, with two additional names - Irlpme covering the south and Antulye the east.

Mparntwe is pronounced M'bun-twa.

Arrernte has been spelt in various forms, including Aranda, Arrarnta, and Arunta. There are five dialects of the Arrernte language: South-eastern, Central, Northern, Eastern and North-eastern.

Arrernte country is rich with mountain ranges, waterholes and gorges, which create a variety of natural habitats. According to Arrernte traditional histories, the landscape was shaped by the Yeperenye, Ntyarlke, and Utnerrengatye caterpillars and Akngwelye or wild dogs.

Sites of traditional importance include Anthwerrke (Emily Gap), Akeyulerre (Billy Goat Hill), Ntaripe (Heavitree Gap), Atnelkentyarliweke (ANZAC Hill) and Alhekulyele (Mt Gillen).

European settlement
In 1861–62, John McDouall Stuart led an expedition through Central Australia to the west of what later became Alice Springs, thereby establishing a route from the south of the continent to the north. A settlement named after Stuart was necessitated ten years later with the construction of a repeater station on the Australian Overland Telegraph Line (OTL), which linked Adelaide to Darwin and Great Britain. The OTL was completed in 1872. It traced Stuart's route and opened up the interior for permanent settlement. The Alice Springs Telegraph Station was sited near what was thought to be a permanent waterhole in the normally dry Todd River, named Alice Springs by W.W. Mills after the wife of the Superintendent of Telegraphs and Postmaster General of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd, who was the driving force for constructing the OTL. The nearby settlement of Stuart was renamed Alice Springs on 31 August 1933. The Todd River and its tributary the Charles River, which meet near the telegraph station, were named after Sir Charles. It was not until alluvial gold was discovered at Arltunga, 100 km east of the present Alice Springs, in 1887 that any significant European settlement occurred. The town's first substantial building was the Stuart Town Gaol in Parson's Street; this was built in 1909, when the town had a European population of fewer than 20 people. Many of the gaol's first prisoners were first-contact Aboriginal men incarcerated for killing cattle. The first aircraft, piloted by Francis Stewart Briggs, landed in 1921. Central Australia's first hospital, Adelaide House, was built in 1926 when the European population of the town was about 40. It was not until 1929, when the train line to Alice was built, that the town's European population began to grow. Aboriginal Centralians outnumbered European Centralians until the mid-1930s. From 1926 to 1931, Alice Springs was the seat of government for the now-defunct Territory of Central Australia. Until 31 August 1933, the town was officially known as Stuart. The original mode of British-Australian transportation in the outback were camel trains, operated by immigrants from Pathan tribes in the North-West Frontier of then-British India (present-day Pakistan), known locally as Afghan cameleers based at Hergott Springs, or Marree as it is now known. Many cameleers moved to Alice Springs in 1929 when the railway finally reached the town. They lived on the block where the town council is now, transporting goods from the rail head to stations and settlements to the north. A gold rush in Tennant Creek in 1932 kept the wheels of the Alice Springs economy turning until the outbreak of World War II.

In 1941 Father Percy Smith, an Anglican minister, founded St John's Hostel in Bath Street. The hostel provided accommodation for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children from remote areas who were attending school in Alice Springs. He had been concerned at the lack of opportunities for children housed in the government facility for Aboriginal children in Alice Springs, called The Bungalow. Smith went on to found and run St Francis House in Adelaide in 1945, but St John's continued to operate. Children under the care of the Welfare Branch were also placed there, and the building had to be expanded. During World War II, the hostel served as a recreation centre for troops. The new two-storey building was designed to accommodate up to 50 children, with separate dormitories for boys and girls, each with separate study area and library. Several of the children were transferred to St Francis House over time, and St John's Hostel continued to operate until the 1970s.

World War II
World War II brought significant changes to Alice Springs. Prior to the war, Alice Springs was an isolated settlement of fewer than 500 people. During the war, however, the town was an extremely active staging base, known as No. 9 Australian Staging Camp, and a depot base for the long four-day trip to Darwin. The railway hub in Alice Springs was taken over by military operations, and the number of soldiers posted in Alice Springs grew rapidly, as did the number of personnel passing through on their way to and from Darwin. When Darwin was threatened by Japanese forces, the sea routes—the Northern Territory capital's primary means of transportation and resupply—were cut off. The evacuation of Darwin first brought a large number of civilians including elected officials and many of the territory government's records. Alice Springs became the war-time civilian capital of the Northern Territory. When Darwin was bombed by Japanese air forces, a large number of military personnel and their heavy equipment were rapidly moved south to Alice Springs.

The number of soldiers posted in Alice Springs peaked at around 8,000, and the number of personnel passing through totalled close to 200,000. Once the war ended, the military camps and the evacuees departed, and Alice Springs' population declined rapidly. After being visited by nearly 200,000 people, including the American General Douglas MacArthur, Alice Springs gained considerable fame. The war years also left behind many structures. The historically listed Totem Theatre, created for the entertainment of this camp, still exists today. The Australian Army set up the 109th Australian General Hospital at Alice Springs. Seven Mile Aerodrome was constructed by the Royal Australian Air Force. War-related operations necessitated the first sealing of the road between Alice Springs and Larrimah, expansion and improvement of Alice Springs' water supply, and improving the rail head. The war-related operations left behind thousands of pieces of excess military equipment and vehicles and a marked increase in Alice Springs' population.

During World War II, Alice Springs was the location of RAAF No. 24 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed on 20 May 1942 and closed in November 1944. Each IAFD usually consisting of four tanks; 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces, at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).

After World War II
During the 1960s, Alice Springs became an important defence location with the development of the US/Australian Pine Gap joint defence satellite monitoring base, home to about 700 workers from both countries.

By far the major industry in recent times is tourism. Almost in the exact centre of the continent, Alice Springs is some 1200 km from the nearest ocean and 1500 km from the nearest major cities, Darwin and Adelaide. Alice Springs is at the midpoint of the Adelaide–Darwin Railway. Alice Springs was connected to Darwin by rail on 4 February 2004, when the first passenger train arrived in Darwin from Adelaide.

Modern town
The modern town of Alice Springs has both European and Aboriginal influences. The town's focal point, the Todd Mall, hosts a number of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. In February 2024, AIATSIS Central Australia information and exhibition centre opened in Todd Mall.

Alice Springs' desert lifestyle has inspired several unique events, such as the Camel Cup, the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, Beanie Festival and the Tatts Finke Desert Race.

Built environment
Alice Springs has many historic buildings, including the Overland Telegraph Station, the Old Courthouse and Residency and the Hartley Street School. Adelaide House, a beautiful stone building in the middle of the Mall, Central Australia's first hospital, was designed and built by the Rev. John Flynn, founder of the world's first flying doctor service, in 1926. It was also the site of the world's first successful portable wireless radio experiment conducted by Alf Traeger. Today it is a museum, one of several significant tourist attractions which form part of The Flynn Trail a self-guided urban heritage trail.

Today, the town is an important tourist hub and service centre for the surrounding area. It is a well-appointed town for its size, with several large hotels, a convention centre, and a good range of visitor attractions, restaurants, and other services.

Geography
The region around Alice Springs is part of the Central Ranges xeric scrub area of dry scrubby grassland and includes the MacDonnell Ranges, which run east and west of the town and contain a number of hiking trails and swimming holes, such as Ormiston Gorge, Ormiston Gorge Creek, Red Bank Gorge and Glen Helen Gorge. The 223 km Larapinta Trail follows the West MacDonnell Ranges and is considered among the world's great walking experiences.

The Simpson Desert, southeast of Alice Springs, is one of Australia's great wilderness areas, containing giant, red sand dunes and rock formations, such as Chambers Pillar and Rainbow Valley.

Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Alice Springs has a subtropical hot desert climate (BWh), featuring very hot, fairly moist summers and short, very dry, mild winters. Located just south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the town of Alice Springs straddles the usually dry Todd River on the northern side of the MacDonnell Ranges. Alice Springs is located in Central Australia, also called the Red Centre, an arid environment consisting of several different deserts. The annual average rainfall is 285.9 mm, which would make it a semi-arid climate, except that its high evapotranspiration, or its aridity, makes it a desert climate.

Annual precipitation is erratic. In 2001, 741 mm fell and in 2002 only 198 mm fell. The highest daily rainfall is 204.8 mm, recorded on 31 March 1988.

Temperatures in Alice Springs vary widely, and rainfall can vary quite dramatically from year to year. In summer, the average maximum temperature is in the mid-30s, whereas in winter the average minimum temperature can be 5.5 C, with an average of 12.4 nights below freezing every year, providing frost. The elevation of the town is about 545 m, which contributes to the cool nights in winter. The highest temperature on record is 47.5 C, first recorded on 24 December 1891, whilst the record low is -7.5 C, recorded on 17 July 1976. This is also the lowest temperature recorded in the Northern Territory.

Demographics
According to the 2021 census of population, there were 24,855 people in the Alice Springs Urban Area.
 * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 21.2% of the population.
 * 66.7% of people were born in Australia, 3.9% in India, 3.3% in New Zealand, 2.7% in the United States, 2.4% in England, and 2.3% in the Philippines.
 * 67.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arrernte 1.8%, Malayalam 1.8%, Punjabi 1.7%, Tagalog 1.1% and Warlpiri 1.1%.
 * 51.6% of the population was irreligious in 2021. The largest religious groups included Christianity (41.1%), Hinduism (2.5%), Sikhism (1.5%), Buddhism (1.5%), and Islam (1.1%). John Flynn Memorial Church, Alice Springs, 2015.JPG

Aboriginal population
As Alice Springs is the regional hub of Central Australia, it attracts Aboriginal people from all over that region and well beyond. Many Aboriginal people visit regularly to use the town's services. Aboriginal residents usually live in the suburbs, on special purpose leases (or town camps), or further out at Amoonguna to the south and on the small family outstation communities on Aboriginal lands in surrounding areas.

The traditional owners of the Alice Springs area are the Central Arrernte people. As it is the largest town in central Australia, there are also speakers of Warlpiri, Warumungu, Kaytetye, Alyawarre, Luritja, Pintupi, Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara, Ngaanyatjarra, Pertame, Eastern, and Western Arrernte among others.

American population

Americans have lived in Alice Springs continuously since the establishment of the United States Air Force Detachment 421, in 1954. Currently located on Schwarz Crescent, it is part of a joint American–Australian project called the Joint Geological and Geographical Research Station (JGGRS). The unit is locally known as "Det 421" or "The Det" and has sponsored as many as 25 American families to live as temporary residents of the Alice Springs district.

To mark the longstanding friendship with the community, on 1 July 1995, the Alice Springs Town Council granted Detachment 421 honorary Freedom of Entry to Alice Springs. Since the early 1970s, the majority of the American population in Alice Springs has been associated with proximity to Pine Gap, a joint Australian-US satellite tracking station, located 19 km south-west of Alice Springs, that employs about 700 Americans and Australians.

Currently, 2,000 residents of the Alice Springs district hold American citizenship. Many of these, joined by some Australians, celebrate major American public holidays, including the 4th of July and Thanksgiving. Americans in Alice Springs are also known to participate in a variety of associations and sporting teams, including baseball, basketball and soccer competitions.

Other cultures
Several small immigrant communities of other foreign cultures have found a home in Alice Springs, including Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Sudanese and Indian ethnic groups. The most obvious impact of their presence in such a small and isolated town has been the opening of various restaurants serving their traditional cuisines.

Itinerant population
Alice Springs has a large itinerant population. This population is generally composed of foreign and Australian tourists, Aboriginal Australians visiting from nearby Central Australian communities, and Australian or international workers on short-term contracts (colloquially referred to as "blow-ins"). The major sources of work that recruit workers into town are the stations, mines, healthcare and law enforcement. Foreign tourists usually pass through on their way to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, whilst Australian tourists usually come through as a part of an event such as the Masters Games and the Finke Desert Race. These events can cause the population of the town to fluctuate by several thousand within a matter of days.

Government
The Alice Springs Town Council governs the Alice Springs area, which takes in the town centre, its suburbs and some rural area. The Alice Springs Town Council has governed Alice Springs since 1971. The Alice Springs council consists of nine members: the mayor and eight aldermen. The town is not divided up into wards. The current mayor of Alice Springs is Matt Paterson. Council Meetings are held on the last Monday of each month. The Alice Springs Region is governed by the newly created MacDonnell Region local government area, for which Alice Springs serves as council seat.

Alice Springs and the surrounding region have four elected members to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. Araluen and Braitling are entirely within Alice Springs, while the mostly rural seats of Gwoja (known as Stuart before 2020) and Namatjira spill into the town. Historically, Alice Springs has tilted conservative. It was a stronghold for the Country Liberal Party for many years; only the northeast (part of which is in Stuart) leans Labor. However, these trends were dramatically altered at the 2016 election. Former Chief Minister and Alice Springs resident Adam Giles lost Braitling to Labor, Araluen was retained by CLP-turned-independent Robyn Lambley, and Namatjira and Stuart fell to Labor. As a result, the CLP was completely shut out of Alice Springs for the first time ever. The CLP regained Braitling and Namatjira in 2020, while Lambley retained Araluen for her party at the time, the Territory Alliance.

In the Australian House of Representatives, Alice Springs is part of the Division of Lingiari, which includes all of the Territory outside the Darwin/Palmerston area. Lingiari is currently held by Labor member Marion Scrymgour.

Economy
Alice Springs began as a service town to the pastoral industry that first came to the region. The introduction of the rail line increased its economy. Today the town services a region of 546046 km2 and a regional population of 38,749. The region includes a number of mining and pastoral communities, the Joint Defence Space Research Facility at Pine Gap and tourist attractions at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Watarrka National Park and the MacDonnell Ranges.

The largest employer in Alice Springs is the Northern Territory Government, with 8% of employed people working in government administration, 7% in school education, and 4% in the Alice Springs Hospital. The economy of Alice Springs is somewhat reliant on domestic and international tourism, with 4% of its workforce employed providing accommodation. Several major tour companies have a base in Alice Springs, as well as numerous local operators offering tours to sites in the region, including Uluru and the MacDonnell Ranges.

A dispatch centre for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia operates here.

Education
Education is overseen territory-wide by the Department of Education and Training (DET). It works to continually improve education outcomes for all students, with a focus on Indigenous students.

Alice Springs is served by a number of public and private schools that cater to local and overseas students.

Alice Springs School of the Air delivers education to students in remote areas.

There are 10 private schools. Yirara College is a co-educational secondary boarding school catering for around 200 Aboriginal students run by the Finke River Mission. It has another campus in Kintore (Walungurru), which has four rooms and caters for around 30 students.

The Alice Springs Campus of Charles Darwin University offers courses in TAFE and higher education. The Centre for Appropriate Technology was established in 1980 and provides a range of services to encourage and help Aboriginal people enhance their quality of life in remote communities.

Parrtjima − A Festival in Light
Parrtjima − A Festival in Light (pronounced par-chee-ma ) subtitled − A Festival in Light, takes place over 10 days each April in the desert outside Alice Springs. The name means "shedding both light and understanding" in the local Arrernte language, and the festival aims "to celebrate the oldest continuous cultures in the world through the latest technology". It includes light shows, artworks, storytelling, and other manifestations of Aboriginal Australian culture, and both Alice Springs Desert Park and at the Araluen Arts Centre are also venues for interactive workshops, Indigenous music and dance, films by Aboriginal filmmakers, and talks. The festival, which has free admission, has run annually since 2016.

In 2022, the festival was curated for the fifth time by Rhoda Roberts. It featured a 2 km stretch of light installations; musical acts Dan Sultan, BARKAA, and King Stingray; and a retrospective of the work of Indigenous filmmaker Warwick Thornton.

In 2023, Roberts once again curated Parrtjima. The festival featured the artwork which women artists of Mutitjulu had created for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, led by Rene Kulitja, as a huge immersive light installation. The theme of the festival is "Listen with the heart", and musicians performing at the festival include Richard Frankland and JK-47.

Other events
The town's focal point, the Todd Mall, hosts a number of Aboriginal art galleries and community events. Alice Springs' desert lifestyle has inspired several unique events, such as the Alice Desert Festival, the Red Centre NATS, Blacken Open Air music festival, the Camel Cup, the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, the Beanie Festival, and the Finke Desert Race. The Finke Desert Race is a "there and back" challenge from Alice Springs to Aputula (Finke) Community, covering a 460 km round trip.

Galleries and museums
Alice Springs is home to many local and Aboriginal art galleries. Several galleries showcase Indigenous Australian art. Trade in Aboriginal art soared after the painting movement began at Papunya, a Central Australian Aboriginal settlement, and swept other Indigenous communities. Central Australia is the home of some of the most prominent names in Aboriginal art, including Emily Kngwarreye, Minnie Pwerle, Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, Albert Namatjira, and Wenten Rubuntja. The Museum of Central Australia / Strehlow Research Centre features some of the most important natural history and archival materials tied to the history and culture of the region. The Strehlow Archives, containing the work of Carl Strehlow, also contain materials linked to the Arrernte people of Central Australia.

The Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment presents world-class ballets and orchestras, as well as local performances.

The Women's Museum of Australia (formerly National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame) is located in the grounds of Old Alice Springs Gaol in the Heritage Precinct. Here women's stories from across Australia are presented with the lives of outback women as well as stories from the Old Gaol and Labour Prison. Objects include a large "Signature" quilt with signatures of over 300 women first in their field and a 4.2 m long Aviatrix tapestry celebrating the high flying lives of Australia's aviatrixes.

The town has some excellent small museums. The extensive collection at the Old Timer's Traeger Museum on the North Stuart Highway includes artefacts from the town's early Afghan and German residents, traditional Aboriginal artefacts and objects which show the early fusion of European and Aboriginal cultures, such as a spinifex-handled glass-bladed knife. Included in the collection are soapstone carvings by Arrernte artist Erlikilyika.

Library, archives, and other collections
Alice Springs is home to the Alice Springs Public Library, also known as the Nevil Shute Memorial Library. The library, in addition to its general borrowable collections (including e-resources), is also home to two special, not-for-loan, collections. These are the Alice Springs Collection and the Akaltye Atheme Collection, both of which specifically collect Central Australian content, including Aboriginal language resources (from around 16 local languages) and cultural heritage information. The Alice Springs Collection also holds a significant digital collection, including PDF copies of the Centralian Advocate from 1947  to  2015, and over 6000 images, primarily from the Central Australian Historical Images Collection.

Library & Archives NT also has offices in Alice Springs, located at Minerals House on Hartley Street, which holds archival collections relating to Central Australia, including Tennant Creek. Collections held here include community collections and government archives.

AIATSIS Central Australia provides access to the major online repositories held by the Canberra-based Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, including family history, photographs, and other publications and artefacts.

Other collecting institutions, excluding schools, include:
 * Arid Zone Research Institute (AZRI) Library
 * Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education Library, Desert Peoples Centre Campus Library
 * Central Land Council Library
 * Charles Darwin University Library
 * NT Department of Health Library
 * Strehlow Research Centre Library

Outdoors
Leisure and entertainment activities include hiking in the nearby MacDonnell Ranges and driving the four-wheel-drive tracks at Finke Gorge National Park.

Parks and gardens
The Alice Springs Desert Park was created to educate visitors about the many facets of the surrounding desert environment. The arid climate botanic garden, Olive Pink Botanic Garden, is a short distance from the town centre. They were named after anthropologist, naturalist and artist Olive Pink, who lived in the town for almost 30 years and died in 1975. She was well known locally and referred to by all as Miss Pink. The Alice Springs Reptile Centre is located in the town centre.

Sport

Alice Springs has a high rate of participation in many different sports, including Australian rules, baseball, basketball, boxing, cricket, football, golf, hockey, rugby and tennis.

Australian rules is a particularly popular sport in Alice Springs in terms of both participation and as a spectator sport. The Central Australian Football League formed in 1947 has several teams. The sport is particularly popular in Indigenous communities. The local stadium, Traeger Park, has a 10,000 seat capacity and was designed to host (pre-season) AFL and was the home to the Northern Territory Thunder until 2019. In 2004, an AFL pre-season Regional Challenge match between Collingwood Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club attracted a capacity sell-out crowd.

Association football is popular among the younger community. A high number of children play the game. It is also played frequently by amateur adults in different divisions. There is also an all-African league in Alice Springs.

Both codes of Rugby are played in Alice Springs. Rugby union, managed by the Central Australian Rugby Union Association (CARU) is played in conjunction with the Northern Territory Rugby Union calendar which runs during Darwins dry season. The Central Australian Rugby Union administers a four team competition based in Alice Springs with matches played between October and March at ANZAC Oval. The First Central Australian Club Competition commenced in 1986. There are four senior teams; Dingo Cubs Rugby Union, Kiwi Warriors Rugby Union, Eagles Rugby Union and Devils Rugby Union.

Rugby league has been a part of the local sporting scene since 1963. The Australian Rugby League has held a number of pre-season games in Alice Springs, at ANZAC Oval. The local competition is the Central Australian Rugby League and sanctions both Junior and Senior Rugby League matches. The season usually kicks off around March/April and runs through to Late August. There are four senior teams in Alice Springs: Wests, Memo, United and Vikings. Matches are held during the winter months at ANZAC oval on Saturday afternoons.

Cricket is a popular sport in Alice Springs and is primarily played at Traeger Park. The Imparja Cup Cricket Carnival first was played in 1994 and attracts Indigenous teams from all across Australia. The four main clubs are Federal Demons CC, Rovers CC, RSL Works CC and Wests CC.

Organized baseball has been played in Alice Springs since the mid-1950s. Currently under the national organisation of the Australian Baseball Federation, the Alice Springs Baseball Association organises baseball competitions for youth players aged 5 to 18 and an adult competition played at Jim McConville Park and on Lyel Kempster Field at Traeger Park. As part of the worldwide Little League network, Alice Springs players and compete in the Australian National Little League competitions.

The Alice Springs Golf Course, an 18-hole championship layout golf course designed by the architects Thomson Wolveridge, was opened in 1985 by a challenge match between top professionals Greg Norman and Johnny Miller. The course record of 64 is held jointly by, amateur members, Leigh Shacklady and Kerryn Heaver, beating professional Stuart Appleby's 65. Adam Scott won the Australian Boys Amateur Championship held there in 1997.

The Traeger Park sporting complex also hosts tennis, baseball, boxing, swimming, canoe polo, hockey, basketball, squash, badminton, gymnastics and skateboarding.

A unique sporting event, held annually, is the Henley-on-Todd Regatta, also known as the Todd River Race. It is a sand river race with bottomless boats and it remains the only dry river regatta in the world. Another unusual sporting event is the Camel Cup. The annual Camel Cup is held in July at Blatherskite Park, part of the Central Australian Show Society grounds. It is a full day event featuring a series of races using camels instead of horses.

Every year, on the Queen's Birthday long weekend, the annual Finke Desert Race is held. It is a gruelling off-road race that runs from Alice Springs to the Finke community, then back again the next day. The total length of the race is roughly 500 km. It attracts spectators, who camp along the whole length of the track, and roughly 500 competitors, buggies and bikes, every year, making it the biggest sporting event in the Alice Springs calendar.

Drag racing is held at the Alice Springs Inland Dragway which in June 2013 hosted a round of the national Aeroflow Sportsman Drag Racing Championship. In September 2017 12 people were injured when burning fuel sprayed from a drag-racing car onto a crowd of spectators at the Red CentreNATS competition.

Alice Springs is also home to the Arunga Park Speedway, a 402-metre dirt oval speedway. The speedway runs from August to March and caters to cars, solos and sidecars. Located just off the Stuart Highway on the northern edge of the town, Arunga Park hosted the Australian Sidecar Championship in 1985 and the Australian Solo Championship in 1991.

Crime

Property crime and violent crime, including domestic violence, often linked to alcohol and drug abuse, has been a significant social issue in Alice Springs in the 21st century, with most of the victims being residents of the town. Many approaches and programs have been tried over the years, with varying levels of success. After crime in the town rose dramatically since the Northern Territory Government lifted alcohol bans for many communities in 2022,  the bans were reintroduced in early 2023.

In 2024, a series of curfews were introduced to combat crime.

In popular culture

 * The TV series Pine Gap (2018) is set around the Australian and American joint defence intelligence facility at Pine Gap, located near Alice Springs.
 * Liz Phair included a song called "Alice Springs" on her 1994 album Whip Smart.
 * The group Midnight Oil mention Alice Springs in their songs "Kosciusko" and "Warakurna" ('There is enough in Redfern as there is in Alice'); and they mention Pine Gap in "Power and the Passion".
 * The well-known Australian song "My Island Home" was originally written about the experience of an islander living "west of Alice Springs", and this is mentioned in the lyrics of the original Warumpi Band version of the song.
 * Nevil Shute's novel A Town Like Alice, and the resulting film and television mini-series, take their name from Alice Springs, although little of the action takes place there, because part of the story is set in Willstown (possibly modelled on Burketown) situated north of Alice Springs, near the Gulf of Carpentaria. The heroine, Jean, wants to change Willstown into a town "like" Alice. The local library in Alice Springs is named after Nevil Shute: the Nevil Shute Memorial Library.
 * Lasseters Casino in Alice Springs is the destination for the drag queen protagonists in the Australian road movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The movie became a hit West End show, before transferring to Broadway.
 * The Western genre film Quigley Down Under was filmed on location in Alice Springs.
 * Alice Springs is featured in Bruce Chatwin's 1987 travelogue The Songlines, recounting the author's retreat into the Australian Outback in search of the Aboriginals' Dreaming-tracks.
 * Alice Springs is featured in Bill Bryson's 2000 travelogue Down Under (also known as "In a Sunburned Country"). Bryson visits and describes the scenes of Alice Springs including the Telegraph Office, the Springs, and his trip to Uluru from Alice Springs.
 * Dick Diver released a song called "Alice" on the 2013 album Calendar Days.
 * The opening track of Mystery Jets' 2011 album Serotonin is entitled "Alice Springs", inspired by a tour in Australia.
 * Ian Moss released a song called "Such a Beautiful Thing" on the 1988 album Matchbook, which contains the lyrics "thinking back to Alice Springs". He has stated that he wrote the song as a tribute to the Northern Territory.

Media

Alice Springs is served by both local and national radio and television services. The government-owned ABC provides five broadcast radio stations; local radio ABC Alice Springs and the national networks ABC Radio National, ABC News Radio, ABC Classic and Triple J. The national Christian radio network Vision Radio broadcasts on 88.0 FM.

Commercial radio stations are 8HA 900 kHz, Sun 96.9 MHz and Gold 98.7 MHz. The sports station TAB Radio can be heard on 95.9 Community radio is provided by 8CCC 102.1 and Indigenous broadcaster CAAMA Radio 100.5

Alice Springs is home to Australia's largest Indigenous media company. The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) consists of a radio station (CAAMA Radio), music recording label (CAAMA Music), television and film production company (CAAMA Productions) and CAAMA technical. CAAMA serves to record and promote Indigenous talent across its own radio network (one of the largest transmission footprints in the world), and through sales of CDs and screening of CAAMA movies and documentaries on national broadcasters.

Five broadcast television services operate in Alice Springs – commercial stations Imparja Television (callsign IMP-9), Southern Cross Central (QQQ-31) and Ten Central Digital (CDT-5), along with the Government-owned ABC TV (ABAD7) and SBS TV (SBS28). Imparja Television has a commercial agreement with the Nine Network. Southern Cross Central is an affiliate of the Seven Network. Ten Central Digital transmits programming from the Ten Network.

Imparja Television is operated from studios in Alice Springs. It has a program affiliation contract with the Nine Network. The programming schedule on Imparja is the same as Nine Darwin NTD-8 and Channel 9 Brisbane, with variations in Imparja's schedule for football, cricket, rugby league and Australian rules. The children's show Yamba's Playtime, news, regional weather, and other programs produced in Alice Springs by the station. Infomercials are shown in place of Home Shopping and other programs overnight and in some daytime timeslots. NITV is broadcast on the second channel allocated to Imparja by the Federal Government.

Indigenous community TV station ICTV is also broadcast in Alice Springs as retransmitted on digital channel 37.

From June 2020 until August 2023 no local newspaper was published in Alice Springs, following the closure of the Centralian Advocate after 76 years of publication. The rival Alice Springs News ceased being printed in 2011, but continues publishing occasional articles online and maintains an article archive. In June 2023 the Today News Group announced it would start publishing a new weekly newspaper serving Alice Springs, and on 31 August 2023 the inaugural edition of The Centralian Today was published.

Transport

Located on the Adelaide-Darwin railway, Alice Springs is accessible by train. Alice Springs railway station is visited by The Ghan, operated by Journey Beyond, on its journey between Adelaide and Darwin. The train arrives twice weekly in each direction.

The line first opened to Alice Springs in 1929, as the narrow gauge Central Australia Railway. It was not until 1980 that the current standard gauge line was opened, which was extended to Darwin in 2004. There are daily express coach services to and from Adelaide and Darwin servicing Alice Springs. The Stuart Highway, running north from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs, is Northern Territory's most important road. The distance from Alice Springs to Adelaide is 1530 km and to Darwin is 1498 km.

There are flights from Alice Springs Airport to Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Melbourne, and Sydney. Four airlines serve Alice Springs: Airnorth, Bonza, Qantas and Virgin Australia.

Alice Springs is a base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia.

Sister cities

 * 🇦🇫 Paghman, Afghanistan, since January 2005

title: Alice Springs


text:
Winter wren

The winter wren (Troglodytes hiemalis) is a very small North American bird and a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. The species contained the congeneric Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus) of western North America and Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) of Eurasia until they were split in 2010.

It breeds in coniferous forests from British Columbia to the Atlantic Ocean. It migrates through and winters across southeastern Canada, the eastern half the United States and (rarely) north-eastern Mexico. Small numbers may be casual in the western United States and Canada.

The scientific name for its genus is taken from the Greek word troglodytes (from "trogle" a hole, and "dyein" to creep), meaning "cave-dweller", and may refer to their tendency to nest in cavities or their foraging behavior, in which the winter wren almost exclusively ground-gleans in thick underbrush.

Taxonomy
The winter wren was described and illustrated in 1808 by the American ornithologist Alexander Wilson. He was uncertain as to whether the wren should be considered a separate species or a subspecies of the Eurasian wren. When Louis Pierre Vieillot, a French ornithologist, described the winter wren in 1819 he considered it a separate species and coined the current binomial name Troglodytes hiemalis. The specific epithet is Latin and means "of winter". The type locality was restricted to Nova Scotia by Harry C. Oberholser in 1902.

The winter wren was formerly considered to be conspecific with the Eurasian wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) and the Pacific wren (Troglodytes pacificus). The Eurasian wren was split from the two North American species based on a study of mitochondrial DNA published in 2007. A study published in 2008 of the songs and genetics of individuals in an overlap zone between Troglodytes hiemalis and Troglodytes pacificus found strong evidence of reproductive isolation between the two. It was suggested that the pacificus subspecies be promoted to the species level designation of Troglodytes pacificus with the common name of "Pacific wren". By applying a molecular clock to the amount of mitochondrial DNA sequence divergence between the two, it was estimated that Troglodytes pacificus and Troglodytes troglodytes last shared a common ancestor approximately 4.3 million years ago, long before the glacial cycles of the Pleistocene, which are thought to have promoted speciation in many avian systems inhabiting the boreal forest of North America.

Two subspecies are recognised:

 * T. h. hiemalis Vieillot, 1819 – breeds in east Canada and northeast USA, winters in southeast USA
 * T. h. pullus (Burleigh, 1935) – breeds in mountains of West Virginia to Georgia (east-central USA), winters in south USA

Description
Small tail is often cocked above its back, and short neck gives the appearance of a small brown ball. Rufous brown above, grayer below, barred with darker brown and gray, even on wings and tail. The bill is dark brown, and the legs are pale brown. Young birds are less distinctly barred. Most are identifiable by the pale "eyebrows" over their eyes.

Measurements:

 * Length: 3.1 - 4.7 in
 * Weight: 0.3 - 0.4 oz
 * Wingspan: 4.7 - 6.3 in

Distribution and habitat
The winter wren nests mostly in coniferous forests, especially those of spruce and fir, where it is often identified by its long and exuberant song. Although it is an insectivore, it can remain in moderately cold and even snowy climates by foraging for insects on substrates such as bark and fallen logs.

Its movements as it creeps or climbs are incessant rather than rapid; its short flights swift and direct but not sustained, its tiny round wings whirring as it flies from bush to bush.

At night, usually in winter, it often roosts, true to its scientific name, in dark retreats, snug holes and even old nests. In hard weather it may do so in parties, either consisting of the family or of many individuals gathered together for warmth.

Breeding
The male builds a small number of nests. These are called "cock nests" but are never lined until the female chooses one to use. The normal round nest of grass, moss, lichens or leaves is tucked into a hole in a wall, tree trunk, crack in a rock or corner of a building, but it is often built in bushes, overhanging boughs or the litter which accumulates in branches washed by floods. Five to eight white or slightly speckled eggs are laid in April, and second broods are reared.

Food and feeding
For the most part insects and spiders are its food, but in winter large pupae and some seeds are taken.

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

title: Winter wren


text:
John Cleves Symmes Jr.

Captain John Cleves Symmes Jr. (November 5, 1780 – May 28, 1829 ) was an American Army officer, trader, and lecturer. Symmes is best known for his 1818 variant of the Hollow Earth theory, which introduced the concept of openings to the inner world at the poles.

Early life
John Cleves Symmes Jr. was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, son of Thomas and Mercy (née Harker) Symmes. He was named for his uncle John Cleves Symmes, a delegate to the Continental Congress, a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, Chief Justice of New Jersey, father-in-law of US President William Henry Harrison and pioneer in the settlement and development of the Northwest Territory. Though Justice Symmes had no male children, the younger John Cleves Symmes was often referred to by his later military rank, or with the suffix of "Jr.", so as to distinguish him from his uncle. Symmes "received a good common English education" and on March 26, 1802, at the age of twenty-two, obtained a commission as an Ensign in the US Army (with the assistance of his uncle).

He was commissioned into the 1st Infantry Regiment and was promoted to Second Lieutenant on May 1, 1804, to First Lieutenant on July 29, 1807, and to Captain on January 20, 1813. In 1807, Symmes fought a pistol duel with Lieutenant Marshall. Symmes suffered a wound in his wrist; Marshall one in his thigh. Afterwards, the two men became friends. On December 25, 1808, Symmes married Mary Anne Lockwood (nee. Pelletier), a widow with six children, all of whom he was to raise alongside his own children by Mary.

During the War of 1812, Symmes was initially stationed in Missouri Territory until 1814 when his 1st Infantry Regiment was sent to Canada, arriving just in time to provide relief to American forces at the Battle of Lundy's Lane. Symmes also served during the Siege of Fort Erie, and continued in his Army career until being honorably discharged on June 15, 1815.

After leaving the Army, Symmes moved to St. Louis (then a frontier settlement) and went into business as a trader. He sold supplies to Army, and obtained a license to trade with the Fox Indians. However, his business venture was unsuccessful and in 1819, Symmes moved his family to Newport, KY. But while failing as a trader, Symmes was contemplating the rings of Saturn and developing his theory of the Hollow Earth—a theory which he would spend the remainder of his life promoting.

Hollow Earth theory

"I declare the earth is hollow, and habitable within; containing a number of solid concentrick spheres, one within the other, and that it is open at the poles 12 or 16 degrees; I pledge my life in support of this truth, and am ready to explore the hollow, if the world will support and aid me in the undertaking."

Declaration and reaction
On April 10, 1818, Symmes announced his Hollow Earth hypothesis to the world, publishing his Circular No. 1. While a few enthusiastic supporters would ultimately lionize Symmes as the "Newton of the West", in general the world was not impressed.

Symmes had sent his declaration (at considerable cost to himself) to "each notable foreign government, reigning prince, legislature, city, college, and philosophical societies, throughout the union, and to individual members of our National Legislature, as far as the five hundred copies would go." Symmes's son Americus wrote of the reaction to Circular No. 1 in 1878, recounting "[i]ts reception by the public can easily be imagined; it was overwhelmed with ridicule as the production of a distempered imagination, or the result of partial insanity. It was for many years a fruitful source of jest with the newspapers." Symmes, though, was not deterred. He began a campaign of circulars, newspaper letters, and lectures aimed at defending and promoting his hypothesis of a Hollow Earth—and to build support for a polar expedition to vindicate his theory.

Symmes's theory
In its original form, Symmes's Hollow Earth theory described the world as consisting of five concentric spheres, with our outer earth and its atmosphere as the largest. He visualized the Earth's crust as being approximately 1,000 miles (1,610 km) thick, with an Arctic opening about 4,000 miles (6,450 km) wide, and an Antarctic opening around 6,000 miles (9,650 km) wide. Symmes proposed that the curvature of the rim of these polar openings was gradual enough that it would be possible to actually enter the inner earth without being aware of the transition. He argued that due to the centrifugal force of Earth's rotation, the Earth would be flattened at the poles, leading to a vast passage into the inner Earth. Symmes's concept of polar openings connecting the Earth's surface to the inner Earth was to be his unique contribution to Hollow Earth lore. Such polar openings would come to be known as "Symmes Holes" in literary Hollow Earths.

Symmes held that the inner surfaces of the concentric spheres in his Hollow Earth would be illuminated by sunlight reflected off of the outer surface of the next sphere down and would be habitable, being a "warm and rich land, stocked with thrifty vegetables and animals if not men". He also believed that the spheres revolved at different rates and upon different axes, and that the apparent instability of magnetic North in the Arctic could be explained by travelers moving unawares across and along the verge between the inner and outer earths.

Symmes generalized his theory beyond just the Earth, claiming that "the Earth as well as all the celestial orbicular bodies existing in the inverse, visible and invisible, which partake in any degree of a planetary nature, from the greatest to the smallest, from the sun down to the most minute blazing meteor or falling star, are all constituted, in a greater or less degree, of a collection of spheres".

Ultimately, Symmes was to simplify his theory, abandoning the series of concentric inner spheres, and teaching "only one concentric sphere (a hollow earth), not five" by the time he embarked on his lecture tour of the East Coast.

Origins of Symmes's theory
Writing in August 1817 to his stepson, Anthony Lockwood, Symmes for the first time stated that "I infer that all planets and globes are hollow". But Symmes' theory was far from unprecedented. While the idea of polar openings leading into a Hollow Earth was Symmes' innovation, the concept of a Hollow Earth had an intellectual pedigree dating back to the 17th century and Edmond Halley. Halley proposed his Hollow Earth theory as an explanation for the different locations of the geographic and magnetic poles of the Earth. While Halley's contemporaries found the geomagnetic data he had gathered to be of interest, his proposal of a Hollow Earth was never widely accepted. The theory remained dear to Halley; he chose to have his final portrait (as Astronomer Royal) painted depicting him holding a drawing of the Earth's interior as a set of concentric spheres. Some scholars have proposed that Symmes may have learned of Halley's Hollow Earth via Cotton Mather's book, The Christian Philosopher, a popular survey of science as natural theology.

Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler has often been claimed as a proponent of a Hollow Earth theory. The version of the Hollow Earth theory ascribed to Euler lacked the concentric spheres of Halley's proposal, but added the element of an interior sun. But Euler may never have actually suggested any such thing; Euler scholar, C. Edward Sandifer, has examined Euler's writings and found no evidence for any such belief.

Whether or not Euler ever proposed a Hollow Earth, Symmes and some of his contemporaries certainly thought Euler had. In an 1824 exchanges of newspaper letters with Symmes, D. Preston implied that Symmes' theory was not original, and cited both Halley and Euler as earlier examples. Symmes himself insisted that he had not known of Hollow Earth proposals of Halley and Euler at the time he conceived his theory, and that he had only learned of their works much later. Symmes' disciple, James McBride, promoting and explaining Symmes' theory in his book, Symmes's Theory of Concentric Spheres (1826), cited Euler as an earlier proponent of a similar theory.

Circulars, lectures, and Symzonia

For the first two years after the publication of his theory, Symmes confined his promotional efforts to circulars and letters published in newspapers and magazines. In all, he issued seven additional circulars from 1818 to 1819, including Light Between the Spheres, which gained a national audience via its publication in the National Intelligencer. But though Symmes made converts, his theory continued to be greeted with general ridicule.

In 1819, Symmes moved his family from St. Louis to Newport, Kentucky. And in 1820, Symmes began to promote his theory directly, lecturing on it in Cincinnati and other towns and cities in the region, making use of a wooden globe with the polar sections removed to reveal the inner Earth and the spheres within. (Symmes's modified globe can now be found in the collection of Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.) Symmes was not a commanding lecturer; he was uncomfortable as a public speaker, hesitant in speaking, and possessed a nasal voice. Still, he persevered.

Symmes began to make converts and his ideas began to filter into the public consciousness, and popular support for his proposed Arctic expedition started to build. In 1820, he sat for a never-completed portrait by artist John J. Audubon for Cincinnati's Western Museum. Audubon wrote on the back of the sketch, "John, Cleeves Simms—The man with the hole at the Pole—Drawn and a good likeness it is".

Some have claimed he was the real author of: Symzonia; Voyage of Discovery, which was attributed to "Captain Adam Seaborn". A recent reprint gives him as the author. Other researchers argue against this idea. Some think it was written as a satire of Symmes's ideas, and believe they identified the author as early American writer Nathaniel Ames.

McBride and Reynolds—the disciples
Symmes himself never wrote a book of his ideas, as he was too busy expounding them on the lecture circuit, but others did. His follower James McBride wrote and published Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres in 1826. Another follower, Jeremiah N. Reynolds apparently had an article that was published as a separate booklet in 1827: Remarks of Symmes' Theory Which Appeared in the American Quarterly Review. In 1868 a professor W.F. Lyons published The Hollow Globe which put forth a Symmes-like Hollow Earth theory, but did not mention Symmes. Symmes's son Americus then republished The Symmes' Theory of Concentric Spheres to set the record straight.

Americus Symmes
Symmes's death left his eldest son, seventeen-year-old Americus Symmes, the sole support of the family, with an estate significantly in debt. Americus provided for his mother and siblings and paid off his father's debts. He also championed his father's legacy, erecting a memorial to him (a pylon topped with a globe carved in the shape of a hollow sphere) and publishing in 1878 an edited collection of his father's papers, Symmes's Theory of Concentric Spheres: Demonstrating That the Earth is Hollow, Habitable Within, and Widely Open About the Poles, Compiled by Americus Symmes, from the Writings of his Father, Capt. John Cleves Symmes (not to be confused with the book of a very similar title published by James McBride in 1826).

Literary
Symmes features as the source of information about the hollow Earth used as a literary trope in Grigsby, Alcanoan O and Mary P. Lowe's "Nequa, or The Problem of the Ages" (1900).

Compare a fictional echo of Symmes in Ian Wedde's Symmes Hole (1987); and a focus on both Symmes and Reynolds in James Chapman's Our Plague: A Film From New York (1993).

Symmes' work is referenced in Vladimir Obruchev's 1915 novel Plutonia (novel).

John Cleves Symmes also makes an appearance in Rudy Rucker's steampunk novel, The Hollow Earth, and in Felix J. Palma's The Map of the Sky.

Samuel Highgate Syme, the subject of The Syme Papers in Benjamin Markovits's book of the same name, is based on John Cleves Symmes.

title: John Cleves Symmes Jr.


text:
Edward George, Baron George

Edward Alan John George, Baron George (16 September 1938 – 18 April 2009), known as Eddie George, or sometimes as "Steady Eddie", was Governor of the Bank of England from 1993 to 2003 and sat on the board of NM Rothschild and Sons.

Early life
George was born and grew up in Carshalton, the son of Alan, a Post Office clerk, and his wife Olive. He attended the independent Dulwich College on a scholarship. Having learned to speak Russian at Dulwich, he carried out his National Service at the Joint Services School for Linguists. He attended and graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Financial career
George joined the Bank of England in 1962. Apart from secondments to Moscow State University, the Bank for International Settlements, and the International Monetary Fund, he remained there throughout his career.

After three years as Deputy Governor, he was appointed Governor of the Bank of England to succeed Robin Leigh-Pemberton, who retired on the completion of his second five-year term of office on 30 June 1993. During the early part of George's governance, his successful relationship with then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke earned them the nickname 'the Ken and Eddie Show'. Upon the Labour Party coming to power at the 1997 general election, the Bank was given independence in setting UK interest rates by Gordon Brown, the incoming Chancellor of the Exchequer. George was succeeded as Governor of the Bank of England in July 2003 by Mervyn King.

George attracted controversy in 1998 when he was widely reported to have made a statement to London newspaper executives implying that unemployment in the north of England was a price worth paying to preserve affluence in the south of the country. He later claimed that his remarks had been misconstrued.

Later life
George served as a Governor of his former school, Dulwich College, between 1998 and 2008 and as the Chairman of the Governors between 2003 and 2008.

On 18 April 2009, George, a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer.

Personal life
George married Vanessa George, Lady George (née Williams) in Surrey in 1962. They had three children. Lady George died in March 2017.

Honours
George was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in the 2000 Birthday Honours. He was made a life peer in June 2004 as Baron George, of St Tudy in the County of Cornwall. He was awarded an honorary D.Sc. by the University of Buckingham on 4 March 2000, and appointed a deputy lieutenant of Cornwall in March 2006.

title: Edward George, Baron George


text:
CRF

CRF may refer to:

Science and technology

 * Corticotropin-releasing factor family, a family of related neuropeptides in vertebrates
 * Corticotropin-releasing hormone or corticotropin-releasing factor, a polypeptide hormone
 * Chromatographic response function, a coefficient which characterizes the quality of the separation in the result of a chromatography
 * Coefficient of rolling friction, a coefficient that measures the rolling resistance
 * Cloud radiative forcing, the difference between the radiation budget components for average cloud conditions and cloud-free conditions
 * Chemotactic range fitting, a phenomenon in which organisms direct their movements according to certain chemicals
 * Controlled-release fertiliser, a solid form fertilizer
 * Coupled rangefinder camera
 * Case report form, used in clinical trial research

Computing

 * Conditional random field, in machine learning, a type of graphical model
 * Constant Rate Factor, used video encoders such as x265, and VP9, and AV1 as a bitrate control method.

Medicine

 * Cardiorespiratory fitness
 * Case report form, in a clinical trial, the document showing all the evaluated patient data
 * Cancer-related fatigue
 * Chronic renal failure, also known as chronic kidney disease (CKD)

Economics and finance

 * Capital recovery factor, a financial concept
 * Consolidated Revenue Fund, the main government bank account in many Commonwealth Nations

Organisations

 * Catholic Reaction Force, a name used by paramilitaries to issue death threats against Protestants in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles"
 * Cave Research Foundation, an American private, non-profit group dedicated to the exploration, research, and conservation of caves
 * Central Readiness Force, a military defense unit in Japan
 * Centro Ricerche Fiat, the central research organization for Fiat; see Blue&Me
 * Air Central (ICAO airline designator), an airline in Japan

Sports

 * Circle rules football, a variation on football with only one goal
 * Cyprus Rugby Federation, the governing body for rugby union in Cyprus
 * Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, a Brazilian football club based in Rio de Janeiro

Other uses

 * Honda CRF series, a series of motorcycles
 * Carolina Renaissance Festival, a festival held annually in North Carolina, US
 * Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada

title: CRF


text:
CRH

CRH may refer to:
 * Calibre radius head, a traditional British ordnance term for a concept in ballistic projectile design
 * Celtic Resources Holdings, an Irish mining company
 * China Railway High-speed, a high-speed railway service operated by China Railways
 * Choate Rosemary Hall, a private boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut
 * Coin roll hunting, the hobby of searching change pulled from circulation for collectible coins
 * Combat Rescue Helicopter (HH-60W), being developed for the US Air Force based on the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
 * Corticotropin-releasing hormone, a polypeptide hormone and neurotransmitter involved in the stress response
 * Council on Religion and the Homosexual, an American LGBT rights organization
 * CRH plc, a building materials company, based in Ireland
 * Crimean Tatar language's ISO 639-2 and 639-3 code
 * Crouch Hill railway station, a railway station in England (National Rail station code: CRH)

title: CRH


text:
Corticotropin-releasing hormone

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) (also known as corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) or corticoliberin; corticotropin may also be spelled corticotrophin) is a peptide hormone involved in stress responses. It is a releasing hormone that belongs to corticotropin-releasing factor family. In humans, it is encoded by the CRH gene. Its main function is the stimulation of the pituitary synthesis of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), as part of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis).

Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is a 41-amino acid peptide derived from a 196-amino acid preprohormone. CRH is secreted by the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus in response to stress. Increased CRH production has been observed to be associated with Alzheimer's disease and major depression, and autosomal recessive hypothalamic corticotropin deficiency has multiple and potentially fatal metabolic consequences including hypoglycemia.

In addition to being produced in the hypothalamus, CRH is also synthesized in peripheral tissues, such as T lymphocytes, and is highly expressed in the placenta. In the placenta, CRH is a marker that determines the length of gestation and the timing of parturition and delivery. A rapid increase in circulating levels of CRH occurs at the onset of parturition, suggesting that, in addition to its metabolic functions, CRH may act as a trigger for parturition.

A recombinant version for diagnostics is called corticorelin (INN).

Actions and psychopharmacology
CRH is produced in response to stress, predominantly by parvocellular neurosecretory cells within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and is released at the median eminence from neurosecretory terminals of these neurons into the primary capillary plexus of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal system. The portal system carries the CRH to the anterior lobe of the pituitary, where it stimulates corticotropes to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and other biologically-active substances (β-endorphin). ACTH stimulates the synthesis of cortisol, glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids and DHEA.

In the short term, CRH can suppress appetite, increase subjective feelings of anxiety, and perform other functions like boosting attention.

During chronic stress conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), blood serum levels of CRH are decreased in combat veterans with PTSD compared to healthy individuals. It is believed that chronic stress enhances the negative feedback inhibition of the HPA axis, resulting in lower CRH levels and HPA function.

Abnormally high levels of CRH have been found in people with major depression, and in the cerebrospinal fluid of people who have committed suicide.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone has been shown to interact with its receptors, corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRFR1) and corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2 (CRFR2), in order to induce its effects. Injection of CRH into the rodent paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN) can increase CRFR1 expression, with increased expression leading to depression-like behaviors. Sex differences have also been observed with respect to both CRH and the receptors that it interacts with. CRFR1 has been shown to exist at higher levels in the female nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle, and rostral anteroventral periventricular nucleus (AVPV) when compared to males, while male voles show increased levels of CRFR2 in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis compared to females.

The CRH-1 receptor antagonist pexacerfont is currently under investigation for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder. Another CRH-1 antagonist antalarmin has been researched in animal studies for the treatment of anxiety, depression and other conditions, but no human trials with this compound have been carried out.

The activation of the CRH1 receptor has been linked with the euphoric feelings that accompany alcohol consumption. A CRH1 receptor antagonist developed by Pfizer, CP-154,526 is under investigation for the potential treatment of alcoholism.

Increased CRH production has been observed to be associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Although one action of CRH is immunosuppression via the action of cortisol, CRH itself can actually heighten the immune system's inflammation response, a process being investigated in multiple sclerosis research.

Autosomal recessive hypothalamic corticotropin deficiency has multiple and potentially fatal metabolic consequences including hypoglycemia.

Alpha-helical CRH-(9–41) acts as a CRH antagonist.

Role in parturition
CRH is synthesized by the placenta and seems to determine the duration of pregnancy.

Levels rise towards the end of pregnancy just before birth and current theory suggests three roles of CRH in parturition:

 * Increases levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) directly by action on the fetal adrenal gland, and indirectly via the mother's pituitary gland. DHEA has a role in preparing for and stimulating cervical contractions.
 * Increases prostaglandin availability in uteroplacental tissues. Prostaglandins activate cervical contractions.
 * Prior to parturition it may have a role inhibiting contractions, through increasing cAMP levels in the myometrium.

In culture, trophoblast CRH is inhibited by progesterone, which remains high throughout pregnancy. Its release is stimulated by glucocorticoids and catecholamines, which increase prior to parturition lifting this progesterone block.

Structure
The 41-amino acid sequence of CRH was first discovered in sheep by Vale et al. in 1981. Its full sequence is:

 * SQEPPISLDLTFHLLREVLEMTKADQLAQQAHSNRKLLDIA

The rat and human peptides are identical and differ from the ovine sequence only by 7 amino acids.

 * SEEPPISLDLTFHLLREVLEMARAEQLAQQAHSNRKLMEII

Role in non-mammalian vertebrates
In mammals, studies suggest that CRH has no significant thyrotropic effect. However, in representatives of all non-mammalian vertebrates, it has been found that, in addition to its corticotropic function, CRH has a potent thyrotropic function, acting with TRH to control the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis (TRH has been found to be less potent than CRH in some species).

title: Corticotropin-releasing hormone


text:
Names of Korea

There are various names of Korea in use today that are all derived from those of ancient Koreanic kingdoms and dynasties. The choice of name often depends on the language, whether the user is referring to either or both modern Korean countries, and even the user's political views on the Korean conflict.

The name Korea is an exonym, derived from Goryeo or Koryŏ. Both North Korea and South Korea use the name in English. However, in the Korean language, the two Koreas use different terms to refer to the nominally unified nation: Joseon or Chosŏn (조선, 朝鮮) in North Korea and Hanguk (한국, 韓國) in South Korea.

History
The earliest records of Korean history are written in Chinese characters called hanja. Even after the invention of hangul, Koreans generally recorded native Korean names with hanja, by translation of meaning, transliteration of sound, or even combinations of the two. Furthermore, the pronunciations of the same character are somewhat different in Korean and the various Korean dialects, and have changed over time.

For all these reasons, in addition to the sparse and sometimes contradictory written records, it is often difficult to determine the original meanings or pronunciations of ancient names.

Gojoseon
Until 108 BC, northern Korea and part of Manchuria were controlled by Gojoseon. In contemporaneous Chinese records, it was written as, which is pronounced in modern Korean as Joseon (조선). Historically, these characters have been read in the Korean language as 됴션 Dyosyen; 조선 Joseon is a very recent spelling, reformed to reflect recent changes in the phonology of the Korean language. The prefixing of Go-, meaning "old" or "ancient," is a historiographical convention that distinguishes it from the later Joseon Dynasty. The name Joseon is also now still used by North Koreans and Koreans living in China and Japan to refer to the peninsula, and as the official Korean form of the name of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Joseon). Cognates of 朝鮮 Joseon are also used in many Asian languages, such as Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese, to refer to the Korean Peninsula.

Possibly the Chinese characters phonetically transcribed a native Korean name, perhaps pronounced something like "Jyusin". Some speculate that it also corresponds to Chinese references to 肅愼 (숙신, Suksin (ethnic group)), 稷愼 (직신, Jiksin) and 息愼 (식신, Siksin), although these latter names probably describe the ancestors of the Jurchen people.

Other scholars believe 朝鮮 was a translation (like Japanese kun'yomi) of the native Korean Asadal (아사달), the capital of Gojoseon: asa being a hypothetical Altaic root word for "morning", and dal meaning "mountain", a common ending for Goguryeo place names (with the use of the character 鮮 "fresh" to transcribe the final -dal syllable possibly having been based on the pronunciation of the ancient ancestor of Middle Korean dɔl- > Modern Korean 달 dal- "sweet").

An early attempt to translate these characters into English gave rise to the expression "The Land of the Morning Calm" for Korea, which parallels the expression "The Land of the Rising Sun" for Japan. While the wording is fanciful, the essence of the translation is valid.

Han
Around the time of Gojoseon's fall, various chiefdoms in southern Korea grouped into confederacies, collectively called the Samhan (삼한, 三韓, "Three Han"). Han is a native Korean root for "leader" or "great", as in maripgan ("king", archaic), hanabi ("grandfather", archaic), and Hanbat ("Great Field", archaic name for Daejeon).

Han was transliterated in Chinese records as (한),  (간),  (간), and  (간). The Korean name Han is etymologically disconnected from both the Chinese state 韓; hán, despite sharing the same Chinese character, and the Han (漢; hàn) dynasty along with the associated ethnicity.

Beginning in the 7th century, the name "Samhan" became synonymous with the Three Kingdoms of Korea. According to the Samguk sagi and Samguk yusa, Silla implemented a national policy, "Samhan Unification", to integrate Baekje and Goguryeo refugees. In 1982, a memorial stone dating back to 686 was discovered in Cheongju with an inscription: "The Three Han were unified and the domain was expanded." During the Later Silla period, the concepts of Samhan as the ancient confederacies and the Three Kingdoms of Korea were merged. In a letter to an imperial tutor of the Tang dynasty, Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn equated Byeonhan to Baekje, Jinhan to Silla, and Mahan to Goguryeo. By the Goryeo period, Samhan became a common name to refer to all of Korea. In his Ten Mandates to his descendants, Wang Geon declared that he had unified the Three Han (Samhan), referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Samhan continued to be a common name for Korea during the Joseon period and was widely referenced in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.

In China, the Three Kingdoms of Korea were collectively called Samhan since the beginning of the 7th century. The use of the name Samhan to indicate the Three Kingdoms of Korea was widespread in the Tang dynasty. Goguryeo was alternately called Mahan by the Tang dynasty, as evidenced by a Tang document that called Goguryeo generals "Mahan leaders" in 645. In 651, Emperor Gaozong of Tang sent a message to the king of Baekje referring to the Three Kingdoms of Korea as Samhan. Epitaphs of the Tang dynasty, including those belonging to Baekje, Goguryeo, and Silla refugees and migrants, called the Three Kingdoms of Korea "Samhan", especially Goguryeo. For example, the epitaph of Go Hyeon, a Tang dynasty general of Goguryeo origin who died in 690, calls him a "Liaodong Samhan man". The History of Liao equates Byeonhan to Silla, Jinhan to Buyeo, and Mahan to Goguryeo.

The "Han" in the names of the Korean Empire, Daehan Jeguk, and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), Daehan Minguk or Hanguk, are named in reference to the Three Kingdoms of Korea, not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula.

Goryeo
Around the beginning of the Common Era, remnants of the fallen Gojoseon were re-united and expanded by the kingdom of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It, too, was a native Korean word, probably pronounced something like "Guri", transcribed with various hanja characters: 高句麗, 高勾麗, or 高駒麗 (고구려, Goguryeo), 高麗 (고려, Goryeo), 高離 (고리, Gori), or 句麗 (구려, Guryeo). The source native name is thought to be either *Guru ("walled city, castle, fortress"; attested in Chinese historical documents, but not in native Korean sources) or *Gauri ("center, middle"; cf. Middle Korean *gaβɔndɔy and Standard Modern Korean gaunde 가운데).

The theory that Goguryeo referenced the founder's surname has been largely discredited (the royal surname changed from Hae to Go long after the state's founding).

Revival of the names
In the south, the Samhan resolved into the kingdoms of Baekje and Silla, constituting, with Goguryeo, the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In 668, Silla unified the three kingdoms, and reigned as Later Silla until 935. The name Samhan became synonymous with the Three Kingdoms of Korea beginning in the 7th century, and by the Goryeo period it became a common name to refer to all of Korea.

The succeeding dynasty called itself Goryeo, and regarded itself as the successor to Goguryeo. The name Goryeo was the shortened form of Goguryeo and was first used during the reign of Jangsu in the 5th century. Through the Silk Road trade routes, Persian and Arab merchants brought knowledge about Silla and Goryeo to India and the Middle East. Goryeo was transliterated into Italian as "Cauli", the name Marco Polo used when mentioning the country in his Travels, derived from the Chinese form Gāolí.

In 1392, a new dynasty established by a military coup revived the name Joseon (조선, 朝鮮, Chosŏn), after the ancient state Gojoseon. The alternative name for this nation could have been Hwaryeong, but in the end, Taejo of Joseon decided to go with Joseon. The hanja for Joseon have been translated into English as "morning calm" and sometimes rather as "morning freshness" or "morning radiance" and Korea's English nickname became "The Land of the Morning Calm"; however, this interpretation is not often used in the Korean language, and is more familiar to Koreans as a back-translation from English. Only the interpretation as "morning freshness" is plainly viable, with "morning calm" and "morning radiance" being rather fanciful interpretations. The nickname "Land of the Morning Calm" was coined by Percival Lowell in his book, "Chosön, the Land of the Morning Calm," published in 1885.

In 1897, the nation was renamed Daehan Jeguk (대한제국, 大韓帝國, literally, "Great Han Empire", known in English as Korean Empire). Han had been selected in reference to Samhan, specifically the Three Kingdoms of Korea, not the ancient confederacies in the southern Korean Peninsula. So, Daehan Jeguk (대한제국, 大韓帝國) means it is an empire that rules the area of Three Kingdoms of Korea. This name was used to emphasize independence of Korea, because an empire cannot be a subordinate country.

20th century
When the Korean Empire came under Japanese rule in 1910, the name reverted to Joseon (officially, the Japanese pronunciation Chōsen). During this period, many different groups outside of Korea fought for independence, the most notable being the Daehan Minguk Imsi Jeongbu (대한민국 임시정부, 大韓民國臨時政府), literally the "Provisional Government of the Great Han People's State", known in English as the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (民國 = 民 'people' + 國 country/state' = 'republic' in East Asian capitalist societies).

Korea became independent after World War II (1945) and the country was then divided.

In 1948, the South adopted the provisional government's name of Daehan Minguk (대한민국, 大韓民國; see above), known in English as the Republic of Korea, though commentators have noted that the English name is not a direct translation of the Korean one.

Meanwhile, the North became Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk (조선민주주의인민공화국, 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國), translated in English as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Each component of the name was carefully selected. Chosŏn was the natural choice for the short form, "Korea", since it had been used throughout the colonial period to denote the Peninsula. For the long form of the name, Konghwaguk was used for republic because of its leftist connotations over Minguk. North Koreans wanted to adopt something that had already been used in the Eastern Bloc to borrow legitimacy. A choice was presented between a "People's Republic" and a "Democratic Republic", because they had been used in the names of the short-lived Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets and the Finnish Democratic Republic, respectively. "People's Republic" was favored by Pak Hon-yong of the Communist Party of Korea and it had already been used by the temporary People's Republic of Korea (PRK) formed in Seoul after liberation. "Democratic Republic", on the other hand, was associated with Mao Zedong's concept of New Democracy, which influenced Kim Tu-bong of the New People's Party of Korea. After his party merged with the Workers' Party of North Korea, the concept found its way to Kim Il Sung's parlance. Kim began to speak of a "Democratic People's Republic". This was echoed by what the true authorities of the country, the Soviet Civil Administration, prescribed, albeit in different order: "People's-Democratic Republic" (Народно-Демократическая Республика). Thus the name of the country became the "Korea(n) Democratic People's Republic" in Korean and "Korean People's-Democratic Republic" in Russian so that both parties could claim that they were behind the coining.

Korea
Today, South Koreans use Hanguk (한국, 韓國) to refer to just South Korea or Korea as a whole, Namhan (남한, 南韓; "South Han") for South Korea, and Bukhan (북한, 北韓; "North Han") for North Korea. South Korea less formally refers to North Korea as Ibuk (이북, 以北; "The North"). South Koreans often refer to Korea as "uri nara" (우리나라), meaning "our nation" or "our country". In addition, the official name for the Republic of Korea in the Korean language is "Daehan Minguk" (대한민국, 大韓民國; which is usually translated as "The Republic of Korea").

North Koreans use Chosŏn, Namchosŏn (남조선, 南朝鮮; "South Chosŏn"), and Pukchosŏn (북조선, 北朝鮮; "North Chosŏn") when referring to Korea, South Korea, and North Korea, respectively. The term Pukchosŏn, however, is rarely used in the north, although it may be found in pre-war sources, such as the Song of General Kim Il-sung. In the 1970s, Kim Il Sung suggested that in the event of a North Korean takeover of South Korea, "Koryo" (고려) could become the Korean name of the country.

In the tourist regions in North Korea and the official meetings between South Korea and North Korea, Namcheuk (남측, 南側) and Bukcheuk (북측, 北側), or "southern side" and "northern side", are used instead of Namjosŏn and Bukhan.

The Korean language is called Hangukeo (한국어, 韓國語, referring to the Korean language) or Hangukmal (한국말, 韓國말, referring to spoken Korean only) in the South and Chosŏnmal (조선말, 朝鮮말) or Chosŏnŏ (조선어, 朝鮮語) in the North. The Korean script is called hangeul (한글) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl (조선글) in North Korea. The Korean Peninsula is called Hanbando (한반도, 韓半島) in the South and Chosŏn Bando (조선반도, 朝鮮半島) in the North.

Greater China
In Chinese-speaking areas such as China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, different naming conventions on several terms have been practiced according to their political proximity to whichever Korean government although there is a growing trend for convergence.

In the Chinese language, the Korean Peninsula is usually called Cháoxiǎn Bàndǎo and in rare cases called Hán Bàndǎo. Ethnic Koreans are also called Cháoxiǎnzú (朝鲜族), instead of Dàhán mínzú (大韓民族). However, the term Hánguó ren (韩国人) may be used to specifically refer to South Koreans.

Before establishing diplomatic relations with South Korea, the People's Republic of China tended to use the historic Korean name Cháoxiǎn (朝鲜 "Joseon" or "Chosŏn"), by referring to South Korea as Nán Cháoxiǎn (南朝鲜 "South Joseon"). Since diplomatic ties were restored, China has used the names that each of the two sides prefer, by referring to North Korea as Cháoxiǎn and to South Korea as Hánguó (韩国 "Hanguk"). The Korean language can be referred to as either Cháoxiǎnyǔ (朝鲜语) or Hánguóyǔ (韩国语). The Korean War is officially called the Kàngměi Yuáncháo Zhànzhēng (抗美援朝战争 "War to Resist America and Aid Korea") although the term Cháoxiǎn Zhànzhēng (朝鲜战争) is also used in unofficial contexts.

Taiwan, on the other hand, uses the South Korean names, referring to North Korean as Běihán (北韓 "North Han") and South Korean as Nánhán (南韓 "South Han"). The Republic of China previously maintained diplomatic relations with South Korea, but has never had relations with North Korea. As a result, in the past, Hánguó (韓國) had been used to refer to the whole Korea, and Taiwanese textbooks treated Korea as a unified nation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China under the Democratic Progressive Party Government considered North and South Koreas two separate countries. However, general usage in Taiwan is still to refer to North Korea as Běihán (北韓 "North Han[guk]") and South Korea as Nánhán (南韓 "South Han[guk]") while use of 朝鮮 – which in Taiwan is not pronounced Cháoxiǎn but Cháoxiān – is generally limited to ancient Korea. The Korean language is usually referred to as Hányǔ (韓語).

Similarly, general usage in Hong Kong and Macau has traditionally referred to North Korea as Bak Hon (北韓 "North Han") and South Korea as Nam Hon (南韓 "South Han"). Under the influence of official usage, which is itself influenced by the official usage of the People's Republic of China government, the mainland practice of naming the two Koreas differently has become more common.

In the Chinese language used in Singapore and Malaysia, North Korea is usually called Cháoxiǎn (朝鲜 "Chosŏn") with Běi Cháoxiǎn (北朝鲜 "North Chosŏn") and Běihán (北韩 "North Han") less often used, while South Korea is usually called Hánguó (韩国 "Hanguk") with Nánhán (南韩 "South Han[guk]") and Nán Cháoxiǎn (南朝鲜 "South Chosŏn") less often used.

In Hokkien speaking areas of chinese communities in countries like Taiwan and around Southeast Asia, Korea is called Hân-kok (韓國 "Hanguk") where North Korea is referred to as Pak-hân (北韓 "North Han") and South Korea as Lâm-hân (南韓 "South Han").

The above usage pattern does not apply for Korea-derived words. For example, Korean ginseng is commonly called Gāolì shēn (高麗參, "Koryo ginseng").

Japan
In Japan, North Korea is called Kita-Chōsen (北朝鮮) and South Korea Kankoku (韓国).

However, Japan-based North Koreans claim the name Kita-Chōsen is derogatory, as it only refers to the northern part of Korean Peninsula, whereas the government claims sovereignty over its whole territory. Pro-North people such as Chongryon use the name Kyōwakoku (共和国; "the Republic") instead, but the ambiguous name is not popular among others. In 1972, Chongryon campaigned to get the Japanese media to stop referring to North Korea as Kita-Chōsen. This effort was not successful, but as a compromise most media companies agreed to refer to the nation with its full official title at least once in every article, thus they used the lengthy Kita-Chōsen (Chōsen Minshu-shugi Jinmin Kyōwakoku) (北朝鮮(朝鮮民主主義人民共和国); "North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea)"). By January 2003, this policy started to be abandoned by most newspapers, starting with Tokyo Shimbun, which announced that it would no longer write out the full name, followed by Asahi, Mainichi, and Nikkei.

For Korea as a whole, Chōsen (朝鮮; "Joseon") is commonly used. The term Chōsen, which has a longer usage history, continues to be used to refer to the Korean Peninsula, the Korean ethnic group, and the Korean language, which are use cases that would not cause confusion between Korea and North Korea. When referring to both North Korean and South Koreans, the transcription of phonetic English Korean (コリアン, Korian) may be used because a reference to a Chōsen national may be interpreted as a North Korean national instead.

The Korean language is most frequently referred to in Japan as Kankokugo (韓国語) or Chōsengo (朝鮮語). While academia mostly prefers Chōsengo, Kankokugo became more and more common in non-academic fields, thanks to the economic and cultural presence of South Korea. The language is also referred to as various combined terms, such as Kankoku-Chōsen-go (韓国朝鮮語), Chōsen-Kankoku-go (朝鮮・韓国語), "Kankokugo (Chōsengo)" (韓国語(朝鮮語)), etc. Some people refer to the language as Koriago (コリア語), using the European name for Korea. This term is not used in ordinary Japanese, but was selected as a compromise to placate both nations in a euphemistic process called kotobagari. Likewise, when NHK broadcasts a language instruction program for Korean, the language is referred to as hangurugo (ハングル語; "hangul language"); although it is technically incorrect since hangul itself is a writing system, not a language. Some argue that even Hangurugo is not completely neutral, since North Korea calls the writing system Chosŏn'gŭl, not hangul. Urimaru (ウリマル), a direct transcription of uri mal (우리말, "our language") is sometimes used by Korean residents in Japan, as well as by KBS World Radio. This term, however, may not be suitable to ethnic Japanese whose "our language" is not necessarily Korean.

Uri (우리 "we/us/our") is the first-person plural pronoun and it is commonly used as a prefix in Korean terms to describe things that are Korean, such as uri nara (우리나라, "our country") which is yet another name Koreans give their country.

In Japan, those who moved to Japan usually maintain their distinctive cultural heritages (such as the Baekje-towns or Goguryeo-villages). Ethnic Korean residents of Japan have been collectively called Zainichi Chōsenjin (在日朝鮮人 "Joseon People in Japan"), regardless of nationality. However, for the same reason as above, the euphemism Zainichi Korian (在日コリアン; "Koreans in Japan") is increasingly used today. Zainichi (在日; "In Japan") itself is also often used colloquially. People with North Korean nationality are called Zainichi Chōsenjin, while those with South Korean nationality, sometimes including recent newcomers, are called Zainichi Kankokujin (在日韓国人 "Hanguk People in Japan").

Mongolia
Mongolian people have their own word for Korea: Солонгос (Solongos). In Mongolian, solongo may mean either "rainbow" or "mountain weasel (Mustela altaica, heeriyn solongo "field/steppe solongo") or Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica, oyn solongo "forest solongo")." Another theory states that the name is probably derived from the Solon tribe living in Manchuria, a tribe culturally and ethnically related to the Korean people. North and South Korea are, accordingly, Хойд Солонгос (Hoid Solongos) and Өмнөд Солонгос (Ömnöd Solongos). The authors of an article published in the year 2023 have related Mongolian Solongos for "Korea" to the Mongolic word *solagaï (cf. Khalkh Mongolian солгой "left-handed, a lefty; out of tune, sounding wrong"), which may in turn be from Turkic *sōl "left."; because "left" also means "east(ern)" in Mongolic languages (whereas "right" also means "west(ern)"), the authors suggest that this word may have been used to refer to "a foreign enemy force in the east," similar to Chinese 東夷 Dōngyí.

The name of either Silla or its capital Seora-beol was also widely used throughout Northeast Asia as the ethnonym for the people of Silla, appearing [...] as Solgo or Solho in the language of the medieval Jurchens and their later descendants, the Manchus respectively. The plural of Solho ("Korea, Korean; a Korean") in the Manchu language is Solhoso ("Koreans, Korean people"), similar to Solongos in Mongolian. Manchu also has solohi or silihi for certain kinds of weasel (specifically, suwayan solohi "yellow solohi" for Mustela sibirica), but nioron for "rainbow."

The Mongolian and Manchu names for Korea and Koreans also resemble Old Japanese Siraki ~ Siragi ("Silla") and Old Korean *Syerapeur "Gyeongju; capital city of Silla" > Late Middle Korean Syeveulh "capital city (of Joseon)" > Modern Korean Seoul "capital city (of South Korea)."

Vietnamese-speaking areas
In Vietnam, people call North Korea Triều Tiên (朝鮮; "Chosŏn") and South Korea Hàn Quốc (韓國; "Hanguk"). Prior to unification, North Vietnam used Bắc Triều Tiên (北朝鮮; Bukchosŏn) and Nam Triều Tiên (南朝鮮; Namjoseon) while South Vietnam used Bắc Hàn (北韓; Bukhan) and Nam Hàn (南韓; Namhan) for North and South Korea, respectively. After unification, the northern Vietnamese terminology persisted until the 1990s. When South Korea reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1993, it requested that Vietnam use the name that it uses for itself, and Hàn Quốc gradually replaced Nam Triều Tiên in usage.

In the Vietnamese language used in the United States, Bắc Hàn and Nam Hàn are most common used.

English usage and spelling
Both South and North Korea use the name "Korea" when referring to their countries in English. North Korea is sometimes referred to as "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (DPRK) and South Korea is sometimes referred to as the "Republic of Korea" (ROK). The official names of both entities are also used by organizations such as United Nations, International Olympic Committee and media such as the Associated Press, China Global Television Network (CGTN), and several others.

As with other European languages, English historically had a variety of names for Korea. These included "Cauli" (Marco Polo's rendering of Goryeo), Caule, Core, Cory, Caoli, and Corai as well as two spellings that survived into the 19th century, Corea and Korea. The modern spelling, "Korea", first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Company's Hendrick Hamel. The terms "Chosunese" or "Chosonese" were first used to refer to the people of Joseon in the late 19th century but were eventually phased out.

Both major English-speaking governments in the 19th and 20th centuries (the United States and the United Kingdom and its empire) used both "Korea" and "Corea" until the early part of the period of Japanese occupation. English-language publications in the 19th century generally used the spelling Corea, which was also used at the founding of the UK's embassy in Seoul in 1890. However, at the turn of the century, the then U.S. minister and consul general to Korea, Horace Newton Allen, used "Korea" in his works published on the country. At the official Korean exhibit at the World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 1893 a sign was posted by the Korean Commissioner saying of his country's name that "'Korea' and 'Corea' are both correct, but the former is preferred." This may have had something to do with Allen's influence, as he was heavily involved in the planning and participation of the Korean exhibit at Chicago.

A shift can also be seen in Korea itself, where postage stamps issued in 1884 used the name "Corean Post" in English, but those from 1885 and thereafter used "Korea" or "Korean Post".

By the first two decades of the 20th century, "Korea" began to be seen more frequently than "Corea" – a change that coincided with Japan's consolidation of its grip over the peninsula. However, the spelling "Corea" was occasionally used even under full colonial rule and both it and "Korea" were largely eschewed in favor of the Japanese-derived "Chosen", which itself was derived from "Joseon".

A theory that grew in popularity in South Korea in the early 2000s and especially during the 2002 joint World Cup (and endorsed by the North Korean state) was that Japan as occupier had intentionally standardized the spelling on "Korea", allegedly so that "Japan" would appear first alphabetically. However, evidence of a deliberate name change orchestrated by Japanese authorities is circumstantial, for example, a 1912 memoir by a Japanese colonial official that complained of the Koreans' tendency "to maintain they are an independent country by insisting on using a C to write their country's name."

Other languages
European languages use variations of the name "Korea" for both North and South Korea. In general, Celtic and Romance languages spell it "Corea" (or variations) since "c" represents the sound in most Romance and Celtic orthographies. However, languages that have a general preference towards representing with "k" rather than "c", such as most Germanic or Slavic languages, generally use variants of "Korea" instead. In languages using other alphabets such as Russian (Cyrillic), variations phonetically similar to "Korea" are also used for example the Russian name for Korea is Корея, romanization Koreya or Koreja. Outside of Europe, most languages also use variants of "Korea", often adopted to local orthographies. Some Languages, especially Romance Languages like Italian, French and Spanish use spellings that start with "c": Corea, Corée and Corea respectively. "Korea" in the Jurchen Jin's national language (Jurchen) is "Sogo". "Korea" in the conlang Esperanto is "Koreio". "Korea" in Hmong is "Kauslim" ("s" and "m" represent tones, not consonants).

Koreans abroad
Emigrants who moved to Russia and Central Asia call themselves Goryeoin or Koryo-saram (고려인; 高麗人; literally "person or people of Goryeo"), or Koreytsi (корейцы) in Russian. Many Goryeoin are living in the CIS, including an estimated 106,852 in Russia, 22,000 in Uzbekistan, 20,000 in Kyrgyzstan, 17,460 in Kazakhstan, 8,669 in Ukraine, 2,000 in Belarus, 350 in Moldova, 250 in Georgia, 100 in Azerbaijan, and 30 in Armenia. As of 2005, there are also 1.9 million ethnic Koreans living in China who hold Chinese citizenship and a further 560,000 Korean expatriates from both North and South living in China.

South Korean expatriates living in the U.S. may refer to themselves as Jaemi (-) gyopo (재미교포; 在美僑胞, lit. '"residents of America"'), or "gyopo" for short.

Sobriquets of Korea
In traditional Korean culture, as well as in the cultural tradition of East Asia, the land of Korea has assumed a number of sobriquets over the centuries, including:

 * 계림 (鷄林) Gyerim, "Rooster Forest", in reference to an early name for Silla.
 * 군자지국 (君子之國) Gunjaji-guk, or "Land of Scholarly Gentlemen".
 * 금수강산 (錦繡江山) Geumsu gangsan, "Land of Embroidered (or Splendid) Rivers and Mountains".
 * 단국 (檀國) Danguk, "Country of Dangun".
 * 대동 (大東) Daedong, "Great East".
 * 동국 (東國) Dongguk, "Eastern Country".
 * 동방 (東邦) Dongbang, literally "an Eastern Country" referring to Korea.
 * 동방예의지국 (東方禮義之國, 東方禮儀之國) Dongbang yeuiji-guk, "Eastern Country of Courtesy".
 * 동야 (東野) Dongya, "Eastern Plains".
 * 동이 (東夷) Dong-i, or "Eastern Foreigners".
 * 구이 (九夷) Gu-i, "Nine-i", refers to ancient tribes in the Korean peninsula.
 * 동토 (東土) Dongto, "Eastern Land".
 * 백의민족 (白衣民族) Baeguiminjok, "The white-clad race".
 * 삼천리 (三千里) Three-thousand Li, a reference to the length traditionally attributed to the country from its northern to southern tips plus eastern to western tips.
 * 아사달 (阿斯達) Asadal, apparently an Old Korean term for Joseon.
 * 청구 (靑丘) Cheonggu, or "Azure Hills". The color Azure is associated with the East.
 * 팔도강산 (八道江山) Paldo gangsan, "Rivers and Mountains of the Eight Provinces", referring to the traditional eight provinces of Korea.
 * 근화향 (槿花鄕) Geunhwahyang, "Country of Mugunghwa" refer to Silla Kingdom.
 * 근역 (槿域) Geunyeok, "Hibiscus Territory", or Land of Hibiscus
 * 삼한 (三韓) Samhan, or "Three Hans", refers to Samhan confederacy that ruled Southern Korea. Beginning in the 7th century, Samhan became synonymous with the Three Kingdoms of Korea.
 * 해동 (海東) Haedong, "East of the Sea" (here being the West Sea separating from Korea).
 * 해동삼국 (海東三國) Haedong samguk, "Three Kingdoms East of the Sea" refers to Three Kingdoms of Korea
 * 해동성국 (海東盛國) Haedong seongguk, literally "Flourishing Eastern Sea Country", historically refers to Balhae Kingdom of north–south period.
 * 진국 (震國,振國) Jinguk, "Shock Country", old name of Balhae Kingdom.
 * 진역 (震域) Jinyeok, "Eastern Domain".
 * 진단 (震檀,震壇) Jindan, "Eastern Country of Dangun".
 * 진국 (辰國) Jinguk, "Country of Early Morning", refer to the Jin state of Gojoseon period.

title: Names of Korea