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G33 (developing countries)

The G33 (or the Friends of Special Products in agriculture) is a coalition of developing countries, established prior to the 2003 Cancun ministerial conference, that have coordinated during the Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations, specifically in regard to agriculture.

Dominated by India, the group has "defensive" concerns regarding agriculture in relation to World Trade Organization negotiations, and seeks to limit the degree of market opening required of developing countries.

While rich governments can afford to heavily subsidize their agriculture, predatory dumping can undermine a poorer country's agricultural economy. Developing countries aim to balance power through tariffs, in order to manage their own food security, stabilize the livelihoods of their farming populations, and to strengthen rural development.

The group has advocated the creation of a "special products" exemption, which would allow developing countries to exempt certain products from tariff exemptions, and also a "special safeguard mechanism" which would permit tariff increases in response to import surges.

Members
Despite the name, there are currently 48 member nations.

 * 🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda
 * 🇧🇧 Barbados
 * 🇧🇿 Belize
 * 🇧🇯 Benin
 * 🇨🇳 China
 * Cote d'Ivoire
 * 🇨🇺 Cuba
 * Democratic Republic of the Congo
 * 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
 * 🇸🇻 El Salvador
 * 🇬🇩 Grenada
 * 🇬🇾 Guyana
 * 🇬🇹 Guatemala
 * 🇭🇹 Haiti
 * 🇭🇳 Honduras
 * 🇮🇳 India
 * 🇮🇩 Indonesia
 * 🇯🇲 Jamaica
 * 🇰🇪 Kenya
 * Laos
 * 🇲🇺 Mauritius
 * 🇲🇬 Madagascar
 * 🇲🇳 Mongolia
 * 🇲🇿 Mozambique
 * 🇳🇮 Nicaragua
 * 🇳🇬 Nigeria
 * 🇵🇰 Pakistan
 * 🇵🇦 Panama
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines
 * 🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis
 * 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia
 * 🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
 * 🇸🇳 Senegal
 * 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
 * 🇸🇷 Suriname
 * 🇹🇿 Tanzania
 * 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey
 * 🇺🇬 Uganda
 * 🇻🇪 Venezuela
 * 🇿🇲 Zambia
 * 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe

title: G33 (developing countries)


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Solar irradiance

Solar irradiance is the power per unit area (surface power density) received from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range of the measuring instrument. Solar irradiance is measured in watts per square metre (W/m2) in SI units.

Solar irradiance is often integrated over a given time period in order to report the radiant energy emitted into the surrounding environment (joule per square metre, J/m2) during that time period. This integrated solar irradiance is called solar irradiation, solar exposure, solar insolation, or insolation.

Irradiance may be measured in space or at the Earth's surface after atmospheric absorption and scattering. Irradiance in space is a function of distance from the Sun, the solar cycle, and cross-cycle changes. Irradiance on the Earth's surface additionally depends on the tilt of the measuring surface, the height of the Sun above the horizon, and atmospheric conditions. Solar irradiance affects plant metabolism and animal behavior.

The study and measurement of solar irradiance have several important applications, including the prediction of energy generation from solar power plants, the heating and cooling loads of buildings, climate modeling and weather forecasting, passive daytime radiative cooling applications, and space travel.

Types
There are several measured types of solar irradiance.
 * Total solar irradiance (TSI) is a measure of the solar power over all wavelengths per unit area incident on the Earth's upper atmosphere. It is measured perpendicular to the incoming sunlight. The solar constant is a conventional measure of mean TSI at a distance of one astronomical unit (AU).
 * Direct normal irradiance (DNI), or beam radiation, is measured at the surface of the Earth at a given location with a surface element perpendicular to the Sun direction. It excludes diffuse solar radiation (radiation that is scattered or reflected by atmospheric components). Direct irradiance is equal to the extraterrestrial irradiance above the atmosphere minus the atmospheric losses due to absorption and scattering. Losses depend on time of day (length of light's path through the atmosphere depending on the solar elevation angle), cloud cover, moisture content and other contents. The irradiance above the atmosphere also varies with time of year (because the distance to the Sun varies), although this effect is generally less significant compared to the effect of losses on DNI.
 * Diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI), or diffuse sky radiation is the radiation at the Earth's surface from light scattered by the atmosphere. It is measured on a horizontal surface with radiation coming from all points in the sky excluding circumsolar radiation (radiation coming from the sun disk). There would be almost no DHI in the absence of atmosphere.
 * Global horizontal irradiance (GHI) is the total irradiance from the Sun on a horizontal surface on Earth. It is the sum of direct irradiance (after accounting for the solar zenith angle of the Sun z) and diffuse horizontal irradiance:
 * $$\text{GHI} = \text{DHI} + \text{DNI} \times \cos (z)$$
 * Global tilted irradiance (GTI) is the total radiation received on a surface with defined tilt and azimuth, fixed or Sun-tracking. GTI can be measured or modeled from GHI, DNI, DHI.  It is often a reference for photovoltaic power plants, while photovoltaic modules are mounted on the fixed or tracking constructions.
 * Global normal irradiance (GNI) is the total irradiance from the Sun at the surface of Earth at a given location with a surface element perpendicular to the Sun.

Units
The SI unit of irradiance is watts per square metre (W/m2 = Wm−2). The unit of insolation often used in the solar power industry is kilowatt hours per square metre (kWh/m2).

The Langley is an alternative unit of insolation. One Langley is one thermochemical calorie per square centimetre or 41,840J/m2.

Irradiation at the top of the atmosphere
The average annual solar radiation arriving at the top of the Earth's atmosphere is about 1361W/m2. This represents the power per unit area of solar irradiance across the spherical surface surrounding the Sun with a radius equal to the distance to the Earth (1AU). This means that the approximately circular disc of the Earth, as viewed from the Sun, receives a roughly stable 1361W/m2 at all times. The area of this circular disc is $Θ$, in which $φ$ is the radius of the Earth. Because the Earth is approximately spherical, it has total area $$4 \pi r^2$$, meaning that the solar radiation arriving at the top of the atmosphere, averaged over the entire surface of the Earth, is simply divided by four to get 340W/m2. In other words, averaged over the year and the day, the Earth's atmosphere receives 340W/m2 from the Sun. This figure is important in radiative forcing.

Derivation
The distribution of solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere is determined by Earth's sphericity and orbital parameters. This applies to any unidirectional beam incident to a rotating sphere. Insolation is essential for numerical weather prediction and understanding seasons and climatic change. Application to ice ages is known as Milankovitch cycles.

Distribution is based on a fundamental identity from spherical trigonometry, the spherical law of cosines: $$\cos(c) = \cos(a) \cos(b) + \sin(a) \sin(b) \cos(C)$$ where $λ$, $h$ and $δ$ are arc lengths, in radians, of the sides of a spherical triangle. $δ$ is the angle in the vertex opposite the side which has arc length $h$. Applied to the calculation of solar zenith angle $\pir^{2}$, the following applies to the spherical law of cosines: $$\begin{align} C &= h \\ c &= \Theta \\ a &= \tfrac{1}{2}\pi-\varphi \\ b &= \tfrac{1}{2}\pi-\delta \\ \cos(\Theta) &= \sin(\varphi) \sin(\delta) + \cos(\varphi) \cos(\delta) \cos(h) \end{align}$$

This equation can be also derived from a more general formula: $$\begin{align} \cos(\Theta) = \sin(\varphi) \sin(\delta) \cos(\beta) &+ \sin(\delta) \cos(\varphi) \sin(\beta) \cos(\gamma) + \cos(\varphi) \cos(\delta) \cos(\beta) \cos(h) \\ &- \cos(\delta) \sin(\varphi) \sin(\beta) \cos(\gamma) \cos(h) - \cos(\delta) \sin(\beta) \sin(\gamma) \sin(h) \end{align}$$ where $r$ is an angle from the horizontal and $a$ is an azimuth angle.

The separation of Earth from the Sun can be denoted $Θ$ and the mean distance can be denoted $R_{E}$, approximately 1 astronomical unit (AU). The solar constant is denoted $R_{0}$. The solar flux density (insolation) onto a plane tangent to the sphere of the Earth, but above the bulk of the atmosphere (elevation 100 km or greater) is: $$Q = \begin{cases} S_o \frac{R_o^2}{R_E^2}\cos(\Theta) & \cos(\Theta) > 0 \\ 0 & \cos(\Theta) \le 0 \end{cases}$$

The average of $b$ over a day is the average of $c$ over one rotation, or the hour angle progressing from $S_{0}$ to $h = π$: $$\overline{Q}^\text{day} = -\frac{1}{2\pi} {\int_\pi^{-\pi}Q\,dh}$$

Let $h = −π$ be the hour angle when $C$ becomes positive. This could occur at sunrise when $$\Theta = \tfrac{1}{2} \pi$$, or for $h_{0}$ as a solution of $$\sin(\varphi) \sin(\delta) + \cos(\varphi) \cos(\delta) \cos(h_o) = 0 $$ or $$\cos(h_o) = -\tan(\varphi)\tan(\delta)$$

If $h_{0}$, then the sun does not set and the sun is already risen at $tan(φ) tan(δ) > 1$, so $h = \pi$. If $h_{o} = \pi$, the sun does not rise and $$\overline{Q}^\text{day} = 0$$.

$$\frac{R_o^2}{R_E^2}$$ is nearly constant over the course of a day, and can be taken outside the integral

$$\begin{align} \int_\pi^{-\pi}Q\,dh &= \int_{h_o}^{-h_o}Q\,dh \\[5pt] &= S_o\frac{R_o^2}{R_E^2}\int_{h_o}^{-h_o}\cos(\Theta)\, dh \\[5pt] &= S_o\frac{R_o^2}{R_E^2}\Bigg[ h \sin(\varphi)\sin(\delta) + \cos(\varphi)\cos(\delta)\sin(h) \Bigg]_{h=h_o}^{h=-h_o} \\[5pt] &= -2 S_o\frac{R_o^2}{R_E^2}\left[ h_o \sin(\varphi) \sin(\delta) + \cos(\varphi) \cos(\delta) \sin(h_o) \right] \end{align}$$

Therefore: $$ \overline{Q}^{\text{day}} = \frac{S_o}{\pi}\frac{R_o^2}{R_E^2}\left[ h_o \sin(\varphi) \sin(\delta) + \cos(\varphi) \cos(\delta) \sin(h_o) \right]$$

Let θ be the conventional polar angle describing a planetary orbit. Let θ = 0 at the March equinox. The declination δ as a function of orbital position is $$\delta = \varepsilon \sin(\theta)$$ where $c$ is the obliquity. (Note: The correct formula, valid for any axial tilt, is $$\sin(\delta) = \sin(\varepsilon) \sin(\theta)$$. ) The conventional longitude of perihelion ϖ is defined relative to the March equinox, so for the elliptical orbit: $$R_E = \frac{R_o(1-e^2)}{1 + e\cos(\theta - \varpi)}$$ or $$\frac{R_o}{R_E} = \frac{1 + e\cos(\theta - \varpi)}{1-e^2}$$

With knowledge of ϖ, ε and e from astrodynamical calculations and So from a consensus of observations or theory, $$\overline{Q}^\text{day}$$can be calculated for any latitude φ and θ. Because of the elliptical orbit, and as a consequence of Kepler's second law, θ does not progress uniformly with time. Nevertheless, θ = 0° is exactly the time of the March equinox, θ = 90° is exactly the time of the June solstice, θ = 180° is exactly the time of the September equinox and θ = 270° is exactly the time of the December solstice.

A simplified equation for irradiance on a given day is: $$ Q \approx S_0 \left (1 + 0.034 \cos \left (2 \pi \frac{n}{365.25} \right ) \right ) $$

where n is a number of a day of the year.

Variation
Total solar irradiance (TSI) changes slowly on decadal and longer timescales. The variation during solar cycle 21 was about 0.1% (peak-to-peak). In contrast to older reconstructions, most recent TSI reconstructions point to an increase of only about 0.05% to 0.1% between the 17th century Maunder Minimum and the present. However, current understanding based on various lines of evidence suggests that the lower values for the secular trend are more probable. In particular, a secular trend greater than 2 Wm-2 is considered highly unlikely. Ultraviolet irradiance (EUV) varies by approximately 1.5 percent from solar maxima to minima, for 200 to 300 nm wavelengths. However, a proxy study estimated that UV has increased by 3.0% since the Maunder Minimum.

Some variations in insolation are not due to solar changes but rather due to the Earth moving between its perihelion and aphelion, or changes in the latitudinal distribution of radiation. These orbital changes or Milankovitch cycles have caused radiance variations of as much as 25% (locally; global average changes are much smaller) over long periods. The most recent significant event was an axial tilt of 24° during boreal summer near the Holocene climatic optimum. Obtaining a time series for a $$\overline{Q}^{\mathrm{day}}$$ for a particular time of year, and particular latitude, is a useful application in the theory of Milankovitch cycles. For example, at the summer solstice, the declination δ is equal to the obliquity ε. The distance from the Sun is $$\frac{R_o}{R_E} = 1 + e\cos(\theta - \varpi) = 1 + e\cos\left(\frac{\pi}{2} - \varpi\right) = 1 + e \sin(\varpi)$$

For this summer solstice calculation, the role of the elliptical orbit is entirely contained within the important product $$e \sin(\varpi)$$, the precession index, whose variation dominates the variations in insolation at 65°N when eccentricity is large. For the next 100,000 years, with variations in eccentricity being relatively small, variations in obliquity dominate.

Measurement
The space-based TSI record comprises measurements from more than ten radiometers and spans three solar cycles. All modern TSI satellite instruments employ active cavity electrical substitution radiometry. This technique measures the electrical heating needed to maintain an absorptive blackened cavity in thermal equilibrium with the incident sunlight which passes through a precision aperture of calibrated area. The aperture is modulated via a shutter. Accuracy uncertainties of < 0.01% are required to detect long term solar irradiance variations, because expected changes are in the range 0.05–0.15W/m2 per century.

Intertemporal calibration
In orbit, radiometric calibrations drift for reasons including solar degradation of the cavity, electronic degradation of the heater, surface degradation of the precision aperture and varying surface emissions and temperatures that alter thermal backgrounds. These calibrations require compensation to preserve consistent measurements.

For various reasons, the sources do not always agree. The Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment/Total Irradiance Measurement (SORCE/TIM) TSI values are lower than prior measurements by the Earth Radiometer Budget Experiment (ERBE) on the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), VIRGO on the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO) and the ACRIM instruments on the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM), Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) and ACRIMSAT. Pre-launch ground calibrations relied on component rather than system-level measurements since irradiance standards at the time lacked sufficient absolute accuracies.

Measurement stability involves exposing different radiometer cavities to different accumulations of solar radiation to quantify exposure-dependent degradation effects. These effects are then compensated for in the final data. Observation overlaps permits corrections for both absolute offsets and validation of instrumental drifts.

Uncertainties of individual observations exceed irradiance variability (~0.1%). Thus, instrument stability and measurement continuity are relied upon to compute real variations.

Long-term radiometer drifts can potentially be mistaken for irradiance variations which can be misinterpreted as affecting climate. Examples include the issue of the irradiance increase between cycle minima in 1986 and 1996, evident only in the ACRIM composite (and not the model) and the low irradiance levels in the PMOD composite during the 2008 minimum.

Despite the fact that ACRIM I, ACRIM II, ACRIM III, VIRGO and TIM all track degradation with redundant cavities, notable and unexplained differences remain in irradiance and the modeled influences of sunspots and faculae.

Persistent inconsistencies
Disagreement among overlapping observations indicates unresolved drifts that suggest the TSI record is not sufficiently stable to discern solar changes on decadal time scales. Only the ACRIM composite shows irradiance increasing by ~1W/m2 between 1986 and 1996; this change is also absent in the model.

Recommendations to resolve the instrument discrepancies include validating optical measurement accuracy by comparing ground-based instruments to laboratory references, such as those at National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST); NIST validation of aperture area calibrations uses spares from each instrument; and applying diffraction corrections from the view-limiting aperture.

For ACRIM, NIST determined that diffraction from the view-limiting aperture contributes a 0.13% signal not accounted for in the three ACRIM instruments. This correction lowers the reported ACRIM values, bringing ACRIM closer to TIM. In ACRIM and all other instruments but TIM, the aperture is deep inside the instrument, with a larger view-limiting aperture at the front. Depending on edge imperfections this can directly scatter light into the cavity. This design admits into the front part of the instrument two to three times the amount of light intended to be measured; if not completely absorbed or scattered, this additional light produces erroneously high signals. In contrast, TIM's design places the precision aperture at the front so that only desired light enters.

Variations from other sources likely include an annual systematics in the ACRIM III data that is nearly in phase with the Sun-Earth distance and 90-day spikes in the VIRGO data coincident with SoHO spacecraft maneuvers that were most apparent during the 2008 solar minimum.

TSI Radiometer Facility
TIM's high absolute accuracy creates new opportunities for measuring climate variables. TSI Radiometer Facility (TRF) is a cryogenic radiometer that operates in a vacuum with controlled light sources. L-1 Standards and Technology (LASP) designed and built the system, completed in 2008. It was calibrated for optical power against the NIST Primary Optical Watt Radiometer, a cryogenic radiometer that maintains the NIST radiant power scale to an uncertainty of 0.02% (1σ). As of 2011 TRF was the only facility that approached the desired <0.01% uncertainty for pre-launch validation of solar radiometers measuring irradiance (rather than merely optical power) at solar power levels and under vacuum conditions.

TRF encloses both the reference radiometer and the instrument under test in a common vacuum system that contains a stationary, spatially uniform illuminating beam. A precision aperture with an area calibrated to 0.0031% (1σ) determines the beam's measured portion. The test instrument's precision aperture is positioned in the same location, without optically altering the beam, for direct comparison to the reference. Variable beam power provides linearity diagnostics, and variable beam diameter diagnoses scattering from different instrument components.

The Glory/TIM and PICARD/PREMOS flight instrument absolute scales are now traceable to the TRF in both optical power and irradiance. The resulting high accuracy reduces the consequences of any future gap in the solar irradiance record.

2011 reassessment
The most probable value of TSI representative of solar minimum is $β$, lower than the earlier accepted value of $γ$, established in the 1990s. The new value came from SORCE/TIM and radiometric laboratory tests. Scattered light is a primary cause of the higher irradiance values measured by earlier satellites in which the precision aperture is located behind a larger, view-limiting aperture. The TIM uses a view-limiting aperture that is smaller than the precision aperture that precludes this spurious signal. The new estimate is from better measurement rather than a change in solar output.

A regression model-based split of the relative proportion of sunspot and facular influences from SORCE/TIM data accounts for 92% of observed variance and tracks the observed trends to within TIM's stability band. This agreement provides further evidence that TSI variations are primarily due to solar surface magnetic activity.

Instrument inaccuracies add a significant uncertainty in determining Earth's energy balance. The energy imbalance has been variously measured (during a deep solar minimum of 2005–2010) to be $Q$, $Q$ and $Q$. Estimates from space-based measurements range +3–7W/m2. SORCE/TIM's lower TSI value reduces this discrepancy by 1W/m2. This difference between the new lower TIM value and earlier TSI measurements corresponds to a climate forcing of −0.8W/m2, which is comparable to the energy imbalance.

2014 reassessment
In 2014 a new ACRIM composite was developed using the updated ACRIM3 record. It added corrections for scattering and diffraction revealed during recent testing at TRF and two algorithm updates. The algorithm updates more accurately account for instrument thermal behavior and parsing of shutter cycle data. These corrected a component of the quasi-annual spurious signal and increased the signal-to-noise ratio, respectively. The net effect of these corrections decreased the average ACRIM3 TSI value without affecting the trending in the ACRIM Composite TSI.

Differences between ACRIM and PMOD TSI composites are evident, but the most significant is the solar minimum-to-minimum trends during solar cycles 21-23. ACRIM found an increase of +0.037%/decade from 1980 to 2000 and a decrease thereafter. PMOD instead presents a steady decrease since 1978. Significant differences can also be seen during the peak of solar cycles 21 and 22. These arise from the fact that ACRIM uses the original TSI results published by the satellite experiment teams while PMOD significantly modifies some results to conform them to specific TSI proxy models. The implications of increasing TSI during the global warming of the last two decades of the 20th century are that solar forcing may be a marginally larger factor in climate change than represented in the CMIP5 general circulation climate models.

Irradiance on Earth's surface
Average annual solar radiation arriving at the top of the Earth's atmosphere is roughly 1361W/m2. The Sun's rays are attenuated as they pass through the atmosphere, leaving maximum normal surface irradiance at approximately 1000W/m2 at sea level on a clear day. When 1361 W/m2 is arriving above the atmosphere (when the Sun is at the zenith in a cloudless sky), direct sun is about 1050 W/m2, and global radiation on a horizontal surface at ground level is about 1120 W/m2. The latter figure includes radiation scattered or reemitted by the atmosphere and surroundings. The actual figure varies with the Sun's angle and atmospheric circumstances. Ignoring clouds, the daily average insolation for the Earth is approximately.

The output of, for example, a photovoltaic panel, partly depends on the angle of the sun relative to the panel. One Sun is a unit of power flux, not a standard value for actual insolation. Sometimes this unit is referred to as a Sol, not to be confused with a sol, meaning one solar day.

Absorption and reflection

Part of the radiation reaching an object is absorbed and the remainder reflected. Usually, the absorbed radiation is converted to thermal energy, increasing the object's temperature. Humanmade or natural systems, however, can convert part of the absorbed radiation into another form such as electricity or chemical bonds, as in the case of photovoltaic cells or plants. The proportion of reflected radiation is the object's reflectivity or albedo.

Projection effect
Insolation onto a surface is largest when the surface directly faces (is normal to) the sun. As the angle between the surface and the Sun moves from normal, the insolation is reduced in proportion to the angle's cosine; see effect of Sun angle on climate.

In the figure, the angle shown is between the ground and the sunbeam rather than between the vertical direction and the sunbeam; hence the sine rather than the cosine is appropriate. A sunbeam one mile wide arrives from directly overhead, and another at a 30° angle to the horizontal. The sine of a 30° angle is 1/2, whereas the sine of a 90° angle is 1. Therefore, the angled sunbeam spreads the light over twice the area. Consequently, half as much light falls on each square mile.

This projection effect is the main reason why Earth's polar regions are much colder than equatorial regions. On an annual average, the poles receive less insolation than does the equator, because the poles are always angled more away from the Sun than the tropics, and moreover receive no insolation at all for the six months of their respective winters.

Absorption effect
At a lower angle, the light must also travel through more atmosphere. This attenuates it (by absorption and scattering) further reducing insolation at the surface.

Attenuation is governed by the Beer-Lambert Law, namely that the transmittance or fraction of insolation reaching the surface decreases exponentially in the optical depth or absorbance (the two notions differing only by a constant factor of ) of the path of insolation through the atmosphere. For any given short length of the path, the optical depth is proportional to the number of absorbers and scatterers along that length, typically increasing with decreasing altitude. The optical depth of the whole path is then the integral (sum) of those optical depths along the path.

When the density of absorbers is layered, that is, depends much more on vertical than horizontal position in the atmosphere, to a good approximation the optical depth is inversely proportional to the projection effect, that is, to the cosine of the zenith angle. Since transmittance decreases exponentially with increasing optical depth, as the sun approaches the horizon there comes a point when absorption dominates projection for the rest of the day. With a relatively high level of absorbers this can be a considerable portion of the late afternoon, and likewise of the early morning. Conversely, in the (hypothetical) total absence of absorption, the optical depth remains zero at all altitudes of the sun, that is, transmittance remains 1, and so only the projection effect applies.

Solar potential maps
Assessment and mapping of solar potential at the global, regional and country levels have been the subject of significant academic and commercial interest. One of the earliest attempts to carry out comprehensive mapping of solar potential for individual countries was the Solar & Wind Resource Assessment (SWERA) project, funded by the United Nations Environment Program and carried out by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Other examples include global mapping by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and other similar institutes, many of which are available on the Global Atlas for Renewable Energy provided by the International Renewable Energy Agency. A number of commercial firms now exist to provide solar resource data to solar power developers, including 3E, Clean Power Research, SoDa Solar Radiation Data, Solargis, Vaisala (previously 3Tier), and Vortex, and these firms have often provided solar potential maps for free. In January 2017 the Global Solar Atlas was launched by the World Bank, using data provided by Solargis, to provide a single source for high-quality solar data, maps, and GIS layers covering all countries.

Solar radiation maps are built using databases derived from satellite imagery, as for example using visible images from Meteosat Prime satellite. A method is applied to the images to determine solar radiation. One well validated satellite-to-irradiance model is the SUNY model. The accuracy of this model is well evaluated. In general, solar irradiance maps are accurate, especially for Global Horizontal Irradiance.

Solar power
Solar irradiation figures are used to plan the deployment of solar power systems. In many countries, the figures can be obtained from an insolation map or from insolation tables that reflect data over the prior 30–50 years. Different solar power technologies are able to use different components of the total irradiation. While solar photovoltaics panels are able to convert to electricity both direct irradiation and diffuse irradiation, concentrated solar power is only able to operate efficiently with direct irradiation, thus making these systems suitable only in locations with relatively low cloud cover.

Because solar collectors panels are almost always mounted at an angle towards the Sun, insolation figures must be adjusted to find the amount of sunlight falling on the panel. This will prevent estimates that are inaccurately low for winter and inaccurately high for summer. This also means that the amount of sunlight falling on a solar panel at high latitude is not as low compared to one at the equator as would appear from just considering insolation on a horizontal surface. Horizontal insolation values range from 800 to 950kWh/(kWp·y) in Norway to up to 2,900kWh/(kWp·y) in Australia. But a properly tilted panel at 50° latitude receives 1860kWh/m$ε$/y, compared to 2370 at the equator. In fact, under clear skies a solar panel placed horizontally at the north or south pole at midsummer receives more sunlight over 24 hours (cosine of angle of incidence equal to sin(23.5°) or about 0.40) than a horizontal panel at the equator at the equinox (average cosine equal to 1/$\pi$ or about 0.32).

Photovoltaic panels are rated under standard conditions to determine the Wp (peak watts) rating, which can then be used with insolation, adjusted by factors such as tilt, tracking and shading, to determine the expected output.

Buildings
In construction, insolation is an important consideration when designing a building for a particular site.

The projection effect can be used to design buildings that are cool in summer and warm in winter, by providing vertical windows on the equator-facing side of the building (the south face in the northern hemisphere, or the north face in the southern hemisphere): this maximizes insolation in the winter months when the Sun is low in the sky and minimizes it in the summer when the Sun is high. (The Sun's north–south path through the sky spans 47° through the year).

Civil engineering
In civil engineering and hydrology, numerical models of snowmelt runoff use observations of insolation. This permits estimation of the rate at which water is released from a melting snowpack. Field measurement is accomplished using a pyranometer.

Climate research
Irradiance plays a part in climate modeling and weather forecasting. A non-zero average global net radiation at the top of the atmosphere is indicative of Earth's thermal disequilibrium as imposed by climate forcing.

The impact of the lower 2014 TSI value on climate models is unknown. A few tenths of a percent change in the absolute TSI level is typically considered to be of minimal consequence for climate simulations. The new measurements require climate model parameter adjustments.

Experiments with GISS Model 3 investigated the sensitivity of model performance to the TSI absolute value during the present and pre-industrial epochs, and describe, for example, how the irradiance reduction is partitioned between the atmosphere and surface and the effects on outgoing radiation.

Assessing the impact of long-term irradiance changes on climate requires greater instrument stability combined with reliable global surface temperature observations to quantify climate response processes to radiative forcing on decadal time scales. The observed 0.1% irradiance increase imparts 0.22W/m2 climate forcing, which suggests a transient climate response of 0.6 °C per W/m2. This response is larger by a factor of 2 or more than in the IPCC-assessed 2008 models, possibly appearing in the models' heat uptake by the ocean.

Global cooling
Measuring a surface's capacity to reflect solar irradiance is essential to passive daytime radiative cooling, which has been proposed as a method of reversing local and global temperature increases associated with global warming. In order to measure the cooling power of a passive radiative cooling surface, both the absorbed powers of atmospheric and solar radiations must be quantified. On a clear day, solar irradiance can reach 1000 W/m2 with a diffuse component between 50 and 100 W/m2. On average the cooling power of a passive daytime radiative cooling surface has been estimated at ~100-150 W/m2.

Space
Insolation is the primary variable affecting equilibrium temperature in spacecraft design and planetology.

Solar activity and irradiance measurement is a concern for space travel. For example, the American space agency, NASA, launched its Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite with Solar Irradiance Monitors.

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

title: Solar irradiance


text: Category:Tourist attractions in Glasgow

title: Category:Tourist attractions in Glasgow


text:
Spago

Spago is Wolfgang Puck's flagship restaurant worldwide, known for serving California cuisine. Spago is Puck's first restaurant venture.

Name and history
The word "spago" is Italian for "string" or "twine". The plural would be "spaghi," which is the beginning of "spaghetti", and suggests that pasta is on the menu.

The first Spago location opened in 1982, on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, with Mark Peel as chef de cuisine under Puck. The second Spago restaurant opened at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, on the Las Vegas Strip in 1992. It was closed in 2017 and relocated to Bellagio Las Vegas in spring 2018. In 1997, Wolfgang Puck opened a third location on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. In 1998, a Spago location opened in Palo Alto which was closed in 2007.

The original Spago Hollywood remained open until 2001 when Wolfgang Puck and his partners determined renovating the original 1920s-era house would be too costly. They let their lease on the location expire. Two additional locations opened at Four Seasons Resort Maui, in Hawaii (in 2001); and in the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch, in Avon, Colorado (which closed in 2016). Spago opened its first location outside of the United States in Mexico City in the mid-1990s, which closed a few years later. It later opened a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey, at the St. Regis Hotel in 2015. Other international locations include one in Singapore at the rooftop complex of Marina Bay Sands.

Awards and honorable recognitions

 * In 2008 and 2009, Spago was awarded two Michelin stars
 * Since 2010, Spago has received the Wine Spectator Grand Award
 * In 2013, Zagat named Spago the most iconic restaurant in the city of Los Angeles

title: Spago


text:
User talk:PhYd0

Thanks for experimenting with Wikipedia. Your test worked, and has been reverted or removed. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you want to do. Take a look at the welcome page if you would like to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia. Thanks. -- 08:03, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Please stop adding nonsense to Wikipedia. It is considered vandalism. If you were just trying to experiment, then use the sandbox instead. Thank you. -- 08:04, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:PhYd0


text:
Perica Ognjenović

Perica Ognjenović (Перица Огњеновић; born 24 February 1977) is a Serbian professional football manager and former player.

He played as a forward or right winger. At one point considered to be among Serbia's brightest footballing talents, Ognjenović signed with European giants Real Madrid in his early 20s, but never became a regular there, despite winning major titles, eventually going on to have an irregular career in six other countries.

He represented FR Yugoslavia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Early career
Born in Smederevska Palanka, Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Ognjenović's first football steps were taken with modest hometown club Mladost Smederevska Palanka where he went through all age levels before breaking through to the senior squad just short of his 16th birthday, during the 1992–93 season. At the time, the team competed in the third division, and it soon became apparent the player's skill and talent far surpassed that level of competition.

Ognjenović caught the eye of country powerhouse Red Star Belgrade, which signed the promising youngster in the 1994 summer.

Real Madrid
A series of solid performances for Red Star earned Ognjenović a move to Real Madrid on 12 January 1999 for a transfer fee of DM5 million (€2.5 million), and a reported annual salary of DM1.2 million. The contract negotiations between the player's agent Zoran Vekić and Real president Lorenzo Sanz ran very long, as the team had a surplus of forwards on its roster and had to offload 17-year-old Samuel Eto'o on a loan spell to RCD Espanyol before signing any new ones; everything was finally concluded just hours before the Spanish winter transfer window closed, and the player joined compatriot Predrag Mijatović at his new club.

Ognjenović's time in the Spanish capital was not a happy one overall: only after manager Guus Hiddink was replaced by John Toshack late into the 1998–99 season did he make his official debut with the Merengues, appearing as a second-half substitute in the Copa del Rey semifinal clash against Valencia CF (2–1 home win after a 0–6 away loss). He spent two and a half seasons with Real Madrid, amassing only around 30 appearances all competitions comprised – mostly from the bench – before being finally released during the summer of 2001; his only official goal came against Real Zaragoza in the 1999–2000 edition of the domestic cup (2–0 home win and on aggregate).

Journeyman years
For the following six months after leaving Real, Ognjenović could not find a team. He trained alone with a private coach until 1. FC Kaiserslautern arranged a tryout and brought him in for free on 17 January 2002, in a deal until the end of the campaign with a two-year extension option; they finished seventh in the Bundesliga and qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup, but the player only appeared twice.

After failing to settle in Germany, Ognjenović's next stop was China with Dalian Shide FC, where he was brought to in January 2003 by the club's coach Milorad Kosanović, who had already managed him at Red Star. He then moved on to FC Dynamo Kyiv in late November 2003, but could not earn playing time there either; the next stop was in France, as he signed in January 2005 with Angers SCO in Ligue 2.

In May 2006, Ognjenović joined Malaysian Super League side Selangor FA, signing a six-month contract – the team was sitting in last place at the time of his signing. His career settled relatively from 2006 to 2008 as he played with Greece's Ergotelis F.C. in the Superleague, although he only appeared 26 times in the league combined; the following year was spent also in the country, with lowly Kallithea FC.

Ognjenović joined FK Jagodina on 29 July 2009, returning to his homeland after more than a decade.

International career
Ognjenović made his debut for the Yugoslavia national team at only 18, in a friendly with El Salvador on 12 November 1995. The nation was suspended for the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers.

Subsequently, he was picked for the squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, appearing as a substitute in all three group stage matches as Yugoslavia exited in the Round-of-16.

Player
Red Star Belgrade
 * Yugoslav First League: 1994–95
 * Yugoslav Cup: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97

Real Madrid
 * UEFA Champions League: 1999–2000
 * La Liga: 2000–01
 * Supercopa de España: 2001

Dynamo Kiev
 * Ukrainian Premier League: 2003–04
 * Ukrainian Cup: 2004–05

title: Perica Ognjenović


text:
Ale's Stones

Ale's Stones (Ales stenar or Ale stenar) is a megalithic monument in Scania in southern Sweden. It is a stone ship, oval in outline, with the stones at each end markedly larger than the rest. It is 67 m long formed by 59 large boulders, weighing up to 5 tonnes each.

The carbon-14 dating system for organic remains has provided seven results at the site. One indicates that the material is around 5,500 years old, whereas the remaining six indicate a date about 1,400 years ago. The latter is considered to be the most likely time for Ales Stenar to have been created. That would place its creation towards the end of the Nordic Iron Age.

Function
The function and purpose of Ale's stones is much disputed, and there are many different theories. It is generally believed to be a grave monument or a cult center, but another theory is that it is a sun calendar.

A theory explained by Howard Crowhurst (ACEM, Association for the Knowledge and Study of Megaliths, in France) claims that the monument is connected with the summer solstice and lunar standstill. "'The Ales Stenar, known in English as the Ale's Stones, is an ancient megalithic monument of Sweden. The stones are outlining a ship. Here we show the well-known alignment of this ship along the sunset direction on summer solstice. We propose also alignments of the stones along the northern possible moonset on major and minor lunar standstills. These astronomical alignments are shown using the Photographer's Ephemeris. It is possible that this megalithic monument was used for observing the cycles of the moon.'"

Excavations
In 1989, during the first archaeological excavations performed in order to scientifically investigate and date the monument, archaeologists found a decorated clay pot with burned human bones inside the ship setting. The bones are thought to come from a pyre and to have been placed in the pot at a later date. The pot's contents varied in age; some material was from 330 to 540 CE while a piece of charred food crust also found inside was determined to be from 540 to 650 CE. The archaeologists working on the project also found birch charcoal remains from 540 to 650 CE underneath an undisturbed boulder. According to the Swedish National Heritage Board, carbon-14 dating of the organic material from the site indicates that six of the samples are from around 600 CE, while one sample is from ca. 3500 BCE. The diverging sample came from soot-covered stones that are believed to be the remnants of an older hearth, found close to the ship setting. On the basis of these results, the Swedish National Heritage Board has set a suggested date of creation for Ale's Stones to 1,400 BP, which is the year 550 CE.

title: Ale's Stones


text:
NDI

NDI may refer to:

Organisations

 * National Dance Institute, a not for profit organization
 * National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
 * Northern Digital Incorporated, a provider of 3D tracking systems
 * National Datacast Incorporated, the PBS datacasting subsidiary

Science and technology

 * Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, a form of diabetes insipidus due primarily to pathology of the kidney
 * Network Device Interface, an IP Video and Audio Protocol developed by NewTek
 * Naphthalene diimides, dyes used in chemistry; See Naphthalene tetracarboxylic dianhydride
 * New Dietary Ingredient, defined by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 to be a dietary ingredient not marketed in the United States before October 15, 1994

Other uses

 * Non-Destructive Inspection, in nondestructive testing
 * Non-developmental item, in the Federal Acquisition Regulation
 * Net disposable income

title: NDI


text:
Talk:Mor lam sa on 1

Fair use rationale for Image:Rak salai dawk fai ban.jpg
Image:Rak salai dawk fai ban.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 23:45, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Rak salai dawk fai ban.jpg
Image:Rak salai dawk fai ban.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 21:30, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

title: Talk:Mor lam sa on 1


text:
Nakagawa Kiyohide

Nakagawa Kiyohide (中川 清秀; 1542 – June 10, 1583) was a daimyō in Azuchi–Momoyama period. His childhood name was Nakagawa Toranosuke (中川 虎之助). His common name was Nakagawa Sebe (中川 瀬兵衛).

Biography
His father was Nakagawa Shigekiyo. Nakagawa Hidemasa and Nakagawa Hidenari were his sons. Furuta Oribe's wife was Kiyohide's young sister. At first, Kiyohide served Ikeda Katsumasa, who was from a powerful clan in Settsu Province. He became independent along with Araki Murashige and Takayama Ukon at Settsu Province afterward.

When Oda Nobunaga marched his armies into Kyoto, Kiyohide surrendered and served him. In 1571, Kiyohide and Murashige killed Wada Koremasa a senior retainer of Ashikaga Shogunate at Battle of Shiraigawara.

In 1578, when Murashige rebelled against Nobunaga, Kiyohide, acting in concert, also rebelled. However, when Nobunaga came to attack with a large army, Kiyohide surrendered and attacked Murashige instead. After Murashige has been defeated, Kiyohide took part in various battles under Niwa Nagashige and Ikeda Tsuneoki.

In 1582, he served Hashiba Hideyoshi after Nobunaga died, and was active in the Battle of Yamazaki.

In 1583, he was the second vanguard of Hideyoshi's force at the Battle of Shizugatake, and held Oiwayama-fort (Oiwayama-toride, 大岩山砦) with Takayama Ukon and Miyoshi Hidetsugu. He was fought against Sakuma Morimasa, who was a brave military commander of Shibata Katsuie.

Death and legacy
Kiyohide was killed by Sakuma Morimasa during the Battle of Shizugatake. His grave is at Bairin-ji (梅林寺), Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture.

His second son, Nakagawa Hidenari, became the first leader of the Oka clan at Bungo Province afterwards. The Oka clan continued until the Meiji period.

The Takeda Bell is dedicated to Nakagawa Kiyohide.

title: Nakagawa Kiyohide


text:
HE 1327-2326

HE 1327-2326, discovered in 2005 by Anna Frebel and collaborators, was the star with the lowest known iron abundance until SMSS J031300.36−670839.3 was discovered. The star is a member of Population II stars, with a solar-standardised iron to hydrogen index [Fe/H], or metallicity, of −5.4±0.2. The scale being logarithmic, this number indicates that its iron content is about 1/250000 that of the Earth's sun. However, it has a carbon abundance of roughly one-tenth solar ([C/H] = −1.0), and it is not known how these two abundances can have been produced/exist simultaneously. Discovered by the Hamburg/ESO survey for metal-poor stars, it was probably formed during an age of the universe when the metal content was much lower. It has been speculated that this star is part of the second generation, born out of the gas clouds which were imbued with elements such as carbon by the primordial Population III stars.

As of 2018, HE 1327-2326 was the brightest star known with [Fe/H] < -5. This is important because the spectral lines for metals are weak in such stars, so a bright star is needed to obtain high signal/noise spectra.

The small amount of metals seen in HE 1327-2326 are believed to have been produced by a supernova event in a first generation star. Spherically symmetric models of supernovae fail to reproduce the relative abundances of metals seen in HE 1327-2326, regardless of the mass of the supernova progenitor. Because of this, Ezzeddine et al. argued in 2019 that HE 1327-2326's metal enrichment was due to an aspherical supernova explosion of a 25 Population III star which enriched the interstellar medium via mass loss through bipolar jets.

title: HE 1327-2326


text:
Talk:List of Internet radio stations

Semi-protected edit request on 10 August 2023
Add Internet Only radio station DestinFM Billysurfmartin (talk) 17:43, 10 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: I don't see a DestinFM article, check out WP:WTAF Cannolis (talk) 18:15, 10 August 2023 (UTC)

Add Internet Only radio station Historyradio.org
The non-profit educational net stream Historyradio.org run by literary historian Michael Henrik Wynn experienced quite an increase in listeners during the pandemic. It has since fallen back to pre-pandemic levels. But it has been around since 2018. The website presents some magazine articles, and broadcasts public domain and creative commons education material for the subjects history and literature. It is available in most streaming apps. 178.157.255.224 (talk) 18:59, 12 December 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 July 2024
Irish Radio Canada https://irishradio.ca Austin1953 (talk) 02:30, 7 July 2024 (UTC) — Urro[ talk ] [ edits ] ⋮ 21:09, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: Per WP:NOTABLE.

Semi-protected edit request on 12 July 2024
Hello,

My name is J.Harrington, I am project manager at Holy Culture Radio. And we would like to be added to your internet radio list, as that is what we are. Check us out at holyculture.net.

We can also be heard on SiriusXM Channel 140.

Thanks YHWHswriter (talk) 12:36, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Not done: As this radio station does not appear to be sufficiently notable for a Wikipedia page at this time, it is not yet due for inclusion on this list. PianoDan (talk) 22:18, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:List of Internet radio stations


text:
Ray Williams

Ray or Raymond Williams may refer to:

Football (soccer)

 * Ray Williams (footballer, born 1930), English football player for Tranmere Rovers
 * Ray Williams (footballer, born 1931) (1931–2015), Welsh football player for Wrexham
 * Ray Williams (footballer, born 1946), English football player

Rugby

 * Ray Williams (rugby union, born 1927) (1927–2014), Welsh international rugby union winger
 * Ray Williams (rugby union coach) (1927–2014), Welsh rugby union coach and administrator
 * Ray Williams (rugby league) (20th century), New Zealand rugby league player
 * Ray Williams (rugby union, born 1909) (1909–2001), New Zealand international rugby union winger

Other sports

 * Ray Williams (American football) (born 1958), American football player
 * Ray Williams (basketball) (1954–2013), basketball player
 * Ray Williams (weightlifter) (born 1959), Commonwealth gold medallist
 * Ray Williams (bowls) (1951–2016), Welsh lawn bowls player
 * Ray Orlando Williams, American powerlifter

Other people

 * Raymond Williams (1921–1988), British academic
 * Ray Williams (businessman) (born 1937), founder of HIH Insurance (Australia)
 * Ray Williams (producer) (born 1947), music publicist
 * Ray Williams (politician) (born 1960), Australian politician
 * Ray Robinson Williams (1899–1987), South Carolina state senator, 1940–1953
 * Ray Williams (educator), director of education at the Blanton Museum of Art

title: Ray Williams


text:
Rugby World Cup Sevens

Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.

The first tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, and was won by England. The winners of the men's tournament are awarded the Melrose Cup, named after the Scottish town of Melrose where the first rugby sevens game was played. A women's tournament was introduced at the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, and was first won by Australia.

After the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, the tournament took an extended, five-year hiatus to allow the integration of rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics into the competitive calendar. The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at Cape Town Stadium, in Cape Town, South Africa, with Fiji winning the men's tournament and Australia winning the women's tournament.

History
The Rugby World Cup Sevens originated with a proposal by the Scottish Rugby Union to the International Rugby Board. The inaugural tournament was held at Murrayfield in Edinburgh in 1993, and has been held every four years since. England won the inaugural tournament, defeating Australia 21–17 in the final.

Hong Kong, which had played a major role in the international development of the Sevens game, hosted the 1997 event. The final was won by Fiji over South Africa. The 2001 tournament was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina. The 2005 event returned to Hong Kong.

At the 2009 tournament, Wales, Samoa, Argentina and Kenya combined to stun the rugby world by defeating the traditional powerhouses of New Zealand, England, South Africa and Fiji in the quarter-finals, guaranteeing a new Melrose Cup winner. Wales and Argentina met in the final, with Wales triumphing 19–12.

The IRB made a submission to the International Olympic Committee in 2005 for rugby sevens to become an Olympic sport. However, the submission failed because committee members felt IRB needed to improve promotion of the women's game. To that end, the IRB implemented the first women's Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament in 2009. The 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held in Dubai during the first weekend of March 2009 and included a separate women's tournament. Cumulative attendance was 78,000.

Prior to the inclusion of rugby sevens into the Olympic Games, the IRB stated that their intention would be to end the World Cup Sevens so that the Olympic Games would be the one pinnacle in a four-year cycle for Rugby Sevens. The adoption of rugby sevens and golf was recommended to the full International Olympic Committee council by its executive board in August 2009. The International Olympic Committee voted in 2009 for rugby sevens to become a medal event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The IRB Council in 2010 awarded the hosting of the 2013 tournament to Moscow, Russia from a field of eight nations that had expressed formal interest in hosting. The IRB intended that the exposure to rugby from hosting the World Cup Sevens would accelerate the growth of rugby in Russia. It featured 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams.

The IRB originally intended to discontinue Rugby World Cup Sevens after the 2013 edition, in favour of the Olympic tournament. However, it was later decided in 2013 that the tournament would continue to be held, as it can accommodate a larger field than the Olympic rugby sevens tournaments, and would allow an elite-level competition to take place biennially from 2016. The next tournament would be held in 2018, one year later than usual, in order to accommodate the integration of the Olympics into the competitive calendar. On 13 May 2015, it was announced that the United States would host the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens.

Notable players
The 2001 tournament added another chapter to the legend of New Zealand's Jonah Lomu. Lomu, used sparingly in pool play, received his opportunity when New Zealand captain Eric Rush broke his leg in the last pool match. Lomu went on to score three tries in the final.

In 2005, Waisale Serevi came out of international retirement to captain and lead Fiji to their second Melrose Cup. At the 2009 tournament, Wales defeated Argentina 19–12 in the final, and Wales' Taliesin Selley was named player of the tournament.

Player Records
The top all-time try-scorer for the Rugby World Cup Sevens is Fijian winger Marika Vunibaka, who scored 23 tries in three of the Sevens World Cups he played in from 1997 to 2005. Serevi ranks second with 19 career World Cup Sevens tries, over four tournaments from 1993 to 2005. Brian Lima ranks third with 17 tries. The top points scorers are Serevi with 297 points, Vunibaka with 115 points, and Lima with 101 points.

Up to date as of 12 September 2022

title: Rugby World Cup Sevens


text:
Talk:Robert Cecil

Robert Cecil (disambiguation)

 * Please take a look at en:Special:Allpages/Robert Cecil.
 * en:Robert Cecil -> en:Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury =/= (en:Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, eo:Robert CECIL, es:Robert Cecil)
 * Either Robert Cecil or Robert Cecil (disambiguation) should be a disambiguation page. Best regards Gangleri | [ Th] | T 08:10, 2005 Apr 16 (UTC)
 * I've edited this article so that it's now a disamb. Thanks for the link to en:Special:Allpages/Robert Cecil. It helped me a lot! David Björklund 10:43, 17 November 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Robert Cecil


text:
Siong Lim Temple

Siong Lim Temple, also known as Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery, is a Buddhist monastery located in Toa Payoh, Singapore, next to the Pan Island Expressway. The temple was founded in 1898, but the construction of the premises only began in 1902 by Low Kim Pong and was completed in 1907. The monastery was gazetted as a national monument in 1980 and subsequently underwent a decade-long restoration that began in 1991. The temple now boasts a seven storey gold-topped pagoda which is a replica of the 800-year-old Shanfeng temple pagoda in Fujian. The temple also consist of a columbarium for Qing Ming Festival visit.

Etymology
Siong Lim Temple is the common Hokkien or Fukien name of the (Lian Shan) Shuang Lin Monastery, pinyin: (Lián Shān) Shuāng Lín sì), which literally means "Twin Grove of the Lotus Mountain Temple". The name of the monastery refers to the twin groves of sala trees located at the Bodh Gaya in India, where Lord Buddha was believed to have attained Enlightenment. It is also commonly referred to as Siong Lim Temple or, in the past, Low Kim Pong’s Temple after its founder.

History
The Buddhist temple was built on a 40,000 square metres site owned by Low Kim Pong (劉金榜), a wealthy Chinese Hoklo (Hokkien) merchant and devout Buddhist.

When Low Kim Pong was sixty, he had a dream where he saw a golden light rising from the west over the sea (the west being symbolic of Buddhism which originated in India, and is west of China). He took the dream to be an omen, and went to the coast the next day. At dusk, he met an unusual Hokkien family arriving by boat.

The entire family had taken Buddhist vows and were on their way home to Fujian after a pilgrimage to Sri Lanka. Low, moved by their devotion, tried to persuade them to stay in Singapore and spread the faith. He promised to build a temple for their use. The head of that family, Hsien Hui (賢慧), eventually became Siong Lim's first abbot.

The funds used for its construction were raised by Low Kim Pong and Yeo Poon Seng, one of the saw mill pioneers during the period. In 1950s, the temple area was reduced to about 20,000 m² when part of the land was acquired by the Singapore Improvement Trust for public housing. Today, the temple still stands as a landmark amongst residential HDB flats.

The temple was gazetted a national monument on 17 October 1980, symbolising the social and cultural roots of the early Chinese immigrants.

Restoration works
In 1910, the buildings of the temple started to deteriorate due to termite infestations, harsh tropical weather and wear and tear caused by worshippers. Major restoration works for the monastery were first carried out between 1918 and 1919 and a second time between 1950 and 1954.

After being gazetted as a national monument in 1980, a structural safety check by the then Preservation of Monuments Board (now known as the Preservation of Sites and Monuments) uncovered cracks in the timber roofs and walls of the monastery, which prompted the formation of the Shuang Lin Restoration and Preservation Committee in 1990 to oversee the restoration works.

Planning for the restoration of the temple started in 1991, where experts in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were consulted about restoring the temple to its former glory without losing its authenticity. About 80 carpenters, sculptors and artisans were brought in from China to work on the restoration. The restoration took about a decade to be completed as the workers attempted to restore as much of the original architecture as possible.

Materials that could withstand the tropical climate of Singapore were used during the restoration of the temple. To prevent termite infestation, termite-resistant timber was imported from Sarawak, and custom-made roof tiles that were more water-resistant were ordered from Japan. French lighting expert Louis Clair, who designed the lights for the Istana Park and CHIJMES, was commissioned for the monastery’s lighting design.

The final phase of the restoration was completed in 2001, following which the monastery was reopened to the public. Approximately S$40 million was spent for the entire restoration project.

Architecture
Although the architect of the temple is unknown, the temple is modelled after Xi Chan Si, a temple in Fuzhou, Fujian province. The temple and Xi Chan Si are examples of cong lin (literally “layers of forest” in Mandarin) styled temples, where a standardised layout of the buildings within the premises of the temple is adopted and the monks lead an ordered way of life practising Buddhist scriptures and following a strict daily routine. The complex comprises three main halls separated by two courtyards and arranged along a central north-south axis, with the main entrance facing south according to the Chinese principles of feng shui.

The main gate of the temple, known as Shan Men (Mountain Gate), features majestic gates over 9 m tall, known as pai lou, which are supported by stone pillars decorated with Chinese calligraphy inscriptions and joined at the top by a wooden roof. The doors of the gates are decorated with brightly painted Buddhist guardians, and the central door features a bronze knocker held in the mouth of a snail-shaped creature that represents one of the nine sons of the dragon.

The main entrance hall, known as Tian Wang Dian (Hall of Celestial Kings), features a half hip roof with 9 ridges and it also features granite wall panels depicting scenes from Chinese culture and history. The main hall, known as Da Xiong Bao Dian (Mahavira Hall), has a two-tiered half hip roof with 9 ridges supported by colourful beams decorated with carvings of lotuses and dragons. The doors to the main hall feature carved lattice motifs of flowers, birds and Chinese symbols of longevity, while its exterior walls are decorated with tortoise-shell designs. Dharma Hall, which is situated at the back of the complex, houses the statue of the goddess Guanyin as well as ash urns. It is the oldest building in the complex and was rebuilt in 1978 as the original timber structure had deteriorated beyond repair.

Design influence
The original buildings of the temple was constructed by Chinese craftsmen using materials imported from Fujian province. With the craftsmen coming from different counties in Fujian, the architecture of the temple is a combination of three regional architectural styles: Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Fuzhou-style square beams and Quanzhou-style round beams can be found supporting the upper and lower tiers of the Da Xiong Bao Dian, while intricate Zhangzhou-style wood carvings are found on the roof of the Tian Wang Dian. Although the architectural style is primarily Fujian in origin, it also contains elements that reflect the styles of other dialect groups, such as the porcelain mosaic ornamentation, known as chien nien, found on the roof ridges of the Tian Wang Dian and Da Xiong Bao Dian is Teochew in origin.

News articles

title: Siong Lim Temple


text:
Rodney Adler

Rodney Stephen Adler (born 19 August 1959) is an Australian whose family founded the FAI Insurances group, of which he became chief executive in 1989, and which was at one stage Australia's third largest general insurer. Adler became a director of HIH Insurance after the acquisition of that company, and resigned in January 2001, two months before HIH collapsed. He was jailed in 2005 for his conduct related to the collapse of HIH, where Adler obtained A$2 million from HIH by false or misleading statements and being dishonest as a director.

Early life
Adler is the son of Hungarian Jewish immigrant Larry Adler, who founded the insurance company FAI in 1960. He was educated at Cranbrook School, and later obtained degrees of Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales and Master of Economics from Macquarie University and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and adjunct professor at the University of Technology Sydney.

Business
Adler was appointed Chief Executive by the board of FAI after the death of his father in November 1988, at a time when the company was struggling with a number of loan exposures to troubled companies such as Bond Corp and Ariadne in the wake of the October 1987 stock market crash. FAI had largely stabilised by the time the company became the subject of a takeover bid from HIH in September 1998. HIH had done no due diligence on FAI, but bid nevertheless. Total acquisition cost was A$280 million in cash and HIH shares. HIH subsequently sold assets out of FAI including its life insurance company, the St Moritz Hotel in New York and shares in the telecommunications company One.Tel to raise about A$450 million.

After the FAI acquisition was completed Adler became a director of HIH in January 1999. HIH was already in trouble as a result of underprovisioning for claims over many years, and it accumulated large losses in the Lloyd's of London insurance market and in the US which eventually brought about its collapse in March 2001.

In its final months, as HIH attempted to sell assets to raise much-needed cash, it succeeded in selling the FAI business it had acquired less than two years previously into a joint venture with Germany's Allianz Group. HIH and, subsequently the HIH liquidator, raised A$320 million from the sale of the ongoing FAI business.

In September 2000 around the time of the announcement of the Allianz joint venture, Adler persuaded the HIH chief executive at the time, Ray Williams, to provide $10 million of HIH's money to allow him to invest and ostensibly make money for HIH. One of the investments Adler made, through a trust called Pacific Eagle Equities, was HIH shares at a time when the HIH share price was falling sharply. The investment was a poor one, as the price continued to fall. Adler resigned as a director of HIH in January 2001. He was subsequently charged, tried and jailed for two and a half years over breaches of his director's duties.

Conviction
In 1999, Adler was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the insurance industry and philanthropy, but gave up the award after his criminal conviction.

Adler was sentenced to 4½ years' custody, with a non-parole period of 2½ years after pleading guilty on 16 February 2005 to four criminal charges:
 * two counts of disseminating information on 19 and 20 June 2000 respectively, knowing it was false in a material particular and which was likely to induce the purchase by other persons of shares in HIH contrary to ;
 * one count of obtaining money by false or misleading statements, contrary to ; and
 * one count of being intentionally dishonest and failing to discharge his duties as a director of HIH in good faith and in the best interests of that company contrary to.

In sentencing Adler, Justice Dunford said: "The offences are serious and display an appalling lack of commercial morality…Directors are not appointed to advance their own interests but to manage the company for the benefit of its shareholders to whom they owe fiduciary duties…They were not stupid errors of judgement but deliberate lies, criminal and in breach of his fiduciary duties to HIH as a director."

Adler was also disqualified from acting as a director of any company for 20 years; ordered to pay compensation jointly with Adler Corporation Pty Limited and Ray Williams of approximately A$7 million; and ordered to pay a pecuniary penalty of A$450,000. Adler Corporation Pty Limited was also ordered to pay a pecuniary penalty of A$450,000.

Following his conviction, Adler was taken to the maximum security Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre and following initial classification, was placed in Long Bay Correctional Centre, before being transferred to the minimum security Kirkconnell Correctional Centre in late April 2005. However, less than two months later, Adler was transferred to the higher security Bathurst Correctional Centre after allegedly secretly restarting his business career from within the Kirkconnell facility. On 13 October 2007, Adler was released from the St Heliers Correctional Centre in the Upper Hunter Valley on parole, after serving two and a half years of his sentence, spending time in eight different correctional facilities. Adler described the prison system as "Darwinian, degrading, outdated, boring and pointless" in an article written for The Bulletin magazine in December 2007. During his time in solitary confinement, Adler befriended an individual in the next cell, as they were communicating through the acoustics of the toilet in their respective cells. They formed a deep friendship, something he spoke about with media. In 2020, Adler pleaded for leniency for a debtor who failed to disclose his bankruptcy in obtaining a loan from Adler.

Career since release
Adler has involved himself in various causes, including helping to promote the "Turn Friday Night into Family Night" initiative of charismatic rabbi Shmuley Boteach, reportedly discussing the initiative with Pope Benedict XVI in May 2010 during the Pope's weekly audience in St Peter's Square.

His business interests include short-term financing, equity investment, venture capital, property development and financial advice.

In 2009 a St Kilda East synagogue, the Sassoon Yehuda Sephardi Centre, conferred naming rights on extensions to the synagogue, entitled the Lyndi and Rodney Adler Sephardi Centre. The estate of a late community member, Albert Yehuda, whose family was already commemorated in the centre's name commenced legal action that ended in the Supreme Court of Victoria. In bringing the case before the courts, the estate claimed that "...there is evidence the Adlers are desirous of re-establishing themselves in society, particularly Jewish society. ... [we] consider it to be an affront for his name to be displaced by a name which included that of a notorious convicted criminal". The estate lost its case before the court, but this decision was overturned by the Victorian Court of Appeal.

In 2010, Adler was reported to be providing consulting services on ethical business practices. In 2011 it was reported that Adler had made investments in a range of energy and retail assets; while in 2012 it was reported he was associated with a Sydney office property syndicate.

title: Rodney Adler


text:
User:SteveBish

Real name: Steve Bishop Residence: Bristol, UK

title: User:SteveBish


text:
User:Dosseman

I may not promote myself, but it seems on this page I may. Well:

My full name is Dick Osseman. I love photography and (some aspects of) Turkey. So I created an extensive site (http://www.pbase.com/dosseman ,in 2023 containing 85.000 well-organized pictures), where I treat most of that country. Almost every city is represented, as are most of the major museums and archaeological sites. Whenever possible I add texts taken from authoritative books, local folders, the Encyclopedia Britanica and increasingly the Wikipedia itself, or just original writing of my own or contributed by visitors. The site started May 9th 2004 and has generated (March 2024) 137.000.000 "views". Pictures have been used in well over 125 publications (https://pbase.com/dosseman/me_in_print ), several newspapers, some exhibitions, many sites and at least one (BBC) television program. I received many positive reactions from Turks, either living in the country or abroad and from foreigners who have visited the country as tourists or worked there.

In view of the scarcity of good (links to) pictures of many Turkish cities and their culture I have added "External links" on several Wikipedia pages. I do NOT consider that as promoting my site or myself, but as promoting (knowledge of) Turkey. I suppose I may find some Wikipedian will be taking the links out, considering me to be guilty of self-aggrandizement after all. In that case I thought I'd say good-bye to Wikipedia, and use my energy elsewhere. I did not want to compete on that issue. However, in 2019 I decided I'd contribute part of my archive as Wikicommons pictures (started end of januari 2019, passing 68.000 uploads in July 2024 and progressing fast). I also decided to upload high resolution pictures instead of the smaller ones I started out with. If I come across those I substitute them with the large files. I try and put the pictures in relevant articles, editing some as I go along. I'm still struck by the many outdated links in Turkey articles, and sometimes remedy this. However, as I have so many pictures, I may continue to link to pages on my site. In Commons I have been granted "autopatrol" rights on 25-3-2020. That indicates I do not have the ability to mark [other's] actions as patrolled; instead only [my own] actions are automatically marked as patrolled. This right is commonly granted to users who aren't necessarily involved in patrolling pages, edits or uploads, but create a high level of quality pages or uploads that do not require patrolling by other users. It seems to have advantages that I will be working out, and maybe use to good advantage. I mention it because I have on occassion been bothered by other users who thought they ought to correct my work. Please don't, but write to me instead if you feel I'm wrong.

In May 2024 I was made a patroller. I'm still working out what that implies.

I have also created a large site about Syria, with pictures of monuments that may no longer exist (some used by BBC, UNESCO and others), and a smaller one about Italy. In 2013 I added a site about Jordan. For a while I felt so harassed by Turkish users that I spent all my Wiki-time putting full size pictures in the Jordan and Syria commons. But I have returned to Turkey (physically in 2023, for three Istanbul weeks well-spent. During my last full day later that year I made a speech as guest speaker on 22-10-2023 at the Turkic Wikimedia Conference 2023 in Istanbul under the title "A traveller’s pictures of Turkey, taken over 30 years (EN)", explaining how I became the passionate photographer and then wikimedian that I have turned into. The audience liked it.

After it re-opened I have contributed a little to the Turkish Vikipedi, but my Turkish being poor it is hard going. Assistance of English-speakers knowing Turkish might be useful. Oh, and my name, Osseman, has nothing to do with Osman, it's a Dutch name referring to a man with oxen, and I'm Dutch also.

I was pleased to receive a message as shown below (can be checked in my talk page, 25-6-2020). And I do intend to keep it up.

And this erlier one:

A week before my 73rd birthday I received:

A barnstar for you!
And when I was 74:

And as if that was not enough:

A barnstar for you!
And then came (though I must add I have an archive stretching back to the 1990's):

title: User:Dosseman


text:
Talk:Bob Wood

I dont think these guys have been disambiguated properly. -- Earl Andrew - talk 08:19, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Bob Wood


text:
Nigerian literature

Nigerian literature may be roughly defined as the literary writing by citizens of the nation of Nigeria for Nigerian readers, addressing Nigerian issues. This encompasses writers in a number of languages, including not only English but Igbo, Urhobo, Yoruba, and in the northern part of the county Hausa and Nupe. More broadly, it includes British Nigerians, Nigerian Americans and other members of the African diaspora.

Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe is one of the milestones in African literature. Other post-colonial authors have won numerous accolades, including the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded to Wole Soyinka in 1986, and the Booker Prize, awarded to Ben Okri in 1991 for The Famished Road. Nigerians are also well represented among recipients of the Caine Prize and Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa.

Nigerian literature in English
Nigerian literature is predominantly English-language. Literature in the national languages Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa plays only a minor role. Most of the important English-language authors in West Africa come from Nigeria.

Under British rule
Among the first modern Nigerian authors was Amos Tutuola. In his magnum opus The Palm Wine Drinkard (1952) the author follows a man befuddled by palm wine in a fairy-tale atmosphere that leads him to the city of the dead. There he discovers a magical world populated by ghosts, demons and supernatural beings. The book contradicted all realistic narrative conventions and was written in flawed English. For this very reason, the book later became stylistic and highly regarded, although it was criticised at the time for maligning Nigerians as barbaric, perpetually drunken people and provoking racist fantasies.

In 1957, Black Orpheus magazine became the main forum for many Nigerian poets and writers.

Independence
A number of writers, members of the Mbari Club of Prof. Ulli Beier, became popular in the immediate aftermath of independence.

The Arts Theatre of the University of Ibadan developed into a touring theatre from 1961, but mostly performed plays by European authors. Thus, as a critical reaction to the emerging alienation of theatre from everyday African life in Ibadan, the Mbari Club emerged as a literary centre for African literary figures. Playwright John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo staged his first play Song of a Goat here in 1962, a synthesis of forms of ancient theatre and a theme always relevant in Africa - fertility and motherhood - for the European-educated young generation. In 1966, he documented the festival of a hero of the Ijaw people, which is celebrated every 25 years in the Niger Delta, in the original language in his drama Ozidi, adapted it dramatically and translated it into English. He turned the folkloric symbolism into the psychoanalytical.

The only representative of négritude in Nigeria was considered to be the essayist and literary scholar Abiola Irele, who became the director of the journal Black Orpheus in 1968. He criticised the overemphasis on ideological differences between the English- and French-speaking writers of Africa.

As early as the 1950s, popular metropolitan literature based on the American model emerged in Nigeria, published in booklets distributed in the market, the so-called Onitsha market literature, of which Cyprian Ekwensi was probably the most important representative. Ekwensi, the son of a african storyteller, wrote hundreds of short stories as well as 35 novels and children's books. His best-known work is Jagua Nana (1961), a description of the life of an ageing sex worker that is not free of stereotypes. Considered the most important founding figure of English-language literature in West Africa, Chinua Achebe, winner of the 2002 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, made his debut as a novelist and poet with Things Fall Apart (1958), which, along with No Longer at Ease (1960),  is his magnum opus. His novels place African heroes at the crossroads of two worlds: a Western world with an abstract rationality devoid of justice and an Africa whose outmoded traditional values handicap its subjects for the new age. He is one of the best-known English-language African authors. That is why he has been considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. Things Fall Apart describes an Africa before the arrival of Europeans and which carries old values that Achebe wants to emphasise. The book reached a circulation of 400,000 copies in 1969 and three million copies in 1987. It has been translated into 45 languages. In Anthills of the Savannah (1987), he describes an Africa gripped by corruption and the false position of intellectuals, where women are the future. Chinua Achebe was awarded the Man Booker International prize in recognition of his entire career as a novelist and author in 2007. In awarding the prize, Nadine Gordimer referred to Achebe as "the father of modern African literature".

After the Biafra war
Flora Nwapa began her career as a writer while teaching at Queen's School in Enugu. Two of her novels, Efuru (1966) and Idu (1970), are set in her native village and acquaint readers with local customs. They depict the workings of the patriarchal and age-grouped society that enables the resolution of problems and conflicts, and the role of the kola nut in all family ceremonies. They address the themes that will run throughout their work: the role of children in the family, the consequences of female infertility, the position of women in Nigerian society and their vital need for economic independence. Never again (1975) recalls the terrible years of the Biafra war and the devastating effects of propaganda that banned all critical thinking. In 1966, when 25 titles had already appeared in the publisher's African Writers Series, Flora Nwapa became the first woman to be included in the series. It was to take another 30 titles before another woman appeared in the series. Wole Soyinka is a screenwriter and director. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986 and is the first black author to be honoured in this way. Soyinka was awarded the prize for writing "...in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence". A prolific and versatile artist, he has written numerous plays, as well as autobiographical stories, poetry collections and short stories, novels, and political and literary essays. Known for the richness of his poetic imagery and the complexity of his thought, he counts among his masterpieces the anti-colonialist tragedy Death and the King's Horseman (1975).

Buchi Emecheta, a Nigerian living in London, dealt with themes such as motherhood, social contrasts and independence and freedom for women. The tragic-romantic novel The Bride Price (1976) reflects the social conventions in Nigeria around 1970, namely those of arranged marriages, bride kidnappings and the bride price mentioned in the title. The heroine Aku-nna finds the husband who returns her feelings through cleverness and courage. However, she does not have much time to enjoy her happiness. Second Class Citizen (1974) follows a Nigerian woman who moves in with her children to live with her husband, who already lives in Britain. She encounters racial resentment and domestic violence before she can realise her dream of a writing career. Ben Okri first wrote short stories about social and political problems, some of which were published in women's magazines and evening newspapers. Okri found success with the publication of his first novel, Flowers and Shadows (1980). From 1983 to 1986 he worked for West Africa Magazine, where he served as editor of the poetry section. In 1991, he won the Booker Prize in the fiction category for The Famished Road, a magical surrealist novel about Azaro, a "spirit child".

Dealing with dictatorship
The main themes of the 1980s and 1990s were the democratisation movement and the critique of military dictatorships. Criticism of the Nigerian military dictatorship cost the novelist, screenwriter and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa his life: he was sentenced to death in 1995 under Sani Abacha's regime. Helon Habila's Oil on Water (2010) dealt with the victims of the military dictatorship and the ongoing oil spill in the Niger Delta.

The new millennium
Sefi Atta is a writer and playwright. Her Everything Good Will Come (2005) is a bildungsroman that follows the lives of two women. After a series of dramatic events, tensions between different ethnic groups, rebellion against a male-dominated society and societal expectations, the heroine finds shelter and understanding with a group of political activists.

Femi Osofisan uses surrealistic stylistic devices and traditional African forms of expression with an educational purpose in his approximately 60 plays. He often adapted European classics. His themes are the change of traditions, gender and sexual repression. Women of Owu (2004) is a retelling of Euripides' Trojan Women. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's literary career took off with the publication in 2003 of Purple Hibiscus, an initiation novel in which a brother and sister finally find their voices again. The critically acclaimed debut novel was nominated for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction in 2004 and was named Best Debut in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 2005. Her second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun, was published in 2006, set before and during the Biafra war, in which we follow the lives of two sisters separated by war. The book won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction as well as the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award. Her third work, the short story collection The Thing Around Your Neck was published in 2009. In 2013, she published her fourth book, the novel Americanah, which tells the story of a young Nigerian woman named Ifemelu who has emigrated to the US and a young man who has emigrated to the UK. Ifemelu faces poverty, discrimination and racism until she becomes a star of the blogosphere. She becomes the "first blogger on race". The novel was selected by the New York Times as one of the "10 Best Books of 2013".

After 2010: Social networks, telecommunication and their effect on Nigerian society
Post 2010 Nigerian literature focuses on real life in metropolitan Nigeria and the influence of social networks on Nigerian social life.

Among the younger Nigerian authors is Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, who won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the best debut novel with I Do Not Come to You by Chance in 2010. It describes the story of a young academic, Kingsley Ibe, who is unable to find a position yet is expected to care for his retired parents and younger siblings. His wealthy uncle Boniface offers a way out of this dilemma, but demands Kingsley's involvement in his criminal and risky email scam business.

Noo Saro-Wiwa's 2012 account of her journey around Nigeria to reconnect with her homeland, Looking for Transwonderland, documents travel as a way to repair that relationship, which was deeply affected by the trauma of the execution of her father Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Elnathan John's short story Bayan Layi was shortlisted for the Caine Prize in 2013. His short story Flying was shortlisted again in 2015. His first novel Born on a Tuesday was published in 2016 and traces the shaping of adolescents through experiences of violence. He was shortlisted for the NLNG Literary Award, Nigeria's most prestigious literary prize, and shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Award in 2017. Together with cartoonist Àlàbá Ònájin, he depicts the daily life of the family of wealthy free church clergyman Akpoborie in the comic Lagos - Life in Suburbia. Chigozie Obioma became known for two successful novels. The Fishermen (2015) is about an ominous prophecy that spells doom for four brothers in the author's hometown. An Orchestra of Minorities (2019), shortlisted for the 2019 Man Booker Prize, describes the fate of a Nigerian chicken farmer who moves to Northern Cyprus to earn the money that will win him the heart of the woman he loves. But he encounters racist resentment in his new home and is cheated out of his savings.

Stephen Buoro received the Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship in 2018 and was named by The Guardian as one of their ten best new novelists of 2023. His debut novel, The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa, was shortlisted for the inaugural Nero Book Awards in the 'Debut Fiction' category and longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize.

Further Nigerian writers include: Daniel O. Fagunwa, Tanure Ojaide, Chris Abani, Ayobami Adebayo, Akwaeke Emezi, Nuzo Onoh, Yemisi Aribisala, A. Igoni Barrett, B.M. Dzukogi, Helen Oyeyemi, Nnedi Okorafor, Uju Obuekwe, Chinelo Okparanta, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Chika Unigwe, Ogaga Ifowodo, Melekwe Anthony, Gift Foraine Amukoyo, Teju Cole, Niyi Osundare and Oyinkan Braithwaite. A list of "100 Most Influential Nigerian Writers Under 40 (Year 2016)" was published on 28 December 2016 on the Nigerian Writers Awards website.

Nigerian literature in the Yoruba language
The first novel in Yoruba, Itan-Igbesi Aiye Emi Segilola (The Life History of Me) about the life of a prostitute by Isaac B. Thomas, was published in 1929 as a serialised novel in 30 installments in a Lagos newspaper. The realistic book, which reports many details about Lagos in the 1920s, reflects the various language influences and the peculiarities of oral urban speech. In the new editions published as books, the style was "literarised". This was followed by The Forest of a Thousand Daemons (1938) by Daniel Olorumfemi Fagunwa. This magical folkloric adventure novel, full of turgid rhetoric and featuring the main character of the legendary Yoruba hunter Àkàrà-Oògùn, is considered the first substantial book in Yoruba. It has been reprinted many times and was translated into English by Wole Soyinka in 1968. In his five novels in all, two of which deal with pre-colonial society and the others with colonial influences on Yoruba society, both traditional Yoruba values and Christian values are upheld. In his dramas, he uses the alienating self-imagination of the character, emphasising the genealogical anchoring of his characters.

Duro Ladipo, son of an Anglican clergyman, was a playwright who wrote exclusively in Yoruba and adapted ancient myths, fairy tales and stories from Christian, Islamic or Yorubian traditions in his plays, in which he himself acted. Another important playwright of the Yoruba folk theatre (the Yoruba Opera) was Hubert Ogunde, who also wrote these plays, which were always linked with music, in English. The politician Afolabi Olabimtan also wrote novels in Yoruba.

A special role in the discovery and promotion of Yoruba literature was played by Oyekan Owomoyela, who taught in the USA and edited anthologies of trickster tales and proverbs.

Nigerian literature in the Igbo language
The Igbo have made a rather minor contribution to Nigerian literature. The first short novel in Igbo was written by Pita (Peter) Nwana in 1933 (Omenuko, 1935). It is a historical narrative about a poor boy who rises to become a wealthy trader and paramount chief, but sells his apprentices as slaves to compensate himself for losses of goods suffered, and still becomes impoverished. Initially, efforts to promote literature in Igbo remained largely unsuccessful for a long time, especially since Chinua Achebe achieved his major book success in English with Things Fall Apart in 1958. Achebe also refused to use standard Igbo. It was not until the 1970s that some novelists emerged, such as Tony Ubesie, who died young in 1993.

Nigerian literature in the Hausa language
The Hausa of northern Nigeria, Niger and Chad have been shaped more by Islam than by Western influences.

Northern Nigerian written literature can be divided into 4 main periods. The first is the 14 Kingdoms Period (10th-19th century), the second is the Sokoto period (19th-20th century), the third is the Colonial Period (20th century), and the fourth is the Post-Independence period (20th century to present).

During the 14 Kingdoms (until 1804) many authors produced books that dealt with theology, history, biography, mathematics, language, writing, documentaries, geography, astronomy, diplomacy and poetry.

Some of the known authors and some of their works Their literature dates back to Usman dan Fodio and the Sokoto Caliphate, i.e. the late 18th century. The early works were written in Ajami, a variant of Arabic script. The journalist and poet Abubakar Imam published the first Hausa newspaper, Gaskiya Ta Fi Kwabo, in Zaria from 1941. Many modern novels written in Hausa are by women (so-called Kano Market Literature), such as the more than 30 books by Hafsat Abdul Waheed, the love novels by Balaraba Ramat Yakubu or the works of Lubabah Ya'u.
 * Ibn Furtu was the Chronicler of Mai Idris Alooma. He produced two historical works: The Book of the Bornu Wars, and The Book of the Kanem Wars, which detail the wars that transformed Bornu from an independent Sultanate into an Empire. These works were produced in 1576 and 1578 respectively.
 * Muhammad abd al-Razzaq al-Fallati was a 16th-century Fulbe scholar in Hausaland who wrote K.fi'l-tawhid
 * Uthman Ibn Idris of Bornu sent a letter to the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt in 1391-1392. The letter was one of a diplomatic nature, it also contained poetry and an erudite understanding of Islamic law. This letter contains the earliest extant indigenous written poem produced in Nigeria.
 * Muhammad al-Maghili wrote On The Obligations of Princes in Kano for Muhammad Rumfa in the 15th century. Al-Maghili was a Berber from North Africa who was born in an area that is now Algeria.
 * Muhammad ibn al-Sabbagh was a 17th-century scholar and author from the Katsina Sultanate. He was celebrated during and well after his time, and wrote praise poetry for the Sultan of Bornu's conquest against Kwararafa. He also wrote a poem praising the Sultan of Katsina Muhammad Uban Yari.
 * Muhammad ibn Masani was the student of Muhammad ibn al Sabbagh and also a celebrated scholar from Katsina. He also produced works in the Hausa language during the 17th century. He wrote many works, one of them was an anthropological study on the Yoruba people, this work was mentioned by Muhammad Bello who lived some 200 years later in his Infaq'l-Maysuur Azhar al-ruba fi akhbar Yuruba. It was one of the earliest written accounts on the transatlantic slave trade by an indigenous African, which also noted that free Muslim people were taken from all parts of Hausaland and sold to European Christians. He also wrote to a Jurist in Yorubaland explaining how to determine the time for the sunset prayer. His work in Hausa was a poem he had heard from a woman in Katsina, called Wakar Yakin Badara. So far it is known that he had authored ten books.
 * Abdullahi Suka was a 17th-century Kano scholar of Fulbe ancestry who is said to have written the oldest extant literature in Hausa with his work Riwayar Annabi Musa. He also authored Al-Atiya li'l muti (translated: The Gift Of The Donor) and many others.
 * Salih ibn Isaq wrote an account of Birnin Garzargamu in 1658, describing the capital city of Bornu during the reign of Mai Ali ibn Al Hajj Umar.
 * Sheikh Jibril ibn Umar was an 18th-century scholar and author, in his work Shifa al-Ghalil he attacked Muslims who mixed indigenous beliefs with Islam. Admixture of Animists practices and Islam was one of the main reasons given for the Jihad of Uthman dan Fodio during the 19th Century.

Censorship / intimidation of authors
Freedom of expression is protected by the Nigerian Constitution (Section 39 - 1) of 1999, with which Nigeria became a democracy. There is no government controlled institution either, which would control any printed media. 100 independent newspapers exist in Nigeria. However, in 2021 freelance reporter Luka Binniyat spent 91 days in jail for criticizing a State Commissioner, being accused of "cyberstalking". In May 2022, reporter Prince Olamilekan Hammed was arrested after having exposed alleged criminal activities of the Ogun State governor Dapo Abiodun in the United States.

The National Film and Video Censors Board controls non-print media and has stopped the publication of a few films in 2002, due to displaying "obscene acts among young women".

The Reporters without Borders World Press Freedom Index ranked Nigeria 115th out of 180 countries in 2020. This is better than Morocco (133) or Turkey (154), but worse than other West African countries like Ivory Coast (68) or Ghana (30).

title: Nigerian literature