title: Mekong

text: Flows at Chiang Saen entering the lower basin from Yunnan make up about 15% of the wet season flow at Kratie. This rises to 40% during the dry season, even this far downstream. During the wet season, the proportion of average flow coming from Yunnan rapidly decreases downstream of Chiang Saen, from 70% to less than 20% at Kratie. The dry season contribution from Yunnan is much more significant. The major portion of the balance comes from Laos, which points to a major distinction in the low-flow hydrology of the river. One fraction comes from melting snow in China and Tibet and the rest from over-season catchment storage in the lower basin. This has implications for the occurrence of drought conditions. For example, if runoff from melting snow in any given year is very low, then flows upstream of Vientiane-Nong Khai would be lower.


title: Mekong

text: In a large river system like the Mekong, seasonal flows can be quite variable from year to year. Although the pattern of the annual hydrograph is fairly predictable, its magnitude is not. The average monthly flows along the mainstream are listed in Table 3, providing an indication of their range and variability from year to year. At Pakse, for example, flood season flows during August would exceed 20,000 cubic metres per second nine years out of ten, but exceed 34,000 m/s only one year in ten.


title: Mekong

text: There is little evidence from the last 45 years of data of any systematic changes in the hydrological regime of the Mekong.


title: Mekong

text: The internal drainage patterns of the Mekong are unusual when compared to those of other large rivers. Most large river systems that drain the interiors of continents, such as the Amazon, Congo, and Mississippi, have relatively simple dendritic tributary networks that resemble a branching tree.


title: Mekong

text: Typically, such patterns develop in basins with gentle slopes where the underlying geological structure is fairly homogeneous and stable, exerting little or no control on river morphology. In marked contrast, the tributary networks of the Salween, Yangtze, and particularly the Mekong, are complex with different sub-basins often exhibiting different, and distinct, drainage patterns. These complex drainage systems have developed in a setting where the underlying geological structure is heterogeneous and active, and is the major factor controlling the course of rivers and the landscapes they carve out.


title: Mekong

text: The elevation of the Tibetan Plateau during the Tertiary period was an important factor in the genesis of the south-west monsoon, which is the dominant climatic control influencing the hydrology of the Mekong Basin. Understanding the nature and timing of the elevation of Tibet (and the Central Highlands of Vietnam) therefore helps explain the provenance of sediment reaching the delta and the Tonle Sap Great Lake today. Studies of the provenance of sediments in the Mekong delta reveal a major switch in the source of sediments about eight million years ago (Ma). From 36 to 8 Ma the bulk (76%) of the sediments deposited in the delta came from erosion of the bedrock in the Three Rivers Area. From 8 Ma to the present, however, the contribution from the Three Rivers Area fell to 40%, while that from the Central Highlands rose from 11 to 51%. One of the most striking conclusions of provenance studies is the small contribution of sediment from the other parts of the Mekong basin, notably the Khorat Plateau, the uplands of northern Laos and northern Thailand, and the mountain ranges south of the Three Rivers area.


title: Mekong

text: The last glacial period came to an abrupt end about 19,000 years ago (19 ka) when sea levels rose rapidly, reaching a maximum of about 4.5 m above present levels in the early Holocene about 8 ka. At this time the shoreline of the South China Sea almost reached Phnom Penh and cores recovered from near Angkor Borei contained sediments deposited under the influence of tides, and salt marsh and mangrove swamp deposits. Sediments deposited in the Tonle Sap Great Lake about this time (7.9–7.3 ka) also show indications of marine influence, suggesting a connection to the South China Sea. Although the hydraulic relationships between the Mekong and the Tonle Sap Great Lake systems during the Holocene are not well understood, it is clear that between 9,000 and 7,500 years ago the confluence of the Tonle Sap and the Mekong was in proximity to the South China Sea.


title: Mekong

text: The present river morphology of the Mekong Delta developed over the last 6,000 years. During this period, the delta advanced 200 km over the continental shelf of the South China Sea, covering an area of more than 62,500 km. From 5.3 to 3.5 ka the delta advanced across a broad embayment formed between higher ground near the Cambodian border and uplands north of Ho Chi Minh City. During this phase of its development the delta was sheltered from the wave action of long-shore currents and was constructed largely through fluvial and tidal processes. At this time the delta was advancing at a rate of 17–18 m per year. After 3.5 ka, however, the delta had built out beyond the embayment and became subject to wave action and marine currents. These deflected deposition south-eastwards in the direction of the Cà Mau Peninsula, which is one of the most recent features of the delta.


title: Mekong

text: For much of its length the Mekong flows through bedrock channels, i.e., channels that are confined or constrained by bedrock or old alluvium in the bed and riverbanks. Geomorphologic features normally associated with the alluvial stretches of mature rivers, such as meanders, oxbow lakes, cut-offs, and extensive floodplains are restricted to a short stretch of the mainstream around Vientiane and downstream of Kratie where the river develops alluvial channels that are free of control exerted by the underlying bedrock.


title: Mekong

text: The Mekong basin is not normally considered a seismically active area as much of the basin is underlain by the relatively stable continental block. Nonetheless, the parts of the basin in northern Laos, northern Thailand, Myanmar and China do experience frequent earthquakes and tremors. The magnitude of these earthquakes rarely exceeds 6.5 on the Richter magnitude scale and is unlikely to cause material damage.


title: Mekong

text: The difficulty of navigating the river has meant that it has divided, rather than united, the people who live near it. The earliest known settlements date to 210 BCE, with Ban Chiang being an excellent example of early Iron Age culture. The earliest recorded civilization was the 1st century Indianised-Khmer culture of Funan, in the Mekong delta. Excavations at Oc Eo, near modern An Giang, have found coins from as far away as the Roman Empire. This was succeeded by the Khmer culture Chenla state around the 5th century. The Khmer empire of Angkor was the last great Indianized state in the region. From around the time of the fall of the Khmer empire, the Mekong was the front line between the emergent states of Siam and Tonkin (North Vietnam), with Laos and Cambodia, then on the coast, torn between their influence.


title: Mekong

text: The first European to encounter the Mekong was the Portuguese António de Faria in 1540. A European map of 1563 depicts the river, although even by then little was known of the river upstream of the delta. European interest was sporadic: the Spanish and Portuguese mounted some missionary and trade expeditions, while the Dutch Gerrit van Wuysthoff led an expedition up the river as far as Vientiane in 1641–42.


title: Mekong

text: The French invaded the region in the mid-19th century, capturing Saigon in 1861, and establishing a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863.


title: Mekong

text: The first systematic European exploration began with the French Mekong Expedition led by Ernest Doudard de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, which ascended the river from its mouth to Yunnan between 1866 and 1868. Their chief finding was that the Mekong had too many falls and rapids to ever be useful for navigation. The river's source was found by Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov in 1900.


title: Mekong

text: From 1893, the French extended their control of the river into Laos, establishing French Indochina by the first decade of the 20th century. This lasted until the First and Second Indochina Wars expelled French from its former colony and defeated US-supported governments.


title: Mekong

text: During the wars in Indochina in the 1970s, a significant quantity of explosives (sometimes, entire barges loaded with military ordnance) sank in the Cambodian section of the Mekong (as well as in the country's other waterways). Besides being a danger for fishermen, unexploded ordnance also creates problems for bridge and irrigation systems construction. As of 2013, Cambodian volunteers are being trained, with the support of the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement within the US State Department Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, to conduct underwater explosive removal.


title: Mekong

text: In 1995, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam established the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to manage and coordinate the use and care of the Mekong. In 1996 China and Myanmar became "dialogue partners" of the MRC and the six countries now work together in a cooperative framework. In 2000, the governments of China, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar signed a "Agreement on Commercial Navigation on Lancang-Mekong River among the Governments of the People’s Republic of China, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Union of Myanmar and the Kingdom of Thailand" which is the mechanism for cooperation with regard to riverine trade on the upper stretches of the Mekong.


title: Mekong

text: The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. Only the Amazon boasts a higher level of bio-diversity. Biota estimates for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) include 20,000 plant species, 430 mammals, 1,200 birds, 800 reptiles and amphibians, and an estimated 850 freshwater fish species (excluding euryhaline species mainly found in salt or brackish water, as well as introduced species). The most species rich orders among the freshwater fish in the river basin are cypriniforms (377 species) and catfish (92 species).


title: Mekong

text: New species are regularly described from the Mekong. In 2009, 145 species previously unknown to science were described from the region, including 29 fish species, two bird species, 10 reptiles, five mammals, 96 plants, and six amphibians. Between 1997 and 2015, an average of two new species per week were discovered in the region. The Mekong Region contains 16 WWF Global 200 ecoregions, the greatest concentration of ecoregions in mainland Asia.


title: Mekong

text: No other river is home to so many species of very large fish. The biggest include three species of "Probarbus" barbs, which can grow up to and weigh , the giant freshwater stingray ("Himantura polylepis", syn. "H. chaophraya"), which can reach at least in length and in width, the giant pangasius ("Pangasius sanitwongsei"), giant barb ("Catlocarpio siamensis") and the endemic Mekong giant catfish ("Pangasianodon gigas"). The last three can grow up to about in length and weigh . All of these have declined drastically because of dams, flood control, and overfishing.


title: Mekong

text: One species of freshwater dolphin, the Irrawaddy dolphin ("Orcaella brevirostris"), was once common in the whole of the lower Mekong but is now very rare, with only 85 individuals remaining.


title: Mekong

text: Among other wetland mammals that have been living in and around the river are the smooth-coated otter ("Lutra perspicillata") and fishing cat ("Prionailurus viverrinus").


title: Mekong

text: The endangered Siamese crocodile ("Crocodylus siamensis") occurs in small isolated pockets within the northern Cambodian and Laotian portions of the Mekong River. The saltwater crocodile ("Crocodylus porosus") once ranged from the Mekong Delta up the river into Tonle Sap and beyond but is now extinct in the river, along with being extinct in all of Vietnam and possibly even Cambodia.


title: Mekong

text: The low tide level of the river in Cambodia is lower than the high tide level out at sea, and the flow of the Mekong inverts with the tides throughout its stretch in Vietnam and up to Phnom Penh. The very flat Mekong delta area in Vietnam is thus prone to flooding, especially in the provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap (Đồng Tháp), near the Cambodian border.


title: Mekong

text: The Mekong boasts the most concentrated biodiversity per hectare of any river. The largest recorded freshwater fish, a 300 kg giant freshwater stingray in 2022 and previously a 293 kg Mekong giant catfish in 2005, were both caught in the Mekong River.


title: Mekong

text: The commercially valuable fish species in the Mekong are generally divided between "black fish", which inhabit low oxygen, slow moving, shallow waters, and "white fish", which inhabit well oxygenated, fast moving, deeper waters. People living within the Mekong River system generate many other sources of food and income from what are often termed "other aquatic animals" (OAAs) such as freshwater crabs, shrimp, snakes, turtles, and frogs.


title: Mekong

text: OAAs account for about 20% of the total Mekong catch. When fisheries are discussed, catches are typically divided between the wild capture fishery (i.e., fish and other aquatic animals caught in their natural habitat), and aquaculture (fish reared under controlled conditions). Wild capture fisheries play the most important role in supporting livelihoods. Wild capture fisheries are largely open access fisheries, which poor rural people can access for food and income.


title: Mekong

text: Broadly, there are three types of fish habitats in the Mekong: i) the river, including all the main tributaries, rivers in the major flood zone, and the Tonle Sap, which altogether yield about 30% of wild catch landings; ii) rain-fed wetlands outside the river-floodplain zone, including mainly rice paddies in formerly forested areas and usually inundated to about 50 cm, yielding about 66% of wild catch landings; and iii) large water bodies outside the flood zone, including canals and reservoirs yielding about 4% of wild catch landings.


title: Mekong

text: The Mekong Basin has one of the world's largest and most productive inland fisheries. An estimated two million tonnes of fish are landed a year, in addition to almost 500,000 tonnes of other aquatic animals. Aquaculture yields about two million tonnes of fish a year. Hence, the lower Mekong basin yields about 4.5 million tonnes of fish and aquatic products annually. The total economic value of the fishery is between US$3.9 and US$7 billion a year. Wild capture fisheries alone have been valued at US$2 billion a year. This value increases considerably when the multiplier effect is included, but estimates vary widely.


title: Mekong

text: An estimated 2.56 million tonnes of inland fish and other aquatic animals are consumed in the lower Mekong every year. Aquatic resources make up between 47 and 80% of animal protein in rural diets for people who live in the Lower Mekong Basin. Fish are the cheapest source of animal protein in the region and any decline in the fishery is likely to significantly impact nutrition, especially among the poor. Fish are the staple of the diet in Laos and Cambodia, with around 80% of the Cambodian population's annual protein intake coming from fish caught in the Mekong River system, with no alternative source to replace it. An MRC report claims that dam projects on the Mekong River will reduce aquatic life by 40% by 2020, and predicted that 80% of fish will be depleted by 2040. Thailand will be impacted, as its fish stocks in the Mekong will decline by 55%, Laos will be reduced by 50%, Cambodia by 35%, and Vietnam by 30%.


title: Mekong

text: It is estimated that 40 million rural people, more than two-thirds of the rural population in the lower Mekong basin, are engaged in the wild capture fishery. Fisheries contribute significantly to a diversified livelihood strategy for many people, particularly the poor, who are highly dependent on the river and its resources for their livelihoods. They provide a principal form of income for numerous people and act as a safety net and coping strategy in times of poor agricultural harvests or other difficulties. In Laos alone, 71% of rural households (2.9 million people) rely on fisheries for either subsistence or additional cash income. Around the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, more than 1.2 million people live in fishing communes and depend almost entirely on fishing for their livelihoods.


title: Mekong

text: The Mekong is already heavily dammed, with many more dams planned and under construction, mostly for generating hydropower. China built ten or eleven cascade dams on the Mekong mainstream between 1995 and mid-2019, leaving Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand without same amount of water as before investment. China, Laos and Cambodia are planning and/or building more. The Mekong has the fastest-growing hydropower construction of any large river basin worldwide. The Lao Government is aiming to lift the nation out of poverty by making it "the battery of Asia".


title: Mekong

text: Critics fear that China's ability to control the Mekong's flow gives it leverage over downstream nations who rely on China's goodwill. In a worst-case scenario, China could well make demands on thirsty downstream countries who would not be able to refuse. "China could, in short, use its dams to 'weaponize water'".


title: Mekong

text: The Jinghong Dam, the nearest Chinese dam upstream of the Thai border, has caused huge fluctuations in river levels, affecting people's livelihoods downstream by disrupting the river's natural cycle. It is impacting the ecosystem, disturbing the migratory patterns of fish as well as riverbank plants and local agriculture downstream.


title: Mekong

text: For thousands of years the Mekong River has been an important conduit for people and goods between the many towns on its banks. Traditional forms of trade in small boats linking communities continue today, however the river is also becoming an important link in international trade routes, connecting the six Mekong countries to each other, and also to the rest of the world. The Mekong is still a wild river and navigation conditions vary greatly along its length. Broadly, navigation of the river is divided between upper and lower Mekong, with the "upper" part of the river defined as the stretch north of the Khone Falls in southern Laos and the "lower" part as the stretch below these falls.


title: Mekong

text: Narrower and more turbulent sections of water in the upstream parts of the Mekong River, coupled with large annual water level variations continue to present a challenge to navigation. The seasonal variations in water level directly affect trade in this section of the river. Volumes of trade being shipped decrease by more than 50%, primarily due to the reduced draughts available during the low water season (June–January). Despite these difficulties, the Mekong River is already an important link in the transit chain between Kunming and Bangkok with about 300,000 tonnes of goods shipped via this route each year. The volume of this trade is expected to increase by 8–11% per year. Port infrastructure is being expanded to accommodate the expected growth in traffic, with new facilities planned for Chiang Saen port.


title: Mekong

text: In Laos, 50 and 100 DWT vessels are operated for regional trade. Cargos carried are timber, agricultural products, and construction materials. Thailand imports a wide variety of products from China, including vegetables, fruit, agricultural products, and fertilisers. The main exports from Thailand are dried longan, fish oil, rubber products, and consumables. Nearly all the ships carrying cargo to and from Chiang Saen Port are 300 DWT Chinese flag vessels.


title: Mekong

text: Waterborne trade in the lower Mekong countries of Vietnam and Cambodia has grown significantly, with trends in container traffic at Phnom Penh port and general cargo through Can Tho port both showing steady increases until 2009 when a decrease in cargo volumes can be attributed to the global financial crisis and a subsequent decline in demand for the export of garments to the US. In 2009, Mekong trade received a significant boost with the opening of a new deep-water port at Cai Mep in Vietnam. This new port has generated a renewed focus on the Mekong River as a trade route. The Cai Mep container terminals can accommodate vessels with a draught of 15.2 m, equivalent to the largest container ships in the world. These mother vessels sail directly to Europe or the United States, which means that goods can be shipped internationally to and from Phnom Penh with only a single transshipment at Cai Mep.


title: Mekong

text: As an international river, a number of agreements exist between the countries that share the Mekong to enable trade and passage between them. The most important of these, which address the full length of the river, are:


title: Mekong

text: In December 2016, the Thai cabinet of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha agreed "in principle" to a plan to dredge stretches of the Mekong and demolish rocky outcrops that are hindrances to easy navigation. The international Lancang-Mekong River navigation improvement plan for 2015–2025, conceived by China, Myanmar, Lao, and Thailand, aims to make the river more navigable for 500-tonne cargo vessels sailing the river from Yunnan to Luang Prabang, a distance of 890 kilometres. China has been the driving force behind the demolition plan as it aims to expand trade in the area. The plan is split into two phases. The first phase, from 2015 to 2020, involves a survey, a design, and an assessment of the environmental and social impacts of the project. These have to be approved by the four countries involved: China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand. The second phase (2020–2025) involves navigational improvements from Simao in China to 243 border posts in China and Myanmar, a distance of 259 km. Local groups have countered that native inhabitants already operate their boats year-round and that the plan to blast the rapids is not about making life better for local people, but about enabling year-round traffic of large Chinese commercial boats.


title: Mekong

text: On 4 February 2020, the Thai Cabinet voted to stop the project to blast and dredge 97 km of the river bed after Beijing failed to stump up the money for further surveys of the affected area.


title: Mekong

text: Construction of Myanmar–Laos Friendship Bridge started on 19 February 2013. The bridge will be long and have an wide two-lane motorway.


title: Mekong

text: The Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge (, ) connects Nong Khai city with Vientiane in Laos. The bridge opened on 8 April 1994. It has two lanes with a single railway line in the middle. On 20 March 2004, the Thai and Lao governments agreed to extend the railway to Tha Nalaeng in Laos. This extension has since been completed.


title: Mekong

text: The Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge connects Mukdahan to Savannakhet. The two-lane, , bridge opened to the public on 9 January 2007.


title: Mekong

text: The Third Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge opened for traffic on 11 November 2011, connecting Nakhon Phanom Province (Thailand) and Thakhek (Laos), as part of Asian Highway 3. The Chinese and Thai governments agreed to build the bridge and share the estimated US$33 million cost.


title: Mekong

text: The Fourth Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge opened to traffic on 11 December 2013. It links Chiang Rai Province, Thailand with Ban Houayxay, Laos.


title: Mekong

text: There is one bridge over the Mekong entirely within Laos. Unlike the Friendship Bridges, it is not a border crossing. It is at Pakse in Champasak Province. It is long, and was completed in 2000. ).


title: Mekong

text: The Kizuna Bridge is in Cambodia, in the city of Kampong Cham, on the road linking Phnom Penh with the remote provinces of Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri, and Laos. The bridge opened for traffic on 11 December 2001.


title: Mekong

text: Phnom Penh itself has no bridge under construction yet, although two new bridges have recently opened on the Tonle Sap, and the main bridge on the highway to Ho Chi Minh was duplicated in 2010.


title: Mekong

text: Another new bridge was built at Neak Leung on the Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh Highway 1 with Japanese government assistance, and opened in 2015.


title: Mekong

text: In Vietnam, since the year 2000 Mỹ Thuận Bridge crosses the first channel—the left, main branch of the Mekong, the Sông Tiền or Tiền Giang—near Vĩnh Long and since 2008 Rạch Miễu Bridge crosses it near Mỹ Tho, between the provinces of Tiền Giang and Bến Tre.


title: Mekong

text: Cần Thơ Bridge crosses the second channel—the right, main distributary of the Mekong, the Bassac (Song Hau). Inaugurated in 2010, it is the longest main span cable-stayed bridge in Southeast Asia.


title: Mekong

text: Drought linked to a changing climate and dozens of hydroelectric dams are damaging the Mekong ecosystem. When drought ends and the inevitable floods begin, the effects of Mekong dams on flood pulse dynamics over the entire Lower Mekong are poorly understood.


title: Mekong

text: Sewage treatment is rudimentary in towns and urban areas throughout much of the Mekong's length, such as Vientiane in Laos. Water pollution impacts the river's ecological integrity as a result.


title: Mekong

text: Much of the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic present on earth makes its way to the oceans. Ninety percent of plastic in the oceans is flushed there by just 10 rivers. The Mekong is one of them.


title: Mekong

text: A growing number of academics, NGOs, and scientists urge the international community and the Mekong River Commission to put to rest the myth of sustainable hydro power. They urge an immediate moratorium on new construction and a shift to solar and other forms of renewable energy, already highly competitive and faster to install.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It promotes the game in Oceania and allows the member nations to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: OFC is predominantly made up of island nations where association football is not the most popular sport, with low GDP and low population meaning very little money is generated by the OFC nations. The OFC has little influence in the wider football world, either in terms of international competition or as a source of players for high-profile club competitions. OFC is the only confederation to have not had at least one international title, the best result being Australia making the final of the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: In 2006, the OFC's largest and most successful nation, Australia, left to join the Asian Football Confederation, leaving New Zealand as the largest federation within the OFC.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: The President of OFC is Lambert Maltock since April 2018. The Vice Presidents are Thierry Ariiotima, Kapi Natto John and Lord Ve'ehala while Franck Castillo is the General Secretary. The confederation is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: The confederation formed in 1966, as a result of Australia and New Zealand's failed attempts to join the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The founding OFC members were the following:


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Australia resigned as an OFC member in 1972 to again pursue membership with the AFC, but rejoined the OFC in 1978. Their men's national team (nicknamed the Socceroos) became the first Oceanians to play at a FIFA World Cup in 1974, being drawn in the same group as Chile, East Germany and West Germany. They failed to score a goal, but were still competitive in all three of their matches. New Zealand's national team the All Whites played in their first World Cup eight years later. At the 1982 tournament they suffered heavier defeats than Australia previously had.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Chinese Taipei was an OFC member from 1975 to 1989. In 1996, FIFA confirmed OFC as a full confederation and granted it a seat on the FIFA executive. In 1998 the OFC unveiled a new logo and an official magazine, entitled "The Wave". Australia meanwhile lost several inter-confederation World Cup playoffs; first to Scotland in 1985, then Argentina in 1993 and then Iran in 1997.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Australia's national team were long considered the biggest challenge in Oceania. There were many highly uncompetitive matches involving them, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s. Their June 1997 second round qualification games for the 1998 FIFA World Cup included a 13–0 defeat of the Solomon Islands. The following year they defeated the Cook Islands 16–0 at the 1998 OFC Nations Cup, while at the 2000 OFC Nations Cup they defeated them 17–0. The uncompetitive results escalated in April 2001, during the first round of OFC qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Australia beat Tonga 22–0, following this result up with a 31–0 defeat of American Samoa and an 11–0 defeat of Samoa. The American Samoa game became the largest international victory in the history of the sport (breaking the previous record set in the Tonga game), while Archie Thompson also broke the record for most goals in an international match, scoring 13.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Australia's record-breaking form in the early stages of qualifying ultimately couldn't be replicated in their inter-confederation playoff against Uruguay later that year. For the first leg, the Socceroos managed to defeat the South Americans 1–0 in front of a Melbourne crowd of 84,656, but they were overwhelmed 3–0 in the away leg. The away leg was marred by an incident at Montevideo's airport prior to the game itself, where the Australian players were spat on, punched and abused by a mob of Uruguayan fans. On 24 May 2004, New Caledonia became the 12th member of the OFC.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Australia reached another inter-confederation playoff against Uruguay in 2005. Both sides won a game each over the two legs, which led to Australia finally ending their World Cup drought through a dramatic penalty shootout in Sydney. The Socceroos were granted increased security for the first away leg, as a response to the 2001 airport incident, and in the second leg the Uruguayan team were heavily booed while their national anthem played. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Australia were eliminated by Italy during the Round of 16. Their 3–1 group stage victory against Japan remains the only time a team representing OFC has won at the tournament. Australia left the OFC again that same year and joined the Asian Football Confederation.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: In 2008, an associate member, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association, also left the OFC and in 2009 joined the AFC as an associate member. In late 2009, the Palau Football Association, geographically a part of Oceania but with no official ties to the OFC, also applied for the same status with the AFC as the Northern Mariana Islands association but was not successful. New Zealand ended their own World Cup drought in 2009 when they defeated Bahrain to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The tournament coincidentally also featured Australia, who were now representing the AFC. New Zealand were the only unbeaten team at the tournament, despite failing to advance past the group stage. With Australia's absence, New Zealand now have a regular presence in World Cup inter-confederation playoffs. They were thrashed by Mexico over two legs in 2013, and narrowly missed out to Peru in 2017 and Costa Rica in 2022.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Throughout its history, there have been numerous calls to either merge the OFC and AFC, or dissolve the OFC and have its members join the AFC, in order to form an Asia-Pacific Football Confederation.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: The calls grew louder in 2003 when FIFA reversed a decision to grant Oceania an automatic spot at the World Cup. Australia's lack of World Cup participation prior to 2006 has been blamed by many on the OFC qualification process, with football writer Matthew Hall stating in 2003, "For World Cup qualification, the Socceroos will win games by cricket scores and then face a sudden-death play-off against a desperate, battle-hardened opponent given a second, or even third, life."


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: OFC is made up of 11 full member associations and 2 associate members. Those two are associate members of the OFC, but are not FIFA members.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Israel entered the FIFA World Cup OFC qualifying tournaments in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Three FIFA members geographically in Oceania are not affiliated with the OFC but are instead members of FIFA's Asian Football Confederation:


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Several other sovereign states and dependencies in Oceania have national teams with no affiliation. All play infrequently and may have been inactive for several years. There are also some which do not have a national team.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: There are four Oceanian sovereign states, each a member of the United Nations (UN), which are not affiliated with the OFC, FIFA or any other confederations:


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: There are also other associated states, dependencies or territories in Oceania that do not have affiliation with the OFC, FIFA or any other confederations:


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Finally, there are several member associations of the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (ConIFA) that represent people or territories associated with Oceania; none of these are affiliated with the OFC or FIFA:


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Oceania has sent representatives to the FIFA World Cup four times: Australia in 1974 and 2006, and New Zealand in 1982 and 2010. Of these, only Australia in 2006 progressed beyond the first round.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: The OFC is the only FIFA confederation that does not have a guaranteed spot in the World Cup finals (a major reason for the Australians leaving the confederation in 2006 to join Asia). Between 1966 and 1982, OFC teams joined the Asian zone qualification tournament, while from 1986 onwards, the winners of the Oceanian zone qualification tournament have to enter the intercontinental play-offs against teams from other confederations in order to gain a spot in the FIFA World Cup.


title: Oceania Football Confederation

text: Beginning in 2026, the OFC will have a guaranteed spot in the FIFA World Cup for the first time in history, result of the competition's expansion from 32 to 48 teams.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022, it is the fifth-largest city of the Netherlands and the largest outside the Randstad conurbation.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven was originally located at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender. A municipality since the 13th century, Eindhoven witnessed rapid growth starting in the 1900s by textile and tobacco industries. Two well known companies: DAF Trucks and Philips were founded in the city; Philips would go on to become a major multinational conglomerate while based in Eindhoven. Apart from Philips, Eindhoven also contains the globally famous Design Academy Eindhoven.


title: Eindhoven

text: Neighbouring cities and towns include Son en Breugel, Nuenen, Geldrop-Mierlo, Helmond, Heeze-Leende, Waalre, Veldhoven, Eersel, Oirschot and Best. The agglomeration has a population of . The metropolitan area consists of inhabitants. The city region has a population of 753,426. The Brabantse Stedenrij combined metropolitan area has about two million inhabitants.


title: Eindhoven

text: The name may derive from the contraction of the regional words "eind" (meaning "last" or "end") and "hove" (or "hoeve", a section of some 14 hectares of land). Toponymically, "eind" occurs commonly as a prefix and postfix in local place- and streetnames. A "hove" comprised a parcel of land which a local lord might lease to private persons (such as farmers). Given that a string of such parcels existed around Woensel, the name "Eindhoven" may have originated with the meaning "last hoves on the land of Woensel".


title: Eindhoven

text: Another explanation is that "Eind" is derived from "Gender", the city is located at the end of this little river. Genderhoven phonetically would have changed to Endehoven. 'Ende' is also the old spelling and pronunciation of the word 'eind', which would explain the change from 'Gender' to 'Eind'.


title: Eindhoven

text: The written history of Eindhoven started in 1232, when Duke Hendrik I of Brabant granted city rights to "Eindhoven", then a small town right on the confluence of the Dommel and Gender streams. At the time of granting of its charter, Eindhoven had approximately 170 houses enclosed by a rampart. Just outside the city walls stood a small castle. The city was also granted the right to organize a weekly market and the farmers in nearby villages were obliged to come to Eindhoven to sell their produce. Another factor in its establishment was its location on the trade route from Holland to Liège.


title: Eindhoven

text: Around 1388, the city's fortifications were strengthened further. And between 1413 and 1420, a new castle was built within the city walls. In 1486, Eindhoven was plundered and burned by troops from Guelders.


title: Eindhoven

text: The reconstruction of Eindhoven was finished in 1502, with a stronger rampart and a new castle. However, in 1543 it fell again, its defense works having been neglected due to poverty.


title: Eindhoven

text: A big fire in 1554 destroyed 75% of the houses but by 1560 these had been rebuilt with the help of William I of Orange. During the Dutch Revolt, Eindhoven changed hands between the Dutch and the Spanish several times during which it was burned down by renegade Spanish soldiers, until finally in 1583 it was captured once more by Spanish troops and its city walls were demolished.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven did not become part of the Netherlands until 1629. During the French occupation, Eindhoven suffered again with many of its houses destroyed by the invading forces. Eindhoven remained a minor city after that until the start of the Industrial Revolution.


title: Eindhoven

text: The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century provided a major growth impulse. Canals, roads and railroads were constructed. Eindhoven was connected to the major Zuid-Willemsvaart canal through the Eindhovens Kanaal branch in 1843 and was connected by rail to Tilburg, 's-Hertogenbosch, Venlo and Belgium between 1866 and 1870. Industrial activities initially centred around tobacco and textiles and boomed with the rise of lighting and electronics giant Philips, which was founded as a light bulb manufacturing company in Eindhoven in 1891.


title: Eindhoven

text: Industrialisation brought population growth to Eindhoven. On the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, Eindhoven had 2,310 inhabitants.


title: Eindhoven

text: By 1920, the population was 47,946; by 1925 it was 63,870 and in 1935 that had ballooned to 103,030. The explosive growth of industry in the region and the subsequent housing needs of workers called for radical changes in administration, as the City of Eindhoven was still confined to its medieval moat city limits. In 1920, the five neighbouring municipalities of Woensel (to the north), Tongelre (northeast and east), Stratum (southeast), Gestel en Blaarthem (southwest) and Strijp (west), which already bore the brunt of the housing needs and related problems, were incorporated into the new Groot-Eindhoven ("Greater Eindhoven") municipality. The prefix "Groot-" was later dropped.


title: Eindhoven

text: After the incorporation of 1920, the five former municipalities became districts of the Municipality of Eindhoven, with Eindhoven-Centrum (the City proper) forming the sixth. Since then, an additional seventh district has been formed by dividing the largest district, that of Woensel, into Woensel-Zuid and Woensel-Noord.


title: Eindhoven

text: The early 20th century saw additions in technical industry with the advent of car and truck manufacturing company Van Doorne's Aanhangwagenfabriek (Trailer factory) (DAF) which was later renamed to Van Doorne's Automobiel Fabriek and the subsequent shift towards electronics and engineering, with the traditional tobacco and textile industries waning and finally disappearing in the 1970s.


title: Eindhoven

text: A first air raid in World War II was flown by the RAF on 6 December 1942 targeting the Philips factory downtown, in which 148 civilians died, even though the attack was carried out on a Sunday by low-flying Mosquito bombers. Large-scale air raids, including the bombing by the Luftwaffe on 19 September 1944 during Operation Market Garden, destroyed large parts of the city and killed 227 civilians while leaving 800 wounded. The reconstruction that followed left very little historical remains and the postwar reconstruction period saw drastic renovation plans in highrise style, some of which were implemented. At the time, there was little regard for historical heritage. During the 1960s, a new city hall was built and its Neo-gothic predecessor (1867) demolished to make way for a planned arterial road that never materialised.


title: Eindhoven

text: The 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s saw large-scale housing developments in the districts of Woensel-Zuid and Woensel-Noord, making Eindhoven the fifth-largest city in the Netherlands.


title: Eindhoven

text: At the start of the 21st century, a whole new housing development called Meerhoven was constructed at the site of the old airport of Welschap, west of Eindhoven. The airport itself, now called Eindhoven Airport, had moved earlier to a new location, paving the way for much-needed new houses. Meerhoven is part of the Strijp district and is partially built on lands annexed from the municipality of Veldhoven.


title: Eindhoven

text: The villages and city that make up modern Eindhoven were originally built on sandy elevations between the Dommel, Gender and Tongelreep rivers. Beginning in the 19th century, the basins of the rivers themselves have also been used as housing land, resulting in occasional flooding in the city centre. Partly to reduce flooding, the bed of the Gender stream, which flowed directly through the city centre, was dammed off and filled up after the War, and the course of the Dommel was regulated. New ecological and socio-historical insights have led to parts of the Dommel's course being restored to their original states, and plans to have the Gender flow through the centre once again.


title: Eindhoven

text: The large-scale housing developments of the 20th century saw residential areas being built on former agricultural lands and woods, former heaths that had been turned into cultivable lands in the 19th century.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven has an oceanic climate with slightly warmer summers and colder winters than the coastal parts of the Netherlands. Its all-time record is set on 25 July 2019 and set on 13 January 1968, while winter lows have dipped below during extreme cold snaps. Although frosts are frequent in winter, there is no lasting snow cover in a normal winter due to the mild daytime temperatures.


title: Eindhoven

text: As of 2021, the population of Eindhoven consisted of 235,691 people (according to AlleCijfers.nl). Of these, 38.5% or some 90,788 people were of foreign descent.


title: Eindhoven

text: People are classified as being of foreign descent when they were born outside of the Netherlands, or when at least one of their parents was born outside of the Netherlands.


title: Eindhoven

text: The municipal agglomeration of Eindhoven (an administrative construct which includes only some of the surrounding towns and villages) has 327,245 inhabitants as of 1 January 2010.


title: Eindhoven

text: The spoken language is a combination of Kempenlands (a Dutch dialect spoken in a large area east and south east of the city, including Arendonk and Lommel in Belgium) and North Meierijs (between the south of Den Bosch and into Eindhoven). Both dialects belong to the East Brabantian dialect group), which is very similar to colloquial Dutch).


title: Eindhoven

text: Of all Eindhoven districts, the historical centre is by far the smallest in size and population, numbering only 5,419 in 2006. Woensel-Noord is the largest, having been the city's main area of expansion for several decades.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven is located in the southeast of the province of North Brabant. This area is historically Catholic and the population of Eindhoven was similarly mostly Catholic for a very long time until the late 1970s. However, the internationalizing influence of the university, Philips and other companies have created a more mixed population over the last few decades.


title: Eindhoven

text: The spiritual needs of the Eindhoven population are tended to by a steadily shrinking number of churches, two mosques and one synagogue.


title: Eindhoven

text: In research by the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad based on the police's statistical data on crime rates, Eindhoven was found to have the highest crime rate in the Netherlands for 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010. In 2011, Eindhoven has slipped down the list to number six.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven has grown from a little town in 1232 to one of the biggest cities in the Netherlands with around 230,000 inhabitants in 2020. Much of its growth is due to Philips, DAF Trucks and Brabantia. Among recent high-tech companies based in Eindhoven are NXP Semiconductors, Sendcloud, and Signify.


title: Eindhoven

text: After the resurrection of the Netherlands in 1815 and the end of the Belgian Revolution, Eindhoven was a small village of some 1250 people in an economically backward and mostly agricultural area. Cheap land, cheap labor and the existence of pre-industrial homesourcing ("huisnijverheid" in Dutch) made Eindhoven an attractive area for the developing industries which were being stimulated by the government of King William I. During the 19th century, Eindhoven grew into an industrial town with factories for textile weaving, cigar manufacturing, match making and hat making. Most of these industries disappeared again after World War II, though.


title: Eindhoven

text: In 1891, brothers Gerard and Anton Philips founded the small light bulb factory that would grow into one of the largest electronics firms in the world. Philips' presence is probably the largest single contributing factor to the major growth of Eindhoven in the 20th century. It attracted and spun off many hi-tech companies, making Eindhoven a major technology and industrial hub. In 2005, a full third of the total amount of money spent on research in the Netherlands was spent in or around Eindhoven. A quarter of the jobs in the region are in technology and ICT, with companies such as FEI Company (once Philips Electron Optics), NXP Semiconductors (formerly Philips Semiconductors), ASML, ALTEN, Simac, Neways Electronics and the aforementioned Philips and DAF.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven has long been a centre of cooperation between research institutes and industry. This tradition started with Philips (the NatLab was a physical expression of this) and has since expanded to large cooperative networks. The Eindhoven University of Technology hosts an incubator for technology startups and the NatLab has developed into the High Tech Campus Eindhoven. Also, TNO has opened a branch on the university campus. This tradition has also fostered inter-industry cooperation in the region; one example of this is the announcement in September 2010 of a new research lab for high-grade packaging materials, a cooperation of IPS Packaging and Thales Cryogenics.


title: Eindhoven

text: This cooperative tradition has also developed into a different direction than the traditional technology research done at the university. Starting in 2002, the university, the Catharina hospital, Philips Medical and the University of Maastricht joined forces and started joint research into biomedical science, technology and engineering. Within Eindhoven, this research has been concentrated in a new university faculty (BioMedical Technology or BMT). This development has also made Eindhoven a biomedical technology hub within the country and its (European) region.


title: Eindhoven

text: Prime examples of industrial heritage in Eindhoven are the renovated Witte Dame (""White Lady"") complex, a former Philips lamp factory; and the Admirant building (informally known as Bruine Heer or ""Brown Gentleman"" in reference to the Witte Dame across the street), the former Philips main offices. The Witte Dame currently houses the municipal library, the Design Academy and a selection of shops. The Admirant has been renovated into an Office building for small companies. Across the street from the Witte Dame and next to the Admirant is Philips' first light bulb factory (nicknamed Roze Baby, or ""Pink Baby"", in reference to its pink colour and much smaller size when compared to the "White Lady" and "Brown Gentleman"). The small building now houses the "Centrum Kunstlicht in de Kunst" (centre artificial light in art) and the "Philips Incandescent Lamp Factory of 1891" museum.


title: Eindhoven

text: Due to its high-tech environment, Eindhoven is part of several initiatives to develop, foster and increase a knowledge economy. Chief among these are:


title: Eindhoven

text: The Intelligent Community Forum named the Eindhoven metro region the No. 21 intelligent community in 2008 and the No. 7 intelligent community in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, the ICF named Eindhoven the Intelligent Community of the Year. Since 2012, Eindhoven has vanished from the top 7 of intelligent communities.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven is one of the co-location centres of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). It hosts two Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs): Innoenergy (Sustainable Energy) and EIT ICT Labs (Information and Communication Technology). The co-locations are on the High Tech Campus Eindhoven.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven, being a city with a 200,000+ population, is served by a large number of schools both at primary and secondary education levels. In addition, Eindhoven is a higher-education hub within the southern Netherlands, with several institutes of higher education that serve students from the extended region of North Brabant, Zeeland, Limburg and parts of the surrounding provinces.


title: Eindhoven

text: Primary education is provided to the children aged 4 to 12 in Eindhoven through a large number of primary schools:


title: Eindhoven

text: Secondary education is provided to the children aged 12 to 18 in Eindhoven through several highschools:


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven hosts four different public institutions for higher and adult education, as well as a number of private institutions offering courses and trainings. The public institutions hosted in Eindhoven are:


title: Eindhoven

text: Among the private institutions is the Centrum voor Kunsten Eindhoven, which offers art-related courses to adults (including a DJ-education).


title: Eindhoven

text: The municipal council is the legislative council at the municipal level in Eindhoven; its existence is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands. The Eindhoven city council consists of 45 elected representatives from the Eindhoven municipality. These are elected during municipal elections from candidates running in Eindhoven. Eindhoven politics consists of local branches of the national political parties and purely local parties with strictly local interests. The city council reflects this mix in its makeup.


title: Eindhoven

text: The division of the municipal seats in the Eindhoven city council after the elections is shown below:


title: Eindhoven

text: The executive council in Dutch municipalities is called the "College of the Mayor and Aldermen" (Dutch: "College van Burgemeester en Wethouders" or "College van B&W" for short). The mayor is appointed by the monarch, but the council of aldermen is composed as a result of the formation of a local coalition government. This coalition is formed in such a way as to be able to rely on a majority of the votes in the city council.


title: Eindhoven

text: In May 2014, a coalition was formed between PvdA, D66, SP, and GreenLeft. Together they had 26 seats in the city council. The council of alder(wo)men consisted of the following people:


title: Eindhoven

text: In May 2018, a coalition was formed existing of VVD, GreenLeft, PvdA, and CDA. They had 26 seats together. The alder(wo)men were:


title: Eindhoven

text: In June 2022, a coalition has been formed existing of GreenLeft, CDA, PvdA, and D66, having 25 seats together. Their alder(wo)men have been:


title: Eindhoven

text: The mayors of the Netherlands are not elected but appointed by the crown. Nevertheless, there has been a movement over the last few years to give the municipalities more say in who will be their mayor, which has resulted in consultative referendums being held in the larger cities to "suggest" a candidate for the post. This was also tried in Eindhoven.


title: Eindhoven

text: On 23 January 2008, a referendum to elect a mayor was held in Eindhoven. This referendum, the second of its kind in the Netherlands, was attended by 24.6% of the inhabitants. This was less than the required 30% needed to make a referendum binding. Nevertheless, the city council would choose the winner of the referendum as the preferred candidate. The main reason for the low attendance was that the candidates, Leen Verbeek and Rob van Gijzel, were from the same party (PvdA). Rob van Gijzel won the referendum with 61.8% of the votes and was appointed the city's new mayor.


title: Eindhoven

text: The mayor is the chairman of the Council of B&W. He also has responsibility for a number of specific posts (like the aldermen). For example, in the executive council of 2014-2018 mayor Van Gijzel held responsibility for the post of communication.


title: Eindhoven

text: Rob van Gijzel was succeeded by John Jorritsma (VVD) on 13 September 2016. Jorritsma has been succeeded by Jeroen Dijsselbloem (PvdA) on 13 September 2022.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven is also known as the City of Light, due to Philips originating from there and because of several projects involving lighting up buildings of the city. During Carnival, Eindhoven is rechristened "Lampegat" (Hamlet of Lamps, although for the ironic purposes of carnival the translation "Hole in the ground with lamps" is closer to the mark); this refers again to the important role of Philips in the Eindhoven community.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven was home to the Evoluon science museum, sponsored by Philips. The Evoluon building has evolved into a conference centre.


title: Eindhoven

text: The Eindhoven public space contains many forms of artistic expression (a book published by the Eindhoven tourist board records 550 as of 2001 and more have been added since), with high "concentrations" of them in the parks. The Stadswandelpark for instance, contains over 30 works of modern art. There are also several other works of art on permanent display throughout the city, such as "Flying Pins" (by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, who considered the location on the southern stretch of the John F. Kennedylaan to be like a bowling alley) and "Swing" (a construct on the Karel de Grotelaan, which morphs into different geometric shapes as you move around it). There are also a number of statues of famous city inhabitants, such as Jan van Hooff (by Auke Hettema, 1992) and Frits Philips (by Kees Verkade) on the Market Square. There is a statue of Anton Philips in front of the central railway station.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven is also, to some degree, open to forms of impromptu and alternative art. For example, the Berenkuil is a freezone for graffiti artists in the city.


title: Eindhoven

text: Strijp-S is a place for experimentation with LED lighting, which keeps the historic connection with Philips' past. Some light art includes the project Fakkel by Har Hollands. In the underground passage to NatLab artist Daan Roosegaarde installed his project Crystal.


title: Eindhoven

text: The Effenaar is a popular music venue and cultural center in Eindhoven, and is located at the Dommelstraat.


title: Eindhoven

text: In 1992, the Muziekcentrum Frits Philips was opened as a stage for classical and popular music in Eindhoven, reviewed by critics as a concert hall with acoustics that rival the best halls in Europe. Before that, Philips sponsored the POC.


title: Eindhoven

text: Parktheater Eindhoven is Eindhoven's stage for opera, cabaret, ballet etc. Opened in 1964, it has received over 250,000 visitors every year. With its 1,000 m2 it has one of the largest stages in the Netherlands. With a major renovation ending in 2007, the new Parktheater will receive an estimated 300,000 visitors a year.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven's Plaza Futura is now a cinema featuring cultural movies, lectures and special cultural events.


title: Eindhoven

text: Especially for students, Studium Generale Eindhoven organizes "socially, culturally and intellectually formative events". From within the student body, two Tunas provide entertainment from time to time at university and city events: Tuna Ciudad de Luz ("Tuna of the City of Light") and the ladies tuna La Tuniña.


title: Eindhoven

text: The general music and theatre scene in Eindhoven (in the broadest sense) is supported by a foundation called PopEi. The purpose of this foundation is to support artistic groups with facilities, especially rehearsal stages and areas (housed in the old Philips location of Strijp-S) but also storage facilities. PopEi also provides a working environment for groups (through cafeteria facilities in Strijp-S, so groups can have real working days) and provides some logistical support for organizing events.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven has a lively recreational scene. For going out, there are numerous bars on the Market square, Stratumseind (Stratum's End) which is the largest pub-street in the Netherlands, Dommelstraat, Wilhelmina square and throughout the rest of the city. In addition to the more culturally oriented Plaza Futura, there are three cinemas in the centre of town ("Servicebioscoop Zien", "Vue" and Pathé Eindhoven, which offers THX sound, IMAX screens and 3D movie viewing).


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven also hosts a large number of cultural and entertainment-oriented festivals. The biggest festivals in Eindhoven are:


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven contains several parks and a lot of open, green space. Of the five largest cities in the Netherlands, it has the highest percentage of green area (encompassing about ⅓ of all public space). It is also the greenest of the five largest cities in North Brabant. The green area per house is about .


title: Eindhoven

text: Some of the major parks in Eindhoven are the Stadswandelpark, Genneper Parken, the Philips van Lenneppark, Philips de Jongh Wandelpark and the Henri Dunantpark. There is also a green area surrounding the Karpendonkse Plas (a water area). The combination of park area, water and general atmosphere got the Ooievaarsnest neighborhood elected the "Best large-city neighborhood of the Netherlands" by the NRC Handelsblad in 1997.


title: Eindhoven

text: The centre of town features two casinos (one branch of Holland Casino and the independent Casino4Events). At the A67 a Jack's casino is located.


title: Eindhoven

text: There is a red light district on the Baekelandplein, as well as four brothels throughout the city. There is also a blue movie theater.


title: Eindhoven

text: The old Philips factory complex has been transformed into a multi-purpose cultural and residential complex called Strijp-S. This includes conference and event space, space for concerts and events, art of lighting, space for sports such as BMX, bouldering, and more, a walking promenade, etc.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven features several print media. The local newspaper, called the Eindhovens Dagblad, is a daily newspaper with over 110,000 subscribers in the Samenwerkingsverband Regio Eindhoven region. It has a national and international section, as well as a section dedicated to regional news; the editorial department is located in Eindhoven.


title: Eindhoven

text: In addition to the newspaper, Eindhoven is served by a number of weekly door-to-door publications. Chief among these is "Groot Eindhoven" (which carries publications of the city council, as well as other articles and advertisements). Other than that there are "de Trompetter", "de Weekendkrant" and the "ZondagsNieuws". The first two are delivered midweek, the last two are weekend publications.


title: Eindhoven

text: There are several regional and municipal radio stations. The local radio station is Studio040, whereas Omroep Brabant and RoyaalFM provide regional radio.


title: Eindhoven

text: Local television is provided by Studio040. Omroep Brabant broadcasts regionally from its television studio in Son.


title: Eindhoven

text: Internet, television and telephone connectivity is available via cable television, optic fiber and ADSL.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven Airport is the closest airport, located approximately from the town centre. The airport serves as a military air base and a civilian commercial airport. Eindhoven Airport is the second-busiest in the Netherlands (after Schiphol).


title: Eindhoven

text: Ryanair serves London Stansted Airport, Dublin, Kyiv, Rome, Milan, Pisa, Bordeaux, Marseille, Glasgow, Madrid, Valencia, Stockholm, Kaunas, Malta, Sofia and Barcelona. Wizz air serves Belgrade, Brno, Bucharest-Otopeni, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Debrecen, Gdańsk, Katowice, Prague, Riga, Sofia, Timișoara, Vilnius, Wrocław. In the summer season, Reykjavík is served with 2 weekly flights operated by Iceland Express. Transavia services Alicante, Antalya, Athens, Bodrum, Corfu, Dalaman, Faro, Gran Canaria, Innsbruck, Málaga, Majorca, Munich, Prague, Rhodes and Salzburg, though some destinations are served only seasonally. Eindhoven Airport served more than 6.2 million passengers in 2018.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven is a rail transport hub. Eindhoven Centraal railway station is the main station in Eindhoven. It has connections in the directions of:


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven Centraal is served by both intercity and local services while the smaller station, Eindhoven Strijp-S is only served by local trains. Towards 's-Hertogenbosch, Utrecht and Amsterdam trains run every ten minutes, on every day of the week. Eindhoven Stadion is a small station that serves Philips Stadion in the event of football matches or other special events at the stadium. It is located 900m west of the main station.


title: Eindhoven

text: Up until World War II, a train service connected Amsterdam to Liège via Eindhoven and Valkenswaard, but the service was discontinued and the line broken up. Recently, talks have resumed to have a service to Neerpelt, Belgium via Weert.


title: Eindhoven

text: The A2/E25 motorway from Amsterdam to Luxembourg passes Eindhoven to the west and south of the city. The A2 connects to the highway A58 to Tilburg and Breda just north of the city. Just south of Eindhoven, the A2 connects to the A67 / E34 between Antwerp and Duisburg. In 2006, the A50 was completed connecting Eindhoven to Nijmegen and Zwolle.


title: Eindhoven

text: The public transport of Eindhoven consists of more than 20 city bus lines, which also serve neighbouring villages such as Veldhoven, Geldrop and Nuenen. Nine of these buslines (400–408) are marketed as high quality public transport and run with 43 electric articulated buses. Two specially built separated busways (HOV1 & HOV2) are used by lines 400 to 408. Line 401 to the airport runs almost completely on separated busways. Apart from the city lines there are some 30 regional and rush-hour lines.


title: Eindhoven

text: Like all large Dutch cities, Eindhoven has an extensive network of bicycle paths. Since 2012, the Eindhoven bicycle path network has incorporated the Hovenring.


title: Eindhoven

text: Eindhoven has two hospitals in three locations: the Catharina Hospital and the Máxima Medisch Centrum, which has a branch in Woensel-Zuid (the old Diaconessenhuis) and one in Veldhoven (the old Sint Joseph Hospital). These three have an extensive cooperation and have divided specialties among each other. Emergency medicine, for example, is concentrated in the MMC Veldhoven branch and the Catharina Hospital, the MMC Eindhoven branch has no emergency department. Cardiac procedures are done in the Catharina.


title: Eindhoven

text: Catharina is also an academic and research hospital and participates in a shared research program with Philips Medical, the Eindhoven University of Technology and the Maastricht University into biomedical science, technology and engineering.


title: Adam Beach

text: Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in "Smoke Signals", Frank Fencepost in "Dance Me Outside", Tommy on "Walker, Texas Ranger", Kickin' Wing in "Joe Dirt", U.S. Marine Corporal Ira Hayes in "Flags of Our Fathers", Private Ben Yahzee in "Windtalkers", Dr. Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", NYPD Detective in "", and Officer Jim Chee in the film adaptations of "Skinwalkers", "Coyote Waits", and "A Thief of Time". He starred in the Canadian 2012-2014 series "Arctic Air", and played Slipknot in the 2016 film "Suicide Squad". He also performed as Squanto in Disney's historical drama film "". Most recently he has starred in "Hostiles" (2017) as Black Hawk, and the Netflix original film "Juanita" (2019) as Jess Gardiner, and Edward Nappo in Jane Campion's "The Power of the Dog".


title: Adam Beach

text: Adam Beach was born in Ashern, Manitoba. He is Anishinaabe and has some Icelandic roots through his great-grandmother. Beach spent his early years with his parents and two brothers on the Lake Manitoba/Dog Creek First Nation Reserve at Lake Manitoba. When Beach was eight years old, his mother, Sally Beach, eight months pregnant with a baby girl, was killed by a drunk driver. Eight weeks after his mother's death, the family discovered their father Dennis Beach had drowned near the community. It is unclear whether his death was an accident or suicide.


title: Adam Beach

text: Adam and his two brothers initially lived with their grandmother; he was with her from age 8 to 12. Five years after their parents' deaths, the three brothers were taken to Winnipeg to live with an aunt and paternal uncle: Agnes and Chris Beach (his father's brother). Adam refers to his Uncle Chris as "Dad".


title: Adam Beach

text: Beach attended a drama class at Gordon Bell High School. He began performing in local theatre productions, and eventually dropped out of school to take a lead role at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People.


title: Adam Beach

text: Beach has a long list of diverse portrayals. He saw acting as a catharsis and turned to theater as a venue to express his feelings and tell his own personal stories. At age 18, Beach won a small role in the miniseries "Lost in the Barrens", based on the Farley Mowat novel. In the following years, he continued to work in local theatre and guest-starred on television shows such as "Walker, Texas Ranger" and "Touched by an Angel". Shortly afterwards, Beach was cast as a regular on the television shows "North of 60" and "The Rez". After his performance in "Dance Me Outside," he starred in "Smoke Signals," which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance FILMS Festival. He took a small role in Disney's "Mystery, Alaska" in 1999 and in 2000 accepted a role in the thriller, "The Last Stop." Beach appeared in Helen Lee's "The Art of Woo" and the 2001 hit "Joe Dirt" as Kickin' Wing, a Native American fireworks salesman. The producers of "Joe Dirt" had originally wanted to hire Evan Adams for the parody of his character in "Smoke Signals", but accidentally called Beach instead.


title: Adam Beach

text: In 2002, "Windtalkers", starring Beach, was released in theatres; it was about Navajo codetalkers working with the US Marines during World War II. To prepare for this role, Beach spent six months learning the Navajo language. He used this language in his next project, "Skinwalkers", based on a novel by Tony Hillerman and directed by Chris Eyre, who had given him his breakout role in "Smoke Signals." Between large-scale projects, Beach made small television appearances on such shows as "JAG" and "Third Watch". Also, in 2003, he returned to the character that he first portrayed in "Skinwalkers" in the movie "Coyote Waits", also based on a Hillerman novel. He also made a guest appearance in the hit show "The Dead Zone" as a Native shaman (in the episode "Shaman").


title: Adam Beach

text: In 2006, Beach portrayed Ira Hayes in Clint Eastwood's feature film "Flags of Our Fathers". During the filming of this movie, both Beach's grandmother and his best friend died. Beach commented, "And if you add those up, there's a lot of emotion. When you're doing a movie, when you let go emotionally, there's nothing to grab onto," he said about the deaths. About playing the part, Beach said, "For me, playing Ira was a meaningful relationship. I would call it – trying to find out how he was, or how he thought and felt". The movie won two Academy Award nominations and Beach was nominated for multiple Best Supporting Actor honors.


title: Adam Beach

text: In 2006, Beach ran as a candidate to lead his Lake Manitoba First Nation; he was not successful but said he will try again. In 2007, Beach starred in HBO Films' adaptation of Dee Brown's history, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." In the film, Beach portrays Charles Eastman (Dakota name Ohiyesa), a doctor, Sioux advocate, and author. He explores and expresses the changing understanding of Aboriginal-US relations during the period leading up to the Wounded Knee Massacre.


title: Adam Beach

text: In addition to starring in the Canadian television series "Moose TV", Beach is executive-producing and starring in the movie "Older Than America." The independent feature is filmed in Cloquet, Minnesota, mostly on the Fond du Lac Ojibwe reservation. He joined the cast of "" as Detective Chester Lake for the show's ninth season after guest-starring in season eight. In April 2008, "TV Guide" announced that he would not return for the show's tenth season. He later stated he grew disillusioned with the strictly procedural nature of the show and opted to leave after the finish of the ninth season.


title: Adam Beach

text: Starting in 2009, Beach played a supporting role on the HBO series "Big Love" as a manager in an Indian casino with Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton). On February 10, 2010, it was announced that Beach will portray Tommy Prince, the Canadian war hero, in an upcoming movie about his life. According to Bay Film Studios, the movie will be a "true account of Canada's most highly decorated First Nations soldier." Beach said he is honoured to portray Prince, calling him a positive role model for all First Nations. In 2011, he starred in "Cowboys & Aliens", an American science fiction Western film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde. The film is based on the 2006 graphic novel of the same name created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. Also in 2011, Beach returned to Canada to star in the TV series "Arctic Air", which premiered on January 12, 2012. In 2015, Beach appeared on several episodes of "Backstrom" as Sheriff Jesse Rocha. In 2017, he played Black Hawk in "Hostiles", starring Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, and Wes Studi.


title: Adam Beach

text: Beach selected as the host for the new Canadian competition show "A Cut Above." It will air starting on August 8 on Discovery Channel.


title: Adam Beach

text: Adam Beach has been married three times and has three children. He has two sons with his first wife, Meredith Porter (married 1999–2002). He did not have children with his second wife, Tara Mason (married 2003–2007). In 2008, his current wife, Summer Tiger, gave birth to a daughter.


title: Will Sasso

text: William Sasso (born May 24, 1975) is a Canadian actor, comedian and podcaster. He is notable for his five seasons as a cast member on "Mad TV" from 1997 to 2002, for starring as Curly in the 2012 film reboot of "The Three Stooges", and as Mover #1 in "Happy Gilmore" (1996). He is also known for his TV roles as Carl Monari in "Less than Perfect" (2003–2006), Doug Martin in "How I Met Your Mother" (2008–2012), and Bill Ryan in "United We Fall" (2020).


title: Will Sasso

text: By the end of its second season (1996–1997), the Fox network sketch comedy television series "MADtv" experienced its first big cast turnover. Three of the show's repertory performers (Bryan Callen, Orlando Jones and Artie Lange) left the cast. As a result, in 1997, casting executives at Fox had to cast replacements for the show. Sasso (along with Alex Borstein and Aries Spears) was selected to join the "MADtv" third-season cast as a regular cast member.


title: Will Sasso

text: After leaving "MADtv", Sasso's television appearances included four seasons as Carl Monari on "Less than Perfect", as well as a role in "Robson Arms". He played the role of Fortunio Balducci in "Southland Tales".


title: Will Sasso

text: Sasso hosted the 2006 Canadian Comedy Awards in London, Ontario, as well as the festival's "Sketch & Improv Showcases". Additionally, he was a host at the 2005-2006 NHL award ceremony. Sasso appeared on the "" episode "The Chick Chop Flick Shop". He also appeared in the "Childrens Hospital" episode "Frankfurters".


title: Will Sasso

text: Sasso starred in "$h*! My Dad Says", based on the Twitter feed Shit My Dad Says, created by Justin Halpern. The show premiered in the late 2010 and its cancellation was announced on May 15, 2011.


title: Will Sasso

text: Sasso began posting videos on the online video service Vine, creating a running gag of him violently vomiting lemons without warning.


title: Will Sasso

text: In 2018, Sasso played Mountie Archambault in the comedy film "Super Troopers 2". In November 2019, he voiced Mr. Ellingboe in Netflix's "Klaus".


title: Václav Havel

text: Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as the first president of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003 and was the first democratically elected president of either country after the fall of communism. As a writer of Czech literature, he is known for his plays, essays, and memoirs.


title: Václav Havel

text: His educational opportunities having been limited by his bourgeois background, when freedoms were limited by the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Havel first rose to prominence as a playwright. In works such as "The Garden Party" and "The Memorandum", Havel used an absurdist style to criticize the Communist system. After participating in the Prague Spring and being blacklisted after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, he became more politically active and helped found several dissident initiatives, including Charter 77 and the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted. His political activities brought him under the surveillance of the StB secret police, and he spent multiple periods as a political prisoner, the longest of his imprisoned terms being nearly four years, between 1979 and 1983.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel's Civic Forum party played a major role in the Velvet Revolution that toppled the Communist system in Czechoslovakia in 1989. He assumed the presidency shortly thereafter, and was re-elected in a landslide the following year and after Slovak independence in 1993. Havel was instrumental in dismantling the Warsaw Pact and enlargement of NATO membership eastward. Many of his stances and policies, such as his opposition to Slovak independence, condemnation of the treatment of Sudeten Germans, such as the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II, and granting of general amnesty to all those imprisoned under the Communist era, were very controversial domestically. By the end of his presidency, he enjoyed greater popularity abroad than at home. Havel continued his life as a public intellectual after his presidency, launching several initiatives including the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism, the VIZE 97 Foundation, and the Forum 2000 annual conference.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel's political philosophy was one of anti-consumerism, humanitarianism, environmentalism, civil activism, and direct democracy. He supported the Czech Green Party from 2004 until his death. He received numerous accolades during his lifetime, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Gandhi Peace Prize, the Philadelphia Liberty Medal, the Order of Canada, the Four Freedoms Award, the Ambassador of Conscience Award, and the Hanno R. Ellenbogen Citizenship Award. The 2012–2013 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honour. He is considered by some to be one of the most important intellectuals of the 20th century. The international airport in Prague was renamed Václav Havel Airport Prague in 2012.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel was born in Prague on 5 October 1936 into a wealthy family celebrated in Czechoslovakia for its entrepreneurial and cultural accomplishments. His grandfather, Vácslav Havel, a real estate developer, built a landmark entertainment complex on Prague's Wenceslas Square. His father, Václav Maria Havel, was the real estate developer behind the suburban Barrandov Terraces, located on the highest point of Prague—next door to which his uncle, Miloš Havel, built one of the largest film studios in Europe. Havel's mother, Božena Vavrečková, also came from an influential family; her father was a Czechoslovak ambassador and a well-known journalist.


title: Václav Havel

text: In the early 1950s, because of his class background, Havel entered into a four-year apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant and simultaneously took evening classes at a gymnasium. He completed his secondary education in 1954. For political reasons, he was not accepted into any post-secondary school with a humanities program; therefore, he opted for studies at the Faculty of Economics of the Czech Technical University in Prague but dropped out after two years. On 9 July 1964, Havel married Olga Šplíchalová.


title: Václav Havel

text: The intellectual tradition of his family was essential for Havel's lifetime adherence to the humanitarian values of the Czech culture. After finishing his military service (1957–59), Havel had to bring his intellectual ambitions in line with the given circumstances, especially with the restrictions imposed on him as a descendant of a bourgeois family. He found employment in Prague's theatre world as a stagehand at Prague's Theatre ABC – "Divadlo ABC", and then at the Theatre on Balustrade – "Divadlo Na zábradlí". Simultaneously, he was a student of dramatic arts by correspondence at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). His first own full-length play performed in public, besides various vaudeville collaborations, was "The Garden Party" (1963). Presented in a series of Theatre of the Absurd, at the Theatre on Balustrade, this play won him international acclaim. The play was soon followed by "The Memorandum", one of his best known plays, and "The Increased Difficulty of Concentration", all at the Theatre on Balustrade. In 1968, "The Memorandum" was also brought to The Public Theater in New York, which helped to establish Havel's reputation in the United States. The Public Theater continued to produce his plays in the following years. After 1968, Havel's plays were banned from the theatre world in his own country, and he was unable to leave Czechoslovakia to see any foreign performances of his works.


title: Václav Havel

text: During the first week of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, Havel assisted the resistance by providing an on-air narrative via Radio Free Czechoslovakia station (at Liberec). Following the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, he was banned from the theatre and became more politically active. He took a job at Krakonoš brewery in Trutnov, an experience he wrote about in his play "Audience". This play, along with two other "Vaněk" plays (so-called because of the recurring character Ferdinand Vaněk, a stand in for Havel), became distributed in samizdat form across Czechoslovakia, and greatly added to Havel's reputation of being a leading dissident (several other Czech writers later wrote their own plays featuring Vaněk). This reputation was cemented with the publication of the "Charter 77" manifesto, written partially in response to the imprisonment of members of the Czech psychedelic rock band The Plastic People of the Universe; Havel had attended their trial, which centered on the group's non-conformity in having long hair, using obscenities in their music, and their overall involvement in the Prague underground movement. Havel co-founded the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted in 1979. His political activities resulted in multiple imprisonments by the authorities, and constant government surveillance and questioning by the secret police (Státní bezpečnost). His longest period in prison, from May 1979 to February 1983, is documented in letters to his wife that were later published as "Letters to Olga".


title: Václav Havel

text: He was known for his essays, most particularly "The Power of the Powerless" (1978), in which he described a societal paradigm in which citizens were forced to "live within a lie" under the Communist regime. In describing his role as a dissident, Havel wrote in 1979: "we never decided to become dissidents. We have been transformed into them, without quite knowing how, sometimes we have ended up in prison without precisely knowing how. We simply went ahead and did certain things that we felt we ought to do, and that seemed to us decent to do, nothing more nor less."


title: Václav Havel

text: Samuel Beckett's 1982 short play, "Catastrophe", was dedicated to Havel while he was held as a political prisoner in Czechoslovakia.


title: Václav Havel

text: On 29 December 1989, while he was leader of the Civic Forum, Havel became President of Czechoslovakia by a unanimous vote of the Federal Assembly. He had long insisted that he was not interested in politics and had argued that political change in the country should be induced through autonomous civic initiatives rather than through the official institutions. In 1990, soon after his election, Havel was awarded the Prize For Freedom of the Liberal International.


title: Václav Havel

text: In 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first free elections in 44 years, resulting in a sweeping victory for Civic Forum and its Slovak counterpart, Public Against Violence. Between them, they commanded strong majorities in both houses of the legislature, and tallied the highest popular vote share recorded for a free election in the country. Havel retained his presidency.


title: Václav Havel

text: Despite increasing political tensions between the Czechs and the Slovaks in 1992, Havel supported the retention of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic prior to the dissolution of the country. Havel sought re-election in 1992. Although no other candidate filed, when the vote came on 3 July, he failed to get a majority due to a lack of support from Slovak deputies. The largest Czech political party, the Civic Democratic Party, let it be known that it would not support any other candidate. After the Slovaks issued their Declaration of Independence, he resigned as president on 20 July, saying that he would not preside over the country's breakup.


title: Václav Havel

text: However, when the Czech Republic was created as one of two successor states, he stood for election as its first president on 26 January 1993, and won. Although he was nominally the new country's chief executive, the framers of the Constitution of the Czech Republic intended to vest most of the real power in the prime minister. However, owing to his prestige, he still commanded great moral authority, and the presidency acquired a greater role than the framers intended. For instance, largely due to his influence, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), successor to the KSC's branch in the Czech Lands, was kept on the margins for most of his presidency. Havel suspected that the KSCM was still an unreformed Stalinist party.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel's popularity abroad surpassed his popularity at home, and he was often the object of controversy and criticism. During his time in office, Havel stated that the expulsion of the indigenous Sudeten German population after World War II was immoral, causing a great controversy at home. He also extended general amnesty as one of his first acts as president, in an attempt to lessen the pressure in overcrowded prisons as well as to release political prisoners and persons who may have been falsely imprisoned during the Communist era. Havel felt that many of the decisions by the previous regime's courts should not be trusted, and that most of those in prison had not received fair trials. However, critics claimed that this amnesty led to a significant increase in the crime rate: the total number of crimes doubled, as did the number of murders. Several of the worst crimes in the history of the Czech criminology were committed by criminals released in this amnesty. Within four years of the Velvet revolution (and following another two amnesties declared by Havel), criminality had more than tripled since 1989. According to Havel's memoir "To the Castle and Back", most of those who were released had less than a year to serve before their sentences ended, but statistics contradict Havel's claims.


title: Václav Havel

text: In an interview with Karel Hvížďala (included in "To the Castle and Back"), Havel expressed his feeling that it was his most important accomplishment as president to have contributed to the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. According to his statement the dissolution was very complicated. The infrastructure created by the Warsaw Pact was part of the economies of all member states, and the Pact's dissolution necessitated restructuring that took many years to complete. Furthermore, it took time to dismantle the Warsaw Pact's institutions; for example, it took two years for Soviet troops to fully withdraw from Czechoslovakia.


title: Václav Havel

text: Following a legal dispute with his sister-in-law Dagmar Havlová (wife of his brother Ivan M. Havel), Havel decided to sell his 50% stake in the Lucerna Palace on Wenceslas Square in Prague, built from 1907 to 1921 by his grandfather, also named Václav Havel (spelled Vácslav,) one of the multifunctional "palaces" in the center of the once booming pre-World War I Prague. In a transaction arranged by Marián Čalfa, Havel sold the estate to Václav Junek, a former Communist spy in France and head of the soon-to-be bankrupt conglomerate Chemapol Group, who later openly admitted that he bribed politicians of the Czech Social Democratic Party.


title: Václav Havel

text: In January 1996, Olga Havlová, his wife of 32 years, died of cancer at 62. In December 1996, Havel who had been a chain smoker for a long time, was diagnosed with lung cancer. The disease reappeared two years later. He quit smoking. In 1997, he remarried, to actress Dagmar Veškrnová.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel was among those influential politicians who contributed most to the transition of NATO from being an anti-Warsaw Pact alliance to its present form. Havel advocated vigorously for the inclusion of former-Warsaw Pact members, like the Czech Republic, into the Western alliance.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel was re-elected president in 1998. He had to undergo a colostomy in Innsbruck when his colon ruptured while he was on holiday in Austria. On 30 January 2003, Havel signed "The letter of the eight" supporting U.S. policy on Iraq. Havel left office after his second term as Czech president ended on 2 February 2003. Václav Klaus, one of his greatest political adversaries, was elected his successor as president on 28 February 2003. Margaret Thatcher wrote of the two men in her foreign policy treatise "Statecraft", reserving the greater respect for Havel. Havel's dedication to democracy and his steadfast opposition to communist ideology earned him admiration.


title: Václav Havel

text: Beginning in 1997, Havel hosted Forum 2000, an annual conference to "identify the key issues facing civilisation and to explore ways to prevent the escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture or ethnicity as their primary components". In 2005, the former president occupied the Kluge Chair for Modern Culture at the John W. Kluge Center of the United States Library of Congress, where he continued his research on human rights. In November and December 2006, Havel spent eight weeks as a visiting artist in residence at Columbia University. The stay was sponsored by the Columbia Arts Initiative and featured "performances, and panels centr[ing] on his life and ideas", including a public "conversation" with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Concurrently, the Untitled Theater Company No. 61 launched a Havel Festival, the first complete festival of his plays in various venues throughout New York City, including The Brick Theater and the Ohio Theatre, in celebration of his 70th birthday. Havel was a member of the World Future Society and addressed the Society's members on 4 July 1994. His speech was later printed in THE FUTURIST magazine (July 1995).


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel remained an admired individual by Czech citizens. In "The Greatest Czech" TV show (the Czech spin-off of the BBC "100 Greatest Britons" show) in 2005, Havel received the third biggest amount of voices, so he was elected to be third greatest Czech when he was still alive.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel's memoir of his experience as president, "To the Castle and Back", was published in May 2007. The book mixes an interview in the style of "Disturbing the Peace" with actual memoranda he sent to his staff and modern diary entries and recollections.


title: Václav Havel

text: On 4 August 2007, Havel met with members of the Belarus Free Theatre at his summer cottage in the Czech Republic in a show of his continuing support, which has been instrumental in the theatre's attaining international recognition and membership in the European Theatrical Convention.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel went on a hunger strike in 2007 to support Kurdish doctor and human rights activist Yekta Uzunoglu in his legal battle. A former president going on a hunger strike to support the legal battle of a foreigner in his country was a first in world history.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel's first new play in almost two decades, "Leaving", was published in November 2007, and was to have had its world premiere in June 2008 at the Prague theater Divadlo na Vinohradech, but the theater withdrew it in December as it felt it could not provide the technical support needed to mount the play. The play instead premiered on 22 May 2008 at the Archa Theatre to standing ovations. Havel based the play on "King Lear", by William Shakespeare, and on "The Cherry Orchard", by Anton Chekhov; "Chancellor Vilém Rieger is the central character of "Leaving", who faces a crisis after being removed from political power." The play had its English language premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre in London and its American premiere at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. Havel subsequently directed a film version of the play, which premiered in the Czech Republic on 22 March 2011.


title: Václav Havel

text: Other works included the short sketch "Pět Tet", a modern sequel to "Unveiling", and "The Pig, or Václav Havel's Hunt for a Pig", which was premiered in Brno at Theatre Goose on a String and had its English language premiere at the 3LD Art & Technology Center in New York, in a production from Untitled Theater Company No. 61, in a production workshopped in the Ice Factory Festival in 2011 and later revived as a full production in 2014, becoming a "New York Times" Critic's Pick.


title: Václav Havel

text: In 2008, Havel became a Member of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation. He met U.S. President Barack Obama in private before Obama's departure after the end of the European Union (EU) and United States (US) summit in Prague in April 2009. Havel was the chair of the Human Rights Foundation's International Council and a member of the international advisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel was a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system. From the 1980s, Havel supported the green politics movement, partly due to his friendship with the co-founder of the German Alliance 90/The Greens party Milan Horáček. From 2004 until his death, he supported the Czech Green Party.


title: Václav Havel

text: A week before his death, he met with his longtime friend, the Dalai Lama, in Prague; Havel appeared in a wheelchair. Prime Minister Petr Nečas announced a three-day mourning period from 21 to 23 December, the date announced by President Václav Klaus for the state funeral. The funeral Mass was held at Saint Vitus Cathedral, celebrated by the Archbishop of Prague Dominik Duka and Havel's old friend Bishop Václav Malý. During the service, a 21 gun salute was fired in the former president's honour, and in accordance with the family's request, a private ceremony followed at Prague's Strašnice Crematorium. Havel's ashes were placed in the family tomb in the Vinohrady Cemetery in Prague. On 23 December 2011, the Václav Havel Tribute Concert was held in Prague's Palác Lucerna.


title: Václav Havel

text: Within hours Havel's death was met with numerous tributes, including from U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish President Lech Wałęsa. Merkel called Havel "a great European", while Wałęsa said he should have been given the Nobel Peace Prize. The Russian Embassy sent an official condolence on behalf of the President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Slovakia declared December 23 a day of national mourning.


title: Václav Havel

text: At the news of his death, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a native of Czechoslovakia, said, "He was one of the great figures of the 20th Century", while Czech expatriate novelist Milan Kundera said, "Václav Havel's most important work is his own life." Communists took the opportunity to criticize Havel. The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia's leader Vojtěch Filip stated that Havel was a very controversial person and that his words often conflicted with his deeds. He criticized Havel for having supported the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, repeating the charge that Havel had called the event a "humanitarian bombing", although Havel had expressly and emphatically denied ever using such a phrase.


title: Václav Havel

text: An online petition organized by one of the best-known Czech and Slovak film directors, Fero Fenič, calling on the government and the Parliament to rename Prague Ruzyně Airport to Václav Havel International Airport attracted—in a week after 20 December 2011—support of over 80,000 Czech Republic and foreign signatories. It was announced that the airport would be renamed the Václav Havel Airport Prague on 5 October 2012.


title: Václav Havel

text: Reviewing a new biography by Michael Žantovský, Yale historian Marci Shore summarized his challenges as president: "Havel's message, 'We are all responsible, we are all guilty,' was not popular. He enacted a general amnesty for all but the most serious criminals, apologized on behalf of Czechoslovakia for the post-World War II expulsion of the Sudeten Germans and resisted demands for a more draconian purge of secret police collaborators. These things were not popular either. And as the government undertook privatization and restitution, Havel confronted pyramid schemes, financial corruption and robber baron capitalism. He saw his country fall apart (if bloodlessly), becoming in 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia."


title: Václav Havel

text: Havel was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1983. In 1986, Havel received the Erasmus Prize, in 1989 the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels, and in 1990, he received the Gottlieb Duttweiler Prize for his outstanding contributions to the well-being of the wider community. In the same year he received the Freedom medal.


title: Václav Havel

text: On 4 July 1994, Václav Havel was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal. In his acceptance speech, he said: "The idea of human rights and freedoms must be an integral part of any meaningful world order. Yet I think it must be anchored in a different place, and in a different way, than has been the case so far. If it is to be more than just a slogan mocked by half the world, it cannot be expressed in the language of departing era, and it must not be mere froth floating on the subsiding waters of faith in a purely scientific relationship to the world."