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Education in France

Education in France is organized in a highly centralized manner, with many subdivisions. It is divided into the three stages of primary education (enseignement primaire), secondary education (enseignement secondaire), and higher education (enseignement supérieur). Two year olds do not start primary school, they start preschool. Then, by the age of six, a child in France starts primary school and soon moves onto higher and higher grade levels until they graduate.

In French higher education, the following degrees are recognized by the Bologna Process (EU recognition): Licence and Licence Professionnelle (bachelor's degrees), and the comparably named Master and Doctorat degrees.

The Programme for International Student Assessment coordinated by the OECD in 2018 ranked the overall knowledge and skills of French 15-year-olds as 26th in the world in reading literacy, mathematics, and science, below the OECD average of 493. The average OECD performance of French 15-year-olds in science and mathematics has declined, with the share of low performers in reading, mathematics and science developing a sharp upward trend. France's share of top performers in mathematics and science has also declined.

France's performance in mathematics and science at the middle school level was ranked 23 in the 1995 Trends in International Math and Science Study. In 2019, France ranked 21 in the TIMSS Science general ranking.

History
Napoleon began the French university and secondary educational systems. Guizot started the elementary system. Intense battles took place over whether the Catholic Church should play a dominant role. The modern era of French education begins at the end of the 19th century. Jules Ferry, a Minister of Public Instruction in 1841, is widely credited for creating the modern school (l'école républicaine) by requiring all children between the ages of 6 and 12, both boys and girls, to attend. He also made public instruction mandatory, free of charge, and secular (laïque). With those laws, known as French Lubbers, Jules Ferry laws, and several others, the Third Republic repealed most of the Falloux Laws of 1850–1851, which gave an important role to the clergy.

The French curriculum predominantly emphasized the works of French writers of European descent. Ferry and others considered literature the glue of French identity. The ethnic and cultural demographics of the student body did not factor in to the quest to transmit a "common culture" to the students.

Like literature, history education is seen as critical to shaping the identity of young people and the integration of immigrants to French identity. Ferry's views continue to exert influence today. Ministry reports have confirmed that the rule of schools in promoting "common culture" is only made more critical by the rising levels of student diversity. According to the ministry, history education in France has, over the course of one century made possible "the integration of children of Italians, Poles, Africans and Portuguese".

Governance
All educational programmes in France are regulated by the Ministry of National Education and Youth (officially called Ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Jeunesse). The head of the ministry is the Minister of National Education.

All teachers in public primary and secondary schools are state civil servants, making the ministère the largest employer in the country. Professors and researchers in France's universities are also employed by the state.

At the primary and secondary levels, the curriculum is the same for all French students in any given grade, which includes public, semi-public and subsidised institutions. However, there exist specialised sections and a variety of options that students can choose. The reference for all French educators is the Bulletin officiel de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche (B.O.), which lists all current programmes and teaching directives. It is amended multiple times each year.

Since 2021, schooling is mandatory and families may only provide teaching outside of a school in exceptional circumstances:
 * Long-term illness,
 * Intensive athletic or artistic activities,
 * Distance from a public school,
 * Or other specific reasons.

School year
In Metropolitan France, the school year runs from early September to early July. The school calendar is standardized throughout the country and is the sole domain of the ministry.

In May, schools need time to organize exams (for example, the baccalauréat). Outside Metropolitan France, the school calendar is set by the local recteur.

Major holiday breaks are as follows:
 * All Saints (la Toussaint), two weeks (since 2012) around the end of October and the beginning of November;
 * Christmas (Noël), two weeks around Christmas Day and New Year's Day;
 * winter (hiver), two weeks starting in mid-February;
 * spring (printemps) or Easter (Pâques), two weeks starting in mid-April;
 * summer (été), two months starting in early July. (mid-June for high school students).

Primary school
Most parents start sending their children to preschool (maternelle) when they turn 3. Some even start earlier at age 2 in toute petite section ("TPS"). The first two years of preschool (TPS and petite section "PS") are introductions to community living; children learn how to become students and are introduced to their first notions of arithmetic, begin to recognize letters, develop oral language, etc. The last two years of preschool, moyenne section and grande section, are more school-like; pupils are introduced to reading, writing and more mathematics.

A preschool can be stand-alone (mostly true in towns and cities) or be affiliated to an elementary school (mostly in villages). As in other educational systems, primary school students in France usually have a single teacher (or two) who teaches the entire curriculum, without specialist teachers.

After kindergarten, the young students move on to the école élémentaire (elementary school). In the first 3 years of elementary school, they learn to write, develop their reading skills and get some basics in subjects such as French, mathematics, science and the arts, to name a few. The French word for a teacher at the primary school level is professeur or professeure des écoles (previously called instituteur, or its feminine form institutrice).

Children stay in elementary school for 5 years until they are 10–11 years-old. The grades are named: CP (cours préparatoire), CE1 (cours élémentaire 1), CE2 (cours élémentaire 2), CM1 (cours moyen 1) and CM2 (cours moyen 2).

Middle school and high school

The compulsory middle and high school subjects cover French language and literature, history and geography, foreign languages, arts and crafts, musical education, civics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural sciences, technology, and PE. The curriculum is set by the Ministry of National Education and applies to most collèges in France and also to AEFE-dependent institutions. Académies and individual schools have little freedom in the State curriculum.

Class sizes vary from school to school, but usually range from 20 to 35 pupils.

After primary school, two educational stages follow:
 * collège (middle school), for children during their first four years of secondary education from the age of 11 to 14.
 * lycée (high school), which provides a three-year course of further secondary education for children between the ages of 15 and 18. Pupils are prepared for the baccalauréat (baccalaureate, colloquially known as le bac) or the CAP (Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle). The baccalauréat can lead to higher education studies or directly to professional life (there are three main types of baccalauréat: the baccalauréat général, the baccalauréat technologique, and the baccalauréat professionnel).
 * CFA (centre de formation des apprentis, apprentice learning center), which provides vocational degrees: le Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle.

Private schools
Primary and secondary private schools in France are divided into two categories:
 * Private schools which respect the State curriculum (known as "under contract') are private, fee-paying institutions where pupils study the same national curriculum as those in public schools. Teachers in private schools are recruited in the same way and have roughly the same status as their equivalents in public schools. They are also employed directly by the State, but they are not permanently assigned and may not return to a public school position. The great majority of private schools in France are "under contract".
 * Private schools without contract employ their teachers directly and may teach their own curriculum; the State, however, still monitors their educational standards. Most of these schools provide religious instruction in parallel with a broad curriculum.

International education
As of January 2015, the International Schools Consultancy (ISC) listed France as having 105 international schools. ISC defines an 'international school' in the following terms: "ISC includes an international school if the school delivers a curriculum to any combination of pre-school, primary or secondary students, wholly or partly in English outside an English-speaking country, or if a school in a country where English is one of the official languages, offers an English-medium curriculum other than the country's national curriculum and is international in its orientation." That definition is used by publications including The Economist.

France has its own international school regulator, the AEFE (Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger).

Higher education
Higher education in France is organized in three levels, which correspond to those of other European countries, facilitating international mobility: the Licence and Licence Professionnelle (bachelor's degrees), and the Master's and Doctorat degrees. The Licence and the Master are organized in semesters: 6 for the Licence and 4 for the Master. Those levels of study include various "parcours" or paths based on UE (Unités d'enseignement or Modules), each worth a defined number of European credits (ECTS). A student accumulates those credits, which are generally transferable between paths. A licence is awarded once 180 ECTS have been obtained; a master is awarded once 120 additional credits have been obtained.

Licence and master's degrees are offered within specific domaines and carry a specific mention. Spécialités, which are either research-oriented or professionally oriented during the second year of the Master. There are also professional licences whose objective is immediate job integration. It is possible to return to school later by continuing education or to validate professional experience (through VAE, Validation des Acquis de l’Expérience ).

Higher education in France is divided between grandes écoles and public universities. The grandes écoles admit the graduates of the level Baccalauréat + 2 years of validated study (or sometimes directly after the Baccalauréat) whereas universities admit all graduates of the Baccalauréat.

Higher education in France was reshaped by the student revolts of May 1968. During the 1960s, French public universities responded to a massive explosion in the number of students (280,000 in 1962-63 to 500,000 in 1967-68) by stuffing approximately one-third of their students into hastily developed campus annexes (roughly equivalent to American satellite campuses) which lacked decent amenities, resident professors, academic traditions, or the dignity of university status. With so many students ripe for radicalization after being forced to study in such miserable conditions, change was necessary and inevitable. Rather than expand already-overwhelmed parent campuses, it was decided to split off the annexes as new universities.

This is why a striking trait of French higher education, compared with other countries, is the small size and multiplicity of establishments, each specialised in a more-or-less broad spectrum of areas. A middle-sized French city, such as Grenoble or Nancy, may have 2 or 3 universities (focused on science, sociological studies, engineering, etc.) as well as a number of other establishments specialised in higher education. In Paris and its suburbs, there are currently 11 universities (there were 13 from 1970 to 2017), none of which is specialised in one area or another, plus many smaller institutions that are highly specialised. It is not uncommon for graduate teaching programmes (master's degrees, the course part of doctorate programmes etc.) to be operated in common by several institutions, allowing the institutions to present a larger variety of courses.

In engineering schools and the professional degrees of universities, a large share of the teaching staff is often made up of non-permanent professors; instead, part-time professors are hired to teach one specific subject. Part-time professors are generally hired from neighbouring universities, research institutes or industries.

Another original feature of the French higher education system is that a large share of the scientific research is carried out by research establishments such as CNRS or INSERM, which are not formally part of the universities. However, in most cases, the research units of those establishments are located inside universities (or other higher education establishments) and jointly operated by the research establishment and the university.

In 2021, 1.65 million students are enrolled in French higher education institutions (61% in licence, 35% in master, 4% in doctorat).

Tuition costs
Higher education is mostly funded by the State which leads to very low tuition fees. For citizens of the EU, EEA, Switzerland or Quebec, the annual fees range from 170 to 380 euros per year depending on the level (licence, master, doctorat). One can therefore get a master's degree (in 5 years) for about €750–3,500. For other international students, these fees range from 2,770 to 3,770 euros. Students from low-income families can apply for scholarships, paying nominal sums for tuition or textbooks, and can receive a monthly stipend of up to €450 per month.

The tuition in public engineering schools is comparable to universities but a little higher (around €700). However, it can reach €7,000 a year for private engineering schools. Private business schools typically charge up to €12,000 a year for Bachelor programmes and up to €24,000 for Master programmes, while some elite institutions may charge €40,000 and more.

Health insurance for students is free until the age of 20 and so only the costs of living and books must be added. After the age of 20, health insurance for students costs €200 a year and covers most of the medical expenses.

Some public schools have other ways of gaining money. Some do not receive funds for class trips and other extra activities and so those schools may ask for a small entrance fee for new students.

Universities in France
The public universities in France are named after the major cities near which they are located, followed by a numeral if there are several. Paris, for example, has 13 universities, labelled Paris I to XIII. Some of them are in Paris itself, some in the suburbs. In addition, most of the universities have taken a more informal name that is usually that of a famous person or a particular place. Sometimes, it is also a way to honor a famous alumnus, for example the science university in Strasbourg is known as "Université Louis-Pasteur" while its official name is "Université Strasbourg I" (however, since 2009, the three universities of Strasbourg have been merged).

The French system has undergone a reform, the Bologna process, which aims at creating European standards for university studies, most notably a similar time-frame everywhere, with three years devoted to the bachelor's degree ("licence" in French), two for the Master's, and three for the doctorate. French universities have also adopted the ECTS credit system (for example, a licence is worth 180 credits). The traditional curriculum based on end of semester examinations tends to remain in place in some universities. That double standard has added complexity to a system. It is difficult to change a major during undergraduate studies without losing a semester or even a whole year. Students usually also have few course selection options once they enroll in a particular diploma.

France also hosts rare catholic universities recognized by the State, the largest one being Lille Catholic University, as well branch colleges of foreign universities. They include Baruch College, the University of London Institute in Paris, Parsons Paris School of Art and Design and the American University of Paris.

There are about 4,000 Master programmes offered in the French university system (listed at trouvermonmaster.gouv.fr), and 17,000 undergraduate programmes (offered by Parcoursup).

Grandes écoles
The grandes écoles of France are elite higher-education establishments. They are generally focused on a single subject area (e.g., engineering or business), have a small size (typically between 100 and 300 graduates per year), and are highly selective. They are widely regarded as prestigious, and most of France's scientists and executives have graduated from a grande école.

National rankings are published every year by various magazines. While the rankings slightly vary from year to year, the top grandes écoles have been very stable for decades:

 * science and engineering: Écoles normales supérieures, École polytechnique, Mines ParisTech, Télécom Paris, ISAE-Supaéro, Ponts Paristech, Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile and CentraleSupélec;
 * humanities: three Écoles normales supérieures, École des Chartes and CELSA – Sorbonne;
 * business: HEC Paris, NEOMA Business School, ESSEC Business School, ESCP Europe, INSEAD, EMLyon, Audencia, Grenoble École de Management, INSEEC and EDHEC;
 * administration and political sciences: ENA and Institutes of Political Studies (Sciences Po Aix, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Sciences Po Grenoble, Sciences Po Lille, Sciences Po Lyon, Sciences Po Paris, Sciences Po Rennes, Sciences Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Sciences Po Strasbourg).

Preparatory classes (CPGEs)
Preparatory classes (in French "classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles" or CPGE), widely known as prépas, are courses whose main goal is to prepare students for enrollment in a grande école. Admission to CPGEs is based on academic performance during the last two years of high school, called Première and Terminale. Only 5% of a given cohort is admitted to a prépa. CPGEs are usually located within high schools but are a part of tertiary education, which means that to be admitted, each student must have already successfully passed their Baccalauréat (or equivalent). Most CPGE receive applications from hundreds of applicants every year in April and May, and then selects students based on their own criteria. A few mainly private CPGEs, accounting for 10% of CPGEs, also have an interview process and ‘ or expect student participation in local community initiatives.

The ratio of CPGE students who fail to enter any grande école is lower in scientific and business CPGEs than in humanities CPGEs.

Some preparatory classes are widely considered "elite", being extremely selective, and recruiting only the best students from each high school, if not the best student from each high school. These CPGEs practically guarantee their students a place in one of the top "grandes écoles". Among them are the Lycée Louis-Le-Grand, the Lycée Henri-IV, the Lycée Stanislas and the Lycée privé Sainte-Geneviève.

Scientific CPGEs
The oldest CPGEs are the science ones, which can be accessed only with a bac in science Bacheliers. Science CPGE are called TSI ("Technology and Engineering Science"), MPSI ("Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Science"), PCSI ("Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering Science") or PTSI ("Physics, Technology, and Engineering Science") in the first year, MP ("Mathematics and Physics"), PSI ("Physics and Engineering Science"), PC ("Physics and Chemistry") or PT ("Physics and Technology") in the second year and BCPST ("Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Life and Earth Sciences").

The first year of a CPGE is widely known as "Math Sup", or Hypotaupe, (Sup for "Classe de Mathématiques Supérieures", superior in French, meaning post-high school), and second year as "Math Spé", or Taupe, (Spés standing for "Classe de Mathématiques Spéciales", special in French). The students of these classes are known as Taupins. Both the first and second year programmes include as much as twelve hours of mathematics teaching per week, ten hours of physics, two hours of philosophy, two to four hours of (one or two) foreign languages and four to six hours of options: chemistry, SI (Engineering Industrial Science) or Theoretical Computer Science (including some programming using the Pascal or CaML programming languages, as a practical work). There are also several hours of homework, which can double the class-based workload. A well-known joke among CPGE students is that they become moles for two years, sometimes three, hence the nicknames taupe and taupin (taupe being the French word for a mole).

Business CPGEs
There are also CPGEs that are focused on economics (who prepare the admission in business schools). They are known as prépa EC (short for Economiques et Commerciales) and are divided into two parts: prépa ECS, which focuses more on mathematics, generally for those who graduated the scientific baccalauréat, and prépa ECE, which focuses more on economics, for those who were in the economics section in high school.

Humanities CPGEs (Hypokhâgne and Khâgne)
The literary and humanities CPGEs have also their own nicknames, Hypokhâgne for the first year and Khâgne for the second year. The students are called the khâgneux. Those classes prepare for schools such as the three Écoles normales supérieures, the École des Chartes, and sometimes Sciences Po.

There are two kinds of Khâgnes. The Khâgne de Lettres is the most common, and focuses on philosophy, French literature, history and languages. The Khâgne de Lettres et Sciences Sociales (Literature and Social Sciences), otherwise called Khâgne B/L, also includes mathematics and socio-economic sciences in addition to those literary subjects.

The students of Hypokhâgne and Khâgne (the humanities CPGE) are simultaneously enrolled in universities, and can go back to university in case of failure or if they feel unable to pass the highly competitive entrance examinations for the Écoles normales supérieures.

Colles
The amount of work required of the students is high. In addition to class time and homework, students spend several hours each week completing oral exams called colles (sometimes written 'khôlles' to look like a Greek word, that way of writing being initially a khâgneux's joke since khâgneux study Ancient Greek). The colles are unique to French academic education in CPGEs.

In scientific and business CPGEs, colles consist of oral examinations twice a week, in French, foreign languages (usually English, German, or Spanish), maths, physics, philosophy, or geopolitics—depending on the type of CPGE. Students, usually in groups of three or four, spend an hour facing a professor alone in a room, answering questions and solving problems.

In humanities CPGEs, colles are usually taken every quarter in every subject. Students have one hour to prepare a short presentation that takes the form of a French-style dissertation (a methodologically codified essay, typically structured in 3 parts: thesis, counter-thesis, and synthesis) in history, philosophy, etc. on a given topic, or the form of a commentaire composé (a methodologically codified form of literary criticism) in literature and foreign languages. In Ancient Greek or Latin, they involve a translation and a commentary. The student then has 20 minutes to present his/her work to the teacher, who finally asks some questions on the presentation and on the corresponding topic.

Colles are regarded as very stressful, particularly due to the high standards expected by the teachers, and the subsequent harshness that may be directed at students who do not perform adequately. But they are important insofar as they prepare the students, from the very first year, for the oral part of the highly competitive examinations, which are reserved for the happy few who pass the written part.

Recruitment of teachers
Decades ago, primary school teachers were educated in Écoles normales and secondary teachers recruited through the "Agrégation" examination. The situation has been diversified by the introduction in the 1950s of the CAPES examination for secondary teachers and in the 1990s by the institution of "Instituts universitaires de formation des maitres" (IUFM), which have been renamed Écoles supérieures du professorat et de l’éducation (ESPE) in 2013 and then Instituts Nationaux supérieurs du professorat et de l’éducation (INSPE) in 2019.

Precisely, school teachers are divided between :
 * Primary school and kindergarten teachers (Professeurs des écoles), educated in an INSPE, have usually a "master" (Bac+5). Their weekly service is about 28 hours a week.
 * Certified teachers (Professeurs certifiés), educated in both a University and an INSPE, have a "master" (Bac+5) and must pass a competitive exam called Certificat d'aptitude au professorat de l'enseignement du second degré (CAPES) in a specific domain. Their rank usually determines their geographic assignment for the first years of their careers. The majority of them are teaching in collège (middle school).
 * Agrégés teachers (Professeurs agrégés) are recruited through a different competitive exam called Agrégation, of much higher level in each domain. They could either be certified teachers or external holders of at least a "master" (Bac+5) in the domain. In the latter case they must attend an additional formation in teaching in an INSPE. Agrégés teachers have a higher salary rate and reduced weekly service. The majority of them are teaching in lycée (high school).

University teachers are recruited by special commissions, and are divided between:

 * "teachers-researchers" (enseignants-chercheurs), with at least a doctorate: they teach classes and conduct research in their field of expertise with a full tenure. They are either Maître de conférences (Senior lecturers), or Professeurs (Professors). A Maître de conférence must publish a reviewed work named Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) (professorial thesis) in order to be allowed to become the director of studies for PhD students. The HDR is in turn necessary to be appointed as Professeur. The net pay (all insurances included) is from 2,300 to 8,800 (with extra duties) euros per month. Net salaries of over 4,000 euros per month (2011 level) are however very unusual, and limited to the small minority of teacher-researchers who have held the grade of first class full professor for at least seven years, which is rare. The maximum possible net salary for second-class full professors and chief senior lecturers (maître de conférence hors classe), the end of career status for most full-time teacher-researchers in French universities, is 3,760 euros a month (2011), and only a few of the group ever reach that level.
 * Secondary school teachers who have been permanently assigned away from their original school position to teach in a university. They are not required to conduct any research but teach twice as many hours as the "teachers-researchers". They are called PRAG (professeurs agrégés) and PRCE (professeurs certifiés). Their weekly service is 15 or 18 hours. The net pay is from 1,400 to 3,900 euros per month.
 * CPGE teachers are usually "agrégés" or "chaire sup", assigned by the Inspection générale according to their qualifications and competitive exam rank as well as other factors. Their weekly service is about 9 hours a week, 25 or 33 weeks a year. Net pay : from 2,000 to 7,500 euro (extra hours)
 * France did a great activity of supplying training for their people, via way of means of the 1800s, France had approximately 350 eight-yr faculties and six-yr faculties. Also in the course of the 1800s, they furnished classical training to approximately 50,000 to younger guys from a long time of 10-20. Getting greater specific, the very best increase charge of training in France became in the course of the 1821-1837 whilst towns welcomed new colleges. The increase charge slowed in the course of 1837–1867 because the authorities reached thinly populated rural areas. Then, via way of means of 1867-1906, the emphasis became on deepening the first-rate of colleges and teaching. Camille Sée added secondary colleges for ladies in 1880, which became a vital pass due to the fact he furnished secondary faculty stage of training to ladies. There have been 36 such colleges in France in 1896.

Religion
Religious instruction is not given by public schools (except for 6- to 18-year-old students in Alsace and Moselle under the Concordat of 1801). Laïcité (secularism) is one of the main precepts of the French Republic.

In a March 2004 ruling, the French government banned all "conspicuous religious symbols" from schools and other public institutions with the intent of preventing proselytisation and to foster a sense of tolerance among ethnic groups. Some religious groups showed their opposition, saying the law hindered the freedom of religion as protected by the French constitution.

Statistics
The French Republic has 67 million inhabitants, living in the 13 regions of metropolitan France and four overseas departments (2.7 million). Despite the fact that the population is growing (up 0.4% a year), the proportion of young people under 25 is falling. There are now fewer than 19 million young people in Metropolitan France, or 32% of the total population, compared with 40% in the 1970s and 35% at the time of the 1990 census. France is seeing a slow aging of the population, however, that is less marked than in other neighbouring countries (such as Germany and Italy), especially as the annual number of births is currently increasing slightly.

Eighteen million pupils and students, a quarter of the population, are in the education system, over 2.9 million of whom are in higher education. In 2000, the French Education Minister reported that only 39 out of 75,000 state schools were "seriously violent" and some 300 were "somewhat violent".

title: Education in France


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Asian elephant

The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is a species of elephant distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west to Borneo in the east, and Nepal in the north to Sumatra in the south. Three subspecies are recognised—E. m. maximus, E. m. indicus and E. m. sumatranus. The Asian elephant is characterised by its long trunk with a single finger-like processing; large tusks in males; laterally folded large ears but smaller in contrast to African elephants; and wrinkled grey skin. The skin is smoother than African elephants and may be depigmented on the trunk, ears or neck. Adult males average 4 t in weight, and females 2.7 t.

It is one of only three living species of elephants or elephantids anywhere in the world, the others being the African bush elephant and African forest elephant. Further, the Asian elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas. It is the second largest species of elephant after the African bush elephant. It frequently inhabits grasslands, tropical evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests and dry thorn forests. They are herbivorous, eating about 150 kg of vegetation per day. Cows and calves form groups, while males remain solitary or form "bachelor groups" with other males. During the breeding season, males will temporarily join female groups to mate. Asian elephants have a large and well-developed neocortex of the brain, are highly intelligent and self-aware being able to display behaviors associated grief, learning, greeting etc.

The Asian elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia. Since 1986, the Asian elephant has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as the population has declined by at least 50 per cent over the last three elephant generations, which is about 60–75 years. It is primarily threatened by loss of habitat, habitat degradation, fragmentation and poaching. Wild Asian elephants live to be about 60 years old. While female captive elephants are recorded to have lived beyond 60 years when kept in semi-natural surroundings, Asian elephants die at a much younger age in captivity; captive populations are declining due to a low birth and high death rate. The earliest indications of captive use of Asian elephants are engravings on seals of the Indus Valley civilisation dated to the 3rd millennium BC.

Taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus proposed the scientific name Elephas maximus in 1758 for an elephant from Ceylon. Elephas indicus was proposed by Georges Cuvier in 1798, who described an elephant from India. Coenraad Jacob Temminck named an elephant from Sumatra Elephas sumatranus in 1847. Frederick Nutter Chasen classified all three as subspecies of the Asian elephant in 1940. These three subspecies are currently recognised as valid taxa. Results of phylogeographic and morphological analyses indicate that the Sri Lankan and Indian elephants are not distinct enough to warrant classification as separate subspecies.

Three subspecies are recognised:

 * Sri Lankan elephant (E. maximus maximus Linnaeus, 1758)
 * Indian elephant (E. maximus indicus Cuvier, 1798)
 * Sumatran elephant (E. maximus sumatranus Temminck, 1847)

Sri Lankan elephants are the largest subspecies. Their skin colour is darker than of E. m. indicus and of E. m. sumatranus with larger and more distinct patches of depigmentation on ears, face, trunk and belly. The skin color of the Indian elephant is generally grey and lighter than that of E. m. maximus but darker than that of E. m. sumatranus.

A potential fourth subspecies, the Borneo elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis), occurs in Borneo's northeastern parts, primarily in Sabah (Malaysia), and sometimes in Kalimantan (Indonesia). It was proposed by Paules Deraniyagala in 1950, who described an elephant in an illustration published in the National Geographic magazine, but not as a living elephant in accordance with the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. These elephants living in northern Borneo are smaller than all the other subspecies, but had larger ears, a longer tail, and straight tusks. Results of genetic analysis indicate that their ancestors separated from the mainland population about 300,000 years ago. A study in 2003, using mitochondrial DNA analysis and microsatellite data, indicated that the Borneo elephant population is derived from stock that originated in the region of the Sunda Islands, and suggests that the Borneo population has been separated from the other elephant populations of southeast Asia since the Pleistocene.

The following Asian elephants were proposed as extinct subspecies, but are now considered synonymous with the Indian elephant:
 * Syrian elephant (E. m. asurus), proposed by Deraniyagala, based on fossil remains and Bronze Age illustrations.
 * Chinese elephant (E. m. rubridens), also proposed by Deraniyagala, based on a Chinese bronze statuette.
 * Javan elephant (E. m. sondaicus), also proposed by Deraniyagala, based on an illustration of a carving on the Buddhist monument of Borobudur.

Evolution
The genus Elephas, of which the Asian elephant is the only living member, is the closest relative of the extinct mammoths. The two groups are estimated to have split from each other around 7 million years ago. Elephas originated in Sub-Saharan Africa during the Pliocene and spread throughout Africa before expanding into the southern half of Asia. The earliest Elephas species, Elephas ekorensis, is known from the Early Pliocene of East Africa, around 5-4.2 million years ago. The oldest remains of the genus in Asia are known from the Siwalik Hills in the Indian subcontinent, dating to the late Pliocene, around 3.6-3.2 million years ago, assigned to the species Elephas planifrons. The modern Asian elephant is suggested to have evolved from the species Elephas hysudricus, which first appeared at the beginning of the Early Pleistocene around 2.6 million years ago, and is primarily known from remains of Early-Middle Pleistocene age found on the Indian subcontinent.  Skeletal remains of E. m. asurus have been recorded from the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey from periods dating between at least 1800 BC and likely 700 BC.

Description
In general, the Asian elephant is smaller than the African bush elephant and has the highest body point on the head. The back is convex or level. The ears are small with dorsal borders folded laterally. It has up to 20 pairs of ribs and 34 caudal vertebrae. The feet have five nail-like structures on each forefoot, and four on each hind foot. The forehead has two hemispherical bulges, unlike the flat front of the African elephants. Its long trunk or proboscis has only one fingerlike tip, in contrast to the African elephants which have two. Hence, the Asian species relies more on wrapping around a food item and squeezing it into its mouth, rather than grasping with the tip. Asian elephants have more muscle coordination and can perform more complex tasks. Cows usually lack tusks; if tusks—in that case, called "tushes"—are present, they are barely visible and only seen when the mouth is open. The enamel plates of the molars are greater in number and closer together in Asian elephants. Some bulls may also lack tusks; these individuals are called "makhnas", and are especially common among the Sri Lankan elephant population. A tusk from an 11 ft tall elephant killed by Sir Victor Brooke measured 8 ft in length, and nearly 17 in in circumference, and weighed 90 lb. This tusk's weight is, however, exceeded by the weight of a shorter tusk of about 6 ft in length which weighed 100 lb, and there have reportedly been tusks weighing over 150 lb.

Skin colour is usually grey, and may be masked by soil because of dusting and wallowing. Their wrinkled skin is movable and contains many nerve centres. It is smoother than that of African elephants and may be depigmented on the trunk, ears, or neck. The epidermis and dermis of the body average 18 mm thick; skin on the dorsum is 30 mm thick providing protection against bites, bumps, and adverse weather. Its folds increase surface area for heat dissipation. They can tolerate cold better than excessive heat. Skin temperature varies from 24 to 32.9 C. Body temperature averages 35.9 C.

Size
On average, when fully-grown, bulls are about 2.75 m tall at the shoulder and 4.0 t in weight, while cows are smaller at about 2.40 m at the shoulder and 2.7 t in weight. Sexual dimorphism in body size is relatively less pronounced in Asian elephants than in African bush elephants; with bulls averaging 15% and 23% taller in the former and latter respectively. Length of body and head including trunk is 5.5 - 6.5 m with the tail being 1.2 - 1.5 m long. The largest bull elephant ever recorded was shot by the Maharajah of Susang in the Garo Hills of Assam, India, in 1924, it weighed an estimated 7 t, stood 3.43 m tall at the shoulder and was 8.06 m long from head to tail. There are reports of larger individuals as tall as 3.7 m.

Distribution and habitat
Asian elephants are distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, to Borneo in the east, and Nepal in the north, to Sumatra in the south. They inhabit grasslands, tropical evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests and dry thorn forests, in addition to cultivated and secondary forests and scrublands. Over this range of habitat types elephants occur from sea level to over 3000 m. In the eastern Himalaya in northeast India, they regularly move up above 3000 m in summer at a few sites.

In Bangladesh, some isolated populations survived in the south-east Chittagong Hills in the early 1990s. In Malaysia's northern Johor and Terengganu National Park, two Asian elephants tracked using satellite tracking technology spent most of their time in secondary or "logged-over forest"; they travelled 75% of their time in an area less than 1.5 km away from a water source. In China, the Asian elephant survives only in the prefectures of Xishuangbanna, Simao and Lincang of southern Yunnan. , the estimated population was around 300 individuals.

As of 2017, the estimated wild population in India account for nearly three-fourths of the extant population, at 27,312 individuals. In 2019, the Asian elephant population in India increased to an estimated 27,000–29,000 individuals. , the global wild population was estimated at 48,323–51,680 individuals.

Ecology and behaviour
Asian elephants are crepuscular. They are classified as megaherbivores and consume up to 150 kg of plant matter per day. Around 50 to 75% of the day is devoted to eating. They are generalist feeders, and are both grazers and browsers. They are known to feed on at least 112 different plant species, most commonly of the order Malvales, as well as the legume, palm, sedge and true grass families. They browse more in the dry season with bark constituting a major part of their diet in the cool part of that season. They drink at least once a day and are never far from a permanent source of fresh water. They need 80–200 litres of water a day and use even more for bathing. At times, they scrape the soil for clay or minerals.

Cows and calves move about together as groups, while bulls disperse from their mothers upon reaching adolescence. Bulls are solitary or form temporary "bachelor groups". Cow-calf units generally tend to be small, typically consisting of three adults (most likely related females) and their offspring. Larger groups of as many as 15 adult females have also been recorded. Seasonal aggregations of 17 individuals including calves and young adults have been observed in Sri Lanka's Uda Walawe National Park. Until recently, Asian elephants, like African elephants, were thought to be under the leadership of older adult females, or matriarchs. It is now recognized that cows form extensive and very fluid social networks, with varying degrees of associations between individuals. Social ties generally tend to be weaker than in African bush elephants. Unlike African elephants, which rarely use their forefeet for anything other than digging or scraping soil, Asian elephants are more agile at using their feet in conjunction with the trunk for manipulating objects. They can sometimes be known for their violent behavior.

Asian elephants are recorded to make three basic sounds: growls, squeaks and snorts. Growls in their basic form are used for short distance communication. During mild arousal, growls resonate in the trunk and become rumbles while for long-distance communication, they escalate into roars. Low-frequency growls are infrasonic and made in many contexts. Squeaks come in two forms: chirpings and trumpets. Chirping consists of multiple short squeaks and signals conflict and nervousness. Trumpets are lengthened squeaks with increased loudness and are produced during extreme arousal. Snorts signal changes in activity and increase in loudness during mild or strong arousal. During the latter case, when an elephant bounces the tip of the trunk, it creates booms which serve as threat displays. Elephants can distinguish low-amplitude sounds.

Rarely, tigers have been recorded attacking and killing calves, especially if the calves become separated from their mothers, stranded from their herd, or orphaned. Adults are largely invulnerable to natural predation. There is a singular anecdotal case of a mother Asian elephant allegedly being killed alongside her calf; however, this account is contestable. In 2011 and 2014, two instances were recorded of tigers successfully killing adult elephants; one by a single tiger in Jim Corbett National Park on a 20-year-old young adult elephant cow, and another on a 28-year-old sick adult bull in Kaziranga National Park further east, which was taken down and eaten by several tigers hunting cooperatively. Elephants appear to distinguish between the growls of larger predators like tigers and smaller predators like leopards; they react to leopards less fearfully and more aggressively.

Reproduction
Reproduction in Asian elephants can be attributed to the production and perception of signaling compounds called pheromones. These signals are transmitted through various bodily fluids. They are commonly released in urine but in males they are also found in special secretions from the temporal glands. Once integrated and perceived, these signals provide the receiver with information about the reproductive status of the sender. If both parties are ready to breed, reproductive ritualic behavior occurs and the process of sexual reproduction proceeds.

Bulls will fight one another to get access to oestrus cows. Strong fights over access to females are extremely rare. Bulls reach sexual maturity around the age of 12–15. Between the ages of 10 and 20 years, bulls undergo an annual phenomenon known as "musth". This is a period where the testosterone level is up to 100 times greater than non-musth periods, and they become aggressive. Secretions containing pheromones occur during this period, from the paired temporal glands located on the head between the lateral edge of the eye and the base of the ear. The aggressive behaviors observed during musth can be attributed to varying amounts of frontalin (1,5-dimethyl-6,8-dioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane) throughout the maturation process of bulls. Frontalin is a pheromone that was first isolated in bark beetles but can also be produced in the bulls of both Asian and African Elephants. The compound can be excreted through urine as well as through the temporal glands of the bull, allowing signaling to occur. During musth, increased concentrations of frontalin in the bull's urine communicate the reproductive status of the bull to female elephants.

Similar to other mammals, hormone secretion in female elephants is regulated by an estrous cycle. This cycle is regulated by surges in Luteinizing hormone that are observed three weeks from each other. This type of estrous cycle has also been observed in African Elephants but is not known to affect other mammals. The first surge in Luteinizing hormone is not followed by the release of an egg from the ovaries. However, some female elephants still exhibit the expected mating protocols during this surge. Female elephants give ovulatory cues by utilizing sex pheromones. A principal component thereof, (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate, has also been found to be a sex pheromone in numerous species of insects. In both insects and elephants, this chemical compound is used as an attractant to assist the mating process. In elephants, the chemical is secreted through urination and this aids in the attraction of bulls to mate. Once detected, the chemical stimulates the vomeronasal organ of the bull, thus providing information on the maturity of the female.

Reproductive signaling exchange between male and female elephants are transmitted through olfactory cues in bodily fluids. In males, the increase in frontalin during musth heightens their sensitivity to the (Z)-7-dodecen-1-yl acetate produced by female elephants. Once perceived by receptors in the trunk, a sequence of ritualistic behaviors follow. The responses in males vary based on both the stage of development and the temperament of the elephant. This process of receiving and processing signals through the trunk is referred to as flehmen. The difference in body movements give cues to gauge if the male is interested in breeding with the female that produced the secretion. A bull that is ready to breed will move closer to the urine and in some cases an erection response is elicited. A bull that is not ready to breed will be timid and try to dissociate themselves from the signal. In addition to reproductive communication, chemosensory signaling is used to facilitate same-sex interactions. When less developed males detect pheromones from a male in musth, they often retreat to avoid coming in contact with aggressive behaviors. Female elephants have also been seen to communicate with each other through pheromone in urine. The purpose of this type of intersex communication is still being investigated. However, there are clear differences in signaling strength and receiver response throughout different stages of the estrous cycle.

The gestation period is 18–22 months, and the cow gives birth to one calf, only occasionally twins. The calf is fully developed by the 19th month, but stays in the womb to grow so that it can reach its mother to feed. At birth, the calf weighs about 100 kg, and is suckled for up to three years. Once a female gives birth, she usually does not breed again until the first calf is weaned, resulting in a four to five-year birth interval. During this period, mother to calf communication primarily takes place through temporal means. However, male calves have been known to develop sex pheromone-producing organs at a young age. Early maturity of the vomeronasal organ allows immature elephants to produce and receive pheromones. It is unlikely that the integration of these pheromones will result in a flehmen response in a calf. Females stay on with the herd, but mature males are chased away.

Female Asian elephants sexually mature around the age of 10~15 and keep growing until 30, while males fully mature at more than the age of 25, and constantly grow throughout their life. Average elephant life expectancy is 60 years in the wild and 80 in captivity, although this has been exaggerated in the past. Generation length of the Asian elephant is 22 years.

Intelligence

Asian elephants have a very large and highly developed neocortex, a trait also shared by humans, apes and certain dolphin species. They have a greater volume of cerebral cortex available for cognitive processing than all other existing land animals. Results of studies indicate that Asian elephants have cognitive abilities for tool use and tool-making similar to great apes. They exhibit a wide variety of behaviours, including those associated with grief, learning, allomothering, mimicry, play, altruism, use of tools, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and language. Elephants reportedly head to safer ground during natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes, but data from two satellite-collared Sri Lankan elephants indicate this may be untrue. Several students of elephant cognition and neuroanatomy are convinced that Asian elephants are highly intelligent and self-aware. Others contest this view.

Threats
The pre-eminent threats to the Asian elephant today are the loss, degradation and fragmentation of its habitat, which leads to increasing conflicts between humans and elephants. Asian elephants are poached for ivory and a variety of other products including meat and leather. The demand for elephant skin has risen due to it being an increasingly-common ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

Human–elephant conflict

In some parts of Asia, people and elephants have co-existed for thousands of years. In other areas, people and elephants come into conflict, resulting in violence, and ultimately, the displacement of elephants. The main causes of human-elephant conflict includes the growing human population, large-scale development projects and poor top-down governance. Proximate causes includes habitat loss due to deforestation, disruption of elephant migratory routes, expansion of agriculture and illegal encroachment into protected areas.

Destruction of forests through logging, encroachment, slash-and-burn, shifting cultivation, and monoculture tree plantations are major threats to the survival of elephants. Human–elephant conflicts occur when elephants raid crops of shifting cultivators in fields, which are scattered over a large area interspersed with forests. Depredation in human settlements is another major area of human–elephant conflict occurring in small forest pockets, encroachments into elephant habitat, and on elephant migration routes. However, studies in Sri Lanka indicate that traditional slash-and-burn agriculture may create optimal habitat for elephants by creating a mosaic of successional-stage vegetation. Populations inhabiting small habitat fragments are much more liable to come into conflict with humans.

Development such as border fencing along the India–Bangladesh border has become a major impediment to the free movement of elephants. In Assam, more than 1,150 humans and 370 elephants died as a result of human-elephant conflict between 1980 and 2003. In a 2010 study, it was estimated that in India alone, over 400 people were killed by elephants each year, and 0.8 to 1 million hectares were damaged, affecting at least 500,000 families across the country. Moreover, elephants are known to destroy crops worth up to US$2–3 million annually. This has major impacts on the welfare and livelihoods of local communities, as well as the future conservation of this species. In countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the Asian elephant is one of the most feared wild animals, even though they are less deadly than other local animals such as venomous snakes (which were estimated to claim more than 30 times more lives in Sri Lanka than elephants).

As a whole, Asian elephants display highly sophisticated and sometimes unpredictable behaviour. Most untamed elephants try to avoid humans, but if they are caught off guard by any perceived physical threat, including humans, they will likely charge. This is especially true of males in musth and of females with young. Gunfire and other similar methods of deterring, which are known to be effective against many kinds of wild animals including tigers, may or may not work with elephants, and can even worsen the situation. Elephants that have been abused by humans in the past often become "rogue elephants", which regularly attack people with no provocation.

For ivory
The demand for ivory during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in East Asia, led to rampant poaching and the serious decline of elephants in both Africa and Asia. In Thailand, the illegal trade in live elephants and ivory still flourishes. Although the amount of ivory being openly sold has decreased substantially since 2001, Thailand still has one of the largest and most active black markets for ivory seen anywhere in the world. Tusks from Thai-poached elephants also enter the market; between 1992 and 1997 at least 24 male elephants were killed for their tusks.

Up to the early 1990s, Vietnamese ivory craftsmen used exclusively Asian elephant ivory from Vietnam and neighbouring Lao and Cambodia. Before 1990, there were few tourists and the low demand for worked ivory could be supplied by domestic elephants. Economic liberalisation and an increase in tourism raised both local and visitors' demands for worked ivory, which resulted in heavy poaching.

For skin
The skin of the Asian elephant is used as an ingredient in Chinese medicine as well as in the manufacture of ornamental beads. The practice has been aided by China's State Forestry Administration (SFA), which has issued licences for the manufacture and sale of pharmaceutical products containing elephant skin, thereby making trading legal. In 2010, four skinned elephants were found in a forest in Myanmar; 26 elephants were killed by poachers in 2013 and 61 in 2016. According to the NGO Elephant Family, Myanmar is the main source of elephant skin, where a poaching crisis has developed rapidly since 2010.

Disease
The Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a member of the Proboscivirus genus, a novel clade most closely related to the mammalian betaherpesviruses. As of 2011, it is responsible for as many as 70 deaths of both zoo and wild Asian elephants worldwide, especially in young calves. In particular, several incidents of calves dying from elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus have been recorded in Myanmar. The elephant schistosome is a parasitic trematode that uses the Asian elephant as a definitive host. Two other hosts may be the Indian elephant and the greater one-horned rhinoceros.

Conservation
The Asian elephant is listed on CITES Appendix I. It is a quintessential flagship species, deployed to catalyze a range of conservation goals, including habitat conservation at landscape scales, generating public awareness on conservation issues, and mobilisation as a popular cultural icon both in India and the West. A key aspect of conservation is connectivity of the preferred movement routes of Asian elephants through areas with high vegetation cover and low human population density.

The World Elephant Day is celebrated annually on 12 August since 2012. Events are organized to divulge information and to engage people about the problems that the Asian elephant is facing. August has been established as the Asian Elephant Awareness Month by zoos and conservation partners in the United States.

Karnataka state in India, hosts the most Asian elephants of any known area and comprises 20% of the total population in the country. The distribution of elephants in the state according to one estimate is roughly 38,310 km2. In a 2013 study, an estimated 10, 000 elephants inhabited the Western Ghats, and were primarily threatened by poaching and habitat fragmentation. An increase in conflict with humans was also sited as a likely issue. Conservation plans aim to establish wildlife corridors, stop poaching of bulls, and protect or manage land area. Project Elephant was initiated in 1992 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. The project was initiated to protect the Indian elephant and its habitats and to establish dedicated elephant reserves for sustaining elephant populations.

The distribution of elephants in Sri Lanka is only two-fifths of what it was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Thus, interactions with humans occur much more frequently. During a 2003 survey, the local people expressed some form of disapproval towards the conservation of Asian elephants as farmers viewed them as pests, however, most of the participants were supportive of the idea.

In China, Asian elephants are under first-level protection. Yunnan province has 11 national and regional nature reserves. In total, the covered protected area in China is about 510000 ha. In 2020, the population of Asian elephants in Yunnan was estimated at around 300 individuals. As conflicts between humans and wild elephants have emerged around protected areas in the last years, the prefecture of Xishuangbanna built food bases and planted bananas and bamboo to create a better habitat.

In Thailand, Salakpra Wildlife Sanctuary and Tham Than Lot National Park are protected areas hosting around 250–300 elephants, according to figures from. In recent years the National Park has faced issues due to encroachment and over-exploitation. In India, the National Board of Wildlife recommended to allow coal mining in Dehing Patkai National Park in April 2020. The decision raised concerns between students and environmental activists who launched an online campaign to stop the project.

In captivity
About half of the global zoo elephant population is kept in European zoos, where they have less than half (18.9 years) the median life span of conspecifics (41.6 years) in protected populations in range countries. This discrepancy is clearest in Asian elephants: infant mortality is more than two to three times that seen in Burmese timber camps, and adult survivorship in zoos has not improved significantly in recent years. One risk factor for Asian zoo elephants is being moved between institutions, with early removal from the mother tending to have additional adverse effects. Another risk factor is being born into a zoo rather than being imported from the wild, with poor adult survivorship in zoo-born Asians apparently being conferred prenatally or in early infancy. Likely causes for compromised survivorship is stress and/or obesity. Foot problems are commonly observed in captive elephants. These are related to lack of exercise, long hours standing on hard substrates, and contamination resulting from standing in their dung. Many of these problems are treatable. However, mistreatment may lead to serious disability or death.

Demographic analysis of captive Asian elephants in North America indicates that the population is not self-sustaining. First year mortality is nearly 30 per cent, and fecundity is extremely low throughout the prime reproductive years. Data from North American and European regional studbooks from 1962 to 2006 were analysed for deviations in the birth and juvenile death sex ratios. Of 349 captive calves born, 142 died prematurely. They died within one month of birth, major causes being stillbirth and infanticide by either the calf's mother or by one of the exhibition mates. The sex ratio of stillbirths in Europe was found to have a tendency for excess of males.

Handling methods
Young elephants are captured from the wild and illegally imported to Thailand from Myanmar for use in the tourism industry; calves are used mainly in amusement parks and are trained to perform various stunts for tourists. The calves are often subjected to a 'breaking in' process, which may involve being tied up, confined, starved, beaten and tortured; as a result, two-thirds may perish. Handlers use a technique known as the training crush, in which "handlers use sleep-deprivation, hunger, and thirst to "break" the elephants' spirit and make them submissive to their owners"; moreover, handlers drive nails into the elephants' ears and feet.

In culture
The Asian elephant is the national animal of Thailand and Laos. It has also been declared as the national heritage animal of India. Bones of Asian elephants excavated at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley indicate that they were tamed in the Indus Valley Civilisation and used for work. Decorated elephants are also depicted on seals and were modelled in clay. The Asian elephant became a siege engine, a mount in war, a status symbol, a beast of burden, and an elevated platform for hunting during historical times in South Asia.

Asian elephants have been captured from the wild and tamed for use by humans. Their ability to work under instruction makes them particularly useful for carrying heavy objects. They have been used particularly for timber-carrying in jungle areas. Other than their work use, they have been used in war, in ceremonies, and for carriage. It is reported that war elephants are still used by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State in northern Myanmar against Myanmar's military. The KIA use about four dozen elephants to carry supplies.

The Asian elephant plays an important part in the culture of the subcontinent and beyond, being featured prominently in the Panchatantra fables and the Buddhist Jataka tales. They play a major role in Hinduism: the god Ganesha's head is that of an elephant, and the "blessings" of a temple elephant are highly valued. Elephants are frequently used in processions where the animals are adorned with festive outfits.

The Asian elephant is depicted in several Indian manuscripts and treatises with notable amongst these including Matanga Lila (elephant sport) of Nilakantha. The manuscript Hastividyarnava is from Assam in northeast India. In the Burmese, Thai and Sinhalese animal and planetary zodiac, the Asian elephant, both tusked and tuskless, are the fourth and fifth animal zodiacs of the Burmese, the fourth animal zodiac of the Thai, and the second animal zodiac of the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka. Similarly, the elephant is the twelfth animal zodiac in the Dai animal zodiac of the Dai people in southern China.

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

title: Asian elephant


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 * ... that Irish Socialist Republican Party co-founder Robert Dorman became the first Labour Party member of the Senate of Northern Ireland?
 * ... that British peer Ted Hill lived in a terraced house in Wivenhoe?
 * ... that Butchers Wheel, a cutlery and tool factory in Sheffield, could only be accessed through a single, guarded door?
 * ... that the National Federation of Discharged and Demobilized Sailors and Soldiers, a forerunner of the Royal British Legion, was founded in opposition to the re-conscription of men injured during World War I?
 * ... that Charles Lapworth worked closely with both Eugene V. Debs and Charlie Chaplin?
 * ... that, following a dispute at the Sheffield Attercliffe by-election result in 1909, Arnold Muir Wilson sued a rival for damage to his bowler hat?
 * ... that socialist Salvationist Frank Smith stood for the British House of Commons twelve times before he was finally elected, at the age of 74?
 * ... that Atomatrix, who skated for Team USA at the Roller Derby World Cup, has competed at the international level in inline and ice speed skating?
 * ... that All-Star roller derby skater Ronnie Robinson was the son of Sugar Ray Robinson?
 * ... that Quadzilla can leap fourteen people in a single bound?
 * ... that the Darnall Works in Sheffield is the only remaining works to have produced crucible steel on a large scale?
 * ... that, while a member of Belfast City Council, Lindsay Mason patrolled the city with a bow and arrow?
 * ... that P. T. Daly, secretary of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, was imprisoned during the Dublin Lock-out and interned during the Easter Rising?
 * ... that John Peck stood for election to Nottingham City Council 35 times without success before he finally won a seat?

Shiny awards
!style="background-color: ;" colspan=3|
 * rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Archistar.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2| The Architecture Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2| Awarded by User:Mcginnly for all your contributions to architectural topics, the WikiProject Architecture and particularly, populating the Years in architecture categories.
 * rowspan="2" valign="top" | [[Image:Society barnstar 2.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2| The Society Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2| Awarded by User:Timrollpickering with thanks for your numerous contributions.
 * rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Parliamentary Barnstar.png]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2| The Parliamentary Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2 | I, Sam Blacketer, award you this barnstar for your exceptional contributions to articles on the Parliament of the United Kingdom generally. Sam Blacketer 12:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Original_Barnstar.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2 | The Original Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2 | I, Evilclown93, award you this barnstar for writing this essay, which may eventually repair RfA to boot. I personally believe it is brilliant.   Evilclown93 (talk)  01:00, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Working_Man's_Barnstar.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2 | The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2 | For categorization work on articles that fall within Category:Years in architecture, especially with articles which I create, consistently forgetting to add said categories. Keep up the good work, the community appreciates it. IvoShandor 08:10, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="top" align="center" | [[Image:Dyk25.png|80px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2 | The 25 DYK Medal for WarofDreams
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2 | Congratulations! Here's a medal for you in appreciation of your hardwork in creating, expanding (and nominating) 25+ articles for DYK. Keep up the good work - sorry it took a while. Well done again, WarofDreams! --Victuallers (talk) 17:28, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="top" | [[Image:Invisible Barnstar.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em; color: black" colspan=2 | The Invisible Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray; color: black" colspan=2 | For your hard work and great team sprit with the rollout of Template:Infobox UK place I grant you the Invisible Barnstar as I believe people take that work for granted! Many thanks! --Jza84 | Talk  13:09, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="middle" | [[Image:Working_Man's_Barnstar.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2 | The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2 | For categorization work on articles that fall within Category:Years in architecture, especially with articles which I create, consistently forgetting to add said categories. Keep up the good work, the community appreciates it. IvoShandor 08:10, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="top" align="center" | [[Image:Dyk25.png|80px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em;" colspan=2 | The 25 DYK Medal for WarofDreams
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray;" colspan=2 | Congratulations! Here's a medal for you in appreciation of your hardwork in creating, expanding (and nominating) 25+ articles for DYK. Keep up the good work - sorry it took a while. Well done again, WarofDreams! --Victuallers (talk) 17:28, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="top" | [[Image:Invisible Barnstar.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em; color: black" colspan=2 | The Invisible Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray; color: black" colspan=2 | For your hard work and great team sprit with the rollout of Template:Infobox UK place I grant you the Invisible Barnstar as I believe people take that work for granted! Many thanks! --Jza84 | Talk  13:09, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * rowspan="2" valign="top" | [[Image:Invisible Barnstar.png|100px]]
 * style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em; color: black" colspan=2 | The Invisible Barnstar
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray; color: black" colspan=2 | For your hard work and great team sprit with the rollout of Template:Infobox UK place I grant you the Invisible Barnstar as I believe people take that work for granted! Many thanks! --Jza84 | Talk  13:09, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray; color: black" colspan=2 | For your hard work and great team sprit with the rollout of Template:Infobox UK place I grant you the Invisible Barnstar as I believe people take that work for granted! Many thanks! --Jza84 | Talk  13:09, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
 * style="vertical-align: top; border-top: 1px solid gray; color: black" colspan=2 | For your hard work and great team sprit with the rollout of Template:Infobox UK place I grant you the Invisible Barnstar as I believe people take that work for granted! Many thanks! --Jza84 | Talk  13:09, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Quotes

 * colspan=3|
 * "Finally, we'd like to announce a fun project loosely associated with Nupedia, Wikipedia. Have a look and write a paragraph or two!" Front page of Nupedia, January 2001
 * "Finally, we'd like to announce a fun project loosely associated with Nupedia, Wikipedia. Have a look and write a paragraph or two!" Front page of Nupedia, January 2001

 * "If we create 1000 pages a month, we will be able to hit 100,000 pages in only 8 years." User:Jimbo Wales, February 2001

 * "Our getting 100,000 articles is definitely not out of the question. Indeed, it's also far from impossible that we could have 1,000,000 articles someday; there are, surely, 1,000,000 topics of discussion in existence." Why Wikipedia is so great, April 2001

 * "Wikipedia is growing at a dizzying rate. Wikipedia produces articles at over 1,300 per month." Why Wikipedia is so great, April 2001

 * }

Licence
I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

simple:User:Warofdreams m:User:Warofdreams

title: User:Warofdreams


text:
Haywood Nelson

Haywood Knowles Nelson Jr. (born March 25, 1960) is an American actor. He is best known for having portrayed Dwayne Nelson in the television series What's Happening!!, which aired from 1976 to 1979, as well as in its spin-off series What's Happening Now!!, from 1985 to 1988.

Biography
Haywood Nelson has been a member of the entertainment community for over forty years. Born in New York, he began his career at the age of six with numerous principal on-camera and voice-over national commercials, including Lavoris, Campbell's Soup, Libby's, Polaroid, Hot Wheels, Rock'em Sock'em Robots, Johnny Lightning, Aurora AFX, Kodak, Duncan Hines, Milk, Burger King, and Dean Witter.

Nelson appeared as a co-star in several feature films, including If You Give a Dance, You Gotta Pay the Band, Mixed Company, This Property Is Condemned, and a featuring role in Evilspeak. Haywood also spent a two-year run on Broadway in Thieves. Nelson guest starred on Kojak in the episode "The Godson" as Bobby Moore. At the age of 14, he went on to guest star in the television series Sanford and Son as the grandson of Whitman Mayo's Grady then acting in the series of the same name, Grady in 1975. The next year, in 1976, at the age of 16, Haywood soon landed the role of "Dwayne" in the television series "Cooley High," which became the ABC hit series What's Happening!! for TOY Productions. As a "teenage heartthrob" on a popular television series, Nelson was one of the first Black teen idols. After three seasons, Nelson went on to a short run on the television series The White Shadow for MTM Enterprises. Haywood had his studies in Architectural Design and Electronics Engineering interrupted when the cast of What's Happening!! was re-united for three seasons of syndication in the series continuation What's Happening Now!! for Columbia Pictures Television where he also observed as Technical Director. Later Haywood appeared in an urban dramatic Broadway production at New York's Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, appeared As Himself in the Paramount film Dickie Roberts and a role on The Parkers.

He is a devout Scientologist.

title: Haywood Nelson


text:
User talk:Piha

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. Here are some useful links in case you haven't already found them;

 * How to edit a page
 * How to write a great article
 * Naming conventions
 * Manual of Style

If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

snoyes 18:21, 25 Nov 2003 (UTC)

title: User talk:Piha