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Wallops Flight Facility

Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately 100 mi north-northeast of Norfolk. The facility is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and primarily serves to support science and exploration missions for NASA and other Federal agencies. WFF includes an extensively instrumented range to support launches of more than a dozen types of sounding rockets; small expendable suborbital and orbital rockets; high-altitude balloon flights carrying scientific instruments for atmospheric and astronomical research; and, using its Research Airport, flight tests of aeronautical research aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles.

There have been over 16,000 launches from the rocket testing range at Wallops since its founding in 1945 in the quest for information on the flight characteristics of airplanes, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the environment of outer space. The launch vehicles vary in size and power from the small Super Loki meteorological rockets to orbital-class vehicles.

The Wallops Flight Facility also supports science missions for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and occasionally for foreign governments and commercial organizations. Wallops also supports development tests and exercises involving United States Navy aircraft and ship-based electronics and weapon systems in the Virginia Capes operating area, near the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. In addition to its fixed-location instrumentation assets, the WFF range includes mobile radar, telemetry receivers, and command transmitters that can be transported by cargo planes to locations around the world, in order to establish a temporary range where no other instrumentation exists, to ensure safety, and to collect data in order to enable and support suborbital rocket launches from remote sites.

The WFF mobile range assets have been used to support rocket launches from locations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and at sea. Workers at Wallops include approximately 1,000 full-time NASA civil service employees and the employees of contractors, about 30 U.S. Navy personnel, and about 100 employees of NOAA.

History
In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center. This site was designated the Pilotless Aircraft Research Station and conducted high-speed aerodynamic research to supplement wind tunnel and laboratory investigations into the problems of flight. In 1958, Congress established NASA, which absorbed Langley Research Center and other NACA field centers and research facilities. At that time, the Pilotless Aircraft Research Station became a separate facility, Wallops Station, operating directly under NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location. In 1974, the Wallops Station was named Wallops Flight Center. The name was changed to Wallops Flight Facility in 1981, when it became part of Goddard Space Flight Center.

In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds. Between 1959 and 1961, Project Mercury capsules were tested at Wallops in support of NASA's crewed space flight program - the Mercury program - before astronauts were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Some of these tests using the Little Joe booster rocket were designed to flight-qualify components of the spacecraft, including the escape and recovery systems and some of the life support systems. Two rhesus monkeys, Sam and Miss Sam, were sent aloft as pioneers for astronauts; both were recovered safely.

The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.

On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket. This was the first time that an American lunar mission had been launched from anywhere but Florida.

Wallops Island is currently experiencing beach erosion of 10 to 22 feet (3 to 7 meters) a year, due in part to the current sea level rise; some access roads and parking lots have had to be rebuilt several times over the past five years. NASA has responded by continually fortifying the shoreline with sand.

A permanent ground control station for NASA's RQ-4 Global Hawk drone is at Wallops Flight Facility.

Facilities

The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 mi west of Chincoteague, Virginia; about 90 mi north of Norfolk, Virginia, and 40 mi southeast of Salisbury, Maryland. The WFF consists of three separate parcels of land totaling 6,200 acres (25 km²): the Main Base, the Mainland, and the Wallops Island Launch Site. The Mainland and the Wallops Island Launch Site are about 7 mi southeast of the Main Base.

Airspace
Wallops operates controlled airspace with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) qualified air traffic controllers including:

 * The WFF Airport Control Zone to 2500 ft within a 5 smi radius of the airport
 * Restricted Area R-6604 connecting WFF airspace and offshore warning areas.

Fixed facilities
Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways; an experimental UAV runway; and crash, fire, and rescue services. WFF has facilities for the receipt, inspection, assembly, checkout and storage of rocket motors and other hazardous pyrotechnic devices. The Wallops Island Launch Site includes six launch pads, three blockhouses for launch control, and assembly buildings to support the preparation and launching of suborbital and orbital launch vehicles.

The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center. Its radar facilities and systems are used for tracking and surveillance. Telemetry facilities include a variety of antennas, receivers, and display instrumentation systems. Command uplink and optical tracking facilities are included as part of the range. The range also provides premier digital photographic and video services including operation of numerous still cameras, high speed and video systems for Range Safety support, surveillance, and post-launch analysis (e.g., failure analysis), project documentation (e.g., fabrication and test), administrative documentation, and archiving for environmental studies. In addition, WFF has a variety of communications systems and facilities to route voice, video, and data in support of launch processing, flight, and test operations.

The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base. There are three runways (from 4810 ft to 8750 ft long), two taxiways, three ramps, and one hazardous cargo loading area in active service. Two ramps adjoin the two active hangars, and a third ramp adjoins the Crash, Fire and Rescue building. The primary research runway has a test section with a variety of surface textures and materials for runway research projects.

Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground. Wallops meteorological services provide measurements of upper atmospheric and magnetic phenomena to augment and enable the collection of scientific data by sensors aboard flight vehicles. The S-band Doppler radar system at Wallops, known as SPANDAR, is capable of automatic unambiguous tracking of targets up to 60,000 kilometers away. It can detect a single raindrop of 3 millimeters at a range of 10 kilometers and cloud water content as little as 1 gram per cubic meter. SPANDAR's sensitivity with its 60 ft dish antenna can detect small changes in the refractive index of air caused by sea breeze fronts, gust fronts, and various forms of clear air turbulence.

Mobile systems

The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems. These assets are used as needed to supplement instrumentation at existing ranges, or to establish a temporary range to ensure safety and collect data to support the rocket customers in a remote location where no other range instrumentation exists. This complement of transportable systems can be deployed to provide complete range capabilities at remote locations around the world. While Wallops Island is the prime location for range services, major sounding rocket campaigns have been supported at Poker Flat, Alaska; Andoya, Norway; and Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands. The Wallops Mobile Instrumentation is integrated with NASA and Department of Defense networks and can be used to supplement established ranges in support of rocket launches.

Range technology development

Since 2001, engineers at NASA Wallops Flight Facility have been developing new range technologies, systems and approaches to improve the cost and responsiveness of launch and flight test activities, within the constraints of available funding and program schedules.

Specifically, NASA Wallops has been leading two range technology development projects: the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) and the Low Cost TDRSS Transceiver (LCT2).

AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems. The AFSS would use redundant sensors and processors on board a launch vehicle to monitor its trajectory, and if necessary initiate pyrotechnic devices to terminate the flight.

LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site. LCT2 is being pursued as part of the Space Based Range Demonstration and Certification (SBRDC) program (formerly called Space Based Telemetry and Range Safety (STARS)) in cooperation with NASA Kennedy Space Center.

Missions

WFF's primary mission areas are as follows:
 * Sounding Rockets
 * Scientific Balloons
 * Aircraft
 * Range and Mission Management
 * Small Launch Vehicle Research
 * Mission Planning Lab

With its sounding rocket, aircraft, and balloon flights carrying scientific payloads, its aeronautical systems testing, its range support for Space Shuttle launches, and its educational outreach activities, WFF supports all of NASA's Mission Directorates and practically all of their respective themes:
 * Science Mission Directorate
 * Earth Science
 * Solar System Exploration
 * The Universe
 * Heliophysics
 * Exploration Mission Directorate
 * Constellation Systems
 * Exploration Systems Research and Technology
 * Human Systems Research and Technology
 * Aeronautics Mission Directorate
 * Aeronautics Technology
 * Space Operations Mission Directorate
 * International Space Station
 * Space Shuttle
 * Space and Flight Support

Commercial spaceport
In 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA. In December 2006, the facility made its first launch.

Visitor center
The Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists. In addition, one Saturday each month, NASA invites model rocketry enthusiasts to launch their own rockets from the WFF rocket launch site. NASA personnel also participate, launching models of various rockets and explaining the spacecraft they carry in real life.

The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.

Education
For many years WFF was home to the NSIP Sub-SEM and SEM projects. NSIP stands for the NASA Student Involvement Project, the Sub-SEM project was to design one of four experiments that would be inserted into an ORION-II one-stage rocket and launched above 98 percent of the atmosphere, and experience over 30 Gs of centrifugal force, while SEM was to design an experiment that would be flown on a future Space Shuttle mission. Each project gave 16 students and four teachers (four students and one teacher from each high school) the opportunity to spend an almost all-expense-paid week at WFF. Normally the students and teachers stayed in the Mariner Motel, now a Holiday Inn, conducting experiments and learning about the facility. Following the presidential mandate and budget cuts the entire NSIP program, SEM and Sub-SEM included, was shut down.

Accidents
On April 2, 1957, a Lockheed P2V-6 Neptune exploded in midair after takeoff from what was then known as Naval Auxiliary Air Station Chincoteague. All eleven occupants of the aircraft died.

On October 23, 1995, the maiden flight of a Conestoga 1620 rocket failed 46 seconds after liftoff, resulting in disintegration. EER Space Systems, Conestoga's manufacturer, concluded that low frequency noise from an unknown source upset the guidance system on the rocket causing it to order course corrections when none were needed. The rocket went off course when its first stage steering mechanism ran out of hydraulic fluid and became inoperable. After this failure, the Conestoga program was terminated, and EER abandoned the launch business. At the time of the launch, the Conestoga was the largest rocket ever launched from Wallops Island, and it was the first orbital mission attempted from the facility since 1985. The company's launch pad at Wallops Island were the first commercially built facilities in the US. 14 scientific experiments, some of which were planned to return from orbit, were destroyed. All debris landed in the Atlantic Ocean. There were no injuries.

On October 27, 1998, a Learjet 45 was destroyed at Wallops after a loss of control during a water ingestion test flight. Only minor injuries to a copilot and flight engineer were reported. There were no ground injuries. The airplane was being used to test a new nose wheel tire. For the test, the airplane was passed through a "pool" or "trough" of water on the runway at different speeds. The pilot failed to obtain/maintain alignment with the water pool and lost control. The plane departed the left side of the runway, and struck a pickup truck parked adjacent to the runway.

On August 22, 2008, an ALV X-1 sounding rocket was intentionally destroyed 20 seconds into flight after veering too far off course. On October 28, 2014, a failure occurred in an Antares rocket, carrying Cygnus CRS Orb-3, shortly after launch and destroyed both the rocket and the payload at the adjacent Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Launch Pad 0A.

Alliances
The NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with a number of organizations important to its mission and future growth. Some examples include:
 * Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS)
 * U.S. Navy Surface Combat Systems Center (SCSC)
 * Navy Test and Training Ranges
 * U.S. Space Force Space Launch Delta 45, Eastern Range
 * U.S. Coast Guard
 * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)
 * Marine Science Consortium (MSC)
 * White Sands Missile Range (WSMR)

It has also worked with the National Security Agency in experiments involving ionized clouds for communications interception during the Cold War.

title: Wallops Flight Facility


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List of Jews from Sub-Saharan Africa

This is a list of Jews from Sub-Saharan Africa. It is arranged by country of origin. The vast majority of African Jews inhabiting areas below the Sahara live in South Africa, and are mainly of Ashkenazi (largely Lithuanian) origin. A number of Beta Israel also reside in Ethiopia. Additionally, small post-colonial communities exist elsewhere.

Cameroon

 * Yaphet Kotto, actor (Cameroonian father)

DR Congo

 * Léon Kengo wa Dondo, Prime Minister of Zaire (Polish-Jewish father)
 * Moïse Katumbi, businessman and politician (Greek-Jewish father)
 * Olivier Strelli, fashion designer

Ethiopia and Eritrea

 * Ephraim Isaac, Phd Princeton Scholar
 * Adisu Massala, politician
 * Esti Mamo, Ethiopian-Israeli model
 * Meskie Shibru-Sivan, actress and singer
 * Yosef Ben-Jochannan, historian

Kenya

 * Israel Somen, businessman and diplomat
 * Jonathan Somen, entrepreneur
 * Erica Mann, architect, town planner, NGO leader, women's cooperatives developer
 * Igor Mann, veterinarian, senior civil service professional

Mozambique

 * Albie Sachs, ANC activist (lived in Mozambique during exile from South Africa)
 * Ruth First, ANC activist (lived in Mozambique during exile from South Africa)

Namibia

 * Harold Pupkewitz, entrepreneur ( Lithuanian born)

Politicians and activists

 * Hilda Bernstein, anti-apartheid activist
 * Lionel Bernstein, anti-apartheid activist
 * Harry Bloom, anti-apartheid activist
 * Jules Browde, barrister, jurist and anti-apartheid activist. Law school classmate of Nelson Mandela.
 * Arthur Chaskalson, chief justice
 * Abba Eban, Israeli diplomat (South African-born)
 * Andrew Feinstein, former ANC MP, author & anti-arms trade activist
 * Bram Fischer, anti-apartheid activist
 * Bernard Friedman, anti-apartheid MP
 * Richard Goldstone, judge and international war crimes prosecutor
 * Joel Joffe, human rights activist
 * Ronnie Kasrils, former South African Intelligence Minister
 * Tony Leon, former opposition leader
 * Joe Slovo, ANC activist and leader of the South African Communist Party
 * Harry Schwarz, anti-apartheid politician, lawyer and diplomat
 * Helen Suzman, anti-apartheid MP
 * Harold Hanson, QC and strong supporter of civil liberties

 * Other Jewish ANC activists included Ruth First, Albie Sachs and five of the six whites arrested in the Rivonia Trial: Denis Goldberg, Lionel Bernstein, Arthur Goldreich, James Kantor, Harold Wolpe and Gaby Shapiro.

Academics

 * Abraham Manie Adelstein, UK Chief Medical Statistician
 * Selig Percy Amoils, Inventor & Surgeon
 * Moses Blackman, crystallographer
 * Sydney Brenner, biologist, Nobel Prize (2002)
 * Leo Camron, educationalist
 * Sydney Cohen, pathologist (Jewish Year Book, 2005, p214, 230)
 * Meyer Fortes, anthropologist
 * Max Gluckman, anthropologist
 * Frank Herbstein, crystallographer, 1926-2011
 * Aaron Klug, chemist, Nobel Prize (1982)
 * Ludwig Lachmann, economist
 * Arnold Lazarus, psychologist
 * Roland Levinsky, biologist
 * Stanley Mandelstam, physicist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p214)
 * Shula Marks, historian (Jewish Year Book 2005 p215)
 * Frank Nabarro, physicist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p214)
 * Seymour Papert, Artificial Intelligence pioneer
 * Peter Sarnak, mathematician
 * Isaac Schapera, anthropologist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p215)
 * Anthony Segal, biochemist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p214)
 * Joseph Sonnabend, HIV/AIDS researcher
 * Phillip V. Tobias, palaeoanthropologist
 * Joseph Wolpe, psychotherapist
 * Lewis Wolpert, developmental biologist
 * Basil Yamey, economist (Jewish Year Book 2005 p215,315)
 * Solly Zuckerman, UK zoologist
 * Max Price, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town

Cultural figures

 * Lionel Abrahams, poet
 * Jillian Becker, writer
 * Dani Behr, TV presenter
 * Harry Bloom, writer and lecturer
 * Johnny Clegg, World Beat musician
 * John Cranko, choreographer
 * Adam Friedland, comedian and podcaster
 * Graeme Friedman, writer
 * David Goldblatt, photographer
 * Nadine Gordimer, writer, Nobel Prize (1991)
 * Laurence Harvey, actor
 * Ronald Harwood, playwright
 * Manu Herbstein, writer
 * Dan Jacobson, writer
 * Sid James, comic actor
 * Danny K, pop singer
 * William Kentridge, artist
 * Lennie Lee, artist
 * Manfred Mann (Manfred Lubowitz), R&B keyboardist
 * Sarah Millin, writer
 * Trevor Rabin, guitarist & film composer
 * Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro), political cartoonist
 * Antony Sher, stage actor
 * Janet Suzman, stage actress

Business and professional figures

 * Raymond Ackerman, supermarket tycoon
 * Alfred Beit, diamond magnate
 * Donald Gordon, founder of insurance company Liberty Life, shopping centre owner & philanthropist
 * Sydney Jacobson, newspaper editor
 * Solomon Joel, financier
 * Sol Kerzner, hotel & casino owner
 * Sammy Marks, early entrepreneur from Pretoria
 * Ernest & Harry Oppenheimer, diamond tycoons & philanthropists (Harry converted to Christianity)
 * Percy Yutar, South Africa's first Jewish attorney general and prosecutor of Nelson Mandela in the 1963 Rivonia Treason Trial.
 * Walter Matulis JR. Co owner of a driver training business. Walter was raised as Roman Catholic only to find out in the 6th decade of his life that his ancestors were Lithuanian Jews. Walter remains a Christian while identifying himself as being of Jewish blood.

Sports figures

 * Ali & Adam Bacher, cricketers
 * Leo Camron, rugby union player and cricketer.
 * Okey Geffin, rugby union player
 * Harry Isaacs, Olympic boxing medalist
 * Ilana Kloss, tennis player
 * Sarah Poewe, swimmer
 * Philip Rabinowitz (runner), 100-year-old sprinter
 * Jeremy Reingold, World Champion Swimmer, Rugby Player
 * Jody Scheckter, Formula 1 driver
 * Shaun Tomson, surfer
 * Mandy Yachad, cricketer

Rugby union

 * Max Baise, South African rugby union referee.
 * Louis Babrow
 * Leo Camron, South African who helped introduce rugby to Israel., also a cricketer
 * Okey Geffin, South African Rugby Union player
 * Joe Kaminer
 * Jonathan Kaplan, South African who holds the world record for refereeing the highest number of international rugby union test matches.
 * Alan Menter, South African Rugby Union Player
 * Cecil Moss, South African rugby union player and coach
 * Sydney Nomis, South African Rugby Union player
 * Wilf Rosenberg, rugby union player
 * Fred Smollan
 * Joel Stransky, South African rugby union player

Uganda

 * Gershom Sizomu, rabbi

Zambia

 * Denise Scott Brown, architect
 * Stanley Fischer, IMF economist

Zimbabwe

 * Norman Geras, professor of Government
 * Anthony Gubbay, former chief justice
 * Laurence Levy, pioneering neurosurgeon
 * Alexander Pines, chemist
 * Roy Welensky, prime minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

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

title: List of Jews from Sub-Saharan Africa


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Fortress of Solitude

The Fortress of Solitude is a fictional fortress appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. It is the place where Superman first learned about his true identity, heritage, and purpose on Earth. The fortress functions as a place of solace/occasional headquarters for Superman and is typically depicted as being in frozen tundra, away from civilization. Its predecessor, Superman's "Secret Citadel", first appeared in Superman #17, where it was said to be built into a mountain on the outskirts of Metropolis. By issue #58 (May–June 1949) it is referred to as the Fortress of Solitude, seems at a glance to be a freestanding castle, and is said to be located in a "polar waste". When the Fortress reappears in 1958 and for the first time takes center stage in a story ("The Super-Key to Fort Superman", Action Comics #241), it is again an underground complex in a mountainous cliffside.

Traditionally, the Fortress of Solitude is located in the Arctic, though more recent versions have been in other locations, including the Antarctic, the Andes, and Amazon rainforest. The general public is either unaware or at best only vaguely aware of the existence of the Fortress, and its location is kept secret from all but Superman's closest friends and allies (such as Lois Lane and Batman). A trademark of the Fortress is that it contains a memorial statue of Jor-El and Lara, Superman's Kryptonian parents, holding a large globe of Krypton. Although Superman has living quarters at the Fortress, his main residence is still Clark Kent's apartment in Metropolis. The arctic Fortress of Solitude concept was first created for pulp hero Doc Savage during the 1930s.

Original version
The concept and name "Fortress of Solitude" first appeared in the Doc Savage pulps in the 1930s and 1940s. Doc Savage built his Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic and retreated to it alone to make new scientific or medical breakthroughs, and to store dangerous technology and other secrets. The Golden Age Superman did not have an arctic fortress, but instead a "mountain sanctuary" which was located in a mountain range on the outskirts of Metropolis. Here, Superman kept a diary, oversized tools for various projects, and other equipment and trophies.

Superman's Silver Age Fortress, which debuted in 1958, was also located in the Arctic and served similar purposes. Built into the side of a steep cliff, the Fortress was accessible through a large gold-colored door with a giant keyhole, which required an enormous key to open it. The arrow-shaped key was so large that only Superman (or another Kryptonian such as Supergirl) could lift it; when not in use, the key sat on a perch outside of the Fortress, where it appeared to be an aircraft path marker. This was until a helicopter pilot followed the direction of the arrow straight to the entrance of the Fortress, forcing Superman to develop a cloak to camouflage the entrance and key (which now hung on brackets on its side beside the door) and to ensure the Fortress's secrecy.

The Fortress contained an alien zoo, a giant steel diary in which Superman wrote his memoirs (using either his invulnerable finger, twin hand touch pads that record thoughts instantly, or heat vision to engrave entries into its pages), a chess-playing robot, specialized exercise equipment, a laboratory where Superman worked on various projects such as developing defenses to kryptonite, a room-sized computer, communications equipment, and rooms dedicated to all of his friends, including one for Clark Kent to fool visitors. As the stories continued, it was revealed that the Fortress was where Superman's robot duplicates were stored. It also contained the Phantom Zone projector, various pieces of alien technology he had acquired on visits to other worlds, and, much like the Batcave, trophies of his past adventures. Indeed, the Batcave and Batman himself made an appearance in the first Fortress story. The Fortress also became the home of the bottle city of Kandor (until it was enlarged), and an apartment in the Fortress was set aside for Supergirl.

A detailed depiction of the Fortress and its contents forms the background to DC Special Series #26 (1981); "Superman and his Incredible Fortress of Solitude", in which Superman minutely inspects the Fortress, suspecting an enemy has planted an Earth-destroying bomb within it. Another noteworthy appearance of this version of the Fortress was in 1985's Superman Annual #11, a story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons titled "For the Man Who Has Everything", in which it served as a battleground for Superman, Batman, Robin, and Wonder Woman against the alien would-be overlord Mongul. This story was adapted to animation in the 2004 TV series Justice League Unlimited.

In addition to Mongul, the Fortress has been independently broken into at various times by villains Lex Luthor and Brainiac (Action Comics #583 and Superman #423) and the Atomic Skull (DC Comics Presents #35), among others. According to Action Comics #261, Superman first established secret Fortresses in outer space and at the center of the Earth before settling on an Arctic location.

Additionally, Superman established an undersea Fortress of Solitude – hollowed out of the side of an undersea cliff – in September 1958. The undersea Fortress, which is reportedly located at the bottom of the Sargasso Sea at 28 degrees North latitude, 50 degrees West longitude, is stocked with numerous exotic ocean relics and is equipped with sophisticated monitoring apparatus to enable Superman to keep abreast of events occurring throughout the seven seas. Superman later abandoned the undersea Fortress and the structure is now used by the mer-people of Atlantis as a showplace and a tourist attraction.

The original version of the Fortress of Solitude made its last appearance in the 1986 non-canonical (or "imaginary") story "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?". In this story, under constant attacks by returning foes, Superman goes to ground inside the Fortress, taking his closest friends with him for their protection. The villainous android Brainiac soon besieges the Fortress with various allies, surrounding it and the outlying territory with an impenetrable force field to keep Superman's fellow heroes from aiding him. Superman ultimately battles a newly evil Mister Mxyzptlk, who was behind the plot to destroy him. As Superman was forced to destroy Mxyzptlk, breaking his vow against killing, he exposes himself to gold kryptonite to permanently remove his powers and then appears to leave the Fortress to freeze to death in the Arctic cold. Superman is never seen again, although we find out in a "ten years later" wraparound segment set in 1997 that he survives as Jordan Elliot, husband of Lois Lane Elliot, and that they are the parents of toddler Jonathan Elliot, who has super-powers.

Post-Crisis versions
In John Byrne's 1986 Man of Steel miniseries, which re-wrote various aspects of the Superman mythos, the Clark Kent persona was described as a "Fortress of Solitude", in that it allowed him to live as the ordinary person he saw himself as and leave the world-famous superhero behind. This concept was often invoked in later stories, and one story featured Superman hiding his secret identity from a telepath behind a door identical to that of the pre-Crisis Fortress. By that time, however, a more physical Fortress had been reintroduced.

In Action Comics Annual #2 (1989), Superman, on a self-imposed exile to space, was entrusted with a Kryptonian artifact called the Eradicator, created by his ancestor Kem-El. Dedicated to preserving Krypton, this device built a new Fortress in the Antarctic as a precursor to recreating Krypton on Earth. Superman broke the Eradicator's control, but maintained the Fortress as a useful location for emergencies. The first appearance of this new post-Crisis version of the Fortress was in The Adventures of Superman #461 (December 1989).

It contained many artifacts from the post-Crisis version of Krypton, most notably a number of robot servitors (one of whom, Kelex, became a trusted confidant) and a battlesuit from the Third Age of Krypton.

This Fortress was cast into the Phantom Zone as a result of a battle between Superman, Lex Luthor, and Dominus, a villain who played with Superman's mind and who was also trapped in the Phantom Zone. It did, however, serve as the template for the next Fortress, built by Steel, which was an extradimensional space accessed through a vast puzzle-globe. The now-mobile Fortress was relocated somewhere in the Andes.

In the DC One Million series (1998), Superman's Fortress of Solitude in the 853rd Century resides within a tesseract located at the center of Earth's sun. By this time, Superman has lived in self-imposed exile within the Fortress for over 15,000 years.

During the "For Tomorrow" story arc in 2004–05 Superman comics, Wonder Woman breached the Fortress in an attempt to confront Superman, causing the Fortress to self-destruct. Superman subsequently established a new Fortress in an ancient temple on a remote village in the Cordillera del Cóndor Mountains, on the border of Ecuador and Peru. This version of the Fortress is visually similar to the earliest "Secret Citadel" from Superman #17.

The final version of the post-Crisis Fortress was home to Krypto and his dog-sitter Ned (the last remaining Superman robot), and contained a version of Kandor, a portal to the Phantom Zone, Kryptonian and alien artifacts, and holographic images of Jor-El and Lara. The caretaker of the Fortress was Kelex, a Kryptonian robot that was a descendant of the Kelex robot that served Jor-El.

Infinite Crisis
In the 2006 limited series Infinite Crisis, several survivors of the pre-Crisis multiverse – the Earth-Two Superman, Lois Lane of Earth-Two, the Earth-Prime Superboy, and Earth-Three's Alexander Luthor, Jr. – set up a base in the ruins of the Antarctic Fortress following their escape from the "paradise dimension" they had been trapped in since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was then revealed from Power Girl's repressed memories from her life on Earth-Two that her cousin Kal-L had his own version of the Fortress of Solitude similar to his Earth-One counterpart's Fortress.

"One Year Later"
In the 2006 story arc "Up, Up, and Away!", Superman recovered a piece of Kryptonian sunstone, which Lex Luthor had used to awaken an ancient Kryptonian warship. Superman learned that the sunstone had been sent with him from Krypton, and used it to construct a new Fortress in the Arctic in exactly the same manner as in the 1978 Superman film. He nevertheless plans to restore the Peruvian Fortress, even if compromised and no longer in a secret location, and plans more Fortresses around the world. This version of the Fortress physically resembles the movie and television depictions, and Superman communicates with Jor-El via crystal constructs as in the Superman film and Smallville.

The New 52
In The New 52 reboot of DC's continuity (launched in 2011) the Fortress of Solitude is first seen floating in space. It is later revealed to be the orbiting ship of Braniac which Superman had taken over after he physically reprogrammed the Collector of Worlds. This fortress is reported destroyed in the five years between the current Action Comics arc, and the New 52 present day, with the current fortress once more in the Arctic. In the New 52, Supergirl also has her own fortress, known as Sanctuary, and located in the depths of the ocean. This fortress first appears in Supergirl (vol. 5) #12 with its purpose explained in Supergirl (vol. 5) #13. In Action Comics (vol. 2) #15, Superman is revealed to have a fortress which he refers to as his "Yucatan base", a reference to his fortress in the Amazon rain forest in previous continuity.

Following the discovery of Superman's "Super Flare", Kal-El made his way to the Fortress via a stolen motorcycle due to burning out his powers. When trying access the Fortress, the A.I. was unable to recognize Kal-El due to his DNA changing and forcibly removed his Kryptonian armor. It was revealed months later Vandal Savage was the person responsible for altering Superman's DNA to draw Kal-El away from the Fortress. Savage later converged all of his forces on the Fortress itself and transported it to Metropolis. However, Superman was able to find a temporary 'cure' for his power loss by exposing himself to kryptonite as a form of 'chemotherapy' that burned away the radiation preventing his cells from absorbing energy. On the verge of death while trying to stop Savage, he is caught by the arm and shot in the lower abdomen. As he fell from the sky believing he was about to die, the kryptonite had finished burning away the radiation. The Fortress scanned Superman, confirmed that he is Kal-El, activated and opened up, caught Superman, restored his powers to their peak and returned his Kryptonian armor to him. After defeating Vandal Savage and his children, Superman moves the Fortress back to the arctic circle.

Several days after the crisis Superman uses the Fortress's medical equipment and A.I technology to do a full physical on him and discovers that as a result of Vandal's actions using Krytonite to burn out his infected cells that he is dying and has mere weeks to live.

Following Superman's death, the Pre-New 52 Superman was able to gain access to the Fortress as both he and the deceased Superman share identical DNA, even though they are from separate timelines. Superman takes his deceased counterpart to the Fortress hoping to use the Regeneration Matrix to revive him, as the Eradicator did to him in his native timeline. In the New 52 universe of Prime Earth however, no such technology exists. After burying his counterpart in Smallville he returns to the Fortress and uses his heat vision to create a statue of Superman of Prime Earth to honor his fallen comrade.

The Eradicator of Pre-New 52 eventually arrives on Prime Earth and takes up residence within the Fortress.

All-Star Superman
In the out-of-continuity series All-Star Superman, the Fortress is once again located in the Arctic. Superman has replaced the giant key with a normal-sized key which is made from super-dense dwarf star material and weighs half a million tons, restricting its use to those with immense superhuman strength. It has a team of robots working on various projects. The Fortress itself contains the Titanic, the Space Shuttle Columbia, and a baby Sun-Eater, as well as larger-than-life memorabilia, similar to the objects found in the Batcave. It has various scientific facilities as well, including a time telescope that can receive brief cryptic messages with reception of limited quality from the future.

Earth One
In Superman: Earth One graphic novel series, the Fortress of Solitude was built by Superman's Krytonian ship's AI, using the Arctic's cave system.

Super Friends
The Fortress has several appearances in the Super Friends animated series. The Super Friends version of the Fortress of Solitude is said to be located "in a deserted region of the frozen Arctic". In the episode "Terror at 20,000 Fathoms", Superman gives Aquaman, the Wonder Twins and Gleek a guided tour of the Fortress showing off many structures such as the Bottle City of Kandor. In a 1980 episode titled "Journey into Blackness", which said the Fortress was located in the North Pole, Superman spots a black hole headed towards Earth using a telescope in the Fortress. In a 1980 episode titled "Revenge of Bizarro", Superman goes his Fortress of Solitude to stop Bizarro and return the Bizarro Super Friends back to normal with an Anti-Bizarro ray. A 1981 episode titled "Evil From Krypton" depicted the Fortress with a somewhat crystalline exterior and without the giant key, reminiscent of its film appearances. In a 1985 episode titled "The Death of Superman", the Fortress more closely resembles the pre-Crisis comic-book version, including a giant yellow key whose use required the combined efforts of Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Cyborg.

DC Animated Universe
In the DC Animated Universe, the Fortress is located in the ocean underneath the Arctic tundra; access was gained by diving into the Arctic water and emerging in an opening inside the Fortress. This version contained an alien zoo housing alien life-forms saved from the Preserver's ship and some computer equipment, along with a Brainiac information sphere stolen from his hijacked spacecraft, which contains information about Krypton. The fortress also contains massive sculptures of Superman's biological parents, Jor-El and Lara, serving as monuments to Krypton. Additionally, this version of the Fortress was named by Professor Hamilton in a sarcastically humorous remark when he visited the Fortress in one episode.

The Fortress of Solitude is also a major setting for the Justice League Unlimited episode "For the Man Who Has Everything", an adaptation of the comic story of the same name, where Mongul traps Superman in a dream world with the Black Mercy plant, and Batman and Wonder Woman fight him after coming to the fortress to give Superman birthday gifts.

In the future of Batman Beyond, a Starro from the Fortress' intergalactic zoo is revealed to have latched on to Superman years prior and subtly controlled his actions since then, including allowing an entire population of the creatures to breed in one of the aquatic chambers. The Justice League of the future travels to the Fortress where they are themselves taken over by Starros, until Batman is able to free Superman and the rest of the League from their control. The League then sends the Starro population through a boom tube back to the world where the original Starro came from.

Legion of Super Heroes
The Fortress appears in the Legion of Super Heroes episode "Message in a Bottle". In the episode, Imperiex attacks the Fortress to enter Kandor and steal its technology, specifically the Messenger, a powerful device capable of converting anything into crystal. The Legion of Super-Heroes subsequently shrink themselves down to enter Kandor themselves and stop him. The series' version of the Fortress is maintained by a robotic version of Superman (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) who resembles Cyborg Superman.

Young Justice
In the episode "Failsafe", the Fortress of Solitude appears on Robin's satellite imagery as a location that was being investigated by alien invaders, although this was merely a dream-like state for a training exercise gone wrong. Eight years later, the Fortress makes the first appearance in the penultimate episode of its fourth season, "Over and Out", when a boom tube leads a time-traveling Kryptonian criminal and his criminal parents, Ursa and General Zod, from the Phantom Zone. The Kryptonian criminals are amazed upon seeing what the sole survivor of their home world has managed to collect over four decades on their history and culture. It is in this icy and frigid fortress that Zod and Ursa begin to gain even greater abilities from Earth's yellow sun by resting in stasis pods.

Justice League Action
In the Justice League Action episode "Field Trip", Superman gives Blue Beetle, Firestorm, and Stargirl a tour of the Fortress of Solitude.

My Adventures with Superman
In the My Adventures with Superman episode "More Things in Heaven And Earth", the ship is taken over by Amanda Waller's group to collect its technology, until they are defeated by Superman, Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane.

Adventures of Superman
The 1950s Adventures of Superman TV series never mentions the Fortress of Solitude. The closest thing to it are cabins in remote mountains which Superman utilizes in the episodes "The Stolen Costume" and "Superman in Exile".

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
On Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the "Fortress" was conspicuously absent, presumably because the series' aim was to explore the idea of Clark Kent being the true identity and Superman merely being the disguise (therefore, the character would have no use for an otherworldly fortress). In the earlier issues of the John Byrne revamp of Superman, the Fortress was also absent so the show was probably following suit.

In the tradition of this approach, the Fortress of Solitude was the name of Clark Kent's childhood treehouse in the season one episode "The Foundling".

Smallville
In Smallville, Jonathan Kent once referred to the loft space in the Kent farm's barn as the "Fortress of Solitude" since it was the place where the teenage Clark Kent usually preferred to be alone.

In season 4's finale "Commencement", after Clark had united all of the Stones of Power (Air, Water, Fire) they created a super crystal, the "Crystal of Knowledge". Once he grabbed the crystal it transported him to an opening in the Arctic Circle where he threw the crystal into the snow thus creating the Fortress of Solitude.

The fifth season premiere episode, Arrival, fully introduces a Fortress of Solitude that is almost identical, both in appearance and construction by self-replicating crystals, to that depicted in the original Superman movies. During the episode, Clark carries an injured Chloe Sullivan from the Fortress to a hospital in the Yukon, suggesting this is one of the nearest inhabited/medically proficient locations to the structure.

An artificial intelligence built into the Fortress by Clark's biological father, Jor-El, would provide Clark with various 'Trials' throughout the series to help steer him toward his destiny as a symbol of hope for humanity. The Jor-El A.I. was, for the most part, omniscient, with the ability to send characters through time, open portals to alternate dimensions, and remove, restore and also transfer Clark's powers to other characters, seemingly at will.

In later seasons, the Fortress is exposed as being vulnerable to other Kryptonian technology – namely Brainiac, and the Orb of Kandor. Lex Luthor would later use the Orb to revert the Fortress back into its original, handheld crystal form after becoming obsessed with Kryptonian conspiracy theories, and mistaking the structure for an alien invasion base. Lex also uses the orb to locate the fortress. The orb levitates and constructs a 3D globe of the world and isolates a circular section of Greenland.

When the crystal was later recovered by Lex's sister, Tess Mercer, as she searched for the now deceased Lex in Northern Greenland, Clark successfully rebuilt the Fortress to resume his training with Jor-El as well as to remove Brainiac from Chloe Sullivan. After completing this Jor-El told Kal-El that he was proud of him and will help in his fight with Doomsday. After Clark leaves Brainiac who has been hiding within the crystal console in his liquid form takes over the Fortress and changes the entire building black and produces the symbol for "Doom" on the floor. Chloe is then brought back to the Fortress after Doomsday crashed her and Jimmy's wedding where Brainiac downloads himself into Chloe leaving the Fortress itself and began to physically download all the knowledge into himself via Chloe. Brainiac then places Davis Bloom, Doomsday's human form in a Kryptonian chamber where it will take days to permanently transform him into Doomsday. After Brainiac was defeated by Clark and the Legion of Super Hero's Brainiac's connection to the Fortress was terminated and all the knowledge he stole returned as well as the Fortress turning back white. A few months after Jimmy was killed Clark was able to repair the Fortress and his connection to Jor-El to resume his Kryptonian training. Although fully repaired there were still a number crystallized pillars that were still black after Brainiac was defeated. However, it was discovered that the Fortress was repairing itself and by the following year, after Clark defeated Zod, all the black crystal pillars were destroyed with Fortress of Solitude fully repaired and purged of corruption ready to serve Clark in his quest to become Superman. During the series' tenth and final season, the Fortress became home to a Martha Kent-crafted, classic Superman costume, which Clark would go on to don in the final episode. Rather than being specifically made for the production, the costume was originally designed and created for Brandon Routh to wear in Superman Returns.

The Fortress is also referred to as Jor-El's 'Fortress of Knowledge' by his assistant Raya.

Supergirl
The Fortress appears in the Supergirl episode "Solitude". As in the comics, it is opened with a massive dwarf star matter key (about 1 m long and 20 cm thick) and appears to be built from either crystal or ice. It contains Kal-El's spaceship, his parents' statue, a Legion Flight Ring and at least one robotic servant called Kelex. Superman had invited Kara there a number of times, but she always refused, afraid of being overcome by nostalgia. It is also mentioned by Kara's sister Alex Danvers that Kara's cousin uses the fortress as a base where he can communicate with his Kryptonian ancestors. Kara finally goes there with James Olsen to look for information about Indigo. In "Myriad", Kara visits the fortress seeking out Kal-El's whereabouts and the purpose of program Myriad. When Kelex refuses to give information to her, the fortress triggered a hologram of her mother of which she explained to her about Myriad's programming. In "The Last Children of Krypton", Superman and J'onn J'onzz visit this place to find information about Metallo. In "The Darkest Place", Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman gains access to the Fortress and uses Kara's blood which Cadmus drained from her to access the Fortress's archive for information on Project Medusa. In "Medusa", Kara goes to Fortress to find information on Project Medusa from the hologram of her father. In "Mr. & Mrs. Mxyzptlk", Kara lures Mxyzptlk in fortress to trick him with a false self-destruct sequence and make him to type the abort code which happened to be his name backwards to force him to go back in his dimension. In "Distant Sun", Mon-El and Kara decide to talk to his mother Rhea in fortress about calling off the bounty on Supergirl's head. She refused and attacked Supergirl with kryptonite daggers, nearly killing her. Mon-El interrupted and decided to go with his mother to save Kara's life. In "Resist", during Daxamite invasion on Earth, Cadmus and DEO propose an alliance to stop invaders and save Lena Luthor and Mon-El from Rhea. Kara, Lilian Luthor and Hank Henshaw enter the Fortress to activate the Phantom Zone projector to board into Daxamite ship. After saving them, only Lena, her mother and Hank return to Fortress where Lilian betrayed Kara and Mon-El to leave them behind. However, Kara expected her betrayal and her friend Winn Schott Jr. put a bug device on Henshaw prior to rescue operation as a precaution. She activated the device to force him in reactivating the projector to beam Mon-El out of the spaceship, while staying behind to confront Rhea. In "Nevertheless, She Persisted" Kara and Kal-El are taken to Fortress by Alex to be healed after their fight when Superman was poisoned with silver kryptonite by Rhea, hallucinating and thinking that he was fighting against General Zod. Kal-El then enters database to find a way to stop Daxamite war and finds it in the form of fighting ritual called Dakkar-Ur. The Fortress also appears in season four episodes where Nia Mal uses this place for her training. In the fifth season episode "Tremors", Kara and Lena go to the Fortress to find one of the Luthor's confiscated weapons to deal with alien being Rama-Khan, who comes to challenge Supergirl and Lena before he is defeated and escapes. Lena takes Myriad, revealing that she used Supergirl to get it and traps her in reprogrammed protocol defense while she escapes with transmatter portal in Lex's hideout Mount Norquay. In "Deus Lex Machina", Supergirl uses Myriad in Fortress to find the people who are stuck in virtual reality, but is incapacitated by Sun-Eater, which is released by Morae, an Leviathan operative who infiltrated under the orders from Lex Luthor. Morae is later captured by Supergirl and her friends. Lex later comes into the Fortress by using transmatter portal when finding its coordinates, which is later revealed in "The Missing Link" that he stole rings for Rama Khan to kill Supergirl. In the season six premiere, "Rebirth", Kara uses the Fortress as a distraction for Lex Luthor, while her friends attempt to destroy his satellites with the program that enables the citizens around the world to follow and love him. After destroying the satellites by J'onzz and M'gann, they confront the super-powered Lex in the Fortress. Lex is ultimately defeated after his powers were drained, but not before sending Kara to the Phantom Zone through its projector. In "Welcome Back, Kara!", following the rescue mission of Kara and her father Zor-El from the Phantom Zone, Kara and her father go to the Fortress to find a data about Kryptonian's oceans from the past to solve the pollution in the Earth's oceans caused by the garbage consisting of DEO's ruins which were dumped by Lex Luthor. Their robot Kelex approaches and Zor gets idea to use him for this mission. In "The Gauntlet", Kara and Lena go to the Fortress to find information about the magical totems from the Fifth Dimension to stop the magical imp Nyxlygsptlnz.

Superman & Lois
In the Superman & Lois episode "Pilot", Clark reveals that he brought Jonathan to check if Jonathan had superhuman abilities after showing some natural talent for sports. The Fortress's tests said it was unlikely however. In the episode "Heritage", Clark had brought Jordan to the Fortress after he manifested some abilities and wished to test for more information. However the A.I of Jor-El concluded that Jordan's powers were a result of brief flare ups and that his human DNA would limit him. Clark tells Lois that he is taking Jordan to the Fortress, when Jordan's powers flare uncontrollably. The A.I. tells Clark that Jordan will feel pain until he learns to control his super hearing. In the episode "Loyal Subjekts", Clark reveals, at some point, he was exposed to so much Kryptonite that he needed to go to the Fortress to be healed by having it burned from his system and since Jordan's lungs were freezing due to second-hand exposure to the synthetic kryptonite of Project 7734, Clark brought Jordan to the Fortress to be healed. There, Jor-El A.I. told Clark that it had to be burned from Jordan's system for him to heal. In the episode "O Mother, Where Art Thou?", Kal-El went to the Fortress to talk to the Jor-El A.I. about the revelation that Tal-Rho is his maternal half-brother. As the two talked, Jor-El revealed that reversing the Eradicator was beyond his knowledge. In the episode "A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events", flashbacks reveal that after the death of Jonathan Kent Sr., Clark came to the Fortress learn about his abilities. Later, in the Fortress, Clark asked Lois to marry him. In present, Tal-Rho followed Clark to the fortress and put him in a trance where he kept reliving his memories. When Clark woke up, Tal destroyed Jor-El's hologram. In the episode "The Thing in the Mines", the Inverse World's Kal-El flew to the Fortress after fighting Superman, where he took off his armor after sustaining damage during the fight. In the episode "Anti-Hero", to protect his Inverse World counterpart from being killed by Mitch Anderson, Superman gave Anderson coordinates to the Fortress instead of Tal-Rho's fortress, where he actually was. Soldiers went to the Fortress and discovered the armor of Superman's counterpart, leading Anderson to conclude that they were working together.

In episode 7 of season 2, it was revealed that this version of the Fortress of Solitude was located at 76.2 North and 100.4 West, which happens to be Qausuittuq National Park in Canada, near the Arctic Ocean.

Krypton
The Fortress of Solitude is central to the storyline of Krypton. In the first season, Seg-El, Kal-El's grandfather, visits the Fortress with his mother, Charys-El, to find the lost research of Val-El, Seg-El's grandfather, after Adam Strange requests Seg-El to find the Fortress to stop Brainiac from destroying Krypton and altering the timeline to prevent Kal-El's birth, 200 years later. Meanwhile, Nyssa-Vex and Jayna-Zod are trying to find the Fortress to prevent information about life on other planets from getting out to the public. The holographic Val appears to Seg and other allies in helping to expose and stop Brainiac's attempt to "bottle" Kandor City. Seg and Brainiac end up being trapped in the Phantom Zone projector in the Fortress, while the real Val-El is brought to Krypton by General Zod, who destroys the projector. In the second season, Seg and Nyssa come to emptied Fortress to remove Brainiac's nanites in Seg's brain stem. After removing them, Brainiac corrupts Val-El's image, brings the ship and teleports with Seg's and Nyssa's son, Jor-El, leaving from the Krypton somewhere in space.

Original film series (1978–2006)
In Superman and its sequels (except for Superman III, in which it did not appear), the Fortress is created by a crystal that Jor-El enclosed in Kal-El's spaceship. The crystal leads teenage Clark Kent to an ice field where it is "planted" by Clark, after which it melts into the ice and grows into a huge crystalline building, similar to the crystalline architecture shown on Krypton at the beginning of the film. This fortress was also used to start Kal-El's 12-year training to become Superman. This Fortress contains numerous "memory crystals" that can be used to access Jor-El's artificial intelligence and hologram, interactive holographic recordings of Lara, and other Kryptonians, and a chamber that uses red sun radiation to strip Kryptonians of their super powers.

In Richard Donner's cut of Superman II, the Fortress is destroyed by Superman as its existence was revealed to Lex Luthor and his henchwoman, Eve Teschmacher. However, Superman then turns back time (à la 1978's Superman), so technically the Fortress is completely undamaged, while Zod, Ursa and Non are returned to the Phantom Zone.

In Superman Returns, the Fortress follows the same formula as the earlier movies, but goes into more detail about the crystal origins of the Fortress and Kryptonian architecture. Lex Luthor attempts to use memory crystals he stole from it to create a new land mass in place of America. An observation is made (following Superman II) that he acts as though he has been there before. The crystals that power the Fortress were lost when Lex Luthor's assistant dropped them out the escaping helicopter into the ocean below. The tie-in book, Superman Returns: The Visual Guide lists the Fortress as sitting on "Fletcher's Abyssal Plane".

DC Extended Universe

 * The 2013 film Man of Steel depicts the Fortress of Solitude as a Kryptonian Scout Ship that crashed on Earth thousands of years ago (revealed in the Man of Steel comic to be because of a fight between Kara Zor-El and Dev-Em), with highly advanced alien technology. One of these aboard is a standard Genesis Chamber that can be used to repopulate Kryptonians for outposts and several smaller Kryptonian robots, one that almost killed Lois Lane but was saved by Kal-El / Clark Kent. While piloting the ship away from military stationed in Ellesmere Island, Clark accesses various holograms in the Fortress to learn about his Kryptonian origins. After Zod and his forces begin the attack on Earth, Zod accesses the ship with his own command key, then uses it to erase Jor-El's A.I and launches the ship towards Metropolis to populate a terraformed Earth and a reborn Krypton. Clark (now known as Superman) destroys the Scout Ship's control, and sends it crashing into Metropolis, destroying the sterile Genesis Chamber in the process.
 * In the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 18 months after what the world has called the "Black Zero Event", the U.S Government has built a facility around the wrecked ship and are attempting to gain access to it for research purposes. After Lex Luthor convinces Barrows, a U.S. Senator, that he can weaponize kryptonite to use as a "deterrent" against Superman, he grants him access to the ship and to the remains of General Zod for analysis. Lex, however, uses a shard of kryptonite to slice off Zod's fingerprints and then place them on his own hands for the ship to scan, which allows him to fully access the ship itself. The ship's A.I. then informs Lex that the craft was only operating at 37% efficiency and tells him about the Kryptonian database. The ship's control by General Zod is eventually overridden by Lex who then immerses Zod's body into the birthing chamber along with a drop of his own blood to create the monster Doomsday. After Superman fails to kill Batman, Lex unleashes Doomsday within the ship, but the monster is halted by Superman who throws him out of the ship itself to continue the fight. Lex is then arrested by Metropolis S.W.A.T team who have entered the ship after Batman contacted them, where they glimpse him conversing with Steppenwolf and is subsequently arrested. Following Superman's death, the ship is still present during Superman's memorial.
 * Another non-traditional interpretation of the "Fortress of Solitude" concept is shown in Batman v Superman when Clark climbs a snowy mountain during his self-imposed exile and converses with a memory of his adoptive father Jonathan for guidance.
 * In the 2017 film Justice League the Scout Ship again plays an important role in Superman's resurrection as Silas Stone and S.T.A.R. Labs have been brought in to study the ship. After finding out that the third and last Mother Box is with Cyborg, Bruce Wayne proposes that the advanced alien technology inside it can be used to bring back Superman if that power can be channeled through Superman's body. After initial protest from Wonder Woman, the team decides to go ahead with the plan. After Cyborg and the Flash dug up the corpse of Clark and help it transport inside the secure facility, it is revealed that during the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Lex Luthor burned the internal circuits of the ship while creating Doomsday, prompting Flash to voluntarily charge the Mother Box via static electricity. As Aquaman drops the Mother Box on the corpse dipped in the electrolyte solution of the ship, Flash charges the box by gaining charge with running. They are successful, as it helps in resurrecting Superman, although he has no memories of his past, and quickly turns hostile on the group. Left unguarded, Steppenwolf retrieves the last Mother Box lying outside the facility via transporting through a Boom Tube.
 * The 2021 director's cut Zack Snyder's Justice League shows the League deciding to resurrect Superman with less pushback, though the ship's AI warns Cyborg not to proceed as it senses consequences such as the resurrected Superman falling under Darkseid's control. Clark returns to the ship after visiting his childhood home with Lois and regaining his memories, picking out a black-colored variant of his suit before joining the rest of the League to fight Steppenwolf in Russia. Afterwards, Ryan Choi is appointed by S.T.A.R. Labs to take over oversight of the ship after Silas sacrifices himself to help the League track down Steppenwolf.

DC Universe film series
The upcoming film Superman (2025), written and directed by James Gunn, will include the Fortress of Solitude.

Video games
In the video game The Death and Return of Superman for SNES, the Fortress of Solitude is shown in one of the cutscenes.

The Fortress of Solitude is a location in Mortal Kombat vs. DC. Its appearance is based on the Donner-Singer films, but with some added visuals including ice statues of Jor El and Lara holding up Krypton, and a Jor El image behind a crystal. This same fortress design is shown in the DC Universe Online MMORPG and is used by Batman and Lex Luthor as a last bastion against the forces of Brainiac. A similar design was used in Injustice: Gods Among Us.

The Fortress of Solitude is featured in the Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.

title: Fortress of Solitude


text:
Minister of Public Services and Procurement

The minister of public services and procurement (ministre des services publics et de l’approvisionnement) is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the Government of Canada's "common service organization" (Public Services and Procurement Canada), an expansive department responsible for the internal servicing and administration of the federal government. A flavour for the department is given by the list of acts and regulations for which it is responsible.

The minister of public services and procurement is also the receiver general for Canada. The Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, 1996 states: "In the Minister's capacity as Receiver General, the Minister shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties and functions assigned to the receiver general by law."

The current minister is Jean-Yves Duclos who took over on July 26, 2023, from Helena Jaczek.

List of ministers
Key:

{{legend||Liberal Party of Canada|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}} {{legend||Conservative Party of Canada|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

Prior to 1996, the responsibilities of the current Public Works and Government Services portfolio were divided between the now-defunct posts of Minister of Public Works and Minister of Supply and Services.

Acts for which the minister is responsible

 * 1)    Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Implementation Act
 * 2)    Bridges Act
 * 3)    Canadian Arsenals Limited Divestiture Authorization Act
 * 4)    Defence Production Act
 * 5)    Department of Public Works and Government Services Act
 * 6)    Dry Dock Subsidies Act
 * 7)    Expropriation Act
 * 8)    Federal District Commission to have acquired certain lands, An Act to confirm the authority of the
 * 9)    Garnishment, Attachment and Pension Diversion Act
 * 10)    Government Property Traffic Act
 * 11)    Kingsmere Park Act
 * 12)    National Flag of Canada Manufacturing Standards Act
 * 13)    Ottawa River, An Act respecting certain works
 * 14)    Payments in Lieu of Taxes Act
 * 15)    Pension Benefits Division Act
 * 16)    Publication of Statutes Act
 * 17)    Seized Property Management Act
 * 18)    Shared Services Canada Act
 * 19)    Surplus Crown Assets Act
 * 20)    Translation Bureau Act

Source:


text:
Bloch MB.131

The Bloch MB.130 and its derivatives were a series of French monoplane reconnaissance-bombers developed during the 1930s. They saw some limited action at the beginning of World War II but were obsolete by that time and suffered badly against the Luftwaffe. After the fall of France, a few were pressed into Luftwaffe service.

Design and development
The MB.130 was developed after the August 1933 French Aviation Ministry request for a reconnaissance and tactical bomber. It was an all-metal, twin-engine, low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear, armed with three flexible machine guns, one each in the nose, dorsal turret, and ventral gondola. It first flew on 29 June 1934 and despite very ordinary performance, soon entered production, forty machines being ordered in October 1935. An improved version, the MB.131 was first flown on 16 August 1936 but still needed more work to overcome its deficiencies. The radically revised second prototype which flew on 5 May 1937 eventually formed the basis for series production, with aircraft being manufactured by SNCASO, the nationalised company that had absorbed Bloch and Blériot. Total production (including prototypes) was 143.

MB.135
A four-engined derivative of the MB.134, was developed powered by four 710 hp Gnome-Rhône 14M 14-cylinder radial engines, with an essentially similar airframe. The sole example flew for the first time on 12 January 1939.

Operational history
Entering service in June 1938, the MB.131 went on to equip seven reconnaissance Groupes, six in metropolitan France and one in North Africa. Upon the outbreak of the war, the metropolitan Groupes suffered many losses in attempts at daylight reconnaissance of Germany's western borders. They were subsequently restricted to flying night missions, though they still suffered many losses. By May 1940, all metropolitan units had been converted to Potez 63.11 aircraft, with only the African groupe retaining them for front-line duty. After the Battle of France, the aircraft left in Vichy possession were relegated to target towing. Twenty-one unserviceable aeroplanes were reported captured by the Luftwaffe but photographic evidence suggests at least a few flew for the Nazis.

Variants

 * MB.130.01
 * Original prototype, 2x Gnome-Rhône 14Kdrs engines

 * MB.131.01
 * First prototype, 2x Gnome-Rhône 14N-10

 * MB.131.02
 * Second prototype with revised wings, tail, and fuselage

 * MB.131R4
 * Initial versions with one central machine gun, 13 built. Note: Breffort and Joiuineau say that 14 R4 aircraft were built.

 * MB.131Ins
 * Dual control instructor version, 5 built

 * MB.131RB4
 * Four-seat reconnaissance-bomber aircraft. Internal bomb bay and revised equipment. 121 built, including two prototypes refitted to this standard. Note: Breffort and Joiuineau say that 100 RB4 aircraft were built.

 * MB.133
 * Prototype with redesigned tail, 1 built

 * MB.134
 * Prototype with two 1100 hp Hispano-Suiza 14AA engines, 1 built

 * MB.135
 * A four engined derivative of the MB.134, powered by four 710 hp Gnome-Rhône 14M 14 cylinder radial engines

 * MB.136

Operators

 * undefined
 * French Air Force operated 141 aircraft.
 * Vichy France
 * Vichy French Air Force operated some aircraft.
 * Nazi Germany
 * Luftwaffe operated captured aircraft in restricted roles.
 * undefined
 * Polish Air Forces in exile in France
 * Groupe de Bombardement Marche Polonais

title: Bloch MB.131


text:
Youppi!

Youppi! ( or, French for Yippee!) is the official mascot for the Montreal Canadiens, and former longtime mascot of the Montreal Expos. Youppi! wears an "!" instead of a jersey number.

History
Youppi!, a creation of Acme Mascots, Inc. (a division of Harrison/Erickson, Inc.), was commissioned by Montreal Expos vice-president Roger D. Landry. Originally leased by the baseball team in 1979, the mascot was eventually purchased by the Expos and represented them until they moved to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season. With instructions from Landry and Rodger Brulotte, Youppi! was designed by Bonnie Erickson, formerly a designer for Jim Henson, and the designer of Miss Piggy, Statler and Waldorf and other Muppet characters. Its orange color was chosen as a reference to Rusty Staub, a former player for the Expos. The orange, hairy giant was a popular figure at Olympic Stadium prior to the Expos' relocation to Washington, D.C.

Notoriety
Youppi! was the first mascot to be thrown out of a Major League Baseball game. During the 1989 Expos season, on August 23 while atop the visitors' dugout in the 11th inning, Youppi! took a running leap, landing hard and noisily on its roof, and then sneaked into a front row seat. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda complained to the umpires and Youppi! was ejected by Bob Davidson, though he later returned, confined to the home team's dugout roof, as Montreal eventually lost 1–0 in 22 innings. Youppi! was also a frequent joke punchline of notoriously sarcastic Atlanta Braves broadcaster Skip Caray. Youppi! was also referenced by pitcher Bill Lee during interviews in Ken Burns's Baseball documentary.

Youppi! is one of only three mascots featured as displays at the Baseball Hall of Fame. The others are the Phillie Phanatic of Philadelphia, another design by Erickson, and the Famous Chicken from San Diego.

The Montreal-based political cartoonist Terry Mosher, better known as "Aislin", depicted or referenced Youppi! on several occasions, including a prescient 1988 cartoon drawn at a time when the Expos were having a poor season and depicting then-general manager of the Canadiens Serge Savard receiving a phone call from Youppi!, presumably seeking employment.

Youppi! was voted to the Mascot Hall of Fame in December 2019, and was inducted in June 2020. Youppi! is the first mascot of a Canadian team to receive the honor.

From baseball to hockey
After the Expos moved to Washington, D.C., and became the Washington Nationals, the Nationals initially stated that Youppi! would still be a part of the team in some capacity. However, the team adopted a new mascot, the eagle "Screech". For months after the move, the fate of Youppi! hung in the balance. Negotiations were held with ten groups, including the Montreal Alouettes.

On September 16, 2005, the Montreal Canadiens announced that Youppi! would become the first official mascot of the organization, and the first mascot to ever switch between any two major sports leagues in North America. Prior to Youppi!, the Canadiens had no mascot. The terms of acquisition were reportedly in the six figures. Youppi! now sports the Canadiens' bleu-blanc-rouge (blue, white, and red) jersey. Youppi!'s first game in the Bell Centre was on October 18, 2005.

On February 19, 2012, at the Canadiens' first home game after the death of Montreal Expos great Gary Carter, Youppi! wore the Expos colours in Carter's memory.

On May 16, 2014, on the eve of the Canadiens series against the New York Rangers in the 2014 Eastern Conference Finals, New York City native Jimmy Fallon, the host of NBC's Tonight Show, which is taped in New York, made a bet with the Montreal Canadiens that if they won the series, Fallon would wear a Montreal jersey during his opening monologue. However, if the Rangers won the series, Youppi! would have to wear a Rangers jersey around Montreal and post at least ten pictures of him doing so on the Canadiens' Twitter account and also change their avatar to a pic of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist playing guitar. The Rangers won the series on May 29 in six games. As such, on June 1, the Canadiens honoured their bet and a dejected Youppi! was photographed around Montreal in a Rangers jersey with Fallon's name on the back, and the last photo, as Fallon stated, featured him riding the mechanical bull at Montreal bar Chez Serge.

Arrival of METAL!
In 2022, to promote the team's reverse retro jerseys, the team created METAL!, a heavy-metal-obsessed blue creature, who claims to have been Youppi!'s "twin brother", and have been the Canadiens mascot from 1979 to 1993, even though there is no evidence of the latter statement. According to the Habs' announcement, METAL! seemed to have fallen asleep in an ice machine in the Montreal Forum basement after a party celebrating the Stanley Cup win in 1993, and only emerged in the summer of 2022, when the thing was unearthed during renovations.

Behind "Youppi!"
In the 26 seasons that Youppi! was working with the Expos, only 6 men portrayed the mascot: Denis Desaulniers, Jean-Claude Tremblay, Claude Hubert, Pierre Bélisle, Jean-Simon Bibeau, and Sylvain Ouellette.

Denis Desaulniers (1979–1983)
Denis Desaulniers was the first to wear the costume following the shift from Souki to Youppi!. Inspired by the popularity and irreverence of the San Diego Chicken, Desaulniers auditioned for and received the part at 25 years old. During his career as Youppi!, Desaulniers strived to create a warm soul and fun-loving attitude for the character.

Desaulniers also introduced one of Youppi's most iconic moves: punching himself in the nose. He claims this was to stay in character while adjusting the head of the costume so he could see. Underneath the head of the mascot, he wore a motorcycle helmet with a thick layer of styrofoam to protect his head, which would cause the mascot's head to fall forward frequently.

Jean-Claude Tremblay (1983–1985)
Jean-Claude Tremblay had his first interaction with the Expos after being hired to fix the mascot's costume. At the time, Tremblay was doing corporate mascot gigs to make ends meet while working full-time at his brother's art shop. Once the Expos' team discovered Tremblay's talents as a mascot, he was offered the opportunity to succeed Desaulniers.

Tremblay was responsible for many changes to Youppi!'s costume, including more securely-attached eyes and a swap from the scruffy old material to washable parts following complaints (including his own) of the mascot's smell.

After 3 seasons, Tremblay surrendered his role as Youppi! to focus on his real passion: creating mascots. As of 2023, he is one of the most prominent mascot manufacturers in North America, credited with creating mascots such as the Tampa Bay Ray's Raymond and the Indianapolis Colt's Blue.

Pierre Bélisle (1985–1988, 1991–1995)
A police officer at the time, Pierre Bélisle was drawn to the energetic and fun role of Youppi! following an intense undercover mission to infiltrate and take down drug traffickers in Canada, during which his true identity was revealed in prison. After garnering much success as Youppi!, Bélisle obtained special permission from the Chief of the SPVM to continue portraying Youppi! for 11 years. This was not Bélisle's first experience with baseball; he was formerly a prospective left-handed pitcher.

Bélisle is credited with some of Youppi!'s most iconic stunts, including jumping from moving vehicles on the field. However, one of the most memorable stunts Bélisle carried out as Youppi! was an ironic arrest in costume at the Olympic Stadium.

After rising through the ranks in the SPVM, Bélisle retired his role as Youppi!, as it was felt it could damage his credibility within the force. He continued on to become the MLB Commissioner's Representative in Montreal for 9 years and the NHL Commissioner's Representative in Montreal for 4 years

Claude Hubert (1988–1990)
Claude Hubert was involved with mascots for around 20 years; he worked for many Canadian sports teams, such as the Montreal Dragons and the Montreal Machines. From 1985 to 1988, Hubert worked alongside Jean-Simon Bibeau as Bélisle's understudies and, when Bélisle left briefly to work as the Chief Instructor at the Quebec National Police Academy, Hubert shared the full responsibilities of Youppi with Jean-Simon Bibeau.

As Youppi!, Hubert was responsible for the first and only incident wherein a mascot was expelled from a Major League Baseball game. As Youppi!, Hubert hopped on top of the away team's dugout during an Expos v. Dodgers game and, following continued antics, was confronted by Tommy Lasorda. (Hubert claims to have already known of Lasorda's distaste for mascots following his infamous "tussle" with the Philly Phanatic.) After the scuffle began to escalate, Bob Davidson, the umpire during that game, made the decision to eject Youppi!, who was eventually readmitted following chants from the crowd and a promise to remain on the Expos' side of the field.

Jean-Simon Bibeau (1988–1990, 2003–present)
In 1986, Jean-Simon Bibeau was hired by Bélisle himself as his main understudy. This was not Bibeau's first experience with athletic recognition, as he was already holding a USA NCAA record for goals scored in a season while playing hockey with the Plattsburg Cardinals at this time. When Bélisle left briefly to work as the Chief Instructor at the Quebec National Police Academy, Bibeau shared the full responsibilities of Youppi! with Hubert. Upon Bélisle's return as the main portrayer of Youppi!, Bibeau became Bélisle's sole understudy, but was hired full-time by the Expos Promotion and Marketing department.

By 1995, Bibeau directed all of Youppi!'s activities for the Expos, and would continue following Youppi!'s transition from baseball with the Expos to hockey with the Montreal Canadiens to the present day.

Bibeau's time dedicated to his mascot career has earned him the title of the longest portrayer of any mascot in any professional sport.

Sylvain Ouellette (1996–2003)
The last to portray Youppi! during his time as a baseball mascot, Sylvain Ouellette was previously working as an entertainer at nightclubs. While working in nightclubs, he met Vincent Guy Aubry, a DJ who often worked at the Olympic Stadium during Expos games. After hearing the Expos were looking for a mascot, Aubry mentioned Ouellette to his superior at the stadium. Although Ouellette was not a baseball fan at the time, his love and passion for entertaining landed him the job.

During the Expos' two seasons in Puerto Rico, Ouellette proved especially valuable due to his Spanish proficiency and experience with Latin dancing and culture.

title: Youppi!


text:
Pombe

Pombe may refer to:
 * Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the fission yeast, a yeast species used as a model organism in molecular and cell biology
 * Pombe beer, a type of locally made African millet beer

title: Pombe


text:
Kutch district

Kutch district, officially spelled Kachchh, is a district of Gujarat state in western India, with its headquarters (capital) at Bhuj. Covering an area of 45,674 km2, it is the largest district of India. The area of Kutch is larger than the entire area of other Indian states like Haryana (44,212 km2) and Kerala (38,863 km2), as well as the country of Estonia (45,335 km2). The population of Kutch is about 2,092,371. It has 10 talukas, 939 villages and 6 municipalities. The Kutch district is home to the Kutchi people who speak the Kutchi language.

Kutch literally means something which intermittently becomes wet and dry; a large part of this district is known as Rann of Kutch which is shallow wetland which submerges in water during the rainy season and becomes dry during other seasons. The same word is also used in Sanskrit origin for a tortoise. The Rann is known for its marshy salt flats which become snow white after the shallow water dries up each season before the monsoon rains.

The district is also known for ecologically important Banni grasslands with their seasonal marshy wetlands which form the outer belt of the Rann of Kutch.

Kutch is surrounded by the Gulf of Kutch and the Arabian Sea to the south and west, while the northern and eastern parts are surrounded by the Great and Little Rann (seasonal wetlands) of Kutch. It is also next to the border with Pakistan, a neighbouring country of India. When there were not many dams built on its rivers, the Rann of Kutch remained wetlands for a large part of the year. Even today, the region remains wet for a significant part of year. The district had a population of 2,092,371 as of 2011 census, of which 30% were urban. Motor vehicles registered in Kutch district have a registration number starting with GJ-12. The district is well connected by road, rail and air. There are four airports in the district: Naliya, Anjar, Mundra, and Bhuj. Bhuj and Anjar are well connected with Mumbai airport. Being a border district, Kutch has both an army and an air force base.

History
The history of Kutch can be traced back to prehistoric times. There are several sites related to the Indus valley civilization in the region, and it is mentioned in Hindu mythology. The region is also mentioned in Greek writings during the reign of Alexander the Great. For a time, it was ruled by Menander I of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which was then overthrown by Indo-Scythians. The region was later ruled by the Maurya Empire and Sakas. In the first century CE, it was under the Western Satraps, followed by the Gupta Empire. By the fifth century, the Maitraka dynasty of Valabhi took over from which its close association with the ruling clans of Gujarat started.

Hieun Tsang refers to Kutch as Kiecha in his writings. In the seventh century, Kutch was being ruled by Charans, Kathis, and Chavdas. The Chavdas ruled the eastern and central parts by the seventh century, but Kutch came under the rule of the Chaulukya dynasty by the tenth century. After the fall of Chaulukya, the Vaghelas ruled the state. By the thirteenth century, the Vaghelas controlled the whole of Kutch and adopted a new dynastic identity, Jadeja.

For three centuries, Kutch was divided and ruled by three different branches of the Jadeja brothers. In the sixteenth century, Kutch was unified under one rule by Rao Khengarji I of these branches, and his direct descendants ruled for two centuries and had a good relationship with the Gujarat Sultanate and Mughals. One of his descendants, Rayadhan II, left three sons, of whom two died, and a third son, Pragmalji I took over the state and founded the current lineage of rulers at the start of the seventeenth century. The descendants of the other brothers founded states in Kathiawar. After turbulent periods and battles with the armies of Sindh, the state was stabilized in the middle of the eighteenth century by a council known as Bar Bhayat ni Jamat who placed Rao as a titular head and ruled independently. The state accepted the sovereignty of the British East India Company in 1819, when Kutch was defeated in battle. That same year, the state was devastated by an earthquake. The state stabilized and flourished in business under subsequent rulers.

Upon the independence of India in 1947, Kutch acceded unto the dominion of India and was constituted an independent commissionaire. It was made a state within the union of India in 1950. The state witnessed an earthquake in 1956. On 1 November 1956, Kutch State was merged with Bombay state, which in 1960 was divided into the new linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, with Kutch becoming part of Gujarat as Kutch district. The district was affected by a tropical cyclone in 1998 and the earthquake in 2001. The state saw rapid industrialization and growth in tourism in subsequent years.

Topography
Kutch District, at 45674 sqkm, is the largest district in India. The administrative headquarters is the city of Bhuj which is geographically in the center of the district. Gandhidham is the largest city and Financial centre of Kutch. Other main towns are Rapar, Nakhatrana, Anjar, Mandvi, Madhapar, Mundra and Bhachau. Kutch has 969 villages. Kala Dungar (Black Hill) is the highest point in Kutch at 458 m. Kutch is virtually an island, as it is surrounded by the Arabian Sea in the west; the Gulf of Kutch in south and southeast and Rann of Kutch in north and northeast. The border with Pakistan lies along the northern edge of the Rann of Kutch, of the Sir Creek. The Kutch peninsula is an example of active fold and thrust tectonism. In Central Kutch there are four major east-west hill ranges characterized by fault propagation folds with steeply dipping northern limbs and gently dipping southern limbs. From the gradual increasing dimension of the linear chain of hillocks towards the west along the Kutch mainland fault and the epicentre of the earthquake of 2001 lying at the eastern extreme of Kutch mainland fault, it is suggested that the eastern part of the Kutch mainland fault is progressively emerging upward. It can be suggested from the absence of distinct surface rupture both during the 1956 Anjar earthquake and 2001 Bhuj earthquake, that movements have taken place along a blind thrust. Villages situated on the blind thrust in the eastern part of the Kutch mainland hill range (viz. Jawaharnagar, Khirsara, Devisar, Amarsar and Bandhdi) were completely erased during the 2001 earthquake.

Rivers and dams
There are ninety-seven small rivers in Kutch District, most of which flow into the Arabian Sea, but some of which feed the Rann of Kutch. Twenty major dams, and numerous smaller dams, capture the rainy season runoff. While most of these dams do not affect the Ranns, as they are on rivers that feed directly into the Arabian Sea, storage of rainy season water upstream from Kutch and its use in irrigation has resulted in less fresh water coming into the Ranns of Kutch during the rainy season. This is true of the Great Rann, but particularly true of the Little Rann which is fed by the Luni, Rupen, the Bambhan, the Malwan, the Kankawati, and the Saraswati rivers. However sea water from the Arabian Sea still continues to be driven into the Great Rann by storm tides aided by high winds. Water remains a serious issue in Kutch. Kutch's thirst for water is satisfied by Narmada river flowing from Sardar Sarovar dam.

Divisions
Kutch is divided into four zones:

 * Wagad (including Rapar, Bhachau taluka and Little Rann)

 * Kanthi (coastal area, derived from Gujarati:કાંઠો), comprising Mundra and half of Mandvi taluka.

 * Banni (with Pascham; includes Bhuj, Nakhatrana and surrounding areas)

Under the Kutch princely state, Kutch was divided into Bani, Abdasa, Anjar, Banni, Bhuvad Chovisi, Garado, Halar Chovisi, Kand, Kantho, Khadir, Modaso, Pranthal, Prawar, and Vagad.
 * Makpat (includes part of Nakhatrana and Lakhapat taluka).

Kutch District is further divided into six subdistricts, each comprising one or two taluka:

 * Bhuj (Bhuj taluka)

 * Anjar (Anjar and Gandhidham)

 * Bhachau (Bhachau and Rapar)

 * Mundra (Mundra and Mandvi)

 * Nakhatrana (Nakhatrana and Lakhpat)

 * Naliya (Abdasa-Naliya)

Wildlife sanctuaries and reserves
From the city Bhuj various ecologically rich and wildlife conservation areas of the Kutch district can be visited such as Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary, Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary, Kutch Bustard Sanctuary, Banni Grasslands Reserve and Chari-Dhand Wetland Conservation Reserve.

Demographics
According to the 2011 census Kutch District has a population of 2,092,371, roughly equal to the nation of North Macedonia or the US state of New Mexico. This gives it a ranking of 217th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 46 PD/sqkm. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 32.16%. Kutch has a sex ratio of 908 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 71.58%. 34.81% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 12.37% and 1.05% of the population respectively.

Religion
Kutch district has a Hindu majority and Muslim minority with around 1% of Jains. Most Muslims are rural and Kutchi-speaking, and are concentrated in areas closest to the Pakistan border such as Banni. Lakhpat (41.20%) and Abdasa (38.01%) taluks have significant concentration of Muslims, while rural areas of Bhuj taluk have nearly 40% Muslims. Elsewhere, Gujarati Hindus and Muslims are in proportions consistent with the rest of Gujarat.

Language
According to the 2011 Census, Kachchhi speakers are a majority in 5 out of the 10 tehsils: Abdasa (76.06%), Lakhpat (69.71%), Mandvi (62.48%), Nakhatrana (54.54%) and Mundra (50.66%). In addition, they are 43.39% in Bhuj, 18.06% in Anjar and 14.13% in Gandhidham. However in Rapar and Bhachau, they are only 0.14% and 1.05% respectively.

Kutchi is classified as a dialect of Sindhi. A common misconception is that it is a dialect of Gujarati. The script of the Kutchi language has become extinct. It is now mainly written in the Gujarati script. Samples of Kutch script are available in the Kutch Museum. The increased use of Gujarati language is mainly because of its being a medium of instruction in schools.

Politics

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Notable religious sites

 * Narayan Sarovar Temple and Koteshwar Temple
 * Ashapura Mata temple at Mata no Madh. The village is located about 100 km from Bhuj. Ashapura Mata is the household deity (Kuldevti) of former Jadeja rulers of Cutch State.
 * The Swaminarayan Sampraday has a huge following in this Kutch region. Their main temple in this district is Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Bhuj.
 * The Muslims have a following in the Kutch region. Their main dargah-shrine in this district is Shah Zakariya Ali Akbar, Hajipir.
 * Anjar city also has a Swaminarayan Mandir
 * Lakhpat has religious significance for three of India's most populous religions.
 * The temple of Gudthar Vara Shri Matiya Dev, a deity of the Maheshwari sect, is located in Kutch. Shri Matiya Dev is considered very revered in the Maheshwari sect.
 * Siyot Caves
 * Mundra
 * Khetabapa, Vithon

Important Jain places of Pilgrimage are -
 * Shri Bhadreshwar Jain Tirth Derasar
 * Koday Jain tirth (72 Jinalaya Jain Temple here is the most famous)
 * Vanki Mahavir Jain Temple, Vaanki, Gujarat 370425
 * Kothara Shantinath Jain Tirth, Kothara, Abdasa Taluka
 * Naliya Thirth Jain Derasar
 * Jakhau Mahavirswami Sw. Jain Tirth
 * Suthri Dhrutkallol Parshwanath Maha Tirth, Suthari

Education
Higher education in Kutch has been regulated by Kachchh University since 2003. About 43 colleges in total are affiliated to the university, offering courses in humanities, science, commerce, medicine, nursing, education and computer science. Professional courses in engineering, pharmacy and management are regulated through the Gujarat Technological University.

People
Kutch district is inhabited by various groups and communities. One can find various nomadic, semi nomadic and artisan groups living in Kutch. Rabari constitute a comparatively large group in Kutch And there lives a brave and noble community like Ahir.

Food and drink

Because most of the population of the Kutch district is Hindu or Jain, the food of the region is largely vegetarian. Jains also refrain from eating root vegetables (kandmool in Hindi) such as potatoes, garlic, onions, and yams. The district also features a sizeable population of Muslims, who eat vegetables, chicken, mutton and occasionally camel meat.

In the villages of the district, staple foods include kadi-khichdi, milk, and bajra (pearl millet). The latter of these was introduced to the region by a king named Lakho Fulani, who was himself introduced to the grain during his period of exile. Bajara na rotla with curd and buttermilk is also a staple among the Gujarati people.

In the region, milk is considered to be a sacred food; an offering of milk is considered a gesture of friendship and welcoming, and dispute settlements invariably involve the parties offering milk to each other. Similarly, in Kutchi engagement ceremonies, the bride's family offers milk to the groom's family as a symbol of accepting their relationship. They also extensively drink buttermilk during lunch.

Tea is the most popular drink in this region.

Economy
Historically Kutch was always considered a backward region due to its location and submerged geography. The situation seemed to have worsened after the disastrous Kutch earthquake in 2001. But in the next decade, the economy took an almost miraculous jump start due to the intense efforts of the Gujarat government. Kutch today is a growing economic and industrial hub in one of India's fastest growing states – Gujarat. Its location on the far western edge of India has resulted in the commissioning of two major ports: Kandla and Mundra. These ports are closest to the Gulf of Arabia (and thus to Europe by sea). The hinterland of north-western India hosts more than 50% of India's population.

Quality of roads is good in Kutch. The large part of the growth of Kutch came after intense development by the state government as part of 2001 earthquake relief.

Due to the existence of two major ports i.e. Kandla and Mundra transportation as a business has thrived. Since historical times the people of Kutch have formed the backbone of trade between Gujarat mainland and Sindh. After the formation of Pakistan this trade stopped for good, but due to the inception of the Kandla port, trade boomed again. Kandla port is also in Kutch. It is considered Gateway to India's North. It is managed by the Kandla Port trust.

Mineral
Kutch is a mineral rich region with a very large reserve of Lignite, Bauxite, Gypsum and other minerals. Kutch received tax break for industries for 15 years after the major earthquake on 26 January 2001. Lignite is mined only by Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) at its two mines in Panandhro and Mata no Madh. The Panandaro mines has now been reserved for GEB and GMDC power plants and GMDC has stopped supplying other industries from there.

Cement and power
Kutch also houses cement plants Gujarat Anjan Cement Limited promoted by infrastructure conglomerate Anjan Group and Sanghi Industries Ltd's promoted by Sanghi Group. The companies are now planning to increase the capacity at Abdasa location from 3–9 million tons per annum. By 2015, the company plans to produce 20 million tons.

Forestry
Kutch district has a scanty forest cover. Hence there is negligible risk of illegal cutting of forests. This coupled with the adequate facilities available at Kandla port has helped establish the timber market. In 1987, "Kandla Timber Association" was formed in order to resolve the specific problems of timber importers and timber allied industries coming up during the period. The timber industry is growing at a faster pace with 300 saw mills working in Gandhidham-Kandla Complex.

Salt
The Little Rann of Kutch is known for its traditional salt production and various references mention this to be a 600-year-old activity. During the British period, this activity increased manifold. It was used to fund a substantial part of the military expenses of the British government.

Communities involved in salt production are mainly Chunvaliya Koli, Ahir and Miyana (Muslim), residing in 107 villages in the periphery of Lesser Rann of Kutch. These communities are traditionally known to have the skills of salt production and are known as 'Agariyas'. Water quality in 107 villages of Lesser Rann of Kutch is saline, thus agriculture is not an option. Hence salt production is the only livelihood option for Agariyas. As per the Salt Commission's report there are 45000 Agariyas working in the salt pans of Kutch. Out of the estimated total annual production of India of about 18 million tonnes, Gujarat contributes 75% – mainly from Kutch and other parts of Saurashtra.

Textile art
Kutch is one of the most prolific regions in India in the area of textile art. Kutch Embroidery is dense with motifs, and a variation with mirrors sewn into the embroidery is one of the signature arts of this region.

Within the category of Kutch embroidery there are several sub-categories as each tribe and sub-tribe produces a unique signature form of art.

Kutchi embroidery is an evolving expression of the craft and textile traditions of the Rabaris, a nomadic tribe in Gujarat. Kutch embroidery is unique in the sense that a net is woven on a cloth using thread. The net is then filled in using the same thread by intricate interlocking stitches. The patterns are usually built around geometric shapes. This embroidery follows its own traditional design logic and juxtaposition of colours and motifs. The Rohanas tribals of Kutch specialise in skirt work. The Sodhas use a geometric style for their embroidery. The Garacia Jats are experts in tiny embroidery on the yoke, which intermingles with red, orange, blue and green threads. The Dhanetah Jats love embroidering broad pear-shaped mirrors using orange, black, yellow and red in chain stitch.

In culture
J. P. Dutta's Bollywood film Refugee is shot on location in the Great Rann of Kutch and other locations in the Kutch district of Gujarat, India. This film is attributed to have been inspired by the famous story by Keki N. Daruwalla based around the Great Rann of Kutch titled Love Across the Salt Desert which is also included as one of the short stories in the School Standard XII syllabus English text book of NCERT in India. The film crew having traveled from Mumbai was based at the city of Bhuj and majority of the film shooting took place in various locations around in the Kutch District of the Indian state of Gujarat including the Great Rann of Kutch (also on BSF controlled "snow white" Rann within), Villages and Border Security Force (BSF) Posts in Banni grasslands and the Rann, Tera fort village, Lakhpat fort village, Khera fort village, a village in southern Kutch, some ancient temples of Kutch and with parts and a song filmed on set in Mumbai's Kamalistan Studio.

Just after the film shooting of Refugee finished, the film crew of another Bollywood film Lagaan descended on Bhuj in Kutch and shot the entire film in the region, employing local people and villagers from miles around. A set of a full period Village was constructed for the film with typical Kutch style mud houses or huts with thatched straw roofs called boongas.

Towns and villages

 * Anjar
 * Bhachau
 * Bhuj
 * Dhavda Nana
 * Gandhidham
 * Khavda
 * Lakhpat
 * Madhapar
 * Mandvi
 * Mundra
 * Nakhatrana
 * Naliya
 * Rapar
 * Sonalnagar

title: Kutch district


text:
Sa Gojō

Sa Gojō (沙悟凈) (occasionally Sha Gojō) can refer to various characters based on Sha Wujing, such as:

 * The Japanese name of the Journey to the West character Sha Wujing
 * The character "Sandy" in the Monkey TV series
 * Sha Gojyo (Saiyuki), in the manga Saiyuki

title: Sa Gojō