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Total fertility rate

The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime, if they were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through their lifetime, and they were to live from birth until the end of their reproductive life.

As of 2023, the total fertility rate varied widely across the world, from 0.72 in South Korea, to 6.73 in Niger.

Fertility tends to be inversely correlated with levels of economic development. Historically, developed countries have significantly lower fertility rates, generally correlated with greater wealth, education, urbanization, and other factors. Conversely, in least developed countries, fertility rates tend to be higher. Families desire children for their labor and as caregivers for their parents in old age. Fertility rates are also higher due to the lack of access to contraceptives, generally lower levels of female education, and lower rates of female employment. It does not significantly correlate with any particular religion.

The United Nations predicts that global fertility will continue to decline for the remainder of this century and reach a below-replacement level of 1.8 by 2100, and that world population will peak in the period 2084–2088.

Parameter characteristics
The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is not based on the actual fertility of a specific group of women, as that would require waiting until they have completed childbearing. It also does not involve counting the total number of children born over their lifetime. Instead, the TFR is based on the age-specific fertility rates of women in their "child-bearing years," typically considered to be ages 15–44 in international statistical usage.

The TFR is a measure of the fertility of an imaginary woman who experiences the age-specific fertility rates for ages 15–49 that were recorded for a specific population in a given year. It represents the average number of children a woman would potentially have if she were to go through all her childbearing years in a single year, subject to the age-specific fertility rates for that year. In simpler terms, the TFR is the number of children a woman would have if she were to experience the prevailing fertility rates at all ages from a single given year and survived throughout her childbearing years.

Net reproduction rate
An alternative measure of fertility is the net reproduction rate (NRR), which calculates the number of daughters a female would have in her lifetime if she were subject to prevailing age-specific fertility and mortality rates in a given year. When the NRR is exactly 1, each generation of females is precisely replacing itself.

The NRR is not as commonly used as the TFR, but it is particularly relevant in cases where the number of male babies born is very high due to gender imbalance and sex selection. This is a significant consideration in world population dynamics, especially given the high level of gender imbalance in the heavily populated nations of China and India. The gross reproduction rate (GRR) is the same as the NRR, except that, like the TFR, it disregards life expectancy.

Total period fertility rate
The TFR, sometimes called TPFR—total period fertility rate, is a better index of fertility than the crude birth rate (annual number of births per thousand population) because it is independent of the age structure of the population, but it is a poorer estimate of actual completed family size than the total cohort fertility rate, which is obtained by summing the age-specific fertility rates that actually applied to each cohort as they aged through time.

In particular, the TFR does not necessarily predict how many children young women now will eventually have, as their fertility rates in years to come may change from those of older women now. However, the TFR is a reasonable summary of current fertility levels. TFR and long term population growth rate, g, are closely related. For a population structure in a steady state, growth rate equals $$\log(\mathrm{TFR}/2)/X_m$$, where $$X_m$$ is the mean age for childbearing women.

Tempo effect
The TPFR (total period fertility rate) is affected by a tempo effect—if age of childbearing increases, and life cycle fertility is unchanged, then while the age of childbearing is increasing, TPFR will be lower, because the births are occurring later, and then the age of childbearing stops increasing, the TPFR will increase, due to the deferred births occurring in the later period, even though the life cycle fertility has been unchanged. In other words, the TPFR is a misleading measure of life cycle fertility when childbearing age is changing, due to this statistical artifact. This is a significant factor in some countries, such as the Czech Republic and Spain in the 1990s. Some measures seek to adjust for this timing effect to gain a better measure of life-cycle fertility.

Replacement rates
Replacement fertility is the total fertility rate at which women give birth to enough babies to sustain population levels, assuming that mortality rates remain constant and net migration is zero. If replacement level fertility is sustained over a sufficiently long period, each generation will exactly replace itself. In 2003, the replacement fertility rate was 2.1 births per female for most developed countries (2.1 in the UK, for example), but can be as high as 3.5 in undeveloped countries because of higher mortality rates, especially child mortality. The global average for the replacement total fertility rate, eventually leading to a stable global population, for 2010–2015, was 2.3 children per female.

Lowest-low fertility
The term lowest-low fertility is defined as a TFR at or below 1.3. Lowest-low fertility is found almost exclusively within East Asian countries and Southern European countries. The East Asian American community in the United States also exhibits lowest-low fertility. At one point in the late 20th century and early 21st century this was also observed in Eastern and Southern Europe. Since then, the fertility rate has risen in most countries of Europe.

The lowest TFR recorded anywhere in the world in recorded history, is for the Xiangyang district of Jiamusi city (Heilongjiang, China) which had a TFR of 0.41 in 2000. Outside China, the lowest TFR ever recorded was 0.80 for Eastern Germany in 1994. The low Eastern German value was influenced by a change to higher maternal age at birth, with the consequence that neither older cohorts (e.g. women born until the late 1960s), who often already had children, nor younger cohorts, who were postponing childbirth, had many children during that time. The total cohort fertility rate of each age cohort of women in East Germany did not drop as significantly.

Population-lag effect
A population that maintained a TFR of 3.8 over an extended period, without a correspondingly high death or emigration rate, would increase rapidly, doubling period ~ 32 years. A population that maintained a TFR of 2.0 over a long time would decrease, unless it had a large enough immigration.

It may take several generations for a change in the total fertility rate to be reflected in birth rate, because the age distribution must reach equilibrium. For example, a population that has recently dropped below replacement-level fertility will continue to grow, because the recent high fertility produced large numbers of young couples, who would now be in their childbearing years.

This phenomenon carries forward for several generations and is called population momentum, population inertia, or population-lag effect. This time-lag effect is of great importance to the growth rates of human populations.

TFR (net) and long-term population growth rate, g, are closely related. For a population structure in a steady state and with zero migration, $g=\tfrac{\log(\text{TFR}/2)}{\text{X}_{m}}$, where $$\text{X}_m$$ is mean age for childbearing women and thus $P(t) = P(0)^{(gt)}$. At the left side is shown the empirical relation between the two variables in a cross-section of countries with the most recent y-y growth rate.

The parameter $ \tfrac{1}{b} $ should be an estimate of the $$\text{X}_m$$; here equal to $\tfrac{1}{0.02}=50$  years, way off the mark because of population momentum. E.g. for ${\log}(\tfrac{\text{TFR}}{2}) = 0$, g should be exactly zero, which is seen not to be the case.

Influencing factors
Fertility factors are determinants of the number of children that an individual is likely to have. Fertility factors are mostly positive or negative correlations without certain causations.

Factors generally associated with increased fertility include the intention to have children, very high level of gender inequality, inter-generational transmission of values, marriage and cohabitation, maternal and social support, rural residence, pro family government programs, low IQ and increased food production.

Factors generally associated with decreased fertility include rising income, value and attitude changes, education, female labor participation, population control, age, contraception, partner reluctance to having children, a low level of gender inequality, and infertility. The effect of all these factors can be summarized with a plot of total fertility rate against Human Development Index (HDI) for a sample of countries. The chart shows that the two factors are inversely correlated, that is, in general, the lower a country's HDI the higher its fertility.

Another common way of summarizing the relationship between economic development and fertility is a plot of TFR against per capita GDP, a proxy for standard of living. This chart shows that per capita GDP is also inversely correlated with fertility.

The impact of human development on TFR can best be summarized by a quote from Karan Singh, a former minister of population in India. At a 1974 United Nations population conference in Bucharest, he said "Development is the best contraceptive."

Wealthy countries, those with high per capita GDP, usually have a lower fertility rate than poor countries, those with low per capita GDP. This may seem counter-intuitive. The inverse relationship between income and fertility has been termed a demographic-economic paradox because evolutionary biology suggests that greater means should enable the production of more offspring, not fewer.

Many of these factors may differ by region and social class. For instance, Scandinavian countries and France are among the least religious in the EU, but have the highest TFR, while the opposite is true about Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Poland and Spain.

National efforts to increase or decrease fertility
Governments have often set population targets, to either increase or decrease the total fertility rate, or to have certain ethnic or socioeconomic groups have a lower or higher fertility rate. Often such policies have been interventionist, and abusive. The most notorious natalist policies of the 20th century include those in communist Romania and communist Albania, under Nicolae Ceaușescu and Enver Hoxha respectively.

The natalist policy in Romania between 1967 and 1989 was very aggressive, including outlawing abortion and contraception, routine pregnancy tests for women, taxes on childlessness, and legal discrimination against childless people. It resulted in large numbers of children put into Romanian orphanages by parents who could not cope with raising them, street children in the 1990s, when many orphanages were closed and the children ended up on the streets, overcrowding in homes and schools, and over 9,000 women who died due to illegal abortions.

Conversely, in China the government sought to lower the fertility rate, and, as such, enacted the one-child policy (1978–2015), which included abuses such as forced abortions. In India, during the national emergency of 1975, a massive compulsory sterilization drive was carried out in India, but it is considered to be a failure and is criticized for being an abuse of power.

Some governments have sought to regulate which groups of society could reproduce through eugenic policies, including forced sterilizations of population groups they considered undesirable. Such policies were carried out against ethnic minorities in Europe and North America in the first half of the 20th century, and more recently in Latin America against the Indigenous population in the 1990s; in Peru, former President Alberto Fujimori has been accused of genocide and crimes against humanity as a result of a sterilization program put in place by his administration targeting indigenous people (mainly the Quechua and Aymara people).

Within these historical contexts, the notion of reproductive rights has developed. Such rights are based on the concept that each person freely decides if, when, and how many children to have - not the state or religion. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, reproductive rights "rest on the recognition of the basic rights of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. It also includes the right to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence, as expressed in human rights documents".

History and future projections
From around 10,000 BC to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, fertility rates around the world were high by 21st-century standards. The onset of the Industrial Revolution around 1800 AD brought about what has come to be called the demographic transition, and the TFR began a long-term decline in almost every region of the world. This has continued in the 21st century.

Before 1800
Because all nations before the Industrial Revolution were caught in what is now labeled the Malthusian Trap, improvements in standards of living could be achieved only by reductions in population growth through either increases in mortality rates (via wars, plagues, famines, etc) or reductions in birth rates. Child mortality could reach 50% and the need to produce workers, male heirs, and old-age caregivers required a high fertility rate by 21st-century standards.

For example, fertility rates in Europe before 1800 ranged from 4.5 in Scandinavia to 6.2 in Belgium. In 1800, the TFR in the United States was 7.0. Fertility rates in Asia during this period were similar to those in Europe. In spite of these high fertility rates, global population growth was still very slow, about 0.04% per year, mostly due to high mortality rates and the equally slow growth in the production of food.

1800 to 1950
After 1800, the Industrial Revolution began in some places, particularly Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, and they underwent the beginnings of what is now called the demographic transition. Stage two of this process fueled a steady reduction in mortality rates due to improvements in public sanitation, personal hygiene and the food supply, which reduced the number of famines.

These reductions in mortality rates, particularly reductions in child mortality, that increased the fraction of children surviving, plus other major societal changes such as urbanization, led to stage three of the demographic transition. There was a reduction in fertility rates, because there was simply no longer a need to birth so many children.

The example from the US of the correlation between child mortality and the fertility rate is illustrative. In 1800, child mortality in the US was 33%, meaning that one third of all children born would die before their fifth birthday. The TFR in 1800 was 7.0, meaning that the average female would bear seven children during their lifetime. In 1900, child mortality in the US had declined to 23%, a reduction of almost one third, and the TFR had declined to 3.9, a reduction of 44%. By 1950, child mortality had declined dramatically to 4%, a reduction of 84%, and the TFR declined to 3.2. By 2018, child mortality had declined further to 0.6% and the TFR declined to 1.9, below replacement level.

1950 to the present and projections
The table shows that after 1965, the demographic transition spread around the world, and the global TFR began a long decline that continues in the 21st century.

The chart shows that the decline in the TFR since the 1960s has occurred in every region of the world. The global TFR is projected to continue declining for the remainder of the century, and reach a below-replacement level of 1.8 by 2100.

In 2022, the global TFR was 2.3. Because the global fertility replacement rate for 2010–2015 was 2.3, humanity has achieved or is approaching a significant milestone where the fertility rate is equal to the replacement rate.

By region

The United Nations Population Division divides the world into six geographical regions. The table below shows the estimated TFR for each region.

In 2013, the TFR of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Northern America were below the global replacement-level fertility rate of 2.1 children per female.

Africa
Africa has a TFR of 4.4, the highest in the world. Angola, Benin, DR Congo, Mali, and the Niger have the highest TFR. In 2023, the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, had an estimated TFR of 4.57. In 2023, the second most populous African country, Ethiopia, had an estimated TFR of 3.92.

The poverty of Africa, and the high maternal mortality and infant mortality had led to calls from WHO for family planning, and the encouragement of smaller families.

Eastern Asia

Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan have the lowest-low fertility, defined as TFR at or below 1.3, and are among the lowest in the world. In 2004, Macau had a TFR below 1.0. In 2018, North Korea had the highest TFR in East Asia, at 1.95.

China
In 2022, China's TFR was 1.09. China implemented the one-child policy in January 1979 as a drastic population planning measure to control the ever-growing population at the time. In January 2016, the policy was replaced with the two-child policy. In July 2021, a three-child policy was introduced, as China's population is aging faster than almost any other country in modern history.

Japan
In 2022, Japan had a TFR of 1.26. Japan's population is rapidly aging due to both a long life expectancy and a low birth rate. The total population is shrinking, losing 430,000 in 2018, to a total of 126.4 million. Hong Kong and Singapore mitigate this through immigrant workers. In Japan, a serious demographic imbalance has developed, partly due to limited immigration to Japan.

South Korea
In South Korea, a low birthrate is one of its most urgent socio-economic challenges. Rising housing expenses, shrinking job opportunities for younger generations, insufficient support to families with newborns either from the government or employers are among the major explanations for its crawling TFR, which fell to 0.92 in 2019. Koreans are yet to find viable solutions to make the birthrate rebound, even after trying out dozens of programs over a decade, including subsidizing rearing expenses, giving priorities for public rental housing to couples with multiple children, funding day care centers, reserving seats in public transportation for pregnant women, and so on.

In the past 20 years, South Korea has recorded some of the lowest fertility and marriage levels in the world. As of 2022, South Korea is the country with the world's lowest total fertility rate, at 0.78. In 2022, the TFR of the capital Seoul was 0.57.

Bangladesh
The fertility rate fell from 6.8 in 1970–1975, to 2.0 in 2020, an interval of about 47 years, or a little less than two generations.

India
The Indian fertility rate has declined significantly over the early 21st century. The Indian TFR declined from 5.2 in 1971 to 2.2 in 2018. The TFR in India declined to 2.0 in 2019-2020, marking the first time it has gone below replacement level.

Iran
In the Iranian calendar year (March 2019 – March 2020), Iran's total fertility rate fell to 1.8.

Western Asia
In 2019, the TFR of Turkey reached 1.88.

Europe
Total fertility rate in Europe by region/province/federal subject in 1960 The average total fertility rate in the European Union (EU-27) was calculated at 1.53 children per female in 2021. In 2021, France had the highest TFR among EU countries at 1.84, followed by Czechia (1.83), Romania (1.81), Ireland (1.78) and Denmark (1.72). In 2021, Malta had the lowest TFR among the EU countries, at 1.13. Other southern European countries also had very low TFR (Portugal 1.35, Cyprus 1.39, Greece 1.43, Spain 1.19, and Italy 1.25).

In 2021, the United Kingdom had a TFR of 1.53. In 2021 estimates for the non-EU European post-Soviet states group, Russia had a TFR of 1.60, Moldova 1.59, Ukraine 1.57, and Belarus 1.52.

Emigration of young adults from Eastern Europe to the West aggravates the demographic problems of those countries. People from countries such as Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine are particularly moving abroad.

Latin America and the Caribbean
In 203, the TFR of Brazil, the most populous country in the region, was estimated at 1.75. In 2021, the second most populous country, Mexico, had an estimated TFR of 1.73. The next most populous four countries in the region had estimated TFRs of between 1.9 and 2.2 in 2023, including Colombia (1.94), Argentina (2.17), Peru (2.18), and Venezuela (2.20). Belize had the highest estimated TFR in the region at 2.59 in 2023. In 2021, Puerto Rico had the lowest, at 1.25.

Canada
In 2021, the TFR of Canada was 1.43.

United States
The total fertility rate in the United States after World War II peaked at about 3.8 children per female in the late 1950s, dropped to below replacement in the early 70s, and by 1999 was at 2 children. Currently, the fertility is below replacement among those native born, and above replacement among immigrant families, most of whom come to the US from countries with higher fertility. However, the fertility rate of immigrants to the US has been found to decrease sharply in the second generation, correlating with improved education and income. In 2021, the US TFR was 1.664, ranging between over 2 in some states and under 1.6 in others.

Australia
After World War II, Australia's TFR was approximately 3.0. In 2017, Australia's TFR was 1.74, i.e. below replacement.

title: Total fertility rate


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TFR

TFR may refer to:

Military

 * Task Force Ranger, the U.S. military task force deployed to Somalia in 1993 during Operation Gothic Serpent
 * Operation TFR, the U.S. military operation that became the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu

Science and Engineering

 * Total fertility rate
 * Transferrin receptor (TfR)
 * Time–frequency representation of a signal
 * Tokamak de Fontenay aux Roses, 1970s tokamak in France

Transportation

 * Isuzu Faster, truck named Isuzu TFR in Thailand
 * Temporary flight restriction, U.S.
 * Terrain-following radar, for military aircraft
 * Transnet Freight Rail, a South African rail transport company

Other

 * Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, a U.S. nonprofit for political advocacy of lower spending and lower taxes
 * Thrift Financial Report, a required report from financial institutions in the U.S.
 * Teribe language (ISO 639 code )

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

title: TFR


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Tortuga (Haiti)

Tortuga Island (Île de la Tortue, ; Latòti; Isla Tortuga,, Turtle Island) is a Caribbean island that forms part of Haiti, off the northwest coast of Hispaniola. It constitutes the commune of Île de la Tortue in the Port-de-Paix arrondissement of the Nord-Ouest department of Haiti.

Tortuga is 180 km2 in size and had a population of 25,936 at the 2003 census. In the 17th century, Tortuga was a major center and haven of Caribbean piracy. Its tourism industry and references in many works have made it one of the most recognized regions of Haiti.

History
The first Europeans to land on Tortuga were the Spanish in 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus into the New World. On December 6, 1492, three Spanish ships entered the Windward Passage that separates Cuba and Haiti. At sunrise, Columbus noticed an island whose contours emerged from the morning mist. Because the shape reminded him of a turtle's shell, he chose the name of Tortuga.

Tortuga was originally settled by a few Spanish colonists under the Captaincy General of Santo Domingo. In 1625, French and English colonists from Saint Kitts arrived on the island of Tortuga after initially planning to settle on mainland Hispaniola. They were attacked in 1629 by Spanish forces commanded by Don Fadrique de Toledo, who expelled them before building a fort on the island and garrisoning it. As most of the garrison eventually left for Hispaniola to expel French colonists residing there, other French settlers returned in 1630, occupying and expanding the fort.

From 1630 onward, the island of Tortuga was divided into French and English colonies, allowing buccaneers to use the island as their main base of operations. In 1633, the first slaves were imported from Africa to aid in the plantations. However, by 1635 the use of slaves had ended. The slaves were said to be out of control on the island, while at the same time there had been continuous disagreements and fighting between French and English colonists on Tortuga.

In 1635, the Spanish expelled the French and English colonists from Tortuga before leaving. As more English and French settlers soon returned, the Spanish returned to expel them again, only to leave because the island was too small to be of major importance. This allowed the return of both French and English colonists. In 1638, the Spanish returned for a third time to secure their claim to the island and expel the French and Dutch settlers on Tortuga. They occupied the island, but were eventually expelled by the French and Dutch colonists in 1640, at which time the French built Fort de Rocher in a natural harbour; the fort enabled the French to defeat a Spanish invasion force the following year.

By 1640, the buccaneers of Tortuga were calling themselves the Brethren of the Coast. The buccaneers population was mostly made up of French and Englishmen, along with a small number of Dutchmen. In 1654, the Spanish attacked the island for the fourth and last time, defeating a Franco-English force.

In 1655, Tortuga was settled again by English and French colonists under Elias Watts, who secured a commission from Col. William Brayne, the governor of Jamaica, to serve as governor of Tortuga. In 1664, French buccaneer Jeremie Dechamps sold the island for 15,000 livres to the French West India Company after having tried to sell it to the English for 6,000 pounds following an initial offer of 10,000 pounds by the French. In the same year, 400 French colonists came to Tortuga from Anjou, and they established Hispaniola's first sugar plantations since the first wave of European colonization. This group of colonists spread to the coast of the mainland and became the nexus of the French colony of Saint-Domingue.

By 1670, the buccaneer era was in decline, and many of the pirates turned to log cutting and wood trading as a new income source. At this time, Welsh privateer Henry Morgan started to promote himself and invited the pirates on the island of Tortuga to set sail under him. Morgan and some 2,000 privateers then attacked and sacked Panama the following year. They were hired by the French as a striking force that allowed France to have a much stronger hold on the Caribbean region. Consequently, the pirates never really controlled the island and kept Tortuga as a neutral hideout for pirate booty.

In 1680, the Parliament of England forbade English subjects to sail under foreign flags (in opposition to former practice). This was a major legal blow to the Caribbean pirates. Settlements were made in the Treaty of Ratisbon of 1684, signed by the European powers, that put an end to piracy. Most of the pirates after this time were hired by European powers to suppress their former buccaneer allies. The capital of Saint-Domingue was moved from Tortuga to Port-de-Paix on the mainland of Hispaniola in 1676.

Geography
The island of Tortuga stands off the northern coast of Haiti. It is very mountainous and rocky; the rocks are especially abundant on the northern part of the island. At the beginning of the 17th century, the population lived on the southern coast of the island, where there was a port for ships to enter. The northern shore was described as inaccessible via both land and sea.

The inhabited area was divided into four parts; the first of these was called "Low Land" or "Low Country". This region contained the island's port and was therefore considered the most important. The town was called Cayona, and the richest planters of the island lived there. The second region was called the "Middle Plantation"; the farmers of this region were unfamiliar with the soil and it was only used to grow tobacco. The third part was named "La Ringot", and was positioned on the western portion of the island. The fourth region was called the "La Montagne" (the Mountain); it is there that the first cultivated plantations were established upon the island.

This 17th century geography is known largely from Alexandre-Olivier Exquemelin's detailed description in his book Zeerovers, where he describes a 1666 journey to the island.

In popular culture
Tortuga has been portrayed in many works depicting piracy in the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Films
Tortuga has been featured in numerous films, including
 * Safe in Hell (1931)
 * Captain Blood (1935)
 * The Black Swan (1942)
 * The Spanish Main (1945)
 * Double Crossbones (1950)
 * Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)
 * Pirates of Tortuga (1961)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean films

Literature
Books featuring the island include:
 * Deadmen Walking: A Deadman's Cross Novel (2017) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
 * Tortuga by Valerio Evangelisti
 * Lovesong by Valerie Sherwood
 * Caribbean (1989) by James Michener
 * The Black Swan (1932) by Rafael Sabatini
 * The Black Corsair series of novels by Emilio Salgari (1898-1908)
 * The Black Avenger of the Spanish Main (1847) by Ned Buntline
 * The Dark Secret of Josephine (1955) by Dennis Wheatley
 * 1637: No Peace Beyond the Line (November 2020) by Eric Flint and Charles E. Gannon

Music
Tortuga is mentioned in multiple songs, including:
 * "Jonas Psalter" (1973) by the rock band Styx
 * "Night in Tortuga" (1986) by Norman Dozier
 * "Tortuga Bay" (1989) by German heavy metal band Running Wild
 * "Tortuga" (2006) by Italian Ska band Talco
 * "Jack Sparrow" by The Lonely Island featuring Michael Bolton
 * "Tortuga" (2011) by Welsh band Catfish and the Bottlemen
 * "Welcome to Tortuga" (2012) by Swedish pirate folk band Ye Banished Privateers
 * "Tortuga" (2014) by the space rock band Earthling Society
 * "Tortuga" and "Gute Nacht Tortuga", both from the album "Tortuga" (2017) by German pirate folk band Mr. Hurley & die Pulveraffen
 * "Tortuga" (2020) and "Return to Tortuga" (2022) by the Scottish Pirate Metal Band Alestorm
 * "Turtle Island" (2002) by Mike Oldfield

Video Games

 * Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2014)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean Online (2007)
 * Tortuga: Two Treasures (2007)

Captain Blood
Tortuga is featured in Rafael Sabatini's Captain Blood series and the movies based on it; the most famous is Captain Blood (1935) starring Errol Flynn. It is the place where Blood and his crew find refuge after their escape from Barbados in 1685. Blood receives a Letter of Marque from Tortuga's governor, D'Ogeron, and the island becomes his main base for the next four years. He starts his raids from Cayona, and several events in the books take place on Tortuga itself or on ships anchoring in the harbour of Cayona.

Sabatini used Exquemelin's History of the Bouccaneers of America as a main source for his description of Tortuga, and therefore the island is portrayed as a place where many buccaneers, prostitutes, and other dubious professions operate, but the French West India Company, which rules Tortuga, makes profit off of those affairs.

The Black Swan
Tortuga also features in Sabatini's novel The Black Swan and the 1942 movie based on it.

Notable people

 * Gabard Fénélon, professional football player
 * Hugues Gentillon, film director, and founder of Yugy Pictures Entertainment

title: Tortuga (Haiti)


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Chris-Craft Industries

Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly held American corporation that was traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. In 1962, the company adopted the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris-Craft Boats, which was founded in the late 19th century and became famous for mahogany-hulled powerboats in the 1920s through the 1950s. Chris-Craft Industries also went into broadcasting, owning television stations via its subsidiary BHC Communications and co-founding the UPN TV network.

National Automotive Fibers
National Automotive Fibers (NAF) was formed in Detroit in 1928 as a manufacturer of upholstery, carpeting, interior trim and plastic products for the automobile companies Chrysler Motors, Ford Motors and Studebaker-Packard. While successful, the company was only a minor automotive supplier. In the 1940s, NAF purchased the Montrose Chemical Company of San Francisco, but it was still centered on the auto industry. In 1956, the company suffered a major loss of $1 million against sales of $46 million. Paul V. Shields, a senior partner of Shields & Company, a Wall Street investment firm, acquired the company as he saw that NAF was overdependent on the auto industry but had growth potential. Shields trimmed NAF's product line and diversified the company into oil and gas operations, television and radio broadcasting. With this diverse portfolio, the company was renamed the NAFI Corporation in 1959. This brought a record profit of $1 million against lowered sales with assets of $10 million. NAF and Bing Crosby teamed up to purchase a television station, KPTV in Portland, Oregon, for $4 million on September 1, 1959. A Bing Crosby–led group sold Los Angeles' KCOP-TV in 1960 to the corporation.

Chris-Craft Industries
Chris-Craft Boats was an independent company until it was acquired by Shields & Company's NAFI Corporation in 1960 and merged with NAFI. They renamed the merged company in 1962 as Chris-Craft Industries, Incorporated. In 1962, the company acquired the Old Crown Brewing Corporation, a brewery company based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Old Crown was sold to its employees a short time later.

In 1964, Chris-Craft launched the all-fiberglass Chris-Craft Commander. This dramatic new design was unveiled at the New York City National Boat show, perched at the top of an escalator on a giant, castered cradle. This first Commander was a 38' express hardtop with a 13' beam. The line of Commanders soon grew to include sizes ranging from 19' to 60'—all "styled in fiberglass."

In 1968, Baldwin-Montrose Chemical Co., Inc., took a controlling interest in Chris-Craft and installed its chairman, Herbert J. Siegel, as Chris-Craft's chairman.

In 1977, Chris-Craft Industries formed BHC, Inc., to hold its two existing television stations, KCOP in Los Angeles and KPTV in Portland, Oregon, both placed within BHC's Chris-Craft Television, Inc., subsidiary. That same year, Chris-Craft purchased a share of 20th Century Fox. The company attempted in 1979 a hostile take over of 20th Century Fox but failed. In 1981, the 20th Century Fox share, then at 20 percent, was traded to Marvin Davis and Marc Rich for 19 percent of United Television.

Between the 1960s and 1980s, Chris-Craft lost market share as competitors with more innovative designs and less expensive manufacturing techniques, such as fiberglass hulls, came on the scene. Chris-Craft ended production of its last mahogany-hulled boat, the Constellation, in 1971.

Chris-Craft Industries sold its boat division to Murray Industries in 1981. Chris-Craft Industries retained the Chris-Craft trademark and licensed it to Murray.

After Chris-Craft sold its boat division, it focused solely on its broadcast division. In 1992, BHC acquired Pinelands, an MCA spin off company that owned WWOR-TV in the New York City area, that MCA was forced to spin off the station due to the acquisition of MCA by Japanese multinational conglomerate Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic), and which foreign companies are prohibited from owning more than 25 percent of a television station. In 1994, BHC and Paramount Television announced the formation of the fifth television network United Paramount Network (UPN). The network, targeted toward the young male demographic group, premiered in early 1995 and offered four hours of original prime-time programming per week. The following year original programming was increased to six hours per week. As part of the agreement, Chris-Craft owned 100 percent of UPN, with Paramount having the option to acquire an equal share through January 15, 1997. In 1997, Viacom acquired a 50 percent interest in UPN for $160 million.

In the late 1990s, BHC acquired two television stations, WHSW (now WUTB) in Baltimore, Maryland, and WRBW in Orlando, Florida, it resulted in the increase of BHC's number of television stations to ten.

In 1999, Viacom announced plans to merge with CBS Corporation. Because of a regulation upheld by the FCC years ago, prohibiting companies from owning two broadcast networks. Viacom's announcement raised questions regarding the future of Chris-Craft and Viacom's joint ownership of UPN. In Viacom and Chris-Craft's original agreement, two options for exiting the partnership had been determined—buying out the other partner or paying for what the partner had invested up to that date and providing funds for the future operation of UPN. Either option would cost Viacom substantial sums of money. Industry analysts agreed that Chris-Craft could emerge the winner and offered other possible scenarios: that Viacom might offer Chris-Craft some of its stations in exchange for severing the partnership or that Chris-Craft might sell Viacom's share to another company.

However after the Viacom-CBS merger was completed in 2000, a lawsuit was filed by BHC against the Viacom-CBS merger as BHC saw this as a breach of the UPN partnership. BHC lost the suit and sold its remaining ownership in UPN to Viacom for $5 million. Shortly thereafter, Chris-Craft announced that it was getting out of broadcasting after losing $500 million on UPN, the possibility of UPN shutting down or having their affiliation pulled. Many industry observers thought Viacom would end up getting the stations, but Viacom's bid lost out to News Corporation's Fox Television Stations, resulting in a sale which closed on July 31, 2001.

title: Chris-Craft Industries


text:
User talk:MINT

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. You have created List of Korea birds. I believe this falls outside the general goal of Wikipedia, which is not a translation guide. I will be placing it on WP:VFD shortly. - Fennec 16:21, May 5, 2004 (UTC)

In the interim, have a welcome message:

Hello, welcome to Wikipedia. You might like to start by reading the tutorial and introducing yourself at the new users page. If you have any questions, you can ask at the help desk or on my talk page. Two useful tips are that you can sign your name using four tildes ( ~ ) and you can preview your changes before you save using the show preview button. You can regularly find new tips on the Community Portal. I look forward to reading your great articles and I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian. :) Fennec 16:21, May 5, 2004 (UTC) ---

Have you seen that some idiot has listed list of Korean birds on Votes for deletion? jimfbleak

title: User talk:MINT


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Koreabirds

Looks like a translation guide, or something else which Wikipedia is not. -Fennec 16:23, May 5, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete and/or move to Korean version of Wiki. Alcarillo 18:25, 5 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, move to "List of Korean birds", and delete the Japanese text. -Spencer195 19:25, 5 May 2004 (UTC)
 * This is a an appropriate article - see list of regional bird lists and List of Japanese birds, both of which I wrote originally. If the problem is the equivalents in the Asian languages, then just delete those parts and leave the English text, although many articles on Asian languages do in fact give the Asian equivalent, and these are not normally deleted. If you want to transfer the article to Korean Wikipedia as well, remember to delete the English text. jimfbleak 19:09, 5 May 2004 (UTC)
 * I don't question whether or not it's appropriate as an article, but that it's not appropriate for an English-language Wikipedia with the non-English name equivalents. That's why I suggest moving it, so it doesn't get deleted. And if you want to do that, then remove the English name equivalents if you so desire. OR, if you really want to make it useful, put the phonetic equivalents on the English-language version so non-Korean/Japanese speakers at least know how to pronounce the word. Keeping it as it is does me and probably millions of other users no good; and I really don't have the time to learn the Korean alphabet. Alcarillo 19:33, 5 May 2004 (UTC)
 * This article is very informative. I recommend against erasing any part of it. My thanks to the author for working on it. -- Now, as to where it is most appropriate. I would say a discussion of birds of Korea would be most appropriate for Wikipedia. A list not otherwise expanded with annotations -- Wikisource perhaps? Other ideas? If we can't come up with an appropriate alternate, then KEEP. Even as it stands this article is approximate 1,000,000,000 times more useful and informative than all the TV/video game crap put together. Wile E. Heresiarch 01:26, 6 May 2004 (UTC)
 * However, this article does need a fair bit of work - the cap links should be lower case to work, some of the species links need fixing, and the Japanese text question needs sorting. I've rewritten list of Japanese birds, but the Korea article uses a different taxonomic system, even more radical than the American one. jimfbleak 18:25, 6 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. As a list it does belong. I don't think the other orthographies do any harm at all, as long as there is sufficient English there for the list to work, and there is. Andrewa 06:53, 7 May 2004 (UTC)
 * delete and possibly move to wikibooks on learning English/Korean --Jiang 04:37, 9 May 2004 (UTC)
 * keep. Give writers time to bring it up to par. see list of regional bird lists and List of Japanese birds. Don't be so knee-jerk whenever something doesn't fit with narrow, regional world view. Have some patience for the vast majority of the world that doesn't speak your language as a first language. SimBot2 17:37, 10 May 2004 (UTC)
 * I'd move it to 'List of Korean Birds', or 'Birds of Korea', because the title doesn't make a great deal of sense, but I think the content is quite good. Keep. -Litefantastic 19:04, 10 May 2004 (UTC)


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Lord Robert Somerset

General Lord Robert Edward Henry Somerset (19 December 1776 – 1 September 1842) was a British soldier who fought during the Peninsular War and the War of the Seventh Coalition.

Life
Somerset was the third son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, and elder brother of Lord Raglan.

Joining the 15th Light Dragoons in 1793, he became captain in the following year, and received a majority after serving as aide-de-camp to Prince Frederick, Duke of York in the Dutch expedition of 1799. At the end of 1800 he became a lieutenant-colonel, and in 1801 received the command of the 4th Dragoons. From 1799 to 1802 he represented the Borough of Monmouth in the House of Commons, from 1803 to 1823 and from 1830 sat for Gloucestershire and from 1834 to 1837 was MP for Cirencester.

He commanded his regiment at the battles of Talavera and Buçaco, and in 1810 received a colonelcy and the appointment of aide-de-camp to the king. In 1811, along with the 3rd Dragoon Guards, the 4th Dragoons fought a notable cavalry action at Usagre, and in 1812 Lord Edward Somerset was engaged in the great charge of Le Marchant's heavy cavalry at Salamanca. His conduct on this occasion (he captured five guns at the head of a single squadron) won him further promotion, and he made the remaining campaigns as a major-general at the head of the Hussar brigade (7th, 10th and 15th Hussars).

At Orthes he won further distinction by his pursuit of the enemy; he was made KCB, and received the thanks of parliament. At Waterloo he was in command of the Household Cavalry Brigade, which distinguished itself not less by its stern and patient endurance of the enemy's fire than by its celebrated charge on the cuirassiers of Milhaud's corps.

The brigadier was particularly mentioned in Wellington's despatches, and received the thanks of parliament as well as the Army Gold Cross with one clasp for his services at Talavera, Salamanca, Vitoria, Orthez, and Toulouse. He also received the Military Order of Maria Theresa and was made an honorary Knight Commander of the Royal Portuguese Military Order of the Tower and Sword.

At Waterloo in 1815 he lost his hat during the first cavalry charge and in the subsequent search for it a cannonball tore off the flap of his coat and killed his horse. He was awarded a GCB in 1834.

After a short illness he died in London on 10December 1842 and was interred in the church of St. George's, Hanover Square. A memorial tablet to Lord Robert Edward is on the south wall of the nave at St. Michael and All Angels, Great Badminton, which is attached to the family seat, Badminton House.

The 'Somerset Monument' stands high on the Cotswold Edge at Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire, near the family's ancestral home of Badminton, Gloucestershire. It was erected in 1846 and has an inscription in memory of General Lord Robert Somerset.

Family
On 17 October 1805 he married Hon. Louisa Augusta Courtenay (1781 – 8 February 1825), a younger daughter of William Courtenay, de jure 8th Earl of Devon, with whom he had several children, three sons and five daughters:
 * Robert Henry Somerset (1806–1807)
 * Louisa Isabella Somerset (1807–1888) who died unmarried.
 * Frances Caroline Somerset, later Mrs Theophilus Clive (1808–1890) who married 1840 Theophilus Clive (died 1875), and had issue 1 son who left descendants.
 * Blanche Somerset, later Mrs Charles Locke (1811–1879) who married 1845, Rev. Charles Courtenay Locke (died 1848) with no issue,
 * Matilda Elizabeth Somerset, later Mrs Horace Marryat (1815 – 3 April 1905) who married 1842 Horace Marryat, and had issue two sons: Adrian Somerset Marryat (born 1844) and Frederick Marryat (born 1851), and one daughter Ida Horatia Charlotte Marryat (1843–1910) who married 19 September 1863 (div 1889) Count Gustavus Frederick Bonde (1842–1909), a Swedish nobleman, with issue. The three Marryat children were painted in 1851–2 in Rome by the young Frederick Leighton. Horace Marryat was a much younger brother of the naval officer and writer Frederick Marryat (1792–1848)
 * Lieutenant-General Edward Arthur Somerset (1817–1886) married Agatha Miles (1827–1912), daughter of Sir William Miles, Bt and had one son (Lieut Edward William Henry Somerset, 25 January 1866 – 20 March 1890, who died unmarried) and eight daughters.
 * Georgina Emily Somerset, later the Hon. Mrs Robert Lawley (born 1819) who married 1852 Hon Robert Neville Lawley (who died 1891), and died without issue.
 * Augustus Charles Stapleton Somerset (1821–1854) who died unmarried.

title: Lord Robert Somerset


text:
Talk:List of battleships of the United States Navy

Change page name to "List of battleships of the United States Navy"
I want to inquire what the community thinks about a move to "List of battleships of the United States Navy" to match the nomenclature of other articles of this type. Similar articles all seem to bear the word Navy in the title, such as List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy, List of submarines of the United States Navy, and List of cruisers of the United States Navy to name a few; not to mention the corresponding articles about navies in other countries. It seems to me best to keep it consistent between all articles of this type. Thoughts? --Lenny Marks (talk) 08:44, 29 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Looking at the various "Lists of..." for types of USN ships listed in the List of United States Navy ships directory/template, it seems that with a few variations, the majority of the articles are titled as "List of X of the United States Navy", so I don't see moving this page to include the word "Navy" at the end as controversial. If anything, perhaps the few other outliers should be changed to the same format as well..? Anyway, as for this page;
 * ✅ -  wolf  10:39, 29 November 2021 (UTC)
 * This should have been discussed. If you look at ship lists outside the USN, almost all are in the format "list of X of [country]", and the USN format (also used in some RN lists) is in the minority. Differentiating by navy only makes sense if you had multiple navies of the same country to distinguish, but as there will be no List of battleships of the Continental Navy or List of battleships of the Confederate Navy (and arguably neither are the same country as the US), there's no need to be overly WP:PRECISE. Parsecboy (talk) 22:18, 29 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Meh. Like I said, many of the other lists-by-type have "Navy" on the end as well and I don't believe that's a new development, so this didn't seem like it would be controversial or require a discussion. It's not a big deal to me either way, if you want to move it back, go ahead. -  wolf  00:43, 30 November 2021 (UTC)


text:
Bungarus

Bungarus (commonly known as kraits ) is a genus of venomous snakes in the family Elapidae. The genus is native to Asia. Often found on the floor of tropical forests in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Southern China, they are medium-sized, highly venomous snakes with a total length (including tail) typically not exceeding 2 m. These are nocturnal ophiophagious predators which prey primarily on other snakes at night, occasionally taking lizards, amphibians and rodents. Most species are with banded patterns acting as a warning sign to their predators. Despite being considered as generally docile and timid, kraits are capable of delivering highly potent neurotoxic venom which is medically significant with potential lethality to humans. The genus currently holds 18 species and 5 subspecies.

Distribution
Kraits are found in tropical and subtropical South and Southeast Asia and Indochina, ranging in the west from Iran, east through the Indian subcontinent (including Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, & Sri Lanka) and into Southeast Asia (including the island of Borneo, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam).

Description
Kraits usually range between 1.0 and 1.5 m in total length (including tail), although specimens as large as 2.0 m have been observed. The banded krait (B. fasciatus) may grow as large as 2.125 m. Most species of kraits are covered in smooth, glossy scales arranged in bold, striped patterns of alternating black and light-colored areas. This may serve as aposematic colouration in its habitat of grassland and scrub jungle. The scales along the dorsal ridge of the back are hexagonal. The head is slender, and the eyes have round pupils. Kraits have pronounced dorsolateral flattening, which causes them to be triangular in cross section.

Ecology
Kraits are nocturnal and ophiophagous, preying chiefly upon other snakes including those of their kinds, although occasional hunt for small rodents and lizards has been observed. They are seldom encountered during daytime while becoming highly alert at night. If disturbed, fleeing is usually their first choice; if failed, they tend to coil up with the head underneath the body for protection. In spite of being generally docile and timid, some species are known to thrash fiercely when caught for relocation. Repeated provocation may result in bites which are the last resort of the snakes. Kraits are oviparous, releasing a clutch of 12 to 14 eggs in piles of leaf litter. The female usually stays with them until they hatch.

Venom
Bungarus contains some species that are among the most venomous land snakes in the world, to mice, based on their. They have a highly potent, neurotoxic venom, which can induce muscle paralysis. Clinically, their venom contains mostly presynaptic neurotoxins, which affect the ability of neuron endings to properly release a chemical communication mechanism to the next neuron. Following envenomation with bungarotoxins, transmitter release is initially blocked (leading to a brief paralysis), followed by a period of massive overexcitation (cramps, tremors, spasms), which finally tapers off to paralysis.

These phases of envenomation may or may not be experienced in all parts of the body; they may or may not be experienced simultaneously. The severity of the bite itself and the actual dosage of venom delivered plays a role in the intensity of symptoms. As kraits are mainly nocturnal, encounters with humans are rare during the daytime. Bites mainly occur after sunset, and are often (initially) painless; thus, a bite may go unnoticed if the victim is sleeping or otherwise does not see or notice the krait, further prolonging envenomation damage within the body. Still—whenever possible—medical treatment should be sought posthaste, as a bite from a krait is considered potentially life-threatening. All venomous snake bites must be taken seriously as an immediate medical emergency.

Typically, victims will start to notice severe abdominal cramps accompanied by progressive muscular paralysis, and frequently starting with ptosis. As no local symptoms are usually seen, a patient should be carefully observed for tell-tale signs of paralysis (e.g. the onset of bilateral ptosis, diplopia, and dysphagia), and subsequently treated (as quickly as possible) with antivenom. Frequently, little or no pain occurs at the site of a krait bite, which can provide false reassurance to the victim. The major medical difficulty of envenomated patients is the lack of medical resources (especially intubation supplies and mechanical ventilators in rural hospitals) and potential for ineffectiveness by the antivenom.

Upon arriving at a healthcare facility, support must be provided until the venom has metabolised and the victim can breathe unaided, especially if no species-specific antivenom is available. Given that the toxins alter acetylcholine transmission—which causes the paralysis—some patients have been successfully treated with cholinesterase inhibitors, such as physostigmine or neostigmine, but success is variable and may be species-dependent, as well. If death occurs, it typically takes place about 6-12 hours after the krait bite, but can be significantly delayed. The usual cause of death in that situation is respiratory failure—suffocation by complete paralysis of the diaphragm. Even if patients make it to a hospital, subsequently entering a permanent coma (and even brain death from hypoxia) may occur, given the potential for long transport times to get medical care, in some regions.

Mortality rates caused by bites from the members of this genus vary by species; according to University of Adelaide Department of Toxicology, bites from the banded krait have a mortality rate of 1–10% in untreated humans, while that of the common krait is 70–80%. In common with those of all other venomous snakes, the death time and fatality rate resulting from bites of kraits depend on numerous factors, such as the venom yield and the health status of the victim.

Polyvalent elapid antivenom is effective in neutralizing of the venoms of B. candidus and B. flaviceps, and rather effective for  B. fasciatus, and the monovalent B. fasciatus antivenom is also moderately effective.

Species
*) Not including the nominate subspecies (typical form). T ) Type species

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Bungarus.

title: Bungarus


text:
Pentland Skerries

The Pentland Skerries (Old Norse: Pettlandssker) are a group of four uninhabited islands lying in the Pentland Firth, northeast of Duncansby Head and south of South Ronaldsay in Scotland.

By far the largest of the islands is Muckle Skerry, home to two lighthouses, built in 1794. The other islands lie to the south of Muckle Skerry. From west to east, they are Little Skerry, Louther Skerry and Clettack Skerry.

Accidents
MV Priscilla ran aground on Pentland Skerries on 18 July 2018.

title: Pentland Skerries


text:
Landsberg

Landsberg may refer to:

 * Landsberg family
 * Landsberg (surname)

Places

 * Landsberg (district), Bavaria, Germany
 * Landsberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
 * Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany
 * Landsberg-Lech Air Base, Germany
 * Landsberg Prison, a prison in Landsberg am Lech
 * Kaufering concentration camp complex
 * Landsberg an der Warthe, German name of Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland
 * Landsberg in Oberschlesien/Upper Silesia, German name of Gorzów Śląski, Poland
 * Landsberg in Ostpreußen/East Prussia, German name of Górowo Iławeckie, Poland
 * Landsberg Castle (disambiguation)
 * Margraviate of Landsberg, a march of the Holy Roman Empire
 * Palatinate-Landsberg, a state of the Holy Roman Empire

title: Landsberg


text:
User:Dcoetzee/Wikicode/Specification

''This pseudocode is no longer a proposed standard. See User:Dcoetzee/Wikicode.''

Welcome to the wikicode standard specification! If you want a gentle overview of Wikicode, please see User:Dcoetzee/Wikicode instead. If you want to discuss changes to Wikicode, please do so on the talk page for this page.

The Wikicode Standard
This is an informal standard for a pseudocode called wikicode. The purpose of wikicode is to easily facilitate both writing and reading of pseudocode for clear and concise descriptions of algorithms and data structures in a way that is consistent across articles. This standard doesn't affect any examples that use source code for actual programming languages, nor are source code examples discouraged. Moreover, any changes are permitted on a per-article basis as is necessary to be as clear as possible — this document does not restrict, only provides recommended guidelines that should be followed unless there is a reason to do otherwise.

Four main goals were pursued in the design of wikicode:

 * Clarity: the most important; it should be clear what the code does
 * Brevity: the code should not occupy much article space, and should consist mainly of algorithm content as opposed to unnecessary syntax
 * Ease of writing: the code should be easy to write and edit
 * Universality: the code should be clear to programmers familiar with nearly any common language, and not too similar to any one

General Guidelines
Authors using wikicode should keep in mind that the purpose of pseudocode is to convey a process to an audience that may include peers as well as beginners. Therefore, where possible, examples should be as short and simple as practical, with no unnecessary embellishments. Examples should be preceded by text explaining the overall process, followed by the pseudocode. Comments should appear on most, if not all pseudocode lines, and be used to summarize and relate back to the details in the text. Lengthy examples should be broken into segments, with each segment introduced by a description of the process, followed by the pseudocode with any necessary comments, and possibly followed by a wrap-up paragraph.

Assumptions should be clearly stated before they are used, and/or identified in comment statements. For example:

The following guidelines are intended to provide a consistency across various examples that use pseudocode. Conformance to these standards is encouraged. However, exceptions are permitted where the deviations increase the simplicity and/or clarity of the example. Any such deviation should be well documented in the article to prevent confusion for those already familiar with the standard.

Syntax
All wikicode will be typeset in a fixed-width font, for example by prefixing each line with spaces. Do not wrap the code in HTML  tags; this disallows additional markup inside the code block. If wikicode occurs in the middle of encyclopedic text, this will be indicated by wrapping it in HTML keyword followed by the function name, then an argument list enclosed in parentheses. Function and argument types may be specified if it adds to the clarity of the example. Data types should be indicated by an abbreviated type preceding the name (see Types for a list of types). An empty argument list is indicated by an open and close parentheses. Unabbreviated names are preferred, and abbreviated names should be explained in the text or comments. The body of the function should be indented and enclosed in curly braces, with the closing brace but not the opening brace on its own line:

''// sort the list, using the comparisonPredicate to compare function sort(list, comparisonPredicate) { ''// indented body of function }

function addModK(int left, int right, int modulus) { ''// indented body of function }

function doSomething { ''// indented body of function }

(If the keywords above do not appear in bold, make sure your Monospace or fixed-width font is set to a font which has a bold version, such as Courier.)

Results are returned from functions using the return keyword, as in  or simply   if there is no result. Control can also return to the caller when the end of the function is encountered. Functions are called by simply specifying the name, followed by a parenthesized list of arguments:

addModK(5, 3, 7) ''// always explain the nature/reason of the call sort(myList, func(x,y) x < y) ''// explain any complex formations compareEntry(ent1, ent2, cmpEnt) ''// function cmpEnt used to compare sine(5) ''// avoid using abbreviated names, even if common (e.g., sin)

As shown above, anonymous functions may be created with func. The anonymous function feature should be used sparingly, and only if the function is very simple; otherwise simply include a function name with a description of what it does.

You can generally assume all sorts of useful math, string, etc. functions are available, as long as you explain them in comments or in the text (as also shown above). However, when manipulating the built-in lists, sets, and maps, use their standard interface unless you have a good reason to do otherwise (see their sections).

Finally, we also provide the ability to use a more natural, sentence-like calling syntax:

add 5 to end of numberList add x to end of numberList

New functions can be declared which are called in this manner:

function add (i : int) to end of (lst : list) { ''// body of function }

Comments
Comments should appear frequently within wikicode examples, and fall into three categories:
 * inline comments that follow a line of pseudocode
 * full-line comments that are on a line by themselves
 * block comments, which are several lines of comments.

Both inline and full-line comments are started with ''//, the italics mark followed by a double slash, followed by the comment. Block comments should be in the text of the article before or after the wikicode.

 * This is a very long and unnecessary comment that should appear as normal text before the actual wikicode example. Block comments should appear before each major step of the example so that the reader is introduced to concepts and then see the example.

''// Do something silly i := i + 0      ''// add nothing to i

As in any language, comments should enhance the description, not merely repeat the wikicode. For example, the following is a poor comment:

i := i + 1  ''// add one to i

Where possible, summarize and explain why things are being done, not just what is being done.

Variables
Variables are mutable, are referenced by name, and are assigned new values using the  operator. See Names for naming guidelines. Local variables need not be declared, but if you wish to you can use the var form for this:

var w              ''// number of free munchkins var x := 2 var int y := 5 var int z var int a := 2, b, c, d := 5

You can optionally precede a variable with a type name in parentheses for clarity. Variables need not be initialized when declared, but an uninitialized variable should not be referenced.

Conditional Expressions
Conditional tests can be done with the if-else statement, where else is optional and if and else are emboldened. If the body of the if statement is small, braces can be excluded, but need not be; closing braces but not opening braces shall be placed on their own lines, except that the else keyword may be placed on the same line as the preceding closing brace:

if x = 5 { ''// x is 5 here } else { ''// x is not 5 here }

if x ≠ y     add new entries to old list else remove selected entries from list ''// can have more than one line without braces

The condition must have have  type (see section Types).

Simple conditional expressions can be written on one line using the then and else keywords

if x < y then a := b else a := c

Loops
There are five types of loops:

 * while loop
 * do-while loop
 * for loop
 * for each loop
 * loop loop

The body of each loop is indented and optionally enclosed in braces, with the closing brace but not the opening brace on its own line; larger bodies should usually include braces, for clarity. The until keyword can be used in place of the while keyword if desired, which reverses the condition.

The while loop and the do-while loops are identical except for the first iteration, since the while loop tests the conditional before the body of the loop, and the do-while loop tests the conditional after the body of the loop. For the while loop, if the conditional is initially false, then the body of the loop is not executed at all. The do-while loop always executes the body of the loop at least once, and then repeats the loop until the conditional is false. Loops only terminate when the conditional is tested. For example, if the conditional becomes false while in the middle of the loop, the remainder of the body is still executed. If the conditional is still false when the conditional is encountered, the loop will terminate; otherwise it will continue.

The while loop iterates while the condition holds; the until keyword may also be used to iterate until the condition does not hold.

while x ≠ 0 ''// loop until x becomes zero ''// body of while loop

(This is the same as the above loop) until x = 0 { ''// body of the until loop }

The do-while loop, unlike the while loop, always executes at least once before testing its condition:

do  ''// the body will be executed at least once (body) while done = false

do  ''// this loop is the same as above ''// body until done

Since the do-while loop contains keywords both before and after the body of the loop, curly braces are not needed, but may optionally be used, as long as the opening brace is on the same line as do, and the closing brace on the same line as while.

The for loop steps an integer variables along a range of integer values in increasing order, including both endpoints. For decreasing order, the keyword down to can be used instead of to. An optional by keyword can be used if the increment is not one or negative one.

for x from 1 to 10 { ''// will loop 10 times ''// body, executed 10 times } (x starts at 10 and goes down to 1) for x from 10 down to 1 { ''// body, executed 10 times } (In this loop, the last time through the loop x will be 9) for x from 1 to 10 by 2 { ''// x will be 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 }

The for each loop is used with collections such as lists and sets (see their sections) and iterates over the elements of alist in order or a set in some arbitrary order:

for each n in collection { ''// n will iterate through each element of the collection }

Finally, the simplest loop is the loop loop, which simply loops forever or until the loop is exited.

The keyword  can be used to break out of any loop at any time and execute the instructions following the loop. The keyword  can be used to skip the remainder of the loop body and begin another iteration of the loop. If the continue statement is used within a for loop, the loop variable will be incremented (or iterated).

Operators
From highest to lowest order of precedence, the standard operators are listed below. Although operator precedence is defined, you are encouraged to use parentheses to clarify any expressions that might be confusing to casual or inexperienced readers.

All of the entities used above are rendered correctly by all modern browsers. All operators are left-associative except. There is no integer divide; instead use, or just   for positive quantities. Although idioms such as  for multiply and   for not-equal are familiar to most programmers, symbols such as   and   are familiar to anyone who has had basic math, both in the article and the edit page.

New operators may be used at any time, if they are explained. If you do need to invent your own operators, consider using english terms or symbols such as:
 * for equivalence relations
 * add more good candidates here

Types
There are only a few built-in types available, as well as mechanisms for creating user-defined types. Types (like comments) are always typeset in italics; no ambiguity arises because types should not occur on a line by themselves or be preceded by.

Types used within pseudocode should be as simple as possible. Avoid unnecessary detail that doesn't contribute to the topic being discussed. Include sufficient comments and discussions so that readers at all levels will understand the examples.

Although these types are unrealistic, they are useful for two reasons: some of these types can be simulated to a large extent in practice (using arbitrary-precision arithmetic libraries), and, more importantly for pseudocode, the use of such types simplifies many algorithms, eliminating some relatively unimportant implementation concerns.

If a type is not specified for an entity, such as an argument, local variable, or record field, it can assume any value. Operations such as  may "fail" (make the pseudocode invalid) if they may be applied to a value they do not apply to. Comments should indicate the nature of any such ambiguous operations.

boolean
The simplest built-in type  has one of two built-in values: true or false. Any  value is a valid condition for a conditional or loop construct.

int, real, and float
The built-in type  is an infinite-precision integer type including positive and negative values and zero. The type real represents infinite-precision, infinite-range real numbers, while float represents a floating point number with whatever characteristics you like; if they are important, explain them in the text. If you need additional integer types, such as unsigned 32-bit integers, in your example, name a type in the article text and then use it.

character and string
The type  includes all conceivable writable characters and is written by surrounding the character with single quotes ('), and   is a finite-length string of such characters, surrounded by double-quotes ("). Double-quotes may be used inside a string, as long as it's clear from context where the string ends; the outer double-quotes may be emphasized with bold  if this is not clear.

record
A new record type (called a struct in C) may be defined using the record keyword, may be recursive, and must include field names but types can be eliminated if they are not significant to the discussion:

record employee { ''// employee record string name        ''// employee name int age            ''// age of employee employee mentor    ''// reference to another employee stuff                ''// no specific type given }

Records, as well as tagged unions below, are only referred to by reference, and references may contain the special value null to indicate they refer to nothing. Record fields are accessed using, as in  , and such values may be assigned to. Multiple fields of the same type may be listed on a line, if commas are used:

record employee { string name, address, phone int age, dependents employee mentor stuff, morestuff }

tagged union
Types may also be constructed using the tagged union keyword, which defines a tagged union, much like ML's. Tagged unions may be recursive, and assign a tag name to each branch:

tagged union tree { Leaf: Node: tree left, tree right }

Fields are specified after each tag; only one set of these fields is available at a time, depending on the tag. The tag of a tagged union object may be determined using the cases keyword, and within the cases, fields of the correct branch of the tagged union may be accessed:

cases t { Leaf: ''// it's a leaf ''// do stuff Node: ''// it's a node ''// do stuff with t.left and t.right }

Lists and Arrays
A list stores a sequenced list of values. The primitive list operations are defined below, although they should be explained when used within an article:

list(1, 2, 3)                     (the list containing 1, 2, 3 in that order) emptyList                         (the list containing no elements) insert (value) at front of (list) (inserts new value at front of list; push) insert (value) at end of (list)   (inserts new value at end of list; enqueue) removeFront(list)                 (removes value from front of list; pop/dequeue) removeEnd(list)                   (removes value from end of list; undo enqueue) isEmpty(list)                     (returns true if and only if list is empty) getFront(list)                    (gets the value at the front of the list) getEnd(list)                      (gets the value at the end of the list) list[i]                           (gets ith element of the list, zero for front) x in list                         (x is an element of the list) size(list)                        (gets number of elements in the list) listToSet(list)                   (get a set containing all elements of the list)

You can also use for each-in to iterate over a list from front to back. When a list variable with elements of one type is declared, the syntax type[lower bound..upper bound] should be used, as in:

var int[0..k-1] numbers var (string[1..numNames] names ) := list("Joe", "Harry") var (string[] moreNames ) := list("Joe", "Harry")

If the upper bound is omitted, the size can vary; if the lower bound is omitted, it is assumed to be zero.

The type  is a special synonym for   which implies that the operations above have the following associated costs, where n is the number of elements in the array:

insert (value) at front, removeFront(list)     O(n) insert (value) at end                          O(1) amortized removeEnd(list)                                O(1) isEmpty(list)                                  O(1) getFront(list), getEnd(list), list[i]          O(1) list[i]                                        O(1) x in list                                      O(n) size(list)                                     O(1) listToSet(list)                                O(n)

There is also an array constructor  and an object   equivalent to the list versions but meant to suggest they produce arrays.

Finally, multidimensional arrays are permitted, declared and index as shown: var int[1..j,1..k] a var int[,] b  a[2,3] := a[3,4] + 1 for i from 1 to 10 b[1,i] := i+1

Accesses to elements which do not exist expand the array. If you need to initialize the contents of an array, you are encouraged to do this in the text, as in: The array b is initialized to this value:

$$\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 4 & 5 & 6 \\ 7 & 8 & 9 \end{bmatrix}$$

Set
A set stores an unordered sequence of values with no duplicates. The primitive set operations are:

set(1, 1, "a", 3)        (the set containing 1, "a", and 3) emptySet                 (the empty set; don't use the math symbol) insert(set, value)       (insert a new value into the set) remove(set, value)       (remove a value from the set) x := extractElement(set) (removes a value from the set and returns it) x in set                 (x is in the set) size(set)                (gets number of elements in the set) setToList(set)           (get a list containing all elements of the set) You can also use for-in to iterate over a set in some arbitrary order.

Map
Maps are associative arrays. They take keys and produce associated values. All keys which have not been assigned values map to the special value, but to actually determine if a key is in the map it is preferable to use. The primitive operations are:

map(1 -> "a", 'k' -> 7)  (the map mapping 1 to "a" and 'k' to 7) emptyMap                 (the empty map) map[x]                   (get value associated with x) map[x] := y              (make x map to y from now on) map[x] := unassigned     (unassign x) size(map)                (gets number of assigned keys in the map) keys(map)                (gets a list of the keys in the map) values(map)              (gets a list of the values in the map)

You cannot iterate over a map; if you need to do this, iterate over the list of keys instead, looking up corresponding values as needed.

Names
No two named entities, including functions, variables, and types, may share the same name in a single code listing (although duplicate names are possible in a single article). Valid names may include letters, numbers, greek letters, and mathematical markup, such as subscripts, superscripts, and primes (typed as apostrophes), but names may not start with a number. Names are case-sensitive, but names that differ only by case are strongly discouraged.

Multiword names will use mixed case, always beginning with lowercase. Underscores or other word separators will not be used.

Line length
If possible, no line should exceed 78 characters, but there may be up to 100 characters on a line. Also, if lines can be made shorter without adding additional lines or sacrificing clarity, this should be done. Lines can be continued across several lines by indenting the continuation lines.

somevariable := some + long * expression + (that - takes) several / lines * because - of + the * length of - lines anothervariable := shorter - lines

Indention
The entire code listing will be indented an initial 2 spaces, including blank lines. A function body or the body of a conditional or loop construct must always be indented exactly 4 additional spaces. For example:

function foo(x, y) { if x ≠ y { ''// Doesn't terminate for negative y         while x > y              x := x - y          return x      } else { foo(x + 1, y)     } }

Any other indention performed is up to the writer, but should be done in a clear way that keeps line length under the maximum while retaining clarity and not falsely associating unrelated elements.

The following are some helpful suggestions about indentation that are not mandated. If a function call's arguments are large enough that they cannot fit on one line, a line break should either follow an operator, a comma, or an opening parenthesis. If it follows a comma, the next line is indented to the column following the initial opening parenthesis of the call. If it follows an operator or parenthesis, it is indented 2 additional spaces. For example (don't really use names like the following):

function foo(x, y) { if x > y { otherFunctionWithGreatBigName(thisArgumentFillsUpTheRestOfTheLine,                                       argument1ToThePlusOperator +                                          argument2ToThePlusOperator,                                        callYetAnotherFunctionWithBigName( argToYetAnotherFunction)) } }

Naturally, since this is less clear, clarity of naming and line length should be traded off intelligently.

Links
Links may be used anywhere they are useful in pseudocode, particularly in comments and around calls to functions not specified in the current listing. However, if used on an emboldened or italic word, it should be used in addition to the existing markup. It may also be desirable to link tagged union or record the first time they are used conspicuously in an article. Also, use common link sense: link only strongly relevant articles.

A page has been created describing wikicode for readers (User:Dcoetzee/Wikicode, still needs work), and each page which uses wikicode must immediately precede its first conspicuous use with (Template: Wikicode), a message which will provide the reader a link to the explanation for readers, as well as this page. Other uses may optionally include the tag, and are recommended to if they're in widely separated or independent sections.

title: User:Dcoetzee/Wikicode/Specification


text:
User:AnathemaTM

Edward Somerset - Michael Seymour

title: User:AnathemaTM


text:
Calluna

Calluna vulgaris, common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to 20 to 50 cm tall, or rarely to 1 m and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade.

It is the dominant plant in most heathland and moorland in Europe, and in some bog vegetation and acidic pine and oak woodland. It is tolerant of grazing and regenerates following occasional burning, and is often managed in nature reserves and grouse moors by sheep or cattle grazing, and also by light burning.

Description
Calluna has small-scale leaves (less than 2–3 mm long) borne in opposite and decussate pairs, whereas those of Erica are generally larger and in whorls of 3–4, sometimes 5. It flowers from July to September. In wild plants these are normally mauve, but white-flowered plants also occur occasionally. They are terminal in racemes with sepal-like bracts at the base with a superior ovary, the fruit a capsule. Unlike Erica, Calluna sometimes sports double flowers. Calluna is sometimes referred to as Summer (or Autumn) heather to distinguish it from winter or spring flowering species of Erica.

Chemistry
Phenolic compounds in the shoots of Calluna vulgaris include chlorogenic acid and a novel phenolic glycoside, most of which are found in greater number during the summer.

The nectar of Calluna vulgaris contains a megastigmane, callunene, that is inhibitory at naturally occurring concentrations to a common trypanosome parasite of bumble bees, Crithidia bombi. Koch et al. elucidate the mechanism of activity that results in the loss of the parasite's flagellum, leading to reduced infectivity, because the flagellum is crucial to anchoring in the insect gut.

Taxonomy
Calluna was separated from the closely related genus Erica by Richard Anthony Salisbury, who devised the generic name Calluna probably from the Ancient Greek Kallyno, "beautify, sweep clean", in reference to its traditional use in besoms. The specific epithet vulgaris is Latin for 'common'. Calluna is differentiated from Erica by its corolla and calyx each being in four parts instead of five.

Distribution and habitat
Calluna vulgaris is native to Europe, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Azores. It has been introduced into many other places worldwide with suitable climates, including North America, Australia, New Zealand and the Falkland Islands. It is extremely cold-hardy, surviving severe exposure and freezing conditions well below -20 C.

Invasive species
The plant was introduced to New Zealand and has become an invasive weed in some areas, notably the Tongariro National Park and Mount Ruapehu in the North Island, as well as the Wilderness Reserve (Te Anau) in the South Island, overgrowing native plants. Heather beetles have been released to stop the heather, with preliminary trials successful to date.

Cultivars
There are many named cultivars, selected for variation in flower colour and for different foliage colour and growing habits.

Different cultivars have flower colours ranging from white, through pink and a wide range of purples, and including reds. The flowering season with different cultivars extends from late July to November in the northern hemisphere. The flowers may turn brown but still remain on the plants over winter, and this can lead to interesting decorative effects. Cultivars with ornamental foliage are usually selected for reddish and golden leaf colour. A few forms can be silvery grey. Many of the ornamental foliage forms change colour with the onset of winter weather, usually increasing in intensity of colour. Some forms are grown for distinctive young spring foliage.

The following cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:

 * 'Alicia' (Garden Girls series)
 * 'Annemarie'
 * 'Beoley Gold'
 * 'County Wicklow'
 * 'Dark Beauty'
 * 'Dark Star'
 * 'Darkness'
 * 'Elsie Purnell'
 * 'Firefly'
 * 'Kerstin'
 * 'Kinlochruel'
 * 'Peter Sparkes'
 * 'Robert Chapman'
 * 'Silver Queen'
 * 'Sister Anne'
 * 'Spring Cream'
 * 'Tib'
 * 'Velvet Fascination'
 * 'Wickwar Flame'
 * 'White Coral'

Uses
Heather is an important food source for various sheep and deer which can graze the tips of the plants when snow covers low-growing vegetation. Willow grouse and red grouse feed on the young shoots and seeds of this plant. Both adult and larva of the heather beetle (Lochmaea suturalis) feed on it, and can cause extensive mortality in some instances. The larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species also feed on the plant, notably the small emperor moth Saturnia pavonia.

Formerly heather was used to dye wool yellow and to tan leather. With malt, heather is an ingredient in gruit, a mixture of flavourings used in the brewing of heather-beer during the Middle Ages before the use of hops. Thomas Pennant wrote in A Tour in Scotland (1769) that on the Scottish island of Islay "ale is frequently made of the young tops of heath, mixing two thirds of that plant with one of malt, sometimes adding hops".

From time immemorial heather has been used for making besoms, a practice recorded in "Buy Broom Buzzems" a song probably written by William Purvis (Blind Willie) (1752–1832) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.

Heather honey is a highly valued product in moorland and heathland areas, with many beehives being moved there in late summer. Not always as valued as it is today, it was dismissed as mel improbum, "unwholesome honey" by Dioscurides. Heather honey has a characteristic strong taste, and an unusual texture, for it is thixotropic, being a jelly until stirred, when it becomes a syrup like other honey, but then sets again to a jelly. This makes the extraction of the honey from the comb difficult, and it is therefore often sold as comb honey.

White heather is regarded in Scotland as being lucky, a tradition brought from Balmoral to England by Queen Victoria and sprigs of it are often sold as a charm and worked into bridal bouquets.

Heather stalks are used by a small industry in Scotland as a raw material for sentimental jewellery. The stalks are stripped of bark, dyed in bright colours and then compressed with resin.

Calluna vulgaris herb has been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea for treatment of disorders of the kidneys and urinary tract.

In culture
Heather is seen as iconic of Scotland, where the plant grows widely. When poems like Bonnie Auld Scotland speak of "fragrant hills of purple heather', when the hero of Kidnapped flees through the heather, when heather and Scotland are linked in the same sentence, the heather talked about is Calluna vulgaris.

Purple heather is one of the two national flowers of Norway, the other being Saxifraga cotyledon. It was chosen as a national flower on the basis of a vote of popularity in a Norwegian radio show in 1976.

Calluna vulgaris is the province flower of the Swedish province of Västergötland.

title: Calluna


text:
United States Customs Service

The United States Customs Service was a federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted criminal investigations.

In March 2003, as a result of the homeland security reorganization, the U.S. Customs Service was renamed the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, and most of its components were merged with the border elements of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, including the entire U.S. Border Patrol and former INS inspectors, together with border agriculture inspectors, to form U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a single, unified border agency for the U.S. The investigative office of U.S. Customs was split off and merged with the INS investigative office and the INS interior detention and removal office to form Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which, among other things, is responsible for interior immigration enforcement. The United States Customs Service had three major missions: collecting tariff revenue, protecting the U.S. economy from smuggling and illegal goods, and processing people and goods at ports of entry.

History
Responding to the urgent need for revenue following the American Revolutionary War, the First United States Congress passed and President George Washington signed the Tariff Act of July 4, 1789, which authorized the collection of duties on imported goods. Four weeks later, on July 31, the fifth act of Congress established the United States Customs Service and its ports of entry.

As part of this new government agency, a new role was created for government officials which was known as "Customs Collector". In this role, one person would have responsibility to supervise the collection of custom duties in a particular city or region, such as the Collector of the Port of New York.

For over 100 years after it was founded, the U.S. Customs Service was the primary source of funds for the entire government, paying for the country's early growth and infrastructure. Purchases include the Louisiana and Oregon territories; Florida and Alaska; funding the National Road and the Transcontinental Railroad; building many of the nation's lighthouses; the U.S. Military and Naval academies, and Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Customs Service employed a number of federal law enforcement officers throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Customs Special Agents investigated smuggling and other violations of customs, narcotics and revenue laws. Customs Inspectors were uniformed officers at airports, seaports and land border ports of entry who inspected people and vehicles entering the U.S. for contraband and dutiable merchandise. Customs Patrol Officers conducted uniformed and plainclothes patrol of the borders on land, sea and air to deter smuggling and apprehend smugglers.

In the 20th century, as international trade and travel increased dramatically, the Customs Service transitioned from an administrative bureau to a federal law enforcement agency. Inspectors still inspected goods and took customs declarations from travelers at ports of entry, but Customs Special Agents used modern police methods—often in concert with allied agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and U.S. Border Patrol—to investigate cases often far from international airports, bridges and land crossings. The original World Trade Center complex, Building 6, housed offices of the U.S. Customs Service.

With the passage of the Homeland Security Act, the U.S. Customs Service passed from under the jurisdiction of the Treasury Department to under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security.

On March 1, 2003, parts of the U.S. Customs Service combined with the Inspections Program of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine of the USDA and the Border Patrol of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to form U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Federal Protective Service, along with the investigative arms of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, combined to form U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Examples of illegal items

 * Child pornography
 * Counterfeit merchandise (i.e. cellphones, perfume and other consumer products)
 * Textiles over allowable limits
 * Illegally imported Motor Vehicles
 * Items violating intellectual property rights
 * Illegal drugs
 * Stolen property
 * Tobacco products over allowable limits
 * Undeclared firearms and weapons
 * Undeclared liquor over allowable limits
 * Unreported money or monetary instruments over $10,000
 * Unscreened fruits and meats

Flag
The flag of the Customs Service was designed in 1799 by Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott Jr. and consists of 16 vertical red and white stripes with a coat of arms depicted in blue on the white canton. The original design had the Customs Service seal that was an eagle with three arrows in his left talon, an olive branch in his right and surrounded by an arc of 13 stars. In 1951, this was changed to the eagle depicted on the Great Seal of the United States.

Its actual name is the Revenue Ensign, as it was flown by ships of the Revenue Cutter Service, later the Coast Guard, and at customs houses.

In 1910, President William Howard Taft issued an order to add an emblem to the flag flown by ships from the one flown on land at customs houses. The version with the badge continues to be flown by Coast Guard vessels. Until 2003, the land version was flown at all United States ports of entry. The renamed CBP Ensign is currently flown at CBP's headquarters in Washington, D.C., at its Field Offices, overseas duty locations including preclearance ports, and at all land, air, and sea ports of entry.

Commissioners
Beginning in 1927, the Customs Service was headed by an appointed commissioner. Prior to 1927, customs collection was overseen by the director of the Treasury Department's customs division. Commissioners of Customs included:

title: United States Customs Service


text:
Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi

Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Saadi or Amer al-Sadi (born April 5, 1938), "the organizational genius behind the Iraqi superweapons program," was Saddam Hussein's liaison with the UN inspectors in the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like the defector Hussein Kamel al-Majid, he insisted Iraq had destroyed its prohibited weapons. He was dismissed by the US as a liar. There was a subsequent failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqi Survey Group.

He was #32 on the most-wanted list, and "Seven of Diamonds" in the US deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards.

Detainment
He turned himself in to coalition forces on April 12, 2003, with the help of ZDF journalists who he asked to monitor and document his surrender. He was detained in Baghdad International Airport as a "High Value Detainee". As such he has been subjected to solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated in its confidential report to the coalition authority that this constituted a "serious violation of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions". He was both the first person on the most wanted list to turn himself in, and the first to be detained by the U.S.

According to a written Parliamentary answer by Dennis Mcshane MP to Angus Robertson MP, Amer Al Saadi was released by the US on 18 January 2005. However, as detailed here, this claim is highly dubious. A June 20, 2005 Newsweek article reported that a "State Department official...denied al-Sadi had been freed from custody."

Career
He was awarded a PhD is in physical chemistry from Battersea College of Technology. During his study he married a German in London in October 1963; their common language is English. Mrs al-Saadi raised their children in Hamburg.

He retired a lieutenant general in 1994 and was made a presidential scientific advisor.

title: Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi