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Doukhobors

The Doukhobors (Canadian spelling) or Dukhobors (духоборы, духоборцы; lit. 'Spirit-warriors, Spirit-wrestlers')  are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are known for their pacifism and tradition of oral history, hymn-singing, and verse. They reject the Russian Orthodox priesthood and associated rituals, believing that personal revelation is more important than the Bible. Facing persecution by the Russian government for their nonorthodox beliefs, many migrated to Canada between 1899 and 1938, where most currently reside.

In Russia, Dukhobortsy were variously portrayed as "folk-Protestants", Spiritual Christians, sectarians, and heretics. Among their core beliefs is the rejection of materialism. They also reject the Russian Orthodox priesthood, the use of icons, and all associated church rituals. Doukhobors believe the Bible alone is not enough to reach divine revelation and that doctrinal conflicts can interfere with their faith. Biblical teachings are evident in some published Doukhobor psalms, hymns, and beliefs. Since arriving in Canada, parts of the Old Testament, but more profoundly the New Testament, were at the core of most Doukhobor beliefs. There continue to be spiritually progressive thinkers who, through introspection and debate, search for divine revelation to improve the faith.

The Doukhobors have a history dating back to at least 1701 (though some scholars suspect the group has earlier origins). Doukhobors traditionally lived in their own villages and practiced communal living. The name Doukhobors, meaning "Spirit-wrestlers", derives from a slur made by the Russian Orthodox Church that was subsequently embraced by the group.

Before 1886, the Doukhobors had a series of leaders. The origin of the Doukhobors is uncertain; they first appear in first written records from 1701.

The Doukhobors traditionally ate bread and borsch. Some of their food-related religious symbols are bread, salt, and water.

History
In the 17th-and-18th-century Russian Empire, the first recorded Doukhobors concluded clergy and formal rituals are unnecessary, believing in God's presence in every human being. They rejected the secular government, the Russian Orthodox priests, icons, all church rituals, and the belief the Bible is a supreme source of divine revelation. The Doukhobors believed in the divinity of Jesus; their practices, emphasis on individual interpretation, and opposition to the government and church provoked antagonism from the government and the established Russian Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1734, the Russian government issued an edict against ikonobortsy (those who reject icons), condemning them as iconoclasts.

The first-known Doukhobor leader was Siluan (Silvan) Kolesnikov (Силуан Колесников), who was active from 1755 to 1775. Kolesnikov lived in the village Nikolskoye, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, in modern-day south-central Ukraine. Kolesnikov was familiar with the works of Western mystics such as Karl von Eckartshausen and Louis Claude de Saint-Martin.

The early Doukhobors called themselves "God's People" or "Christians." Their modern name, first in the form Doukhobortsy (духоборцы, dukhobortsy ("Spirit wrestlers") ) is thought to have been first used in 1785 or 1786 by Ambrosius the Archbishop of Yekaterinoslav or his predecessor Nikifor (Nikephoros Theotokis). The archbishop's intent was to mock the Doukhobors as heretics fighting against the Holy Spirit (Святой Дух, Svyatoy Dukh) but around the beginning of the 19th century, according to SA Inikova, the dissenters adopted the name "Doukhobors" usually in a shorter form Doukhobory (духоборы, dukhobory), implying they are fighting alongside rather than against the Holy Spirit. The first known use of the spelling Doukhobor is in a 1799 government edict exiling 90 of the group to Finland; presumably the Vyborg area, which was part of the Russian Empire at the time, for producing anti-war propaganda.

The early Doukhobors were pacifists who rejected military institutions and war and were thus oppressed in Imperial Russia. Both the tsarist state and church authorities were involved in the persecution and deprivation of the dissidents' normal freedoms.

In 1802, Tsar Alexander I encouraged the resettlement of religious minorities to the "Milky Waters" (Molochnye Vody) region around the Molochnaya River around Melitopol in modern-day southern Ukraine. This was motivated by the desire to quickly populate the rich steppe lands on the north shore of the Black and Azov Seas, and to prevent the "heretics" from contaminating the population of the heartland with their ideas. Many Doukhobors, as well as Mennonites from Prussia, accepted the Emperor's offer and travelled to the Molochnaya from other provinces of the Empire over the next 20 years.

Transcaucasian exile

When Nicholas I succeeded Alexander as Tsar, on February 6, 1826, he issued a decree intending to force the assimilation of the Doukhobors through military conscription, prohibiting their meetings, and encouraging conversions to the established church. On October 20, 1830, another decree followed, specifying all able-bodied members of dissenting religious groups engaged in propaganda against the established church should be conscripted and sent to the Russian army in the Caucasus while those not capable of military service, and their women and children, should be resettled in Russia's recently acquired Transcaucasian provinces. With other dissenters, around 5,000 Doukhobors were resettled in Georgia between 1841 and 1845. Akhalkalaki uyezd (district) in the Tiflis Governorate was chosen as the main place of their settlement. Doukhobor villages with Russian names appeared there; Gorelovka, Rodionovka, Yefremovka, Orlovka, Spasskoye (Dubovka), Troitskoye, and Bogdanovka. Later, other groups of Doukhobors were resettled by the government or migrated to Transcaucasia of their own accord. They also settled in neighbouring areas, including the Borchaly uyezd of Tiflis Governorate and the Kedabek uyezd of Elisabethpol Governorate.

In 1844, Doukhobors who were being exiled from their home near Melitopol to the village of Bogdanovka carved the Doukhobor Memorial Stone, which is now held in the collection of the Melitopol Museum of Local History.

After Russia's conquest of Kars and the Treaty of San Stefano of 1878, some Doukhobors from Tiflis and Elisabethpol Governorates moved to the Zarushat and Shuragel uyezds of the newly created Kars Oblast to the north-east of Kars in the modern-day Republic of Turkey. The leader of the main group of Doukhobors, who arrived in Transcaucasia from Ukraine in 1841, was Illarion Kalmykov (Илларион Калмыков). He died in the same year and was succeeded as the community leader by his son Peter Kalmykov (?–1864). After Peter Kalmykov's death in 1864, his widow Lukerya Vasilyevna Gubanova (? – December 15, 1886; (Лукерья Васильевна Губанова); also known as Kalmykova) took his leadership position.

The Kalmykov dynasty lived in the village of Gorelovka, a Doukhobor community in Georgia. Lukerya was respected by the provincial authorities, who had to cooperate with the Doukhobors. At the time of her death in 1886, there were around 20,000 Doukhobors in Transcaucasia. By that time, the region's Doukhobors had become vegetarian and were aware of Leo Tolstoy's philosophy, which they found quite similar to their own traditional teachings.

Religious revival and crises
The death of Lukerya, who had no children, was followed by a leadership crisis that divided the Dukhobortsy in the Caucasus into two major groups, which disputed their next leader. Lukerya wanted leadership to pass to her assistant Peter Vasilevich Verigin. Although most of the community—"the Large Party" Большая сторона—accepted him as the leader, a minority faction known as "the Small Party" (Малая сторона Malaya Storona) rejected Verigin, and sided with Lukerya's brother Michael Gubanov and the village elder Aleksei Zubkov.

While the Large Party was a majority, the Small Party had the support of the older members of the community and the local authorities. On January 26, 1887, at a community service at which the new leader was to be acclaimed, police arrived and arrested Verigin. He, along with some of his associates, was sent into internal exile in Siberia. Large Party Doukhobors continued to consider Verigin their spiritual leader and to communicate with him, by mail and via delegates who travelled to see him in Obdorsk. An isolated population of exiled Doukhobors, a third "party", was about 5000 miles east in Amur Oblast.

At the same time, the Russian government applied greater pressure to enforce the Doukhobors' compliance with its laws and regulations. The Doukhobors had resisted registering marriages and births, contributing grain to state emergency funds, and swearing oaths of allegiance. In 1887, Russia extended universal military conscription, which applied to the rest of the empire, to the Transcaucasian provinces. While the Small Party cooperated with the state, the Large Party, reacting to the arrest of their leaders and inspired by their letters from exile, felt strengthened in their desire to abide by the righteousness of their faith. Under instructions from Verigin, the Large Party stopped using tobacco and alcohol, divided their property equally among the members of the community, and resolved to adhere to the practice of pacifism and non-violence. They refused to swear the oath of allegiance required in 1894 by the newly ascended Tsar Nicholas II.

Under further instructions from Verigin, about 7,000 of the most zealous Doukhobors—about one-third of all Doukhobors—of the three Governorates of Transcaucasia destroyed their weapons and refused to serve in the military. As the Doukhobors gathered to burn their guns on the night of June 28/29 (July 10/11, Gregorian calendar) 1895, while singing psalms and spiritual songs, government Cossacks arrested and beat them. Shortly after, the government billeted Cossacks in many of the Large Party's villages; around 4,000 Doukhobors were forced to disperse to villages in other parts of Georgia. Many died of starvation and exposure.

First emigrants

The resistance of the Doukhobors gained international attention and the Russian Empire was criticized for its treatment of this religious minority. In 1897, the Russian government agreed to let the Doukhobors leave the country, subject to conditions:
 * emigrants should never return;
 * emigrants must emigrate at their own expense;
 * community leaders currently in prison or exile in Siberia must serve the balance of their sentences before they could leave Russia.

Emigrants initially attempted to settle in Cyprus. Cyprus was, at the time, recognized as a possession of the Ottoman Empire, but in the wake of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), the Ottoman Empire had granted the United Kingdom the right to administer the island in exchange for support in its continuing conflict with the Russian Empire. This fact made the potential settlement of the Russian Doukhobors a politically-sensitive question among some in the British government, but after Quaker supporters both made assurances of the Doukhobors' political inoffensiveness and provided financial guarantees against their potential indigency, officials permitted over 1,000 Doukhobors to establish farming settlements in several locations on the island beginning in the second half of 1898. However, the Cyprus experiment soon proved to be disastrous: beset by disease (made worse by insufficient food that met the Doukhobors' religious requirements) as well as internal disagreements over community organization, nearly ten percent of the colony died by early 1899.

Canada offered more land, transportation, and aid to resettle in the Saskatchewan area. Around 6,000 Doukhobors emigrated there in the first half of 1899, settling on land granted to them by the government in modern-day Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The Cyprus colony and others joined them, and around 7,500 Russian Doukhobor emigrants—about a third of their number in Russia—arrived in Canada by the end of the year. Several smaller groups joined the main body of emigrants in later years, coming directly from Transcaucasia and other places of exile. Among these latecomers were 110 leaders of the community who had to complete their sentences before being allowed to emigrate. By 1930, about 8,780 Doukhobors had migrated from Russia to Canada.

The Quakers and Tolstoyan movement covered most of the costs of passage for the emigrants; writer Leo Tolstoy arranged for the royalties from his novel Resurrection, his story Father Sergei, and some others to go to the emigration fund. Tolstoy also raised money from wealthy friends; his efforts provided about 30,000 rubles, half of the emigration fund. The anarchist Peter Kropotkin and professor of political economy at the University of Toronto James Mavor also helped the emigrants.

The emigrants adapted to life in agricultural communes; they were mostly of peasant origin and had low regard for advanced education. Many worked as loggers, lumbermen, and carpenters. Eventually, many left the communal dormitories and became private farmers on the Canadian plains. Religious a cappella singing, pacifism, and passive resistance were markers of the sect. One subgroup occasionally demonstrated naked, typically as a protest against compulsory military service. Their policies made them controversial. The modern descendants of the first wave of Doukhobor emigrants continue to live in southeastern British Columbia communities such as Krestova, and in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. , the estimated population of Doukhobor descent in North America was 40,000 in Canada and about 5,000 in the United States.

Canadian prairies

In accordance with the Dominion Lands Act of 1872, for a nominal fee of CA$10, the Canadian government would grant 160 acre of land to any male homesteader who was able to establish a working farm on that land within three years. Single-family homesteads would not fit the Doukhobors' communitarian tradition but a "Hamlet Clause" within the Act had been adopted 15 years earlier to accommodate other communitarian groups such as Mennonites. The clause allowed beneficiaries of the Act to live in a hamlet within 3 mi from their land rather than on the land itself. This allowed the Doukhobors to establish a communal lifestyle similar to that of the Hutterites. Also, by passing Section 21 of the Dominion Military Act in late 1898, the Canadian Government exempted the Doukhobors from military service.

The land for the Doukhobor immigrants, in total 773400 acre within what was to soon become the Province of Saskatchewan, came in three block settlement areas or "reserves", and an annex:
 * The North Colony, also known as the "Thunder Hill Colony" or "Swan River Colony" in the Pelly and Arran districts of Saskatchewan became home to 2,400 Doukhobors from Tiflis Governorate, who established 20 villages on 69000 acre of the land grant.
 * The South Colony, also known as the "Whitesand Colony" or "Yorkton Colony" in the Canora, Veregin and Kamsack districts of Saskatchewan. 3,500 Doukhobors from Tiflis Governorate, Elisabethpol Governorate, and Kars Oblast settled there in 30 villages on 215010 acre of land grant.
 * The Good Spirit Lake Annex in the Buchanan district of Saskatchewan received 1,000 Doukhobors from Elisabethpol Governorate and Kars Oblast, Russia, and settled there in eight villages on 168930 acre of land grant. The annex was along the Good Spirit River, which flows into Good Spirit Lake (previously known as Devil's Lake).
 * The Saskatchewan Colony, also known as the "Rosthern Colony", "Prince Albert Colony" and "Duck Lake Colony" was located along North Saskatchewan River in the Langham and Blaine Lake districts of Saskatchewan, north-west of Saskatoon. 1,500 Doukhobors from Kars Oblast settled there in 13 villages on 324800 acre of land grant.

North and South Colonies, and Good Spirit Lake Annex, were located around Yorkton near the modern-day border with Manitoba; the Saskatchewan (Rosthern) Colony was located north-west of Saskatoon, a significant distance from the other three reserves.

In 1899, all four reserves formed part of the Northwest Territories: Saskatchewan (Rosthern) Colony in the territories' provisional District of Saskatchewan. North Reserve straddled the boundary of Saskatchewan and Assiniboia districts, and the other reserves were entirely in Assiniboia. After the establishment of the Province of Saskatchewan in 1905, all reserves were located within that province.

Verigin persuaded his followers to free their animals, and pull their wagons and plows themselves. On the lands granted to them in the prairies, the settlers established Russian-style villages, some of which received Russian names after settlers' home villages in Transcaucasia; for example Spasovka, Large and Small Gorelovka, and Slavianka; while others gained more abstract "spiritual" names not common in Russia, such as Uspeniye (Dormition), Terpeniye (Patience), Bogomdannoye (Given by God), and Osvobozhdeniye (Liberation). The settlers found Saskatchewan winters much harsher than those in Transcaucasia, and expressed disappointment the climate was not as suitable for growing fruits and vegetables. Women greatly outnumbered the men; many women worked on the farms tilling the land while many men took non-farm jobs, especially in railway construction. The earliest arrivals came from three backgrounds, had varying commitments to communal life, and lacked leadership. Verigin arrived in December 1902, was recognized as the leader, and reimposed communalism and self-sufficiency. The railway arrived in 1904 and hopes of isolation from Canadian society ended.

Popular distrust
Canadians, politicians, and the media were deeply suspicious of the Doukhobors. Their communal lifestyle seemed suspicious, their refusal to send children to school was considered deeply troubling, while pacifism caused anger during the First World War. The oppression of the Russian Tsarist regime had entrenched its resulting pacifist beliefs into the Doukhobour tenets and they did not waver with the onset of either World War. Some Canadians who were willing to go to war did not respect a sect of people that were excused from military service. This difference in perspective produced much political prejudice towards the Doukhobours. Tumultuous political posturing and years of polarized social disagreements eventually brought some Doukhobours to the point of protests aimed at maintaining their simple, non-materialistic, and autonomous communal living. The Doukhobor faction known as Sons of Freedom conducted nude marches and carried out night-time arson attacks, which was considered unacceptable and offensive. Canadian magazines showed strong curiosity, giving special attention to women's bodies and clothing. Magazines and newspapers carried stories and photographs of Doukhobor women engaging in hard farm labour, doing "women's work", wearing the traditional ethnic dress, and in partial or total states of undress. Doukhobors received financial help from Quakers. Clifford Sifton, the Minister of the Interior, wanted the Doukhobors in Canada; he arranged financial subsidies to allow them to migrate.

Loss of land rights
Due to the community's aversion to private ownership of land, Verigin had the land registered in the name of the community. By 1906, the Canadian Government's new Minister of the Interior Frank Oliver started requiring the registration of land in the name of individual owners. Many Doukhobors refused to comply, resulting in 1907 in the reverting of more than a third (258880 acre) of Doukhobor lands back to the Crown. The loss of legal title to their land became a major grievance.

Schism
Ten years after the Russian conscription crisis, another political issue arose because the Doukhobors would have to become naturalized British citizens and swear an Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown—something that had always been against their principles.

The issue resulted in a three-way split of the Doukhobor community in Canada:
 * The edinolichniki (единоличники: individual farmers, called "Independent Doukhobors"), who in 1907 comprised 10% of the Canadian Doukhobors, maintained their religion but abandoned communal ownership of land and rejected hereditary leadership and communal living as non-essential to it.
 * The obshchinnye (общинные: communal, or "Community Doukhobors") were largest group, sometimes called "orthodox Doukhobors" (not to be confused with the Russian Orthodox Church), originally led by their spiritual leader Peter V. Verigin. They formed the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood (CCUB), which reformed in 1939 as the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ (USCC), headquartered in Grand Forks, British Columbia, publishing a monthly journal Iskra since 1943.
 * The svobodniki (free, sovereign people) in 1902 tried to return to Russia, refused to obey laws, and attacked law-abiding Doukhobors. They became the famous dissident "Sons of Freedom", also called "Freedomites" by the media. They misinterpreted P. V. Verigin's writings in such a zealous manner that he banned them. The media and government mistakenly confused them with all Canadian Doukhobors when reporting their sensational protests.

Of these groupings, the Independents integrated the most readily into Canadian capitalist society. They had no problem registering their land groups and largely remained in Saskatchewan. In 1939, they definitely rejected the authority of Peter Verigin's great-grandson John J. Verigin, Sr.

British Columbia and Verigin's assassination
In 1908, to remove his followers from the corrupting influence of non-Doukhobors and edinolichniki (individual owners) Doukhobors, and to find better conditions for agriculture, Verigin bought large tracts of land in south-eastern British Columbia. His first purchase was around Grand Forks near the US border. He later acquired large tracts of land further east in the Slocan Valley around Castlegar. Between 1908 and 1912, about 8,000 people moved from Saskatchewan to these British Columbia lands to continue their communal way of living. In the milder climate of British Columbia, the settlers were able to plant fruit trees and within a few years became renowned orchardists and producers of fruit preserves. As the Community Doukhobors left Saskatchewan, the reserves there were closed by 1918.

On October 29, 1924, Peter V. Verigin was killed in a bomb explosion on a scheduled passenger train en route to British Columbia. The government had initially stated the bombing was perpetrated by people within the Doukhobor community, although no arrests were made because of the Doukhobors' customary refusal to cooperate with Canadian authorities due to fear of intersect violence. It is still unknown who was responsible for the bombing. While the Doukhobors were initially welcomed by the Canadian government, this assassination, as well as Doukhobors' beliefs regarding communal living, their intolerance for schooling, and other beliefs considered offensive or unacceptable, created a decades-long mistrust between government authorities and Doukhobors.

Peter V. Verigin's son Peter P. Verigin, who arrived from the Soviet Union in 1928, succeeded his father as leader of the Community Doukhobors. He became known as "Peter the Purger" (Chistiakov) and worked to smooth relations between the Community Doukhobors and wider Canadian society. The governments in Ottawa and the western provinces concluded he was the closet leader of the Sons of Freedom and was perhaps a dangerous Bolshevik. The governments decided to deport him, use the justice system to impose conformity to Canadian values on the Doukhobors, and force them to abide by Canadian law and repudiate unacceptable practices. With a legal defence managed by Peter Makaroff, the deportation effort failed in 1933. The Sons of Freedom repudiated Verigin's policies as ungodly and assimilationist, and escalated their protests. The Sons of Freedom burnt Community Doukhobors' property and organized more nude parades. In 1932, the Parliament of Canada responded by criminalizing public nudity. Over 300 radical Doukhobor men and women were arrested for this offence, which typically carried a three-year prison sentence.

Doukhobors could not vote in British Columbia until 1952. They were the last ethnic or religious community to be granted suffrage in the province.

Nudism and arson
The Sons of Freedom, a break away protest sect identifying as svodoniki (sovereign, free people) in 1902, used nudism and arson as visible methods of protest. They protested against materialism, the land seizure by the government, compulsory education in government schools, and Verigin's assassination. This led to many confrontations with the Canadian government and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which continued into the 1970s. Nudism was first used after the Doukhobors' arrival in Canada. They used violence to fight modernity, and destroyed threshing machines and other signs of modernity. The group conducted night-time arson attacks on schools built by the Doukhobor commune and Verigin's house. The highly publicized acts by the Sons of Freedom were repeatedly mislabeled with the word "Doukhobor", confusing the different groups and anguishing many law biding assimilated descendants of Canadian Doukhobors.

During 1947 and 1948, Sullivan's Royal Commission investigated acts of arson and bombing attacks in British Columbia and recommended several measures intended to integrate the Doukhobors into Canadian society, notably through the education of their children in public schools. Around that time, the provincial government entered into direct negotiations with the Freedomite leadership. W. A. C. Bennett's Social Credit government, which came to power in 1952, took a harder stance against the "Doukhobor problem." In 1953, 174 children of the Sons of Freedom were forcibly interned by government agents in a residential school in New Denver, British Columbia. Abuse of the interned children was later alleged.

In less than fifty years, the Sons of Freedom committed 1,112 separate acts of violence and arson, costing over $20 million in damages; these acts include bombing and arson attacks on public schools, bombings of Canadian railway bridges and tracks, the bombing of a courthouse at Nelson, and the destruction of a power transmission tower servicing East Kootenay district, resulting in the loss of 1,200 jobs. Many of the independent and community Doukhobors believed the Sons of Freedom's arson and bombings violated the Doukhobor central principle of nonviolence, and that they did not deserve to be called Doukhobors.

Doukhobors remaining in Russia
After the departure of the more zealous and uncompromising Doukhobors, and many community leaders, to Canada at the close of the Elisabethpol Governorate in the Caucasus Viceroyalty (now Azerbaijan), the former Doukhobor villages became mostly repopulated by Baptists. Elsewhere, some Doukhobors joined nearby Spiritual Christian groups.

Those who remained Doukhobors were required to submit to the state. Few protested against military service; of 837 Russian court-martial cases against conscientious objectors recorded between the beginning of World War I and April 1, 1917, 16 had Doukhobor defendants, none of whom hailed from the Transcaucasian provinces. Between 1921 and 1923, Verigin's son Peter P. Verigin arranged the resettlement of 4,000 Doukhobors from the Ninotsminda (Bogdanovka) district in south Georgia to Rostov Oblast in southern Russia, and another 500 into Zaporizhzhia Oblast in Ukraine.

The Soviet reforms greatly affected the lives of the Doukhobors, both in their old villages in Georgia and in the new settlement areas in southern Russian and Ukraine. State anti-religious campaigns resulted in the suppression of Doukhobor religious tradition, and the loss of books and archival records. Many religious leaders were arrested or exiled; for example, 18 people were exiled from Gorelovka in 1930. Communists' imposition of collective farming did not contradict the Doukhobor way of life. Industrious Doukhobors made their collective farms prosperous, often specializing in cheesemaking.

Of the Doukhobor communities in the Soviet Union, those in South Georgia were the most sheltered from outside influence because of their geographic isolation in mountainous terrain, their location near the international border, and concomitant travel restrictions for outsiders.

Hymnody
Doukhobor oral holy hymns, which they call the "Book of Life" (Russian: Zhivotnaya kniga), de facto replaced the written Bible. Their teaching is founded on this tradition. The Book of Life of the Doukhobors (1909) is the first printed hymnal containing songs in the Southern Russian dialect, which were composed to be sung aloud. Their prayer meetings and gatherings are dominated by the singing of a cappella psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Current population
In 2001, an estimated 20,000–40,000 people of Doukhobor heritage lived in Canada, 3,800 of whom claimed "Doukhobor" as their religious affiliation. An estimated 30,000 people of Doukhobor heritage live in Russia and neighbouring countries. In 2011, there were 2,290 persons in Canada who identified their religious affiliation as "Doukhobor"; in Russia there were 50 such persons by the mid-2000s.

Canada
CCUB, the Orthodox Doukhobors organization or Community Doukhobors, was succeeded by the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ (USCC) formed by Peter P. Verigin, Peter V. Verigin's son, in 1938. The largest and most active formal Doukhobor organization, it is headquartered in Grand Forks, British Columbia.

During the Canada 2011 Census, 2,290 persons in Canada—of whom 1,860 in British Columbia, 200 in Alberta, 185 in Saskatchewan, and 25 in Ontario—identified their religious affiliation as "Doukhobor". The proportion of older people among these self-identified Doukhobors is higher than among the general population.

Twenty-eight percent of the self-identified Doukhobors in 2001 were over 65 (born before 1936), as compared to 12% of the entire population of Canadian respondents. The aging of the denomination is accompanied by its shrinkage, starting in the 1960s:

The number of Canadians with Doukhobor heritage is much higher than the number of those who consider themselves members of this religion. In 2012, Doukhobor researchers estimated there were "over 20,000" people "from [Doukhobor] stock" in Canada and over 40,000 Doukhobors by "a wider definition of religion, ethnicity, way of life, and social movement".

Canadian Doukhobors no longer live communally. Doukhobors do not practice baptism, neither wet nor dry, nor require one to be "born again". They reject several items considered orthodox among Christian churches, including church organization and liturgy, the inspiration of the scriptures, the literal interpretation of resurrection, the literal interpretation of the Trinity, and heaven and hell. Some avoid the use of alcohol, tobacco, and animal products for food, and eschew involvement in partisan politics. Doukhobors believe in the goodness of man and reject the idea of original sin.

Georgia and Russia
Since the late 1980s, many of the Doukhobors of Georgia started emigrating to Russia. Various groups moved to Tula Oblast, Rostov Oblast, Stavropol Krai, and elsewhere. After the 1991 independence of Georgia, many villages with Russian names received Georgian names; Bogdanovka became Ninotsminda, Troitskoe became Sameba. According to various estimates, in Ninotsminda District, the Doukhobor population fell from around 4,000 in 1979 to between 3,000 and 3,500 in 1989, and around 700 in 2006. In Dmanisi district, it fell from around 700 Doukhobors in 1979 to no more than 50 by the mid-2000s. Most of those who remain in Georgia are older people; the younger generation found it easier to relocate to Russia. The Doukhobor community of Gorelovka in Ninotsminda District, the former "capital" of the Kalmykov family, is thought to be the best-preserved in all former Soviet Union countries.

Ecumenical relations
The Doukhobors have maintained a close association with Mennonites and Quakers due to similar religious practices; all of these groups are collectively considered to be peace churches due to their belief in pacifism.

Historical sites and museums

In 1995, the Doukhobor Suspension Bridge spanning the Kootenay River was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. The site of Community Doukhobors' headquarters in Veregin, Saskatchewan, was designated a National Historic Site in 2006, under the name "Doukhobors at Veregin".

A Doukhobor museum, currently known as "Doukhobor Discovery Centre" (formerly, "Doukhobor Village Museum") operates in Castlegar, British Columbia. It contains over 1,000 artifacts representing the arts, crafts, and daily lives of the Doukhobors of the Kootenays in 1908–38.

Although most of the early Doukhobor village structures in British Columbia have vanished or been significantly remodelled by later users, a part of Makortoff Village outside Grand Forks, British Columbia has been preserved as a museum by Peter Gritchen, who purchased the property in 1971 and opened it as Mountain View Doukhobor Museum on June 16, 1972. The site's future became uncertain after his death in 2000 but in March 2004, in cooperation with local organizations and concerned citizens, The Land Conservancy of British Columbia purchased the historical site known as Hardy Mountain Doukhobor Village while Boundary Museum Society acquired the museum collection and loaned it to TLC for display.

The Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa has a collection of Doukhobor-related items. A special exhibition there was run in 1998–99 to mark the centennial anniversary of the Doukhobor arrival in Canada.

Linguistic history and dialect
The Doukhobors took with them to Canada a Southern Russian dialect, which in the following decades changed under the influence of Canadian English and the speech of the Ukrainian settlers in Saskatchewan. Over several generations, this dialect has been mostly lost because the modern descendants of the original Doukhobor migrants to Canada are typically native English speakers; when they speak Russian, it is typically a fairly standard variety.

Linguistic history
In 1802, the Doukhobors and other spiritual Christian tribes were encouraged to migrate to the Molochna River region around Melitopol near Ukraine's Sea of Azov coast, within the Pale of Settlement neighbouring settlements of anabaptists from Germany. Over the next 10 or 20 years, the Doukhobors and others, mostly speaking a variety of Southern Russian dialects, arrived at the Molochna from several provinces, most of which are located in modern-day eastern Ukraine and south-central Russia. In the settlers' villages, an opportunity for the formation of a dialect koiné based on Southern Russian and Eastern Ukrainian dialects arose.

Starting in 1841, the Doukhobors and others were resettled from southern Ukraine to Transcaucasia, where they founded several villages surrounded by mostly non-Russian speaking neighbours—primarily Azerbaijanis in Elisabethpol Governorate, Armenians in Tiflis Governorate, and likely a mix of both in the later post-1878 settlements in Kars Oblast. These conditions allowed the dialect to develop in comparative isolation from mainstream Russian.

With the migration of 7,500 Doukhbors from Transcaucasia to Saskatchewan in 1899, and some smaller latecomer groups from both Transcaucasia and from places of exile in Siberia and elsewhere, the dialect spoken in the Doukhobor villages of Transcaucasia was taken to the plains of Canada. From that point, it experienced influence from Canadian English and, during the years of Doukhobor stay in Saskatchewan, the speech of their Ukrainian neighbours.

A split in the Doukhobor community resulted in a large number of Doukhobors moving from Saskatchewan to south-eastern British Columbia around 1910. Those who moved, the so-called Community Doukhobors—followers of Peter Verigin's Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood—continued living communally for several decades, and had a better chance to preserve their Russian language than the Independent Doukhobors, who stayed in Saskatchewan as individual farmers.

By the 1970s, as most Russian-born members of the community died, English became the first language of the great majority of Canadian Doukhobors. Their English speech is not noticeably different from that of other English-speaking Canadians of their provinces. Russian still remains in use, at least for religious purposes, among those who practice the Doukhobor religion.

Features of the Doukhobor Russian dialect in Canada
Research into the Russian spoken by Canada's Doukhobors has not been extensive but several articles, mostly published in the 1960s and 1970s, noted a variety of features in Doukhobors' Russian speech that were characteristic of Southern, and in some cases Central Russian dialects; for example, use of the Southern [h] where Standard Russian has [g].

Features characteristic of many locales in the East Slavic language space were noted, reflecting the heterogeneous origin of the Doukhobors' settlements in Molochna River after 1800; for example, like Belarusians, Doukhobor speakers do not palatalize [r] in "редко" (redko, 'seldom'). Remarkable was the dropping of the final -t in the third-person singular form of verbs, which can be considered a Ukrainian feature and is also attested in some Russian dialects spoken in Southern Ukraine (e.g., Nikolaev near the Doukhobors' former homeland on the Molochna). As with other immigrant groups, the Russian speech of the Doukhobors uses English loanwords for some concepts they had not encountered until moving to Canada.

In popular culture

 * A 1962 Eric Frank Russell science-fiction novel, The Great Explosion, adapted and expanded from his 1951 novella "...And Then There Were None", mentions the Doukhobors as a group of interstellar settlers on the planet Hygeia who had been marginalized by later naturist settlers.
 * . — A short story that falsely mentions nudists as: "those people up in Canada. Dooka-somethings. Doukhobors."
 * . — Humorous memoir of young school teacher of Doukhobor kids in rural Brilliant, B.C., with antics and transliteration of their English dialect.
 * . — Review with lesson plan for teachers.
 * . — Review with lesson plan for teachers.
 * . — Review with lesson plan for teachers.

Drama

 * Doukhobors (1971). Collective creation at Theatre Passe Muraille.

Music

 * (originally The Doukhobor Do) is about the Doukhobor nude protests. The song was recorded by Pete Seeger.
 * In the bonus track "Ferdinand the Imposter" on the 2000 re-issue of Music from Big Pink by the Canadian roots-rock group The Band, the title character "claimed he was a Doukhobor" after being arrested. The implication in the lyrics is that Ferdinand may have been apprehended for some public display of nudity in Baltimore, Maryland. He attempted to escape punishment by stating he came from the Doukhobors of Canada. Unfortunately for Ferdinand, the American officers were unfamiliar with the group and were unmoved by Ferdinand's plea.

Television

 * . Two parts: The Living Book and Toil and Peaceful Life.

title: Doukhobors


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User:Ajd

I started out on Wikipedia in 2003 and soon got into editing articles on Massachusetts geography, carrying out a project to correct all the references to Massachusetts CDPs that aren't towns but were referred to as "towns" in their articles, especially the ones that have the same names as actual towns. Look at Falmouth (town), Massachusetts versus Falmouth (CDP), Massachusetts, to see what I mean. I do some editing of linguistics-related articles (which is my actual area of expertise), especially dialects of American English—see Boston accent, for instance. Recently I've gotten into editing articles on TV episodes and movies for clarity, especially trimming down overly-long plot summaries.

I originated the articles on Massachusetts Bay, Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, and Harvard Yard as well as Pocahontas (1995 film).

AJD (talk) 21:04, 26 August 2020 (UTC)

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

title: User:Ajd


text:
Streetcars in New Orleans

Streetcars in New Orleans have been an integral part of the city's public transportation network since the first half of the 19th century. The longest of New Orleans' streetcar lines, the St. Charles Avenue line, is the oldest continuously operating street railway system in the world. Today, the streetcars are operated by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

There are currently five operating streetcar lines in New Orleans: The St. Charles Avenue Line, the UPT-Riverfront Line, the Canal Street Line (which has two branches), and the Rampart-Loyola Line. The St. Charles Avenue Line is the only line that has operated continuously throughout New Orleans' streetcar history (though service was interrupted after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and resumed only in part in December 2006, as noted below). All other lines were replaced by bus service in the period from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Preservationists were unable to save the streetcars on Canal Street, but were able to convince the city government to protect the St. Charles Avenue Line by granting it historic landmark status. In the later 20th century, trends began to favor rail transit again. A short Riverfront Line started service in 1988, and service returned to Canal Street in 2004, 40 years after it had been shut down.

The wide destruction wrought on the city by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent floods from the levee breaches in August 2005 knocked all the streetcar lines out of operation and damaged many of the streetcars. Service on a portion of the Canal Street line was restored in December of that year, with the remainder of the line and the Riverfront line returning to service in early 2006. On December 23, 2007, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA) extended service on the St. Charles line from Napoleon Avenue to the end of historic St. Charles Avenue (the "Riverbend"). On June 22, 2008, service was restored to the end of the line at South Carrollton Avenue & South Claiborne Avenue.

The streetcars are often changed or decorated for holidays and major sports events. For example, they are usually decorated for Christmas.

History
The definitive history of New Orleans streetcars is found in Louis Hennick and Harper Charlton, The Streetcars of New Orleans, which is the source for this summary of New Orleans streetcar history.

Beginnings
On April 23, 1831, the Pontchartrain Railroad Company (PRR) established the first rail service in New Orleans along a five-mile line running north on Elysian Fields Avenue from the Mississippi River toward Lake Pontchartrain. These first trains, however, were pulled by horses because the engines had not yet arrived from England. The PRR received its first working steam engine the next year, and first put it into service on September 27, 1832. Service continued in a mixed fashion, running sometimes with locomotives, and at other times with horse traction. A round trip fare at that time was seventy-five cents.

Those first operations included inter-city and suburban railroad lines, and horse-drawn (or mule-drawn) omnibus lines. The first lines of city rail service were created by the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, which in 1835 opened three lines. In the first week of January, the company opened its Poydras-Magazine horse-drawn line on its namesake streets (Poydras Street and Magazine Street), the first true street railway line in the city. New York City was the only place to precede New Orleans with street railway service. Then a horse-drawn line to the suburb of Lafayette, which was centered on Jackson Avenue, opened on January 13. In September, the New Orleans and Carrollton started operating its third line, a steam-powered line along present-day St. Charles Avenue, then called Nayades, connecting the city with the suburb of Carrollton, and terminating near the present-day intersection of St. Charles Avenue and Carrollton Avenue. The Poydras-Magazine line ceased operation in March or April 1836, about the time that a new La Course Street line was opened along that street (now named Race Street). That line ended in the 1840s, but the Lafayette and Carrollton lines continued, eventually becoming the Jackson and St. Charles streetcar lines.

As the area upriver (uptown) from the city began to be built up—much of the new development along the Nayades (St. Charles Avenue) corridor—additional lines were created by the New Orleans and Carrollton. On February 4, 1850, branch lines were opened on Louisiana and Napoleon Avenues. Like the Jackson line, these were horse- or mule-drawn cars, operating from Nayades Avenue to the river along their namesake streets. The Louisiana line was lightly patronized, and was discontinued in 1878. The Napoleon line continued into the next century.

Up until about 1860, omnibus lines provided the only public transit outside the area serviced by the New Orleans and Carrollton RR. The need was felt for a true citywide street railway service. Toward this end, the New Orleans City RR was chartered on June 15, 1860. The first line, Rampart and Esplanade (later called simply Esplanade), opened June 1, 1861, followed in quick succession by the Magazine, Camp and Prytania (later called Prytania), Canal, Rampart and Dauphine (later Dauphine), and finally Bayou Bridge and City Park. Despite the beginnings of war, the company opened and continued service on its new lines. A few other efforts were attempted during the Civil War, but progress resumed soon after the war's end.

In 1866, several additional street railway companies made their appearance in New Orleans. The first was the Magazine Street Railroad Co., which soon merged with the second, the Crescent City Railroad Co. The St. Charles Street Railroad Co. was next, followed in 1867 by the Canal and Claiborne Streets Railroad Co. and in 1868 by the Orleans Railroad Co. The horsecar lines of these companies covered different parts of the city, overlapping in some areas. The City RR even operated a steam railroad to Lake Pontchartrain, the West End line, which eventually became part of the city streetcar system.

Desegregation protests
Streetcars in New Orleans had been segregated since they were introduced. A few separate cars marked with stars were designated for black people - the so-called "star car" system.

In April 1867, William Nichols got onto a white-only car and was forced out. In the following weeks, thousands of African Americans engaged in protests and some riots broke out. Fearing the repetition of violence seen in previous years, the city, by May 8, desegregated the streetcar system. The chief of police told his officers: “Have no interference with negroes riding in cars of any kind. No passenger, has a right to eject any other passenger, no matter what his color.”

The streetcar system remained integrated until 1902.

Horsecar companies and lines operated
In the late 1800s, these were the streetcar companies and the lines they operated:

 * New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad Co.:
 * Carrollton
 * Jackson
 * Louisiana
 * Napoleon
 * New Orleans City Railroad Co.:
 * Esplanade
 * Canal
 * Magazine
 * Prytania
 * Dauphine
 * Bayou Bridge and City Park
 * Barracks and Slaughter House
 * French Market
 * Levee and Barracks
 * West End
 * Crescent City Railroad Co.:
 * Annunciation
 * Coliseum
 * South Peters
 * Tchoupitoulas
 * St. Charles Street Railroad Co.:
 * Clio
 * Carondelet
 * Dryades
 * Canal and Claiborne Streets Railroad Co.:
 * Claiborne (North)
 * Tulane
 * Girod and Poydras
 * Orleans Railroad Co.:
 * Bayou St. John
 * Broad
 * City Park
 * French Market

The coming of electrification

A number of experiments were tried out over the next few decades in an attempt to find a better method than horses or mules for propulsion of streetcars. These included an overhead cable car system (an underground cable, such as was eventually developed in San Francisco, was impossible because of the high water table under New Orleans); a walking beam system; pneumatic propulsion; an ammonia locomotive; a "Thermo-specific" system using super-heated water; and the Lamm Fireless engine. Lamm engines were actually adopted and used for a time on the New Orleans and Carrollton line, which had previously used steam locomotives. That line gradually gave up steam locomotives because of the objections of residents along the line to the smoke, soot, and noise. The area between the town of Carrollton and the City of New Orleans was sparsely populated with large swaths of agricultural land when the line was laid out in the 1830s; by the latter 19th century it was almost completely urbanized. Carrollton was annexed to New Orleans in 1874. Due to this increased urbanization, horsecars were used on the entire line.

Electrical propulsion of streetcars finally won out over all the other experimental methods. Electric powered streetcars made their first appearance in New Orleans on the Carrollton line on February 1, 1893. The line was also extended out Carrollton Avenue and renamed St. Charles.

Other companies followed suit. Over the next few years, almost all the streetcar lines of all six companies were electrified, including the West End steam line; the few lines that remained animal powered, such as the Girod and Poydras, were discontinued. Also, operations of the six companies began to be consolidated at this time, beginning with formation of the New Orleans Traction Co., which took over operation of the New Orleans City and Lake RR (an 1883 renaming of the New Orleans City RR) and the Crescent City RR in 1892. New Orleans Traction became the New Orleans City RR in 1899, the second company to use that name. The Canal and Claiborne company was merged into the New Orleans and Carrollton in 1899. Then in 1902, New Orleans Railways Co. took over operation of all city streetcars, and in 1905 the operating company became New Orleans Railway and Light Co. Final consolidation of ownership as well as operation finally became reality in 1922 with the formation of New Orleans Public Service Incorporated (commonly abbreviated NOPSI, never NOPS).

Electric streetcars under consolidated operation
Labor problems began to occupy the attention of street railway officials as consolidation progressed. At first, each of the street railway companies had its own agreement with its operating personnel. New Orleans Railways tried to maintain those separate agreements, but labor representatives insisted on one agreement for the entire company. They also demanded an increase in pay and recognition of their union, Division 194 of the Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America. The union struck on September 27, 1902. After about two weeks of strife, a settlement was reached, and in early 1903, the company signed a contract and recognized the union.

In 1902, there were protests when the Louisiana legislature mandated that public transportation must enforce racial segregation. At first this was objected to by both white and black riders as an inconvenience, and by the streetcar companies on grounds of both added expense and the difficulties of determining the racial background of some New Orleanians.

Consolidation of operations under a single company had the advantage of untangling and rationalizing some streetcar lines. As an extreme example, consider the Coliseum line, which had the nickname Snake Line, because it wandered all over uptown New Orleans. Its early name Canal and Coliseum and Upper Magazine gives an idea of the route. Under consolidation, Coliseum was pretty much limited to service on its namesake street, with trackage on upper Magazine Street turned over to the Magazine line, as one might expect. Other efficiencies were instituted, such as reducing the number of streetcar lines operating over long stretches of Canal Street.

There was another strike beginning July 1, 1920. This one was settled around the end of July with a new contract.

In the early 1920s, several extensions and rearrangements of service resulted in the inauguration of the famous Desire line, the Freret line, the Gentilly line, and the St. Claude line.

In 1929, there was a widespread strike by transit workers demanding better pay, which was widely supported by much of the public. Sandwiches on baguettes were given to the "poor boys" on strike, said to be the origin of the local name of "po' boy" sandwiches. There was much rioting and animosity. Several streetcars were burned, and several people were killed. Service was gradually restored, with the strike ending in October.

The same year, the last of the tracks were converted to  (Pennsylvania trolley gauge) to match the rest of the streetcar lines.

Buses began to be used in New Orleans transit in 1924. Several streetcar lines were converted to bus or were abandoned outright over the next 15 years. Beginning after World War II, as in much of the United States, almost all streetcar lines were replaced with buses, either internal combustion (gasoline/diesel) or electric (trolley bus). See the Historic Lines section below. Track and overhead wire of abandoned or converted lines were generally removed, although remnants of abandoned track remain in a few places around the city.

The last four streetcar lines in New Orleans were the S. Claiborne and Napoleon lines, which were converted to motor bus in 1953; the Canal, which was converted in 1964; and the St. Charles, which has continued in operation, and now has historic landmark status.

Racial segregation on streetcars and buses in New Orleans was finally ended peacefully in 1958. Until then, signs separating the races were carried on the backs of the seats in streetcars and buses. These signs could be moved forward or back in the vehicle as passenger loads changed during the operating day. Under court order, the signs were simply removed, and passengers were allowed to sit wherever they pleased.

In 1974, the Amalgamated won a representation election and formed Local Division 1560 in New Orleans. Negotiations between the union and NOPSI were unsuccessful, and a strike followed. In December 1974, a contract was signed between NOPSI and Local 1560, but the strike was not completely settled until the following March.

Streetcars under RTA
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, it became apparent that private operation of the New Orleans transit system could not continue. Creation of a public body that could receive tax money and qualify for federal funding was necessary. The Louisiana legislature created the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) in 1979, and in 1983, RTA took over ownership and operation of the system.

In 1988, a new Riverfront line was created, using private right of way along the river levee. This was the first new streetcar line in New Orleans since 1926. Then in 2004, the Canal line was reconstructed and restored to rail operation. An all-new line on Loyola Avenue was opened in 2013. It was extended across Canal Street on Rampart Street and St. Claude Avenue in 2016 in a short form of the historic St. Claude streetcar line. See the Current Lines and Future Network Expansion sections below.

Hurricane Katrina

The area through which the St. Charles Avenue Line traveled fared comparatively well in Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on New Orleans at the end of August 2005, with moderate flooding only of the two ends of the line at Claiborne Avenue and at Canal Street. However, wind damage and falling trees took out many sections of trolley wire along St. Charles Avenue, and vehicles parked on the neutral ground (traffic medians) over the inactive tracks degraded parts of the right-of-way. At the start of October 2005, as this part of town started being repopulated, bus service began running on the St. Charles line.

The section running from Canal Street to Lee Circle via Carondelet Street and St. Charles Street in the Central Business District was restored December 19, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. Central time. Service from Lee Circle to Napoleon Avenue in uptown New Orleans was restored November 10, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. RTA restored streetcar service on the rest of St. Charles Ave. on December 23, 2007. Service along the remainder of the line on Carrollton Ave. to Claiborne Avenue resumed June 22, 2008. The time was needed to repair the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and to perform other maintenance and upgrades to the lines that had been scheduled before the hurricane. Leaving the line shut down and the electrical system unpowered allowed the upgrades to be performed more safely and easily.

Perhaps more serious was the effect on the system's rolling stock. The vintage green streetcars rode out the storm in the sealed barn in a portion of Old Carrollton that did not flood, and were undamaged. However, the newer red cars (with the exception of one which was in Carrollton for repair work at the time) were in a different barn that unfortunately did flood, and all of them were rendered inoperable; early estimates were that each car would cost between $800,000 and $1,000,000 to restore. In December 2006, RTA received a $46 million grant to help pay for the car restoration efforts. The first restored cars were to be placed in service early in 2009.

Service on the Canal Street Line was restored in December 2005, with several historic St. Charles line green cars transferred to serve there while the flood-damaged red cars were being repaired. The eventual reopening of all lines was made a major priority for the city as it rebuilt.

Brookville Equipment Corporation (BEC) of Pennsylvania was awarded the contract to provide the components to rebuild 31 New Orleans' streetcars to help the city bring its transportation infrastructure closer to full capacity. The streetcars were submerged in over five feet of water while parked in their car barn, and all electrical components affected by the flooding had to be replaced. BEC's engineering and drafting departments immediately began work on this three-year project to return these New Orleans icons to service. The trucks for the cars were remanufactured by BEC with upgraded drives from Saminco and new control systems from TMV Control Systems. Painting, body work, and final assembly of the restored streetcars was carried out by RTA craftsmen at Carrollton Station Shops. As of March 2009, sufficient red cars had been repaired to take over all service on the Canal Street and Riverfront lines. As of June 2009, the last three Canal Street cars were scheduled for repair. The seven Riverfront cars were worked on next; they began to return to service in early 2010.

Current lines

 * The St. Charles Streetcar Line is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in the world, having opened in 1835. It runs from Canal Street all the way to the end of St. Charles Avenue at South Carrollton Avenue, then out South Carrollton Avenue to its terminal at Carrollton and Claiborne.
 * The Canal Streetcar Line, which originally operated from 1861 to 1964 and which was rebuilt and reopened in 2004, runs the entire length of Canal Street, from near the Mississippi River to the cemeteries at City Park Avenue. A branch streetcar line turns off of Canal Street into North Carrollton Avenue to the entrance of City Park at Esplanade Avenue, near the New Orleans Museum of Art. Beginning July 31, 2017, and completed on December 4, a new loop terminal for the Cemeteries Branch was built north of City Park Avenue on Canal Boulevard, providing passengers with better access to transfer between the streetcars and connecting bus lines. Following a month of testing and training, the new loop went into service January 7, 2018.   At times in the past, some Canal cars have operated through on the Riverfront tracks from the French Market terminal to Canal Street, before proceeding out Canal.
 * The UPT-Riverfront Line, originally known as the Loyola-UPT line, started service on January 28, 2013. It runs along Loyola Avenue from New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal to Canal Street, traversing Canal Street to Convention Center Boulevard before running along the riverfront in front of the French Quarter to the French Market at Esplanade Avenue. Service initially was only offered to Convention Center Boulevard and Canal with weekend extensions to the French Market. As a result of the 2019 Hard Rock Hotel collapse on Canal Street and construction of the Four Seasons Hotel preventing access to the Julia and Poydras street stops on the riverfront, in late 2021 Loyola streetcars began running the initial weekend-only route between UPT and the French Market daily; this route was officially renamed as the UPT-Riverfront line sometime in 2023.
 * The Riverfront Streetcar Line opened October 14, 1988, and runs parallel to the river from Esplanade Avenue along the edge of the French Quarter, past Canal Street, to the Convention Center above Julia Street in the Arts District. In spring 2018, construction of the Four Seasons Hotel resulted in the Poydras and Julia Street stops to be removed from service; streetcars shuttled between Canal at Harrah's Casino and the French Market. As of 2023, it has been merged with the 49 Loyola-UPT Line to create the UPT-Riverfront Line.
 * The 46 Rampart–Loyola Streetcar Line originally opened as an extension of the 49 UPT-Loyola line on October 2, 2016, running from the Union Passenger Terminal down Loyola Avenue to Canal Street before turning quickly onto Rampart Street, continuing to Saint Claude Avenue at Elysian Fields Avenue. This extension of the line to Elysian Fields Avenue was known as the French Quarter Rail Expansion and entailed building 1.5 mi of track with six sheltered stops, and with track laid in the street next to the neutral ground, like the track for the original 2013 portion of the line. Preparation for construction began in December 2014, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held January 28, 2015 to begin actual construction. After operating for just over three years, service on the line was suspended in October 2019 following the collapse of the Hard Rock Hotel at the corner of Canal and Rampart. After the hotel's removal, service remained suspended for several years reportedly due to supply shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; service returned on May 19, 2024 with the line now referred to as the 46 Rampart-Loyola Streetcar Line.

Future network expansion
RTA has plans to extend the Rampart-St. Claude line past its present terminal at St. Claude and Elysian Fields to Press Street, and also down Elysian Fields to the river to connect with the Riverfront line. These plans are not funded, and are on hold as more urgent needs are considered for funding.

There was a proposal, along with the general redevelopment of Claiborne Avenue, to build a streetcar line on N. Claiborne Avenue running from Poydras Street to Elysian Fields. However, it appears this proposal was never seriously considered and is unlikely to be fulfilled.

Current rolling stock

The St. Charles Avenue Line has traditionally used streetcars of the type that were common all over the United States in the early parts of the 20th century. Most of the streetcars running on this line are Perley Thomas cars dating from the 1920s. The one exception is an 1890s vintage streetcar that is still in running condition; it is used for maintenance and special purposes. Unlike most North American cities with streetcar systems, New Orleans never adopted PCC cars in the 1930s or 1940s, and never traded in older streetcars for modern light rail vehicles in the later 20th century. New Orleanians also continue to prefer use of the term streetcar, rather than trolley, tram, or light rail.

In the Carrollton neighborhood, the RTA has a streetcar barn, called Carrollton Station, where the streetcars of the city's lines are stored and maintained. The block wide complex consists of two buildings: an older car barn at Dante and Jeannette Streets and a newer barn at Willow and Dublin Streets. The shop there has become capable of duplicating any part needed for the vintage cars.

With the addition of the new Riverfront and Canal lines, more vehicles were needed for the system. The RTA's shops built two groups of modern cars as near duplicates of the older cars in appearance. One group of seven cars was built for the Riverfront line in 1997, and another group for the restored Canal Street line in 1999 (one car) and 2002–2003 (23 cars). The trucks for the 2002–2003 cars were manufactured by Brookville Equipment Corporation. These new cars can be distinguished from the older vehicles by their bright red color; unlike the older cars, they are ADA-compliant, and the Canal Street cars are air conditioned.

Before Hurricane Katrina, the historic cars ran exclusively on the St. Charles Avenue Line, and the newer cars on the other two lines. However, in the wake of hurricane damage to the St. Charles line tracks and overhead wires, and to almost all of the new red cars, the older cars were run on Canal Street and Riverfront until the new cars could be repaired. Using whatever worked wherever it could be run continued for several years. By 2010 enough restored streetcars were back in service to again confine the historic Perley Thomas cars to the St. Charles line.

In late 2020, RTA reworked three, and later a fourth, of the ADA compliant Riverfront streetcars, numbers 460-463, to provide wheelchair service on the St.Charles streetcar line. They were repainted in the same shade of green as the iconic 900 series cars.

Historic lines
In the mid 19th to early 20th century, the city had dozens of lines, including:
 * Poydras-Magazine (January 1835 – March/April 1836) – Though short-lived, this was the first true streetcar line to begin operation in New Orleans, having opened the first week of January 1835.
 * Jackson (January 13, 1835 – May 19, 1947) – This long-running line also opened before the St. Charles line, on January 13, 1835. Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service.
 * Louisiana (February 4, 1850 – 1878, August 27, 1913 – December 27, 1934) – The original 1850–1878 Louisiana Line was a branch line of the New Orleans & Carrollton, running on Louisiana from St. Charles to the river at Tchoupitoulas. The later 1913–1934 line ran from Canal Street up to Louisiana Ave. on Freret and Howard (now LaSalle) Streets, then to Tchoupitoulas. For part of its life, it terminated on Canal Street at the ferry landing.
 * Napoleon (February 4, 1850 – February 18, 1953) – Like the Louisiana Line, the original Napoleon Ave. line was a branch line of the New Orleans & Carrollton, running on Napoleon from St. Charles Ave. to the river at Tchoupitoulas. Unlike the Louisiana, it was extended to Canal Street when electrified in 1893. A second line, popularly known as the Royal Blue Line, was opened on January 1, 1903 from St. Charles out to the end of the Avenue at Broad Street. The two were combined in 1906. With the Shrewsbury Extension on Metairie Road, which operated from 1915–1934, this was the longest streetcar line in New Orleans. Its routing was as follows: on Napoleon Ave. from Tchoupitoulas to S. Broad, then turning right onto S. Broad, left onto Washington Ave. (running between the street and the Palmetto-Washington drainage canal), right onto S. Carrollton Ave., left onto Pontchartrain Blvd. (this would now be impossible due to the presence of the Pontchartrain Expressway / I-10), left onto Metairie Rd., then zig-zagging through several Old Metairie streets to a terminus at Cypress and Shrewsbury Rd. (now Severn Ave.).
 * Esplanade (June 1, 1861 – December 27, 1934) – This was the first streetcar line to traverse the "back-of-town" section of New Orleans, running all the way out Esplanade Ave. to Bayou St. John in its original routing. From 1901–1934 the Canal and Esplanade lines operated in a loop as the Canal-Esplanade Belt, until Esplanade Ave. went to buses in 1934.
 * Coliseum (originally Canal and Coliseum and Upper Magazine) (September 1, 1881 – May 11, 1929) – Known as the "Snake Line" because it curved all over the place in uptown New Orleans. Originally operating on Coliseum Street from Canal to Louisiana, it was extended piece by piece over the years, first on Magazine to the present Audubon Park, then through the park to Broadway and then across to Carrollton Ave., where it connected to the loop on Oak and Willow Streets from Carrollton to the Orleans-Jefferson parish line. Beginning in 1913, however, the Magazine Line took over all trackage on Magazine Street, and a shorter Coliseum Line ended near Audubon Park.
 * Magazine (June 8, 1861 – February 11, 1948) – Its longest routing, in the 1910s, took it all the way from Canal Street, up Magazine and Broadway to S. Claiborne Ave. Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service.
 * Prytania (June 8, 1861 – October 1, 1932) – Known as the "Silk Stocking Line", Prytania ran through the Garden District on its namesake street.
 * Bayou Bridge and City Park (mid-1861 – December 22, 1894, route absorbed into Esplanade line) – This early line ran the full length of the present-day City Park Ave. (then called Metairie Rd.).
 * Tchoupitoulas (August 10, 1866 – July 2, 1929) – This early riverfront line once ran the full-length of Tchoupitoulas St. from Canal Street to Audubon Park.
 * N. Claiborne (May 13, 1868 – December 27, 1934) – This was a downtown (i.e., downriver) line. From 1917 to 1925, it was operated as a single line with the Jackson Line.
 * Tulane (originally Canal & Common) (January 15, 1871 – January 8, 1951) – From 1900–1951 the St. Charles and Tulane lines operated in a loop as the St. Charles-Tulane Belt, taking passengers past the beautiful homes on St. Charles Ave., up S. Carrollton Ave. past the St. Charles Line's present terminal at S. Claiborne Ave., across the New Basin Canal (now the site of the Pontchartrain Expressway), turning at the former Pelican Stadium onto Tulane Ave. and back downtown. The Tulane Avenue service became a trolley bus and later a diesel bus route.
 * Broad (originally Canal, Dumaine & Fair Grounds) (1874 – July 16, 1932) – After 1915, the Broad Line had two branches, on St. Bernard and Paris Avenues.
 * Clio (January 23, 1867 - September 1, 1932) - This line originally ran from Canal Street up St. Charles Street and over to Clio Street to Magnolia Street, returning on Erato and Carondelet Streets. In 1874, it was extended across Canal Street to Elysian Fields, making it the first streetcar line to cross Canal Street. It was extended at both ends from time to time, before giving up its territory to newer lines in 1932.
 * Carondelet (July 29, 1866 - September 7, 1924) - This uptown line ran on its namesake street from Canal Street to Napoleon Ave. At its most extensive, it also ran on Freret Street from Napoleon to Broadway, on trackage that eventually became part of the Freret line, and it crossed Canal Street into the French Quarter, pioneering the route of the later Desire line.
 * Annunciation (February 27, 1867 - December 23, 1917) and Laurel (August 12, 1913 - July 5, 1939) - These were uptown lines near the River, running on Annunciation and Chippewa Streets, and on Laurel and Constance Streets.
 * West End (April 20, 1876 – January 15, 1950) – This line is still fondly remembered for its jaunty ride through the grassy right-of-way along the New Basin Canal (now filled in) to the popular West End area on Lake Pontchartrain.
 * Spanish Fort (March 26, 1911 – October 16, 1932) – Further east along Lake Pontchartrain at the mouth of Bayou St. John was another amusement area built around an old fort. This was the original location of Pontchartrain Beach before it moved further east to Elysian Fields Ave. The Spanish Fort Line branched off of the West End Line at what is now Allen Toussaint Boulevard.
 * S. Claiborne (February 22, 1915 – January 5, 1953) – In its later years, this line operated at the edges of the neutral ground, which covered a large drainage canal, part of which was open. The part of the neutral ground that was covered was planted in grass and ornamental trees and bushes, and was quite beautiful. Replaced by diesel bus service.
 * Desire (October 17, 1920 – May 29, 1948) – This line ran through the French Quarter down to its namesake street in the Bywater district. It was immortalized in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire. The line was converted to buses in 1948. Various proposals to revive a streetcar line with this name have been discussed in recent years, but the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has no current plans to rebuild. Enthusiasts are nicknaming the new St. Claude line the "Desire line", despite the former and latter each having run on separate and distinct routes. For many years, a 1906 Brill-built semi-convertible streetcar was displayed in the French Market with a Desire route sign, although there is no evidence that cars of this type ever served the Desire Line. At first it was under cover; later out in the open, it deteriorated from the weather, and in the 1990s it was turned over to New Orleans RTA. It is currently housed at Carrollton Station in the car shops.
 * Freret (September 7, 1924 – December 1, 1946) – Created from trackage formerly part of the Carondelet line. Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service.
 * St. Claude (February 21, 1926 – January 1, 1949) – This and the Gentilly Line were the last two streetcar lines to open in New Orleans until the August 1988 inauguration of the Riverfront line. Replaced with trolley bus and later diesel bus service. The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has plans to rebuild a similar route.
 * Gentilly (February 21, 1926 – July 17, 1948) – Gentilly was derived from the old Villere Line. It was unusual in being named for the neighborhood it served, rather than the street along which it ran. At one end, it traversed the French Quarter. Then it turned up Almonaster (now Franklin) to its outer terminal at Dreux. Replaced by diesel bus service, which was eventually renamed Franklin for the street.
 * Orleans/Kenner interurban (or O.K. Line) – This line operated between 1915 and 1931 and connected New Orleans to Kenner. It began at the intersection of Rampart and Canal in New Orleans and followed the Tulane streetcar line to the intersection of S. Carrollton with S. Claiborne, then proceeded along the route of the present-day Jefferson Hwy. through Jefferson Parish to the St. Charles Parish Line in an area then known as Hanson City (now part of Kenner). This line was not a NOPSI service, although it came under NOPSI control in the late 1920s.

Preserved streetcars
In addition to the 35 Perley Thomas-built 900-series streetcars that serve the St. Charles line, the following New Orleans streetcars have been preserved in various ways.

 * Preserved in New Orleans

453: The last of the 25 Brill semi-convertible cars. It was on display at the French Market and later at the Mint, but exposure to the weather caused its deterioration. It is known in posed pictures as the Streetcar Named Desire, although there is no evidence that this class of streetcar ever ran on the Desire line. It is currently stored inoperative at Carrollton Station, but it could be restored for operation.

919 and 924: These two Perley Thomas cars, originally twins to the 35 900-series cars running on the St. Charles line, were sold in 1964 when the Canal line was discontinued. They were bought back by RTA in 1985 and refurbished for service on the Riverfront line, beginning August 14, 1988. They were given Riverfront car numbers 451 and 450, respectively. They were again retired in 1997 when the Riverfront line was re-equipped with new cars 457-463. They are currently stored inoperative at Carrollton Station, but they could be restored for operation.

957: When the Canal line was discontinued in 1964, this car was sold to the Trinity Valley Railroad Club in Weatherford, Texas, west of Fort Worth. Then it was sold to the Spaghetti Warehouse Company, then to McKinney Avenue Transit Authority in Dallas, Texas, and finally it was purchased by New Orleans RTA in 1986. It was stored until 1997, when it was rebuilt with a wheelchair lift and modern controls, becoming the first of the new 457-463 series cars for the re-equipment of the Riverfront line.

 * Preserved for revenue operation in San Francisco

952: This Perley Thomas car was sold in 1964 when the Canal line was discontinued, and was bought back by RTA in 1990 and refurbished for service on the Riverfront line. As number 456, it served Riverfront until 1997. After its second retirement, it was rebuilt in the same manner as the 35 St. Charles line cars, given its original number, and sent on long-term loan to the San Francisco Municipal Railway, where it operates on that city's E-Embarcadero and F-Market & Warves lines as part of the Heritage Fleet.

913: This car was sold to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Riverside County, California in 1964 when the Canal line was discontinued. Later, it was sold to San Francisco Municipal Railway to augment service there by car 952. So far, it has not been refurbished for service, but is stored for future use.

 * Preserved at museums and heritage operations

832: At Pennsylvania Trolley Museum at Washington, Pennsylvania. 836: At Connecticut Trolley Museum at East Windsor, Connecticut. 850: At Shore Line Trolley Museum at Branford, Connecticut. These are the last three 800-series cars in existence. All were built by Perley Thomas in 1922. The museums have restored all three to like-new condition, and operate them on museum property.

918: Now at North Carolina Transportation Museum, Spencer, NC, intended for cosmetic restoration. For a time, it was stored at Thomas Built Buses, the current name of its builder, Perley Thomas Car Co.

966: Owned by Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport, Maine, and operated at Lowell National Historical Park, Massachusetts.

title: Streetcars in New Orleans


text:
Talk:Developed country

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Brianburma.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 19:24, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Use a more up to date map in the lead?
The current world map used for the image in the lead is from 2008. Could we replace it with a more current one? Does someone have one available? It might be useful to keep the 2008 image further down below in the main body to show any changes (if there were any significant ones). EMsmile (talk) 02:48, 29 April 2021 (UTC)

 * @EMsmile I assume you refer to File:IMF advanced UN least developed.svg. You might have gotten a reply earlier if you pinged the map authors: 2022 IMF list is here: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2022/01/weodata/groups.htm Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here  10:43, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm going to create a new map with up-to-date info. − Allice Hunter   (Inbox)  17:34, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks, looking forward to it, User:Allice Hunter. Thanks also for the ping, User:Piotrus, I hadn't thought of pinging map authors. Somehow thought that map had just been taken from somewhere. EMsmile (talk) 21:49, 2 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm pretty sure I updated the map recently, specifically with regards to countries like Equatorial Guinea that have undergone a recent status change. Also, the map has South Sudan on it, so it can't be from 2008. Either way, you could have just updated the existing one instead of creating a new map from scratch. –LaundryPizza03 ( d c̄ ) 23:11, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

 * sorry for that. I only realised the map was up-to-date after I uploaded the new map and checked the old versions of the old one. Well it still had the upload date in the filename. At least, in my opinion, the new version is easier to see (especially Europe) due to using another projection and not having Antarctica on it. − Allice Hunter   (Inbox)  11:27, 3 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Something I'd like to note is that the current division into advanced, developing and least developed is problematic. Any classifications that doesn't distinguish between Poland & Hungary and Kenya & Nigeria, for example, is a joke (likewise, I've visited Poland and Czech Republic often, and I can tell you that there is no visible difference between them, so anyone who thinks crossing the border between one and the other will be noticeable will be for quite a surprise). I know, I know, we just report the data, it's IMF that calls the shots, but that's why such terms are seriously flawed. FYI I am doing some research work in which we considered a slit into developing and developed countries, but it's simply no going to work with the IMF data (Poland=/=Kenya). I think we will be dividing the world into G7+Advanced Economy+EU vs the rest, which mostly correlates to HDI 0.85+ (note that HDI 0.8+, which is their "very highly developed countries" bracket, is rather too broad as well). Frankly, World Bank high-income economy is much better at showing the division between what we usually think is developed and developing (that, or HDI 0.85+). PS. For the map, I think making one based on Developed_country might be valuable. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:19, 3 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for sorting out this map issue. I've just improved the image caption in the lead to made it clear who has classified the countries like this and when. Should we show the old map further down for comparison/archiving purposes? - @Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus I share your pain; maybe we can alert readers to these issues to make them more aware of the the "crude" nature of this classification. I also wonder how we can avoid too much overlap between this article and the one on developing countries which presumably should have the same maps. EMsmile (talk) 11:00, 7 June 2022 (UTC)

Split up ranking table
The table used for ranking developed economies is way too large, and is not mobile friendly. On a desktop it massively expands the size of the page. It needs to be trimmed down and broken up into multiple tables. 161.151.254.42 (talk) 15:39, 12 August 2021 (UTC)

What all crap!
QUOTE: Many developed countries were only seen to have "developed" from the Industrial Age which preceded the age of colonialism, which redistributed the wealth of countries such as India during the British colonisation of India during Europe's rivalry for conquest of the world.[7 END OF QUOTE

India was created by the English rule. And the millions of slave populations were liberated. As of now, literally millions live like worms in India. No one cares about them. The academic creep who wrote the misinformation about the English rule should be made to experience life as a menial servant under the Indian bosses. Current this creep will be earning around 30 to 40 times the earnings of a common citizen in India. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.3.188.14 (talk) 16:31, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

guinea papua new guinea=least developed
Rich in gas, gold and copper, Papua New Guinea is also one of the world's least developed countries. Most of the population lives in remote communities that can be only be reached by aircraft or on foot. Oil, gas and mining account for almost 30% of the country's gross domestic product. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.106.197.230 (talk) 17:35, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

Removed criticism (needs a rewrite)
I removed the criticism section, here's my rationale: this entire section should go, due to WP:NPOV attitude (this article has no praise section, and the one on developing countries, no criticism of them); second, this is OR/poorly referenced - mostly to random newspaper editorials, and not a single source provides a criticism of developed countries as a group, they are mostly rants against one particular country, mashed together (WP:SYNTH). Arguably the worst as about Korea, some fringe hateful interpretation of Korean Miracle in the form of "Additionally, some countries involvement in proxy wars such as South Korea's involvement in Vietnam secured it $993 million in earnings for siding with American forces, propelling it from a poor country to one of the richest countries on Earth due to undue gains.", referenced to a work about Korean history that mentions numerous reasons for Korea's improvement, in which their involvement in Vietnam was a pretty minor aspect.

This is not to say such a section cannot be restored, but it needs to be based on sources discussing criticism of developed countries as a whole, not on newspaper rants about how one particular country pillaged a colony or several. Criticism of developed countries is very much a thing in scholarly literature, and such a section should discuss stuff related to explanations of international inequality, ex. Dependency theory and World-systems theory.

Since much of the current section was a compilation of newspaper rants (ex. "How Britain Looted $45 Trillion From India", "[Aboriginal Australians 'still suffering effects of colonial past' Aboriginal Australians 'still suffering effects of colonial past']", "Swiss kept billions in looted Nazi gold", "How Korea got Rich", etc.), I removed it per WP:TNT. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:14, 9 June 2022 (UTC)

 * America's involvement in Vietnam was a major historical event for the latter. Don't forget that.
 * Re: Piotrus
 * Quang, Bùi Huy (talk) 15:27, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Not only is America's, but other countries' as well. Quang, Bùi Huy (talk) 15:30, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Which is very relevant to the history of Vietnam but mostly WP:UNDUE here. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 02:39, 21 August 2022 (UTC)

Pending recognitions???
I see so many pending recognitions on the comparative table sections. What are the pending recognitions? Why there's no explanation about this??? -GogoLion (talk) 17:03, 19 June 2022 (UTC)

 * the 2019 world competitiveness ranking in the table should be updated to the 2022 (latest) version. 99.126.180.106 (talk) 17:23, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

The OECD requirement
Why countries that don't join OECD are called "to be considered"? I mean, OECD is an economic alliance, not really an economic institution. I think IMF and World Bank are enough for the classification. -GogoLion (talk) 08:12, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Monaco Per capita PPP 2022
Monaco is shown as not meeting this requirement. That is not true. Perhaps introduce an additional source if missing from the quoted one. 78.61.238.109 (talk) 14:13, 7 March 2023 (UTC)

IMF map issue
Returning to an issue previously brought up by @Piotrus regarding classification. I think that keeping the IMF map in the lead is misleading and it gives undue weight to the methodology used by the organization. IMF should not be used unilaterally as an indicator of a developed country, especially considering their biased reclassification criteria.

Per FAQ on the IMF website: Reclassification only happens when something marked changes or the case for change in terms of the three criteria above becomes overwhelming. For example, Lithuania joining the euro area was a significant change in circumstances that warranted a reclassification from an emerging market and developing economy to an advanced economy. Most reclassifications in recent years were related to countries joining the euro area. This language is ambiguous as far as methodology goes and implies that reclassification of countries like Poland or Hungary will (most likely) not happen until they switch to EUR, which is hardly an economically fair standard for "admission". Polish zloty, for example, is the strongest currency in East Central Europe (outside of Eurozone, of course) and much stronger than Swedish krona. While the EU dictates an eventual switch to EUR, Poland should not be expected to switch to EUR as a condition to be considered a developed country by the IMF. This is all to say, fine to keep the map in the article, but I propose it be moved from the lead.  Ppt91    talk   19:29, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

 * @Ppt91 Maybe good to ping other folks involved in the discussion a year ago? Rather then removing, I'd prefer to replace the map with a better one (or several). One biased map is still superior to no map at all. Moving, however, is fine. I note we have two maps in the lead. Are you ok with UNCTAD one? Side note: less famous classification, but at World-systems theory we still use a map from 2000 because, AFAIK, nothing new has been published on that since, sigh. Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here  05:44, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

Uruguay should be classified as developed
Uruguay has a gdp per capita higher than Croatia and Croatia was declared a developed country in 2023 but not Uruguay That does not make sense. Alejandro221 (talk) 09:44, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

 * You would have to take this up with the external body that declared this, Wikipedia merely reports on what other sources say. CMD (talk) 11:21, 30 January 2024 (UTC)

Developed and Underdeveloped Countries Debate
Hi,It is much important to change the world and livelihoods alike even through wages/salaries how much we all spending in our everyday lives and lot has to be done as inequality on-equality as all shows hudge gaps between the lower income ,the middle income and higher income countries differ a lot and this gives hunger,poverty and unemploment the chance to increase rather than decreasing. Since 1994 and before 1994 south Africans they did struggle to have land for housing and dwellers flea their land were there were kept as slaves of white farmers to near villages,townships formed squatter camps that forced new democraticy with the new government and yes government did subsidize Reconstruction and jobcreation to try to close gaps and wounds of apartheid regime and all what the new government had done is not enough and more must and shall be done but with my little tips and tricks I'll share with you I met two people around in cape town years ago maybe 12 years or 2010 before world kick-off this was man and his wife from Europe Tourism to come visit south Africa so what they said to me is that the agreement between their country and south africa was to develop where black people resides the same as cities and the lifestyles to be the same ,So the questions I ask by them and I asked myself from that day and until now and say what went wrong and why was all suddenly change to demote black people and denial of this changes of freedom to stop discrimination among black and white new generations of one nation of one happy people.Amooketsi Come and Visit my Neighbours. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.113.219.44 (talk) 15:36, 30 April 2024 (UTC)

How is the UAE not developed
The UAE should be classified as “Developed Country”, considering it has a HDI higher than the USA, has a life expectancy higher than Croatia, and has a higher gdppc than UK, Israel, France and etc. Idk why IMF never classified UAE as developed Hongediting2013 (talk) 07:29, 9 May 2024 (UTC)

 * As the article states, UAE only meets three of the four required criteria to qualify for the status of developed nation. Mediatech492 (talk) 02:38, 13 May 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Developed country


text:
List of Canadian federal parliaments

The Parliament of Canada is the legislative body of the government of Canada. The Parliament is composed of the House of Commons (lower house), the Senate (upper house), and the sovereign, represented by the governor general. Most major legislation originates from the House, as it is the only body that is directly elected. A new parliament begins after an election of the House of Commons and can sit for up to five years. The number of seats in parliament has varied as new provinces joined the country and as population distribution between the provinces changed; there are currently 338 House MPs and 105 Senators (when there are no vacancies).

Canada uses a Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the leader of the party with the most seats in the House of Commons becomes Prime Minister, even if the leader is not an elected member of parliament. The leader of the party with the second-most seats in the House becomes the leader of the Official Opposition, and debate (formally called Oral Questions) between the parties is presided over by the speaker of the House. When the party with the most seats has less than half of the total number of seats, it forms a minority government, which can be voted out of power by the other parties. The Canadian Parliament is located at Parliament Hill in the capital city, Ottawa, Ontario.

title: List of Canadian federal parliaments