title: Primorsky Krai

text: The krai shares Russia's only border with North Korea, along the Tumen River in Khasansky District in the southwestern corner of the krai. Peter the Great Gulf, the largest gulf in the Sea of Japan, is located along the south coast.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Historically part of Manchuria, Primorsky Krai was ceded to the Russian Empire by Qing China in 1860 as part of a region known as Outer Manchuria, forming most of the territory of Primorskaya Oblast. During the Russian Civil War it became part of the Far Eastern Republic before joining the Soviet Union, going through numerous changes until reaching its current form in 1938. Primorsky Krai is home to the Russian Navy's Russian Pacific Fleet.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The name of the krai is derived from the Russian words (), meaning "littoral" or "coastal", and (), meaning "region" or "area". It is informally known as Primorye (, ) in Russian, and is occasionally translated as Maritime Territory in English.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorsky Krai, bordered by China (Jilin and Heilongjiang), North Korea (Rason) and Khabarovsk Krai, and the relatively warm—although freezing in winter—waters of the Sea of Japan, is the southeasternmost region of Russia, located between the 42° and 48° north latitude and 130° and 139° east longitude. It is stretched in the meridianal direction, the distance from its extreme northern point to its most southerly point being about .


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Highlands dominate the territory of the krai. Most of the territory is mountainous, and almost 80% of it is forested. The average elevation is about . Sikhote-Alin is a mountainous formation, extending for the most part of the Krai. It consists of a number of parallel ranges: the Partizansky (Partisan), the Siny (Blue), the Kholodny (Cold), and others. There are many karst caves in the South of Primorye. The relatively accessible Spyashchaya Krasavitsa cave (the Sleeping Beauty) in the Ussuriysky Nature Preserve could be recommended for tourists. There are comparatively well-preserved fragments of the ancient volcanoes in the area.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The ranges are cut by the picturesque narrow and deep valleys of the rivers and by large brooks, such as the Partizanskaya, the Kiyevka, the Zerkalnaya, the Cheryomukhovaya, the Yedinka, the Samarga, the Bikin, and the Bolshaya Ussurka. Most rivers in the Krai have rocky bottoms and limpid water. The largest among them is the Ussuri, with a length of . The head of the Ussuri River originates to the East of Oblachnaya Mountain. The vast Khanka Lowlands extends into the West and the South-West of Primorye, carpeted by coniferous-deciduous forest. A part of the Lowland surrounding the largest lake in the Russian Far East, Khanka Lake, is occupied by a forest-steppe.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The krai's coastline is fairly straight, except for the southernmost section around Vladivostok which contains the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: There are numerous islands in this area, the main ones being Lisy Island, Askold Island, Putyatin Island, Skrebtsov island, Sibiryakov Island, the Eugénie Archipelago (the largest island of which being Russky Island), the Rimsky-Korsakov Archipelago and Furugelm Island.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The geographic location of Primorye accounts for the variety of its flora. The territory of Primorye has not been subjected to the ice cover in the past in contrast to the rest of Siberia during the ice ages. The specifics of the geographical situation and the specific features of climate, determine the unique, diversity of the plant world at species and genetic levels and the richness of plant resources. In the flora of Primorye, there are more than two thousand species of higher plants, of which are about 250 species of trees, bushes, and ligneous lianas. Flora of mosses and lichens are very diverse. As part of the coastal flora, there are many valuable medicinal, technical and food plants, many relict and endemic species. About 200 species are listed in the IUCN Red List as rare and threatened extermination.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: There are mountainous tundra areas, conifers and coniferous-deciduous forests, and forest-steppe, which is sometimes called the Far Eastern Prairie, where many ancient plant species have been preserved, including ferns, lotus, and the "Chosenia" willow. The flora of the territory contains such plants as "Taxus cuspidata", "Juniperus rigida", "Phellodendron amurense", "Kalopanax", "Aralia elata", "Maackia amurensis", "Alnus japonica", "Actinidia kolomikta", "Schisandra chinensis", "Celastrus orbiculatus", "Thladiantha dubia", "Weigela", "Eleutherococcus", "Flueggea suffruticosa", "Deutzia", "Nelumbo nucifera", "Betula schmidtii", "Carpinus cordata", "Acer mandshuricum", "Parthenocissus tricuspidata", "Vitis amurensis", "Panax ginseng" and many others.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The fauna of Primorye is also diverse. The following animals are found in the Krai: Ussuri black bear ("Ursus thibetanus"), Amur tiger, Amur leopard ("Panthera pardus orientalis"), Eurasian lynx ("Lynx lynx"), wild boar ("Sus scrofa"), Manchurian deer ("Cervus elaphus xanthopygos"), Siberian roe deer ("Capreolus pygargus"), musk deer ("Moschus moschiferus"), long-tailed goral ("Naemorhedus caudatus"), sika deer ("Cervus nippon"), sable ("Martes zibellina"), Blakiston's fish owl ("Bubo blakistoni"), mandarinka duck ("Aix galericulata"), black stork ("Ciconia nigra"), scaly goosander ("Mergus squamatus"), chestnut-cheeked starling ("Sturnia philippensis"), black griffon ("Aegypius monachus"), large-winged cuckoo (family Cuculidae), and others. Among 690 species of birds inhabiting the territory of the former USSR, 350 are found in Primorye. Rich fisheries of salmon, Hucho taimen, lenok and marine fisheries of crab, pollock and other species make the aquatic and maritime environment a valuable resource for the region. However, the rich diversity of wildlife in Primorye is threatened by poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, Wild Salmon Center, and Russian NGOs including Phoenix Fund are active in the region's wildlife and habitat conservation.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The area was settled by several Tungusic and Mongolic tribes, such as the Sushen, the proto-Mongol Shiwei and the Mohe.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Udege people are said to have traditionally settled in territories along the Bikin River long ago, however, they are possibly of Jianzhou Jurchen origin.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: During the Bohai Kingdom, most of the krai was within the boundaries of the provinces of Dingli, Anbian and Anyuan. After Bohai was conquered by the Khitans, the territory became part of Liao dynasty's Eastern Circuit and Jin dynasty's Supin Circuit. It then came under Mongol and Manchu rule.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The acquisition of Siberia by the Tsardom of Russia and the subsequent Russian expansion to the Far East brought the Russians into direct contact with China. The Nerchinsk Treaty of 1689 demarcating the borders of the two states gave all lands lying south of the Stanovoy Mountains, including Primorye, to the Qing Empire. However, with the weakening of the Qing Empire in the second half of the 19th century, Russia began its expansion into the area. In 1858, the towns of Khabarovsk and Blagoveshchensk were founded. In 1858, Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky signed the Aigun Treaty with China, followed by the Beijing Treaty two years later. As a result of the two treaties, the Sino–Russian border shifted south in the Amur Annexation to the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, granting Russia full control of Primorye.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorskaya Oblast was established as the easternmost division of the Russian Empire in 1856. It included the territory of modern Primorsky Krai as well as the territories of modern Khabarovsk Krai and Magadan Oblast, stretching from Vladivostok to the Chukchi Peninsula in the far north.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: In the period from 1859 to 1882, ninety-five settlements were established in the Primorye region, including Vladivostok, Ussuriysk, Razdolnoye, Vladimiro-Aleksandrovskoye, Shkotovo, Pokrovka, Tury Rog, and Kamen-Rybolov. The population was primarily engaged in hunting, fishing and cultivation. More than two-thirds of the territory's inhabitants followed these occupations.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: During the latter part of the 19th century, there was a significant resource, industrial and resulting economic development in Primorye. Coal mining became a prominent industry, as did the export of sea-kale, velvet antlers, timber, crab, dried fish, and trepangs. The rapid economic expansion of Primorye was financed in large measure by Russian and foreign capital investment.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: After the Russian Revolution and the victory of the communists, the new government renamed Primorskaya Oblast as the Zemstvo of Maritime Territory. It was defined as the Far-Eastern Republic (1920–1922). Within the Russian SFSR, this became Far-Eastern Oblast (1922–1926) and then Far-Eastern Krai (1926–1938).


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The area became a battleground for allied and Bolshevik troops during the Siberian Intervention. In 1922, shortly before the end of the Civil War, Primorye came under Bolshevik control. The new government directed the economic, scientific, and cultural development of the territory. The Soviet Government spent the following ten years combating "bourgeois ideology" in many areas of life and culture. As a result, the music, theater, literature, and the fine arts of Primorye were censored.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorsky was the center of the ethnic Korean minority of Russia. The Pos'et Korean National Raion was created under the policy of Korenizatsiya. The Krai had 105 both fully and mixed Korean towns where residents used the Korean language as an official language. Nearly 200,000 ethnic Koreans were living in the Krai by the time of their deportation in 1938. The Soviet Union had earlier deported ethnic Chinese from western Siberia.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: During this period, the Soviet government emphasized centralized planning of the economy. As in the rest of the Soviet Union, priority was given to heavy industry, with a special emphasis on mining and commercial fishing. There was a widespread investment in the construction of rail and sea transit, and new port facilities were constructed.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorsky Krai was formed by further subdivision of Far-Eastern Krai in 1938, as part of the Stalin-era policy of "unbundling". Primorsky Krai, as defined in 1938, corresponds to the northeastern part of the historical region of Outer Manchuria.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: On April 18, 1942, the region became accidentally involved in World War II, which the United States had entered after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Primorsky Krai was the location where one of 16 United States Army Air Corps B-25 Mitchell medium bombers landed. The group had been launched from USS "Hornet" to carry out the Doolittle Raid on Japan. Japan and the Soviet Union were not then at war. The landing occurred 40 miles (65 km) west of Vladivostok; the bomber's crew could not return to their base, the aircraft carrier "Hornet," by the mission plan. The crew later returned home via Iran.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: During the 1970s, the Soviet Union expanded scientific institutions in Primorye, especially in the city of Vladivostok. Several large research institutions are located here, such as the Institute of Biology and Agriculture, the Pacific Institute of Bio-organic Chemistry, the Institute of Marine Biology, the Pacific Institute of Geography, the Pacific Oceanological Institute, as well as several Institutes affiliated with the Far Eastern Division of the Russian Academy of Science.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: By the early 1990s, once-small enterprises in the city had developed into large companies. Some of the most prominent include the DVMP (FESCO) shipping company, the Dalmoreprodukt , Progress Arsenyev Aircraft Works, and Vostok Mining. Commercial fishing plays an important part in the economy of the Primorye and includes firms like Vladivostok Trawling and Refrigerating Fleet (VBTRF), the Active Marine Fisheries Base of Nakhodka, and the Fishing and Marine Transport Fleet of Primorye. Numerous enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex were also established in Primorye.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Udege people, led by Pavel Sulyandziga, are trying to gain control over their traditional territories along the Bikin River and in particular a Territory of Traditional Natural Resource Use of federal status.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: During the Soviet period, the high authority in the oblast was shared between three persons: The first secretary of the Primorsky CPSU Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the chairman of the oblast Executive Committee (executive power). After 1991, the head of the Oblast administration and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Charter of Primorsky Krai is the fundamental law of the region. The Legislative Assembly of Primorsky Krai is the province's regional standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Oblast Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as the guarantor of the observance of the krai Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorsky Krai's economy, the most balanced in the Russian Far East, is also the largest in absolute terms. Food production is the most important sector, represented mainly by fish processing. Annual catch exceeds two million tonnes, or one half of the Russian Far East total. Second is machine building, where half of the output is geared toward the fishing industry and shipyards. Defense is another important sector, producing naval vessels and military aircraft. The construction materials industry here provides for the whole Russian Far East. Lead smelting is conducted in Rudnaya Pristan on the coast.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The timber industry, though in recession, is still second only to Khabarovsk Krai's with an annual yield of about 3 million cubic meters of timber. Primorsky Krai is the largest coal producer in the Russian Far East and generates more electricity than any other Russian Far East administrative division, but power shortages are common. Agriculture is also important; the krai produces rice, milk, eggs, and vegetables.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorsky Krai is the Russian Far East's banking and finance center. It has more than 100 banks and affiliates and well-developed futures and stock exchanges.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The krai's proximity to Pacific Rim markets gives it an edge over most other Russian Far East administrative divisions in developing foreign trade. Major trade items are seafood products, timber products, and ferrous metals. Major trading partners are Japan, China, and South Korea.The economy will be further diversified with the addition of as many as 8 government sanctioned casinos to be built in the Primorye Gambling Zone, which encompasses the entire Primorsky Krai. Primorsky Entertainment Resort City, under development by NagaCorp Ltd. of Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, will be the largest. The development is expected to cost in the region of RUB11.6 billion (approximately HK$2.7 billion, US$350 million) and have a total footprint of 214.89 hectares.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorsky Krai's compact territory is well endowed with infrastructure. Its railway density is twice the Russian average. Railroads connect it with China and North Korea. Vladivostok, the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian Railway, was surpassed as a port by the nearby Nakhodka-Vostochny Port container, coal and timber terminals. Primorsky Krai-based shipping companies provide 80% of marine shipping services in the Russian Far East. All the krai's significant ports are now open to international shipping.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The largest companies in the region include Far-Eastern Energy Company, NNK-Bunker, Mazda Sollers, and Vostochny Port.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: More than 100 deposits of coal are known in Primorsky Krai. The commercial deposits of coal are connected to the Partizansky and Razdolnensky coal basins, the Podgorodnensky deposit, the Uglovsky basin, and the Shkotovsky, Pavlovsky, Bikinsky, Rettikhovsky, and Suputinsky deposits.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Partizansky Basin: The city of Partizansk is located in the southern part of the basin. The total area of the basin is . The basin has been known since the 19th century and has been explored since 1902. Five coal-bearing regions—Staropartizansky, Melnikovsky, Belopadinsky, Molchanovsky, and Sergeyevsky—are within the limits of the basin. The coal is anthracite coal. By the output of volatile substances and caking ability, rich coals prevail. The reserves of coal in the basin total 193.6 million tonnes. The deposits are maintained by the mines of the Partizanskugol Association. A coal-mining factory also operates in this area.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Razdolnensky Basin: The total area of this basin is about . The basin is located to the north and the west of the city of Ussuriysk. The basin includes the following deposits: Ussuriysky, Lipovetsky, Verkhne-Razdolnensky, Konstantinovsky, and Alekseye-Nikolsky. The deposits were prospected as early as 1868. The mining of coal has been conducted since 1909. By the output of volatile substances and coking ability, long-flame coals prevail. The reserves of coal in the basin total of 66.7 million tons. The deposits are maintained by the mines and the open-pit coal mines of the Lipovetskoye Mine Administration.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Uglovsky Basin: Located northeast of Vladivostok, the basin's band extends about to the northeast of Amursky Bay and ranges from in width. Coals in the basin have been known since 1859. The mining of coal has been executed since 1867 in the Tavrichansky deposit, and since 1911 in the Artyomovsky deposit. The coal is brown coal, which is used as a power fuel. In the long years of operation, the stocks of coal in the basin have been considerably depleted. The reserves of coal in the basin total 233.7 million tons. The mines of the Tavrichansky Mine Administration and the Artyomugol Association operate on the basis of the deposits.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Podgrodnensko-Surazhevsky: This coal-bearing region is located close to Vladivostok. The stocks of the Podgrodnensky deposit are estimated to be a total of 19.6 million tons. The coal is anthracite coal. By the output of volatile substances and caking ability, the coal is hard (non-bituminous). The deposits are maintained by the Podgorodenka mine of the Artyomugol Association.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Paleogene-Neogene deposits of Primorsky Krai are the Bikinsky, Pavlovsky, Shkotovsky, Rettikhovsky, Rakovsky, and Khasansky deposits. The deposits are the major sources of fuel for the largest heat and power stations of Primorye: Luchegorskaya and Vladivostokskaya. The coal is brown coal.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Bikinsky Deposit is the largest brown coal deposit in Primorsky Krai. Its total area is . The reserves total 1,113.9 million tons. The coal-bearing thickness is . The Luchegorsky Open-Pit Coal Mine maintains the mine and provides fuel to the largest power station in the krai, the Luchegorsky Hydro-Electric Power Station.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Pavlovsky Deposit: The total area is . The reserves total 400 million tons. The coal-bearing thickness is up to . The mining is maintained by the Pavlovsky-1 and Pavlovsky-2 Open-Pit Coal Mines. Coal is used as fuel for the Vladivostok Heat and Power Plant-2.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Skotovsky Deposit: The total area is . The reserves total 251.6 million tons. The coal-bearing thickness ranges from . Maintenance is by the open-pit mine of the Artyomugol Association.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The coal of the Pavlovsky, Skotovsky, and Bikinsky deposits contains germanium and non-ferrous metals.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The major areas of occurrence of commercial tin stocks are Kavalerovsky, Krasnoarmeysky, and Dalnegorsky Districts. There are more than 30 deposits of tin in Primorsky Krai. The extraction of tin ore is maintained by Khrustalnenskaya Tin Extracting Company, Dalpolimetal Stock Company, and Vostok Mining Company. All tin-extracting enterprises of the krai have a 30-year supply of ore.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: There are four major commercial deposits of tungsten in Krasnoarmeysky and Pozharsky Districts. The mining of only two of them is currently maintained, at Vostok-2 and Lermontovskoye by the Primorsky Mining Group and Lermontovskoye Mining Company. The enterprises have a 10-year reserve supply.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: There are more than 10 commercial deposits of lead and zinc in the territories of Dalnegorsky, Kavalerovsky, and Krasnoarmeysky Districts. The mining of the deposits of lead and zinc is maintained by Dalpolimetal Stock Company. The enterprise has a 40-year supply of ore.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Among the deposits of precious metals in Primorsky Krai, silver and gold-silver deposits predominate. Ten deposits of silver are found in the Krai. The majority of silver-polymetal ore deposits are located in Dalnegorsky District and are maintained by Dalpolimetal Stock Company. Silver is extracted simultaneously with tungsten from tungsten ores deposits in Krasnoarmeysky and Pozharsky Districts.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: More than 60 deposits of gold are found in the territory of the krai. Most of them are placer deposits. The southern part of the krai is the richest in placer deposits. Significant gold placer sites are at Kommisarovsky (the Pogranichnaya river), Fadeyevsky (the Fadeyevka river), Krinichny (the Bolshaya Rudnevka river), Nakhodkinsky (the Korobkovka river), and Soboliny (the Sobolinaya river). Okean Artel and Primorsky Mine are engaged in gold extraction. Gold is also extracted from complex deposits of tungsten ores.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Voznesenovsky and Pogranichny deposits of rare-metal-fluorspar ore are located in Khorolsky District. The Voznesenovskoye deposit was prospected in 1948. It is maintained by the Yaroslavsky Mining Group Stock Company and there is a 20-year supply of ore. The ore is a complex ore. Fluorspar totals 10 percent of the mineral content of the ore. The ore contains such rare metals as beryllium, lithium, tantalum, and niobium. The Usuglinskoye mine is one of the largest fluorite mines in Russia, having estimated reserves of 2.9 million tonnes of ore.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Russia's largest deposit of boron-containing ore (boron silicates) is located in Dalnegorsky District. The deposit is operated by "Bor Stock Company". The enterprise has 50 years' supply of borosilicates stocks.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Spasskaya group includes the Spasskoye and Dlinnogorskoye limestone deposits. The stocks total more than 100 million tons and are maintained by Spassktsement Stock Company.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Suchanskaya group includes the Novitskoye and Chandolazskoye limestone deposits, which are located in Partizansky District. These deposits are suitable for the production of Portland cement of 400 and 500 types. The stocks total approximately more than 1 billion tons.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Maikhinskaya group includes the Maikhinskoye and Glubinnogorskoye deposits located in Shkotovsky District. The estimated stocks of limestone in both deposits total about 60 million tons.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: There are numerous deposits of granites, porphyrites, and marbles which, when polished, acquire a smooth surface of beautiful color. These deposits are located in Lesozavodsky, Khorolsky, Khasansky, Spassky, Chernigovsky, Partizansky, and other districts.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Ambinskoye deposit of marble is located in Khasanky District. This marble is highly decorative and is easily polished. The estimated stocks total more than 2 million m (70.6 million ft).


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Knorringskoye deposit of ashlar stones is located in Chernigovsky District. The estimated stocks total about 10 million m (35.3 million ft). They are similar in color to the famous American ashlar stones.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: There are more than 100 deposits of fusible clay which is used in brick production in the krai. Fusible clay deposits are found almost everywhere in the krai, except its northeastern parts. The Uglovskaya, Ussuriyskaya, and Spasskaya group of fusible clay deposits are noteworthy in this area.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The krai's largest stocks, a total of more than fifteen million tons, is the Uglovskaya group of deposits located in Uglovoye settlement. The deposits provide raw material to the brick factories in Vladivostok and Artyom.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: There are more than twenty deposits of refractory clay and fireclay. The clay is suitable for the manufacture of bricks and ceramics. The largest deposits are located in Oktyabrsky and Chernigovsky District, and in Artyom.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Lipovetskoye Deposit of refractory clay is located in Oktyabrsky District. The estimated stocks total about 1.5 million tons and are maintained by the Lipovetsky Brick Factory.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Ozernovskoye deposit of fireclay is located in Uglovoye settlement. The estimated stocks total about 2 million tons and have been used for the manufacture of bricks since 1964.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Primorsky krai's best-known Gusevskoye deposit of porcelain stone is located in Khasansky District. The material is used by the Vladivostok and Artyom Porcelain Factories. The estimated stocks total about 3 million tons.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The Sergeyevskoye deposit of ceramic rhyolites is located in Partizansky District. It may be used for the manufacture of porcelain.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: Several Tungusic and Paleosiberian peoples lived here before Russian colonization: Udeges, Nanais, Nivkhs, Orochs, Ulchs, Oroks, and Manchus.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: "Population": According to the 2010 Census, the population of the krai was 1,956,497, down from 2,071,210 recorded in the 2002 Census, and further down from 2,258,391 recorded in the 1989 Census. Due to its geographical location, the krai boasts a mixture of not only ethnic Russians, but also Ukrainians, Koreans, Volga Germans, Buriats, Nanais, Japanese, Chinese and Orochs. The indigenous Udege and their sub-minority, the Taz, are the region's aboriginals.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: 2009 - 1.51 | 2010 - 1.49 | 2011 - 1.53 | 2012 - 1.65 | 2013 - 1.68 | 2014 - 1.73 | 2015 - 1.76 | 2016 - 1.73(e)


title: Primorsky Krai

text: According to a 2012 survey 26.6% of the population of Primorsky Krai adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 6% are unaffiliated generic Christians, 1% adheres to other Eastern Orthodox churches or is an Eastern Orthodox believer without belonging to any church, and 1% of the population adheres to the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery) or to local Siberian native faiths. In addition, 24% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious, 35% is atheist, and 6.4% follows other religions or did not give an answer to the question. This is one of the least religious regions in Russia.


title: Primorsky Krai

text: The krai is the location of the massive Sikhote-Alin meteorite, which fell February 12, 1947, in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains, near the village of Paseka (approximately 440 km northeast of Vladivostok).


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Dil Chahta Hai () is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar. It was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and released under the banner of Excel Entertainment (which Akhtar and Sidhwani co-founded), marking their cinematic debut. The film focuses on a significant transition period in the romantic lives of 3 college-graduate friends (Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna). It also stars Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: "Dil Chahta Hai" was based on Akhtar's diary detailing his trips to Mumbai and New York City, and a story by a friend of his, Kassim Jagmagia, who would ultimately become a creative associate at Excel Entertainment. He started writing the screenplay in 1998 but finished it when the film's principal photography was started two years later. The film was produced on a budget of , and filming took place in both India and Australia. It was one of the first films shot in sync sound, with Nakul Kamte and H. Sridhar handling its sound recording. The trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics penned by Akhtar's father, Javed Akhtar, composed the soundtrack and the background score.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: "Dil Chahta Hai" premiered on 10 August 2001. The film performed moderately at the box office, grossing after its theatrical run ended. It proved to be a major commercial success in metropolitan areas, but failed in rural areas; its failure in rural areas was attributed to the city-oriented lifestyle it presented. It received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with praise for its fresh storyline, direction, soundtrack, cinematography, costumes and the performances of the cast. Several critics noted that it broke new ground by introducing a realistic portrayal of the modern Indian youth.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: A recipient of several accolades, "Dil Chahta Hai" won 2 awards at the 49th National Film Awards, including Best Feature Film in Hindi. At the 47th Filmfare Awards, the film received 13 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Farhan), Best Actor (Aamir) and Best Music Director (Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy), and won 7 awards, including Best Film (Critics) and Best Supporting Actor (Khanna) and Best Comedian (Saif).


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Akash, Sameer and Sid are best friends in college. They spend all their time together, taking trips, playing pranks on each other and supporting the other when needed. Upon graduating from college, they are forced to decide what to do with their lives ahead. Sameer's parents want to arrange his marriage with their friends' daughter, while Akash's parents ask him to manage the family business abroad. Sid is busy trying to become a painter and works to develop his skill.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: One day, Sid runs into his new neighbour, Tara. She takes an interest in his art and the two become friends. Despite her older age, Sid finds himself attracted to her. After a night out, Sid confesses to Sameer and Akash that he loves Tara. In typical fashion, the friends refuse to take him seriously. Sameer realizes that Sid is not joking but Akash continues to mock him, leading Sid to slap him. Infuriated, Akash leaves the scene, refusing to reconcile with Sid despite Sameer's attempts to mediate. Soon, Akash leaves for Sydney to work on the family business.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Sid temporarily moves away to attend a painting workshop, leaving Sameer to his own means. He decides to pursue Pooja, the girl his parents wanted him to marry, and to whom he was attracted at first-sight. Pooja has a boyfriend but it seems their relationship is not going strong. When they inevitably break up, Sameer asks her out and Pooja agrees.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: In Sydney, Akash meets Shalini who shows him around the new city. The two soon fall in love, but she has to return to India to marry her fiancé, Rohit. Rohit is hot-tempered and had once punched Akash over a prank at their college's graduation party. Now, however, Akash is determined not to lose Shalini and shows up at her wedding. He proposes to her in front of all the guests, Rohit and his family. Rohit is enraged but decides to yield on being told by Shalini that she loves Akash too.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Some time later, Sid returns home and calls Sameer up from a hospital. Sameer visits Sid, and at the waiting lounge of the hospital, catches Sid up on their life's events. They discuss the night Sid and Akash fell apart, and Sameer lies to Sid about being unable to contact Akash. The next morning, however, Akash arrives at the hospital to bury the hatchet with Sid. He apologizes to him, and the two hug.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Meanwhile, Tara is about to die from liver cirrhosis. The hospital staff approach Sid to inform him, and he speaks with Tara for the last time in her hospital room. She thanks him for being there for her in her final moments and passes away, leaving Sid's love for her unrequited. Six months later, the friends visit Goa for a trip, accompanied by Shalini and Pooja. Sid sees a woman who resembles Tara, and approaches to talk to her. It is implied that she and Sid get together, as the three friends are shown enjoying dinner with their respective partners.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: "Dil Chahta Hai" was based on Farhan Akhtar's diary he wrote during his trips to Goa and his month-and-a-half-long stay in New York City in 1996, and a story by a friend of his, Kassim Jagmagia. He originally conceived a story about the romance between Akash and Shalini. He later shared it with his parents (Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani), who immediately liked his idea but suggested several changes. However, he felt the story was not exciting and unusual enough for him and started to develop other characters, including Akash's friends, making his initial idea become the film's subplot. He was quoted as saying that:


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: While co-directing music videos for Shankar Mahadevan's album "Breathless" (1998) with his sister Zoya Akhtar, Farhan began writing the film's screenplay under the working title of "Hum Teen" in 1998. After principal photography commenced in 2000, the film was retitled "Dil Chahta Hai". Talking to the magazine "Screen", he told them that the screenplay reflected himself, his friendships, and his concerns, adding that it was "definitely a fresh view of friendship in Hindi films". Farhan originally wrote the dialogue in English, and he translated it to Hindi in two months. This marked the cinematic debut of Akhtar and his friend Ritesh Sidhwani, who produced it under their banner of Excel Entertainment. Several elements of the film were inspired by the English playwright William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing".


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan (no relation), Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, and Dimple Kapadia were chosen as the lead actors.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Aamir, playing Akash Malhotra, described his character as a typical man of present-day India. He accepted to star in the film after reading the film's screenplay, which he noted for its freshness. He said, "He is, to a great extent, self-centered, doesn't believe in love and doesn't indulge in emotions. In that sense, he is quite shallow, but not really a bad guy at heart." He was also offered to portray Siddharth "Sid", but he did not want to change his mind because he believed he had played several roles of the same type. He admitted he liked the role of Akash, calling it was "something [he] never done before". In preparation, Aamir, 35, changed his style to a 24-year-old man in two months.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Saif was cast as Sameer Mulchandani, a part he found to resemble his personality. Particularly drawn to the qualities of his role, he described the film as a "learning experience". Initially, he did not want to star in the film, but Kapadia and Javed Akhtar persuaded him to do so, which meant that he replaced Abhishek Bachchan.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Farhan initially wanted Hrithik Roshan to play the role of Siddharth "Sid" Sinha after seeing his performance in "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai" (2000). When Roshan declined due to date issues, Khanna stepped in to replace him. The press labelled this project as Khanna's comeback film post a self-imposed two-year hiatus, after having featured in several commercially unsuccessful films. Khanna mentioned "Dil Chahta Hai" has a unique concept, and his interest in its script made him sign on to the film. His role gave him "a very new sound, a very new look and a very young feel" as well as a new screen image. Aamir spoke positively of his rapport with them, confessing that it was his dream to collaborate with the two.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Zinta agreed to star in the film after reading its screenplay, which she referred to as "fabulous". Prior to filming, Zinta and Farhan had been long-time friends and had made a pact to do a film together. She performed a screen test at his house and was cast for the role of Shalini, Aamir's love interest, and spent three-and-a-half months in preparation for the role.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: While Kulkarni got the part as Sameer's love interest, and later fiancée Pooja, Kapadia was chosen for the middle-aged alcoholic interior designer and divorcée Tara and, according to Rediff.com, it was the first time she played the love interest of a much younger man. Kapadia told "Filmfare" that making the film was an enriching experience and called her part "a role to die for". In the interview, she also mentioned that the role was "very dark" as the character dies at the end of the film, which she did not like, and she felt that it has no "sunshine except this little bond that she forms with" Khanna's character, Sid. Considering her as the film's "surprise package", Farhan did not want to feature her in any of the promotional trailers and music videos aired on televisions because he wanted it to be a surprise the audience. Farhan's sister, Zoya, was in charge of the casting of the film.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: "Dil Chahta Hai" was made on a budget of . Filming started in 2000 and was completed in 108 days by Ravi K. Chandran, taking place in Mumbai, Goa, and Sydney. While Arjun Bhasin did the costume design, Farah Khan and Yunus Pathan were the choreographer and art director, respectively; Suzanne Caplan Merwanji worked as the production designer. Finished by Nakul Kamte and H. Sridhar, the film was shot in sync sound—which means that the sound was recorded at the time of the shooting—making it one of the first Indian films to use the technique. A. Sreekar Prasad edited the film. In an interview with "Filmfare" magazine, he stated that he was initially skeptical of Farhan Akhtar, a newcomer director. However, he later changed his mind after finding him to be more professional than other directors he worked with. Prasad said that he felt excited editing the "Dil Chahta Hai", stating that it reminded him of his college days and calling "Dil Chahta Hai" a "revelation" for him.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: The soundtrack and background score of "Dil Chahta Hai" were composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, after A. R. Rahman declined the offer due to date issues. The lyrics were penned by Javed Akhtar. The vocals were performed by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Caralisa Monteiro, Srinivas, Shaan, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Mahadevan, Clinton Cerejo, KK, Harvey, and Sonu Nigam. Noorani stated that the trio went to Khandala along with Farhan Akhtar, Javed Akhtar, and Sidhwani to compose six songs from a total of nine for the film in three-and-a-half days. Mendonsa described the experience as 35% of work and 65% fun and added that they had a "fantastic time". After staying in Khandala, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy subsequently booked a studio to finish the recording in three weeks.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: "Dil Chahta Hai" was one of the most anticipated Indian films of the year, owing to its plot of youth rarely touched in Indian cinema. The one-minute-long trailer was released on television and film theatres (along with Aamir's "Lagaan") across India to increase audience enthusiasm and publicity from the media. Prior to its theatrical release, a special screening for Indian Home Minister L. K. Advani was held at his house in Delhi. The film premiered at theatres on 10 August 2001 and clashed with Deepak Shivdasani's romantic drama "Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke", also starring Zinta in the lead. "Dil Chahta Hai" was later screened in several film festivals: the 33rd International Film Festival of India, the 14th Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the 11th Austin Film Festival.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: "Dil Chahta Hai" was moderately successful at the box office, performing well in metropolitan areas, but failing in rural regions. Trade analysts attributed its commercial performance in rural regions to the city-oriented lifestyle depicted in the film. However, the film ran for more than 50 weeks, thereby becoming a golden jubilee film. It was released on 210 screens in India and grossed on its opening day. It collected by the end of its first weekend, and after its first week. The film earned from the country, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing Indian film that year. Overseas, "Dil Chahta Hai" was a commercial success, collecting $210,000 in North America and $100,000 in Atlantic countries in its opening first weekend. The film collected , and grossed after finishing its overseas theatrical run, making itself the seventh-highest-grossing Indian film of the year. "Box Office India" estimated it grossed internationally.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: The television premiere of "Dil Chahta Hai" took place on 17 August 2002 on StarPlus. The film was released on DVD as a single-disc pack in the NTSC widescreen format on 14 December 2007, and the double-disc version was released simultaneously; Spark Entertainment distributed the latter. The film has been accessible for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix since 18 November 2016.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: "Dil Chahta Hai" received widespread critical acclaim upon release, with praise for its fresh storyline, soundtrack, Farhan's direction, cinematography, costumes and the performances of the cast. Several critics also noted that the film had a realistic portrayal of the modern Indian youth.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: In a 4-star review published by "Bollywood Hungama", the critic and trade analyst Taran Adarsh declared the film a landmark for Aamir's career. Adarsh considered the film to include the best performance of both Saif and Khanna's careers. Film critic Sita Menon felt Farhan had made "an impressive debut" with the film, praising him for developing the characters "very well". Menon also considered Khanna's performance "rich" and deep.


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: Writing for "Screen", Piroj Wadia called the film "an amazing debut" for Farhan, further commending his "good" script and "fine" direction, along with "excellent" cinematography from Chandran. Dinesh Raheja found the film to have a "refreshingly wicked sense of humour". He agreed with Adarsh's opinion about Saif's performance, stating that he "brings the house down with his funny one-liners and seems to be having a whale of a time". Both Wadia and Raheja also complimented Kapadia in her brief role, stating that she had shown her range and versatility. Ziya Us Salam called "Dil Chahta Hai" "a rare film on male camaraderie, and bachelor bonding". He applauded its depiction of urban youth's lifestyle from middle and upper-middle-class families, adding that the film "is a rare situational comedy which does not have to rely on facial contortions and banana peels to raise peals of laughter. Here the situations are almost normal with reactions of the three leading characters almost as natural."


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: In a review carried by "Filmfare", Arati Koppar hailed "Dil Chahta Hai" as a "fabulous ... attempt" for a directorial debut, claiming that Aamir was the best among the lead actors. Komal Nahta praised Zinta for "[looking] glamorous and sexy and acts beautifully. The new look of all the four aforementioned actors only adds to the freshness." He also saw Kapadia suited her role despite her aged look, but panned Kulkarni's "wasted" role. Apart from reviewing the performances, Nahta also expressed admiration for Farhan's direction and took note of his ability to handle the narration "with aplomb and belies the fact that this is his maiden attempt". Jasdeep Singh Pannu from "NDTV" labelled "Dil Chahta Hai" as a "wonderfully-crafted film" with "a melodramatic act, an element better kept to the conventional Bollywood movie". While "Zee Next" asserted it as one of the greatest Bollywood films of the year, Saibal Chatterjee elaborated: "Farhan demonstrates a style that is as sophisticated as it is impressive. Virtually every character in the intricate tapestry that the young filmmaker creates is utterly tangible, the emotions are completely believable, and the situations fraught with subtle drama."


title: Dil Chahta Hai

text: The Malaysian newspaper "New Straits Times" K. N. Vijiyan inscribed, "This is very much a buddy-buddy film exploring the love affairs of three good friends who part ways and later, get back together." Vijiyan commented that the film was slightly different from the usual Bollywood masala films and felt that it would not appeal to the Indian audience; he also discussed its production aspects, opining that Chandran had spun "magic" with his cinematography. In her retrospective review for "The Wall Street Journal", Beth Watkins wrote, "The mix of humour, emotion, sincerity and wisdom makes "Dil Chahta Hai" a truly enduring film."


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Junkers Ju 88 is a German World War II "Luftwaffe" twin-engined multirole combat aircraft. Junkers Aircraft and Motor Works (JFM) designed the plane in the mid-1930s as a so-called "Schnellbomber" ("fast bomber") that would be too fast for fighters of its era to intercept. It suffered from technical problems during its development and early operational periods but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Like a number of other "Luftwaffe" bombers, it served as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter and at the end of the war, as a flying bomb.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Despite a protracted development, it became one of the "Luftwaffe"s most important aircraft. The assembly line ran constantly from 1936 to 1945 and more than 15,000 Ju 88s were built in dozens of variants, more than any other twin-engine German aircraft of the period. Throughout production the basic structure of the aircraft remained unchanged.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: In August 1935, the German Ministry of Aviation submitted its requirements for an unarmed, three-seat, high-speed bomber with a payload of . Design of the Ju-88 began with a study (EF59) which evolved into two parallel designs, Ju-85 and Ju-88. The Ju 85 was a twin-engined bomber aircraft prototype, designed by Junkers in 1935. The Ministry of Aviation requested the aircraft, which differed from the Ju 88 due to the use of a twin fin tail unit. The aircraft was never put into service.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Design was initiated by Junkers Chief Designer Ernst Zindel. He was assisted by Wilhelm Heinrich Evers and American engineer Alfred Gassner. Evers and Gassner had worked together at Fokker Aircraft Corporation of America where Gassner had been Chief Engineer. Junkers presented their initial design in June 1936, and were given clearance to build two prototypes (Werknummer 4941 and 4942). The first two aircraft were to have a range of and were to be powered by two DB 600s. Three further aircraft, Werknummer "4943", "4944" and "4945", were to be powered by Jumo 211 engines. The first two prototypes, Ju 88 V1 and V2, differed from the V3, V4 and V5 in that the latter three models were equipped with three defensive armament positions to the rear of the cockpit, and were able to carry two bombs, one under each inner wing panel.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The aircraft's first flight was made by the prototype Ju 88 V1, which bore the civil registration D-AQEN, on 21 December 1936. When it first flew, it managed about and Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe was ecstatic. It was an aircraft that could finally fulfill the promise of the "Schnellbomber", a high-speed bomber. The streamlined fuselage was modeled after its contemporary, the Dornier Do 17, but with fewer defensive guns because the belief still held that it could outrun late 1930s-era fighters. The fifth prototype set a closed-circuit record in March 1939, carrying a payload at a speed of .


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The first five prototypes had conventionally-operating dual-strut leg rearwards-retracting main gear, but starting with the V6 prototype, a main gear design debuted that twisted the new, single-leg main gear strut through 90° during the retraction sequence, much like that of the American Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter. This feature allowed the main wheels to end up above the lower end of the strut when fully retracted and was adopted as standard for all future production Ju 88s, and only minimally modified for the later Ju 188 and 388 developments of it. These single-leg landing gear struts also made use of stacks of conical Belleville washers inside them as their main form of suspension for takeoffs and landings.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: By 1938, radical modifications from the first prototype began to produce a "heavy" dive bomber. The wings were strengthened, dive brakes were added, the fuselage was extended and the number of crewmen was increased to four. Due to these advances, the Ju 88 was to enter the war as a medium bomber.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The choice of annular radiators for engine cooling on the Ju 88, which placed these radiators immediately forward of each engine and directly behind each propeller, allowed the cooling lines for the engine coolant and oil-cooling radiators (integrated within the annular design) to be as short as possible, with integral port and starboard air intakes for cooling the exhaust headers, the starboard inlet also supplying the inlet air for the supercharger.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: As the outbreak of WW II in Europe approached, by the time Luftwaffe planners like Ernst Udet had their opportunities to have their own "pet" features added (including dive-bombing by Udet), the Ju 88's top speed had dropped to around . The Ju 88 V7 was fitted with cable-cutting equipment to combat the potential threat of British barrage balloons, and was successfully tested in this role. The V7 then had the Ju 88 A-1 "beetle's eye" faceted nose glazing installed, complete with the "Bola" undernose ventral defensive machine gun emplacement, and was put through a series of dive-bombing tests with bombs, and in early 1940, with bombs. The Ju 88 V8 ("Stammkennzeichen" of DG+BF, Wrk Nr 4948) flew on October 3, 1938. The A-0 series was developed through the V9 and V10 prototypes. The A-1 series prototypes were Wrk Nrs 0003, 0004 and 0005. The A-1s were given the Jumo 211B-1 or G powerplants.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Dr. Heinrich Koppenberg (managing director of Jumo) assured Göring in the autumn of 1938 that 300 Ju 88s per month was definitely possible. Göring was in favour of the A-1 variant for mass production.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Production was delayed drastically by developmental problems. Although planned for a service introduction in 1938, the Ju 88 finally entered squadron service (with only 12 aircraft) on the first day of the invasion of Poland in 1939. Production was painfully slow, with only one Ju 88 manufactured per week, as problems continually kept cropping up. The Ju 88C series of heavy fighter was also designed very early in 1940, but kept secret from Göring, as he only wanted bombers.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: In October 1937 "Generalluftzeugmeister" Ernst Udet had ordered the development of the Ju 88 as a heavy dive bomber. This decision was influenced by the success of the Ju 87 "Stuka" in this role. The Junkers development center at Dessau gave priority to the study of pull-out systems and dive brakes.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The first prototype to be tested as a dive bomber was the Ju 88 V4 followed by the V5 and V6. These models became the planned prototype for the A-1 series. The V5 made its maiden flight on 13 April 1938, and the V6 on 28 June 1938. Both the V5 and V6 were fitted with four-blade propellers, an extra bomb bay and a central "control system".


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: As a dive bomber, the Ju 88 was capable of pinpoint deliveries of heavy loads; however, despite all the modifications, dive bombing still proved too stressful for the airframe, and in 1943, tactics were changed so that bombs were delivered from a shallower, 45° diving angle. Aircraft and bomb sights were accordingly modified and dive brakes were removed. With an advanced "Stuvi" dive-bombsight, accuracy remained very good for its time. Maximum bomb load of the A-4 was , but in practice, standard bomb load was . Junkers later used the A-4 airframe for the A-17 torpedo carrier, which did not have the undernose "Bola" gondola for a ventral gun position.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Ju 88C series of standard fighter-bomber versions from the C-2 onwards culminated in the Ju 88 C-6, applying experience acquired with the A-4 bomber, equipped with the same Jumo 211J engines but replacing the "beetle's eye" nose glazing with a smoothly curved all-metal nose, pierced only by the barrels of its forward-firing offensive armament. The C-6 was used mostly as fighter-bomber and therefore assigned to bomber units. As a reaction to the increasing number of attacks on German shipping, especially on U-boats in the Bay of Biscay, from July 1942 it started flying anti-shipping patrols and escort missions from bases in France. "V./Kampfgeschwader 40" being formed to operate the C-6.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The aircraft of V./KG 40 (which was redesignated I./"Zerstörergeschwader" 1 in 1943) were a significant threat to antisubmarine aircraft and operated as escort fighters for the more vulnerable Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor maritime patrol bombers. Between July 1942 and July 1944, the Ju 88s of KG 40 and ZG 1 were credited with 109 confirmed air-to-air victories, at a cost of 117 losses. They were finally deployed against the Allied Invasion of Normandy in June 1944, incurring heavy losses for little effect before being disbanded on 5 August 1944.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Ju 88P was a specialized variant for ground attack and to function as a bomber destroyer, designed starting from 1942 and produced in small numbers, using examples of the "Bordkanone" heavy calibre aviation autocannon series, which required the omission of the "Bola" undernose gondola for clearance. The prototype, derived from a standard Ju 88 A-4, was armed with a anti-tank gun derived from the 7.5 cm PaK 40 installed in a large conformal gun pod under the fuselage. This was followed by a small batch of Ju 88 P-1, which standardized the solid sheet metal nose of the C version for all known examples of the P-series, and used the new 7.5 cm PaK 40L semi-automatic gun, also known as the "Bordkanone" BK 7,5, which was also meant for use in both the later Henschel Hs 129B-3 dedicated anti-armor aircraft, and a never-achieved production version of the He 177A-3/R5 ground-attack "Flak"-suppression "Stalingradtyp" field-improvised version. The Ju 88P-1 was produced in some 40 units, but with the massive cannon installation resulting in a slow and vulnerable aircraft, it was soon replaced by the Ju 88 P-2, featuring two "Bordkanone" BK 3,7 guns, whose higher muzzle velocity proved useful against the Russian tanks in the Eastern Front. This aircraft was used by "Erprobungskommando" 25. The Ju 88 P-3 also used the twin BK 3,7 guns, and added further armor for the crew, and was delivered at one "Staffel" of the "Nachtschlachtgruppen" 1, 2, 4, 8 and 9 for night attacks in the Eastern Front, in northern Norway (NSGr 8) and Italy (NSGr 9). Finally, the Ju 88 P-4 mounted a smaller-volume ventral gun pod housing a auto-loading "Bordkanone" BK 5 cannon (the same ordnance used for the field-improvised handful of "Stalingradtyp" He 177As created) and, in some cases, solid propellant rockets.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Ju 88C was originally intended as a fighter-bomber and heavy fighter by adding fixed, forward-firing guns to the nose while retaining some bomb carrying ability of the A-series bomber. The C-series had a solid metal nose, typically housing one MG FF cannon and three MG 17 machine guns. The aircraft retained the ventral "Bola" gondola under the crew compartment though individual units sometimes removed this to reduce weight and drag to enhance performance. The Ju-88C was later used as a night fighter, and this became its main role.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The first version of the Ju 88C was the C-1 with 20 aircraft converted from A-1 airframes. Some of them entered service in the "Zerstörerstaffel" of KG 30 which became part of II./NJG 1 in July 1940. The C-1 was followed by the C-2 of which 20 aircraft were converted from A-5 airframes with enlarged wingspan. The C-4 became the first production version with 60 produced and 60 converted from A-5 airframes. The C-6, of which 900 aircraft were produced, was based on the A-4 airframe with more powerful engines and stronger defensive armament (single- or dual-mount belt-fed MG 81 or MG 131 instead of drum-fed MG 15 machine guns).


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The C-6 as night fighter was typically equipped with FuG 202 "Lichtenstein" BC low-UHF band airborne intercept radar, using the complex 32-dipole "Matratze" antennas. The first four C-6 night fighters were tested in early 1942 by NJG 2. The trials were successful and the aircraft was ordered into production. In October 1943, many C-6s were upgraded with new radar systems. The first new radar equipment was the FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1. After the UHF-band Lichtenstein radars had been compromised to the Allies in the late spring of 1943, the next development in German AI radar was the VHF-band FuG 220 "Lichtenstein" SN-2, discarding the 32-dipole "Matratze" antennae for the much larger eight-dipole "Hirschgeweih" (stag's antlers) aerials, required for the longer wavelength SN-2 system.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Many Ju-88C's had their Bola gondolas modified to hold up to two forward firing cannons. Several C-6 night fighters were equipped with two "Schräge-Musik" upward-firing 20 mm cannons in trial fittings, and from mid 1943 onward, there was an official field modification kit available for this arrangement.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: A small number of the C-series day fighters had their new solid-metal noses specially painted to resemble the bomber A-series' "beetle's eye" faceted clear view nose glazing, in an attempt to deceive Allied pilots into thinking the fighters were actually bombers; the unusual "camouflage" attempt did result initially in a number of Allied aerial losses.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Ju 88R series night fighters were basically versions of the Ju 88 C-6, powered by unitized BMW 801 radial engines. The R-1 had BMW 801L engines and the R-2 had BMW 801 G-2 engines.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: One of the first aircraft from the R-1 series that went into service ("Werknummer" 360 043) was involved in one of the most significant defections from the Luftwaffe. On 9 May 1943, this night fighter (D5+EV), which was stationed with 10./NJG 3 in Aalborg Denmark, flew to the RAF Station at Dyce (now Aberdeen Airport) with its entire crew and complete electronic equipment on board. The fact that Spitfire Vb fighters No.165 (Ceylon) Squadron escorted it towards the end of its flight could indicate that its arrival had been expected. It was immediately transferred to Farnborough Airfield, received RAF markings and serial number PJ876, and was tested in great detail. The preserved aircraft is on exhibit at the RAF Museum, as one of the first two intact Ju 88s in aviation museums. The Luftwaffe only learned of this defection the following month when members of the crew, pilot "Oberleutnant" Heinrich Schmitt (son of the former secretary to the ministry for foreign affairs (1923–1929) Gustav Stresemann) and "Oberfeldwebel" Paul Rosenberger made broadcasts on British radio. The third crew-member, Erich Kantwill, refused to co-operate with the British and was treated as a normal prisoner-of-war.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: All previous night fighter versions of the Ju 88 used a modified A-series fuselage. The "G-series" fuselage was purpose-built for the special needs of a night fighter, with the A-series' "Bola" ventral under-nose defensive gun position omitted for lower aerodynamic drag and less weight, and adding the enlarged squared-off vertical fin/rudder tail unit of the Ju 188. G-1 aircraft possessed more powerful armament and like the earlier R-1, used a pair of BMW 801 radial engines, the G-1 using the later BMW 801G-2 version. Electronic equipment consisted of the then-standard FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 90 MHz VHF radar using eight-dipole "Hirschgeweih" antennas, which could include fitment of the borderline-SHF-band "FuG 350" Naxos radar detector with its receiving antenna housed in a teardrop-shaped streamlined fairing above the canopy, or FuG 227 "Flensburg" radar detector homing devices that had their own trio of twin-dipole antennae: one on each wing leading edge and one under the tail. One Ju 88G-1 of 7. "Staffel"/NJG 2 was flown by mistake to RAF Woodbridge in July 1944, giving the Royal Air Force its first chance to check out the VHF-band Lichtenstein SN-2 radar and Flensburg radar detector gear.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: G-6 versions were equipped with Jumo 213A inverted V-12 engines (using the same redesigned annular radiator cores as the Ju 188s powered by them), enlarged fuel tanks and often one or two 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons in a "Schräge Musik" ("Jazz Music", i.e. slanted) installation. These guns were pointed obliquely upwards and forwards from the upper fuselage – usually at an angle of 70°.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Some of the final G-series models received updates to the engines, using a pair of high-altitude Jumo 213E inverted V-12s with the same revised annular radiator design as the 213As already used, or to the radar, using the mid-VHF band FuG 218 Neptun AI radar with either the standardized "Hirschgeweih" aerials with shorter dipoles to suit the higher frequencies used, or more rarely the advanced "Morgenstern" 90° crossed-element, six-dipole Yagi-form antenna. Only a very few Ju 88G-6 night fighters were ever fitted with the semi-experimental FuG 240 Berlin N-1 cavity magnetron based, 3 GHz-band (centimetric) radar, whose dish antenna was housed in a smoothly contoured radome on the G-6's nose. Only about 15 of the Berlin systems were completed before V-E Day.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Many Luftwaffe night fighter aces, such as Helmut Lent (110 victories) and Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (87 victories) flew Ju 88s during their careers.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Only 12 Ju 88s saw action during the invasion of Poland. The unit "Erprobungskommando" 88 (Ekdo 88) was responsible for testing new bomber designs and their crews under hostile conditions. They selected 12 aircraft and their crews and attached them to 1./"Kampfgeschwader" 25. As a result of its small operational numbers, the type made no impact.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Luftwaffe committed II./"Kampfgeschwader" 30 to the campaign under X. "Fliegerkorps" for Operation Weserübung. The unit was equipped with Ju 88s and engaged Allied shipping as its main target. On 9 April 1940, Ju 88s of KG 30 dive-bombed, in cooperation with high-level bombing Heinkel He 111s of KG 26, and helped damage the battleship and sink the destroyer . However, the unit lost four Ju 88s in the action, the highest single loss of the aircraft in combat throughout the campaign.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Luftwaffe's order of battle for the French campaign reveals all but one of the Luftwaffe's "Fliegerkorps" (I. "Fliegerkorps") contained Ju 88s in the combat role.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The mixed bomber units, including the Ju 88, of "Kampfgeschwader" 51 (under the command of "Luftflotte" 3) helped claim between 233 and 248 Allied aircraft on the ground between 10 and 13 May 1940.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Ju 88 was particularly effective at dive-bombing. Between 13 and 24 May, I. and II./KG 54 flew 174 attack against rail systems, paralysing French logistics and mobility.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: On 17 June 1940, Junkers Ju 88s (mainly from "Kampfgeschwader" 30) destroyed a "10,000 tonne ship", the 16,243 grt ocean liner , off Saint-Nazaire, killing some 5,800 Allied personnel.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Some 133 Ju 88s were pressed into the "Blitzkrieg", but very high combat losses and accidents forced a quick withdrawal from action to re-train crews to fly this very high-performance aircraft. Some crews were reported to be more scared of the Ju 88 than the enemy, and requested a transfer to an He 111 unit. By this time, major performance deficiencies in the A-1 led to an all-out effort in a major design rework. The outcome was a longer, wingspan, from extended rounded wing tips that had already been standardised on the A-4 version, that was deemed needed for all A-1s; thus the A-5 was born. Surviving A-1s were modified as quickly as possible, with new wings to A-5 specifications.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Battle of Britain proved very costly. Its higher speed did not prevent Ju 88 losses from exceeding those of its Dornier Do 17 and Heinkel He 111 stablemates despite being deployed in smaller numbers than either. Ju 88 losses over Britain in 1940 totaled 303 aircraft between July and October 1940.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Of all the losses suffered by the Ju 88 at that time, however, a number were due to the tricky behavior of the plane, especially when compared with the proven He 111, and to the crews' lack of experience on the type – many having converted to the Ju 88 only shortly before. Of the 39 losses recorded for July 1940, for example, only 20 were due to enemy action. The others being written off in training accidents, crashes, or malfunctions over mainland Europe. A series of field modifications were made to make the Ju 88 less vulnerable, including the replacement of the single MG 15 rear machine gun by a twin-barreled MG 81Z machine gun and the fitting of additional cockpit armour.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: One incident involved ground fighting between the crew of an A-1 and soldiers from the London Irish Rifles during the Battle of Graveney Marsh on 27 September 1940. It was the last action between British and foreign military forces on British mainland soil.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The flagship Ju 88 A-4 went into service during the closing days of the Battle of Britain. Although slower than the A-1, it solved nearly all of the troubles of the A-1. The A-4 actually saw additional improvements including more powerful engines but, unlike other aircraft in the Luftwaffe, did not see a model code change. The Ju 88 C-series also benefited from the A-4 changes.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Ju 88 was used by VIII Fliegerkorps during the German invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Ju 88s were also used during the German invasion of Greece (Operation Marita) in April 1941 and during the German invasion of Crete in May 1941. Following the Italian surrender in 1943 Ju 88s were also used during the German invasion of the Italian-held Dodecanese Islands, which took place between September and November 1943.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: By the summer of 1941, most of the units equipped with the Dornier Do 17 were upgrading to the Ju 88. With a few exceptions, most of the German bomber units were now flying the He 111 and Ju 88.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: The Ju 88 was to prove a very capable and valuable asset to the Luftwaffe in the east. The Ju 88 units met with instant success, attacking enemy airfields and positions at low level and causing enormous losses for little damage in return.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: 3./"Kampfgeschwader" 3 attacked Pinsk airfield in the morning of the 22 June 1941. It caught, and claimed destroyed, 60 Soviet bombers on the ground. The 39 SBAP Regiment of the 10 Division SAD actually lost 43 Tupolev SBa and five Petlyakov Pe-2s. Ju 88s from "Kampfgeschwader 51" destroyed over 100 aircraft after dispatching 80 Ju 88s to hit airfields. In general the Soviet aircraft were not dispersed and the Luftwaffe found them easy targets.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: A report from the Soviet 23rd Tank Division of the 12th Armoured Corps described a low-level attack by Ju 88s on 22 June, resulting in the loss of 40 tanks.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: However, the Ju 88s were to suffer steady attritional losses. At 0415 on 22 June 1941, III./KG 51 attacked the airfield at Kurovitsa. Despite destroying 34 Polikarpov I-153s, the Ju 88s were intercepted by 66 ShAP I-153s. Six Ju 88s were shot down before the German fighter escort dealt with the threat. By the end of the first day of the campaign, Ju 88 losses amounted to 23 destroyed.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Due to the lack of sufficient numbers of Ju 87 "Stukas", the Ju 88 was employed in the direct ground support role. This resulted in severe losses from ground fire. "Kampfgeschwader" 1, "Kampfgeschwader" 76 and "Kampfgeschwader" 77 reported the loss of 18 Ju 88s over enemy territory on 23 June. and KG 77 reported the loss of a further four Ju 88s, of which 12 were 100% destroyed.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: In the north, the VVS North-Western Front lost 465 aircraft on the ground, 148 of them bombers, to the Ju 88s of KG 1. A further 33 were damaged. Out of a total of 1,720 aircraft deployed by the VVS Northern Front on 22 June, it lost 890 and a further 187 suffered battle damage in eight days. The Ju 88s units helped virtually destroy Soviet airpower in the northern sector.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Again, the Ju 88 demonstrated its dive-bombing capability. Along with He 111s from KG 55, Ju 88s from KG 51 and 54 destroyed some 220 trucks and 40 tanks on 1 July, which helped repulse the Soviet South Western Front's offensive. The Ju 88s destroyed most rail links during interdiction missions in the area, allowing "Panzergruppe 1" to maintain the pace of its advance.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Ju 88 units operating over the Baltic states during the battle for Estonia inflicted severe losses on Soviet shipping, with the same dive-bombing tactics used over Norway, France and Britain. KGr 806 sank the Soviet destroyer "Karl Marx" on 8 August 1941 in Loksa Bay Tallinn. On 28 August the Ju 88s had more success when KG 77 and KGr 806 sank the 2,026 grt steamer "Vironia", the 2,317 grt "Lucerne", the 1,423 grt "Atis Kronvalds" and the ice breaker "Krišjānis Valdemārs" (2,250 grt). The rest of the Soviet "fleet", were forced to change course. This took them through a heavily mined area. As a result, 21 Soviet warships, including five destroyers, struck mines and sank. On 29 August, the Ju 88s accounted for the transport ships "Vtoraya Pyatiletka" (3,974 grt), "Kalpaks" (2,190 grt) and "Leningradsovet" (1,270 grt) sunk. In addition, the ships "Ivan Papanin", "Saule", "Kazakhstan" and the "Serp i Molot" were damaged. Some 5,000 Soviet soldiers were lost.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Ju 88s first arrived in Sicily in 1940, from which they attacked allied shipping in the Mediterranean and took part in the bombing of Malta during the Siege of Malta.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Ju 88s were used in the North African campaign, where they flew operations in support of the Axis forces in North Africa.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: On 2 December 1943, 105 Ju 88 A-4s, armed with bombs and motobomba circling torpedoes, attacked the Allied-held port of Bari, Italy. The attacking force achieved complete surprise and sunk over 20 Allied ships in the overcrowded harbour, including the U.S. Liberty ship "John Harvey", which was carrying mustard gas. About 1,000 people were killed and another 1,000 wounded; many fatalities and injuries were as a result of the release of mustard gas. The attacking force lost one aircraft; the Allies had not assigned any fighters to guard Bari as they thought the Luftwaffe incapable of striking in this strength at this stage of the war. The port was completely closed for three weeks from the damage of the raid, and only resumed full operation in February 1944.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: In April 1943, as Finland was fighting its Continuation War against the USSR, the Finnish Air Force bought 24 Ju 88s from Germany. The aircraft were used to equip No. 44 Sqn, which had previously operated Bristol Blenheims, but these were instead transferred to No. 42 Sqn. Due to the complexity of the Ju 88, the FAF spent most of 1943 training crews on the aircraft, and conducted only a handful of bombing missions. The most notable was a raid on the Lehto partisan village on 20 August 1943 (in which the whole squadron participated), and a raid on the Lavansaari air field (leaving seven Ju 88 damaged from forced landing in inclement weather). In the summer of 1943, the Finns noted stress damage on the wings. This had occurred when the aircraft were used in dive bombing. Restrictions followed: the dive brakes were removed and it was only allowed to dive at a 45-degree angle (compared to 60–80 degrees previously). In this way, they tried to spare the aircraft from unnecessary wear.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: One of the more remarkable missions was a bombing raid on 9 March 1944 against Soviet Long Range Aviation bases near Leningrad, when the Finnish aircraft, including Ju 88s, followed Soviet bombers returning from a night raid on Tallinn, catching the Soviets unprepared and destroying many Soviet bombers and their fuel reserves, and a raid against the Aerosan base at Petsnajoki on 22 March 1944. The whole bomber regiment took part in the defence against the Soviets during the fourth strategic offensive. All aircraft flew several missions per day, day and night, when the weather permitted.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: No. 44 Sqn was subordinated "Lentoryhmä Sarko" during the Lapland War (now against Germany), and the Ju 88s were used both for reconnaissance and bombing. The targets were mostly vehicle columns. Reconnaissance flights were also made over northern Norway. The last war mission was flown on 4 April 1945.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: After the wars, Finland was prohibited from using bomber aircraft with internal bomb stores. Consequently, the Finnish Ju 88s were used for training until 1948. The aircraft were then scrapped over the following years. No Finnish Ju 88s have survived, but an engine is on display at the Central Finland Aviation Museum, and the frame structure of a German Ju 88 cockpit hood is preserved at the Finnish Aviation Museum in Vantaa.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Night fighter, new fuselage with A-series' ventral "Bola" (Bodenlafette) gondola omitted, tail section from Ju 188, aerodynamically improved conformal gun pod for a quartet of forward-firing calibre, MG 151/20 autocannons below the former bomb bay.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Anti-tank and bomber destroyer variant with single "Bordkanone" series , , or twin calibre cannon in conformal ventral fuselage gun pod mount, which mandated removal of the "Bola" gondola under the cockpit section, conversion of A-series bomber. Produced in small series only, they were perceived as a failure for both anti-tank and anti-bomber use.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: High-speed bomber series based on Ju 88 A-4 but with ventral "Bola" gondola omitted, smoothly glazed nose with radial-ribbed supports instead of the "beetle's eye" of the A-version, and GM-1 nitrous-oxide boost, fastest of all variants.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Only two complete aircraft exist. They were both flown into British hands by defecting crews during the war.


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: Several reasonably intact aircraft have been recovered from underwater and remote land crash sites in recent years; some of these aircraft are under restoration for static display. Notable examples include:


title: Junkers Ju 88

text: This aircraft is the subject of a long term restoration project at the Norwegian Armed Forces Aircraft Collection at Gardermoen, near Oslo, Norway. It first flew in January 1940 and served with 2."Staffel"/Kampfgeschwader 30, under the call sign U4+TK (with the two-character "Geschwaderkennung" designation of U4 not recorded as ever having been used by KG 30 - that wing usually used the 4D wing code) during Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway. In April 1940, it was operating from the frozen surface of the Jonsvatnet, a lake near Trondheim in Norway. The lake was being used as an improvised airfield by the Germans, who were conducting operations against Allied naval ships and against the towns of Namsos and Narvik Towards the end of April, warmer weather made the frozen lake surface unusable for flying operations and a number of aircraft were abandoned on the ice, sinking into the lake when it melted completely. The Ju 88 was recovered in late 2003, in an operation that also saw the recovery of a Heinkel He 111 H-2 6N+NH (Wk Nr 2320) and the tail section of a second Ju 88.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Serial is an investigative journalism podcast hosted by Sarah Koenig, narrating a nonfiction story over multiple episodes. The series was co-created and is co-produced by Koenig and Julie Snyder and developed by "This American Life"; as of July 2020, it is owned by "The New York Times".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Season 1 investigated the 1999 killing of Hae Min Lee (Hangul: 이해민), an 18-year-old student at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County. Season 2 focused on Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, an American Army soldier who was held for five years by the Taliban, and then charged with desertion. Season 3, which debuted in September 2018, explores cases within the Justice Center Complex in the Cleveland area.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: "Serial" ranked number one on iTunes even before its debut and remained there for several weeks. "Serial" won a Peabody Award in April 2015 for its innovative telling of a long-form nonfiction story. As of September 2018, episodes of seasons 1 and 2 have been downloaded over 340 million times, establishing an ongoing podcast world record.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Koenig has said that "Serial" is "about the basics: love and death and justice and truth. All these big, big things." She also has noted, "this is not an original idea. Maybe in podcast form it is, and trying to do it as a documentary story is really, really hard. But trying to do it as a serial, this is as old as Dickens."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: "New York Magazine" reported that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, directors of "The Lego Movie" and the film "21 Jump Street", would be producing a television program about the podcast that will take a "behind-the-scenes approach that details how Koenig went from virtual anonymity to creating one of 2014's biggest cultural phenomenons".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: On February 9, 2015, Scott Pelley of CBS News reported "Serial"s season 1 episodes had been downloaded more than 68 million times. By February 2016, the episodes had been downloaded over 80 million times.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Season 1 investigated the 1999 Killing of Hae Min Lee (), an 18-year-old student at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore. She was last seen at about 3 p.m. on January 13, 1999. Her corpse was discovered on February 9 in Leakin Park and identified two days later.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: The case was immediately treated as a homicide. On February 12, an anonymous source contacted authorities and suggested that Adnan Masud Syed, Lee's ex-boyfriend, might be a suspect. Syed was arrested on February 28 at 6 a.m. and charged with first-degree murder, which led to "some closure and some peace" for Lee's family. A memorial service for Lee was held on March 11 at Woodlawn High School.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Syed's first trial ended in a mistrial, but, after a six-week second trial, Syed was found guilty of Lee's murder on February 25, 2000, and was given a life sentence. On September 19, 2022, a judge, citing the prosecution's failure to hand over potentially beneficial evidence to the defense, overturned the conviction. Syed, after 23 years in prison, went free.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: In September 2015, "The New York Times" reported the second season would focus on Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, an American Army soldier who was held for five years by the Taliban, and then charged with desertion. A spokesperson for "Serial" only said, "Over the last few months they've been reporting on a variety of stories for both seasons 2 and 3 of "Serial", along with other podcast projects." The first episode of the season was released, without any previous release date announcement, on December 10, 2015.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: For season 2, Koenig teamed up with Mark Boal, the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty", and his production company, Page 1. Boal had conducted a series of interviews with Bergdahl as part of a film production he was working on, and both Boal and Bergdahl gave Koenig permission to use those excerpts of those recorded interviews in episodes of "Serial". As Koenig stated in season 2's first episode: "They'd come to us saying 'hey, we've been doing all this reporting on the story, and we've also got this tape. Do you think you might want to listen?' And yes, we did, and we were kind of blown away, and so we began working with them. They shared their research with us, and also put us in touch with many of their sources... We don't have anything to do with their movie, but Mark and Page 1 are our partners for Season 2."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: On December 14, 2015, General Robert B. Abrams, head of United States Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina ordered that Bergdahl face a court-martial on charges of desertion.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Sarah Koenig announced on January 12, 2016, that the podcast schedule would be changed to every other week to allow for deeper reporting, and to add more information than initially planned. Internet radio service Pandora Radio streamed the second season of "Serial."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: On November 3, 2017, military judge Col. Jeffery R. Nance rendered a verdict dishonorably discharging Bergdahl from the Army, reducing his rank to private and requiring forfeit of some of his pay for ten months and no prison time. The verdict is subject to review by Gen. Robert B. Abrams, and may also be appealed to the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals. After the sentencing, "Serial" announced its team to be working on a "coda" for the season.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: In June 2017, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced season 2 of Serial won the 2017 National Edward R. Murrow Award for a news series and for its website. Murrow Awards are presented in October in New York.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Season 3 is meant to be an analysis of the normal operation of the American criminal justice system, as opposed to the previous two seasons, which followed "extraordinary" cases. K. Austin Collins of "Vanity Fair" commented that the third season was "an overarching account of an institution: the criminal-justice system, writ large". Koenig has described season 3 as "a year watching ordinary criminal justice, in the least exceptional, most middle-of-the-road, most middle-of-the-country place we could find: Cleveland." Episodes follow different cases and are taped in Greater Cleveland, with particular focus on cases before the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas at the Justice Center Complex in Downtown Cleveland.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: The concept for "Serial" originated with an experiment in Koenig's basement. Koenig and Snyder had pitched a different idea at a staff meeting for a weekly program on events during the previous seven days, which staff members received without enthusiasm. When Ira Glass asked Koenig if she had any other ideas, she mentioned podcasting a story that unfolded over time, a serialized narrative. In an interview with "Mother Jones", she explained that each episode would return to the same story, telling the next chapter of a long, true narrative.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Episode one of the series was released on October 3, 2014, with additional episodes released weekly online. Glass introduced it as a spinoff of his popular radio program, "This American Life", and aired episode one on his show. He explained, "We want to give you the same experience you get from a great HBO or Netflix series, where you get caught up with the characters and the thing unfolds week after week, but with a true story, and no pictures. Like "House of Cards", but you can enjoy it while you're driving."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Nicholas Thorburn released the soundtrack for "Serial "on October 17, 2014. It includes 15 tracks, all short instrumentals, and is available at the Bandcamp site or streamed from several reviewing sites.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Musical credits for Season 2 include Thorburn and Phillips, as well as Fritz Myers and staff music editor Kate Bilinski.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: "Serial"s launch was sponsored by Mailchimp, a frequent podcast advertiser, and salaried staff positions were initially funded by WBEZ. Admitting the podcast was funded from "This American Life"s budget during the launch, producer Koenig noted that "Serial" would eventually need to generate its own funding. She said, "Everyone's saying 'It's podcasting! It's internet! "Of course" there'll be money somewhere.' We're not exactly sure yet." Dana Chivvis, another producer, observed that, since the industry is still in its infancy, a business model for podcasting has yet to be established.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Towards the end of the first season, producers asked for public donations to fund a second season. Within a week, the staff of "Serial" posted an announcement that a second season has been made possible by donations and sponsorship.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: In July 2020 Serial Productions (the company behind the Serial podcast) was acquired by "The New York Times". Techcrunch reported that the deal was valued at $25 million and noted that Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder would become "Times" employees as a result of the sale.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: The first season of "Serial" was both culturally popular and critically well received. "Serial" was ranked at No. 1 on iTunes even before it débuted, leading iTunes rankings for over three months, well after the first season ended. It also broke records as the fastest podcast ever to reach 5 million downloads at Apple's iTunes store. David Carr in "The New York Times" called "Serial" "Podcasting's first breakout hit." "The Guardian" characterized it as a "new genre of audio storytelling".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Introducing a "PBS NewsHour" segment about "Serial", Judy Woodruff noted that it is "an unexpected phenomenon", and Hari Sreenivasan mentioned it has "five million downloads on iTunes, far more than any other podcast in history".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Calling the characters "rich and intriguing", "The Daily Californian" noted similarities to the film "The Thin Blue Line" (1988), and described the podcast as "gripping" and the story as "thrilling", while applauding the series for giving "listeners a unique opportunity to humanize the players".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: "Slate"s reviewer pointed out that "Serial" is not escapist and went on to note: "Someone in the show is not telling the truth about something very sinister. That's the narrative tension that makes "Serial" not only compelling but also unlike anything I can remember watching or reading before." "The Baltimore Sun" commented on the inherently riveting subject matter and noted that the top-notch reporting and podcast format yield "a novel twist on the investigative long-form piece".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: A critique from the journalism community was more qualified. First noting that some people believe there is a "podcast renaissance", the reviewer from Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab observed that even though podcasts are not new, they are not yet mainstream.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Not all critiques of the podcasting format have been as equivocal. "PopMatters" observed that podcasting is a new distribution model, very different from television as a distribution model because it gives users access to media and the freedom to listen to episodes of a long-form story while doing other things. The reviewer applauded the focus on long-form journalism and added, "Suddenly you feel like the full promise of podcasting has just been unleashed. That long-form narrative nonfiction is really the way to best leverage the potential of podcasting as a distribution model."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Multiple reviews have commented on the addictive nature of "Serial." A review in "New York Magazine" linked fans' feelings about the possibility of an ambiguous ending with their psychological need for closure. Reddit hosts a "Serial" subreddit site. "Slate" is also "following the story closely" and presents a podcast discussion of "Serial "every week following the latest release.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Several reviews have criticized the ethics of "Serial", notably the decision to start broadcasting without the reporting having been finished. Critics said the "live investigation" format invited listeners to do their own sleuthing, which quickly led to exposure online of the full names and even addresses of people who were questioned by the police. Another point of debate was whether it was legitimate to use the murder of Hae Min Lee as a subject for entertainment.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Sarah Koenig's reporting has also been criticized as being biased in favor of Adnan's innocence, and Katy Waldman's "Slate" blog noted that some felt "Serial" undercut Adnan's detractors. An "Atlantic" roundtable discussion noted that the podcast forces the listener to consider Koenig's "verification bias", the tendency to seek answers that support her own biased assumptions, and that "even a well-meaning narrator isn't always credible".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: One critic asserted that Koenig presented the story of a murder involving two minority teenagers and their cultures through a lens of white privilege, "a white interpreter 'stomping through communities that she does not understand' ". A rejoinder in "The Atlantic" pointed out, ""Serial" is a reflection on a murder case and the criminal-justice system reported over 'just' a year, which is to say, it is researched with more effort and depth than 99 percent of journalism produced on any beat in America... Most of all, the response to mistakes should never be to discourage white reporters from telling important stories."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: "Serial" was honored with a Peabody award in April 2015, noting ""Serial" rocketed podcasting into the cultural mainstream", and that it was an "experiment in long-form, non-fiction audio storytelling". It was cited for "its innovations of form and its compelling, drilling account of how guilt, truth, and reality are decided". Dr. Jeffrey P. Jones, Director of the Peabody Awards, commented the podcast showed "how new avenues and approaches to storytelling can have a major impact on how we understand truth, reality, and events".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: In an interview with Jon Ronson for "The Guardian", Syed's mother Shamim and younger brother Yusuf both said they listened to the podcast and that people sent transcripts to Syed in prison. Yusuf said the podcast had indirectly reconnected the family to his estranged brother Tanveer for the first time in the 15 years since the murder.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Three "update" mini-episodes of "Serial" were posted during Syed's post-conviction hearing in February 2016, coinciding with the run of Season Two. They received limited attention from critics, although Slate's review notably described them as "ragged, chaotic entries [which] can't help but hit us as shadows of what was."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: An HBO docuseries based on the "Serial" podcast entitled "The Case Against Adnan Syed" was released in March 2019.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: The much-anticipated second season of "Serial" was released in December 2015. The subject of Season 2 was met with widespread skepticism. Vastly different from the popular murder-mystery story that Season 1 investigated, Season 2's focus on the story behind the U.S. soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who disappeared from his post in Afghanistan in 2009 before being captured by the Taliban and subsequently released in 2014, was contentious due in part to the controversial views of the soldier's departure from his post and also because of the high-profile court martial proceeding for his alleged desertion.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: "The Guardian" summarized the season by saying Koenig and her team managed to add to the conversation: "Not only did they let Bergdahl speak for himself, via a series of interviews with the film-maker Mark Boal, but they also asked and answered a question that no one – including the military or the US government – had seemingly bothered to investigate."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Season 2 of "Serial" was less about solving a mystery and more about long-term investigative reporting and storytelling. Zach Baron of "GQ Magazine" reported that he liked the season overall and thought it gave an invaluable document of what it is like to serve in modern wars, but said it was also "something of a cultural disappointment, at least compared to last season."


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Switching to a bi-weekly schedule mid-season caused some to believe the series was losing momentum. However, in an interview with "Entertainment Weekly", Sarah Koenig and executive producer Julie Snyder said the download numbers for Season 2 were 50 million, higher than the numbers were by the time Season 1 ended.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Season 3 received mostly positive reviews. Andrew Liptak at The Verge called it a "return to form". Nicholas Quah at Vulture called it "ambitious, addictive, and completely different".


title: Serial (podcast)

text: The popularity of "Serial" and the intrigue of the case it covered has spawned several companion podcasts, such as "Crime Writers on" Serial, "The "Serial" Serial", and "Undisclosed: The State vs. Adnan Syed", the latter produced by Rabia Chaudry. "S-Town", a 2017 collaboration between the teams of "This American Life" and "Serial", was released to mixed reviews. Also, Nice White Parents and The Improvement Association were yet other related podcast.


title: Serial (podcast)

text: Parodies of "Serial" have targeted the show's style, its fans' obsessive tendencies, Koenig's curiosity and uncertainties, the charts and graphics posted on the show's website, and the podcast's sponsor MailChimp (especially the meme "MailKimp").


title: Provinces of Italy

text: The provinces of Italy () are the second-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, on an intermediate level between a municipality () and a region (). Since 2015, provinces have been classified as "institutional bodies of second level".


title: Provinces of Italy

text: There are currently 107 institutional bodies of second level in Italy, including 80 ordinary provinces, 2 autonomous provinces, 4 regional decentralization entities, 6 free municipal consortia, and 14 metropolitan cities, as well as the Aosta Valley region (which also exercises the powers of a province).


title: Provinces of Italy

text: Italian provinces (with the exception of the current Sardinian provinces) correspond to the NUTS 3 regions.


title: Provinces of Italy

text: A province of the Italian Republic is composed of many municipalities (). Usually several provinces together form a region; the region of Aosta Valley is the sole exception—it is not subdivided into provinces, and provincial functions are exercised by the region.


title: Provinces of Italy

text: The number of provinces in Italy has been steadily growing in recent years, as many new ones are carved out of older ones. Usually, the province's name is the same as that of its capital city.


title: Provinces of Italy

text: According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President (or Commissioner) assisted by a legislative body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body, the Provincial Executive. President (Commissioner) and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province. The Executive is chaired by the President (Commissioner) who appoint others members, called . Since 2015, the President (Commissioner) and other members of the council will not receive a salary.


title: Provinces of Italy

text: In each province, there is also a Prefect (), a representative of the central government who heads an agency called . The Questor () is the head of State Police () in the province and his office is called . There is also a provincial police force depending from local government, called provincial police ().


title: Provinces of Italy

text: The South Tyrol and Trentino are autonomous provinces: unlike all other provinces they have the same legislative powers as regions and are not subordinated to Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, the region they are part of.